The plan to win was simple, though it required understanding Ricky Saints’ Radius Ability first in order to beat him. Or at least try to. Godfather presumably activated once one of Ricky’s collars locked around someone or something’s neck. That meant any one of the four were easily susceptible to the man’s absolute control.

  Except for Lyra. While it was true she was just as vulnerable as the other three, the moment Lyra went past her limit of three, she’d be immune. Inanimate objects made Ricky’s power useless. It would’ve been useful if the woman could shapeshift the bodies of others too, but her ability was limited to objects. Even if it was unfortunate, one immune person was perfectly fine. The only problem with that strategy was the strong possibility they’d lose the shapeshifter as an asset due to the internal damage she’d take.

  That’s where Ricky’s other weakness came in. Sunshine found it intriguing how a man stuck in a dark sewer still chose to keep his shades on. At first, she assumed it was for him to keep his cool points up. However, Lyra had a theory. In the few seconds it took for Ricky to recapture her after she turned her cloak into a trampoline, she saw something behind his glasses. Two bright red eyes shining like miniature rubies sitting under the sun—the same color as the blinking light on Godfather’s collars.

  Get rid of his eyes, and they’d get rid of his power.

  Make Ricky’s absolute control absolutely useless!

  As for Richman, that plan was also easy to enact. Even a toddler could figure this out. If you wanted to get rid of the dark, you needed to turn on the light. That should erase the bulk of the big man’s arsenal, if not everything. Plus, his control over the zombies would likely end upon doing so.

  In terms of roles, the four already knew what they had to do. Fight and survive. But most importantly, win.

  As the timer in Moonlight’s head entered the final countdown. Sunshine pointed a finger gun at herself. Lyra readied her water machine gun. Benji wiped the sweat off his hands with his pants and Moonlight climbed on top of him—with his help, of course. Since the paradise would disappear at the end of the time limit, the zombified girl didn’t need to do the gesture from last time.

  10

  9

  8

  7

  All of their wounds had been healed, and their bodies were raring to go.

  6

  5

  4

  Absolutely nothing could go wrong!

  3

  2

  “Mind Trick: Dante!”

  1

  The moment the beach vanished, they were met with something they didn’t expect. A group of zombies were now in the small white room, probably acting like a search party for them. Even the dimness of the lightbulb was enough to remove the zombies’ shadow cloaks, but now they were moving around freely in here with bodies just as dark as before.

  Upon noticing the four, one zombie lunged at Benji. He clapped, a dirty plastic chair taking his place. Oddly enough, the chair didn’t phase through the monster’s body as was expected. It just… crashed onto it.

  “They must’ve come in here through that hole we used,” said Benji, frantically looking around. “But why are they still black? The light’s still on.”

  Sunshine attempted to create a forcefield around the four, but to no avail. “Something's not right here. Hey, sis, make yourself useful and shoot that one over there,” she ordered, gesturing to the zombie tearing apart a few boxes in the corner.

  “Why don’t you make yourself not useful so you don’t have to be here,” she spat back, aiming her machine gun. “Trust me, these zombies are ugly enough.”

  Did she just technically compliment me?

  Despite her confusing words, she obliged with the girl’s command. Her finger curled. Water bullets stormed out and, to everyone’s surprise, the zombie took damage. Once it took a shot to the head, the zombie’s body went limp, falling backwards. That didn’t go unnoticed by the other black monsters, who immediately decided to take action. Although, they weren’t faster than Lyra. Just like their fallen comrade, they fell victim to her weapon.

  “That was amazing! But you could’ve relied on me… if you wanted to, of course,” said Benji, hiding behind Sunshine. The guy was still missing his shirt, meaning he’d be at a higher risk here. But still…

  “Get your burly ass hands off my shoulders!” Sunshine growled, fully taken over by the Dante experience. “You’ll ruin my suit.”

  It didn’t take another shout for Benji to do as he was told. “But you’re not wearing a suit! Also, why are you so rude now?”

  “That’s not Sunshine. That’s some other guy she turned into,” Moonlight informed, patting Benji’s back. “He’s pretty calm as long as he likes you.”

