Mike advances.
Jessie leaps backward.
Needles hiss through the air.
His katana flashes - clang, clang, clang - every strike deflected.
A thug swings a baseball bat. She ducks. Wood whistles past her ear.
Her leg snaps up, cracks his forehead. He drops.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
The katana sings death. Jessie dances between the blades like they're made of smoke.
She plants a foot, launches forward, vaults off a goon's shoulders, and slips into a narrow alley.
"Don't let her escape!" Mike roars.
The woman who lost Solomon charges after her.
Jessie cuts left. The woman matches her stride.
A fist rockets toward Jessie's face. She twists - too late. The punch slams her arm. Bone screams.
She stops. stand. Clutching her arm. The woman folds another fist. Launching forward. Jessie leaps Backwards. Rotates. Heads downwards, legs upwards. Both boots crash into the woman's jaw.
Crunch. The woman crumples.
"Good. Almost out of this hell," Jessie mutters, sprinting again. Advancing towards the woods.
The pack follows her into the woods. No sign of her. She seems to be gone.
"She's fast - spread out! She's a shadow!" Mike bellows.
Silence.
Then bodies hit the dirt - needles blooming from chests, throats, foreheads.
One by one they fall.
Only a handful left.
Jessie materializes, eyes scanning.
A man lunges. Needle punches through his throat.
A girl with a red scarf on her neck. dives, tackles her to the ground. Jessie twists the girl's wrist - snap - scream - then a spinning kick ends it.
The girl stays down.
The woods go quiet.
Only wind and creaking branches.
"Where's Mike?" Jessie whispers.
A katana explodes from the leaves, aimed at her neck.
She bends backward - the blade kisses air.
Needles fly. Mike leaps aside.
"Hmm. Still fast. Stop running, old friend... Get serious"
She laughs, bitter. "Weaklings hide behind guards. Always have."
Mike's smile dies.
Steel meets needles. Sparks. Blood. Breath.
A shadow drops from the trees behind her - the woman from earlier, airborne, foot driving into Jessie's spine.
Jessie stumbles, falling to the ground. Springs back up on her hands.
"Boss Mike, she killed Solomon. She'll pay," the woman says.
Mike's eyes gleam. "yes indeed."
"Not good. Can't face them both," Jessie bolts.
They chase.
The woman is gaining - faster than sound.
A goon charges from the front, hurls a spear. Jessie twists.
The spear buries itself in the woman's forehead with a wet thunk.
She drops, eyes wide, already gone.
Jessie grins. "Oops."
Mike and the last man close in.
Jessie vaults, knee shattering the man's nose.
Mike's katana kisses her arm. Blood sprays.
She lands, holding the wounded arm. She cuts her shirt, and ties the wounds.
"Jessie... glare all you want. Even if you jingle. I'll still mingle."
"You'll never touch the sky, Mike. No matter how tall you grow," she says.
He revs a chainsaw. The roar swallows the air.
Jessie's eyes widen. "Since when-"
He charges.
Chainsaw sings. She dodges it strikes. seconds - then the blade bites her waist.
Hot. Deep.
She staggers, blood pouring.
She brings out a sword- length needle. Longer than her usual ones.
Mike's mouth opens in triumph. "Finally, The Venomous Mercy... I'll face your true-"
Shhhhk.
The needle punches through his chest, out his back, a wet, hollow sound.
Mike stares down, shocked.
"How... I didn't even see you move..."
Blood bubbles. "Jessie... your brother... he's not at home anymore... he's-"
She catches him as he falls.
"Mike! Mike! What about my brother?!"
Tears hit his face. "Damn it! damn it! damn it!"
She pulls the needle free.
"I'm sorry, old friend..."
Two Blue Whales remain, staring at their dead leader.
Jessie rises, swaying. "Get a shovel. We bury him."
The battered girl - the one with the red scarf, arm broken. Spits blood. "We bury our own. You've done enough. Leave."
Jessie nods, voice cracked. "Mike. It was a close one. You finally did it. You made me draw out Venomous Mercy."
She turns and begins to leave. Her steps slowly scrub the floor. As she cradled her wounded Weist.
Behind her, the survivors begin the chant:
"The Whale is wounded...
The Whale is wounded...
The Whale is wounded..."