Chpt9 Ep9: "The Mark of Cain"

Chpt9 Ep9: "The Mark of Cain" is an episode in the series Power Rangers: Omniverse

Plot
Jasper Springs, Mississippi - 1863

A confederate soldier enters into a cabin and warns two other soldiers inside to guard "the knight" at all costs in the back room. As the cabin suddenly starts to quake, the men's eyes turn black revealing to be human-possessed demons. Then a man in a black coat comes bursting in the front door. They shoot at him with their long rifles but their rounds are rendered useless. The man then confronts them and chokes up one of the demon-soldiers, their eyes and mouth burn out in a hot red light, smiting the demon instantly. The other soldiers continues shooting at him to no effect, he then goes after the others then more bright red light fills the cabin as the rest of the demons get killed off. Moments later, walking past their discarded corpses, the mysterious man then takes out a large animal jawbone and kicks in a door to the once guarded room inside.

Present day

A forlorn Kurt sits at a bar having a drink alone where Crowley suddenly appears next to him and Kurt immediately takes out his demon-killing knife, reminding Crowley that he said he'd kill him the next time they met. But Crowley points out that he has a "solution" that will solve both their problems at the moment (concerning between hunting down Metatron/Gadreel and killing the last Knight of Hell, Abaddon). Crowley then mentions of a weapon that was used by the Archangels that can kill a Knight of Hell, a weapon called "The First Blade". Kurt then draws down his knife to listen to what he has to say. Crowley continues that the only clue he's aware of is that Hunter's father, John Winchester, who exorcised a demon who worked for Abaddon decades ago who had knowledge of the First Blade. They go over to the Impala and goes through Hunter's father's journal for more information about the First Blade, where they find information in the journal which points them to a woman named Tara, whom John Winchester worked a case with about the blade. They then head off to her current location.

Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Hunter enters the hall to find Castiel akwardly trying to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Castiel explains that he enjoyed PB & Js whilst he was human, but that now that he's an angel again, they only have the disgusting taste of it's tiny molecules. Hunter and Castiel then discuss the former's healing process, and Cass proceeds. Castiel then senses some of Gadreel's grace left behind in Hunter. Hunter realizes they can probably use his leftover grace to track Gadreel and kill him. After some research,  they discover a Men of Letters' theory in the library that can extract one's angel grace from a vessel, a seemingly painful process which they were never able to prove without a "guinea pig", which in this case, Hunter is the guinea pig.

Kurt and Crowley find Tara to ask her about the case on the First Blade. Tara is immediately smitten with Kurt, but aware of Crowley's kind. They convince her that the only reason they are working together is to obtain the First Blade. She reveals that she's chased the Blade all over the world, but has only found a location spell for which she could not find one missing ingredient. Crowley claims he has a stockpile of it after all. She reluctanly agrees and lets him go to get it for the moment. Kurt reassures her that he will deal with Crowley later, but Abaddon has to be stopped as the Knight of Hell is "way worse" than Crowley. When Crowley returns with the ingredient, the three cast the spell which points them to a location in Missouri. Crowley invites Tara to join them, but while she likes the idea of working with Kurt, but she refuses to go anywhere with Crowley and stays behind, wishing Kurt good luck.

The following day, Crowley and Kurt in the Impala drives up to a farmhouse in Missouri. Kurt and Crowley get out. Crowley pauses as they walk towards the house.

Crowley

Wait.

Kurt

What?

Crowley

I'm feeling something.

Kurt

Feeling cramps?

Crowley

I feel something dark.

Kurt

What, darker than you?

Crowley is about to retort when he notices a man in a beekeeper suit tending bee hives over by the house. Crowley looks extremely terrified.

Crowley

Oh, no. We need to leave here now.

Kurt

What, are you allergic to bees?

Crowley

That's not a beekeeper. That's the "Father of Murder".

Kurt

Sorry. Who?

Crowley

It's Cain.

Kurt

As in Cain and Abel?

Crowley

Kurt. We need to be a world away from here -- from him.

