"You think I am just going to pretend what you just said did not happen?"
Adrian seized Constantine by the collar and drove him backward with brutal force. The impact was immediate. Constantine's back slammed into the wall with a heavy crack, the force reverberating through the stone.
A sharp wave of pain tore through him, enough to steal his breath and force out a strained groan.
Adrian's eyes ignited with a crimson glow, the unmistakable sign that his Heat Vision was about to be unleashed.
"No!"
Constantine shouted, watching the energy build and surge toward him. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the end.
But the blast never struck his head.
Instead, the red beam tore into the wall beside him.
Stone exploded outward, brick and dust vaporizing under the intense heat. The air turned searing hot, brushing against his skin like fire itself. Death had been inches away.
When Constantine opened his eyes again, Adrian was staring down at him with cold restraint.
"I will not repeat myself, John. Answer my question."
The pressure in Adrian's voice alone was enough to silence any thought of resistance. Constantine opened his mouth, ready to respond, but another voice interrupted.
Shazam had stepped in behind Adrian, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Adrian…"
Adrian turned slightly, eyes still sharp, locking onto Billy's conflicted expression.
"What is it now?"
Shazam took a steady breath. "Enough blood has been spilled today. Don't kill anyone else."
Adrian's expression flickered for a brief moment before hardening again.
"That is not your place to decide, Billy. You should understand how to deal with enemies. Mercy has its place, but only for those who stand with us."
"I understand that," Shazam replied, hesitation weighing on his voice. "But Constantine might not even fully know what is going on. Even if he was involved, it might not be to the extent you think. Keeping him alive could help us."
There was a deeper unease behind Shazam's words, something rooted in his past.
Billy had not always been a hero. He had once been a troubled foster child, moving from home to home, refusing to accept the idea of family. That changed when he was taken in by the Vasquez household, a family already built on adoption and shared hardship.
At school, when bullies targeted his new siblings, Billy stepped in without hesitation. He dealt with them swiftly, far too swiftly for the school's liking. Wealth protected the bullies more than truth, and Billy was punished instead.
That night, anger led him and a foster brother to follow the bullies, only for everything to spiral out of control. A chase ended at a subway station, where Billy leapt onto a train in desperation.
But the train never reached its destination.
Magic swallowed it whole, transporting him to the Rock of Eternity, where an ancient wizard named Shazam revealed a dying legacy. Six members of the Council of Eternity had already been killed by Black Adam, leaving the wizard alone and searching for a worthy successor.
Billy, imperfect but ultimately good at heart, was chosen.
Since then, his life had been split between ordinary humanity and overwhelming power. He had faced Black Adam, learned the weight of responsibility, and joined the Justice Society, often following Adrian as a guiding example.
Yet that guidance had grown increasingly difficult to understand.
When Ragman fell earlier at the hands of the Spectre, something inside Billy had shifted. Now, watching Adrian stand over Constantine, he could not remain silent.
"I think he is right," Shazam added. "We should not kill him."
Before Adrian could respond, another figure arrived.
Sinestro stepped forward, his expression firm and measured.
"Constantine may be our only lead to retrieving Raven," Sinestro said. "Do not eliminate him yet. He still has value."
Adrian had never truly intended to kill Constantine. The killing intent had been a warning, a pressure meant to break resistance. Still, anger had briefly flickered when Constantine's actions involved his sister, but it had passed as quickly as it came.
With a cold glance, Adrian released his grip and threw Constantine aside.
The man hit the ground hard, coughing violently as blood spilled from his lips.
Adrian turned away from him completely and looked at Shazam instead.
Billy seemed prepared for criticism, but it never came. Instead, Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you for coming when I called," Adrian said.
Shazam blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected tone. "It is nothing. Everyone was worried about you."
His gaze shifted toward Clark and Diana nearby.
"Are you injured?" Clark asked.
"No," Adrian replied. "They prepared well, but they forgot one thing. I am not an ordinary target."
A faint, strained laugh came from the ground.
Constantine, still leaning against the wall, wiped blood from his mouth and chuckled.
"What a touching scene," he said weakly. "Warm words, heroic concern, all wrapped up nicely. Almost convincing."
His eyes lifted toward Adrian.
"Almost a shame it is being spoken by someone with so much blood on his hands."
Adrian's eyes began to glow again.
Diana stepped forward immediately. "He is provoking you. That is his goal. Do not give him what he wants."
"I am aware," Adrian replied.
His voice remained controlled, but colder than before.
"He is a man who occasionally remembers what honor looks like, but it changes nothing."
Adrian stepped closer to Constantine.
"Still talking?" Constantine muttered. "Or are you finally going to interrogate me properly?"
"Torture was never my intention," Adrian said. "But since you raised the subject…"
He stopped in front of him, voice steady and detached.
"I once encountered a man in Central America who treated interrogation as an art. He believed pain had structure. Technique. Precision."
Constantine exhaled smoke and listened without reacting.
"He believed every person had a breaking point," Adrian continued. "You only had to find it."
A faint silence settled.
Adrian's tone remained even, almost reflective, as though discussing something academic.
"Torture is not driven by emotion. It is method. It is persistence. It is understanding where the mind fractures."
Constantine let out a dry laugh. "You think I have not seen worse? Hell makes anything you describe sound like a bedtime story."
Adrian did not react.
"I am not finished," he said.
He continued, unbothered.
"There are methods designed to wear down time itself. Ancient executions that rely on endurance rather than force. Some use fear. Some use anticipation. Some rely on the body betraying itself slowly."
Constantine's expression shifted slightly, though he tried to hide it behind another drag of his cigarette.
Adrian's voice remained steady.
"I have seen people break long before the pain truly begins. Not because of injury, but because of certainty. The mind becomes the weapon against itself."
Constantine exhaled smoke again, but his hand tightened slightly.
"You talk a lot," he muttered. "Still does not change anything."
"On the contrary," Adrian replied. "It changes everything."
He leaned slightly closer.
"What I require from you is simple, John. Truth. And I have patience."
The air around them felt heavier now, not from heat or power, but from expectation.
Constantine tried to maintain his composure, but something inside him had already begun to shift.
Adrian straightened and looked down at him with detached finality.
"When you are ready to speak, you will."
He turned slightly toward Shazam.
"Take him back to the Justice Hall. Only you would think not to tear him apart."e