CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

A small group of people were huddled, frightened, in the restaurant, Biggerson's, utility closet. Maddie had a hunch there would be people trying to find anywhere out of harm's way. Her hunch proved to be correct when Mary opened the wooden door. A man – manager by the look of his beige slacks and blue polo shirt - stood protectively in front of the trembling group of men and women. He held aloft a broken mop handle. A young child, buried in his mother's arms, whimpered at the two darken silhouettes who entered the room.

"Come any closer and I'll take your freaking head off," the man said.

"Anyone injured?" Mary announced.

"Are you…are you…a person?" a woman with long, dark curly hair asked, her voice shaking.

"Eh…I'm mostly human," Mary quipped. "If everyone can walk, let's move!"

"We're not going anywhere lady!" the manager snapped, raising his broken broom handle. "It's much safer in here. We're going to ride it out."

Mary eyed the man in annoyance. "No you're not. Now shut your pie-hole and let's go. I've got a ride waiting to haul you folks out of here."

She turned around in the door. Suddenly an arachnid fiend with a hairy face, a mouth of razor sharp teeth, and eight hairy legs dropped its head from the top of the doorway. It released an ear-splitting screech which elicited screams of terror from the group on the floor. Without a beat, Mary pumped a round of buckshot into its face. The monster fell to the ground and both Mary and Maddie shot it until it was nothing more than a pile of green slush.

Mary returned her attention to the group. "Come on! Move it!"

The group jumped up and filed in line. The manager flung his arm out, forcing them to halt in their tracks. "No! No way! We're not going out there with those things!"

With a 'no nonsense' expression, Mary casually strolled up to the manager and buried the end of her shotgun into his face. He jolted at the hit falling onto a knee. He peered up at her, holding his bleeding lip. Mary faced the rest of the group. "Anyone else?"

Maddie gently took the manager's arm and led him to his feet. They all ran out of the closet after Mary who took the front. As with the last three groups of people they found, Maddie took up the rear. "Single file. Stick together!" she instructed scanning the area for other gut-slashing fiends.

They left out of one of the broken windows on the backside of the restaurant that led to one of the streets. The battle still raged on a block to the East. The coppery scent of blood and the rotten stench of sulphur pilfered the streets, so ripe Maddie could taste it. They ran fast towards Birch Street where a silver Dodge pickup waited at the corner of the liquor store.

There were two men waiting at the truck. One was Gavin, a local boy just home from deployment in the Army. He stood in the back of the pickup with his AR-15 poised and ready to kill. The other was his brother Rusty who sat anxiously behind the wheel. They were the pickup crew carrying people out and into the next town. They completed at least three runs with Mary and Maddie prior to this pickup. It was about a fifteen minute round trip which gave the girls ten minutes to find the next group of survivors.

Mary raised her hands in the air upon the clearing. She said, "The state capitol of Iowa is Des Moines."

She passed the test. Gavin in the back lowered his weapon. "Glad you found some more. Come on guys, jump up in here. We're getting you out!" He helped hoist the ten or so people into the back. They worked quickly to squeeze them all in the flat bed. "Now sit and hang on tight. We're getting out of here fast!"

He called to Mary, "Mary? The Guard has sent a convoy up to check things out. I've been trying to get through to them to warn em'."

"It's whatever's opening that damn portal. It's scrambling up all the frequencies – even my radio is starting to act up. You get going! We'll find the convoy."

"Roger that. And Mary? The next state is Michigan."

"Understood. See you on the next run. If I'm not back in ten minutes –"

"10-4, we're hauling ass with as many as we can find!" The truck sped off with the frightened people, picking up speed until the red taillights were faint.

They heard the sound of a low rumble drifting in from the street over. Mary recognized it was coming from a couple of Hummer Cruisers. The convoy must have arrived. "Come on," Mary patted Maddie's arm. "This way!"

