Superman, where are you now,
When everything's gone wrong somehow,
The men of steel, men of power,
Are losing control by the hour.
This is the time,
This is the place,
So we look for the future,
But there's not much love to go round,
Tell me why this is a land of confusion.

-Land of Confusion, Genesis

1

There was something new in the forest.

Every animal spoke of it; they chirped, they chattered, they squeaked, they barked. Their voices filled the forest with the sun high in the sky, drowning out the death and decay that the forest had recently been drowning in. The mysterious new thing that was in the forest distracted the animals from this and they gossiped what they could on it, welcoming it. The squirrels told of a creature dressed in red. The birds sang stories of men that were as tall as a bear standing on its back legs. The spiders spun webs of a Man holding a sword that was bigger than himself. The deer whispered of a creature that was not afraid of the demons or the angels. The mice squeaked of a horse that had hooves that left burnt indentations in the ground as it plodded along.

Sometimes the animals of the forest had arguments over what they had really seen. If they had truly seen a creature that was dressed in red, a Man that was as tall as a bear, a Man with a sword bigger than himself, someone that wasn't afraid of angels or demons, a horse that had fire coming from its hooves. Some said it was possible; there were already to guardians of the planet that were currently residing in their forest as a tiger and a griffin. Why could there not be something like they had seen? Others claimed that it was famine that was causing the others to see things. Even the guardians had been there for centuries, longer than anything that had happened in the last century or two.

But, what the animals did not know, was that they were all right.

There was truly something in their forest.

Something that was dressed in red. Something that was as tall as a bear when he stood on his back legs. Something that carried a sword that was larger than himself. Something that feared neither angel or demon. Something that rode a horse that had fire coming from his hooves.

Something that was no Man, no guardian or protector of their world.

It was something much worse.

The more curious animals had gathered near a path that the creature of Man was said to be walking down. They chattered in excitement, half expecting the thing of mysteries to jump out at them. It was only appropriate. With the attacks between Heaven and Hell becoming more frequent and random, most of the animals were anxious. There was a different feeling in the air, something that was off about everything. Only once before the angels and demons had fought against each other as they were now and the animals knew that it was bad. They knew that something was happening.

Thumpings slowly grew from where they were standing. Deer eased out from the foliage, their ears opened wide as their large eyes stared down the small pathway that the new thing was supposed to be on. Small birds and squirrels raced across the branches of the trees that leaned over the path, squeaking. Others squirmed near the deer hooves, waiting for the skittish creatures to dive off before they made their own moves. Soon the animals were so quiet as the thing approached that they could hear the breathing of the creature. The first that they saw of the creature was their shadow. It was huge; the branches of the trees above them were higher than what some of the others liked but the thing looked as if its head could reach the lower of the branches. A horse was distinguishable through the shadow, its head lifted up high proudly as its large hooves lifted to slam into the ground and back up in the air. Little orange sparks were flung with each step that the horse completed. The scent of smoke was heavy in the air and the deer pulled back into the foliage, ears low and their heads down. While they were undecided if these new thing was good or bad, the excitement to meet this new thing had slowly diminished. Most of the humanoid creature that was on the horse was still shadowed, but they could sense something. The horse's eyes alone glowed; the same colors of a flame shone from the markings on the horse's skin and the small eyes it had. When the horse snorted as the two passed the animals, dark smoke puffed out. Its mane, uncut and long, had lighter ends than the charred looking rest of it. Again it glowed and produced an orange hue. More of the glowing symbols marked the horse's thick neck, its shoulders, and then its haunches. Power radiated off the horse like the glow that came from its markings; muscles bulged from the short hide of the stallion and its hooves were easily the same size of a squirrel.

When the horse had its rider had continued past the animals, a buck wandered out into the path. He carefully walked into the path, head slowly lifting as he brought his wide ears about and puffed out his large chest. Several of the other forest animals followed him; he was the dominant buck of the woods, if he deemed that it was safe, then it must be. His head dropped down to examine the hoof prints as mice and some other smaller creatures scrambled about him nervously. They smelled of soot and fire. With a snout the buck snapped his head back up and turned his gaze to one of the older does that were near him. They exchanged a small glance, the buck jerking his head and the doe flicking an ear at him in acknowledgement.

