Humans had long since ventured out of their own Solar System, and set up colonies in various galaxies. One of these was the Lunar Galaxy, named so because of the humongous moon at its centre. This particular galaxy suffered from exceptionally high levels of lawlessness, which the government alone was unable to handle. It had, therefore, introduced the age-old system of bounty hunting, allowing some of the more aggressive sections of society to channel their violence in a productive way.

Lunar Galaxy, in the year 6053 CE, Day 36 of Half-Year Two
The city of Kommas
2258 hours

"I'll have a glass of Glennsolorgan, 5876," said the mercenary, walking into the restaurant-bar and slamming his unit-card on the table, "and make it quick!"

The bartender took one look at the bulging biceps of the mercenary, his cybertronic eye and the chip in the side of his head, and inwardly quivered. "Yes, sir, comin' right up."

He took the unit-card and held it under the scanner. It was valid, alright, for the next 50 years. He tapped the holographic menu a few times, found the drink and turned to the mercenary.

"That'll be 5000 units, Mister-" he took a look at the name on the unit card, "Obcisofon, sir. Would you also like to change the music on the jukebox, sir?"

"Just swipe the damn card and get me my drink" Obcisofon growled. 

He'd had a long day, and he was going to have to recharge in another few hours. It had been a problem since childhood for him, his mother had told him. Every day, for the past 32 years and 67 days since his birth, he had been forced to retire to a pod built specially for him by his father, where he'd stay for 12 hours to recharge, regain the energy he had lost in the night during the day. He'd never seen the moon cast its light on the planet even once. He had only ever seen the dim, faltering light of the poorly built street-lights.

"Your drink's here, sir!"

"Thanks, and cheers!" he said, and downed the entire bottle in one swig. He instantly felt anxiety and worry leave him, replaced by a mindless happiness. He couldn't remember why he'd been upset any more... Ah, yes, the bloody "mark" the government had sent him to get. This mark had apparently caused a lot of trouble, and the other mercenaries were clearly not up to the task of nabbing him, so they were forced to bring him in. 

Suddenly, he leapt up to his feet! Was that him..? No, it couldn't be. He'd last been spotted in a different city. The mark couldn't possibly be so stupid as to come near the man who was hunting him. But that didn't matter.. he liked feeling floaty like this. He tottered out the main door, and walked to his bike, then proceeded to promptly collapse on its wide seat. 

"Take me- take me home, bike," he slurred, "and don't forget to turn the lights off!"

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Lunar Galaxy, 6053 CE, Day 37 of Half-Year Two
The city of Largitos
0300 hours

The moon had just risen a few hours ago, and it'd soon set again in another 9 hours. For those 9 hours, though...

The city was his, Parricid's. His to travel through. His to dominate. His to terrorise, and his to do with as he saw fit.

He was darkness, he was terror, he was-

"Watch it, you Grett!" a biker cursed at him after almost crashing into him.

Oh yeah, he was also standing in the middle of the road. He quickly walked over to the pavement, pulled up his hood and put his hands in his pocket, doing his best to look as menacing as possible. He did a good job, too, for his tremendous height and impressive physique was enough to make anyone think twice before picking a fight with him. 

Parricid was lost in reverie when he noticed that along the pavement where he was walking, was a humongous mansion. He smiled for a second, then said to himself, "Ah, what the hell."

He went to the front gate, and began unlatching it when a guard came rushing up to him and yelled, "Hey, Harry Houdini, entry here is prohibited unless you have an-"

He never finished that statement, because Parricid had blown a hole through his chest already. He used the gun on the gate too, and began walking in. Instantly, alarms began blaring and what was a veritable army of soldiers met him as he was walking down the path to the house. He grinned. This was going to be fun.

He instantly began trembling, and fell on his knees, crying, "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I just wanted to bring the owner a present."

The guards inched closer, not noticing what he'd smoothly planted into the soil beneath his feet. He slowly began backing off, his hands in the air, still pleading for mercy until they were standing where he'd been a few seconds ago. The second they reached that position, the apologetic and remorseful look vanished from his face, replaced by a sadistic laugh.

