V.I.R.A.L

Chapter 235: The Stage of Pain

"Can I say a few words?" Alton spoke up as the speeches were over. No one was against the mishaps as he took to the front standing at the podium. "I didn't have any sort of speech planned or anything; truth be told, I wasn't going to say anything. But I feel like you must know what Percy was like, how we saw him till the very end."

Adjusting his tie, he looked at the crowd nodding. "When I first met Percy, my thoughts were so mixed. For first impressions, he ticked every box for bad impressions. He was a loudmouth brat beyond annoying and didn't shut up about his obsession with Vanguard. My first thoughts were to immediately get rid of him as soon as I could. But that quickly changed over time. I got to see the real Percy first hand. Percy Misharp was a hero, the best damn Hero I've ever seen. He wouldn't think twice about saving people. He wanted to make such a good impression he would put his life on the line every time. Saving not only my life but many others in both Team Rhapsody and all of V.I.R.A.L We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that dumb kid who was too good for this world. Percy was a true hero. We need more of that. We need more people like Percy. As the leader of Team Rhapsody, I won't allow this to happen again. I promise you all, Percy's death will mean something."

The coffin was fully lowered as the ground was buried, ending it all for good. Emil squatted down with a handful of dirt as he sprinkled it over the grave, tutting himself in anger. "Why did it have to be that stupid idiot? Who decided he deserved to die?"

"This world is truly a cruel place, that I will admit. No one can begin to understand why these turns of events happen. We can only accept them and move on."

"Accept them? Give me a break; Percy is dead. How can we just sit there and accept that?" Emil fired back at Scarlett.

"Just stop it, you two, we aren't here to bicker over nothing again…" Zinnia whispered.

"Sorry, of course." Scarlett nodded, bowing. "We're here for Percy."

Some time had passed, and Team Rhapsody had just left the cemetery; as they did, none of them noticed reality change. The flowers and signs for Percy all vanished. The graveyard was rotten and forgotten, showing its true colours. Percy's actual grave was dug up, and the coffin inside empty. A figure stood by the trees watching the whole event without anyone's knowledge. He gave a smug cackle flipping Percy's streaming pass around. "Team Rhapsody, huh? This is going to be so much fun."

****

Eyes over Reality stood in the shadows, his arms crossed as he stared into a large chamber down below. Inside was the corpse of Percy Misharp doused in a strange purple liquid and similar flowers all around him. Leaning on the railing, he took a long breath staring on more. "You aren't going to explain any of this, are ya, mister CEO?"

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Kurt walked up the stairs leading down to the chambers, not giving much of a response. "Depends on how well you can keep a secret, Henry."

"You break me out of prison, and the first thing you task me with is providing you with this kid's body? Then you make me fake his grave, so what? You can experiment with him? I'm a pretty shitty guy. I'll be the first one to admit that, boss, but even this was a bit much for me."

Kurt sipped his coffee, nodding. "It's something else, isn't it? A shame this poor child died so quickly into his career. His powers showed. Potential."

"Is that all these streamers are to you? Numbers on a screen until they serve you no use?"

"To some extent, yes. It's taken us 400 years to get back on our feet, Henry. 400 years of rebuilding. That sort of time for the Garden could spell our disaster. The mental overloads, Paradox and the Moss incident on the open isles and now a Child of the Garden. All small signs, in of itself, nothing to worry about. But each happening a mere six months between each other only proves the worse. The whispers of the Garden are getting louder. They could be here in a year, five months. Tomorrow and we would have nothing to defeat them with. Our forces have dwindled with Vanguard, and now Percy was gone. How many more do you think will fall before the first battle? This is the only way to save Victoria."

Eyes over Reality shook his head, not entirely agreeing with the idea. "By kidnapping dead children and running experiments on them? Surely you have something better to waste your time on, boss? What are you even doing to him?"

"What do you know of the Garden Henry?"

"Not much, to be honest. Most people these days believe it just to be a myth. 400 years ago, an ancient evil rose from the grave and plunged our world into chaos. This evil was led by five individuals known only as of the five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance."

"You are partly right; the five stages of grief are something all humans go through at least once in their life. It could be something extreme as a death in the family or something petty like losing your job. No matter the fact, you all will face these stages."

