I sprung into action, throwing a punch. The zombie backstepped, and then countered with his own strike. Blood spilled from my nose as my entire body leaned backward. Yet I didn’t let that stop me. Summoning a spring behind my skull, it bounced me forward.

  While my planned devastating headbutt missed, the look on his face suggested he didn’t expect that. Hunter kicked me in the gut, but I sprung back in seconds after the impact. While he still dodged the attack, this time he decided not to hit. Instead, the Type Two grabbed me by the tie and threw me through the ceiling. The pain my back faced didn’t matter at that moment.

  An unfamiliar feeling was taking over. Up to this point, I thought my Radius Ability only had a specific way it could be used. Who knew there was this much room for evolution?

  I landed on the library’s roof, and the zombie entered soon after. With a crazed laugh, he rushed over to me. I did the same, and we exchanged in a series of blows and dodges for who knows how long. My body has never destroyed this much shit in my entire life, though I was sure this was just another day for the zombie.

  I’ve also never taken this much damage before, and my limit was swiftly approaching. The sound of cracks filled my insides. Blood erupted from my mouth. My eyes were on the verge of being swollen shut.

  I kept going anyway.

  “C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! C’mon, Spring Head!” Hunter shouted in joy, sending out a flurry of strikes.

  I let myself get hit without creating a spring to help get some distance between that monster and I. If he wanted a barrage of punches, then I’d give it to him.

  I tightened my fists and launched them. Springs erupted behind my elbows, propelling each punch with devastating force. Blow after blow slammed against Hunter’s own barrage of attacks, each strike faster than the last. He kept laughing, relentless as ever.

  I didn’t hold back.

  Every punch I threw was amplified by the springs, my arms snapping forward like catapults. Blood dripped from my own wounds, and my arms ached from the force, but the rhythm of attack became almost hypnotic. Spring after spring, my elbows whipped forward, turning my punches into a continuous chain of strikes.

  Giving your moves name always sounded stupid to me, but today felt different.

  “Spring Break!”

  “Nuclear Gatling!”

  Hunter transitioned into only using his one fist, blocking each of my strikes as his hand glowed a bright green. Aura burst from my body, the weight of the zombie’s energy-coated attacks slamming against me repeatedly. Since he was missing a limb, his right side was completely open. But considering the speed at which he was moving his arm, the Type Two was aware of it too.

  I needed to move faster. My springs needed to propel my arms harder.

  “You’re gonna need a lot more than this to take me down, Spring Head! Don’t get me wrong though. This is still absolutely wonderful!”

  I didn’t respond. All my focus was put into redirecting my punches into one spot—a spot that Hunter would be forced to defend. Slowly but surely, the zombie’s left side became occupied. That was my chance. I blasted my arm forward with all the power the spring had, tearing a giant chunk out of the monster’s abdomen.

  Only one hit. That was the only hit I landed in that entire exchange, and yet I couldn’t help but throw my fist into the air and scream into the sky.

  “My punches were just a distraction for the ones in the sky.”

  My eyes widened. The blue above me vanished beneath a swarm of glowing fists made of energy, each one itching to crush me into the ground. I was exhausted, and there was nowhere to go that wouldn’t bring about the same outcome.

  “The power of a zombie, huh?” I smiled softly, beginning to fall back down. “Nobody’s beating that.”

  Before the fists could reach me, I was yanked out of the air and into Sharketa’s arms.

  “And here I thought you didn't have it in you,” she said, her voice sharp but trembling. She swung the metal bucket she’d been clutching, splashing its contents across the sky.

  “Sharknado!”

  Dozens of sharks erupted from the suspended water, their forms glistening in the sunlight. They charged upward, intercepting the storm of fists with violent crashes and roars that echoed like thunder. Each impact exploded into waves of energy and mist, shielding us from the assault.

  I could barely see through the haze, but I heard her steady breathing beside me—strong, focused, alive. For a moment, that was all that mattered.

  Those were all the sharks you raised, weren’t they? If I was stronger, you wouldn’t have had to sacrifice them for me. Sorry.”

  Sharketa took a deep breath and then screamed, “You’re so stupid!” right into my ear.

  “What the actual fuck, Marketa,” I groaned, rubbing my ear.

  “My ability only works if my babies agree to join the battle. If they didn’t want to be summoned, then we both would’ve been gooey mush on the ground right about now. They love you just as much as I do.”

  For the first time in my life, my heart skipped a beat. “I was able to land a hit on that fucker, but trying that hard was such a goddamn drag. And if the boss finds out we failed to take him out-”

  “Then you’re dead…” she said somberly.

