THE LEGEND OF CHAOS -by Korogi CHAPTER THREE "I will stop at nothing untill the world stops me!" - Cleopatra, last Pharoah of Egypt Sarjenka wound an arm tightly around Sage's as they walked silently through the garden just outside the hospital's main emergency ward. A stiff breeze rustled calmly through the gardens, stirring up the leaves of the trees, sending them into shimmering displays in the afternoon sun. The breeze meandered along, past a stone fountain and through a hollow to rustle Sarjenka's straight, silver hair, sending it around her in frozen strands. She faught with it, pinning it behind her pale ears, pulling it from her line of sight and sighed. Sage's hair, however, seemed quite indifferent to the breeze. It shifted slightly, neither a blonde lock falling disobediantly out of place. He let his face catch the sun for a brief moment before he turned his attention to the young girl at his arm. "It wasn't your fault, Sarjenka," he repeated softly, throwing her one of his infamous smiles. She sighed again and leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked further into the hospital garden. Her small fingers gripped into the suit jacket of his uniform, wrinkling up the fabric into rift valleys, catching the sunlight. The small fountain bubbled its way past a stone statue just before them, perfectly set amidst the greenery. It was like an aging Greek statue, it's tired arm pointing up to the sky as a thin trail of water bubbled in a glittering arc out of its mouth. It seemed the perfect place to talk out the worlds troubles, they decided silently, and they sat down on the fountains rim, looking out into the garden. "I can't help it," Sarjenka said suddenly, adjusting the blue skirt. "I can't help feeling that I caused it." She pressed her lips tightly together to keep from smiling. She fiddled some more with the skirt, scooting over next to Sage as close as she could. "Nonesense," Sage said. "Ryo's had a tough month. He's had the snot kicked out of him more times to count, his good friend just passed on, and his ... cat almost died last night. He's just been stressed." "So, it wasn't my fault?" He turned to look deep into her eyes, flashing the brilliance of the sun through his perfect, violet vision. "By no means," he said softly, stroking her cheek. For a handfull of heartbeats, the two just stared off at each other. Sage found himself continuing to stroke her cheek, unsure exactly why. There was something overly facinating in those bright green eyes... something playful, but at the same time deadly. He leaned over slowly, watching her eyes watching him, until their lips met, and they kissed. Sage was instantly lost, savoring the moment, feeling the sun beat down on him from above. They slowly began to wrap their arms around each other, pulling the other closer to them as they kissed passionetly. Sage recalled the taste of her kiss like fresh honey that his family used to harvest from their honey bee farm... the taste of a beautiful summer day off in the Japanese contry side. He felt her arms tighten around his shoulders, he in turn tightening his arms about her. Something burned his leg... it was a cold burning, like holding on to an ice cube too long. He wiggled until it went away and lost himself again in her kiss. A sharp crack rang to his ears and he felt the stone he was sitting on crack open, shuttering under him. He withdrew from her lips slowly and glanced down to the stone beneath them. A large fault, about an inch wide ran out from the fountain ... but no water flowed from it. He brought his violet eyes up to her green gaze. "That was odd." He began a smile as a bitter cold breeze flowed swiftly by, rustling his perfectly kept blonde hair as no other breeze had ever dared. A feeling on the edge of Sage's subconscious welled up and tugged feverishly on his eyes... he turned his gaze to the fountain. The little statue in the center had split in two, its head and torso had fallen down to shatter into a million pieces on the frozen fountain that had cracked out of the stone foundation. The entire fountain had frozen completely over, as if it sat in the midst of a sudden winter freeze. Sage felt his heart skip a beat and he turned back to Sarjenka. Her eyebrows were raised high and she wore an innocent look like a child that had just been caught in her mother's jewelry box. She looked up at him with innocent eyes, chewing intently on the inside of her cheek. Sage volleyed glances between Sarjenka and the frozen fountain briefly, bringing worried eyes back around to stare directly at her. "Did ... did you do that?" he asked in silent fear. Sarjenka shrugged, looking at the destroyed fountain. "Oops?" she said, more like a question, turing one corner of her mouth up to chew on her bottom lip. "Guess I kind of got carried away in the moment, Halo." Sage froze, but not from the cold. "Sarjenka," he whispered. "What did you say?" "You heard