Origins- Protectors

Chapter Seven: No Pain, No Gain!

Noctum huddled, scars he didn't even know he had, opened again by the power of what pursued him. He tripped over stray rubble, catching himself before the speeding ground hit him. He knew, somehow, that his powers had abandoned him and would not be there to protect him from a fall. 'Shit,' he thought to himself as the translation of the ancient runes fell from his pocket, the paper lightly drifting to the ground before him. Noctum read the words, disbelieving all of them, before stuffing the paper back in his jacket pocket. There was something else in the pocket, a slab of sandstone, the writing supposedly translating into the words on the paper, but how could that be? Noctum had no slab or any knowledge of how this translation would be important.

His body began to walk, Adam Oughton fighting pathetically for control as it burst into a run. His vision was blacking out, neon green and red shapes moving across his vision as he did, his pursuer was gaining on him. Noctum did not know how he knew there was a pursuer, but he did know that he could not be caught. He risked a glance behind him,

"Come to die? Mortal scum," a deep and horrifying voice spoke,

Noctum felt fear trickle down the back of his neck, a sensation between pain and adrenaline immobilising him as The Stranger glided through the air towards him,

"No, no, no, no, no," Noctum muttered, curling up on the cold tarmac, fear reverting him to a childlike state,

A giant boot collided with his ribs, and he could hear Dan's wicked laugh as he was tossed onto his back, looking up at the chiselled features and iron hair of Bjorn Mägna. The fear he was feeling constricted his vision, darkness clouding and changing his reality, the features of his surroundings gone as Noctum struggled to his knees, only to be blasted, blood flowing freely from the wound, in the chest by the giant Bull-man. Adam screamed, but his throat was filled with blood, his cries drowned out. Nobody could save Noctum. The Stranger's ferocious red gaze disappeared, gone as fast as he had become Bjorn, and another demonic voice spoke from the darkness,

"I'll take everything from you, Noctum,"

Noctum knew that this was Kinetic, that the speed God was going to kill him,

"Before I kill you, someone wants to see you," Kinetic growled,

"Help! Adam, help!" A familiar voice sobbed, "Please, save me this time!"

"Lune," Noctum breathed, the image of his dead lover, held by the back of the neck off the ground by Kinetic hurting his tattered soul. Kinetic did not appear to have a body. He possessed a massive height, but Noctum could not make out anything else about the God, not even the colour of his clothes,

"You will always be too late to save her," Kinetic spoke, and if the devil could speak, that would be his voice,

Kinetic's fist crashed into Lune's back, pushing through the spine and flesh like a knife through butter and protruding from her stomach like a javelin,

"I miss you," Lune said, her heart stopping for the second time in Noctum's life,

The vigilante cried horribly, animal instincts taking over, his composure replaced by anger so powerful that his fear burned away, replaced by a willingness to kill that Noctum had not felt since his days working for Bjorn,

"You're going to die!" Noctum shouted, blood spraying from his open mouth,

"No, human, you are going to be the one that dies,"

Noctum lunged for Kinetic, but the god evaded every attack, even Noctum's vengeance did not make him strong enough to win. Kinetic grabbed Noctum by the neck, throwing him forward effortlessly and then reappearing in front of the vigilante to land many heavy blows to his solar plexus,