He charged recklessly through the city streets, like a bull at the gate. Until, he was but a few strides behind Misty Quick. And only a few more from the fat nosed Djago.
The dwarf of a man ran with short, slow-moving steps, reminding him of a waddling penguin. His thin, brown woolen jacket blew briskly like a flag in the wind. And the weapon strapped to his back, was at least twice as large compared to his stature.
It looked like someone had taken a rocket launcher, and added about ten kilos worth of titanium to an already bulky weapon. The barrel of the launcher was long and girthy, it was so large in fact that Phoenix reckoned he could place it over Djago's plump head and there would still be a gap between his chromed dome and the inner layer of the weapon.
Misty Quick twisted her head around and scowled at him. There was an air of both lusting allure and danger surrounding her. It felt like at any given moment she could either kiss him or kill him and he wouldn't see either coming.
'A true femme fatale.' He thought to himself.
He observed her figure. Slim yet sturdy, with well-toned muscle hidden beneath her gorgeous almost godlike beauty. It was like she was representing two worlds at once, the elegancy of a model, and the hardened dauntlessness of a ruthless killer.
And nothing represented that more than her golden boots, which had the rich lavish appearance that wouldn't look out of place in any urban model agency. Yet, with the thrusters' under-boot, thick armoured fabric and retractable blades at both ends, it seemed just as fitting for a Hunter.
If it were only Djago, Phoenix had to worry about, the pursuit would have been a struggle, but no more than what he was already used to. However, with the presence of Misty Queen and whoever else was in pursuit, he was beginning to wonder if he had actually bitten off more than he could chew.
There had been plenty of moments in his life, filled with self-doubt and inner conflict. Almost every day was a struggle for him, whether it be his job or his inability to control his flippant mentality.
Phoenix had made a plethora of mistakes, especially during his first year of hunting. Plenty of his targets had escaped from his capture, or had been taken by another claimer.
But he was improving, or at least so he thought. His last few hunts had gone relatively well, he had caught a man similar to Djago. A notorious, which were a dangerous breed of criminal, that were classified differently to the average gang banger, thief, or pickpocket.
Bounties came straight from the top, and were often given a layer of urgency. The governing body of the Intergalactic Directorate. Known simply to most as The Council of Woe, were political, likeminded individuals, each representing their own species.
And when a lawbreaker appeared on their radar, they were quick to place a bounty on their heads. With each bounty receiving one of five possible markers; delinquent, felon, notorious, villain and voidless. Each worser than the last.
'Watch out.' He shouted, as a missile was fired from Djago's launcher.
It shot past the skin of Misty's cheek. Her mouth gaped open, and her eyes widened, she was in shock, having only narrowly avoided the missile.
Then there was an explosion, and he could feel the hot flames of destruction behind him. But he didn't turn to find out which of the carbon-copy buildings had been struck. He didn't want to make the same mistake Misty had. Taking your eyes off a notorious was a recipe for disaster.
But he could tell from Misty's horrified expression, along with what sounded like a school full of children crying, that whichever building had been hit was well populated. The thought of the bounty reward being decreased, with all of these people dying fueled a fire in his chest.
They charged through a crowd of human's and aliens alike. Pushing and shoving, the young and elderly out of their way. It was a dangerous game Djago was playing, as he attempted to lose the bounty hunters through a mass of bystanders. Phoenix watched as he loaded another rocket into his launcher.
The hairs on the nape of his neck stood on end, as he thought about the credits he would lose if Djago destroyed more of the city.
There was a buzzing sound to his right. A small, compact drone flew past him. He could see the lens of a camera hidden well within its metal shell. It was a Watcher, a drone the network used to record the bounty hunts.
He hated those things, they always caught him on the worst angles. It did make him feel like a celebrity though, having a billion viewers across the cosmos watching him, and the other hunters chase down their targets.
Watching the cities destruction. People's lives ruined, or ended. All through the eyes of a hundred or so drones. And whichever coked up director was cutting it all together.
He tutted, as he push through the crowd, watching as Jago and Misty did the same. And once they had finally broken free, Phoenix pulled his jet-black revolver out from its holster, and prepared to take aim at Djago.
He could feel the gun warming up, as it prepared to vaporize the gaseous feedstock matter held within the gun's chamber with the pull of the trigger. Following which a steady stream of plasma would discharge from his weapon.
A sound came from his revolver, it was like the buzz of a blowfly. His weapon was ready to fire. But before he could raise the weapon, something charged out of the alley nearby.
It was an enormous Krygur, that towered over Phoenix and everyone else on the street. Appearing like a giant from a fairytale, with a thick wide armoured head, trained figure that was fit for a warrior, and grey skin that looked as if it had covered itself in ash.
'Freeze.' It bellowed, as the skin on its right arm peeled away, and the barrel of an X-beam was revealed. A flame emerged down the barrel, steadily growing ever larger with each passing moment. It seemed clear to Phoenix that this particular Krygur had made a number of cybernetic enhancements to its body.
Djago froze briefly, long enough for Misty Quick to tackle him. And she did so, like a predator leaping onto its prey. They both fell, crashing to the floor, landing in a mess.
The Krygur charged at the pair, knocking over a post as he went. Misty Quick rolled away from Djago, and threw something small at the Krygur.
It erupted in a cloud of black smoke before its eyes. The Krygur covered its eyes, and swatted at the cloud like it was being stung by a nest of wasps.
Phoenix seized the opportunity, and reached into the back pocket of his black combat pants. He pulled out an electrified set of handcuffs, and dove onto Djago.
The handcuffs fit in his hands neatly, their small compact cheek plates looked flimsy and light, but he knew from experience that once they were on your wrists you had little chance of getting them off by yourself.
He managed to wrap one cuff around Djago's flabby wrists, before he felt a jolt of pure agony in his shoulder, as what felt like a truck but was actually a laser blasted through him.
The other cuff slipped between his fingers, as his face embraced the pavement. He felt an excruciating amount of pain in his shoulder, more than he had felt in quite some time.
He laid on the cold ground for a long while, helpless and unmoving. And it would take a while for his body to recover from the literal shock, the laser had caused. It had fried the circuitry from his implants, and his technical enhancements, which helped with his movement, strength and stability would take some time to reset.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as Misty Quick rose quickly to her feet. She pulled what looked like an ancient dagger out from somewhere his left eye couldn't see, and raised it out towards someone behind him.
'He's mine.' Misty Quick shouted.
After a moment he heard someone approach. There was the distinct scent of cheap cigarettes, alcohol and motor oil reeking off of them.
Whoever was behind him must have moved with long, heavy strides, because it didn't take long before an armoured boot stepped over him.
The man wore a long black cloak, a top hat and wielded a cane. Not just any cane however, this one looked like it had been modified. Fused with some kind of long ranged weapon. The man dusted his coat for a brief moment, and clicked a button on the end of his cane.
The stock, barrel, and trigger all disappeared from view, and his cane no longer looked like anything more than an everyday walking stick.
'If he is yours, then why are you letting him get away?' The man with a cane asked.
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