The air hung heavy with the sharp scent of shock and fear, but also strength and determination. None of that strength and determination came from me. I looked closer at the aftermath, half-expecting to see Sunshine sprawled out on the ground, injured or worse. But no—she was still there and alive, beneath the invisible man and gripping fiercely onto his back with her small hands.

Once I saw she was fine, a wave of relief washed over me, bringing me down to my knees. The field was an absolute mess of broken earth, torn trees, and scattered debris. A large part of me thought my daughter would be one of those broken things. No father would ever want to see their little girl risk their lives in a fight. Especially when the only reason she feels the need to is because the father can't win it on his own.

But those words she screamed at me…

“Trust me”

Trust that she was stubborn enough to stay latched onto that man’s body for who knows how long. Trust she wouldn't get caught by my attack. Trust that she was strong. I couldn’t help but feel a hint of admiration for her.

Though, out of all the things she told me right before I used my finger gun, I would've never expected that my daughter would…curse at me! Where the hell did she learn “fuck” from!? I've never said that around her…probably.

“Hey Jerome, I'm starting to see him now!”

Sunshine's words sliced through my whirlwind of thoughts, pulling me back into the moment. I slapped my cheekbones, shaking off the haze that had settled over me, and closed the distance between us.. It was time to put my head back into this harsh reality, even if that meant including Sunshine in it.

The space on the ground glistened as my daughter scrambled to her feet, the outline of a figure wavering in and out like a mirage. My toes dipped into a thick liquid which I quickly realized was blood once it became visible underneath my feet. The back of Sunshine’s hoodie was stained with blood too but thankfully it wasn't hers.

His shape grew sharper, lines and shadows beginning to solidify, revealing patches of a man caught between visibility and vanishing. A flicker of his jaw. The curve of his shoulder. It was like watching an apparition slowly dragged into reality.

Finally, we could see him and…he didn't look like the threat I thought he was. The man was scrawny. Scrawnier than me when I was a human. Hell, I could've probably beat his ass if I wanted too. He groaned in pain, clenching the wound I gave him with my new technique. Yet, that didn't stop his blood from escaping.

“You…piece of shit!” he yelled, struggling to cover the pain in his voice. “You shot me! How could you do this!?”

“Because you tried to kidnap my kid, man! How many of you guys do I…do we have to beat before you Radius give up.” I brought Sunshine closer to me and wiped some of the blood off her back. “Look at what you did! Got blood all over her favorite hoodie.”

“Favorite?” she questioned, smearing the blood on her black shoes on a rock. “Pink isn’t even my favorite color.”

“Huh? But it was your mother’s favorite color! What color could possibly-“

“Hey! I’m dying here!” said the man, coughing up blood right after he said that. “I need…to see a doctor.”

“And whose fault do you think that is? The brave father fighting to save his daughter or the loser who was too afraid to fight fair and square and got shot for it!”

“Y-Yo-You think I wanted to do this?” He tried to sit up but failed miserably. “I’m just as much of a victim here as you! I was just a simple bartender before last week!”

“Oh yeah? Well you should’ve stuck to selling overpriced wine instead of trying to fight the greatest father in the world!”

“Neeeeigh! I knew that voice sounded familiar.”

I recognized that ear-piercing horse sound immediately. The kind that really made you wish you’d go deaf. I turned my head and the king of being almost naked in the worst situations was approaching me, twirling his sword on the horse head’s muzzle.

“You know this guy?” I asked, still annoyed that Jesus didn’t help me at all.

He dropped the sword into his palm. “You bet I do! His name is Kevin. That guy used to have me hammered every night! Greatest bartender in the Underground, in my opinion.”

“Wait…Jesus, don’t tell me that’s you in that stupid mask?” he said weakly, cracking a genuine smile. “Wow man. I didn’t think I’d see an old friend up he-Ah! What the hell…are you doing!?”

Their seemingly friendly reunion was cut short by Jesus repeatedly stomping on the wound in Kevin’s abdomen. “¿Llamas estúpida a mi cabeza? How dare you! This shit means a lot to me you skinny little bitch! How about I make you die just a little quicker!?”

I was pretty indifferent on letting Jesus grant this guy a painful demise. It’s not like we were gonna help him in the first place. The only one who seemed to have a problem with it was my daughter, placing her hand on his thigh.

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Jesus stopped. “Something the matter, little lady? If you got a problem with watching this guy die, then I suggest you grow-”

“We should keep him alive,” she suggested. “After all, he could give us answers on the Radius’ next move, right?”

Jesus stepped back from the bleeding man. “Oh yeah, you’re right about that!” He then pointed his katana at Jason and said “Alright, tell us what you know or the next thing going in that hole is my sword.”

The guy didn’t flinch at the weapon mere inches from his face. He must’ve accepted his fate already. “Like I said before…I’m just a lackey in this whole plan. A goddamn minion! I got these powers out of nowhere and those Radius dudes stormed my bar and gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“What offer was that?” I asked. I thought back to what Kofi told me about how it was determined certain people would be recruited to their organization. Maybe invisibility was something they considered important and necessary to their goals.

“They said I could either join or die right there in my bar.” Kevin chuckled, blood seeping from his mouth. “Guess it didn’t matter in the end. I would’ve died either way.”

“They stuck a tracker inside you, right?” Jesus revealed his scar to the man. “Like the one they gave me?”

“Yeah…but I think that zombie shot it out of me. I don’t feel it vibrating inside of my hip anymore.”

Jesus patted my back. “That’s pretty fortunate for you two. They won’t know he’s dead since they won't be able to find his body…after we bury him!”

“How many more Radius guys are up here on the surface? And where are they hiding?”

“Radius…Oh God…I need a doctor.”

