Excerpt from Dark Horse: X Volume 1: Big Bad by Duane Swierczynski and Eric Nguyen

X opened fire on the killers below. [rapid automatic gunfire followed by shouting] The killers attempted to scramble for safety. Some made it, most did not. The mohawk punks, construction worker, James Bond guy, and one of the soccer moms died in the gunfire. The timid guy with the shotguns and the other soccer mom made it to the warehouse door and escaped. [sniper gunshots] In the hail of gunfire, Hereford pulled Duroc toward his armour-plated limo in the back of the warehouse. Smoke, blood, and shrapnel flew all around them. [rapid automatic gunfire and sniper gunshots]

Hereford: “We got to get to the Lincoln! It's armour plated!” [car door opens followed by effortful grunt] Hereford opened the door and shoved Duroc inside. He quickly climbed in after him and closed the door. [muffled gunfire] Bullets smacked into the armoured car. Hereford and Duroc cowered in the plush backseat. “You're an idiot, Duroc. You know that?”

Duroc: “I was leading him here, to you. Serving him up on a silver platter.”

Hereford: “What? Like he served up your left arm there?” Hereford peered out of a cracked passenger window to see what was going on. [gunfire stops] Duroc stared dead ahead, stark fear in his eyes. Duroc pointed his one remaining, shaking hand towards the windshield. “Huh? I can't believe this. I don't see anybody left standing.”

Duroc: [shakily] “Uh…I do.”

Hereford turned to see X standing in front of the car. He held a cell phone up to his head. In his other hand, was a detonator. “Damn it! What's this bastard waiting for? Why didn't he just kill us?” [limo's phone rings] Hereford sat forward and lifted the receiver to his head. He had the look of a man prepared to receive his death sentence. “Bite me!”

X continued to stand in front of the bullet-pocked limo. [through phone] “Give me what I want, and you'll die easy. Refuse, and you'll go painfully.”

Hereford: “You're gonna kill us anyway!” Hereford's face fell.

X: “Choose.” X's visible eye was steady and calm. It flicked quickly toward the undercarriage of the car. There, a messy sack full of nails was duct taped to the car and attached to a bomb.

Hereford: “You listen to me, you nut job! My boys are gonna spend hours stabbing you in your one eye. You hear me? They'll draw it out, too. Take their ti-”[click followed by silence followed by explosion]