Chapter 4  Chaos

 

“This is kinda... creepy, don’t you think?”

 

Crystal glances around at the group as they stand outside an ancient looking building... crumbling walls, dirt covered windows. There’s not another building in sight... they seem to be, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. Adam had said that the place was old and out of the way... but the others didn’t really know just how old and out of the way.

 

They’re in Japan... or, at least... a small island just off the coast of Japan. Adam had used the fog to take them to the middle of a wooded area, out of which they had to walk until they found the building. It looks like an old Japanese temple... there are holes in the walls, and most of the wood appears to be rotting.

 

“I don’t even know why you’re here in the first place!” Arrowny gives a small glance sideways at Crystal. “You’re not even one of us... it’s not your place. This kind of thing isn’t your job... we’re the ones that fight the evil... you don’t belong here.”

 

She turns angrily toward him.

 

“I once had a vision that lasted for two hours, of a Retorak demon that had found its way into an orphanage. I saw it tear apart nearly fifty children... I still remember each one of their faces... and when I sleep, I can still hear the screams. Don’t you DARE tell me that I don’t belong here!”

 

Crystal storms off ahead to catch up with Saphir and Adam, while Brad just stands beside Ryan with a smug look on his face...

 

“You got TOLD.”

 

After a few seconds of silence, the two of them hurry to meet the others at the entrance of the building. Ryan pushes Crystal to the back of the group as the Warriors draw their weapons. Adam just shakes his head...

 

“I don’t even know why you brought those things... they won’t be of any use against Morning Star.”

 

“I still feel better being fully armed.” Arrowny holds Sky Render steady in one hand as he pushes the doors open. It’s too dark inside to see anything. Adam steps through the door way, and the rest follow.

 

The darkness of the building fades as soon as they enter, and Arrowny figures that it must be some kind of magic to prevent outside observers from seeing the interior... which looks more like a grand library than anything else. Bookshelves line every wall... literally thousands upon thousands of texts. A few smallish circular tables, designed to seat four or five, are scattered around seemingly at random. Tall ladders line each of the shelves, allowing reach to the highest books... and on one such ladder, stands a short, bald man, wearing long red robes with gold trim.

 

Arrowny points Sky Render at the old man, and glances at Adam.

 

“Is that Morning Star?”

 

Adam shrugs his shoulders...

 

“Don’t know. Morning Star can look like anything he wants to look like... first time I saw him, he was a six foot tall martial artist... but this three foot guy could be him.”

 

Ryan doesn’t believe Adam. He’s just about to take a step forward and confront the short man, when he feels somebody tapping on his arm. He turns his gaze from the man on the ladder, only to see the same man standing beside him. Arrowny looks back at the now empty ladder, then back at the man beside him... and then back at the ladder again...

 

Brad lets out a long, low whistle.

 

“Dude... that was cool! Can we learn to do that?”

 

“You’re kind could never learn to do that!” The short man shakes his head as he speaks... “nor could you ever hope to harm the likes of me with such... mundane weapons.”

 

Adam gives a small chuckle...

 

“Guys... this is Morning Star... the Lord of Chaos.”

 

Ryan shakes his head...

 

“Lord of Chaos?! Right... I’ve never heard of you... so how chaotic can you really be?”

 

Morning Star holds out a book, the Bible, and opens it to the very last page... Ryan reads a marked passage

 

“I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” He turns to Saphir. “What’s this mean?”

 

“Those words were supposedly spoken by Christ...” Saphir’s eyes widen in that way which shows he’s deep in thought... “Quite the twist, really.”

 

Morning Star nods...

 

“That book is the single most powerful tool of Chaos that I have ever come up with... although... that title may move on to something else rather soon.”

 

Adam takes a very deep breath...

 

“Joseph...”

 

A smile spreads across Morning Star’s face.

 

“Yes... Joseph. My greatest creation. I take it, by your presence here, that you have had an encounter with him... correct?”

 

“Yes... we need to stop him... and in order to do that, we need to know everything about him. Will you tell us?” Adam’s eyes, though lacking the angry red glow that they had when he was fighting Joseph, do look mad... but it seems to be more of a ‘I know I can’t do anything to you if you decide not to help’ kind of mad.

 

Morning Star directs the group, all five of them, to sit around one of the smallish tables.

 

“The story of Joseph is an interesting one indeed. However, I can only tell the middle... you,” He points to Adam, “must tell the beginning.”

 

Adam looks around at Ryan, Brad, Crystal and Saphir... takes a deep breath... and starts telling the story.

 

“When I was younger, I was trained how to fight by a martial arts expert... which turned out to be Morning Star in a different form... but that’s not really important.

