Rustle-rustle
Hearing the noise, Rance jumped up and shouted, "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" before darting forward.
But the child in black clothing and a mask swiftly dodged to the right and ran off. Rance missed catching the thief by just a hair.
By this time, Bill had also leaped up and yelled, "FREEZE!" before following the plan.
At some point during the chase, Rance broke off, and Bill continued the pursuit, shouting, "Stop!"
According to the plan, the masked child leaped over the fence into the sawmill, and Bill gave one final shout before turning and racing toward the beach.
Hoping to cover several times the distance of the ninja child in roughly the same time, Bill ran at full speed around the large sawmill and lumber yards.
Turning the last corner to the beach, Bill saw that Rance had cornered the child dressed in black.
He was surprised that the child hadn't dropped a single orange but was instead running in circles, barely staying ahead of Rance's efforts.
As he got closer, he heard Rance yelling, "Stop in the name of the law!" and the other child responded with a girlish voice, "Leave me alone!"
When Bill got halfway there, Rance finally noticed him and shouted, "Deputy, cut her off!"
Hearing Rance's shout, the girl also reacted, yelling, "Leave me alone! "They're my fruits!"
Saying this, she pulled off her mask and began shoving the oranges into her mouth whole, peels and all.
From about fifty meters away, Bill suddenly felt the urgency to hurry. If nothing had happened, this feeling would have disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Suddenly, the girl stopped abruptly, fell to her knees, gasping and coughing, her tongue out as if she'd drunk spoiled milk.
Forty meters.
Looking up just as Rance got closer, the girl whimpered, "Stay Ahai!" before rising, grabbing the last fruit.
Twenty-five meters.
She stumbled in the sand as she stood up, the last orange flew out of her hands; Rance yelled something incomprehensible.
Five meters.
Raising her palm towards the freckled boy, the girl's wrist seemed to turn into a loop. In an instant, her hand swung down like a door on hinges, and a round orb the size of a wrist shot out, followed by a burst of flame twenty centimeters long.
Zero meters.
Bill jumped at Rance, pushing him out of the way with barely a fraction of a second to spare. Acting instinctively, Bill pivoted on his wrists before the rest of his body touched the ground, and in one incredible motion swung his legs down, then lunged at the girl, who was stunned.
Knocking her to the ground, Bill felt his heart pounding wildly — it was the first thing he had felt at all since Rance had called out to him from afar.
Sitting on her, Bill firmly held her by both forearms, shouting, "STOP!"
Looking at the girl, Bill saw absolute fear in her eyes, but a strange feeling urged him to duck.
The moment he tilted his head down and to the side, the girl's jaw, like her wrist, snapped open, and a blast of metal and fire sent Bill flying backward.
Without understanding how he managed it, Bill got back on his feet just in time to see the girl sit up in one swift motion. Her jaw and wrist still hung as if they were on hinges.
When she looked at Bill, who must have appeared terrifying, she recoiled, and another explosion erupted from her mouth.
Dodging to the left and then lunging forward, Bill reached the girl before the fire had even subsided and struck her with more force than he'd ever hit anyone in any of his lives.
With a loud BOOM, Bill delivered a blow straight to the girl's forehead. The impact was so powerful it knocked off her black bandana and rendered her unconscious.
Phew, phew
For the first time in a long while, Bill was so exhausted that it caused him physical pain. As he fell to the ground, he continued to breathe heavily. Just a second later, he heard footsteps rushing toward him: "Bill! Bill! Are you okay?!"
Still gasping for air, Bill barely managed to reply, "Rance, run and get my father. Go to the base and tell them we're here."
Rance, looking bewildered, quickly responded, "We'll go together. I can't leave you here with... THIS!""— he pointed to the girl who was now peacefully snoozing.
With a painful grimace, Bill replied, "You need to hurry before she wakes up. Run and get my father. His name is Commodore Aramaki Ox. Tell him I'm here."
Rance: "O-okay, I'll be back quickly!" the junior sheriff turned and sprinted away.
After Rance left, Bill tried to relax his body to ease the pain. He attempted to calm himself, just like he did every morning when doing push-ups. Although it helped a little, he was still too exhausted to take any action. Instead, he just looked at the "Fruit Ninja," now without her mask. She had a rather pretty face with coarse, sandy-brown hair and deeply tanned skin. Her jaw and hands appeared normal, and Bill had only one thought:
"Damn it."