“God, I feel so much better now,” I said, rolling my right arm in a circle. While the feeling of my insides getting boiled was gone, that bad feeling I got from Jason wasn’t. But that fear I felt didn’t mean our chances of winning were zero now. My hope was still strong. “First things first, I regroup with everyone. That teleporter’s probably out for good, so it’ll just be me, Sunshine, and Jesus fighting that psycho.”

  Emmy pouted, squinting her eyes at me. “I noticed you failed to include me in your plans. What is my role in this group?”

  “If you think you’re fighting, then you’re dead wrong,” I replied, which made her even more frustrated.

  “Let’s fuse again. I might be weak by myself, but with us together, our success should be dramatically increased. Or have you forgotten our victory against the one you call ‘Spring Head’?”

  I patted her head. “No, I didn’t. Although, I’ve realized there’s more to fighting than just throwing punches. Corleone got me pretty good with that water bomb trick of his. And the way he incorporated that woman’s Radius Ability in it was annoyingly impressive. If I wanna beat Jason and that bastard, I gotta rely on more than fists. I gotta use my brain.”

  Emmy folded her arms. “You lack a brain, so I'd hope you never rely on that. But if you use mine, perhaps our chances of success will skyrocket.”

  “Hey, I actually have a pretty good idea up here.”

  “Ha! Enlighten me.”

  “Well-”

  “Trick or treat, bitch!” The sheer audacity for this random schmuck in a ninja costume to run up on me and call me a bitch earned him a punch to the face. It didn't take long for his basket of candy to get stolen by a bunch of kids. “Ah! Give that back, you little shits!”

  “These people are strange,” I murmured, shoving my hands into my pockets.

  “Strange, yes, but these surfers’ various violent actions interest me.” As soon as the ninja sat up, Emmy raised her hand. “Hey, you! What’s the reason for all of this chaos? I don't understand any of it.”

  “Who cares, Emmy?” I whispered. “Once we take down Jason, none of this stuff will matter anyway.”

  “It doesn't matter to you because you've never lived underground since your conception. Let me gather information in peace. You might learn something from this.”

  “What? Are you two newcomers or something!?” The ninja scanned us from head to toe. “I mean, you don't even have buckets, or bags, or fucking buckets? You should've gotten one of those days ago.”

  “Yeah, I was spending so much time making this cool costume that I forgot,” I lied.

  “I assume these buckets and bags are to hold those square and rectangular wrappers,” Emmy guessed, pointing at the three Hershey's left from the candy those kids stole.

  “Ah, fuck, man!” he exclaimed, scrambling back to his feet. “I always hate when these days come. I'm usually super careful, but that punch was so fast.” He pointed at me with fear in his eyes. “If I die tomorrow, then it'll be your fault, asshole!”

  I stuck up my middle finger at him, but he seemed more focused on picking up his basket and sprinting off than replying.

  Emmy raised her eyebrows at my hand. “What's that finger supposed to mean? Is that some sort of sign language?”

  “I guess you could say that. Well, anyways, I'm gonna fill you in on what my plan is. I think it's one of those plans where… whether we win or lose tonight, it’ll still work somehow.”

  “Do you’ve any idea how much you lowered my expectations?” Emmy asked with a disappointing tone. “A plan should guarantee victory.”

  “Are you gonna listen to it or not?”

  Emmy paused, and then her face softened. “I will listen if you… um, close your arms around me the same way you did for the adolescent organism. It looked interesting.”

  I scratched the top of my head. “Oh, you mean a hug? Didn’t you know you cared about me so much.”

  “I do not!”

  ********

  Sunshine saw it.

  She stood by the window in one of the buildings, watching silently as the Sunflower was experiencing the greatest pain one could experience. Weakness. The Radion made of flames tortured her body while the black haired human tormented her mind. But no matter how much she screamed, Sunshine stayed out. After all, if she couldn’t handle this, then Jason would make a ragdoll out of her.

  Besides, her so-called sister deserved this. Without that girl around, Jerome would be safe. Protecting her family had always been Sunshine’s duty, and that girl’s manipulation was tearing it apart.

  Jesus was right. Everything would be better off with her gone.

  The last thing Sunshine heard before leaving was sadistic laughter. Maybe it was a bad omen, but she didn’t give it much thought. Right now, all that mattered was finding Jesus. Ever since she’d passed out, he’d vanished without a trace. They were supposed to hold Jason back until her dad was done with whatever plan they had, but now she had no idea where anyone was.

  After running through the city alone for what felt like forever, Sunshine finally stopped. Down an alley between two stores, a trio of masked figures was herding a group of costumed citizens through a door.

  Unlike everyone else she’d passed, these people had rifles. That alone raised her suspicions, but what really caught her attention were their masks. The designs were eerily similar to Jason’s.

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  Maybe interrogating them would tell her his whereabouts.

  Once the last of them disappeared inside, Sunshine slipped through the door unnoticed. It turned out to be a convenience store. After spending plenty of time in places like this, she already knew the best hiding spot.

