Author's note: oooh boy, ashley is moving up, always had this place as her base of opperation in my story but never really took the time to write down how she actually got the place and made it what it was now, so, here y'all go.
Again, i'd love to hear what you guys think and overall, i hope you enjoy.
Chapter 12:
A matter of (after) taste
Earlier that month, divebar the after taste, pride ring, hell"
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Ashley and Pink were sitting around a table with a quite tall imp, going over a set of construction plans as the hellborn demon spoke "And on this raised platform all the way in the back, will be a special door to the stairs to the private quarters, where you'll be able to look over the whole club interior"
The 2 sinners nodded as Ashley spoke "ya think you can make those windows a one-way mirror? And maybe sound-proof the walls? For privacy reasons of course"
To this, the imp just gave them a smirk "ahhhh yes, "Privacy reasons" I see" as he made airquote gestures with his fingers, to which the 2 women rolled their eyes before he spoke up again "Yea I think my boys can do that" as he pulled out a pencil and made some more additions to the papers in front of them, the man clearly being some kind of contractor for construction jobs.
Pink eagerly shook her friend's shoulder " EEEEEEEEE Ashleyyyyyy, I can't believe this is happening!" she said in excitement.
Ashley just laughed as she sat her friend back down in her chair "Pink, breathe, I swear if ya keep hyperventilating like that, you're gonna pass out"
Pink rubbed the back of her head "Eh, sorry Ash, I'm just so excited about these plans, this could solve our money issues for a good while, we'll have a steady stream of funds coming in.
Ashley dragged her friend back to the present "Holdup pink, don't get your taco in a twist just yet,
We still don't know how much this will cost us" As she gave the imp man a glance expectantly.
The hellborn just shrugged "You galls gave me a budget, I worked with that, should be good" At which The shark-grinned sinner smiled before asking "And how long will the construction take sir…?" she trailed off, having already forgotten the imp's name.
The imp proudly puffed up his chest as he spoke "Guts, name's Guts Brimstone of "Brimstone contractors" and to answer your question, Miss Fortune, current estimation would be a few months, I'm counting 3, but there's always the possibility of a slight delay, ya know how it goes"
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Nightclub "the after taste,one week before the grand opening, pride ring, hell:
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The 2 sinners were eagerly standing outside across the street, observing the construction site as Ashley spoke up "Guts said his boys are all done with the outside, they're doing the finishing touches to the interior. If all of this goes well, we'll be able to open in a week"
To this, Pink was practically bouncing up and down on her hooves
"I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE BIG OPENING NIGHT! I pulled some strings and had some of my gall palls so promote the place, not to mention they themselves wanted to be there FRONT of the line when we open"
Ashley smirked and held out her fist "Fuck yea, Pink, pound it!"
The 2 would excitedly fistbump before Pink threw an arm around her bestie's shoulder as the 2 beheld the building before them with a content smile
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Nightclub "the aftertaste", opening night, pride ring, hell:
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"Come on Angy, ya bitch, we gotta check this new place out" A one eyed sinner with a large grin, wild hair and a strong Australian accent was dragging a taller, white and pink spider sinner along with her as the distant sounds of muffled music and the busting of people was slowly getting louder as the 2 of them approached their destination.
"Geeze Cherry, I already said I was coming, calm your tits" The spider sinner, Angel Dust, spoke up as he followed his friend, Cherry Bomb.
Soon, the aforementioned building came into view, a large, modern looking building with possibly 5 floors, the bottom of which being covered with a sleek design, lined with neon lights.
There was a large neon sign on the front of the building of a set of feminine lips, sticking a tongue out in-between 2 fingers as bellow; it read "the aftertaste"
There was a large line of eager sinners at the front door already as a large, hammerhead-shark like demon in a black blazer and fingerless gloves, clearly the bouncer, was checking people before giving a nod towards the door, then shouting "NEXT"
Angel and Cherry excitedly joined the back of the line, which moved surprisingly fast as it didn't take long before it was their turn.
