Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Six: Return of Noctum

Apis began to shake, the terror of seeing one person absorb the Chrysalis had been scary, but the sheer presence of three was something he could never have comprehended. His halo was gone, all he had left was his old fighting prowess, but now he was fighting three opponents of the same level that had killed him before. He had no hope anymore, to think of the shame, he, Apis, the great God, had been boxed into a corner, with no contingency plans. Except for the one he had set. The first thing he felt was the impact of a thunderbolt, slamming into his chest. Apis stumbled backwards, only to take a double beating from Adam and Zachary, their fists slamming into his chest like bullets. Zachary ducked, and Apis got a face-full of Aura from Noctum, the heat blasting at The Stranger. Apis realised something in that moment. He realised that as the Chrysalis had split, so had its power. None of the trio were on his level at that point, so he actually had a chance to win. Spirit blasted him from behind with the most powerful attack Apis had felt since Zavant was alive. If he was to win, he would have to go on the offensive. He charged down Noctum, who blocked with both fists. Zachary kicked Apis from the side, but The Stranger grabbed his leg, whilst also gripping Noctum's with his empty arm as the vigilante flew backwards. He roared as he tried to flip them to each side, but then it was as if he'd been gripping nothing,

"What is the meaning of this?" He bellowed, "your time skip doesn't make you that strong!"

"No," Spirit replied, "but having minutes to pry them free does,"

This time, when it had all slowed to a halt, Spirit had not felt held back by the thick air that spawned in the stopped time. She had never felt more alive at that point, the wild air feeling perfectly normal against her powerful Aura as she had grabbed the two from Apis' grasp, bringing them to safety before he could blast them to oblivion. That was when Wraith joined them, cracking a mace against The Stranger's head and knocking him forwards, before shooting tiny shards of shadow at the Egyptian God. Apis weaved quickly, landing a powerful combination of punches and elbow strikes against Wraith, but was stopped mid-combo by Wraith, who pulled his arms to his sides, leaving Apis open to attack. Spirit hit him in the back with a blast of Aura, before Zachary and Noctum closed in with their own physical attacks. Noctum's eyes blazed with fire while Zachary's body was covered with black scales, his lightning dragon transformation mixing with that of his normal form, granting him the strength and the mobility,

"Damn you all!" Apis roared, flying straight upwards at his top speed, followed by Noctum and Zachary,

Noctum could not keep up, beginning to fall behind The Stranger, while Zachary pulled ahead of Noctum slightly, still falling behind. Apis reached space, before twisting with a flourish, flying straight down towards the duo. Each fist cracked against one of their chests, and Noctum and Zachary were almost instantly knocked unconscious. Apis' Aura charged on each fist as they dove for the ground, picking up speed. Then, at the last second, Apis fired his Aura, sending the two into a small cafe as he pulled up. Spirit rushed in, preparing a time stop that could last for minutes, but she was pulled in to Apis by a vacuum wave, knocking her over. She rolled aside of Apis' stomp, but he landed a back-kick on Wraith, who had advanced with the shadow mace again. The kick blew a giant hole in Shaine, and she barely clung on to life as Spirit froze time. She healed Shaine first, not wanting to risk death before regeneration, then she healed the other two, positioning the four so they faced Apis again,

"You can't win, Apis," Noctum called as time began to move, "we outnumber you four to one,"

"Six," Grayson interjected, stepping forward with Simon on his left, "I know we aren't much, but we're better than nothing right now,"

Apis was a wounded beast, cornered and alone, in a spot that no other being could have possibly gotten out of. But he was no other beast, he was Apis, The Stranger, the God-Slayer. He had to fight like an animal, backed into a corner, with nowhere to go other than forward, in a furious gambit to kill his enemies. He flung himself towards Noctum, hitting the vigilante with an Aura-filled punch. He pulled himself forward with a vacuum wave, avoiding Spirit's time stop, which she quickly deactivated, flying after The Stranger. Apis made to put Noctum in a headlock, but the vigilante raised his arms up, complicating the process as Noctum used a headbutt. Apis roared as his nose shattered, black blood spraying once again,