Not a one liner, but I want to show what my last stand would be like, though not a victory, it's the close of a long story.
Every muscle in my body ached, each step was agonizing as I limped my way to the center of the parlor. I fell to my knees, bleeding and panting on the floor, I could hear footsteps all around me, they had caught up with me. I coughed a little bit of blood and spittle on the floor and crawled to the nearest wall and sat down, reaching my good hand into my coat and pulling out a cigarette and putting it into my mouth as the group of Xiang's men ran into the parlor and spotted me, quickly surrounding me and pointing their guns at me.
Xiang walked through the group of men and kneeled down in front of me, "You've been one hell of a problem lately, haven't you Nathan?"
"You got a light?" I asked nonchalantly and he pulled out an ornate lighter and held it under my cigarette then sparked up a long flame for me. I took a puff and smiled lightly, "How much did they pay you to stab me in the back like this Xiang?"
"It's not stabbing anyone in the back, you knew the risks of getting into this game when you hopped in and you know better than anyone else what it feels like to take a knife and stab a friend in the back too," Xaing stood up and took his pistol out from his coat and pointed it at me, I could tell the game was coming to a close. I fucked up and am now a cornered animal, and despite what they say about those, tonight I had no teeth to bare, no claws to show, just a past to regret.
"Xiang," I let my heavy head bob and look down at the floor, "you're going to clean up and take over once I'm gone right?"
"Of course"
I let out a small laugh and grinned, accepting the checkmate. I looked back up at Xiang and smiled, opening my arms wide and welcoming the hail of bullets.