Cautiously, the buck began down the path that the monstrous horse and rider had taken. A few of the animals called out luck to him before they disappeared back into the foliage to hide, soon leaving one lone doe standing there. She made a few grunting noises as the buck disappeared from her view.

Following the horse proved to be surprisingly easy; the fire of its hooves left scar marks in the path and broke everything that happened to be leaning down into its path. The buck followed at the pace that he had seen the stallion at, moving at a silent trot. Even then, when something moved in the forest that he did not know, he paused, standing tall as he flicked up his ears. Smoke lingered in the air from the horse and he scented something else. Something that smelt of death, sickness, and something else that he couldn't place.

It wasn't much longer before he came across what appeared to be a decaying body. He paused, snorting as he brought his head up and stamped his front legs in discomfort several times. It was the body of a demon; its long tongue hung out of its mouth through its fangs and its pink and red flesh glistened with fresh blood. The buck's nostrils flared wildly as he moved away, only to strike something else not far away. He whirled his head around to find another body, this time of an angel. He had accidentally stepped upon its severed wing; the body it belonged to laid in the grass several yards away, its eyes now a dull gray in color. Ears flicking in every direction, the buck snorted several times as he spotted the hooves of the horse from earlier. It didn't even look like the stallion had stopped in his stride.

A small jolt of pride filtered through the buck for his does. As the dominant buck in the forest, the buck took a great responsibility in protecting both his does and his forest. He knew everything that went on; a network of birds that sang, a group of squirrels that chattered, and a few reliable does were all that he truly needed to have an eye on everything. He had learned from the buck before him. The other one had grown old and, as a result, had loosen his hold on the forest. It was then that the current buck had leapt in, instantly challenging the lagging deer with a proud chest and a high head. Truly, he hadn't even really won; an angel and demon had stumbled across their fight. While the younger buck had bolted away before they could get to him, the older one had stumbled into accidentally ran into the middle of the demon and angel -with a simple swing of a sword, the other buck was cut clean in half. He had admitted the truth to all of the does; only one had remained from the group that he had told and they had been inseparable since.

Head bent low to the ground, the buck continued down the obvious path of the stallion. Nostrils flaring, he shook himself several times when he smelt the smoke so strongly that the fur along his back prickled. He made sure that every step he was so gentle that even he could not hear it. The buck halted when he heard a loud thud that was followed by a scream. His ears lifted up almost immediately and he took several steps back, snorting lightly and making a small grunting noise. He had advanced a few more steps when he heard a voice and froze again.

As an animal, he had no clue what the voices were saying. But he could understand the tones of the two voices; one was harsh, containing no emotion, while the other was scared, tripping over their own tongue and taking shaky breaths. A nervous muscle twitched in his leg as the buck approached the hill that was cresting where the two voices were. Slowly he leaned out of the bushes and his ears flicked up immediately.

The stallion that he had seen earlier was standing near where the scene was unfolding, tail swaying back and forth and allowing small flames to be flung up into the air. An angel, terror spelled out on his face, was being held up in the air by a humanoid figure with a sword that was longer than himself. Red hid its head from the buck's view, but he could see a pair of long white hair flowing from the hood of the thing. Though was no possibility that it could be of Man; the buck himself was decent in size, but no Man had ever been able to loom over him before. It easily held up the angel into the air and the snarl could be heard from where he was standing. Everything about the thing was intimidating and the buck knew that this was no guardian of his forest like the other two.

Straining, the angel cried out something as the thing's grip tightened about its neck. Armor shone from every part of the armored humanoid figure and the buck cringed as, with one simple motion, the larger of the two beheaded the other with its massive sword. The head landed up with a thump and rolled toward the horse. Fiery red eyes locked upon it; seconds later a large hoof was lifted and crushed the head into the ground.

Flinging its head back, the buck felt its heart fluttering as an instinct inside of him screamed for him to leave. His nostrils flared as he reared back. Several cracking sounds came from above him and he cringed; his antlers had gotten caught in the low hanging foliage. Panic filled his chest when the humanoid thing turned to look his way.

