The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Book I: War

Far off from theses a slow and silent stream,

Lethe the river of oblivion rolls

Her wat'ry labyrinth, whereof who drinks,

Forthwith his former state and being forgets,

Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.

John Milton: Paradise Lost, Book II

Tanneth stepped onto the ledge of the balcony. He looked back at where he had run from. He could still see the flames engulfing the towers. It was like a giant beacon, visible for miles and miles away. He kept thinking back. Maybe that wasn't such a good plan. This might not end good. He looked again. It was total devastation. He hadn't meant to blow the entire place to kindom-kum, just him. He chuckled to himself, "Now that's overdoing it." Tanneth's mind went back to her again as he said it. She would have hurt him about now. She told him not to take too personal. What does she know?

He moved on. He was still to close to the fire to rest safely. He needed to get at least twenty miles away. He dashed from roof top to rooftop stumbling occasionally. He was tired. Fighting him was more like fighting a mountain that moved. It wasn't easy but he did it, without the help of any of those fools. Why do fear him so much? Why should our kind be afraid of any race? He stopped and looked back at the flame. It was in the distance now. He was almost safe. He needed to get outside the city he was too vulnerable there. The thought of that became less and less appealing. He had never felt so drained after any fight. He was conditioned to be able to go without sleep for a week if necessary. He ran and lumped to the next roof. He caves arched with pain. He kneeled down messaging some of the pain away from his worked muscles. He eyes felt three times as heavy. He began to doze off and shook his head trying to stay wake. He stood and scanned his surroundings. I'm not going to make good time like this. Better just find some shelter and get an hour our two of rest. Just need something inconspicuous. He saw a balcony with rubble scattered over the surface. It was high so anyone from the ground wouldn't be able to see him easily. The rubble would make him practically invisible at night. He was far enough from the fire to where the light made little difference. He backed up and ran towards the edge. He jumped and flew to the balcony. He hit the surface with a mild thud. Not silent but good enough. I'm tired. He leaned against the wall and slowly sank to his feet.

He put his back and gazed at the night sky. This wasn't special really. He'd done many times each with the same effect. He always thought of his days on the Tunra campaign. It was the first real combat he was ever in. It wasn't that long ago either. Still it shaped him better than any training or conditioning could have. I really made a mess of things back there. He let his eyes close. Maybe now it will get better for us.

He faded off into his mind. He dreamed nothing. He could not tell how much time had elapsed before he woke. Steps came from the street bellow. At least what sounded as steps? Tanneth pulled his groggy self off his back and slowly walked peering over the edge. A faint whistling sound came almost silently to his ears. He didn't need to waste time thinking. He darted his head to the side. The mace turned a half rotation bringing the blades to where Tanneth's head had once been. The action happened in a fraction of a moment but he could the weapon clearly, the stone grip molded into the shape of a hand and the curve of the knives with a crescent on each of them. The mace flew and struck itself in the stone wall where he had slept. Tanneth rolled back and pulled his knife. He had a guess of who it would be.

Argon pulled himself quickly onto the platform. Keeping his eyes locked with Tanneth's, he walked to the wall and pulled the mace out with ease. Tanneth was regretting resting in this place now. Argon was trouble for any fighter of his class and a death sentence to any other. "Now…let's not get too carried away here. I…"

"You've caused this city enough trouble. I told you it was a damned idea. Sh…whoever she was…did too! Yet you had to satisfy that ego of yours and now you might have spelled destruction for all of us!" Argon's rage was clear. Tanneth did not under stand it. Their troubles should be over.

"He's gone Argon….we have noth…anyway you of all people should understand!"

"I understand you're a fool, and you'll meet a fool's end!" Argon raised high his mace and struck down light lighting. The platform gave split in tow. One of the halves crumbled to the street while leaving Tanneth and Argon to duke it out. Argon furiously swung his mace. Tanneth was having a hard time avoiding them much less counter. He's a lot faster than he was. He back flipped away as Argon swung horizontally. His feet hit was left of the wall he'd slept on and launched at Argon. He an opened when Argon was bringing his mace back. He got in quick d two punches to Argons face. Argon fell back. Tanneth might have won it now if hew let go of his respect for him and slit his heart when it was open, but he instead kicked him. Argon then brought his mace up again and brought it down. Tanneth stepped easily aside without thinking, Argon then grabbed Tanneth and threw him over the ledge.