  Behind the cashier counter.

  Sunshine peeked, and her heart immediately skipped a beat. She thought interrogation would be necessary, but Jason was literally sitting right there… on a chair in front of the kneeling Hallowsville citizens. This might’ve been even better. Instead of asking, she could see how Jason works up close.

  “We found these five pricks trying to escape through the front gate during last night’s game,” said one of the masked men, poking the dude wearing a pirate costume with his rifle. “Whaddaya you wanna do with ‘em, boss?”

  “No, I wasn’t trying to leave!” the woman in a fairy costume cried, shaking her head. “There-There was this explosion, and it blasted me out the gate.”

  “Yeah, nice try, lady,” chuckled another of Jason’s men. “You made a run for it as soon as I confronted you. Where do you think that graze on your leg came from?”

  “Debris from the fucking explosion, you dick!”

  “Shut up!” the masked man shouted, striking her head with the back of his rifle.

  “What do you want to do with them, Jason? Make an example out of them for the whole city to see? Maybe something flashy like the shit they do in Explosion Town. Well, before their leader died.”

  Jason didn’t respond as he kept his eyes on the floor. Minutes of weeping passed, and not a single word left his mouth. Strange. The man was usually one to reply quickly—whether that response be verbal or physical.

  “Um, boss, is there… something wrong?”

  One of the trio stepped back, as though he sensed something was about to go wrong.

  After a couple more seconds, Jason looked up with weary eyes. “I am going to kill every single person in this room in various ways.”

  The masked men collectively jumped and said, “What the fuck? He can talk!?”

  This is gonna go bad, Sunshine thought, her muscles tensing up.

  Jason stood up with an eerie quickness, prompting the trio to aim their rifles at him and begin shooting. It didn’t matter if they once worked for him. Their lives were on the line, and fighting back was the only option.

  However, this wasn’t some average joe they were dealing with. The bullets bouncing off Jason’s body seemed to pierce that into their brains as they stopped shooting and opted to run. They were inches away from the door, but the masked man didn’t let them escape.

  Sunshine presumed their deaths would be quick.

  They weren’t.

  No, they were slow. Terrifyingly slow.

  She’d seen people die before, but these weren’t simple kills. Decapitating a man at the speed of a fucking turtle so he could feel every inch of his head coming off wasn’t simple. Poking holes through someone’s body until every drop of blood poured out wasn’t simple. Crushing a person’s skull between his palms like a watermelon wasn’t simple either.

  That last one was a guess. She couldn’t keep watching after Jason sliced off the man’s finger and began stabbing holes into him. But judging by the spray of blood that followed, she probably wasn’t wrong.

  The screams made it so much worse. Not just ‘cause they failed to hide the sounds of blood spilling and the gore. It reminded Sunshine of what could’ve easily been her fate. All it would’ve taken was one wrong move, and she’d be there.

  Sunshine gripped her chest, wishing her heart would stop beating so fast. She knew her heartbeat couldn’t be heard sitting behind the counter, but she prayed it would slow down anyway. Her legs were itching to move, and the open door was tempting.

  No, I can’t! she thought, holding her legs down.

  The people that were left begged for their lives. That begging was met with a variety of slow demises, staining the room with more of the disgusting stuff that Jason loved the most.

  That was when Sunshine finally understood what her dad meant. This is what Jason did to that little boy and his parents back in Underground City. This is what he did to Sunflower.

  Not just them. He’d probably been doing this for years.

  You saw him do this type of stuff, didn’t you, Dad?

  The girl's mind was so jumbled with thoughts that she didn't notice the heavy footsteps coming towards her until the last minute. Then they stopped. Sunshine covered her mouth, surprised by how loud her breathing was.

  She glanced up, and the sight nearly made her jump out her seat. Jason was standing right behind the counter, though his eyes weren't looking at Sunshine. Did he even notice her in the first place?

  Heat pressed down on her skin until it hurt to breathe. Sweat poured from every pore, pooling at her neck and soaking her clothes. The bloodlust in the room was unbearable—thick, suffocating, alive.

  Even though everyone else was already dead, he was still searching. Searching for someone, anyone, to sink his claws into.

  Was this a game?

  All he had to do was look down. Why wasn’t he doing it? Maybe he wanted to savor the moment—maybe it was more satisfying to kill someone already paralyzed with fear.

  She heard more footsteps. Sunshine tensed, her entire body locking up as she waited for the inevitable. But it never came. The door creaked open, then slammed shut. Silence followed.

  She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. This had to be a trick.

  The second she opened her eyes again, Jason would be standing there, waiting to rip her open.

  But it never came.

  When Sunshine finally opened her eyes, her body trembled uncontrollably. The air itself felt hostile.

  Dad, we can't do anything stupid anymore, she thought, her eyes welling up with tears. If we do anything stupid, it's over. I-I-I think I have some idea on how he activates his Radius Ability now, so even if we fail here, we can still win in the future. I'm done… I'm so done.

