Evil was everywhere. If there was anything that the last six-hundred plus years taught Niko Kobayashi, it was that evil it very deep-rooted, with no end in sight. While that was disheartening for anyone to accept, in the case of this eternally vengeful woman she was willing to look on the bright side of things; it meant she could continue on until she achieved her long, sought after goal.

The Man of Shadows. She wanted his head. But she needed time. She needed skill. Most of all, right now, she needed blood.

It was simple enough to keep her sword sated. Tonight, for example, she had stumbled across the remnants of a mugging gone bad. An innocent, older couple had seemingly been caught wandering through a local gang’s territory. The foursome of men and women jeered and harassed the poor couple until one of them got just a little too trigger happy.

A gun blast later, the man lay dead and his wife accidentally had her head crushed in when she was hurled into a nearby wall to stop her shouting. Still, the bastards weren’t remorseful about it. They shrugged it off, giggling and rifling through wallets and a purse as they ran off down the street and into a nearby abandoned building that was considered a “safe haven” to them.

They thought they got inside unseen. But someone saw them. She saw them.

Evil is a cancer. The only way to combat it, is to cut it out. \

***

She moved fast. The first two didn’t even notice that it happened. Lounging upon filthy couches, surrounded by discarded beer bottles and empty food containers, they laughed and readied another round of beer. The sword came down down, a flash of silver in the darkness as two were immediately cut down.

The last two jumped up in surprise, one man and one woman, both wearing their gang colors. They quickly recoiled away from the spurting blood and through the flickering light of a trash can fire, they could see the silhouette of an angular, armored mass. One pulled a knife, the other lifted a bat and jumped forward threateningly.

There was a barely a flick of Niko’s wrist as the blade swiped through the air. She opened the woman’s flesh and stepped past her as she cringed and cried, dropping her weapon. Leaving her to die of her wounds, the bloody samurai made for the last criminal, the man with the trigger happy finger. He screamed and ran off, Niko following him from behind at a slower but even pace.

***

It hurt to breathe. Chelsea didn’t let that stop her, though. She had managed to stagger down the steps and through the barred doors of the building. Only a few more steps were attempted before she leaned against the wall, one hand attempting to press against her stomach in a vital attempt to hold onto the vital ichor that seeped out between her fingers.

A passing jogger found her, barely alive, and his hand flew to his phone. Quickly he dialed 9-1-1, though if they could get there in time, he had no idea.

Meanwhile, within, the hunt continued. The last couldn’t hide forever. Niko would find him. She always found them.

Going from 0 to 100 was the usual EMT life. One moment they idled in the meager parking lot of a US Post office, the next moment Donnie the driver was giving AJ a serious thwap to wake him up. It wasn’t the snoring, it was that his usual hair-trigger wake up response had been spoiled of late. AJ’s moonlighting had been discovered, and now he was actually taking his off set off rather than working himself into an early grave.

It came with better sleep and worse bills.

AJ blinked awake and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before it even fully registered that dispatch was talking.

//S-27-D-6, police will cordon the area.//

”Twenty seven?”

“OH HELL YES!” Donnie hit the lights and the sirens as AJ strapped himself into all 5 points of the front seat harness. Aj was pretty sure he heard something about the suspect, but he didn’t hear exactly what the suspect was doing.

”She really said twenty seven?” AJ grabbed the code book because these weren’t unheard of, but he’d yet to actually have this exact code.

“WE GOTS US A STABBING WOOT WOOT!”

”Dude, multiples.” The insane swerving and speed didn’t stop him from reading a set of laminated pages. ”Multiple victims.” He reached over and cranked dispatch.

//--armed with a sword and is incredibly dangerous. Do not approach.//

They slipped through traffic making copious use of sidewalks until they were slamming on the breaks for what looked to be a jogger who was waving his arms. The boys were out of their seats, gloves on, and ready to help.

It was bad. The woman was conscious, but only just. Entrails were visible through an abdominal slash. There was a visceral and foul stench that was worse than the usual trauma smell. Something had perforated. Infection chances were high. Survival would be inversely proportional.

