V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 262

The city was dead, voices of the damned had fallen silent, and there was nothing but the grim reminder of the past. Kurt lay on the floor, bleeding out, watching his city burn around him. Giant trees matching the very skyscrapers plagued the city as his battle was over. Crawling forward, leaving a trail of blood behind, Kurt groaned, collapsing, losing all strength to fight. His was all alone now, with his allies’ fate unclear. Everything he worked hard for had been wiped clean with the chance of victory. At that moment, he felt hopeless and weak with everything until now leading up to failure. Darkness began consuming the city as Kurt was just forced to watch it all occur. That was until a small boy walked by, turning to the hero. “Well, isn’t this some sort of fate? It’s been far too long legendary hero.” Kurt looked up at the boy, not saying a word as he smirked. “You’ve truly lost all hope, haven’t you? I did warn you this would happen, but you had to go and act so proud being the Phantom. For you see, Kurt, I can never die, and the Garden will grow forever. May this be reminder humanity doesn’t stand a chance against the Garden.”

The boy turned as Kurt reached his hand out, grabbing the boy’s leg. “Please… Help me.”

Mortem turned snickering. “Help you? Are you actually asking for my help? The irony, pure irony. I offered you a place at my side during the new golden age, but you had to fight back and destroy everything I worked so hard to make. Now you know how it feels. The others are most likely dead or will soon be. You’ve lost Phantom; even Adam realised that and joined us. What a hypocrite.”

“Help… me.”

Mortem crouched down, staring right into Kurt’s eyes. “Is that what you truly want, Kurt Hatching? If you agree, there is no going back. Yes, I can save you; I can grant you the power to overthrow the Garden and take back this world. But you would now be my puppet forever. Or until I find someone more powerful. That is my condition. What say you?”

Mortem stood up, prepared for Kurt to turn it down, so what happened next shocked it even further. “Do it… Do whatever you want with me; just give me the power to save the people I love!”

“What? You’re serious? After all these years, desperation was the key to getting you? Ha, I’m slightly disappointed.” Mortem scoffed, walking around Kurt. “But I won’t complain too much; after all, the legendary Kurt Hatching will be mine. I’ve been so looking forwards to this. Take my hand, Kurt. Take my hand and pledge allegiance to me.”

With his life fading before his eyes, Kurt reached his hand out, whispering. “Hannah, Zinnia… Forgive me.”

Taking the little boy’s hand, the entity was transferred as the boy collapsed dead. Kurt fell too but stopped himself, staring at the floor, feeling like a new man. His eyes turned dead, and a snicker came from him. “You made the right choice Kurt Hatching. Don’t ever regret this choice. I will hold my end of the bargain now and destroy the Garden once and for all.”

****

“I will take your body for my own. You belong to me!”

“Oi Mortem.” A voice croaked, forcing Mortem to stop staring on with fear. Kurt stood up, staring Mortem down. “What’s wrong? Was my body not good enough for you?”

Mortem turned, stumbling back at the sight of the Phantom in the blood. “You should be dead. Leaving you should burn you up.”

“Should it now? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I just don’t know when to quit.” He said with a cocky tone flicking his hand down. “If you want to hurt my daughter, you’re going to have to go through me. Your fight is with the Phantom of New York. Prepare yourself, Mortem. Let’s finish what we started 400 years ago.”

Zinnia watched in disbelief. “Dad?”

The Phantom turned to Zinnia with a heroic smile. “Worry not, Zinnia, you can rest easy now. I’ll take care of the rest; I’ll be the hero you see me as once and for all. Watch me and learn villain as I stop your reign of evil once and for all!”

Mortem jumped back, pointing to the Phantom paranoid. “You stay the hell away from me, Kurt Hatching. Don’t you dare take another step you hear me! After all, I did for you, you’d betray me! Need I remind you I was the one who gave you the tools to stop the Garden? I saved your life and allowed you the opportunity to see your daughter in the flesh. You should be on your knees grovelling for forgiveness for defying us!”

Kurt shrugged his shoulders, not against the idea. “Well, I will admit I am grateful for everything you did. Truth be honest, I don’t really see us as enemies in this fight. That belongs to the Garden for both of us. However, you see, as much as I’d like to thank you for this all, I can’t overlook the threat you’ve put on my daughter’s life.”

