The rubber of the tires on Andrew’s vehicle produced a thick plume of smoke as he peeled out of the front of the parking garage. He had managed to keep control of the car as it began to slide its way into traffic. The squealing of tires had caused a commotion to the small number of people who had gathered around the front of the Hinobu Castle. During the maneuver, managed to slide in between two other cars—narrowly avoiding a collision. Once he had gotten to the end of the street, he had taken notice of Joutoro and the blue vehicle hightailing it towards them through the rearview mirror.

“Are you ok?” Andrew asked her.

“I’m fine,” Kari replied. “I’m glad you showed up.”

“Are you injured?”

“I said I’m alright, just keep driving!”

The two vehicles had already started to blaze through red lights. Both drivers had found themselves dodging vehicles and oncoming traffic. Andrew continued to accelerate while the blue car started to gain on them.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Kari asked him. Before getting an answer, her ears had been greeted by a loud pop as a stray bullet had flown through the rear window. Andrew jerked the wheel to the left, guiding the car through another oncoming lane. Once again, he had barely managed to slip out of the path of an oncoming truck. The vehicle eventually screeched into an alleyway just before another wall of cars could go through.

“I think we might have shaken them.” Andrew said after taking a glance at the traffic blocking off the alley. The car continued forwards where the alley way had started to become wider. Before long, they had been spat out by another road that had been relatively empty for a Friday.

“Keep moving, it’s going to take a lot more than that.” She replied.

“What the hell happened back there?”

“I don’t know, I was doing a surprise pick up and then I ran into Joutoro—”

“Oh shit,” Andrew cut her off just as he noticed Joutoro’s car coming up to his right. The driver had swerved directly into the passenger side of Andrew’s Bronto, causing the steering wheel to turn out of his grip. He had struggled to try and keep control during the clash, barely preventing the car from going off the road. The passenger window had been cracked while the metal between the two cars had ignited into a flurry of sparks. Andrew clenched the wheel and tried to get some distance between the two vehicles.

Joutoro’s car had let out a screech as the driver made an erratic turn to avoid an oncoming car. At the same time, Andrew had finally pulled the vehicle to the left and off the road. His car had started to make its way towards a run-off drain that had stretched through the northern end of the city.

“Hold on to your butt!” he shouted after shifting the vehicle into a higher gear and barreling towards a metal fence. The Bronto had managed to rip through the barricade and keep steady as it had pulled into the drain. The netting of the fence slid of the top of the vehicle, letting out a loud hiss as the metal scraped across the roof of the car.

“I hope you know what you’re doing!” Kari shouted in a panic. She had found herself on the edge of her seat while Andrew sped down the side of the concrete. Eventually they had landed in the trench, giving Andrew enough room to try and reach top speed.

“I’m going to try and shake him here,” he shouted before noticing Joutoro’s vehicle starting to catch up in the rearview mirror. The pursuers had mimicked their every move and only closing the distance with each passing moment. Andrew smiled at her as he started to shift the car into top gear, “It would be nice if you started shooting.”

Kari nodded to him and reached into her jacket to draw her Glock from its holster. She started to feel a sense of nostalgia while gripping the pistol in her hands.

Hello, old friend, she said in her head. With that, she swung her elbow into the brittle and cracked glass, causing the passenger window to finally shatter. Just as it had cleared, she caught a glimpse of the blue car about to slam into her. There was barely enough time for her to duck out of the way as the two-ton death machine had smashed into them.

The impact caused the Bronto to start to veer to the left and towards a pillar while Joutoro’s car started to wind up for one final strike. Right as the driver began to close in, Kari had emerged from out of the seat with her pistol focused on him. The front sight had been lined up onto his face right as she gave it a quick squeeze.

The barrel had ignited, sending a bullet sailing through the air on a bed of fire and into the driver’s skull. It had immediately caused the back of his skull to explode into a cloud of pink mist. Joutoro was instantly blinded before he realized what had even happened. Andrew seized the moment and swerved the Bronto to the right and towards the rear end of Joutoro’s car.

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The impact jerked the blue car to its side, causing it to tip over before finally entering a violent spin. The sound of metal scraping across the pavement rang on as the vehicle started to roll several times. It had eventually tumbled its way back onto its wheels, but the wreck had caused enough damage to keep it from going any further.

