Sunshine’s eyes shot open just as quickly as she jumped off the mysterious chair and landed on the even more mysterious brown land beneath her feet. She lifted her feet, watching as the strange, golden specks clung to his skin. They weren’t soft like dirt nor were they hard like rock. The new feeling sent her curiosity into overdrive and the neurons in her brain to fire up uncontrollably. An excited twitch took control of her body while she slowly hopped in a circle.

  “This feels so weird,” Sunshine giggled, wiping the grains off her feet. “But so nice at the same time.” While the texture fascinated her, what truly held her gaze was the endless stretch of shimmering blue ahead. Sunlight danced across the waves, making the ocean glisten like a newborn sapphire, its surface alive with motion.

  What kind of amazing place is this!? And why haven’t Radions destroyed it all yet? This is way different from the cave I was i-

  “Oh no! My dad!” she exclaimed, starting to frantically look around. “We were in a cave, weren’t we? Why the hell are we outside now?” She dug through parts of the ground like a mole as though Jerome would actually be hiding within the grains. Obviously, he wasn’t.

  Sunshine remembered that talking rabbit she struggled defeating, though she’d never admit that out loud. She also recalled her dad turning into a human somehow, and that large boulder that-

  “The boulder,” she murmured, eyes slowly widening in realization. Was Sunshine unable to save him? After all the pain he went through to save her and the pain she went through to save him… Did Jerome really… die?

  “How on Earth are you awake? It’s only been a couple of hours.”

  The soft yet raspy voice made Sunshine jump like an animal on high alert. Her ears perked while she turned her attention to whoever spoke. Despite only seeing her once before she went unconscious, it would've been hard to forget the strikingly bright hair that was as blue as the ocean in the distance. Not to mention, her face that looked like it was on the verge of decaying. A stark contrast to the pretty white dress she was wearing.

  “You,” said Sunshine, sprinting to her and grabbing her shoulders before the girl could even blink. “Where’s my dad! You and those animals were the last people I remember before he went missing. You have to tell me where he is or if he’s dead or not.” The blue haired girl looked dumbfounded, so Sunshine shook her shoulders to snap her out of it. “You can’t just open your mouth and not have any words come out!”

  “I don’t think you realize how impossible you being awake so early is. You had tons of radiation poisoning inside of you. Plus, I could tell how exhausted your body was. You really should-”

  “Who cares about me!?” Sunshine interrupted, her grip tightening. “My dad's life matters way more than mine, so hurry up and tell me where he-”

  The girl put a finger up like a really obnoxious nerd about to correct someone. “Trust me, kid. Your dad will be just fi-”

  “Screw this,” said Sunshine, pushing her down. “Hurry up and deactivate your ability so I can find my way out of here.”

  A sweat ran down the sickly looking girl’s face, which surprised Sunshine considering the state of her skin made that seem like an impossible task. “I admire your ability to sense you being here is the result of my powers, but I can’t exactly ‘deactivate’ telepor-”

  “I know this isn’t teleportation. I can still sense my dad’s Radion ooze from the lake we fell into.” Sunshine pointed to the water. “It’s coming from there, and I know for a fact we were never in there. Should I also mention your ability doesn’t hide the smells from the cave. Like the wet rocks or those smelly animal droppings?”

  The girl didn’t respond back to Sunshine’s analysis of the place. In fact, she almost looked mesmerized by it.

  Sunshine sighed in frustration. “Look, I know you use Molecular Energy to make our brains think that the cave looks like this when it actually doesn’t. I use the same kind of energy too, so I know what I'm talking about.”

  Even though Sunshine was clearly trying to sound interrogative towards her, the girl’s smirk suggested she was actually satisfied with the answer. “I can see why Jerome loves you so much. I can also see how you've survived up there for so long.” She softly grasped Sunshine’s hands on her shoulders. “Just… let me explain it all to you.”

