Super Angel Chapter 7
A/N: I'm still not receiving any notifications from FFnet, so I haven't seen the new reviews till today; thanks people for reading! I have a direction that I'm going with this story now so let's get to it!
Max sleepily awoke to Alec shaking her. She buried her head deeper into her arms and shrugged his hand off her shoulder.
"Not now, Ben. Get some rest," she yawned.
"Max! Max, it's me! Alec!"
"That's nice, Ben..."
"Max! Wake up already, I gotta talk to you!"
"What time is it?"
"That's my point, Max!"
Max gave up and rose, running her hands through her hair. Part of having cat in your cocktail meant that frequent naps were a hard habit to break out of. She shook herself awake, looking over at Alec.
"You look better, Ben; how you feelin'?" Max asked sleepily.
"Damnit Max; I know you've gone all mushy from lack of Logan booty, but pull yourself together already!"
"ALEC?!" Max shouted in surprise. Oh yeah, that was definitely Alec talking. "Alec what in hell are you doing here? And where the hell have you been?!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you! I've been hanging out in 2008! There were these guys with silver knives and a squid-girl and next thing I know I'm talking to the Superman and I gotta say he's kinda clueless when you think about it and that girl Chloe totally cheated--"
"I knew it! You're the one behind this! What did you do, Alec? Is this why there's been a bunch of clones running around Seattle for the last three days? And bringing Ben back to life?! What kind of sick person would do--"
"Wait, clones? What are you going on about? Did you just say Ben? As in "psycho-killer-twin" Ben?!"
"Don't play dumb with me, Alec; when I find out exactly what's going on here, you sir are getting a swift asskicking!"
"But I didn't do anything!"
"Well as soon as I get Ben and Dean in here, all three of you are gonna talk!"
"Did you just say Dean?"
Ben sat on a couch in Chloe's apartment, sipping tea, whilst Clark and Chloe talked in the other room. Ben could hear everything they were saying, thanks to his highly attuned senses; it still didn't make much sense though.
"Clark, having a Jason replicant from the future is one thing, but two? And where's his double gone? This is way out of my experience; on the Wall of Weird, this article is tacked on the other side of Smallville!"
"Chloe, when I was talking to Alec, he mentioned some kind of time anomaly that took him back in time against his will. Maybe the same thing is happening to this guy; whatever's going on, it's on the future's side."
"Well I don't know what you want me to do about it, Clark! Ben seems more clueless than Alec about the situation!"
"Just hold down the fort for a few hours; I'm going to the Fortress to talk to Jor-El, maybe he knows something about this."
"Be careful, Clark; Lex's guys are still on high alert."
With that, Ben caught a blur out the corner of his eye; Clark had sped out of the apartment so quickly even his transgenic senses barely registered it. Putting down his teacup slowly, he turned his attention to the blonde girl stepping out of the bedroom.
"Does the Superman have any orders for me, ma'am?" Ben asked Chloe formally. She was obviously someone high-ranking, to be able to address the Superman so candidly.
"Uhh, Clark there is just going to do a bit of investigating, see if we can't sort this mess out. You're okay with hanging out with me for a while, right?" Chloe was more than just a little uncomfortable with this "Ben" character; he put her on edge, with that expression of blank obedience that seemed to hide a naïve nature.
"If that's fine with you, ma'am." Ben sat back, turning back to stare at a wall.
An awkward silence fell over the apartment, and Chloe motioned towards the television.
"So, uh, you wanna play some video games?"
Dean sat cross legged on the wooden floor of the broken room, fuming. Here he was with his unconscious future brother, in his old house, after meeting some random dude who claimed he was an angel. Ha! He looked more like a holy tax accountant!
The problem was, Dean couldn't help but feel that there was something to it. He was in the future, for Christ's sake, and he'd been dragged out of hell no less. Usually a crossroad deal was final; Dean hadn't ever heard of someone breaking out of hell short of the Devil's Gate he and Sammy had opened a year ago. Or fifteen years; whatever!
Looking over at the sound of Future Sam waking up, Dean crawled over, helping roll him onto his back. Future Sam groaned, his eyes bright as he put a hand to his forehead.
"You, uh, alright Sammy?"
Future Sam burst out in laughter. Dean watched, shocked, as Future Sam laughed the laugh of a desperate man who had nothing left to live for.
