Genre: Cyberpunk/Tech Noir

Costume Fiction cosplay, cosplayer, cosplayers, egirls, fiction Sandra December 29, 2024 1 Comments

The ground trembled as Liora sprinted through the rain-slick streets of Neo-Shinjuku, her red boots kicking up water as she weaved through the labyrinthine alleys. The city above her glowed molten amber and electric violet, tall holographic advertisements cast distorted neon reflections onto the glimmering black puddles of the street below. It was raining again. It was always raining in the underbelly of Sector 13, where the rich sent their garbage and the poor fought to live another day in the shadow of chrome towers that pierced the clouds.

Liora’s white crop top clung to her skin, drenched from the downpour. Her black mini-skirt swayed with every stride, the leather harness strapped across her torso creaking with tension. The fingerless gloves she wore were scuffed, the once-pristine material now marked with soot and blood. She skidded to a halt before a flickering shop sign—its kanji script blurring in the stormy haze—as the roar of engines thundered behind her. Her steel-gray eyes widened slightly. They’d found her again.

“You’re persistent,” she muttered under her breath as she turned, her long black hair whipping like a blade through the rain. A squad of four men in black combat gear stepped out of the mist, their faces shadowed but the laser sights of their rifles sharp and unyielding. “But I’m still faster than you.”

She cracked her gloves, her nails gleaming in the dim light, and darted forward before they could fire. The first soldier swung the butt of his rifle towards her, but she ducked, her red boots slamming into his knee as she brought him down. The others shouted in garbled commands, but their words were lost in the melee. She was a hurricane—spinning kicks, rapid punches, and fluid, evasive movements. The alley became her coliseum. And in this battle, there were no rules.

The last soldier fell, his helmet dented, before his head hit the pavement with a wet thud. She stood amidst the unconscious bodies, breathing heavily, her chest heaving beneath the soaked fabric of her crop top. Thunder rumbled in the distance as she adjusted the straps of her harness and spat onto the ground, her red boots pivoting towards an exit route illuminated by a neon-green streetlamp. But her reprieve was short-lived.

“Liora!” A voice echoed from above. She turned her gaze skyward to see a massive surveillance drone descending, its array of cameras swiveling to capture her. The sleek machine was larger than any she’d seen before, its armor glinting in the artificial light. For a moment, she hesitated. She could fight men, but against steel and circuits? Against the godlike corporations that ran Neo-Shinjuku? No one ever won that fight.

“Get the hell out of here, Liora!” A voice crackled from her earpiece—Kas, her partner in crime and the only friend she had left. “The drone’s marking you for GridSec—if you’re flagged, you’re done. Meet me at the train hub on 36th. Twenty minutes!”

“Copy that,” she said grimly and took off once again, her boots pounding against the slick pavement. Behind her, the drone’s engines roared as it hovered in pursuit. She cursed under her breath. The haven of the train station was miles away, and every option seemed to evaporate like morning mist.

As she ran deeper into the winding streets, Liora’s mind flickered to a memory—a flashback. She was in an upwardly vast boardroom, sunlight pouring in from glass walls so high they stretched to infinity. Her handler, Aiden, had handed her a file sealed in cobalt. “This is your last mission,” he had said, his handsome face stern, his voice deceptively warm. “Complete it, and you can disappear. They won’t follow.” Yet now, here she was—betrayed, burned, hunted. The corporations had lied, as they always did. And her debt to Aiden? Paid back in blood.

The train hub came into view after twenty torturous minutes of weaving through Neo-Shinjuku’s underbelly. The cavernous station floated on a sea of industrial fog, its open-air platforms awash with light and automated announcements. Liora scrambled up the steps leading to Platform 29, where a maglev hovered silently, its neon glow humming with energy. She pressed a code into the access terminal using fingers trembling with adrenaline. Beside her, the pounding of footsteps resounded. Soldiers. Too many of them now.

“Kas!” she yelled into her comm as she climbed aboard the nearly empty train. “They’re right on me!”

The comm went quiet. Her pulse raced. Silence meant only one thing with Kas—something had gone wrong.

Out of nowhere, a figure leapt aboard just as the doors closed behind them, their black raincoat gleaming with an oily sheen. Liora drew back into a fighting stance, her gloves tightening on her fists, until the hood fell to reveal Kas’s familiar smirk. His green eyes twinkled mischievously even as blood streaked his temple.

“Did you miss me?” he panted, sinking onto a seat with a dramatic flair. His ragged jeans and patched leather jacket were soaked, and he reeked of wet metal. “Because I distinctly remember saying to meet me at Platform 36.”

“Shut up.” She scowled but offered him a hand. “We’ve got three minutes before this thing departs. If they breach this car, we’re toast.”

“Let me guess,” he said, pulling a detonation switch from his jacket pocket. “You caused another scene downtown?”

“Something like that.” Liora smirked as she pressed her ear against the door, listening for the pounding boots of GridSec. “Light it up when we clear the platform.”

The maglev lurched as the countdown began on the terminal screen beside them, its harsh red digits ticking down. The lights outside shifted into swirling streaks as the trains prepared for hyperspeed.

“You trust me, don’t you, Li?” Kas asked quietly as he leaned back, his smirk softening. It wasn’t like him to sound serious. But she didn’t have time to entertain sentimentality.

“Less than you’d like but more than I should,” she said, offering a ghost of a smile. Outside, the soldiers fired a hail of sparks as the maglev surged to life. She could still hear her heart beating as the train shot into a vortex of electric nothingness, leaving Neo-Shinjuku behind in the glow of fire and rain.

They’d made it. At least for now.

Far away, in the glass tower of the capital, Aiden stood silently at his desk, staring down at a holographic map showing a blinking red dot disappearing into the void. His lips twisted into a satisfied smile. The hunt had only just begun.

Genre: Cyberpunk/Tech Noir

The Source…check out the article that inspired this amazing short story: Tifa Lockhart Cosplay Idea: White Crop Top and Black Mini Skirt Perfection

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