“I’ll get the gurney.” They could load her, but she might not be the most survivable victim. AJ turned to the good samaritan bystander.

”Reports were of multiple victims. Have you seen any more?” He was spooked, only able to shake his head and help look for the obvious that wasn’t there. This was New York. People were sticking their noses out of every window and door, making sounds, and generally making a nuisance of themselves on what was sure to later be a crime scene. Hopefully that meant more eyes that might have seen something, too.

Donnie and AJ worked seamlessly together, years of experience and trust made them a package deal. They’d gotten her to respond a bit here or there, at least enough to get her name, even if she cried out as they moved her.

”We’re going to do our best together, okay Chelsea?”

A door banged and the report of a gun had everyone ducking back for cover.

”Take me in the ambulance.” There was a guy with a gun, too!? AJ’s eyes flicked to Donnie who the gun was actively pointed at. It wasn’t like either of them were heroes and even if they’d wanted to be, their hands were full guiding Chelsea’s gurney into the back of the wagon.

How many centuries had she been doing this? Most would call her a madwoman for hunting down and slaughtering murdering bastards like this. They would say she was merely feeding the problem as opposed to solving it. That this was exactly how one fell from grace and became the very thing that they were chasing after. But Niko didn’t see it that way. The Man of Shadows fed off of discourse and misery. People like the ones she was chasing now only continued to perpetuate it.

Therefore, the more of them that she hunted down, the more likely she would cross paths with that monster and the fewer innocent victims left behind in their wake.

But now wasn’t the time for philosophy. Rather she was busy hunting down the last of her prey. The man had a knife out, running through the darkness of the abandoned building, trying to hide. It reminded Niko of whenever she used to go hunting. Following the sounds of an injured and scared animal trying desperately to escape. Niko was merciful though and, upon finding them, would make their end quick. There was no telling if the same would be offered to this one.

Stalking through the dark shadows, the red-clad woman moved with the ease and grace of someone with all the time in the world. It didn’t matter to her that the sounds of sirens began to fill the air outside the building. She was too cool, too collected to let that truly bother her. So she continued, armor snug against her frame, soundlessly save for a few muted clicks and clacks of the individual plates. She would find him, of that she was assured.

A clatter echoed to her side. She turned, sword held high as a rush of movement filled the air. In a panic her quarry fled, accidentally knocking over a barrel with discard wood balanced atop it. He squeaked fearfully, running back the way they came. Niko wasn’t far behind him.

While running he stumbled across the spot they were just at, fumbled with something one one of the dead bodies, and proceeded with another anxious run towards some form of exit. Only when he found a door did he finally breathe a small sigh of relief, burst through it, then turned around and firing off into the shadows of the building. The door slammed closed and he turned down the alley to see Chelsea being tended to by EMTs.

Gun drawn, he advanced and demanded to be brought into the ambulance with them. They needed to get out.

“Get us out of here!” he shouted in a panic.

THUD!!

There was a thud and a creak from the ambulance. Above it was only darkness save for the passing red lights of the sirens. But as those lights spun and spun, they briefly illuminated more red than they should have. Looking closer, EMTs and victims would see a hunched over figure, bathed in red, slowly unfurl itself. Taller and taller the entity stood, looking akin to a demon from the darkest pit of hell. Once fully standing, the angular edges of its armor, the bloodied sword in its hand, the figure pointed the edge of the blade towards the villains.

”Guilty,” he dark, husky female voice said. The sword then flicked to the EMTs, attempting to shoo them away. ”Leave them. Now.”

The patient, the man, the gun, the ambulance shifting with sudden weight. AJ was whipping his head all around to try to keep track of all the sounds and potential dangers, his hands white knuckled on the gurney.

The man with the gun swung the weapon up toward the thing on top of the truck as it unfolded and stood. The area was slashed with intermittent red light, the figure only briefly lit before falling dark and red rotations of the ambulance's spinning LEDs.

> Guilty.

