Chapter 4 Ambush

Before Hiyaru could fully recover, the sound of footsteps and gunshots filled the air.

He turned his head just in time to see armed men in dark suits and sharp-toothed masks rushing into the hideout. They wore the same suits as the mercenaries he had encountered in the subway. Two of them were already sprinting towards the suitcase containing the vial.

Nope. I need my paycheck.

Hiyaru clenched his teeth and peeked out of his cover.

“Again those lame black suits, guns with the same masks? Wow you guys really need to work on your dress code—oops!” They shot immediately, and he ducked back into cover.

He loaded his gun with heavy blunt ammo then jumped into the air from the back of his sofa, raised his weapon, and fired twice.

Two mercenaries dropped to the floor, both hit in the head. However, before they got knocked out, they shot Hiyaru. As he landed back behind his cover, a sharp pain stabbed through his kidney.

"Ouch! Okay, that one hit my kidney. Joke’s on you, though–I was planning on donating that anyway!” Hiyaru grunted in pain as he tried to heal it.

Before he could recover, more mercenaries flooded into the kitchen with their weapons aiming at the sofa. Hiyaru slipped behind the fridge and took cover

“Die, you scum!” one of them sneered as he advanced.

“You know, for a guy in a high-end tactical suit, your trash talk... is really trash.” Hiyaru shook his head.

He tried to aim, but one of the mercenaries closed the distance and knocked the weapon out of his hand.

“Say goodbye.”

The mercenary thrust his blade into Hiyaru’s left hip. The stab sent him crashing against the kitchen counter, slumping down motionless.

Ugh, fuck… If this keeps up, I won't be able to heal in time; my head is spinning. I need to really focus and play it safe. These guys are way better than the ones from last time.

The mercenary seemed certain the fight was over, but when he was about to turn around...

Hiyaru jumped onto the kitchen counter while grabbing some knives, twisted in mid-air and threw them with all his strength at the three mercenaries in front of him.

Knives flew across the kitchen. One hit a mercenary in the shoulder, and a second struck another in the leg. As both cried out in pain, the third took a cucumber squarely to the face.

“Whoops, my bad. In my defense, you guys really look like you could use some extra fiber.”

The mercenary snarled and jumped onto the counter, aiming another strike at Hiyaru. He missed.
“I swear, piss off already!”

Hiyaru grabbed a ripe tomato and smashed it straight into the man’s face. The mercenary lost his balance and tumbled off the counter. Hiyaru clobbered him over the head with a frying pan, then whipped it into another mercenary’s face, dropping him cold.

Hiyaru glanced down at a man who was still moving on the floor with a tomato on his face.

“Dude, can you go to sleep already? Here I thought I was the one with the healing ability…”

Hiyaru grabbed a melon and dropped it on the man’s head. The mercenary finally stayed down alongside the others.

He suddenly realized how quiet it had become. When he looked toward the counter, the suitcase was gone. His winning smirk instantly vanished.

“FUCK…No no no no no…”

Hiyaru quickly looked out of the window and spotted the tall masked man from earlier running into the black cars with his remaining men.

“I wasted so much time with these guys.” Hiyaru grabbed his belt then took a deep breath while standing in front of the window.

He charged and jumped through the window. Luckily, his apartment was on the first floor. He hit the ground, rolled over his shoulder into the bushes, and groaned as he scrambled to his feet. He grabbed a nearby bicycle and limped toward the road.

Jack got into his car. As he climbed inside, he caught sight of Hiyaru emerging from the bushes. His face twisted in confusion.

“Who the hell is that freak? How is he still walking???” He brushed the mask off where his eyes were to check if he was not seeing things. He then turned his head towards the driver.

“Step on it. Go, the vial must get to the boss's hands.”

The engine roared, and Jack’s car started to drive out of the parking spot with the other two vehicles right behind it.

Hiyaru barely got onto the bike and took off after them.

You are not getting anywhere but prison. I will get that vial for my partner no matter what, he thought while breathing heavily and pedaling after the car like his life depended on it.

“Sir, he’s still following us!” The driver shouted after checking the rearview mirror.

Jack turned around in his seat and looked out of the window.

“What the… he’s on a bike?!” He slammed a hand against the seat. “Drive faster! We can’t let him catch up!”

As they sped up, Hiyaru turned down a side street , almost making it seem like he had given up.

“Sir, we successfully lost him.” The driver informed Jack.

“Good, let me contact the boss that we have secured the target…” Jack smirked while taking the phone out of his pocket.

However Hiyaru knew the way better than they did. He weaved through narrow alleys, took sharp turns, and used the streets to his advantage.

The cars pushed ahead, but Hiyaru managed to cut them off through the park.

He took most of the strength he had left in his legs and leapt while grabbing onto the trunk of the rear car at the back of the convoy.

THUD

“Huh..? What was that noise?”

