Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Two: The Force

The air around Zachary seemed to burn. Temperatures had only risen as the year reached 2036, although the climate problem was nearly completely solved. Uluru loomed in the distance as Zachary drew a pistol from his belt,

"Hands on your head!" He commanded, pointing the gun at the criminal,

The blood that stained the woman's clothes blended into the white and red robes she wore well, almost distracting onlookers from her most disconcerting aspect. Her teeth had formed into vicious fangs, ready to rip and tear at other people's throats, just as she had just demonstrated at the local Starbucks. Her nails were dirty claws, ragged from the blood that had been torn from innocent bodies,

"Just try and kill me, pig!" She screamed, the voice that escaped her lungs inhuman and dangerous, like the ghostly choir of phantom wolves, stalking prey,

She leapt at Zachary, a ferocity that no human could match on her face. Zachary planted three rounds in her chest, firing with an iron aim. The rounds did not even slow her down, and Zachary's chest was filled with red hot agony, the claws piercing his skin, tearing his flesh to ribbons. The Police Academy had not taught him how to deal with agony like this. The woman's teeth tore into Zachary's throat, warm blood trickling down their bodies,

"Another kill, The Priestess will be pleased," she growled, relishing the taste of the blood and flesh,

The crack of Zachary's gun put an end to the cultist's life, her brain unable to cope with a metal slug in it. He struggled to his feet, feeling the strange squirming of his wounds healing themselves,

"Davidson? You there?" Dispatch barked, snapping him out of the trance. Killing never gets easier. You just become better at it,

"Roger," Zachary replied, pressing the button on his police radio, "suspect appears to be superhuman. Lethal action was required,"

"Shit, take a moment, Davidson," Dispatch replied,

Zachary pulled his CSI camera from a pack, methodically snapping photos of the scene, placing numbered cards around before taping the area with DANGER tape. Even as he jogged back to the Starbucks where the murder had occurred, Zachary knew that this would be the end of his job. When he had looked back at the cultist, her features had been nothing but human, no sign of the claws and fangs that had driven him to kill. This was the fifth time in that month that Zachary had killed a person in billowing white and red robes, and all of them had been blots on his record,

"Davidson!" Chief Wingham boomed, "Get your white ass over here!"

Zachary obliged, as the kill would only put him on Wingham's bad side. He once again snapped photos of the scene, setting up markers to show where bodies had fallen,

"I hate to ask," Wingham whispered, stooping to where Zachary was squatting, "I would much rather get my fat ass back home with a box of doughnuts, but I have to do the paperwork if..."

"Yeah, it's another cultist incident," Zachary replied sheepishly,

"Shit, man, it was nice knowing you,"

Back at Uluru station, Wingham sat across from Zachary, a nice jarrah desk separating them,

"I'm going to have to relocate you, Davidson," Wingham said, cutting straight to the chase, "for anyone else, I would have to fire them on the spot, but you are an officer and a CSI, the world's best at both,"

"Sir, if you could please reconsider," Zachary begged, "I need to stay here-"

"I'm sorry, Zachary," Wingham cut across him, genuine sympathy in his face, "your friend has been missing for ten years, there's very little chance that he's still alive,"

Zachary said nothing, staring at the ground. He had pushed himself into the force with an iron will, grinding for almost a whole decade just so he could remain here, looking for a sign, any sign that Noctum may still be alive. So far, there had been no sign, not even a news story on the vigilante,

"I'll give you two weeks off. Just message me which station you want to go to when you've decided," Wingham soothed, "that's my last favour to you, I'll let you choose where you want to be stationed,"

It was a long trudge back to the small apartment where Zachary lived alone, at least when he wasn't working the beat or crimescenes. He noticed something was wrong before he got to the elevator. The lobby was deserted, Melanie, the ancient but quick to laugh secretary never abandoned her post. Only one other person was in the elevator, a woman, around his age, cloaked in billowing white robes, despite the absence of a breeze,

"Metamorph," She greeted, like a lifelong friend,

Zachary drew his pistol. Before he could so much as flip the safety, the thing had been split in half, the barest hint of a spasm lingering in the woman's form,

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice steady, just like they teach you in hostage training,

"Always the same question," the woman said, offering Zachary a bow, hands clasped over her head, "I am not here to kill you, not yet, at least,"

"What if I defeat you right now?" Zachary shot back, dropping into a fighting stance,

"We both know that you have not used your powers in around five years, while mine are still fresh and strong,"

From the folds of her robes, the woman pulled a khopesh, a curved Egyptian sword, and began to file her nails with it,

"I would recommend transferring to the Rockingham station," she suddenly said, just as the elevator reached Zachary's floor, "and check the news, there might be something interesting for you to look at,"

Zachary locked the apartment door behind him instantly, not wanting to test the woman's choice to spare his life. The first thing he did was open his laptop and refresh the tab. The latest articles regarding the search term "Noctum" popped up, but apart from a new article on an old game by the same name, nothing interesting had happened,

"Shit," Zachary moaned, collapsing onto his leather sofa, the softness of the couch comforting him,

He cursed himself for believing the woman, knowing that there was no way that she could have known about his searches. Then he saw something, something impossible. The tab had refreshed itself, and a new article sat at the top. He clicked on it with shaking hands, noting the credibility of the news source. There was a video and a description within the webpage,

"Jackpot," Zachary whispered, clicking on the video first,

It showed for punks, vapes in hand as they struck a woman, beating her in a back alley of some place. Zachary recognised the streets as Rockingham, the place where he had previously called home. The punks were interrupted by a loud crash. A shadowy figure almost materialised from nothingness, throwing the men around with lightning-fast moves and superhuman strength. Zachary paused the video, just as the figure stared up at the camera, steel grey eyes burning into the video, the only part of his face that was visible. It wasn't the bandanna that confirmed Zachary's suspicions, however. It was the black N, framed by a white shield, that covered the man's chest,

"I finally found you," Zachary whispered, scrolling down to read the description,

'After ten years of absence, the vigilante Noctum has been sighted in Rockingham. Why he has been gone for so long has been a spark for debate, with most agreeing that it had something to do with the alien lifeform that attempted to attack Earth a decade ago. The vigilante was caught on CCTV fighting against common street thugs, something that he commonly did ten years ago, before his mysterious disapearance. Next up, who are the superhumans that are continually spotted across Rockingham? The Shadow and-'

Zachary closed his laptop, shooting a quick text to Wingham, letting him know that he was going back to Rockingham. Then he opened his phone. Clicking on a group chat that he hadn't messaged in over a year, he started a call, going straight to voicemail,

"Guys, it's me, Zachary. I'm coming home, and so is Adam, once we find him,"

Zachary hung up, and packing his few worldly belongings, began to walk towards the airport, hoping to get to Rockingham sooner, rather than later.

THANK YOU FOR READING

CHAPTER THREE: RETURN

RELEASES DECEMBER