Considering Sunflower had been a part of my body, a part of me since I absorbed her, I was able to fully understand her intentions when using the technique she called “Sunspot”. What we needed to escape was a light strong enough to shine on an entire city, and the orb of light that grotesquely emerged from the girl’s mouth was exactly that.

  However, instead of lighting a path to our escape, something weird happened. While I was in the outside world again, my surroundings were different—a lot more… darker than I remembered. My body was also different—just as black as everything else around me. I would have thought some twisted afterlife had taken me hostage if it wasn't for a distinct sound flooding the area.

  Growling.

  I wasn’t out of the picture just yet. The hands and feet of the zombies using me as a stepping stone constantly reminded me of that. If the color of their bodies wasn’t already naturally black, I would’ve guessed that the rodhead who trapped me in the Shadowverse had something to do with this. And there were still some questions that needed to be answered to give my mind some peace.

  Where the hell was my body, and most importantly, where was my daughter and her new friend?

  “What is this-”

  Suddenly, a cold pressure pressed against my mouth, stopping me from talking.

  “Don’t talk out loud, old man. Just think.”

  Sunflower was still here, her voice dipped with frustration.

  “Since this should be a part of his Shadowverse, I’m just going to take a wild guess and assume Roddy can hear and sense everything that’s still in the darkness. If that crow was able to do it, then he should be able to too. So quit speaking with your mouth.”

  ‘This is just great. I thought your Sunspot was supposed to free us, not drop me into a zombified mosh pit!”

  “I don’t even know what a mosh pit is. Is that a thing you experienced back in the 60’s? You know, the olden days?”

  What offended me was how genuine that question sounded. There were aspects about Sunflower that reminded me a lot. Since she was sixteen now, she would've only been six years old when the bombs first dropped. Of course she wouldn’t know what a mosh pit was…

  ‘If you want to know so badly, why don’t you just take a look through my mind?’

  “And spoil the mystery? No way! I plan on experiencing all the things I missed from the Old World when it eventually returns.”

  ‘Eventually returns? You have a wild imagination, kid, but I find that interesting about you.’

  “You call it imagination. I call it reality. The Old World was the last place I know my mother was truly happy in, and it was the only place fit for her to fulfill her dreams. So I’m going to make sure that dream becomes a reality… after I destroy you and take her back, of course.”

  I chuckled in my head. ‘So you’re a ‘Screw The Apocalypse’ kinda person too, eh? Maybe sharing a mind and body with you won’t be that bad.’

  “Are you out of your mind? Once I get what I want out of you, I’ll do anything in my power to make sure you’re a lifeless corpse on the-”

  “Sunshine!”

  Despite what Sunflower said earlier, I couldn’t stop myself. The name tore itself from my thoughts like a gunshot as I focused my attention upwards. Seeing my daughter again after what felt like an eternity in an infinite darkness should've been a good thing.

  The machine gun aimed at her chest ruined that completely.

  I didn’t know the identity of who the woman pointing the gun was or what that black spider web they were standing on was, but that didn’t matter. Whoever this new Corleone Family ally was, she wasn't going to be threatening my child’s life any longer. The only problem was that no matter which parts I touched on the zombie horde, I couldn't climb up like they were doing.

  “You have to swim.”

  I looked around for the apparent body of water she wanted me to swim in. ‘Where?’

  “I'm obviously not telling you to swim in water, old man. Just take a look at the other zombies. They go in each other’s bodies as if it was real water and just swim up. You’re kind of doing it right now.”

  Sunflower was right. It was probably ‘cause I couldn’t feel much of anything at first, but both my arms were definitely every zombie that passed by me. I never considered myself to be the best swimmer, but if I could move through a sea of fire, then a little darkness was no problem.

  I submerged my whole body into their dark bodies, essentially fusing with the zombies as I began to rise to the top. Unfortunately, increasing my speed wasn’t an option. It was hard to do that when you weren’t in your original, much stronger body. I trusted Sunshine’s strength—I truly did. But no father can see their daughter get impaled, then a gun aimed at her on the same day, and not feel a sense of urgency build up in him.

  It was during those moments of fear that my worries were put to bed. The woman who was just pointing her weapon was now shooting it at the two men. Even though the bullets didn’t seem to affect them, the fact she was trying to help Sunshine now lit a new fire in my body, a fire that wanted me to join the battle as soon as possible.

  The spider web was nearly in my grasp when something bright and green caught my attention. A bubble holding a man inside was floating in the air, and the flame inside my imaginary heart shrunk a little, my body freezing. A battle between relief and shock was taking place within me, and I didn’t know which side to root for. But there was one word my mind focused on the most.

