V.I.R.A.L

Scarlett was bashed to the ground bleeding from the nose. Rolling over, she held her face curled up, whimpering. "No more, please."

"Get up!" Her father insisted on taunting her. "A Syndicate never gives up no matter what. We face our foe until the very end. Never allow your enemy to look down on you like this."

Scarlett stumbled to her feet, her legs shaking as she coughed, holding her bloody nose. "Can we take a break? I'm tired."

Psychosis pushed her back, knocking her to the floor as Scarlett whimpered. "Your enemy won't allow you to take a break. In a real fight scenario, they will show you no mercy. Fight as if your life depends on it. Treat every fight like that, and you will not lose."

Slouched against the wall, Scarlett gritted her teeth, stopping her bloody nose from snapping back. "But there's always going to be stronger foes out there. One's I can't defeat. What good does fighting to the end mean if I don't stand a chance?!"

Lifting Scarlett up with his mind, Psychosis tutted. "You've learned nothing I see, daughter of mine." Placing his hand on Scarlett's shoulder, he gave her his final lesson. "Who decides what opponent is too strong for somebody? Who decides if you can or cannot defeat your enemy? There's no spoken rule stating such lies. It's only you who decided that. The moment you doubt your own ability and believe the enemy to be stronger, you've lost from the very beginning."

Scarlett stared blankly ahead, keeping eye contact with him as she whispered. "How do I do that? How beyond all the odds truly believe I can win an unwinnable fight?"

Psychosis walked away, opening the door. "That's for you to decide, Scarlett. Now hurry up and get cleaned up. You have a big day, don't you not? You're the number one streamer now."

Scarlett reached down to her phone, receiving a text from Alton to meet up before the ceremony; putting her phone away, she wiped her face giving it some thought. "Only I can decide if I can defeat my foe or not… I've come this far I cannot look back. No one can defeat me. That's my spoken truth."

****

Denial was forced on the defensive, crushed under the power of Scarlett as she released unrelenting attacks, not once letting her foe fight back. She didn't have time to evaluate her situation given her foe. One of the Five Stages of Grief wasn't something to laugh about; thus, Scarlett had to give everything she had for her most dangerous foe.

Crushing her hand, serval explosions locked onto Denial, flinging her into the air. Slamming her hands to the ground, a large chunk ripped out, carrying Scarlett up higher. Twisting her hand, she ripped and tore off serval parts of the buildings all around her to use as a weapon. Holding Denial in place, the rubble hovered all around her before Scarlett slammed it all to the ground. Denial was the first to crash to the floor before all of Scarlett's projectiles followed. The moment they made contact with the girl dozen of clicking sounds were heard as each piece of rubble caused a chained explosion destroying everything in its path. The explosions kept going before the street below caved in, crashing into the sewers below. Another colossal blast was set off as the gas pipe was torn apart. Gliding to the floor, Scarlett watched the aftermath, still not certain if that was enough. Her men gave an early cheer in awe at Scarlett's raw and chaotic power. She still wasn't buying it, however.

The cheers fell silent as a voice whispered in Scarlett's ear. "Behind you." Scarlett jolted around, seeing Denial right in right of her. Reacting fast, Scarlett pushed her hands together before unleashing a sudden explosive beam going on for miles destroying half the block. Stumbling back, exhausted by both her fight against Emil and Alton, Scarlett held her head, squinting as more blood came from her eyes. She was hoping to have ended the fight as quickly as possible, but she's going to run out of juice if it keeps lingering. "Are you quite done yet?" Denial teased, leaning forward.

Scarlett pushed her back, turning to her men. "Get to cover!" Flying up, her family knew what this was. Denial looked up, simply watching curiously as Scarlett held her hand out. A green glow emerged before crackles of fire appeared in her hand. All the glass in the area shattered as Scarlett charged up her final attack. The green explosive essence burnt her hand to a crisp as she even struggled to harness its full power. Flinging her hand down, Scarlett screamed with the might of her family. "Nuclear Hail!" Clumps of green explosions bombarded the city, destroying everything in complete sight. Not a single building was left, leaving only an empty wasteland where downtown Rhinefield once stood. Falling to the ground, Scarlett was dragged to safety by her men as she leaned against the wall gasping for air, half her face burnt. "I can't ever lose…" Scarlett waited a short while before looking around the corner. She flinched, lost for words. "That's not possible."

Denial was standing in the middle of the wasteland, more or less unharmed apart from a cut on her forehead, bleeding slightly. Feeling a sharp pain in her head, Scarlett pulled herself back around, realising what she had done. Denial smirked, wiping her head. "Got you."

"Shit… I doubted myself… Why the hell did I do that?!"

