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Quote1 You killed them and you owe them something in return. Their flesh for your name, you bastard! Tell them your name! Quote2
-- John Constantine



Appearing in "Royal Blood (Part II of IV)"

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Locations:

  • Caligula Club

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Synopsis for "Royal Blood (Part II of IV)"

One of the heirs to the throne of Britain has been possessed by a murderous demon, causing him to commit particularly vile acts. This is the result of London's richest and most powerful people meddling in dark magic at the Caligula Club - a place where the unspeakable and extreme is relished and revelled in by those who seek more radical ways of relieving their stress.

Sir Peter Marston has already stolen the police report on the latest murder. He shares the information with John Constantine over breakfast, warning that if he tries to go to the press after all this is sorted, there will be consequences. In the meantime, Marston has gathered three acquaintances of the royal, each of whom is similarly debaucherous in comparison to the Caligula's other clientele. They claim to have had no direct involvement in the black ritual that resulted in the demon's coming, and eventual possession of their friend. In any case, John warns them that they will be needed later.

As he leaves, John is stopped in the hallway and invited to speak to a certain someone. His host is obviously the killer's younger brother, and next in line for the throne. Between snorts of cocaine, the prince explains that he would like John to mess up his effort to stop the killing such that the elder prince dies, placing himself one step closer to the crown. If only to show his host where he stands, John uses sleight of hand to replace the prince's next snort of cocaine with the ashes of his uncle from an urn. John refuses the prince's offer, and moves on. Before leaving the club, John pops in on Marston, and requires that he acquire some certain items for the meeting that night.

Elsewhere, the possessed prince has just killed again. He feels that if he could just remember who he was, he could break free of the demon's influence. Sensing the prince's rebellion, the demon forces him to kill again.

John manages to escape tails from both Marston and the younger prince's people, and heads back to Kit's flat. She returns home from work to pick up her portfolio, hoping to impress an American publisher with a jacket illustration of hers. She asks what he is working on, and he admits that it is nasty business. She urges him not to bring any of the nastiness home with him, and he playfully tosses the papers away. Kit responds that she's thought about their recent talk, and has decided already that she wouldn't mind if he came to live with her permanently. Jokingly, she suggests that becoming domesticated would ruin his cool image, only to shatter the idea completely by revealing that she has done a sketch of him in bed, proving that he looks cute while he sleeps.

Afterwards, John visits his old acquaintance Nigel Archer a politically radical medium. Despite Nigel's protests, John convinces him to lead a séance later that night.

Gathering together the corrupt aristocrats, John marvels at their treating the situation like a political scandal. They ignore the fact that there is a murderous demon on the loose, regardless of who it possesses. He leads them to the séance room, where Marston has retrieved the corpses of three of the demon's victims. With Nigel's help, they will draw the victims' spirits out and use the friends' presence to draw the demon's attention.

With the séance well under way, the spirits are not pleased to be called on. Their return, though, is enough to catch the demon's attention. When the demon appears, John accuses it of being out of its jurisdiction; punishing the innocent. The demon responds that it is was called. John points out that in taking its victims' lives, the demon owes them something. Having learned his lesson at Newcastle, John demands the demon's name in exchange. The demon tells the spirits its names, and Nigel struggles to hold them in place while John tries to ask them what they were told. The spirits give the name Calibraxis, and they further hint that the demon had also possessed Jack the Ripper years ago.

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