Spoilers for Season 5, episode 19, Hammer of the Gods.
I do not own Supernatural. But thats kinda obvious . . .
I really hope you enjoy this, I'm planning for there to be 14 chapters. There might be more, might be less, but thats the plan for now.
Sam and Dean were simply relaxing. Just lazily laying on some crap, old, mysteriously stained motel beds. To an outsider, this would seem perfectly normal. Two brothers just taking some time off for a well-deserved break. But to anyone who actually knew the Winchesters, this was just plain wrong. Fighting the supernatural? Normal. Stealing credit card information? Normal. Pretending to be F.B.I agents, or police, or writers, or college students, or even teddy bear doctors on the occasional thursday? Perfectly normal. But downtime? Hell no. They were hunters, downtime was never in the cards. But apparently god or fate or some other crap mystical being realized that the natural order was out of whack, and went to fix that.
" Hey Dean, get this, I think I found a case." The Winchester in question looked over to his little brother who was currently typing away at his precious laptop.
" Oh finally! Lay it one me Sam, what do I get to burn and or stab this time?" Dean seemed like a child on Christmas morning. Well he would, if those presents were actually everything that went bump in the night and he got to send each and everyone of them down to where the sun don't shine. Sam also saw his brothers weird excitement about a possible hunt and laughed.
" Don't get happy to quickly. I'm not sure you'll like this one." Sam replied
"It's witches isn't it? Or shifters? God damn I swear if they frame me for murder one more fucking time I'm gonna rip their . . ."
" No, Dean, it's not witches or shifters," Sam sighed and turned his laptop so it was facing Dean, " Just look here, in this town, Hermosa Illinois, theres been an abnormal murder."
Dean sat up from his laying position on the bed and took a swig of beer, " Abnormal murder?
Hm, just our type. So what are dealing with?"
" Well it says here that a sixty-three old man was found murdered in his workshop. All windows and doors locked."
" Ok, so let me guess, police have no idea how grandpa met his maker?" Dean says, his voice showing just how incompetent he thought the police truly were.
Sam sighed and continued to type away at the keyboard, "All their saying now is that he was stabbed to death with some sort of wooden object and that one of the guys puppets is now missing."
Glancing over at his brother, Sam saw that Dean was now furiously scowling at the peeling, zebra print wallpaper. His hand clutching at the beer bottle just a tad bit to tightly to be normal. For a few seconds Sam just stared at his brother, wondering what the sudden change in mood was all about. Then it hit him. And he couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his face. " Hm, interesting. I didn't know puppets still freaked you out?"
At the mention of this, Dean turned his glare from the tacky wallpaper onto Sam, " Well at least I'm not afraid of some guy in face paint and a colorful wig!" Usually the mention of the dreaded clown would make the taller Winchester go pale, but apparently he was to focused on Deans fear of puppets to care.
" So, what if you were on a plane filled with puppets, would you piss yourself or have a panic attack?" This scenario was just to funny to Sam and he began uncontrollably laughing, even having to set down his laptop to prevent its destruction. However this was not funny in the slightest to Dean, who snatched up Sam's computer from where he placed it.
" And if I hit you in your ugly face with your own laptop would the laptop break, or would your nose?" Dean snarled at Sam.
Sam composed himself and sat up on the bed, " Jerk."
"Bitch." After that little debacle, they got back to work, looking over any other unexplained deaths in the area. What they found was disappointing, well at least to them, to the unsuspecting townspeople of Hermosa it was great. They were no other weird murders or robberies. Except for a string of candy stores which were ransacked in the night, but these seemed to be committed by a five-year-olds, for no money was stolen, just a crap load of sweets.
After two hours of research, both Winchesters were just about to give up, " You know Dean, maybe I was wrong. Maybe this isn't our type of case." Sam sighed, they could always actually drive out to the little town near Chicago to make sure, but it seemed pointless.
"Even though I hate to admit it, you might be right. It seems like the only thing this town has going for it is that Walt Disney grew up here . . ." Dean said.
" Wait what?!" Sam nearly sprinted over to the computer and snatched it up out from Dean's hands.
