The sound he'd made wasn't the most classy thing, a half-choke and half-expletive in taunting this stupid thing for pulling this shit in the first place.

Naoto reacted far better than he, and his arm moved of its own accord, pressing the muzzle against the torso. As the corners of his vision grew fuzzy from the fingers tightening around his neck, threatening to black him out, he heard 'fire' and pulled the trigger- basic call and response being all he could manage the longer he remained like this.

The fingers locked briefly and then released as an explosion of inky blood splattered on the opposite wall, accompanied by a barely-human scream of pain in his face.

Kanji replied in kind, soul sparking in a cleaner manner than he did while they fought Camazotz... with a roar he curled his fingers inward and slammed that fist just above the hole Naoto'd made. That followed was the vague cry of Takeji Zaiten sealed away, a thrum, and thin threads of lightning as he withdrew that hand that flickered out quickly.

It dropped bonelessly.

The Meister coughed once and pointed the gun again for a face shot, other hand shaking off a residual spark or two.