  For someone who looked so dead, her storytelling was anything but that. That… wasn’t a compliment. Sunshine had no idea how someone could turn such a simple chain of events into a fifteen minute snoozefest, but Moonlight decided to be different. For a name as cool as that, who imagined the holder of that name would be the opposite of that.

  What a waste of a name. And an even bigger waste of an appearance. How can someone look so cool, but not be cool…

  Sunshine sighed, finishing up the drawing she made during that long story. She didn't know why she drew a horse fighting a Radion, though it was the first thing that came to her mind. Perhaps figuring out both Jesus and Jerome were here not too long ago influenced her decision. Dante was here too along with some other person she didn’t care to remember.

  It sucked a ton she didn’t wake up sooner to go with them to wherever they went, and yet that was the price she had to pay for being so dang weak. Daemon did nothing but remind her of that fact, so what the heck could she possibly do against Jason? If her dad turned human again like in that cave, what could both of them do?

  Then there was… Jesus. No, she couldn’t tell anyone about that. Not even Jerome.

  There’s no way we can go to Hallowsville in just a couple days. We’re not ready. I’m not ready. We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die. We’re gonna-

  “Woah there,” said Moonlight, placing her hand on Sunshine’s chest. “Slow down your breathing and stand straight. You’re going to be fine.”

  Sunshine had just noticed how fast her breathing was, how much her heart pounded through her chest like a drum. Was this her disease at work or an entirely new feeling? “I don’t…” She swallowed her saliva, trying to get the words out. “I don’t know what’s going on with me. I think of certain possibilities, and it makes me feel…”

  “Scared? Well, don’t think of them then.” Sunshine felt Moonlight’s dry hands grab her cheeks. “What do you see with your eyes? What do you hear with your ears? What do you smell with your nose? Focus on those.”

  “I see… you. You and that super cool face of yours.” Moonlight’s face strangely began to light up from that comment. “I hear… my heart beati-”

  “No, no. Don’t focus on that. Focus on everything else.”

  Sunshine licked her teeth, attempting to make her mouth a little less dry. “I hear the water over there hitting the brown land over there. I also hear… really weird snoring. And I smell… something really good coming from you. The smell of death.” Sunshine’s breaths, once shallow and rapid, began to lengthen, each inhale drawing in steadier air. The tightness in her chest loosened, the frantic rise and fall of her shoulders easing into a calmer rhythm. “Ok. I think I’m good.”

  She waited for Moonlight to respond back, though she looked stunned for words.

  “First your dad, and now you. What is with your family and thinking I’m some goddess of beauty?”

  Sunshine smiled a little. “He and I tend to be pretty similar. You’ll get used to it.”

  “So both of you are equally as insane for wanting to take down Jason?”

  Sunshine’s eyebrows scrunched. “Well… maybe not that. I mean, I want to, but I don’t know if I’m strong enough to.” She made a fist and looked down at it. “What I do know is that I can’t afford to sit or sleep around while my dad’s out there getting stronger by the minute. He was just now starting to trust my strength, so I can’t lose that trust again.”

  “You know, resting is important too. I mean, take it from me. I sleep for almost the entire day, and I can manage just fine.” She sounded way too proud about that. “I can tell that was the first time you were able to sleep in hours.”

  “Sleeping is definitely a good feeling, but that’s not something I’ll be able to do as long as Jason continues to live.” Sunshine put on a serious expression and looked back at Moonlight. “So for the time being, perfecting my abilities will be my number one priority.”

  Moonlight sighed. “Ok, but if I turn off my power, it’ll take a while for me to use it again on you. Although, your body looks mostly fine for now, so I guess it’s fine to-”

  “Wait!” Sunshine shouted, aiming her palms at the girl’s face. “I’ve never been in a place like this before, and it looks super, super fun. You have to show me everything we can do here.”

  “Sunshine, weren’t you just really worried over your dad not being here with you? And didn't you just say perfecting your abilities was your number one priority?”

