Chapter 13

The Beginning of the End

At the graveyard, the sun was starting to set. Sam and Johnny stood by an angel statue that marked the centre of the cemetery. Dean walked over to them, pocketing his phone.

"So?" Sam asked.

"Bobby's out working a job in west Texas. He said he'd call a few hunters, see who's in the area and willing to make an appearance, but odds are slim. Ellen said she'd try to round up some hunters too." After a pause, "Looks like it's just us after all."

The three stood there in silence, letting that last piece of information sink in.

Dean broke the silence first, addressing Johnny.

"Hey, where's that caretaker friend of yours?"

"He's not here all the time," Johnny replied. "He said he'd show up when I need him, but less and less now. I guess the other side is as good as they say." Then he added, mostly to himself, "I should ask him about that someday."

"The other side?" Sam inquired.

"Well... he's a spirit."

Sam and Dean exchanged questioning looks.

"Wait. You didn't know that?" When neither brother responded Johnny laughed a little to himself. "Huh. Some hunters you are."

The darkness of night was fast approaching, and the three were growing anxious by the minute. The Winchesters laid out their arsenal, believing less and less that any of their defences would last long against the demons they were about to face. Johnny sat down on one of the monuments and placed a cowboy hat atop his head, looking ever the country boy he always was. He appeared more relaxed than the other two, but deep down was just as apprehensive.

The last bit of light lingered on the horizon with a splash of pink and orange painted across the skyline. Half the graveyard disappeared into darkness, and as it dipped into black, five shadowy figures took form. The figures moved forward into a touch of light where they could be seen for the demons they were; all bearing eyes blacker than their shadows. The three hunters, still in the last rays of light, stood at attention, readying to fight.

"Good evening, boys. I see you got my message," Malphas goaded with another step toward them.

"You couldn't have just sent a text? I mean, what age are we in? Medieval Times?" Dean responded, wittily.

"I like to refer to them as the Dark Ages," said Malphas with a grin.

"You would," Dean whispered under his breath. More aloud he spoke, "Alright, so why don't we get this over with. You want your little revenge on me so that you can carry out the Yellow-Eyed Demon's master plan, right? So let's have it! Let's get to that big war, or whatever it is you sons of bitches have cooked up."

Malphas and the other demons suddenly laughed out loud as if Dean made a joke.

"What? Is that funny to you?" Dean asked.

Malphas feigned wiping a tear from his eye before answering. "Oh, Dean. It is funny, because it's sad."

The brothers exchanged looks of confusion, guns still at the ready.

"You see, Azazel, the Yellow-Eyed Demon, he is real, and I've met him. He's a tad overdramatic for me. Quite the visionary, I'll admit, but we're not working together. I made it all up."

The boys stared at Malphas, not quite understanding what he was getting at.

Malphas sighed at their blank stares.

"What is the one thing I know to be true about the Winchesters? Well, there's several things I know about you, but the one I knew would get you here is your twisted revenge plot set by your daddy on old Yellow-Eyes for killing your mother. See, I knew you wanted to run, and I knew this would make you stay. If dear John were still alive this would have been perfect bait to bring him out of the shadows, but lucky for me he's already exactly where I want him."

"Wait, so you planted those visions in my head?" Sam questioned, trying to make sense of it all.

"I am known for my mind manipulation. But you knew that already. Carter Slade mentioned it when he told you all our tales, didn't he? Come on, boys! Am I the only one paying attention here?"

"So then the flashbacks I had of Johnny... Those were you too?" Sam asked again.

"Of course. I had to get you to work with the Rider; to trust him. I needed you all in the same place."

"Why?" asked Dean.

"Well, Dean, when we met so many years ago, I was younger and foolish, as I'm sure you can relate. I had all of these ambitious plans here on your realm, but not quite the mind to execute them. See, I didn't consider you hunters, or even the Rider. I simply thought demons were powerful on Earth; almighty. But thanks to you and your father, Dean, I realized we really weren't. We had enemies; obstacles in our paths. So now I'm back, and I'm more prepared. Not only will I wipe out the top hunters capable of stopping me and my kind, but once the three of you are gone, the sky's the limit. All hunters and humans alike will fear us. The Ghost Rider and the Winchesters... You're all such legends. Imagine what we could accomplish..."

