Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Four: Velocity

Kinetic's blood red armour shone with the power of his furious ascent into Godhood, his sheer speed blurring his outlines as Grayson and Misfortune fought against him. They couldn't hit him. They couldn't even see him properly, but the God of Speed toyed with them, giving them an infinitely small chance to fight back. Despite this, Grayson missed every one of his punches, Kinetic moving aside with a yawn, as if this battle of life and death was just a game to him. Shaine threw razors of shadow, but none even came close to hitting Kinetic, who seemed to be observing his environment as he fought, eager to not make the same mistakes that had cost him his powers before. That was when a horrible cry came from the place where The Stranger floated, Noctum's negative emotions coalescing into a cry of animalistic fury,

"Zavant must have died," Grayson noted, his voice hollow, "fuck, I didn't think that was possible,"

"The Stranger is the most powerful being to ever exist, Grayson," Kinetic stated, "there is no surprise, he will destroy Noctum, just as easily as he dispatched of Zavant,"

Something flickered across Grayson's face. It was a dangerous emotion, one far beyond the anger he had shown up until that point. This was a fury that rivalled Noctum's cry, something that even Kinetic was shaken by,

"Erwache, Soldat!" Grayson shouted before his eyes went blank, and he stood, unable, or unwilling to make the slightest movement,

"The hell does that mean?" Zachary wondered, having finally healed from his injuries,

"It's German," Spirit explained, "I have some German relatives, so I know a little, it means something like 'awaken, soldier',"

'Oh shit,' Zachary thought to himself, remembering what Grayson had mentioned about his life as a Nazi pawn, 'that's definitely not good,'

Kinetic zipped in front of Zachary, sliding his blood-red arm blade into Zachary's chest before zipping away again, this time appearing before Spirit, slashing with the same weapon. She froze time for a split second, just long enough to dive out of the way, but Kinetic processed it instantly, changing the trajectory of the blade so it embedded itself in Spirit's trap muscle. Before the pain had even registered, a bolt of lightning narrowly avoided them,

"Lucky miss, Zachary," Kinetic laughed, "if you'd hit me, you'd have killed your friend, no question,"

"Distractions are a thing, Kinetic,"

Shadowy tendrils gripped Kinetic by the arms and legs, pulling him high up into the air, suspending the man even as Spirit, Zachary, Shaine, and Wraith charged up blasts of magic, Aura, and shadow. The three elements fused mid-air, spiralling around each other like a brilliant dance of light. Before the three beams could reach Kinetic, however, the man twisted, his blades slicing through the shadow like a hot knife through butter. He narrowly avoided the blast, dashing for the trio, his only purpose being their deaths. A barrage of punches hit him, pushing the God of Speed backwards a few meters. Standing before him, his eyes entirely devoid of emotion, was Helmut Grayson,

"He unlocked his true abilities," Spirit noted, "we've got to help him beat Kinetic, since he's the only person who can hit him,"

Grayson walked briskly toward the place where Kinetic had been pushed to, much to the God's anger. Kinetic dashed forward at mach 20, not pulling a single punch. Without even thinking, Grayson retaliated with his own barrage of punches, the fists cracking against each other until Kinetic went for an uppercut, which Grayson dodged, retaliating with a finishing blow, a double drop kick that knocked Kinetic to the floor. Grayson's hands dripped with blood from where his flesh had burst against the tough metal of the Speed God's armour, but he was a mortal man no more, Kinetics retaliation completely dodged by Helmut,