บท 4: - Combat

Hyunji dashed past the shelves to the other side of the room. Voices and footsteps were getting closer. She needed another distraction.

There was one thing left on her belt, a flash grenade. She had yet to use it in the two years she'd been a bounty hunter and had reserved it only for the most dire of situations.

Pulling the ring with one finger, she tossed the grenade around the other side of the shelf, where her enemies were approaching.

There was a flash of light, and what sounded like an explosion.

The enemies were silent for a moment. Then:

"I can't see, where the fuck is she?"

"That was a fucking flashbang!"

They were disorientated. It was time.

She sprinted into action, dagger in her left hand, gun in her right. From the back of the group, she cut her way through them one by one, taking full advantage of the blade's one foot reach. She cut and slashed, disabling all in her path, until she was covered in the enemy's blood.

The few that remained seemed to be regaining their sight, but they were still slow. And obviously terrified. Their numbers had dwindled. They had been unskilled and disorderly. What had once been forty people was now in the single digits. The enemy was now at the disadvantage.

Hyunji began firing her gun, taking one out at a time. A few started to run, but she continued to shoot until only three targets remained.

Only two bullets left, she thought.

"Someone fucking get her!!!" A coward in the back screamed. Hyunji could tell he was the leader. It seemed the weakest were always the ones with more power. Money wasn't always power. How long would the remaining two enemies fight for their boss? How much were their lives worth?

"Hmmm, it seems you two might be worth a damn," she said, looking them over. They began to step forward.

She pulled her scanner from her back pocket and checked their bounty profiles.

Name: Kwang Gynum

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Bounty: 5,000 Ƈ

Name: Rose Barnet

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Bounty: 10,000 Ƈ

A smile spread across her face. "It's about damn time. Kwang G., Rosie, let's see what you got."

The two thugs came at Hyunji at the same time, Kwang attacking with a flail, Rose with a katana. The two exchanged blows with Hyunji, but she was swift, agile, and in complete concentration.

But they were strong. Kwang's flail almost hit her, and she had to bend out of the way to dodge it.

Rose's blade slashed across her arm, and blood began to seep out. Hyunji ignored the pain and pressed onwards. She could tell her situation was becoming dire.

Taking a step back, she watched her opponent's movements. Something began to change. Something about the atmosphere, the energy.

Hyunji felt her body weight drop, and the molecules in the room had started shifting. Time began to slow down. From the gun in her hand and the boots on her feet to the sound of the flail's chains clinking together: she was becoming aware of everything around her.

Pressing forward at a speed she had never experienced, Hyunji attacked Kwang.

She could see each and every one of his movements and each and every one of her own. She dodged the swinging flail, kicking at his arm, which forced him to drop his weapon. Before Kwang could recover, she kicked him again, this time at his chest, causing him to fly into a nearby pillar.

Blood splattered against the white paint of the pillar, and Kwang slumped to the ground.

Without a second to think, Hyunji turned to Rose, pulled out her gun and put the final two bullets in her legs.

The woman collapsed. "I surrender!" She screamed, pushing her sword away.

Hyunji could feel a fire burning in her heart. Kwang looked to be dead, and Rose had given up. Somehow, in only a few seconds, the battle had flipped completely upside down, turning in Hyunji's favor. Two versatile enemies completely disabled.

Hyunji grabbed a rope sitting on a shelf and set to work, tying Rose's hands. Once she finished, she grabbed Rose and pushed her up against a pillar. "Stay here. I'm at least getting some money out of this."

She made her way toward the back room, knowing the boss had probably pissed himself in a corner by now. If anyone would have answers for her, it was him.

She opened the door, and looked inside. The room was dark, but the light from the hallway made the situation clear enough. He had hung himself.

"Fuck," she muttered. She had punched a nearby wall and kicked over a few chairs before realizing that there was still a slight bit of hope. "Rosie." She would turn in the bounty, maybe get some answers while she was at it.

Hyunji made her way over to the young girl, probably no older than she was. She grabbed the rope and began to drag the bounty towards the elevator, where the man's dead body was. She looked down at him with a slight fondness, though she'd never even learned his name. Still, he hadn't deserved such a cruel fate.

Setting his body against the wall, Hyunji turned back to Rose and dragged her inside the elevator.

The doors dinged open and Hyunji dragged the bounty toward the door, knocking over shelves of cups, which shattered behind her.

The elderly woman began to protest, but Hyunji kept walking.

"Good luck with your business," she said to the woman, exiting the shop.

Hyunji began dragging Rose down the sidewalk. Her bounty had remained silent and calm. There wasn't much she could do. Her legs were useless, and had created a blood trail on the cement behind them.

But Rose was growing heavy. She couldn't keep dragging her all the way. She would need another taxi.

That was when they heard a higher pitched voice from behind them. "Give me all your money." A gun was brandished towards Hyunji.

"Get lost kid," she said, not even bothering to turn around.

"You heard me the first time didn't you? Give me your fucking money, lady!! I'll shoot!"

She dropped Rose's rope.

Raising her hands slowly, Hyunji turned around. In front of her stood a boy, maybe fifteen at most. His whole body was shaking with nervousness.

Hyunji took a step forward. The kid just wanted money. He wouldn't shoot.

"Not another step!!! I really will shoot!" The boy said adamantly.

"Do it," she said, calmly. "Shoot. Because you're either walking away with no money, or you're gonna have to pry it off my dead body. So do it."

The boy took a step back nervously, the gun shaking in his hands.

He pulled the trigger.

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