Andrew had started to decelerate and steer the Bronto back towards Joutoro’s vehicle. Joutoro whad been covered with blood from his partner while his body had been nearly pulverized. He had miraculously avoided being ejected from the vehicle but instead had been thrown around inside the vehicle. Just before he could draw a weapon, Kari and Andrew had finally come to a stop and surrounded the vehicle.

“Show’s over, Joe.” Andrew spoke. Joutoro had used the last bit of his strength to try and pull himself through the busted passenger window. His bloody and bruised body had rolled over the top of the door and crashed into the concrete below.

“I guess the tables have turned.” Joutoro muttered after wiping the blood from his face.

“Tell us what you know,” Kari said as she reached down to him. She had grabbed onto the back of his collar to pull him back up to his feet. “I want to know everything.”

“Fuck you.” Joutoro snapped back. Without hesitation, Kari pushed him against the side of the vehicle.

“Who sent you?” she screamed. Joutoro cackled, letting the blood drip from his mouth as the two pointed their weapons to him.

“I’m not going to believe that you just appeared out of nowhere to try and take a chance with us,” Andrew interrupted them. He reached over to his side and tucked his pistol back into its holster. “Somebody out there was paying you a lot of money to do this, and whoever that was knows a lot about this operation. Tell me, who sent you?”

“You really wanna know?” he replied.

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Kari declared as she started to press her hand into his ribs. He started to groan after as she started to press into the newly fractured bones. “I’ve been through too much to hand this over to you, and I know that you were sent to kill me and Isamu. Now, you need to start answering our questions.”

“Stop,” Joutoro groaned again as the pain continued to run through his chest. “They’re going to kill me anyways.”

“Who?”

“The old team,” he gasped right as Kari had released the pressure from his chest. “You know how the contracts are passed down. If I don’t hold up my end, it will cost us all. You wouldn’t know about that.”

“You definitely aren’t one to shy away from poking the bull,” Andrew said quickly. “You don’t have anything to prove, you’ve already lost. You can save your honor and your life.”

“Neither of you know about honor,” Joutoro said as he hobbled over towards the dented hood of the car to take a seat. “Kari, you already walked away and let the rest of the team dissolve. All for what? Because you failed a mission? You killed the wrong people? You make an oath on blood that you can’t keep.”

“I wasn’t about to let you kill me. I’ll take dishonor before death, any day.” Kari replied.

“Of course,” Joutoro said after coughing. He had tried to move his left arm, but there was a loud pop that had caused him to groan. “Any of you have a smoke?”

Andrew sighed as he reached towards his front pocket to retrieve a cigarette from the partially crushed package. Joutoro reached out and placed the cotton filter between his lips as he turned to face Kari.

“You can keep your employer and you accomplices a secret, it makes no difference to me.” Kari said to him.

“It won’t matter, because you’re not going to be able to save Isamu,” Joutoro replied while he started to pat down his coat with his right and only good arm. Beneath his coat was a pistol. After getting it in reach, he turned to Andrew and asked, “got a light?”

Andrew had taken his eyes off Joutoro for only a split second while he had started to reach for his lighter. In that moment, Joutoro had grabbed a hold of the weapon in his coat. Just as he went for a quick draw, Kari had pulled her own weapon back out of its holster to try to beat him to punch.

The two were so close that they had been able to just point and shoot. The shots from both the weapons had caused a loud ring in all of their ears while the bullets flew. Kari had shifted her body slightly to the right before the shot, causing Joutoro’s bullet to miss her chest and pierce her track jacket.

At the same time, she had delivered a shot directly through his forehead which had frozen him in place. The gunshots echoed through the area like a cannon. With precision and elegance, Kari had twirled the weapon through the air—catching the reflection of the streetlights as it seemed to spin around her fingers in slow motion. With one final transition, she had guided the weapon into her holster, causing a loud click.

Blood started to stream down Joutoro’s face while his body had finally slumped forward and buckled into the pavement. He crashed directly into the pavement without as much as a gruny. Kari’s eyes had gazed off into the distance. Her mind had wandered back into a familiar territory—back to the old days where she had executed dozens without a second thought. The sound of sirens in the distance had started to blare.

“Come on, we need to go,” Andrew said to her after giving her a quick nudge on the shoulder with his fist. “Nice shot, by the way.”

“Yeah, old habits die hard.”