Happy (Un)Retirement! (Apex and Neon)

Sometime after 8PM...
East Village, New York City….

Hikari Yamamoto threw open the old, slightly broken piece of wood that was her apartment’s front door.  Letting out a tired groan, she’d kick off her boots and drops her motorcycle helmet onto the floor before trudging over towards her old, cat scratched sofa and plops down with a huff.  She had just spent a full day riding her bike around the city, delivering whatever packages her employer asks of her to do.  She made a decent wage, enough to pay the month's rent just in time to not get booted out.

Hikari had the mind to just lie on her sofa for the rest of the night, being completely exhausted from the stress her two lives put on her sleep schedule.  Waking up bright and early to start her deliveries, work until later the afternoon, take a quick three or four hour nap, get suited up and sprint across town beating the hell out of criminals, then return home to sleep for another three or four hours, only to wake up early and repeat the process.  No one said the life of a vigilante was easy, especially for the ones who aren’t billionaires.

The poor girl opened up her eyes as her TV switched to the news, the headline catching her attention.  “Once thought retired Speedster fighting crime in New York?”  It was talking about a girl named Apex, a superhero who saved the day some time ago but vanished from the limelight.  Hikari was active back then, but less known.  But Hikari is always cautious to new metas in the area.  With a reluctant groan, she’d get off her couch and walk into her bedroom, getting dressed up in her old make-shift costume before slipping out of the window.  “Guess I’m not going to be getting much sleep tonight either..” She’d let out sigh as she climbed down the fire-escape onto the alley floor before bolting out into the streets in a flash of bright purple light.

Samara stood back looking over the store window with the TVs inside broadcasting the news headline about her. Or at least her alter ego. It seemed weird to see such stories about herself now, with so many debating if she was the same speedster or a copycat with a similar costume. It did make her realise though she could probably do with updating it when she hadn't changed the attire since she started. She would just get her dad to work on something. Hearing and seeing so few who actually believe her 'return' though, she wanted to at least give them some more evidence. Walking away from through the thinning night crowds she would look around to find somewhere to change, and whilst for most it might not seem the smartest, she chose a darkened side alley. Making sure nobody had seen her enter she used her speed to rush through and back to ensure there would be nobody hidden in there, before continuing to use her speed to change in to her costume. Stashing her normal clothes in her bag, she would race out of the alley, making her way down the main street down the centre of the road to avoid the cars towards her home.

Despite the silvery streak she appeared as whilst running, she wouldn't give evidence that her running up the side of a building also involved tossing a backpack in through an open window that belonged to her before going back down the otherside. She would slow her pace so that whilst she continued to run safely through the streets, she wouldn't be as difficult to make out from her speed. Of course, when she ran by a girl and her mother, she would stop to offer and pose for a photograph with her, before speeding off again, happy to think she made at least one person smile that evening. She was just thankful the night was pretty quiet on trouble.

The streets of New York glowed brightly at night as Neon ran through them, zigzagging to avoid cars and sometimes even having to hop over them, and always leaving her iconic neon trail that would last a good half minute before fading.  Unlike the other speedster, Neon didn’t stop for pictures with pedestrians, she didn’t stop sign autographs for her fans, she wasn’t at all a media figure.  What Neon does in the dead of night isn’t even for the people of New York, she isn’t going out to protect them from evil.  No, she does what she does because she despises the criminal scumbags who made her life hell, and will use her power to make them suffer for it.  It may not be the most humble of causes, but the byproduct does make the streets safer.

As Neon ran through the streets, the lights of the city reflected off the new modification to her old outfit.  She had made an actual mask for herself, one with an open face though her eyes are covered with large, purple tinted goggles.  On the sides of her mask, where her ears would be, are two wing-like extensions that help with aerodynamics and also allows her to tap into police radio chatter.  This new mask definitely beats her old motorcycle helmet that made it hard to see at night through the tinted visor.

