24 DAYS BEFORE THE REMATCH IN HALLOWSVILLE

  Kofi didn’t expect a supposed “old man” like me to give him the works in a game of basketball, but I wasn’t the second best player on my high school basketball team for no reason.

  And don’t be fooled by that “second best”. Our best player was, like, 6’7 while I was only 6’1. Unfair advantage if you asked me.

  Kofi and I were equal in the height department, so it all came down to skills — skills the kid didn’t have. He even resorted to shocking me a few times to get some points in, but dribbling an electric ball came with some positives. Like building up my pain tolerance to withstand his shocks.

  When we returned to the research facility, I didn’t stop holding it. Even when everyone went to sleep, including my daughters, the orb never left my hand until it eventually dispersed hours later.

  Sunflower tried the training regimen. She gave up after three tries. She only stopped at three since I told her “the third time’s the charm”, so that was commendable, at least.

  Judging from what I've seen so far, hard work wasn't exactly in the teen’s character. ‘Cause of that, I didn't know what we were gonna do about her aura.

  But while we couldn't do anything about that yet, we could do something about getting her new clothes. And not just for her. Sunshine and I were getting a new fit too. The shirtless, cargo pants combo was getting old, after all.

  The research facility used to be a high school that kids needed to take an escalator to get down to. That explained why it had a very schooly appearance. An underground high school did sound pretty dangerous though.

  There was conveniently a Walmart next to that same high school, so my daughters and I had the opportunity to choose from the store’s wide collection of cheap off-brand clothing.

  I went for something simple — a plain black shirt that I tucked into baggy gray

  sweatpants. Shoes were becoming a thing of the past for me, so I decided to go bare foot for the foreseeable future.

  The most impressive thing about girls was how shockingly long it took them to find some damn clothes. My wife might've been the queen of wasting my time with those mall visits. That was what scared me the most about having a daughter, and the girls were showing me I was right to be afraid.

  But then I saw their happy looks, and Victoria’s face came to mind. Back then, I’d do anything to get out of shopping with my wife. Now, I’d do anything to just go to one store with her again.

  Besides, my daughters had been through hell. They deserved to have fun here.

  Sunflower got herself some tight fitting jeans, a white crop-top, and a red varsity jacket. But the crop-top gave me a bad feeling, so I told her to change it. She said no at first, though after some prodding, the teen replaced it with a white “Boyz n the Hood” shirt.

  As for Sunshine, her picks were a lot more stylish. An oversized unbuttoned yellow shirt with a black T-shirt underneath was her top. Jorts were her bottom, and she ended it off with brown boots.

  “Don’t think you should wear jorts,” I told her. “I know you’re a Cena fan, but you gotta worry about zombie bites still.”

  “Cena fan?” Sunshine said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m more of an Orton girl nowadays. Besides, I don’t have to worry about zombie bites anymore. Remember?”

  “Shoot. Sorry. That slipped my mind again.”

  “There’s that dementia again,” Sunflower said, sitting down on the floor.

  “I just don’t like keeping bad things stuck in my head all the time, Flower.” I had a strong feeling Sunshine was part zombie ‘cause I unknowingly bit her a couple years back after I got bit. Thankfully, she still seemed normal for now, but that section of her humanity wouldn’t have been lost if it wasn’t for me.

  Sunshine looked at her sister, and then at me. “Flower? You mean ‘Sunflower’, Jerome?”

  “It’s my very own nickname. Aren’t I so lovable?” Sunflower asked in a very non-lovable way.

  My kid pouted. “That’s stupid. Mine is easier to say, and it’s cuter.”

  My other kid smirked. “Well, we both have ‘Sun’ in our names, so maybe Jerome should call me that too.”

  “You’re not gonna take that away from me too, you prick!”

  “Hey!” I cut in. “That’s enough out of y’all. We got bigger fish to fry than who gets what nickname. Sunshine, Angela and Banana Man wanted to see you again, remember? Go do that real quick, and then come find us. And Flower, you’re gonna do that electric ball training whether you like it or not.”

  “Is there not a better way for me to get stronger?” Sunflower asked, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

  “You see? That’s your problem. You want the easiest and most painless option, but the path to saving your mother won’t be easy or painless, now will it?”

  She didn’t respond to that question, her face turning somber. Maybe that was a bit too far…

  No, coddling her was just gonna backfire. If she wasn’t constantly reminded of what happened, then I knew her strength would stagnate. “That was a yes or no question, ma’am.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “No…”

  I nodded. “Good. As for me, Electro said he has something special for me, so I’m gonna meet up with him. Let’s hope it’s not revenge for me absolutely embarrassing him in ball yesterday, and if it is, make sure y’all avenge me.”