Crowley turns to leave but runs into Cain who has now appeared behind him.

Cain

You're not going anywhere. Crowley.

Moments later, Kurt and Crowley are now sitting inside Cain's house in his living room. Kurt is looking around assessing their options and Crowley is staring at the floor looking like he's about to panic.

Kurt

Why don't you just zap out of here?

Crowley

[sarcastically] I'd never leave my domestic partner in crime.

Kurt [snorts]

Yeah, like your heart grew three sizes. You can't zap out of here, can you?

Crowley

Cain's doing something to me.

Kurt

Guess it's not your day for getaways, is it? All right, so, tell me about this Cain.

Crowleys

Well, Cain's one of the first two sons of Adam and Eve. And then after he killed his brother, Abel, rumor has it that...Cain became a demon.

Kurt

What do you mean "became a demon"?

Crowley

I mean he became one of the deadliest demons to walk the face of the earth. Killed thousands of people. He was the best at being the worst. And then he just... Disappeared. Everyone thought he was dead or, at least, hoped he was.

Cain then enters the room with a tea tray as Crowley cowers by looking the other way.

Cain

Do either of you keep bees? It's very relaxing. They're such noble creatures. And the honey? Well, I keep it right on the comb.

He sets the tray down on the coffee table and hands Crowley a cup. Crowley takes it but his hands are shaking in fright as so his tea cup rattles.

Cain

[continues] They're dying, you know. Without bees, mankind will cease to exist. So, tell me, what are the King of Hell and a Power Ranger doing at my house?

Kurt

You know who we are?

Cain

I'm retired. I'm not dead. What I don't know is why the "once destined vessel of Lucifer's" is looking for me -- more importantly, how you found me.

Crowley [extremely nervous]

Ah, that's, uh, a funny story, really. Bit of a misunderstanding. We really should've --

Cain [motions with his hand and Crowley is rendered speechless]

Shh.

Crowley

[Stammers and tries to make a sound] Ahh, ahh!

Kurt

Oh, you gotta teach me how to do that.

Cain

Why are you here, Kurt?

Kurt

We're looking for the weapon the Archangels used to kill the Knights of Hell, The First Blade. We need it to kill one more Knight -- Abaddon. [Cain absentmindedly moves a ring on his left ring-finger. Kurt subtlety notices.] Look, I get it. You're retired. We're not here to get between---you and the demonic AARP, but it's bad out there, and I'm just looking to even the odds.

Cain

One last time -- how did you find me?

Kurt

We didn't. The location spell was for the blade. One-time deal.

Cain

Anyone else know you're here?

Kurt

No.

Meanwhile, Tara is shown to have been murdered by a demon sent by Abaddon to find the First Blade.

Back at Cain's house

Cain

[sits up] Well, it's been a pleasure having company, but once a century is enough for me. You can let yourselves out.

Kurt

[follows after him]Hey, listen, man. We're not leaving here without the Blade.

Cain

You have quite a reputation, Kurt. I see the part about you being brave rings true.

Kurt

Well, what can I say? I'm an all-in kind of guy. Abaddon is the last Knight of Hell, and if you're out of the game, what the hell do you care if she dies?

Cain

If Crowley here could talk, he would tell you that I trained the Knights of Hell. I built that entire demonic order with my own hands -- Abaddon included.

Kurt

[turns indignantly on Crowley] Well, that is information I could have used five minutes ago!

Crowley gasps in explanation, still unable to talk.

Cain

Well, here's something Crowley doesn't know, in fact, no one ever knows. It wasn't the Archangels that slaughtered the knights...it was me.

Kurt

Why did you turn on your own?

Cain

Once again, I admire your bravery. But if you'll excuse me, I have errands to run in town. [he turns his back to leave] Goodbye, Kurt Mendoza...never return.

Crowley and Kurt exit his house moments later.

Crowley

Well, that was lovely. Can we leave the country now?

Kurt

But you said the First Blade was our only shot at killing Abaddon. This is the closest you've been to it. We're not leaving.

