V.I.R.A.L

Chapter 185: The Bloody Lunatic of Villain's Wrath

Gale was smashed to the ground once more by Diego. He was unable to land a single hit thanks to his opponent's ability completely countering his. Before he even had the chance to call upon his ultimate power, the bell rang, deciding Diego's victory. Feeling embarrassed Gale sat down mumbling to himself. "I've beaten arranged cult leaders and one of the stages of Grief yet I couldn't even get a hit in on one streamer…"

Diego moved his neck around, feeling all stiff. "Cakewalk. All that's left is Zinnia now."

Jinx was slouched over sitting in the crowd, pretending to yawn. "How exciting. Can you hurry this one up though? That last fight was a drag."

Diego shook his head, snarling. "Like to see you avoid every single hit that tank takes. At the finish mark, he hit me once I'd be down for the count…"

"Well good luck trying to get through fucking Zinnia Trost."

Diego stroked his chin glancing at her for a short time. "I've been thinking of a few plans to defeat her. I might have something here."

"Go get them, tiger," Jinx said half heartily standing up. As she did, her head hit a newly formed barrier which consumed both of them. "What the?"

Gale was a victim to this as all of the streamers apart from Zinnia were pinned down and captured. Diego punched the cube in anger. "Shit, I should have seen this coming!"

The crowd began roaring as Zinnia turned, letting electricity fizzle through her fingertips. "Finally."

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Marco was pressed against the glass fidgeting hopping on one leg. "So much passion and power! Fuck, why did I agree to go last?"

"Patience Marco, we don't want to ruin the game. You know why we brought them here for." Crypto whispered, sitting from his chair watching the action. "Who are those two you invited?"

"Diego Jolts and Jinx Montague. They made quite the impression on me after fighting Team Rhapsody."

Leaning back in his chair, she sipped his ice-cold drink. "Never heard of them. Is there a reason you invited them? I wanted Zinnia, not them."

Marco curled his hand back as small cubes formed around his finger-tips. "They made a joke of Destiny and me. I have no intention of fighting them. I just brought them here to show them not to fuck with Villain's Wrath… Something wrong?"

Crypto stood up, staring down at Diego who had now just beaten Gale. "Him, I don't trust him at all. Something feels off about the whole thing. Take care of them, Marco, don't let them get in the way of our plan."

"So… That means I can fight?"

Crypto turned to Marco, making him jolt in fear as a cold hand was placed on his shoulder. "Fight and die for our cause Marco. Fight and die."

"That's all you had to say, boss." He replied, shooting his barrier out blowing the window apart. Diego, Jinx and Gale were all caught in a set of cubes stopping them for interrupting the show. Zinnia turned as the crowd roared with excitement. "The moment you've all been waiting for ladies and Gentlemen. Our very own cannot hold it back any longer. The undefeated Zinnia Trost now must face off against the next challenge! The king of the Underground and undefeated champion. Give it up for the bloody lunatic of Villain's Wrath Marco Hill!"

Marco crashed from the VIP floor slamming onto the battle ring wielding a metal baseball bat and a long-sharpened knife. Sparks flew around as the crowd began chanting his name repeatedly. Giving the audience a little dance, he spun around taunting Zinnia. "I just can't hold it back any longer! I yearn for a fight and you Zinnia are the most demanding one yet." Zinnia stepped into the ring as the cage fell, cutting them both off from the outside. Marco tapped the cage with his bat bobbing his head left and right. "Let's see what Alton's new partner has compared to the phoenix of Hero's Might."

Zinnia held her sword down low walking around the cage, meeting Marco. "Sam Belling correct?"

"I'm surprised you know of her. Alton must have mentioned her. Yes, she was our leader before Alton betrayed us all. We never did find out what happened to her. Would you like to find out?"

Zinnia shot a bolt of lightning, grazing Marco's cheek. "Enough games, I don't care what happened in the past. You killed my best friend. I'm all out of second chances for scum like you."