me. You're the child of Light and Spirit - Sage of the Halo. Second piece to the Armor of Inferno. Am I right?" "Kryos ... " he whispered in a dry throat, leaning back from her. She smiled evily and reached out to touch his face. Her touch was like liquid nitrogen - it burned his fragile skin, leaving a deep red frost burn on the peachy-cheek. With a confused frown, Sage shoved her hand away, rising to his feet. She rose slowly with him, a hurt look on her face, matching his height, close, green eyes never leaving his. "Sage ... There's nothing to worry about. I won't hurt you ... if you give me the Halo Armor." Sage shook his head slowly, taking a step back, mentally picturing the path his hand would take to it's armor globe. "Very well. I hate to kill a handsome man like you. But don't you worry," she shook a finger at him witih a plyful smile. "Your death will be quick, not as drawn out as I've made Wildfire's." "YOU killed Ryo!" he gasped, slowly moving a hand for the crystal orb in his coat pocket. "Ah ... you win some, you loose some. Now ... " she began towards him slowly, malice springing with a sickening quickness into her eyes. They glowed like a hot ball of swamp gas, coating her face in an eerie facade of deadly accuracy. Sage began to back up with each step she took, matching her advances... until his back came up against a large maple tree, halting all movement. He looked briefly up to the tree above him, taking his eyes off Sarjenka for but a moment. She had him cornered and was slowly moving in for the kill. "Halo, or your life ... or I take them both. Your descision. I can leave you alive ... " "Forget it, Sarjenka," he said softly, biting back fear. "Are you working for the Dynasty?" "Get real!" She stopped her approach to give him an odd look, resting an hand on her hip. "I'm not working for anyone, sweet heart... but it's WHO'S working with me that should be worrying you. Now I'm loosing patience, Sage. Give me your armor crystal now!" "No!! Armor of Halo ... !!" he yelled, thrusting the Halo orb into the air. Sarjenka gave room with a cool smile as a loud clap of thunder rang through the hospital garden, signaling the rupture as Halo broke from its confines in a rolling, sonic boom. From out of nowhere, pink cherry blossom petals swirled around his body, creating a blinding light so bright, she shielded her eyes from it's heat, stumbling back... reaching into the pocket of her school uniform. The cherry petals exploded from his body in a great wave of energy, reveiling the green Armor of Halo merged with Sage underneath. The sight was impressive... the bulk of the green armor reflected splintering rays of the sun around the garden. He proudly unsheathed the Halo Sword, a massive brilliance of a polished, glowing sword and held it infront of himself ... only to find Sarjenka replaced with the Armor of Kryos, glimmering as bright as his sword. She reached up with a pale hand set against the deep purple cloth of the armor's covering and removed the shimmering mask. "Sage," she scolded, shaking her head back and forth slowly. "Give me the armor and I won't kill you like I'm doing Ryo. Come on, I don't want to hurt you!" She pulled out her single, long and slender sai to her defense. "Not on your life, Sarjenka! Thunderbolt ... " "Sage! I'm warning you!" she yelled as he began to slice the air with the sword, warping the air around her in a resonance that shook the trees. "CUT!!!!" The last slice released a pounding burst of lightning in an exploding burst. The lightning strike ran quickly, leveling the garden, sending seizmic waves through the trees and ground... Rowen slid to a stop as Cye reversed directions, the two pounding into each other as they both heard the thunder. "That was Sage!!" they both yelled at each other, and tunred to run opposite the direction they all had been traveling, mowing through the gap between Mia and Kayura. The two women exchanged a glance.. and quickly took to their feet, following the two Ronin's. Sage breathed hard, long breaths, having put quite a bit of his energy into that one. Around him, a massive dust cloud clogged his vision and choked out the sun. It swirled about him in a protective blanket, occassionally letting through a ray of sunlight to reveil bits and pieces of the destroyed garden beyond. He smiled as the dust cleared, revealing that Sarjenka was no longer in sight. Instead, he found he had dredged a trough through the center of the garden... trees bent out at odd angles, flower's laid strewn about.... "Hmmph," he trailed off. "She was pretty too." He lowered the no-daichi sword and straightened, taking in the damage he had done. "Sate, doumo... arigato gozaimasu, Datei-san." Sage whirled around, sword blazing to find Sarjenka sitting comfortably on a branch of the great oak. "It's a pitty you'll be dead soon!" "SAGE!!!" came a bellow They both looked to the hospital where Cye, Kayura, Kento, Mia