The Means...

Today was shaping up to be an absolute hell of a day.

She had followed one car of Tono's goons using the radio gear she had bought using Laughing Coffin's ill gotten gains. It had taken her some time to do so; it was not her first time using the tracking beacons, fortunately. She knew that if this batch were going according to schedule, they would be heading to Saint Michael's Cathedral, one of the few buildings that had not been torn down and replaced in the past hundred years.

The cathedral had seen better days, but repairs of the stained glass windows were ongoing; the church had the funds to replace the damaged sections of those ancient works of art. Even now, scaffolding was in place along the front of the church, across the image of Michael the Archangel pinning Satan in the form of a red dragon to the Earth with his spear.

She had spotted a second car, one similar to the first, and checked it out. She highly doubted Tono's boys had suddenly found religion; the thought made her giggle a little bit. The voice distorter picked it up, and turned it into a disturbing tenor laugh.

Tono's groups exited the cars then; she noticed one woman's eyes widen. She was unprepared though, when the newest of Tono's recruits had gone for the pistol in his suit jacket, shooting the man next to her. As the man pushed the (Western?) woman into the church as best he was able, he drew a police revolver, and took cover in the narthex.

The other five members of Tono's syndicate started berating the first; their observer thought she could pick out several choice obscenities, as well as insults about the man's genetic composition. They pulled on masks in order to cover themselves after the fact, and as she watched them, the other five drew a variety of shooting irons of their own.

As the six goons made their way towards the church, the congregants ran inside as fast as their legs would take them. Naturally, with all of the shoving, kicking, and stomping going on, several of the parishioners had been hurt badly in the stampede. When they had closed in closer, the policeman slid out slightly and fired off two rounds into the chest of the idiot who had started this mess in the first place.

Luck was not with Kikuoka, though, two more rounds making contact, the first clipping his gun in a display of great skill or dumb luck, wrenching it out of his hand. The second round impacted his ribs; the girl watching from across the street couldn't tell how badly the officer was hurt. Likewise unfortunate was the fact that Kikuoka's target got right back up. 'Shit, he must have a vest on.'

This certainly was not what Asada Shino had expected when going to church; it appeared they certainly really didn't appreciate the over-length sermon.

The goons rushed in through the doors, kicking the gun away from what Shino suspected to be a cop, like any smart criminal, before dragging him inside and closing the doors behind them. She began to think over the best possible thing to do, suspecting it involved running fast, running hard. Everyone else around her was already running save two idiots recording everything on their cellphones.

Another gunshot rang out. Shino heard a child scream for her mother. She put the two together. Shino was lucky that she had taken such measures to try to ensure she wouldn't be identifiable as herself, because people tend to remember those they see running towards gunfire.

Looking towards the door, she dismissed that entrance out of hand; the gumi no doubt would have someone watching it. Instead, Shino turned, trying to run to other entrances. She spotted a back entrance, apparently the entrance from the parsonage, but it was already locked for the service. One side entrance likewise was locked; the other side door, nice clear glass, led to the sanctuary, where worship was held before, and now where [hostages] were being lined up. She spotted the officer being dragged in, bound with zip ties; there would be no help from within.

She continued looking around for an entrance until she ended up back out front, and spotted the scaffolding once more. "This is a really, really bad idea..." said she, before making her way up the ladder on one side. Climbing perhaps a little too quickly and carelessly, she slid over a railing for the work, right up next to the glass speartip impaling the Devil's neck, only for the boards underneath her feet to give.

The section below that had boards better set luckily, as Shino landed on the side she had injured during the Death Game. As she slowly got up, elbows and hands banged up, she noticed a chunk of wood coming out from that side; not thinking about it, she pulled it out. "Shit." The Kevlar had blunted the wood, without it she would have just impaled herself. 'Must be more careful in the future.'

Looking down, she spotted the first shooter pointing his pistol at a middle-aged woman, and heard through the glass, "Time to die."

Shino didn't take time to aim; she didn't have time to aim. She simply drew and fired in a single motion. The 9mm kiss of death went down, perhaps by luck, perhaps by instinct, through the back of the first thug's skull, shattering the Dragon's forehead in the process. Taking her other pistol, she punched the rest of the shards she might get caught on out of the way, then jumped down the five feet to the choir loft. In a deep, raspy voice, brought on by more pained breathing, [Death Gun] snarked, "Well. Damn, he had... that right."

The three Yakuza on the ground took no time at all to start shooting; Shino took two to the chest, knocking her head over heels in pain. 'Stupid stupid stupid... Talk after they're dead...' thought she, as she pulled off a glove to check for bullet holes. The Kevlar webbing had done its job, but she would have bruises from getting shot for days. 'Right where my heart is. OK, get up get up get back up!'

Silhouetted by the prismatic glory of the Archangel striking down his former boss, the slayer rose from the choir loft, appearing to have red eyes, perhaps by some trick of the reflections. Glaring down at the three gumi in front of her, that disturbing voice spoke out in English, "There are those that say that God is dead, that he has forgotten his flock. Those who do evil never seem to be punished... It would appear he sent me as the answer."

"Forgive them, oh Lord, for they sin on, and are in dire need of Your retribution." At first, the gangsters had to find Shino; spotting her, they were shocked at the fact that she was back on her feet without apparent injury, and at her disguise, which made her look like a burn victim might from the jaw down. Two pistols barked out rounds quickly, causing two of them to fall to the ground, struck dead from above.

The third had a slightly stronger sense of self-preservation, and ducked underneath a pew. Prevented from taking her preferred shot, Shino instead aimed for the man's ankles, taking her time with the shot. One shot from each pistol later, he found himself maimed for the rest of his short life, his feet useless beneath him as the trauma from having one's bones splintered underneath took their toll.

Hearing the unfamiliar gunfire and some of the speech, the other two gumi headed towards the chapel. The one guarding the side door looked around, but not up; his killer had time to aim before sending him to the afterlife with a single round above and between the eyes, going in at a downward angle. The last one got a look at how the man died, and after diving into the chapel twisted to look up. The last thing he saw was nine millimeters of bullet heading for his right eye.

Shino looked at the man she had shot in the ankles, noting his pistol was flung far away. Taking fifteen seconds to exult in the bloodshed she had caused, she began to make her way downstairs to finish the day's good work. She decided then and there that she would keep the Kevlar straps, but something would need to be done to protect her head. Two of the bullets coming her way had come uncomfortably close; she would need time to come up with the proper solution.

As she stalked the last of the would-be hitmen, he shuddered in fear, then his eyes widened in recognition. This one had been at the funeral, Shino thought, and in an inspired moment of deception, used one pistol to make the sign of the Cross, as if in benediction of the act to be finished. The other pistol came up, as the man said, "You... You're..."

A pull of the trigger silenced him. "I and this gun are one and the same. Our name: Death Gun."

As Shino began striding to leave the now-bloodied sanctuary, Maria Cassals looked at her sadly, and spoke out, "You know what you are doing is wrong, don't you?"

Her rescuer turned to her and said sadly, "Yes. It's also the only thing that can be done. Pray for me."