Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter One: Unravelling

Without hesitation, Zachary's punch instantly broke the nose of the man. With a swift swipe to the legs, he fell to the floor, struggling to stand even as Zachary became a minotaur, the towering form preparing to stomp on the man who had held him hostage for a long time,

"Stop!" Spirit shouted, "He's on our side now!"

Zachary still did not hesitate, and the man rolled out of the way, coming up with his hands above his head, showing that he meant no harm. That did not fully dissuade Zachary, who knew exactly what the man was capable of. He swiftly grabbed and snapped Jones Blakk's arm, disabling his finger gun,

"Fucking hell!" Jones shouted, "I'm not here to hurt you!"

"He isn't," Spirit yelled, blowing Zachary against the cast iron walls, holding him in place, "he messaged me so I read his mind. He is telling the truth,"

The realisation that Jones was not there to kill them made Zachary fell a wave of confusion,

"Why the change of heart?" He asked,

Jones looked to Niamh for support, but she just shrugged, 

"You're on your own with this one,"

"Fine," Jones answered, "the truth is that, no matter how strong my powers are, since I became superhuman, I've only really thought about being the hero,"

"That's a lie," Spirit interrupted, "even though I'm letting you stay, you need to tell the truth,"

"If he lies again," Zachary growled, "I'm going to kill him, without a second thought,"

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth," Jones spoke lightly, "Samantha killed Bjorn, almost as if she had been planning it for a while,"

"So, you're no stranger to murder,"

"Kinetic thinks that she's going to try and kill us," Jones continued, "I believe him. I don't want to be betrayed again,"

"What do you mean again?" Spirit asked, "was it something to do with working for the SCD?"

"I never told you guys where my skills come from," Jones chuckled coldly, "Before I was an SCD agent, I was something else,"

"A soldier?" Zachary asked,

"No, I was an assassin," Blakk answered, "I was part of an elite SCD programme called ZETA. The best part was that we didn't technically exist, so when we got out of training, they messed with our minds. One day they decided to kill me, so they sent me to destroy the artificial island where ZETA was set up,"

"You succeeded?"

"Not quite," Jones replied, "I was hunted to the point of near-death by a group called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the highest up ZETA leaders. They were all beyond human, which, at the time, meant something. I always wanted powers to help me fight ZETA and destroy the SCD for turning its back on me. In the end, I ended up trying to get in charge of the corporation, in the hopes that I could turn the thing around,"

It was an interesting story, but that left only one question,

"What is Samantha's plan?" Spirit asked, "and while we're at it, what kind of powers does the superhuman you keep in the basement have?"

"She would never tell us the plan," Jones answered, "and there is no superhuman. The only things I saw her place into the chamber were a large cloud of red energy, and what looked like a corpse,"

Screaming and gunshots sounded outside, before Kinetic slid into the room, clothed in his original armour, the shining blue metal completely in contrast with Jones' leather jacket and jeans,