22 DAYS BEFORE THE REMATCH IN HALLOWSVILLE

  Colorful lights washed over the rows of people, the stadium already buzzing with energy. Kofi and I sat apart from the main crowd, tucked into an elevated section that overlooked the stage. Even there, the noise swallowed my voice, drowning out whatever the kid was finding so amusing too.

  The “front row seats” were really just back row seats that gave you a better view. Not to mention, the backstage pass wasn’t even a thing anymore. We were too far away for Lyra to see us, and all the KBs inside made her Energy Sense pointless. Which meant there was only one way she would notice us.

  Signs. But the words on those signs couldn't just be any word. They had to mean something. And we were about to get the chance to use them as the curtain blocking the stage dispersed into crimson embers.

  The crowd erupted with roars at the sight of Lyra, and the excitement was understandable if you were a twelve year old girl. The gold-trimmed blue and white jacket, along with the white tutu, really had the fans going crazy down there.

  However, just when I thought the show was gonna start, Lyra had something to say.

  “I know all of you came tonight to have a fun time,” she said into her mic. “And I plan on delivering that, but there’s something I do need to inform everyone here.” Lyra exhaled. “Zandalf of City B’s Underground Radius… has been killed in battle. By former Radius member Jason Zoorhees.”

  No one made a sound. Although, I didn’t know if that was due to shock or ‘cause the crowd didn’t know who Zandalf was. Flam did say something about the B Team being unpopular amongst the majority of citizens.

  “Even though he might not have been as well known as my father — the great Daemon Williams — and I, he was someone… important to me. So, this show is dedicated to him and his legacy. May Zandalf’s replacement contribute to our society as much as he did. Thank you!”

  Lyra’s words received a thunderous applause, and I couldn't help but clap too. Despite how artificial her performance was, she had the people wrapped around her little finger. The single tear running down her cheek that I saw from the giant screen above the stage definitely sold it.

  With that, the music started. The other ladies in pink and blue that I saw on that poster joined Lyra, and that made the fans even crazier.

  Before we entered the “Underground Dome”, I noticed everyone was holding glow sticks with a green letter R attached to them — the logo of Lyra’s group. Now, they were being held high, turning the interior into bands of color.

  “Hey, Electro!” I screamed. “I’m surprised this concert’s still happening with the escaped convicts on the loose!”

  “Those guys are cowards, but smart!” he screamed back. “They’re hiding in different places, so I guess word didn’t get out to everybody yet!”

  I lifted up the big sign I made to my chest. “You ready!?”

  “What do you think!?” Kofi answered, a spark coiling around his finger. “Let’s remind that girl of her trauma!”

  We raised our signs high in the sky, electricity making the words we wrote with markers shine bright — brighter than any light in the Underground Dome.

  “WE’RE SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS” and “YOUR MOM WOULD’VE BEEN PROUD OF YOU” were the sentences I knew would pierce Lyra’s heart more than anything else.

  For a moment, her attention went upwards. And then, her eyes widened. However, that momentary reaction was quickly replaced by a cute, bubbly smile.

  An hour or two passed, and the concert ended with a huge display of fireworks bursting across the artificial night sky. The Underground Dome shook with cheers as Lyra stepped forward one last time, breathing hard.

  She waved.

  The crowd roared louder, glow sticks thrashing like a living ocean. On the massive screen above the stage, her smile filled the Dome, and for just a second, her eyes flicked away from the sea of color. Straight at me.

  Then the curtains began to close. That’s when we dropped.

  Kofi grabbed my sleeve as the floor beneath us gave way, tilting sharply downward. We plunged into darkness, sliding fast, through a smooth, spiraling chute hidden beneath the stands.

  “What the fu-” Kofi’s voice vanished behind me.

  The slide stretched on and on, until we shot out.

  I stumbled forward, barely catching myself before slamming into polished concrete. The music from the Dome was gone, replaced by the distant echo of footsteps.

