I woke up in a frenzy, my fists swinging in the air as though the swarm of zombies from before were still attacking me. However, the only thing I had to worry about on that sewer walkway were the judgemental stares of the humans in front of me, including my daughter.

  Behind them, the two enemies that kept us busy for so long we’re tied up and sitting on the wall. The fat one was unconscious.

  “Dad, you’re back!” Sunshine exclaimed, jumping onto my face and embracing me. “We looked for you everywhere after I—you can congratulate me later—defeated the enemy. What was that dark look about anyway? Where’d you go when you saved me on the surface?”

  “It’s, uh, hard to explain,” I answered, trying not to bite her shirt. “I was there with someone else. Maybe she could explain it better than me.”

  Sunshine slid down my body, and got back on her feet. “She? And who is this ‘she’?”

  “I’m the ‘she’ he’s talking about.” Right behind my daughter was Sunflower, floating with her hand slightly raised. I didn’t know when or how she appeared like that, but the people behind us looked just as confused as me.

  “Is that girl fricking green? And she’s flying?” asked the man clutching his neck like he got stabbed there. I noticed Moonlight was crouching next to him.

  “That… thing came out of the Type Two,” said the woman who had helped my daughter earlier.

  Sunshine looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Came out of you? Dad, what’s going on here?”

  I scratched the back of my head, thinking of the perfect way to describe the situation. “Uuum, Sunshine, have you ever wanted… a sister?”

  Her expression turned to disgust. “What would I need that for?”

  “You know, old man, ‘came out of you’ is actually the perfect description for our current predicament,” said Sunflower, smiling cheekily. “You absorbed my mom, who gave birth to me traditionally. That would technically make you my mom, which means…”

  The thought of a man like me pushing out babies from who knows where got a loud “Hey!” out of me. “I specifically remember saying I was gonna be your new ‘dad’—not your mom. Big difference.”

  “Wait, what?”

  The girl scoffed, folding her arms. “I’m not gonna let a dude who dropped out of high school teach me anything about common nouns.”

  “Hold up now!” Sunshine cut in, holding her hands out in between us. “Absorbed her mom? So this is Sunflower, right? If that’s the case, then what's all this talk about ‘sisters’ and ‘new dads’? Are you seriously adopting this brat?”

  “Huh? I’m way older than you, kid,” Sunflower said dryly. “Who’s the real brat here?”

  “Sun, I know this is a lot to take in, but-”

  “Way older?” my daughter interrupted, veins popping out her forehead. “You don’t look a day over twelve! That’s still a ‘brat’ age range if you didn’t know.”

  Sunflower drew in closer to the girl’s face. “First of all, I’m sixteen. Second of all, I think everyone here can agree the only brat in this dirty sewer is the girl screaming like one.”

  Jesus Christ… One minute around each other, and they’re already arguing like animals. I guess my brother and I were the same way.

  “There’s no way you’re six-”

  “Alright!” I shouted, picking both of them up. “This whole thing can be talked about later. Right now, we have bigger fish to fry.”

  Sunshine looked up. “Oh yeah… Just fly us out of here.”

  My attention turned to the two restrained men in the back. “No, not yet.” Energy surged in my fingers as I dropped the girls, and approached them cautiously. These assholes still needed to pay for nearly killing two little kids. Sunshine got the first hits in, but now my bullets would end it.

  Just then, a burst of gunfire sprayed the floor at my feet, forcing me to stop. The rounds splashed instead of sparked. Machine guns didn’t usually glow green or fire water. Looked like the woman holding it was packing some kind of new model.

  “Shoot that at me again, and I’ll break that gun over your skull,” I threatened, pointing at the woman.

  She chuckled, licking her teeth. “Your threats are cute, but I’ve had enough fighting for today. As much as I’d love to beat those two’s faces in, we need them alive… for now. As long as they’re alive, then the Corleone family won’t cause anyone any trouble.”

  If these two were taken down in less than a day, then I probably didn’t have anything too crazy to worry about. “Seriously? What trouble could that family cause me?”