Jesus pulled on Kevin’s dark-orange hair. “My friend asked you a question here. How about you go ahead and answer it real quick.”

“M-Mommy? Is that…you?” he said, reaching out for Sunshine. “Pops? Why do you look like…a horse?”

“Well, isn't that unfortunate. Kevin’s going delirious on us.” The horse man readied his blade. “Guess it's time for you to-”

“A big guy…there was a big guy with me. Wanted me to…turn him invisible I think. He really wanted to see you two for some reason.” He pointed at Sunshine and me.

The moment I heard this, a cloud of fear began to shadow over me. I crouched down and cautiously asked “What was his name?”

“I…don’t know. He said…AIDs a few times though. Or maybe he had AIDs.”

“Jason!” Me and Jason shouted that name at the same time, both of us knowing how dangerous that masked killer was. What confused me the most was that Kofi specifically told me that the Radius I saw in that building down there wouldn’t come after me. Did they change their minds!? Or did Jason…come here without any of them knowing?

Either way this was bad. That maniac was just here and now he’s in who knows where! Or maybe he was still here…

“Jesus,” said Sunshine. She sounded more grown than usual. “Can you use your Energy Sense to track him down?”

“Already tried that. The guy’s long gone now. I’ve got no idea where he’d be heading to on the surface.”

I stood back up. “Seriously!? You have to know something. You were on the same team as him.”

“Well, if I remember correctly, he was always big on Halloween.”

“What does Halloween have to do with anything!?”

“There’s this place called Hallowsville. It’s a civilization that is strictly Halloween themed. As in, the people there are crazy for that holiday. I went over there a year ago to get my beautiful horse head fixed. Never went back though. Those civilians are freaky.”

And here I thought he only wore that mask ‘cause he liked that horror movie. This guy just loves Halloween in general?

“He’s dead.”

“Huh?” I responded, checking Kevin’s body to see if what Sunshine said was true. Unfortunately, it was. “Damn! I had more questions I wanted to ask…like about those trackers.”

“What else do you need to know about them? They track shit. That’s literally it,” Jesus remarked, caressing his blade on the man’s neck.

“You know what I mean! We need to get Sunshine’s tracker out of her.”

“This might be weird considering the fight we just had, but don’t you think you have more important things to worry about?”

“Jesus, are you dumb!? If we don’t get that tracker out of her body, more guys are just gonna keep coming! And the more guys we have to worry about, the less focus we’ll have on finding a-”

“A cure?” he interrupted, walking over to Sunshine. “What progress have you made on even doing that? None I assume. As long as the Radius are still out there, itching to make use of you two, don't you think the smartest option would be to snuff them out one by one?”

“You mean use my daughter as bait!?” I pulled Sunshine away from Jesus. “We can't do that!”

“I didn't mean use her as bait. I would never do that to such an adorable girl. I actually meant that you're going to go to Hallowsville and kill Jason.”

What!? Did he just tell me to…I can't do that! That guy has fought me three whole times and I lost every single one. The one time I could blast him away with one of my punches, he immediately came flying back at me. And this idiot wants me to kill him?

“What’s with that look on your face, Jerome?” asked my daughter, pinching my chin. “The only way we can peacefully find a cure for me is if we get rid of all these Radius enemies. And didn’t you say you beat Dante? Aaand you already fought Jason! Since you were able to save Johnny.”

Johnny…

“Yeah…I saved him.” I hoped she didn’t hear the regret in my voice. “But it’ll be dangerous having you there with me so we’ll have to-”

“Oh, she’s not coming with you. She’s staying with me.”

Jesus said that with such bluntness that I was this close to planting my fist in his jaw.

That was until…Sunshine spoke as well.

“Jerome, I think it would be a good idea if I trained under the horse man for a bit. Or a while. I don’t really know how long you’ll be gone. I mean I’ve got a good grasp at this Energy Sense technique. And he’s strong so he could teach me how to fight. That’s good, right? You wouldn't have to try so hard to protect me all the time!”

“I-”

“Wait! Before you say no, let me give even more reasons why you should let me do this. I…uh…You always say how I’m so clever, right. That’s another good reason! And I still have all the survival skills you taught me, remember? Just ‘cause I’m nine it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get stronger. And…and…”

“Sunshine, you cursed at me.” I gripped her shoulders firmly—not too tight to harm her. But enough to make her listen. “Don’t think I forgot about that.”

“There’s no way you’re gonna say no ‘cause of that. I’m sorry, ok! I won’t-”

“There’s no way I as a father can just let that slide without punishing you in some way. So I’ve decided on the perfect punishment for a bad child like you!” I looked at Jesus. “You’re gonna stay with this man until I come back and while I’m gone, he is gonna give you the most rigorous, painful, life-changing training you’ll ever receive! Even if that disease leaves you passing out, you better wake up and keep going.”

“Woah…are you serious!? Really?” Sunshine wrapped her arms around me. “You’re the best dad ever. Thanks, Jerome!”

“You can thank me by showing how much stronger you are once I come back. And trust me, I’m gonna come back after I absolutely pulverize Jason. He’s not gonna get away with threatening my daughter's life. That’s for damn sure.”

“Yeah, you better!”

“Neeeigh! Can you two stop before I get all emotional? Why do I feel like you two are only separating because of me?”

“Because it is because of you!” I said, holding back my fist of fatherly rage.

I got one last look at my kid’s smiling face before finally letting her go. I’d be lying if I said I could easily set aside all my worries about leaving her but I had to for now.

But it would be an even bigger lie to say my rage towards Jason was equal to…no, more than what I felt towards Dante. At least, that scumbag was too much of a coward to kill her. Jason was a mindless freak who killed a little boy in front of me! And there was only one way I was sure I could kill him.

I had to absorb another Type Two Radion.