V.I.R.A.L

The swings swayed with the breeze in perfect sympathy. Through the false ideology of peace and tranquillity stood Bargaining engulfed in the false beliefs and ideals of Eyes Over Your Reality. Being pushed to the brink, he had activated the Long Whisper, a hidden ability that all the Stages of Grief possess that can turn the tide of a battle indefinitely at a high cost. Now under Denial's Whisper Bargaining must come to his senses if he has any hopes of victory.

"To think you'd push yourself this far for something like this…. You leave me no choice, Denial. I cannot fall here; I've still my own bargain to fulfil, isn't that right, Eve?! Your brother is going to save you and this whole God Damn world. There's no going back, only forward!" Before Bargaining could even think of doing anything, a wall slammed into him, throwing the man to the floor. Now on his knees, he pushed himself back, avoiding the floor caving in. The voice of Henry cackling echoed across the playground, forcing Bargaining on more of a defensive than usual. Back on his feet, Bargaining looked around, panting. "Where the hell is he?"

"What's wrong Bargaining, don't tell me you doubt yourself already? I would be quite disappointed if you lost now after all we've been through." Henry taunted. "This illusion, it's catered towards your own past. Let's see how long before this breaks you."

"Adam!" A voice cried out, making Bargaining flinch.

Turning on the spot, he saw his sister Eve being consumed by the darkness. "Eve!" He yelled, running to her before stopping coming to his senses. He chose to close his eyes, avoiding the illusion altogether. "I won't let you sway my vision, Denial. I know my past and future. This isn't it; Eve knows the risks, and she wouldn't cry out for me like that. She's stronger than that."

"That won't save you." Henry giggled like a schoolgirl as Bargaining was crushed under the weight of a tree that had fallen. "Closing your eyes won't stop the truth. My reality. This is where you die, Bargaining!" Bargaining opened the golden gates to heaven everywhere as weapons of his use crashed to the floor with no choice but to fight. Dozens of clones of Henry appeared, standing around the lone Stage with a smug look. "This is your plan? To take us on with sheer and brute force? Tut tut. That won't do." Going to lift the sword Henry stumbled back lost. "The hell? Why is it so heavy?"

Taking the sword without any troubles, Bargaining stared at Henry with a killer stare. "Only one blessed by Fairy-Tale can hope to wield its armoury. Trapping me in here was a mistake, Henry Truman."

"That has yet to be seen."

Taking on the horde of fakes; Bargaining cut down each one until his weapon broke. Once that did, he would move onto another and another, constantly keeping up, never letting himself tire. This would do little, of course, apart from slowly wearing himself out. Henry watched from the shadows, amused at Bargaining's ill intents at victory. In between the achievements over the fakes, Bargaining would take serval injuries. Bargaining took the full brim of the attack from broken bones to open wounds and crushed organs, falling to his knees coughing up more blood. The dead rotten grass was now lively with his blood as Bargaining's head rung low, waiting for his next chance.

"Not so fast Bargaining." Henry snapped as dozens of eyes appeared all around Bargaining, in the air, from the ground, even all over Bargaining himself never blinking. "I won't give you a chance to reverse the effects. You'll bleed out with or without fighting me. It's over."

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Bargaining closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before pivoting on the spot with his sword stabbing behind him. Grazing the real Henry's cheek, his blade went through Eve, catching him off guard. Henry stared on, startled that Bargaining was so close to getting him out of seemly nowhere. However, that shock would fade into a smirk as Bargaining stared at his sister bleeding out all over him.

*****

The city was dying. Titans consumed the streets, admits the countless bodies as well. Adam watched over the city, holding his waist, healing his wounds, sighing. "This all came so quick…. Typical. It'd be real nice if you guys turned up." He whispered, looking to the sky, waiting.

His attention was swayed as Hannah rolled onto the rooftop dragging her feet over panting. "Adam. You're still standing, thank God. Where's Kurt?"

"I have no idea. We all got separated during the first strike. It's all gone to shit, hasn't it?"