After she disappeared from the souvenir shop, Stella the demon, found herself appearing onto a couple of streets over from where the battle took place. This puzzled her. Her skill of teleportation should have taken her far, far away from here. It was perhaps the constant energy she used earlier in the day to communicate with the Winchesters that incapacitated her ability to travel far. Loud explosions echoed in the background forcing a pep in her step. She began to run along the asphalt as fast she could in her high heeled boots.

The wind picked up and she caught the scent of mangy fur. She skidded to a stop on the asphalt street. Her hell hound, Condor, stood on all fours in front of her. "Condor?"

The hound did not respond. He had an orange glow in his usually black eyes, and his paws stretched as though he were prepared to pounce.

Stella grew afraid. Her hound appeared to be subjugated by a powerful spell, perhaps due to the effect of the eclipse, or Azazel himself. "Condor, boy. It's me." She carefully took a step back. If he was truly under the effect of the eclipse, under Azazel's control, she was no match for him. Her only chance was to try and outrun him, especially in her weakened state.

The hound growled and flashed a jaw of razor sharp teeth.

"Shit!" Stella sprinted off. The hound immediately leapt after her, barking like mad. She hopped on a row of parked cars, fleeting over them as if she were hopping on clouds. The hound ran after her, its weight crushing in the tops of the cars in its wake. She combat rolled back onto the street and ran.

The barking had stopped and she only looked back to see where her hound was. He was no longer chasing her, no longer visible. She paused, allowing her vessel to catch its breath. She spun around searching frantically for her previous pet. It was nowhere to be seen…until something the weight of a baby elephant slammed into her.

Her hound snarled viciously overpowering her. She screamed as it bit into her ankle and began to drag her away at an alarming speed. She knew where he was taking her to. They were heading back towards the battle…back to Azazel.

Four military Mega Cruisers drove up Main Street. The first vehicle stopped about two blocks from where the main part of the battle occurred. The insignia on the side said they were part of the Kansas City 138th Brigade. At least five soldiers from each vehicle jumped from the back, quickly taking post behind disabled vehicles, each with a Colt M4 Carbine assault rifle. A uniformed officer with a bloody temple ran towards the first Cruiser. He met with the Sergeant who exited the passenger seat.

"Sergeant Pepper! Glad you're here." He yelled over the volume of screeches, explosions, and howling that echoed from the square.

The Sergeant was a tall, Hispanic man with a toned face. He took a quick gander at the fighting crowd. "What's the status Captain?"

"It ain't nothing I've seen before sir. There are people in there, but they're not really people. They can do things I've only seen in the movies sir."

"I don't follow," The Sergeant answered. "We've got MEDEVAC in the air. They're going to survey the scene. Our goal on the ground is to quell the riot. We'll need your full cooperation."

"You're not listening to me!" The police Captain hollered. "Guns won't work here. These people…they're not human!"

"Okay," the Sergeant said, unfazed by the man's hysterics, "Take it easy. Right now we're going to do a status check. We've got more waiting for the call to come. Go with my men here."

Two soldiers escorted the man to the last cruiser and placed him in the back of the vehicle.

"STOP!"

Mary and Maddie ran up to the convoy. The soldiers tensed at the shotguns they carried. The Sergeant held up his hand signaling to hold fire. Mary skidded to a halt in front of the head soldier. "You need to get your men out of here."

"What?" The Sergeant was confused. "We can't do that ma'am. We need you to evacuate."

A Mi-17 helicopter flew overhead towards the Square, its spotlight illuminating the fighting horde down below. Mary pointed up at the chopper and yelled, "Tell them to abort. The masses will bring them down."

It was obvious the Sergeant hadn't believed her. He grabbed onto her elbow with a firm grip. "Both of you need to come with my lieutenant now."

Mary yanked her elbow back. "This is not some type of domestic terrorism. You won't understand what is happening here. Get your men and haul ass or you will all die!" She knew it was futile. These were militarized men who were trained to run in when everyone else ran out.

"Enough of this. Let's go."

The ground quaked beneath their feet. A torrent of demon souls streamed from behind the tall apartment complex. It rammed into the chopper, ripping off the back end and tail rotor. The chopper spun rapidly losing control. It nosedived towards the ground, exploding upon impact and sliding along the rubble strewn road. The demon cloud swirled upwards once more and descended towards the ground, heading straight for the soldiers.

