"We should bring Batman back. Of course, I have no objections to that. But the problem lies in the many tasks Batman left behind before he left, tasks that concern Earth's safety. We can't send everyone into the Multiverse..."
Nightwing's voice echoed in Shiller's ears, though he wasn't actually listening. This long, boring argument had been going on for half an hour, with no one convincing anyone else. Meanwhile, Constantine sat silently at the table, seemingly having forgotten his confident demeanor, making no comment on the Robins' speeches.
"I haven't seen any signs of Earth's safety issues from these tasks," Red Robin spoke up. "Most of them are about the Power of Seven Lanterns, with a small portion guarding against the Black Death Emperor. However, due to the Earth Magic Defense Network, our universe has the slightest infiltration by the Black Lamp Power, almost nonexistent. The Justice League will handle the routine security work, so I think there's no need for us to waste too much time here..."
Red Hood Jason was clearly on his side too, and said something excitedly. Shiller's brain automatically blocked out those words. Then came Oracle Barbara's turn to speak, whose words were more rational, but nobody took sides, rendering it useless for the situation.
Realizing this scene was about to replay till nightfall, Shiller cleared his throat and looked at Constantine, indicating with his eyes that his patience was wearing thin.
Constantine remained unmoved. But a few minutes later, he glanced at his watch. After he put down his hand, Barbara's communication terminal suddenly rang.
She picked up the device and immediately widened her eyes, screaming, "What's happening?! Zombies on Gotham's coast??? How is this possible?!"
The Robins were stunned and rushed over. Their expressions changed for the worse. Nightwing spoke up, "Quick, let's get to the beach. We absolutely can't let them spread into the city!"
No one paid attention to Constantine and Shiller. Red Hood did glance at them, but clearly, the suspected Black Death Emperor's invasion of Earth was more important, so he rushed out hurriedly as well.
"Was that you?" Shiller asked.
"Just a little trick." Constantine replied, playing with the lighter in his hand unhurriedly, as he stood up and sat down at the computer next to him.
They were currently at Oracle's base, also known as the Robins' base. While fiddling with the computer, Constantine said, "If they have different opinions on everything, then we can assume disagreements and debates on how to deal with this universe's Constantine were possible... Oh, found it."
"Can you break through her hacking block?"
Constantine shook his head, "I'm not looking at the data on the computer." He turned his head, and Shiller saw something in his eyes, flowing like blood.
It seemed he only sat at the computer because there was a chair, not because of the computer. It looked like he was using some evil spell to look into another point in time.
"Batman placed him in a psychiatric hospital," Constantine suddenly spoke, "Personally, I see nothing wrong with this action. However, it's bad news for us as there are many madmen in that asylum."
"That's wonderful," Shiller stood up and said, "They won't have the slightest interest in us."
The two arrived at Arkham Asylum. With Batman absent from Gotham, the madmen seemed to obediently stay in their rooms. Their arrival drew a lot of attention, but when Shiller showed his credentials, everyone dispersed.
Apparently, neither the Joker, Scarecrow, nor even Hugo had any interest in the police. In fact, they all avoided Shiller like the plague. When Shiller headed to the observation ward in the basement, they all hid in the activity room on the top floor.
"Sometimes it pays to be normal," Constantine sighed, "Who'd have thought this bunch of madmen fears the police the most?"
"It's not the police they fear, but an agent with no artistic sense. They'd surely complain about Batman letting me in, disdaining me for lowering the city's artistry,"
Constantine lightly shook his head, indicating he couldn't comprehend the madness. Then they went to the basement, where the medical staff were quite positive, and when hearing they came to see Constantine, they brought them to the innermost ward.
The Prime Universe Constantine lay asleep on the bed, and as Shiller approached to wake him, Constantine stopped him, saying, "This is a doppelgänger. I smell Hell's scent; he must be in his shelter."
"Have you dealt with them?"
Constantine nodded, "Yes, from other universes' Constantine, I learned they have a shelter at Hell Edge. I must say, it's insane."
"Should we go find him?"
"No need, I can summon him back." Constantine took a small pouch from his pocket filled with some brown soil. He pinched some with his fingers and placed it on the doppelgänger, which ignited into ash after a while. But then the blond Prime Universe Constantine burst through the door with a bang.
"Damn bastards, how dare you... oh, it's you?"
"Who else did you think? Jesus?"
The Prime Universe Constantine sighed, walked over, sat by the bed, and asked, "What do you want?"
