“Holy shit,” I yelled, jumping back and pointing at the animal. “The rabbit can talk?”

“You a talking dead man, and you’re more worried about me talking?”

“Yeah, you got a point about that,” I said, lowering my guard a little. I was surprised at how familiar his voice sounded. Not ‘cause I knew him from the past. He just sounded like a lot of guys I used to talk to before those bombs dropped.

The rabbit tried to hop out of its seat, but it stopped. It had its hands over its legs and a pained face. “Damn, that girl really did a number on me. That’s the last time I fight someone as crazy as her.”

Moonlight petted his head. “Glad you learned your lesson, Flash. But, you still have to apologize to Jerome over here, ok? That was his daughter you were fighting.”

I sat back next to Sunshine. “Ah, so you were the one who got his ass beat by my kid? How’d it feel?”

Flash gritted his teeth. “Man, shut your ass up! She ain’t beat my a-” Moonlight slapped the back of his head, causing him the flinch. “Ok, maybe she did destroy me a bit. My bad, dead man. Got pretty angry and wanted to take it out on the first human I saw. Turns out that same human was tryna protect someone important to her… like how I be doing with this kid here. I tried to take that away from her, so my bad about that too.”

“Well, just be glad your little girl here knows how to heal people.” I looked at Sunshine and caressed her cheek. “If you’d done anything really bad to her while I was out, I would kill you very easily.”

Flash scoffed, placing his hands behind his head and laying down. “Same goes for me. I’d do a helluva lot to protect Moonlight. Even if that means taking down a walking dead like you.”

Hmm… so this is why the girl kept calling these animals her family. They really were her only family. “For someone who screamed after hearing me say ‘Jason Zoorhees’, you seem pretty confident about doing that.” I leaned in closer to the two. “Y’all got a problem with him? Did he like… do anything to any of you?”

The two looked at each other and then looked back at me. “How much do you know about him? Have y’all met before,” asked Moonlight, her fingers pressing against the chair.

“Yeah,” I said, fiddling with my fingers. “The guy’s a nut job hellbent on killing Sunshine. And it’s not even for a ‘good’ reason. He just wants to kill her ‘cause he gets off to it or something like that. Or was it ‘cause of some competition kinda thing? God, it was something stupid like that.” I hardened my fists. “I swore that I would kill him the moment I got stronger. But the moment I did, he was still able to screw me up somehow. It’s possible that I’m missing something else.”

“If you think he’s bad now, dead man, then you wouldn’t wanna see him at his worst,” said Flash. “Jason was just as dangerous in the old times as he is right now. Me and my friends used to call him the Torturer of Animals because that mothafucka, that heartless piece of shit was out there killing my kind.”

“Hold up. Old times? You and Jason knew each other?”

“Knew him? Man, I would’ve been his damn victim if my boy didn’t sacrifice his life to save mine. When the police finally caught his ass, he was already out and running after five months. Five months. Who knows what other sick shit he was doing after that.”

Moonlight placed a hand on my knee. “Jerome, are you seriously going to fight that monster again? I’ve heard some spooky stories about him from Flash. Maybe I wouldn’t worry so much if it was just you, but your daughter coming with… she’ll die.”

“What are you so worried about? Didn’t you threaten to poison my daughter if I didn’t find you a new home not even ten minutes ago?”

“Hey, I never said I’d kill her. Like I said before, my family didn’t deserve to get their home destroyed by you three. I’m just giving you a reason to fulfill your end of the deal.”

Now that I think about it, I could just absorb the radioactive energy inside of her if this kid decided to deactivate her ability. Moonlight didn’t know what my ability was, so I actually had more leverage on her than she did me. Although, her ability was pretty useful for normal wounds and injuries. Getting on her good side was probably the best option. Besides, going to the beach after a hard fought battle sounded pretty nice.

“Well, to answer your other question, I’m already aware of the dangers of bringing Sunshine to the fight with us. However, I think next time we have a better chance of beating him. I’ve been told of his weaknesses, and I’ve got a pretty useful potential team right now. We were even beating the psycho a little last time. In my opinion, she’s already strong enough to survive an encounter. With all of us together, we can win.”

Plus, there were my new techniques and transformations. Daemon wasn’t wrong about what he said to me in that bar. It felt like I’ve only scratched the surface of what this absorption and release power allowed me to do. Then again, other than absorbing other Type Two Radions, what else could I do?

The rabbit’s ears twitched. “This could be very coincidental, but is one of your members a human wearing the head of a horse?”

I nodded. “His name’s Jesus. Our little group got separated and I haven’t seen the weirdo since. Have y’all seen him around somewhere?”

Moonlight smiled and pointed to a large rock in the distance. “He had a scar on his neck he wanted me to get rid of. I think he’s been in this space for a couple hours at this point. I’m not really surprised he’s still here though.”