"Alright? Am I-- Sure! Sure, Dean Winchester; I'm perfectly alright! The world only ended thirteen years ago! The demons only destroyed most of Earth as we know it; I just lost my leg and you've just been dead for nine years; everything is completely, utterly alright!"
"Hang on; I've been dead for the past nine years?"
"And hey, you haven't even heard the best part! I killed you! Yeah, do you like that, Dean? It was my foot on your throat that did the job! Sure, I could blame it on Lucifer; he was possessing me, after all, but then there's the whole thing about me starting the Apocalypse by breaking the sixty-sixth seal, and supporting you in telling the Angels to stick it where the sun don't shine! Tell me Dean; when are you from? Just what level of messed up are you at right now?"
"Sammy, you're not making any sense."
"Give me the year you're from, Dean. Now."
"…2008."
"And is that pre-hell or post-hell?"
"I-- I don't know what you're talking about--"
"Then let me make myself perfectly clear; is this before or after you starting cutting up those poor souls in the Pit?"
Dean couldn't look his brother in the eyes. He'd almost forgotten. Almost. It was a vivid dream, a blurry nightmare, seared into his mind. Future Sam knew.
"After."
"Well then, since you know about the Pit but not about the Angels, let me catch you up: You did this."
"What?"
"You started all this, Dean. You broke the First Seal. I may have broken the last one, but you broke the First. The demons couldn't have started this without you. And you know what you did to fix it? Not a damn thing. Not a goddamn thing. You should have killed me, Dean. You should have killed me when you had the chance. And when you lost that chance, the Angels gave you another; let Michael take your body as his vessel. And you know what you did, Dean? You did nothing. Again you did nothing. So I guess Cas brought you here to show you what you're gonna miss out on. Get out of my sight, Dean; go back to your past, and this time, have the balls to do something."
Future Sam stomped out, leaving Dean behind in the dusty room where it had all started.
"Dean, no!" Bobby yelled, stretching out his hand. He failed to grab Jason's leg as it moved past, hindered by his seatbelt.
Ruby in Jason's body crawled out the passenger door, giving the glove compartment a swift kick to open it. Pulling out her demon-killing Knife, she gripped it between Jason's teeth, hauling herself out the door. Looking up, she found Sam locked in a grip with a large guy dangling off an overhead pass; the guy's arm was around Sam's neck, squeezing the life out of him. Sam's face was already turning purple from the lack of air.
Ruby gave a yell, leaping upwards with her demonic strength and bringing her Knife out to slash at the guy's exposed face. Jason's body flew up unnaturally high as she struck outwards. The iron blade passed right through the large guy, dispelling him into a wisp of smoke, and Sam fell five feet onto the bonnet of the Impala. Ruby in Jason's body gripped the edge of the ledge, looking down and surveying the area.
'Witnesses,' Ruby thought to herself. Not a good sign. She hadn't expected them to arrive so soon; something must have distracted the angels enough that the schedule had been moved forward. She had to deal with them now; it didn't matter if they were sealed again, it was the breaking that mattered. She looked back down at Sam; he was alive. Good.
Flipping herself over the ledge onto the overpass above, away from sight, Ruby sliced open a palm and let Jason's blood drip out. Some crude magic would have to do; she didn't have the time or materials for the full spell. Wincing as her magic knife burned at her hand, Ruby clenched her teeth, willing herself not to scream, as she got to work.
"You won again?!" Chloe exclaimed, her jaw dropping. She had expected an easy match, but Ben had bested her seven times out of... well, seven.
"This simulator is unrealistic. I would expect more recoil from a shotgun."
"You're lots different to Alec. He kept coming after me with grenades, so I used the baseball bat to knock'em back at him."
"That's also unrealistic. In a real life situation that would result in instant death."
"Uhh... thanks?"
"I hope I have passed your tests, ma'am."
"Tests?"
"You wanted to test my combat knowledge."
"No! No no, this wasn't a test or anything, Ben; this is just a game!"
"A game?"
"Yeah, you know; for fun!"
"This isn't fun. Not even in person. The blood is inconvenient."
Chloe had no idea how to respond to that. She recalled Alec mentioning something about military training; it was probably not the best idea to play a first-person shooter, but Alec had enjoyed it well enough. Well, he'd enjoyed complaining about it...
"How about we play something else? Say, an RPG?"
Ben obediently picked up his controller again.
Logan walked through the door to find Max bashing what looked like a yelping Ben with a pillow. Alarmed, he rushed to hold Max back; she kicked out with her feet, missing her intended target by a few inches.
