"Shazam!"
As Billy shouted the transformation spell, a bolt of silver-white lightning tore through the sky and struck him before anyone could react.
The moment the lightning hit, Billy instantly reverted from his empowered form. The mighty hero Shazam vanished, leaving behind nothing more than an ordinary middle school student suspended high above the ground.
Without Shazam's powers sustaining him, Billy immediately began plummeting toward the earth.
Although he had spent what felt like a long time speaking with Deadman in the spiritual realm, only a fraction of a second had passed in reality.
To Adrian and the others, Billy merely grabbed his forehead in pain before suddenly falling from the sky.
"Billy!"
Adrian shouted and shot forward to catch him.
Before he could reach him, however, the giant Spectre extended a massive hand.
"I've got him."
Billy landed heavily in the Spectre's enormous palm with a solid thud.
After catching him, the Spectre lowered his face and studied the boy carefully.
"There is more than one spirit inside him."
"That's right," Wonder Woman explained from beside Adrian. "Billy and Shazam share a unique connection. He transforms into the wizard's champion through the magic word."
The Spectre slowly shook his head.
"No. There are three spirits here."
The statement stunned everyone.
"What?"
Wonder Woman stared at him in disbelief.
"How is that possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. To certain sorcerers, souls are merely tools to be manipulated."
The Spectre raised his palm slightly and addressed Billy directly.
"Release that young god. Show yourself, little Deadman."
Billy's expression briefly faltered, but he quickly regained his composure.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He continued pretending ignorance.
"No," the Spectre said coldly. "You do."
Raising his free hand, he commanded,
"Come out!"
A powerful force erupted from his palm.
In the next instant, Deadman's soul was forcibly dragged from Billy's body.
The pale ghost in his red costume appeared in midair, ripped free against his will.
"Deadman, what is your purpose here?"
The Spectre's voice carried sharp authority.
The forced extraction had clearly weakened Deadman. His spirit flickered as he struggled to steady himself.
Breathing heavily, he glared at the towering figure.
"I won't tell you anything, Spectre. I don't want to speak with you."
His gaze hardened.
"I want to speak with the man inside you. I want to speak with Jim Corrigan."
The Spectre offered no response.
Instead, he simply stared at Deadman through the glowing green eyes hidden beneath his hood.
An icy chill ran through Deadman.
"Tell me," he pressed, "is he really in there?"
Still, the Spectre remained silent.
The glowing eyes darkened, and a trace of mockery appeared within them.
A terrible realization suddenly struck Deadman.
"You..."
He stumbled backward in horror.
"No... that's impossible."
His voice trembled.
"You're not the Spectre. Who are you?!"
The fear in his expression deepened.
"What exactly is inside you?"
"What did you do to Jim Corrigan?"
The Spectre remained silent.
Then, slowly, a twisted smile spread across his face.
Deadman's panic intensified.
"Who are you?"
He retreated another step.
"Tell me!"
At that moment, Adrian and Clark finally arrived.
Adrian was carrying Billy, who had fallen from the Spectre's palm after Deadman had been extracted.
Since Billy was now completely human, Adrian had intentionally slowed his flight to avoid hurting him.
"What happened?"
Adrian called out.
Without hesitation, the Spectre answered.
"Nothing. Just a ghost."
He needed to eliminate Deadman before Adrian learned too much.
As he spoke, a brilliant silver-white sword materialized in his hand.
The radiant blade gleamed with divine power.
"Just a ghost who should have disappeared long ago."
The Spectre raised the sword.
Then he struck.
The attack was so fast that it resembled a flash of lightning.
Deadman, trapped beneath the overwhelming pressure of the Spectre's presence, could not move.
The shining blade tore through him.
"I'll send him on his way."
Deadman's eyes widened in horror as the sword sliced through his shoulder and continued diagonally to his waist.
"AAAAHHHH!"
A scream of pure agony escaped him.
He had never imagined that a weapon could wound a soul directly.
His spiritual body split apart.
No matter how desperately he tried to repair the damage with magic, the wound refused to heal.
A burning torment spread through every part of his being, cutting deeper than anything he had ever experienced.
The Spectre watched him coldly.
"Go. Fade into endless darkness. Your time has come."
Even though Deadman was already dead, he could still feel Death approaching.
The sensation filled him with terror.
Clutching the massive wound, he fled.
The Spectre made no attempt to pursue him.
Instead, he calmly dismissed the glowing sword.
When Adrian finally arrived with Billy, he saw only the Spectre lowering his hand.
"You let him escape."
Adrian frowned.
"No."
The Spectre shook his head.
"He may still exist for the moment, but he is already close to oblivion."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"You've forgotten our most important objective. We're trying to find your sister, and every clue matters."
His tone sharpened.
"Constantine is gone, and now the ghost who might have known something has been crippled by you. We just lost another lead."
The criticism was direct and unapologetic.
Adrian had already begun suspecting that something was wrong.
Before Deadman was struck, Adrian's super hearing had clearly caught his terrified question.
