Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Six: Broken Angel

Spirit almost threw away the hour that Noctum's life had earned the heroes, creating a blade high in the sky, aiming it directly at Apis' chest. Zachary caught her hand, shaking his head,

"We need this time to prepare for the battle," He stated, turning around, "maybe we'll have a chance if we prepare,"

"Fuck that," Spirit replied, reluctantly turning around, "I wanna blast this son of a bitch,"

"I need some more time for my backup plan," Draedon stated, looking upwards, "it sure as hell won't be enough to deal with The Stranger, but it might even hurt him enough for it to matter in the end,"

He sat in a similar pose to Apis, staring up at the sky, which had been fully concealed by thick storm-clouds. He thought of all the people that had been lost along the way, both Kaedans, the entire city, and now, even Noctum. The first drops of rain began to land, the chill of The Stranger's aura intensifying the desert storm. One of Draedon's robots landed in front of him, steel shimmering with the first bolt of lightning,

"Hey," Hannah said through the robot, "I heard what happened with Adam,"

Shaine laid his body on the dirt between the alive heroes, and it was impossible not to notice the  twisted look on Noctum's face. It was as if he was torn between moving on and finally achieving peace, or coming back from the dead one last time to defend the people who he could not lose. The battering that he had taken had torn the N clean off Noctum's chest, leaving the bloodied skin beneath exposed. Subconsciously, Zachary scanned the area for the symbol, as if it could heal the vigilante's broken body. Alas, there was nothing from this world that could heal Noctum now, nothing...

The One Above spoke softly to Noctum, who did not reply, his emotions overloaded with the difficulty of what he had experienced,

"This time, it is truly your time to die," The Goddess said, a sad smile on her face, "you can finally move on, be with your parents, be with Phoebe,"

"..." Noctum sighed, emotions blank,

"Didn't you say that all you ever wanted was to die and move on?" The Goddess asked, the same sad smile glowing with her golden light, "remember?"

"..." 

The Goddess sighed, 

"I know what you are thinking, and you are wondering if you ever beat The Stranger, in any timeline," She said, looking down at the vigilante, who sat on the endless nothingness, gazing off into the infinity,

"..."

"The truth is that in all the different timelines, no matter how far ahead one is, the Protectors always die to Apis," She said sombrely, "and there have been no differences up until this point in time,"

"What about Zavant?" Noctum blurted, "he's not in every timeline,"

"He is a... rare occurrence," The Goddess replied, "but not unique, but he is gone now, removed from the timeline by a being called Wraith,"

"You killed me?" Noctum said, shock and horror taking over his voice, 

"Not you, Adam. Zavant," The Goddess corrected, her smile fading, "but you should move on now, as you always do,"

Adam Oughton seriously contemplated The One Above's offer. Thinking of the possibility of being with Phoebe again was nearly enough to make him accept. He longed so much to just give up, to relinquish his control and allow The Goddess to whisk him away to a place where nothing could hurt him, where he could be with his loved ones once again. Then he thought of his friends, his new family, of Captain, the adorable fluff ball that he could not bare to leave behind. Dying like this would not be the noble sacrifice that he wished to make, but an act of cowardice, of submission. Pulling himself together, Adam stared back at The Goddess, the faintest hint of the fire that had blazed in his eyes remaining,