  “Oh, ok. Soooo, do you like me?” Benji asked, smiling nervously.

  “Hell no. You stink, you’re built like a human shield, and it’s literally taking all my brainpower to keep me from forgetting your name.” Ignoring whatever Benji said in response, Sunshine focused back on the zombies. Then, a realization struck her mind like lightning. “Great, now I'm even more pissed off. That fat asswipe had us fooled since this Shadow Army business started. The moment he used his ability, he-”

  “I’ll explain,” Lyra interrupted, pushing Sunshine to the side. “That dickwipe only covered maybe half or less than half of these sewer zombies in his shadow energy. The rest are just colored black, like paint.”

  Sunshine groaned, getting back up. “Stop trying to one-up me. You’re just benefiting from my own intelligence… But yes, that’s pretty much right. It explains why that zombie didn’t just phase through the chair or move within the shadows instead of running. Plus, I wasn't able to manipulate any energy in here since they weren't using shadow cloaks.”

  Sunshine theorized that Richman used Radioactive Energy to mutate shadows and the darkness in order to create the various constructs he'd shown before. Since Sunshine couldn't use Dante’s ability, that proved her other theory more.

  “So how do we tell the difference between the real ones and the fakes?” asked Moonlight.

  Sunshine reluctantly poked one of the corpses with her toes. “I thought I made myself clear just now. If you can hit them, they’re fake. If not, they’re real and proceed with caution. Also, where the hell have my shoes been this whole time!? Do you people not realize how disgusting this is? I still have sand on my feet.”

  Benji scanned the room once more. “Am I the only one unsure why these creeps were in here? I mean, I know they were searching for us, but it’s been three hours. Wouldn’t they have given up by now?”

  “Some predators could spend hours or even days hunting and stalking for their prey,” Moonlight replied. “Three hours means nothing when an animal’s really hungry.”

  “Yeah, did you forget that they wanna kill me?” said Sunshine. “Or capture me? Those pricks can’t make up their damn mind. Why would Michael Corleone send those guys over anyone else. They’re supposed to focus on their mission, and yet they do whatever they…. want…” An epiphany bloomed in her brain.

  “Well, anyways, the only exit from here is that same hole we crawled through,” Lyra added. “But I don’t feel like falling into these so-called predators’ trap. There’s a shitload of zombies out there, so we’re gonna make our own exit. Hey, bro, throw me that chair next to you.”

  Despite being deep in thought, Sunshine threw it anyway.

  After she caught the chair, Lyra transformed it into a sword that looked like it was crafted from human bone. “Sunshine’s bones are pretty durable. Should be able to cut through a couple walls.”

  “Good thinking,” Benji complimented. “Those guys really thought one exit meant we had to use it, but we can just make our own.”

  “No, we won’t be doing that,” said Sunshine, stuffing her hands in her pocket. “I’ve got a better idea, and Benji, you’ll be the main character for this one.”

  Benji’s bushy brows furrowed. “I’m flattered that you think I’m that important, but I’m also terrified of what you’ll specifically have me doing. I’m not the smartest here, so could you dumb it down for me?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I'll explain it nice and clearly so that even you can understand.”

  Ever since they made their appearance, it's been evident that both Ricky and Richman were men who cared more about themselves and what they wanted than their assigned mission–an undesirable trait in the Corleone Family. They were truly a rag-tag duo of emotional misfits. Despite being a fellow member, Benji nearly died because Richman chose to abandon him. Ricky chose to try and befriend him.

  But now the teleporter switched to Sunshine’s team, and the duo’s anger must’ve been through the roof at that point. Especially Ricky, who sounded like he cared about loyalty the most. It’d be impossible to find the two enemies in that zombie pit without facing a sneak attack first, though Benji being seen first could change things. It’d be a gamble, but they’d have to rely on the possibility that Ricky won’t kill him immediately.

  Obviously, Benji wasn’t too thrilled upon hearing the plan. “Ok, I get why I’d be a good bait, but why do I have to be the only bait? They’ll kill me!”

