V.I.R.A.L

Alton woke at the bottom of a giant tree. He felt lifeless and devoid of emotions. There was no place to escape as he found himself trapped in the ever-growing giant. The leaves around him a frozen purple covering his whole body. He looked up, seeing no end to the tree, but in the far-off distance, five figures watched him idly. A sudden urge took hold of him. A natural instinct that he didn't belong here. He needed to run. He tried breaking free from the prison over and over, feeling more desperate and frightened by each passing moment. Eventually, he stopped unable to move. The part of the tree frozen alongside him. That was when he heard someone walking towards him. His mind was racing as he tried breaking free the ice washing into his bones, cracking them, turning them into brittle. As his desperate cries were heard, a hand was placed on his shoulder. The ice shattered as Alton collapsed to the ground. Catching his breath, he turned around, finding no one there.

Having little options left, he jumped to action continuing to try and break free, but as his hands made contact with the tree, a man riddled out from the bark gripping both arms. Alton tried breaking free as the man from the illusion held him tight grinning with a cold smile as his long white hair draped over. "Stop fighting. Stop resisting, you cannot stop this, you cannot stop us. You can run no longer I know where you are, and I intend to finish what I started six years ago. For Debra. For Sunset peak. For us, my son. I'm coming."

Alton woke screaming in a cold sweat. His bed sheets were frozen over, and the room nippy. He was erratic unable to keep a straight thought terrified beyond relief. Without hesitation, he checked his entire apartment for him. Every wardrobe and every room. Anywhere he would hide. The place was spotless all be it much lifeless than ever before. Shivering Alton threw on a coat holding it tight. Something caught his eye, however; from his pocket, a picture fell out. Alton kneeled down, seeing a family photo of him and both parents, yet he was ripped out. Feeling sick to his stomach, he left the apartment instantly without a second thought. He kept walking, and walking feels like he had nowhere to go. That was until he was outside the orphanage. He began to ring Zinnia, but a thought dwindled on him. That feeling of dread deep down only grew as he hung up, leaving. He didn't want her help.

How do you take down a team of ultra-powerful misfits? If you haven't got the power to back it up, you do not. That would be born to fail. However, there is a more straightforward option. You let them do it for you. It starts off small—lack of trust for one another. Secrets grow out of control, and soon enough, you stop altogether. You feel powerless and alone as you all become more distant. Your problems were once small and manageable with your allies now seem out of control and too much to handle as your team can provide no more extended aid you. The seed of doubt flourishes into something darker. Mistrust, hate and betrayal. That very close team which considered each other family stops coming together. The trail off to do their own thing. They fight and argue until anything pure and joy-filled that was once there is tarnished. They may fight or disband; it doesn't matter either way. You've already won as the team's greatest strength is dead. Together they may have seemed unstoppable, but now alone, their weaknesses are crystal clear. They falter at any sense of power, and they will drop like flies. That is how you destroy a team of misfits. The seed has been planted. Their demise imminent the ball is now in your court.

I look forward to seeing what you accomplish.

The Demon Mask stared through the iron bars of the prison as EOR laid back in his bed smirking. "If what you said is true, then we will strike. It's time to see what they've learned. With them out of the picture, Syndicate will rise and take back what's certainly ours. Victoria aut mors."

EOR sat up bowing. Victoria aut mors. Long live Syndicate."

****

"The Alice has returned home…"

Iris sat up from her bed, looking in her general direction. "Sis, it's good to see you. I watched… Well listened to the games from the stream. It got pretty dicey there, but it was nothing to difficult for my sister!"

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Alice walked over sitting on the bed sighing. "The Alice regrets she could not get her to wish. She wanted you to be better and get your eyesight back."

Iris gave a healthy smile hugging Alice shaking her head. "Don't beat yourself up about it. You did amazing as always. You don't have to worry about me. I'm getting used to being blind. It's going to take a lot of training, but I feel like I could be back on the streaming field in no time."

"Are you serious? That's great."

Iris gave of a cocky laugh. "You betcha. While you were gone, I was able to walk to the gardens all by myself… I only fell over five times and walked into a wall twice."

Alice nodded. "I will help you. Alice doesn't need to be streaming for a while; she can take time off to help you recover."

Iris seemed happy by this agreeing. "That sounds nice. It would be just like when we were kids pretending to be streamers watching our favourites… How is team Rhapsody doing? Are they alright?"

"Alton and the others are just fine. They just need to recover, and they'll be back to their old selves. They always seem to be getting themselves badly injured after a big fight. It is not good for bones." Iris chuckled, making Alice confused. "Did Alice say something funny?"

"You do say some strange things, Alice… I'm happy to hear they are fine. If I was there, I would have kicked Monty's ass into second gear! Ow!" She yelped, whacking her hand on the table, knocking over her glass of water. "Damn it who put that there…"

"Iris… You wanted to join Rhapsody if the Alice remembered correctly." Iris remained silent as she gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Why didn't you say anything to them or me?"

"We made it our dream to be streaming together. I didn't want to change that besides pointless now I can't even see let alone fight with them… All of this bloody suck."

"There's my number one streamer!" Hans yells waltzing in hugging Alice. "I saw everything and even though you didn't actually win this will defiantly boost your numbers. It will be any day now until m- I mean our dream of becoming the number one streamer is realized. You should be very proud of yourself, Alice."

"Yay…" Alice said in the most robotic tone. "Father the Alice has been thinking, she wants to take a break from streaming for a while. Just for a month so she can help Iris get back on her feet. I want to be there for her."

Hans took a moment to take in the concept as his smile turned into a scowl. "Oh, a month off? Alice… Do you know how much I've sacrificed?!" The two girls looked on in shock as he calmed himself down. "Alice, can I talk to you outside?" Alice didn't retaliate as she left the room, her father looking stressed. "Alice, we are this close, this close to becoming number one! Vanguard has been gone for nearly six months, and that spot is still open. V.I.R.A.L are about to present the next number one streamer all signs are pointed to you so we cannot falter. We have to work twice as hard. Distractions like Iris will be the icing on the cake in victory or loss. We've been fighting your whole life for this don't throw it away at the last moment."

"But father. She is my sister she needs me."

Hans kneeled to her level, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And I need you to work with me. This is all your mother, and I wanted. Do you want to take away that dream from her?"

"No… The Alice believes you are correct, Hans."

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"Good. I'm glad we are on the same page. I've booked a Q and A on the V.I.R.A.L Podcast for tomorrow as well as a joint stream with Revert. Finally, you will be doing a charity stream this weekend to raise money for homeless children. That should do it for this week. I'll try and squeeze in more if I can."

"Thank you, Hans…"

Alice was about to return to her sister when her father stopped her for a moment. "And remember Alice, we must make our dream come true."

Alice stared blankly at her father before she smiled nodding. "Yes."

As Alice went back in, Hans rubbed his face sighing. He was on edge and stressed unsure if he could count on his daughter anymore for the task ahead. Storming down the hallway in a hurry he made it to his office where he sat in his desk staring at the photo of him and his daughters. Taking the picture out, he tore it in half, pushing a button in the frame. His desk opened up as he ventured down into a hidden room. The area was dark, with a small number of lights emitting around the room. On each side, there were large test tubes with purple liquid engulfed. Due to the room being too dark, it was hard to tell what or who was in the pipes. Hans walked up to the final tube, looking down in defeat. "I'm afraid my hard work is almost for nothing. I'm so close now. I can't fail when the finish line is in reach." From the test tube, a hand emerged pressing against the glass. Hans looked up with a bold smile. "If they will fail me, I know you won't. We will get to number one no matter what daughter."