  We were in a room with movie director chairs, tables with makeup on them, mirrors above those tables, and a large box in the corner covered by a sheet,

  “Is this backstage?” I asked, standing up.

  And sitting in one of those chairs, legs crossed and cleaning her face, was Lyra.

  “Princess of the Underground!” Kofi blitzed to one of the chairs and sat down. “Long time no see. Do you still act like a bitch ooor…?”

  She scoffed. “You two come into my territory, during my big show, on the anniversary of my mother’s death, causing trouble? You’re lucky I don’t kill the two of you and crucify your corpses in the middle of the city.”

  “We also went to prison!” Kofi happily added.

  “How do you even know about my mother, zombie!? Did Sunshine tell you?”

  “No, no, I saw your father when we were driving here. He told me,” I answered. “Me and him actually, uh, prayed for your mom together. That was a weird experience considering what happened.” I noticed the sheet covering the cage moved, but I chalked that up to the wind. “Speaking of your father, me and him-”

  “Made a deal?” she interrupted. “Can’t attack you til the Jason problem is dealt with, correct?”

  “Correct. How’d you know?”

  “You wouldn’t be alive if that wasn’t the case.”

  My jaw tightened. “Did you know what Jesus would do to me? And what… my daughter would do too?”

  Lyra stayed silent for a second. “Yes. What? You want me to apologize for informing my enemy of our plans.”

  “Nah. An apology means nothing coming from you,” I said. “But now I know you’re a lot closer to my daughter than I thought.”

  “Because I didn’t tell you about her plans?” she asked, squinting at me.

  “Yeah, but also ‘cause you called Sunshine by her name.”

  “Seriously? That’s not exactly a good answer,” Lyra said.

  “Well, it is a real answer. You’re the only one I’ve met on this little field trip of ours that didn’t just call her ‘your daughter’ or ‘devil child’.”

  The pop star slowly nodded, and then looked at Kofi. “So, you’re with the zombie now, eh? I guess that means he wants me to join him too.”

  The boy grinned. “You guessed correctly.”

  She turned back to me. “I’ll have to impolitely refuse.”

  I folded my arms. “Oh, really?”

  “Don’t act confused. You’re the dickwipe who got my brother in that mess with the Corleone Family!” Lyra shouted at me. “That forcefield is so tough, not even our strongest lieutenants can break it.”

  I was going to ask if Daemon could do it, but I decided against it. From my conversations with Dante, it was clear they had some sort of a strained relationship. His father didn’t even ask about him when we talked.

  That meant there was only one person who could save Dante if he was still alive in that bubble. “Lyra, in exchange for you helping my team against Jason, I’ll save your asshole brother for you.”

  She furrowed her brows. “Without your ability?”

  “I know how to possibly get it back. Your father gave me a good hint.”

  “Even so, me helping you doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Lyra grabbed a towel on her table and patted it down her face. “Do you know anything about Jason’s forces?”

  “Forces?”

  “You expect me to join your team of misfits without providing me any info of what Jason has in store for us? You and Sunshine went to Hallowsville with a whole team prepared to fight that freak. You really don’t think he’s going to build his own team?”

  “That guy doesn’t do teams,” Kofi joined in. “I mean, Jason wouldn’t be going batshit right now if it wasn’t for that team up with your brother, uh, I forget his name. Damien?”

  “Dante!” she corrected. “And what they had was barely a partnership. It was all about control, and control is the key word here, zombie. Jason doesn’t need to worry about team work or friendly bonding like you do because he’s powerful enough to control whoever works for him. Add in the fact that he’s potentially working with the Corleones, and you dickwipes are fucked.”

  “No one’s gonna fuck us, alright? We’re gonna win,” I assured her.

  Lyra sighed, shaking her head. “You sound like a child who watches way too much anime. You can’t convince me to risk my life with a showing of your ‘amazing’ willpower and determination. Last time you relied on those two traits, your own daughter got you killed.” I tightened my fists. “You gotta convince me that I’ll come back in one piece. You gotta convince me that your team is reliable. Hell, at least give me info on Jason’s side. Until you can do those things, my ass is staying put.”

