V.I.R.A.L

"Salvation lies ye who enters here…." Sam and Alton stare idly at a sign made from veins marking a drop below the V.I.R.A.L HQ. It looked newly made and was engulfed in pitch black. A purple haze crept out from the hole leaving the two uneasy. "I don't like this one-bit Alt."

Alton stepped forward, eyes closed, listening to the whispers. "It's just like the first time. A crack in time and space, and the Garden appears. The first time was with Vanguard. Time and time again, the Garden has broken through the cracks; we were all so preoccupied with fighting Mortem we were blind to the real threat."

"I don't know much about the Garden; from what you've told me, walking in there seems like a horrible idea. Let's look for the others."

"No." Alton shut down. You can stay if you want, but I have every intention of entering. This is the path to Acceptance. Thus I cannot back down."

"Stubborn as always…. Fine, I'll help, but if this gets too dangerous, promise me, we'll leave."

"I promise." Alton states before climbing into the darkness below towards his destiny.

****

The first drop into the unknown wasn't too bad. Using her powers, Sam lit up the area finding themselves in a man-made cave of some kind. Water dripped from the ceiling, causing the sound to echo across the entire cave. Small purple flowers were also growing from the walls seeming to follow Alton and Sam's every move. The uneasy feeling never left as they descended through the cave. Alton came to a sudden halt stopping Sam as he spotted a figure moving through the dark. Staring onwards, he was startled by who it was. "Hans?!"

Hans, the plumped bald-headed man, stared idly at the two with a faded yellow in his eyes. His head turned as he walked away. "Follow me"

"You know that guy?"

"That doesn't make any sense. That was the father of Alice and Iris. He made a deal with Bargaining and had his dead daughters brought back to life. He looked to control the Garden for his own doing with Alice as his puppet. I stopped him serval years ago. He's dead."

"He looked pretty alive to me. It almost looks like he was waiting for us. What should we do?"

Alton stared onwards, conflicted sigh. "I wouldn't usually, but I think we should do as Hans says. If it gets us closer to Acceptance, I'll do it."

"Just be careful." Hans waited in the darkness, only moving once the others did. As they kept walking, Alton noticed others sitting in the dark watching. Each one left Alton more disturbed than ever. "You recognise these lot as well?"

"Yeah…. The Phantom Streamer took the power of the Garden to become the number one streamer. Rodger Bones, he was Vanguard's lover. He used the Garden to make powerful streamers go into a mental breakdown to keep Vanguard at the number one spot…. I'm starting to solve the puzzle here." Alton stated before freezing on the spot, shocked. Sam wasn't too far behind as Alton saw the last person he wanted to see but not expected. "Father…."

Ragnar sat slouched over, staring at the ground, not responding to Alton. Sam was obviously on edge, almost dying to the man back at Sunset Peak. "How is he here?"

Alton kneeled to his father's level, sighing. "Everyone here is dead. Hans, the Phantom Streamer, Rodger. My father, each died while using the Garden for something."

"I was a fool to believe I could harness the Garden for myself. I wanted a son so badly. The Garden offered one up. I never once thought of the consequences until it was too late. It destroyed me, it destroyed Lily, it destroyed you, Alton." Ragnar muttered, looking up with a finished look and faded yellow eyes. "All of us here suffer the same fate. We believed the Garden to be our tool. We tried to play God and suffered for it. We're all just failed Stages with nowhere to go."

"Wait, does that mean…."

Percy emerged with a depressed look as he muttered, staring at Alton. "Welcome to Limbo."

"Percy."

"You shouldn't have come here, Alton…. You will find no Salvation down here."

Sam walked over, holding Alton's hand whispering into his ear. "We should go, Alton."

Turning around, Alton noticed the Phantom Streamer and Rodger standing up, blocking their path. Ragnar and Percy walked towards them as Alton gave a nod of acknowledgement. "I, for once, I agree with you, Sam."

