Conner and Don arrived in New Orleans with little fuss, and Don’s contact, John, was waiting at the airport. When Conner first met him, he was quite surprised by how calm and reserved he was. John Constantine was a tall brown haired man that stood little over two inches taller than Conner. He greeted Conner and Don in is native Irish accent.
He then lead Conner to his transportation of choice; a large black van with a strange symbol painted on it. When questioned about it, he simply responded that it was for protection. When he asked from who John would need such protection, Conner got dragged into the conversation he was in now.
“I don’t believe you.” he said flatly while looking out the passenger window.
John shrugged at the response,
“I didn’t think you’d believe me. To be honest, not a lot of people would believe that Jason's that dangerous but he is. Me and him, we go way back. We often clashed over certain issues. I’d often beat him to punch when it came to finding rare artifacts and then he’d lash out at me with a magical assault.”
“Well if you guys are so use to fighting, (and it sounds like you’ve won a few times) why do you need us?” Connor asked still not looking at John. He found the New Orleans scenery to be so fascinating compared to Metropolis.
“Well, you see. Jason has teamed up with someone quite powerful. I stole a talisman from him and he retaliated by reducing my home to ashes. He’s gained a significant power boost and I figured I could use your help in putting him back in his place.”
“But you stole something from him. Has the thought ever occurred to you, that maybe you got what you deserved?”
“Does is it matter? Don wants to fly me all the way to Metropolis city to help you two find a corpse. I’d think that the least you could do was help me restrain my biggest rival until I figure out how to kill- er defeat him.”
Conner sighed. He really had no choice. Don could get hurt, and at this point leaving him alone could only lead to problems. Besides his head was aching too much to protest. Which was strange because it wasn’t aching up until now…..
“Mo chreach!” John yelled. He turned the steering wheel and the car swerved.
“Wha-”
There was a loud crash behind the car. Conner looked out the window behind them and watch as a hail of giant boulders fell from the sky. One sat in a crater where the car had just been. The sudden excitement in the car awoke Don, who had been asleep in the back of van.
“W-what’s going on?!”
“R-rocks! Giant rocks are falling from the sky!” Conner screamed.
John swerved the car down one street and made a hard left down another. He pulled a cigarette out of his coat and lit it. He looked over at Conner and Don’s fear-stricken faces and smiled.
“Weren’t you lads supposed to helping me? I don’t think screaming and panicking will help me much.”
“Well what the heck am I supposed to do?!” Conner yelled back angrily.
John shrugged,
“How about something useful? Have you ever sang a chant?”
Conner shook his head dumbly. Don simply cowered in the back. John dug into his pocket and retrieved a small piece of paper. He then handed it to Conner.
“Read and repeat that phrase while holding hands with Don.”
“I’m not holding hands with Don. Besides, this won’t be enough to save us.”
John tried to speak, but another boulder nearly hit their van. His cigarette fell out of his mouth and rolled under his seat. He swerved again and made another turn down a busy street. Citizens panicked everywhere and ran for cover. John pulled another cigarette and lit it before speaking again.
“Look kid, I fight demons for a living. Do you think I’d make you read it if it wasn’t helpful?” John yelled over the screams of the citizens.
Conner glared and John, and then at Don. He made a mental note to start avoiding Don after he recovered Hank’s body. He looked at the piece of paper and read aloud the phrase.
Hermes hear my cry!
O ye’ god of travel and boundaries,
lend me the speed of your blessed feet.
take me from this torturous scene
and bring me recovery in my own dwelling.
Hail Olympus! Hail Hermes!
Conner giggled despite the dangerous situation.
“You totally took this out of a Dungeons & Dragons manual! This is a joke!”
John turned to Conner and puffed a cloud of smoke into his face.
“Conner, please! This really isn’t the time to argue with John!” Don cried as the van barely dodged another boulder.
Don tried to grab Conner’s hands, but Conner swatted his hands away. Don tried again, but Conner glared at him.
“Conner, c’mon! What’s wrong with you?!”
“I am not holding hands with you and chanting. Tabloids spread enough rumors about you as it is. Do you really need someone to take a picture of us holding hands and chanting while Lucky Charms makes googly eyes at me?”
"Conner this really isn't the time for your raging homophobic problems to emerge!"
John finished his cigarette and the threw the bud of the driver side window. He took a deep breath and then made another turn onto a street with a dead end.
“If you two don’t chant, I’m going to drive this car of the boardwalk down that street.” John stated loudly and calmly.
“You wouldn’t dare-”
John pounded his foot on the gas and the car began to move faster. The sudden jump in speed knocked Conner back and shut him up.
“At this point I could care less about how “gay” it seems. That invocation is going to get us of this mess, and if you don’t chant, I'll kill you before falling boulders do.”
Conner looked at the paper, then at the dead end miles away from them, and then back at John. He sighed and placed his hand on Don’s shoulder.
“Hermes, hear my cry!”
A boulder smashed a car in a parking lot as the van drove past it. John relaxed a little in his seat, but kept his foot hard on the gas pedal.
“O ye’ god of travel and boundaries,”
“lend me the speed of your blessed feet”
Several more boulders tumbled to the ground behind the van. The tacky black car shook violently while John tried to get control of the vehicle.
“Take me from this torturous scene!”
“And bring me recovery in my own dwelling.”
The hail of boulders continued. One boulder nearly caught the van, and dinged its bumper. Don and Conner both jumped and looked out the windows to get a better gaze at the destruction behind them. The dead end was now only yards away. A small fence clearly defined the edge of a long boardwalk at the end of the street. John looked at the two and saw that they were still just gawking at the road behind them.
“You two! Finish it!” he screamed.
“O-oh y-yeah! Um, Hail Olympus!”
“Hail-”
Conner was cut off by the sudden jolt of the car striking the fencing of the boardwalk. It went flying in the air and then began to spin as it plummeted towards the ground. Conner’s ears rang from all the confusing noises resounding around him. His nostrils flared as his head spun. He could feel himself getting ready to puke. His lips twitched as he forced himself to utter the last two words of the chant.
“Hail Hermes!” Conner cried.
The ringing in his ears grew louder as the excitement around him grew to almost insanity inducing levels. His throat burned as a wave of vomit traveled up his stomach and out his mouth. He couldn’t discern John’ attempts to comfort Don from Don’s wild screams. His eyes fluttered as he saw random images of people running around below them, of cigarette boxes flying across the car, and of his luggage flying across the fan. Overwhelmed by all the stimulation, Conner passed out.
The car landed on the street below and rolled for several yards before coming to a screeching halt. A few panicked citizens stopped running around and was brave enough to walk over to the trash heap of metal and bumper that was once a car.
“Do you think anyone in there lived?” one asked another.
