Act 1 Curtain Opens Tim Dolen and some of his homies rode down the street in their hatchback. He thought about the occurrences of the night before. In his gang boss's office, he had said, "You ain't payin' me 'n' me homies 'nuff fuckin' money!! We splittin' an' spreadin' da word dat you's a cheap bastard!!" "If you leave, I'll have you killed." replied his boss from the desk chair. "Fuck U!!" Tim retorted. Dolen smiled as he drove at the thought of how ugly his ex-boss was, with his bald head. He was, what, in his mid-60's? He was one old dried up fuckin' dick licker. On top of a building a mile away: A man in a black cloak walked to the edge of the roof. He carried a small black suitcase and wore dark sunglasses, even though it was night. His long red hair flowed in the light breeze. He stopped at the edge of the roof and set down his suitcase. He hit the top of it with his fist and the suitcase snapped open immediately. Inside were various parts of a long sniper rifle. As he took the parts out of the suitcase, he checked his watch. It was 11:00 pm, a great time for someone to die. He then proceeded to snap the rifle together. In the wigger-mobile: Tim Dolen shouted back over the loud music, "Where we headin' fo' anyway?" His first Homey responded, "Don' know...You?" The second Homey in turn slurred forth a response, "All I knose 's dat we gonna hook up wit som' big bucks! Dares a whole shitload 'a weed en dis old apatm'nt buildin' downtown." "BIG BUCKS MY ASS!!!" replied Dolen. "Were you hear dat loada fuckin' bullshit???" "From me Homey!" answered the second Homey. Tim pumped the rap music louder as they continued to cruise through downtown inside of their pimped-out, peace o' shit lowrider. On top of the building: The man in the black cloak attached a night-scope to the top of the assembled rifle. He then knelt down on the edge, rested his left elbow on the concrete, and lifted his rifle into firing position. He turned on the scope and took off his sunglasses and placed them in his pocket. A slight rumbling sound could be heard. It was some really bad rap music coming his way. As it approached, the sniper took out a little black box holstered on his belt and extended it's antenna. It was a transmitter of some sort. Just as the sniper looked up, he saw the lowrider/hatchback approach. In the car: Dolen's first Homey attempted to speak again, "I heard ya gave da boss a piece o' ya mind yesterday." Tim smirked and quickly responded, "I told off dat fucker good! He won't be botherin' us no mo'!" Dolen's second Homey looked up and also responded on the matter, "Yeeeeah! But, what'f he sends Verm 'afta ya?" "Yeah right! As if that dick-licker had da nuts!" Tim snapped back. The rooftop: The hatchback's wheels were in the right place, and the sniper pressed the button on the transmitter. The back of the hatchback exploded. The force of the blast shot the remains of the back in front of the "front" of the car. It came down with a crash, and the whole mass slid for about 50 feet before coming to a screeching halt. Just as it did, the sniper put away the transmitter, and replaced his trigger hand on the gun handle. He then lined up his site and began to aim with his scope. Tim and his homies crawled out of the wreckage and stood up in realization of what just happened, and what was about to happen. The sniper took aim and fired. With 2 pops from his silenced rifle, Dolen's 2 homies dropped, dead. Both had bullets buried in their heads. At this site, Dolen started running for his life. The sniper panned his rifle in pursuit of the fleeing Dolen. Smiling as his prey fled in his direction. He fired a bullet in front of Dolen's feet, immediately stopping him. Dolen, desperate, shouted out in no particular direction, "Vern! Bro! I'll split da money wit cha! I'm on my way t' pick up some weed. How'bout it?" Dolen was sweating as he waited for an answer. Then in a half amused/half sinister voice, the sniper replied, "No." He pulled the trigger on his rifle and a bullet wizzed through the air and straight into Dolen's eye. Dolen dropped to the ground, dead. The sniper then mocked, "In your eye." He stood up, picked up what little he had brought, tucked the rifle under his cloak, closed the suitcase, and left the rooftop. Act 2 Bosses and Employees Toshiro's store office: Christina was sitting at the front desk, reading a book, when