and Rowen had just slid into view. "K'so, the calvary," Sarjenka cursed, pushing herself from the tree limb to land with the ease of a cat beside Sage. "I'll have to do this quickly! Armor of Wildifre!!" she yelled. "What the ... " Sage turned just in time to see Ryo's armor mold to her body, the Kryos armor taking on a shimmering red-silver hue as she lept into the air. "Ja ou Yuki-hi ha! (Dark Snow-Fire)" "SAGE!! NO!!" A blizzard sparked up from the warm air, plunging the gardens instantly into an arctic wasteland, freezing absolutely everything solid. The cold engulfed Sage and the Halo Armor fully before he could blink. Sage made a move to back up, but found his feet securely frozen to the ground, refusing to move no matter what kind of force he put behind his effort. The blizzard hit him roughly, the snow burning through his armor with a scorching cold to eat at his skin. The pain was imense, unlike any he had ever felt before. It encompassed his entire body... even his mind, ripping and tearing. He fell backwards and let out an agonizing cry of pain ... he felt Halo burn from his body, completely severing from his consciousness, leaving him open and vulnerable. He hit the snow-covered grass hard as Sarjenka dropped him from the tree top, the glowing green armor hovering beside her like a guard dog as the others approached. "Sarjenka!!" Cye yelled, pain in his voice, slipping to a hault on the icey grounds. "You coward! Come down here and fight us all!!" Kayura slid to a hault, striking the ground in a chimming ring, sending it ringing throug the gardens. "Sarjenka of Kryos! I know who you are! You are not unknown in this world as you may think!" "You!" Sarjenka spat. "You're a traitor is what you are!" She brought the blizzard sai out before her. "You abandoned Talpa for this band of ningen mortals... you left us all in ruins, left us when we could have used you.... " Sarjenka closed her eyes and gathered her wits back again smiling cutely. "Nevertheless, I'll leave you with one thought : I will soon gain absolute power over this world, and you can't stop me now, even if you could make Hariels White Armor!" and she dissapered into the air, taking the armor of Halo with her. "Oh, come on Sage! Speak to me buddy!!" Kento whined, dropping to his knees beside Sage, taking the boy's heavy, cold head into his lap. Behind them, the broken fountain spontaneously thawed, spilling gallons of water onto the remains of the garden, tidal-waving through the trough made with Sage's Halo sword. Hospital nurses and doctors, followed by onlookers rushed to the scene quickly after, piling through the garden, stopping only to view the mass destruction that plagued the once beautiful and serene tanquility. Kento reached over Sage to feel for a pulse and came across stone cold skin that barely throbbed with the beating of his heart. Sage opened his eyes slightly, reaching a cold arm up to Kento's shoulder. "Kento ... " he said, barely audible, pulling on the shoulder, beckining him down. Kento leaned in, putting an ear to Sage's frozen, blue lips. "She can use Wildfire's armor." "What!!!" Kento yelled, reeling back. "Sage, what do you mean?" A doctor broke through as Sage breathed his last, slipping off, his head rolling limply to one side. "Oh damnit! This one too!! Get me a streatcher now!" The doctor quickly pulled out his stethescope and slipped it down to Sage's heart. "Would you boys mind telling me just what the hell is going on here?" Mia's head was burried fully in Cye's chest, sobbing openly as the doctor spoke to the group, a solemn brow set straight over his forehead. "I'm afraid there's just nothing we can do for Sage. As far as we can tell, he's clinically dead, and we're going to take him off life support." "No! You can't!" Kayura yelled, rising to her feet, the staff chimming furiously beside her. "You have to keep him on life support! At least for another day" "But Ojou-san, his brain's dead, we're having trouble pumping blood through his constricted veins and ... " "I don't care! Keep him on life support for at least another day!" she yelled frantically, emphasizing her point by chiming the staff. The doctor began to start arguing, but stopped. Instead, he looked down to his clipboard, flipping through papers. "And your other friend ... " he looked a minute. "Ryo Sanada.... His condition is slowly deteriorating. Although his body temperature is stable, he's slowly loosing control of his body and shutting down. He won't last through the week." "I have to go see them," Kayura demanded. "I don't think that's possible, miss." Behind him, three police men entered the room, four pieces of white paper in one of their hands. "You're all under arrest for the suspected and attempted murders of Ryo Senada and Sage Datei." Kale threw the newspaper at Sekmet as he got up from the couch. "Can you believe that shit? They canceled the Kick-Boxing championships because of one