Dean looked up at his brother like he had just gone straight off the deep end, " You know, if I had known you were such a Disney fan, I would have taken you to DisneyWorld, well actually I probably would have snuck you in but . . ."
" Dean. Shut up." Usually this would have called for a witty remark, but the brains of the team was obviously on to something, so Dean actually did stop talking " Look at this, the old man made puppets and marionettes for a living, and he was stabbed with something wooden. Dean, the puppet isn't just missing, the puppet killed him!" If Sam noticed the shudder that ran through Dean, he pretended not to notice. "And this puppet murder just happens to be in the town Walt Disney himself grew up in. It all makes sense!" Sam spoke rapidly, all the while furiously pacing back in forth through the tiny room.
"Ok, Sherlock, you wanna clue me in on whats going on, because all I see is freaking Chucky on strings!"
" Just think, have you ever heard of Pinocchio? The story where the old man makes a puppet and it comes to life."
"Look I know the story! Are you saying, what, Walt Disney's spirit is going on a killing spree through his old hometown and using his characters to do it?"
Sam stopped his pacing and now it was his turn to look at Dean like he was crazy, " No, no. What I think, is that we have a trickster on our hands." Tricksters. Even though they had never technically met one (Gabriel didn't count), both Winchesters already hated them with a passion.
" Great. Just fucking super. I think I'd rather deal with shifters, or witches. Or shifter-witches for that matter! Just not a trickster!" Dean said, rubbing the bridge of his nose to counteract the headache that was sure to come. If real tricksters were anything like the prankster Archangel they encountered, this was not going to be a fun job.
"Yeah, a trickster. It only really clicked when I added in the candy robberies, it's probably trying to satisfy its sweet-tooth. Also, how much do you wanna bet that if we looked more into the victim, we would find that he was a compulsive liar?" Dean didn't even bother to reply. His brother was probably right. Everything just fit. The candy, the ironic death, everything.
" Well the only thing to do now is to go over to Old Disney's hometown and shish kabob us a trickster." Dean said with a smile. If he only knew what lie in store for them, he would have most certainly not been smiling.
" Thank you officer, that will be all." Sam or Agent Tankian said. They had just viewed the crime scene. Well he had. As soon as Dean had seen that the workshop was filled with puppets hanging from the ceiling, some even covered in blood, the supposedly tuff hunter had bolted and said he would take researching duty for this case. What Sam had seen was exactly what he had expected, candy wrappers were strewn around the crime scene in various places. It was definitely a trickster, now they just had to find it, hopefully before it struck again. He got out his phone and flipped it open, texting Dean that he would meet him back at whatever shabby motel they had decided on this time around.
Fifteen minutes later, he was at said shabby motel, only barley beating Dean back. So now both hunters were painfully going through different articles online and police reports to find out who in this town could possibly be an immortal being. " You know I was thinking . . ." Sam looked up from the report at Dean, " Maybe this isn't a trickster." Dean said, voice low, as if he was telling a secret.
Sam slightly laughed, " Really, it's not a trickster? Then please do to tell me what other creature kills people ironically while scarfing down sweets?"
Now Dean was just getting annoyed, so he raised his voice just a tad, " Look I'm just saying . . . what if, just maybe, its not a trickster and Gabriel's back."
" I can assure you, Gabriel is still dead." A rough familiar voice said from behind them.
" What the hell!" Dean yelled as he quickly stood up and turned around only to come face to face with a certain trench coat wearing angel. " Dammit Cas, If you don't stop popping up like that I'm going tie a freaking bell around your neck!"
Castiel only did a quizzical head tilt, " Dean, while it would allow you be aware of my presence as soon as I came into a room, our enemies would also be able to hear it ringing, eliminating any future chances of surprise attacks."
" Look Cas, I'm pretty sure Dean was joking about the bell. So what were saying about Gabriel?" Sam said walking towards the angel.