  “Actually, you’re the least likely they’d kill out of us,” Sunshine replied. “They view Moonlight as irrelevant, so they’d kill her. They already established they wanted to kill Lyra and I. I don’t know about the rodhead, but Ricky has unfinished business with you. And I remember he’s not the type to kill instantly. Knowing how those Corleone members roll, he might wanna torture you first.”

  Sunshine’s ominous chuckle didn’t help at all with Benji’s fear. “There’s no way I’m going out there alone after you said that! No way, no way, no way.”

  Lyra pointed her bone blade at Benji’s face, causing him to jump. “You will go, Bobby! Or I’ll show you something even scarier than out there.”

  “Y-Yes, ma’am!” exclaimed Benji, holding his hands out. He began to walk backwards to the exit as he laughed nervously—the sword still pointed at his face. “Just know that if I die, the karma will destroy you with all its might…”

  “Hold on, guys. Don’t you all hear that?” Moonlight alerted the three. “It‘s coming from the other side of the wall.”

  “Yeah, it’s the sound of a bunch of zombies trying to find us,” said Sunshine.

  “No, not that, Dante.” Moonlight pulled her ears forward and faced the wall to her right. “It sounds like… footsteps and… talking from another room. I can hear… Ricky’s voice. Don’t know about Roddy though.”

  Benji’s eyes widened. “Are you some kind of female Superman? Your hearing is really good if you’re right about this. Actually, please be right about this. I do not want to go out there again.”

  “I spent a decade living with rabbits, so I took up some tricks from them.” Moonlight turned to Sunshine. “I think Sunshine or her dad were telling me about something called Energy Sense. Can you use that to see if I’m right?”

  “Already did,” Lyra said enthusiastically, her smug smile pissing off Sunshine. “I can see an outline of Ricky, but not that other dickwipe. I guess they separated so that Richman could attack from the front and Ricky could hide in that room until he could sneak attack us.”

  Sunshine gritted her teeth, sliding her hand across her hair. “Those asswipes have another thing coming if they thought we'd be dumb enough to fall for that trick.”

  Lyra jumped to the wall Moonlight was at and softly knocked on it a few times. “The marble on this wall is thick… and it extends about five or six meters from this room to the next. Cutting or destroying it will make too much noise.” She proceeded to lick the sewer wall, sending a shiver down Sunshine’s spine.

  “Gross,” said Sunshine, covering her mouth. “When are you gonna stop doing that shit?”

  Lyra tapped on the wall again. “Alright, it’s ready. Now that the wall’s made of sand, you should be able to push through it silently.”

  “That sure doesn’t look like sand,” Benji said with a confused expression. His confusions were swiftly erased after he pressed his hand against it. It sunk into the wall, taking his whole arm with it. “Woah, woah, what the hell! It really does feel like sand.”

  Lyra sucked her teeth. “That’s what I just said, you idiot! Now get in there and keep pushing through.” She kicked the man deeper within the sand wall, getting a yelp out of him. “Moonlight, you stay here. Dante will follow Benadryl.”

  Sunshine approached Lyra’s creation, rubbing her chin like a wise old man. “Impressive. You mixed the marble from the wall with the sand, so it not only holds together better but also keeps it out of our eyes.”

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  She clawed into the sand wall like a hunter in tall grass. From what she sensed, Benji reached the end, though Ricky didn’t notice. His lips were moving as he held something against his ear—presumably a phone. The girl took a couple more steps before stopping near the end, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

  “What’s up, Ricky,” said Benji, keeping his hands in front of him. “Long time no see. Well, not really since it's only been three ho-”

  Ricky pulled something out from his side. Judging by the outline of the object, it looked like… a gun! It didn’t take a second longer for the teleporter to hold his hands up in surrender.

  “You got a lot of fucking nerve showing your face to me again.” Ricky’s voice was surprisingly calm—a stark contrast to before. If anything, that was actually worse than what was expected of him. “Don’t tell me you’re that eager to speed up your death sentence.”

  “Not at all,” Benji replied calmly. “I’m only here to remind Mr. Corleone of my current status. I haven’t talked with him in days.”

  Ricky placed the Status Board into his pocket. “The boss wouldn’t want to talk to a traitor. In fact, I’m positive he’d want me to kill you.”

