"Don't ever think you know what I am." Gabriel's voice was bone-chilling, and he glanced at the three of them, "Now listen clearly to me - what you have to do next is to swallow your anger, shoulder your responsibilities, and play the role that fate has chosen for you. This is what you were born to do."
"What if we don't?" Dean raised his chin, showing no sign of weakness.
"Then you will stay in the TV world forever." Gabriel glanced around and said in a calm tone, but with unquestionable power, "Three hundred channels, looping, never-ending. You can play other people's stories for a lifetime."
After saying that, his eyes fell on Bai Haorui with a sinister look in his eyes. "As for you, you nosy little guy - I want to see how long you can protect them. Can you break the illusion once, can you break it a hundred times?"
He raised his hand and blasted a concentrated holy light, heading straight for Bai Haorui's face. The blow was much heavier than before, with an obvious meaning of punishment.
Bai Haorui was already on guard, holding his mahogany sword in front of him to block.
"Dang--"
There was a loud noise, like a metal collision. Bai Haorui took two steps back, and the floor under his feet cracked into two fine lines. His arms were slightly numb, and True Gang vibrated twice in his meridians, and soon stabilized again.
Just when the two were about to take action again, Sam suddenly shouted, "Wait!"
He winked at Bai Haorui - There is no need to fight forcefully, pretend to compromise first, find an opportunity to escape and then make plans.
Bai Haorui understood and slowly put away the sword, but True Gang in the Dantian was still holding it, ready to take action at any time.
Gabriel sneered, obviously not believing that they would be obedient, but he didn't show it off. "Okay. Then keep playing. I want to see how far you can survive."
He snapped his fingers, and the surrounding apartment scene instantly distorted and dissipated.
The setting sun dyed the sky orange, and the sea breeze blew over with a salty smell, fluttering the corners of his clothes. A yellow cordon was drawn at the crime scene, and a male corpse was lying on the beach. Several forensic investigators were squatting and busy beside it.
Dean was wearing sunglasses and a fancy Hawaiian shirt, and he tugged on his collar impatiently.
"Okay." He complained to Sam in an irritable tone, "I'm telling you, I think screw it. I wear sunglasses at night, who would do such a thing? I hate this game, I hate that we are in a crime scene show, do you know why? Because there are more than three hundred such shows on TV, and they are all the same fucking routine!"
"Calm down." Sam pulled him, glanced at the forensic examiner squatting next to the body not far away, touched Dean's arm, and lowered his voice, "Look at that guy over there with a lollipop in his mouth. Do you think it's him?"
Dean looked over, nodded, and lowered his voice. "Follow me. Haorui, go around to the back and block him, don't let him escape."
Bai Haorui nodded and quietly retreated into the shadows. He held a holding talisman between his fingertips, and spiritual power was quietly poured into it. The talisman shone slightly on his fingertips, but no energy leaked out.
The two walked over and found the forensic examiner squatting next to the body, holding a strawberry-flavored lollipop in his mouth and recording something vaguely.
"How's the situation?" Dean deliberately lowered his voice, imitating the tone of a detective in a crime drama.
The forensic examiner didn't even look up. "In addition to the marks on his neck, there was also a roll of twenty-five cent coins stuffed in his throat. A whole roll."
Dean paused pretending to be profound and said a classic cold joke, "If you ask me... I won the jackpot."
Sam cooperated from the side with a serious look on his face. "In addition, there is a stab wound on his lower abdomen."
Dean added, "If you ask me... don't be a hero if you don't have the guts."
The police officer next to him laughed in unison, and Dean himself felt so embarrassed that he dug his toes on the ground.
When the other party was not paying attention, he suddenly took out the wooden stake that had been prepared in advance and was stained with the blood of the deceased, and plunged it into the forensic examiner's chest.
The other party was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. He disappeared in a flash, and the young patrolman standing next to him changed his appearance. He had a carefree smile and a brown leather jacket - he was the prankster.
"Haha, you've got the wrong person, idiot." He laughed so hard that he couldn't stand up straight. "You want to trick me with this old trick?"
Dean's face changed, and before he could react, Sam rushed up from the side.
He held the peach wood nail Bai Haorui that had been opened in advance, and used all his strength to drive it into the prankster's back.
At the same time, Bai Haorui rushed out from the shadows, so fast that only an afterimage was left. The peach wood sword, carrying the burning Pure Yang True Fire, stabbed straight into the opponent's back.
This time, the three of them had coordinated in advance to attack from the front and back, calculating his reaction time accurately and blocking all escape routes.
