"Daddy, I'm thirsty," Lily whimpered from the backseat of the taxi trapped in gridlock traffic on the elevated highway, her small voice cutting through the chaos of car horns and emergency sirens.
The radio crackled with doomsday broadcasts: "All water sources contaminated with VX-3 variant toxin. Fatality rate: 100%. Water pressure increase in T-minus ten minutes."
Three million people.
About to die.
Because someone wanted to play games with a father's love.
Roxanne's knuckles were white as she gripped the door handle, her legal mind calculating escape routes that didn't exist thirty feet above the ground. "Ethan, we need to get out of this car. We need to run!"
But Ethan sat perfectly still, his fingers drumming against his knee with the rhythm of someone who held the world's remote control.
"Princess," he said softly to Lily, "daddy's going to get you some clean water. The cleanest water in the whole world."
"That's impossible!" Roxanne snapped, panic cracking her voice like ice under pressure. "The entire city's water supply is poisoned. You're making promises you can't keep!"
Through the taxi's radio, a distorted voice crackled with malicious glee: "Lord Polaris, can you hear me? This is Water Ghost, broadcasting from the central control room. In eight minutes, I'm going to turn this valve, and your precious daughter gets to watch three million people die because daddy couldn't stay hidden."
Maniacal laughter filled the car like poison gas.
Ethan pulled out his ancient flip phone.
Casual as ordering coffee.
Deadly as nuclear winter.
"Acquire Atlantic Water Consortium," he said into the phone, his voice carrying the authority of someone who bought countries before breakfast. "Full hostile takeover. Eight hundred billion, cash. I want God-level administrative access in thirty seconds."
---
The taxi driver's jaw dropped so far it nearly hit the steering wheel.
"Did this guy just say eight hundred billion?"
Roxanne stared at Ethan like he'd just claimed to control gravity.
"Atlantic Water Consortium controls sixty percent of the world's fresh water supply. They're worth more than most nations' GDP. You can't just—"
The car radio interrupted with breaking news: "This just in—mysterious capital group completes lightning acquisition of Atlantic Water Consortium for unprecedented sum. Global markets in chaos as—"
**[DING!]**
**[SUPREME DAD SYSTEM - FINANCIAL WARFARE COMPLETE]**
**[EXPENDITURE: $800 BILLION USD]**
**[ATLANTIC WATER CONSORTIUM: ACQUIRED]**
**[ACCESS LEVEL: GOD MODE ACTIVATED]**
**[GLOBAL WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: UNDER YOUR CONTROL]**
At the water treatment facility, every screen in the control room exploded with blood-red warnings:
"GOD LOCK ACTIVATED - SYSTEM OVERRIDE DENIED."
Water Ghost grabbed the pressure valve with both hands, his muscles straining as he tried to turn the mechanism that would flood the city with death.
The valve didn't budge a millimeter.
As if welded shut by divine intervention.
"What the hell?" he screamed, sweat pouring down his face as he threw his full weight against the immovable lever. "This is impossible! No one has override authority!"
But Ethan was already moving to phase two.
**[WISH POINTS EXPENDITURE: AUTHORIZED]**
**[UNLOCKING: POSEIDON NANITE SWARM]**
**[DEPLOYMENT: IMMEDIATE]**
The sky above the water treatment plant darkened like an eclipse.
Tens of thousands of microscopic drones descended from the clouds in formation.
Digital locusts programmed by angels.
Each nanite smaller than a grain of sand.
Each one carrying technology that could rewrite the molecular structure of matter itself.
Blue beams of light descended from the swarm like pillars of heaven touching earth, penetrating the contaminated water reservoirs with surgical precision.
The deadly toxin began breaking apart at the atomic level.
Its molecular bonds severed by technology that existed decades ahead of anything governments possessed.
Within sixty seconds, three billion gallons of poisoned water had been transformed into the purest H2O on the planet.
---
Ethan stepped out of the taxi with the casual confidence of someone who'd just performed a miracle disguised as a business transaction.
He walked to a nearby vending machine.
One that had been restocked with newly purified water.
Bought a small bottle with exact change.
"Here you go, princess," he said, handing the water to Lily with infinite gentleness. "The cleanest water in the whole world, just like daddy promised."
Lily's face lit up with pure joy as she drank.
Completely unaware that her father had just prevented the largest mass casualty event in human history.
All to keep a simple promise to his daughter.
But the Supreme Dad System was already screaming warnings:
**[CRITICAL ALERT - EXPOSURE CRITICAL]**
**[POSEIDON DEPLOYMENT DETECTED BY MILITARY SATELLITES]**
**[EXPOSURE METER: 75% - MAXIMUM DANGER ZONE]**
**[INCOMING THREAT: "THE JUDGES" - MILITARY STRIKE FORCE]**
**[ETA: 4 MINUTES 30 SECONDS]**
The sound of helicopter rotors filled the air like mechanical thunder.
Growing louder with each passing second.
On the horizon, black dots were growing larger—military aircraft moving with the precision of a coordinated strike force designed to eliminate threats to national security.
Ethan pulled out a black credit card that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, pressing it into Roxanne's trembling hands.
"Take Lily to Oceanview Mall," he said quietly, his voice carrying instructions that could save or damn depending on how well they were followed. "Basement level three. There's a door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only.' The card will open it."
"What about you?" Roxanne asked, though part of her already knew the answer would terrify her.
Ethan looked up at the approaching helicopters.
Then down at the armored vehicles racing through the streets below.
Their sirens wailing like banshees announcing the arrival of war itself.
He unwrapped a lollipop with the casual precision of someone preparing for afternoon tea rather than armed conflict.
Cherry flavored.
His daughter's favorite.
"I'm going to have a conversation about airspace regulations," he said, the candy clicking against his teeth as he smiled. "Some people need to learn that there are rules about flying uninvited over a father's neighborhood."
---
The Supreme Dad System hummed with lethal anticipation:
**[COMBAT PROTOCOLS: MAXIMUM AUTHORIZATION]**
**[THREAT ASSESSMENT: MILITARY GRADE]**
**[OBJECTIVE: ESTABLISH DOMINANCE]**
**[COLLATERAL DAMAGE: MINIMIZE BUT ACCEPTABLE]**
**[PATERNAL PROTECTION MODE: UNLIMITED]**
As Roxanne hurried away with Lily, the little girl looked back over her shoulder and waved at her father.
Completely trusting that he would handle whatever scary things were making all that noise in the sky.
Ethan waved back, his smile warm as summer sunshine.
Then he turned to face an entire military strike force.
Armed with nothing but a lollipop.
And the kind of confidence that came from knowing he'd already won a game his enemies didn't even realize they were playing.
The judges were about to learn why some fathers were more dangerous than entire armies.
Why some men could rewrite the rules of reality itself when their children's safety was at stake.
Why you never, ever threaten a father's world.
The helicopters were thirty seconds out.
The armored vehicles were closing fast.
And Ethan Blackwell was about to remind the world's most elite military forces that there were some lines you simply didn't cross.
Not if you wanted to survive the conversation.
The cherry lollipop tasted like victory.
And the promise of absolute retribution.