There was barely a second to react. Mary leapt on top of Maddie and forced them both to the ground as the cloud swept through the group pummeling into the military soldiers. It soon passed upward into the sky leaving residual black, inky air. Mary and Maddie uncovered their heads and looked up. The soldiers all stirred on the ground, rising up slowly. Sergeant Pepper turned towards the girls revealing black sinister eyes. The rest of his soldiers all revealed the black eyes of the demon souls possessing them.

Mary cursed. "Go! Go!" she pushed the young woman up to her feet. They ran hunched, finding cover, as the demon soldiers began to empty their magazines.

Sergeant Pepper signaled to his soldiers to run in after the girls towards the combat zone. He pulled out his radio and said, "Sir, it's Pepper."

"Status check. Go ahead," the voice over the radio replied.

"Hostiles have taken the area. We're going to need a bomber."

Everywhere Azazel turned, hunters charged towards him. It was fun making them fly the first few times, but with the fresh new wave, he was beginning to feel frustrated. He needed to find the angel hybrid. He could smell her scent lurking nearby. The portal grew another few feet, the eclipse waning fast. There wasn't much time left and he needed to find the Grace fast.

His attention was captured by a strange magnetic glow. It was coming from an object held by the archangel Michael. Looking closer, he saw it was the Key: the dagger was pulsing with a soft red glow. If he had a heart, he would say it had leapt for joy. The archangel had completed the Key. He watched in anticipation as Michael approached a hairy, four-legged beast who was snacking on a hunter. The first sacrifice. His anticipation soared, waiting to see if it fact this would work. Michael worked swift, stabbing the creature in the heart. The beast froze and soon a red light expelled from its eyes, mouth, and ears. A roar escaped from the portal releasing a halo of red light. Azazel sighed with relief. That was the first of four locks to open on the cage. Finally, the battle between his master and his enemy will be wrought soon.

The psychic Celia scurried up to him, with a bruised cheek and puffy lip. She was crying. "I need help!" She pleaded, "They're too strong!"

The Demon pushed her away. "Get out there. Fight for your master. Die if you must."

"I c-can't," Celia's voice trembled. "There's too many of them."

Annoyed, the demon grabbed ahold of her and snapped her neck. "I told you before – I can make you and I can break you." He stepped over her prone body and towards the portal. He will needed there very soon.

The demons were gaining on them. Mary pumped round after round attempting to push back the swarm of demonized soldiers. Maddie ducked behind the rear of a Honda CRV with Mary taking cover behind a large, cement column in front of a local shop. The soldiers shot rapidly at their human enemies. Sparks shot up from the Honda's hood and side panels, the windows shattering. A projectile came close to Maddie's face and she yelped in shock.

"Stay down!" Mary ordered. She let off a shot striking a demon soldier in the face. The soldiers ran in showering the area with bullets. Mary looked around for a possible exit. She cursed when she realized there was nowhere to go. The demons came around the vehicle surrounding them. She grit her teeth, ready for the last stand if need be.

Her husband's voice suddenly came through to her radio. "Hey honey," John began. "It's about to rain. Do me a solid and duck!"

At the instruction, Mary grabbed Maddie and forced her to the ground again in time for a water grenade to explode in front of them, covering half of the soldiers in blessed water. The men sunk to their knees crying out in agony at the massive amounts of steam drifting off their heads. A second grenade was thrown knocking the next few down. Seconds later, a powerful gush of water barreled through, hitting the few soldiers left standing forcing them back. John stood on top of a firetruck with a hose driving the blessed water over the squad of demonic soldiers. The hose was hooked up to a fire hydrant, using the blessed water from the town's water supply. It was a sight that made Mary fall in love with her husband all over again.

The vast majority of demons left their hosts, unable to manage the hit of the holy aqua, clouding the sky above. The soldiers all dropped to the ground unconscious.