The buck flailed in the brush as the thing approached him. He jerked his head about frantically as he stared at the ice blue eyes that belonged to the thing, the unnatural look causing the panic he felt to grow. Screaming faces had been carved into the massive sword that the thing simply sheathed on its back, several more decorated upon its armor. Its face was like that of a Man; its had a mostly flat nose, a small mouth, a round face. The glowing eyes were like that of an angel; the tattoo that arched over his white eyebrows and down the bridge of his nose was like that of a demon. Was it a mixture of all three? The buck did not care; like the stallion, power surrounded this beast's aura and caused him to gain the instinct to flee. The branches that had his antlers made that impossible.

When the thing was close enough, the buck jabbed a sharp hoof in the thing's direction. It hardly flinched when the buck just missed its face. The next time that he did it however, the thing caught the buck's leg in a tight grip, applying just enough pressure to where he couldn't escape. The buck squealed as he struggled even more. The thing lifted a hand -the buck struggled wildly once more- and removed the branches from the buck's rack.

Springing from the thing's grasp and his prison, the buck leapt as gracefully as he could away from the humanoid thing. Somewhere nearby, the stallion made a whinnying noise -a laugh. The buck stamped down a hoof and snorted at him. With a surprised fling of his head, the stallion took a step forward, aggressively lowering his head and snorting a billow of smoke at the buck. Dancing back a few steps, the buck shook his antlers at the stallion, as if provoking a challenge to him, and was surprised when he turned to see the humanoid figure near him once again.

It stared at him as the buck bounced away. He was more than surprised when the humanoid thing crouched down to his height, blue eyes narrowed with interest. "Are you not the master of these woods?" it asked.

The buck blinked, staring at the thing in surprise. It had just spoken his language. He had always assumed that it was impossible -an animal could not create the same thing with its mouth as what a human could with its own. But here this thing was, producing the same thing as he could. In surprise, the buck's head tilted to the side and he backed some, head lowered. The stallion made another whinnying noise.

"I am no Man," the thing suddenly spoke with some disgust. The buck snorted as it backed some more; it was as if the thing had read its mind. "I am a Nephilim; the son of an angel and demon. If I wished to harm you, I would have done so already. I must ask of you; have you seen another like me?"

If I have, I would know. The buck wondered how serious the thing was. Nothing like it had walked through his woods.

The thing turned away from a moment, muttering something in a different language. Snorting out flames upon the forest floor, the stallion stamped its hooves several times and flung its head up. When it looked back at the buck, the smaller creature withered slightly. "What is your name?"

Ear flicking back and forth, the buck snorted as he stamped a back leg. My mother named me Orion. Most refer to me as Stag.

"I am War, the last Horseman."

Orion reared back, bringing up his legs and angling his antlers into a position to protect himself. He knew of the Horsemen. Passed down through mother to children, everyone knew of the story of the Horsemen that had been created to destroy the world. Orion bared his teeth that best that he could as he danced away, legs constantly moving as he did the best growl that he could.

The stallion, who Orion now knew was Ruin through the stories that his mother had told him, threw its head forward, producing a long whinny of a laugh. War shot a glare to him; Ruin quieted and turned his head away, lips pulled back into what could be called a smile. The Horseman looked at Orion with a gentler expression on his face. "So you know of me."

Through my mother. Orion squirmed for a moment, wondering if he should be opened to someone who was told to destroy his home. She was a wise mother and raised me well.
War nodded and Orion flattened his ears, nostrils flaring. What is it that you want?

"I am searching for my brothers, but it would appear as if they are not here." The Horseman stood then, glancing around pointedly in any direction that he could.

Orion flicked his ears back and forth for a few seconds, debating. He saw more harm in assisting the Horseman in finding his brothers but, at the same time, if the Horsemen were there to destroy them, it was not like he could stop them. All he could hope for was that War's business, whatever it may be with his brothers, was something that was out of the buck's domain. Standing up straighter, Orion snorted. If you need help, I can help search for them. What is it that you are doing here, Horseman?

Ruin threw his head forward, whinnying. It would be better if you did not know, exclaimed the stallion. You may not wish to help us any longer if you knew exactly what we plan on doing.

