a man was running away from a gang. his black coat trailing behind him. the piercing cold wind stinging his cheeks. the city was dark, the dusk was growing darker. he had a limited about time, but he had to lose his pursuers. he ducked into an alleyway that he thought led all the way through. it didn't, he turned around and saw the gang members enter the alleyway, he prepared himself for the worst. they drew their weapons, a tire iron, baseball bat, switchblade. they surrounded him and approached.
stop
the world was suddenly outlined in square units, distance, coefficients of friction, variable, were all listed in the air. the distance from the top of the building to the bottom of the alleyway, to the top of the gang members, to the distance between the gang and the man. speed, velocity, acceleration, mass, all floating calculations.
resume
the man in the coat stepped back from the gang members, as he did he saw a flicker of something in his peripheral vision, he didn't dare look out of fear. one of the gang members suddenly dropped, then a man fell from the sky atop the one with the bat. both were almost immediately incapacitated. the third, the man with the switchblade, stepped back in shock, but was not disheartened, he lunged at the man who had fallen out of the sky, but was countered, and found his blade in his own stomach.
The man in the coat ran from the alley, no one followed.