John turned off the hose and jumped down. Mary ran over and gave him a big kiss. "Good timing darling." She turned to the fellow hunters standing by. "Start grabbing folks. There's a truck waiting the next street over. Take their weapons. We can use em'."

"You heard her, let's go!" John yelled to his men. They all ran forward: some collecting the soldiers Carbines; others picking up the men and stashing them in the back of a pickup truck, hauling them out of the area.

Maddie grabbed a new weapon from one of the fallen soldiers. Her shotgun had run out its use as she was all out of shells. She pulled out its cartridge to check its inventory. It had half a cartridge. She grabbed a second cartridge from the soldiers back pocket for backup.

Suddenly she felt an icy shiver run down her spine. She knew this feeling all too well: the one where Bobby Singer would come down to visit and ride her ass like a pony.

"No! Not this time Uncle Blue!" She shouted out loud. "I do not give consent. I need to stay focused out here."

"It's fine kid," she heard his voice in the back of her head. "I only wanted to come down and tell you that Sam and Dean need your help right now. They're not far. Just a block up ahead and swing a right."

"Okay, I'm on it."

"And Maddie?"

"Yeah?"

"This will be the last time you and I talk or I have to use you again. Your mom and dad are here with me. They're really proud of you. We all are."

Maddie felt tears well up in her eyes. "I don't know what to tell them."

"You don't need to say anything. They already know. Now get going. Take care of yourself honey…and give that idjit Dean a good kick in the pants for me, will ya?"

She smiled. "Will do Uncle Blue. I'll see you again."

"Bring me a bottle of Scotch when you do."

The link to the dead hotline ended and she took off running in the direction Bobby told her. Sam and Dean were in trouble. Hopefully, she'll get there in time.

Unbeknownst to the group, the demon who left Sergeant Pepper only moments before flew to the nearby Air National Guard basecamp. Since its original request for a bomber was vehemently denied, it developed a new plan. The squadron was prepping a C-130 Hercules model aircraft for deployment overseas. The demon flew in through the back of the open hatch and immediately possessed the pilot. In the new body, the pilot began activating the switchboard for immediate departure.

The co-pilot turned to his partner confused. "We're not clear for take-off."

"We are now," the pilot replied, pressing the button to close the hatch.

"We haven't been given the order."

"Doesn't matter." The demon raised the pilot's Beretta handgun and shot the co-pilot in the head.

Several commands over voice control echoed in the vessel's headset ordering a cease and desist. The demon took off the headset, jamming the signal. The aircraft sped forward and departed into the air easily. He flipped the switch arming the bomb missile.

Michael casually strolled up to an unsuspecting hunter who was busy with a werewolf. He snapped his fingers and the werewolf exploded into a thousand parts. The rugged hunter gaped, confused. He turned around and found himself impaled onto Michael's outstretched dagger. He jerked surprised as a monstrously hot heat bore through his body.

The archangel said to the human, "So sorry, but you'll have to do."

The hunter went limp succumbing to the red light. A second roar from the portal echoed through the clearing producing another flash of red light. The second lock has opened. The ground trembled once more.

A strange noise drew his attention from behind. A horridly dirty dog was dragging a woman towards him. This must be the mutt Azazel placed under his spell, and he was bringing to him the Crossroads Demon that made a deal with Dean Winchester and assisted him at Cold Oak. Azazel pegged her as the demon sacrifice to serve as a lesson to all his demon subjugates and to the Winchesters. The woman whimpered in despair at the sight of the bloody dagger in his hand. She wrestled her ankle out of the hound's mouth and ran.

She didn't get far. Michael appeared in front of her forcing her to run in the opposite direction. He blocked her path once more, raising the dagger. The demon uttered an instant spell that enshrouded his sight with black smoke. She stumbled backward attempting to escape. The hellhound impeded her attempt to run encircling her. She pleaded with the hound to let her go. When the hound ignored her cries, she began shooting small spells at the hound, the spells thrashing the skin and coating its fur in black blood. It had little to no effect.