a delivery boy walked in with a bouquet of flowers. He walked up to the desk, put the bouquet down, and said, "Delivery for a Miss Moll?" Christina stood up and said, "Yes, I'm Miss Moll." "Please sign here." Christina did so, and looked at the flowers with a surprised look. She picked up the card and looked at it. It read: Chrissy, Happy 5 year anniversary. You've been a great employee and an even better friend. Toshi As Christina finished reading it Toshiro spoke from the doorway to his office. He had watched the whole delivery. "I figured I had to repay you for your help these past 5 years. Like 'em?" "Oh, Toshi, they're great! You shouldn't have." She leaned down and smelled the flowers. "Well, I figured taking you to Piere's restaurant wasn't enough, so I got you those also." Christina looked up and said in a delighted voice, "Piere's? You're taking me to Piere's?! How'd you know I've always wanted to go there?" "I remember you mentioning it. Is 7:00 tomorrow night okay? It was tough getting reservations on a Saturday night." "Of course! I'll be ready." "Then I'll be at your house." Just then, a customer walked in, and the 2 "friends" returned to earth. In the penthouse at the local hotel: In a leather chair sat Dolen's ex-boss, Frederick Tone, a most powerful mobster. He smiled as the sniper came in and sat in the less expensive wooden chair across from him. The sniper wore the black cloak and John Lennon sunglasses he wore the other night. Considering it being day, Tone didn't think much of the sniper. "Welcome, Vermillion! You did a great job the other night." Vermillion smiled, then said, "Of course, I'm the best." Tone ordered over one of his employees, "Catalano, bring over Mr. Vermillion's money." Catalano did so, putting a suitcase down on the desk in between the two men. He unlatched it and opened it to face Vermillion, then retreated back. Vermillion looked the money over and asked, "Is it all here?" Tone replied, "Yes, all 300,000 of it." Vermillion closed the suitcase and set it down beside his chair. He looked up and saw Tone looking out the window. Tone said, "I have another job for you." Vermillion leaned forward and answered, "Yes?" "Tonight, there will be a little 'skirmish' between one of my rivals and Catalano here." he pointed a thumb at the Latin American in the leather jacket. " Only 5 from each side are gonna be there. My rival believes he's a good fighter and has agreed on a fair fight. In the chaos, I want you to take him out." Vermillion rubbed his chin, then inquired, "How much?" Tone looked at Vermillion and said, "500,000." Vermillion rubbed his chin some more, then asked, "Where and when?" Act 3 Rumble in the Bronx "See you tomorrow night Chrissy!" "See you Tosh!" Christina walked towards her car as Toshiro locked up the store. As he turned off the lights, he thought about the first time he met Christina. It was 5 years ago. Toshiro had just come back from college and finished his Kabuki training and was opening his antique shop. He had no secretary skills, so he put out an add for one. Christina was the first one to come in, and she and Toshiro hit it off. He hired her; she started the next day at $5.50 an hour, and that's how it's been since. Of course, she got raises, but everything else was exactly the same. Christina had been the only help Toshiro needed, and he was glad for that. Toshiro walked upstairs and smiled at the memories. Her many boyfriends, her failed attempts at setting him up, and the endless drinks they had together. They were definitely the best of friends. Toshiro walked into his room, locked the door, went to his bedroom, and opened his closet. It was time for the nightly patrol. 10:00PM at the harbor: Catalano stood on the wooden dock with four of his gangsters. They stood and waited for their rivals. On top of a nearby fishery building: Vermillion was doing the same routine he did for the "Dolen Job". He opened the suitcase, put his rifle together, put on his night vision goggles, and knelt down to his firing position. Just as he did that, a black Mercedes pulled onto the harbor, moving towards the dock. The car stopped in front of the dock. All four doors opened up. Five men, dressed in black leather pants, black T-shirts, and sporting lots of gold jewelry came out. All seemed to be Latin American. They formed a line and proceeded towards Catalano and his