The large shark man lowered his sunglasses, to give an observing look at the duo, tho Angel was honestly more impressed with the fact they made sunglasses for such a specific headshape, before the man spoke up "Holdup, you the pornstar?" to which Angel flirtatiously stroked a finger over the man's chest "Ooooh I see you've seen some of my films, ya big hunk?"
The large sinner just gave a unimpressed shrug "Eh, you're apparently a buddy of the boss so….in ya go I guess" as he gestured over his shoulder towards the door with his head, but as Cherry wanted to follow, he held up his hand "No skippin the line, miss" to which Angel Dust put his hand on the shark man's wrist "She's with me, hotstuff"
The hammerhead-shark demon gave a defeated sigh as he piped up "Ight, you're free to head in, miss" and as the 2 walked in, they just about heard the man go "NEXT" before the outside sounds were drowned out by the music inside.
As they stepped inside, they saw a large area for people to congregate, the floor full of sinners of all shapes, sizes and genders dancing, drinking and making out, on a platform towards the back wall was what seemed to be a large, elaborate DJ-booth where a 4 armed sinner girl with curled ram horns was in the middle of a set, as she herself was also vibing on the music and hyping up the crowd.
There was a large balcony-esque area hugging the walls, a platform with railing connecting both sides in the middle, allowing people to look down at the dancefloor from above.
On the right side, near the front there were several sitting booths were people could tuck back into to sit and rest their legs while more towards the back, there were doors, groups of sinners coming in and out, it seemed this club even had "private rooms"
Against the left wall was a long, ornate bar, the underside shining with that same neon design as there were several bartenders serving drinks, a ragdoll looking gentleman, a large boar man with a prosthetic instead of a right hand, clearly not wanting to be there, and a slender, curvaceous lady with pink skin and platinum blonde hair who looked almost like a succubus.
As the 2 sinners approached the bar, the blonde, succubus like sinner girl leaned forward on her elbow as she gave them a smile "Well well well, wasn't expecting a celebrity here, Mister angel dust, a pleasure having ya here on our first opening night" she smiled as the both of them "Welcome to "the aftertaste" so, what can I do ya for? Is it a "partying" kinda night or a "drinking to forget" kinda night? Pick your poison"
Angel smiled as he pulled an arm around cherry's shoulder and pulled her in "Oh just a night with my bestie on the town" to which Cherry bomb responded "Oh fuck yea bitch, so how about we start with 2 long-islands and see where it goes from here?"
The pink sinner bartender smiled and began to mix up their drinks "Well good thing you're a buddy of the boss, to how about this? This first drink's on the house" Angel Dust's eyes widened "Again?! Who is this boss of yours?!"
Almost on cue, Angel and Cherry heard a loud voice behind them, a voice Angel recognized "ANGEL DUST, MY MAN, HAVEN'T SEE YOU IN FUCKIN FOREVER" And as they turned around, Angel was met with the crazy sinner who fell from the sky over half a year ago, tho this time, she was dresses almost business casual, she wore a white button-up that had some buttons undone at the top, revealing a decent amount of cleavage, while the rolled up parts of her sleeves were a nice accented black.
Her hair was up in a messy bun, she wore golden hoop earrings, her dress shirt was tucked neatly into a set of form fitting, sleek black dress pants as she was wearing a shiny set of fancy, shiny, black and white shoes, as well as sporting black, fingerless gloves.
She wore a subtle bit of dark purple eye-shadow to accent her face, overall, she gave off almost a mob-boss kinda vibe, as she had a glass of whiskey on the rocks in one hand and a lit cigar in the other.
"HOLY SHIT, ASHLEY?! YOU'RE THE BOSS?!" Angel smiled, seeing his friend again as he ran over and gave her a tight hug, lifting her up and doing a twirl before setting her back down on her feet "Holy shit, so THIS is what you've been up to after ya left the hotel?!"