  “Can you prove that I’m a traitor to the Corleone Family?”

  “The moment you teleported Sunshine into that other forcefield knowing damn well those zombies were about to destroy her. That was when you first betrayed us. Then, when you teleported all three of those girls to safety, that was the second time.”

  “I asked if you could prove that I betrayed the Corleone Family specifically. As far as I’m concerned, I was actually helping you on your mission.”

  Ricky exhaled, tightening the grip on his handgun. “What the hell are you talking about, Benji? The fact that you’re even questioning me shows you don’t respect the boss one bit.”

  “I was told earlier today by you and your partner that Sunshine Hunter was to be captured alive, and yet I noticed multiple instances where both of you tried killing her. What happened to that supposed important mission?”

  I’m surprised he isn’t dead yet. I probably would’ve pulled the trigger by now.

  “If you used your ears, you would’ve heard us say that Dante is trapped in that girl’s body, and that killing her would free that loser from her body.”

  If I got these idiots believing that’s even possible, then this technique is even more powerful than I thought. The only problem is that they wanna kill me…”

  “Ah, so you’re not aware of Sunshine’s Radius Ability then?” Benji asked, with just a whiff of condescension in his voice. “Her ‘Mind Trick’ basically tricks her brain or the brains of others into thinking the individual is something else. In her case, she tricked her brain into thinking she was Dante, so now she can use his powers.”

  “Huh? I could’ve sworn the boss said that was Jerome’s ability while she could absorb energy and other shit.”

  “I’ve seen her use the Mind Trick in person. Hell, even if she did have that zombie’s absorption ability, it can’t absorb people. Only energy.”

  “Alright, fine, but what does that have to do with you? You still switched up on us after everything I did to get you on Richman’s good side.” Sunshine noticed the slight hurt in his voice, as though he really did lose a close friend.

  “You said that I ‘betrayed’ the Corleone Family when you and Richman were the ones who actually switched up,” Benji spat back. “You tried to kill someone who was supposed to be captured alive and you nearly killed the guy who saved her from you. With all that being said, I’m the only one who seems to be loyal to that damn family.”

  Woah… Who knew this guy would be so good with words.

  Ricky walked closer to the teleporter and pressed the gun against his forehead. “Hey, I’m not playing. I’ll really kill you.”

  “You know, in the couple hours I spent with that girl, she has shown me more kindness and respect than any of you Corleone bastards the past four months!” Out of all the outcomes Sunshine saw coming, Benji kicking Ricky down to the floor wasn’t even an option. It happened anyway. “And if any of guy guys try to harm her, then I’ll-”

  The gun fired.

  Benji’s head snapped back. Blood hit the floor like spilled paint.

  The time for waiting was over. Sunshine exploded out of the sand wall, planning on seeing a corpse in the middle of the room. Fortunately, Benji was still alive, and he didn’t let the wound on the side of his scalp stop him from clapping his hands. Replacing him was Lyra, holding her sword like she was about to throw it.

  Sunshine flexed her hand, but still no forcefield. That made no sense considering Ricky still had the shadow cloak on. Unless… what he had on was also a fake.

  Lyra hurled the sword towards the man.

  She missed by just a few inches. But right before it went past him, the bone cracked. A dull pop echoed, followed by a sharp snap. The sword exploded mid-air. Sunshine instinctively closed her eyes as a burst of sand blasted out in every direction.

  Ricky shouted and Sunshine could hear him stagger back. “Ah, my eyes!”

  She opened her eyes, wiping the sand off her body. “A bone sword that explodes sand? Good thing you didn’t tell me beforehand you were gonna use something so cool. I might’ve spilled the beans.”

  “Oh, Sunshine, it’s you again.” Lyra licked the sand off her fingers and… swallowed. “Since you’re back, go and check if our theory was correct.”

  The girl nodded and approached the wall. The second her hand rose, she heard something that made her heart burn.

  “That fucking asshole Roddy!” Ricky exclaimed, slamming his fist down. The sand all over his blackened body was further proof Richman had given him a fake cloak. “He told me I’d be absolutely intangible at all times, but… he lied. Looked me in my face and absolutely lied.”