  The sound of a ringtone pierced through the momentary silence, causing everyone to turn to the sunglasses wearing prick in front of me. Ricky awoke, accidentally banging his head on the wall.

  “It’s him…” he murmured, wincing as sweat dripped from his face. “Good God almighty, we are so absolutely fucked.”

  “Who are you talking about?” I asked, crouching down and searching his pockets.

  “Isn’t it obvious!?” Ricky growled, nearly head butting me with that dangerous forehead of his. “It’s the boss of the family. Michael… Corleone!”

  After finding his status board and removing it from Ricky’s person, I realized he was right. The screen did indeed say a ‘Michael Corleone’ was calling. “Soooo, just another guy for me to beat the ass of?”

  Blobs of green burst from the cracked concrete beneath us. They shot upward, wet and slimy, latching onto my eyes and mouth like living muck. Sewer moss. It clung and invaded my insides all at once. My legs gave out, and I dropped to the floor as the phone left my grip.

  “Sunflower, I know this is you!” I said, clawing through the moss in my eyes. “Get this off of me—now!”

  “No can do, ‘dad’,” said Sunflower. “I want to be the first one that fucker sees when this call gets answered… How do you even work this thing anyway?”

  The air pressure near me increased a little, so I knew she was pretty close. But even when I tried to absorb her, it didn’t work. And it wasn’t ‘cause my Radius Ability was compromised—my body just wouldn’t move. Paralysis? But how?

  “If you’re wondering why your body’s all stiff, the moss I used on you contains ‘saxitoxin’, which the radioactive algae in this sewer probably mutated the plants here with. I’m surprised it worked on you, considering you don’t have nerves or signals to block.”

  “Damn,” I groaned. “And here I thought we finally made a connection.”

  Sunflower sucked her teeth. “Being aggressive and loud to a trauma-filled teen isn’t ‘making a connection’, you insensitive dick. Quit it with the disappointed tone too. I’m not betraying you. We both want these pricks dead anyway. Oooh, so I press the green button?”

  “Don’t do it!” the man said, clapping his hands once. The SB magically appeared in his hands. “I won’t let you talk to this maniac! No way!”

  “Answer the phone, Benji!” shouted Ricky, trying to break free from the rope around his torso. “Even if I die, I’ll die happy knowing the boss is gonna turn you inside out.”

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

  “Give me the phone or I’ll kill you,” the floating teen said in a disturbingly casual voice.

  Benji got up as Moonlight backed away from him. “I’ll already be dead if you answer this call. I don’t know who you are, but-”

  Sunflower sighed, raising her arm. “Shut up already.”

  More plants rose from the concrete—moss and mushrooms stretching and coiling around Benji. Sunshine jumped in out of nowhere, giving Sunflower a strong punch to the cheek. She flew, and landed just a few meters from Rod Head’s body.

  My daughter quickly approached me with a worried look. “Paralysis on a Radion? The brains of you creatures don’t even function properly for that stuff to work though.”

  “Maybe I’m more human than I thought,” I chuckled.

  Her eyes widened. “That’s not a good thing!”

  As Sunshine continued to examine my body, Machine Gun Girl and the other dude were fighting over the status board. Ricky was cackling in the background.

  The woman aimed her gun at Benji… or was it Benjamin? “On behalf of my father, I want to have a talk with your boss, Benny. Killing Sunshine goes against what the Underground Radius is hoping to achieve.”

  “I don’t give a damn about that, Lyra!” he spat back. “I just don’t wanna die!”

  Lyra fired, but the man was faster, clapping his hands before the water could hit him. In his place, Sunflower took the hit, waking her up from her slumber.

  “Who did that!?” Sunflower asked angrily, whipping her head to every direction. She stopped at Lyra and said, “Was that y-”

  “Move it, algae princess,” the woman said, shoving the teen out of the way.