lousy crack in the ceiling. One lousy CRACK!" he complained, waving a finger through the air. Sekmet pulled his spiked green hair out of the refrigerator, an apple in his mouth and a bowl of whip cream in one hand. He took a monstrous bite out of the apple and watched his friend as he stormed into the kitchen. "Humans ... " he said, spitting apple pieces on Daes who stood beside him. Daes gave a discusted groan and brushed his shoulder off. "You're as bad as Kento!" The phone rang and Sekmet tossed the whip cream, crossed the room in a great stride to answer. "Moshi-moshi," he said, muffled by the apple. Sekmet listened to the voice on the phone frantically yelling at him. There was a moment of silence and suddenly he spit the remainder of the apple all over Daes who was by the sink trying to wipe off the other apple see-food. "SEKMET!!!" he bellowed, taking a glass in hand and threatening him with it "You're where?" he demanded from the phone, grasping it with both hands. "Prison!!!!" Daes stopped dead and turned to Sekmet, as did Kale. "Who's in prison?" "You've got to be kidding me!!" Kale yelled at the prison guard, trying to rise up higher on his feet. "Look pal!" The guard shot back, finger and all. "If you're here to visit, then visit. I'm not the arresting officer! Now get outta my face!!" Daes refrained from putting a fist through the wall as the guard scoffed at them all, unlocking a barred door. He pushed it open and lead the procession down a hallway of cells to the one housing their friends. "Ya got five minutes," and he turned and left without so much as another word. Daes watched after the guard until he was out of ear shot, leaning around the other two Warlords. "Kayura, what in the happy horse-shit is going on!!" Daes ordered silently, reaching forward and shaking the bars. "They think we killed Ryo and Sage." "THEY'RE DEAD???!!!" the three Dark Warlords all boomed in unison. "How in the hell did this happen?" Sekmet said, trying to push his face and green hair through the bars. "Kayura thinks it's another Dynasty Warlord," Rowen put in, seated on the cot with Mia. "Nani?" Kale asked with a solemn face, leaning back and crawling a hand through his raven hair. "Guys," Kayura started, leaning an arm out throug the bars. "Do you rember Talpa ever saying anything about the Armor of Chaos?" "Uh ... that's what he forged to try to replace his old armor, right?" "Yes, but there's four other parts to that armor, and one of them belongs to Sarjenka of Kryos." "Sarjenka!" Kale shouted. He rushed forward, pushing through Sekmet and Daes, grasping the bars before Kayura. "Hey, ya mean that crazy wench who froze one of Talpa's legions when they marched too close to her home?" "Right. SHE killed Ryo and Sage ... or at least is coming pretty damn close to doing it ... and now we're being held to blame." Cye came up behind her, tugging on the colar of his shirt, leaning on the bars. "What if you could teleport to the hospital and begin healing them," Cye suggested, touching her slightly on the arm. "Yeah!" Kento put in. He stumbled to his feet from the cot, making his way through the tiny cell to the iron bars. "Since you can't teleport, I can take you there myself!" "Sounds like a plan ... and about time for one," Rowen put in from the back. Kayura looked down the hall, pressing her face up to the bars. One of the guards was intently looking over the Ancient's staff he had confiscated from them, shaking it occassionally. "I can summon the staff once I get there. Ok." She looked out to the Warlords. "We'll teleport to the hospital, and you guys meet us there incase Sarjenka decides to come back for more." "What about Mia, Strata and Torrent?" Daes interupted, his good eye glaring back at her. "Hey, we can take care of ourselves," Cye said, shoving a thumb to his chest. "Not any better that Wildfire or Halo." Daes held is glare for a few seconds. "I'll make camp outside the prison and keep a mindlink up." Sekmet shook his head, littering his vision with sloppy locks of green hair. "Come on then, we're leaving. The sooner we start, the better." The Warlords all nodded their good-bye's to the other Ronin's and turned down the cell way to begin to make their way out of the prison, none of the guards offering to restrain the three freocious looking men. Kento watched after them, waiting patiently as the main guard drew his keys and slamed the hall door closed. He silently egged himself on and turned to Kayura. "Ready?" Cye stood up. "Good luck. I'll keep a mindlink to you. In case ANYTHING happens, fall back... we can't all afford to be taken in by this crazy woman." Kento fished the orange sphere out of his pocket and held it firmly in his hand, closing his eyes and wrapping another arm around Kayura. He thought of how much he hated that hospital ... : Be careful : Kayura heard Rowen's voice. : I will : And they dissapeared in a flash of orange light (c) 1995 by Korogi