company. On the dock: Catalano stepped forward and shouted out, "Telementez! So, you decided to come!" The leader of the other group, Telementez, a big man with bulging muscles stepped forward. He answered back, "That's right, Catalano! And I'm gonna kick you and your amigos' asses all over the dock, comprende?" Catalano and Telementez took off any excessive clothing (leather jacket, gold jewelry, etc.) and assumed their own fighting stances. Actually they looked more like boxers than fighters. The two combatants then circled each other. Both trying to make the first move, trying not to leave their defenses open. Then, as both seemed to attack simultaneously, a boat, which was docked nearby, exploded. Nearby: Toshiro turned. He had heard the explosion and was startled. That came from the harbor, he thought. He faced the direction and ran towards the source. The dock: Telementez's men where jolted. Telementez himself dropped his stance and shouted, "What the hell's goin' on!?!" That was the last thing he said. The bullet entered Telementez's head from the back. He felt it, put his hand up to the wound, and then numbly fell from the dock into the water. One of his men called out, "Boss!" Catalano ran up and punched the man. His men followed and a brawl became eminent. On the fishery: Vermillion smiled to himself. It's been a while since he'd seen a good brawl. He even had a camera with a telephoto lens, just in case he could use some snapshots for blackmailing purposes. One never knew when one needed extra money. Oh! That uppercut looked like it hurt! observed Verm. Personally, Verm didn't care much for hand-to-hand combat. Guns were easier, had longer range, and were less messy. Besides, it's also more fun to shoot someone than to get one's hands messy. Hand-to-hand was fun to watch, though. Especially if it's a full scale brawl. And this particular one was packed full of violence. Ouch! I could here that bone break from here. He took a few snaps. Then, something caught his eye. At the left edge of the viewfinder, there was a spray of blood and a hand flew across the viewing area. All the men stopped and faced the cause of the flying hand. Vermillion panned back on his lens and kept snapping. The dock: Toshiro thought, Tone and Telementez's men, they must've set off the explosion, but why are they fighting each other? Toshiro finished by slashing off the Latino's hand with a kama. After the hand flew off, all the men faced him. He assumed a defensive stance and waited. They just stared at him. One of Telementez's men pointed at Toshiro and shouted, "What'd you do with our boss?" Another said, "You killed him! Get him!" The four Telementez boys assaulted Toshiro. As they did this, Catalano and his three men jumped into their "get-away" boat and sped off. Toshiro kicked into Kabuki mode, literally. The sidekick sent the first man back. The second man was actually able to grab Toshiro in a bear hug from behind. As the last two men charged, Toshiro quickly took two of his kamas, buried one in the bear hugging man's upper thigh, broke the hug, slashed across the two charging men's stomach's with the other, turned around, took the first kama out of the man's thigh, and slashed his throat. Toshiro took a second to catch his breath. As he did this, the first man ran past and got into the Mercedes. Toshiro was about to give chase when a whistling sound stopped him. Instinct told him to jump into the water. He entered the water just in time to avoid the exploding car debris. On top of the fishery: Vermillion put down his rocket launcher and picked up his camera again. He took snaps of the burning car, then panned over to where the costumed freak had dove in. The man came up and Verm took his picture. All his makeup had washed off. The man was definitely Japanese. As the Jap swam for shore, Vermillion packed away his stuff. As he left, he couldn't help but hope to meet the Jap again. Act 4 Dates Frederick Tone's Office: It is the next day around lunch. Vermillion is sitting on a chair across from Tone. Tone is sitting and eating a red lobster on his desk. Between forkfuls of lobster, Tone said, "Excellent job as always, Vermillion." Vermillion crossed his legs, pushed up his black sunglasses, and replied, "Thanks, Fred." "Now that Telementez is out of the picture, my boys can take over the northwest side." Catalano sat up from his chair