"Gotcha."

He pressed a button in his pocket, and instantly, the ground beneath their feet exploded, causing at least a hundred of them to kick the bucket. The blast was so powerful it caused the windows of the house to shatter, and a slight tremor shook the locality. Suddenly, he saw something that caused his heart to jump into his mouth. No way he was here... He teleported away in a hurry.

He grinned, satisfied with today's work. He'd been right. This was fun.

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LG 6053 CE, Day 37 HYT
The city of Kommas
1210 hours

Obcisofon woke up to the sound of alarms blaring. The newscaster was frantically screaming in the hologram, "Mystery Man-Murderer Strikes Again!" 

He instantly leaped up from the bed, and walked towards the hologram. He saw a recording of the incident from one of the satellite cameras' footage. As he watched it, he couldn't help but be a little impressed at the way this man had killed so many guards in one go, despite the fact that he could probably have taken them all on in physical combat as well.

He switched the hologram off. God, he was exhausted. He clicked the chip in the side of his head and it released a miniscule amount of testosterone and adrenaline- just to wake him up fully. Now completely conscious of his surroundings, he began pacing quietly, thinking.

This man had struck 8030 times, once everyday in the past 22 years, always before the moon set. Every time, he targeted a city he hadn't visited in the past year and every time, he caused irreparable damage to life and property. This guy was a menace, and Obcisofon had to bring him down!

He put his clothes back on, and got on his bike, speeding off into the distance. He had to bring this guy down.

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LG 6053 CE, Day 38 HYT
The city of Iniqadonis
0430 hours

He was walking with a slight limp. Man, yesterday had been exhausting. That damn hunter Obcisofon was closer on his trail than any other hunter had ever been, but he wouldn't let him succeed in his pursuit.

After all, he was Parricid! He had thwarted capture for the past 22 years, a record that was unparalleled by any other criminal in this era, and he wasn't going to be brought down by someone just because he happened to be the best hunter the government had ever had.

Now, the question was... how should he employ his time today? He was wondering about this when he saw a huge tower, and smiled.

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LG 6053 CE, Day 38 HYT
The city of Kommas
1205 hours

He was again woken up by the sound of the newscaster screaming, "Mystery Man-Murderer Strikes Yet Again!"

Obcisofon grumbled. He had to remember to switch that damn hologram off before going to sleep. He got out of bed and began looking at the report of the day. As he read it, an eyebrow went up in admiring respect. This time, his mark had somehow made his way to the top of a 1000-storey building without being caught, and then skydived from that height, launching a bomb at every floor as he fell, and causing the entire building to collapse the second he landed on the ground, completely unharmed. This guy was insane! However, these stunts would soon be stopping, because Obcisofon was close on his trail. He was so close to finding out the identity of this maniac...

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LG 6053 CE, Day 39 HYT
The city of Talayas
0256 hours

Parricid was so close to being caught, but he'd just found out a foolproof method of evading capture indefinitely, and he was relaxed. How should he celebrate this?

He saw the little children running around the pillars, with their mothers calling to them from nearby, and smiled again. He'd just got his answer.

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LG 6053 CE, Day 39 HYT
The city of Kommas
2358 hours

Damn him! Obcisofon had discovered the identity of his mark- he was a man named Parricid, but he was still no closer to finding him. Somehow, Parricid had found out he was on his trail, and was nowhere to be found, even though the entire government scoured the Galaxy for him. 

Baffled and irritated, he stepped into his pod. Tomorrow, he'd find a solution to his problem.

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LG 6053 CE, Day 40 HYT
The city of Kommas
0001 hours

Parricid walked out of the same pod that Obcisofon had stepped in 3 minutes ago, adjusting the chip in his head and polishing his cybertronic eye. He smiled widely as he looked back at the pod where he'd rested for the past 12 hours. Today promised to be yet another fantastic day.


To be continued?