The bus glided smoothly through the streets of Neonvale, its windows reflecting the neon lights that bathed every corner of the metropolis. Raiko was sitting next to one of those windows, her head tilted slightly toward the cool glass. Her eyes followed the passing buildings, but her mind was far, far beyond what she saw.
"In this city, the night never ends," he thought, watching the lights twinkle like stars in a false sky. Everyone called it "the city of dreams," a place where longings come true. But he knew the truth. For someone like him, there was only one way to describe it: "the unjust city."
The bus turned a corner, and a huge hologram advertising WareNeon appeared in the air, projecting promises of progress and hope. Raiko averted her gaze, knowing that this was largely a lie.
"Ten years... Ten years since this city took everything from me." Her memories were broken fragments, images she could barely manage to assemble: colors lost in flames, a scream drowned out by chaos. She had learned to live with that absence, with that wound that never healed.
But even in despair, he had found something. It was not happiness, not an easy answer. It was something deeper, something that burned inside her like an unquenchable fire: a purpose. Her fingers tightened against the seat as the bus slowed to a stop. Raiko rose slowly, her shoulders firm and her gaze fixed forward. If this city wanted to be a place where the strong crushed the weak, then he would be the exception.
"Protect those who have no one. Doing justice in the midst of chaos."
The thought crossed his mind as he descended from the bus, his footsteps echoing against the wet pavement. He looked up at the neon lights that painted the sky with unreal hues, a mixture of hope and menace.
"I am Raiko," he thought, with a spirit that could not be broken. "And this is my story. The story of how darkness can illuminate a world that has lost itself in its own light."
As he stepped off the bus, his footsteps took him through streets filled with fear, where the shadows seemed to lengthen the terror on the faces of passersby. Each of Neonvale's nights was a reminder that the beauty of the lights concealed a darker truth. Finally, he came to a coffee shop he often frequented. The place, small and cozy, offered a temporary refuge from the chaos of the city.
Raiko ordered the usual: some bread and coffee. She sat at a table by the window, watching the people passing by. Everything was going normally until a sound changed the whole environment. A gunshot. Then two more. The noise was like thunder in the night, shattering the calm like shattered glass. Raiko was up instantly, her eyes alight with a mixture of fear and determination. The man tending the cafeteria also noticed the noise and, with some concern, was about to hand her her order. However, when he turned to Raiko, he was gone.
Confused and with the bag in his hand, the man put it away behind the counter, thinking that perhaps he would return. A customer commented on the sound, saying it was nothing new. "This area has become dangerous for a few years now," he said casually. The chatter was interrupted by the change of scene.
Raiko was running through the streets, the echo of her footsteps accompanied by the lights of cars and the distant murmur of the city. At first, fear and worry seemed to dominate her face, but soon her expression changed.
"Maybe I can't change the world, but I can't keep ignoring it" he thought, clenching his fists. In her mind, the words of her mentor, Osmerd whom she called Osme echoed loudly, "Raiko, you have to put an end to those who bring fear and darkness into the lives of others." Although Osme had disappeared months ago, his legacy lived on in Raiko, who had spent five years preparing to fulfill that purpose.
She passed several people walking hurriedly, avoiding eye contact. The streets glowed with an almost unreal splendor, but the heart of Neonvale was rotten. Finally, he arrived at the scene of the crime. Two people lay wounded on the ground, one more seriously than the other. Raiko crouched down next to the less injured one.
"Which way did they go?" she asked urgently.
"Down the main avenue...there were two or three of them..., they were in a dark blue car." The man could barely speak, but he gave the information Raiko needed.
Raiko looked up at the main avenue next to it, a large tree lined thoroughfare that looked beautiful under the lights. She walked a bit and heard the police, saw a patrol car approaching in the distance, but it did not seem to slow down. Raiko knew that the patrol car was in pursuit of the culprits. As the patrol car passed in front of him, he realized it was a pickup truck, he quickly and stealthily climbed into the back. The chase had begun.