  Sunshine looked at the water, and then at the ball next to the mysterious looking net. “Well, I know my dad’s fine now. Plus, you seem pretty serious about recovery in general, and I think having some fun is the best form of recovery. C’mon! It’s only for ten minutes and then we’re out.”

  Moonlight hesitated to reply, her decaying lips quivering. “Ok, fine. I’ll just sit over there until-”

  “Huh? I want you to come with me,” she said, grabbing Moonlight’s frail arm. “It’s not fun if I’m doing it alone.”

  “B-but I’m not allowed to interact with most of the stuff here. My family says it’s bad for me to do too many physical things because of my disease. I mean, I’m sure you can tell by touching me that I’m not in the best shape.”

  Sunshine raised an eyebrow. “Who cares about some disease? Are you really gonna let that hold your life hostage? I wouldn’t if I were you, so c’mon.”

  After a couple more seconds of begging, Moonlight finally gave in. While Sunshine had never been to what she learned was called a “beach” and wanted to get the most out of her experience there, a part of her really just wanted to get on the girl’s good side. Sunshine already knew the truth of the Sunvirus and that Moonlight was a victim because of it. She tried to hide her reasoning behind strategy, though deep down, Sunshine knew guilt was plaguing her mind.

  Although, with every time she hit the volleyball over the net, with every time she splashed around in the water, with every sand angel she made, Sunshine gradually began to realize something. This was the first time she was able to spend so much time with someone close to her age. It felt… exciting. This was a new fun Sunshine never thought she’d experience, and it was addicting.

  Unfortunately, the fun couldn’t last forever. Sunshine wanted it to, but she needed to help Jerome out more.

  Sunshine stretched her shoulders. “Alright, you can get rid of all this now. I feel satisfied enough.”

  Moonlight lay on the sand, breathing hard. “Wait? That’s it? How could ten minutes pass by so quickly?”

  Sunshine chuckled, putting her hand out. “That’s ‘cause it was actually fifteen minutes. I went a little over time. My bad.”

  “It’s ok,” she responded, taking her hand. “I never had a friend near my age before. Let alone a female one. Guess I got too distracted by that.”

  Friend…? Woah! She wants to be friends with me. No, wait! She already thinks I’m her friend!

  Sunshine pulled her up gently. “I guess time flies when you're having fun… with a friend.”

  Moonlight smiled and clasped her hands together. “Everything should go back to normal right…. now. Alright, blink.”

  She blinked and everything indeed turned back to the way it was. The dark, desolate cave littered with debris and a… humanoid rabbit sleeping on them as if they were a bed.

  That's when Sunshine realized that was the same rabbit she fought while protecting Jerome. She nearly beat his skull into a bloody pulp, and yet now he looked like that never even happened in the first place. Moonlight’s healing capabilities were really something else…

  “Don't mind Flash,” Moonlight giggled. “His snoring becomes white noise after a while.”

  “It's not really his snoring that I was thinking about.” Sunshine approached Flash and crouched down next to him. “My Mind Trick ability allows me to change how someone's brain views their identity and/or situation. But when I tried to change your friend here into a dog, it didn't work.”

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Moonlight crouched down next to Sunshine and stared at her. “How does this ‘Mind Trick’ work in the first place? And how'd you specifically use it against Flash?”

  Sunshine’s cheeks turned red in excitement. “Well, I'm glad you asked that. You see, the first thing I do is make a finger gun with my hands. Then, I channel some of my energy to the tips of my fingers and just sh-”

  “This sounds like a really long explanation for something I didn't really ask for. Can you just get to the point?”

  You literally did ask me how it works…

  Sunshine was about to say something, but Moonlight interrupted. “Actually, I think I can give a decent explanation for it. You see, you tried to change Flash into something he genuinely believes in his mind he isn't and never will be. You challenged the pride he had in being a rabbit, and you lost to it.”