  Impossible.

  Consequences ran his entire hand through that man’s gut. How was it possible he survived-

  “Jerome, what the heck are you doing!? Get out of your own head and move! You’re going to ruin everything for me before I can even get my hands on those bastards!”

  Sunflower’s anger pulled me out of my confusion, giving me the strength to make that final push to the goal. However, the only ones still at the top were the prick with the sunglasses and the rodhead, both wearing some kind of black, misty cloak around their bodies. The three girls had jumped onto Dante’s forcefield and were on their way out of the pit.

  That was good. If Dante truly was here, then I’d probably have to thank him later…

  Not to mention, I didn’t look out of place just standing near them considering there were a couple of other dark zombies doing the same. It was unlikely they heard my scream from earlier with all the background noise beneath them. My cover wasn’t blown yet. Also good.

  Now that I took the time to notice it, they were actually moving… like an army. Not just a horde of monsters intent on devouring people, but an actual coordinated army with an actual goal. Almost human-like.

  My luck was getting better by the second. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut this time, and they’ll think I’m one of-

  “Ricky Starks! Roddy Richman!”

  I didn’t say that. My mouth opened, but that wasn’t my voice that escaped from it. It seemed like Sunflower couldn’t hold back her need to kill any longer as she was the one who yelled their names for all to hear. So much for being quiet. Kid couldn't even follow her own advice…

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Roddy didn’t pay us any mind, and instead jumped off the web and vanished into the darkness. All this achieved was setting Sunflower’s heart ablaze, her nearly smothering my mind. My fatherly instincts wanted me to follow my daughter and the others, but it was like Rosalina’s daughter had a chain around my neck, forcing me to stay put.

  On the other hand, Ricky gave us his attention, and the shock on his face told a story. It was the face of a man who had just witnessed the very impossible.

  His lips quivered, slowly turning into a smirk. “Are my ears absolutely deceiving me or did I just hear the voice of a tiny mouse?”

  The words I really wanted to say tried to come out, but Sunflower’s own voice shattered that intention.

  “Rosalina Ramirez… Sunflower Ramirez… You remember us, don’t you? Because we’re both here!”

  Ricky chuckled, adjusting his shades. “Hmm, this is interesting. Assuming this is actually Jerome’s body right now, it looks like he was able to not only absorb Corleone’s bitch, but her daughter too? Now I really see why the Boss wants us to capture you alive.”

  His voice suggested that he wasn’t too fazed by the strange phenomenon happening before his eyes. However, that face from before said something else, and I knew it had to. What about her presence made him so scared initially?

  That was a question that took first place in my mind until the sight of spikes made of darkness chasing the three’s forcefield changed my priorities. If that wasn’t bad enough, I noticed a big blob of black bubbling a couple meters, sprouting what looked to be giant fingers out of the top. Unfortunately, Sunflower’s priorities differed. Her emotions in that moment were justifiable, sure, but it was stopping me from what I wanted to do, from fulfilling my duty as a dad.

  It was time to put my foot down, no matter how much her anger attempted to erase that duty.

  Ricky turned to black blob. “I would absolutely love to chat with you more, but I have more important things to worry about.”

  The man ran towards the edge of the spider web, fully intending to jump. I charged after him, making up for my lost speed and explosiveness with pure heart and determination. Our feet left the web, and we immediately dove into the mob of the undead.

  If zombie surfing was an official sport, Ricky would be a natural at it. I didn't know if doing it on your knees counted, but it was definitely more than what I could do. Although, unlike the violent unpredictability of water, the zombies actually helped him out here. When it came to me, I was nothing more than an obstacle they needed to destroy, landing a punch every time I tried to regain momentum.

  They weren’t just acting like humans. It was as if they were being controlled by one.

  What confused me the most was the inconsistency—what these shadow zombies could or couldn’t touch. I passed through most of them like smoke; their bodies phased right through mine. But a few? Their hits landed. Hard.

  Sure, my face wasn’t covered in darkness like the rest of me, so I guessed it was vulnerable. But that wasn’t the problem. The ones who hit me had bodies of black too—just like the others. So why weren’t they phasing through me? Now that I thought about it, those shadow monsters were able to attack me too even though they shouldn’t have.

  There was something fishy about this ability, and I needed to find what was up with it. The shadow surfer came first though, making his way to the transforming blob.

  Ricky cackled, throwing up a peace sign in the air. “God, you used to be way faster, Hunter! What happened, man?”

  “Damn it! Move faster, old man! He’s getting away!”

  ‘Maybe instead of aimlessly chasing this guy, we figure out how this ability really works so we can get rid of it.’

