Trees. Mud. The back of Villain’s head as they tried to run away. Large raindrops and heavy, soaked clothes. Hero’s world had condensed to only what they needed to avoid as they chased the murderer in front of them.
A low-hanging branch to the right and a slick mossy rock make the path even more treacherous. If they hadn’t seen Villain slip on the relatively flat stone less than a second before, their feet might have slipped out from under them. Unfortunately, Villain’s balance had always been better than theirs, so the pool of mud that merely slowed their enemy down sent Hero sprawling in the dirt.
Hero cursed under their breath as they fought to pull themselves free of the sludge before the gap between them became insurmountable. Their right shoe was suctioned below the surface, and even the gun they’d been holding when they fell took a strong yank to remove. With their shirt also covered, all Hero could do was attempt to gain enough of a grip through the mud to cock the weapon and aim to hobble Villain rather than killing them.
The muted force of the gun firing sent mud back into Hero’s face. The bullet casing flew out of the weapon, but there wasn’t any sign of damage to Villain or nearby trees from the bullet. Hero cursed again. If the mud had thrown the alignment off that badly, it wouldn’t be much use as a long-range weapon outside of unachievable threats.
Tucking the weapon in its holster, Hero took off after Villain for the fourth time that evening. The land tilted down, and both were forced to slow down for fear of falling and sliding uncontrollably. Down further and further, until… it turned straight up.
Hero could hear low curses dripping from Villain’s lips as their cornered enemy searched for an escape. To either side, there was a little room to run, but between the narrowing of the space between trees and the drop-off curving oddly back toward where they’d come, there was nowhere to go. They were trapped.
“Surrender, Villain.” Hero called as they drew their dirty weapon. Accurate or not, it seemed a good enough threat to intimidate and prevent Hero from having to fight them hand to hand.
Villain laughed, “To you? No. You’re nothing. I think I’d rather fight.”
Closer now, Villain stood tall to their full height. They were stronger than Hero physically, but Hero always used their speed and weapons to keep them at bay. Without any backup, Villain seemed all too confident they could overwhelm them and continued to take measured steps toward Hero.
Hero pulled the trigger on the gun.
Boom! The gun burst apart in their hands.
The damaged bullet from before had never left the barrel of the filthy gun. Flames, quick to dissipate but burning hot, scorched Hero’s fingers closest to the impact point. Pieces of the weapon flew in nearly every direction as Hero’s wrist cracked, and one of the bones in their arm broke under the pressure. Their broken arm jarred out of its socket as the handle of the gun flew back and hit their shoulder.
As Hero cried out in pain, Villain laughed, “Did that really just happen? Lucky me!”
Villain landed a cruel blow to Hero’s gut. They seemed to almost revel in the way Hero folded over their fist. One of their hands tangled into Hero’s hair, using it to keep them from collapsing.
“How lucky. For me, at least. Your weapon exploding like that could have easily killed you. Instead, I get to play with you first.” Villain’s free hand landed a solid hit to their jaw, the grip on their hair releasing to allow Hero to fall to the ground. Darkness danced around their vision, closing in as Villain caressed their undoubtedly bruising cheek. “Sleep, hero. You won’t have another chance for a while.”