 

My expertise caught the attention of the Canadian Government... and they recruited me into their black ops organization... I was twenty seven... and the year was nineteen thirty. There, I met Joseph. He was also a new recruit, and we became friends... close friends. On our breaks, he took me to Egypt to meet his wife.

 

When the Second World War broke out, our squad was sent on one dangerous mission after another. This worried Joseph, because his wife had become pregnant in nineteen forty one. He wanted to quit... but we had a really big job lined up... deep in Germany. I needed him in there with me... so I convinced him to just go on this one last mission.

 

It didn’t go as planned. We got stuck inside Germany... for three weeks. When we finally got out... the first thing we heard was that Joseph’s wife and child had died... just some complications with the pregnancy. He blamed me... said that I was the reason he wasn’t with her at the end...

 

And he killed me.

 

Next thing I know, I’m standing beside my own gravestone... and I’m freakishly stronger, and I can control fog. As for the rest of the story... I’ve never had a reason to ask, until now. I figure, if anybody can tell us what happened,” he turns to Morning Star, “it’d be you.”

 

The short man chuckles...

 

“It’s actually funny that you should think that... as I have far more impact on the current situation than you ever would have thought.

 

About three years after Joseph ended your life, he sought me out. He was feeling guilty, as humans tend to do after committing such an act. Of course, where some people will seek redemption, he only sought freedom.

 

He asked me to rip the guilt from him, and allow him to get on with his life. I agreed, in exchange for his word that he would help me rain total chaos upon the world. It is a complicated procedure though... one cannot simply remove the singular emotion of guilt... everything has to go... all the good. Love, compassion, mercy... it all must be taken.

 

I performed the very forbidden magics needed to remove Joseph’s life force... and I tore it in two. One half, which I returned to Joseph’s body, contained nothing that would be considered ‘good’... and since you cannot simply free that kind of energy to the world, I placed the other half in an earthly vessel...” he glances at Adam... “into your dead body.

 

I never imagined that the reintroduction of a working life force would actually bring some life back to you... but here you are. While you traveled the world, searching for a place to settle down, Joseph spent the years building up a vast empire... a sizeable fortune... everything that was needed for him to fulfill his part of our bargain... and the rest of the story...” He slowly gazes at each of the other people at the table... “is for the lot of you to write.”

 

Arrowny gets up from the table...

 

“How do we kill Joseph?”

 

Morning Star laughs... it’s a funny, high pitched kind of laugh that matches his current body well...

 

“You cannot kill him. In order for a man to die, he needs his life force to be one, complete whole.”

 

“Then how do we put his life force back in his body?”

 

Morning Star just shakes his head.

 

“He is my instrument... and I will not allow you to harm him.”

 

Arrowny sighs, picks Sky Render up, and jabs the point of the sword into the short man’s throat... not enough to kill a person, just enough to draw a little bit of blood...

 

“How do we do it?”

 

But, of course... Morning Star is not a person at all.

 

The air around them grows cold... and the very matter which makes up the tables and books and shelves begins to ripple with energy... Morning Star smiles...

 

“Ryan,” Brad places a hand on Arrowny’s shoulder, “How about you don’t try and piss off the Lord of Chaos!”

 

Before anybody can react... everything is gone... no more books... or tables... or short, old man... just an empty room. Adam shakes his head... Crystal turns to Arrowny...

 

“You are... an idiot... just... stupid... idiot! You can’t just go around, stabbing random creatures in the neck! Morning Star could have KILLED YOU! It’s like you’re a monkey...” She walks off toward the exit, where Saphir and Adam are waiting for the rest of the group, mumbling, “a big dumb monkey named Ryan...”

 

Brad chuckles a little bit, but stops when Arrowny gives him the ‘I will cut your head off, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face and a song in my heart’ kind of look...

 

“Hey!” Saphir’s call gets their attention... “Did somebody order an army?”

 

They rush to the exit, joining up with Adam, Saphir and Crystal... and when they look out along the tree line surrounding Morning Star’s temple... they see about twenty men, all in suits... all holding guns... and one guy standing in front, holding a quarter staff, wearing a long black trench coat... it’s this one who speaks.

 

“If you allow us to take Adam, none of you will be harmed.”

 

Arrowny turns to the group.

 

“Adam... can you,”

 

“No... something’s blocking my powers again. I can’t summon the fog.”

 

“Okay then... Brad, Saphir... you two head left. Try to get far enough away that Saphir has time to Warp out. Crystal, Adam... the three of us will head right, and try to get out of the range of their power blocker thingy. Okay?”