Tanneth fell bouncing off each of the lower levels before hitting the ground hard on his back. He groaned for a second then quickly got to his knees his hands scrabbling for his knife. His heart fell into fear when he found it.

Standing over his knife where two black boots. Each of them bore the insignia of the white snake. He sighed with regret now. Now I understand you Argon. He recognized those shoes instantly. His face often tasted the sole of them. "Shit." The man ten kicked him harder than anything Tanneth had ever received before for his "accomplishments" and all went first unfocused then black. .

Tanneth shot quickly up from the nightmare, panting heavily. He found himself starring into the side of a dark sand dune. His eyes were still wide with fear from the vivid flashback. Sweat rolled down his cheek. He looked and found he was clutching his knife in his right hand. It scarred him that much.

"All this time, why do they come back now, he said as he leaned back onto the cold sand. He starred again at the stars. If there was a thing good about the Sahara it was that the might sky was an eye-opening clear. He had never seen stars like this. He found east again and walked. The serenity of the night reminded him of his birth place. The stars were clear and the moon light up the horizon. It was curious though to see only one moon. And one of that color. He liked it better than what he was used to. It added to the tranquil environment of the desert. As he walked his wound continued to sting. It must have been a strong dosage in the attack. The salt in the dune sand didn't help much either. Tanneth walked the entire night. He got maybe twenty to thirty miles; it was hard for him to tell in the desert, before the sun rose. As it rose he saw in the distance a kind of gray looking sea. He looked closer and found it was a settlement. Finally! He continued until he saw something reflect the sun light in his direction.

It was something large and moving fast his way. He hit the sand and starred

over the tip of the dune. It was some sort of large vehicle about six miles south east coming in his direction. Why? There is nothing but miles of no-man's land back there. The thought crossed him then he kept his finger on his knife as it advanced closer.


Yusuke fell back lazily onto the chair. He was tired for some reason. Even fighting weaklings made a person want to sleep more, not that he needed much more. Now I can finally take a break from this job. Moving from place to place settle disputes of minor demons wasn't fun. It was just boring there wasn't anyone around who had a lot a power and wanted to use it. He put his head back and starred at the ceiling.

"Well maybe something will happen when take control of your life." Yusuke looked forward. It was Koenma, in his human form but still with that ridiculous pacifier in his mouth.

"Hey it's not I asked for this job." He said lazily putting his back again.

"Yusuke, you have to keep that power of yours in check if you slack off and something let's say dynamic happens you don't want to be caught napping. You have to remind these demons you're still here."

"What's to worry about? Any strong demon alive is locked in one of your cells. And all the real dangerous ones are in the demon world. At least I might get to enjoy my summer."

"Not yet," Koenma said softly.

"What!" Yusuke had jumped from his seat and was holding Koenma by his robes. "You're not telling me I am wasting a perfectly good vacation working?!" They stayed like this for a moment. Then Kurama and Kuwabara came into the room.

"Are you going sleep all day or are we going to get moving?"

"Maybe we were interrupting something," Kurama said quietly.

"Just a moment our friend here was just telling me about my vacation."

"Hello," a cheerful feminine voice rang through the room. Yusuke jumped and let go of Koenma to see Botan standing behind him.

"Hello Botan," Yusuke said irritably.

"I've gotten the report you needed." She handed a folder to Koenma.

"What report?"

"What's going on," Kuwabara asked?

"If you all will try to keep your beach craving down, I'll explain. Very recently there has been a lot of activity in the demon world Makai. Demons moving in groups this way and that."

"Why?"

"It seems they're searching, probability for some one. Most of these are fortune seekers and bounty hunters. But there is also this." Koenma pulled from the folder a small picture and handed it to the boys. It was of a giant cloud of smoke swirling vertically in some snowy flatland. "That is a hole. Something powerful has punched through to the human world."

"Whoever it is, he would have to be incredibly power, but he also would need to have knowledge on how the barrier works."

"Right you are. Which makes the suspects list sort that is the good news."

"So we just go looking for this guy around where the other end of the hole is." Yusuke said.

"It won't be that easy." Koenma shuffled through the rest of the folder. "We don't know where the other end is exactly. We guess it is somewhere in Egypt but that is the best you'll get. But there is other bad news. There is a lot of demonic bounty hunter activity starting to spring up here too. So you will have some competition."