The Speedster stopped in the middle of an alley and presses a finger to her ear, listening in on the police scanners.  There were reports of a speeding woman from different feeds, but they never gave a clear location.  “Hey there girly… Niiiice outfit you got there…” A creepy voice sounded out from the darkness of the alley as a dirty looking sleazeball of a man slithers out, his eyes admiring the skin-tightness of Neon’s suit.  She’d look back at him through her goggles and her dark lipstick covered lips curved into an annoyed frown before she sighed, the man approaching her slowly with a big ass knife.  “Why don’t you hand over whatever you got on that body… and… show a bit of skin while you’re at it hehehehe…” He cackled creepily before letting out a startled gasp as his weapon was suddenly chopped in half after a flash of purple light, Neon’s hand enveloped in energy like a blade.

“Fuck off, pal.. I don’t have time for petty shit…”  Neon said calmly, the man shaking in his boots before turning around to run in the opposite direction.  The vigilante let out another sigh and returned to monitoring the radio channels.  That was before she turned around to see that scumbag returning with four other guys, all armed with either knives, baseball bats, or simple pipes.  “Ugh.. Come on..” Neon sighed and got into a combat stance, getting ready to kick the shit out of these guys.

Sam had taken a little notice to the chatter of 'purple light', not the first time the phrase had crossed her, but the first in person. Her curiosity taking over, she sped up to her more common pace to investigate. Finding another speedster would certainly be interesting. There was still a lot of ground to cover though. With this rumour of purple light she would turn to race up the side of a building again to break on top to look about. In hindsight she realised how dumb of a idea it was when she couldn't see too much with all the buildings, and yet by luck, she managed to catch the briefest glimps of a fading purple light. "... is this speedster someone from TRON or something?" She muttered to herself before she began her sprint once more towards where she had seen the light.

By the time she reached where she had last seen it, the light was all but gone. Taking a second to get her bearings, she would catch the voices from down the alley a to the side, surprising herself she hadn't been seen by either occupants, even if she did just appear in a blink. Unaware the woman in the alley was the speedster she had chased, she took the only action she could, racing down in to the alley without ever noticing the energy blade the woman created. Instead she would catch the thug, clothes-lining him back a foot where she slammed her arm across his shoulders. No real damage but it would just wind him a little. "Well that wasn'- oh my god you can make laser swords with your hand!" She obviously saw it then. And she was obviously excited by it. Enough to completely ignore the guy she'd struck. "That is so cool,"

Neon widened her eyes underneath the purple tint of her goggles at the sudden appearance of the other Speedster, clotheslining the guy who's weapon she had just cut in half like a lightsaber. She turned to look at her and was surprisingly greeted by a giddy voice explaining how cool her ability to create energy blades with her hands was. The blade in question would quickly disperse as the speedster’s dark lips parted, “Uh.. thanks.. Hey, you’re tha~”

Her words were cut short by one of the scumbag’s friends with a baseball bat rushed at her and tried to get a swing at her. Being a master martial artist, as well as a Speedster, Neon reacted incredibly quick and ignited her energy bladed hand again, making a slicing motion that cut clear through the aluminum weapon like nothing, be metal glowing from the heat. Neon’s next move was to dismiss her blade and perform multiple quick jabs between attacker’s ribs and pressure points, holding her fist in a way where her index knuckle was extended more than the others for more precise strikes. As the attacker cried out from the painful jabs, Neon finished him off with a brutal punch to the side of the jaw with enough force to probably knock a few teeth out and send the man flying backwards into a pile of trash. All of this happened within half a second.

After dealing with the interrupting attacker, Neon resumed her combat stance and frowned at the three thugs who were left. “I’d love to chat and introduce ourselves… But let’s deal with these punks first, shall we?” She spoke to Apex, whom the thugs had their eyes on as well.

Apex wasn't oblivious to the many more men that would proceed to descend upon the two, but she hadn't noticed the one guy who had his bat taken from him so flashy. She would give the other a small nod before turning on her feet to slam herself head first into a lanky guy with brass knuckles. Before he was out of her reach she would grab his hands if only briefly. One characteristic of her running was the constant buildup of static, and those metal rings were a perfect target. And it was always more fun to make them disarm themselves, the man rather forcibly ripping the weapons off before running off. She would give chase only to drag him right back in only a second, tossed into a garbage can to keep him out of the way. With only one left she figured why not share the take down, sprinting up then back down the alley to drop kick the final guy towards Neon.