  “And give him the chance to escape while you try and fail to comprehend this? Yeah, no way. That's it. I'm taking the wheel now.”

  ‘Huh!?’

  To my dismay, I felt a wave of strength, negative emotions, and conflicting ideals crash onto me. It slowly corrupted my body like a poison, attempting to disintegrate everything I believed in, all the things that made me who I was. The overwhelming intensity of her desires, the crushing weight of her selfishness, the crimes she’s committed and the crimes she’d do in the future, her will to fight and to resist, her utter indifference towards the feelings of others as she fought to protect the one she loved the most…

  That was the moment I finally understood just who Sunflower reminded me of. It wasn't my daughter.

  It was… me.

  This girl that I wanted to change so badly had truly, had always been driven by the same motive as me. Changing her motivations wasn’t the answer to fix this problem—taming it was. However, with the way she and I were raised, there was a key difference between us that I needed to erase to make this coexistence work.

  Sunflower was missing something, no, someone important to keep her in check.

  People that could keep her humanity intact.

  Upon realizing that, I knew what I needed to do.

  “The Shadowverse changing somehow placed us in the same body again, but my control over your body has gotten way stronger this time!” Her voice didn’t have the sinister tone it had the first time she fought me. Here, it just sounded desperate, desperate for something she couldn’t have. “Our roles will finally be rever-”

  ‘I think I finally understand what your problem is, Sunflower. Rosalina was a caring and overprotective mother who loved you very much. She reminded me of my own mom and my wife in many ways. But she coddled you way too much to the point where you’ve become a selfish brat.’

  “Huh!? What are you trying to say? It’s not like you’re one to tal-”

  ‘I know I’m one to talk, which is why I’ve always had a special someone, no, multiple people show me the benefits in caring for other peoples’ lives besides my daughter. I think now you need that special someone, and that someone needs to be a father figure.’

  At first, there was a dead silence in my mind as the corruption of my body paused. Then, the feeling of knives piercing through resumed the process, Sunflower’s screams shattering the quiet.

  “I did have a so-called ‘father figure’, and that bastard ruined my-”

  ‘Would you shut up about that and keep listening? You saw what I’ve been through these past ten years and what I’ve done to protect Sunshine. Don’t you ever in your life compare me to that man ever again.’

  Sunshine didn’t respond. If a soft, understanding tone wasn’t working, then a change in my tune was needed. I didn’t like the man’s parenting techniques, but if my dad was right about one thing, it was that intimidation was an easy path to respect. Considering her control was weakening, it must’ve been working.

  ‘Given her conditions, I don’t blame your mother for giving you the wrong idea about certain aspects of life. And that’s where I come in. I’ll be the real father you always needed, and who better than someone with forty-three years of human experience. So until the day I die, you’ll live your life with me as your new dad. You don’t have to call me that, but you will treat me as such. Am I understood?’

  “B-but-”

  ‘I said… am I understood!?’

  “O-ok, ok, fine! Geez!”

  With that, her attempts at taking over my body ceased just as another zombie struck my face.

  Tough love.

  It looked like Jesus was right, after all. Some kids really did respond better to that. Although, there was no way someone like me could ever erase the hatred or pain inside her heart. I wasn’t trying to anyway. The only thing I could do was add more emotions and memories so that the ones she already had weren’t plaguing her brain.

  Maybe that was the real reason Rosalina allowed me to absorb her. It wasn’t just to save her daughter. She wanted me to raise her, take care of her, show her a side of the world that wasn’t just death and torture.

  Maybe having her—and others like her—in my life will help me understand how a zombie like me… can still hold on to my humanity.

  “Watch your left!”

  Doing as the girl said, I ducked. A zombie flew over my head from the direction Sunflower warned me about.

  ‘Thank you! Now keep watching out for me till I can figure out what’s going on with this ability.’

  “I thought you already figured it out. Most of the ones trying to attack phase right through you while some still have their physical bodies.”

  ‘So, basically, he made a couple fakes so that I’d lower my guard when fighting. Well, not just for me. Sunshine and her allies would face the same problem too.”

  “All you have to do is find a way to distinguish between them, and you’ll be able to dodge them easily.”

  That would be impossible for me. All of them had the same darkness around their bodies, and there weren’t any clear physical traits the fakes had that the shadows didn’t. In fact, the real shadows tried attacking me as though they were actually fakes.

  The time for serious observation had to come later. For now, the plan stayed the same—catch this surfing asshole before he can reach his partner.

  “Hey! I literally just told you-”

  ‘Be quiet and watch, kid! I’m sorry to say this, but fighting like this just works for me better.’

