Neon Rebirth

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Kazuki Tenno’s eyes fluttered open to an unfamiliar world—a void filled with shifting, pulsing lights. His body glowed faintly with veins of electric blue energy coursing beneath his skin. The pain in his chest was unbearable, as if something inside him was burning to break free.

“Where… am I?” Kazuki muttered, his voice trembling.

“You have been altered,” came a cold, mechanical voice.

Kazuki’s head snapped toward the sound. Standing before him was a figure—an artificial humanoid constructed of smooth, glowing metal. Its featureless face shimmered with lines of light, and its presence radiated a strange calm.

“I am *Aurion,* caretaker of the Neon Protocol,” the figure said. “The energy you encountered has bonded to your body. You are now its host.”

“What… what is this power? What’s happening to me?” Kazuki demanded, his voice rising in panic as he noticed his glowing hands sparking with volatile energy.

Aurion’s voice remained steady. “The energy within you is called *Neon,* an artificial power created long before the rise of Ether. Unlike Ether, which flows naturally through the world, Neon is synthetic—powerful but unstable. It rejected its previous vessels, destroying them. You are the first to survive its assimilation.”

The words sank in slowly, each one more horrifying than the last. “Why me?” Kazuki whispered.

“That remains unclear. What is certain is that you cannot control it yet. Without discipline, this power will consume you.”

Before Kazuki could process Aurion’s warning, the void began to tremble. The glowing lights faded, and his surroundings shifted. He was no longer in the void but lying on cold, jagged stone. The faint light of the dungeon entrance illuminated the ruined chamber around him.

Kazuki struggled to his feet, his body heavy and unsteady. The Neon within him flickered erratically, sending sparks skittering across the floor. Every step felt like dragging a storm chained to his soul.

The collapsed dungeon groaned ominously, and Kazuki realized he wasn’t alone. A low growl echoed through the chamber. Turning toward the sound, he saw a hulking, shadowy beast—its eyes glowing a sickly yellow. The creature had been drawn to the energy emanating from him.

Kazuki’s heart raced as the beast lunged. He raised his hands instinctively, and a surge of Neon erupted from his palms. The energy struck the creature with explosive force, sending it crashing into the wall. The blast left Kazuki gasping, his arms trembling.

But the monster wasn’t defeated. It rose, snarling, and charged again. Kazuki tried to summon the Neon once more, but the energy refused to obey. His hands sparked uselessly as the beast closed the distance.

“Focus!” Aurion’s voice rang in his mind. “The power will not respond to fear.”

Kazuki gritted his teeth and willed the Neon to return. Pain shot through his body as the energy flared to life, forming a glowing blade in his hand. With a desperate cry, he swung the blade as the beast pounced. The Neon sliced cleanly through the creature, its body dissolving into ash.

Kazuki collapsed to his knees, the Neon blade dissipating as exhaustion overtook him. His vision blurred, and he could barely hear Aurion’s voice over the sound of his own ragged breathing.

“You survived,” Aurion said. “But this is only the beginning. Without mastery, this power will destroy everything around you—and yourself.”

Kazuki’s struggles didn’t end with his escape from the dungeon. He stumbled back into Lumosport under the cover of darkness, his body still glowing faintly. Weeks had passed since the dungeon collapse, and he quickly learned that he had been presumed dead. The news was a small blessing—no one would question his sudden transformation.

However, rumors of a glowing figure began to spread throughout the city. Kazuki, unable to fully control the Neon coursing through him, accidentally left marks of his presence wherever he went. Walls scorched with bright streaks of light, faint traces of his glow seen in the shadows—people started calling him the Neon Phantom.

These rumors eventually reached the ears of the Ethereal Order, the governing body that controlled Ether and policed etheric use. To them, any etheric user outside of the Order was a threat to be eliminated.

One night, while hiding in the abandoned industrial district, Kazuki felt a familiar tremor in the air. He turned to see a group of figures in dark uniforms—the Order’s Hunters. They were elite operatives trained to eliminate rogue users of ether, and their eyes glowed faintly with Etheric energy.

“You’re the Neon Phantom, aren’t you?” the lead Hunter said, stepping forward. Her voice was sharp and unyielding.

Kazuki tensed, the Neon within him sparking uncontrollably. “No I'm not!! Just leave me alone! I don't want any trouble😵‍💫”

“Trouble?” The woman smirked, summoning a creature of pure Ether in her hand. “You’re using unknown power. That makes you trouble by definition.”

The Hunters attacked, and Kazuki was forced to defend himself. The fight was chaotic—Kazuki’s Neon flared wildly, forming lightning bolts and explosions of light without his control. Each attack drained his energy, leaving him weaker and more desperate. The Hunters, disciplined and methodical, began to corner him.

When it seemed like he couldn’t hold out any longer, an unexpected ally appeared. A young Hunter with auburn hair and a nervous expression stepped into the fray, deflecting one of the Order’s attacks.

“Leave him alone!” she shouted, her voice shaking but determined.

Kazuki didn’t know who she was or why she was helping him, but her intervention gave him the opening he needed to escape. Together, they fled into the shadows, leaving the Order behind.

As they caught their breath in an abandoned warehouse, the girl introduced herself as Haruka Sato, a rookie Hunter disillusioned with the Order’s strict rules.

“You’ve got a strange power,” Haruka said, glancing at the faint glow still emanating from Kazuki’s hands. “But you’re not a monster. You just need help.”

Kazuki stared at her, uncertain whether to trust her. But in a world that now saw him as a threat, her words were the first hint of hope he’d found.

“Maybe,” he said quietly. “But if I don’t figure this out soon, I might become one.”

"But, then again why did you save me?! Now the Order is going to hunt you down!"

"Don't worry about it, for now you need rest"

Unbeknownst to them, the Ethereal Order wasn’t done. Their hunt for the Neon Phantom had just begun.

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