Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

Chapter Two: Powerless

"What have you done?" Zavant grinned, "Is that what you were about to say, Apis?"

"Your power is so..." Apis held his breath, "...unnatural,"

His last word came out in a hiss, almost as if, in some way, deep, deep down, Apis was scared, was terrified of the potential of Zavant's unnatural power increase. He knew that this was a similar strength to the Chrysalis, as he had sensed that power once before, but he had no understanding of the truly limitless depths of an unstable replica of his ultimate creation. Even when he himself had absorbed the orb, he had still felt the attack from its artificial counterpart, still been knocked aside by the man who wielded it. Noctum himself was utterly powerless, but it seemed that his future counterpart was far from it, 

"Zavant," Noctum growled, "fuck off, this is my fight,"

He dropped from the wall, landing with a perfect roll, spreading the impact well enough to survive the fall without any broken bones. Zavant ignored Noctum, staring at Apis, his eyes glowing blue as his armour crackled with electric power. He could feel his skin and bones deteriorating, even with his armour and powers, which meant two things. It meant that the artificial Chrysalis was unstable, and could potentially kill him before The Stranger was defeated. It also meant that his power boost could be enough to close the distance, and allow him to kill Apis once and for all. He began to walk towards The Stranger, savouring the way he was able to practically glide across the ground, weightless because of the sheer power that remained in his body,

"I told you to fuck off," Adam Oughton glared at his future self, "he is my problem to deal with,"

Apis sent a small flick of Aura at Noctum, knocking him to the ground with the slightest movement. He looked back towards Zavant, who was still moving slowly, but steadily towards the towering God,

"He is an inconvenience, isn't he?" Apis asked, "your powers are what I am interested in,"

Zavant did not answer, his steady footfalls still coming as the sky clouded over, naturally, the first small drops of water hitting the ground like the skittering of insects against a metal roof. The attack hit Apis like a train-wreck, the power knocking him to the ground as he held in a cry of pain. No attack had hurt like that, even though it did not leave a mark, it was as if his cells were trying to return to normal, as if they were a computer stunned by an Electromagnetic Pulse. He could not see what was happening. Zavant had not moved a muscle, and yet he had somehow released an invisible attack that had struck the great Apis down. He tensed up for a moment, allowing his skills of observation to take over, but it was barely another second until the same attack hit him again, this time in the side of the leg,

"Damn you, Zavant!" Apis boomed, "what is this madness?"

Zavant's face did not move, but his glowing eyes seemed to be conveying a small smirk as he continued his steady march towards The Stranger. Apis stayed down, trying to gauge if Zavant could hit him in that position. He soon came to realise, as he felt his face crack to one side, propped up on his horn, that Zavant could attack him while he was down. He rose quickly, charging a bolt of Aura, but then came to the realisation, dispersing the bolt and releasing Aura from his body, quickly and efficiently. The raindrops around him began to freeze, tiny balls of ice shattering as they hit the hard concrete of the ground,

"You almost had me there," The Stranger said gruffly, "and I will admit, using your electric attack through the raindrops to strike me was impressive, if a little cliche,"

"You missed the point of my attacks," Zavant strode up to Apis, and now they were within a meter of each other, the man staring up as the god stared down, "they were to gauge how much of my past self's power that you took along with that Chrysalis,"