  Lyra took a long sip of her water after that complete disassembly of my plans. She was Dante’s twin, alright. They shared the same punchable face.

  If I was gonna get her fully assimilated into my team, then I’d have to erase her worries somehow. Maybe another infiltration of Hallowsville was in order? Or figuring out where the Corleones stayed.

  Kofi grinned. “Are you also gonna mention how your daddy has you grounded permanently? Or should I say ‘undergrounded’?”

  Lyra flipped her hair back, hitting the boy in the face. “It is embarrassing to admit, but, uh, yes. That too. And sneaking out requires very specific requirements beforehand. Not to mention, I do have obligations as a Radius member. Stuff to create and transmute. Paperwork to read and documents to sign… Gosh, maybe I should go with you guys. My life is boring.”

  “Lyra, once I convince you on all those things you mentioned, you’ll put your full heart into our battle?” I asked with confidence. “After that, I’ll save your brother.”

  She scowled. “You’re an egotistical one, aren’t you?” Silence fell for a bit. “Fine, sure, I’ll do it. You want my number to keep in touch, or do you need me to make an SB for you?”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Make an SB? “We already have one, but before we leave, I’ve been meaning to ask-” I pointed at the box. “What’s under that sheet?”

  “Nothing important,” Lyra quickly answered. “Just concert things. Someone like you wouldn’t understand.”

  We gave each other confused looks before I sped forward — straight for the box.

  “Wait! Don-”

  I removed the sheet and realized that the box was actually a cage. And the cage held someone inside — a zombie-looking girl with blue hair.

  My mouth gaped at the sight. “Mo-Moonlight!?”

  “Sunshine’s Dad! Save me!” Moonlight wailed, gripping the metal bars. “She's kept me trapped here for a week!”

  “A week!? Don't worry, honey, I'll get you out of here!” I turned my head to Lyra who was creepily walking up to me. “You wanna explain why you have this girl locked up in here like an animal?”

  “We were just… researching Moonlight’s condition!” she nervously answered. “Not everyday you see someone with her condition. She is a very unique individual to thoroughly examine.”

  “Lies!” the zombie girl shouted. “She kidnapped me the day we all separated, and left my whole family scrambling to find me. When I got here, she kept telling me to do all this weird stuff like ‘treat me like your daughter' and ‘discipline me’ and ‘say you love me’. I was very uncomfortable!”

  “Nooo!” Lyra screamed, covering her ears, dropping to her knees.

  “This is absolutely hilarious,” Kofi laughed, gripping his stomach. “Fucking roleplay?”

  “Jesus, Lyra, you sick bastard,” I said in a disappointed tone. “If this was the Old World, you'd be breaking so many laws right now. But it's not, so the only thing I can do is free this kid.”

  I ripped off another bars for Moonlight to step out and into my arms.

  “Thank you so much, Sunshine’s Dad,” she said as I carried her in my arms. “I want to go home.”

  “You got any idea where home is? You do live underground, after all.”

  “This place messed with my sense of smell. I can't smell Flash or the others.”

  “Well, do you wanna go see Sunshine until you can?”

  Her hollow eyes somehow lit up. “Oh, that would be awesome. I definitely need some light after being in that darkness for so long.”

  I nodded.

  “But she's so adorable… and so nice to me,” Lyra muttered, pouting.

  “Your path to redemption starts with giving us your number, Lyra.”

  “Suck a melon, dickwipe,” she insulted with a sad tone.

  “Well, that’s not nice.”

  ******

  Despite what happened to our car, Kofi and I returned to the research facility in record time. Given his superhuman stamina and my inability to feel fatigue, our speed never died. Naturally, Moonlight was in my arms the entire time, but while I was worried about whether she could handle the sprinting, she was worrying about something else.

