Chapter 1: Adjusting to Hell

"Ventura, Chase?" "Here." It was the first day of school, and sadly, Chase was already regretting it. People in her class, all of them, were staring intently at her. She doubted people would try to approach her now. To her surprise, a boy leaned over to her, "Hey, Ace." As Chase's fists clenched, he retreated, content with the evil he had done. She hated it when people made fun of her because of her father. Chase flipped him off, catching the attention of her new instructor. "Ms. Ventura! That is not something we do at this school! How you managed yourself at home is definitely not the way we manage ourselves at our fine institute!" Chase raised an eyebrow, "If it's a fine institute, why are you here?" A couple snickers were heard from the back, "Hey, Ace, I didn't know they let animals in here!" Chase narrowed her eyes, pushing herself from the desk, causing her chair to topple over backwards. "You better shut up before I make you!" Chase yelled. The instructor grabbed her by the arm, "Principal's office. Now!"

So that was where she was currently. Chase was sitting in the big chairs they had for troublemakers in the office, pouting as much as she could. They'd call her father. She definitely didn't want him to walk in. Chase groaned, letting her head hang. The principal walked in and signaled for Chase to come forward. As soon as Chase had reached the principal, she got on her knees and started begging, "Please don't call my dad! Please don't call him! Please don't make him come!" The principal stared at her with wide eyes, "I hadn't thought of doing that since it's your first day. I just… Want to talk to you." Chase sighed with relief, "Okay, I'm all up for that." The principal led Chase into the office and sat her down in the leather chair. Leather… Her father would disapprove greatly. "Chase, is something going on at home?" Where could she start?

"Um… No, nothing's wrong. Well, my mother… But, my dad and I have dealt with it quite well," Chase said, looking at the principal's name card: Karen R. Katz. "What about your mother?" she questioned. Chase bit her lip. She didn't like talking about it, especially to strangers. It only revealed her father was as messed up in the head as he was. "Well, she left my dad. He brought his work home with him all the time, and… Well our rent is behind and stuff," Chase said. It wasn't exactly a lie, but she wasn't admitting the full truth. "Is there anything else that's bothering you, dear?" Chase shook her head. Ms. Katz sighed, "Very well, but I hope that the next time I see you, you won't have come see me by force. I'm here when you want to talk." Chase nodded, grabbing her backpack from the floor and running out.

The bell rang the instant she'd gotten out of the office, and a herd of teenagers had run towards her, or rather, at the gate. Chase had to flatten herself against a wall in order to not be crushed. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw that not even her shoes had been marked or scratched. She walked towards the door with heavy feet. Father would be picking her up… In their lovely car with broken windows and he would probably have the car filled with his "work." Chase gulped, opening the door to go outside. Sure enough, there was the 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo Hard Top, zooming past every car…In the wrong direction. Chase hid herself in the shadows, observing what her father would do. People gave him obscene hand gestures, names, and such, and he laughed it off. Another embarrassing thing: his laugh. It sounded like a choking Chihuahua. Chase hoped he would wait until she would appear before calling out her name. "CHASE VENTURA!" Her face grew red and she stood behind the pillar.

How could her brother stand it? Rex and Jr. were sitting in the back of the car, petting a macaw Chase had never seen in her life. She bit her lip, hesitating on whether she should be seen with her father. Maybe people would think he was crazy? "CHASE VENTURA!" She rushed into his sight and into the car. "Shut up," she snarled. "Rough day at school? Alrighty then…" Chase pursed her lips together to hold back her comments. Rex laughed from the back, "Did you meet a lot of nice people?" Chase sighed, only to have Spike the Second climb over the seat and onto her shoulders. Spike was the only animal of her father's whom she actually tolerated, mainly because little Spike had been born a runt. She felt like the runt of the family, even though she was actually her father's height. "Chase… What's with all the silence? Got your report card today?" asked her grandfather. Chase sighed, petting Spike's head, "I just transferred to public school. Doubtful they'll give me a report card." "Ace, your daughter got her report card today," he said, completely ignoring her.

Mr. Schickadance was, of course, outside watering his plants. Jr. and Ace laughed as they tossed rocks at the poor man's head. Rex cackled, but had to stop due to his ailing health. Chase yawned, leaning against the window of the car, petting Spike, now on her shoulder. "Why bother with it, dad? He's just going to catch you," she called out. Jr. turned around, "You really like to spoil fun, don't you?" Her father laughed his strange little laugh, "If I distract him, you take care of Spike, the macaw, and the penguin." Chase looked around… A penguin? Sure enough, a little tuxedo bird waddled out of the car and ran up to Rex, who in turn, picked it up ever so gently. Chase sighed. This was her family: Ace Ventura, a psychotic animal lover, with a very high IQ but a little too extroverted and flamboyant. Then there was Rex Ventura. He seemed to be the only sane one besides her, but that was just because he was old. He told stories of travelling the world, which seemed outrageous to others. She, however, knew otherwise. Ace Ventura Jr. was… Just like her father, only chunkier. And then… There was her mother.

Melissa Robinson had been wrongly accused of stealing a baby panda, and her brother had put a stop to it. A year after her mother had been released from jail, Chase had been born. The age difference between her brother was 12 years, and why he still chose to stick with dad was still unknown to her. Chase knew the instant she would be 16, she would leave. Her father hadn't exactly said she couldn't leave at the moment, had he? Maybe inside Chase, there was really this little girl who was fond of her father and wanted to stay with him forever? She laughed, causing Rex and Jr. to turn and give her strange looks. Chase sighed. Only minutes ago they'd been laughing and throwing rocks at Mr… Where was Mr. Schickadance? Chase turned and saw that he was nowhere in sight. "Um…" "Ventura," called a raspy voice from behind. "Yes, Satan?" he froze.

Chase bit her lip, running from the scene, trying to conceal herself. She refused to admit that she was related to that idiot. How was he her father? Chase sighed, sitting down on the bench of the park nearby her father's apartment. "Parents? I've had my share of terrible times with them." Chase looked up. An angel with black hair and green eyes stood in front of her. Chase could hardly feel her heart in her chest anymore. It was in her head.