"We can still come back from this. But we need you and Eve ready. Kira is willing to aid us. Once we find Kurt, we'll be ready to strike."

"You go on ahead. I need to gather my thoughts for my plan. I'll be with you when I'm ready."

Hannah gave Adam an uncertain look before falling to her better judgement. "Alright, I'll trust you, Adam. Please, don't take too long New York needs you. We need you. Both of you."

With a lightning bolt, Hannah vanished, moving on further into battle. Adam watched on holding his hand out open in front of the Titan. He clenched it shut, sighing once more. "I hate this," Eve whispered, appearing at the other end of the rooftop. "Why can't we just help them? They trust us."

Adam turned to his sister, withering away. Her skin cracked like stone, her eyes more yellow than ever. "You know why. The Garden cannot fall here. Not today. If we stepped in and stopped this, we'd never save you."

"I understand that but…. Never mind. All according to the plan, I suppose?"

Adam nodded. "All according to the plan. It all just moving far too quickly for me, that's all." Looking down, Adam noticed his hand was shaking. Holding it back, he spoke slightly worried. "Come here, Eve. Please."

Eve did so without much argument standing by her brother. She looked to him, taking his hand. "I'm ready."

Adam nodded. "Don't ever forget the promise we made. Everything I do is only for you. We will save everyone one day." A sword wedged into Eve as she didn't say anything slouching over. Slowly taking it out, Adam quickly put her down as her Fairy-Tale symbol began to fade into a small purple bud. Taking it, he held it close, whispering into it a tear running down his face. "That's my bargain to this messed up world.

****

The blade trickled with blood as Bargaining found himself in the same position as all those years ago. This time he didn't sway from his guilt. Digging the blade in further, he spoke in a gritty tone, cursing. "I will see it forward no matter what, Eve!"

Henry stepped back dazed by this turn of events as Bargaining turned to him seeing his true enemy. Before Henry could do more, he heard the dreaded sound, the sound that ran shivers down his spine. A long Whisper. "NO! No!"

Bargaining's eyes burst with colour as he activated his own Long Whisper. Everything stopped seemly as dozen of copies of himself appeared. His past, present and future all colliding together. Watching from afar, Bargaining took a deep breath holding his hand, the symbol of Fairy-Tale burning into his skin. "To think you'd push me this far to use my own Long Whisper. The last time I used this…. I was wrong to underestimate you, Henry, but this is where it all ends. Deny it all you like I have prevailed." Walking past all version of himself, he would place a hand on each of them, living out that life briefly. Each failure leading to his death. Once he failed, he discarded that future version of him, moving onto the next one. Moving to the eighth one standing directly in front of Henry, he gazed into another future. He snapped to with a smile. "There we are. The perfect future." All other possible outcomes exploded, leaving just the one he desires. "I'm almost done Eve, just hold on a little longer."

Stepping into the future version of himself, the Long Whisper ended as the events he foresaw and chose played out as he cut down Henry with a single slash. Standing still, Henry stared blankly at Bargaining before collapsing to the ground, the illusion world fading. Henry lay on the floor, losing conscience bleeding all over the floor. He stared at the broken ceiling, snow falling onto his face with a blank expression. "I thought I knew power…. I thought I would always be the strongest there is…. Turns out I never had any, to begin with. You knew, didn't you? You knew you'd win from the start…. Why didn't you just finish it there and then?"

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Bargaining held Denial's bud staring idly at the purple Stage one step closer to his goal. "I suppose, truth be told, you reminded me of myself before joining the Garden. I wanted to see if I had overcome my past and evolved."

"Did you?"

"No. Not one bit."

Henry smirked, holding his hand out letting snowflakes melt into his hand. "Then I guess I won."

Bargaining glanced over his shoulder at the now-dead Henry with a dull look. Consuming the Stage, he winched in pain, holding his chest letting it past before he was entirely in control. Now with two Stages under his belt, Bargaining wrapped a bandage around his arm, tightening it nodding. "I suppose you did Eyes Over Reality. You got exactly what you wished for. I'll be sure to never forget the human who pushed me to my limits. Like me, the trickster in disguise."