Tokyo: The Morning After the Storm
The rain had stopped.
But the city wasn't quiet.
It never was after lightning like that.
Every screen, every digital clock, every surveillance drone glitched at the same time all showing the same static pattern: a white blur moving faster than time.
Kazuki woke on his bed, though he didn't remember getting home. His body still hummed with energy, nerves trembling like wires struggling to contain a current. The ceiling light above him pulsed each flicker syncing with his heartbeat.
He sat up. The suit had merged deeper overnight. The silver lines now ran under his skin, veins glowing faintly even in darkness.
He whispered to himself,
"He's inside me now."
A voice not his own ,echoed faintly in his mind.
"You saw what comes next… don't fight it."
Kazuki clenched his fists.
"I'm not you."
The lightning in his veins flared once and went silent.
Scene 2 : Aeva's Apartment
Aeva sat cross-legged on the floor.
Her curtains were drawn, her projector still off. But the room glowed anyway from her hands.
Golden lightning danced along her fingertips like it was learning her rhythm.
It didn't hurt. It felt alive.
Warm. Protective. Intelligent.
She reached for her phone, the screen instantly flickering before her hand even touched it.
Her reflection blinked again moving a fraction too late.
"You're not just energy," she whispered to the reflection.
"You're memory."
The reflection smiled back.
Her heart raced. She stumbled backward as the image spoke, lips moving in perfect sync.
>"Kazuki's storm awakened what was always in you."
"Who are you?" she whispered.
"The Anchor."
The lights flickered. The voice changed tone, deeper, almost like a thousand versions of her speaking at once.
"You're the key to his stability. Without you, he collapses. Without him… you cease to exist."
Then silence.
The lights died completely.
Aeva stood there in darkness, heart pounding, hand shaking with gold sparks that refused to fade.
Scene 3 — The Crimson Order Facility
Deep beneath Tokyo, Drexon adjusted his gloves as he stepped into the observation chamber. The crimson lights hummed in rhythm with the suspended figure inside the containment pod the Final Host.
Its body was incomplete pieces of armor floating, merging slowly with the humanoid form. The pod emitted pulses that shook the ground.
One of the Echoes spoke.
"The energy pattern… it matches Tanaka's."
Drexon smiled faintly.
"Of course it does."
"But the readings are unstable," the Echo continued. "Two neural signatures exist one pure velocity, one golden resonance."
Drexon turned sharply.
"Then the Anchor is awake."
He placed his hand on the glass, the reflection of his face blending with the creature's.
"Good. Let her wake him completely. And when she does… we'll take both."
Scene 4 : Kazuki's House
Kazuki's father sat quietly at the kitchen table, staring at an old photo a picture of a younger Kazuki laughing with his mother under an umbrella.
Outside, thunder rolled again, though the sky was clear.
He muttered, "Just like her…" and tightened his grip on the mug.
A faint vibration shook the floor. The lights flickered.
Then a blur.
For less than a second, he saw Kazuki standing in the doorway, eyes glowing white.
"Kazuki?"
Then he was gone.
Scene 5 : The Alley Behind Shibuya Station
Kazuki appeared, gasping, his hands smoking with residual lightning. He had run there unconsciously not even realizing he'd moved.
But he wasn't alone.
A woman was waiting for him with pale eyes, long black coat, faint static rising from her fingers.
"You're the anomaly," she said softly.
"And you are?" he asked, guarded.
"Echo Three. Drexon sent me to bring you in."
"Not happening."
She smiled faintly. "You think you have a choice?"
Her hand shot forward a wave of electromagnetic distortion blasting the air apart. Kazuki dodged instinctively, the world slowing into streaks of light.
Every movement felt sharper, deeper. He could see vibrations, frequencies, micro-fractures in the world itself.
He sidestepped , vanished , reappeared behind her and threw a punch.
The air rippled.
She caught it mid-swing with her bare hand.
Her skin absorbed the lightning.
"You're fast," she whispered. "But speed without control is just noise."
Then she pushed him and the entire alley folded.
Reality bent like paper, slamming Kazuki into a wall that wasn't there a second ago. He fell, dazed, blood trickling from his forehead.
She raised her hand again but something shimmered behind her.
Golden light.
Aeva's voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
"Get away from him!"
Her lightning slammed into the Echo, blasting her backward through the warped alley.
Kazuki stared in awe as Aeva stepped through the distortion, her body glowing like sunlight trapped in motion.
> "Aeva… what"
"No time. Move."
The Echo rose again, electricity dancing across her coat.
"So the Anchor shows herself…" she muttered.
"You have no idea what's inside you, girl."
Aeva's eyes burned brighter.
"Neither do you."
Their lightning collided. Gold and red exploded through the air bending sound, cracking walls, frying circuits for blocks. Kazuki jumped into the chaos, every movement guided by instinct, his blue lightning threading through her gold.
The fight was a storm two lights against the dark.
And for a moment, the city itself paused.
Cars froze mid-motion. Neon signs flickered into static symbols. Time held its breath.
When the light faded, the Echo was gone disintegrated into data fragments that blew away like ash.
Kazuki dropped to one knee.
Aeva knelt beside him, breathing hard.
He looked at her — at the lightning fading from her skin.
"You… have powers now?"
She nodded. "I think I always did. The storm just woke it up."
He looked down, shaking his head with a weak laugh.
"We're not supposed to exist, are we?"
"Maybe," she said quietly, "we're the reason time hasn't died yet."
They sat there in silence, rain starting again, faint and soft — like the city exhaled.
Scene 6 : Drexon's Observation Deck
The red spiral pulsed faster now.
Energy spikes. Alarms.
Drexon stood, hands clasped behind his back.
"They've synchronized."
The Echo beside him hesitated. "That means"
"The bridge is complete. Bring me the coordinates of the last storm. We're ready to begin Phase 2."
The chamber lights dimmed. The containment pod cracked open and a cold whisper escaped into the air.
"Velocity… rising."
Final Scene : Shibuya Rooftop
Kazuki and Aeva stood side by side, watching the skyline. The rain shimmered around them, refracting into streaks of blue and gold.
She turned to him.
"Do you ever feel like the future's already decided?"
Kazuki looked ahead.
"Maybe. But I'm done running from it."
The camera pulled back Tokyo glowing beneath them.
In the clouds above, lightning formed a pattern the crimson spiral.