Author's Message: Please be kind to me. I'm just an author interested in creating a fic for Kuroko no Basuke. I'd just post this one as a trial and see how you guys see it. :D

Warning: Hugely serious and brutal content. Read at your own risk.

Disclaimer: Meh...

Epilogue
The Mercenaries

Mashiro Public Museum
August 10, 00:24

Kagami Taiga leaned on a strong buttress that hid his entirety. He sighed deeply as he nestled the rear part of his pistol against his forehead, berating himself silently for the error he had made. He made a sound similar to a growl, irritation flaring inside his system. He removed the pistol away from his face and used both of his hands to grip on it. He made an overhead glance at the hallway. Satisfied that it was still empty, Kagami dashed far away again to another hiding spot. Moving as silently as he could, the detective-turned-criminal hoped he was still far away from their sight.

Two of the Generation of Mercenaries, the well-known group of police investigators, were chasing after his tail. They had barely captured him some seconds ago, but his quick reaction saved himself from his enemies. That night, instead of the usual paralysis darts - the neurotoxin-based injection-system plastic bullets -, the Generation had come to him with live ammunition bullets, the one capable of rigging dangerous wounds in his body. He then understood that he was finally reclassified from a nuisance into a total felonious individual. He cursed his current situation. Even if his drive to survive drove him to his fullest, he felt fear for his own being.

Those who were pursuing him were known monsters, capable of tearing down criminals and chasing them into their deepest fears; he'd bet his balls that they'd not simply capture him without letting him experience any semblance of terror. Or even take my life, he added as an afterthought, imagining the worst case scenario.

He sighed again and took another step forward… which he regretted as soon as three consecutive gunfires echoed throughout the complex.

Kagami Taiga rolled into the sides and stopped exactly at a wooden crate decked perpendicular the wall. He crouched quickly, and steadied the pistol in his hands. They are quick! He yelled in his head. Hardly thirty seconds passed since he evaded his trackers… And here they found his trail again and began to rain down bullets against him. The tracing skills of the Generation had to be pretty wild for them to locate him that fast, Kagami assumed. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Whispers suddenly invaded his ears. He heard the silent clicks from some pistols. He listened to a metallic thud that fell into the tiled flooring of the structure. And when he finally gained cognition, Kagami Taiga took the chance to fire away some shots towards the other direction, also retreating at the same time. They're changing magazines, he told himself, knowing that the clanging sound of some metal were empty cartridges itself falling from the magazine port. He took the opportunity as they reloaded their weapon.

After he settled safely in a crevice created by two huge wooden shelves, he checked his own rounds. He had fired ten bullets in total, leaving for himself five volleys from his originally fifteen-shot clip. Also, the only extra magazine he had fell from him when he dodged the torrent of bullets that was fired against him seconds ago. He cringed at his own condition. It seemed that hope was beginning to dampen its light on him. He almost chuckled at a thought that appeared in his head. Fuck, he cussed in thought, never damn thought that they can be this good.

When he peered back at his previous spot, a bullet grazed through his forehead, taking with it some strands of his hair and creating a horizontal cut on his skin. He instantly pulled his head inside the gap he'd hidden himself into, shock washing through his body. As he felt the warm fluid ran through the bridge of his nose, down to his right cheek, he trembled in deep fear, as the unspoken warning carved itself into his brain. He wiped the blood from his face, though he only scattered the trickles over his whole face.

They're going to kill me! He finally yelled that statement in his mind. The Generation of Mercenaries was no joke at all. They were the real deal! He finally decided that it was not a fair battle anymore and his life was now truly on the line. Even though he had courage embedded into his heart, he'd now listen to the words of his chief, Junpei Hyūga, and withdraw for now. Courage that knew no bounds, according to him, was no different from recklessness and plain stupidity. He was half-hearted in the decision to retreat, but he knew he'd not be able to make a choice if he ended up dead anyway.

Just as he stepped out of the space he stuck himself into in order to dash away, a long-barreled muzzle nudged on his face, completely stopping him in his tracks. Kagami could on look in surprise when a bespectacled green-haired man deliberately held a sniping gun on his head. How could he forget about this one? He reprimanded himself silently. He thought he only had two pursuers. But he overlooked the probability of this third man, the one who prefers to shoot from afar, also following him. "Don't even dare." He only said, putting a surefire finger on the trigger of the sniping gun. He released a radio, push the side button and spoke through it. "I've captured him."

"Copy that," An enthusiastic voice responded through the line. "Good job, Midorimacchi."

Some seconds after that, two running figures approached the man named Midorima and Kagami Taiga, who now knelt with his back against the sniper. He placed his hands behind his head, as he was instructed to earlier, while the pistol he held before stayed on the floor, after he was disarmed. The creepy part was that Midorima's gun remained pointing on his head.

