Chapter Sixteen

They didn't start planning until after they were back at 'Markiplier HQ.' And after Dean had finally stopped complaining about how Dark had teleported them to the desert just so they had to travel all the way back. On foot, at first, before they had been able to hitch a ride the rest of the way. No one asked why Castiel hadn't used his angel powers to get them back. Too busy bitching at Dark, apparently.

Which was why Dark had done it. He had decided to work with them against the entity controlling Amy, but he didn't have to be too cooperative about it.

"Why are you even doing this?" Celine asked in his head so the others wouldn't hear. They were discussing battle plans already. "You actually made me believe you no longer cared about her."

"How do you know I'm not trying to form an alliance with her and betray everyone else?" Dark asked, keeping his voice low. The others weren't paying attention anyway. "You felt her power."

"I did," Celine said. "But that's why I'm helping them stop her. Besides...seeking to gain a power like that was more Mark's speed. You go for revenge, not power."

"Some would argue that revenge is power," Dark said. He caught Mark looking his way, the only one to notice that Dark was speaking quietly. "If It has bonded with Amy as much as it feels, then she wouldn't help me kill Mark anyway. She loves him too much."

"Is that jealousy I feel?" Celine asked. "You really do grow soft in this world."

"What about you?" Dark asked. "Thought you'd be happy with happy out of the picture."

"Yes, but things change," Celine said. "I've decided I love him enough to let him go. Ignore the cliche. And besides, I'm dead for good now. Not future in that."

"I gave you a body before."

"That was stolen," Celine said. They both noticed Mark walking over. "Behave." Dark rolled his eyes and she was gone.

"I know you don't want to be here," Mark said. "But I meant what I said when I told you I wouldn't make the same mistakes. You've hurt a lot of people, but..." He held out his hand. "I feel like it's my duty to forgive you."

Dark ignored the hand by clasping his own behind his back. "I didn't apologize," he said.

"And I don't expect you to," Mark said. "But I forgive you anyway."

"I killed Amy."

"We'll get her back."

"This isn't the way things go."

"Guy saves girl. Pretty normal -"

"No!" Dark growled out. "Whatever you're trying to pull here. You've forgotten that I'm NOT your friend."

"I haven't forgotten and never will," Mark said, finally lowering his hand. "But there's more to you than what you make people see. Amy saw it."

"Amy saw what I wanted her to see," Dark said. Plus whatever manipulation Celine had been putting him through before. "I feel nothing for her."

"Then why are you here?"

Before Dark could answer, Sam, Dean and Castiel got their attention. "Cas has an idea," Dean said. "It's not much, but it's all we've got for now." He nodded for Castiel to speak.

"As you all know, I've faced this entity before," Castiel said. "But I was fighting with a few hundred angels against Its army of fallen angels."

"And It didn't have a vessel to channel Its full power through," Sam put in. No one seemed to like his input, but no one said anything.

"I could plead my case to heaven," Castiel went on. "But they don't have the angels to spare."

"Even if they know what we're up against?" Mark asked.

"Without proof that Amy's intent is for destruction and war," Castiel said. "they'll keep out of it."

"All she said was that she wouldn't harm Amy," Sam said. "She's been out there for a couple of hours now and we haven't heard anything. Maybe she's not interested in destruction."

"Maybe Amy is influencing her choices," Dean said. "It seemed to really like Amy."

Dark smirked and glanced at Mark, guessing that that wasn't what Mark wanted to hear about his girlfriend. But Dark could only see worry on Mark's face.

"If so, and unless we goad her into causing destruction, we have to do this without heaven's help," Castiel said.

"What about hell?" Dark asked. He expected them all to ignore the suggestion, but the hunters looked like they were actually considering it. "If its power you need, go for the most."

"But that's more risky than getting the angels' help," Sam said. He looked at Castiel. "You had an idea. We haven't heard it yet."

"There's a spell," Castiel said. "That we can use to trap It again."

