V.I.R.A.L

"I'll keep my promise, Alton. We'll stop our attack for now. Mourn your dead before we return. If you wish to win this battle, Alton Brantley gathers the Stages. Take them as your own and make your dream come true. Until then."

"Alton… I'm sorry."

Alton crawled forward, holding his hand out, screaming. "Alice, no Alice!" Wings ripped from Bargaining's back as he flew off with Alice in hand away from the city. Alton stared on, losing conscience whispering to himself. "No… Give her back. Give Alice back to me… Don't go."

****

Rhinefield was lost; the city was dead with no hope of return. Out of everyone, Alton knew this the most. He knew when hope was lost ever since Sunset Peak. Coming back to his senses, he found himself being carried by Sam on her back through the streets. She was sauntering, passing by the dead and the living who were mourning. All Alton could do was watch and curse himself for not being able to do more. "Why did this have to happen?"

"You're awake… Please, try not to move. We're getting out of here."

"What about everyone else?"

Sam paused for a moment, sighing. "There was an emergency broadcast not too long ago; Victoria is lost. No one is coming to help us. People are fleeing before the Garden returns."

"But there's nothing out there but the wasteland. They'd all die!"

"I know," Sam muttered, devastated. "But there's nothing more we can do. We've lost. Alice is gone, Iris has been taken by Acceptance and V.I.R.A.L has fallen to ruin. We've got nothing left."

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Alton began struggling, falling from Sam tumbling to the floor, lying on the ground coughing. "There's got to be something!"

"Alton, please, you're in no condition to move."

Alton began slamming the ground, frustrated screaming. "Damn it! I failed them all; I couldn't even stop one Stage of Grief… What the hell is wrong with me."

Sam dragged Alton to his feet, helping him move as she put his arm over her shoulder. "You can't blame yourself. We weren't prepared."

"How could we prepare for this?" He mutters, looking at the chaos and Titans spread for miles. "We… We should meet with the others."

"I'm not sure if the others are even here… Emil and the other Montagues have already fled with survivors. They're long gone. We lost comms with Blossom a while back; no one has heard or seen from Scarlett."

Alton kept limping forward, turning his head pointing down the alleyway. "Take me there."

"What's down there?"

"Just trust me."

Sam didn't question Alton much as the two continued their walk of shame, passing the victims who never stood a chance. Alton stopped staring blankly at a destroyed building that had caved in due to another. "A karaoke bar… Why are we here?"

"This… This was Team Rhapsody's hangout spot." Alton admitted making Sam look concerned. "I just need to make sure."

Against her better judgment, she helped Alton as most of the rooms and main lobby were destroyed. Room four which was the room Zinnia would always choose without question, was still somewhat in tack. The wall was destroyed when Marco and Destiny attacked Team Rhapsody. The screen was gone, with the fifth room crushed by rubble. Alton stared blankly before laughing to himself, falling onto the sofa relaxing. "Alton?"

"It was foolish of me to even imagine that Zinnia might have been here. Haha, I'm such an idiot. Even if she was somehow magically here, I wouldn't even know what to say." Alton laughed off, pulling the fridge door open and taking the last soda. "I haven't stepped foot in this place in years. We used to come here every day. We might not even stream but just sing our problems away. I don't think that's going to work this time, though…."

"We should go, Alton."

Standing up, Alton broke down, falling to his knees laughing like a lunatic. "I'm useless, Sam, go on tell me how much of a useless weakling I am! When it really comes down to it, I can't do anything right. I couldn't save Percy nor Gale. Zinnia ran away because of my uselessness, and Scarlett turned against me because I was blind and foolish. Emil was possessed by Mortem, and now Alice is gone, and I don't think I can ever get her back! I've gone and done it, Sam; I've killed two teams in one go. First Hero's Might and now Team Rhapsody. That's got to be some record, yeah?!"

"You can't beat yourself up over this."

"You know Sam for as long as I have known you; you've never been wrong about anything. How does it feel being wrong for the first time? Like Charmeine said, even if I used all my powers without worrying about the consequences, I still wouldn't come close to beating Bargaining. He beat us down without any resistance and took Alice, no questions asked. If I cannot beat one of them, how are we meant to win?!"

"You're just angry, Alton. I get it, but we'll get Alice back together. If we just find Scarlett and Emil, we can still have a chance."

Alton stood up, shaking his head. "Forget Alice; I can't get her back in my state. I need to get stronger. Much stronger. Stronger than all of those bastards! If Bargaining and Charmeine are so obsessed with me taking those stages so, be it. The Garden is nothing but a tool, one which I will use to destroy all my enemies."

"Now, just wait a moment, Alton!"

"I'm done waiting. I'm acting. Acceptance, he took Iris shortly before the attack. The seal was still up, meaning his reach would be weak. He could only snatch Iris if he was hiding somewhere here. It was just like that last time on the island. There's a gate to his world hiding away." Alton put it together. "Tell me, if you wanted to hide a gate from the eyes of the public in the centre of the city, where would you hide it?"

Sam gave it a thought as she was shocked. "There's no way."

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"So, you thought of the same place as well. Where else would that cocky bastard set up shop? V.I.R.A.L HQ. I'm going to confront that son of a bitch once and for all and take what's rightfully mine. Are you going to stop me?"

"Like I even could. If you're doing this, we're doing this together."

"Good," Alton muttered, turning away from the private room, leaving. "I'm done being the weakling. Now it's their turn."

Sam walked off as Alton was soon to follow; however, he spotted something glowing in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw a green glow coming from the rubble. Slowly walking towards it, he flinched, staring blankly at what he saw. "Scarlett…"

His old ally and friend were dead. Piled up in the rubble of the broken building beaten to a bloody pulp. He couldn't make out most of her body which was piled up and crushed underneath the rubble. But her arm was on display with the green glow. Getting a better look, his eyes widened, and he almost broke down right there seeing the charm bracelet he gave her as a Christmas present still around her arm. She kept it even among all the grief he gave her. Trembling, he gripped his fist biting his lip. "No more… This has gone on long enough. The Garden, the death and carnage must come to a stop. I'll burn it all to the ground if need be. This world doesn't have much use for Alton Brantley anymore… If it comes down to it, I'll let you take command Ten. No one else dies."