It was around 8am in the morning but the dark clouds of the sky made it look like it was almost nighttime.
The dark, cloudy sky was actually due to the heavy rain, hammering down on the streets of Neon City.
But while most people were busy scrambling around to find a warm spot to shade themselves from the rain, a female could be seen speeding through the streets as though her life was in grave danger.
Well actually it was, and that's why Claire was running as fast as she could right now.
Her heart was beating heavily and her body ached all over, but Claire didn't slow down her pace at all, and neither did her pursuers.
"Stop! By order of the Spire Guard, you are under arrest!!"
Behind her were several armored guards with their heavy boots slamming against the ground as they chased after her.
"Stop her! She's heading for the bridge."
Their shouts continued to echo behind her but Claire hastened her pace even more.
Her main objective was to leave the city and she intends on doing that because she knew that only then, would her pursuers abandon chasing her.
But if she were to be caught, Claire knew everything she'd been working hard for would all be over.
And so, she ran as fast as she could with each step she made splashing water on several shallow puddles on the floor.
Her long lab coat fluttered gently behind her as she darted around a cargo truck and almost collided with a worker hauling crates.
"Oi!" The man shouted in surprise but Claire didn't stop running and she couldn't stop running because the guards were really hot on her trail.
She swiftly burst into a bridge that connected the market district into the industrial zone of the city.
Meanwhile, the sound of thunder rumbled loudly as Claire increased her pace even more, causing her boot to skid along the wet, smooth surface of the metal bridge.
Claire tumbled a bit and slammed her shoulder and body against the metal railings, causing her to groan in agony.
But, she wasn't concerned about herself.
Instead, all she could think about was the small box in her pocket.
Claire swiftly brought out the box to check if the device inside the box was still in good condition.
But as she rose up to lean against the railings of the bridge, a huge streak of lightning struck down on the metal bridge, with the shock wave flinging her over to the other side of the bridge and causing Claire to slam her head on the adjacent railing while the box in her hand slipped from her grip and splashed into the fast-moving river down below the bridge.
The large current of the river swallowed the box instantly but Claire was now unconscious on the floor, so she couldn't react to how the box had fallen into the river that led to two other regions of the city.
A few moments later, the four guards had finally reached up to her, only to see an unconscious Claire on the ground.
"Is she.....?" One of them asked because just like everyone else, he had witnessed the lightning striking down at her direction, but a separate guard crouched down and swiftly scanned her vitals.
"No, she's alive."
"Good. Get her to the van. She has a lot of explaining to do." The leader of the armored guards ordered and the rest of the guards swiftly obeyed before carrying Claire into the armored van parked close by.
Their aim was to question Claire about the stopwatch she stole.
The higher-ups had ordered for the stopwatch to be destroyed due to a tragic event that had occurred a few days ago, but what the guards didn't know was that the stopwatch had fallen into the Blackwater river that leads all the way to not only the mid-level districts but also the slums.
Meanwhile, at the lower levels of the city or more popularly known as the slums, the heavy rain had stopped and it was simply drizzling right now, so everyone had resumed whatever they were doing before the ran began.
The atmosphere was filled with aroma from cheap food stalls and a young man could be seen limping through the crowd with one arm pressed to his ribs.
Jake's shirt clung tightly to his back because it was damped with both sweat and rain, and his face was swollen with bruises.
But it wasn't only his face that hurts so much right now.
Every part of his body hurt like hell and that's why every step he made caused his limbs to ache, but he continued to push on until he reached a small corner diner sandwiched between two shuttered shops.
*Sighs* Jake sighs as he glanced on the flickering neon sign above the entrance door.
He pushed the door open and the warm smell of fresh bread and coffee instantly hit him, reminding him of how hungry he was right now.
Inside the diner were a handful of early customers sitting in booths with most of them, keeping to themselves.
But Jake didn't care about the other customers focused on whatever they were doing, the only person his eyes were focused on right now was the beautiful lady attending to each of the customers.
Unlike everyone else in the diner, Jane was different.
She wasn't a human.
Instead she was a demi-human with soft cow ears, a tail and a cute pair of horns which curved beautifully towards her forehead.
She also had a long obsidian hair which complimented her emerald colored eyes as she moved between tables, trying her best to satisfy the customers.
But while Jane was deeply engrossed in what she was doing, her cute ears and nose twitched in surprise when she caught Jake's familiar scent and she swiftly turned around to see him entering the diner.
Her eyes lit up in surprise and a smile appeared on her lips but her eyes widened even more when she noticed the state he was in.
"Jake? What happened to you?" Jane asked as she unwittingly abandoned the customers in front of her to focus all her attention on Jake.
"Good morning." Jake muttered as he slid into the corner booth but his motion caused his body to ache once again, forcing him to wince as Jane watched him struggle to take a seat.
Seeing this, Jane couldn't help but frown at the state he was in.
Of course, she was relieved to see his cute face again, but the sight of him in pain hurt her even more than she could have ever imagined.