Free The Lost Scroll of Fudo Shin by Jon F. Merz

Highway, Anaheim, and 5th Street stations.
    The kid who kept talking to Jimmy leaned forward.  "Trouble is, you never know who you can trust around this hood.  I mean, we might be the bad guys, you know?"
    Jimmy looked him full in the eyes, willing himself to stay calm.  "I already know who the bad guy is."
    "What?"
    Jimmy leaned forward.  "You see that dude down there?"
    The kid let his eyes move without turning his head.  He glanced back at Jimmy.  "What about him?"
    "He's here to kill me."
    The kid leaned back, a smile splashing across his face.  "Shit..."
    But Jimmy stayed exactly where he was, and he kept his expression the same.  He had to make sure the kids believed him.
    "I ain't lying, man."
    The kid leaned forward again.  "Why's he want to do you?"
    "That's what he's paid to do."  Jimmy shrugged.  "I'm just a job, you know."
    "Yeah, but why, man?  Why's he going to kill you?  You just a kid with a bum leg."
    Jimmy shook his head.  "The man that guy works for wants my whole family dead.  He's really evil.  Into all sorts of crap.  Killing people, poisoning water supplies, dumping toxic waste into the ocean, whatever he can do to make people like us suffer."
    The kid's eyes narrowed as he processed what Jimmy was telling him.
    1st Street station fell behind them and then as the train accelerated, it happened.
    Jimmy caught movement out of the corner of his eye and then even as the assassin came flying at him, Jimmy was already out of his seat, bringing the hanbo around in a wide arcing motion.
    If it had connected, it would have knocked the assassin out cold, but Jimmy had failed to take into account the narrow confines of the train car.  Instead of hitting the assassin, the hanbo bounced off one of the poles that passengers held onto.
    Jimmy smarted from the force of impact, but then the assassin had barreled into him, knocking him back across the car. 
    Jimmy fell back, rolling and came up on his feet as the train lurched down the tracks.  He bounced his head off the side of the car and winced.  His hanbo skittered away from him.
    A chorus of "Damn!" echoed in the car.  The kids were just coming out of the shock of seeing the sudden explosion of violence happen before them.
    The assassin ignored them, focusing instead on Jimmy.  "No more time for you, kid."  He reached behind him and brought out what looked like a knife made out of some type of space age carbon fiber.  Jimmy frowned and then realized the blade wouldn't show up on airport X-ray scanners.
    The train rolled into Transit Mall station and as the doors slid open, Jimmy hoped that a wandering cop would stroll on board.  The assassin froze, but when the doors slid shut again, he looked back at Jimmy and only smiled.
    Jimmy steeled himself for the attack.  If he'd had the hanbo, he would have been able to use it to keep the knife at a distance.  But the wooden staff was out of reach.  Jimmy would have to take this on completely unarmed.
    The assassin moved.
    And then stopped.
    Utterly still.
    Jimmy heard the click over the rest of the ambient train noise.  He looked behind the assassin and saw the kid who'd been asking all the questions.  And in his hand, Jimmy saw one very real and very mean-looking pistol.
    "Don't even blink, man."
    The assassin eyed Jimmy.  "Friends of yours?"
    Jimmy shrugged.  "They are now."
    The other kids took the knife from the assassin and moved him down the train.  The kid who'd spoken to Jimmy kept the gun trained on the assassin, but nodded at Jimmy.  "Guess you were on the level."
    Jimmy smirked.  "Thanks for the help."
    "Yeah, well, we might not be so helpful next time.  We got mouths to feed, you know?"
    Jimmy reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet.  He fished the rest of his cash out and handed it to the kid.  "Just so you know this wasn't for nothing."
    The kid took the folded bills and pocketed it.  "Your stop."
    Jimmy glanced out the window and saw the signs saying