John Constantine/Zatanna vs Eclipso
The following story isn't canon with DC Comics books. Liverpool, UK. Tonight, Linus Longbottom, a petty, down-on-his-luck and failure of a thief, is inside the Corduroy jewelry store. This time, the middle-heightened and lanky man successfully managed to deactivate the alarm by tampering with the power box outside the building. “Hehehe ! Now, let’s see what I can find; I could fence it later.” giggled the awkward guy. By carefully looking around, Linus sees a small, square burgundy case on a counter. “Hmm, what’s this ? The owner must be very stupid to let an exposed object in the open like this... ” said Longbottom before taking the peculiar thing. He opens it and to his greatest surprise, a small, perfectly cut black diamond is inside. “Gosh, this is so beautiful: I wonder how that beauty’s worth ?” asked the intruder before exiting by the store’s back door. Now, in his left hand he’s firmly holding his stolen possession; what he doesn’t know is there’s an ancient, evil entity inside the pitch-dark gem... “HAHAHAHAHA !!! Now, everybody will respect me and at last, they’ll stop laughing of Linus ‘Mousey’ Longbottom. All of my life, I’ve been ridiculed and I’ll make everybody that ever mocked me pay dearly.” evilly guffawed the vengeful criminal. Suddenly, Linus feels a throb coming from the box and he drops it. The mysterious gem is now exposed and the burglar takes it. Then, he begins to shake; he decides to lean against a wall. “What’s... happening to... me ?” nervously thinks Linus. A nearby pedestrian notices the odd guy and asks: “Hey mate, you alright ?” “Never been better, foolish mortal.” answered the larcenist, who has an unexpected scary voice. He turns his head and the other man’s eyes widens in terror. After, he screams and runs for his life; soon, all the people who notices the burglar run scared out of their wits. “He’s a monster or some kind of demon. Call for help...” cries a woman.Meanwhile, Zatanna Zatara and John Constantine are inside an ice cream parlour; together they’re finishing a sundae and the song Don't break the circle by Demon plays on the radio. “What a strange coincidence that 80s hard rock tune is currently airing; we’re both accomplished magicians. Frankly, it feels so good to be with you, Zee.” humbly spoke the blond-haired, eccentric English warlock, who wears his typical beige trenchcoat, along with his red tie. “Thank you so much John, but may I ask you why you summoned me in your native city please ?” queried the stunning, blue-eyed stage magician and occasional heroine, who’s known for her eye-catching fishnet stockings and her backwards-recited spells. “Simple; I’ve heard a rumour that a fragment of the Heart of Darkness, in which the demonic entity named Eclipso was imprisoned ages ago, was inside some local jewelry. In the late 19th century, an archaeologist discovered the artifact and brought it to London. But can you imagine what comes next ? The silly sod had it cut into 1000 pieces. Now, I fear that someone might steal it; lemme tell you that this Eclipso tosser feeds of people’s dark thoughts, such as anger, hate and fear. I’ve even heard that he’s as powerful as The Spectre; he’s considered as an Angel of Vengeance as well. In other words, if you’re near one of the black gems and you’re feeling like I described, then you’ll be possessed in a jiffy. Unless Eclipso is sent back to his prison.” replied Constantine. “If I understand, you want my assistance, yes ?” questioned the sexy brunette. “That’s it my good lady friend: I want you to get rid of that shard by using your magic, along with mine. We need to protect people from that bastard’s evil influence.” told John.Suddenly, their conversation is interrupted by panicked shouts and screams. Both heroes look outside the ice cream parlour and Zatanna declares: “What’s happening ? I sense a malefic entity who’s disturbing the order of things. Oh my God: look at that poor man.” As for the mage, who saw the guy being disintegrated by some black ray, he sees the culprit and replies: “Damn it: it’s him ! We have no choice; we must fight Eclipso before that wanker