V.I.R.A.L

Chapter 122: Drop The Curtain

"What are you doing, Alton?" Scarlett questioned, staring idly at Alton who was sitting down low on the beach poking at the sand with a stick. She turned back to Zinnia frowning. "What should we do with her?"

Alton shrugged his shoulders blankly. "Tie her up maybe? We should probably look for Emil I suppose…"

Scarlett walked up to Alton who had frozen the small area around him. She chose not to get any closer giving him a judgmental look. "What happened back there?"

"I did something stupid, that's what." He blubbered jolting up, running his hands over his face already regretting his decisions. Pacing back and forth, he squatted down near Zinnia, scratching his face. "You just had to pull my hand again, didn't you, girl? Why I keep sticking my neck out for you, I don't know."

"Alton!" She yelled, making Alton jump up again, turning around serval times looking paranoid. "Breathe… Just tell me what happened."

Alton tried calming himself down breathing as he kept nodding shaking his hands. "Alright, alright. Zinnia… she did the one thing I made clear not to. She took a deal with the Garden."

"You're kidding me…" She whispered. "Why would she do that."

Alton fell to the ground staring at Zinnia conflicted. "To save us. She's just someone who would do that. Now the five stages of Grief Bargaining have control over her to do his bidding for a false bargain. Now she must kill me to free herself."

Scarlett's eye began twitching as she stared down at Zinnia. "If that is the case, we… I'll take care of this."

"Don't bother… It doesn't matter anymore."

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"How can you trust her now?! Bargaining could task her to kill you any moment now."

Alton slouched overlooking defeated sighing. "Because I took a bargain with him too."

"No… Tell me that's a lie. It's bullshit!"

"It's true." Alton frowned, hiding his head. "I couldn't let Zinnia be consumed by him. The Garden will not take anyone else; I've seen it feed off people like a plague, she will not go through that. So, I made a deal with that smug prick. He will let her go if I complete his task."

"What the hell did he ask of you?"

"You aren't going to like this… To save Zinnia, I have to join the stages of grief."

Scarlett snapped, turning on Zinnia. "I'm killing her now!"

A burst of ice held Scarlett on the spot as Alton was standing staring at her with ill intent. "You will do no such thing!"

"Are you even hearing yourself, Alton Brantley?! Joining the Garden? They want nothing more than to kill us! They almost succeeded in destroying the world 400 years ago. How could you even compare that to her!"

Alton raised his finger, pointing it at her with a threatening tone. "You won't harm a hair on her head, Scarlett, you hear me. I won't think twice about fighting you."

Scarlett turned to Alton as the two stared at each other for what felt like an entirety. Her hand locked to her pocket as her eyes began glowing.

"That's it! Fight, kill, win!" Both streamers turned to flinch as their common enemy was standing before them. Eyes Over Reality sat on a rock twirling his jester mask around revealing his face for the first time. He had long chestnut brown hair and matching coloured eyes. His face, however, was off almost like it was another mask entirely. "This is what I brought you all here for. A test of willpower and wit. Who will stand on top?! Isn't this all just thrilling?"

"EOR! It's about time you showed yourself." Alton snapped. "Whatever your plan is, it ends now. You have nothing on us."

"Is that so?" He asks before holding his hand up smirking. "And I reply to that, an absolute yes! Your darkest secret. Ha! Like I'd know anything about that, you here simply fallen for my trap."

"All of this was a load of shit?" Scarlett snarled.

EOR laughed juggling three identical jester masks each having three bells marked on the chin and head. "Why, of course, I was well aware there was no way you would join in with my little game if I didn't... Clickbait. And it worked like wonders. Not only have I got the might of Rhapsody here but they are already turning on each other. Please don't mind me, I will merely watch your death battle."

"Like that's going to happen. We're going to take you down once and for all."

"Take me down? And I reply to that, take me down for what? I have done nothing apart from lightly troll all of you. I haven't committed any crimes or attacked any streamers causing physical harm. You have no reason to harm me."

Alton raised an eyebrow not entirely understanding what to do. "You're a villain, yeah? You got put away by Crimson Dawn. We are going to put you back in prison."

"Me, a villain?! Good gosh I am insulted you have made such blatant about me. I should sue and get you cancelled for such offensive terms I have changed my ways I'll have you know. You see a new and improved Eyes Over Reality who has changed for the better. For the record, I didn't even break out of jail, I was released."

Alton rubbed his face, unable to get past this freak's performance. "I've had just about enough of this. Your illusions won't work on us this time. We will take you down right now."

Eyes Over Reality stopped juggling, staring at them dully. "Is that so? How mildly amusing that sounds?"

"Why the hell is that?!" Scarlett snapped.

"And I reply to that because I'm the strongest Antihuman alive."

"Enough of this." Alton barked snapping a chunk of ice towards EOR. As it hit him, his body burst into multiple copies each laughing, holding a mask of a different face to the one, he had on.

"Two streamers think they can stand a chance against the likes of me! Ha, I haven't of such blatant lies in my life." Scarlett began destroying the fake copies working their ways down to the real one. The last fake was eliminated only for them to discover they were all fakes. EOR tapped Scarlett's back taking his face mask off smiling. "Entertain me some more."

Alton snapped to action blasting him with serval icicles as he fell to the floor, screaming in pain. Alton walked over to him, slamming his foot down only to discover that was a fake illusion pretending to take damage to trick them. Alton wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice; however, as he let out a burst of cold air around him. EOR was standing behind frozen on the spot, looking paranoid. Alton turned eyeing down the masked troll shaking his head. "Simple mind tricks won't work on me freak."

Alton punched EOR in the face as he fell back to the floor holding his nose laughing. "Alright, alright. You've got me. You've got me. Such a splendid show of power! It sends shivers down my spine, I love it!"

Alton picked him up by his collar as EOR didn't stop laughing. "Your illusions are phoney and won't work on me anymore. It's over! Now, how about we see what you truly look like."

Alton tore his mask off as he flinched, dropping him, seeing Sam's face on his body. EOR began full-on howling rolling around pushing himself away. "My illusions are phoney you claim? They won't work on you; you claim? And I reply to that, a big fat no. Hehe… Oh, dear poor Alton, don't you get it. You live in a world of lies and illusions; it just takes someone to pull the sheets from your eyes."

The entire area began glitching out like when his illusions were fading. Harmony looked around horrified. "No way, no fucking way! Don't tell me this entire time we've been fighting in an illusion."

EOR began floating in the air as the so-called island turned into an empty and abandoned stadium with a cold frost piling through. Alton peered up flinching seeing the stadium he was in. Sunset Peak stadium. "No, no, this can't be true! We can't be here!"

Scarlett began rubbing herself freezing over. "How the hell did we not feel this before?"

EOR stared down with a smug look. "It's simple, your bodies just didn't register the sudden cold. It's similar to how if you slowly increase the temperature of the water and rest a frog there until the boiling point it won't know it's dying. Now the real show begins."

"What is that?" Harmony questioned, pointing to something he was holding.

EOR was spinning a crown with his finger laughing. "Do you like it? This here is the crown to win this tournament. It has been blessed by the CEOs of V.I.R.A.L to grant a wish to whoever claims it. Any wish you desire."

Alton kept staring at EOR's eyes, gritting his teeth. "Why are you doing this?"