It was a particularly peaceful evening. Jigen was sipping a nice cold scotch, sitting outside of a pretty empty bar in a desert street. It was everything he ever liked.

When Death appeared to him, Jigen raised an eyebrow. She usually came when he was about to die, and for once he didn't know what kind of danger he was in. It was dark, yes, but no fog followed her this time. He was sure he hadn't been shot. He raised his glass to peer into it sceptically.

"Poison?" He asked with a cat's grin.

"No." The coldness of her tone bothered him. She was usually more playful than that.

"What is it then, a heart attack?"

"No Jigen, listen please."

She sat down at Jigen's table. Her arrival had raised interest, but now the few consumers were back to their drink. No one payed them interest anymore.

Death was so serious that Jigen briefly wondered if his time had come. His thoughts cleared by themselves when he noticed that Death didn't have her scythe with her. Actually, she was visible to everyone here and not him only, which was already kind of an exception.

"Tell me what's up."

"I'm in a bad place. Someone escaped."

Jigen gave her his full attention. He took another careful sip.

"He wasn't supposed to survive." She explained. "I scythed him, he should have died. But something protected him. I think humans just call it 'the medallion of life'. Not the first time someone uses it against me but I hope that this time maybe..."

She looked at him expectantly. Jigen's focus was unwavering. It was obvious that the subject was very important for Death if she had come to him like that, looking like she was about to start crying. She was stressed and kept touching her hair. The gunman guessed that the medallion was probably ancient and that it wasn't the first time she had to deal with it.

"It's bad, really bad. His time living is taken on somebody else's. Each bullet he takes, each time he dies... It's not supposed to go like this. I'm tired of taking lives before their due time, just because some arrogant schmuck decided to stand in the middle of a gang war to prove a point." She turned to him. "I need your help, Jigen."

The gunman stayed silent. His mind was already made. He filled his glass up and passed it to her. She eyed it without touching it, but finally caved in and brought the glass to her lips. It looked like she needed it. Jigen leaned back in his chair. He lit up a cigarette.

"Of course I'll help you, Death. Who's the little punk?"

She gave him a genuine smile and visibly relaxed. Her shoulder sagged, and her eyes ended up at the bottom of her now empty glass. She clicked her fingers one by one on the transparent surface. Without a word, Jigen served her another glass.

She took it and started explaining.

.

Jigen wasn't a big fan of solo missions. As much as he hated relying on other people, going solo was worse. He wasn't the guy with the plan, he was the guy with the gun. He knew his limits.

This was out of his limits.

The rebel was a pretentious little gangster who had already made a name for himself after stealing a bunch of big mafia underdogs right under their noses. All of his robberies went the same way: he showed up, got shot a bunch, survived, basked in his all-mighty invincibility, then stole money or whatever valuables he wanted and left. People were scared shitless of him, which was stupid because he didn't bother killing anyone, except the assassins who were sent to kill him. They called him 'Jiles, the Immortal Joker' because he had a nasty habit of laughing his ass off at the most inconvenient times.

Death had explained to him that the amulet was working like a transfer, which meant that any injury he had was immediately passed on to a random person on earth. Immortal Jiles had to wear the amulet on himself for its magic to work.

Jigen didn't really know how to deal with this lunatic, but since Death had asked him, he had to try. Also, he didn't want to die randomly because Mr Immortal over there wanted to get his hands on the wife of yet another mafia's boss.

He went out of his way for this mission. He surveyed one of the big mafia underdog that hadn't been stolen yet and managed to catch Immortal Jiles red-handed. The guy had managed to get his name on the blacklist of almost everyone he knew. Jigen wasn't the only one on the lookout for this guy. A bunch of contracts had already been put on his head, none of them successful.

He followed Jiles and discovered his hideout, the fool hadn't even tried to hide his location. Jigen stayed on the lookout long enough to know the patterns of the guards. He had lost count of the days with how many coffees he had. He learned the comings and goings of Jiles' guards, their number and their firepower. He managed to come up with some sort of a plan. He wasn't the best at making plans, but this one would have to do.

.

The air vents were dusty as hell, and Jigen had absolutely no idea where he was going. He had been climbing up and down at random for approximately close to an hour.