in the corner and asked, "But what are we gonna do about the Kabuki fighter?" Tone stopped eating and looked at Catalano. Then, he started chuckling. Catalano yelled as he got up, "What's so funny!? I know what I fuckin' saw!" Fred retorted, "You saw nothing. We both know Katori Sano, our prior rival, was found dead. He was the Kabuki. What you saw last night was a figment of your imagination." "Me and my amigos know what we saw! Verm, you saw him didn't you?" Vermillion considered for a second. He did see someone and took pictures of him, but for right now it was fun watching Catalano squirm. "No. I didn't see anything." Vermillion finally replied. Catalano sat down in defeat. Tone added, "Stay off of the speed, Cat. And no more fights for a while." 6:30 PM: Toshiro drove down Hartford Drive towards an apartment complex. Christina lived in apartment number 21. These Canterbury apartments are really nice, thought Toshiro. As he finished his thought, he pulled up to the complex and parked his restored Jaguar. He stepped out, clad in a black suit, checked his bow tie one last time, and entered the complex. Toshiro took the elevator to the 3rd floor and walked to one end of the hallway to room number 21. He checked his clothes one more time and knocked on the door. Christina unlocked the door and opened it, hiding behind the door as she did. "You're early, Tosh!" she said in surprise. "I know, but our reservation is at seven and we need to leave a little early to get there in time." Christina walked quickly into a room adjacent to the door. As she disappeared behind a wall she called out, "I just have to put on some jewelry. Be there in a minute." Toshiro looked around and then commented to Christina, "I see you've added a few new decorations." Christina answered, "Yeah. The place looked a little empty, so I bought more stuff." Toshiro took a close look at a Japanese scroll painting on the wall next to the door. It showed a woman clad in armor, except for her head, which showed a pale woman's face with her hair tied back. Perched on her right side, she held a naginata with the blade high above her head. The Japanese characters in the upper left hand corner read, "Tomoe Gozan. A noble woman samurai." As Toshiro looked closer at the scroll art, he said, "Is Tomoe Gozan your favorite woman samurai, Chris?" She answered back, "Yeah! She's the kind of woman I'd like to be someday." Christina came out of her room, still adjusting her left ear ring. She was wearing a red dress that went down to her ankles, hugging all her curves. The slit on the right side ran to the halfway point between her knee and hip, exposing almost her whole right leg. There were no sleeves, which left her shoulders exposed. The dress had a turtleneck top with an oval cut out on the front, exposing a little bit of cleavage. Her short blond hair hung freely and bounced around. And there was one thing Toshiro noticed lastly. She smelled incredible. "Toshi, are we going now or what?" Toshiro snapped back to reality. He was just staring at her when he came to, then replied, "Uh, Yes. We'll be late if we don't." With that, the two left the apartment. In a one hour photo shop: "Thank you." Vermillion paid for his photos and walked back to his car. As he got in, he looked at them. He stopped at the closeup of the Jap. He'd find out later who the guy was, but for now he was hungry. There was this good French restaurant called Piere's he hadn't tried yet. Verm started his black Viper and drove off. 7:00 PM at Piere's: "Obata, party of two." The MC muttered over the intercom just as Toshiro and Christina came through the main door. A waiter led them to a booth in the southern corner of the restaurant. Vermillion walked in and told the MC, "Verm, party of one." The MC shook his head. Verm took out a hundred dollar bill, slipped it to him, and, not surprisingly, the MC changed his mind. The MC called for a waiter to seat Verm. The waiter coincidentally sat Verm three booths down from Toshiro and Christina. Toshiro took a menu and looked at it, dropping his jaw in astonishment after looking at the prices. "There's no item on here below eight dollars!" Toshiro shrieked. "Well, Tosh, it's your treat. I'll try to stay under thirty dollars," replied Christina. "Oh, thank you," Toshiro snapped back sarcastically. As Tosh and Chris talked, Vermillion looked at the pictures