Lucent Black Chapter 1: Rooftops

A harsh breeze rushed over the city skyline of Metropolaris. A thick layer of clouds covered the capital of the Continent, like cotton candy pierced by thousands of needles, representing ginormous skyscrapers, which measured several kilometres in height.

The light pollution dyed the coat of liquid droplets orange, trapping all the light from the streets and illuminations of the backlit placards. Though, on the Acro levels of the upper city half, it appeared to be darker.

Sirens are heard, echoing along the endless streets that ran down in a straight line. A silhouette stood on a 360 degree view balcony of a Bell Tower. A hooded man, covered in a long blackish brown coat. Beneath the clothing, he wore a thick leathery chest plate.

An aircraft suddenly ascended from the Vasi levels, the lower half of Metropolaris. The hooded man stared upon the airborne vehicle, motionless.

It had a rather long, oval formed corpus, bearing two wings with two cylinders at the ends, which ejected extremely strong gusts of air downwards. There were even auxiliary turbines releasing constant streams of flames in the same manner. Even the tail of the vehicle had a similar object attached, although horizontally in order to steer to the left or right.

Two very bright floodlights shot at the man, they appeared to be nearly as radiant as the sun itself, affectively.

"We've got you now, Shade Runner! Surrender now, or we will be forced to act violence upon you!"

The loud speakers roared out in all directions, disturbing the otherwise peaceful night on the Acro levels.

A faint smile widened on the hooded figure's lower facial features, the headlights revealing his nose, mouth and his trimmed beard. He suddenly turned around and dashed off.

"Stop right there!"

The vehicle followed, its turbines adjusted its angle, darting forward but still keeping its altitude. Two canisters with dozens of holes in them suddenly rose out of a small hatch from the vehicle as it expanded to reveal the full view of the weaponry.

Still running from his pursuers, the darkly dressed man now hopped onto the other ledge of the Bell Tower and leaped into the abyss, spreading his arms and legs out wide like a kite. His coat fluttered wildly in the fast descend, but suddenly manifested into a tense sheet that now stabilized the man's fall and even made him control his aerial course.

The pilots of the aircraft now decided to not be fooled by his actions any longer and fired upon him.

Loud hisses are heard as several salvos of metallic bolts flung out of their Slingers, while it's aero turbines now rotated until they were causing the craft to sink down into the lower levels along with the man, although never reaching the same speed as him.

Bolts passed by to the left and right of the falling person, though none of them finding its mark. In an instant, he tilted his arms to the right, as his entire body followed its course, managing to swoosh into one of the side alleys. He was no longer in sight.

The aircraft decreased the output energy of its engines, slowly being brought to an aerial standstill in front of the alley.

"D****t, we lost 'im again!" The pilot said to his co-pilot.
"Hope the Collectors will get those b******s."

Its rear shot out its flames, while the craft turned around, flying past several buildings to return to the outpost.

---

Approximate look of Skairan Barond

Skairan opened his eyes slowly, since his room was illuminated brightly by the Copter of the Federal Metropolaris Police Force.

Cursing under his breath, he got up onto his feet and toddled over to his window, still halfway asleep. He was quite tall and had a slim body, medium length brown hair and green eyes.

Skairan opened his window, feeling the cool breeze invading his room, refreshing the oxygen in it. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Upon reopening his eyes, he jumped in surprise.

A hooded man walked across, then stood in front of his windows on the emergency scaffold of the building, staring down at the male 16 years old, who froze on spot for a brief moment.

The boy immediately shut his window, picking up the next Graviball Bat and gripped it tightly. Ready to beat the hell out of the intruder. He started panting from the panic that shot through his nervous system, but strongly felt the urge to stand his ground, even though his opposite could probably kill him effortlessly.

"Hit the road!" He yelled and realized that his apartment was on the 64th floor.

Taking one step closer to the window, the hooded figure crossed his arms and smirked. "Your courage is remarkable, boy. Some people may kill for that."

Now, the man stepped backwards before he lifted himself onto the handrail, balancing himself on it, perfectly. He gave Skairan a two-fingered salute and leaned backwards, before his body dropped into the streets below. Skairan gasped and instantly rushed to the window, peering down. The scaffold was blocking his view. With another breath, he pulled himself together and reopened the window. He carefully stepped onto the walkway and leaned over the railing.

Nothing more but lights, civilian aircrafts and a large street are seen in the depths, which caused Skairan to frown. Did this guy just commit suicide? No. The images made him shudder, but it was a normal day for occurances such a those. He wiped some cold sweat off his forehead and carefully placed his bat back against the wall. Your courage is remarkable, repeatedly circled his mind and he couldn't help but smile at the thought.

Skairan's room was rather small, even for Acro level apartments, though his older brother had the larger room, since he was the jewel of the family, the Baronds.

A knock on his door. The teenager jumped again, but realized that there was no immedate threat, this time.

"Skairan?! What's going on?" It was his mother, using the typical condescending voice tone.

He sighed. "Nothing, mother. I just had a bad dream." Skairan wasn't sure, why he didn't enlighten her about what really happened. Most likely because she wouldn't have believed him anyway.
"Well, get back to sleep at once, young man. Remember that your first day at the high school begins tomorrow and you need to be well rested."

Skairan sighed again. "Yes, mother."
Hollow but soft steps are heard as she returned to her room and Skairan let himself fall onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. The Exams of the high school. I need to pass them, what else will I do with my future? He thought and closed his eyes.

