V.I.R.A.L

Taking a bite from her sandwich, Sam stopped looking around the small café, confused. "Say, why did we finish school early?"

"Well, the class was cancelled. Bless…. I'm not going to complain." Marco threw away, slurping his milkshake, nodding to himself happy before noticing Sam staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing…. Who was that boy?"

Destiny stopped eating, pulling a confused look. "What?"

"The boy who told us class was cancelled…. Everything about him felt so familiar."

"I don't know really what you're talking about…. Our teacher said the class was cancelled. I heard there was a gas leak, so they had to evacuate the class in case the school blew up."

"That's cool as hell," Marco added. "At least it gives us more time to focus on that stupid life form paper thingy we have to do. How they expect us to know exactly what we want to do with our lives is beyond me!"

"You're telling me. Any luck on that so far, Sam?"

Sam rested against the table, shaking her shoulders. "No…. I have no idea, no plan, no clue…. Why does it feel like I'm missing something here?"

"Are you alright? Usually, you're the first one to have a plan lined up, ready to go. Weren't you telling us the other day that you wanted to move out as quickly as possible?"

"Maybe she's still stuck on the idea of being a superhero. Weeee, I'm a superpowered maniac in tight pants here to save the day!" Marco joked, getting a nudge from Destiny. "What?"

"A superhero? Did I want to be a superhero? No, the idea was never going to work, not without…. Who was it again?"

"I worry about you sometimes, leader. You're always got your head stuck in the clouds thinking about those silly dreams and boys. How about we take a trip into Rhinefield over the weekend and have a girly day out. Of course, you're not invited, Marco."

Marco looked away, playing it off. "Like I would want to go anyway. Besides, I'm actually busy this weekend; I've got myself a date."

Both girls stopped what they were doing, looking at each other before leaning right up to his face, dazed speaking at the same time. "What?!"

****

Zinnia ripped awake, gasping as she found herself in the middle of an open street seemly empty. Iris wasn't far behind, pulling herself up holding onto a bin for support. The location seemed to be an ordinary city, one that couldn't give away being fake even at a second glance. Hopping over, Zinnia pulled Iris away, panting. "Is this really Alton's pocket world?" Iris questioned.

Zinnia felt a familiarity to all of this gave a faint nod, mumbling to herself. "All of this feel familiar somehow. Like when you recognise a place from a dream. Déjà vu."

"You were trapped in this world for five months, so it must be daunting…. Where are the others? They did make it in with us, right?"

Zinnia began spinning around, seeing no one in sight. "I don't like this. For such a potent city, where the hell is everyone?"

"Now that you mention it…."

Zinnia stepped forward, falling to her knees, holding her head in pain as a loud echo blared through the streets. "Intruders detected. Unknown parasites found, moving to intercept and destroy."

Zinnia stood up, turning to a distorted Iris, gritting her teeth. "Well, that didn't sound good."

Behind them, a loud crash was heard as the two girls turned, taken aback to find the former leader of the Cult of Vanguard Agartha standing before them. "That's not possible. She's dead. Alton killed her during the raid!"

Iris turned, sending up a barrier as a set of knives were thrown at them. Dropping the barrier, Iris shook her head, seeing a pattern. "Fancy that…. Pokiero too, she was killed during the Syndicate raid on Sunset Prison."

Soon more and more of their defeated villains began to appear surrounding them entirely. The Phantom Streamer, Emi Syndicate, Vitae, Monty Montague and Valhalla, amidst many others. Each one of them had a dead robotic look to each of them, countering the livelier look many of them had. "Intruders detected…. This isn't good; to this world, we're like a parasite meaning these are the white blood cells sent to fight us…."

"We can't take all of them. What do we do, Zin?" Iris yelled, constantly turning her head, finding no way of winning.

Zinnia clenched her fists, sliding her foot across the floor, letting out a blast of electricity. "We have no choice; we've got to run!"

"Running sounds good!"

With a small opening thanks to Zinnia's distraction, the two ran through the streets, boosting ahead getting to higher grounds as the force was soon catching up. Jumping between rooftops avoiding as many encounters as possible, all they could do was run in hopes they could possibly escape and lose them in the clearing. However, the more they ran, the more enemies would appear before the dead city was alive with crooked copies trying to kill them. Flipping forward, spinning around, Zinnia let off serval sparks of electricity, stunning the attackers. "We just need to get outside the city. We can lose them in the forests beyond the buildings."

Iris stopped seeing Vanguard pulling himself from the window climbing onto the roof. Hans and Kurt also appeared, blocking their left and right escape. "We won't ever make it at this rate."

Now back-to-back, Zinnia began to panic, calling her katana holding it down in front of her. "Alright, Iris, we're making a stand. Takedown as many as possible. The moment a clearing opens, just take it. We'll meet around and find the others!"

"Ok!"

As a battle of pure carnage was about to happen, a voice yelled out. "Stop. I said stop!"

Each one of the copies stopped standing still, watching. Zinnia turned, stepping back, lip trembling. "No way…."

Iris also turned as shocked as Alton was floating, being the voice to call off the attack. He had a look of overwhelming happiness as he dropped down to the roof, arms open. "Zinnia, Iris. You made it."

Zinnia, dropping her guard, slowly walked over before running at Alton sharing the feeling as the two hugged it out after years of being apart. "Is it really you?"

Alton nodded, whispering in her ear. "Of course, it's really me, Zinnia. I can't believe you two are still alive." Standing back, Alton glanced at the Phantom Streamer barking at him. "I said stand down, Clark Henderson! Damn it, that boy is too eager to do the role given to him…."