  It was written all over her face as her and I stood near the closed cafeteria doors. I didn’t blame Moonlight’s fear. Those screams and manic laughter inside would scare any kid, although, I was sure it was who specifically was inside that had her rattled.

  I crouched down to her. “Scared?”

  “A little.” She fiddled with her fingers. “Ok, maybe a little more scared.”

  “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I assured the girl. “Sunshine has missed you. A lot. You’re her first friend, you know.”

  Moonlight nodded, smiling. “Yeah, she told me. She’s mine too, which is why I’m dreading the next couple minutes. Flash said some unkind words to Sunny, and I feel bad about not defending her back then.”

  I patted her soft head. “My kid’s not the type to hold grudges for insignificant things like that. She’s been through a lot, so it’ll be nice for her to see a friendly face.”

  “My face isn’t friendly, silly,” she giggled. “I’m hideous!”

  I laughed, standing back up, placing my hand on the door. “Oh, don’t say that. You’re one of the cutest kids I’ve seen in the New World.”

  With a light push, the doors opened. The scientist crashing into my body made me regret that decision. Without giving an apology, the guy got off of me and tackled his fellow lab coat schmuck to the ground. And if the residents of the cafeteria weren't fighting each other, they were huddled around Sunshine, watching her arm wrestle Vladimir in awe. Stepping further inside didn’t bring their eyes to us.

  Sunflower was busy kicking some dude in the balls in the back of the room, which concerned me a bit. Walking up to her with Moonlight, I asked, “Hey, what the hell’s going on here, Flower?”

  “Cool sword. And this shit-nugget said he wanted to do experiments on my body,” she answered angrily. “So I’m teaching him a painful lesson.”

  “Oh, he did, did he?”

  “I meant it in a scientific way!” the scientist cried.

  I shook my head. “No, Flower, you gotta put more power into it.”

  “Like this?” My oldest daughter stabbed the man’s family jewels with her toes, and a wail ripped out of his mouth.

  “That’s my girl!” I exclaimed. I brought Moonlight in front of me. “Oh, say hello to Moonlight. She’ll be with us for the time being. Until she can find her family. Moonlight, this is the daughter I was talking about — Sunflower.”

  “Hello there,” the zombie girl said.

  Flower stopped her assault and raised her brows at the kid. “Another one? How many more girls are you gonna adopt this month, old man?”

  I noticed my daughter’s victim was crawling away. “Why don’t you go finish what you started? I’m gonna go talk to Sun.”

  She grinned, chasing after the scientist. “Where the hell are you going, creep!?”

  Moonlight’s attention turned to the arm wrestling contest, her body fidgeting. I would’ve taken her to Sunshine first if it weren’t for the growling giant tiger and the lab coats cheering like college jocks.

  “Mr. Hunter, permission to pet that tiger?” she asked.

  “Go for it! Just be caref-”

  Moonlight left before I could finish my warning, but I stayed close.

  “No,” said a female scientist. “She doesn’t need to outmuscle the tiger in the way you’re thinking. A tiger’s forelimb can generate somewhere between four thousand and five thousand newtons of force in a pulling motion. In an arm-wrestling posture — short lever, full contraction — you’re looking at torque in the range of 1,200 newton-meters. But if we take into account that Vladimir is a mutated animal that overpowered a Type Two, then he’s way stronger than that.”

  While I tried to understand what any of that meant, Moonlight squeezed through the doctors’ legs. They were all shorter than me, so I could see what was going on without my tippy toes. Sunshine was gritting her teeth, veins popping, her face sweating as if she was standing in the Sahara Desert. Meanwhile, Vladimir was yawning, his arm completely still. Her arm looked like a stick compared to the chunk of meat attached to the tiger.

  “A nine-year-old human can barely manage 150 newtons at the wrist! Either her bone’ll break or everything’ll break!”