The smile on Gabriel's face froze for an instant. He looked down at the peach wood nail tips showing through his chest, and felt the burning True Fire on his back, burning his energy. He staggered and fell down with a "pop".
The energy in his body quickly dissipated, disappearing like an ebbing tide.
The surrounding scenes instantly dissipated and peeled off like an ebbing tide. The three of them stepped on the ground and returned to the abandoned paper mill. The smell of dust and rust flooded into their nostrils again, dim light, worn-out machines, everything returned to reality.
Dean gasped, looked down at the "body" on the ground, then turned to Sam: "Sam? Sam Where are you?"
The surroundings were empty, only he and Bai Haorui were standing there, and there was no sign of Sam.
Dean took out his mobile phone and dialed, and soon the voicemail prompt of Sam came over the phone.
"Sam, it's me, where the hell have you been?" Dean had just hung up the phone when a voice suddenly rang out from the black Impala parked behind him.
"Dean?"
Dean turned around suddenly and stared at the car for two seconds. "Sam?"
"It's me." Sam's voice came from the car stereo, muffled and a little helpless, "I don't know where I am, this is terrible... I don't think we killed the prankster. This is another trap."
The familiar theme song of "Knight Rider" rang and floated from the car stereo.
Dean walked around the car, reached out and knocked on the hood, he was angry and funny. "No, brother, you changed the car?"
Bai Haorui came over, stretched out his palm and pressed it on the car body. The purple-gold True Gang penetrated his palm and carefully checked the energy status in the car body. After a moment, he took back his hand and breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay, it's just that the soul is bound to the car body, and there is no danger to his life. When we catch his true body, we can untie it."
But he knew very well in his heart: The strength of this guy who could quietly put people into this state was much stronger than he expected. The one who fell just now was simply an energy clone, and the real body never exerted its full strength from the beginning to the end.
The night was dark, and the yard of the abandoned warehouse was covered with weeds. The Impala slowly drove in and parked in the open space, its headlights illuminating the mottled iron door of the warehouse.
Dean opened the door and got out of the car, shouting at the empty warehouse, "Okay, you bastard! We admit defeat! We will do as you say! Come out!"
Gabriel appeared at the door of the warehouse in an instant, leaning against the door frame, crossing his arms with a proud look on his face. "Oh? You figured it out so quickly? If you had been so obedient earlier, it would have been over, and you would have to suffer some punishment."
"Don't worry." Dean raised his chin and said in a strong tone, "No one is going anywhere now. Let Sam change back first. Otherwise, there is no need to talk."
Gabriel sneered and said in a mocking tone, "Is there any difference? Anyway, Satan will ride on him sooner or later."
Having said that, he still snapped his fingers.
The air next to the car was distorted, and Sam's figure instantly condensed. He staggered for a moment before standing still. He still didn't recover, looked down at his hands and feet, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Dean immediately walked over to support him, and the two exchanged glances quickly. Dean's hand quietly reached into his arms and held the small bottle of Holy Oil--which Castiel had quietly stuffed into them when he broke in before.
"Okay, can you be obedient now?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows, as if he had a chance to win.
"Tell me one thing first." Dean looked at him and spoke slowly, "Why can't the wooden stake kill you? Ordinary pranksters would be knocked out of their skins if they were hit."
"I'm a prankster." The other party said matter-of-factly, "Can I be the same as those low-level people?"
Sam took out the lighter and turned it around in his hand. Dean sneered, "Really? Maybe you are not at all. Maybe you were an angel from the beginning. Only angels can have such a strong power."
Gabriel was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing, laughing so hard, "Angel? Are you drunk too much? Me? Angel?"
"Okay." Dean raised his chin and motioned to his feet, "When you walk out of the sacred fire circle, we will assume that we made a mistake and apologize to you."
Bai Haorui moved his fingertips slightly, using True Gang to activate Holy Oil, who had just quietly fallen to the ground. A circle of pale golden oil stains appeared under Gabriel's feet, forming a perfect circle.
Sam Press the lighter and the flame falls.
With a "boom", Holy Oil instantly ignited a golden wall of fire, tightly surrounding Gabriel in the middle. The flame was a holy bright golden color, burning with crackling sounds and heat waves surging, illuminating the dim space of the warehouse.
The smile on Gabriel's face completely froze. He looked down at the ring of fire at his feet, and his face darkened little by little.
"You had a good time, boys." He finally stopped all his playful smiles and his tone became colder, "Where did you get Holy Oil?"
"Oh, you can say that we took it out of Sam's ass." Dean twitched the corner of his mouth, with a hint of revenge in his tone.
"Tell me, where did I reveal my secret?" Gabriel raised his eyes and looked at them.
