The men returned to the living room.
Seeing Tony relax slightly, Coulson spoke up.
“Tony, Sadako hasn’t truly been dealt with.”
“Back at SHIELD, I ‘cleared’ one of her projections as well. But with entities like her, as long as the source remains, she will continually reform.”
“Fine,” Tony sighed, turning.
“Jarvis, got the analysis results yet? What can actually deal with vengeful spirits?”
“Sir, legendary accounts are mixed and varied, but I have extracted a few exorcism methods with high statistical frequency and efficacy.”
“In the West, common methods include crosses, sea salt, intense light, roaring fire, holy scriptures…”
“In the East, they favor Taoist talismans, intense light, roaring fire, black dog blood, virgin urine, blood from the tip of the tongue, boiling oil vats…”
“Hold on—virgin urine?” Tony’s expression froze.
“Does that stuff actually work?”
“These are search results, sir. Practical effectiveness requires empirical testing.”
“Sorry, I said goodbye to virginity the year I graduated high school.” Tony shrugged, looking thoughtful.
“Light and fire are worth a try, though. If a vengeful spirit is essentially an unstable energy field, those should be the most effective.”
“Tony,” Coulson reminded him at the right moment.
“In the bathroom where Congressman Prince met his end, the Joker left a clue.”
“The original Sadako videotape is hidden in the place with the highest daily foot traffic in New York.”
“The place with the highest daily foot traffic…” Tony repeated under his breath.
After a moment’s thought, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Jarvis, pull up the full map of the New York subway network.”
“Right away, sir.”
Beams of light projected outward, displaying a crisscrossing, spiderweb-like subway map floating in the air.
Tony’s eyes scanned it rapidly, his fingers flicking away several obscure branch lines.
A few dozen seconds later, his fingertip came to a firm stop on a major transit hub.
“Right here. Grand Central Terminal.”
At Grand Central Terminal, crowds milled like an endless tide.
Everyone moved with hurried steps, rushing off toward their respective destinations.
The chaotic sound of footsteps, overlapping chatter, crying children… echoed back and forth across the main concourse.
But the moment the PA system hummed to life, all noise was instantly suppressed.
“Attention, passengers. Due to aging equipment components, Grand Central Terminal is suspending operations immediately for emergency maintenance.”
“Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Please exit the station in an orderly fashion via the nearest exit.”
The flowing crowd paused for a second.
Complaints erupted everywhere, but they quickly dispersed into several streams of people heading toward the various exits.
“In another twenty minutes, the passengers should be mostly cleared out.”
Inside the monitoring room, Coulson stared at dozens of real-time feeds on the screens.
“The Shadowkhan Ninja summoned by the Joker can pass through solid objects.”
“If he buried Sadako’s videotape deep underground, we won’t even know where to start.”
Tony knit his brows, his tone darkening.
Having clashed with the Joker twice, he knew all too well how troublesome the villain was.
He would never leave convenient clues, nor would he give anyone an easy chance to turn the tables.
“At least this way we hold the line and prevent mass casualties. This place handles hundreds of thousands of people daily. If something happens…” Coulson didn’t finish, merely shaking his head softly.
“Which is why we have to resolve this before anyone else gets hurt.”
Tony raised an eyebrow and casually adjusted the gear mounted on his harness: a flamethrower, intense pulsed light lamps, high-frequency sonic generators…
Pepper had even prepared a silver cross for him, which was tucked into his inside pocket.
“Tony, you really didn’t need to wade into these muddy waters yourself.”
“SHIELD can handle this.”
Coulson advised him earnestly.
It was the truth.
At the previous weapons conference, hundreds of politicians and wealthy elite had watched the videotape; right now, military personnel or SHIELD agents were guarding each of them closely.
Not a single billionaire was like Tony, insisting on putting himself on the front line.
“The Joker’s target is me.”
Tony spoke decisively, leaving no room for argument.
He might have once been a cynical playboy, but in moments that counted, he never backed down.
Even with Pepper trying repeatedly to stop him, he had still come.
“Fair enough.” Coulson didn’t try to persuade him further, nodding in agreement.
Tony said no more either, keeping a silent watch on the screens, waiting for the last group of people to leave.
Twenty minutes later.
The station was completely empty, leaving only echoes behind.
Coulson picked up his walkie-talkie.
“Initiate operation.”
“Wait, there’s one left over there.” Tony pointed at one of the monitors.
On the screen, a dark-haired man clad in a long black trench coat strolled leisurely across the empty platform, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
He even paused, looked up, and slowly exhaled a puff of pale blue smoke directly toward the camera.
Coulson grabbed the broadcast microphone.
“Sir, Grand Central Terminal has suspended service. Please leave the premises immediately.”
The dark-haired man’s lips curled slightly.
“Looks to me like you’ve got a bit of trouble on your hands. Maybe I can be of help.”
“How did his voice come straight into the monitoring room?” Tony raised an eyebrow.
“Who are you?” Coulson’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Professional instinct put him on high alert—this man wasn’t normal.
Holding the cigarette in his left hand, the man blew a smooth ring of smoke.
“John Constantine. Some call me the ‘Hellblazer’.”
“Hellblazer?” Tony crossed his arms, tapping his thumb against his chin.
“Jarvis, run an identity check.”
“Sir, no matching records found in the database. However, the outer perimeter cameras captured an anomalous video clip that the system cannot parse.”
Projected through Tony’s lenses, a video clip materialized in midair:
A deserted street with sparse pedestrians.
The next second, the trench-coated figure materialized out of thin air, scanning his surroundings with subtle bewilderment.
“Vengeful spirits? A self-proclaimed Hellblazer popping out of nowhere? This world is getting crazier by the minute.”
“What’s next? An alien fleet landing tomorrow?”