“Daughter?! Give me a break. You abandoned her the moment you let me in! 400 years! In 400 years, you never made any effort to find her as she rotted away in a damn orphanage, unaware of her father’s true identity! You don’t just get to pick and choose when to be a father!”

“You’re absolutely correct. I have no right to call myself her father. I failed on that and will never get the chance again. But as a hero, it’s my sworn duty to protect the innocent from evil like you!” Moving his arm across his chest, his whole body ignited with smoke dazzling off into the storm. Mortem stepped back panicked as he smirked. “And I think it’s time to put the reign of Mortem finally to an end.”

Mortem reacted quickly, scared for its life, throwing shadows all around. “Damn you fucking heroes! I won’t let you get in my way again!” Kurt began walking forward, avoiding each attack, effortlessly weaving around each shadow with a smoky afterimage behind him. “Not again!” Dozens of shadows poured out, consuming the area and eating up Kurt.

Standing in the cocoon of darkness, Kurt smirked, moving his arm around. “If I recall correctly, you used this move on me last time, correct? You want to know something funny, Mortem. You may have had 400 years to work out all of my moves, but so have I!” Stomping the ground, smoke fizzled out everywhere as Kurt scrunched his fist together, building up power. Stepping forward and unleashing an uppercut sending off a massive blast of smoke, breaking through the bubble, shattering it to pieces. Everyone else stared on in shock as Kurt came out unharmed, dragging Mortem out throwing it into a tree. He clutched his fists back, throwing a bombardment of punches that left Mortem stuck. As they tried to escape, Kurt grabbed them by the head, kneeing them in the stomach. “I’m not done with you yet, sweetheart!” Landing another uppercut, the smoke fizzled through Mortem’s body, smashing it up into the air as smoke poured from their mouth. Holding his hand up into a finger gun, Kurt charged up a single small smoke bomb. A shockwave burst out, pushing everyone back as a giant blast of energy began piling around Kurt. “This is where it all ends. Farewell Mortem.” Flicking his finger forward, the smoke bomb rippled out, making contact with Mortem letting off an array of explosions, setting the sky on fire and stopping the blizzard for a short moment.

Kurt turned to the village as everyone watched in awe at the legendary hero’s power. He gave a faint smile to Zinnia before frowning, turning away. Zinnia was left confused as she runs after him. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Huh? Oh, I just thought after all I said and done, you wouldn’t want me back. I understand. I do. It’s better off this way; you wouldn’t want a coward traitor as your father…”

Zinnia stared idly as her father built up the courage as she went in for a hug. “You aren’t going anywhere. I won’t let go until you agree to come back.”

Kurt was thrown off entirely, not quite sure what to do. With his shaky arms, he slowly reached back and hugged Zinnia began trembling. A tear fell from his face as more was to follow. “After 400 years, I finally got the chance to huge my own daughter… You don’t understand how happy this makes me, but is this alright? I’ve done terrible things, Zinnia…”

Zinnia didn’t let go as she shook her head. “None of that matters anymore. You fought Mortem and came back.”

“But Zinnia… I killed your mother…”

Zinnia looked down silent for a short moment, looking up, smiling tears in her eyes. “I know, I spoke to her myself. She doesn’t hold any of it against you; she still loves you.”

Kurt’s eyes widened as he collapsed to his knees, trembling. “You were always going to be like that, weren’t you, Hannah? Even now, you’re probably laughing at me for being such a cry baby like always. I may have been a disgusting man who sold his soul to the devil to save the world, but… I intend on making up for those mistakes. But I cannot do it without you, Zinnia.”

Holding her hand out, she nodded. “I’m there with you, father.”

Kurt took his daughter’s hand, standing up wiping his eyes as a strong gust of wind blew against his face. Holding his hair, he gave off a warm nostalgic smile. “I understand, Hannah… I’ll keep our promise going. I’ll protect Zinnia and this village with my life. You can count on me and rest easy knowing The Phantom is on the job!”

Zinnia watched her father yelling to the wind with a passion in his heart, feeling a tight feeling in her chest. Wiping her eyes again, she smiled, overwhelmed with emotions. Turning away to the village, she whispered under her breath. “I finally did it, Alton… I found my place in the world; everything is perfect. But this cannot last forever. Mortem, the Garden, I’ve been gone for far too long. Please just wait a little longer for me. I’m coming home.”