"You didn't reveal the secret." Sam spoke with a firm tone, "But no one can deal with Castiel as easily as you. More importantly, when you talk about Apocalypse, your tone... is like talking about your own family. Only when you talk about your own family, people will become so angry."
Dean answered, "So, who are you? The grumpy ghost, the sneezing ghost, or the bastard ghost? Which one of the seven angels are you?"
The man in the ring of fire sighed, as if he had finally taken off his disguise. He raised his head and said in a calm tone, "Gabriel, okay? They all call me Gabriel."
"Gabriel?" Sam and Dean were stunned at the same time, saying in unison, "Archangel Gabriel?"
"Exactly." Gabriel shrugged, as if "you guessed it right".
Bai Haorui stood outside the fire ring with calm eyes. He took half a step forward and spoke in a low-pitched but clear voice, "You escaped from Heaven and hid in the world pretending to be a prankster just to avoid the war between Michael and Lucifer? You don't want to watch your brothers kill each other."
Gabriel glanced at him and did not deny it. His tone was a little self-deprecating. "My private witness protection plan. I escaped from Heaven, changed my skin, found a small world for myself in the world, watched TV, played games, and lived a comfortable life... until you messed everything up."
"Then what did your father say?" Dean asked, "You ran out to hang out with the pagans and he didn't say anything?"
"My dad didn't say anything." Gabriel's tone was colder, with a hint of imperceptible disappointment, "He didn't care about it a long time ago."
"Then why are you running away?" Sam asked, "You are the archangel, you obviously have the ability to stop all this."
Gabriel suddenly laughed, with a bit of self-deprecation and bitterness in the laughter. "Wouldn't you run away if it were you? My brothers are both the biggest bastards. One is as rigid as a stone, and the other is as paranoid as a lunatic. Watching them turn against each other and fight to the death? I couldn't bear it, understand? So I left. As a result, history is about to repeat itself again."
"Then help us stop it." Sam said immediately, "We can definitely find a way together."
"It can't be stopped." Gabriel shook his head, his tone a little tired and numb, "This is doomed. The script has been written since the beginning of the world."
"You want to see the end of the world? Billions of people die?" Dean frowned.
"I just want this to end as soon as possible!" Gabriel's voice became louder and his emotions became more intense. "I can only sit and watch my brothers killing each other, all thanks to you two! Heaven or Hell, I don't care who wins! I just want it to end quickly and get clean!"
"Things shouldn't be like this." Sam shook his head and said firmly, "There must be a way to stop all this. Fate is not written in stone."
Gabriel laughed, and the laughter was full of ridicule. "Oh, you don't know my family at all. What you call Apocalypse, I used to call it the Sunday family dinner. That's why it can't be stopped at all - because this is not a war at all, but the grudge between two brothers who once loved each other deeply, but eventually betrayed each other. You two should have a lot of resonance."
"What are you talking about?" Dean's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling.
Gabriel looked at them with complicated eyes and a calm tone, but it hit their hearts like a heavy hammer:
"You two wretches, why do you think you are the vessel? Think about it carefully. Michael--Eldest brother, loyal to the absent father. Lucifer--Little brother, resist the father's plan. You are born That's what it's for, kids. It's your destiny, it was destined to be you from the beginning. Just as in Heaven... it's the same on earth. One brother must kill the other. It's a cycle, a never-ending cycle."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean clenched his fists, his knuckles turned white, and veins popped out on his forehead.
"Why do you think I have always been so interested in you?" Gabriel said calmly, "Since Dad created this world, we have known that everything will eventually end in your hands. It has always been. You are their mirror image."
"No." Sam shook his head and said firmly, "This won't happen. We won't get to that point."
"I'm sorry... but it will be." Gabriel looked at them with a little compassion in his eyes, "Guys, I also hope that this is a TV series with simple answers and a happy ending. But this is reality. For all of us, the ending will be tragic. It can only be like this."
"Fuck you."
Bai Haorui suddenly spoke and took a step forward. He stared sharply at Gabriel in the ring of fire, and his tone was decisive:
"The road is impermanent, why is it destined? Why should humans pay for the angel's family feud? Michael and Lucifer want to fight, let them fight on their own, why should they drag billions of people around the world to be buried with them?"
He paused, then his fingertips lightly touched the blade of the mahogany sword, and the runes on the sword lit up. "I have seen many people who changed their fate against fate. Fate is the excuse for the weak, and luck is the humility of the strong. Dean and Sam should let them choose their own paths."
"You can't accept your brothers turning against each other, but you hide and force others to accept their fate - you are not ending the war, you are just escaping, which is cowardly. You don't dare to resist your father's script, you don't dare to stand up and stop your brothers, so you hide in the world and play games, deceiving yourself and others."