Michael suddenly appeared in front of her and drove the dagger into her stomach. The vessel's dark brown eyes flashed the demon's color of scarlet red. She drove her fingernails into his hand as her body bucked with the encumbering red light.

Dean fought against a large drove of hyena-like creatures the size of a miniature horse. They had hairless bodies, an overly proportioned head, and a large set of canines similar to a Sabertooth tiger. He and Sam were working hard to get through the masses of different creatures in order to find Michael, or better yet, the Yellow-eyed demon. It seemed that every other minute, a new, even creepier looking fiend escaped from the hole blocking their path. Sam was wrestling with a new set of demons a few yards away. He had been exorcising demons non-stop for the past ten minutes. Dean was amazed at his brother's abilities…and very scared. He prayed that his brother wouldn't change for the worse. He wouldn't be able to bear it if he had to end his brother because Sam chose to use his powers for good.

He just blew away one of the hyenas when he felt it. A sharp, searing pain ripped through his gut taking away his breath. He pressed his stomach and felt a large amount of blood seep through his shirt, his hand coming away bloody. He then realized Stella must have been hurt. Damn bitch was good on her word! An infernal heat soared from the wound, rushing throughout his whole body. His body bucked as a numbing sensation followed abruptly after the heat. His gun slipped from his hand clattering on the ground below.

Less than a minute later, Sam finished exorcising the demons. His power was growing stronger. His fingers itching to use more. The souls from the latest batch of demons hadn't been sent back to the bottom pit of Hell. No, they were decimated, destroyed, gone for good. Where? He didn't know the answer …only that they would never return to this plain.

The lack of gunfire disturbed him. He turned around and saw Dean was shaking and was pale as a ghost. "Dean, you alright?"

Dean shakily whispered "Sammy" before his knees buckled and he fell onto his side.

"Dean!" Sam crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. "Dean, what's wrong?" Sam immediately noticed the pooling of blood in his stomach region. He looked around and saw Michael standing in front of Stella with the knife in her gut. His heart panged with horror upon realizing what had happened. "No. No. No. No. Dean, hang in there."

Dean began to cough, blood spurting from the back of his throat, trickling down his lips. "Sammy, I'm sorry," he gasped.

One of the hyenas pounced at them. Sam immediately swatted it away with his telekinetic power. He placed a hand over the wound and pressed in hard. "Hang in there, Dean. Just hang on!"

Sam looked back at Michael near the portal. Stella's body engorged in a bright red light and she dropped to the ground. The portal issued another roar expelling the third bright light. He nearly began to panic. The third lock had opened, leaving only one left to release Lucifer. Dean's body began to convulse, going into shock. More blood oozed over Sam's fingers. Dean was dying. It was then Sam realized he had a choice to make.

He didn't hesitate.

"Oh no you don't, you son-of-a-bitch. You are not leaving me to take on Hell's army alone." He spat to his brother.

Pounding footfalls alerted his attention. It was Maddie carrying a Carbine weapon. He was glad to see her.

"Dean!" Maddie shrieked.

"Maddie, stay calm. I can heal him. I need you to keep em' off us. Can you do that?" Impressionably, she swallowed her emotion and concentrated. She held aloft the rifle and shot down two hyenas. Another winged creature from above flew down towards them and she shot it out of the sky.

"Go, go. I've got this."

Sam closed his eyes and concentrated. Dean's life force was fading fast. His eyes had closed and his body went slack. Pooling the psychic energy and producing a ball of light into the palm of his hand, Sam went to work in healing the wound. It was hard, much harder than healing a regular wound – no doubt due to the magic of the Crossroad's deal. He had to break the curse in order to heal the wound which would not be easy. One thing he learned about his short stint with the Yellow-eyed Demon, any deal made with a Crossroads Demon can be broken and he knew exactly how to do it. The light shone brighter in his hand, his psionic power working hard to unravel the magical fibers of the curse.