  “Hey, why do you think he gave you a fake shadow cloak?” Sunshine asked. “Was it a part of his plan?”

  “Use your brain, kid! He obviously wanted to preserve more energy for himself. You really think he can absolutely coat over a hundred zombies in shadow cloaks!? Using his actual Radius Ability on all of the zombies would use too much energy, and his strength would plummet. I knew I should've checked if the rod was still in my neck.” He continued rubbing his eyes. “Damn it! I knew he’d make at least fifty of those fuckers sacrifices, but I didn’t think I’d be one of those too. He was supposed to be… my friend.”

  Rod in his neck? I guess that's what gave him his intangibility. Explains why he was missing one before.

  Sunshine’s hand relaxed a little. “You know, Ricky, my dad once told me I could never find real friends in a pile of garbage. Personally, I think if you just cleaned up that garbage, you could find something truly special there. I don’t know how it’s really like for your group, but maybe you can-”

  “Tell your dad… he can go fuck himse-”

  His insult would never come out—sealed back into his mouth courtesy of Sunshine’s fist to his face. A crack filled the room, and then silence soon after.

  “Jesus,” Lyra muttered, keeping her distance from the girl.

  Sunshine glared at her bloody fist. “I don’t like this guy. Just being around him makes me angry to no end. What makes me angrier is that a prick like this is in a faction full of pricks just like him, and even he can’t find a single friend in any of them.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve decided. I’m gonna rip that last rod off his head and beat him down with it.”

  Lyra didn’t respond.

  With Ricky handled, Sunshine moved on to the wall. Three hits were all it took to break down the obstacle in front of her, setting her back into the deep, dark abyss the monsters thrived in. As the girl stood on the sewer’s walkway, she noticed the illumination from the giant hole above had weakened.

  Looks like the clouds have settled in. Guess we’ll be finishing this in the da-

  Something grabbed her arm. It wasn’t one of her three allies. Too small for Richman’s hand. Too cold and too rotten. Only a zombie could feel like that. Its teeth barely grazed her skin before she crushed its skull into a wet, splattered mess.

  For some reason, her Energy Sense didn’t detect that zombie before it attacked. It wasn’t sensing anything in her radius. Even if they had on those dark cloaks, Richman’s ability still utilized energy in the environment. What wasn’t she sensing them? If she couldn’t sense the zombies, then there was no point in using Dante’s abilities either. Can’t manipulate something you can’t interact with.

  That question needed to wait for now. More zombies were running after her. Their growls and footsteps gave it away. One jumped at her from behind. Sunshine was faster, sending a punch through its chest.

  It didn’t damage the monster—it literally went through it. The zombie chomped down, though its head was quickly destroyed by a bullet. Lyra had saved her, wielding her machine gun again. Thankfully, her weapon still had the light from Jerome’s explosion, so it was bright enough to light up a decent portion of the walkway.

  “Die, die, die, die, die!” Lyra roared, releasing a flurry of water bullets in every direction.

  Sunshine handled the ones that phased through her attacks, striking all of their vulnerable spots. The mystery of whether the zombies were still under Ricky’s absolute control was still up in the air. That was till the monsters started fighting each other in order to get to her. Looks like they were back to their selfish, hungry ways.

  “How are we gonna find Richman in all this darkness!?” screamed Lyra. “Maybe if we scream loud enough, he’ll come to us?”

  “I don’t know, but-”

  “Shadow Spears!”

  A sharp pain filled her gut while her body was slowly lifted upwards. It felt familiar, though she couldn’t see what had pierced her. Although, she had an idea of who attacked her judging by the large hand that grasped her face from behind.

  “You bastard little girl!” Richman’s voice oozed with ferocity. “You think you can stab my hand without consequences!? You think you can stop my control of the darkness!? No, not today. The darkness says you deserve pain.”

  “Screw you!” Sunshine said through the pain, glancing back at the man. “I’m gonna rip that rod off your-” Richman wasn’t missing any more rods. “So you really did trick Ricky… Why? I thought you two were friends!”

