Light the Night
~Prologue~
Abington Towers. For years, it thrived with many patients, both new and old. Ask one of the workers, and you'll be told that each and every patient is treated with respect and love, eat tasty meals, and have the kindest staff to talk to each person who needed help. If you ask about a patient, you'll be told that he or she is getting better and showing great signs of improvement, and that they are hoped to be released soon. The flier you've seen is decorated with smiling patients and groups talking out their problems. "Come to Abington Towers! We'll treat you like family and get you back on your feet in no time!"
That's what you see and hear. That's what they want you to think. Abington Towers was San Paro's asylum. The mentally sick went there, either by force or to get some actual help when doctors turned their backs on them. Everyone thought it was an amazing place, where people could be rehabilitated and once more be okay.
Everyone was wrong.
The doctors starved the patients, always insulted and mocked them, and many had failed lobotomies. The asylum was big. Hundreds of sick people dwelled there. And thousands were dead within a month. The doctor, Dr. Satan he was called, did the lobotomies quick and careless. He killed so many patients that actually wanted to get better by his reckless movements. Some suffered brain damage, couldn't cope with life with being messed up, and ending up killing themselves. Suicide. Homicide. Panic attacks to the point some broke down and either started sobbing or trying to fight someone. Patients were neglected, often just being locked in their cell and not having anything to eat or drink or days. Some died from this, and some continuously threw up to the point they were constantly fainting and had their body cramp up or shut down. And what happened to the ones who died? Their bodies were burned and a letter was sent to their loved ones, the "Sorry, but they didn't make it and ended their life." always being the words that made some family scream in complete sorrow.
As years passed, the patients grew tired of being tortured and insulted. They hate doubled, their insanity growing to a dangerous rate. And one day, they all finally snapped. Gathering together, they created a plan. A plan that would take down both Dr. Satan and Abington Towers.
A young girl was sent to the asylum, being dragged into the operation room by her arms. They threw her into a chair, strapped her down, and left as Dr. Satan showed his face. Two ice picks. Right inside the sides of her eyes and towards the prefrontal cortex. Dr. Satan didn't have enough time before the doors were kicked open, most of the patients flooding into the room and grabbing the man. The screaming and crying child was unstrapped and left, everyone taking the doctor away. She sat there, pulling the ice picks from her eyes, blood running down her cheek. She fell off the chair, crawling out the door and following the angry screams of the doctor.
The kid was lucky blood blinded her that day. The doctor was hanging from the ceiling, barb wire around his throat, his torso being cut severely. And when they heard the child crying, pleading for help, a man gently picked her up, walking down the halls of Abington Tower. The other followed him, trying their best to dodge each guard. Out of 493 patients, only 9 made it out alive, excluding the child. Thousands of people came and went in the old asylum. And now, patient 4377 led his remaining comrades out and into freedom. For years, they had been locked up in old cement walls. For years, the smell of death hung over the asylum 24/7. The feel of grass and dirt was so foreign. The fresh air was so amazing. The 10 lost souls made their way through the woods, unsure of their direction, but knew there was hope.
4377, 4015, 4483, 4170, 4440, 4219, 4593, 4765, and 4737. The nine patients had been called by numbers so long, they barely remembered their name. So, they created ones. Jay, Meeka, Forsaken, Chase, Yami, Xiaoyu, Jin, Nina, and their leader, Kolyma. As for the child Kolyma carried, her name was Momo. A poor, scared little girl, blood stains running down her cheeks, her eyes already bruising. She cried about how her parents didn't want her and sent her to the hospital. She said she did a few bad things and they got angry for it. She was promised a new loving family from Kolyma. She was promised a new life with the MoonRunners.
And that's how it all began. They exited the woods, entering Midtown and going into little shops. They stole what they needed. New clothes, food, drinks, and even bedding. With 10 people, it was a bit easier. A distraction, a smart move, and a little bit of "magic". They were in and out, Momo often detaching herself from the group and screaming about how she couldn't find her parents. This was the one that worked the most, the others being able to grab what they needed in record timing. Jay and Xiaoyu acted as her loving parents, always running up to her and saying how worried and scared they were.
This went on for a while, the gang hiding out in abandoned buildings, living for each other. Everything was calm until Chase decided he wanted to test their luck. Just to see how far they could get. And after some persuading, Kolyma finally allowed them to do a bigger robbery. A simple jewelry store. In and out. That's what Kolyma wanted. He didn't want attention to be drawn to them at the first job they were pulling. Chase did, though. He wanted everyone to know. He wanted everyone to fear the MoonRunners.
Kolyma didn't partake in the heist. He stood in the shadows, watching and waiting in case any police arrived. He didn't expect to hear screaming and gunshots. When he came around that corner, three people were already dead and most of the jewelry was already gone and in duffel bags. Chase was, of course, getting ready to shoot another person. And before he could pull that trigger, another gunshot rang through the store, earning screams of complete terror. A lady fell to the floor with a sickening thud, Kolyma standing by the door with a soulless expression on his face. Another shot, destroying the phone that was dialing the SPPD.
"Hurry up," he told them, turning away. "Before someone else calls the cops."
The heist was a huge success. And eventually, the MoonRunners became a rising gang. Their fame caught the attention of two other criminals. A very infamous man that was feared by many, and a loner woman that worked for both herself, and for gangs willing to split the cash with her.
This was the beginning of a beautiful and deadly contract. And Momo, the little criminal she would be, was the one that grew up alone in the family that promised her love and happiness.