Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Play Nice

With heavy steps, the boss walked over to the group of Bandito members. He glanced at Miles. “Why do you have an old man with you?”

“Well, he said he knew these guys.” The purple-haired man gestured toward Hiro and Maki. “Figured we could use some uh… What’s it called?”

“Leverage,” said the woman behind him.

“Right, right.”

“We aren’t caregivers.” The boss waved his hand dismissively. “Get him out of my sight.”

“Ah! Hold on!” Miles took a step forward and bowed. “Pardon my intrusion, but I’d like to apologize on behalf of Hiro for all this commotion. Perhaps there is a way for us to settle this in a more peaceful manner?”

“Hiro?” Maki looked at him with a smug face.

Hiro sighed and shook his head.

The boss glanced at Miles, but didn’t say a word. He moved back to Maki and bent down. “I won’t ask again. Where is she?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. I’m lookin’ for her too.”

“You’re useless!” He kicked the ground; sand flew into the air. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

“You can get rid of them,” the purple-haired man said.

“And risk our only lead to our killer? No, we’re…”

The boss’s voice trailed off as he turned to Miles.

“Well, it seems our solution might be closer than we thought!” He draped his metal arm over Miles’ shoulder. “So, we have a little problem here. I feel like these two aren’t telling me the complete truth, and I need their cooperation. You look like a charming guy. Think you can help convince them for me?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Miles said. “If you may, I’d like to speak with him.”

The boss nodded, and Miles knelt down beside Hiro.

“Hiro!” he whispered loudly. “What the heck are you doing?”

“Look, I know it’s bad,” Hiro whispered back.

“Yeah! Yeah, it is!”

“It’s not my fault! She dragged me into this!”

“You have a lot of explaining to do later.” Miles lowered the tone of his voice. “For now, just cooperate and convince her to tell the boss what he wants. Then, you and I can go. You can do that, right?”

Hiro paused for a few seconds. “What about her?”

“That’s Bandito’s business. Not ours.”

“They’re not gonna let her go. Her friend killed two of their men.”

“All the more reason to not get involved! Why are you going so far to help her? Do you… like her?”

“What?! No!”

“Hiro, she’s a child!”

“Apparently, she’s not!”

“Alright!” Maki yelled out. “We’re getting nowhere here! I think it’s time to go. Don’t you think so, Hiro?” She snickered at him.

“Tch.”

“What are you on about?” the boss asked. “Are you finally g— guh…”

All of a sudden, the boss and his subordinates dropped to the ground one after the other. They began to convulse rapidly, letting go of their weapons. Foam frothed in their mouths; their eyes rolled back. After a few seconds, tiny machines that resembled hornets flew out of their clothing. They gathered underneath Maki’s robe as she stood up and brushed the sand away.

Hiro stared in awe, utterly speechless.

“The paralyzers won’t last very long,” Maki said. “We only got a few minutes. Time to get outta here!” As fast as her short legs could carry her, she darted down the street, waving her arms in victory.

Hiro got to his feet. Though still baffled and shocked from what had just occurred, he knew this was his only chance to escape. He ran toward Miles and grabbed his arm. “We need to go. I know this is a lot to take in, but we can’t stay here.”

Miles didn’t move. “Can you please STOP?! Are you trying to get us killed?”

“I-I’m sorry.” Hiro’s voice cracked. “It’s all a big mess, I know. But we have to go now!”

“No.” Miles jabbed his finger into Hiro’s chest. “YOU are going to stay with me and apologize!”

“You saw what happened! There’s no way they’d only take an apology.”

“Then be prepared to give them more than that. What matters is you don’t make them any angrier.”

“But… who knows what they’ll do to me?”

“And who knows what they’ll do to us because of you? To me? Granny Jay? Johnny?”

Hiro was tempted to roll his eyes when he heard Johnny’s name.

“And plus,” Miles continued, “where are you going to go? Are you just going to keep hiding? For how long? Bandito owns the village.”

Hiro stared at the ground. He couldn’t look Miles in the eyes.

“You have to play nice. You have to. That’s how we’ve survived here all these years. And it’s a truth you have to accept. Bandito’s above us; they are our law. So be a law-abiding citizen.”

“A little… too late for that… you sneaky bastard.”

The raspy voice came from Bandito’s boss. He gasped for air as he wiped the foam off his mouth. Placing his hand over his knee for support, he struggled to get on his feet. One after another, his men followed suit, wheezing and coughing as they did so.

Miles fell on his knees and groveled before the boss. “Please. I know this is asking for a lot, but I’m begging you. He doesn’t know anything about the girls.”

Slowly starting to panic, Hiro turned around. Maki was already long gone.

“Get down!” Miles looked sternly at Hiro. “Before this gets any worse!”

Escape no longer seemed like an option. Begrudgingly, Hiro listened to Miles’ orders and got down on his knees. While his head was bowed, the boss walked up to him and kicked his head, sending him flat on his back. Not giving him any room to breathe, the boss stepped on his stomach.

“No! Please!” Miles cried. “Have mercy on him! He knows nothing! I swear!”

“That’s twice in a row that someone managed to escape from me. I’m not letting it happen a third time.” The boss continued to stomp on him repeatedly, leading him to spit out a mixture of saliva and vomit.

Hiro grit his teeth and scowled. With great effort, he grabbed the boss’s ankle with both hands and tried to push it back. The two were at a standstill. Miles desperately cried for him to not fight back, but he couldn’t let go. He knew that if he did, a powerful blow to his stomach awaited him. To his surprise, however, the boss lifted his foot away and stepped back.

“You’re fighting a losing battle,” the boss said. “But you got guts. I like that. Get up.”