With one word, AJ could tell that what he'd first assumed was a small man, was in fact female. Once he knew it to be true, he started to pick out other confirming details. It was easier focusing on those, than the bigger and more dangerous picture.

> ”Leave them. Now.”

Only, they couldn't do that.

"If we don't take Chelsea to the hospital, now, she will die." He was proud that his reaction was as strong as it was automatic. He was sure of his coure, he would take the girl. Chelsea helpfully moaned. It couldn't feel good, and he'd sort of been avoiding telling her the prognosis... Also, using a patient's name was meant to humanize what this woman likely did not see as human any more.

People in good mental health didn't run around with swords killing people.

Donnie started to move his hands upward, away from the gurney. It spooked the gunman enough that he swung the barrel of his gun away from the swordlady and toward the considerably less threat that the ambulance driver posed.

AJ was ready to move, keeping his eyes squarely on the woman in armor. His driver and partner of three years wasn't likely to get shot unless he opened his mouth, but if the woman moved... yes. If she moved, then he would move, too. He wasn't a fighter, but he would do his damnedest to protect life, as it was one of the few things that made sense to him.

She knew people. She knew them all too well. When you live for as many centuries as she has, it isn’t hard to get a feel for a person or a type of person. This was especially true when it came to their job choices. Yes there were those odd choices that ended with someone being utterly miserable in the job, but for the most part people tended to gravitate to those jobs that they were well suited for. It often painted a pretty clear picture of who they were.

For Niko, looking down upon the paramedics, she knew that they were good people. Through everything they continued to work, trying to save the life of the woman whom she had just gutted. It was a pretty hopeless cause but she could respect how much they wanted to save her, even in the face of a gun-wielding madman and an armed samurai of justice.

She respected that so much that she gave them the time they needed to escape. With a harsh word and a flick of her sword, she demanded that they leave. If they turned around and walked away, leaving the two criminals to her, they needn’t worry about repercussions. After all, it wasn’t them that she was after, but those two that cruelly killed the older couple. Still, she wouldn’t let anyone stand in her way of delivering justice upon those that required it.

The EMTs refused to move at first. Valiant hearts. One in particular tried to reason with her, humanizing her prey by stating her name. Whether or not that was really the woman’s name, Niko didn’t know. She knew that she was a criminal, a monster just like the Man of Shadows, killing without care. If she couldn’t find her true quarry then she could cut down all those who acted like him, in hopes of stemming his eternal influence.

It may have seemed a foolish errand but her extraordinarily long life has been in pursuit of this creature. She was made of willpower and fortitude. Eventually she will catch him. Of that she was assured. In the meantime, the others would pay. They would all pay for spilling innocent blood.

A person moved and time slowed for her. The EMT moved, hands up, clearly showing his submission but too stubborn to move himself away from the wounded woman. His actions, as innocent and well-meaning as they were, however caused alarm in the gunman. The man turned, gun aimed at the EMT, his eyes off the real threat in favor of a closer target.

That was the only opening she needed.

There was a quick swipe of her hand and a bolt of silver. A throwing knife cut through the air, immediately catching the gunman’s hand, causing him to scream out in pain.

While he was distracted, the angular, red shadow stepped forward, off the top of the ambulance and onto the concrete below. Niko landed with a thud, each plate of her samurai air jingling in a sound of metal bolts and wood. As she straightened herself up, she pumped some of her spare lifeforce energy into her armor, strengthening it to protect herself as he marched towards the cringing, cursing man.

He blade held to her side, she slowly began to raise it as she spoke. ”I said...walk away,” she demanded of the EMTs. ”These two must be held accountable. I won’t tell you again.” That was the last warning she would give them and instead turned her focus fully onto her prey.

She was fast. AJ had delusions that he could put himself between the danger and the people the woman wanted to harm, but she merely flicked her hand and the gunman screamed in pain.

AJ goggled at the knife sticking out from the gunman's hand as if it had sprouted out of thin air. To him, it seemingly had. And of course, the man’s pain reflex was to clench up, squeeze, and bear down. While aiming at Donnie.

