Protectors- Consequence

Chapter Eighteen: Zeta #2

Calvin Blakk's eyes shot open, and almost instantly, the fatigue set in. His body had been hit harder than ever before, leaving him feeling like a train had picked him up and thrown him into an oncoming meteor. He stood swiftly, Zeta pain tolerance keeping him on his feet, and practiced a hook kick, something that he could throw out five times a second normally, but now he could barely manage one. Something shifted behind him, and as Calvin turned, he came across Noctum once more. Both of their shirts had been blown off in Noctum's blast, and the two both appeared to have many scars, with Adam's spreading like a cobweb and Calvin's just being various stab and gunshot wounds healed over. The Zeta put his guard up and jabbed at Noctum, who guarded against the attacks, before kicking out at Calvin with a front kick that hit his kidney. Calvin gasped momentarily, before landing a vicious uppercut to Adam as his guard fumbled slightly. The two both dropped simultaneously, struggling to take in enough oxygen.

Zachary turned on the lights to the Oughton estate house, the others, save for Damien, healed and following him closely. Something was up with the house, as the lights began to flicker, despite being a cloudless night,

"Welcome home," A robotic voice blared out of the darkness, prompting Zachary to transform, "please, don't attack yet, I have a story to tell,"

Without uttering a word, the three began to clear the large house, starting with the back garden, which appeared to be completely empty. The coffee table outside was just like normal, a discarded mug of something lying on its surface. Zachary went closer to inspect, and as he dipped a finger in the mug, he pulled back quickly, tasting it. Flavours hot and spicy filled his mouth, a chamomile blend with a hint of whiskey. And it was still hot,

"It all started ten years ago, during the period of time where The Stranger was believed dead,"

Spirit led the careful charge back into the house, opening the door to the kitchen, where the kettle was still hot, steam rising slowly from its spout. The wooden floors were scratched, as if something heavy had been dragged across them, but nothing of the sort was in sight. Spirit gestured upstairs, and the other two nodded, as the location of the voice flittered between the rooms like a butterfly,

"Draedon," The sound of the name gave the trio pause, "he began to construct a contingency, to be put in place of his death. Helped closely by Zavant,"

They began to move again, sweeping the rest of the downstairs house quickly, before moving slowly up the stairs, Wraith clutching a scimitar with shaking hands. The initial floor was completely empty, so the group began to check the rooms,

"But there was a problem," The voice continued, "an artificial intelligence copy of one's own mind is remarkably difficult to create, and as of Lochlan's death, it was incomplete,"

The final door swung open, revealing a room with nothing in it but for a pesky fly, which buzzed past them angrily, as if they had trapped it there. Having no idea where to go next, Zachary sighed, sitting down on the floor with a huff,

"He had also removed the nanobots from his body. The constant metal in the bloodstream was poisoning him. With that, Draedon was no more, and my story should be no more,"

"The garage!" Spirit whispered triumphantly,

The trio began to move much more quickly now, to the place where they had built their suits all those years ago,

"But Zavant kept working on it. There was only one thing that it required, to become truly sentient. It needed a spark of life, one of hope. And time, at least five years to grow and develop into a functioning being that could inhabit a functioning body,"

The door of the garage crashed open, and no lights turned on. The silhouette of a man was perched on a chair pensively, as if in deep thought, before it turned to look at the heroes, glowing green eyes piercing their souls,