Everyone's heads turned to watch the 3 meteors plummeting from the sky. The pale green meteor, the dark purple meteor and the yellow-orange meteor traveled together, down to the shattered Earth.
"The Horsemen cometh!" shouted a member of Hellguard. Uriel stared at the odd-colored flaming meteors for a good while before finding her voice.
"War, your brothers—" her voice trailed off when she saw that the Horseman was nowhere to be found. While the Hellguard had been distracted, War had leaped off the Destroyer's Tower, and plummeted to the ground alongside his siblings. As he fell, he too was consumed in a fiery aura, and became a red-orange meteor. He clenched both of his hands into fists as he sped down. Soon, he was able to see beyond the sand and the dust that clouded the air, and spotted the ruined streets of the city below. His glowing eyes narrowed as he prepared for impact, but he did not close them. The sound of the impact of all four meteors echoed throughout the area, and smoke and dust billowed up into the air. Behind the cover of the dust, the Red Rider rose to his feet and stood tall. He turned around and looked in front of him, his solid white eyes piercing through the debris. My brothers must be nearby, he thought to himself. He took a step, and then another. Then he started to run. As he ran, flames appeared alongside him. War glanced at the flames to his left and waited for a black body to reveal itself before reaching out his hulk of a left hand.
In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the still emerging saddle and hauled himself onto the back of his fiery, black-bodied phantom steed Ruin. The apocalyptic stallion whinnied and snorted fire from his nostrils. The flames about his hooves danced aggressively, and the runes on his neck glowed red with a natural rage. His mane and tail looked like smoke. On War's command, the powerful steed turned a sharp corner and raced down the street. After a few more turns, War finally found exactly what he was looking for. Smoke still billowed from the three craters, but it seemed that nothing in the area had moved. War and Ruin stood there, waiting and watching for the other Horsemen. Finally, a silhouette emerged from behind one of the smoke pillars. War did not move. From the corner of his eye, he saw another figure rise. He recognized both figures as Strife and Fury, but he did not see Death. Was he already gone? No. Another figure rose behind the original two. He stood slowly and remained still for a moment before looking in War's direction. Despite the distance between them, War could still make out the solid orange eyes of his brother, the Pale Rider. Suddenly, the White Rider and the Black Rider turned their solid yellow eyes towards War, and turned their bodies with their heads. War commanded Ruin to advance towards the other three Horsemen. The horse's hooves stopped several feet away from them. War himself said nothing, and simply stared back at his siblings. A few moments later, movement came from one of the legendary riders. Death took a step forward, and then another. He slowly walked out of the crater he had created, past the dust that flew into the air. His whole being came into view. His orange eyes stared into his brother's face for a while before words were finally exchanged.
"It is good to see you are well, War," Death spoke. Ruin whinnied as War allowed himself to smile vaguely.
"Death, it has been a while," he replied in a barely softer-than-usual voice. Death chuckled lightly.
"That is true," he said. A scraping of boots was heard behind the Reaper, and Strife appeared behind him. He then moved to Death's right. He brushed his arms off to remove the airborne dust that had collected on him upon impact.
"Took quite a fall there," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Didn't expect to be called so soon." Fury suddenly appeared on Death's left.
"Stop complaining, Strife," she calmly hissed. She ran her fingers through her red-violet hair. "Though, I actually do find it a bit early that the Seventh Seal was broken now." War remained quiet, unwilling to share the information that he had learned in his quest for self-redemption. However, Death was most certainly not willing to ride without learning this information first.
"I heard about the crime you committed, War," he began. War turned his gaze on him, his eyes having suddenly become hard and unforgiving. "But I know that you are the most honorable among us. You wouldn't doom humanity to extinction just like that," Death added. War's gaze softened a bit.
"I was summoned. I answered a call," War replied, indignant. Death was about to speak again, but he was interrupted by Strife.
"But there was no call, War. You broke the law," he said, somewhat annoyed. War was good at hiding his rage, but his eyes revealed everything. His punishing glare did not unnerve Strife much.
"I was summoned… By the Council," War growled. "I know the truth. I have been to the Tree of Knowledge in Eden." Strife reacted to this. His yellow eyes locked on War's.
"You what?" he asked, surprised. War's gaze did not change.