  Was it really as simple as that? Then how come Mind Trick was able to work on Jason? Did he just not have any pride in his humanity? Maybe he didn't have any pride in that, but what about him just as himself? It's no secret that Jason's an egotistical maniac who probably only loves himself, so would Mind Trick: Obedience fail on him too?

  Now that Sunshine thought about it, most people she either knew or fought with seemed pretty prideful over their identity. Since that was the case, that would cut out most of her Mind Trick techniques. The only way she could utilize her Radius Ability against opponents like that was to use it on herself. While that was something she’d already done before, the negative effects from doing so were really risky.

  Dead Girl Walking could get her killed or make her brain dead if she wasn’t careful enough, and it wasn’t like turning herself into some rabid animal was any better either.

  She needed a better option…

  At that moment, an epiphany flashed into Sunshine’s mind as she examined Flash’s body. Why make her brain think she was some animal or mindless monster when she could make it think she was an entirely different person?

  A person with a working brain and actual emotions. A person with their own abilities.

  People she knew.

  Mind Trick: Dante, Mind Trick: Jesus, Mind Trick: Jerome—the possibilities were plentiful. She already had a good understanding of most of them anyway, so it couldn’t have been too hard to accomplish. Just take a page out of her dad’s book and take the powers of others.

  Jerome already fulfilled his path to getting stronger. This was going to be her path to doing it.

  I can’t believe I was so scared before. I can do this! I can totally do this! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!

  “Um, Sunshine… Do you mind turning that off?”

  Sunshine had just realized how much aura her body was emitting in that instant, though she was too pumped up to follow through with Moonlight’s request. “No way I’ll turn this off, dude. If I turn it off now, who knows the next time I’ll have this much aura coming out of me.”

  Moonlight shifted her attention back to Flash. “I’m only asking because you might wake up Flash.”

  Sunshine looked up at the cave’s ceiling. “Hmm. If that's the case, then let's just go to the surface. It'll be easier to talk with you up there anyway.”

  “What? I can't do that,” she exclaimed, jumping in front of Sunshine. “Playing around on an imaginary beach is one thing, but actually going outside is another. I'm not allowed to-”

  “I'm starting to think it's less that you're not allowed to do anything fun, and more that you're too scared to do it.”

  “Look… you wouldn't understand-”

  Sunshine let out a groan loud enough to stop Moonlight’s sentence. “You were able to sense my body, and you're telling me I wouldn't understand what you're going through. If anything, I'm the only one here who could understand you.”

  “Then why are you so insistent on me doing all these things?”

  “It’s ’cause I see a version of myself in you. A version of myself who was too worried to do anything fun or dangerous because of someone else worrying about me or fear over some dumb disease. I hate seeing that, and I want to change that for you before it’s too late.” Sunshine gestured for Moonlight to take her hand. “If we’re gonna be friends, then you should trust me with this.”

  Moonlight gave Sunshine’s hand a melancholic stare, her hand slowly moving upwards. “Um… ok.”

  ******

  “I still can’t believe you chose to turn yourself into a cockroach,” Moonlight laughed, resting her head on Sunshine’s shoulder. Her hair felt silky smooth on her neck. “Tell me, how did rubbing spit between your hands feel? You did it like every ten seconds, so it must’ve felt good.”

  Sunshine shook the water off her hands as she made herself more comfortable on the bench they were sitting on. “Maybe other people would immediately disagree with you, but I considered that a helpful learning experience. Now I know for certain my brain doesn’t retain who I am when using my ability.”

  “Your power’s gotta be hard to manage, Sunshine. Imagine you’re fighting someone and you make your brain think you’re a bunny, but since bunnies get super scared so easily, you just run away like a coward.”

  “Yeah, we definitely can’t have that. That’s why I’m thinking of moving on from animals to other people.”

  “Woah, seriously?” asked Moonlight, lifting her head up. “I feel like that would be pretty dangerous though. Like imagine you turn into someone who loves killing people, and you end up trying to kill everyone you know. Even if it’s only for a minute, that could still get pretty bad.”

