Chapter 193: Be the Hero You Were Meant to Be (2/2)
”What do you know about that?! You don't know him like I do. The brutal monster he is. You can't beat something like that!” Alton screeched smacking his hands together, sending a wave of water blasting Iris off her feet and crashing into a lamppost. Alton jumped in the air-punching the ground where Iris was. Rolling out the way she held her arm being boosted further back by her cubes. Standing high above the crowds, she stared down at Alton furious. ”I don't want to go through that pain ever again! The pain of losing everything close to me. Sam, Marco, Destiny. My mother… None of them had to die!”
Iris kept jumping towards her newly made pillars, sending cubes back to counter Alton's attack yelling. ”I'm sorry what happened Alton I really am. But nothing will change what happened no matter how much you try to forget those events happened! But you need to step up and take reasonability and make things right!”
”I am making things right. I'm not giving my father anything to work with. He won't catch me this time. He never will again.”
Jumping to her last pillar Alton was one step ahead, breaking it before Iris could safely land on it. Slipping over the edge, the water struck her pinning Iris to the wall and freezing her in place. Iris tried breaking free as Alton turned away seeing people take pictures of him all in shock. As Alton was about to run again, Iris screamed out, tearing up. ”How long are you going to keep doing this?! Do you seriously intend to run your whole life?! You might as well let him kill you because that's no way to live. You've touched so many lives, Alton, made everlasting friendships and relationships with many others. People look up to you! I look up to you! How many times are you going to break their hearts? The next group of people, the ones after that! Doing this is beyond selfish!”
Alton stopped scrunching his face holding back his tears. ”You don't think I know that?! You don't think it tears me apart knowing this is my life?! That I'm leaving behind people, I care for so much to a fate I can't control. I'm always on the run that's how I've been for as long as I could remember… It's always just me. I don't know what to do, I don't know, and it's killing me… What do I do then Iris?! Tell me what to do because I'm just about ready to throw in the towel and give it all up!” Falling to his knees, he stared down at the ground whimpering. ”I don't deserve any of this… Not one inch. The loving attention of fans… Children who look up to me as some role model. If they knew what I've done… Who I am…? I've been running from something I should have just accepted long ago. I know that but. I'm just too afraid to die. I just don't understand anything.”
The ice holding Iris shattered as she fell to the floor coughing. Alton's head lowered further as he stared at his frozen hands. When all seemed forever lost, Alton heard a voice cry out from the crowd. ”Don't give up! You can't give up!”
Alton's head turned to see a little boy wearing his mask jumping up and down yelling. This was met by another voice and another. Soon the whole crowd was yelling at him.
”You can win Alton! Don't give up!”
”We believe in you!”
”You're our hero Alton fight!”
”No… No, stop. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve your encouragement…” He whimpered, lowering his head to the floor. ”I deserve your hate. Your disgust. I only deserve hate and anger.”
Iris walked over kneeling, pulling Alton in for a hug. ”Don't you see it, Alton? No matter how much you try and throw it away, people will always care. You've helped so many people through hard times. Everyone at Team Rhapsody. Blossom, Monty, Alice… Me. Even before then… You've touched so many lives, and those people aren't just ready to let you go like this. You may not think you need us Alton, but we need you more than you realise. Please no more running.”
”But what if that all happens again… What if he kills… What if I…? I can't go through that again.”
Iris raised Alton chin, smiling. ”And it won't. Not this time, you're strong Alton. You've held back the Garden time and time again but only because of your team. You need them as much as they need you.”
An intense hailstorm burst through the city as the sky turned a dark grey. Everyone began running in fear as Alton looked in horror. ”No… Oh no, it can't be. It's my father… What is he doing?”
Iris didn't budge clearly in pain from the hail as she kept holding Alton's hand. ”Don't you see Alton? He will never stop, no matter what. You need to end this once and for all. But it doesn't have to be alone.” Iris held out his streaming mask the one from his days of Hero's Might. It was a simple masquerade mask made from ice. The Sunset Peak high logo was printed on the side as well as his streaming name Avalanche. ”Be the hero you were always meant to be.”
Alton held it in shock whispering. ”Never did I think I would see this mask again… It hurts seeing it even now. But it is also warming… Iris.”
”Yes?”
”I'm ready.” Both stood up as Alton lifted Iris up, hugging her. ”Thank you… For never giving up on me.”
”And I never will. Show your father just what Team Rhapsody is all about.”
Alton turned to the wall where the eye of the storm was. He took a long breath ready. ”It's time… Time to end this once and for all… Father, I'm coming for you.”