  Her teeth began to chatter as she covered her face, ashamed of what she was thinking.

  That massacre. That… that horrible aura… Just one look was enough to destroy me. Daddy, Sunflower, that aura must've been all over you, huh? You were probably even closer than I was. So how the hell are you still able to face him!? Why do you still want to fight him!? I don’t understand. For revenge? For me? Why…? I don’t deserve that.

  At that moment, an image of Moonlight flashed in her mind. She froze. Up until now, Sunshine desperately wanted her back on the team. Not just ‘cause how useful her power was. Moonlight was her first friend. Her only friend. But if she came here…

  Moony, I’m sorry. You can’t come here. If you do, it’s all over. You don’t belong in a place like this.

  No matter how much Sunshine tried to see a scenario where they all came out on top, those images were quickly replaced by Jason standing over all of their corpses.

  Daddy… I wanna go home.

  *******

  “I need to find Jesus,” Sunshine said to herself, walking alone on the empty street with her head down. “He can fix this. Yeah, everything will be fine as long as he’s still here. I have to tell him I’m all in. I’m all-”

  Blinding light flooded her vision. The roar of an engine drowned out her thoughts.

  “Woah! Watch out, kid!”

  A rough hand yanked her off her feet just as a car tore past. She hit the sidewalk hard, blinking up at the man who’d pulled her clear. Sunshine recognized him. He was the same black haired dude that tormented Sunflower.

  If he was here, that meant either Sunflower lost or he ran away. Given the dust on his suit, it might’ve been the latter.

  “That was close,” he chuckled, patting Sunshine’s head. “I’m all for a little craziness, but this city’s too much for me. I’m planning on heading out. If you’re lost, I can show you the way to the front gate.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You’re offering me help ‘cause you know I don’t live here?”

  “Unless they’re making sad-looking little girl costumes, then I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

  The man had a strange look to him. No, unique would be a better description. He didn’t have the face of someone who was used to smiling a lot, so the one he had on now looked plastered on. Anyone would probably blame those dead eyes of his, but Sunshine saw something different in them.

  A great sadness. Not the type that goes away after a couple of hours.

  The man’s eyes were perpetually sad.

  “Hey, are you ok?” Sunshine asked hesitantly, scratching her head.

  He blinked. “What do you mean?”

  “Are you depressed?”

  For a moment, the world felt like it froze as Sunshine focused in on the man’s face. His smile disappeared at an eerily slow pace. The darkness filling his eyes became even darker.

  “You are a scary individual, even though you’re so small.” He looked up at the red sky. “Am I depressed? That’s a hard question to answer. Is it hard to answer because the answer is yes, or because I do not want it to be yes?” He looked back at Sunshine. “I cannot verbally express what I think to you, and I am not fond of that. Perhaps finding a proper answer is the key to understanding myself?”

  What the heck is he babbling about?

  “Dude, I was only asking because you reminded me of a friend,” Sunshine said, slowly backing away from him. “You can say no if you want.”

  The man didn’t reply to that comment. Instead, he brought back his soft smile and asked, “Why don’t we lighten the mood with a magic trick?”

  “No.”

  “C’mon,” he said, spreading his palms out. “Consider it repayment for me saving your life.”

  Sunshine doubted a car would've been the end of her story, but she decided to entertain him for a little. “Just make it quick. I gotta get somewhere soon.”

  He took out a joker card from his chest pocket, placed it on his right palm, then rubbed his hands together in a practiced shuffle. When he finally stopped, he pointed toward Sunshine’s left pocket. She hesitated, then reached into her pocket.

  To her surprise, the card was actually there. Although, the amusement didn’t last long. With all the horrible thoughts still swirling in her head, she didn’t have any time for this irrelevant fun.

  “Thank you… for the card, I guess,” Sunshine said, putting her new collectible back in her pocket.

  The man nodded, walking away without saying another word. She was about to walk in the opposite direction when a familiar voice caught her attention.

  “Luz Solar!” Jesus finally made his presence known, jumping down from a building. “Where were you? Finding you was like finding a needle in a haystack.”

  “You… left me alone,” Sunshine said in a melancholic tone.

  “And you did a wonderful job surviving this long,” Jesus replied joyfully.

  “I don’t remember what happened when we went through the gate.”

  “And I don’t remember my first kill or my first time, but I turned out just fine.” The swordsman walked closer, running his finger down his katana. “Irrelevant memories hold you down.”

  “I don’t like not remembering things. It makes my brain feel used.”

  He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but it felt cold. “Sunshine, if you have any doubts about the plan here, then remember what I told you. If there’re any doubts about doing something, then think of every good outcome that could come from it.”

  Every good outcome… “Yeah. I’m starting to think that you were right. Dad won’t like it, but if it saves his life… then I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  “That’s the spirit, little lady! Saving lives is what truly matters at the end of the day. You won’t just be doing me a great service. You’ll be helping loads of people. Isn’t that what you truly want in the end?”

  “Yeah…”