Batman stood beside the Batmobile, rapidly working the control panel on his armor. With a low pneumatic hiss and the soft clatter of folding machinery, the Exoskeleton specially designed for Hell detached from his body. Like a giant metal bat folding its wings, it was precisely stowed by mechanical arms inside the Batmobile's expanded cargo compartment.
He glanced at the two men caught in their awkward standoff and clenched his fists. In the end, he could not bring himself to leave Constantine alone in Hell.
"Ha!"
Etrigan, who had been watching coldly, spread his wings and took flight. "Fools. Do you think he would die if he stayed here?"
Deep in Hell, lava erupted toward the sky. Atop a peak formed from churning, merging magma, the First of the Fallen glowered at an image condensed from sulfurous smoke before him. It showed Li Jie and the others escaping Nergal's vault through Raven's portal.
"A farce."
The First of the Fallen had already resumed his true form here, long horns crowning his enormous head. His voice gave a muffled, bubbling rumble like boiling molten iron. "Nergal, that miser, was made a fool of in his own vault by a pack of mortals, a half-demon girl, and a curse-ridden knight. He lost his collection, and worse, his dignity."
He paused, lightly tapping the armrest of his throne as he looked at the other two.
"Nergal is of no consequence. But letting them pass through our domains so easily, as though no one were here, then stroll away with their spoils?"
"This undermines Hell's dignity, especially..."
His gaze swept across a close-up of the brand on the back of Li Jie's hand in the smoke. "Especially that policeman. He should have been a collectible ripe for the taking. Instead, he has become