The rapport of the gun going off in such close proximity left AJ’s ears ringing with almost no other sound able to get through. He didn’t hesitate. This was what he’d been trained to do. Assess the situation-- Who was most wounded? Who had the best chance of survival? Where was the threat?

Donnie was most wounded. Red was blossoming across his chest, but Donnie also knew what to do to treat himself, extend his life and give himself the best chance. He was also a young, relatively healthy male and the avenging samurai had no beef with him. On the ground was likely the safest place for him. The quickest solution to help the gunman who’d shot his friend instead. Get it over with before moving on.

AJ grabbed the hand and wrestled the gun away, not without the man squeezing off another shot into the open back of the ambulance. Difficult, but it was doable. AJ tossed the weapon onto the foot of the gurney and out of easy reach, his hearing now doubly ruined.

Just one look was all he needed. The knife was through the entire hand, sharp on both edges and with holes in the metal, likely to decrease its weight or change the balance or something. Either way, the holes excluded the knife from sealing the wound. It was an extremity and could be moved above the heart to combat blood loss, but he decided it was too dangerous to leave the weapon in place.

AJ yanked the knife free without warning and discarded it to the ground, hyper focused on what he had to do to get this over with. He lifted the man’s arm and fished in his shirt pocket for his on-person gauze with his free hand, his gloved fingers already putting pressure on the wound. The man screamed loudly enough that AJ could actually hear it over the ringing in his ears. Again, not AJ’s problem.

”Keep your hand up. It has to stay above your heart.” The man’s eyes were tracking something behind AJ. The samurai, most likely. But he had to do this. He had sworn to do his best preserving life as he was trained.

Judgement had been cast. There was not deterring this bloody angel of justice. As well-meaning as the EMT was, she wasn’t going to let him stand in her way, even if that meant moving him by force. It wouldn’t be the first time. Other do-gooders had attempted to get in her way before but, more often than not, a swift strike to the solar plexus or a choke hold allowed her to gently remove them from the game. At the end of the day, she had to uphold her mission, no matter what.

Approaching from behind the EMT, she set her crimson eyes onto the wounded and terrified man. The healer wasn’t bothering to get in her way and instead was focused on saving his partner. Smart move. It was unfortunate that he had gotten hurt in this matter but she had warned them to move away from the assailants. Doing so probably would have kept him from being harmed.

She would feel guilt about that later. For now, justice needed to be served.

Moving past the EMt, she stopped just long enough to glance and see just how bad off the other was. Her stony silence hung thick in the air before she whispered to him. ”Call it in. Save his life.” Her voice was firm as she started to draw her sword again. ”Leave the others to me.”

She didn’t wait for his confirmation. No agreement or final warnings, instead she just zeroed in on the assailant, raised her sword, then bolted after him. The wounded gunman screamed as he backed off into the darkened alley, his form then eclipsed by the crimson-clad samurai before they both vanished from this. An arch of silver catching the streetlamps momentarily flared. A sound the likes of which you can only hear in a butcher shop followed.

And then the panicked gasping stopped.

Tense moments followed before the red samurai returned, stepping out from the shadows, ruby droplets falling from the point of her blade onto the concrete below. She stared at the EMT before she turned to face the woman she had initially injured. After a second, she lifted her sword again and marched towards the gurney bound woman.

”Justice…” One down. One to go.

He'd fixed the hand and then abandoned the man to the samurai's mercy. The legs still worked. Maybe he shouldn't have taken away the gun... given him a fighting chance...?

"Load her up."

He hadn't heard the words so much as felt Donnie's arm tugging and read his lips. "Shut up, idiot."

"No. You." He wasn't wearing a bullet proof vest or anything, he'd just gotten rather lucky. Through and through, upper trapezius. His shirt was a goner, the wound was bleeding like crazy and AJ mashed on it until he was satisfied he could tape it tightly enough. Donnie was gonna be okay. He'd only stayed down because he'd wanted to live. Also, it probably hurt.

