Daniel sprinted out of the lobby, pushing aside several individuals as he ran. The young man collected the angry shouts and even the swears of the more ill-tempered people he shoved out of his way. Still, he kept running from the apartment building, gathering more and more distance as he went, completely unaffected by the world around him.

  Daniel was trapped in his own world as his body kept going. He ran past several intersections with red lights. He dashed across the streets undeterred even as numerous cars honked their horns, narrowly evading hitting him as they drove by.

  Many vehicle horns and terrified screams cascaded through the air as he continued. But Daniel could only hear the voices of the Karter family, Luthor, and the sound of Hope crying. The sounds echoed through his mind, getting louder and louder, becoming a deafening chorus. But finally, a dizzy spell hit Daniel.

  The superhuman strength that allowed Daniel to run for at least one kilometer on an empty stomach had finally left him. The young man at last collapsed, dropping into a deserted alleyway and knocking over a garbage can. Daniel lay on the ground, sweating profusely as his heart pounded like a drum.

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Daniel said, panting.

  Daniel's heart rate slowly stabilized, and his sweating stopped. As they did, he gradually regained his senses, wiping the last of the sweat off his face with his shirt sleeve.

  "What am I doing?" Daniel groaned. "Let's go home."

  As Daniel stood up, someone threw their arms around him and quickly grabbed his neck in a vice-like grip. But Daniel still broke loose of the hold and retaliated against his assailant by grasping their neck in an iron grip. Still, as he captured his foe, he could finally see their face in the orange light of dusk. It was Ophelia Santini, smiling at Daniel.

  "No," Daniel said in a whisper.

  Many, many, thoughts and questions ran through Daniel's mind in mere seconds as he recognized Ophelia. Chiefly among them was if his secret identity had been leaked somehow to the criminal underworld.

  "Wait," Daniel thought.

  As he fearfully surveyed the area and saw no one else around, more questions flooded his mind. Daniel realized if the enemy knew his secret they would have brought an army. Still, he pondered heavily why she was there, and what was the meaning of the jubilant smile on Ophelia's face?

  Daniel slowly opened his mouth. "Ophelia Santini?"

  "Thats me." Ophelia tittered.

  "W—why are you here?" Daniel took another swift look around for enemies. "I mean what do you want from me?"

  "Quite a few things honestly." Ophelia released a pleasure-filled moan. "For example, please hold my neck tighter."

  Daniel let go of Ophelia. "What the hell type of game are you playing, Santini?"

  "No game. You see I volunteered for this mission. My big brother, Andrea, Don Santini, sent me to recruit you. We have use for you in our organization."

  Daniel swallowed. "Because?"

  "Your experience in the Manheim gang."

  Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. "I get it now. Thats all you want me for."

  "Well, that's all my brother wants you for." Ophelia reached out her hand to touch Daniel's face. "But for me I w—"

  Daniel caught Ophelia's hand before she could touch him, glaring at her. "Sister, first of all, I have a girlfriend."

  "Whom I'm sure doesn't have a fraction of my beauty or willingness to do certain... pleasurable things for you."

  Daniel threw Ophelia's hand back at her. "Secondly, my days of hanging around your kind are long gone."

  Daniel began to walk away from Ophelia. But as he went, she used her superhuman strength, striking the back of his head with a hammer fist and knocked him unconscious.

  Daniel was caught in the realm between sleep and the waking world. However, his senses reactivated one-by-one, pulling him from his troubled slumber. He saw only darkness in the beginning. A sharp pain at the top of his head followed. And slowly light returned to his vision as his eyes fluttered open with a groan. As his eyelids fully opened he could finally see where he was, gripping his throbbing head. He sat in a chair in the foyer of Santini manor located in the forest.

  "What is this place?" Daniel groaned again, but louder.

  A door to Daniel's left flew open. The three Santini siblings jogged into the room through the door. The group hurriedly examined the space until Andrea saw Daniel awake in the chair and pulled his siblings over to him as he went.

  "I thought I heard something," Marco said.

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  "Good evening, Mr. Jones," Andrea said.

  "Whats so good about it?" Daniel pointed at Ophelia, and shouted. "I have a huge lump on my head thanks to her."

  "Yeah, sorry about that," Marco said.

  "In my defense, you left us no choice, handsome," Ophelia said.

  "You could have chosen to take no for an answer." Daniel retorted.

  Ophelia laughed. "Nobody tells me no."

  "Enough." Andrea sat in a chair directly facing Daniel. "My sister has already informed us on the discussion you had earlier. But perhaps I can persuade you?"

  "Stop right there. Whatever this is, Santini, I don't want any part of it."

  "I highly doubt that. My business proposition promises to pay handsomely."

  "I already have a job, thanks."

  "At Dynamo comics I know." Andrea chuckled. "Mr. Jones be honest. How much grief do your co-workers give you for being an ex-con? I imagine it must be quite a bit."

  Daniel answered Andrea's question with silence and a glare.

  "Your silence says it all." Andrea mockingly shook his head from side to side with a smile. "People can be so cruel."

  "What do you want from me?" Daniel asked, still glaring at Andrea.

  "I have a plan to overcome my family's enemy, the big man of crime. And we need you to pull it off."

  "Why me?"

  "You'll feed us valuable information on the inner working's of the enemy's organization. We'll be able to sabotage them from the inside out."