"We are looking for something in these woods," War explained, ignoring his mount. "Something that is draining the very life away from this planet."

Tilting his head to the side, Orion gave War a strange look. What do you mean?

"Have you noticed anything strange? Anything that is not normal?" the Horseman asked, gesturing toward the woods that Orion had came from. The buck stared at the spot as realization dawned upon him.

As a matter of fact, Orion had been noticing strange things. It was July and not a single flower had bloom and some of the older of his does were starting to complain about the lack of beauty. The leaves were shedding their leaves early; an intense heat wave that was stronger than any that he had ever felt had settled over the forest. A bear that had been told to be dead had wandered back into Orion's lands; it was recognizable by the scar that had made a mark across its face and shoulder. Packs of wolves from up north had moved into these woods. Some birds were migrating already. Some other small things that Orion had not noticed before began to piece together in his mind and he snorted again.

Something was terribly wrong.

What exactly is this thing that is doing these things? Orion asked as the Horseman approached Ruin, who was impatiently stamping his large hooves. The buck walked over nervously as War slung himself onto the saddle of his stallion. What is changing this planet?

War didn't answer at first. He seemed more content with making himself more comfortable in his saddle before he finally looked over at the buck, narrowing his eyes and shrugging. "I do not know. That is why I have came here. This is where I and my brothers are to meet and see to that very thing." The Horseman paused, glancing over at the buck like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with him. "Truly, you have done enough for me already. If you do not want to help me. You do not."

You are in my woods. I would be honored to do such a thing. Orion dipped his head down into a bow, nostrils flaring.

oOoOoOo

Ruin traveled smoothly through the forest, his stride never failing. The buck, Orion, pranced before them with gracefulness; he clearly knew his woods as he led them without a single hesitation and guided them around things were less pleasant than just seeing the landscape. There were no words exchanged, but none were ever needed. When the deer stopped, throwing his head up into the air with his ears brought up, then War knew that Orion had either heard or saw something and wanted them stop. It was sometime after they had just walked around a large field with corn just shorter than him that one of Orion's does had stepped from the woods. They had to stop while Orion spoke with the doe.

Do you really think that this buck is helping us?

The Red horse had halted by a bush. He had currently settled into a position where he had rested on one side and had all of his weight on the other, his back leg crooked as he snorted continuously impatiently. War was just looking around, studying the woods intently. There was no real purpose of doing any of this besides from giving him time to think.

The situation at hand had become very unstable and delicate. With the Charred Council's disappearance, which had been so silent that almost no one had noticed, Heaven and Hell's already thin balance slipped. While neither seemed to gain the upper hand, they had moved their battles to any planet that they were closest too. They ranged almost everywhere on the planets in the galaxies. They ranged from the skies to the waters; some planets that were made completely of water had battles so violent, it was said that the oceans themselves were colored in red. In some cases, where the inhabitants of the planets were strong willed, they had been able to push the battles between Heaven and Hell off of their lands. How much of it was true, War didn't know. On Earth, it seemed like the skirmishes were everywhere; he had encountered three when he had entered Orion's dominan alone. There had even been one that Orion hadn't been able to avoid and War dealt with the quarreling angel and demon in minutes.

Even with Heaven and Hell bickering, it had not been them that had brought War here. Sure; he and his brothers had all felt it the second that the Charred Council had officially disappeared, but it was almost nothing compared to the chaos that was growing upon Earth's surface. Out of all of them, it had been Strife to figure out that something was off with the planet. He had been somewhere -probably some place that War wouldn't step into without a damned good reason- and had heard one of the demons explaining some disease on Earth's surface that seemed to be sapping the life from it. From there Strife had told his siblings and, when Fury, their only sister, had not been able to find it in any of her books or make sense of it, Death had proclaimed that they go to Man's planet to investigate. War had not thought that he would be the first to arrive here. His brothers were never as silent as they were now.

"The buck has no reason to do either," War stated softly. "If he wished to betray us, all I would have to do is kill him. I think that the buck understands that, Ruin."