I thanked the two for the info and made my way to where Jesus was. If there was one thing I really wanted from that guy, it was my goddamn pants. I haven’t worn any for what felt like forever, and I hoped that tighty whity enjoyer had an extra spar for himself. That was until I saw the most horrifying thing imaginable. Something I wished would have never burned itself into my memory for the rest of my zombie life.

Jesus was there, horse head and all. Except he wasn’t wearing pants. Not even his underwear seemed to satisfy him, both pieces of clothing laying on the ground. The horse man was letting it all hang free, the ocean roaring upwards as though shouting at him to put his clothes back on.

There was only one thing I could say at that moment.

“What. The fuck!”

“Ah, the hombre muerto,” he said happily, rotating to me fully. “I haven’t seen you in so long, buddy. Come and give me a hug.”

“Like hell I will! Put some damn pants on,” I growled, covering my eyes. I was on the verge of quickly leaving when I felt the horrible embrace of Jesus. “Get the fuck off if me! I can feel parts I don’t want to feel.” I tried to push him off, but the guy was surprisingly tough to move. I felt his fingers puncture the ooze on my back and touch my spine. “What the hell are you doing, man?”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Finally, he let go, letting out a loud neigh. “Sorry about that. I just really like hugging good friends.”

I wouldn’t say good friends. Especially when this guy was hugging me naked against my will. “Just hurry up and put on your underwear. I’m taking back the pants though. I miss them.”

“Oh, thank god,” Jesus exclaimed, walking over to his underwear. “You have no idea how much I hated wearing that. Here, take this.”

He tossed the pants to me which I caught. “Sunshine and I were fighting that powerful ass Radius leader, but you struggled to wear pants?” I put them on, satisfaction filling my lower body. “Actually, I had a question about that. Since the third Radius Ability user was Daemon, he would’ve been teleported to you. How come he didn’t attack you for being, you know, a traitor to his group?”

Jesus tilted his head, folding his arms. “How do you know he didn’t teleport to the little lady?”

“The one who teleported to her was some teleporter guy. Forgot his name.”

“How do you know he didn’t teleport to you originally and just waited for you to lower your guard?”

I scratched my head. “I don’t know why you’re asking so many questions about this. That guy isn’t the kind of man to wait for you to lower your guard. Daemon’s an overconfident prick. Plus, I vividly remember punching his head off his skull, and yet he came back like I didn’t do anything in the first place. He definitely wouldn’t have to catch me off guard.”

Jesus didn’t respond, wearing his underwear.

My suspicions were rising a little. “Did he teleport to you or not?”

“Yes, he did,” he said calmly.

“Then why didn’t you two fight? That asshole nearly killed me, but he lets you off the hook?”

Jesus ominously stared at me for a while, the tension rising like a brewing storm. “It’s because I’m working with Daemon without your knowledge in exchange for the location of my son. I was the one who brought out that horde of zombies in that Walmart three years ago in order to bring out your Radius Ability. The primary goal changed once we realized that only did Dante save you, but you were slowly becoming a hombre muerto the day after that. So I was tasked with bringing out the primal instincts out of you, ones that a Radion would have. It was at that moment when you bit a chunk out of-”

I slapped the tip of his horse nose. “Dude, what are you babbling about?”

“What’s wrong,” he asked, adjusting his head.

“Would you quit joking around and tell me what happened?”

“Ok, ok, I ran,” he laughed, jumping on top of a rock. He punched the stone and his katana came shooting out from a hole in the ground to his hand. “Didn't really feel like fighting that hombre deprimido. Speaking of Daemon, he's right behind you.”

Without a second thought, I swung my fist behind me. What was once a sunny environment turned into darkness, my attack hitting empty space. A few seconds passed. The sun returned along with the light, and I quickly turned around.

The black-eyed man was right there, holding Dante up by the neck. I could've sworn Moonlight said no one we didn't want in here could have intruded. How the hell did he get in here!?

“This Radius Ability interests me,” he said, tossing Dante to the ground. “It looks to have healing properties within. It might even fix that disgusting half of yours, Dante.”

Dante covered his scarred half. “Very… funny, Dad. I really wish that was the case.”

I took on a fighter stance. “Daemon, how the hell did you get in here? If you're here to try and kidnap Sunshine and I again, then-”

“I'll stop you.”

“We'll stop you!” It seemed like Daemon was trying to do that annoying trick where he would predict my next line and say it at the same time as me. However, that didn't work this time, and his widened eyes suggested he realized that too.

Daemon chuckled, glancing at his necklace. “Type Two, you've helped me learn a good bit about yourself, your little apocalypse bringer, and the relationship that you have with her. I find it to be the most disgusting thing I have ever laid my eyes upon, and yet I can't bring myself to end it… prematurely. If that bond is the only way you two can become stronger, then so be it.”

