In a cramped, dark hotel on the far side of some unknown planetary satellite in Centaurus, Constantine lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
He held a sheet of paper in his hand—more precisely, a Wanted Poster. It was covered in worm-like alien writing, but that did not hinder reading, because Doctor Strange's portrait was printed right in the center.
"Looks like he succeeded. Fine by me. Saves me another trip," Constantine said indistinctly around his cigarette. "But that guy should look exactly like this universe's Sorcerer Supreme. Who the hell had the nerve to put out a Wanted Poster for the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"Isn't this a coincidence? Thanos, an important official of the Interstellar Security Council, recently reclaimed his legitimate territory."
Constantine turned toward the figure in the corner. The other man wore a suit and tie, looking every bit like a human elite, but his goat hooves and horns gave away his identity.
"Thanos..." Constantine murmured the name. He sat at the table, propping his head up with one finger as he searched for something on the old terminal in his hand.
"So that's how it is." Constantine looked at the information displayed on it. "That guy has probably never given up on Earth. Now that he finally has a chance to damage the Sorcerer Supreme's reputation, he must be itching to act."
"What are you going to do?"
"Take a look at the crime scene first."
Constantine stood up.
The Collector lived within the stellar system of Cygnus X-1. That star was a compact object—a black hole. What made this black hole special was that it constantly spun at 95% the speed of light. It was also the fastest-spinning black hole humanity had discovered so far.
However, X-1 was still a binary star system.