Florence slouched back, rubbing her eyes paranoid. She had been stuck to the oracle for the group with not much help on the outside. Watching her friends and allies fighting to the death for Victoria's future was taking a mighty toll on her. She sighed, reaching for her half-drunk water, gulping it down. "What are you up to, Alton?"

The door to Florence's room slides open as Monty stood at the helm knocking on the wall. "Knock, knock."

"Oh, Monty… aren't I glad to see a friendly face. It's total mayhem out there; I'm getting reports of the new stage of grief popping up all over Victoria… Each one matches Alice's report. The CEOs have really resurrected Percy Misharp."

Monty looked disturbed, frowning. "That is a problem. If those bastards can go resurrecting their army, then what hope do we have? Not to mention they steal our own away from us."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened. Butch wouldn't want that."

"I know," Monty grumbled, rubbing his head. "But not just Butch, that bloody dumb brat Emil as well. The Montagues are in shambles, that's for sure. You and Jinx are the only ones left, really."

"They still have you."

Monty shook his head. "I'm a failure to the family; I don't deserve the name. What I regret most is not having the chance to make amends with my father. There's nothing I can do about that; all I can do at this moment is make up for my mistakes and fight."

"Well, you've done more than was expected of you. If it wasn't for you, Sam wouldn't be alive."

"Not like she's of much use to us…" Monty hissed, realizing what he said. "Sorry. Force of habit, I'm sure Alton will be thrilled; he might even let me off for the past events. If she is all Iris made her out to be, then she needs to start waking the hell up."

"Speaking of Iris, I can inform you she is doing well. She's in safe hands with her sister and Alton."

"I wasn't asking."

Florence chuckled faintly, turning back to her computer. "There's no need to hide it, Monty; we know you care for that girl. You feel guilty for the past traumas you left on their family and Team Rhapsody. It's only natural you want to make up for that. She's a nice girl; you wouldn't have risked your life taking on the Syndicate family otherwise."

Monty took a deep breath walking into the room. "Whatever, here the last of the rations for today. We're really low on supplies. After losing two bases in the matter of a month, we're struggling."

Florence took the sandwich, nodding. "It's been hard for all of us, and with Scarlett, on the rampage alongside a Stage of Grief, it's only going to get harder. But we have Alton now; things could turn around."

Monty took a bite from his sandwich, talking with his mouth full. "Any luck of locating the Trost girl?"

"Still none as always. We've looked everywhere possible. Anywhere Alice believed Zinnia could have gone. We even talked to her former guardian for any leads. It's like she fell off the end of the earth and vanished. I knew that girl briefly, but. Zinnia would never standby and let innocent people suffer."

"You think something happened to her?"

Florence shook her head, disjointed. "No, she's strong. Stronger than all of us, she overcome those trials and freed the curse held onto us. Anyone who can do that won't fall easily. Wherever she is, I just hope she's safe."

Monty gave a slight nod agreeing without any words spoken. Instead, he chose to tap her desk, walking away. "Get some rest sometime, Florence… We all need you at your best."

She smiled, holding her food fondly. "You've really changed, Monty, haven't you?" Alarms blazed the room before any more could be said as the two friends were left dazed. "What the hell?"

"What's going on?!"

"We're under attack!"

"V.I.R.A.L?"

"No, I can't be certain!" Florence yelled, going through the security cameras only to freeze, seeing Percy staring right at her. "Oh, no… It's Percy. Monty! Your sister and Blossom are still badly injured from the breakout; get down there and protect them!"

Monty rushed out, running down the corridor as dozens of freedom fighters fled to safety. He stopped turning back to Sam's room conflicted. "If you're going to wake up, now's the time…"

****

Alton tried standing only to feel his leg shake falling back down. He couldn't quite understand what just happened as Vanguard walked on, moving his neck around as a strange aura bled off him. Eventually, he finally pulled himself together, standing up but still staggered by the single hit. Alton gripped his hand back, sending out a blast of ice. Vanguard smacked it out of the way approaching Alton slowly. "How does it feel, Alton, to be withering at my knees? To fall so low that you are being looked down on by the likes of me."

Alton snarled, stomping his foot down as a ring of ice, consumed the area holding Vanguard in place. Skating around, Alton hopped over Vanguard; now, behind, he went to attack. Vanguard took the hit without any effect. Vanguard turned, breaking the ice, gripping Alton by his head. Picking him up, he threw him in the air lobbing him in the stomach, making him gag as he was smashed into the wall. Collapsing to the ground, Alton felt all his energy fizzle away. Alice appeared through her portal before any more could be done, bombarding Vanguard with blasts of arrows. This looked to damage Vanguard a lot more than what Alton did. Reappearing next to him, Alice helped Alton up. "Can you stand?"

