Day Is Gonna Come

02. The Rising Son

HELL – THRONE ROOM

A demon was stumbling through the room, slightly drunk. "Protecting the throne, Drexel? Face it, we're done."

The demon offered Drexel his bottle of booze. Drexel didn't take it.

"Lord Lucifer promised he would return. He'll pull us out of chaos. He will make Hell great again," Drexel said.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

Electricity cackled and lights fizzled.

"What did I tell you? Hmm?" Drexel asked.

The doors opened with a bang. Asmodeus appeared with a thunder. He walked to the throne. "On your feet."

"Um... Who'd you say you were?" the demon questioned.

"I am Asmodeus..."

"Fourth Prince of Hell," Drexel added.

"...here to rule until such time as Lucifer returns with his son. And there are gonna be some changes. The underperforming and ineffective, the corporate lackeys in the Crowley era are being purged. The grand old days of fire and brimstone are back. The following will step forward... Mr. Drexel."

Drexel took a step forward.

"Mr. Harrington. Mr. Sierra."

They all took a step forward.

"As for the rest of y'all..." Asmodeus killed the demons he didn't call. He took off his jacket. Then, he turned to face the survivors. "There's a new sheriff in town."

His eyes flashed yellow.

WYOMING

The Impala down the road.

Jack was sleeping in the backseat, against the car window. Seylah was resting her head against the other window in the back.

Sam looked at Dean, worried. "Hey, we still got probably 12 hours until we're home. You want me to drive?"

"Do I ever want you to drive?" Dean shot back.

"Look... losing Mom and Cas, that's a lot to process, Dean, especially on no sleep. I know you need sleep. And the kid—"

"The "kid"? Come on, man, you know how this plays out. Look, when we try to bend the rules, pretend that the bad guys aren't so bad or that things will get fixed, that's when people that we care about get hurt. And then we end up doing what we should've done in the first place, which is end the problem. So this time, let's start with the obvious. Soon as I find a way to take care of... It."

"Dean, "the problem" might be our only shot at saving Mom."

"Mom's gone. There's no fixing that."

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

Mary and Lucifer were wandering in the desert.

"Mary, not to be critical, but if we are ever gonna find a way out of here, uh, you gotta pick up the pace," Lucifer said. "We got a lot of ground to cover, okay?"

Mary sat in the sand. "Not sure I see the point, since... no matter how this plays out, you're going to kill me."

"Why would I kill you? Oh, that's right. 'Cause I'm evil. Yeah, let me tell you a couple of things, all right? You don't get to defy God and beat the Cage without having a modicum of intelligence, all right? A game plan, i.e., I don't want you dead because I need you alive. All right, look, yeah, in a perfect world, I would probably kill you and your plodding sons and granddaughter. But life isn't fair. Your sons and granddaughter have my boy. So I'm gonna exchange you for my son."