  Daniel wiped sweat off his brow. "I—I hate to be the barer of bad news, Santini, but I don't associate with those people anymore. Any information I have is six years out of date."

  "I already thought of that." Andrea pointed at Daniel. "My sources confirm several of your old associates are still in the organisation. With a bit of time, they'll be able to get you a position, too."

  Daniel swallowed. "Still, why would I help you?"

  "I've already mentioned the money, but don't you want respect, too?"

  "Respect?"

  "Mr. Jones, I know too well that people, including the Manheim gang, have always treated you like dirt. Don't you think its time to man-up and fight back?"

  "But I'm not a criminal anymore."

  Andrea uttered a small laugh. "You can say that all you wish. But the people who ridicule you, the ones who comprise the majority of civilized society, will never forgive and forget. Or do you think I'm wrong?"

  Again, Daniel answered Andrea with silence, glaring at him.

  "Once more, your silence speaks volumes, Mr. Jones. So what will it be?"

  Ophelia went behind Daniel, again wrapping her arms around him in a vice-like manner. And as she moved to put her mouth to his ear she also slowly pressed her breasts against his neck.

  "And, of course, in addition to the money, you also get me," Ophelia whispered.

  A great silence washed over the room as the words hit Daniel's ears. The Santini family waited a few seconds that felt like years for Daniel's answer as he firmly gripped his face with his hand. But finally it came. "No." As he dramatically threw Ophelia's arms off of him.

  "Excuse me?" Andrea asked, his voice the slightest bit angrier than before.

  "What you described is the type of man I promised my pop I would never be again."

  "Is this your final word, Mr. Jones?"

  "Yes." Daniel turned his head to Ophelia, looking at her with a scowl. "So let me out of here. I've had a long day and I want my girlfriend."

  Ophelia fumed as she realized what Daniel meant. She growled ferociously at him as her reptilian features invaded her beautiful face with her fiery rage.

  Marco came over, grabbing his brother and sister, pulling them far away from Daniel.

  "Andrea, if he's not going to help us, we have big problems. He knows too much now," Marco said in a whisper.

  "I know." Andrea cracked his knuckles. "Believe me I know."

  Ophelia glanced at Daniel, her eyes still seething. However, as she did, a smile formed upon her face as she turned back to Andrea and Marco.

  "Beloved brothers, may I offer a creative solution?" Ophelia asked.

  It was late at night when the Santini siblings drove to some cliffs outside the city limits with their employees. Two vehicles, a limo and a large truck arrived by the cliffs, stopping close to the edge. The siblings came out of the limo as their gangsters began leaving the truck. They could taste the salt water in the air as the soothing chorus of ocean waves battering the land entered their ears as they left the vehicles.

  "Make haste. We have business at Lemaris street that can't wait," Andrea said.

  "Βring him out," Ophelia shouted.

  The Santini gangsters doubled their speed as they heard Ophelia's command. The group of thirty men brought out Daniel, with his feet trapped in concrete shoes, out of the back of the truck and towards the edge. Daniel squirmed and fought as much as he could, but with his powers still disabled, the men were too much. The gangsters promptly threw Daniel over the edge as they got close enough. And he screamed loudly going downwards with the cold wind beating his face, ending in a sizeable splash as he hit the water below.

  Marco breathed out sharply. "I suppose that's it. Lets go."

  "Hold it." Ophelia walked over to the edge and looked downwards, seeing Daniel's air bubbles in the water. "We're not going anywhere until I'm sure he's drowned."

  In the water, Daniel fought to keep his oxygen in his lungs, covering his mouth and nose. Still, he continuously looked upwards, seeing the headlights from the Santini's vehicles.

  "I just have to hold on until they leave," Daniel thought.

  Daniel sneezed and a large mass of air bubbles escaped his mouth. He immediately panicked, flailing his body wildly as they went up. However, he hastily reached upwards with his hands, catching them and sucking the air back into his mouth.

  "Bullets bounce off my skin, but the ability to breathe underwater is off the table. Thats just my luck."

  Exactly ten minutes had passed as Daniel was still trapped underwater. The Santinis stood in the same spot, watching his air bubbles hit the surface. And under the waves Daniel fought to stay conscious as the pain in his chest grew and his body's oxygen supply neared its end.

  Ophelia gazed at the spot where Daniel's air bubbles were coming up, glaring. "The lungs on this man."

  "This is so stupid." Marco shouted. "Ophelia, he's clearly not going to make it. Can we please go now?"

  "I agree with Marco. This has become a waste of our time," Andrea added.

  Ophelia glared at the same spot on the water. "Fine. Lets go."

  The Santini siblings and their gangsters at last reentered their vehicles. As they drove off, Daniel witnessed their headlights leave with them. He knew his only chance for escape had arrived. Still, oxygen deprivation was quickly dragging him to a grim sleep. "H—happy thoughts." However, using all his willpower he summoned a mental image of Karen's smiling face. And with the last vestiges of his conscious mind, the image reignited his superhuman abilities.

  Daniel fully awakened, breaking the concrete shoes the gangsters trapped his feet in. He jumped from the water with the force of a missile, landing on the cliffs.

  Daniel violently coughed up water. "Lets go to work."

  As Daniel began to move, he stopped himself as he spotted an old sign.

  "Black manta cliffs." Daniel playfully snapped his fingers with a smile. "So that's where we are."