Neon White holding Neon Red
In the story of Neon White, Heaven deals with a demon infestation, and a group of assassins called Neons are getting a chance to stay in Heaven by competing against each other in dealing with the demon threat.
Concept[]
The story is written by Ryann Shannon of OK KO!; The player takes on the role of Neon White, an assassin from Hell, tasked with eliminating the demons. In doing so, he will be competing with other assassins for a chance to win the Mechanical Halo, which will allow the recipient to remain in Heaven. But he feels the other assassins are familiar, as if he may have known them in a past life. Getting to know the other assassins will allow White to uncover Heaven’s mysteries.
Publisher Annapurna Interactive says Neon White has "a hellishly clever story that proves it's never too late to ask for forgiveness."
Plot[]
Chapter 1[]
Rebirth[]
Neon White is a former assassin who finds himself with amnesia somewhere in Heaven. He rises from the Glass Ocean where he encounters the Believers; they explain that White, as well as the other Neons, are taking part in the Ten Days of Judgement competition, wherein Neons, the sinners who were assassins in their former lives, entered Heaven, take assignments to eliminate demons in Heaven, and the Neon with the best performance is granted the Mechanical Halo which grants them a chance to stay in Heaven. A mask is forcibly attached to his face, and he is told that it will detonate should he try to take it off - a control device from the Believers. From there, White makes his way to the Glass Port to take a ship to Central Heaven, and along the way, meets fellow Neons Neon Yellow, who seems to have been close friends with him in life, Neon Violet, who seems to show a close attachment to and penchant for teasing him, and Neon Red, a mysterious sniper who may or may not have known White well.
Chapter 2[]
Killer Inside[]
Afterwards, he goes to the Heaven Central Authority to receive an assignment from Mikey via Gabby, and is assigned to Lower Heaven to eliminate its demon infestation. He also sees Neon Green at the Believer sermon - he is warned by Neon Red not to go near him, though White still feels an anger upon seeing Green. White makes his way through Lower Heaven with the help of fellow Neons Violet and Yellow.
Chapter 3[]
Only Shallow[]
He continues with another assignment in Lower Heaven from Mikey, though Violet warns him that Yellow's persona is a front and that he may be plotting something. She also tells him of the Old City, where Green's Mechanical Halo was forged, though she also makes him promise to kill Yellow - a promise White does not intend to follow through on until he gets more information on Yellow.
Chapter 4[]
The Old City[]
Thus, he obtains an assignment to the Old City with Yellow, despite Red's warnings to stay away from Green, as the Old City is Green's territory. The area is surprisingly empty bar White, Yellow and the demons inhabiting it, and eventually, the two make their way to the clock tower in Clocktower, where they read an inscription mentioning the Book of Life, the Book of Death and God's Inkhorn - which White and Yellow do not understand. Soon afterwards, they are intercepted by Green, who makes an attempt on White's life, though White is saved by Yellow - who takes the fatal attack in his place. Enraged, White duels Green, to Green's enjoyment, and before Green escapes, he implies that he and White were deeply connected in life, and informs him that he has big plans for White; he mentions the Book of Death was what provided the page that forged his Mechanical Halo - but also of the Book of Life, also mentioned in the clock tower's inscription, which the Believers have never been able to find.
Back in the Cathedral, Neon Green informs everyone of Yellow's murder - though tells everyone White was the killer. Upon learning of Yellow's death, Violet reacts happily, to which White reacts with anger, informing Violet it wasn't him; an argument ensues between the two, greatly upsetting Violet and creating a rift between the two.
Chapter 5[]
The Burn That Cures[]
During his next assignment, he encounters Red, who is irritated that he ignored her warnings to stay away from Green and the Old City, though to tide White over, she tells him the truth of Green's Mechanical Halo - that while it grants him immense power, it also caused him to become feral and bloodthirsty, and keeps him under the control of the Believers. She expresses doubt on the nature of the Ten Days of Judgement, and lets White in on her plan - to retrieve the Book of Life (despite it "straying from the path" according to the Believers) and discover the truth.
Chapter 6[]
Covenant[]
Thus, he receives an assignment to the Hanging Gardens to keep up the illusion of staying on the path, deftly sidestepping traps set by Violet to kill him. He and Violet eventually talk later on, and while negotiations mostly fall apart, Violet's words make him cast doubt on what Red hasn't been telling him. In a sermon post-mission, Green invites White to meet in the Hanging Gardens, though Red is still clearly hiding information from him on Green.