  With that said, Sunflower continued to make me aware of my blind spots while weaved through the attacks I could see. For some reason, Ricky was moving towards what I correctly guessed to be a hand. The fact he wasn’t moving away from it suggested two things to me.

  One—Roddy was inside the hand, explaining why he was nowhere to be found down here or near the girls. And two—the hand was a form of transportation, and they were gonna use it to fly up to Dante’s forcefield. The rodhead must’ve been waiting for Ricky, so stopping him from reaching there was my top priority.

  “Damn… That bastard has us beat.”

  Ricky beat us? What the hell is she talking about? We already figured out these zombies’ attack patterns and the secret to Roddy’s shadow trick. Did I do something wrong?

  “You already had a hunch before about Ricky’s power, and you were right about it. He calls it ‘Godfather’ and it lets him control anyone or anything he can get those shackles around. If he gives them an order, they have to do it. No questions asked.”

  ‘I don’t have a shackle around my neck and neither do any of these zombies. So how come they’re still following his orders?’

  “It must be that fatass’s doing. The darkness here must’ve temporarily changed how his control works, expanding it so that it affects every zombie here. Right now, he’s purposely leading a whole bunch of zombies to that giant hand. Probably to help them kill those girls up there. Unfortunately, he’s leading you there too.”

  ‘How!? I’ve been controlling my body just fine.’

  “That’s exactly what he made you think. The moment the Shadowverse was deactivated, we were placed inside this random body. We’ve been under his control ever since. As for why you feel like you’re still fine, think of it in the same way as the zombies attacking you. Ricky ordered them to slow you down so you wouldn’t catch him. He didn’t give specifics, so they can stop you in any way they want.”

  ‘So he somehow ordered me to swim to that hand, and I’m following that order without knowing it? Well, that isn’t fair!’ My movement stopped once I realized Ricky’s Godfather didn’t force me to keep chasing him. ‘If I don't move, then his power shouldn’t work on me. And if he forces me to follow him, then we’ll know you’re right, Sunflower.’

  To my surprise, I didn’t feel the urge to chase Ricky into the hand, which was now growing to the size of a building. The zombies stopped attacking me too, following their new master as they all dove into the monstrosity. Was he really gonna leave me out here?

  “Maybe his power didn’t work on you, after all. But you should still… Hey, are you paying attention? And what’s that look on your face?”

  I didn’t blame Sunflower for her newfound concern. A critical mistake was made on my end, a mistake that should’ve never been made to begin with. It wasn’t something that would lead to any damage to Sunshine or I. There were a lot more zombies that I had anticipated joining Ricky’s side, and I doubted Sunshine and co. could defend against all of that.

  There was no way I was gonna sit by and watch those assholes get a win over them.

  “Don't do it, Jerome! Are you stupid!? That's exactly what Ricky wants from you, and you're just gonna hand over the win? Didn't we just discuss th-”

  ‘Calling me stupid? Saying something of that disrespect would be grounds for punishment when I was kid. If you don't want that to happen to you, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut and watch. What I'm about to show you is one of the most important parts of humanity! Following your heart and ignoring logic!’

  Sunflower let out a sigh of defeat. “You're right. I was wrong to call you stupid… What I should've called stupid was your underestimation of your supposed daughter! For someone who brags about being such a good father, you haven't actually shown me the one trait you keep bragging about the most: trust.”

  ‘I do trust Sunshine! But those zombies-”

  “I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about me. If you want to be my new dad so badly, then you better not discriminate between us. Trust me when I say you should trust your daughter in this battle.’

  Upon hearing her words, I realized how naive I was.

  Sunshine was the only kid I had ever taken care of in my life. I always declined babysitting for friends and strangers, even if money was involved. Honestly, raising a child wasn’t a task I ever saw myself doing. Plus, dealing with a wide range of personalities was too much of a sensory overload. That’s why it was so good for me to have a daughter that was so self-aware. Decreased my fatherly duties by about half.

  However, things were different in this situation. Sunflower was different. A new personality and new problems in our dynamic meant a change in my parenting was needed. Perhaps a way to mix them or some other way.

  ‘Well, this’ll be interesting… I take back what I said before, Sunflower. I’ll trust you a lot more now. But if we choose not to go up there, then we’ll need to find a way to help them from the sidelines. Like benchwarmers.”

  “As long as I get the killing blow in the end, I couldn’t care less.” Sunshine struggled saying her next line. “A-Also, I’m s… I’m sorry about calling you stupid. You know how to listen when push comes to shove.”

  ‘Nah, it’s fine. I deserved that.’