--Disclaimer—I do not own Static Shock or any of its characters or events.
--Note—Hi everybody! This is my first fanfic, so please read and review; let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Tossing and turning all night, the girl slept restlessly. "No, no...don't go..." she mumbled as she turned. Goodbye, my dear little sister... somewhere in the distance, she dreamt of a young man saying those words to a slightly younger version of herself as he walked away. "Please...don't leave me..." she woke with a tear falling down her cheek before she could finish her cry. Francis...
Her room was dark, as it was still late in the night--maybe around two. With her head in her hands, the girl quietly prayed that dream would go away. "Get out of there!" she cried while she rubbed her forehead with her hands. The old wooded floor of her run-down apartment creaked with her weight as she stood and walked towards a small kitchen on the other side of the room. After grabbing a glass on the counter, she filled it with water from the sink and took a sip. "Why did you have to leave?" she asked quietly as if she was talking to some unseen ghost from her past. She then placed the glass, now half-filled with water, back on the counter and made her way back to bed and within minutes had fallen back to her restless sleep.
The sun rose high in the morning sky later on that morning and woke the girl with a kind shining of its rays. The girl, now seen to be a teenager of about sixteen, stood from her bed and tiredly made her way to the bathroom across the hall where she took a shower and readied herself for the day. Unlike the other teens her age though, she wasn't getting ready for school. She lived alone and had to pay a monthly rent to the owner of her building, so she had to work. She wore an outfit of olive green cargo pants, held up at her hips by a black belt, a black tank top that showed some of her lower stomach, a black knee-length leather jacket, and a pair of black army-like boots, mostly hid by the length of her long pants. Her makeup was of dark green eye shadow to mach her shadow-like deep green eyes and red lipstick so dark it could have been mistaken for black to go with her shoulder-length black and red hair. Regardless of whether she meant to or not, even on a day as bright and sunny as this one, she still appeared as a shadow waiting in the dark to see the light.
Starting out the door, she grabbed her keys, locked the door behind her and began down the long, broken stairway leading to the street below. After a careful trek down the uneasy stairs, the teen's pail skin glowed as she walked out into the bright shinning of the morning sun. Dakota was her city, but the ruined world of Downy Ville was her home. Downy Ville was technically part of Dakota, but considering its ruined appearance and gang-ruled government, it had come to be known as its own world set apart from the rest of the city. The streets of Downy were broken and filled with litter, twisted cops patrolled on their own rules, and gang members riddled every dark alley; constantly waiting for any moment to earn a good street rep with the leaders of their gangs.
Still, despite its dark and twisted ways, Downy Ville was the safest place for people like this girl; for all criminals and orphans; all crooked men and gangs. As you can imagine though, with all these wrecked people living in one area, Downy was probably the worst and most depressing place to live. No wonder why then, the majority of Downy's residents, including our girl, would travel over to the true Dakota side of the city to work and go to school. It was probably a thirty minute walk for this girl in particular, but for her, it was worth it. Over there, she had a whole different life.
Everyday she would walk those thirty minutes through the long streets of Dakota to a little cafe on the corner of 35th and Main. The Coffee Pot; it was called. She would walk up the few steps to the front door, go inside to the cheerful, contemporary decor, and make her way back to her station at the cash register where she was greeted by her boss, "Good morning, Rioko. How are you today?"
Yes, her name was Rioko. Rioko Stone, to be precise. The name fit her well, as it seemed to have a dark, but innocent air about it; just like she did. Rioko (or Rie, as she was known by her friends...or, at least she would be if she had any friends) was probably one of the best employees in all of Dakota. She was never late, never complained, and never once called in a sick day. Her boss hated her style in clothes and makeup, but he tolerated it in fear that if he said anything, he'd lose his best worker. She even worked through ever holiday! Who in there right mind works through the holidays without complaint? I'm not sure. Maybe it was because she had no one to celebrate with. Or maybe, she just liked working. That's beside the point though. The point is, she worked long and hard and it was beginning to seem like her dark shadow of a life would never see the sun. That was all soon to change though.
Well, that's it for the first chapter. Sorry Static isn't in this one. He will be later on though I promise! Later.