Malphas trailed off, lost in thought of the glorious days for demons in a world without hunters. "We're making way for all demons. Azazel can still have his war, and Lucifer can rise and have his fun against the angels, but the rest of us? We don't have to suffer in Hell anymore. We can reign supreme over the humans, over this Earth. Live as we never did before. Free."

Dean snorted, waking Malphas from his fantasies. He cocked his shotgun. "Over my dead body."

Malphas shrugged. "That's kind of the idea."

Dean fired the shotgun. The rock salt pellets flew through the air and pierced Malphas' chest like shards of glass. He stumbled back on impact, allowing the substance to take effect on him. After a moment, Malphas stood straight and looked down at the salt shards, completely unfazed.

"I really hope that isn't the best you can do, or this battle will be very short lived."

Johnny stepped forward as the last sliver of light disappeared behind the hill with the sun. He held up his pistol, and as the darkness touched him, the transformation took hold, and, the once man, became beast. Fire burst into ignition all over his body. Even the pistol caught fire.

The skeletal man proclaimed, "Try this!"

The bullet, now consumed in Hell fire, shot from the pistol and caught Malphas's side, just skimming his ribs. He doubled down, this time in real pain.

The Rider walked toward him to finish the job. Malphas looked up with hate in his eyes. Just then, Malphas evaporated into a thick black smoke that shot up into the air and glided around the cemetery like a flag declaring war.

The other demons charged.

Sam and the Rider charged at the demons, guns blazing, while Dean retreated to the edge of the cemetery. He closed the iron gates and wrapped a readied chain around the handles, securing it with a padlock. As he did, a flash of yellow shot out of the lock and made its way around the gates, creating an invisible boundary.

Malphas flew in ribbon-like smoke form toward the exit, but smashed against the invisible barrier the iron created. The hunters and demons were then locked in; only victory or death could release them.

Seeing Dean race back to return to the fight, Malphas changed course and swooped down, knocking Dean's feet from under him. About to hit the ground, Dean was suddenly lurched into the air, guided by the thick black smoke that was the demon Malphas, and carried over the roof of the chapel.

Sam saw this and started running after him, calling out to him, "Dean!"

Suddenly, he was stopped in his tracks by Osiris, standing in his path.

"Oh, no. Tonight, you're mine," Osiris whispered with a grin.

Sam cocked his shotgun.

"I don't think so."

Headshot! Osiris received a blast of rock salt to the face, throwing him back to the ground; the left side of his face blown off.

Sam turned back to find his brother, discovering both he and Malphas to be nowhere in sight. He heard a scuffle of gravel at his feet and looked back to see Osiris rising from the dirt; the gaping wound in his head slowly healing itself with every passing second. He brought himself to his feet and cracked his neck for good measure.

"We're not like your run of the mill demons, Sam. When are you going to get that?"

Osiris threw a mean right hook, knocking Sam to the ground.

The Rider approached Lilith and Shezma, who appeared armed and at the ready with cocky grins on their faces. The Rider pulled a chain from around his shoulders and ignited it with a small tug.

"I'll take the two for one special," he hissed, "With fries on the side."

He whipped the flaming chain toward them. Lilith gracefully leapt over it like a jump rope and landed atop a tombstone, perching like a cat stalking its prey. Shezma slid beneath the chain and came at the Rider with full force, bloody knives in his hands. They exchanged blows like expert warriors, neither so much as nicking the other. Shezma's agility and ducking, rather than deflecting technique began to annoy the Rider.

"Stop playing games, demon! I'm going to make you scream!"

Shezma laughed.

"I'd like to see you try." He threw aside his knives and stood with open arms, welcoming the Ghost Rider. "Have it your way then!"

The Rider whipped the chain once more, ensnaring Shezma in its fiery grasp. He pushed the demon up against the angel statue and began to pummel him. All the while, the demon laughed.

"This is fun to you?" The Rider questioned in anger.

Spitting blood from his gashed lips, Shezma responded, "I am the demon of Blood and Slaughter. This is my domain! The more rage you release upon me, the more you fight, the stronger I become."

The Rider paused to think for a moment. He then tied the remainder of the chain to the angel statue, anchoring Shezma to it as the Rider walked away.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Shezma called after him.

The Rider strode over to where Osiris has Sam on the ropes. Osiris leaned over Sam, readying a finishing blow.

"Goodbye, Sam."

Sam closed his puffy, black eyes and reeled away from the anticipated pain. Osiris launched his attack, when a fiery fist literally beat him to the punch and sent him hurdling backwards into a tombstone, briefly knocking him unconscious.