“Maybe just your imagination? But mannn, thank god we weren’t up front. You could shoot at him and he wouldn't even budge. I hate these freaks, and to think our leader is one of them—makes me wonder why Jack takes his orders,” the mercenary sighed.

“Doesn't matter. Money is money, freak or not. And a few guys gone means a bigger cut for us—” The other chuckled, but was cut off abruptly.

CRACK

The rear car’s passenger window shattered, and the laughing mercenary was yanked clean out of the car by Hiyaru who was already holding onto the side mirror.

The man screamed as he flew onto the road. They weren't driving so fast due to the short turns and bad road.

“Have a safe trip, pal!” Hiyaru waved as he was still holding onto the car.

The second one behind the wheel immediately pulled out a gun and started shooting.

However Hiyaru managed to react and hide below the door when he heard the clicking sound of an empty magazine. Because the driver got worked up and shot everything out Hiyaru jumped into the car.

“Sir, gunshots.” The driver of the lead car informed Jack.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, I’m not deaf… That healing freak is getting on my nerves…” He spat as he was rummaging through something in the back.

“How d-did you get in here?!” The driver of the rear car gulped, struggling to steer while fumbling for his knife.

“By never skipping leg day.” Hiyaru winked. The driver immediately lunged with his blade, but Hiyaru shot him in the hand, causing him to let go of both the blade and the wheel. The car then swerved wildly, tires shrieking as they almost spun out, until Hiyaru grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it back to center.

“Whoa, man, focus on the road. You cou—” Before he managed to crack another joke he noticed something weird happening in front of him. Jack emerged from the sunroof with a RPG and gestured to the driver of the middle car to move sideways as he loaded the RPG.

I hate to put my men in unnecessary danger but if I’m correct this guy has some weird sense of heroism from what I saw. He will try to save the driver but not have time for himself and we will then lose him as he will get blown to pieces in the blast. Jack thought as he put the RPG on his shoulder and said.
“Hey freak… catch!” He shouted as he pulled the trigger and the rocket was launched.
SWOOSH

With barely a second to react, Hiyaru watched the rocket hurtle towards the car. He jumped through the front window and fired at the rear tire of the middle car. The vehicle swerved sideways, blocking the rocket's path and flipping the car upside down from the blast.

The rear car was hurtling straight toward the overturned vehicle. Right before the impact, Hiyaru vaulted off its hood and landed hard on top of the wrecked middle car. He tore a flat, jagged sheet of metal off the damaged frame, slid it under his boots, and fired his grapple gun at the bumper of Jack's lead car.

The grapple secured itself to the rear of Jack's car. Hiyaru clung to the cable while balancing on the metal plate, sliding along the road behind the car. From a distance, he looked almost like someone wakesurfing, except he was being dragged down a road. He lost his gun in the process however.

“My men… This son of a bitch is so fucking persistent.” Jack snapped while reloading the rocket launcher.

“Sir, he is still on us.” The driver informed yet again with concern.

“Do you think I’m fucking blind or what?! This time I will kill him for good.” He then took aim.

“Hope you had insurance and they had seatbelts, also language—” Hiyaru shouted as he tried to not fall.

Now how do I get closer…

A second rocket was fired, but Hiyaru managed to evade it by tilting to the right side so it flew past him.

I think I have an idea…

“Stop moving, you slippery shit…” Jack said as he was loading another rocket while the driver sped up.

“Say, why aren’t you going to weekly Zumba class or bingo? You are too old for this, gramps! Look at your poor aim. Are your hands shaking, or is that gun just too heavy for you? ” Hiyaru taunted as he was smirking behind the mask.

“Just you wait you asshole…” Jack took aim and shot the third rocket.

Right as the shot was fired, Hiyaru pulled hard on the grapple cable and kicked off the plate, letting the momentum launch him forward onto the rear bumper. Though Jack wasn’t in the sunroof anymore; he had dropped back into the cabin and was firing wildly through the shattered back window trying to take Hiyaru down for good.

“Die already!!!” he shouted, firing blindly.

“Look, can’t you just give up? All I want is that vial back just let me be.”

Hiyaru tried to reason as he was barely holding onto the back of the car. Luckily for him, Jack was aiming so high that the bullets couldn’t reach him. His main problem was his legs, which were dragging along the asphalt.
I have to stop this last car for good… He then noticed the back wheels and got an idea and smirked.

“I have orders so go away kid.” Jack replied as he was reloading his weapon.
“Have you ever tried to fist a wheel?”
“Huh???” Jack noticed Hiyaru putting his own arm into the wheel.
“You crazy bas—”

The jammed wheel sent the vehicle swerving violently out of control, careening directly into the construction site.
Metal scraped against concrete as the car ploughed through the barriers. Smoke was coming off from the wreck before the entire vehicle went into flames.