  “Coworkers! No one in the Corleone Family are fri-” Suddenly, a zombie flew towards Richman’s face, but he knocked it back down with ease. “What in the darkness is going on here? Is Ricky-”

  Sunshine made a pained smile. “We beat him, and now he’s unconscious. Which means you don’t have access to his Godfather anymore.”

  His eyes widened in anger. “I don’t need his stupid ability to control these freaks! They’re all coated in my darkness. They do what I command them to-”

  Several more zombies came in an attempt to prove that statement wrong. Seeing this, Richman aimed his hands at them, stopping three midair. The black that encased their body ascended, and then blasted them back.

  “Don’t you get it, Richman? You can’t just coat things in your darkness and expect them to follow you blindly. You never had control of these shadow zombies unless Ricky was there to help you, so why would you throw away the one person here who befriended an asshole like you!?”

  Sunshine’s words came out of her mouth with as much intensity as the aura that burst from her body moments later. Despite the kid’s predicament, she slowly turned around, ignoring the pain just enough to grab Richman by one of his rods. Her grip was tight and his kick to her chest was strong. Unfortunately for the big guy, it cost him the headpiece.

  Before the girl could fall into certain death, another zombie caught her at the walkway’s edge. But it wasn’t to devour her. Instead, it pulled her to safety and hugged Sunshine. There was only one zombie she knew that would ever do that.

  “Dad?” Sunshine said softly, wrapping one arm around his neck. “That’s you, right?”

  She had no idea why his body was smaller, why a part of his brain was visible, why his body was so dark, but those differences didn’t mean anything. Above all of those things was a face that presented no malice.

  “Sunshine, are you ok?” he replied, placing her back down. Her dad’s voice didn’t change at all. “I’m here to sav… No, I’m here to help you win!”

  Richman erupted out of the darkness like a volcano, as though it spit him out. “You’re not helping anyone here today, zombie!”

  Sunshine flinched, but didn’t back down. Then, a clap echoed, and in an instant, she was above the ground. Below her, right where she’d been standing a heartbeat ago, Richman now stood in confusion. Quickly understanding the situation, Sunshine brought the rod down on Richman’s skull, grabbing the second rod with her free hand.

  The man began to sink back into the floor. However, there was a problem once his head was next to go in. The darkness denied him entry. Even with Richman’s head encased in his ability, it didn’t work.

  “Sunshine,” said Jerome, kicking Richman in the face. He didn’t seem to care that his attacks were phasing through him. “I don’t know if this is entirely true, but those things on his head have something to do with his Radius Ability. I pulled one out of his partner, and that cloak he had on disappeared.”

  So in other words, if I take these rods out, then maybe I can stop his ability for good.

  That revelation lit a fire in Sunshine’s heart while a burst of new strength filled every muscle in her body. Just as she was about to pull the rod out, a deafening roar from the big man reverberated in the area. The pressure of his energy increased dramatically, sending both the girl and her father flying across the walkway and crashing into Lyra.

  “Get off my tits!” Lyra growled, pushing the kid off of her.

  “Sorry, Lyra,” Sunshine laughed. Her expression changed once her attention shifted back to Richman.

  Damn! His anger’s making him stronger.

  “I don’t care about that bastard Corleone’s orders anymore! Every single one of you… will die in the darkness!”

  “Shadowverse!”

  All the zombies around them were paralyzed in their positions, including Jerome. As Richman’s arms rose up, the darkness ascended from all of their bodies.

  “This isn’t good,” said Jerome. He wasn’t required to move his mouth to speak, so the paralyzation didn’t matter. “I’ve seen this move before, and it’s not something a human should ever experience. Sunshine, did you get the other rod!?”

  She had just noticed she was holding two in her hands. “Oh wow, I actually did get it. But…” Sunshine looked at the one rod still present in Richman’s scalp while a ball of darkness slowly formed above him. “I didn’t get the last one. Will getting the last one stop whatever he’s doing?”

  “Won’t know unless you try,” Jerome replied. “Hey, woman, what are you standing around for!? Aren’t you on the kid’s side? Help her beat that guy!”

  Lyra glared at the zombie. “Why’s a lowly zombie ordering me around!? You’re the one who can't move, not me. Besides, I don't know how we're gonna be that guy. We might be screwed.”