He finally managed to find the boss' office. He found the bloody bastard chilling at his desk with a pack of money over his eyes. Legs propped up on his desk, hands crossed behind his head, he looked cosy as hell. He looked asleep, but Jigen couldn't say for sure from behind the air vents' bars. Also, his position looked relaxing but not good enough to fall asleep.

For a dramatic effect, Jigen dusted his suit before blasting the air vent open. The thing crashed against the desk and settled down on the ground with a horrible metallic sound. Jigen landed in the room like a cat. Immortal didn't even open an eyelid. He hadn't called the guards either. Jigen locked the door with a steel bar. It was weird that nobody had heard him but he wasn't taking any chances.

Immortal Jiles still had to move. He was smiling now, which was proof that he knew what was happening and that he wasn't sleeping at all. The bastard was probably all smug about his immortality. He was acting a bit too sure of himself. Jigen approached him, hands in his pockets. His plan could swing both ways. There was a hint of stress building up in his throat.

The other guy lost his smile. He raised a hand to take the wad of cash off his eyes. Seeing Jigen standing there all serious, he decided to move. He took his feet off his desk.

"Well?"

"Immortal Jiles," Jigen said. His deep smoker voice was like a rumble. "You have outlived your time in this world."

"Oh, so you're here to take me down? Well, good luck."

Without another word, Immortal Jiles closed his eyes again and leaned back in his chair.

Death had told him that the medallion was quite big, at least as big as a fist, and quite heavy too. To benefit from it, it had to be in contact with the skin. It wouldn't work if it was held in a safe somewhere, it had to be on the person. Under his hat, Jigen's eyes were scanning his enemy.

The man's careless attitude and his clothing didn't match his status. He looked like a kid sitting at his father's office. He had a baggy shirt on, with tight blue jeans. He had dark spiky hair. Jigen looked for any bulge in clothing that would indicate where the medallion could be. Sadly, even if it was clear that the precious object wasn't in the guy's jeans -too tight, not touching skin-, it didn't reduce Jigen's chances of finding the medallion by much. If Immortal Jiles was clever, he could have taped the medallion anywhere on his body. A drop of sweat trickled down Jigen's temple. He had to find it. His whole plan rested on the fact that he could find it. If he couldn't, then he was dead.

"Yo. You're gonna shoot or what?" Jiles was getting impatient.

Jigen didn't answer. He was still searching, although a bit more frantically now. He fiddled with his trigger. Immortal Jiles got bored of waiting and, in a shuffle, he was back up on his feet.

"Man, I think you're the worst assassin I've ever met. Don't you know how things go? You shoot, I survive, you get scared, my guards kill you. Can we just get on with it before lunch, now?"

As Jiles got up, something moved under his shirt. Jigen's well-trained eyes noticed it immediately and something clicked in the gunman's brain. Jiles wasn't intelligent… he was dumb as rocks! There was a chain around the man's neck, and there was no mistaking the tension on it. Immortal Jiles was carrying something really heavy around his neck. He had decided to turn the medallion that gave him immortality into a stupid pendant!

"You can drop the big scary act, man," Jiles kept on speaking. He had a cocky smile that was starting to get on Jigen's nerves. "Do you know how many assassins I've defeated? Macho-two-guns, The Killerminator, Slippy Sammy… Yeah. All of them. 'Twas no big deal. And you're next."

Immortal Jiles raised his gun, but Jigen was faster. To him, everything happened in slow motion. He saw the bullet, avoided it, and shot.

The exchange was so short that Immortal Jiles didn't understand what was happening at first. He just looked at Jigen smugly, until he felt something off. The weight around his neck was shifting. In a hurry, he looked down at his chest, and that was the last straw. His pendant slipped down his neck, down his shirt and fell with a clunk on the floor. Jigen had shot the chain that was holding the medallion.

"WHAT THE-?!"

Immortal Jiles bowed down in a hurry, but he didn't reach his medallion in time. Jigen stomped on it and threw it away. It bounced on the wall somewhere on his left. The fog was already building up in the room, slipping through every gap and crack. Death was coming to get her due.

