Chapter 1: The Night Rush
We go to an island much like…well, some would say Gotham, but it's actually slightly better than Gotham; there's no Joker, no actual Rogues Gallery. Let's call this island Ringler island. It is its own entity entirely because of all the weird happenstances on the island.
We open on a trio of people: the first of that trio is a small, blonde, pigtailed girl, who is no more than 10 years of age, with bright green eyes, wearing an oversized t-shirt as pajamas. one arm can be completely seen the other only up to where the elbow should be is has a silver heart locket on, similar to the one the woman sitting on the bed possesses.
The little girl is sitting in a bed with a woman who would appear to be her mother and the second of our trio. She has brown, neck-length hair that appears to have glitter stuck in it from a previous day. She is wearing a black, buttoned-up trench coat that goes down to her ankles, a doctor's mask that can be seen covering her mouth, and electric grey eyes. She is reading a story from a small stack of papers to the little girl.
The third member of this trio can be seen on the wall; a dark figure can be seen sitting not on the bed, but rather on the shadow of the bed, since he cannot be seen physically on it. They seem inhumanly tall, even when sitting. Their "eyes" can be seen: two hollow holes where eyes are expected to be. They seem content simply sitting and listening to the woman's story.
"A very, very, very, Very long time ago, around when our stars were just beginning to ignite, great being made of stardust and void emerged who we would call celestials, By now many have died or have simply given up on their existence. In the beginning there was peace among all of them, but the so-called "King" of the celestials grew very bored very quickly and eventually corrupted himself; he became chaos. His wife, we will call her The Moon, had resented her husband's boastful nature. He was always on about how much brighter he was compared to the other celestials. Although it was no secret she resented him, he did not attack her. Instead, he feigned fearfulness of her to make it seem that she was the one to be feared and resented instead of him. After an un- approximated amount of time had passed-"
"That wasn't very nice of him." Stated the little girl.
"Indeed it wasn't. May I please keep reading?" The mother asked.
"Yea! Yes!" Exclaimed the little girl, startling the shadow being next to her.
"Sorry V!" The little girl apologized.
V simply nodded in response.
The woman continued: "After an un-approximated amount of time had passed, Chaos' influence had spread to the other celestials, turning them into horrible beasts. Many of the beasts petrified long ago, forming what we now call our solar system. Chaos placed himself in the center, feeling that he belonged there and needed to keep watch over his domain. When he did, The Moon received her chance to flee to her "Sister Celestial" who later became Earth, and The Moon became what she is today, influencing our tides and granting us respite from Chaos' angry rays."
"Is that all?" The little girl pouted.
"For now. I still need to write down what i can remember of the story. Now, time for bed. I will see
you in the morning. Goodnight Casie" the mother said while cleaning up her papers and
heading towards the door.
V, the shadowy figure on the wall, vanished from sight as Mom flipped the light switch off. They reappeared in the lit hallway where the mother was currently walking to her room to finish getting ready for work.
"You shouldn't go out tonight Ayla" V said, more telepathically than actually spoken.
"I know. I feel the change too, but I have to maintain some sense of normalcy in my life.
Please watch over Casie while I'm gone." Ayla asked while putting the last bit of makeup on
her face.
"I would've anyway. But I can understand your worry tonight" V said while playing with the
shadow of a tassel hanging off a lamp, causing the actual tassel to move.
"Thank you V. How do I look?" She asked, gesturing to her face.
"Like you work on a stage, which you do and should rush to before it gets any later. And
you're welcome." V said, looking at Ayla. Neither V nor Ayla knew how she knew when he
was looking at her.
"Have fun!" V waved.
Ayla dashed out the door, leaving V alone in the apartment with a sleeping Casie.
V decided to wander around.
The apartment wasn't big: there was a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom with a bathtub/shower, a toilet, and a sink. There was also a mirror. Because the apartment was right above the lobby of the complex, laundry day was much easier than it would be if they were up a few more floors. However, because they were lower, the street was closer, which meant sleep was impossible once the work rush began. Other than that, the elementary school wasn't very far, there were a few bars and diners around that were cheap enough for nights when Ayla didn't feel like cooking. This complex would be even better if it weren't so close to Downtown, which was just a few blocks away.
Ayla's job is right between Midtown and Downtown at a club called "Downtown of Midtown". She works as a dancer and sometimes a bartender. Despite its location, it was the safest place one could possibly be. Local gangs had called a truce there making it a "safe space"; business matters cannot be discussed inside its doors. The people who work there are known well-enough that if they were to have to break up a fight between two opposites, most would automatically stop because no one wanted the manager on their tails for harming an employee.
The manager is actually the owner of the place, but she felt uncomfortable being called "the Owner" so she went with "the Manager". She's a nice woman with both arms covered in complete tattoo sleeves and bright blue hair. When her hair is down from its usual ponytail it reaches the middle of her back, and when it was up she had a bandanna on to keep her shorter hair out of her face. For some reason, when people try to manipulate her into doing something they always seem to walk away with a smile like nothing ever happened.
As soon as Ayla walks in the door of the club she hears someone call to her and she turns around.
"AYLA" Penelope, the Manager, runs up to Ayla, breathing heavily. "I need you behind
the bar tonight. Is that okay?" Penelope says between breaths.
"Yea I can do that. Are you okay?" Ayla asks, bending down to Penelope's current height
while her hands are on her knees in an attempt to regulate her breathing.
"I'm *huff* fine *huff*" she barely manages to get out.
"No, stop that. You need to stand up straight and put your arms up behind your head. It'll
help" Ayla instructs.
"Stop momming me. I'm older than you by like a decade." Penelope says, breathing much
better after following Ayla's instructions.
"Uh-huh. Alright. I am going to go change and I will be right out to help set up" Ayla says as
she walks to the lockers.
When Ayla exits the locker room she is wearing what is basically a Playboy Bunny suit minus the cotton tail or ears. Because she is well-known to most regular patrons, she doesn't have to remove the doctors mask.
As Aylas begins setting up, she hears the door open and three pairs of feet walk in and stop right in front of the bar where she is. She looks up to see three girls standing in a line from tallest to shortest; It's the three android sisters: Maxine, Laverne, and Patty.
Maxine is the tallest, standing at 5'11", she has black hair in a pixie cut and wears a bomber jacket, some green cargo pants, and combat boots. The next sister, Laverne is 5'5", has orange, shoulder-length hair and bangs that cover her eyes. She is wearing a nice black and white, sleeveless button up top, but the bottom half of her looks like a half- assed attempt at steampunk with vertical striped brown leggings, combat boots, and a really weird mullet skirt with two buckles helping to keep the front of the skirt up. The last sister, Patty, stands at 4'9" and is wearing a simple white tank top, blue shorts and flip flops. Each sister has a pleasant smile on their face.
They all wave hello before heading off to their dressing rooms. They are the opening act, and they can sing in near perfect harmony with one another. Their arrival can only mean one thing:
It is the beginning of night rush.