"Ah, yes, your presumption that Gabriel is not only alive but in this town is wrong." Castiel said, turning away from the Winchesters, "When Lucifer stabbed him, he would have made sure that he was dead. He would not have been fooled by any of Gabriel's tricks. Also if he was really alive, he would have made his presence known by now." All the while Cas was explaining to them why this wasn't Gabriel's doing, Dean noticed that he seemed sad. It was just minute things, like the way his shoulders sagged just a tiny bit, or how his usually vibrant blue eyes seemed cloudy and distant, not like he paid attention to Castiel's eyes or anything. Nope. Never. But all the same the angel was sad about his brothers death. They had never seen the two angels interact, but dean knew that once up in heaven, they were obviously close. Dean still remembered when they had told Cas that Gabriel had been killed by Lucifer. He just kinda looked at him for a few seconds, his eyes just starring into Dean's and angel-poofed out of their motel room without saying a word. After that, they didn't see their angel for two weeks. And when he did come back, he just acted like it never happened and that he was fine. But Dean knew he was far from fine.
But this was no time to ponder over his angels, nope he did not mean his, he meant the angel. Definitely the angel. Castiel was not his. Anyway, the angels lack of emotion. Archangel or not, they had to stop this thing. " Ok, so its not Gabriel, do you know where this thing is then?" Dean said, pushing any previous thoughts from his mind.
"Actually yes I do, there is a abandoned shoe factory in town. I believe that is where we will find the trickster." Cas said, sadness leaving his eyes.
"Wait, we? Do you mean you're going to help us stake it?" Sam asked.
Castiel now turned to face the younger Winchester, " Yes. Even though your last encounters were not with a trickster, you will face the same sort of tricks. Seeing as I could not help you previously, I wish to aid you now and ensure neither of you die."
Both Sam and Dean thanked him for his help and started to pack, each taking two sharpened stakes. Seeing that the Winchesters were both ready, Castiel reached out to touch their foreheads. Only for both of them to take a few steps back to avoid his fingers. " Whoa Cas, we want to stop the trickster, not our bowel movements!" Dean said, ignoring the angels slight frown, " We'll be taking the Impala, you wanna ride or you just going to, I don't know, fly there . . ."
" I think I will ride with you Dean, thank you for the offer." Dean smiled at Cas, but stopped when he saw Sam looking at the two of them and smiling like he understood a joke while everyone just sat there puzzled. Well whatever the moose was smiling about, Dean couldn't be bothered to find out at that time, so the three just got in the Impala and drove to the factory.
When they arrived it was like every other abandoned factory that they had been to. Broken windows, beer bottles and cigarettes more common then grass, graffiti snaking its way along every possible surface. Monster paradise. They didn't know what is was, but monsters seemed to hide out in abandoned factories as much as the Winchesters took residence in cheap ass motel rooms. Dean, Sam and Castiel all snuck up towards the broken building and stopped at one of the metal doors. When they kicked it open each was fully prepared for anything, Sam was half-expecting to end up at Willy Wonkas Candy factory. But shining their flashlights inside, they found what any normal person would expect, a trashed up factory.
"Cas, are you sure the tricksters here? Usually by now theres some extravagant show of power or something." Sam said, not sure wether to be disappointed that the factory was empty or relieved.
Then from the shadows a figure emerged on top of one of the machines "Oh, no, I'm here alright." Three flashlights immediately swiveled to the trickster. It was a guy, skin extremely tanned with dark black hand running down to his shoulders. He was extremely muscular and looked of Native American descent. But his most prominent feature were his gleaming yellow eyes. " You know, it was so easy to lure you to his town, honestly it was a bit too easy, and with your angel friend here all I had to do was be a tad sloppy on cleaning up my trail, and poof here you are!" The trickster said with a annoying smirk.
Dean stepped forward, making sure that his gun was pointed on the guy the entire time. It wouldn't do much, but Dean was really hoping that it would at least sting like a bitch if it came down to it, " Well, were here now, so if your not gonna monologue or anything, were just going to stake your sorry ass and be on our way."
" I would love to see you try. Because its really quite hard to, what was it, 'stake my sorry ass' when you my boy, don't even have a stake." The next few seconds were filled cursing as all three of them realized that they were now defenseless against the trickster. So it was now time to do what they did best. Stall.
Sam was up first to try and distract the being, " So which one are you, there are tricksters in almost every culture and religion. So where are you from?"