Michael tracked down one of Gabriel's outcast angels. His name was Gavreel, having taken the form of a wizened African American man. Once he was an Angel of Peace, always had maintained a presence of neutrality when it came to their differences. However, more than a millennia ago, Gavreel left Heaven unable to take sides which ultimately occurred after Lucifer's fallout. The outcast was busy fighting against one of the male psychics. He fought fiercely against his foe determined to purge his evil from the Earth, completely oblivious to his former General stalking him. Michael raised the key eager to break the last lock.

A strong hand impeded the dagger's strike. Michael turned to face his brother Gabriel, who stared at him angrily. "I am disappointed in you brother for even trying such a crappy move."

Michael yanked his arm from his grip and jumped back facing his younger brother. "Get out of my way Gabriel," Michael demanded. "I won't let you stop me."

"Can't do that man."

"It has to be this way. The sooner that sinks into that rock-hard skull of yours, the better."

Gabriel said nothing, holding firm the silver angelic blade in his hand.

Michael glared. "How did you escape the wards?"

"I figured that would be obvious. The demon didn't really have a tight leash on all his kids."

A glint of understanding formed in Michael's eye. "Sam. Such a clever boy. I suppose I didn't break through his defenses as I easily thought." He shook his head in frustration. "I meant what I said brother. I don't want to kill you…don't make me kill you. I'm a good son. I will see this through even if I have to go through you."

"I'm sorry Michael. I told you before, I won't stand back and let you destroy yourself and Dad's planet." He looked to the moon and saw the crescent of the eclipse was getting smaller; their window of setting Lucifer free vanishing fast. "You're almost out of time."

"Don't think I won't strike you down."

Gabriel huffed. "I know. But in all honesty, it seems pretty lame to go through all this trouble to break him out just so you can kill him."

"Even if I don't do it, I'm sure the demon will see to it that it gets done."

"Michael, listen to me. Keep Lucifer locked up. Re-enforce the locks if you have to."

"You sound like a broken record player. I won't listen to this ridiculous litany again."

"Fine," Gabriel prepared to fight. "Have it your way. You're a piece of shit you know. Partnering with a demon. Pa would be so proud!"

Enraged, Michael leapt upwards swinging his sword to land a strike against Gabriel who averted the blow. He punched Michael in the face hard disorienting him, subsequently kicking into his side. The cosmic hit forced the General to spin away through the air. The Key fell from Michael's side landing in the grass. Gabriel flew across the street landing another powerful hit.

Sam fought hard against the wave of exhaustion that assaulted him. It wasn't much of the healing that was draining his strength, it was breaking the deal. He could feel the magical fibers of the deals wards splintering into pieces. Dean's gaping wound was sealing itself shut, the blood coating his side receding into the hole.

"Is it working?" Maddie asked before she shot something else flying towards them.

Sam almost laughed out of joy. "Yeah, it's working."

BOOM!

One of the cars several feet from their position exploded, jettisoning shrapnel everywhere. Maddie dropped and curled into a fetal position to cover from the flaming parts. When the blast was over, Sam straightened up from protecting his brother. He hissed. A throbbing, nearly overwhelming pain flared from his side. He opened his jacket and saw a lead pipe protruding from beneath his ribcage. He gasped, the pain jarring. He didn't think it was deep, striking just below his diaphragm, maybe enough to poke a hole into his intestines. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the pipe out noticing the sharp edge. He didn't have enough energy left to heal himself. He needed to save it for something else, so he covered the wound with his jacket.

Sam received a warning sign. He looked up and saw the psychic Sloan standing nearby, glaring. It was one of her fireballs that blew up the vehicle.

"Come on Sam."

Sam had enough of her. Angry, he raised his hand and released his power. She tensed ready for another showdown, fanning out her palms to spark her fire. It didn't come. Like before with her friend Terrance and the psychic on the pier, Sam neutralized the psionic power.

Sloan smirked. "You're tired Sam. I can see it in your face. How long can you keep that up?"

He smiled and glanced up. "Long enough for the angels to see you."

