V.I.R.A.L

The weather of the typical Friday evening had turned sour. What was meant to be a summer's bliss had quickly faded into obscurity as a thick layer of fog and rain took control of the small city of Rhinefield. For many people their plans were ruined, for others like the streamers, this too meant less activity especially in the manner of IRL streams. Some were more determined to keep a track record going seeing the opportunity to reach high numbers. In contrast, others took the weather to have a needed break. Zinnia had hoped to celebrate their victory against Pokiero with a barbeque down the local park. It was cheap and an easy, simple way to celebrate, of course, this sort of stuff never really works in their favour. With her hopes crushed and Alton refusing to spend another night in the karaoke bar. The three streamers soon had to compromise on somewhere to crash and party which was cheap and secluded. With neither Zinnia nor Gale drawing any real suggestions, it was left to Alton to take the fall and suggest his apartment. The only thing left for the occasion was the food.

"A hot pot?" Zinnia questioned not sound too enthusiastic by the rather bland name. She was more hoping for a pizza or nachos, a hot pot to her sounded rather uninspiring.

"Yeah, a hot pot. Cheap, delicious and easy to make. A real crowd-pleaser. Trust me, you'll love it." Alton argued, sticking to his guns on this one as Zinnia looked over the layer of food. She kneeled, looking at holding a box of nachos drawing a blank. "Put those away, trust me, you'll love it. My treat."

"Oh, well if you're buying…" She quickly put the nacho mix back never one to turn down free grub. "What do you need for a hot pot?"

"Zin, it's a hot pot. It isn't complicated. The hardest choice is what meat we use."

"I vote beef. That works best with the texture of the sauce and vegetables." Gale puts forward holding two large bottles of fizzy drinks.

"What are those for?" Alton asked, concerned.

"I thought we could use refreshments. These were half off and thought we could enjoy a cola with our hot pot."

"I have drinks at home put those back before we need to take out a second loan."

Gale sighs placing the bottles in the pasta section walking back. "Shouldn't we had made money last night? With the number of viewers, we had we should have at least got some donations."

"No one was watching our stream. People were broadcasting it. In all retrospect, we didn't make any money."

"Well, that sucks… at least we did a good thing and took down a crooked streamer."

"Yeah, I suppose. We did gain some followers, though. We are now at 92 followers."

"Is that it? I was kind of expecting more…" Zinnia admitted pouting. "Is this what they call a one-hit-wonder?"

"It's how it is, unfortunately. We had a lucky break thanks to Iris and her sister, but it won't be enough to get us out of the clear. We'll just have to keep working hard. I'm sure we got some people talking. We were the eighth most-streamed channel yesterday."

"Vanguard still at number one?"

"Yeah, he's a handful. Don't think we could ever best him."

Zinnia clicked her fingers, looking smug. "Maybe we should just expose him and rid him of his title!"

Alton retaliated by smacking her with a bag of carrots. "Don't be such a dolt, he's done nothing wrong."

"Then we find something to expose him with."

"Can we just focus on this victory?" Gale sighed, shaking his head. "I've done enough exposing for the rest of the week."

Zinnia rubbed her cheek mumbling. "I was only kidding. But seriously, how does someone like him get so many people watching? What's his secret?"

"Luck and time. Heard he's been streaming for years. Got a lucky break out after getting a shoutout and collaboration from the former number one streamer, the rest is history."

"The way you say it, you make it sound easy."

"Oh, believe me, I kept it very basic." Alton laughs, throwing a small pack of potatoes into the basket. "I think that's everything."

"Great I'm starving!"

"I suppose I'm feeling rather hungry too."

Alton begins scanning the food at the self-checkout, giving up his last bit of cash gritting his teeth. He wasn't expecting to be making any sort of money anytime soon. Still, the ordeal with Pokiero had left him crippled. He began packing the food away as the drizzle of the rain pattered against the window. "We're in for a treat my friends. Trust me, I used to have this all the time with my school friends. It's great."

"If you say so…" Alton grabbed his run-down umbrella as the two streamers followed. "It's not far from here. Five-minute walk."

"For a guy who can manipulate the atoms of water and stuff, why do you get an umbrella while we don't." Zinnia stabbed, wagging her finger being drenched.

"I can't stop the rain Zin, that would be overkill. Besides what do you want me to do control all of the rain droplets around and concentrate them into a single large focused ball of water to stop you getting wet?"

"No… that's the point of an umbrella. But that would make an awesome attack!"

"That's all you think about, isn't it… here." Alton passed the umbrella to Zinnia and Gale as he sighs, pulling his hood up. "Come on before it gets too late."

