Her voice was too soft. Either that or Bradley choose to ignore it. Instead of running, Bradley shouted.

“Sweet Fist, this has nothing to do with you. This is just business.”

Her father kept on walking. Jennifer couldn’t tell if he had even heard Bradley. Her father’s confidence visibly riled the gang, and several of them took out weapons. Jennifer saw chains, batons, and a gun. To his credit, Bradley tried to defuse the situation.

“It doesn’t have to end badly. There are eight of us, and only one of you. Just walk away. Don’t make us hurt you.”

It took all of Jennifer’s willpower not to laugh. On a certain level, she could understand where Bradley was coming from. Bradley was known as an excellent martial artist in school, and he had seven other men beside him. Despite his fame, her father was only a martial artist. He doesn’t have any superpowers. He doesn’t have any special gadgets. He doesn’t even have any magic on his side. Just his hands and feet. Outnumbered and out-gunned, Bradley was almost right to be confident. ‘Almost’ being the operative word. Jennifer stepped away from the gang.

“Idiot.” Bradley cursed. “Get him boys!”

The gang attacked. The guy with the gun raised it and shot. The Sweet Fist moved. He dashed towards the gang, and the bullet flew harmlessly passed. Jennifer had seen her father fight before, but she wouldn’t have believed it. Normal men shouldn’t be able to dodge bullets. Her father just did.

Her father quickly closed the gap between them, and the Banger Boys reacted. Two of the gang stepped forward to intercept him. Her father stepped towards one of them and threw a flurry of punches that Jennifer could barely see. Before she knew it, the gang member was unconscious on the ground. The other man threw a punch. Her father ducked underneath the attack and threw a punch to the man’s stomach. The man doubled over, and her father finished him with a knee to the face. They had lasted all of three seconds. Her father didn’t stop. He went for the gang member with the gun. The gang member shot wildly and totally missed her father. The Sweet Fist tackled the gunman to the ground, and was on top of him.

The Sweet Fist delivered another flurry of punches, and the gang member’s face caved. Another member came from behind her father and hit him with a baton. Jennifer’s heart stopped, but her father didn’t react as expected. Instead of falling over, he stood up. He turned to look at the gang member who had hit him. It was as if he was looking at a worm. Her father threw a punch, and the man dropped.

For a moment, there was complete silence. Jennifer couldn’t really keep up with her father’s movement. Bradley was looking at her father in awe. His men were no better. It was eight against one, and in less than ten seconds, half of the gang were out for the count. Her father walked slowly towards the remainder of the gang. The gang backed away, but her father kept on moving forward. Before she knew it, the gang was behind her. Jennifer couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was looking at a monster. There was a pressure coming from her father that was almost suffocating. Strangely, she didn’t feel she was in danger. In fact, Jennifer felt … almost proud. This was her father. Not the joke she thought he was but The Sweet Fist; a man who could take on eight men without breaking a sweat. All the checks she had done on him in the past were garbage. The reporters obviously didn’t know what they were saying. Either that, or they did and deliberately misled the public. It wouldn’t be the first-time reporters idolized heroes and underplayed the roles of villains.

“Victor, it’s over. They surrendered.”

Her father kept on moving forward, and for the first time, Jennifer felt doubt. She glanced at Bradley. “Bradley, drop your weapons.”

Sounds of weapons dropping to the ground echoed in the streets. The Sweet Fist kept on moving. He was now close enough for Jennifer to see his eyes. They were glazed over. Jennifer felt fear. Her father didn’t recognize her. He wasn’t all there. He was not going to stop. He going to kill the gang.

“Father.”

The Sweet Fist hesitated. It was almost nothing, just a small jerk in his step, but Jennifer took encouragement from it.

“Father!”

The word was louder this time and the gang could clearly hear her. Jennifer didn’t care. “Father. It’s over. They have surrendered. They are just henchmen. They were hired to do this.”

The Sweet Fist slowed, but he didn’t stop. He was now in front of her, and Jennifer found courage she did not know she possessed. She put her hands on his chest.

“Daddy! It’s me. Come back to me.”

Her father stopped. The Sweet Fist looked at Jennifer and she could see his face changing. He finally recognized her.

“Jen…Jennifer.”

Jennifer finally breathed. The dam broke and she hugged her father for the first time in her life.

“Thank you for coming daddy.”