  “I’m not gonna turn into those types. It’ll just be people I know and trust. Like my dad.” Sunshine glanced at her from the corner of her eye. “Or… you maybe.”

  Does that sound weird? I just realized how weird it sounds to say that out loud. Does she think I’m weird for saying that?

  If she was weird for saying something like that, then Moonlight was even weirder for that big smile she had in response to it. “If you can do it, then totally turn into me! I want to see if I’ll be able to talk to myself with it.”

  Sunshine giggled creepily like a nerd finding an ancient comic book in the back of the store. “Wow, uh, ok. But this’ll be my first time doing it, so don’t blame me if something goes wrong.”

  Moonlight gave a thumbs up and Sunshine did the same. She then pointed a finger gun at her own chin, an orb of energy forming at her fingertips.

  She took a deep breath and muttered,

  “Mind Trick: Moonlight.”

  In the mere twelve seconds that Sunshine’s ability was active, she felt and saw many things that made her body crumble in agony and sorrow. The bubbling thickness of acid filling her body as though it was a pool, her skin being stripped off to reveal the grotesque essence of a Radion within her, vision growing blurrier by the second, fragments of the past long forgotten crashing back inside her mind like a boomerang made of steel—being this girl was straight hell.

  It only took a mere twelve seconds for that hell to be too much for Sunshine, and she deactivated her ability prematurely.

  “Are you ok?” asked Moonlight, rubbing Sunshine’s back. “Or should I say ‘Am I ok?’”

  Sunshine stared at her with wide, fearful eyes. “I’m… sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For pushing you so hard to do these things with me. I never realized how… painful being you is.” Sunshine didn’t even try to hide the pity in her voice.

  Moonlight noticed it almost instantly.

  “Please don’t pity me, Sunshine,” she said, her hand stopping.

  “What?”

  “I know that’s rich coming from the girl who was scared to come out here like an hour ago, but you’re the only person I’ve known these past ten years to not pity me or treat me like some damsel in distress. We feel like equals, and that feels nice.” She smiled somberly. “Please don’t stop doing that.”

  “Yeah, definitely.” Sunshine thought of what to say next. “Um… so ten years, huh? That’s not far from my age. I’m nine.”

  “I'm actually thirteen.”

  Sunshine gasped in shock. “No way. We're like the exact same size. I almost thought you were even younger than me.”

  “Yeah, I get that a lot,” Moonlight laughed. “I thought you were closer to twelve given your personality. Maybe a bit older.”

  “Man, I wish,” said Sunshine, pouting. “You got lucky being born before the apocalypse happened. I like many things in this world of ours, but it would've been nice to be in a normal world with beaches, proper bedrooms, and girls like you.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I don't really remember much of anything from back then. Only thing I do remember is my dad and how he'd lift me up really high with his big, strong arms.”

  Oh yeah. I did see what looked like a dad in her memories. It's pretty weird he looked like Saveer if half his face was more human-looking.

  “How'd he die?”

  Moonlight was taken aback by that question. “He's not dead… hopefully. At least, that's what Flash told me a while back. Last thing my dad ever told me was that he loved me and that he won't stop surviving until he finds me again.”

  “Hmm. Well, do you at least know his name?”

  “Flash told me it's Saveer.”

  Goosebumps pricked Sunshine’s entire body. She wasn't even sure if she heard correctly. Saveer is her father…? Jerome’s old friend? The man who got his head popped by a bullet…?

  Shit! No wonder he looked like Saveer. That was Saveer. Dang… Do I really have to tell her that her dad’s dead!?

  The air suddenly felt colder while Sunshine gripped her gray sweatpants. “Uh… Moonlight, I should tell you-”

  “I want to find my dad too.”

  “Huh?”

  “I want to find my dad and say ‘I love you’ back to him. I never got the chance to say it back then since I was only an infant, but now that I’m bigger, I can say it confidently. Yeah, I’m definitely going to find him… Oh, I’m sorry I interrupted you there. What were you going to tell me?”