Sam opened his eyes and see the Rider holding his bony hand out to him.

"Wanna switch?" the Rider asked.

"Please."

Sam took the assist and was pulled back to his feet.

"Have you seen Dean?" Sam asked, concerned.

"No. But Dean can handle himself."

Sam nodded slowly, knowing this to be true.

The Rider motioned to Shezma, still tied up to the monument.

"That one needs some salt on his wounds."

Sam attempted a crooked smile, knowing exactly what to do. He limped over to the Impala and grabbed an industrial-sized bottle full of salt. He then headed over to Shezma. The bound demon basked in the delectable sight of Sam's bloody injuries.

"Someone messed you up good, kid. I'll have to thank them."

Sam removeed the lid from the bottle.

"Thank them in Hell."

He threw a punch at Shezma to open his mouth and dumped the bottle of salt down his gullet. Shezma's eyes bulged and turned black. He tried to scream in pain through the onslaught of raw salt, but it just came out a muffled wail.

The Rider picked up Osiris and raised him above his head. He looked over mid-throw, and smiled his bare-bones smile.

"I knew I'd hear you scream," the Rider boasted as he flung Osiris across the lot to where he smashed his head through the stone wall of the chapel.

The Rider casually walked after the soon-to-be demon corpse when he was grabbed by the throat from behind. His flames slowly turned green from sickness. Lilith stood behind him, filled with pride.

"Forget about little old me, Johnny? That's why us black widows always catch our prey."

The Rider's flames, nearly completely turned green, started to dissipate. The skeletal man slowly regenerated flesh and transformed back into Johnny Blaze; looking no less ill than his Ghost Rider counterpart. He dropped to his knees, weak with Lilith's poison coursing through his veins.

"You humans. A little virus and your kind crumbles," Lilith boasts.

Suddenly a shot of water hit Lilith square in the eye. She dropped her grip on Johnny and reeled back as steam sizzled from her eye. Another squirt of water hit her, and another. Johnny turned his head to see Sam limping toward them with a child's Super Soaker water gun.

"And your kind crumbles with a splash of Holy Water!" Sam replied with another shot at Lilith.

Sam continued shooting at Lilith while Johnny stumbled to his feet, coughing out the remainder of the poison. Lilith recoiled away from the blasts of water when it all of a sudden stopped. She looked up to Sam who pumped vigorously at the water gun to find it out of water.

Lilith smiled and took a step forward to reclaim her prize when her head came flying off her shoulders! Her corpse exploded into flames and dissolved into a pile of ash. Sam and Johnny watched in awe.

A lone cowboy atop a skeletal horse, both consumed in flames, came to a halt as the rider sheathed his blade. He looked down at Johnny with a sentimental smile.

"Looks like I had one more ride in me after all," the cowboy said in a familiar deep voice.

"Carter Slade, you son of a bitch," Johnny responded as he walked over to the steed to greet his friend.

They locked hands in a friendly exchange, and as Johnny's hand touched Carter's it, too, enflamed and turned skeletal.

"This'll be the end of me, Johnny. You know that, right?"

"I know," Johnny said sadly. "But we had one Hell of a time."

Carter chuckled.

"That we did, boy. Now with me gone, you'll have more strength. My knowledge 'n' my abilities will all go t' yer Rider. There can only be one Rider, and that's you now, boy. Use it wisely."

"I will. And thank you."

Carter nodded in response. They released arms, and Carter reared his horse.

"I'll see you in the afterlife, bone-head. But fer God's sake, take yer damn time gettin' there!"

Johnny smiled. "I'll do my best."

Carter tipped his hat to Johnny and Sam and rode off across the lot; fading into the wind as he did until there was nothing left of him.

Sam looked around the graveyard with a worried look on his face.

"Still no sign of Dean. Where the Hell did Malphas take him?"

"I don't know, Sam, but I have a feeling we're going to have to hold off on our search for a little bit."

Sam followed Johnny's gaze toward the angel statue. In front of it stood Osiris, Murmur, and a now freed Shezma. Murmur, seemingly in a trance of some kind, raised his arms while looking glassy-eyed up to the sky as if making an offering to a God. The ground began to shake and rotting arms broke out of the earth, pulling themselves out of the ground. Soon, an army of corpses stood at the demon's backs with a hungry look in their eyes.

"I knew we forgot about one of those demon dill-holes."