Marco spun around, juggling his two weapons getting ready. "Well, then shall we begin?" Zinnia was the first to strike stabbing her katana forward, Marco stepped back, creating a barrier to mitigate the attack. He brought it down the moment the attack landed. Twirling his body around, he swung his baseball bat down on Zinnia which she dodged jumping to the side. Marco was already moving in with his next attack as he turned his arm up, prepared to stab Zinnia. Using her built up momentum, she grabbed Marco's arm, twisting it and pulling him in. Letting go at the last moment, she spun around kicking him into the cage, sparking him with electricity. The moment he fell to the ground Zinnia raced in tackling him to the ground throwing serval punches. Marco began laughing headbutting Zinnia kicking her off him. "That's it! The built-up fury! Show me more!"

Stepping back holding her head, she shot another bolt of lightning at him only for Marco to begin breakdancing, avoiding the attack throwing her off. "Another trick I learned from Sam." Zinnia stepped forward before vanishing with serval after images appearing all around. Appearing above Marco, she slashed down barley missing Marco. "Got you."

A cube was created sucking Zinnia in cutting her powers off. Dropping the cube, he moved in swinging his bat around smashing Zinnia in the face. Stumbling forward she crashed against the cage getting fried by her own powers. Wrapping his bat around her, Marco pulled Zinnia, flipping her over, slamming her to the ground. He dropped on top kneeing her in the stomach, letting out a maniac laugh. Zinnia coughed spinning around, forcing Marco back. Zinnia spat a clot of blood from her mouth, moving her shoulder around, staring her foe down. "Answer me this. Why'd you done it? Alton was your friend. An ally. Why did you have to kill him for?!"

Marco crouched down swaying left and right licking his knife. "If I told you it might just break your heart." Zinnia ran with spite throwing serval bicycle kicks at Marco who blocked each one. As she landed, she turned with a back kick pushing Marco back. She moved forward not giving him any moment to strike. Ducking under a baseball bat swing Zinnia uppercut Marco knocking him to the floor. But this was met with something else for Zinnia. A sharp pain coming from her waist. Ultimately in the zone, she didn't even realise she had been stabbed. The feeling came to her as she stumbled back pulling it out blood dripping. Feeling weak Zinnia collapsed to her knees, holding her side in pain. Marco stood up, staring down at Zinnia. Gale's cries were heard as he turned to the crowd who were roaring for more. "You ain't shit without your powers." Kicking her over, Marco held his bat up high smirking. "We were doing you a favour. We saved you from that monster, this is how you repay us? Countless dead. Countless dying because of him. My family, Destiny's. All dead because of him. You still believe he's your hero Zinnia?"

Marco kept beating Zinnia over and over, making the pain so much worse. His face of glee turned into fury as he stepped on Zinnia, forcing her to look. "Where's your precious hero now, kid? I would kill that bitch again and again if given a chance. You know what I think? We didn't make him suffer enough. Not even close. I guess you'll have to do."

Zinnia curled up, feeling her blood boil as she took the beating over and over. Flashes of Alton flooded her mind. The good times, the bad times. The times she never wants to forget. All of this pushing her. Breaking her beyond her limits. "Enough… Stop… I said, stop!" Smoke flooded the cage as Marco was thrown back hitting the floor. Coughing uncontrollably, he was left dumbfounded. Pulling herself off the ground limping over smoke poured from Zinnia slivering over the ring engulfing the area. Zinnia's eyes were bloodshot red, and that was matched with a look of total rage.

Unable to create any barriers choking on the smoke, Marco tried crawling away, holding his hand out. "Impossible. How. I cancelled out your powers! How are you getting this?!"

Zinnia picked the baseball bat up idly watching Marco suffering. The smoke was burning his throat, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe. "Why did you kill him?"

Marco slouched against the cage, getting shocked by electricity. "Why not? The fucker had it coming to him. He lay waste to an entire town—thousands of dead in an instant. I lost everything that day, I had to leave my parents to freeze and never bury them. Does that answer your question?! I think after all that I deserve it, don't I? I deserved to kill that son of a bitch!"

The cubes were dropped as Gale broke out, shaking the cage. "Zinnia stop! Stop it! You've won! Don't!"