  “Nothing,” Sunshine blurted out. “That’s actually a… really nice goal to have. It makes me feel pretty bad for waiting so long to tell my dad that I love him. Actually, it took me a while for me to even call him ‘dad’.”

  “Oh my,” Moonlight muttered. “That seems rude. Jerome was so nice to me. Why’d you take so long to do it?”

  Sunshine’s lips pursed. “I don’t know. Something happened a long time ago that made me mad… or sad? I really don’t know. I guess a part of me didn’t think he deserved that from me until he apologized for it. But then I saw how hard he worked to make me happy, how much pain and suffering he went through, all the sacrifices he made for me. I saw and remembered all of it, and the last thing I felt I had to say before I went unconscious was that I loved him.”

  Moonlight remained silent as though she knew Sunshine had more to get off her chest.

  “But even after saying that, I know if Jerome ever found out what I was doing behind his back… what I’m still doing behind his back, he’ll hate me. I love him, and yet I can’t even tell him the tru-”

  A hug from Moonlight erased the painful words that were this close from coming out of her mouth.

  “Your dad loves you, right, Sunshine?”

  “Yeah,” Sunshine murmured.

  “Then he won’t care what truth you’re hiding from him. As long as you tell him, things will stay the same.”

  Sunshine’s eyes began to shine again. “Yeah, things will stay the same.”

  “Awww, isn’t this absolutely touching? It’s touching, isn’t it, Roddy?”

  That voice from behind the two girls wasn’t a voice that Sunshine recognized. It sounded like a man who was trying way too hard to sound cool and nonchalant. She turned around and she noticed that it wasn’t just one man—there were two. One of the men was flashing a dumb smile at them with these gray and blue bracelets around his arms and a larger one around his neck. His fashion choice—an unbuttoned black shirt, shades, and silk black pants—looked to match his obvious “cool” facade.

  “It might be touching, but they’re wrong about one thing though. Things are not gonna stay the same.”

  If the guy who first spoke was going for the “cool” look, then the big one next to him was clearly going for something intimidating. With a ski mask covering his face apart from his eyes and a skull impaled with black rods, he definitely made Sunshine’s heart skip a beat.

  I can’t tell if that’s a part of the mask or literally in his skull… If it’s the latter, how the heck is he still alive?

  Moonlight let go of her new friend and stood up. “Oh, new visitors? Are you two friends with Su-”

  Without hesitation, Sunshine covered Moonlight’s mouth before she could reveal her identity. “Who are you two?”

  The man in the shades slicked his curly hair back, revealing his big forehead. “You don’t have to cover her mouth to hide your name. We already know who you are, Sunshine Hunter.”

  “Who are you two?” Sunshine repeated, her tone being serious.

  “A straight to business kinda girl. I respect that,” said the man with the rods. “My name is-”

  “His name is Roddy Richman,” the man in the shades interrupted, which got a “Hey!” out of his partner. “And I’m Absolute Ricky Saints. Do you know why there’s an ‘absolute’ in front of my name? I’ll answer before you say why. It’s because I always make absolutely sure to complete my missions. And no. My partner here isn’t called ‘Richman’ because he’s particularly rich. He actually owes me over a thousand-”

  “Why are you two here? I won’t make any assumptions.”

  Ricky raised his fist and aimed the back of it towards Sunshine. “We’re here to make this possibility in your future an absolute certainty. D. E. A. F.” He raised a finger with each letter of the word. Obviously, he had started with his middle finger.

  Sunshine raised an eyebrow. “You wanna make me… deaf?”

  Ricky snickered. “Roddy, is this girl absolutely stupid or did she not hear me?”

  Richman pinched his forehead in frustration. “The only one stupid here is you. That’s how you spell death. Death is spelled D. E. A. T. H. Not D. E. A. F, you fool.”