Chapter 7[]
Reckoning[]
Thus, he answers and ventures to the Hanging Gardens for answers; he eventually finds Green, though Red shows up and so after some further taunting and a close call with Red, Green leaves, but not before telling him Heaven's Edge holds the secrest to what he seeks - and White realises Violet is spying on him from afar. Once properly alone with Red, a frustrated White asks Red why she was hiding information from him, to which she tells him she didn't want him preoccupied with revenge - and so, she tells him the truth of his life with the other Neons, and how he was Green's protegé, and how he led everyone to their deaths through Green.
Chapter 8[]
Benediction[]
White asks Mikey - who immediately catches onto his plan to retrieve the Book of Life, but stays quiet as he approves - for an assignment to Heaven's Edge, to which he reluctantly acquiesces, and White travels with Red to Heaven's Edge, where the two grow closer as they eliminate demons and finish the mission. They find a page from the Book of Life, and eventually arrive at the end of Heaven's Edge - a wall, projecting images of a fake landscape and sky. Mikey shows up and explains the truth of Heaven to them; the Heaven they know is a construct made by the Believers, and that they overthrew God, unsatisfied with the afterlife, to turn it in the Heaven they believed themselves entitled to as the winners of the war against Him.
Chapter 9[]
Apocrypha[]
Violet joins them for their next assignment in Heaven's Edge, with the blessing of the Angels, their idea of the location of the Book of Life growing clearer; the three seem to be getting along despite White's occasional guilt, though it abruptly comes to an end when Violet betrays White and stabs him, declaring that she only ever cared about winning Green's approval by getting him the Book of Life - and that she hated how Green always favoured him as his student over her. As he lay unconscious in Red's arms, he was struck with a vision; of himself in The Third Temple, speaking to God about the location of the Book of Life.
Chapter 10[]
The Third Temple[]
After being restored to health by Red, Mikey and Gabby, despite Red and Mikey's scepticism, White proposes a mission to the place he saw in his vision from God - The Third Temple, as Mikey explains - and, and travelling to the place seen in his visions, they journey through the site of God's last residence before He was overthrown by the Believers, they find the Book of Life in the inner sanctum of the Third Temple, where God's Hand opens to reveal the Book of Life. However, Violet also shows up, having waited for them to open the hand for her, and triggers a series of explosives, causing Red to fall through the floor and out of sight. Green shows up shortly afterwards, and Violet hands him the book, though to her surprise, he stabs her, telling her he still can't afford to lose White. Angered, White duels Green once more, and after the duel, a mortally wounded Violet detonates several more explosives to hinder Green's plans, killing herself, destroying the Book of Life and scattering its pages to the wind. His Mechanical Halo now broken by White, Green leaves, steals the Book of Death, and begins a rampage during which he indiscriminately kills Neons and Believers alike.
Chapter 11[]
Thousand Pound Butterfly[]
Short for time, and after some self-doubt White returns to Sheol - the old home of the Angels - with Mikey's help, to reform the Book of Life and stop Green while Red rests up with the help of Raz. Eventually he reforms the book and Red shows up, though Mikey tells White there's one more issue - he needs God's Inkhorn to reunite the Book of Life and the Book of Death and bring back God. Unfortunately, the Inkhorn is in God's other hand - sealed underneath the Firmament, near the Glass Port.
Chapter 12[]
Hand of God[]
White finds Green waiting for him at the Glass Port, where he reveals his plan to make a hole in The Firmament (with his collection of Neon masks as explosives) large enough to expel God from Heaven and rule over it himself, using the power of the united Book of Life, Book of Death and God's Inkhorn to do so. While using the same means as White, it is at odds with White's plan to use the hole to bring God's other hand in to reunite the Books and the Inkhorn to restore Heaven, and they find themselves at an impasse, especially without a soul to trigger the explosion.
Red offers herself as a sacrifice against White's wishes, and despite him chasing her down - he is too late - Red gives her life to make a hole in the Firmament and allow White to finish things with Green, and thus, one final duel takes place between White and Green in the ruins of the Glass Port at God's other hand, the hand containing the Inkhorn. White emerges victorious, and begins the process of bringing God back through The Firmament with the help of the Angels, and is faced with a choice; write Green into the Book of Life, or the Book of Death. If White chooses to write Green into the Book of Life, both they and Yellow, Red and Violet, ascend into another existence. If White chooses to write Green into the Book of Death, White remains in Sheol, waiting for God's next Judgement Day.