Bang! Bang! Zing! Ping! The hailstorm of bullets whipped the doorway bouncing off its thick walls, and occasionally striking JS's body armor. "3TC's a good supply of rounds." Eve said, worried by JS's silence. He stood shielding her with his body, almost crushing her against the wall and wrapping her head with his arms, yet Eve felt he could barely stand. She had never felt JS so exhausted. His wounds were bleeding badly again. JS nodded: "Plenty." Bang! Zing! "Ouch!" Eve cried. "You, OK?" JS's voice was full of concern and anger, anger against 3TC, and himself since he had failed to protect her. "Only a scratch. I'm not stoic like you who can be clipped without a word!" Eve smiled. JS smiled back and gave her a peck on her hair. Bang! Zip! Thud. "Damn!" JS hissed through gritted teeth. A bouncing bullet had struck him in the wounded leg a bit above his knee. Drops of sweat beaded his forehead. He felt dizzy and was swaying. Eve grabbed him. "Let me hold you up!" JS nodded trying to summon enough strength to hold his balance and his sword. Silence. "There's a gap in the shooting." Eve realized. "3TC is changing clip." JS whispered. He had never stopped reading the bastard's mind. "Hey, Sea, how much blood did you lose? A pint? Two, maybe?" 3TC yelled. "I see you're still bleeding. I can see that beautiful pool of blood spreading on the floor! Your wounds have reopened, haven't they? Do I have hit you with a few shots? Oh my... if you lose another two pints of blood, you're bloody dead? Nice pun, isn't it? Don't you find it funny: the man who stormed the ROGUE empire and deleted the Grays, dies for lack of a simple transfusion when there's a ship with a lot of plasma few yards away! There's poetry in that, well at least I feel it!" Mentally JS reckoned how much blood he had lost, a fleeting thought immediately suppressed, but Eve had seen it, and her heart clenched. "Jay, we must get rid of him!" Eve sighed. "Have you already lost consciousness, Sea? Why don't you answer? not replying is rude!" 3TC guffawed. "Listen to me, you bastard!" Eve yelled with clenched voice. "I offer you a deal. Take that fucking ship and leave the planet. I'll guarantee you that no one will shoot you down. I'll order they let you go safe and sound." "Tempting, but... NO. That's my deal: let Sea get out so I can kill him nicely, and you'll grant me a safe pass, Eve, or else..." "Why? He's risking his life in order to kill you." Eve murmured. "He knows I'll hunt him down to the edge of the galaxy, Eve. In the spies' murky world no place is safe if I'm alive." JS said then yelled. "Deal, 3TC!" He turned to come out but Eve held him back. "Jay, no!" "There's no other way. If 3TC notices the grenade launcher, there'll be no deal: he'll kill us both." "A grenade launcher?" "Yes, but our 3TC did only desk-warfare." JS grinned. He stepped forward, but stumbled. Eve grabbed hold of his arm. Feeling his resolve she helped him stand up. "Lean against me." "Stay behind me, I've a plan." Summoned all his strength, JS lifted his sword, aiming at 3TC. "Do you throw the sword?" Eve asked. "Too far." he replied. "Uh, how's that quote? 'When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle...'. New version: 'When a man with a sword meets a man with a gun, the man with the sword’s a dead man'." 3TC was splitting his sides laughing. "Let's see if that's true." JS retorted. "Your nine lives ran out, Sea!" 3TC guffawed. JS raised his sword a little more thinking of the people 3TC had killed. Eve felt JS was rallying also her energy. He focused all their reserves of strength on the sword, now shining a cruel increasingly dark reddish light. A throbbing obscurity flickered from the tip of Nowheregate: the vortex danced, swallowing light, sound and the bullets frantically fired by 3TC. Then the vibrant darkness reached 3TC sucking him and the bridge into the blackness. JS closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.