"I already contacted Hiei. You'll need to move fast," Botan said.

"Maybe the bounty hunters will provide leads to his whereabouts," Kurama suggested.

"That's your best bet. I will try to isolate who we are trying to find."

Yusuke sulked back into the chair. "I wanted a vacation."

The desert jeeps moved nothing but smoothly.

The day hadn't begun well for Gaol. Almost be cheated by five merchants. Five, what are those chances. Trying to josh him out of his money, they should have known better. Maybe in the next life they will. He didn't need to kill them but his reputation as being the toughest demon in this part of the world had to be maintained. It was all there was to do. There were no real opponents left, besides the stupid spirit detective and his traitor demon allies. He didn't want to bother with those scums. The jeep jumped and bounced around when they went over another rock. He kicked the driver's seat in frustration. The driver glared back him. His horns seemed to almost grow with anger. Gaol's day had not been good at the beginning and now he got underpaid into going on this run for someone who might have come into the desert. What ever he got his advance though it was pitiful. He could tell none of the other demons on this venture liked him. They would try to kill him probably before they got back. Like they could.

Gaol had lived for a few centuries in this place and he still missed the cut throat demon world Makai. Even though Tanneth made sure that anyone wanting his head would be dead on a platter. He ran his fingers through his braided beard. They had seen some one out here where was he? He couldn't have gotten too far in the heat of the day. He looked like he was on foot. They hit another rock and Goal slammed his hand on the jeep's door. One f the other demons muttered something Arabic. He understood but remained silent. They too were wondering where that target had gone. The driver yelled that he saw some thing weird at the base of one of the dunes. He pulled the jeep over and the demons in the cab (minis Gaol) stepped out while the fourth manned the .50 cal machine gun mounted on the back of the jeep. There were pieces of what looked like armor spread on the sand around the dune's base.

The three moved around the armor examining. The head one then grabbed what looked like piece of a shoulder plate. Gaol sensed it then. It was masked well masked. It fired up faster than a bullet from a gun. The energy he knew it. He shpt his head out the window to see. Just then the top of the dune exploded and a cloud of sand came down. Above that was a truly impressive sight. The figure flew above his knife gleaming in the sunlight. He body positioned like a falcon swooping down onto its prey. The head demon watched it in a mix of fear and awe. The figure came down and plunged his knife into his chest. He then flipped over the first kicking the second across the face in the process. Once on his feet, with an upward diagonal backhand swipe, sliced open the second's gut.

Tanneth finished off these low grade demons before the third could get his sword properly out. Unworried Tanneth circled with the third demon. He charged and Tanneth caught his hand stopping the strike. He pulled back on it until he heard the bone crack and the demon cry out in pain. He then punched him in the gut and finished it off by opening its throat. He stopped to breath but then he heard the sound of moving metal parts behind him. A fourth demon fired the machine gun. Tanneth darted quickly back. The demon fired indescribably at Tanneth until a blue ball hit his should. The energy engulfed him then evaporated to nothing. Tanneth saw the man who did it. He recognized the bald tattooed head and the grayish blackish braided bear. "Gaol?"

"Tanneth…"

"It's good to see you." Tanneth clutched his right thigh. A bullet had hit him and left a nasty wound.

"You too. So it is you that as this ruckus was wanting so badly. I don't even want to know what you did now."

"Right you don't."

"How is that," Goal asked?

"It's nothing it looks worse than it is," he said while picking the bullet out.

"I meant that nasty looking cut on your shoulder." Tanneth had forgotten he'd taken off his armor to fool the demons. It wasn't looking good now. The veins surrounding had all turned black and a nasty scab covered it. "But how's that too?"

"Not bad," Tanneth pulled the large bullet from his bleeding thigh. It glazed crimson with his blood. "Interesting weapon."

"Humans aren't that strong but they're smart and inventive." Tanneth through the bullet down and bandaged the bullet wound. He then put his armor back on.

"Can you operate this thing?"

"Yeah. Where do ya need to go?"

"Someplace to hide."

"Here is pretty good." Gaol said.

"No it needs to be denser. No where in the open."

"Very well. I hope you know what you're doing." Gaol said.

"As do I."

(Author's Note: IMPORTANT) How do you like it? Suggestions are appreciated as well are new characters. Please, if you choose to submit please write it in form of a review in detail. Try to come up with more inventive characters.