Han popped right to his feet, taking the lead. He slid down the railing with Mariko not far behind.
Downstairs, she could hear a train stop and open its doors. If Joko Daishi got on board before Mariko and Han could reach him, they were done for. But it wasn’t as if Mariko could make herself slide any faster.
She lost sight of Joko Daishi, then of Han. By the time she caught them, they were embroiled in a fistfight right next to the train. There weren’t many commuters—the whole city was on lockdown—and the few that were there had all fled the man with the demon mask. Mariko wasn’t sure when he’d taken the time to put it on. Glorious Victory Unsought was slung across his back, still in its sword bag, though that had come untied. A wild light shone in his eyes, and a childlike grin turned the corners of his mouth, even in the midst of a brawl.
Han punched him in the chin. Joko Daishi caught it, rolled with it, and slammed Han face-first into the side of the train. Han came away dizzy and bleeding. Then Mariko was in the mix. She hit Joko Daishi with a flying tackle, but somehow he turned with her. She found herself upside down and airborne, and she hit the ground three meters away. The department’s aikido instructors would have been proud of her breakfall. The cold tiles of the platform didn’t knock her out, didn’t knock the wind out of her either, and she rolled back to her feet.
Han threw three fast punches. Joko Daishi parried all three, then head-butted Han. His demon horns drew blood. Mariko came up from behind, looking for a sleeper hold to end the fight. Without even turning around, Joko Daishi stiff-armed her with a palm to the face. It laid her out flat.
She drew the Pikachu. Han reached for his sidearm. Joko Daishi snagged Han’s hand before it reached the pistol. With a quick twist he wrist-locked it, cranked it over, and sent Han flying right on top of Mariko. The Pikachu went spinning away.
The train doors closed. Exactly that much was right in the world. Joko Daishi might still escape, but not on this train.
The problem was, he didn’t seem to mind much. Instead of trying to stop the doors from closing, he pulled Han’s handcuffs from his belt. He snapped one bracelet on Han’s wrist and the other on the steel handle bolted beside the train door. Then the train began to pull away.
Han slid off of Mariko, dragged by the cuffs. Mariko had no keys. Han did, and he dug for them, but to no avail. He and Mariko both looked past him to the end of the platform—or rather, to the heavy steel guardrail that was soon to stave Han’s head in and tear his arm off at the shoulder.
Joko Daishi watched with boyish anticipation. Mariko made him pay for his inattention. She kicked his bad leg with everything she had. Nothing broke, but at least she made him fall. She scrambled on top of him, planted both palms on his face, and put all of her bodyweight there. It pinned him and allowed her to spring to her feet. Then she tried to stomp on his head. He rolled aside easily enough, but that was the reaction she wanted. He exposed his back. She drew Glorious Victory Unsought from its scabbard.
“It’s him or me,” Joko Daishi said, looking at the sword. He even stretched out his neck a bit.
Mariko ignored him and ran after Han.
The train was picking up speed. Mariko dug in hard, running for all she was worth. Her sword swung wildly with her pumping arms. Han still pawed at his right pocket with his left hand, digging for the handcuff key. His eyes wide with panic, he looked at Mariko’s sword, then at the guardrail.
Terrified of losing his arm, he made a last desperate gambit for the key. He ripped the pocket right off. His key ring bounced away. He snatched it out of the air just before it fell. By some miracle his fumbling left hand managed to find the handcuff key among all the others. He reached up with the key, but the keyhole was too far. It bounced and jittered, a couple of millimeters out of reach.
“Do it!” he shouted, and he cringed away from his taut right arm.
Mariko’s hands found their grip. She raised her sword and unleashed her loudest kiai. Then