  Sunflower saluted. “Aye, aye, captain.”

  “Twenty-four more days, team. Train hard, eat good, and move with willpower.”

  The teen saluted again.

  “How come you called her ‘Flower’, but with me, you said my regular name?” Sunshine asked, brows furrowing.

  I sighed, scratching my head. “What did I say about getting stuck on these nicknames, huh?”

  The girl hit me with a “Dummy!” before running off by herself. I didn’t bother catching Sunshine or calling out to her. She knew she was in the wrong. Telling her that would feel redundant.

  I turned to Sunflower, shaking my head in disappointment. “What is it with this girl? One day, she acts like an adult, and then the next, she’s like a-”

  “Nine year old?”

  I hesitated to speak for a moment. “Well, yeah.”

  “Maybe it’s ’cause she is nine years old?”

  “But the Radius Ability makes her-”

  “Mom told me once that everyone tends to act younger whenever they’re around their parents. She said I did it too. It’s like their way of saying they want to be babied and taken care of again since they gotta act tough around other people all the time.”

  “… So you’re saying Sunshine does that with me?” After thinking about it, I realized Sunflower was right. “You know what? Sure.”

  “You’re not the best at this parenting thing, Jerome.”

  “Thanks, kid.”

  “Dude, I just insulted you,” she laughed. “Why’re you thanking me?”

  “You helped me rethink some things. That’s all.” My attention turned to her clothes. “You enjoy your first shopping visit? You look good.”

  She rubbed the jacket’s fabric. “Yeah, these clothes are cute. Are there… other places like this one?”

  “Oh, definitely. There’s a whole bunch of them. They’re probably not in good condition though.”

  “I don’t care. I’d, uh, like to go to one of these again. It was fun.”

  And I thought only Sunshine reminded me of Victoria. “Yeah, we will.”

  *******

  With my Radius Ability temporarily gone, I needed to find other things about myself that could be improved.

  I couldn’t just rely on eating parts of people to get stronger. It wasn’t everyday that you could find a bunch of assholes who deserved that kind of pain. For some odd reason, some of the scientists offered pieces of themselves to me for the sake of “research”. However, if I was gonna be a cannibal, I’d prefer to be a good cannibal.

  Well, if that actually existed.

  But a boost in strength didn’t matter when I didn’t know how to use it. My repertoire consisted of punches, kicks, and other shit any brawler would have.

  Jason wasn't any different, aside from the machete. So I had to find my own fighting style – something that made me unique.

  That's where the radioactive tiger came in, curling a dumbbell, glaring at me. Kofi said the animal and I shared similarities, and I hoped he didn't just mean eating people. It had white fur and wore a red wrestling singlet that did a bad job of fully hiding its pecs.

  I crossed my arms and leaned on the glass wall behind me. It wasn’t actually glass. It was more like a see through wall. “Don’t let me stop your workout. Even though you apparently volunteered to help me out.”

  The tiger’s curling slowed. “999…” It then roared as it grabbed its veiny bicep. “1000!” The dumbbell left the animal’s hand, crashing into the other side of the room. “Sorry about that. I was just getting a last minute pump in.”

  I looked at his flexing arms, wondering if mammals sweat under all that fur. “You did that a thousand times in the five minutes it took for me to get here?”

  “Yeah, totally did,” it answered with confidence. The tiger sounded like a dude, so I guess he was a dude. “I’m sure a Radion like you wouldn’t know the importance of maintaining good muscle mass. Your body is stuck in that small, puny form, after all. Your species sadly cannot grow physically.”

  I flexed my bicep. Sunshine thought I looked big, so how was this puny?

  “My name is Vladimir! Crusher of mountains, eater of fire, faster than lightning!” he exclaimed, posing like a bodybuilder in a contest. “What is your name and titles?”

  Vladimir, huh? Guess that explained the Russian accent. “My name’s Jerome Hunter. I’m a father of two girls, uuuh, Invader of Underground Cities, uuuh, Hunter of zombies.”

  “Jerome Hunter?” The tiger shook his head in disapproval. “Stupid name. As for your titles, also stupid. However, I do enjoy the ‘Hunter of Zombies’. Very threatening. Very, um… how do you call it, ironic.”

  “Cool, cool. Anyways, I noticed that singlet you got on, and that had me thinking about the way I wanna fight. I wanna put some of my wrestling background into my combat style.”

  Vladimir scratched his chin. He had a little black goatee. “Real wrestling or that fake nonsense?” he asked, offended by my idea.

  It was the same shit I had heard all my life, and the same response was always used. “It’s scripted. Not fake, alright? You know the type of damage these wrestlers took back then? Just to entertain us?”