The Horseman turned his gaze to the animal in question. Orion had lowered his head to the female doe as she nervously remained in the brush halfway, her large eyes flickering over to War and Ruin constantly. Even she was a gorgeous creature; she was a lighter tan than what the buck was. Her right side was marred by a large scar that cut through her shoulder. She appeared to be wise; Orion was obviously considering her opinion greatly and would grunt whenever she seemed to pause in whatever she was telling him.

Huffing, Ruin turned his head away from the two and brought his head close to the ground. His nostrils flared as he caught scent of something strange. As he moved to examine it more, War lifting the stallion's reins to prepare himself, Orion snorted at him for War to acknowledge him. The Horseman lifted his head to see that the skittish doe was beside Orion and the doe.

One of my does, Thorn, has something that she would like to tell you.

War turned his gaze to Thorn. She had a frightened look in her eyes and the second that his eyes locked on her, she was lowering herself slightly, moving more in behind Orion. The buck snorted at her, nudging her gently with his nose, and she seemed to gain some courage. One of the birds were complaining about not being able to fly across one of the lakes recently, she began, back leg twitching nervously. So I went to go and investigate since Orion was not there to do it. I was a little... surprised but what I found. War gestured for her to continue as Ruin jerked, sneezing almost at whatever he was sniffing. The lake that the birds was not really there anymore... Now it is nothing but a pile of ashes.

"Ashes?" War repeated, confused. "What does ashes have to do with anything?"

I am not sure myself. Do you not find it strange that an entire lake vanishes to be replaced by a char and smoke? Thorn replied snappishly.

While War recoiled in surprise at the doe's suddenly quick remark, Orion gave a small chuckle -or as close as a buck could. Once again he nudged Thorn's shoulder and turned his head toward the Horseman. You must forgive her. She is not named Thorn for no reason, Horseman. The doe snorted, taking a leg and kicking at the buck beside her playfully. She does not lie Horseman. There is no other animal in these woods that I do not trust more than Thorn. She is as wise as the willow trees in these parts.

You flatter me, Orion.

War scowled. "I will judge just how wise that she may be when I see what she is speaking of exactly. As far as I know, she may be speaking of a forest fire."

If it was a fire, Orion began, ears flattening against his head. Then we would have known. Smoke is not something that we do not just simply notice, Horseman. War snorted, turning his head away, as Orion nudged Thorn again. As the doe began to walk away, head held low and her tail twitching back and forth, Orion announced, She will lead us to the lake for you to see since you do not believe her words.

Scowling once more, War pulled Ruin's head from the plant that he was beginning to root around curiously. He failed to notice the small smudge of soot that was on his stallion's nose. "Even if I believed in your doe's words, I would still demand in seeing the lake."

Orion huffed, eyes narrowed. The buck turned slowly, eyes still narrowed in anger, and began to follow the doe that had walked a ways ahead of them. Ruin tossed his head about a few times, slinging his charred mane about a few times, and gave War a funny look. The Red Horseman urged his mount forward. Snorting, the stallion threw his head about, nostrils crinkling several times as he huffed several more times. War could have sworn that when his horse tossed his head to the side, the orange glow from his eyes flickered.

You feel funny? grumbled the horse through the connection in their mind.

Scowling, War glanced at his stallion funnily before continuing to watch the deer that were in front of them. As Nephilim, they were mortals -as Horsemen, they were immortal. It was through their promise of service through the Charred Council that made them. They did not feel pain -unless they were being wounded- they did not feel sick, they did not feel anything. Most certainly they did not feel funny. Over the centuries that War had worked under the Charred Council, Ruin had never asked him as something as ridiculous as the question that he just had. Scratch that; the horse's obsession over rocks was the most ridiculous thing about Ruin.

Eventually the horse's complaining stopped as the scene changed. From the gorgeous greenery of the trees and other foliages that grew on the ground, the woods transformed into a graveyard. The path became ash; every step of the hooved creatures loosened it and black particles floated around them. The sun that had once been high in the sky, shining light down upon everything, was suddenly hazed. What light that did make it through was gray in color, causing patches of the path to appear to be different colors than the rest. None of the plants bore any leaves and a fog of the gray hovered above them. The deer, especially Thorn, looked extremely nervous. Ruin too was uneasy; while the horse appeared to be indifferent, stubble little flicks of his ears gave his nervousness away. There was a small buzz in War's instincts and he found himself looking around.