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Hiro struggled to stand up, still recovering from the pain. Impatient, the boss grabbed his collar, lifted him up to his feet, and pushed him back.

“Go on. You wanna fight, right?”

Hiro’s body froze. Behind the boss was a crowd of Bandito members. Some burst into cheers; others goaded for Hiro to make the first move. Their voices drowned out Miles’, who was begging for him to stand down. To surrender or fight back—Hiro couldn’t decide. In the end, all he could do was stand still.

The boss strutted toward him, pointing at his own face. “Free shot.”

Hiro’s chest felt tight; he didn’t have the courage to lift up his arms.

“Hmph. Disappointing.”

With a mighty swing, the boss rammed his metal fist into Hiro’s jaw. Blood splattered all over the boss’s arm as Hiro crashed back onto the road. It felt as though the whole ground shook. A sharp, high-pitched sound rang in his ear.

Hiro’s vision began to fade. His body felt numb. He tilted his head toward Miles, mouthing the words “I’m sorry” through his bruised lips. A towering figure, whom he could only make out to be Bandito’s boss, approached him.

All of a sudden, a lavender silhouette leaped onto the figure. Blurred images of the two were all he could see; muffled screams were all he could hear—at least, for a few short-lived seconds.

BANG!

Hiro’s heart rate skyrocketed. He snapped back to his senses. His mind slowly pieced things together as he watched Miles plummet to the ground. A pool of blood began to form beneath him. Standing before him was the boss, disheveled; smoke rose out of his golden muzzle.

“MILES!” 

Mustering up what little strength he had left, he forced himself to stand on his feet. With quaking legs, he stumbled toward Miles. At the center of his abdomen was a large, gaping hole.

“Miles? Can you hear me?”

“Doesn’t look like he’ll make it,” he heard the boss say.

“You…” Blood rushed to Hiro’s head. “BASTARD!”

He was about to jump at the boss when another bullet fired into the air.

“Stand down. Or I’ll shoot him again.”

Hiro had no choice but to obey.

Villagers poked their heads out to get a closer look. Whispers scattered about, getting louder over time. The boss turned to them and raised his metal hand.

“This is a warning to all of you. We play nice, but if you play around for too long, things can end up dirty. And others can get caught in the crossfire, like him.” He pointed at Miles with his thumb.

“This asshole…” Hiro mumbled to himself.

The boss faced his subordinates. “We’re moving out. Gather the rest of the men. We’ll have a meeting tonight to discuss the two missing girls.”

“Yes sir!”

And finally, he turned to Hiro. “No one’s ever survived my shots; probably won’t last ‘til the evening. It’s unfortunate, really. I liked the old man. He knew his place, unlike you. For his sake, I’ll let you bury him.”

Hiro glared at him with disdain.

“Heh, I like that look. From now on, you serve Bandito, and you serve me. That is, if you don’t want the rest of your loved ones to suffer the same fate. You’re gonna tell me everything I wanna know about those girls. Come to our base before the week ends. I’ll work you to the bone.”

At the boss’s command, the Bandito members followed him down the road. After they’ve left for a while, people soon emerged from their hiding places. They gathered around Hiro and Miles, but none dared to step close to them.

Amid the commotion, Hiro heard a quavering voice. “Hiro…”

“Miles! You’re alive!” Unsure of what to do, Hiro shook him violently in the hopes of keeping him awake. He turned to the bystanders. “Please, someone! He needs help! I need to take him to the clinic!”

He was met with terrified looks from all around; no one answered his plea. Hospitals were only accessible in the larger cities, so an ambulance was also out of the question.

“Really?! Someone? Anyone! Miles is dying! Please!”

He felt a hand cling to his arm. Miles’ hand felt so frail, as though one false move could snap it in two. It gently caressed Hiro’s skin, but let go when Miles had a coughing fit. Blood spilled from his mouth.

“Are… you… alright?” Miles asked between deep, heavy breaths.

“I should be asking you that.” Hiro sniveled, his lips quivering as he gave his best effort to stop his tears.

“Why did… you do it? Who… was that… girl?”

“I… I don’t know. But I couldn’t leave her alone.”

“I… see…”

“What about you? You told me to stand down. Why’d you try to stop him yourself?”

Miles forced a smirk and winked. “I don’t… know. I just couldn’t…. leave you alone, I guess.”

Hiro didn’t laugh. “Can you stand? You can lean on my shoulder. I’ll try to look for someone who can help.”

Miles gripped Hiro’s hand. “It’s okay. I don’t… think I’ll make it.”

“No!” Hiro placed his hands under Miles’ back, but underestimated how heavy carrying dead weight was.

Still keeping his classic welcoming smile, Miles pointed at the plastic bag lying on the ground just a few feet from them. “That’s for you. Open… it.”

Grabbing the bag, Hiro pulled out a black jacket with a green hood. It was wrinkled and dusted with sand. The price tag dangled from its collar; it was rather expensive. He clutched it firmly, holding it to his chest.

“What did I tell you about jackets in the desert?” Hiro chuckled softly.

“Haha… That’s good. Smile more. Happy anniv—” Blood welled up in Miles’ mouth, causing him to cough once more.

“I already told you I didn’t like green.” Tears streamed down Hiro’s cheeks. 

“Take it or… leave it.”

Hiro’s eyes fell downcast as he stared at the jacket. “You didn’t deserve this, Miles. You did nothing. They’ll pay for this, I promise.”

“No.” Miles’ voice grew softer with every word. “You have to submit. For Johnny, Granny Jay… For… yourself…”

“But I can’t. Look what they did t—”

Hiro stopped when he realized Miles had let go of his arm.

“...Miles? Miles?! Miles!” With a loud wail, Hiro leaned on his chest and wept bitterly.

Miles had breathed his last.

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