Michael gazed at Sam, Dean, and Castiel standing across the room from him. He looked them up and down, noticing the weapons in their hands. When he saw them, he lightly laughed under his breath.

"Do you really think those weapons could kill an archangel like myself?" Michael asked with a raised brow.

"No, but I bet they'd hurt," Dean said.

Michael's gaze met his. "You're just as gruff as I've heard. You continually fight even when you know you've lost."

"It's better to go down swinging," Dean pointed out.

Sam white-knuckled his weapon before glaring at Michael. "Let Adam go!"

Michael turned to him. "Now why would I do that? Your brother here would not say yes to me, but Adam on the other hand, didn't even hesitate. I need a proper vessel to defeat my brother Lucifer and Adam works perfectly."

"Why do you want to fight him in the first place?" Dean asked with a sigh. "Why don't you help us throw him back in the cage?"

"It has long been foretold that my brother and I would battle to end the apocalypse on Earth. Throwing him back in would solve the issue but he would still be alive and he could escape once more. He will not change his ways. The only way to end this...is to end him," Michael explained.

"So, you plan to kill your own brother?" Sam asked.

"It is the only way to stop him for good. I thought throwing him in Hell all those years ago would keep him locked away, but I was wrong. I will not be wrong again," Michael said.
"If you kill Lucifer, you'll kill Carly," Dean pointed out.

"And your plan would kill Carly too." Michael said, surprise appearing on other's faces. "Yes, I know what you plan to do with those rings burning a hole in your pocket, Dean Winchester. You throw Lucifer in that pit he'll be taking Carly with him. Wouldn't killing her be the more humane option? At least then, she can go to Heaven and be free of pain."

"Can you please wait until we figure out a way to save her?" Dean asked.

Michael noticed the pleading in Dean's eyes and the pain behind them. He truly wanted to save Carly and Michael saw this pain. He may be superior to humans but he was still an angel sent to protect the hairless apes.

He shook his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry but there isn't much I can do. This battle must happen or Lucifer will end this world. Doing this saves countless lives and I cannot risk that for one human. I'll make it as painless as possible, I promise."

Dean began to complain, but within the blink of an eye, Michael was gone. The three looked at one another with defeat and more worry than they had before. Both Lucifer and Michael had their vessels, which meant the battle would happen soon.

"What the hell do we do now?" Sam asked, throwing his hands in the air before they slammed back down upon his thighs. "They both have their vessels and we have no idea where this battle is going to take place. What are we supposed to do?"

The three went silent as they thought of their next move. Sam was right. The pieces were in play for checkmate and they were nowhere in sight of that. They didn't even know where the battle would take place or when.

The silence was broken by Castiel muttering a name. "Chuck."

"What?" Dean asked.

"Chuck." Castiel said, turning to look at both of them. "He's the prophet of the lord who wrote those books about your life, right? Do you think it's possible he saw this battle and where it would take place?"

"Let's find out."

Dean pulled out his flip phone and scrolled through his contacts. He found Chuck's name and clicked talk. As it rang, he set the phone to speaker, so all three could hear what Chuck had to say.

After a few rings, Chuck answered, but with a weird response. "Mistress Magda?"

"Um, no, Chuck," Dean muttered.

"Oh, uh, Dean. Uh, wow. I, uh, I didn't know that you'd call," Chuck stuttered.

"Who's Mistress Magda?" Castiel asked.

"Nothing. She's a, uh, a – just a, uh... a close friend," Chuck admitted.

"Yeah, I'll bet – real close. Whatever happened to Becky?" Sam asked.

"Didn't work out. I had too much respect for her." Chuck sighed. "But this can't be why you called."

Dean gritted his teeth before sighing. "No...actually...Carly said yes."

"I know. I saw it. I'm just working on the pages," Chuck said.

"Did you see where the title fight goes down?" Dean asked.

"The angels have been trying to keep it top secret, but they can't keep anything from me. It's going to happen tomorrow at noon at a place called Stull Cemetery.

"Stull Ceme-wait. I know that. That's – that's an old boneyard outside of Lawrence." Sam said, shaking his head. "Why Lawrence?"

"I don't know. It all has to end where it started, I guess," Chuck muttered

"All right, you know of any way to short-circuit this thing?" Dean asked.

"Besides the rings? No. I'm sorry. I truly hope you get her back but as far as I've written the rings are the only way to stop this fight. I'm sorry," Chuck said.

"It's okay, thank you."

