Neon Rain

Chapter 3 (Home)

Avellon unlocks a steel door and enters his apartment, it's spacious, with cluttered parts and corners, with trash scattered on the floor throughout the apartment.

He looks outside, the sun is already up and ships flying and cars driving, the morning rush is kicking in. Avellon throws off his poncho and puts it on a rack.

He has short frizzy brown hair, blue eyes and a young, almost adolescent looking face and appearance.

Underneath the poncho is webbing holding a variety of weapons and explosives, as well as light armour plating. He removes it all. Mounting it on racks, on steel plate on the wall. He puts the webbing and poncho on his clothes rack.

He enters a code on a keypad and the weapons disappear behind the wall. Leaving only a metal patch.

He takes the rest of his clothes off, wearing nothing but his underwear. He has a wiry yet toned, athletic frame. He leans over opening his fridge, it's almost empty. There's a choclate bar that's half eaten and a strawberry and bannana smoothie.

He knocks back the smoothie carton and eats the chocalate bar in one bite. He drops into the bed in his underwear and rolls into his sheets, staring out his large circular window. His eyes lose life, and his expression becomes decadent as he watches all the ships pass by him. He closes his eyes.

The digital clock next to his bed shows it's 9am. The shadows around his room shift until the clock shows 9pm. The afternoon sun still shines through the round window of his, it glistens off his back as he comes out of the bathroom into the main area. He gets dressed. He checks all of his weapons and approaches the door, he throws on his poncho and exits.

Outside his apartment a gang of young men beat up another man. Avellon watches frozen, his hood is down, on his young face, the muscles around his jaw tightens, and ge lets out a disgruntled sigh.

One of them pulls out a saw, the others stand back. On the spot, one of gang amputates one of the victims cybernetic legs, as he screams is agony, pleading, begging. One of the gang turns to Avellon.

"The fuck you looking at!" The largest of the group of four shouts down the grimey hall.

"Nothing" Avellon replies,walking in the opposite direction towards the elevator. The door closes. Outside, through the glass pane of the elevator, is a stunning evening view of the city. There are ships and transports hovering above pillars of metal and glass towers. The evening sun's yellow rays reflect off the surface of each structure.

Avellon gets off the elevator at the very ground floor. He walks through a mildly busy street, most are industrial workers heading home from late shifts and teenagers and 20 something's congregating before their friday night of drunkeness and clubbing in the red light district begins. Most crowds hang near takeaway stalls and outside bars waiting for the sun to go down.

Avellon stops and looks up. All the crowds look up momentarily, while Avellon stares. A loud ship speeds overhead with red and blue lights flickering. An asian girl with red hair and a similar poncho, only with a sheathed sword mountedon her back stands next to him.

"Starring to see alot less of those around here." She says with a strong japanese accent. Her pupils glow a luminescent yellow, and they flicker aa her eyes focus. There are also thin slits in her face, with a metallic silver in between them. Another cybernetically enhanced human.

"The feds leave when the working men go home." Avellon responds waking forward. The woman walks beside him.

"Yes. Then it's up to us to maintain at least some semblance of order, and hunt the criminals the government is too lazy to." She replies with a smile, looking over shoulder into Avellon's face.

"You and your friends catch the guy's the government's too lazy to go after. I only hunt at night, when the feds aren't around. The guys who they can't catch." He responds.

Avellon starts walking forward. She stops,

"You know, I'm sure if you asked nicely you could hunt in the daytime with me and..." Her statement is cut of by Avellon's sharp response. He turns back.

"No." He says.

It starts to rain.

She looks at him.

"You hungry?" She asks.

Avellon smirks.

Moments later.

Hitomi and Avellon sit and each at a chinese restaurant. Avellon has a huge array of dishes.  Chow mein, sweet and sour chicken, spare bbq ribs, egg fried rice, duck szechuan, spring rolls and more. Hitomi watches with a smile.

"You enjoying that?" Hitomi asks, with a bright smile, watching him eat. She picks a spring rolls from his plate and dips it in the sweet and sour sauce and leans back.

He sniffs.

"You know, this almost makes me miss you." He says with a mouth full of chicken chow mein.

She smiles.

"That's good enough for me. I've never had a sit down with anyone like this in a while to be honest. It's why I came back here. The nostalgia, you know." She says, with her head down and a soft tone.

Avellon pauses stuffing his mouth with food. He watches hitomi, staring at the table, almost in a sad trance. The silent moment is filled with the noise of heavy rain hitting the glass pane windows of the chinese restaurant.

"What about Atsuko?" He asks.

She tilts her head, still looking at the table, with clasped hands.

"She's not the same..." she says.

"Because of me?" Avellon asks.

"No. After you left, alot people joined us. They weren't like us but they were good at their job and Atsuko loved them. But, we bit off more than we could chew with our last bounty." She says.

"Let me guess, organized crime." He says, in a cold confident tone. Taking a sip of his ice tea.

"Yes, how did you know?" She asks.

"You learn alot more as a lome wolf." He says, continuing to eat.

"The guy we were after, we took out his henchmen no problem, we cornered him in a warehouse and, like that, in a few minutes we lost 40 hunters. Aya lead the assault, she didn't know it was a trap. The guy was Yakuza, he hired mercenaries, ex special forces guys. They cut through them like butter. Aya still can't forgive herself. Nor Atsuko. Ghosts walk the halls of the temple now." She says, leaning into Avellon.

She continues,

"No one really... talks anymore, we kinda just exist you know. A lot of us don't even operate together, it's how I was able to just disappear like this. Come halfway across the city to see you." She says, smiling.

Avellon reciprocates her hand hold. Hitomi smiles.

"Come back to us? Please. At least visit. It's a train ride." She says, with puppy dog eyes looking up at him.

"You remember I didn't exactly leave on good terms right, I know she was... like a mother to me but she hates me?" He says.

"I remember, but trust me, hateful is a thousands times better than the pool of Apathy she is trapped in." She says.

"Fine. I'll go, since your paying for all of this." He says, looking at the crowd of empty plates on the table.

She smirks.