Origins- Protectors

Chapter Thirty-Four: World Breaker

Noctum's blackout took him way back, all the way to his visions that had occurred all those months ago. He remembered the fear he had felt as The Stranger had chased him through the ruined city streets, the overwhelming sensation of concrete in his stomach hurting him even though he wasn't there. He wondered how he had glimpsed the vision, which had turned out to be real. Then he was awake, the computer screen in front of him showing him a video, one of a man, blood running down his forehead, blood splattering all over Yagan Square. He looked closer, barely noticing the bottle of scotch on the mahogany desk as he realised who the man was. The man looked like Noctum's father. Down to the very last detail, they were identical.

Zavant paused the video, a splitting headache beginning to form. He assumed it was because of the hangover, but the feeling was familiar. The pain was immense. He heard things, either through his memory or through some other mystical means, he was not sure. He heard the voice of Zachary, yelling for him to wake up. Zavant passed out from the pain, his head shattering the bottle of scotch, amber liquid spilling across the desk like atomic fallout.

Noctum woke in an instant, a purple light surrounding his shoulder as he realised that he could feel his arm. Standing quickly, he could see his friends facing off with Jones, who was retaining a human form for now. Spirit knelt next to him, using magic to reattach Noctum's arm to his body, 

"Thanks," Noctum said, standing,

"How do we win this?" Niamh asked, "Nothing can beat him,"

"I've already won," Noctum said simply, striding towards Chimera, "don't let anyone interfere,"

"Jones!" He shouted, the sound of his voice stopping the battle,

"Noctum," Jones replied once more,

"I told you earlier," Adam began, "your powers are limited to time. You only have a few minutes left,"

Jones chuckled,

"Your lying is impressive, Noctum," Jones continued to laugh, "but you can't fool me,"

"I'm not trying to fool you, Jones," Noctum replied, staring directly into his foe's eyes,

"Really?" Jones asked, appearing behind Noctum with Kinetic's speed, "that's not what it looks like to me,"

Adam landed a square punch to Jones' jaw, causing his foe to stumble backwards. He shoved Jones to the ground with a kick, then unloaded every punch his body could handle straight into his foe's gut. Noctum shook with rage and adrenaline, but his victory was short-lived, as Chimera took over and blasted Noctum with a lightning bolt, sending him rolling into the crater where the proud stadium had stood. Sickening crunches sounded as Noctum picked up speed, slamming into the hard earth with the force of a small meteor. He shook off the cuts and bruises,  sprinting to avoid Chimera as he took the monstrous shape and landed where Noctum had just been,

"You can't win, Chimera," Noctum gasped, clutching at his broken left arm, "you don't have enough time left,"

Chimera laughed, and it became truly apparent that he was a different man to Jones. Noctum thought he could hear the agent laughing as well,

"Neither Jones nor I am falling for your trick!" Chimera roared, pouncing on Noctum,

The vigilante tried to jump out of the way of Chimera's fist but got caught by a scorpion tail, which sprouted from his foe's back. The tail wrapped around his leg, crackling with electricity as Chimera swung Noctum around and around, ripping the flesh of his leg as the vigilante picked up speed,

"You might not feel this pain," Chimera laughed, "but it's really satisfying to hurt you like this,"

Noctum grinned as he was slammed into the ground, having a chuckle himself as his body gave out on him,