A chorus of footsteps could be heard from the hallway. The guards were coming to backup their boss. They stopped behind the door and tried to open it. Jigen was glad he had taken the time to lock the door earlier. They tried to break the door down when it became clear that it wouldn't open normally. Jigen didn't have a lot of time. He pointed his gun at the feverish little man. Understanding that he was in a very bad position, Immortal Jiles - if you could still call him that- tried one last lie.

"Wait, man… You're not gonna kill me, right? You know I'm… I'm immortal."

"Bullshit. I know about the medallion." Jigen said.

The man palled. He opened his mouth to plead some more, but only managed to make a squeal as Death herself slowly took form in the room.

She stood beside Jigen, in all her terrifying glory. Skull face out, scythe ready to strike. Jigen didn't have to look at her to know she was there. He was used to the feeling. He put his gun away. In front of him, their enemy was petrified.

"Your time is due, Jiles. I'm here for you." Death's voice was overwhelming. So much that the guards behind the door stopped making noise. They must have guessed something weird was happening. The fog slipping under the gap of the door and the lack of answer from their boss were already pretty bad omens.

"No, please. No!"

"Your foolishness cost many lives." She readied her scythe. Julian backed up and banged his back against the wall. "You don't deserve to stay alive one second more."

When she struck, Jiles made a last effort to save his life, but it was useless. Death's weapon was doom itself, powered by fate and revenge. The scythe passed through Jiles' body without leaving a mark. The man's eyes clouded, and soon he fell to the floor, lifeless.

Jigen tipped his hat down as Death finished her work. He went to get the medallion. Its golden form shone from where Jigen had thrown it earlier. It was caught under the last rays of the sun. He walked back to Death. She was looking at him with her human face now.

"What… are you going to do with this?" Death asked, with a slight quiver in her voice.

She was eyeing the amulet with hidden nervousness. Jigen didn't have to think twice about his decision. Maybe she had expected him to keep it, but he couldn't allow himself that. He wouldn't be able to look at himself in the mirror if he kept the medallion for himself. His lifestyle was dangerous but it was his personal decision. He couldn't involve other people in the decisions he made. He had blood on his hands, sure, but not like this. Never like this.

He threw the pendant in the air, shot twice and the medallion broke. It fell down on the ground. Somehow, it didn't look as deadly as before. The gleam of magic in it seemed to have disappeared.

When he looked up again, Death was smiling. It was a small, true smile.

"Thank you, Jigen. I owe you one."

"Don't worry 'bout it."

"… You're a good man. I hope you know that."

Jigen rolled his eyes in disbelief, though she didn't act as she had seen it. They spent a few seconds in silence, just enough for Jigen to start contemplating the implications of Death's vow, until the guards behind the door woke up from their daze. One of them had grabbed a heavy object and was banging on the door, making good progress on it. Jigen quickly grabbed the medallion's pieces with the mind to throw them away later. When he stood back up, Death was gone.

The door broke down. Jigen didn't move. He kept his hands in his pocket the whole time, hands holding the pieces tight and ignoring the guard that was threatening to make a hole in his head if he wasn't to cooperate. The others piled up around their boss.

The guard that had his gun on Jigen's forehead was still yelling at him, but Jigen didn't budge. If he was to die here, so be it. He hadn't thought of a plan to escape anyway. He knew he was doomed.

That is until the guards backed away with a gasp. They started staring at Jigen in fear.

"Wait! What the fuck?!"

"What's wrong?"

"There is no gunshot! N...Nothing killed him!" True, Jigen had only shot at the man's necklace to break it. Death had dealt the final blow. "No needlepoint, no trace of poison, nothing!"

A chorus of gasps broke. They all turned to look at the intruder.

"That… That man! He is the devil! He killed the boss without touching him!"

They had all seen the fog and heard the swing of the scythe as well as the gunshots, yet their boss' body showed no sign of having been harmed this way. They couldn't find the cause of his death. They all backed away, some of them trembling in fear. Jigen couldn't help but smile. It ended up as a lopsided smirk as the crowd parted in front of him. All were backing away slowly. How the tables had turned. Jigen took his time. He lit a new cigarette. His crooked smile was fitting the moment perfectly.

He walked out the door like he owned the place. No one bothered to stop him.

People started calling him the 'Hound Dog of Hell' after that. Jigen liked the ring of it.