V.I.R.A.L

Vanguard had remained almost silent through the journey back to the studio. He hoped Alton wouldn't pick up on the matter. Because of Rodger, his whole plan and existence were put into Jeopardy. Alton had matched this choosing to keep the game of silence going. This would only end once the two arrived at the studio. Switching the lights on Alton looked around, finding the place empty with no one about.

"Where's everyone gone?"

"Oh, I sent them all home early. There's nothing else to do today…"

"Alright, I left my jacket outback you mind if I grab it?"

"Sure, go ahead." He said as Alton went into the back room. "Say, kid, how's the apartment treating you? You like it?"

"It's a little big for my liking actually…" Alton yelled from the back room. He came back in with two bottles of water, shaking his head, looking embarrassed. "Sorry Vanguard sir, I meant to say it's great. You've done more than I ever expected. But might I ask why? Why are you doing so much for me?"

"I make sure my fellow streamers get the best opportunities they can get. The way you lived in that rundown apartment working two jobs to make ends meet is no way someone of your talent should live." Vanguard insisted, taking the bottle of water. As he began to unscrew the lid, Alton smirked catching him off guard. "Did I say something funny?"

"Oh, no. I was just wondering if you said that to the other streamers you manipulated and disposed of beforehand?"

Vanguard flinched trying to keep his cool. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Drop the act Marcus, I know it's you. The mental overload cases. The amount of high profiled streamers going MIA, it's you. It always has been."

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"Might I say, I am impressed. I find that rather annoying to tell you the truth. Just when I thought I figured you out Alton you come and throw a spanner into the works. How did you know?"

"It was rather obvious." Alton shrugged off, taking a sip of water. "I mean every mental overload case apart from the one we accidentally walked in on was taken down by you, can't help but bring in suspicions."

"That's you're evidence? The fact I'm a good streamer?"

"Oh, don't be silly. Of course not. The mental overload cases bothered me quite a lot. It was only when Iris brought up her theory was when things got interesting. She thought it was high ranked streamers were the targets. It made sense. Many of the cases were of high viewership streamers. That was until I was hit. You targeted me, right? Not Iris. And that's when it hit me we had been looking at it all wrong. It wasn't popular streamers. It was the most powerful ones; it was just a coincidence that many of the top streamers were also the most powerful. Take it your accomplice didn't expect me to survive the attack, yeah?"

"I must admit we were taken back when you overcame the mental overload. Set our plan back quite a bit. Might I ask, how did you survive?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Ha! So not even you know. How very interesting. Fate brought us together, and it appears fate isn't so keen on getting rid of you so easily."

Alton laughed with him nodding. "Fate tends to be a bitch about that."

"So, you figured out the targets. Yet you still had no reason to suspect me?" 

"Well no, actually. The moment I was targeted, I knew it was you straight away. Coming to me, offering me a place on your streams. That was the worst mistake you could make. If it was popular streamers you were targeting, then you would have no reason to come after me. Powerful ones, well that's different. I can assume it was the same for the other fools you crushed? None of them was prevalent. Saw the chance of making it big working under the number one streamer and just took it. Never occurred to them why Vanguard was paying attention to them. You could say it was to boost numbers, but I don't buy that. You could do just fine without taking in sidekicks. No, you saw powerful streamers who could rival you and take you down and panicked. Recruited them with no reason to suspect anything was wrong. Gain their trust until one day they accidentally lose their life in a stream or go missing. You sweep it under the rug and move on because in all reality no one really cared about those streamers. Everyone is here for the main show. But of course, that got risky. People starting to notice something was up. So, you changed your plan and went with sending these streamers into a crazed state. You take them down and kill them. You get the numbers and praise, and you squash the true competition. Because to you, it doesn't matter how many viewers the streamer gets if they are strong, they are a threat. I think I got it on the nose, yeah?"

Vanguard crossed his arms, smiling. "Did you rally this information onto your team? Were you the reason they discovered Rodger?"

"I have no coalition with my team on this one. They discovered that on their own. I suspected Zinnia might have found the truth eventually. Guess that didn't play well with you. Bet you brought me here to silence me, huh?"

"You're a real pain you know that kid. If you knew my intentions, why tell me this? You gave away the chance to get the drop on me."

"Why did I tell you? Truth be told I really didn't care about the mental overloads."

"What?"

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Alton nodded, taking another sip. "You act, surprised? I mean it really shouldn't come as a big shock to you. I've made it clear I don't care for fame or being a hero. I don't care for streaming, nor do I even like my powers. They remind me of my father, and that disgusts me. Truth be told I was quite willing to look the other way with this whole takedown crusade you had going. I mean, to begin with, it had little to do with me. Didn't know those streamers. Couldn't care to know them. Their deaths were affecting me, so why should I care? I knew what you were doing, but at the end of the day, if it got me the money, I was willing to turn a blind eye. Pretty sure most of the city would too if they found out. You're just too good at your job for people to turn you in. It was simple, I was going to work here for a few months. Make the money I needed to live and pay for Sam's treatment and then retire. I would have been done with streaming for good. Once I pay off my debts, I was planning on doing that anyway." 

Alton swirled his bottle around, shaking his head, laughing in disappointment. "No matter how much I despise and fear my father, he did teach me one good bit of advice. If it isn't your problem Alton, don't make it yours. But then you had to go and mess it all up. You targeted me and took out Gale this changes things. I can overlook others. But threatening me. Threatening my friends. If you said you would leave me alone, I guess I could believe you. But your most likely going to be targeting Team Rhapsody next. I wish we could avoid conflict. This is such a bother. But I guess I have to defend myself…"

Vanguard squeezed the water bottle tightly eyeing down Alton with a blank look. "Defend yourself? Do you even know what you're saying? Compared to me Alton you are nothing. Why bother playing the hero? That life doesn't suit a low life punk with no ambitions in life apart from making money."

"I suppose you aren't wrong there…" Alton agrees as the water from Vanguard's bottle bursts holding him in place and freezing over. Alton looked at his bottle before throwing it high in the air. The water floated around him like a ring as he smirked. "But I guess Zinnia's heroic dreams have rubbed off on me a little. This isn't just about saving myself or her. I'm going to bring you to justice and end your game once and for all."

Vanguard looked down at his frozen body blankly. He shook his head tutting in disapproval. "Well, then Alton all that praise I gave you I take back. You are just as foolish as I first thought. This world has no place for heroes. Not anymore." Jerking his arms to his side, he broke from his frozen prison as the chunks of ice rippled everywhere, making Alton step back startled. "I hate getting into fights with other streamers. I don't like being seen as a villain but nonetheless. I'll show you what happens to wannabe heroes Alton. I'll give you my final lesson. The lesson in why the age of heroes will never return."