V.I.R.A.L

Waiting in the wings, Alton squatted down, staring at the blood moon. "It's time. I giving you full control back Alton, the rest is up to you. Try not to disappoint me."

Falling on his back, Alton let out a gasp of air, panting, finding himself back in complete control. Holding his face trembling, he continued to stare at the darkened sky, troubled. "I'm back? Why the hell did Ten just give me back control…. Something isn't right here. He's planning something." The ground began to shake as Alton slowly pulled himself up, forced to watch the world he built being destroyed. "You've led me with no choice, Ten. This was your plan, right? Fine, I'll play along. I don't care as long as everyone is safe. Time to put this feud to an end."

****

Alice and Gale began facing off as the two began walking around, tailing each other. Alice clutching her bow tightly, an arrow pulled back, ready to fire down by her side. Mortem kept twirling his scythe around time and time again, taunting the girl. "I can see it in your eyes. You're not the same girl who battled me on that rooftop six months ago. You looked diminished. Tired and afraid. You've lost a great deal, haven't you?"

"That's enough," Alice demanded; before she could raise her bow, Mortem swarmed forward, slashing down. Then, holding her bow up, she blocked the attack. "Damn…."

"Where's that dangerous willpower of yours? Don't tell me you lost it! No, it's more than that. Where's Eve?"

Alice flinched, pushing Mortem back firing off serval arrows. Mortem deflected each one with a smug look. "I don't need her to defeat you. I've taken you down before I can do it again!"

Mortem stepped back as the Safeties began piling in on Mortem going in for the kill. But the moment they struck her, each Safety stopped dead in their tracks, staring blankly on like they were in a trance. Zinnia looked around, gripping her sword tightly. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry. The Safeties are only programmed to attack Mortem…. They shouldn't."

Tempo raised an eyebrow as the Safeties soon turned towards the others, a dark shadowy aura around them. "You were saying?"

"Stop, Gale. Not yet!" Stag cried, coughing more.

Alice stepped back, turning her attention to each of the Safeties as Mortem crackled a smirk. "What's wrong, Alice? Weren't you just claiming you could defeat me? Where's that fire gone? Don't tell me just because you're outmatched a little bit; you're giving up."

The Safeties under Mortem's control began their counterattack, each one turning into a copy of Gale himself. Zinnia pushed Stag back, yelling, taking each hit head-on. "Bargaining! Adam, can you hear me?! We need your help before we're overwhelmed!"

"No one is coming to save you, Zinnia Trost. This is the end once and for all. Fall by my hands forever." The blood moon lingered over the city as the light echo of rain began to fall, mixing with the atmosphere. As Mortem prepared for her final revenge, everyone stopped as the Safeties started to fall one by one. Mortem looked around, horrified, knowing what was happening. "No…. That bastard!"

Mortem spun around, finding Alton standing in front of them, arms crossed with a look of anger. "You just never quit, do you, Mortem? First Emil, then Sam and now Gale. When will you learn? When will you learn?"

Mortem kept stepping back, holding their scythe tightly. "You're not Alton…. Who are you?"

Dropping his arms, he firmly placed his hands into his pockets. "I am Alton Brantley of Team Rhapsody. No one else but that and you, Mortem, are putting my friends in endanger. I'm fed up of having to clean up the Garden's mess, but if that's what I have to do, so be it."

Each Safety vanished, making Mortem jump up onto a lamppost. "Big words coming from a member of the Garden himself. What's wrong? Were we just too good for you or something?! You foiled my plan time and time again where if we just worked together, none of this would have happened."

Alton looked up, slouching back nodding to himself. "You're right. All of this could have been preventable. If I hadn't held back and allowed myself to be swept under the rug of heroes and Streaming, I could have put all of this to rest. But, unfortunately, everyone will still be alive. That's my fault. But I've never been one to look to the past; I just keep looking ahead to my desired future."

"Your desired future?! And what the hell is that?"

