V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 320

Ten slowly landed on the ground look over his wasteland and the frozen bodies glad. A smile came to him as he began walking down the streets, arms out, asking for trouble. “This is where the pride of humanity gets them. They simply cannot accept any reality where peace is an option, so hark and join hands as I have given you the destruction you crave so dearly.”

Harmony and Tempo emerged from the warzone, standing side-by-side, staring down Alton as he stopped lowering his hands. “Quite the show you’ve put on here, Ten.”

“Five and Six, are you here to honour my words or do you actually believe you can take me in a fight?”

Tempo slammed his book shut, throwing it over his shoulder. “You underestimate us, Ten. We won’t be tricked so easily like last time. Moreover, you’re in a much weaker state than before even with the Stage of Acceptance.”

Ten raised his head, scoffing at these remarks. “Really? Don’t you know who I am because if you did, you would stand aside and let destiny play out its funny little game?”

Harmony twirled her hand around as serval pockets of hardened air appeared all around Ten while Tempo held his hand up, unleashing a bright spark of light. “We’re going to do what One should have all those years ago.”

Ten stepped back as he unleashed a flurry of ice piling in on the two Judgements. Harmony kept moving her finger around, blocking the constant attacks holding them in bubbles of air, discarding them. However, the discarded bubbles came back as Ten began reaching in for his other powers taking on Scarlett’s. Crushing his grip, the bubble shattered as the ice rippled down, and as expected, Harmony went to capture each one. As she did, the ice began to glow green, zooming out of the way flying around her at high speed. Looking troubled by this, she stepped back, looking to avoid the attack only for one to graze her cheek, moving her back into line. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into!”

Focusing entirely on Harmony, Ten went in for the kill only for a blast of light to smash him back, crashing through the building. Lying in a pile of rubble, Ten looked up as serval more bursts of light pierced down on him. Using his psychic presence, he soared himself out of harm’s way, landing on the ground, but this instead was Harmony’s hardened air throwing him up high. Ten was out in the open without any cover, bombarded by blasts of light from Tempo. “It appears neither have you.”

Flipping forwards from the ground, Alton swung his leg down, which was consumed by fire. This would only be met with more solid air stopping him from making a dent towards the two. Moving around at high speed, Ten tried penetrating their defences only for each attempt to fail with a solid mindset stopping his assault at each passing moment. Forced back, Ten was destroyed, trapped behind more air tightly pushed together, making escape impossible. Tempo held his finger forward, blasting Ten with a concentrated ripple of power. Trying to negate this attack with his ice wall, the light ripped through, cutting right through Ten’s shoulder, knocking him against the wall. The solid air collapsed around him, trapping him as it was moved up into the air as Tempo charged up another light piercing attack. “We are well aware of your own Inspiration power Ten, and we came prepared to make notes of all the people who inspired you. Sam Belling, your own father and mother and Scarlett Syndicate all have shared their powers with you. To top that off, we’re also ready for the off chance you have Alice or Zinnia’s powers at the ready you’ve lost Ten!”

The ball of air was dropped as Tempo threw his ray of light which consumed the entire area flooding Ten with deadly attacks before sending him to the ground defeated. Zinnia and Sam watched from a distance, dazed. “No way…. That’s the power of two Judgements, incredible….”

“Do you think they can handle it?” Riley commented, waiting in the wings to strike. “I don’t like how easy that was.”

Zinnia nodded in agreement. “Ten wouldn’t just take charge to lose like this. He must have a plan…. He used Alton’s wishes against him, breaking down his will and holding on to his body as bait. He knew we would reject this world, and that’s all Ten needed to topple Alton once and for all….”

“Do you think we can bring Alton back?” Iris questioned.

“I know we can. Alton would never give up.” Alice whispered, holding her bow tightly. “He can’t.”

Ten was picked upheld by the collar by Tempo, who looked around tutting. “We don’t have long before he strikes again. Should we kill him?”