  With her mind so set on stopping the fleeing teleporter, Lyra was unable to avoid the moss that wrapped around her ankles. The moss yanked, and the woman fell right on her face. With her handled, Sunflower zoomed straight for Benjamin, mushrooms following her movements like flying knives. A third clap, and the man switched places with Sunflower.

  “Sunshine, catch!” He tossed the device over to my daughter, but she struggled to keep it in her hands. “Hey, hurry up and catch-”

  A trio of mushrooms slammed into his face, causing him to spiral to the right.

  “Catching is hard when everyone is depending on you,” said Sunshine, unintentionally juggling the SB.

  Moonlight grabbed the phone from behind the girl just as Sunshine nearly dropped it. “You’re welcome.”

  “Thank y-”

  Sunflower tackled the two girls to the floor, sending the SB flying into the air. All three jumped in an attempt to capture it, though Lyra’s arms were longer. Her fingers only grazed the screen before the phone vanished from thin air. Benji fell on top of them, and they all collapsed like dominos.

  “Would you guys stop!?” I screamed, trying my hardest to move any limb.

  None of them listened. Instead, they all chased after the Status Board that had reappeared—buzzing and glowing—right next to Ricky. And somehow, despite the ropes binding him, he leaned down quicker than any of them and answered the call.

  With the tip of his tongue…

  No one moved, as though they were all paralyzed like me. In that instant, I realized that I didn’t know anything about this ‘Michael Corleone’ since hearing his name. No pictures. Never heard his voice. Not a single mention of how he looked, sounded, or acted. And yet, all it took was a name drop to get these guys in a frenzy.

  Who are you, Michael?

  [Hello. Is Ricky on the phone?]

  Woah. He actually sounded normal! So then why were Benji and Ricky sweating bullets? Sunflower spoke a big game earlier too, but now she was dead silent.

  “H-H-Hey, boss!” Ricky stuttered pathetically. “Um, any reason for the call?”

  [Is Roddy around?]

  Ricky glanced at his partner. “Yes, he is… but I have something absolutely damning to tell you about one of our members. You remember Benji, right? The teleporter? Well, he-”

  [I don’t care. Put Roddy on the phone.]

  “B-But he absolutely betr-”

  [I do not care. Put Roddy on the phone.]

  “I would, but he’s unconscious right-”

  Suddenly, the big guy swiped the phone from Ricky like he was never knocked out. “Yes?”

  [Hm?]

  Roddy’s head lowered a bit. “Y-Yes… boss?”

  [Is it true that a nine year old girl rendered you unconscious?]

  Rodhead paused for a moment, clearly hesitating to answer. “Look, you have the wrong idea about everything. We were jumped, and my incompetent partners couldn’t get the job d-”

  [Answer my question. Did you get knocked out by a nine year old girl?]

  “Y-Yes… But, c’mon, boss! Consequences apparently got his ass beat, failing his assignment. That teleporter is literally on the enemy’s side as we speak.”

  [I find it more embarrassing that a former member of my family was defeated by a little girl.]

  Roddy’s eyes widened in fear. “Former?”

  [Roddy, I want you to kill yourself.]

  It was such a simple line. The tone accompanying those words were so casual, like a mother telling her kid to do the dishes. And yet, it was that aspect of it that sent chills down my spine.

  Just like with Consequences.

  The big guy’s hands began to shake. “That’s crazy. You’re craz-”

  [Remember what I know about you. Again. I want you to kill yourself.]

  Michael hung up on Roddy as the phone left his hand. His dumbfounded stare locked on to Ricky’s hip, and a realization popped up in my head.

  “Sunshine, did any of you confiscate his gun!?”

  “Well, there wasn’t any ammo left, so we didn’t think that’d be nec-”

  “Shit!” I shouted, fingers twitching. “Hurry up and get it!”

  Unfortunately, Roddy already had the gun pointed to his head, tears pouring from his eyes. Sunshine had already appeared in front of the two, but the only thing she received was a face full of blood, and the sight of a dead man.

  “H-Holy shit!” the teleporter screamed.

