Satoshi wiped the dirt from his face with the back of right forearm, which didn’t help very much because he was sweating so much. He was very nervous and had no plan of action.

The distance between the car Satoshi was driving and the other gangsters’ car was shrinking with every second. “They will think that this car is those guys meeting back up with them, so I have to use this fact to my advantage.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

His head ached. He opened his eyes slowly and realized where he was. “That kid just took both of us out!” His partner only moaned. The speaker raised himself slowly, looking for his communication device. “It’s busted! The kid must have hit me here.” He ran to his partner and searched him. “Aha!” he cried. He clicked it on. “Emergency! Can you guys read me?”

“What is it, Walton?” came the bored-sounding reply.

“The kid got away wi—”

“Then catch him!” the other interrupted.

“With our car… and our weapons,” he mumbled.

“WHAT?!”

“Look, if you’re so smart, then you stop him. Walton out.” With that, he clicked the device off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Satoshi nervously fingered one of the guns he had picked up. He knew almost nothing about guns. He didn’t know what kind it was. He checked the ammunition—six bullets in each gun. He didn’t take the time to search his assailants for more. “Okay, this is it,” he though, steering the vehicle with his left hand while holding the handgun in his right.

He stopped the car behind the other one. He was prepared to execute his plan. “Here goes,” he thought. Just as he leaned over and reached for his door, a bullet blasted through the front windshield and out the back—precisely where his head had just been.

Satoshi dove for cover as glass shards rained down around him. “They’ve discovered me already? I’m toast! … Well, it’s do-or-die time!” Click click went the safety mechanisms on the handguns.

In a Matrix-esque fashion, he emerged from the passenger side door, face grim, running sideways, both guns up, but not firing. He had to conserve ammunition, should the need for it arise. Everything from here on seemed to happen in slow motion—after all, Satoshi’s life was flashing before his eyes again.

His eye caught Kasumi. She was sitting in the back right seat. Silver duct tape covered her mouth and reflected the sunlight when she turned her head to see what had become of Satoshi. He trained his gun on the back seat and then lowered his sight.

Boom went his first gun. “Close, but not close enough,” he thought. Boom it went again. This time, the bullet hit its target, the keyhole to the trunk of the car in front of him, and it popped open, creating a temporary shield and blocking attacks from the inside of the car. “Only ten bullets and three thugs left,” he thought.

Now that their vision was obscured, Satoshi took a leap and landed just behind the car. “So far, so good.” He sat silently, trying to listen to the muffled conversation.

“Go! You go that way, I’ll go over here. We’ll double-team him.”

He thought: “What’s the best way to take on two people at once? Take them one-at-a-time.” He made a tired effort to grin. He crouched, ready to pounce.

Both bounded around the back of the car and aimed their weapons at him. The one to Satoshi’s left fired first, but Satoshi had lunged out of the way when he saw them coming. Thus, the projectile flew past him harmlessly. His partner yelped and fell backwards, clutching his shoulder. He made a weak attempt to reach for his gun, which Satoshi saw. His hands already full, Satoshi simply kicked the gun as hard as he could. It landed in a lake on the edge of the road.

Satoshi whirled just in time to meet his enemy’s weapon. He pulled his own and trained it on his enemy’s heart.

“What’s wrong?” spoke the second-to-last attacker, according to Satoshi’s count. “You don’t look like you’ve ever killed a man before.” He took a step forward. Satoshi stepped back. “Go ahead, pull the trigger, if you think you can.” Satoshi only stammered. “Well, if you won’t, maybe I will.” Satoshi fumbled with the trigger. “Having trouble? That’s not what I’d expect from you. That was some pretty fancy trick shooting, with that lock an’ all.” He raised the gun to the level of Satoshi’s eyes. “Too bad it’s all going to end.” Satoshi was finally about to shoot. He knew that he had to fire to protect himself. He just couldn’t before the other man pulled the trigger, and…

Click. The thug jumped. He tried to fire his weapon again. And again. Click. Click. Click. This time, Satoshi advanced as the man backed away. “You weren’t going to show that girl any mercy, were you? But I suppose you would like some for yourself, wouldn’t you?!” The man began to tremble.

“Please! Please!” he said. “We weren’t going to hurt her!”

“Yeah, right. I can believe that.”
“You can?” he said, hopefully.

“No,” Satoshi replied flatly.

Suddenly, with several deft movements, he removed his opponent’s weapons. A jumping roundhouse kick sent the gun flying. He landed it and swept into his next attack, a sweep. When his attacker came crashing down, Satoshi put him out of action with a blow to the midsection. With that, he threw the malfunctioning gun as far as he could. He placed his second gun, four bullets remaining, in his jacket.

Satoshi’s anger was building. He heard a commotion from the car. The driver emerged with Kasumi. He held a curved blade to her throat. “Escape! Escape!” she tried to say, but all that could be heard were muffled cries.

