Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter One: Rapture

Darkness fell over Uluru as Noctum gazed up, the jagged ship that had sailed the stars to find him growing steadily closer,

"Is the plan ready?" He asked, his voice confident despite the overwhelming sense of dread that called for him to run,

"Yep, Insomniac is ready to go," Spirit replied, "Also, is it just me, or is it getting colder here?"

The balmy summer night air did feel a little bit colder, Noctum thought to himself, and it did feel a little bit harder to breathe,

"It kinda does," Zachary replied, warming up for the coming battle, "but it doesn't matter how cold it gets. This plan's foolproof,"

"It's far from foolproof," Lochlan interjected, "a great number of things could still go wrong,"

Looking through a hidden camera, Noctum Prime watched as the Protectors prepared for the coming fight,

"I don't think that they can win," Agent O said to his boss, passing him a glass of moonshine, a substance made of pure alcohol,

"No, they have already lost," Prime replied, sipping the liquid, "and this failsafe idea of yours won't be enough either,"

"But sir, the artificial Chrysalis will give us the power to create a superhuman army," Agent O responded, "can this man defeat an entire legion of superhumans?"

"Let me humour you for a second," Zavant replied, "let's just say that we have a chance of winning, even with this army, what then? Those superhumans will be loose on the world, and we won't have any chance of stopping them,"

They continued to watch the screen as the Protectors clambered into a long-forgotten cave, one that still held the orb that had caused it all. Noctum remained outside. However, a large see-through container by his side,

"You ready, Simon?" Noctum asked, patting the side of the container,

The spaceship continued to grow larger. Noctum knew the exact time of its arrival, but that did not assuage his doubts about the plan. Even Zavant was so terrified of The Stranger that he tried to kill his friends to alter the timeline. How could he, a version of Zavant from the past, ever hope to combat that same threat? The current time was just after eight, but The Stranger was not due to arrive until nine. Noctum sat on the dirt and tried to fight the bile that built up in his throat,

"You alright?" Simon asked, tapping on the glass container, "you look pretty messed up,"

"I'm actually kinda scared," Noctum admitted, "I've never faced off against an Egyptian God before. It's kinda crazy that this is actually happening,"

"It is kinda terrifying," Simon affirmed, running his hand through his short hair, "at least I have Insomniac to try and defeat this guy,"

"What's that mean?" Adam asked,

"Well, I don't actually have to fight this fiend," Simon elaborated, "I just sit back and let Insomniac do the work, but you actually need to face him, to fear for your life,"

Noctum stared up at the sky, realising with a jolt that he no longer wanted to die. He had always had a secret ambition to move on, which is why he went and fought gangs and criminals who would have eliminated him without a second thought. If he was going to die, it would be taking down the kind of people who took his youth from him. Staring at the darkness between the stars, Noctum felt so alone, so scared, it was almost as if he was that little kid again, tied by a rope to the ceiling, brutally tortured over two years, watching his parents die before his eyes,

"Thanks, Simon," He said, the usual roughness in Adam's voice subsiding, "you really made me think there,"

Suddenly, he began to fight those feelings, realising that those were the same feelings that stripped Zavant of his chance of victory. Noctum Prime had run from The Stranger because of his fear, fear that was created by his vulnerability. He felt the strength that Apis had created flow through his veins again, ready to strike at its creator, ready to kill The Stranger,