he had brought. Pretty violent stuff; the pictures looked almost as violent as the menu. Raw snails, cow tongue, and whole liver sounded pretty sick. A good hamburger was absent from the menu. The soup was the only thing under eight dollars. He may have been in the money, but he didn't want to spend it on food. His anxiety attack was made a little worse by the laughing couple three booths down. Vermillion needed a girlfriend. It has been quite a long while since he let his monkey out of the bag. Christina laughed at Toshiro's story. "It's true! When my uncle came over, he didn't know how to open a milk carton! I had to do it for him, " Toshiro stated. Christina took a break from laughing to say, "Your uncle? The one who makes and programs computers?" "Yup. That's the one." They both laughed, then slowly stopped as their food was brought to them. All they ordered was a pair of soups and a dish of cooked snails. Toshiro suggested them since they both have never eaten snails before. After the waiter finished bringing the food and left, Toshiro stood up and went to the bathroom. Vermillion just looked up from his menu when the Jap walked by. It's him! thought Verm. He looked over to where the Jap came from and saw the gorgeous blond. He put down his menu and stood up, then put on his best pair of glasses. Vermillion walked to Christina's side and waited until he had caught her attention. She looked up at him. "Good evening, miss. I couldn't help but notice you being alone. May I?" Vermillion said and pointed to the seat across from her. "I'm sorry, but I have a date. He just went to the bathroom." Christina replied. "Oh, I'm sorry, Miss?" "Christina, Christina Moll." "A lovely name. And whose your date? Maybe I can change your mind." Someone cleared their throat behind Vermillion. Vermillion turned around to see the Jap. He was on a date with her? Christina said, "This is my date." Toshiro held out a hand and said, "Toshiro Obata." Vermillion took his hand and shook it. "You're a very lucky man." Vermillion let go and walked off. Toshiro sat back down. "Who was that?" "Actually, I never got his name." Christina answered. Vermillion walked out of the restaurant and thought, Time for a hook, line, and sinker. Act 5 The Bait 10:05pm at Canterbury: Toshiro walked with Christina, holding his arm, to her apartment as they chatted. "Why'd you get those matches?" asked Toshiro. "You never know when you need a substitute for a flashlight," Christina replied. They both chuckled, Christina putting her head on Toshiro's shoulder. They walked up to her apartment and stopped at the front door. Christina let go of Toshiro's arm and they both faced each other. "I had a great time, Toshi." Christina said. "Me too. It's been a long 5 years." "I hope we can have 5 more years just as wonderful together." They gave each other a hug. Christina brought her face back to gaze into Toshiro's eyes. Kiss her. Toshiro told himself. Toshiro leaned forward and gave Christina a soft kiss on her lips. The kiss lasted a second, then another second, and kept lasting. Christina finally broke the kiss, and said "Good night, Toshiro." She unlocked her door and went in. "Good night, Christina." Toshiro reached up with a hand to touch his lips, then turned and left. 10:10pm: Vermillion crept around the corner towards Christina's apartment. He had followed the Jap and his blond to the apartment. If he was going to use her as bait, he had to wait for the Jap to leave, which he did. Vermillion hated Japs. His old man, a great sniper, was killed by some Japs in World War II. His body was so mangled that they had to cremate it. Vermillion despised all those almond eyed bastards. He rang the doorbell, and the blond answered the door. "Hi, Christina," he said. "Oh, hi! What are you doing here?" "I wanted to tell you, you're making a mistake with that Japanese man." Verm took the time to notice she had changed into a t-shirt and jeans. She'll be struggling more in those clothes, he thought. He didn't have any experience kidnaping anyone. Christina asked, "Why do you say that?" "Let me in and I'll tell you." Christina unhooked her door chain and opened the door. As soon as she had finished opening it, Verm quickly grabbed her and put the damp cloth he had on her mouth and nose. After a bit of struggling, Christina went limp in Verm's arms. He then hefted the blond over