  Ricky paused for a while, glaring at Sunshine with a smirk. Then, he said, “We’re here to make this possibility in your future an absolute certainty. D. E. A. T-”

  Before he could finish his correct spelling, Sunshine appeared before his eyes in a flash of light. His cheek became victim to an aura-infused punch that knocked his skull into the concrete, blood and teeth hitting the girl’s face. Once she landed back down, she prepared to use Mind Trick. Somehow, Richman was faster, grabbing her arms from behind before Sunshine could shoot the orb.

  “That’s enough of that, Hunter,” Richman said casually, as though this wasn’t even a struggle for him. He didn’t seem to care at all about his friend squirming in pain beneath them. “We already know how your Radius Ability works. It ain’t a problem if your hands aren’t free for you to use it.”

  Damn it! How would they even find out about that? They must be working for Daemon.

  “Hey, I survived a fight against your boss, Daemon. Plus, my dad and I made that prick retreat back to his stupid Underground City. You really think you have a chance against me?”

  The rodman scoffed. “Daemon? My boss? Don’t be so offensive? That selfish, depressed fuck could never lead men like us. Especially when he wants you alive for some reason. We plan on taking you somewhere else so you can die the death you deserve.”

  “No, screw that!”, Ricky growled, slowly regaining his bearings. “This bitch had the audacity to punch my absolutely perfect teeth out. She nearly… broke my fucking jaw. She dies now.”

  “Don’t be stupid, Ricky. Part of the deal was that Jason gets the kill on her. We’re allowed to kill anyone else in Jerome’s little alliance though.”

  These two are working for Jason!? This is bad…

  Ricky decked Sunshine’s jaw, prompting Richman to jump back a couple meters.

  “Stop or I’ll make you stop,” warned Richman.

  “Don’t be so short-minded, Roddy,” said Ricky, poking the side of his skull as he inched closer to them. “Why waste time with that when we can just brutally kill her now? Did you forget how my goddamn ability works? Jason won’t even know the difference if we bring her to him alive or as fucking corpse. So let me pay this kid back with my fist lodged in her mouth!”

  “Hmm… Well, why didn’t you just start with that?” asked Richman, his voice growing eerily excited. “That makes things way easier for us. Here! Have a grand ole time.”

  “Gladly,” Ricky replied, appearing in front of Sunshine and slamming his fist against her nose.

  Despite how powerful the punch looked, it was actually on the weaker side compared to all the other hits Sunshine had taken before. However, that didn’t really matter when Ricky’s intent became clearer with each punch to the face, with every kick to the gut, with every time the metal from his bracelets came in contact with her skin.

  He was trying to beat her to death. As more and more blood began to spill, that realization quickly began to seep further into her mind. Yet, she didn’t let despair take over her in those bloody moments. Sunshine had hope deep within that someone would come rescue her. Whether that be Jesus, her dad, or maybe even Dante, someone she knew had to come stop these guys.

  What she didn’t expect was for Moonlight to try and be that someone…

  “G-Get away from her!” Moonlight shrieked, wrapping her arms around Ricky's neck.

  “Oh my! What do we have here,” Ricky cackled, switching his attention to the girl. “Can someone tell me why this thing has its disgusting arms around me? I really don’t feel like getting infected, so do you mind getting off?”

  Moonlight gritted her teeth. “No! Sunshine didn’t do anything wrong! Why are you people-”

  “Enough,” Ricky cut off, grabbing her neck and lifting her into the air with one hand. “Don’t tell me you’re friends with this little shit, Sunshine? You as a human is already bad enough. We can’t have this freak biting you and turning you into a bigger problem. How about we get rid of it just in case!?”

  “N-No! Stop,” Sunshine groaned, trying to rip herself free.

  It was no use. Something about Richman was restricting her movements. He wasn’t exactly strong physically, so it must’ve been his Radius Ability. But what the hell was it!?