Dean ended the call before sliding the phone back in his pocket. Their next move was simple. Head to Lawrence and try to get there before Michael arrived. If they threw Lucifer into the pit before he arrived, no battle would commence and hopefully Michael would understand their actions without smitting them on sight.

The impala was closer to the cemetery and the group wanted to drive there to hopefully help calm their nerves. Castiel flew them to the car and headed off to get some tools that could be useful for the fight tomorrow. As he left, Sam and Dean got into the car and went on their way.

The majority of the ride was in silence; both dealing with their own struggles. Dean wanting to save Carly but not knowing how. Sam knowing how to save her but the consequences of said action. He wanted to tell Dean, but if he did, Dean would try to stop him. If Sam had an open opportunity, he was going to take it or die trying.

Carly stood there, five bodies strewn around her. Blood smeared her lips and the tips of her fingers. Lucifer was in control but Carly was shown in the reflection and she wasn't terrified by what her body had just done. She liked it; she liked it a lot.

Lucifer wiped Carly's lips clean as he walked from the mausoleum. He made Carly break into a clothing store, destroying the cameras to avoid detection. He grabbed a new pair of clothes and cleaned her up the best he could.

Once she was presentable, he flew up into the sky and headed to Lawrence. By the time he made it to the cemetery gate the sun was barely above the horizon. He wrapped Carly's fingers around the lock, snapping it with his grip. As he dropped the chain to the ground, he threw the metal door open and walked onto the cemetery grounds.

Lucifer made his way through the graves until he made it to an open space in the center that would be perfect for the battle to come. He found a giant cross tombstone and leaned against it. They had a few hours until Michael arrived, so Lucifer positioned Carly's body so she could see the rising sun.

"Have you ever watched the sun rise?" Lucifer asked.

"No, I don't think I have," Carly said, her voice echoing in Lucifer's mind.

"There's a poem by Suzy Kassem that I find describes the sunrise and life beautifully…"each day is born with a sunrise and ends in a sunset, the same way we open our eyes to see the light, and close them to hear the dark. You have no control over how your story begins or ends. But by now, you should know that all things have an ending,"" Lucifer muttered.

"I just wish mine had a better ending."

Lucifer sighed. "If I win against my brother, I will let you live the life you desire. If I somehow lose, I will make sure you make it to heaven."

"You'd do that?" Carly asked.

"I may be the devil but I have feelings, Carly. I am not all evil nor am I all good. I will make sure you get to heaven, but for now I think we should enjoy the sunrise. This may be our last one and I'd like to enjoy its beauty, wouldn't you?" Lucifer said.

"Yes, I think I would."

The two watched as the sun rose into the sky, the colors of the clouds shifting as it did. From blues and purples to oranges and reds. It was beautiful and Carly was in awe of the beauty before her, but also saddened by the fact this was probably going to be the last one she ever saw.

The two waited for quite a long time until a whooshing sound filled the air, a smile appearing on Carly's face. She looked up as Michael appeared a few feet in front of her. She looked him up and down before meeting his gaze.

"It's good to see you, Michael," Lucifer said.

"You too, Lucifer. It's been too long. Can you believe it's finally here?" Michael said. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Yet, a part of me wishes we didn't have to do this," Lucifer admitted.

"Yeah. Me too," Michael muttered. "But I have no choice, after what you did.

"What I did? What if it's not my fault?" Lucifer questioned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Michael asked in return.

Carly took a step forward with a shrug. "Think about it. Dad made everything. Which means he made me who I am! God wanted the Devil."

"So?" Michael asked with a raised brow.

"So why? Why make us fight? I just can't figure out the point." Lucifer said, shaking Carly's head. "We're going to kill each other. And for what? One of Dad's tests. And we don't even know the answer. We're brothers. Let's just walk off the chessboard."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I'm a good son, and I have my orders," Michael insisted.

"But you don't have to follow them," Lucifer whined.

"What, you think I'm gonna rebel? Now? I'm not like you. You know, you haven't changed a bit, little brother. Always blaming everybody but yourself. We were together. We were happy. But you betrayed me – all of us – and you made our father leave," Michael sneered.

"No one makes Dad do anything. He is doing this to us," Lucifer snapped.

Michael shook his head with a disgusted look. "You're a monster, Lucifer. And I have to kill you."

"If that's the way it's got to be...then I'd like to see you try."

The two began to circle one another, never losing eye contact. Both of their knuckles cracked as they gripped their fists tight by their sides. They continued this for a short while before a voice both knew well filled the air.

"Howdy, boys."