"Max; calm down!"
Max suddenly gasped, realising who was holding her back. Struggling, she threw Logan off her, retreating to the other side of the hospital room, her eyes wide with worry.
"Logan! The virus!"
Logan suddenly realised what he'd done; in his panic, he'd forgotten about the virus that Manticore had infected Max with; the virus that was designed to target him, and only him. Looking down at himself, he braced for any signs of the sickness that had swept over him last time. Max could only watch wordlessly in horror.
A long, silent moment passed.
"Logan? What's happening?" Max asked, her voice trembling. She couldn't go through this again. Not again.
"I... nothing. Nothing's happening. Why is nothing happening?"
Max broke down, tears of relief falling from her eyes. She sank to the floor, sobbing. Logan, concerned, approached her; Max warded him back with her hand.
"No! Don't come any closer! Don't!"
"Max, the virus isn't working. I can touch you now..."
"You don't know that! Maybe-- maybe we just got lucky! Please, I can't handle this right now; first Alec, then this..."
"Alec? You've seen Alec? Where is he?"
"Yo. Right here." Alec gave Logan a mock salute, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. He'd dropped right back into Max 'n' Logan Drama-land. Yippee.
"...what?"
Lex Luthor held up the vial of blood to the light. It glistened brightly. Satisfied, he gently placed it back in its foam container, snapping the lid shut. Looking up, he smiled at the man sitting across from him.
"I wasn't expecting to see you again, Fine. Last time we met, you turned on me and started Dark Thursday."
"Turned on you? As I recall, you gained the powers of a god." Brainiac eyed Lex levelly.
"You'll have to tell me how you did that again; my scientists have been trying to replicate that scenario for three years now, to no avail."
"I'm afraid that's a secret I'm not willing to divulge as of yet."
"You expect me to trust you? Why should I, after last time?"
"Plans change. It's now in my interests to ally with you; the blood sample I gave you will further my plans."
"You're sure it comes from the same source as the sample I obtained five years ago?"
"Positive. You should have enough to pre-innoculate those subjects you have hidden away in Wyoming. Don't act surprised; I know all about Project Manticore, despite it being kept off the grid."
"I'm impressed. Pre-innoculation... an army of supersoldiers, immune to sickness, poison and viral infections."
"Call it a healing factor. None of your transgenics will ever have to worry about becoming infected or becoming carriers. Complete immunity to everything but aging."
"Care to tell me how you obtained this blood sample?"
Brainiac only grinned.
Ruby traced Jason's palm across the concrete sidewalk, closing a circle that housed a nine pointed star. Taking a deep breath, she forced Jason's bleeding hand across the symbol, drawing ancient symbols into each of the corners of the star, all the while chanting under her breath.
It was taking too long. She could hear Sam's scream below, Bobby's yell, the sound of a shotgun going off. She had to hurry.
Sam fell forward onto his knees, released from the grip of Victor Henriksen. Sam recognised him; he was an FBI agent who had died a few months ago, killed by Lilith. Now he was a vengeful ghost. Sam held his bruised throat, croaking a thanks to Bobby.
"Don't mention it, son," Bobby gruffly said, lifting the smoking barrel of the shotgun. He surveyed the area; something else was here.
Suddenly, Bobby felt something grip his ankles from beneath the Impala, dragging him down. Falling off balance with a loud grunt, Bobby cried out as he was dragged beneath the car by clawing hands.
"Bobby!" Sam yelled. Crawling forward, Sam rushed to Bobby's aid. The Impala suddenly rocked in place, before flipping over with supernatural force, flipping into the air. Sam rolled over to the side just as the Impala fell upside down just inches from where his head had been not half a second ago. Sam shielded his eyes as the breaking glass sprayed outwards. The sound was deafening.
After a long moment, Sam looked up to see two twin girls standing atop the wreckage of the Impala, their dirty smocks accentuating their dark features. They flickered slightly; Sam knew these two were ghosts as well. Crawling backwards, Sam watched in horror as Victor also materialised, along with Ronald Resnick; another ghost from his past, killed in a bank job. Four ghosts, watching Sam and Bobby menacingly. Bobby was out cold, claw marks across his chest; he was bleeding pretty badly. Sam looked about for the shotgun Bobby had been carrying; it was nowhere to be seen.
"Dean! Could use some help here!" Sam called out.