"Just about… I don't understand why I can't even keep toe to toe with him?"

"You must still be injured with your fight against Acceptance and Percy. Let me finish this sly bastard off." Alice demanded, readying her bow. Vanguard smirked, stepping forward before propelling himself at top speed, crashing down just before Alton. Alice pulled up a portal to stop him, only to find Vanguard jumping back. Not sure why Alice tried attacking only for Vanguard to fly through the portal made by her. Thrown off by this, she wasn't given time to react as she was grazed by Vanguard, making it to safety. "Damn it…"

Vanguard moved his arm round tutting. "Not a direct hit? Never mind, that should give me an advantage anyway. Your silly portals won't help you, Hawthorne, anyone, can use them to their advantage, or did you forget that?"

"Alice. Let's… Work together."

"Are you sure? You're."

"Alice…"

Nodding, she stood her ground, throwing her bow away, calling upon Eve for her scythe. "I understand, something feels off about all of this, but if we work together, we'll take him down no problem!"

Vanguard taunted the two with a smug look. "Come then, heroes of Team Rhapsody, show me that willpower of yours and take me down once more."

"This bastard really gets on my nerves!" Alton grumbled. "The portal now, Alice!"

Alice cooked up a portal appearing above Vanguard and in front of them. Alton bluffed his attack as Vanguard burst through the portal, looking to close the gap. The moment Vanguard jumped through, an ice wall was erected, countering Vanguard off the bat stunning him. Anticipating this, Alton kicked the wall down, shattering the defence and digging the ice shards into Vanguard. Given this small window, the two allies went in, risking the close-quarter actions piling in on Vanguard. Erupting an ice blade, Alton began slashing at Vanguard while Alice did the same with her scythe. Anytime Vanguard would counter, a portal would open, teleporting the target a safe distance away before getting back into the fight. Keeping with this, Vanguard was left in a stunned state, unable to make a dent. Being teleported once more, Alton, now behind Vanguard, kicked him back as he slid across the hill, stopping his fall. Even after all the attacks they landed on him, it didn't seem to do enough. "He can't feel anything, correct? But I can't even see any resemblance of major damage to him…"

Vanguard cracked his knuckles laughing. "That tickled. Is that really all you've got? Surely, you've got more than that if you hope to defeat the CEOs? If you cannot even best me, what chance do you have?" Stepping forward, Vanguard once again vanished, making the two jumps on edge. A little part of time passed before Vanguard backhanded Alice back. "She won't be an issue anymore."

Alice stopped her descent, stabbing her scythe into the ground. Steadying herself, she fell to her knee, losing focus. "What the hell?" Unable to understand what happened, Alice proceeded to keep fighting as she readied her bow to strike. Vanguard didn't try and avoid taking it head-on. The arrow fired and, to her utmost horror, bounced off Vanguard like it was nothing. "Impossible…"

Alice collapsed, unable to stand as Vanguard cackled. "I suppose I should let you in on what's going on. While my primary ability is to change anything's weight, I touch. I also have a secondary power I keep a secret and only use against my worst foe. And that being drain touch. Anyone who I attack head-on will slowly lose their willpower to fight. You two are growing weaker by the second as that fire burning in your heart is slowly fading into a flicker."

Alton took serval pants, grunting. "So that's why back then I lost to you all those years ago? If I had the chance to use my ice powers, you would have lost. But after a few hits, I couldn't muster up the energy or willpower to do so… Damn it."

"You underestimated me again, Alton. You probably thought you could easily defeat me after knowing of my powers this time. You probably fought off much more powerful foes during our last matchup, not to mention my state. It's easy to understand why you thought you could easily overpower me. This is how I protect this small sanctuary. I won't lose to anyone. Not you, not my demons nor V.I.R.A.L. My name is Marcus Culling, and this is my stand against the world."

Alton collapsed to one knee feeling his anger burn. The ice melted as smoke fizzled from him; this, in turn, made Vanguard a little cautious, never thoroughly learning of Alton's ability inspiration. His body began to burn as his eyes burst into a bright yellow with his Garden form taking centre stage. But unlike before, it wasn't one of a cold, uncaring storm—quite the opposite. The powers of the man he shared his life with for merely twenty minutes, but to Alton was years. The rage was blazing as smoke poured from him. The frozen flowers melted into a purple glow as Alton stood up once more, cranking his arm around. "Won't lose to anyone, you say? Don't make me laugh; crooks like you are worthless in my eyes. The only thing your good at in life is falling down to my might. No more messing around; if you do not help, allow me to do something I should have done years ago. Burn everything you stand for to the ground."