Neon nodded at Apex as she understood the offer of teamwork.  Watching the man sail through the air from the other speedster’s kick, Neon quickly flashed bright purple before suddenly being up on the side of the building to the left.  Using her left foot to push off the brick wall, she shot herself to meet up with the flying crook and used the momentum of her body to smash her left knee straight into the man’s skull, causing him to spin in the air before dropping face down into the concrete.

“Nice moves… These guys didn’t stand a chance..” Her darkened lips curled up in a grin as she placed her fist into the opposing palm, cracking her knuckles after that last punch.  Neon slowly turned to the other girl and crossed her arms over her chest, which her suit didn’t do a good job at covering up the shape of her breasts, and tilted her head.  “As I was saying… You’re the Speedster the news was talking about?  Apex?  What brings you out of retirement?” She asked calmly, sizing the woman up with her eyes.

Apex stretched her arms over her head as she walked back over after the last guy was crumpled in to an unconscious pile on the cold, dirty floor. She tugged at the bottom of the very fitting torso of her mostly silver costume, realising just how much her body had shifted since the first retirement. "Y-Yeah, I'm Apex. Cause y'know... teenager finds out she's super fast, gets a little headstrong as 'fastest woman alive', so picks a name that fit that. Now I know I am most certainly not the fastest, but the name still sticks," She clearly had no issue sharing as she began to pace the alley a little whilst keeping her eyes, behind the lens of her mask cut to reveal her mouth and jaw, along with her brunette hair. "And boredom, honestly. That and... well I didn't need to retire. So I had one bad day, I found out what my biggest weakness is, I didn't die or get unmasked. It just... I wanted to know I could come back to it. Obviously I lasted longer than just the one night stand or I wouldn't be here now. But enough about me, you're... I'm going to assume Neon? Never saw your face or looks or anything, but the whole purple lightbike trails kinda tips you off."

“Yep, that would be me. Neon, the purple bolt, or whatever else pet names the tabloids call me. The name itself is self explanatory..” The girl would let out a chuckle and hold out her hand as all the tips of her fingers would glow bright neon purple. “And it’s not surprising you never saw my face, I don’t exactly pause for cameras… and when people do spot me, well.. Their footage can’t get past the light.” Neon grinned, returning her arms to their crossed position and kept looking at Apex. Noting her costume wasn’t all that different than her own; tight body suit, two primary colors, and the lipstick. Apex’s lips were silver, whereas Neon’s were a dark purple. “Hmm… I won’t pry and ask what caused you to retire.. It isn’t any of my business, but is this just a nostalgia thing for you? Or is Apex back for good?”

She couldn't be sure but the camera thing almost felt like a jab at having potentially seen Apex doing just that earlier. "Y-Yeah well, sometimes I gotta bring a smile in some other way than basically with my speed and hitting some bad guys," She would dig her fingers under the segment of her mask to rub at her eyes a little as well as letting a little air get in. "Nostalgia? Oh, no, I'm aiming back in to the game 100%. I could relive nostalgia by simply running, but that got boring real quick. Besides, like I said, I like bringing smiles to peoples faces." She would then however crack her knuckles in her hand, "And giving some black and blue ones to the bad guys,"

Neon smirked and gave Apex another short nod, appreciating her desire to get back into the game completely. Crime is a plague on mankind and it’s always nice to see people with the power to do something actually do something. The Speedster suddenly placed her hand lightly on Apex’s shoulder and continued to smirk, “Good, glad to have another speedster on the streets. At least one on my side.” She mumbled the last part before pulling back, placing a hand on her hip in a tomboyish fashion. “Though you should know that shit’s changed since you went dark. A lot of the old hitters are gone, some thanks to your’s truly, and others were just replaced with worse thugs. I’ve been tracking one of them this week, actually..”