  Ricky wagged his finger. “No, no, no, Sunshine. You don’t get to tell me what to do after you so rudely punched my absolutely beautiful face. So I’m gonna make sure I absolutely choke this freak to death! That will be an absolute certainty because I am Absolute Ricky Fucking Saints! And no! The fucking is not apart of my name now!”

  Sunshine spit out the blood from her mouth. “Please… She has nothing to do… with this. Just let her go and keep beating me up.”

  Ricky was done responding, now putting all his focus to sucking the life out of Moonlight with just his grip. A sense of dread and anger began to erupt within Sunshine’s pained body, the same feeling she got seeing her father in the cave.

  It was the first time she felt such strong emotions for someone who wasn’t Jerome. Strong emotions for a girl who wanted to be her friend, who chose to be her friend, who didn’t despise her over a virus she couldn’t control. And she desperately didn’t want to lose that.

  It didn’t matter if her death was going to be an “absolute certainty”. Absolute certainties exist to be broken…

  “I said… stop it!” A ray of energy exploded out of Sunshine, engulfing the area around the four in an intense light. The lens of Ricky’s shades shattered under the pressure of the kid’s overwhelming intensity. An overwhelming intensity that sent Roddy flying backwards while Sunshine rocketed towards Ricky.

  She clenched the prick’s neck, forcing him to let go of her friend’s neck. Although, Sunshine was too enraged to catch her before she could fall back down to the hard concrete. All she wanted to do was to bash this asshole’s head in.

  “I told you to stay away from her,” roared the girl, smashing him against the ground.

  “Ok, ok, I’ll stop,” shouted Ricky, putting his hands up in surrender. “I’ll leave you guys alone, ok!?”

  “It’s way too late for th-”

  The sentence never finished. A strange pressure bloomed in Sunshine’s gut. Not pain, not at first—just wrong. Her eyes flicked downward. A spear. A black, shadowy spear. Through her. The rest of the words dissolved on her tongue as heat drained from her limbs. Her hands hovered over to the spear. She felt nothing. How could something that was currently impaling her also be intangible…?

  There was one other problem.

  “No… blood?” she said under her breath, collapsing to her knees.

  Ricky smacked away her hand and shimmied out from under her. “Nice. My plan of looking like an absolute coward worked!”

  The sound of footsteps caught the girl’s attention. Fear filled her the second she saw Roddy Richman approaching the two with Moonlight over his shoulders.

  “Looking like? You literally begged for your life, Ricky.”

  Ricky gritted his teeth. “Hey! You’re supposed to be hyping me up! Not making me look like some beatable loser who can’t make her suffer.”

  “If you want to make her suffer, then…” Roddy tossed Moonlight over to Ricky. She was out cold. “Then kill someone she cares about right in front of her eyes.”

  “N-No!” Sunshine tried to tap into the same strength she used before, but it was like this spear was sapping her power.

  “Yes!” Ricky pulled out a pistol from behind his back and flaunted it at Sunshine. “However, I’m gonna make it an absolute certainty that she dies. Slow and steady kills just aren’t for me.”

  “No! Please, don’t! Don’t kill her! Don’t take her away from me! She’s my… she’s my friend…”

  “Aww. I don’t really care though.” He pressed the gun against Moonlight’s forehead. “Let this be a lesson to you, Sunnygirl. Humans cannot defy what is absolute.”

  “What about a zombie?”

  The cloud of despair raining down visions of all the negative outcomes that could’ve come out of this was immediately dissipated, a ray of hope shining onto the bloody concrete. All it took was the sight of a man she knew would never allow any of their deaths to come into fruition.

  The hand that Ricky used to hold the gun began to twitch. “I’m not gonna give you the satisfaction of forcing me to turn my head to look at you, so do me a favor and tell me who you are.”

  “My name is Jerome Hunter, and I want you to do me a favor and tell me how hard do you want me to punch you? For the record, you’ve already surpassed any number you could possibly give, so your only answer is infinity.”