“So what I'm hearing is… you're letting us go again? This is like the second time you're doing this.”

The man’s smile faded. “The third time you see me will be the last time you know freedom.”

I thought that last line meant he was about to leave, though he had one more thing he wanted to bring to us.

“I almost forgot about this thing,” he said, pulling out a small bottle filled with a green substance. He opened the bottle and whatever was inside spilled into the surface, morphing into a feminine figure.

It was… “Emmy. You know, I honestly forgot about you for like a couple hours.”

She looked shaken up, as though she was forced to walk through hell for days straight. “W-W-Why are you calling me that name in front of the great Daemon, you stupid Surfer! Are you trying to get me-”

“You named this blob of energy,” asked Daemon, staring down at the green woman. “Now that I think about it, who gave this thing authority to come to the surface?”

Emmy immediately turned around, making her body lower than it already was. “I apologize, Daemon Williams. I was under the assumption that the person who gave me orders to come here got orders from you. If that wasn't the case, then I, KB, will gladly accompany you back to Underground C-”

He picked her up, examining her body. “Which KB are you?”

“Oh, KB-124. I’m in the Superpowered Beings and Strange Phenomena facility.”

“Not anymore.” Daemon dropped her to the ground. “You’ll be doing field work from now on. Congratulations on your demotion.”

Emmy began to smile awkwardly. “B-B-But Sir, field work isn’t an actual division for the KBs. And if it was, it wouldn’t last a day since our bodies aren’t the most dura-”

“Then, you’ll be the first to do this. Unless… Are you questioning my authority,” Daemon asked aggressively, his firm hand wrapped around her neck.

“N-No… I’m questioning your… objectivity.”

“How about I use my objectivity to decide whether to disperse your body or not? Oh wait, I already decided to.”

I didn’t know what came over me in that instant, but some faint voice embedded within my instincts kept whispering to me, telling me to stop him. And that’s exactly what I did, my hand gripping his forearm. Why was I even doing this? I didn’t particularly care if she was around or not. It was like my body was moving on its own.

I glared at Daemon. “She’ll be with us for the time being, so I'd appreciate it if you didn’t kill her.”

Daemon glared back for a bit, and I was sure he was about to refuse my demand. Instead, he disappeared in a flash, leaving the four of us alone there to reflect on his earlier words.

Emmy sunk to the ground, muttering to herself. I couldn’t tell if she was snickering or tearing up.

Dante finally decided to get his ass off the ground. “God, he was on my neck for only ten seconds. Why does it feel like he was slashing it?”

“Dante,” I said. “Are you still planning on going to Hallowsville?”

“Sure,” he groaned. “But with the afro asswipe’s head divorcing the rest of his body, it’ll be tougher to capture Jason.”

“Sunshine and I aren’t capturing him. We’re gonna kill him.”

“Unfortunately for you, I have a lot more left to lose if he dies than you do if he lives. So when we’re fighting him, I won’t be fighting with bloodlust plaguing my mind. That’s gonna suck for you since you’re obviously going to need my power to survive.”

That last line wasn't wrong. I would just have to make sure I get this prick out of the fight once it starts going our way.

“Hey, Two-Face,” Jesus called out, somehow balancing his entire body on his katana’s hilt.

“Don’t call me Two…” Dante took a deep breath, smoothing out his hair. “No, Dante, just let it slide. What do you want, you horse headed freak?”

“Well, you were talking about how that Afro guy died, and I had something to show you.” Jesus began to dig into his underwear, and the thought of what he was about to do nearly sent my fear into overdrive. That was when he pulled out… a head. The head of that guy Daemon killed.

“Why and how do you have that,” asked Dante, stepping away from the guy.

“How the hell did that fit in your underwear,” I murmured, taking a step back as well.

“One of you, I don’t care who, is gonna bring back this dude’s Radius Ability so we can use it in our raid on Hallowsville.”

“Bring… his ability back?”

******

“W-What the hell have you people done to me!?”

A man-No, a former man had the audacity to scream in horror in Daemon’s presence after his scientists did him the favor of practically reviving him. Although, perhaps “reviving” wasn’t the right word to use.

After all, the man had become a Type Two Radion. However, Daemon couldn’t care less about another man’s loss of humanity when there were people out there who could only dream of having that kind of power in their fingertips. That Type Two should’ve been more grateful.

Why couldn’t he be more like Jerome? Or that volcanic Type Two?

Obviously, Daemon wasn’t going to allow himself to stand anywhere near that distressed individual, opting to watch through a glass window from above. The KBs below him could figure out what to do with that creature. Why would the powerful bring themselves to the same level as the weak?

It looked like the Type Two didn’t see it that way as it was now staring daggers at Daemon with those colorless eyes it was so ashamed of having.

Then, it leaped, forcing its way to the same heights the Leader of the UR worked so hard to obtain.

“You hold your head too highly.”