  I furrowed my brows. “Huh? I was going to say you’re dead. Wait… did the boss make a deal with you too?”

  “Uuuh. That prick said if I didn’t stay on board with the Corleone Family’s plans, then he’d make sure you paid for it. Why do you think I was around you way more these past few years than any other time in our lives?”

  So that asshole was playing us both. “He said the same thing to me. Also, “that prick”. I hope you’re not thinking of saying that to his fa-”

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  “Screw him!” She looked up, took a deep breath, and shouted, “Fuuuuck you, Michael Corleone!”

  My hand quickly pressed against her loud ass mouth. “Are you crazy!? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  “If you two really feel that way, then just leave,” said a familiar voice. The zombie was walking toward us, the wound in his gut filling me with a bit of glee.

  If this dude still wasn’t satisfied with my performance, then I was just going to finish the job for him.

  “I bet that shit hurts, huh, asshole!?” Sharketa said angrily, pointing at the hole in Hunter’s abdomen. “If you still wanna go, then me and Orange can go all fucking night!”

  No, no, I actually can’t…

  “Oh, shut up, will ya?” he groaned, scratching the back of his head. “Save that anger for the prick you really wanna beat the shit out of. Your boss, right? Or should I say ‘former boss’?”

  “Former boss?” I muttered.

  “Even though I understand why you two decided to stay, it’s still so foolish and selfish to me,” Hunter continued. “You really should have just dedicated everything you had to getting out of that situation without giving any thought to the consequences until you finally took down Michael Corleone. Your powers didn’t make you weak. Your lack of resolve did.”

  I paused, taking in what he just said. “Hmm. Maybe you’re right.”

  The zombie chuckled. “But I did have fun with you.”

  Fun?

  “Dante, Daemon, Jason. I fought tons of dudes who I absolutely hated, but I definitely liked you the most, Spring Head.” He gave me a thumbs up. “Be proud. You are strong.”

  Words usually didn’t mean anything to me. An honest looking person could give the most heartfelt speech imaginable, and still manage to do the most sneakiest, conniving shit behind closed doors. An “I love you” from my parents never moved me. A “Keep up the good work” from my boss was nothing special.

  So what was it about that zombie’s words that made me feel so good? He was a simple brute, so I knew his ability to lie was probably low. Did he even have a reason to lie? What did an enemy like him gain from doing that?

  Maybe he was just a nice guy…

  I was going to reply, but the crowd of Hallowsville citizens cut in.

  “Hey, get away from them, you damn zombie!”

  “Yeah, first you wreck our buildings, and now you wanna eat people in front of us!? We're sick of your kind!”

  “I don’t eat people, asshole!” the zombie shouted, angrily waving his fist in the air. “And if you knew what I looked like before I became a zombie, then you’d quickly take back that last comment!”

  “Get the hell out of our town, man-eater! Us humans aren’t as scared of zombies as you think we are. We've seen firsthand that just two of us humans were able to make you look like that.”

  “The missing arm is actually-” The Type Two growled, his fists shaking. “There’s no use explaining my overwhelming power to the weak.”

  “The only weak one here is you! Spring Boy over here gave you a good run for your money!”

  “Yeah, c’mon, Spring Boy! Beat his ass some more!”

  The people eventually broke out into rabid “Spring Boy” chants which seemed to amuse Sharketa. It had the opposite effect on me. Not only were they loud and a little too close, I was given the stupidest name ever. If only there was a nice, deep hole I could sink into to get away from this nonsense.

  “What’s wrong with you people!?”

  Finally, someone with some sense.

  “Why’re you cheering for those supervillains when you should be cheering for the GOAT, the greatest of all time, and the hero of the day, Zombie-Man!”

  I was about to agree wholeheartedly until I saw the guy shouting irritatingly was wearing a white shirt labeled “Zombie-Man’s #1 Fan!” with a horrible depiction of Hunter’s face at the bottom. The sheer cringe of what my eyes were forced to look at would've killed me if it weren't for his hand wrapped in bloody bandages. Glad someone brought this dork some pain.

  “And who the hell are you!?” someone in the crowd yelled out.

  “I am Larry “Definitely” Shore,” the brown haired dork said, flashing a bright smile. “And I am definitely sure that y'all are on the wrong side.” He pointed at us. “Look at their suits, people. Sure, they may be tattered, but who’s so pretentious that they would wear suits in an apocalyptic world? Corleone Family members, that's who!”

