Pestilence laughed, "Dr. Jake Reilly, I presume. Such a large imposing figure is not able to hold his own in battle without the power of three?"

Jake took a step forward, walking with the confidence of a knight. "I have always had the power of three. When my mother died I legally adopted my three sisters. " With fists of gold, he punched Pestilence in the face. The man fell to the ground. He tried to take his spirit form but bars of light fell creating a cage. "I was a father at nineteen." Jake grabbed him by the neck.

"So were a lot of people. I made sure of that." Pestilence grabbed one of the bars of light corrupting it into a beam of dark magic. "So many dead parents, so many abandoned children." Jake punched him in the head but as he did Pestilence stabbed him in the arm, with the darkness. "Do you feel it? The hopelessness, the pain." The demon punched him in the stomach. "What am I talking about, all you have to do is look to your pretty little ghost wife."

Lily knew what Pestilence meant. "I'm sorry."

"You hear that? She's sorry?" Pestilence laughed. "Are you sorry you overdosed? I get a lot of those." He struck Jake in the ribs, causing the armor to fracture. "No, wait, addiction is a sickness- I do believe you, Dr. Reilly once said that." Jake fell to his knees. "What would your colleges say? They would say 'How does that make you feel?' Correct? So let me play psychiatrist: she chose sickness over you. As much as you loved her, as much as you supported her; every kiss, everytime you held her in your arms- all of that meant nothing compared to I had to offer." The demon moved closer, his face inches away from Jake's. "She chose me over you. I made her sick, I caused her to lose her job and everyone she cared about. But she still chose me. She chose to chase that next high until it killed her- until she left you to raise her child alone."

Jake smiled. A ball of white energy had formed in his hand. "No, she didn't." With renewed strength, he punched the demon over and over. "You are not a choice! Death! War! Famine! None of it is of man's choosing!"With the demon bloodied and exhausted, Jake stomped on its chest. "I can't defeat you. But I can send you back to hell!" Thousands of tiny voices were cheering. Jake's hand trembled. The voices were inhabiting his armor, his body.

Fiji knew exactly what the voices were. "Jake I need you to focus, I know how to send a demon back to hell."

"Do you hear the voices?" Jake asked. The sound was so beautiful it brought tears to his eyes.

"Those are the voices of the unborn," she explained. "Your soldiers." Fiji placed her hand to his heart, drawing from his power. The earth shook as a portal opened.

Jake moved his hands and as he did, the demon was crucified on a cross of light, held over a portal of flames.

Clop-clop, clop-clop, the sound of horse hooves approached, from within the cavern. Slowly a rider emerged: a figure clad in black, his face obscured by a hood. "I can take it from here," said a ghostly whisper. "Terribly sorry for any inconvenience my college has caused. "

"Is that?" Creek asked.

"Yeah, it is..." Olivia answered.

The rider chuckled. "Mortals... always so impressed. " He rode by Joe, Chuy, and Lem. "Unlike some...but even then your fates are not guaranteed."

Jake and Fiji took a knee in the horseman's presence. "Have you come to help us?" Fiji asked.

"I have no alliances, I have simply come to retrieve my cohort," he threw a lasso around the body of the demon dragging Pestilence behind him. "Dr. Reilly, 'without darkness, there can be no light', that is a very common saying. One that as a medical professional you know all too well."

Jake nodded. "I am all too familiar with your line of work, but what you do is necessary to the survival of humanity. With loss comes inspiration, revelation. That's why I know my wife loved me. She didn't choose to be sick. Her mind and body were too far gone. You had to take her."

Lily approached Death. He reached out a bony hand to her. "You have done well to guide him, but now you must return."

Lily bowed her head. "Thank you."

Death turned to Jake and the Midnight team. "Dr. Reilly, you and your team are wiser then Pestilence because what he fails to realize is that the reverse is also true. Without light, there can be no darkness."

Joe nodded. "We in Midnight know a little about that."

Death chuckled. "Precisely. Citizens of Midnight, Texas, you fought back the apocalypse, as you should. Never should the four horsemen ride in without opposition." He looked down at Pestilence. "And never shall we cheat to try to tip the scales in our favor." He dragged Pestilence down to hell but as he did, he released Lily's hand and she walked towards a heavenly light.

"See you around," she said with her beauty queen smile.

Joe and Chuy laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Creek.

Manfred had been quiet for the entire encounter, watching the drama unfold. He put his arm around Creek. "You and me both know Hell is a revolving door. It's the same with Heaven."

"What about for the ones who cross over?" she asked.

Joe answered. "No one truly crosses over, not as long as they have roots on this side."

"So what happens now?" Jake asked.

Fiji turned to him. "You wake up." As she caressed his cheek Jake collapsed. His armor faded away to reveal a hospital gown. "Lem, get him back to his bed. Power of three- watch over him."


Jake opened his eyes to the sight of the rising sun. Angela was holding his hand. "Dad!" she cried. "He's awake!"

His wife Addison had been asleep in a standard plastic hospital chair with the baby resting on her chest. Angela took baby Henry, carrying him to her father's side. "Henry look. Daddy came back to us."

There were tears in Jake's eyes. As his wife approached his bedside only then did he realize he was on oxygen. He removed the mask, taking a breath of air. His broken ribs were healed. Looking down at his legs, there wasn't even any bruising. He actually felt strong enough to stand.

But that could wait. "Addison," he said with a gasp. He reached out to her, pulling her close for a tender kiss.

"I always knew you'de make it back to us," she said as she touched his face, looking into his dark eyes.

"I had a little help."