his shoulder and left. 11:00pm Toshiro's Apartment: Toshiro walked in and flopped down backwards onto his bed. "Wow," he said out loud. I never knew I felt this way about her. I wonder if she feels the same way about me. Toshiro closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when the phone rang. Who could that be? he wondered as he picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Toshiro Obata?" the voice asked. "Yes?" "Good evening. Do you remember me? I'm the man who you met at the restaurant." "Oh, yes. What can I do for you?" Vermillion chuckled. "No, it's what you can do for me." "What?" There was a sound, as if someone in the background was struggling. A woman's voice said, "Toshiro, please help me!" "Christina?" Toshiro asked. The man came back on. "As you can hear, I have your girlfriend." "What have you done to her?!" shouted Toshiro. "Oh, nothing yet. I won't if you come down to the abandoned warehouse on the dock. You know, the one where you creamed Telementez's men." Toshiro's eyes widened. "How do you know of that?" he let out, not thinking. "Yes, I know you are the Kabuki." Toshiro was fuming, "I'll be there at midnight, whoever you are!!!" "Then it's a date. Oh, and my name is Vermillion." Toshiro slammed the phone down and hurried to put on his costume. Act 6 Ancient Vs. Modern 12:00am at the warehouse on the dock: "Don't struggle and then the ropes won't hurt!" said Vermillion to the tied up Christina. "Toshiro will come!" She hissed back at him. "I hope so." Vermillion twirled his hand gun, then asked, "What do you see in that killer anyway?" "Toshiro's not a killer!" She retorted. "Oh, you didn't know?" Vermillion mockingly commented. Vermillion stopped twirling his gun and pulled a few pictures out. He put them in front of Christina's face and said, "Check out these pictures, and you might change your mind." Christina looked at the pictures with disbelieving eyes. Then, she leaned closer to look at the last picture. It was the one of Toshiro in the water, all his face paint washed off. "It can't be! I knew he was good! He rescued me that one time, but a killer? He's the Kabuki killer?" Christina kept babbling on. Verm rolled his eyes. Toshiro was running on the harbor toward the warehouse. If she has one hair on her head missing, I'm gonna cut out each one of his organs in alphabetical order. Then, I'm gonna kill him! He stopped in front of the warehouse and announced his arrival. "Vermillion!!!" All the lights in the warehouse turned off. Toshiro entered through the side door and reached out with his senses. Vermillion was perched up on the second floor of the warehouse, which wrapped all the way around the complex overlooking the ground floor in the center. Christina was bound to her chair in the center of the warehouse. The warehouse itself was filled with large wooden storage boxes. Stacked all over, these boxes combined to form large towers and walls. There were no boxes around Christina, leaving her wide open. Vermillion heard Toshiro and was ready with his rifle and night vision goggles. He looked around from his hiding place. No sight yet of his prey. Toshiro crept around the boxes. He took his naginata off its holster and extended the handle. He could sense Vermillion was around, but Toshiro couldn't place where he was. He also sensed Christina's presence. He began to try and weave his way towards her. Vermillion saw some movement from the corner of his eye and quickly fired at it. Toshiro watched in surprise as a rat fell to the sniper's bullet. The shot came dangerously close to him. This man has to be a professional, Toshiro thought to himself. After taking all things in account, Toshiro deduced that the sniper's arsenal must consist of night vision goggles and a high powered firing device, such as a rifle. Toshiro may be a master at the ancient arts, but he was also well versed on modern weaponry. One had to be in the twentieth century. Vermillion panned in on the rat's dead carcass and quietly cursed to himself, "Damn!" Christina woke up from the knockout gas and into complete darkness. She started to remember where she was, then started shouting, "Toshiro!" Vermilion said quietly, "Double damn!" Toshiro heard Christina. That definitely came from the center, Toshiro contemplated. Now, he needed a distraction, but what? That's when he noticed the crate right next to him