"Alright, what did I get wrong then?"

"It isn't a myth. The Garden is real; this here is proof. What we are doing here is settling the score. The five stages of grief are nothing more than titles. Titles given to five chosen individuals prove themselves worthy to the Gardeners. They are tasked with free their people. Anyone strong enough can take a stage, Garden or not. Even you could be one if you so desired. Untold power would await you if you did; most known to man, there are only five stages, but there is more. Sub stages, you could call them, debatable stages making eight stages of grief instead. And those are pain, anxiety and hope. What we are doing here, Henry, is making our own stages of grief enough so they can go toe to toe with the Garden itself."

Eyes over Reality stepped back, slightly shocked, blinking. "So that's your solution to the problem. Make more of it. A bold approach, I must admit but couldn't this stab you in the back. Toying with the Garden cannot be good, right?"

"Well, you know the saying Henry, fight fire with fire. We cannot hope to best the Garden by our own strengths to win the second war; we must use everything at our disposal. The more tools we have, the better chance we have at winning, and Percy will be the first. The first of brand-new stages that even the Garden will be caught off guard. We've already got the hoses for anxiety and hope at the ready. Three stages, the rest of the CEOs and the streamers. I believe that's a start to our plan."

"A start?"

"Henry. This is the Garden we're talking about; you can never be too prepared."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, who's going to believe a villain like you?" Kurt suggested walking past, placing his hand on Eyes over Reality's shoulder. "You know, you'd make a good stage as well…"

****

Alarms began blaring as the core was soon out of control. Kurt and Vitae rushed into the labs as scientists flooded from the sight. Kurt grabbed one, pulling him aside. "What's going on?!"

"It's the subject, sir. Subject four is waking up."

Thrown aside, Kurt turned to Vitae. "Suggestions?

"No point in leaving our new toy in the dark. Let's pay him a visit." The two CEOs descended into the chamber as the room had a foul rotting smell. Just stepping foot in was enough to ward off the weak-minded. Kneeling down, Kurt picked up a bloody feather that belonged to a bird. Holding it, he dropped the feather. After getting a deep cut, the feather was now a sharp dagger. Making their way into the chamber, crows flew around Percy while others just watched the CEO's everything move. "After all these years, this experiment of yours wasn't for nothing."

Kurt stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Percy Misharp! Can you hear me?"

Percy turned his head, showing a cracked face and bony hands. "Who are you! Where am I?"

"You've been dead for four years, Percy. We brought you back stronger than ever."

Percy held his head, muttering violently to himself. "Dead… Yes, I remember, I was fighting the cult. I hurt so much! Why did you bring me back?!"

The crows all turned into sharp bloody swords, pointing at the CEOs. Kurt stared on in awe, smirking. "Easy, Percy, we are not your enemy. We brought you back for a second chance. You want to save the world, correct? We can help you with that."

"Save the world… I did want that at one point. Save it from who."

"You. Well, we should say Team Rhapsody. The Garden, so many threats. So little time."

"Team Rhapsody… No, Alton, Zinnia are not my enemies."

"They've moved on without you, Percy. Because of your death, the team fell apart. Gale Lampard is dead betrayed by his own leader. Zinnia Trost couldn't handle the pressure and fled like a coward letting innocent people die. Scarlett betrayed the group and tried destroying our very way of life. Alton turned his back on the group rotting away in prison with no care in the world and all because of you."

Percy stepped back, shaking his head, emotions building up. "No! That cannot be. Team Rhapsody was like family. They would never!"

"Oh, but they are. And now the remaining member, Alice Hawthorne, wishes to kill us all lost to her madness. Only you can stop them."

"What. What about Emil? What happened to him?!"

"See for yourself."

Emil walked in with the same dead eyes as the other CEOs staring blankly at Percy. "Emil… You're alive."

"I am. It's chaos out there, Percy, riots and protests. Uprising and rebellions. They wish to throw away everything we stood for. Innocent people are dying, and we need you. We need you to fix the mistake you made."

Percy fell to his knees as all the crows returned to normal, flying rapidly around him. "This is my fault… I couldn't save anyone, and now everyone is gone. Zinnia ran away. She was my hero, and she ran!"