He watched as Constantine finished the chalk circle, double checking all the little symbols and lines. It was more intricate than what Batman would have thought, but he only dabbled in magic when necessary; able to perform it sure but didn’t have a talent for it. “You’re sure this will work?”
“I’m sure it’ll summon the protector spirit and keep it contained until we can explain the situation.” Constantine answered. “Alright, stand back.”
The circle began to glow.
Off in the distance, Batman could hear the fight that was still ongoing. A cult that worshiped a deity of death had managed to summon a being known as The Ghost King. His forces only had a handful of standout powers, but the rest were undead skeletal being that pulled themselves back together after being downed. They needed to take out the King in order to stop the hoards, but the hoards prevented enough of them to get to the King to really fight him. Superman might have been able to save the day if their enemy wasn’t magic based. Wonder Woman came in on her day off, but she couldn’t handle both the King and the Fright Knight.
Constantine had conveniently remembered that while the Ghost King that had all but taken over a dimension known as the Infinite Realms, was defeated twice. First by a counsel of ancients no one remembered the identities of, and when he’d been released by some fool looking for power, was defeated by a singular protector spirit with a known name.
The circle suddenly burst into a pillar of flame and in the center of it stood a singular being.
He tilted their head at Constantine and looked annoyed. There was an echo to his voice, layered over itself in what Batman recognized as a translation spell, the original language echoed by the translation. “Wow, can’t say I was expecting to get summoned by I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-A-Conman and a living Spirit Halloween costume tonight, but here we are.”
Batman looked at Constantine. “That looks like a teenager.”
“Protector spirits like to either look big and scary or like someone you’re more likely to trust.” Constantine shrugged. “It does seem really into the role though.”
“Hey, fellas,” the spirit waved his hand to get their attention, “it’s a school night and I’ve got homework to ignore. So lets get this sleepover over with.”
“You really a protector spirit? They tend to be more…” Constantine waved his hand in a circle and started walking around the magic circle, examining the ghost. “…pleasant to talk to.”
The ghost squinted at him, “Then you must have the wrong guy! I'll just leave-” He walked up to the warding wall and tried to walk through it. He hit it and stared at it, then pressed his hand against it and was clearly trying to get through it.
“Not going to work, mate.” Constantine said and came to a stop in front of where the ghost was trying to get out. “Even if you’re not the spirit we were aiming to summon, you can’t leave until we say so.”
The ghost looked far too convincingly panicked. He tried to claw through the spell, push his feet through the floor, and tried to fly up just to be knocked back by the containment spell’s lid.
Constantine must have sensed Batman’s misgivings, because he said, “Don’t worry, the containment will hold.”
“That’s not what has me worried.”
“Yeah, yeah, I bungled the spell and got the wrong guy…” Constantine gave him a tilted smile to hide his disappointment in himself. “Or maybe this trickster spirit thought it would be funny to disrupt my summoning. Either way, we’re wasting time with Pariah Dark out there destroying the world.”
Batman was about to add that he was also uncomfortable with a being that looked like a kid, and on the slightest chance might actually be a kid, looked like they were on the verge of a panic attack.
“Pariah?” The spirit stopped and stared at them with wide eyes, glowing toxic green, and seemingly on the verge of tears.
Constantine nodded, “Yeah, we were trying to summon the protector spirit that defeated him a while back, but we got you instead.”
The kid looked like he just got slapped in the face. “I – no, you got the right guy. I’m Phantom.”
“You?” Constantine asked with an air of disbelieving condescension. “You’re the protector spirit that defeated Pariah Dark?”
“I had some help.” Phantom replied. “Is that what you want? You’ll let me go if I fight Pariah again?”
Constantine looked between Phantom and Batman – thought Batman didn’t do or say anything, paranormal negotiations were why Constantine was there. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we want.”
Batman watched the looks on Phantom’s face, he was terrified but resigned. He glanced between the two of them. “Okay.”
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