Protectors- Consequence

Chapter Twenty Seven: A Small Interlude

The video began to play, a bland walled garage coming into focus as the hum of the television's old player buzzed in the background. Damien Burns crouched in front of the player as the others surrounded him in a semi circle, everyone's full attention fixed on the screen. Harsh and cold lighting was displayed on the screen, filling the room with an uneasy feeling,

"What was so weird that he had to put it on a video, rather than talk to us himself?" Spirit wondered aloud, "I mean, we literally have been to hell and back together and he won't even come talk to us in person,"

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Damien responded, "Like really bad, I reckon we should get out there and stop these Egyptian Gods before a situation like the one with Apis unfolds,"

Draedon stood and put his artificial hand on Damien's shoulder, "We need to trust in Noctum. I know it's hard but if he has a plan, we do not want to screw it all up,"

The screen came to life in an instant, the lighting becoming dark as Adam stepped forward into the frame, looking like a man who was so utterly exhausted that he would fall into a coma if he ever tried to sleep. Even as he tried to force a tight smile, nothing came to his face but sheer tiredness. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't seem to know which words to say, and closed it again, a small sigh emanating from him. Once again, he opened his mouth, and slowly, he began to speak,

"I want to start with the truth," Adam spoke concisely and slowly, as if recording himself took a lot of effort, "the honest truth. And I'll end with the future, and what is going to happen,"

He walked out of the picture again, and the Protectors were snapped, almost as if out of a trance as Adam had stopped talking. He came back, a regular plastic chair gripped by one hand. Noctum set it down gently in front of the camera, and sat, a groan escaping him as his muscles relaxed. He continued to look absentmindedly at the camera for a few more moments, before shaking himself back to reality,

"The truth is, that you aren't going to need to fight these Gods," Adam spoke gently, "I had a vision, when the virus was ravaging my body. I know what needs to be done to stop them, and I know that it might put me out of action for a while,"

The picture began to buffer, and the audio became static. Damien got up, but as he inspected the recording device, Spirit waved one hand, fixing the tape,

"Thanks," Damien gave her a thumbs up, before putting the device back inside the television and returning to his position,

Static broke swiftly, and Adam continued talking through the screen, 

"That's why I did what I did. By having the entire world against me, they accidentally united. Even the coldest dictator has thrown aside their ideals in the pursuit of keeping me away from all they have worked hard to achieve. They all saw what happened to John Frederick, they all know exactly what I could to if I so chose,"

"Fucking hell," Calvin gasped, "he's played the entire fucking world,"

"I will go alone to confront these Gods," Adam continued, "they will attack me because they believe that I am the villain, and that will give me the edge I need to win,"

Then the screen cut away to a new image, a purely black screen with nothing on it,

"Skip past it," Zachary ordered, reaching for the remote,

"Don't skip this," Adam spoke from the screen, "the truth, once again, is that I am going to defeat these Gods. You will need to watch live footage of my fight with them, so pause this screen until the battle begins, so that I may give you more instructions,"

Then the voice stopped, and as Zachary obediently paused the video, he saw that there were many hours of footage recorded, and knew that there would be a lot of instructions,