They were blocked off as they tried to escape as the lost souls all began to chant in one voice together. "The Garden Grows Forever, The Garden Grows Forever, The Garden Grows Forever."

The souls lunged at the two mouths hung, snapping at the mouth. Alton pushed his father back as Sam, and he managed to break through the barrier running to the entrance. Passing through the seemly endless caves, Alton stopped finding where they once were buried underneath rocks and dirt. "Oh shit…. We're trapped."

"For real? My man, could this get any worse?!"

Alton turned as the lost souls began to pile in towards them. Twisting his arm around, he fired off a sharp burst of ice, cutting down each of the souls there and then. Each collapsed to the ground without any resistance as Alton took a deep breath, letting the cold air out. Although dead on the ground, each lost soul kept chanting the exact phrase staring towards Alton with a lifeless stare. "There's no turning back now. Come on, we can't let Phantoms like this stop us."

Alton walked over the souls as Sam rushed after him, keeping the cave lit. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…. It's going to take a lot more than that to break me. This nothing more than a test to prove my worth. Acceptance has put on a game for us, one in which I intend on winning."

"I know. I know, but sometimes you don't have to be fine, Alt. They aren't real; none of this is, so don't let it get to you."

"What if it is, though? I still don't understand anything about the Garden. What if this is what happens to you if you fail to harness the Garden's full strength and succumb to its might? What if that happens to me and I end up like those lost souls…. Forget it. That was a stupid question."

"No. No, it's only natural you're uncertain about all of this. I'm still not fully on board, my man, but if you believe this is the only way, so be it." Sam stated, nudging Alton. "Besides, if you do fail, living in this damp cave of misery isn't so bad. It actually quite reminds me of your apartment."

Alton snorted at this pushing Sam along. "Hilarious Sam. Hilarious." Walking further ahead, the sound of chanting soon faded as the two came to a stop. Before them was a large hole going down forever, or so it seemed. Leaning over the edge, Alton felt a cold breeze hit him, forcing him back. "It's bloody freezing."

"I thought the cold didn't bother you anyway?"

"Now is not the time for a God Dam Frozen reference!"

"Sorry, sorry. But suppose what do you think is back there?"

Alton walked around the hole, finding no other entrance going deeper into the cave. "I believe this is the path to the next floor."

"You're joking? I'm not jumping like a suicidal maniac."

"We've explored this cave system from head to toe. There's no way back. The only way forward is down."

"Fuck me…. I've been awake for not even a week, and you're already throwing me into life and death situations again, Alt!"

"Would you have it any other way?"

Sam smirked, leaning forward. "No."

The two jumped into the hole for that split moment to change everything. The second their feet were off the ground, reality wrapped, and instead of finding themselves falling, they stood in thick snow. Alton looked around only to be hit by a heavy sandstorm seeing a barren wasteland of nothing. Stumbling back, he took Sam's hand, yelling, "Come on! We need to get out of this storm!"

"What the hell is going on?!"

"I have no idea, but I have a feeling it's only going to get worse."

*****

Acceptance watched the events play out through the water's reflection from his fountain. Stepping away, he smirked, chuckling to himself. "Oh, Alton, you have no idea." Walking over to an unconscious Iris, he squeezed her cheeks, whispering in her ear. "The fun has only just begun."

Pushing her head to the side, Acceptance collapsed onto his throne of thorns leaning his head against his arm. "We will win." Iris groaned, dazed in her endless dream.

Acceptance laughed at this, watching Iris with a sense of pure bliss. "Will you now? How adorable. Do you have a lovely dream, Iris? Tell me, what are you dreaming of? What lies are you cooking up? None of it matters; your heroes are coming to rescue you, Iris. They'll be here soon. Come then, Alton, prove your worth and stand against me. However, it will all be for nothing; I'll crush those hopes and dreams into dust and show you true power. That is your truth. Accept that, and you will find true Salvation just like Iris here. So soon, oh so very soon."