Zinnia cups the umbrella as Gale stands next to her unable to make eye contact acting all flustered. "See, that wasn't so hard."

****

The three had finally made it to Alton's apartment. The building they entered was a run-down place with graffiti and rubbish lying everywhere. Although not ideal in the least it was at a reasonable price which Alton had leverage over for the next few months. As he unlocked the door, he stopped leaning his head against the side thinking. "My place is like a huge mess, just give me a moment." Alton opened the door quickly closing off Zinnia and Gale.

Both of them looked at each other strangely as they began hearing items being moved around and stuff being taken off the walls. "I didn't see much, but his place didn't look messy."

"No…"

"He's hiding something."

"Yes…"

Before the two could peak in Alton swung the door open panting faintly. "Right, come on in!" The two were met with a relatively clean and empty apartment with no clear sign that it was ever a mess. There was a simple sofa which looked like it had seen better days, a small stove and microwave and a poorly made bed in the corner which was also a sofa. Alton turned around, shrugging his shoulders. "Welcome to paradise! Ha, ha. Go ahead, laugh. Its shit isn't it." He complains. "Oh, mind yourself, the floor is chipped."

"This wasn't what I was expecting… but it's nice." Zinnia says, trying her best to think of a festive look. "It's a bit empty. You don't even have a TV?"

"I have a phone."

"Right…"

"Well enough standing around make yourself at home. We'll make the hot pot now as I don't have a fridge to keep them cold."

"You don't even have a fridge? You said you had drinks." Gale complained.

Alton pulled open some cupboards as one of them fell off. Alton stepped back sighing. "That always happens." He pulls out a half-drunk bottle of cola as he brings out plastic cups and bowls. "We'll use these."

"You don't even have cups?"

"I don't have a dishwasher. Saves money. The pot is in the bottom draw. If you want ice, I have a bag of ice in the freezer."

Gale kneels opening the freezer seeing the bag of ice followed by about a dozen frozen microwave dinners. "Jesus."

"Hey, don't judge! I don't even have time to cook usually. I only use this place to sleep and eat. Most of the time, I'm out doing shifts and other jobs." Alton snapped getting all defensive. "Just grab the ice, please."

"Hey, where's the bathroom?"

"You're joking me, right? There's only one other room."

"Oh, right." Zinnia stood up, walking into the bathroom. She closed the door turning around, washing her hands. As she was done, she turned around jumping back at a large poster of a girl with long red hair giving Zinnia the bird. "What the fuck?"

Alton knocked on the door. "Hey, Zin do you want Cola or Lemonade? Zinnia?"

She opened the door with a puzzled look. "Why is there a photo of a girl in here?"

Alton poked his head in the bathroom, tutting forgetting to take that poster down. This annoyance soon turned into laughter. "Trust me, it wasn't my choice. She's an old friend of mine back in school. I had a bet with her and lost. She forced me to have a poster laminated and hung up in the bathroom. She said she wanted me to think of her every time I take a dump. Been meaning to take it down for a while but I find it too funny, come the hot pot is almost ready." Alton laid on the floor, allowing Gale and Zinnia to sit on the two different sofas. He looked up at the rotting ceiling with a smirk plastered over his face. "It's been a while since I had people around. I tend to keep my private life, well private."

"What about that girl? Do you not talk to her or any of your school friends?"

"Now and again. They've all gone off to do their things. University. Jobs so on. It's harder and harder to meet up these days."

Zinnia sipped her cola retracting at the taste. "It's flat."

"Well yeah, I've had that bottle since last year. Of course, it flat."

"You two-timing cheapskate!" Gale yelled, throwing his cup to the floor. "Those drinks were half price! Half price damns it. I feel cheated."

Alton yawned shrugging it off. "It saves me money, so whatever."

"This is no way to live." Zinnia nodded, agreeing with Gale putting her drink to the side.

"Well next time one of you two can host the celebration." Alton barked rolling over sulking. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"I live in a hostel with like twelve other dudes my place is a no go."

"Then it's settled, Zinnia dearie, you'll be in charge of the next hangout. Of course, if your parents don't mind."

"Whoa, what?!"

"Hold that thought! The hotpot is done!" Alton hopped up, grabbing a towel as he took the hotpot off the stove and onto a small coffee table. He opened the lid as the steam and juices flew out welcoming the room with a hot meaty aroma. Grabbing three blows, he scooped a healthy amount into each one passing it around. They all sat cross-legged entirely captivated by their meal. "If I just to say a few words. If anyone had told me a month ago, I would be friends with a bunch of misfits playing superhero fighting crime online. I would have probably punched them in the face for insulting me. Yet here we are. Zinnia. Gale. I've only known you two for a short while, but God damn are you two some of the best misfits I've met in a long time. Our latest victory was due to our hard work and dedication. No thanks to you two I took down Pokiero. So, cheers to me." Alton shoved in a large spoon of food as both of them looked pissed off. Alton chuckled, spinning his spoon around. "I'm just fucking with you. Here's to us all. Team Rhapsody!"

