“Look at that.”

How the profuse blood spurted out the skin. How he loved the way it looked. The deadly interface between the skin and the blade. These notoriously recalcitrant criminals deserve to be bludgeoned to death, he thought. Cut them off the world’s circuit. This roller coaster of murders, I could ride this all day.

Previously, he was chasing down an Incog, one of the World’s Top 10 Wanted Incogs, one of the names the vigilante has to cross out on his list. The target wore long sleeves and black pants, fresh from a million-peso corporate meeting.

Unbeknownst to the corporate man and the rest of the attendees of the meeting, the client who mingled in the latest product presentation of the company was no more than a vigilante who is after Incogs, and the afternoon’s presenter happened to be the one.

“Best of luck carrying the gladiatorial torch of this new product,” said the undercover vigilante. Everyone burst in applause.

However, shortly after a long episode of handshakes and exits, the murder descended onto the meeting room.

As soon as the presenter folded down his laptop and turned off the projector for the slides presented earlier, another closed laptop whacked his face. The sudden blow made the nose of the man pour down thick drops of crimson rain over the edge of the oval desk. His eyes turned black, soon followed the lights. He wriggled in pain below, flailing his arms and legs desperately searching where to go and to grab something to fight with.

The vigilante’s sinister smile sliced the darkness and from that smile came his threat.

“Oh c’mon, aren’t you going to download something to keep yourself from dying? Shift now, man! Don’t make this too easy for me.”

He collared the man up lifting his body an inch from the floor. He delivered a blow right onto the man’s stomach, it brought back the man down, writhing, coughing up blood.

“Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of this business. You, guys, have stolen important stuff from people, especially from the government, strictly government’s properties.”

The man continued fumbling.

“Have mercy man, please don’t kill me,” the man spoke, his words mumbled in the dark, his voice like shattered pieces of glass. “I’m a changed man! I’ve forgone my crimes a long time ago!”

“No! An Incog will always be an Incog. You can never change the fact you’ve done a hell of a lot of hideous jobs against our society. Debt must be paid. And today is its due.”

“I’m sss-sorry, I don’t do illegal deals anymore, I’m telling you the truth!” begged the man, now on his knees.

“Truth is the government has sent me to extinguish your kind. No trace. Society wants you dead,” the vigilante grabbed his necktie and wrapped it around the corporate man’s neck.

The hands of the corporate man groped the arms of his killer, struggling out of imminent suffocation.

“Am breaking your neck, fucker. This has just been your worst day!”

“Sto-oo-op!”

“Hussssh!”

The corporate man’s lenses’ soon activated, digital cells flickered, and immediately released a holographic interface on the air. He loosened his grip from the continuously tightening arms of the vigilante and quickly selected an item to download. Right after he clicked a button, the item materialized. What he got was a camping knife which without warning he buried right through the vigilante’s arm. He got off free. When he found the vigilante lying in pain on the floor, he rushed out of the office. He swooped past his office workers whom were frozen horrified having seen his bloody top.

Out on the streets, he ran off.

He stopped at the gas station to catch his breath. Breathing heavily, he undid his necktie and released two buttons of his top.

In a fit of rage, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“I don’t want to do this anymore! I am no longer a criminal! I’m a free man!” He exhaled with much effort forming a small visible cloud of fog out of his mouth.

He threw away his weapon. It sounded too dry for a very sharp multi-purpose knife.

Hands on his knees, he raised his head to see where else to go. He was frightened by the possibility that the man who was after him might still be following him regardless of how far he had run off.

From the shadows that the lights of the station failed to cast upon, came out an impending doom. It was the vigilante. It would have been a stark silhouette if not only for a lengthy piece of tool that glinted an even more imminent threat. And it was too long for a knife.

What it was, a sword.

The corporate man swallowed a heavy lump down his throat. His knees wobbled and failed to function as it should. He could do nothing but activate his lenses and download another weapon. What he got was a gun. He shot at the distance. It missed. He couldn’t see any better. When he blinked hoping to add a little clarity to his eyes, he couldn’t see the vigilante anymore. Gone his killer was, he circled on his position to find the man who was eager to deactivate him for good.

He fired his shots even without visibility. Until he ran out of bullets.

There could have been more time to download more bullets and save himself if it hadn’t been for his clumsy fingers failing to properly navigate the interface.

And that ultimately cost him his life.

One sharp swing ended it all.

His cut-off head fell onto the ground sounding as dry as the camping knife he had thrown earlier.

“Look at that.”