Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Six: Hack and Slash

The confidence of Zachary's words was incredible. Somehow, he knew that the Noctum they were battling was an imposter,

"What do you mean?" Niamh asked, "he seemed pretty fucking strong,"

"No, he didn't," Shaine realised, "even Zavant could hit harder than that,"

"It's his arms," Zachary said, "I saw them for a moment. Yeah, they weren't exactly as smooth as baby skin, but there weren't many scars,"

"Scars?" Shaine asked, the sound of a car pulling up nearly drowning out the question,

"Do you guys remember the first time we fought him?" Spirit asked, "Adam was heavily scarred from his torture. That means that if Zachary is correct, that man was not the real Noctum,"

"That's right," Hannah said, stepping from the car, "the man you just fought was not Noctum. He was a totally different size and fought totally different, you idiots,"

"How are we supposed to notice that crap?" Lochlan asked, "It's not like we have superhuman sight,"

"His voice was also entirely different," Hannah continued, "so we're going to have to find out where the real Noctum is soon,"

It was the cold night air that changed, growing colder and darker by the second until the apartment building was surrounded by an endless shadow. Inside of the vast place, over a hundred cultists had been suspended from the ceiling, bleeding from accurate and brutal wounds. Once multicoloured robes had been dyed a pure red, and the few that survived the wounds hung, unwilling to trigger the anger of the man who had attacked them. The shadows around the building slithered in, destroying walls and windows to reach the centre of the apartments. There it pooled together, taking the shape of a human being. An unnatural chill crept throughout the apartments as the figure stood, cloaked in shadows,

"Show yourself," Wraith whispered, it's  almost silent voice somehow reaching the entire building,

Wraith's target did not reply. This was of no concern, however, as Wraith sent its shadows throughout the building, finding the only being that continued to live. It stepped through the shadows, using them as a normal being would use a door, appearing before the person it hunted,

"Noctum," Wraith greeted, "come, we have much to talk about,"

Zachary and the others stayed in the police department, sitting in the waiting room while they desperately tried to figure out who was masquerading as Noctum and how they had come across their powers,

"I still think that the voice sounded familiar," Zachary said,

"You've been repeating yourself for the past two hours," Hannah replied, "I know that it must be difficult to realise, but there is a good chance that Adam is actually dead,"

"The TV," Shaine gasped but was ignored by the others, who began to argue about Adam's continued living,

"It doesn't even matter!" Zachary bellowed, accidentally knocking the class photo that he kept on his desk to the ground, "there's still this fake Noctum, Greiger, and the High Priestess to deal with!"

Only then did Shaine's words register. Zachary stared at the television, just as the department's phone lines began to ring, hundreds of calls coming in all at once. The image on the screen was an apartment building, or what was left of one. The reporters were talking about something, but the machine was too quiet for the group to hear. Draedon raised the audio as the reporter was midsentence,

"...battle between Shadow and the Red Man has been catastrophic. Over a hundred have been estimated dead..."

Zachary turned the TV off,

"Let's get moving. Han, you stay here, we need someone to provide ranged support,"

Minutes later, the four arrived on the scene, a quick detour to drop off Captain knocking precious minutes from their schedule,

"Zachary!" Hannah boomed suddenly, "watch out, there have been hundreds of reports of werewolves out there tonight,"

"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered, parking the car and exiting, pistol clutched in one hand,

The four were met with utter pandemonium, surrounded by a giant crowd, which appeared to be moving in every possible direction. Zachary fired three shots into the air, causing the people to run away from him. The area around the apartment cleared very quickly, leaving the four face to face with the fake Noctum once more,

"Who are you, really?" Zachary asked, staring down the man,

"Do you really want to know?" The man asked, his voice plain and simple, but oh so familiar,

Zachary thought long and hard. The truth was, he did not want to find out that his friend was really dead, but he had to know the identity of the man. A raindrop landed on Zachary's shoulder, the cold splash bringing him to his senses,

"Yeah," he replied, "I want to know exactly who you are,"

"Then, I will show you the truth," Noctum replied, pulling the bandanna from where it covered his mouth,

The raindrops hit the barred window of the room occupied by Jones Blakk. It had been quite the ordeal to kill his Nighthawk personality, but with the help of Chimera and a few weeks in the prison hospital with the psychiatrist, he had managed to recover from the ordeal. The usually pristine face was unshaven, a scraggly beard growing where there was once nothing,

"Mr Blakk," came the voice of the prison psychiatrist, "would you mind accompanying me to the therapy room?"

"Certainly, Ms Tamashan," Jones replied, stepping from the unlocked cell, hands still cuffed behind his back, "Will there be others accompanying us tonight?"

"Yes, Jones," Tamashan replied, leading him to another cell and unlocking the door, "our two good friends, Mr Mägna and Mr Stone,"

Jones heard a small shake in her voice at the word Stone, but thought nothing of it. Johnathan Stone had killed thousands in his pursuit of increasing his superhuman speed. Kinetic's cell was similar to Jones', but for the tally marks on the wall. Even though Kinetic had been in that cell for over a decade, the amount of tallies was well over three thousand,

"I see that your victim count has gone up again, Johnathan," Tamashan said, noting the extra three strokes,

"Good to see you, Tamashan," Johnathan Stone replied, "but you can call me Riley, I've grown fond of that name,"

"You killed those three guys pretty easily at lunch," Jones noted. "Congratulations,"

"I was hungry, and they wouldn't pay up," Kinetic replied, a sadistic tone to his voice. "I assume that we're going to pick up Bjorn,"

"That's right,"

"And then we find out if what you promised us is real," Jones laughed, "and you find out if you are destined to die tonight,"

In less than a second, Jones was once more clean-shaven, a small prick of blood forming on his chin. Tamashan's knife disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Jones dumbfounded and Kinetic amused,

"Consider this a gift," the High Priestess said, "you must know that although I am willing to go through the procedure,  I will not tolerate doubt in my sagely abilities,"

Bjorn's room was different to the normal cells, the cushioned walls calling an insanity patient to mind,

"Noctum broke his mind, remember," Jones whispered to Kinetic, "just goes to show what we're going up against,"

Bjorn sat on a wheelchair, giving no sign of consciousness, no sign of free thought, no sign of humanity,

"Bjorn," the High Priestess said, "it is just us, you can drop the act,"

"That's a relief," the giant boomed, his usually hearty voice marred with anger, "It's been a long time since I've been allowed to act normal,"

"I'm going to perform the ritual here," Tamashan whispered, "all you must do us drink some of my blood, then you will become strong. Strong enough to finally destroy our foes."

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CHAPTER SEVEN: RUIN
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