  “You’re right, Dr. Hazel. A child shouldn’t survive resisting that… unless her muscles amplify force instead of just producing it. Her muscle fibers don’t contract like ours. They’re layered. Each bundle triggers the next. One contraction becomes ten. Ten become a hundred.”

  “In other words, Sunshine’s arm would have to produce approximately six thousand newtons of force to win this match. Even with her aura, that’d be defying biological rules altogether!”

  However, my daughter was about to win in a different way. Vladimir moaned and laughed as Moonlight dug her zombified fingers through his fur. The torture wasn’t over yet. She began climbing the tiger’s back, her little toes causing even more laughter to erupt. Sunshine gradually began to push down, her lips curling into a confident grin.

  Then, with a burst of power, Vladimir’s hand crashed into the table, splitting it in two.

  Everyone — including me — jumped up in excitement. That joyful expression on Sunshine’s face immediately died once she realized I was there.

  “O-Oh, hey, Jerome,” she said meekly, rubbing her shoulder. “You were gone for a while.”

  “Yeah, I was,” I replied. “Good job. I still have yet to beat that tiger in our matches.” Moonlight was a big help in that, but I wasn’t gonna bring down her victory.

  “Thanks.” Sunshine noticed the katana in my hand, and an eyebrow raised. “Where’d you get that?”

  “Oh, this is just-”

  “Sunny!” Moonlight happily interrupted, tickling Vladimir on the floor.

  My daughter flinched, turned her head, and her face turned red. “Moony!” They jumped onto each other, embracing, a smile returning on her face.

  “Sunny, you’re a strong girl now. Wow! I can feel my bones slowly turning to mush!”

  “Oops! Sorry,” Sunshine said, letting go of her while the scientists watched them closely.

  “What kind of specimen is this?” one of the scientists asked.

  “I have no idea, but she sure is hideous!”

  “Thank you!” Moonlight said.

  “Why are you here?” Sunshine questioned. “I know you live underground, but this place is miles away from where I last saw you.”

  “Well, I actually got kidnapped by that weird black-haired woman with the big green gun. And then she took me to this underground city and locked me in a cage. I thought I was a goner until your dad was there to save me. And the white haired guy too.”

  “My dad? Underground City? White haired guy? Kofi…?” My kid froze, and then stared at me with wide eyes. “You went to that place without me?”

  “Yeah, I did.” I tossed her the sword, but she didn’t catch it. “That’s a gift. A little souvenir I got from over there. Would’ve been nice if you caught it.”

  Sunshine’s face scrunched up, and she kicked the katana out of her sight. “How could you be so reckless!? Going to enemy territory alone?”

  The cafeteria’s chaos ended abruptly, and all eyes were now on us.

  “Going with Kofi is considered alone now, huh?”

  “Maybe it is when I’ve seen how crazy and selfish he can get,” she argued back. “Not to mention, he used to be in the Radius. And you trusted him to go with you over me?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you would know a lot about formally working for the enemy team.” Sunshine’s made a fist. “And I’ll have you know that Kofi actually warmed up to me, and he showed me more respect and discipline than you have this entire fucking month.” I snickered. “Oh, but you’re right! I should trust you more than him, despite what you did. How silly of me.”

  Vladimir sat up. “Zombie, I usually enjoy a good fight, but this doesn’t feel like a good fight.”

  “Maybe you guys should calm-”

  “We’re supposed to be in this together!”

  I grinned. “Yeah, if only you kept that same mindset in Hallowsville, right?”

  Sunflower grabbed my arm, and shouted, “Jerome, c’mon. You don’t have to-”

  “Fuck you!” Sunshine screamed, speeding out the door.

  “You’re not going anywhere!” I growled, ripping out of the teen’s grasp and chasing after Sunshine. My child only turned one corner before her head got caught in my grip. “And that zombie essence flowing in your veins? I’m a zombie too, and yet I know right from wrong. So don’t you dare blame that for your fuck up!”

