The peaceful routine at Wayne Manor was shattered by the sharp ring of the telephone. Alfred answered with his customary professionalism, but the urgency in the caller's voice immediately caught his attention.
"Wayne Manor, how may I assist you?"
"Alfred! Thank God you answered. This is Constantine, and we have a serious problem."
Constantine's voice carried an edge of barely controlled panic that Alfred had never heard before. The exorcist had been investigating demon sightings across multiple states, and what he'd discovered was far worse than isolated supernatural incidents.
"I've found evidence of organized demon summoning," Constantine continued without preamble. "Three different cities, three separate summoning circles, all using the same ritual framework. Someone is conducting a coordinated campaign to bring demons into our world."
Alfred felt his blood chill as the implications became clear. More than twenty years ago, he'd witnessed the chaos that a single demon portal could unleash on Gotham. The idea of multiple summoning sites operating simultaneously was the stuff of nightmares.
"These aren't accidental manifestations or random cultist activities," Constantine pressed on. "Whoever's behind this has serious resources and extensive knowledge of infernal summoning techniques. Each site required significant human sacrifice – I'm talking dozens of victims per ritual."
Constantine paused to recharge his Incinerator Ring, pressing it against the portable lantern Marcus had provided. The divine energy flowed back into the device with visible relief on the exorcist's part.
"I need Bruce to check city near Gotham immediately," Constantine continued as his ring regained its glow. "If this pattern holds, there should be summoning circles in every major city. The fact that I haven't found one near Gotham yet just means they're better hidden there."
Alfred's mind raced through the implications. If someone was systematically summoning demons across America, the death toll would be catastrophic. Each summoning required multiple human sacrifices, meaning hundreds or thousands of people had already died to fuel these rituals.
"I understand completely," Alfred replied, his voice steady despite his inner turmoil. "I'll inform Master Bruce immediately."
As soon as Alfred hung up the phone, his Incinerator Ring began fluctuating with contained energy, responding to his emotional state. The thought of demons loose in Gotham again, threatening the peace Bruce and Selina had worked so hard to establish, filled him with righteous fury.
From his balcony workshop, Marcus sensed the sudden spike in Alfred's ring activity. The old butler's emotions were running hot enough to trigger combat readiness protocols, which meant something significant had just happened.
Curious about what could provoke such a response, Marcus made his way downstairs to find Alfred urgently briefing Bruce and Selina about Constantine's discoveries.
"Someone is conducting organized demon summoning across multiple cities," Alfred reported. "Constantine has confirmed three sites so far, each one requiring extensive human sacrifice."
Marcus felt a chill of recognition. Organized demon summoning on a national scale? That level of coordination and resources pointed to only one possible culprit in Gotham.
"The Court of Owls," Bruce said grimly, reaching the same conclusion. "They must be expanding their artificial demon program. Instead of just grafting demonic tissue onto humans, they're summoning fresh demons for harvesting."
"But why hasn't anything appeared in Gotham?" Selina asked. "If they're operating everywhere else, surely our own monitoring would have detected something."
Marcus knew the answer to that question. His enhanced statue had turned most of Gotham into essentially consecrated ground. Demons could be summoned outside the city's protective radius, but they wouldn't willingly enter an area saturated with divine energy.
The Court was probably conducting their Gotham operations from remote locations, then transporting captured demons back to their underground facilities for processing. It was a smart adaptation to the supernatural defenses Marcus had established.
"I need to warn Clark and his family," Marcus announced. "If this is happening nationwide, Metropolis and the Kent farm could both be targeted."
Without waiting for responses, Marcus wrapped himself in spatial distortion and vanished in a swirl of dimensional fog.
He materialized outside Clark's modest apartment in Metropolis, noting the young reporter's industrious typing through the window before knocking on the door.
"Godfather!" Clark exclaimed upon opening the door. "I wasn't expecting you. Is everything alright?"
"We have a situation developing," Marcus replied, stepping into the apartment. "Someone is conducting organized demon summoning across multiple cities. While you personally won't have trouble with demons, your parents and Lois are vulnerable."
Clark's expression darkened as Marcus explained the scope of the threat. The Kryptonian might be essentially invulnerable to demonic attacks, but everyone he cared about remained at serious risk.
"Who would do something like this?" Clark asked, his voice tight with controlled anger. "What could they possibly gain from unleashing demons on innocent people?"
"Power, resources, or raw materials for other projects," Marcus replied. "The specific motivation matters less than the immediate threat. You need to take precautions."
Marcus produced a delicately crafted necklace, its silver chain supporting a pendant that glowed faintly with contained divine energy.
"I was planning to give this to Lois when you two got engaged," Marcus said with a slight smile. "But the circumstances have changed. This will protect her from direct demonic attack, though she should still avoid confronting them if possible."
Clark accepted the necklace with obvious gratitude. "I'll get this to her immediately. What about my parents?"
"That's my next stop. I'll make sure they have adequate protection as well."
Marcus activated his spatial manipulation again, disappearing in another swirl of dimensional fog. He emerged moments later in the Kent family farmyard, where Jonathan was busy organizing the season's harvest in the equipment barn.
"Looks like a good year for crops," Marcus observed, materializing behind a stack of grain sacks.
Jonathan spun around with a startled expression that quickly shifted to pleasure. "Marcus! It's been too long. What brings you back here?"
"Unfortunately, it's not a social visit," Marcus replied. "There's a developing threat that could affect rural areas like this. Someone is summoning demons across the country, and isolated locations like farms make attractive targets."
Jonathan's expression grew serious as Marcus explained the situation. After living with Clark for over thirty years, the older man had learned to take supernatural threats seriously.
"What kind of precautions should we take?" Jonathan asked practically.
Marcus began explaining the protective measures they could implement, knowing that the Kent family's safety was crucial not just for Clark's peace of mind, but for maintaining one of Superman's most important emotional anchors.
Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor, Bruce was coordinating with his global security network to investigate potential demon summoning sites near Wayne Enterprises facilities. If the Court of Owls was operating internationally, his employees around the world could become targets.
The demon trail Constantine had discovered was clearly just the beginning of something much larger and more dangerous. The question now was whether they could identify and stop the conspiracy before it achieved whatever apocalyptic goal its architects had in mind.
In underground laboratories across the country, the Court of Owls continued their work with renewed urgency. Every captured demon brought them closer to perfecting their artificial enhancement process, and they had no intention of letting a few inconvenient heroes interfere with centuries of planning.
The shadow war for humanity's future had begun in earnest, and the stakes could not be higher.