Apex sniggered when the hand fell upon her shoulder, "Yes, totally on your side. Definitely didn't hire these men to get their butts whooped by us both to lower your guide so I can then stab you in the back to steal your speed," The lack of seriousness was clear in her voice, smirk still on her lips as Neon stepped back again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm glad the one who took me out of the game seems to have had her powers removed at least any way. Not that I condone whoever did that, but... well she just caused chaos." She cleared her throat, not sure where Neon would stand on the issue. "I've stayed mostly street level whilst I get the hang of it again though. I've not avoided any powered individuals, but I know I'm not alone and they make a lot more noise so... y'know... I'll go after the ones stabbing people in a backstreet whilst someone more experienced can handle the guy who creates explosions at his finger tips."

Neon shrugged her shoulders and looked up at Apex, “I understand the need to stay on the street level. New York has a lot of hero types flying around, defending it from alien invasions and all that.” She shrugs again while leaning back against the alley wall, “But with all those champions fighting off gods and monsters, there’s not many people who take care of the criminals of the city. Sure if some shithead robs a bank, a boyscout will show up no problem and kick their asses. But the shit that goes down that they don’t see? The drug deals, the arms rackets, corruption… those take a back seat.” Neon looked down at the criminal who was seemingly waking up at her feet and kicked him hard in the ribs, causing him to grunt. “I prefer being ‘street level’ too..”

"Well in that's the way you think, I guess until I get the confidence to go up a rank in terms of hero-ness, we'll see a bit of each other taking care of these drug dealers and thugs right?" Apex would step back a little and stretch off her arms once again, twisting her waist to ease off there too. With one last look behind her at the guys they'd knocked out together she would give a small smile thinking over just how simple it had been. "But I bet you've got more to beat down, and I'll stay out of your hair. So later 'Lightbike'," she would smirk at her own silly little name to call Neon before turning on her heel before speeding away.

She didn't exactly want to have admitted it, but even just that little showdown had actually tired her out some. Without realising it she'd been showing off just a little, wanting to look good to another speedster, even if their powers stemmed from different places. She made her way straight home, going up the side of the building so that anybody who might see would just think she was going over it the long way at a glance. Instead she would stop on the roof of her apartment complex to take a breather, pulling her mask back to wipe the growing sweat from her forehead. "Geez I need to get a new suit,"

Neon watched as Apex stretched and moved her hips, which wouldn’t be much normally but considering the girl was in a tight bodysuit the action was a tad mesmerizing. The Speedster’s eyes unable to resist sizing her up in that outfit. “Uh… Yeah… I guess we will..” She managed to get out before Apex turned around completely, Neon’s eyes admittedly wandered downward, and bade her farewell. “..Later…” It took a few seconds for Neon to snap out of it, arching an eyebrow. “...Lightbike…?”

Apex bolted at lightning speed and Neon reacted quickly be sprinting after her, matching her speed. Why was she following her? She’s a heroine with similar skills, wanting to take down criminals, had a nice… No! That wasn’t it at all! Neon is following the other speedster to ask for a team up! Yeah, that’s definitely it. She’d let out a doubtful sigh while the purple bolt of light followed its target.

The chase ended on top of a rooftop, some random random apartment building in the city, and for some reason Neon decided to be a sneak and use the fire-escape. Convincing herself she was being on her guard, she’d slowly edged her way up the iron steps until she reached the roof. What she saw next was a shock to her; Apex without her mask out in the open.

There was a flash of bright purple light and Neon was suddenly right infront of Apex, her body dangerously close to the other girl’s to the point of almost touching. But this wasn’t Neon coming on to Apex. The black-clad Speedster had her hand on Apex’s mask and was personally placing it back on the girl’s face. “Yeah… taking this off on a rooftop out in the open is not a good idea, Apex… Never know when a drone with a camera might fly by and catch a glimpse..” She said calmly and quietly, not realizes just then how awkward her closeness was.