"What's the catch?" Celine asked, appearing in the room. "It can't be that easy. Especially if you think It's now more dangerous with a vessel."

"You're right," Castiel said with a slight nod toward Celine. "And I'm not even certain that it'll work, but it will slow her down if nothing else."

"It'll give us time to figure something else out," Dean said.

"And what if she's not dangerous?" Mark asked. "Sam mentioned that she hasn't done anything."

"That doesn't mean she won't," Dean said. "We'll stop her before it gets to that point."

"Is your way of stopping her the same way you stopped Dark?" Mark asked. "Stabbing her to get rid of the problem?" He could talk all he wanted about forgiving Dark, but clearly he hadn't forgiven Castiel for what happened.

"We'll get Amy back," Dean said. "We won't make the same mistake." It was what Mark had said to Dark earlier. Dean couldn't have known that, but it seemed to work on Mark because of that.

"I'll gather everything we need for the spell," Castiel said. "I should be back in an hour." Dean nodded and Castiel left.

As everyone went their separate ways to do whatever or wait, Dean turned to Dark. "We're keeping an eye on you," he said.

"Still don't trust me?"

Dean stepped toward him, using his taller height as intimidation. It only slightly worked because Dark had to look up at him. "You step outta line and you're done," he said.

"Because that's worked so well for you before," Dark said since they had already tried everything to stop him. "I'm still standing."

Dean grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "I don't care what anyone else says, we don't need you," he said. "There's nothing stopping me from killing you right now."

"Except the fact that you DO need me," Dark said. "If that spell doesn't work, I'm the only power you have."

Dean stared him down for a moment then let him go and stepped back. "If the spell works," he said. "We don't need you."

Dark said nothing.


Mark walked into his office to have some time for himself to think. He never would have expected to walk in and see Amy standing there. He had to remind himself that it wasn't Amy before he could run over and take her in his arms.

Even so, there was still emotion in his voice as he whispered: "Amy."

"You mean a lot to her," she said. She was wearing a long, black dress that he remembered Amy buying. This thing had been in their closet. "Your friends want to kill me."

"You pose a threat," Mark said then added: "They're afraid of you."

"Because of what I am?" she asked. "Or because it's up to me whether or not you'll ever see Amy again?"

"You created an army the last time you were on this world," Mark said. "They want to prevent that from happening again."

She pulled out a chair and sat down. Her casualness was the most disconcerting for him. "It wasn't an army," she said. "They just wanted to see it that way."

"Then what was it?"

She invited him to sit down. Before he could refuse, Mark found himself walking over to sit in a chair in front of her. Had she used her power on him or had he wanted to sit down with her?

"That 'army' consisted of people who loved me," she said. "Not all of them were fallen angels. But all of them were destroyed without a thought because their crime was following me."

"You consider yourself a god."

"Goddess," she corrected. "Of peace. My name was Eirene."

"Castiel called you a dark power," Mark said. "That you'd be unstoppable with a vessel."

"I was changed by something that pledged himself as my devoted follower," she said. "I didn't have a vessel back then, but I still had feelings. I feel in love with him. It was because of him that I was portrayed as that dark power."

"You fell in love with a demon," he guessed.

"A Prince of Hell, in fact," she said. "Then I was trapped for thousands of years, hoping for revenge." She paused for a moment. "Maybe I am what they're afraid of." Her eyes met his and the flames in her dark eyes scared him.

"Where I was trapped, you were there," she said. "But not YOU. He promised he would be there for me. I thought he was the Prince, so I killed him." A Mark had been trapped in that world with Amy?

"That was me from another world," Mark said. "Was he the only one you killed?"

"Amy is unharmed," she said then seemed to make a new decision. "For now."

"As long as Sam and Dean back off."

She didn't have to confirm it. "I will have my revenge," she said. "If you stay out of my way, Amy will be returned to you." She rose to her feet. "I trust that you can deliver my message."

Then she was gone.