The man with the pistol kept close enough to Kira to threaten her but far enough off to stay out of her reach. None of the three appeared worried about Jason, who was acting and sounding thoroughly cowed.

Jason suddenly moved, throwing himself at the man with the revolver. They stumbled sideways, hitting the wall on one side of the alley. The revolver went off as the man's finger jerked on the trigger, the bullet slamming into a pile of trash nearby. Both Jason and the man fell, Jason wrestling with him for control of the weapon.

The second man was just turning to lunge at Jason with his dagger when Kira exploded into motion. Her body followed years of training in self-defense. She darted forward and planted a hard punch from the waist in his kidney, causing him to reel back, staggering with pain. Aware of the remaining threat, Kira pivoted as the woman rushed in, leg lashing out with a kick that narrowly avoided the woman's dagger slash. The kick caught the woman square in the gut, doubling her over. Kira stepped closer, slamming her stiffened palm against the side of the woman's head, which snapped to one side as the woman fell.

The man with the dagger had managed to straighten and was coming at her this time, moving awkwardly. Kira dodged to one side, twisting around to slam a kick against the man's back as he stumbled past. The kick drove him against the other wall of the alley hard enough to knock him out.

As the second man dropped unconscious, Kira spun toward the first man and Jason. The man, substantially out-weighing Jason and clearly stronger, had twisted around on top and was gradually forcing down Jason's arms. Jason had a grip on the revolver but was losing the battle to control it.

Kira stepped closer and lashed out with a furious kick that connected with the side of the man's head, knocking him off Jason. He tried to stagger to his feet, but Kira slammed another kick into his head that hurled him against one side of the alley, the revolver flying unheeded from his hand.

"Are you all right?" Kira gasped as she pulled Jason to his feet.

"Yeah," Jason said, breathing heavily and staring at the three unconscious bodies. "You're really dangerous. Do you know that?"

"It runs in the family. That was an act? Sounding frightened and all?"

"Yeah. I learned a long time ago that being underestimated is my best weapon." He seemed to be slightly in shock, staring at her. "They would have killed you."

"Probably not," Kira said. "But they would have hurt me. I owe you." She heard the rap of hardwood clubs against stone streets. "The police heard that shot. They'll be converging on this spot. We have to run."