Something was wrong with this place. It smelled worse than his brother did, sorta like Death, but it had something extra, something that was wrong, that War couldn't explain. And, what confused him even more, was that it couldn't be Corruption. It wasn't the same. Corruption oozed -this turned to ash.

Soon, Thorn stopped. Once again she and Orion exchanged some words. The doe seemed intent on staying put and Orion acted as if he wanted to continue. So War did the simpler thing.

Both the buck and doe jumped back as the Horseman thundered by on his stallion. The flames that erupted from Ruin's hooves caught on the ash, creating a perfect print of every step that he took. War had already drawn Chaoseater; he was not going to be unprepared for when he met this unknown enemy. Orion bleated out a warning to the Horseman as he bounded after him several seconds later, Thorn staying back hesitantly as she debated following the buck. Disturbed ash was tossed up into the air.

At first, there didn't seem to be anything there. Nothing appeared to attack him and Ruin as they galloped through the ash, literally smashing through the weak caresses of trees that had turned completely into ash. Maybe it was their speed, but it seemed like the shadows were moving. Indescribable shapes raced besides Ruin just out of reach of Chaoseater, sprinting sometimes on two legs, sometimes on four, sometimes more than that. Some of the trees with surviving branches broke and shattered to make forms of skeletal birds. War kept an eye on the creatures as they increased number the deeper and darker they traveled into the forest. The further they got, the more disturbing that the creatures became. Soon it was so dark the only thing that War could see was the glow from Ruin and then the slight lighter shade that outlined the things that were racing beside them.

Somewhere in behind them, Orion's footsteps could be heard. Every bound he made was distinguishable through the lack of noises. No sound was coming through the creatures beside from one monotonous screech that filled the forest in one tone and pitch. War wasn't sure nor cared what or where it was coming from; he urged Ruin faster and the stallion crested over a hill at full speed.

Beyond the hill there was nothing besides from one large black mass of unmoving ash. Ruin slowed to a smooth canter, ears flicked up as War examined the lake of ash. He was astonished and confused. What he was seeing shouldn't and couldn't exist; the creatures that had been racing beside them that he had not been sure truly existed or not had disappeared into the lake with only a couple of ripples. A hundred foot perimeter around the lake lacked life all around it and made one large, bald ash field a slightly different color than the lake. The only speck of color besides from fifty shades of gray was the Red Horseman and Ruin.

Orion burst from the foliage where they had came from, halting several feet into the perimeter of the lake. The buck's ears perked up in confusion as he snorted, throwing back his head and stamping his hooves as he backed away. Thorn followed him, though she stayed back in the empty woods nervously. War turned toward them, about to ask Thorn how she had found this place, when the ground underneath Ruin moved.

He hadn't noticed it because he was looking elsewhere. Ruin saw it though and was rearing as the moving lump approached them. War's head snapped back just as his stallion was leaping over the ground, already swinging Chaoseater to slice through the ash in defence. Something from the center of the lake screeched -it was the same one that had came from the creatures. The lump from the ground sucked back into the ground with an audible squelching noise. Both Orion and Thorn danced back, Orion dropping his head down and brandishing his impressive rack toward the now apparent enemy. Something rippled from the center of the lake and silence literally exploded into the area.

"What the hell?" War mumbled under his breath as the creatures rose from the lake of ash like the undead. Some resembled animals, some looked like Man, and others were things that even the Horseman had never seen before. They shared the same qualities of being made of ash though some seemed to be thicker than others. As one, they surged forward and Ruin reared up -certainly not in fright but surprise.

A gunshot sounded and five of the creatures were torn through by a bullet. The wounded creatures dissolved into the air and the others froze as heads turned to see the newcomer. They were also riding a horse, though this one was a pearl white in color, contrasting brightly with the grays of the ash. The person that rose them was mostly noticeable by the white mask that they wore to hide their face. Yellow eyes glowed from behind it and War scowled, reining in Ruin with one hand as two other forms appeared on the back of horses.

The other Horsemen were here.