Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Five: Rise

Zachary hit Noctum with a spin-kick, which was narrowly blocked by Adam raising his arm. The Chrysalis forced itself even further from his chest as he countered with a jab, his internal struggle reducing the potency of the punch just enough that didn't hurt Zachary badly,

"You're not that strong," Zachary laughed, letting loose his full power as a thin stream of blood ran from the corner of his mouth,

It dripped onto the ground like a leaky tap, little splashes of red bouncing from the floor as Noctum stared strangely, the fire from his eyes dispersing slowly. Zachary went on the assault, his scaly fists cracking with the sheer force of the impacts he made on the vigilante, pummelling him like a madman. Noctum raised his arms to block the blows, holding them in an X, but the electric Aura bore down on him until he flew backwards, hit hard by an uppercut. When he stood, however, Noctum was unharmed, although he did not know what he was seeing. He saw two visions simultaneously, the vision of his friend, injured from his mad attack, but he also saw Apis, attacking him with the last of his energy, one last ditch effort to destroy the world they had worked so hard to protect. In one, he realised the truth, that his body had been so damaged, it had lain under the dirt, near the resting place of the Chrysalis for an entire decade, his essence so close to that of a god that he would recover from even death, in time. Then he saw what had really happened, he knew that Apis had never been annihilated, that he stood before Noctum, ready for one last fight,

"I'm done trying to knock sense back into you," Zachary laughed maniacally, "Now I'm just here to destroy you,"

"No," Noctum whispered, "I am not going to let you hurt my friends,"

Nothing held his next attack back. The ball of Aura pushed Zachary so far backwards that he lost his bearings for a moment, only regaining them when Noctum stomped on him from above, catapulting him into the road below. Noctum flew downwards, pressing himself down as he smashed his knuckles, white hot with Aura, into Zachary's face, the blood evaporating into metallic mist as it flew from the man,

"Stop!" Shaine shouted, her and wraith leaping into the air and onto Noctum, 

But the vigilante blew them aside with his Aura, singing the hair on Shaine's head with the sheer heat. Spirit stopped time, but couldn't manage to get close enough to Noctum within the five seconds, so she pushed herself beyond her limits. Eight seconds had passed when she saw it, Noctum's face turning to look at her, slowly, crimson energy forcing his body through even the time-stop. She lost control, slumping to the ground as she struggled to breathe, the effort of forcing time to stop growing too great. Noctum laid into Zachary again, and the crackling yellow faded into nothingness,

"Back off!" Spirit cried, blasting Noctum with enough purple Aura to get him off Zachary, her heterochromatic eyes glinting with the power of the attack,

She froze time again, but this time, it was clear that Noctum was aware. The Chrysalis forced itself further, as it pushed Noctum through time, ignoring the rules that the fabric of reality as he forced himself through the thick air, blasting it apart with his hot, fresh breeze. He lashed out at Spirit, his attack moving just slowly enough for her to dodge it,

"It seems our speeds are equal during frozen time," She panted, feeling the air leaving her lungs,

Noctum breathed out, but seemed to realise then that he wouldn't be able to breathe back in, due to the air that was frozen around him. He took a knife to the side, which pumped purple Aura through him, trying to push the influence of the Chrysalis from his body, although the effort was futile as the knife disintegrated, leaving Noctum standing, frozen once again, after only four seconds. That gave Spirit six seconds, only six, to finish the job. That's when she realised
that she hadn't recovered from earlier, as time began to flow within a second,

"He can move in frozen ti-" She shouted, but was interrupted by Noctum's kick, which almost instantly knocked her out, as Noctum engaged Wraith,

"You are stronger than me," Wraith conceded, "and I know that we can't defeat you, but that doesn't mean that we won't die trying!"

Noctum put an end to that thought with a single blast at his full power. It was as if the world had been rended apart for Misfortune, who was barely able to remain conscious despite the brutality of the attack. Noctum turned back to Zachary, fire blazing in his eyes, unleashing a barrage of blows, until giving his opponent a moment's respite,

"I gave you the chance to walk away!" Noctum cried, his power utterly overwhelming his once-friend, "but you insist on destroying everything we've ever cared about!"

"Adam," Zachary mumbled, "please... stop,"

The red Aura subsided slightly, and the first vision became more solid, more real than the second one. Noctum looked at what he had done, saw the Chrysalis, more than halfway from his chest, and realised that this was the true world, the real one. He saw the bloodied state of his friend, battered and broken on the street, having endured the full wrath of hell itself. In that moment, he wanted the Chrysalis to take away his feelings, removing the wash of guilt that flooded his gut, the icy sensation bringing tears to his eyes. 'What have I done?'. That's when Samantha and Kinetic appeared, Jones standing off to one side as the two faced off. Noctum took off straight upwards, his battered suit withstanding the high speeds as he hovered over the city, staring blankly at the three villains. The heroes were too injured to interrupt the two as they stared each other down, Jones looking like he did not want to be there, like he did not want to fight,

"Noctum is at his limit now," Samantha said to Kinetic, "whoever wins this duel shall have God's blessing, truly,"

"Whoever?" Kinetic smirked, "my powers are far beyond yours, Samantha, I am faster than you can comprehend and my endurance is unimaginable. How could you, someone with no combat abilities hope to defeat the likes of the God of Speed?"

"Johnathan, you impudent wretch," Samantha smiled back, "the mere implication that I have shown you my full power is an insult to my existence,"

Neither made a move, but the tension only grew. Their Aura's became visible, Kinetic's like black lightning mixed with something else, something deadly. Samantha's separated itself from her body, coating the ground and moving like a great snake, swaying in the wind as it bent and rippled mesmerisingly. Kinetic watched it warily, before cracking his neck,

"This has been a long time coming, Samantha," he said, "I was sent to juvy for killing my sister, so I might as well do what I was punished for,"

"So you didn't actually kill her, then?" Samantha asked, "you were sent unjustly?"

"I apologise if I insinuated that," Kinetic replied, "but I am, in fact, a killer, it's only that I did not slay my sister, but a stranger. I will kill you just as I planned to kill her, slowly and painfully," 

His smile broadened as he said that, his addiction to the taking of human life disgusting Samantha. She looked at him with a stare filled with the purest hatred and disgust,

"You are truly the scum of the earth," She said, "I take life because I am forced to, and even then, I have never really enjoyed it, not even when I killed my abusive father. But your death, it is deserving of a parade, I need to finish you off now, or I will never be able to bring paradise to earth,"

"Stay back if you know what's good for you," Jones raised his voice as he spoke to the group, "this is not going to be pretty."

THANK YOU FOR READING

CHAPTER SIX: ALLIANCES 

RELEASES MARCH