  “Well, I guess that’s one way to get him out of the picture,” said Lyra, covering Moonlight’s eyes.

  Ricky began to hyperventilate as his sunglasses fell off his face. “I’m so screwed. I’m so screwed. I’m absolutely going to be next.”

  As if he was heard from miles away, the SB’s ringtone came alive once again.

  “No one answer that!” I ordered. Everyone remained still as a rock. All except for one person. The goddamn problem child. “Sunflower, stop!”

  She was too fast for anyone to stop her, and too naive to see the danger that man presented before her finger pressed the button.

  [Hello. Can you put Jerome on-”]

  “Remember my voice, asshole!” Sunflower said, drips of energy leaving her mouth like spit. “I just want you to know that I’m coming for you. And when I see you, I’ll-”

  [Yeah. Cute. Cute. Anyways, put Jerome on the phone.”]

  “Fuck that! I’m the only one you need to pay attention t-”

  Sunshine and Moonlight jumped on the teenager’s legs, pulling her down. More of that annoying moss rose from the surface, intent on attacking the two girls. Thankfully, their movement stopped once Sunflower switched spots with Ricky, placing her in the ropes.

  “No! Let me talk to him!” she pleaded while my daughter and her friend brought the SB to me.

  “Yeah? What the hell do you want with me, Michael?”

  [Yeah, so I’d prefer if you kept Ricky Saints alive. Actually, why don’t you be a good boy, and bring him over to me?]

  “Don’t call me your ‘good boy’, you freak! And after the shit he pulled? Yeah, he’s out of here. Permanently.”

  [Oooo. You see, that’s not going to happen. In fact, the moment I suspect Ricky to be dead, I will activate the bomb hidden within your daughter’s tracker, killing her instantly.]

  Huh? Tracker? What is he talk-

  “The tracker!” My fingers twitched as I recollected my memories. “Sunshine, why did you remind me about your tracker!? You’re telling me Horse Head never found out how to get it out?”

  Sunshine’s lips quivered. “Uh… Uh, yeah. That’s what happened.”

  “Ah, Christ… Wait, so the UG planted a bomb inside that tracker too?”

  [No, a member of my family did. More specifically, I had someone with the power to switch the places of two objects plant the bomb on the tracker within her. It was fairly simple. Tell him the specific location of where it was, and have him memorize parts of the human anatomy—that was all I needed.]

  Sunshine furrowed her brows. “So… Benji did it?”

  [I didn’t care enough to remember his name. Although, ‘Geremiah’ was a name I remembered well, considering he was part of the plan too. Since his power made children’s games a reality and breaking the rules of those games came with penalties, then making a penalty that separates you guys was possible. Not only that, but teleporting one of my guys to her location.]

  Geremiah? That’s the dude Daemon killed!

  [Sucks that Daemon got to him before he could come back home. He probably suspected Geremiah was a sleeper agent. Oh well. At least he died accomplishing his mission. That’s more than what I can say for the other one.”

  “Hold on!” Sunshine cut in. “Don’t you have a deal with Jason? You gotta bring me to him alive, or else he won’t work with you. There’s no way this bomb is actually re-”

  Her words cut off as a wet pop echoed behind us. For a second, nobody moved. Then, Roddy's corpse twitched, swelled grotesquely, and burst apart in a violent spray of gore and crimson.

  “What the fuck!?” Ricky cried in disbelief. Since he was right next to the explosion, his body got the worst of it, making it look like a bucket of paint fell on him.

  To my disgust, Lyra slid her fingers across her bloody face, and proceeded to lick it off. Benji and Moonlight had reasonable reactions, and Sunshine’s eyes were still on the phone.

  “Ok, you made your point,” my daughter said, wiping the blood off her forehead.

  [Remember, I don’t need you in one piece. I just need you dead. Although, handing you to Jason will be a lot more beneficial to me, but I can live without him. You two have five days to get to Hallowsville with Ricky, or else it’s kaboom for you. Oh, and Jerome. Jason Zoorhees is waiting too.]