  Oh no. Here it comes.

  “Huh!? You mean those people that put us here in the first place? They're affiliated with… them!?”

  “It does explain the suits and the superpowers…”

  “B-But they were trying to save us from the zombie.”

  Larry wagged his finger and shook his head. “At what point did those two ever put an inkling of effort in protecting you today? It was Zombie-Man protecting y'all. Not them.” He lifted his bandaged hand up and pointed at it. “You see this? I had a run-in with the shark tattoo girl a few weeks back and this was the result of it.”

  The people gasped in unison.

  “Oh, now I remember him,” Sharketa whispered. “I totally stabbed his hand with a kitchen knife. Dude has some crazy pain tolerance.”

  “Why the hell would you stab an unpowered?” I asked her quietly.

  She tapped her chin. “I don't even remember.”

  “Woah, that injury looks gnarly,” a man added.

  “Did you see her teeth when we were carrying her? She probably bit him.”

  “That freak was probably born with those.”

  The crowd was already on the verge of backing away from us, but Sharketa 's beastly growls sealed the deal.

  “I’ll have you know that I shaped these up myself!”

  “You see, guys,” Larry said. “The blood on them says it all. Look at how casual they look. Imagine all the other blood that’s been spilled on them, spilled because of their hands. Only a villain could act so cruel.”

  “He’s right. His shirt’s pretty stupid, but he’s right.”

  “I’d take a zombie over the psychos from that family any day. And if he’s some kind of superhero wearing a shitty costume, then that’s even better.”

  “Why the hell did we help them in the first place? Should've just let them die.”

  “Well, it is all of us vs just them two. It wouldn't be hard to finish the job.”

  I had no words. Mostly because I didn’t care what he said about me. Although, I didn’t think someone who would sacrifice things they loved to save another life should’ve been given that label.

  I wanted to speak up, to defend her, but a laugh caught my attention. The zombie filled the area with a sinister, boisterous laugh that confused everyone as much as it did me. If anyone sounded like a villain now, it was him.

  “Jesus, you humans are so gullible!” Hunter cackled, folding his arms. “I come to this shitty place and embarrass a couple wearing “Men In Black” costumes, and you idiots think they’re a part of some silly faction? Those last minute superpowers those weaklings awakened didn’t mean shit compared to the strength of a Type Two Radion!”

  “So those were just costumes?”

  “‘Men In Black’ is an Old Earth movie, right? I never watched that.”

  Larry’s smile faded. “Wh-What are you talking-”

  “My loyal henchman,” Hunter interrupted, pointing at Larry. “Thank you for trying to make me look like the good guy to help us properly fit in, but there’s no one worth eating in this town. Everyone here is so weak-minded. Swallowing their brains would probably make me as dumb as them.”

  “You hear that? That monster really was tryna eat us!”

  “I don’t even know what to believe anymore. Jason’s not here tonight, so how do we handle this?”

  “If we provoke him any further he’ll probably destroy more of Hallowsville. I’ll take an angry zombie over an angry Jason any day.”

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

  Hunter laughed again. “Spread the word of what I did here! And that goes for the weaklings I embarrassed tonight too. If they’re not alive, then how are all those “Resource Adventurers” gonna know about my awesome power!? I’ll slaughter anyone who lays a finger on them before they do!”

  I understood why the zombie did it. That didn’t make it any less strange though. He was trying to kill us not too long ago, and we were trying to kill him. We’re a part of the Corleone Family, and he knew that. So… why? Before he left, I wanted to know that much.

  I needed to know.

  “Hold on,” I said, sitting up. Hunter stopped to look at me as the space between my brows wrinkled. “What… What could you possibly gain from helping us?”

  “He obviously wants something from us, Orange,” Sharketa said. “What is it, huh? Money? Or are you trying to do some blackmail thing?”

  “You guys have nothing I could possibly want,” the zombie replied. “It’s just that since y’all seem so eager to leave that family, it’d be bad if people continued to associate y’all with them. That’s all.”

  My partner and I didn’t respond back. Then again, Hunter left so fast that we wouldn’t have time to say anything anyway.

  “That zombie is a real character,” I murmured, wiping the sweat off my neck.

  “Yeah, but him trying to take down the boss sounds fun. You think he has what it takes?”

  “Nope.”

  She snickered at that quick response, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Many have tried. All have failed.”

  “But… if anyone could do it, I’d like it to be him.”

  She hesitated to reply, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re my Orange?”