causes even more destruction and murder. I guess you don’t want that, ennit ?” “Does he have any known weaknesses ?” queried Zatara. “Yeah, prepare to laugh out loud: he’s vulnerable to sunlight and like his fancy schmancy name says, he’s restricted to darkness. Luckily for us, he’ll be easy to defeat.” chuckled the Englishman.Now, both magicians are outside and all they see is some man walking on the street. He wears a common brown outfit but the right side of his face is chalk-white; it strangely looks like an eclipse pattern. Plus, he has pointy ears, sharp teeth and his cruel eyes are yellow-colored. “Who are you, puny humans ? Prepare to suffer the wrath of Eclipso !” spoke the demon while observing Zatanna and Constantine. “Our names aren’t quite important, squire. What matters now is what we’re about to do to your ugly mug.” declared the trenchcoat-wearing warlock. As for the villain, he takes his shard and with his right eye, he emits the same kind of ray that both heroes earlier saw. “John, look out !” shouted Zatanna. However, it’s too late: her friend is struck and he’s now unable to move. “Stceffe fo yar, enogeb ! (Effects of ray, begone !)” spoke the woman with the top hat. Constantine soon regains his mobility and thanks Zatara. “Don’t forget that he’s vulnerable to sunlight; maybe with your enchanted powers, you could amplify all the nearby light bulbs. If doable, they’d harness the power of the Sun. While you do this, I’ll do some magic of my own.” whispered John with a wicked grin. “Great idea.” smiled Zatanna. From his left eye, Eclipso emits a series of deadly black rays; he misses his shots and curses. “You won’t run and hide forever, insolent creatures.” hissed the demon. “Thgil sblub, uoy evah won eht rewop fo eht nus. Won, htiw rouy dnuofwen thgim esaelp nethgilne Ospilce. (Light bulbs, you have now the power of the Sun. Now, with your newfound might please enlighten Eclipso.)” uttered the stage magician. “What manner of speech is that ?” asked the evil Angel. “The kind that’ll cause your loss, you hideous imp.” laughed Constantine. All of a sudden, all lights sources point at the entity and he screams in pain. “Can’t... move. Too... much light...” grunted the malefic being. From his pocket, John picks his lighter, turns it on and yells: “In the name of Lowrek, Prince of Elves... Demon begone !!!” With a funny face, Zatanna looks at his friend but something unexpected happens. The flame of the lighter becomes a huge flamethrower and the orange-red torrent goes towards Eclipso; he yelps in pain but in the process, he drops his black diamond. “Now Zee: we must contain him while we can.” told the Englishman. “Sure ! Osplice, nruter edisni ruoy meg nosirp. (Eclipso, return inside your gem prison.)” ordered Zatanna. Suddenly, a black mist emanates from the possessed man’s eyes, nose and mouth and it goes towards the shard; Linus Longbottom regains his normal appearance but after, he loses conscience. “It must’ve been the would-be jewel thief; the sap didn’t know what he stole.” told Constantine. “Maybe, but I can’t let that evil gem exposed. Kcalb meg, emoceb desacne ni kciht, dloc enots rof lla ytinrete. (Black gem, become encased in thick, cold stone for all eternity.) spoke the stunning conjurer. The malefic diamond becomes a brick of grey stone and Zatanna takes it; then, an incoming squad of police cars is now visible in the distance. “Quickly, we must disappear; the bobbies, I mean the cops, don’t need to know what happened. Or else, they’ll send us to the funny farm.” declared John as he and Zee are running away. “I understand. But about the shard, can I keep it please ? It’ll need to be safeguarded and if Eclipso ever reappears, maybe our allies, such as Doctor Fate, could fight him. John, I’ve had enough for tonight and I need to get back to my hotel. Tomorrow night, I have a show in Las Vegas and I must sleep at all costs.” said Zatara. “We made such a great team and I hope we’ll meet again like this. Until then, take care friend. Cheerio !” replied John. Both exchange waving hands and they part ways.The end
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