Her face grew worried. The sound of wings echoed in the sky. Sloan screamed raising her hands to defend herself when a female angel in a business suit came down, striking her in the heart with her angel blade. The psychic tensed, her eyes wide as she fell. The angel stood up and nodded to Sam who nodded back. The angel then flew off in pursuit of other psychics to annihilate.

A voice suddenly sounded off in his head. "Sam!" It was Caroline. She sounded desperate. "I need your help Sam. Michael's opened three of the locks. He's about to open the last one."

That feeling of panic settled back in his bleeding gut. "Hang on Caroline, I'm coming," he replied to her telepathically.

"Most of my garrison are down. What if that last lock opens? What will we do?"

Sam breathed. "I think I have an idea." It was true. He had the idea the moment he opened up and accepted all of his abilities. It was crazy...but perhaps, it yet work as a back up plan.

He turned to leave. Maddie sat next to his brother who was still unconscious. "Stay with him Maddie and keep him safe."

"Sam, don't go."

"There's not much time left Maddie. Michael's broken most of the seals. I have to go," he said. "You'll be fine. Dean should be patched up. He'll probably wake up in a few minutes. I need you to be there for him. Tell him I'm okay."

"Okay Sam. I'll take care of him," Maddie reassured.

"Here," he handed her his mother's demon knife. "Give this to my mom. She'll need it more than I do right now. Stay alive."

She nodded in understanding taking the knife from him as he ran off toward the portal.

Michael's sword came down on top of Gabriel's small angelic blade. "Dad would be so disappointed if he saw this right now." He pushed him away.

"Our father is gone!"

"He'll come back when you get your shit together! And what will he see? His precious world rocked by none other than his favorite and most loyal son.'

"Lucifer was always his favorite. It tore him apart when I had to lock him away. Can't you see that I'm just trying to finish what was started all those years ago?"

"You know, you're just too righteous for your own good."

Michael punched his gut quickly following up with a backhand to Gabriel's face knocking him down. "Just shut up and go back to your women and your booze."

"Gladly…once this is over."

They continued the fight. The fierce blows came quick, the archangel's weapons sparking at each contact. Each hit was just as powerful as the last one, the fight unrelenting. Gabriel evaded Michael's moves as stealthily as he could. He bared his teeth as the hot sword sliced the top of his vessel's hand. The hilt of the sword met the hilt of the blade and he and Michael grimaced at one another.

"Michael, please stop this. It won't end well for either one of us," Gabriel pleaded forcing his brother back. "Look around. This is what will happen." He pointed to all the creatures and demons, the epic battle between good and evil transpiring, turning the square into rubble. Michael paused in his fight and looked around seeing the destruction.

"This is what will happen…and it will never end. You must see that."

"Gabriel…"

"You can let this go…just let it go. Destroy the demon."

For the first time in Gabriel's existence, he could see the uncertainty in his brother's face. Michael was always so resolute, perpetual, never one to question his judgment. It was such a relief to see that perhaps Michael may, for once, listen to him.

"Brother, I –"

Gabriel jerked upwards, his face in surprise. The blade dropped from his hand and he trembled. Michael peered at him confused and then saw to his horror the demon Azazel was behind his brother, the key dagger protruding from Gabriel's vessels' back.

"NO!" he yelled.

The demon stepped away grinning at his work. Enraged, Michael backhanded the demon sending him flying away from the spot. He quickly grabbed ahold of his brother who listed. "No, Gabriel, no!" he cried as the same red light flared through the vessel's body. Gabriel's bright hazel eyes flashed red and his lifeforce was gone, gone forever as the soul to break the last lock on his brother's cage.

Saddened, Michael gently lowered Gabriel's former vessel to the ground, pulling the dagger from his back. The portal roared a fourth and final time expelling out the last of red light, along with black lightning. The cage has been opened. His brother Lucifer would be arriving any minute now. He stood over the portal prepared for the final battle.

Sam and Caroline ran up to the clearing surveying the black lightning that erupted from the hole in the ground. Michael turned towards them. "It's too late. My brother comes at last."

"Not if we have something to say about it," Sam spat.

Both he and Caroline prepared to fight.