Crowley

Will you listen to reason for once?

Kurt

Hey. He said he was going into town. Awesome. We wait till he's gone, come back, bust in, take what's ours. Got it?

Back at the Bunker. Hunter and Castiel are walking down a hall and into a medical room of the base.

Castiel

Hunter, may I ask you a question?

Hunter [Jokingly]

You just did.

Castiel

Can I ask you another question?

Hunter

Well, technically, you -- yeah, go ahead. What's up?

Castiel

Hunter, the trials. You chose not to go through with them for a reason, didn't you? You chose to live rather than to sacrifice yourself. You and Kurt... You chose each other once more.

Hunter

Yeah, I did. We did. And then... Kurt made a choice for me.

Castiel

What Kurt did --

Hunter

It doesn't matter what Kurt did. Look, I could have put a stop to all this, Cas. I could have closed the gates of Hell.

Castiel

Hunter---

Hunter

Kurt's gone, okay? This is on me now, and if I can find Gadreel... I can fix this.

Hunter sets a box down on a table next to a gurney in the room.

Hunter

[continues] Now...being a human means settling your debts. [Hunter hands the box to Castiel and sits down on the gurney.] So, let's start balancing the books.

Castiel opens the box and it is revealed to contain a syringe with a lonh needle to extract the angelic grace out of Hunter.

The scene changes to Kurt and Crowley entering Cain's house, sneakily and searches his house for the First Blade, but discovers that he was married shown from an old photo of his wife, but still finds no sign of the Blade. Cain returns from a supply run and sees the duo ransacking his home, he urges them to leave before he goes to kill the duo but then a group of demons arrive in his yard, having gotten his location from Tara.

Back at the Men of Letters Bunker, while extracting the grace from Hunter, Castiel figures out that the extraction might have regressive effects onto Hunter and volunteers to stop. Hunter, however, forces Cass to continue, since the extraction is the only way of finding Gadreel.

Back in Cain's house, realizing the trio are outnumbered, Kurt goes to barricade the doors and windows and tells them to prepare for a fight.

Cain

Brave, but impulsive. You truly have lived up to your reputation.

Kurt

I can't say you've lived up to yours.

Cain

What can I say? I'm retired. If you survive, you're welcome to join me for the last supper I will eat in this house before I disappear again. It's the least I can do.

[Cain sets his bag of groceries on the table and Kurt keeps using his furnitures to lockdown his home.

Back to the medical room in the Bunker. Castiel has started inserting the needle on the side of Hunter's neck. Moments later, he continues deepening it down, still extracting the angel grace further and Hunter is almost unconscious from the pain.

Castiel

Hunter? Hunter?!

Hunter [weakly]

Keep going.

Castiel

Why?

Hunter

We -- we -- we have to find Gadreel.

Castiel [starting to remove the needle from Hunter's neck]

No! Why must the Rangers always run towards death?

Hunter [then grasps the syringe in Castiel's hand and stops him from removing it]

No, don't. Don't! Don't stop.

Castiel

Hunter, when I was human, I died, and that showed me that life is precious, and it must be protected at all costs, even a life as... as pig-headed as a Power Ranger's.

Hunter [voice heartbreaking soft]

My life's not worth any more than anyone else's -- not yours or Kurt's...or even was Kevin's. So please. Please, help me do one thing right. Keep going.

Castiel hesitants and then pushes the needle in further again. Hunter screams in pain.

Back in Cain's house, Kurt has finished barricading the home and morphs as the White Dino Ranger.

Kurt

[to Crowley] All right, I got this side and you take the front.

Meanwhile, Cain sits down at the table and starts to pull husks off the corn in front of him.

Kurt

So, this is your play?! Corn?! What am I not getting here? I mean, it's not like you're a coward.

Cain

Since when does the great White Ranger Kurt ask for help? Well, that doesn't sound like the Ranger I've read about on demon bathroom walls. Maybe you've lost a step. You know what? Let's find out.

Cain snaps his fingers and the door (and the fridge in front of it) fly open and two demons rush in. Cain snaps his fingers again and the door slams shut.