And the fool was shoving AJ up so they could both load Chelsea into the back of the wagon, pale as the sheet she lay on top of and moist with a gleam of sweat. Shock was here. Her eyes were rolling around like a spooked horse's. AJ would normally be in the back, but with Donnie's arm... he shoved his partner in to lock the gurney wheels and secure the back doors. He took the wheel.

The driver's side door slammed shut and he noticed in the side view mirror... the samurai. He dropped the radio and the booklet into the passenger's seat where he'd been trying to decipher the correct codes, and turned over the engine instead.

"HOPE YOU"RE BUCKLED UP." AJ slammed his seatbelt into place and floored it, sirens on, so he might break as many laws as possible to get away.

Niko watched from the shadows. The blood of the man she had just cut down slowly streaked down the edge of her sword before she flicked it off to the side, sending it splattering against a nearby wall. With a crane of her neck, she turned her head to the ambulance. She had informed the standing paramedic to get his comrade and drive away. They weren’t her targets. The last woman was. If anything she considered her words quite generous.

It seemed that they didn’t share her belief.

Wiping any remaining blood with her gloved hand, she heard the roar of an engine and watched as they still managed to load up her last victim. The doors slammed, the sirens blared, and she sighed deeply under her mask. This was not the direction she wanted things to go.

Just as they peeled away upon sight of her stepping out of the shadows, she turned and disappeared back into the darkness. This wasn’t the end of her hunt.

***

Moments later, as the ambulance moved swiftly through the streets of New York City, another swift moving vehicle merged into the flow of traffic. Effortlessly weaving between the vehicles, a sharp, red motorcycle cut through the traffic as if it were nothing. In the distance, the fleeing ambulance soon had someone in pursuit; a samurai in blood red armor. Revving the engine she pressed on faster, coming alongside the emergency vehicle.

As she rode she focused on her body, pulling her lifeforce from her sword and focusing it on her limbs and muscles. Her eyes sharpened, her muscles hardened, and as she drew closer to the ambulance she ground her teeth before she stood, planting her feet onto the seat of her motorcycle and inched as close as she could to the ambulance.

A prayer crept under her breath as she mouthed the word ”Sorry,” under her mask. She did not wish to further terrorize these EMTs who were just trying to do their job…

...but she was just doing hers.

Her prayer uttered, Niko stared at the top of the ambulance, choosing her target, and leapt her bike. Without a rider, the bike clattered and ground, sending up a shower of sparks and eliciting a chorus of honks and screeching tires. The Bloody Samurai aimed herself for the roof of the ambulance, sword out, ready to finish what she started.

At first, he couldn't tell if they'd lost her or if he was just really, really bad at driving the wagon. It wasn't like he could have a rear-view mirror with the giant cabin behind him. He used his side mirrors all the time, mostly to be sure he wasn't creating more emergencies while trying to save one.

AJ grabbed the radio and reported to dispatch to both update them on the situation and get direction on which emergency room was accepting. He did his best, but his driving was not up to Donnie's skill.

He felt like he was a spider or like he was half crazy trying to keep track of every vehicle as best he could. He dropped the microphone squawk when the whole ambulance jerked and he suddenly needed both hands. A glance in the mirror showed a motorcycle falling away and making traffic swerve.

A riderless motorcycle.

"Crap." The hospital was one turn away. He couldn't go there, could he? Was that putting more people at risk? Or did she really only want the girl...?

AJ jumped a curb to get around a too-timid right turner and slammed on the brakes so that, hopefully, the samurai would have a bad day wherever she was climbing. That also gave him the chance to grab up his radio.

But... what was he going to say? Send help? Find a superhero?

He could get out... and likely die.

Or he could slmap on the gas again and get the last 50 feet to the hospital. Find help there.

He slammed on the gas.

Physics were a bitch. It was a gamble whether or not she was going to make this landing so, when she did, a satisfied smile spread across her lips. Seemed that her luck continued to hold out. However, she couldn’t count her chickens just yet. Her landing upon the roof would have certainly caused a ruckus inside the cabin and so she had to be prepared to move fast to ensure she wasn’t knocked off the vehicle.