"It's simple. I want to protect my friends and the people who are dear to me. I want to stop the Garden and Fairy-Tale alike, and I want to squash Ten before he has any more control over me or my actions. That's all I want. Is that too much to ask?"

The blood moon began setting right behind Mortem as they powered up shadows tearing from all parts of their body, their scythe burning with blood. "I've had enough of your brooding Alton Brantley! You took everything from me, and now I'll kill you!" Mortem's whole appearance vanished into darkness as a blood trail fell to the ground consuming the area. Then, moving in for the kill, Mortem latched onto Alton's shadow, tearing it apart with a sadistic laugh. "It's over."

Alton coughed up, blood falling to his knees; his eyes are lifeless with no colour in them at all. "Alton! What did you do?!" Sam yelled.

"I tore his soul apart. There's nothing left but the husk of the monster that did all of this." The rain kept pouring as Alton came to turning to Mortem. They stepped back, startled. "Impossible! That's not possible! I tore your soul clean from your body. You shouldn't even be able to think, let alone stand."

"Oh really? Who are you to decide what I can and cannot do?" Alton snarled back, holding his hand up as the rainwater condensed together. "Did you really think I'd come this far just to die by the hands of a mere rodent?"

Mortem tried to escape only for sharp ice to rip from the ground, holding her like a prison. "It can't end like this!"

Alton walked up to Mortem staring them down tapping their cheek. "I could crush you like the insect you are right now. But I won't, out of respect for Gale and your efforts. So I'm giving you a second chance, Mortem. Join us and help fight the Garden."

"You what?" Mortem whispered, taken back. "You honestly expect me to believe you would let me live?!"

"I do. You saved Gale's life and kept him alive, so you deserve thanks for that. If you inhabiting Gale's body keeps him alive, I shall allow you to live." Alton said before turning to the others. "You have nothing to fear anymore. We've all come to an understanding."

Mortem began shaking with rage. "If you think I'll let you treat me as nothing more than a plaything, think again! I won't have you look down on me!"

Mortem went to strike Alton only for the ice to shoot up, cutting Mortem's head clean off as the body vanished from the pocket world. "I'm a man of second chances. But that's as far as I go."

"You killed him…." Zinnia whispered.

"No, no, no, Zin. You're wrong—Gale's fine. Well, as fine as someone can be under Mortem's influence. He will just wake up wherever he first was, like nothing happened. The pain isn't real, but the humiliation and reminder will always be real." Alton said, trying to defuse the situation. "Is everyone ok? Anyone hurt? What about you, Sam?"

"I- I'm fine…."

"Alton, we really need to talk." Zinnia whispered.

Alton looked over his shoulder, seeing Riley, Haggis, and Iris turn up exhausted. "Ahh, you three made it. Wonderful, then I won't have to repeat myself." Walking over the ice prison where Mortem once was, Alton ripped an icicle clean off, holding it up. "This was always what I meant, Zinnia. Can't you see the Garden will never stop until we are all dead? If this was your so-called perfect world, I would have not been able to stop Mortem so quickly. I can call on rainfall whenever I want. Be wherever I need to save whoever needs saving. No one in here will ever have to die. Alice understands this, Jinx and Gemini understood this. They are happy and alive. That's more than I can say for Scarlett and Emil."

"Don't use their deaths as an excuse, Alton…. This isn't right." Zinnia whispered.

"Please, just please hear me out! I beg of you. Out there, the Stages of Grief await. Bargaining, Anger, Depression and Denial all look to kill us. If I let you all go and they kill Alice or Iris or Sam, I couldn't live with that grief. Their deaths would be on my hands, and you know it, Zinnia. You wanted to be a hero at one time, one where no one could die, and everyone would be safe. This is that chance. You can be greater than your parents. You came to make amends for their mistakes and be the best person you could ever be. Iris, you and Alice can live together without the worries of the past or who you are. You can be just you and no one else."

"I…." Iris whispered, still unsure how to feel.