open. Vermillion kept doing slow sweeps of the whole building, but couldn't see anything. Damn. I wish she'd stop screaming so I can hear myself think, he thought to himself. Just then he saw something. It looked like a big wig. It came towards him fairly quickly. In fact, it looked like it was rolling towards Vermillion. He shot it once. When it didn't stop, he fired at it again. After ten or so shots it finally dropped. "Gotcha!" Vermillion said. Christina changed her scream to screams of, "Toshiro, No! No!" Vermillion turned off his night vision goggles and took them off. He put his rifle down and turned on all the lights by pulling a lever on the wall. He then made his way to the ground level. Vermilion pulled out his hand gun and weaved his way down to his fallen prey. He rounded the corner of boxes and saw the figure he had shot down. The red wig was all there was of a real person. The manikin with wheels under it was Swiss cheese. Toshiro attacked, seemingly out of nowhere. Vermillion turned in time to aim his handgun, but never got off a shot. Vermillion's gun, still with his left hand gripping it, fell to the ground. Vermillion also fell to the ground grasping the stump where Toshiro's naginata had cut off his hand. His scream filled the warehouse. Toshiro looked at him, then turned around to walk to Christina. Thunder and lightning crackled outside as a storm began. Christina stopped screaming when she saw Toshiro emerge from the labyrinth of boxes. "Toshi!" she exalted as her eyes started tearing. "Christina," Toshiro said as he cut her loose of the ropes. He helped her up and they both embraced each other. "Are you okay?" asked Toshiro. "I'm fine." replied Christina in a relieved voice. "Christina, I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything about me." They hugged each other tighter. After a while, they let each other go, not noticing Vermillion stagger into sight. Vermillion pointed his handgun at Toshiro with his right hand and cried out, "DIE!!!" Time slowed down. Toshiro and Christina turned to face Vermillion just before he pulled the trigger. "Nooo!!!" Christina cried out as she put herself in front of Toshiro. Lightning flashed as the gun fired. The bullet shot into Christina's stomach. Toshiro caught Christina as she fell back from the impact. "Christina!" yelled Toshiro. Vermillion stared at the woman he had just shot and slowly let his gun arm down as Toshiro knelt down, still holding on to Christina. "Christina, hold on, you'll be alright," Toshiro said as comforting as he could. He let her down gently, then looked up at Vermillion. Vermillion hesitated for a moment as he gazed into Toshiro's eyes. He could see the rage swelling through the Jap. Vermillion then regained his senses as Toshiro leaped back to his feet. Toshiro threw a shuriken at Vermillion's handgun, knocking it out from his hand. He picked up his naginata again and charged at the now defenseless Vermillion. Toshiro then attacked so quickly and with such a force that Vermillion had no time to react. With one swift slash from Toshiro's naginata, Vermillion's head was separated from the rest of his body. Continuing with the flow of the movement, Toshiro then sliced low splitting Vermillion in two through the waist. After finishing his final slash, Toshiro dropped his naginata and rushed back to Christina's side. He saw the matches she got from the restaurant next to her. He picked them up, lit one, then another, and threw them into the crates. The crates lit up in a flood of fire and the whole warehouse was set aflame. Toshiro gently picked up Christina and staggered out into the rain. He knelt down and shook Christina, saying, "Christina! Hang in there!" Christina opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Toshiro. She slowly reached up and touched Toshiro's cheek. In the pounding rain, Toshiro's face makeup mixed with his tears and the water running down his face. "Toshiro," Christina said in a very weak voice, "I love you." Toshiro put his hand over Christina's hand, which was on his cheek, and replied, "I love you too, Christina." Christina closed her eyes and became heavy and still. Her hand became limp in Toshiro's hand. Toshiro leaned down and kissed Christina one last time. The rain beat on the ground, the lightning flashed, the thunder clapped, and the curtain to Christina's life closed. The End