Who are you?
Perhaps the being standing before them was not the true Spectre at all.
Whatever this impostor's intentions were, Adrian suspected they involved him.
Even so, he kept those thoughts hidden.
After voicing his dissatisfaction, he directed everyone back toward the Justice Society headquarters.
The Tower of Fate.
Constantine sat heavily on a sofa, clutching his head while Zatanna treated his injuries.
The gash on his forehead looked particularly nasty, and the blood loss left him periodically dizzy.
After bandaging the wound, Zatanna began checking his ribs.
"Hey, Little Z," Constantine complained. "I'm not convinced poking me is helping."
Despite the pain, he still found the energy to joke.
Zatanna rolled her eyes.
"What exactly did you do to end up being chased by people like that?"
Constantine sighed dramatically.
"Nothing unusual. Some lunatic in a cloak threw me into a giant hat after pulling lightning out of the sky."
He retrieved the last cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
"It's been a rough night, Little Z. Try not to judge me silently, alright?"
He took a long drag before exhaling a cloud of smoke.
Before Zatanna could respond, footsteps sounded outside.
Constantine immediately knew who it was.
The door burst open.
Batman entered with a grim expression.
"John."
His voice was ice cold.
"You tried to steal Adrian's soul?"
Constantine stood up, cigarette hanging from his lips.
"I was saving his soul!"
He pulled on his rumpled coat and glared back.
"You should have talked to me first," Batman said. "Instead of acting on your own."
"Talked to you?"
Constantine scoffed.
"I don't remember agreeing to that."
He pointed the cigarette at Batman.
"Listen, Sunshine Boy. Adrian was supposed to be trapped there forever, working off his sins. Sounds to me like I was doing you a favor."
Batman stepped forward.
"You never help. You only find new ways to hurt yourself or everyone around you."
His voice dropped lower.
"And this time, Ragman died because of it."
The room instantly grew tense.
Unable to tolerate another argument, Zatanna raised her hand.
"Eizb htuom htob uoy!"
The reversed spell echoed through the room.
Immediately, both Batman and Constantine lost the ability to speak.
Their mouths snapped shut.
The two men glared at one another in complete silence.
Only the crackling fire from the fireplace could be heard.
Finally, Zatanna released a long breath.
"Much better."
Her expression softened.
"Ragman is dead."
The room grew heavier.
"Rory was a good person. I'd appreciate it if the two of you stopped arguing long enough to mourn him."
The sadness in her voice was unmistakable.
Ragman had been her friend.
She had worked alongside him many times.
Hearing of his death left a hollow ache in her chest.
After a lengthy silence, Zatanna removed the spell.
"Fine. You can talk again."
Their voices returned, but neither man spoke immediately.
Her words had clearly affected them.
Eventually, Batman broke the silence.
"Souls will be lost."
Zatanna frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Constantine adjusted his collar and answered.
"Madame Xanadu said it."
His expression grew serious.
"I think she was talking about Ragman."
Zatanna looked at him in surprise.
"You visited Madame Xanadu after Jason Blood died?"
She shook her head.
"Do you even understand what Jason meant to her?"
Unlike Batman and Constantine, Zatanna knew far more about Madame Xanadu.
She knew the history they shared.
After the fall of Camelot, Jason Blood and Madame Xanadu had traveled together for years. Through countless adventures, they had fallen deeply in love.
There had even been plans to journey to Avalon and seek Merlin himself.
But those dreams never came to pass.
The demon Etrigan made certain of that.
Bound eternally to Jason Blood, Etrigan was no peaceful companion.
He was one of Hell's most infamous demons, once a servant of Lucifer himself.
After centuries of servitude, Etrigan eventually rebelled, carving a bloody path through Hell before Lucifer personally intervened.
Lucifer punished him by sending him to Merlin.
Merlin then bound Etrigan to Jason Blood through powerful magic in a desperate attempt to save Camelot.
The kingdom still fell.
Yet the bond endured.
For centuries afterward, Jason and Etrigan remained trapped together, endlessly cursing one another.
Even now, with Jason Blood dead, Zatanna knew the demon would eventually find another host.
Shaking those thoughts away, she focused on the present.
"Madame Xanadu seemed surprisingly composed?"
Constantine released another stream of smoke.
"She didn't throw you out?"
Zatanna looked genuinely skeptical.
Madame Xanadu was not known for patience.
Anyone familiar with the strange enchanted figures decorating her home knew exactly how ruthless she could be.
"She did at first," Constantine admitted.
"But after she calmed down, we talked."
He took another drag from his cigarette.
"She understands priorities."
His eyes narrowed.
"We reached an agreement regarding Adrian."
Zatanna immediately let out a cold laugh.
"An agreement regarding Adrian?"
She crossed her arms.
"I think you're all imagining problems that don't exist."
Her gaze shifted between Batman and Constantine.
"Look at the disaster you've already created."
"You haven't helped Adrian."
"You've only made everything worse."