  He laughed condescendingly. “Even if they take damage, I know for a fact they are not dishing it out. Real wrestling involves grapples, holds, slams, and submissions. Not finishers and flying like a little birdie.”

  “Hey, you wanna know why it’s called ‘professional’ wrestling? ‘Cause professional wrestlers actually make more money doing it.”

  His sharp teeth gritted. “Huh?”

  I snickered. “The least popular wrestler in WWE is still more popular than your singlet wearing pricks.”

  That sentence was the last straw. Vladimir lunged at me, his claws aiming for my neck. I ducked, and the only thing he slashed was air. My fist drove upwards toward his abdomen. I stopped it before the attack landed.

  Resorting to punching would be going back to the same predictable style I always used. His short legs were in sight, and an idea popped in my head. I bolted forward and grabbed his left leg. Trapping his ankle in my grip, I twisted it, snapping him into an Angle lock.

  “You know of the Ankle Lock!?” the beast shouted as I lifted up his body a bit.

  “We call this the Angle lock,” I said, proud of myself for pulling off the move on my first try. “Put some respect on Kurt Angle’s name.”

  That respect was gonna have to wait. Vladimir pushed against the white floor, launching us both up. My grip loosened. Then it broke once I flipped in the air like a ragdoll. Our positions switched, and the tiger was now behind me.

  I landed back on the floor. Before I could regain my footing, Vladimir already had me in his clutches. I’d been told normal tigers were almost a thousand pounds, and I felt every bit of that when the big fucker sat on my ass.

  Scratch that. Multiply the weight of a tiger by two. Those muscles weren't there for a reason.

  Unless sitting on someone with your ginormous body was considered a submission, then I knew he had something else in store.

  And he did.

  My arms were forcefully placed behind his furry legs and he pulled my neck toward his chest. I felt like a twig whose body was about to snap, and my back snapping was the last thing I wanted.

  “The Accolade — a camel… clutch… submission,” I said, playing tug of war with my own neck with Vladimir. “Perfect… goddamn form.”

  “Ah! So you… know of the camel clutch as well?” my opponent asked with joy. “I am starting to think you didn’t need any teaching when it comes to this.”

  I growled, fighting against his weight, muscles shaking. “This is… Rusev’s finisher. Of course I know it.” Slowly, I dragged my right leg forward and planted my foot down. “I’ve always been a quick learner, and since I’ve been watching pro wrestling for years, I’m an even quicker learner when it comes to that.”

  A scary spark appeared in his eyes while he grinned. “You might know the moves and how to do them, but do you know how to get out of them? I do not think you do!”

  “I’ll prove you wrong!” I yelled.

  To be honest, these muscles were just for show. I didn't work for them at all. I just got lucky with my appearance.

  These fists of mine had shattered many tough things in the past, but lifting was a whole different ball game – a ball game I wasn't ready for.

  “I know what you are thinking, little cub,” Vladimir said. “The mighty Crusher of Mountains is too heavy. Maybe I can punch him off? Oh no! My weak fist cannot meaningfully accelerate any part of his body!”

  “What the hell… are you talking about?” I asked, pain increasing in my back.

  “Inertia. It is the natural tendency of something to resist any change in its existing state or motion. And my inertia is enormous. Not to mention, someone who weighs more will have denser muscles, thicker bones. The force of the little cub’s punch will go everywhere but my body. You would only hurt yourself.”

  Vladimir was a smart bastard. Not just ‘cause of the science lesson he gave me. With each sentence the tiger spoke, the more my mind tried to understand the concepts and memorize what they meant. And with the rest of my power going into thinking, my limbs didn’t have enough to stay in the fight.

  That was exactly what he wanted.

  “Tap out, little cub,” he murmured, his breath cold on my neck. “Before you break.”

  Without my powers, I had no choice but to do as Vladimir said.

  He laughed, getting off of me. reveling in his victory. “Good! You are a smart one.”

  I groaned in pain, sliding back to the glass wall. “Yeah, yeah, enjoy your little win. I’ll win next time.”

  Vladimir picked up his water bottle from off the floor and took a long sip. Once he finished the whole thing, he said, “I look forward to it.”

  The tiger was the third anthropomorphic animal I’ve talked to this month, and honestly, I liked the shark more. At least there wasn’t a gaping pit of disappointment inside of me after my encounter with him. However, the need to fill that large pit with a victory only motivated me.

  “You surprise me,” Vladimir said. “Even with those lifeless eyes, there’s still a fire within them.”

  It was a fire I didn’t intend to snuff out. “Round two?”

  The tiger smiled. “Now you speak my language!”