Tony closed the projection without expression.
“Who knows.” Coulson’s brows furrowed even deeper.
He and Tony shared a silent understanding.
In the information age, no one could truly remain off the grid.
A living human being, from birth to adulthood, left a paper trail everywhere—fingerprints, Social Security numbers, customs records, transactions, medical history…
Yet this Constantine was as if he had never existed on this planet.
The two exchanged a glance, then turned and walked toward the station entrance.
…
Meanwhile, in the main concourse,
“Constantine” sat lazily on a row of benches.
The cigarette between his fingers flickered faintly as he half-squinted his eyes, his posture relaxed to the point of provocation.
As Luke Lane’s avatar, his mission here was to establish his persona, gather popularity, and harvest shock points.
The backstory was crystal clear: a veteran exorcist from an alternate dimension who had accidentally torn through space while ambushing the Son of Satan, tumbling right into the Marvel world.
“Hello, Mr. Constantine.”
Tony and Coulson arrived rapidly.
Just as “Constantine” lit his second cigarette, the two were already standing in front of him.
Facing Coulson’s friendly yet probing smile, he flicked off the ash and rasped softly, “I’m not here for you.”
Before his words fully settled, his gaze landed squarely on Tony Stark’s face.
“For me?” Tony raised an eyebrow.
“Naturally.” “Constantine” smirked half-heartedly, pulling a phone from his inner coat pocket.
“The Daily Bugle just dropped a headline,”
“‘Stark Industries Weapons Unveiling: Hundreds of Political and Business VIPs Suspected Cursed.'” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“‘Billionaire Tony Stark Haunted by Evil Spirit.'”
“Ah,” Tony shrugged.
His name had long been a news magnet; the slightest breeze could explode into a front-page headline.
Besides, reporters had swarmed the weapons conference, so the story of Sadako’s videotape had already spread.
“So then, Mr. Hellblazer,” Tony looked him up and down with calm eyes.
“What exactly are you after with me?”
Aside from the eerie video clip of him materializing out of nowhere, the man before him moved and acted no differently than a normal human.
“To be frank,” “Constantine” paused, smoke lazily wafting around his face.
“I don’t belong to this world.”
“I was trying to stop the Son of Satan from descending upon Earth to prevent it from becoming an extension of Hell. Then, out of nowhere, I tumbled right into this place.”
Constantine rested the half-smoked cigarette on the edge of the bench, his expression turning solemn.
“That story is painfully lazy.”
“Even the con artists I ran into before had smoother pitches. The last guy claimed to be the Archangel Gabriel, promising that if I did him a favor, I’d get a direct ticket to Heaven when I died.”
Tony chuckled softly, the corners of his lips curling up.
After his previous encounter with the vengeful spirit, he had accepted that there were indeed anomalous phenomena in the world that science couldn’t currently explain.
But Hell, demons, and dragging in another dimension… that was absurdly ridiculous.
“Funny you mention that. I know Gabriel quite well.”
“The whole scheme to bring the Son of Satan into our realm was set up by Gabriel himself.”
Constantine popped the cigarette back between his teeth, his smile dripping with cynicism.
He was referring to the mess the real Constantine had stumbled into back in the DC Universe.
The universe could be delightfully absurd like that—a high-ranking archangel ending up as an accomplice to a demonic invasion.
Where were you supposed to go for justice?
“Tony, something’s wrong.” Coulson interjected suddenly, his tone turning dark as he pointed toward the black fog surging deep within the station.
“The spirit’s energy is skyrocketing.”
“If you’re smart, turning around and walking away now is still an option,” Constantine remarked lazily, leaning back against the bench with a stroke of amusement in his tone.
“Then tell me, Mr. Constantine, do you have a plan of attack?” Coulson offered a warm smile.
Whatever this man’s origins were, anyone who could remain this calm under pressure was bound to possess extraordinary capabilities.
“I’ve got plenty of tricks. Shame is, you can’t afford me.”
Constantine stood up unhurriedly and stretched his limbs.
The Hellblazer never worked for free.
Before his voice faded, the black fog flooded the entire station like a living organism.
Crawling on all fours with unnaturally twisted, reverse-bent joints, Sadako silently manifested.
Her messy black hair hung loose, her neck wrung around a full hundred and eighty degrees, and her eyes were as black as ink.
A chill ran down Tony’s spine, and he immediately snatched up his custom flamethrower.
“All units, stay alert!” Coulson shouted to the surrounding SHIELD agents while drawing the energy pistol at his waist.
*Crack,*
*Crunch,*
Spine-chilling sounds of dislocating joints echoed continuously as Sadako darted along the floor toward Tony like lightning.
“Coming for me again?” Tony’s throat tightened, and he slammed down on the flamethrower’s trigger.
A roaring jet of fierce flame blasted outward.
Sadako shrieked as her form suddenly turned translucent, stumbling backward.
“It works!” Tony’s spirits rose, and he yelled to the agents around him, “All together now!”
Since energy weapons were in limited supply, the other agents raised their flamethrowers as well, nodding in unison before closing in.
Dozens of searing torrents of fire converged on Sadako at once.
Engulfed in the flames, she still tilted her head and stared fixedly at Tony, throwing her head back to utter an ear-splitting howl.
An invisible wave of telekinesis erupted from her body, sweeping across the area in a massive ring.
The incoming flames instantly reversed and extinguished, while the attacking agents screamed as they were sent flying, either dead or gravely wounded.
“I’ve got this!” Coulson’s face turned pale green.
Raising his gun, he fired a rapid salvo of light-blue energy beams howling through the air.
Sadako’s form shattered like glass, fragmenting into pieces.
Just as Tony breathed a sigh of relief, the black fog inside the station violently surged!