None of them said a word as they were all too fixated with eating their victory meal. It wasn't long before the whole dish was gone leaving the three of them excessive eating too much. Zinnia lay on Alton's bed gulping holding her mouth burping. "I cannot eat. Another bite…"

"That was too good. Since when could you cook?"

"Hotpot isn't anything hard to make. It's one of the only things I can make. A large pot of stew and meat perfect. Freeze the rest, and I've got my lunch for the rest of the week. Although I got to admit I did eat more than I usually do. Guess we all got carried away celebrating."

Zinnia rolled over, taking a deep breath struggling with the trapped wind as she licked her fingers. "And here I wanted some nachos. We need to do this more often."

"We need to take down more people first."

"So, you're still up for doing this takedown streams?"

Alton nodded, wiping his mouth. "Yeah, the rush I got. Backing those thugs into a corner, it felt great. Plus, the numbers we got. Our streams are unlike anything I've ever seen."

"Hell, yes I got Alton on board!"

"Just, do try and stay in the fight next time and not fall for the next E-girl."

Zinnia turns away huffing. "I said not to bring that up! I don't need you judging me."

"I am not judging your sexual interests. Please."

Gale threw his tissue into his bowl gulping. "Say what did happen to Pokiero after she got arrested?"

"Well, she admitted to all of her crimes. All of them, even ones she did before being a streamer. From the sounds of it, she was happy too. Happy to be free from her powers after I blinded her. Might be permanent but I don't think she cares."

"How did you know that was her weakness?"

"It was more a hunch. Remember that boy yesterday? He saw the stream head-on but wasn't captivated. I thought it to be odd, but when the mother said he was blind, I kinda put the pieces together." Alton stated. "I still wasn't 100 per cent sure, though. That short moment she had me I couldn't tell what was going to happen. I was just lucky my failsafe worked." He began scratching his cut arm grumbling. "Still hurts like a bitch."

Gale leaned forward, glossing over his phone. "Her account has been terminated too. V.I.R.A.L haven't put out a statement but it starting to spread over the internet. Your clip of taking her down has been shared and saved hundreds of times. We're famous!"

"A real viral sensation. But for how long? We should probably look for our next target if we want to stay in the spotlight for any more time."

"We have so many streamers to choose from. We could set up a forum asking people who we should go for next?"

"Nah, that's too risky. Could easily get hacked to take down the wrong dude. We should find our next target ourselves." Alton muttered sipping a glass of water. "Let's just put a pin in it for now."

Zinnia giggled shaking around, looking at her phone. "I still can't believe we did it. We stopped a bad guy! A villain."

"Well believe it. If it wasn't for any of us, she would still be out there stealing from the weak. Although they can't get their money back at least, we stopped them losing out on anymore. I see that as a good thing."

Gale leaned back smiling to himself. "I feel invincible right now. I so used to beat streamers up thinking that was justice, but this. I think I prefer this more."

"How about we begin research tomorrow on our next target? Same meeting spot?"

"Like we have any other choice. Monty isn't going to sit and wait for us to be ready."

"Speaking of that scumbag. You think he was watching?" Gale asked.

"Maybe."

"That's it! We take down Monty. Bring him to justice!"

"Easy girl, I like your thinking believe me I want the same thing. But I think for now we should stay clear of him until we pay off our debt. We don't need any more legal problems."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Oh crap, is that the time? I need to get going home. I have school detention tomorrow."

"tut tut, you should behave more in school."

"Oh, shut it. I'll text you all after school. Meet in the same spot. I was meant to pick up extra lessons, but I'll just say I made some plans with friends."

"Friends, huh? You see us as friends?" Alton smirked.

Zinnia stood up, patting her school uniform down, grabbing her bag. She walked over to the door turning with a strange look. "Of course, I do, why wouldn't I? You guys are like my best friends."

Zinnia left as Gale rolled over sipping the last of the juices from his bowl. "And I'm done! I should get going before the hostel closes for the night. Thanks for the grub Alton, you sure you don't need a hand with this?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Go on, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, well, thanks again."

Alton watched as Gale left, leaving him to his own thoughts. He laid back down, letting it all out with a deep breath. As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but smile, throwing his fist in the air. "They see me as a friend!"