The trickster just smiled, " You're quite smart, you might have heard of me. I am from Native American folk-lore. They called me the Coyote."
" You mean like they cartoon thing that tries to catch the roadrunner using dynamite and shit?" Dean asked, trying to get an reaction out of the creature.
"Dean, I highly doubt that he would ever bother himself with trying to catch a desert animal with explosives. This is a very powerful being." Castiel said, taking what the Winchesters said just a tad bit to seriously.
" Yes, if I truly wished, I could kill each and every roadrunner in america with a snap of my fingers. But I wont, besides I was always more into disney movies than looney tunes anyway." The Coyote causally replied.
" Yeah, we saw. The puppet killing its creator was a very Tim Burton like adaptation of Pinocchio, don't you think?" Sam said, not showing a hint of fear talking to the trickster.
" Oh yes, you should have seen the old fools face when his puppet came to life and stabbed him, it was classic." While talking he reached into his pocket and grabbed a candy bar and began to happily munch on it, all the while the two hunters and the angel just stood there, not quite sure what to do. Now done with his candy bar the trickster looked back at the three of them, " But you know, I shouldn't take all the credit, I did learn from the best. I think you knew him, guy called Loki, you heard of him?"
Dean looked over to Castiel, who was now clenching his fists, knuckles white. " That was not his name. His name was Gabriel, he was an Archangel." This statement apparently didn't faze the being, as he simply popped out another candy bar.
" I am aware of that fact, and even though I am a little hurt I didn't figure it out, its still quite impressive. He managed to trick the gods for hundreds of years. And he would have continued to, if it hadn't been for you two!" The coyote said, pointing to the Winchesters, " You just had to go and get the best trickster this world has ever seen killed!"
" Look sir," Dean shot Sam a look, when did they get desperate enough to call a monster sir? " We feel terrible about Gabriel's death, but he faced against his brother of his own free-will. And . ." Sam would have continued but the trickster quickly interrupted.
" Blah, blah blah, blah. I don't care that it was really the devil who killed him. Its still your fault, and rumor has, it was you who released Lucifer in the first place! So either way its your fault."
Castiel had been quiet for a while now, but he decided it was time to intervene, " Coyote, the Winchesters are not at fault for the death of my brother. I hold no ill-will towards either of them and neither should you."
Dean was actually really quite happy to hear him say that, he had been actually quite worried that Cas blamed them for the Archangels death. And honestly he absolutely hated the idea of Castiel being angry at them.
The Coyote just silently and slowly nodded his head towards the angel, " You know what, thats an excellent point maybe I'll . . ." Then, without warning, the trickster snapped his fingers and Castiel disappeared. Both Sam and Dean stared at the spot where Castiel had just been standing a mere second ago, both in shock. Dean however, was the first to snap out of it.
He stalked over to the base of the machine that the douchebag was perched on top of and began to yell, " Where the fuck did you just send him?! Bring him back right now before I climb up there and just tear your heart out you fucker!" Even though Dean couldn't carry out this particular threat, Sam saw the look in Deans eyes, that look was usually followed by some serious ass-kicking.
"Oh don't worry, you'll be with him in a second. See, when I saw what Loki or Gabriel as you say, had done to you two, I was astounded. The amount of creativity put into the tricks. It was beautiful."
"Well if your done having a freaking boner over the dude, give us back our weapons and our friend so we can actually fight. Unless your scared." Yes Dean knew it was the old schoolyard tactic of basically calling your opponent a chicken, but it usually worked. Except this time.
" Thats not going to happen." He said smiling and quickly changing the topic " So, you've probably heard the saying, 'imitation is the most sincere form of flattery'. Well I believe that to be true and since I truly admired Gabriel, I've decided that the perfect way to honor his memory is go back and do an adaptation of his best trick."
Sam looked up at The Coyote, he had a terrible feeling about this, not like he didn't have a terrible feeling ever since they met this trickster, but the feeling had just gotten worse, " So whats this adaptation of yours?" He said reaching down to put his hand on a gun that wasn't even there. Dammit.
And with once last smirk the trickster just simply looked down on the two, " Your about to find out." Then he just snapped his fingers, and Sam and Dean disappeared.
Thanks for Reading!