"What? There was someone in front of your window last night?" Boris said. He was Skairan's best friend since the first school year. Both of them sat in the magnet train to another district in Metropolaris, where their High School was located. The train took them through the Central District where multiple skyscrapers and other tall towers were perfectly lined up side by side.

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Approximate look of Boris Gertrud

Boris was smaller than Skairan by a head, had blonde hair and wore wide frame glasses, which covered his green eyes.

Skairan again recalled everything he was able to remember and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I didn't make it up, since my mom also heard me scream."

Boris' eyes widened as he adjusted the tie on his school uniform, to let a gulp sink down into his stomach. "T-that's messed up, man." He voice shaked a little. "It must've been those Shade Runners who've been causing so much trouble lately."

Shade Runners. Skairan stared out of the window. Their train now left the Central District and entered the Western District, where mostly commoner accomodations and grocery stores past by their windows.

He never was someone who paid close attention to the media, who are spreading propaganda and fear to keep the citizens in check. The Sanguine Movement was a religious  group who have gained a lot of influence within the Metropolaris Senate. They were spreading their words of belief and the end of the world, shouldn't they act now. Additionally, about their lord and savior Nelkor, who will bring great fortune and balance to the world. How they managed to actually integrate themselves as an active, powerful party remains to be seen. At first, they were nothing more but fanatics and doomsayers. But many of their prophecies and theories have become reality, which spread fear across entire Metropolaris. Fear plus comforting words of hope in such dire situations are pure genius in terms of manipulation. And the Shade Runners acted out terrorism, mainly targeting them.

But Skairan never believed in such fairy tales. Unfortunately, his family did and they scolded him for being so unfaithful and rebellious. He even believed that it has reached a point, where they started to avoid their newest born, himself, intentionally.

The magnet train came to a halt at one of the stations in the Western District. Dozens of people entered or exited the transportation vehicle. Skairan idly watched them, until his eyes fixated a young teenage woman in his age. Her figure was skinny and slightly tanned. He assessed her to be his height. She approached their compartment with long, prideful steps. Her hair was dyed a darker crimson and her cyan blue eyes stared directly into Skairan's.

"Who's that?" Boris mumbled and peered upon the same person with wide eyes. Skairan could have sworn that he was drooling and mouth-gapped. He shrugged at his friend.

She bore the same school crest as himself and Boris. It was a striped black and red shield, bearing two crossed black books and a writing feather in the centre. Symbolizing the Educational District. Her uniform was a greyish black jacket with a tie and a white shirt beneath, although the female version was tailored slightly slimmer around the waistline. The female uniform contained a skirt, although the obligatory stockings were missing.

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Approximate look of Stezany Korsten

The young woman entered their compartment. "These seats free?" She said in a rather determinative tone. Boris cringed slightly, he was very shy around women. Skairan nodded his head at her, without saying a word.

She sat down next to Boris and crossed her legs, while folding her arms. Boris slipped over to the other end of his seat, away from her. His face blushed heavily. Skairan eyed the female school mate before she met his gaze, raising a brow.

"What's your problem?"
"What do you care?"

Silence, as both stared each other down.

"Weren't you taught not to stare at people, you creep?"
Skairan's pulse rose rapidly, though he just viciously smirked.

"Depends. It ain't really creepy, if the person I'm lookin at aims to be all snowflakey and special, by ignoring school uniform protocols."
Skairan lifted his chin and brows towards her naked legs. The woman narrowed her eyes at him and pulled her skirt downwards. Skairan expected a slap or a rather uncomfortable exit from the teenage girl. To the surprise of both Boris and Skairan, she let out a short and soft chuckle.

"Because they're too itchy." Her eyes surveyed Skairan up and down.
"You got a name?"
"Who's askin'?" He folded his arms as he continuously stared at her, deadpan.

She extended her hand to her which had long, black painted fingernails.

"Stezany Korsten. Some people call me Stezzy, but you'll call me Korsten."
Her grin widened slowly as she waited for the handshake.

Skairan shifted his gaze to her friendly gesture, but remained arms folded.
"What an introduction", he scoffed, but then decided to go for the shake anyway.

"Skairan Barond. How ya doin'."
Her grip was surprisingly firm and determined. Both of them shared another moment of staring at each others eyes, not in a romantic way, but more in a way of showing dominance.

"U-Uhmm... I'm Boris Gertrud, b-by the way."
Her cyan blue eyes darted to the intimitated friend of Skairan's.
"No one asked you."
"R-right. You're ... you're right."

Skairan couldn't help but blow air out of his nose in amusement. Boris always has been a spineless man, but he always tried to encourage him as well as he could. Both of them eventually released their grip on each other's hands.

Stezany pulled out some earphones from her jacket's pockets and plugged them into her ears, connecting the cable's input into her audio device. She closed her eyes and didn't share another word with them throughout the entire journey. Neither did Skairan or Boris.

The magnet train's conductor announced their arrival at the high school campus through the speakers, a few minutes before it halted. He kindly requested the passengers to leave and step towards the campus main hall. Boris stuck closely to Skairan, while Stezany disappeared shortly after they exited through the slide doors of the train.

Skairan rose his gaze at the very broad and high glass building of the Metropolaris high school and nodded at himself.

"Here we go."