Alain could only stare in shock for a moment as the Colonel marched down the hall towards them, sheer rage plastered across his face. Alain cleared his throat right when Stone reached them, then stretched his arms out, motioning to the scene around them.

"Colonel, we're prepared to explain everything," he offered.

"I would hope so!" Colonel Stone replied. "There's a gateway to hell open in the middle of downtown San Antonio!"

"And it would have been worse than a mere gateway, had it not been for our intervention," Sable pointed out, her eyes narrowing. "A greater demon was summoned here. We only just narrowly imprisoned him back in hell once more."

Stone gave her an incredulous look. "What's stopping him from simply clawing his way out through the giant gaping opening directly to his domain down below?"

"We sealed him using a binding ritual. He isn't going to be able to free himself any time soon."

Danielle's face darkened at that. "And it only cost the soul of my father."

"Your father was already dead the moment his body was possessed by Leviathan," the sole remaining priest offered. "What you did was a mercy more than anything. His soul is with the Lord now."

Colonel Stone gave the priest an incredulous look. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Father Michaelson," the priest replied. "Sole surviving clergy member of the entire city, it would seem."

"Hm." Colonel Stone seemed to think of something, and turned to Alain in surprise. "Where's the big guy?"

"Az gave his life to help send Leviathan back to hell," Alain stated.

"Did he, now? Shame; a good man like that is hard to find."

"He isn't technically dead," Alain hurriedly added. "We can get him back."

Stone stared at him. "...What are you implying, Smith?"

Alain let out a heavy sigh. "Az is a greater demon, himself. You might know him by his true name – Azazel. He turned his back on the other demons and denizens of hell after being charmed by humanity. Despite his demonic nature, he's a staunch ally of ours."

"We can summon him back," Sable insisted. "All it will take is another ritual using his corpse."

To Alain's surprise, Colonel Stone nodded. "Very well. Do it."

"Just like that?" Alain questioned. "You're not worried about him being a greater demon?"

"At this point, I will take any staunch allies I can get, be they benevolent demons or not; the fact we work well together is just a bonus," Colonel Stone growled. "Call him back as soon as you can."

Sable and Alain exchanged a glance, but after a moment, Sable made her way over to Az's remains, then began to cast the ritual again. A few minutes later, and demonic energy once more massed around Az's body before dissipating outwards in an explosion of black magic. When it cleared, Az was standing there again, a relieved look on his face.

"Glad to see you all-"

That was as far as he got before Sable surged forwards and wrapped her arms around him. Az paused, then cleared his throat.

"My lady, this kind of physical contact is highly inappropriate-"

"Shut up," she said. "I'm glad you're back."

"And I am glad you all prevailed." An uncharacteristic grin crossed Az's face. "Leviathan's scream of rage echoed throughout the entire underworld when he realized he'd been sealed once more. It was music to my ears."

"I'll bet, big man," Alain said, stepping over to Az and offering him a hand. The two shook just as Sable pulled away from him. "Bit of advice, though – next time, I'd prefer it if you warned us before blowing yourself up like that."

"Duly noted," Az said. He turned towards the squad of soldiers who'd appeared. "Nice of you to join us again, Colonel."

"Yeah, if only it were under better circumstances," Colonel Stone lamented. "You seem to be the one who'd be the most knowledgeable about whatever the hell is going on with this city right now. How do we close the opening to hell?"

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At that, Az's grin faded. Slowly, he shook his head. "I do not know, Colonel. The ritual was nearing completion; I am not sure it is possible to close that particular portal anymore. Though, if I may make a suggestion… the Church may be able to help. I would be surprised if they were not able to."

"And which Church would that be?"

"The oldest one there is."

At that, Father Michaelson stepped forwards. "I have direct contact with the Vatican," he insisted. "I can get as many clergy members down here as we need. This is obviously a crisis; they wouldn't hesitate. I'd wager that I could get everyone except the Pope himself down here once I communicated exactly how bad this is… as well as the sacrifices our brothers and sisters made to keep things from getting any worse."

Colonel Stone nodded. "Go, then. We have an outpost set up outside town, complete with a telephone; my men will walk you through how to use it, should you need instruction on it. We will get that message delivered as soon as possible."

Father Michaelson nodded, then followed after several of Colonel Stone's men as they began to lead him through the spire. Alain watched them go before turning back to the Colonel.

"What's it like out there?" he asked. "I can only assume that with the doors to the Underworld open, there's still plenty of fighting to do."

"Oh, yes," the Colonel replied. "Even now, more demons continue to claw their way up into our world. My men have cordoned the area off and are repelling them as they come, but there is no telling whether things will get worse or not. We need a way of closing it for good; hopefully, Rome can come through for us."

"If it is any consolation," Az interjected, "the gates to the Underworld, while opened, have not been fully demolished. You will see lesser demons continue to come through until this has been resolved, but the true horrors remain dormant for now. That being said, you will have to cordon off more than just that one area."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this entire city is going to become a hotspot for cult activity in very short order," Az warned. "They all want the same thing, and will stop at nothing to get it. You are going to need to contain it if you want to keep things from getting worse."

Colonel Stone's eyes widened. "You want me to blockade the entire city?"

"Indeed. It is a drastic measure, I know, but it is also the only way to be sure at the moment. The safest way to keep things from worsening is to ensure that nobody gets in until the problem has been dealt with."