But no answer came, as the ghosts advanced.
Dean sat silently on the floor of Sam's baby bedroom. This was insane! How was he supposed to believe that the friggin' Apocalypse happened right after he was yanked out of the past? Between the "Surprise! Angel!" moment and Future Sam's accusations, Dean could barely process what was going on. Not to mention how he could possibly fix it.
Dean got to his feet, dusting himself off. No. He wasn't going to let this crap confuse him. He was gonna haul ass back to the past and stop this all from ever happening. That meant he had an angel to summon. That meant he needed Future Sam's help.
Stepping out of the room, Dean walked through the house. Future Sam was sitting in the lounge downstairs, in the darkness.
"Sam?"
Future Sam didn't respond.
"Sam. I need your help."
Dean moved in front of Future Sam, looking at him. Future Sam kept his head down, not deigning to make eye contact with Dean.
"I hear what you're saying, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Sammy. But I promise you; I'm going to fix this. But I need your help. I need to get back to '08."
Future Sam looked up ad Dean suddenly.
"Dean."
Dean smiled; that was the brother he knew. Except... he was looking a little fierce. Dean watched as if in slow motion, as Future Sam slapped a hand against his mechanical leg, causing a metallic compartment to slide out. Up popped a shotgun, which Future Sam grabbed a hold of and lifted directly to Dean's face.
"Um... Sammy?"
"Dean, get down!"
Dean dropped to the floor as Future Sam pulled the trigger. Rock salt blasted across the living room, dissipating a screaming Meg from the vicinity. Dean crouched on the floor, hands clasped to his ears. He looked up at Future Sam, who had risen from the seat. Twisting his leg slightly, Future Sam pulled out a couple of shotgun rounds from his mechanical leg and reloaded calmly, surveying the area. There was no sign of Meg; she was gone, for now. After a long moment, Future Sam reholstered the shotgun into his leg compartment, and it slid smoothly inside his leg again. Seeing Dean's awestruck expression, Future Sam followed his gaze to his leg, an ironic grin on his face.
"Come with me if you want to live," he said wryly, offering Dean a hand.
"Yeah, shut up. I still remember when you used to wet the bed."
Ben superspeeded across the farmlands, racing towards the warehouse on the other side of town. Out of the corner of his eye a flicker of light danced. Ben quickly did a forward flip, narrowly dodging the missile as it swept past underneath him. As it rocketed away, Ben used his heat vision to burn out its control conduit, and it exploded harmlessly in the air.
Coming to a busy street, Ben crouched down and leapt, the world falling below him, people becoming the size of ants. Leaning forwards, Ben turned the leap into a dive and crashed into the earth like a meteor. The shockwave from the crater rumbled outwards, overturning several parked cars in the back lot of the warehouse. Ben slowly rose, his eyes gleaming. He strode forth towards the ironclad doors; with a swift punch he broke a man-sized hole in it and stepped in.
It was dark. Ben glared, and his spotlight vision cast a light across the interior. There he was. The villain of this story. Ben approached the bald man, picking up a steel pylon. It ended today.
"You're too late, my friend. You can kill me, or you can save your precious woman."
The bald man clapped his hands, and the lights came on. Off to the corner Ben could see the contraption he had set up; a girl was tied up; his girl! She was slowly being lowered into a screaming grinder, the blades whisking up and only just missing her petite legs. She turned her head towards Ben, her raven hair framing her fierce expression.
"Don't worry about me! Do what you have to do!" she cried.
The bald man laughed; a long, haunting, evil laugh. He knew that today was the day he would defeat his greatest foe. He would never be underestimated again. Soon the world would be his! Ahahahah!
Ben surveyed the situation for a full three seconds before throwing the steel pylon with all his strength, spearing the bald man through the chest and killing him instantly.
The girl screamed as the grinder turned her into blended sushi.
The words on the screen read: Game Over.
"Oh c'mon, Ben! You were doing really well there; what'd you go and let Penelope die for?" Chloe turned to Ben, who was holding the controller in his hands passively.
"She told me to eliminate Devilicus," Ben replied, putting the controller down on the coffee table. He felt he had handled the situation quite smoothly.
"Ben, you're playing "Warrior Angel: The Early Years"; how are you going to get to the actual Warrior Angel part when you've just killed the main villain and let the main love interest die?"
"I did the necessary thing. The world is safe now."
"But your entire life is ruined!"