Cain

[to the demons] Oh, don't mind me. [to Kurt] Enjoy yourself.

Kurt engages towards the two demons with both the demon-killing knife and his Drago Sword in both hands, just then as a third demon crashes through the window behind him. It is a 3-on-1 situation now. Meanwhile, Crowley faces off with one but kills it with ease using an angel blade of his own.

Meanwhile as Kurt is in a scuffle with the trio of demons, he manages to kill one off but then the other two pins him down against the table Cain sits calmly as he watches the fight.

Cain

[sarcastically to Kurt] Doing great.

Kurt just glares at him and finally pulls his right leg back far enough to kick the first demon sending it crashing to a cabinet on the wall. As he gets up and exchanges a few punches with the second demon then kills it off with a stab of Ruby's knife from the back and goes over to the final demon alive, picks him up and slams him onto the table. In one quick move, Kurt stabs the demon in the neck with Ruby's knife. Kurt looks triumphantly at Cain and pulls the knife out and throws aside the demon corpse off the table.

Kurt [Exhausted]

What was that? Some kind of a test?

Cain

I felt connected to you right from the beginning. Kindred spirits, if you will. You and I are very much alike.

Kurt

Yeah, right. Except I didn't kill my brother.

Cain

You saved yours. Why?

Kurt

Because you never give up on family -- ever.

Cain

And where's your brother now, then?

Kurt

Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, and I don't really care. Just give me the damn blade.

Cain

Sorry, Kurt. I have nothing to hand over.

Kurt

What?

Cain

I no longer have the blade...it's gone.

Kurt gets a shocked look.

Back at the bunker, the grace extraction continues, which seems to be killing Hunter. Cass suddenly stops and sympathizes with Hunter, talking about how he's screwed up more than Hunter has, and how sorry he feels. He then heals Hunter completely and uses the remaining grace to track down Gadreel.

Back in Cain's house

Crowley sets aside the demon corpses and joins in the other room with Cain and Kurt.

Kurt

"Gone"? What do you mean "gone"? How? The spell brought us here to you, so it has to be here. Cain

Your spell brought you to the source of the Blade's power...me.

[Cain pulls up his right sleeve to reveal a reverse "F" mark burned into his forearm. Crowley steps back and makes the sign of the cross over his chest.]

Kurt [to Crowley]

Really? Now?

Crowley

That's the bloody Mark of Cain.

Cain

From Lucifer himself. The mark and the blade work together. Without the mark, the blade is useless. It's just an old bone.

Crowley

A bone?

Kurt

The jawbone of an animal. The jawbone you used to kill Abel because he was God's favorite.

Cain

Abel wasn't talking to God...he was talking to Lucifer. Lucifer was gonna make my brother into his pet. I couldn't bear to watch him be corrupted, so I offered a deal -- Abel's soul in Heaven for my soul in Hell. Lucifer accepted... As long as I was the one who sent Abel to Heaven. So, I killed him. Became a soldier of Hell -- a knight.

Kurt

And Lucifer ordered you to make more.

Cain

My knights and I, we did horrible things -- for centuries. Bringing chaos and darkness throughout the world.

Kurt

Then you met Colette.

Cain

She knew who I was... and what I was. She loved me unconditionally. She forgave me for who I was. She only asked for one thing.

Kurt

To stop.

Cain

When the other knights found out, they took retribution. They took my Colette, so I picked the First Blade back up and it felt so good to have it in my hands again. And then I slaughtered the Knights of Hell.

Kurt

But not all of them.

Cain

No. In the flashback moment of 1863, where Cain slaughters a few demons and takes out his First Blade, he bursts through the next door to find Colette. But upon finding her, Cain senses that Abaddon had been possessing Colette and tries to seduce him and get him to return to her to cause more chaos throughout humanity. When Cain refuses and tries to kill her, Abaddon vacates Colette, causing Cain to accidentally kill his own wife. While he wanted revenge on Abaddon, Colette made Cain promise not to go after the demon and end the killing.