This sentence hit Gabriel's pain point precisely.
He raised his head suddenly, anger flashed in his eyes, and the holy light around him began to surge violently. Even the holy fire ring under his feet was shaken, and the flames flickered. The air pressure in the warehouse suddenly dropped, and the air seemed to solidify.
At this moment, a dull voice came from the warehouse door.
"Hello, Gabriel."
Castiel stood at the door, still wearing the same khaki windbreaker, his face was still a little pale, but he stood up straight.
It was Bai Haorui who just now took advantage of the confrontation between the three of them, secretly made secrets with his hand hanging by his side, and called Castiel with the telegraph.
"Hi, brother." Gabriel twitched the corner of his mouth, with a bit of usual ridicule in his tone, "How is the progress of finding dad? Let me guess, it's terrible."
Castiel ignored his teasing, turned to Dean and said, "Let's go. There's nothing more to say to him."
Dean nodded and pulled Sam. Bai Haorui also put away his sword, and the three of them turned and walked out of the warehouse.
"Hey--guys?" Gabriel shouted from behind, his tone a bit complicated, "What's wrong? Are you going to leave me here for the rest of my life? Let me stand in the circle of holy fire forever?"
Dean stopped, turned around, and looked at Gabriel in the ring of fire.
"No, we won't." Dean's tone was very calm, "Because we won't play tricks like you. And, by the way - this is not the ultimate showdown between your brothers at all, nor is it an unstoppable fate. This is because you are too cowardly to stand up and resist your family."
After saying that, he raised his hand and pressed the fire alarm on the wall.
"Beep--Beep--"
The sharp alarm bell rang throughout the warehouse. The fire sprinkler head on the ceiling began to spray water, and the fine water flow fell down, quickly extinguishing the fire ring ignited by Holy Oil.
Only wet water stains were left on the ground, and there was still lingering warmth.
"Don't say I haven't given you any benefits." Dean left these words, turned around and walked out of the warehouse.
Gabriel stood in the water on the ground, watching the three people leaving, with complex expressions on their faces, and did not move for a long time. Water dripped down his hair and wet his leather jacket. He stood in the dark warehouse, his figure looking particularly lonely.
The night was thick, like ink that cannot be melted. The Impala was driving on an empty road with the windows open, and the night wind filled the car, bringing with it the smell of grass and earth.
The car was silent for a long time, with only the roar of the engine and the sound of the wind.
Sam spoke first, with a bit of uncertainty and a lingering heaviness in his tone. "Those words he just said... do you think what he said is true? Are we really... the mirror image of Michael and Lucifer? We are destined to..."
He didn't finish speaking, and the rest of his words were too heavy, making him breathless.
Dean held the steering wheel and stared at the darkness ahead. The car lights split the night and could only illuminate a small section of the road ahead. He was silent for a few seconds before speaking, his voice a little hoarse. "I think he believed it. He was trapped in that fatalistic theory for millions of years, and he has been unable to get out for a long time."
"Then what should we do?" Sam asked softly.
"I don't know." Dean paused and twitched his lips in a self-deprecating tone, "Let me tell you something, now I really miss the world on TV. At least the ending there is well-written, the good guys win and the bad guys lose. You don't have to think so much, and you don't have to worry about when the end of the world will come every day."
Sam chuckled softly, leaned back on the chair, and looked at the rapidly retreating tree shadows outside the window. "Me too. At least I don't have to wonder every day whether we are chess pieces in other people's hands."
Bai Haorui sat in the back seat and spoke slowly. His voice was steady and powerful, like a reassurance, firmly falling in their hearts:
"Things like fate are meant to be broken. Gabriel is trapped in his own obsession and cannot see other possibilities. But we are different. You are Winchester, and you have never been chess pieces at the mercy of others. Just follow your own path."
He paused, looked at the night outside the window, and added, "Moreover, Gabriel is not an enemy. He is just a deserter who dare not face reality. If the day of the decisive battle really comes, he might stand on our side. The fire in his heart has not been completely extinguished."
Sam looked at the night outside the window and said softly, "The appearance of Gabriel shows that Heaven is not monolithic. If we can win over him, our chances of winning against Michael will be much greater. He is the Archangel."
Dean didn't say anything, just held the steering wheel tightly.
The car lights split the thick night, illuminating a short section of the road ahead. The road ahead was dark. No one knew whether fate would come true or not, and no one knew where Apocalypse would eventually go. But a few people knew very well in their hearts that they would never obediently play the role arranged by fate.
As long as you are alive, you have a choice.