“Shut up, you!” the driver exclaimed. Satoshi heard and came running. “Stop!” the driver said. Come any closer and the girl gets it.” He eyed Satoshi’s firepower. “Drop it! Drop it now!” Satoshi looked at the gun.

He thought: “There goes six of my bullets.” He flung it as far away as he could.

“That’s real cute, real cute.” With that, he gave Kasumi, hands and feet still bound, a push. She tried to retain her balance, but fell to the gravel, slicing her cheek open. She winced in pain. All she could do now was to worry. And wriggle. “What an excellent set of choices,” she thought.

“Now, we’ll fight like men.”

“Is this guy for real?” Satoshi thought. This guy had a knife. It was an unfair fight—except that this man knew nothing of Satoshi’s second gun, still hidden safely in his jacket.

The man charged with his blade raised.

Kasumi, lying helplessly nearby, could only hope for the best as she watched the conflict.

Luckily, Satoshi formed to fists and caught the wrist of his foe. In a continuous, circular motion, Satoshi brought the knife and the wrist that held it down to 6 o’ clock, out of harm’s way. With another quick movement, flipped his attacker and wrenched the knife out of his grasp, tossing it out of the immediate area. It landed about five feet from Kasumi.

As far as she could tell, her worrying hadn’t done a thing, but if she wriggled far enough…

Satoshi had succeeded in sending his enemy crashing to the ground, but his attacker was much bigger and stronger than he, and was able to escape Satoshi’s next attack.

The enemy launched a series of attacks against him. It was obvious that this man had never been trained in any sort of martial art, but his strength and size made the two equals.

Kick, punch, punch, kick, elbow strike—his attacker continued the barrage. It was Satoshi’s hope to allow his opponent to wear himself out, but at this rate, he was afraid he himself might tire too quickly. That’s when his opportunity came. At a well-timed moment, he unleashed his energy in a series of attacks. However, they seemed to stop his attacker only momentarily. This guy was tough.

The attacker grabbed Satoshi’s shirt. Satoshi grabbed back and rolled backwards, using his weight and a free leg to throw his opponent.

Crash. The car was now 250 pounds heavier, and its roof was brought significantly lower. But just when Satoshi thought he had succeeded, the big man got up again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kasumi, still ignored, reached the knife. She rolled onto her stomach, lifted the knife with her feet, and dropped it into her hands, which were still tied behind her back. She arched her back as far as she could and began to slice at the cords. “If I don’t succeed, Satoshi might die!” she thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Satoshi wanted so badly to just reach for the gun, but he had no time. His attacker never stopped. Satoshi had taken on too many opponents for one day, and he began to slack off. A fist in his face woke him up, though. He stumbled backwards but was able to remain standing. He blocked a strike to his face, but the other fist connected with his chest. He doubled over in pain, and his attacker landed an elbow in his back. Satoshi fell. He thought his end might be near. He just wanted to give up. Weariness had taken over him. But, as always, the memory of Kasumi reinvigorated him. He could not let this one remaining thug hurt her.

He rolled, pushed off his hands, landed in a crouching position, and stood. He pulled the gun from his jacket and aimed it, his hands shaking. He tried to shoot, but his gun was knocked from his hand. He was just too slow. His attacker used a solid kick to Satoshi’s stomach to knock him down. He proceeded to beat Satoshi senseless with any available appendage. Then, to Satoshi’s despair, the man pulled out a gun. “What, you thought I didn’t have one all along? I just wanted to play with you. You got in some good hits, but I think I win. Sorry, but the game is over.” He aimed it at Satoshi. Satoshi thought that all he had done had finally ended. This was goodbye. He had failed at rescuing Kasumi. Now, she would die. He hated himself.

Satoshi cried out as a bullet ripped through his flesh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A kind, lonely old woman with silver hair was now standing, dialing as furiously as her gnarled hands would permit. A shattered saucer and dish and a pool of tea lay by the easy chair she had been sitting in. She had heard the gunshots, which brought her to the window. She then dialed as fast as she could as a yellow tabby cat, looking for attention, weaved in and out her legs. “Yes, 911? I need to report an attempted murder.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The gunman sneered. “I wanted you to know just what it felt like to be shot. I was afraid that if I went for a vital point, such as your head, you might get out of this without feeling pain, and we can’t have that, now, can we? What’s that you say? Put you out of your misery? Well, okay, but you asked for it!” Just as the gunman was about to fire the final shot, a jutting pain struck his lower back—dangerously close to his vital organs. “Ah!” he yelped.

“Drop it! Drop it now!” Kasumi quoted him. He complied. She now held the gun, which Satoshi had been forced to drop to ensure her safety, against the back of his head.

Satoshi looked up. Kasumi was safe! She had the last attacker under control! Then he heard the sirens in the distance. The police were on the way! “Kasumi is safe… now… I can… I can die…” he thought. His head fell back against the ground.