  Michael hung up for what I hoped to be the last time, leaving all of us there to reflect on what just happened.

  Sunshine and Moonlight gave each other a fearful look. Benny… or Benjamin was quietly freaking out, singing what sounded like Tupac. I wasn’t even gonna pay the disgusting things Lyra was doing any attention.

  The only one I kept my eyes on was Sunflower—and it wasn’t because she was doing anything worth watching. First, she attacked my daughter and I, something I told her never to do again. Then she kickstarted that whole “answer or don’t answer” craze everyone lost their minds over. And now? She had the nerve to pick up the phone a second time.

  But was she reflecting on that? Did she show any kind of remorse or fear or anything after what just happened?

  All Sunflower did was sit there casually, smirking at the bits of pieces that were left of Roddy’s body. I didn’t know if my frustration was what caused it, but the paralysis had finally gone away. In one quick motion, I erased the distance between us, and slammed her into the wall by her throat, the ropes around her ripping apart.

  “You stupid fucking moron,” I said, my voice low and gravelly. “You realize what could’ve happened to my daughter if you made any wrong move!? She could’ve died! You hear me? Bits and pieces everywhere. Then what? Huh? Then what!?”

  Sunflower gritted her teeth, trying to push me off. “You know exactly what he did to me, and what he did to my mother! You really thought I was gonna sit back and let him think I wasn’t coming for him!? You said you were going to help me…”

  “My family comes before your goddamn grudge,” I argued, energy steaming from my mouth. “And what did you do with that grudge? Nothing! Zero! A big load of nothing!”

  “Fuck you!”

  I didn’t know what came over me at that moment, but those two words made me reach my boiling point. “I oughta rip your fucking head off!”

  I couldn’t stop myself from throwing her down and charging a ball of energy in my hands. There was no I’d actually fire, though something… bad in me wanted to do it. However, the tears in Sunflower’s eyes and the expression of fear in Sunshine’s face brought me back to my senses.

  Sunflower’s face scrunched up as she rolled up into a ball.

  “Stop crying. I’m sorry, ok?” I waited for her to respond, but her sniffling told me that wasn’t gonna happen. “Look, I know that prick is gonna get what he deserves soon, so I guess your heart was in the right place. But… in your case, it could be wrong.”

  The teen quickly turned her head to me, and gave me an exaggerated “What!?”

  I sighed, pinching my forehead. “Your mind is broken in a way that I can’t fix, and I think going on this path… is not gonna help you. I mean, it shouldn’t be in your nature in the first place.”

  She shook her head no. “You don’t know me. Alright? You don’t know anything about me.”

  “Somewhere in there has to be a little girl that just wants to sleep, eat, and just… be you. And that’s a good thing, for Christ’s sake. I mean that.”

  “You’re a fucking hypocrite,” she spat, sitting back up. “I saw it in your memories. When that guy shot your friend, and you beat him down to a living pulp. The first thing I heard was that it was a top ten moment in your life. Why can you get revenge, but not me?”

  I was utterly dumbfounded by the fact that I didn’t know what else I could say to this girl. “Jesus Christ, Sunflower.” I placed my hand on her cheek. “You make me wanna cry. You are filled with so much hatred that it would take years for me to reach a semblance of who you once were. And that makes me wanna cry even more.”

  Sunflower gripped her belly as her breathing became heavy. Sunflower suddenly lurched forward and vomited onto the floor, energy pouring from her mouth in waves. I dropped to my knees beside her, rubbing her back as her body trembled. Wisps of the girl peeled away from her form, streaming into my hands as I drew her essence back into me piece by piece.

  “I’m sorry, kid. I’ll release you when you’re ready.”

  Sunshine approached me, but I could tell she didn’t want to. “Is that really who you want as your ‘daughter’?”

  My mouth stayed shut while I stared at her bloody clothes.

  I told an old friend once that I wanted to be a “simple solution to complex problems.” Finally, it began to click for me.

  Maybe that just wasn't possible.