"I was betrayed… By the Council, and the forces of Heaven itself," he began. "Before I went to the Tree, Azrael, the Angel of Death, told me that Abaddon had ordered six of the seven seals be broken. It was a plot to make Hell seem like they attacked prematurely. After the seals were broken, they were re-forged to hide the evidence. The Council found out about this, and also discovered Abaddon's betrayal."
"That doesn't quite explain why you were summoned," Death said as he extended an arm in a pointing gesture. War turned his attention back to his brother. Ruin shifted his hooves a bit.
"The Council wasn't willing to send any of us without good enough proof, but…" War paused for a moment. He looked down at the ground next to him before turning back to Death. "Vengeance is the only proof I need."
"So, the Council framed you because they knew that you would try to clear your name?" Fury asked. War looked at her and nodded. Even Strife looked surprised.
"You're probably the most loyal to the Council out of all of us," he said. "Why would they do this?" War's eyes hardened, but the rage was not directed towards the White Rider. He straightened himself and sat up tall on Ruin's saddle.
"My duty was to root out all involved," he said gruffly. "And now I know that the Council is also responsible." Death's eyes widened.
"I must admit, I am hardly loyal to the Council. But War, trying to destroy them is foolish, not to mention impossible." War scowled.
"That was the duty they gave me—and now it seems that their plan has backfired," he growled in response. "I will see this injustice finished." War commanded Ruin to turn around. However, before the flaming black horse could start galloping away, the Pale Rider called out to him.
"Wait War," he said. Ruin stopped, and both he and War looked back at Death. "You will not be able to do this alone." Suddenly, green flames appeared on Death's right. He quickly jumped in that direction and landed on the saddle of his horse Despair. The phantom steed's zombie-like appearance would've frightened just about anyone, but the Horsemen and their steeds were hardly unnerved. Death gripped Despair's mane, which was composed entirely of green vapor. That same green vapor emanated from his hooves, and made a tail were there was only a small bony protrusion. The stallion's green eyes burned with determination. He pawed at the ground with his hoof and snorted. Death rode up next to War and looked him in the eye. War smirked.
"I knew I wouldn't be alone," the Rider remarked. Both he and Death looked back at Strife and Fury. Strife smiled, but it was invisible due to his face being covered by an ivory white helmet.
"I've been waiting a long time to kill me some demons!" he exclaimed as dark purple flames appeared on his right. He reached out his right hand and grabbed a hold of the emerging saddle before pulling himself onto it. His horse, Pain, neighed and reared up on his back legs. Pain was a horse who was as white as snow, and had the body of Ruin, meaning that he was a very powerful horse. Dark purple smoke emanated from his hooves, and a lighter purple smoke was emitted by his mane and tail. The horse's main and tail were also white, though they were more silver in color. Pain's purple eyes glowed with hatred. The difference between Pain and the other Horsemen's steeds was that Pain actually wore armor. Silver armor covered the horse's head, neck, legs, and back. Not only that, but the armor was spiked. Pain was a fearsome horse, and shared his attitude with Strife, which made him scarier. Strife lightly but firmly grasped Pain's mane and commanded him to trot forward a little. Fury looked up at Strife, and then back at War and Death.
"I know the Council's ways now," she said. Yellow-orange flames appeared on her left. "They must suffer for their crimes." She grabbed onto the saddle and jumped onto it before her horse, Torment, could fully appear. The horse whinnied and snorted, and pawed the ground a few times. Torment was like the opposite of Pain, as he was a black horse with the body of Despair. The horse had an extremely thin, malnourished appearance, and all of his bones were visible through his flesh. The horse had yellow eyes, and his black mane and tail glowed with a yellow-orange vapor. The same kind of vapor was emitted from the horse's hooves. He snorted again, and this time yellow-orange smoke emerged from his nostrils. On Fury's command, the skinny stallion moved forward a bit and shifted his hooves afterwards. Death turned his gaze back to War as War continued looking at his fellow Riders. He laughed lightly.
"Very well," he said in a light-hearted voice. "We shall ride together again!" With that, he turned back to the direction Ruin was facing and somewhat tightened his grip on Ruin's mane. Ruin reared up on his back legs and neighed loudly as he kicked his front legs out. He returned to all fours and immediately broke into a run, leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind him. Strife and Fury took off after the Red Rider, and Death trailed them. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse were reunited, and they were riding together once more.