"Midorimacchi," it was the same voice that spoke from the radio and it belonged to a fine blond male. He held a smile when he saw that Kagami Taiga had been captured. "I didn't expect for him to escape away like that!" He said, adding an excited tone in his statement. He flailed his hands to show his annoyance, before a pistol base hit him in the head.

Apparently, a tanned male who stood a centimeter taller than the blond one had did the attack, earning himself a sharp snicker from the latter. "Shut up, Kise." The man, also noticeable for his dark blue hair, scolded Kise. "Your shouts are as noisy as gunfire," he remarked, plugging his little finger inside his left ear and proceeded to clean it in an unhygienic manner.

"Aominecchiiiii~!" Kise yelled out the tanned man's name. "You should have not done that!" He massaged his head in the process.

"You're noisy!" Aomine snapped back.

"And you're an idiot!" Kise answered.

Midorima just coughed out loud and intervened with the developing bicker between the two males. His gesture attracted the attention of the other two and it made them stop immediately. "We've captured this criminal already," he reminded them. "This is one step to ensuring that our problems will not go out of hand." With his free hand, he adjusted his eyeglasses up.

"Hey, hey, wait up!" Kagami spoke up from his position, the three Generations looking down at him. "You know I am not the enemy!" He told them. "You know this is a misunderstanding!" He pleaded to them.

"When you have been branded a criminal, I did not even dare to understand if this whole fair is a miscalculation." Midorami said seriously. "Justice just needs to be served as soon," he only remarked, pushing the muzzle of his gun harder into his head.

"Don't be too serious, Midorimacchi." Kise tried to placate the man. "The police want him to be captured alive, well… preferably." He said, smiling wryly towards Midorima. "And why do you even look so pissed?

"Try asking about lucky items," Aomine reacted at that, still wondering how weird Midorima's attraction towards horoscope stuff was. Just as he said that, Midorima's face twitched in vexation. "Bulls eye," the tanned man only added as he got the hint from the other's response to it.

"So Midorimacchi doesn't have his lucky item?" Kise said and it translated as 'I'll-rub-more-salt-into-your-wounded-esteem' towards Midorima. The green-haired man nearly considered to aim his gun towards the blond if not for the captive he already had in hand. "I'm surprised even without it, you were able to capture Kagamicchi!" Kise added, almost a squeal for his tone.

Now that he mentioned it, Midorima was enticed with the same thought. Usually, Ohasa was correct about his failure if he did not bring with him his lucky item, or even something to negate the bad fortune. If that was so, then why was he able to easily capture this criminal Kagami? His eyes widened in realization, as he whipped and turned to his back, weapon ready. However, he was too late when a bullet struck him squarely in his abdomen. Before he passed out, he saw that it was a paralysis dart.

"Down," an emotionless voice echoed through the halls.

Kise and Aomine acted too late, as they only countered when they saw Midorima fell. There was an arm that stretched forwards against the two and first pointed a gun towards the blond. In a quick pull of the trigger, another shot was made, Kise unable to fire back. He soon received the full effect of the paralysis ammo and fell beside the still-standing Aomine.

"Down," the same voice repeated the word.

Because of the time it took for the newcomer to shoot Kise down, Aomine acquired to chance to prepare his weapon and brought it against the person. "You," Aomine had an estranged voice, signifying the shock he received from the short incident. He started to shake in anxiety, visible when his pistol quivered by his hands.

"Aomine-kun," the newcomer voiced out the tanned man's name, before the person brought down his own weapon against Kagami's head. "Bring down your weapon, or your prisoner will suffer."

"Don't do that!" Aomine warned, as he pressed a little harder at the trigger of his own gun.

"Do what?" The person asked, as he pushed the gun harder against Kagami.

Aomine almost faltered when the newcomer tested his resolve. But that was his error. Just as he wavered when he was threatened back, the person released another gun with his free hand and shot Aomine without hesitation. The tanned male only had a flabbergasted expression when he gradually fell onto the cold floor, joining Kise and Midorima in their catalepsy. "Down," for the third time, that word was said.

Kagami Taiga watched the whole farce with horror. The Generation of Mercenaries was monsters in their own right, but someone knocked them out cold, without any trouble. He felt the murderous aura that rapidly came over him. The torrential horror blanketed him, almost suffocating him. He tried to look back at the newcomer, surprise overcoming his countenance. "So…" He said, with his voice raspy. "The real hitman comes…" He declared.

Kuroko Tetsuya only looked back with those blank orbs. His face did not reveal his thoughts and feelings, and remained expressionless. His gazes were as cold as his certitude and as silent as his moves. Kagami could not read any of his looks. "Hello, Kagami-kun." He only greeted as he shot a paralyzing bullet on Kagami's chest.

- End of Epilogue -

Surprise! I like a Dark Kuroko! *evil smirk*

Guys, please let me through by starting with an epilogue. I know it's unusual but I have my style. :D

Thanks for reading!