"Do you have Satan's stuff?" Constantine asked. "We need anything related to Satan, or any clues."
Main Universe Constantine paused his hand and said, "Why do you think I have it? I'm not exactly close to him."
"But you've dealt with him a few times, didn't you get anything from him?"
"Accepting gifts from Satan is a very dangerous thing." Main Universe Constantine took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, just about to light it when a gun was pointed at his forehead.
"I'm not making excuses, it's really..." Main Universe Constantine explained.
"Cigarette." Shiller shook the muzzle.
Main Universe Constantine froze and then looked incredulous, with an expression like, "What are you guys pretending here?"
Shiller's stance didn't change, so Main Universe Constantine had to put away the lighter. He said, "Are you here to rob me?"
Constantine gently shook his head and said, "If you have it, I can trade something with you..."
Shiller obviously didn't have such a good temper. He looked at Main Universe Constantine and said, "How long has it been since you've been to a concert?"
Main Universe Constantine's expression turned ugly, and Shiller continued, "Batman knows that keeping you here can't stop you from coming and going to mysterious spaces. He only trapped your social identity, making it impossible for you to function in ordinary society, because once you show up, there's a chance he'll catch you again. That's not good for you."
Constantine raised an eyebrow; he didn't expect Batman to deal with Constantine like this. But it was indeed very effective. Because, as far as he knew, Constantine wasn't really fond of using magic and instead preferred solving problems with non-magical means, which is why he's called the Hell Detective.
And now, he's been identified as a mental patient needing supervision. If he appears in society, he could be forcibly admitted. Though he can use magic to leave, he can only wander in the mystic world. The doors of ordinary society are closed to him.
"And you can't resist him," Shiller added, "because he's not taking revenge on you; he genuinely believes your mental issues are serious and need treatment and supervision. You can't worsen his impression with more severe means, or you'll never have peace."
Main Universe Constantine showed a slightly bitter smile: "He's not as easy to fool as angels and devils, he's practically the most paranoid mental patient in the world. He wants to reverse my childhood trauma, improve my anxiety, heal my psychological issues, and even left me a position in the department of magic he founded—can you understand how afraid of Jesus I am now?"
Constantine's mouth twitched, not expecting to hit the nail on the head. Main Universe Constantine is evidently suffering from a savior allergy. The scariest thing about this is, as long as Batman has no personal agenda, Main Universe Constantine could happily continue his downward spiral. But Batman doesn't, even though Constantine messed with him so much, the first thing he did was care about his mental health and try to heal him.
Facing a living Jesus, Main Universe Constantine could only behave. There's no reasoning with such people. In front of Batman, no one has the right to freely fall from grace, not even Constantine, the synonym for falling.
Main Universe Constantine sighed deeply: "Can you possibly improve the current situation?"
"Agreeing with Batman is the improvement." Constantine couldn't help saying.
"Then I'll give it to you," Main Universe Constantine was quite generous, "we'll trade, you come treat the illness, I'll go solve problems on your side, isn't that just right?"
"Do you know Batman is missing?" Shiller asked.
Main Universe Constantine squinted his eyes slightly and said, "I've been busy with the department of magic recently, haven't paid much attention here. What happened to him?"
"You should investigate it yourself. In short, we need items related to Satan right now." Constantine emphasized again, "If you're willing to give them to me, maybe I can persuade him for you."
"Yes, he would listen to you," Main Universe Constantine said sarcastically, "the model of Constantines, the reformed good child."
"What reformation?" Constantine said, "I would never let myself be so pathetic because too many people are looking forward to that day."
"Alright," Main Universe Constantine seemed to not want to say more, "I did get some stuff from Lucifer, but I'm not sure if it's useful."
"Bring it, let's see." Shiller, to prevent Main Universe Constantine from suggesting taking them to Hell, straightforwardly said, "Bring it here, we'll know if it's useful."
Main Universe Constantine disappeared. Soon after, he brought a huge box. Shiller was also a bit surprised and said, "You call this a little something? Did you ransack his palace?"
"Come on, Satan's not that poor. These aren't just his, I have to look through them." Main Universe Constantine also seemed a bit troubled, "Junk not usable for eight hundred years, if you guys hadn't come looking for it, I might have thrown it away."
He rummaged through the box, pulling out a bunch of miscellaneous items, causing Constantine to grimace. Because seeing many of them, just imagining how he got them is enough. For example, scales clearly covering a neck, feathers at the base of wings, certain fabric fragments, and even half of what looked like a snapped-off horn.