Iris was a little more on edge but still approached Alton, happy to see him alive. "I'm glad to see you alive, Alton."

"Likewise, Iris. Seeing you here means you got out alright. I'm just so…. Wow, it's so great to see you too. You're going to love what I've done here. It's still a work in progress, with a few tweaks needed. I haven't got the whole city down. I'm actually working on the small field just past my house. The one Sam and I used to train at…. I'm looking forwards to that."

"What's with all the…. Well, umm?" Zinnia went off on trailing at the end, looking at her father, unsure.

"Oh, the Safeties?"

"Safeties?"

"Yeah, don't worry about them. They are there in case an outside presence showed up to provoke the people. They saw you as one of those threats. Rest assured, I changed that. But now that I've got you here, I can move full speed ahead on Rhinefield. It's still a heavy work in progress, and I've only got a few blocks in case anyone decided to visit for a weekend. But now you're here, I'll get the orphanage, Hawthorne estate and the karaoke bar fixed up. I'm still new to all of this, so it will take time. You could help me if you like?"

"Alton."

"Yeah, you're right. Where are my manners? Should I show you around? You never got to see Sunset Peak with your own eyes, now did you Zin? Oh! I'll start off by showing you my family home, in perfect condition this time. My mother is there so I could introduce her to you two. That sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Alton." Zinnia spoke again, looking troubled. "Tell me the truth. Are you a Stage of Grief?"

Alton paused for a moment, looking concerned. "I am…. But that doesn't have to mean anything. I'm not under their control if that's what you're worried about…. Speaking of which. How did you get in here?"

Alton's entire persona changed as he took on a more cautious look waiting for their response. "We got some help from Bargaining." Zinnia admitted knowing lying to Alton would do no good. "We…. We came here to stop this."

Alton's face dropped as he turned around, his back to them nodding. "I see…. So that's how it's going to be. Tell me, what's wrong with this world? Why does this have to be something to stop. If you just saw the world for what it is, maybe you'd be…."

"This world is a lie." Iris shut down, making Alton flinch. "Alton, you know that too."

Stepping back further, Alton gulped, looking around. "Please, don't do this…. You can be happy here. I'm protecting everyone, can't you see that? This world is perfect; there's no Garden, no Fairy-Tale. No one has to worry about pointless wars or the idea of their world being frozen in an instant. What's wrong with that?"

"Alton. You've imprisoned innocent people against their will and forced them to live in this made-up world."

"I am doing this to protect them!" Alton snapped, making Zinnia and Iris jump back as he looked at them with a crazed look. Prodding himself in the head, he began to bark about. "Why can't you get that through your heads?! Our world is dead; it's finished, Zinnia! If I didn't intervene, they would all be dead. The Garden came and destroyed everything. Everything! I couldn't stop it no matter how hard I fought. I tried to save just one person, but even that wasn't enough. I went to the orphanage to get everyone out, but they wouldn't even let me do that! They slaughtered them like it was child's play! People dying for no good reason, Zinnia! You weren't there, neither of you was! In the end, I lost because I was weak! I did what had to be done! If I, didn't you would already be dead, Zinnia. Henry would have cut you down; yes, I saw that. Your sister would be dead too, Iris. Butchered and annihilated by Eve. I saved both of your lives as least show me some Goddamn respect!"

"He's lost it…. You've fucking lost it!" Iris screamed.

"Well, what did you expect me to do?! No one was ready. I thought I could stop them, hold the line and save everyone. But I couldn't even save myself…. So, what if I forced people into this world. They're better off here anyway! Do you think they want me to send them back? Send them back to hell?! No, no, of course not! They'll march into the streets thanking, no praising me for what I did. They might just see me as a God, and that's good. I've given everyone a second chance; no one is at risk. It's just like a beautiful dream that never ends. I consider that bliss."

"We won't allow that!" Zinnia exclaimed. "Not for a single moment. If we accept this world, everyone who died to get us to where we are would have died for nothing! Percy, Gale, Scarlett, Emil…. What would be the point in their deaths if we just accepted this sick reality?!"

Alton's face died into a stern look. He took a deep breath remaining silent for a short moment. "You know Riley said the same thing…. I tried; I really did. I let Alton have his way for a moment; I was going to let him stay here and be happy, but alas, it wasn't meant to be."

"What?"

Alton pushed his hair back, grinding his teeth. "You are all a bunch of traitors! You ran when things got too real for you, Zinnia, and now you choose to fight only because they personally affect you know? Who are you to decide when this fight means something to you?! And you, Iris. If you were strong enough, perhaps Alton wouldn't have had to go this far. Just remember, at the end of the day. You caused this; Alton died because of you. And now there's only me Ten, the last of the true Judgement of the Ten. Alton's blood is on your hands."

"Alton, snap out of this! This isn't you; you wouldn't let innocent people suffer like this! You'd stand and fight!" Zinnia begged.

Alton chuckled, swinging his arm around. "Who are you to decide who I am and what I'm capable of?! This is the real me. The me I was born and made into. Alton Brantley was nothing more than a wishful nobody who died begging for me to save the day. And thus, I will; if you won't accept this world, this world doesn't require you any longer. I can simply make copies who fall more in line. Kill them…. Kill every last one of them!"

The Safeties turned on the two girls as Zinnia held her hand out, pleading with Alton. "Don't do this, Alton! We can help you, come back to us. Come back to Team Rhapsody!"

Alton watched a tear running down his face as he flicked it away, snarling, watching the two girls flee. "Team Rhapsody? What a load of bullshit."

"Is this what you wanted Ten?" A voice whispered.

Alton turned letting out a dry smirk. "It was only a matter of time before you showed up…."