post nwh !
three things immediately came to mind the second peter realized sam and bucky had been tailing him for the past hour.
1 - oh my god they totally heard him singing let it go holy shit he needs to die
2 - bucky barnes seems like a mint chocolate chip ice cream fan and sam is his friend therefore both cannot be trusted.
3 - was he supposed to say something?
it takes him thirty minutes and three robberies to finally swing into a random alleyway and figure out what’s going on.
“are you two like the paparazzi? because, i charge for any photos or insider knowledge.”
it’s silent and he’s just… what the hell was he supposed to do in this situation?
“uh.. if you— i can’t just let you keep following me, it’s a little weird.. so if you need anything…”
was he doing this correctly? is there some … code he was missing? magic words? abracadabra?
“mr..falcon america captain sir.. i know you’re— i can hear your heartbeats— i see the shield.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“told you not to bring it.”
“it’s apart of the whole—- i can’t just not bring it, it’s my power, my charm.”
“you have— the spider-man is gone.”
“he’s not THE spider-man it’s just spider-man—- what do you mean he’s gone.”
( he totally nailed that, mysterious but not threatening…the perfect balance of confidence, tony would be proud )
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By all accounts, it shouldn't have worked.
By all bloody accounts, that should not have worked.
Constantine will repeat.
That, by all accounts, should not have worked.
The warehouse was shitty. The materials were shitty. The summoning circle was shitty. The chanting was shitty. The magic was shitty.
By all accounts, the summoning should not have worked.
So Constantine couldn't give much of a shit about really stopping it because the summoning was so shitty it shouldn't have worked by an means possible.
So what. In the ever-loving fuck. Was the Ghost King, known tyrant of the Infinite Realms. Standing in the middle of the circle and not, last he checked, imprisoned?
That was another thing that he thought would have made it fail, actually. Because the Ghost King was incapacitated, asleep, gone, unavailable, nada.
So what. The fuck. Was he doing. Here?
Constantine knew the day was going to well to stay that way but wow. The universe loves to fuck him over, apparently.
Or the Justice League in specific.
Or both.
Doesn't matter, because now he has to bullshit his way out of this or get ready to brawl for his life.
Good thing he's good at both of those things, then.
Mostly the bullshit-
"Phantom what the fuck are you doing-" Constantine wheezed out, watching one of their newest members-a ghost going by the name Phantom-fly over in front of the known tyrant and-
Oh.
Oh, holy shit this won't end well.
Ghost King.
Phantom. A ghost.
Well, shit.
This is fine. This is totally fine. He just needs to bullshit his way out of this or face two powerhouses.
This is fine.
He's done worse.
"Sup War" Phantom said, floating around the summoning circle that contained the king of all ghosts like it wasn't a problem. "Didn't expect to be seeing you here."
"Ward." The Ghost King inclined his head slightly, eyes trained on Phantom. "I would not have come here if not for Time's insistence and I have been meaning to..." The King paused, hands gripping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword. "...Check in... on you."
"Aww, were you worried about lil old meeeee?" Phantom, ever the little shit and holy shit did Constantine want to go over there and shut him up, said. Floating around until he was staring upside down in the Ghost King's face. "Didn't know you were so soft, pa."
"I am not soft." The King huffed, flame dancing at the edges of his hair. "I was merely... concerned. Over how you would be acclimating to your circumstances. This world's League of Justice covers far more than your small haunt."
"Weeeell, it's not that bad honestly." Phantom admitted. "Haven't really done anything too big yet just some smallish things here and there. So, you know." The ghost boy shrugged, swinging back in the air to turn upright and crossing his legs. "Nothing too bad."
"Good." The Ghost King nodded, shoulders slumping so slightly that if Constantine wasn't looking, he wouldn't have seen it. "That is good. Yes. Good." The King slightly cleared his throat, grasping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword.
Silence echoed in the warehouse as the King seemingly looked for words to say.
"Would you..." He cleared his throat again, squaring his shoulders and standing up straighter. "Would you like to join me and Time for a meeting? It has been some time since you had last joined us." The King shifted slightly before adding. "Of course, if you're busy you do not have too."
"Sure." Phantom said, rolling back and forth in the air as he hummed. "Been a while since we've had some family time-"
"Family time?" Constantine caught someone-who he thinks was Green Lantern-say. He was just as bewildered.
"And if Time sent you here then it must be important." Danny paused before shrugging. "Or maybe not, can never know with him. But yea, sure. I'll come."
"Wonderful." The Ghost King smiled. Smiled. At Phantom. "Then I shall. Leave. Now. To do. Things. Yes. Things." The summoning circle flashed a familiar green, the same green when the King was first being summoned. "Goodbye, ward."
"You can call me son, you know."
The King paused for a moment, blinking slowly before hesitantly nodding.
"Then goodbye. Son."
The circle flashed and just like that. The king was gone.
"Kid. What the fuck." Whoever said- okay wait no that was Constantine, him. But yea fuck it he agrees with himself. "What the fuck." He repeated.
Phantom, the brat, only gave him a shit eating grin and a peace sign before disappearing on the spot.
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So I've recently been re-reading TCF And chapter 196 is such an excellent example of how Cale interacts with the people around him, how he views himself and how they view him. This is also at the point in the novel where he hasn't really accepted that he is Cale now, not KRS, because he doesn't feel like he can.
So anyway, we start the chapter seeing the people of Rain City react to Cale's shield and they say something important!
"Won't he faint is he uses such a large shield? Why doesn't he just activate it when the northern bastards come?"
"Can't you tell? He doesn't want to see us or the territory getting hurt at all."
At first, I thought this was just the regular drama of people reacting to Cale, but then Choi Han, the kids, and Ron tell him he's being ridiculous, and I realize the townsfolk are right.
The Wyvern Battle is only the 2nd or 3rd major battle Cale has been in so far but only as Cale. As KRS, he's done this before, and having read later chapters, we know Cale holds so much guilt over those battles and how he wanted to keep those he cared for away from it all but couldn't. After all, record only gives him information to guide them and make plans; he often couldn't physically protect them. How many times has he defended a shelter or teammates and wished he could have just covered them all with a shield instead of giving commands from the back? We know how guilty he feels over Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk's deaths.
He knows he doesn't have to keep it up, and he's the one who spreads a rumour that it's taking all of his energy, but he's already considering himself a "bad person" for taking military command and only giving orders. (except that's what it means to take military command?) There is absolutely another motive for keeping the shield around the city. Cale wants the opposing forces to view him as weakened, or he doesn't want people to think his power is as strong as it is. However, at the same time, he's absolutely protecting them because, just like the townsperson says, he doesn't want to see any of them get hurt by an attack he could have blocked.
Cale is doing what he can to undermine himself while claiming he's going to make everyone else the hero of this battle, but he won't drop the shield, which means no one can disregard or forget his involvement. It's not intentional! He's just literally made himself the first line of defense as a direct parallel to every time he was the last line as KRS. He wants to stay at the back, he does not plan to get involved unless he has to, but Cale won't let himself stay out of it. So the shield goes up and stays for multiple days.
Meanwhile, all Choi Han, Ron and the kids see is Cale surrounded by paperwork (because taking command of the entire Northeast is a lot of work), keeping a shield up that's known to make him cough up blood (they don't know about it getting stronger or the vitality of heart), and only sleeping 1 to 2 hours a night (thank you crybaby), so they assume it's a combination of work and concentration to keep the shield up. As usual, they're worried and frustrated at Cale's self-sacrificing tendencies.
We haven't even gotten to the actual battle yet, but this is such a great setup of how it's going to go and how the novel goes.
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