"And you, Sam! You can return home to your family to Destiny and Marco. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

"What about you? What will you do?" Sam shot back, wanting a straight answer.

Alton took a deep breath nodding. "If this is what it takes for everyone to be happy, I'll be there. We can all carry on our lives like nothing happened. Team Rhapsody and Hero's Might. All of it can carry on. Everything in the past will just be a bad dream."

Zinnia turned to Harmony as she nodded in agreement. "This is Alton Brantley talking."

Alton held his hand out, pleading. "Please, Zinnia, take my hand. I've made mistakes in the past; I've always thought of myself, and you all paid the consequences. Let me make amends and save you all."

Zinnia looked at her hand before stepping back to Alton's horror. "When I left you, Scarlett confronted me. I followed you to the ends of the earth, and I still would but not like this. I blamed you for Gale and Marco when, in reality, that was all me. She reminded me about that. I ran from my problems, Alton. I ran from Team Rhapsody, and you thinking pretending it never happened would make everything alright. It only made things worse. If I took your hand, if I just accepted this world for what it is, then those past four years would have been for nothing. I would be back at square one, reliving the moments as the weak, scared girl I refuse to go back to. I won't run from my problems anymore."

"I can't believe this…. Sam?"

"I'm sorry, Alt. She's right."

"No…. No." Alton whispered, breaking down turning to Alice. "Convince them…. CONVINCE THEM!"

"I…. I can't."

Alton held his head as everyone to him had just betrayed him. Then, stepping backwards, he began to break down, muttering to himself. "No, no, no. No, this can't be happening. He was right. You were right."

"Alton, please, this doesn't have to be how it ends! Take our hand. We're all back together. As you said, Team Rhapsody and Hero's Might reunited. Together we can stop the Garden and save the world." Zinnia begged.

"Oh Zinnia, you poor, poor naïve girl. Thank you. That was all I need." Alton chuckled to himself, looking up with a maniac look.

"Alton?"

Harmony pushed Zinnia back in a panic. "Get back!"

Alton blasted himself back, using the ice to propel himself throughout the city. Then, walking away, Zinnia stood up, confused. "What was that for?!"

"Just then. Just for that short moment, I could sense Ten having full control."

Stag gritted her teeth, slashing the air. "Don't let him escape. Break free!"

Stag leapt through, running after Alton as Zinnia stared down, looking terrified. "Oh, no…. Don't tell me. This was all a part of his plan?"

"What do you mean? Zinnia? Zinnia?!" Sam yelled.

Alton began moving through the city, the pillar of ice carrying him away as he wiped his eyes. "Don't feel so down, Alton. You did all you could. I warned you this was the outcome that would always happen. Foolish children who think they can save the world have no place in my vision. You can rest easy knowing you tried your best and that's all that matters at the end of the day. This world is lost with no hope of saving. The Garden, Fairy-Tale and humanity can never get along. They will fight and slaughter until there is nothing left. This is the truth of the matter; only I can save everone." Aton turned his head, seeing Stag chasing after him. "Even after all we did for them, they brand us as the enemy. I'm so sorry for everything. Allow me to make amends and free us all from Salvation."

"We have to get after him!" Riley snapped, going to run. Iris pulled up her cube, stopping her. "What are you doing?!"

"That isn't Alton anymore…." She whispered, looking troubled. "What have we done?"

Zinnia looked up, watching as she felt a sudden spike in her head. A whisper began to echo in her ear as her eyes widened. "Everyone, get down! He's activating it again. The long whisper!"

"Stag still up there!" Sam yelled.

Alton raised his hands as a ball of ice rippled into his hands. Stag realised what was happening as the ball began consuming Alton. She couldn't escape in time, trying to rip a hole in reality, but it was far too late.

The Long Whisper began, and the never-ending storm rippled through, destroying everything in its path, repeating past mistakes. Buildings were toppled, and people froze to the touch. Ten overlooked his ruined creation with nothing of pity or sympathy, only satisfaction that his plan was finally coming to an end…