"Scarlett. Let us buy you time to escape." Not responding, her men ran into the fray, firing at Denial with everything they had. Denial opened her cloak as a pair of eyes appeared when the men laid contact with the eyes; they were blown away with nothing left.

Only two of her guards remained, trying to help Scarlett up. "We need to get you out of here!"

Rubble was flung their way, blocking their escape as Scarlett stared at the ground, conflicted at what to do. She could try and make an escape, but she knew that was futile. She'd be blown to bits before making it away. Her other option was to hold tight and hope someone like Alice or Alton turned up, but that was near impossible. She couldn't rely on anyone else.

"Come out. Come out wherever you are, Scarlett! You can't escape me."

Scarlett let out a huff of defeat, slouched over, staring at the floor. "I have to go out there…"

"We can hold her off, Miss Scarlett. Let us save you."

Scarlett shook her head, displeased by the offer. "You'd only be getting yourself killed over nothing. I'd still die… What irony is this? I am finally given my freedom to make my own choices, and here I am about to die. How simply cruel." Coughing, she wiped her eyes, laughing to herself, holding back the tears. "It appears I'm not going to keep that promise I made, Alton…"

"Miss Scarlett?"

Scarlett slowly stood up, almost falling the moment she did as she put on her bravest smile. "Go, there's no point you dying here. This is my final order. Flee, save yourself."

"But Miss Scarlett?! Our duty is to protect you!"

"Not anymore." She spoke, turning to her guards, sighing. "Haggis, don't look down. Everything is going to be alright. I promise if you want orders to find my pathetic sister. If she's still alive, protect her. If anyone deserves freedom, it's her."

Haggis stared on in horror, shaking his head. "This can't be how it ends, Miss Scarlett."

Smirking to herself, she turned away from the muscular red-haired man looking to the sky. "It is because I was the one who decided it was. I hold too many regrets, but I wouldn't change any of them for the world. They brought me here and made me who I am today. The only thing I wish I could have changed was… I guess, making amends with Riley. If you see Alton, tell him. Tell him? Never mind… He'd understand. I've decided my life ends here, it appears, but as a Syndicate, I won't back down or falter to my enemy. I'll face her until the very end. Go, now!"

As Scarlett scoffed to herself, Haggis fled in the outburst, taking the first step to her destined fate. As Denial was about to throw her last set of attacks at the buildings, she stopped, slightly surprised to see Scarlett approaching her. "Oh? Has she finally accepted her fate and welcomed death? How amusing." Scarlett held her hand out as she picked up anything in sight, ready to end this. Denial watched as the countless pieces of broken glass and rubble were flung at her. Each one was destroyed before it could even reach her, only confusing the little girl more. "What is she planning here? Does she honestly expect to win this?"

Scarlett kept going throwing more and more simply as a last-ditch effort to call a fight. "I may have decided you to be stronger, but that doesn't mean I won't die without putting up a fight!"

"You pitiful creature… If you think putting up a last-ditch effort will make your death mean anything, then you are a lost cause…" Denial grumbled, rubbing her eyes, stopping the tears. "If you wish to fight till your last breath, then allow me to make it quick.

Denial collapsed into her cloak disappearing. What climbed out startled Scarlett. An exact copy of herself emerged with the Garden's yellow eyes. Denial held her hands up, mimicking Scarlett. "This is my Stage's power. Anyone who doubts their own power in front of me will perish by their own hand. This is your end Scarlett Syndicate."

Holding her hand out, Denial tore an entire building from the ground, raising it over her head. Scarlett stared up in complete horror as Denial cackled away, throwing the skyscraper ahead. Scarlett stepped back, using all her power to hold it in place. Inches from her and closing, Scarlett gave it her all as her body glowed green. Scrunching her face together, she has slowly pushed back the pressure of the two powers ripping her apart. Her clothes and skin began piling away, making Scarlett stumble around more. Holding both hands in front of her, she looked down, screaming, having her own body tear itself apart, overusing her powers. The last of her powers broke as she stared on in horror before the building crushed her with no hope of escape. Denial stared on as her form returned, slivering back into the cloak.

The little girl watched on at the wreckage, frowning. "What a buzzkill… I really thought she had more than that. I won't deny your prowess, Scarlett. I won't forget this fight for as long as I live… That fight wore me out more than I expected. I should return before things get dangerous."

****

Riley sat in her tent, feeling a sudden sense of dread. She held her chest, startled, almost falling to her knees. Staring at the floor for a short while, she squeezed her chest, falling onto her bed, muttering to herself, knowing something terrible had happened. "Scarlett… That cannot be…"

Zinnia poked her head into the tent, curious. "Is everything quite alright, Riley? Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

Riley stared at her hand, trembling left in shock. "It's Scarlett. She's dead."