Book excerpt: Spawn returns to the home of Granny Blake to bid her a final farewell. He explains to Granny his belief that Heaven and Hell are two sides of the same coin and defends his decision to choose neither. Granny, however, will have none of it and refuses to let Al disparage her faith. Cogliostro is not letting Al off the hook, either, and tells him that the choice of what role he wants to take is not his to make; that by slaying Malebolgia, he has become Malebolgia's de facto replacement whether he accepts it or not.