Colonel Stone blinked, then nodded. "I'll make the call. Until then, I'll need all of you to follow me back to the outpost we've got outside of town."

"Why is that?" Sable asked.

"Because you all look like shit, and I can tell you'll be no good in a fight. Plus, I'm going to want a full debrief as well."

Alain let out a tired sigh. "Of course…"

"Smith, there is a portal to hell open right in the middle of one of America's cities," the Colonel pointed out. "I want to know everything that led up to it, so I know what to tell Congress when they inevitably come asking about it."

A chorus of roars suddenly echoed through the city, followed immediately after by a round of gunfire. It was weaker and more muted than it had been at the apex of the gates to the Underworld opening. Moreover, Alain couldn't help but notice that the skies had stopped weeping blood by now; it was still overcast, but the clouds had begun to dissipate and the moon had started to peek through some of the cloud coverage.

Slowly, Alain turned back towards Colonel Stone, then nodded. "Lead the way, Colonel. Let's get the hell out of this city, already."

XXX

Thankfully, the Colonel had done a very good job of securing the city, apparently – they weren't impeded by any demons as they moved through town, eventually making it back to the outskirts. That didn't mean their journey was an easy one, however – dead bodies continued to line the blood-soaked streets, and by now, many of them had started to putrefy. It wasn't quite as bad as facing the undead, but it still wasn't pleasant.

They also passed by a convoy of people on their way out of the city, as well. Most of them were soaked in blood, as were their belongings; many of them were on-foot rather than in a wagon or on horseback, no doubt because they hadn't been able to get to their horses before the demons had arrived. As they passed, Alain saw tears in the eyes of many of them, as they'd been forced to abandon their homes. He didn't doubt that most of them had lost somebody in the attack, either.

"Jesus…" Alain muttered as he passed by a large crowd of people. He could see many unaccompanied small children traveling alone, looking incredibly lost and confused; no doubt they'd lost their parents in the attack and simply didn't know what to do anymore.

"They'll be taken care of," Colonel Stone insisted. "The government will do everything in its power to ensure they get the care they need, same as with the refugees from New Orleans."

"I hope you're right…" Alain could only mutter.

Eventually, Colonel Stone led them back to an area that was full of soldiers. Alain could help but let out a low whistle at what he saw.

"Looks like they've given you a bit more to work with," he noted, trying to count out the groups of men he was able to see. He stopped once he'd made it past a dozen different squads.

"I guess you could say New Orleans put the fear of God into Congress," Stone answered. "They've had me out mobilizing additional regiments ever since. We've grown a lot since then, though obviously, not under the circumstances I'd have wanted."

"Of course."

The Colonel stopped just outside of a large tent, then turned to them. "Wait here," he said. "I need to contact DC. I'll come speak with you once I've learned more; hopefully, it won't be too long."

With that, he disappeared into the tent. Alain let out a sigh, then took a seat on a nearby box full of ammo, burying his head in his hands as he yawned, his exhaustion seeming to hit him all at once.

"So what now?" Danielle asked.

"Good question," Alain said as he peeled his hands away from his face. "Truthfully? I don't know."

Danielle bit her lip. "I suppose I owe you all some money."

Alain waved her off. "Keep it. We didn't complete the job properly."

"You did your best-"

"And it wasn't good enough." Alain turned to look at her. "Keep your money, Danielle. Or, if you feel like you need to use it for something, maybe go give some of it away to the refugees, particularly the kids. Something tells me they'll need it more than we will."

Danielle blinked, but then gave him a nod. "...You're a good man," she noted. "All of you… I appreciate everything you did for me, even if we couldn't bring my father home in the end." She turned towards Az, a look of deep shame crossing over her face. "Sorry for-"

"It's okay," Az insisted. "Do not beat yourself up over it, alright? I'm still here, and the threat was stopped. There is no sense in reliving your mistakes like that… but, that being said, do not ever do it again."

Danielle blinked again, then nodded in understanding. "Right…" She let out an exhale. "I don't know what I'm going to do now…"

"Neither do we," Alain stated. "Something tells me things have just escalated, however. We got let off the hook pretty easily back in New Orleans; I doubt we'll get that lucky here."

Silence fell over the group after that, at least until Az cleared his throat.

"So, Alain," he said, "you are Sable's apprentice."

Alain paled, then looked over towards Sable. To his surprise, she simply nodded.

"He is," she confirmed. "I apologize for keeping it a secret. I did not want to offend you by implying that you were unworthy-"

"You have nothing to apologize for, my lady. Your choice in apprentice is yours and yours alone. And besides, I would not make for a particularly good one." Az glanced over at Alain. "And to further make my point, I struggle to think of someone who can better fill the role than Alain."

Alain stared at him in shock for a moment before clearing his throat. "Well, I appreciate that-"

At that moment, the flap to the Colonel's tent came flying open, and Stone marched out. Alain instantly stood up when he saw him.

"Colonel," Alain greeted. "That was quick."

"Yes, it was," came the reply. "And not in a good way."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that they didn't want to hear about it from me. I offered to get a debrief and present it to them, but they refused. No, they want to hear from all of you in-person. It makes sense, much as I hate to admit it – you three were at both New Orleans and San Antonio; it makes sense that they would want to get the information right from the source."

Alain's eyes widened. "Are you telling me what I think you are?"

"I am, indeed," Colonel Stone confirmed with a nod.

"You're going to Washington, Mister Smith."