Sapping the blood essence that she used to fuel her body, she infused it into her bonded sword instead, causing it to sing in the whipping, open air. Feeling the strength grow within the curve hunk of steel, she lifted her arm, turned sword to face downward, and drove it down with all her might.

A horrendous screech of metal-on-metal struck her ears as she buried the blade of her sword down to the hilt. Her handhold secured, she held onto the blade with all her might, growling as the ambulance began to pick up speed, turning and driving to a location that she couldn’t surmise. It wasn’t the police station so what on earth was the driver thinking.

With a growl on her lips, she pulled a thick strip of leather from her belt and hooked one end to her arm, and the other to the firmly planted sword. Insurance in case the psycho driving attempted to buck her off the vehicle with a sudden brake job. Oh, and also because she had an idea for stopping this behemoth before it reached its intended destination.

Opening a pouch on her belt, Niko had to feel with her fingers, looking for the correct objects she sought after. These had come in handy when the age of the modern vehicle came around. Too many times she lost criminals on horseback when they hopped into cars. She knew she needed a way to stop them if she couldn’t get a car of her own.

Niko held onto one sword with her hand and moved herself into a kneeling position. She needed to wait until the driver was on a nice, long stretch of road where he couldn’t turn. Her grip tightened as she felt the vehicle swerve, desperate to avoid civilians. It was only when they were on a relatively empty stretch of road did she hold up her other hand.

”I hope you have your seatbelts on,” she whispered.

With a grunt she threw her arm outward, sending a sparkle shining through the dimly lit street. She had to throw with all her strength, bolstering it a little by weakening the piercing durability of her sword. She had to...otherwise she would get a handful of hallowed-out caltrops in the face. But, sure enough, she pulled in just enough strength to watch the sparkling, hallowed needles of steel litter the street just head.

These tires? They were in for a world of hurt.

He could see the ambulance entrance. He could just make out the figured of two waiting ER intake doctors or nurses, maybe interns. Nobody liked night shift emergency room shifts. That's when the real crazies came out.

Like the samurai riding the top of the ambulance, throwing out a hand full of glittering something and puncturing the roof of the back box with her sword.

Yeah. Exactly like that kind of crazy.

AJ swerved, but it was beyond too late. The ambulance rocked back and forth as it's front tires popped in quick succession and the back left tire blew, leaving him with only one wheel not riding the rims.

He jerked and compensated and then tried to compensate again as the ambulance fight him with its uneven carriage.

He could SEE the ER intake. He could see it! Right there!

The ambulance rolled to a stop, just a few years short. Whatever the intake staff saw made hardened medical staff hesitate.

She was likely already dead back there. They'd been delayed and Chelsea hasn't had any time to spare.

"Why?" it was so… so senseless. AJ hit the steering wheel and scrambled out the driver's door.

"Hurt Donnie and I will never forgive you." He had nothing and they both know it. No leverage. Nothing. Chelsea, he knew, was a lost cause. He couldn't even argue there.

But he would watch. He owed her that much at least. If it was his fault...? He'd watch.

The hospital. That was where he was headed. Niko could see the distant lights of the medical center as it drew closer and closer. She had never chased down a target this far. But tonight had been particularly cruel. The brutality with which the gang showed that elderly couple was -- animalistic. It was savage. The likes of which she had only seen when the Man of Shadows was pulling the strings.

In all fairness, the woman was probably going to die, no matter how quick the EMTs had brought her here. But she wouldn’t take that chance. She had to be sure. She had to watch the light leave that woman’s eyes to ensure that the Man of Shadows wasn’t there.

So she pushed this as far as she dared go. The caltrops were thrown. The tires burst like bomb blasts beneath the carriage of the ambulance. The driver, though skilled, tried to swerve to avoid rolling the entire vehicle and killed everyone inside and out. Again, Niko had to appreciate that he was a skilled driver and a dedicated professional. She truly hoped he wouldn’t stand in her way again.