"That is of no concern. My life is expendable."
Chloe resisted pulling Ben into a quick hug.
"Don't, Ben! You have to learn to balance the needs of the world and your own. Like Clark does!"
"Did you not just inform me that his father is dead, his mother is gone, his girlfriend is comatose in the hospital and his once best friend is now his greatest enemy?"
"When did I say that?"
"When you were explaining the narrative of this simulation. You used ample examples of how it was applicable to the Superman's situation."
"Oh. Uh..."
"May I ask; where is the character that corresponds to you, if this simulation is to be used as an analogy?"
"Y'know, I have asked myself the same thing. Although I hear they're making a television show about Warrior Angel, if enough people buy the movie on DVD. Apparently Warrior Angel will have a spunky sidekick in high school."
"I understood little to none of what you just said."
"And yet you don't pretend to understand, like Clark. You sir, are a refreshing change."
"Sir? I am of insufficient rank, ma'am."
"Well consider yourself promoted! I'm going to get Clark to show you the ropes. You'll be his protégé, at least until we get this time travel thing sorted out."
"My rank, ma'am?"
"Um... Admiral?"
"We are not at sea, ma'am."
"Okay... what's Clark again?"
"I believe he was the equivalent of a five star general in the Croatoan Wars."
"Okay, you're the one under that."
"Lieutenant General?"
"Yes. Lieutenant General Ben. Benjamin?"
"Just Ben, ma'am."
Chloe sat back, opening a box of chocolate pretzel sticks. That was quite a strange turn for the conversation to take. She could see that Ben was essentially good at heart, but that he'd seen some horrors in his life and was incredibly undereducated on the laws of ethics. A few weeks with Clark would definitely help him out for the better; besides Clark could use someone watching out for him. This little promotion game was just to put it in context with Ben, who seemed to relate most things to military protocol.
"Ma'am? May I ask what your rank is?"
Chloe stared at him in surprise, a Pocky still in her mouth.
"Um... Admiral?"
Ruby finished chanting the spell as the blood symbol worked its magic.
"Rastel... Maskil..."
The nine pointed star symbol slowly began to warp, turning the concrete into a small whirlpool. A white light began to shine beneath it, slowly turning into smoke. Black smoke seeped out, rushing into a miniature dust storm, and a small girl appeared before Ruby.
"...Lilith."
"Ruby, is that you? My dear girl, you've picked a pretty new meat suit. Looks just like the tasty elder Winchester."
"Why have the Witnesses been released already? I thought that wasn't for another week!"
"We saw an opportunity, and we took it. Or are you telling me how to do my job?"
Lilith raised a hand threateningly, her smiling expression locked on the little girl's face. Ruby bowed Jason's head immediately.
"No, Lilith! I would never. Just... some warning would have been nice."
"The day I answer to a witch-demon like you will be a cold day in hell."
"Yes, my lady."
"Why have you summoned me?"
"I need your help to bind the Witnesses again. They're about to kill Sam Winchester."
"Oh? And I should help you why? It's none of my concern. What business is it of mine if you cannot do your job?"
"I beg of you."
"And what are you doing, anyway? How do I know you haven't dug too deep, switched allegiances?"
"I've come across some information. We may have new hosts available to us."
"What kind of hosts?"
"Powerful ones. Genetically altered. And possibly aliens."
Lilith gave a childish laugh at that, both light and terrifying. Her eyes turned white as she looked over Ruby again.
"My dear girl. You never fail to amuse me. Very well; consider the Witnesses bound! I expect to see some results in the coming weeks."
Lilith snapped her fingers, and disappeared. Ruby let out a long held breath.
Alec finished getting dressed, although he couldn't fathom why there were massive bear claw marks all over the jacket. Max was still busily running her hands over Logan's face, and he was doing the same. Creepy. Alec grabbed a flashlight from Max's bag and began to head out, when Max called out to him.
"Alec, where're you going?"
"Much as I'd like to stick around and watch you two molest each others faces, I'm going to track down this Dean fellow. He's definitely got the answers I'm looking for."
"He went down to Joshua's," Logan said distractedly.
"Good, I've got to talk to him too." Alec turned and headed out the door, leaving the two face-lovers behind.
"If Joshua really did stick me in a coffin six feet under, I am going to have to figure out how to kick his seven foot tall doggy butt," Alec muttered to himself.
A/N: So what'd you guys think? I promise some Castiel action next chapter.