  “Let go of me, you piece of shit,” Sunshine murmured, thrashing as I heard the cafeteria doors swinging open. “It’s always me, me, me. What about Jesus, huh?”

  “The fact is that maybe I shouldn’t have brought Moonlight to you ‘cause you’re gonna do to her what you did to me.” She paused, eyes bulging. “Who’re you gonna blame it on when that happens? ‘Cause I know it won’t be yourself.”

  Sunshine punched my jaw, and a crack reverberated through the empty hallway. My patience cracked as well.

  I grabbed her neck, my teeth baring. “I’ll eat your goddamn heart out, kid! Don’t think I haven’t done it before!”

  Her delectable-looking skin wouldn’t satiate my hunger just yet. That prick Vladimir grabbed my face and pulled me down to the floor, allowing Sunshine to run off — probably back to her bedroom. But knowing her possible location had my muscles burning and the juices within me bubbling like hot water. If the only thing holding me back from my desires were these bastards, then I had nothing to worry about.

  I was on the verge of erupting until…

  A slap snapped me out of it. I shook my head around, getting all the bad thoughts out that were poisoning my mind.

  Sunflower rubbed her palm, gritting her teeth. “What the hell is wrong with you, Jerome?”

  “The next time you want to wrestle someone, just come to me,” Vladimir suggested.

  “I’m… uh, sorry, guys,” I muttered. “I don’t think… that was me.”

  My daughter sighed. “No offense, but you’re kind of reminding me of your father.”

  Her words hit harder than any punch I had ever taken.

  The slow realization that she was right made it hurt worse too.

  It felt like the hole in my chest was getting bigger, and closing it was getting increasingly harder.

  ********

  The image Sunshine saw in the bathroom mirror made her stomach churn, her organs twist into knots, her skin crawl, her head pound, her everything… hurt. She didn’t know looking at her own scowling face under the dim light could be so painful, but there she was.

  Then again, maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it was some sick, twisted version of her glaring from another universe. That would explain why all this hatred Sunshine had stored up only wanted to erupt when she imagined herself smiling or feeling proud of herself.

  She punched the mirror once, and the glass shattered, fragments of her face falling onto the floor.

  Sunshine looked at her fist as the mirror’s frame descended. No blood. No pain either. But she still didn’t feel good. That empty feeling wouldn’t go away either.

  “Sun… shine?” She jumped, turning to her right. Moonlight was walking into the room. “Are you ok?”

  “Moonlight,” Sunshine said under her breath, face softening. “I didn’t even hear you come in.”

  Her friend laughed softly, and then looked at the broken glass. “I could feel your anger pricking my skin from behind the door. Do you want to talk about what happened between you two?”

  Sunshine’s face hardened again. “Fuck that piece of shit. I’m done with him. I put my life on the line for him, and that’s how he treats me?”

  Moonlight didn’t respond at first. Then, she said, “Let’s take a deep breath, ok? You shouldn’t say that. You two are family.”

  “Fuck family. Apparently, messing up once makes you the devil,” she sharply responded. “I gave that zombie a piece of my heart, Moonlight. I spilled everything onto him, and you wanna know what he said to me?” Sunshine’s lips trembled, eyes starting to well up. “He said I should learn how to love myself. What kind of screwed up shit is that to tell your kid? And then he decides to flex his ‘growing relationships’ with Sunflower and Kofi in front of my face like I wasn’t there first.”

  “I’m sure that’s not what Mr. Hunter meant by that. I mean, can you tell me what even happened before today? He said something about Hallowsville, right? What did you do up there?”

  Sunshine shook her head. “You know what hurts me the most? He has the nerve to deny me some earned forgiveness. Kofi was a Radius member, but he gets forgiven. Sunflower tried to kill him and me, but she gets forgiven. Not just that — he rewards her with an ‘adoption’. With me? I’m just trash that he can throw out. Well, maybe I should throw him out!”

  All those words felt too easy to say out loud.