  “You're literally holding a light source in your hand!” he fired back. “Just throw it at h…”

  Lyra sighed. “There'd be no point. If the light isn't strong enough to cast away all of the darkness, then it'll be treated as irrelevant. Just like a star in space. From what I'm seeing, that guy’s taking the darkness from everything here and forming something with it. If this gun’s only illuminating a small part of this sewer, then it stands no chance against him.”

  “This might be a stupid plan, but I have a plan anyway,” Sunshine cut in, aiming a finger gun at her chin.

  “Mind Trick: Dante”

  Once her mind was altered, Sunshine took the energy from Lyra’s forcefield and formed a forcefield in front of her–one that was larger than the walkway.

  “No, my gun!” Lyra raised an eyebrow. “Hold on, how are you doing that, Dante? You couldn't control it before.”

  “When Jerome releases an energy blast, it weakens the longer it’s active until it eventually disperses. It's been a little more than three hours since you made that machine gun, making it weak enough for me to manipulate.”

  “Ah, that's nice. Now, can you also tell me how the hell that's actually gonna help us here? A forcefield can't shield us from an abstract thing like darkness.”

  Good, so she does understand how it works.

  Since darkness was an abstract concept, the question that took forefront in Sunshine’s Dante-infected mind was how Richman was able to manipulate, shapeshift, and hear darkness. Not to mention, making others feel pain from it too. Initially, she had assumed that was mainly a Radioactive Energy user, mutating shadows and other forms of darkness to give it the properties of something less abstract or even fully non-abstract.

  However, Richman’s ability was still intangible, and it gave others who used it that power too. He couldn't touch it or feel it unless he had his shadow cloak on. His shadow weapons pierced, but never inflicted wounds. Only the pain was there. And there was one more aspect of the man’s power that helped Sunshine to her conclusion.

  His shadow cloaks could heal wounds.

  Richman’s Darkness ability didn't utilize Radioactive Energy. It was Molecular Energy. Those who used this type had abilities that mostly involved the mind, the brain. Perhaps this manipulation of the mind was limited by an area of effect, and the fake “shadow” zombies were outside of his range.

  Sunshine’s Mind Trick also hard Molecular Energy. This meant the only way to truly stop the man was to make him see something other than the darkness.

  She didn't think she could combine her natural powers with Dante’s ability, but maybe this moment was her chance to test it out.

  The energy around Richman’s body stretched out and lashed around like tentacles—a testament he’s built up. “Prepare to enjoy an eternity in darkness! Take this!”

  “Mind Trick: Bright Lights!”

  The two balls of differing energies fired at each other. Sunshine’s attack moved faster. It cut through the dense, writhing tendrils of Richman’s darkness and struck. Inches before the black sphere could collide with the three, the forcefield exploded in a flash of light.

  The shadow ball dispersed, and Richman’s delusions of his own absolute control faded soon after.

  “Wha-what is this!?” he screamed, grabbing his face, plummeting to the floor. “Why is there light here? In my domain? Where is the darkness? Bring back the darkness!”

  “The darkness abandoned you just like you abandoned every ally you had today.” Sunshine was back to her normal self, gripping the rods with all her might. “If that light can’t fully illuminate your darkened mind, then I’ll just have to do it myself.”

  Richman struggled getting up, but that didn’t stop him from raising his fists. “Kill Sunshine… Destroy Sunshine… Sunshine Hunt-”

  He didn’t finish.

  Sunshine was already there.

  In a blur of light and fury, she closed the gap, her body shimmering like the last flash of a dying star. Rage fueled her movements, a rage that surged through her limbs.

  “Hey, darkness!” She raised both rods high above her head. “This is where you lose!” And brought them down.

  The rods slammed into Richman’s face with a thunderous boom, flattening him against the floor and shaking the room. He lay still, pinned under the weight of every ounce of anger Sunshine had carried since this fight began.

  She stood over him, panting, her arms trembling. “I… win. I… won.”

  A scream, no, a victory cry erupted out of her.

  A new sun had been born, once that could shine even on Earth.