 

They don’t need to be told twice...

 

Most of the men follow Arrowny’s group... and luckily, their shots seem to only be aimed at Adam... who, apparently, doesn’t really feel them all that much. The three of them make it into the woods, and after a few well placed lightening bolts from Arrowny’s hands, the attackers seem to have given up.

 

And that’s when Adam screams in pain.

Arrowny turns to see the man in the black coat standing beside the undead giant, lazily pointing a finger at him... and zapping Adam with what appears to be blue lightening... although it seems to cause much more harm than it should...

 

“I suppose you’re wondering how this is hurting him so much?” For a second, Arrowny thinks that this guy can read minds... but probably not. “It’s a force field which has the same energy frequency as the devices I made to block his powers. So, of course, it causes him a great deal of harm when he comes in contact with it.”

 

“Yeah...” Arrowny pushes Crystal behind him, and raises a hand at the attacker... “That’s nice.” He throws a lightening bolt, which is absorbed in yet another force field surrounding the man.

 

“You can’t hurt me like that... I am Justin... a technomage under the employ of Joseph.”

 

“Um...” Ryan looks around for something he can use to fight Justin... and then he remembers that nice, sharp sword he’s got in his hand.

 

He lunges, and the metal blade of Sky Render actually manages to go through the force field. Justin seems shocked as the tip of the sword cuts a long strip out of his coat, but he quickly recovers.

 

“That’s a pretty special sword you’ve got there... it actually shorted out my personal force field.” With an expert strike, Justin attacks Ryan’s hand with the tip of his staff, knocking Sky Render to the ground. “And now... you don’t have it. What are you going to do now?”

 

Ryan shrugs his shoulders...

 

“Allow me to answer that question with a kick!”

 

Arrowny spins, and kicks out with his right leg, catching Justin in the midsection, forcing the technomage back a few steps. Taking advantage, Ryan attacks with a series of punches and elbow strikes. He grabs at Justin’s quarter staff, but feels a shock of electricity run through his arm as soon as his fingers come in contact with it... his arm is numb... and Justin notices.

 

The technomage jabs the staff into Arrowny’s stomach, and Ryan yells in pain as arcs of electricity flow through his body. The only thing that saves the Protector’s life, is the large, Dragon Winged battle axe that comes flying through the air, striking the quarter staff, and sending it to the ground far, far away.

 

Justin turns just in time to see Brad wave at him, and Saphir swing the Glaive, creating a force wave which knocks him back, quite hard, into a tree.

 

Crystal helps Arrowny to his feet, and passes Sky Render to him. Brad and Saphir give aid to Adam.

 

Ryan glairs at the other two.

 

“I told you to get out of here...”

 

“Like I’m going to listen to you.” Brad smiles as the group crowds around the weakened technomage. “Can we kill him?”

 

Saphir and Crystal both turn to him.

 

“No!”

 

“We can’t just go around killing people... even if they are the bad guys!”

 

Arrowny pushes himself away from Crystal, and takes a few moments to steady himself before speaking.

 

“Look... I’m the one that he beat up... okay? I think I get to make the decision as to what we do with him.”

 

Arrowny takes a few steps forward, and points Sky Render at Justin’s chest. The technomage takes a deep breath.

 

“Kill me. It will be an honourable death. I don’t want to live as a coward who didn’t even get the chance to die with dignity.”

 

Ryan nods.

 

“Yeah... it is pretty cowardly, eh? Getting to live while the better man refuses to spill your blood.” Ryan speaks with confidence, never breaking eye contact with Justin. “Mercy... is the mark of a GREAT man!”

 

Justin lets out the breath he’s been holding in... and just as he does, Ryan pokes just the tip of his sword through the technomage’s stomach... just enough to cause some pain, and to draw a little blood.

 

“What can I say... I guess I’m just a good man.”

 

A moment passes, and Ryan once again pokes Sky Render into Justin’s stomach.

 

“Well... I’m alright!”

 

He turns away, and nods to Saphir, who removes his FENRIR card, and warps the group back to their offices in Wolfville.

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Justin lies on the cold metallic table in the medical ward of the Apocolypse Incorporate building. The doctors have just finished repairing his wounds. Joseph is sitting beside him.

 

“I’m... sorry, Sir. I should have fought better.”

 

“It is of no concern, Justin. We now know to expect more from that particular group. And, I’m sure you will be able to identify at least one of their number, given enough time.”

 

Joseph glances at the two beds beside Justin’s. The closest has Castor laying upon it, with Pollex on the farther of the two.

 

“Besides... when these two are finished with their... upgrades... nothing will stand in my way!”