Cherry bomb would suddenly grab Angel's wrist tightly, and as he looked over, he saw something in her eyes that his friend didn't show often…..fear….."Angie, can we talk for a sec?...ALONE?!"
Confused, Angel Dust followed his friend to a more secluded area as once they were out of earshot, she grabbed him and shook him around "Angie you bitch?! Do you even know who that is?! That's fucking "Miss Fortune"! Since when are you friends with a fucking OVERLORD?!"
Angel would raise an eyebrow in confusion "How do ya mean? Listen, I told ya about Ashley, right? She's the awesome, crazy bitch who got kicked out of heaven for trying to get into the high seraphim's panties"
Cherry would rub her temples "Yea you told me, but you never fucking mentioned that this Ashley was THE FUCKING ANARCHY DEMON!"
Cherry bomb pulled out her phone and showed Angel the video of Ashley going haywire in the combat zone as she held a rather unsavory bull sinner by a chain that can only be manifested by a soul contract
"I mean, she "seems" alright, so far, she only goes after jackasses, but to be honest, I ain't wana fuckin risk it" Angel's eyes went wide as he thought to himself "Ashley?! A fucking overlord?!"
"Risk what exactly?" they heard as suddenly, Ashley appeared between them, one arm over Cherry's shoulder and the other around Angel dust's waist, pulling them in, causing Cherry to tense up.
Ashley's eyes fell on Cherry's phone as she saw the video, before sighing and looking at the one-eyed girl "Look…..i get the kinda reputation I've gathered, but I can assure ya, unless you're a fucking bully, you have no reason to fear me, alright sweetcheeks?" she said, giving Cherry a smile and a playful wink, before stepping out in front of them with her arms out " so go on, have fun, dance, drink and FUCK to your heart's content, ANY friend of Angel is a friend of mine, drinks on me, how's that?
About 40 minutes later, the tension had lessened as the 3 were taking up space at the bar, Pink neon having joined them, tho still behind said bar, making drinks.
"Aaaaaand that's how me and Ash got here" The pink sinner finished her story" To which Cherry bomb and Angel Dust stared at the 2 sinners with mouths agape.
Cherry was the first to break the silence " holy shit you two are absolutely insane….I LIKE YOU GUYS" She stated with a wide grin.
Angel leaned over to Ashley as he tapped her on the shoulder "Hey Ash-Ash, ya sure we can have drinks on the house? I mean, I sure as hell ain't complainin but, this is your opening night, I don't wana put you out"
Ashley just exchanged a smirk with Pink as the succubus like sinner spoke up from behind the bar "Well, that won't be an issue because this opening night was a HUGE success, the cash is fucking FLOWIN!
"FUCK. YEEEEES" Ashley spoke in a sing-song way as the 2 of them hooked their pinkies together before eagerly shouting to each other " RIDE-OR-DIE, BITCH" in unison, the large boar man on Pink's side of the bar grumbling to himself behind them in an annoyed manner.
It was at this point that the pornstar's eyes fell on a shiny glint at Ashley's hip and his eyes widened. "Ash-Ash…..how….in the fresh hell…..did you get your fucking hands…..on THOSE?!" as he pointed to the ornate, carmine craft pistols on Ashley's belt.
The shark-grinned sinner closed her eyes and tilted her head down with a smug smirk "Heh, funny story actually. Let's just say I've made some "Friends in high places" so to say"
But as Ashley began to tell the tale, a shape in the crowd pressed the "stop-recording" button on her phone as she growled to herself "…..fucking carmine….." before making her way to one of the more quiet booths, sat down and made a call.
"heyyyy Velvette, and how's your ni-"
"Cut the shit, Vox, we have a fucking problem, our plan is fucked" as she sends him the video….
Note: oooooh things are getting a little spicy, let's just say Ashley isn't particularily becoming "friends" with the Vee's, ESPECIALLY Velvette, beginnin gof a rivalry perhapse?