Protectors- Consequence

Chapter Thirty Five: Demonic Wrath

Noctum threw himself at Wraith, pulling back his fist for a punch. Wraith ducked out of the way, retaliating with a punch to Noctum's gut that sent him reeling back. He came back almost instantly though, pivoting forward and forcing Wraith back with a barrage of punches,

"Wait!" Shaine yelled from under Wraith's shadowy cloak, "We don't want to fight! We're versions of ourselves from another dimension!"

Noctum relented for a moment, and his steel grey eyes locked with Shaine's, filled with rage and... hurt?

"Something's wrong," Draedon muttered, walking up to Adam, whose gaze moved to fall on the artificial intelligence, "You recognise us, but you're attacking us. What happened to the Protectors here,"

"You... really don't know..." Adam whispered, pulling off his hood to reveal an unshaven face, the bags under his eyes dark and large, "You... you're alive!"

He pulled them into a tight embrace, stunning the two heroes with a moment of vulnerability,

"Kinetic killed you!" He shouted out with emotional weakness, "He's been tormenting me ever since, it's so shit,"

"He's dead in our world," Draedon explained, pulling himself awkwardly out of the hug, "Please come back with us, and we can go back to our world,"

Noctum stopped for a moment, as if considering a dangerous proposition. He looked at the two before nodding solemnly, taking a step backwards,

"You're probably not going to believe this," He said, his face falling, "but I don't want to go with you guys, not if Kinetic is loose in this city,"

"This world is going to be destroyed in a bit," Wraith explained despite Draedon's signal, "it isn't going to matter, so let's go. The portal is just that way,"

"Shut the fuck up!" Noctum bellowed, "He'll hear you!"

"Kinetic isn't that impressive," Draedon interrupted, "he won't be a problem for me to deal with alone anymore,"

"Wait," Wraith whispered, "The Chrysalis in this world, we should use it to fight the gods."

Draedon smiled broadly at the proposition, and activated his wristwatch, before walking towards where they knew the SCD facility to be, Noctum following wearily behind,

"So, if you've beaten Kinetic, you'll know who he is, right?" Noctum asked, 

"Yeah, it was Riley all along, and he had a bad past as someone called Johnathan Stone," Draedon replied, "we beat him for good and his body was taken over by The Stranger,"

"That bull guy?" Noctum stuttered, "But he isn't real... he never actually came to this world,"

Draedon froze,

"Are you certain,"

"Why?"

He took a moment to think, before activating a projector on his watch,

"See this here," 

It displayed a world map from years back, and due to his connection to the internet, Lochlan had been able to access the display upon arriving in the world. It showed the Australian sky, dyed a deep crimson,

"He was here..." Draedon spoke lightly, "But you never saw him? So something got to Apis before we could..."

"And did you say Riley?" Adam froze in his tracks, and the others turned to look at him,

"Yeah, why?" Shaine asked, confused, 

"That can't be true," Adam gasped, pulling his ear transceiver out, "because if it is, we are all completely fucked,"