Kurt

Well, I'm sorry -- truly. But I have to stop Abaddon. So, where is the Blade?

Cain [walking away]

No.

Kurt [goes after him and holds the demon-killing knife against him]

Hey! Now it's your turn to listen. You may be done killing, but I'm not!

Cain [turns and grasps the demon knife in Kurt's hand and plunges it into his own chest]

You never give up on anything, do you?

Kurt

Never.

Cain pulls the knife out of his chest and gives a grin to Kurt but then disappears.

Kurt

Cain? Cain?!

Then there is more noise coming from outside. As Crowley and Kurt look out the window at the arriving of more demons.

Meanwhile, Cain visits his wife's grave and mourns for her for a moment and then tells her he can't keep his promise to her anymore. He then reappears back in his house.

Kurt [confronts Cain]

What the hell, man? So what's it gonna be?

Cain

I can give you the mark, Kurt. If it's what you truly want.

Kurt

What are you talking about?

Cain

The mark can be transferred to someone who's worthy.

Kurt

You mean a killer like you?

Cain

Yes.

Kurt

Can I use it to kill that bitch?

Cain

Yes. But you have to know with the mark comes a great burden. Some would call it a great cost---

Kurt

Yeah, well, spare me the warning label. You had me at "kill the bitch".

Cain Good luck, Kurt. You're gonna to need it.

Kurt

Yeah, I get that a lot. Let's do this.

Cain grasps Kurt's right forearm with his. Then suddenly, strains of red hot veins spread from Cain's arm and onto Kurt's, now transferring and burning the mark into Kurt's own forearm. Kurt gasps in pain as the mark sears into his arm.

Crowley

Kurt?

Kurt

I'm fine. All right, where the hell did you stash the damn blade?

Cain

Nothing can destroy the Blade, so I threw it to the bottom of the deepest ocean. It's the only way I could keep my promise to Colette. You find the blade, kill Abaddon, but make me a promise first. [Kurt nods] When I call you -- and I will call -- you come find me and use the Blade on me.

Kurt

Why?

Cain

For what I'm about to do.

Cain snaps his fingers as he let's all the demons rush in his home. He grasps Kurt and Crowley by the shoulders and teleports them outside to safety. The demons surround Cain and prepares to take them all on his own.

Crowley

He's trapped in there.

Suddenly, red hot light lights up the windows from the inside back and forth.

Kurt

More like they're trapped in there with him.

The duo then rushes to the Impala and makes a getaway from Cain's home.

Back at the Men of Letters' Bunker, Castiel and Hunter try to locate Gadreel but the attempt fails as the grace turns out to be insufficient. The two agrees to just find another way to track down Gadreel.

Later, Kurt and Crowley are now parked on the side of the road as Kurt observes the now-received burned mark given by Cain.

Crowley

He was right, you know. You are worthy.

Kurt

Oh, like you care?

Crowley

Your problem, mate, is that nobody hates you more than you do. Believe me, I've tried.

Kurt [brushes him off]

So, how do we find this Blade?

Crowley [getting out of the Impala]

You can't search the bottom of the ocean, but I can. So, I'll find it and bring it to its new master.

Kurt confronts Crowley, having realized that Crowley played him all along in order to get Cain to give him the First Blade. Crowley counters.

Crowley

Well, Cain would want to see his prize fighter up close. You-plus-demons-equals fight night.

Kurt

If those demons knew where we were, then that means Tara got involved...and died. No thanks to you.

Crowley

Omelets. Broken eggs. Et cetera.

Kurt [angrily punches Crowley and then grabs him by his colour]

After I kill Abaddon... you're next!

Crowley

You don't mean that. We're having too much fun. [Kurt shoves him back and turns his back] Listen up. Even with the Blade, we're gonna need all the help we can get against Abaddon.

Kurt [looking annoyed]

Just go find the damn blade.

Crowley then disappears. Kurt then hisses in pain and pulls up his right sleeve to look upon the Mark of Cain once more that's now burned deep in his skin.