He was the First Horseman, Conquest. An old word that was also his name was lost to the ages but meant the-desire-to-dominate-and-hurt-others. The most self-centered of all the Horsemen, it was exactly the sort of quality found in Happosai that had appealed to the first of the original Hell's Angels.
Happosai figured to avoid the final reckoning. He'd always done so in the past, after all. For the most part, he had never had to pay the bill for his own actions. Conquest, on the other hand, knew it was already too late for Happosai.
Conquest stood in one of the silos after another, for Conquest was nearly everywhere.
A few changes here and there were required, a task that was quite beyond Happosai's know-how but fueled by his desire. Conquest could supply the exact details needed, as well as the power to do the deed.
Finally he nodded and returned to an impossibly long stretch limousine.
"One has to keep up with the times, after all," murmured Conquest. "Oh yes. Launch."
Across the globe, missiles began their countdown and ignored the attempts of those monitoring them to shut those systems down.
Ranma threw punches, kicks, and palmstrikes.
War effortlessly avoided the attacks, flowing like water around them.
"He's begun," said War in Akane's voice.
"Who's begun?" asked Nabiki, a little taken aback at how gracefully and quickly Akane was moving.
"Conquest, who is also Happosai," said War. "Oh, that was a good one. You almost connected. Anyway, Conquest has seized control of some nuclear weapon silos and is in the process of launching them."
Even in his desire to prove himself, Ranma paused at that. "Nuclear weapons?!"
"Yes, he's in the process of triggering a global nuclear war," said War. "He's made a few changes though, so that he can have an island paradise. With that, he can build a kingdom entirely composed of those women who meet his standards."
"Even the old freak wouldn't do something like THAT," pointed out Ranma.
"Gee, you think maybe he's being influenced by Conquest?" asked War drily. "We're the Horsemen after all. Happosai is over a hundred years old. We, on the other hand, are billions of your years old. We are beings of great power and the only way to properly fight or defend against one of us is to BE one of us. Which is why Akane chose to accept this power after all. War is neither good nor evil, though often perceived as solely evil by those harmed by my presence. For there to be a war, there has to be at least two sides. One may attack, and one may defend, but the result is the same. My own philosophy regarding my existence is somewhat Darwinian."
"An angel of the Apocalypse believes in Darwin?" asked Nabiki.
"Just because someone doesn't believe in me, doesn't mean that I won't believe them," said War, blocking a renewed series of attacks from Ranma. "Just because you have a philosophical disagreement with someone doesn't mean that you can't find agreement with some of their points."
"Ranma, could you stop that?" asked Nabiki.
"Ah," said War. "Famine found a host. Death has selected a host. Now, if Ranma were more clever, he would have asked me a question and I would have revealed that Tatewaki Kuno is in the process of snapping another seal on the scroll - unleashing the next doom on humanity. What a pity that no one has asked me that particular question."
"Eh?" asked Ranma. "KUNO done it?"
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(Posted Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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