“Not yet. If we are, we need to take his Stage before then; otherwise, it will go right back to the Gardeners? Get one of the girls to claim it; I vouch for that Sam girl. She seems like the best candidate.”

“I can’t…. No…. Not yet…. It’s my dream….”

“Shit, he’s coming too faster than we thought. I just going to kill him!” Tempo roared, holding his hand up to send off one last beam of light.

A pocket watch fell from Ten’s hand hanging on by the chain swaying back and forth. Squeezing the chain tightly, the watch began to freeze over as Ten screamed. “Your power is mine Acceptance!”

Shattering the watch, Harmony and Tempo stared on in horror as both of them were unable to move, trapped at the moment. Ten opened his eyes, staring down at Tempo, laughing to himself manically. “You bastard!”

Freeing himself quickly from Tempo’s grasp, Ten stood wide open, holding his face laughing more to himself. “You foolish idiots, you thought you had any power against me?! We aren’t even in the same league!”

The others stared on, finding themselves trapped, just like Harmony and Tempo. As Zinnia was caught staring at her hand, her eyes widened. “I can’t move! I’m stuck!”

Alice had fired her bow only for the arrow to be stuck in mid-flight, heading towards nothing now. “That’s not possible! It’s like he froze time itself!”

“The power of a Stage of Grief and a Judgement combined is unlike anything I’ve ever seen! So, this is the sort of power you possessed, Adam!” Ten screamed to himself high on the feeling before turning to Tempo, snorting. “Look at you so powerless to stop me. What’s wrong want to cry?”

“This can’t b-.” Ten didn’t let Tempo finish as he cut him down in an instant, cutting the feed.

Tempo vanished as Ten flicked his hand, sighing. “A shame it wasn’t the real thing. No matter what, once I leave this world, I’ll be sure to end it quickly. Now onto the next course.” Ten turned his sights on Harmony as he pulled his hand back, striking her instead of clashing against a bubble of air. Retracting his hand, he smirked. “Not bad, to be able to create a shield that quickly you have good reflexes. No matter, this will end it.”

Setting his fist on fire, Ten struck, breaking the bubble; as he did, his pocket watch returned to its original state. One minute passing, Harmony was now able to move, avoiding Ten’s attack by the graze of her cheek. “That was too close…. Damn it, why did Six have to leave on me so quickly?”

Ten stared down at his pocket watch, picking it back up, tutting. “So that’s how it works. Freezing time for a minute is useful enough, I suppose. No matter, I don’t need that to stop you!”

Sam and Zinnia jumped in to assist Harmony as Zinnia held her katana by her neck in a readying stance. “That’s enough, Alton! Stop this at once!”

“Stop, why would I do that for?! I’ve only just begun, so many people to save so little time. If this is how much power I can possess with one Stage, imagine two or three. The possibilities are endless!”

“This isn’t what Alton wants. We will put an end to this madness.”

Ten slouched over, rubbing his face snarling. “Who cares what that faker wanted? He was never real there is only Ten.”

“We’ll rip Alton from that ego of yours if it has to and if it comes to it…. We’ll kill you.”

“Kill me?!” Ten roars laughing at Zinnia’s claims. “You kill the likes of me? If I recall before, you’ve tried killing me before Zinnia Trost, that didn’t work out well for you. Alton was holding back last time, don’t expect the same treatment from the likes of me.”

“Things are different this time,” Sam said, curling her fists, clenching them tightly, letting fire flow through her body. “She isn’t alone.”

Harmony summoned pockets of air all around them, nodding. “You heard the girls Ten consider this them taking charge and kicking you from the team.”

Holding his pocket watch up, Ten smirked, wagging his finger. “You may fight; you may try. Hell, you may even come close, but time will always catch up to you three. I am Ten of the Ten Judgements, and this is my first step to a brighter world. Salvation’s Calling will be mine. You’re just the stepping stones I have to crush to achieve that goal. Show me what the leaders of Team Rhapsody and Hero’s Might have to offer!”