The ambulance rolled to a stop. She could hear the sounds of frustration within. Pulling her sword from the top, she hopped down onto her two feet and immediately made her way to the back. She was running out of time. They were within view of the hospital. She had to make her move and escape before it was too late.

Her hands gripped her blade, pushing as much lifeforce into it as she dared. A silver arc of light, reflection of her sword, sliced through the doors in the back, removing the handles with ease. With no resistance, the doors swung open and Niko looked in to see the harmed EMT and body of the woman she had eviscerated. In the front, by the wheel, the driver had turned and stared intently. He offered her a warning, hurt Donnie and she action will never be forgiven.

Niko stood there, watching the pair of them and Chelsea. Her sword held in hand, she peered with unseen eyes from beneath her helmet. A second later, she hurt the guttural gasp of a final, agonized breath, and she turned to see her victim’s head lull to the side. Her wounds were too grievous for anyone but a miracle worker to save.

Sword raised, Niko held it aloft before she swiped it down and ceremoniously returned it to its scabbard. ”It was never my intention to hurt ‘Donnie’,” she gruffly said. ”Just hurt. I only kill the guilty.” Turning to back to the EMTs, she started away from the ambulance, but not before stopping and turning back to the workers. She nodded to them both. ”Get him inside. Heal him.” Turning back around she started to head off to the shadows. ”And from now on, leave the guilty to me.”

As if his forgiveness made any difference. As if his anything would have stopped her. AJ watched her slice open the back of the bus and felt helpless. Useless. Worthless.

His glare cracked as he heard Donnie's involuntary yip when the back doors opened. Despite his promise not to hurt others, AJ took a step forward towards his friend, separated only by a thin layer of metal and some medical cabinets.

And Chelsea died. Death had an unmistakable sound, an immediate smell that never made the movies because dying isn't glamorous.

"She- she wasn't going to make it anyway." Donnie spoke quietly from inside the wagon. He knew that they'd tried. That they'd slipped her out from under the sword and still didn't make it.

"We don't judge guilt, that's for the courts. We help all. Who are you to do that? To judge?" He clenched his fist and hit the side of the ambulance hard enough to make it wobble on it's one last wheel. He was so mad and so impotent... he'd likely never been this angry in his entire life. It was the chase. The guns. The senselessness of it all. The hospital was right there! They'd been so close!

"Who are you?"

Niko breathed a heavy sigh of relief. That was one less soul for the Man of Shadows to feast upon. She rolled her neck, irritated that it had taken as much time as it did to bring this woman to justice but was satisfied (mostly) with the results. There was a lot of collateral damage (shame, since she liked that bike) but she was assured that the souls elderly couple who had suffered could not rest.

Of course, not everyone understood her motivations. After watching the light vanish from her victim’s eyes, Niko, the Bloody Samurai, turned away from the ambulance and started her walk back to the shadows. The heavy footfalls caused her armor to sing their crimson song, but stopped when the demands of another grabbed her attention.

Her back to the ambulance, Niko kept her hand resting upon the hilt of her sheathed blade, but did not feel the need to draw it. Rather she simply lowered her head to the ground as the EMT shouted and made a ruckus. He wanted to know what right she had? Who was she to judge? And, finally, wanted to know who she was.

For several seconds, Niko just stood there. Half sheathed in the shadows, half exposed under the flickering light of a dying street lamp. Her armor melded in and out of the shadows as she stood there, unmoving, before she briefly turned her head. In the darkness under the brim of her helmet, her a single bloody eye could be seen reflected in the minimal light.

She stared at him firmly, her coarse-sounding voice responding with, ”I am the justice you all deserve.”

Several shorts in the streetlamp occurred, Niko vanishing in and out of the shadows before the light just stopped for a second. When the light blazoned again, the samurai was gone, slipped back into the darkness and far and away from the scene just as the sirens and rushing nurses came to the ambulance’s aid.