The Other Stories of Mobius:
The Mobian Pet Shop
As time flows and ebbs uncontrollably throughout eternity the many shores it washes upon are ever changing. A place once know can be changed and warped until what one knew as fact is replaced with another truth, either to something more appealing or hideous in the eyes of the one gazing upon the sight. Among the ocean that is history a story can be told countless ways and yet still remain true. Each story it's own world, each it's own reality. Kimmy's fate in the world of Mobius is one such tale. While each one is familiar there will always be change. Thus we enter a new world and hear yet another interpretation of how one girl, tossed into a strange world by forces beyond her control, plotted to enslave an entire race to her very whim.
Light crept through the window towards the bed of a young sleeping girl by the name of Sherry. Sherry was a sweet, good spirited girl with blonde hair and emerald green eyes. As the light hit her face and she pouted. She was having such a nice dream, but now she had to awake. "Morning already?" She said as she opened her eyes and pushed the covers off her body. Her hair was a mess, but she would fix that after she took her morning shower. "I would sleep in later, but if I am late for work again the mistress will turn me to stone for three months. While a vacation would be nice it sucks to not be able to do anything." She stepped out of her bed and stripped off her pajamas as she headed to the bathroom. "Shower, make myself presentable, get dressed, eat breakfast and then get to work." It was just a normal day for her, but it was a routine she had learned to enjoy.
After a quick shower she took the time to put her hair into a french braid. Her mistress liked her hair that way and Sherry did not want to displease her as her punishments had the tendency of being unpleasant in several ways. Next she put on her work clothes, which was a green blouse with a matching miniskirt, and headed to her kitchen for a small meal of eggs and an orange. "Time to open the shop." She said as she finished her food. Then she got up from the table and left through a door that lead to the front of her humble store. Already she could hear the sounds of whining and scratching at cage doors. "I know, I know, you are all hungry too! I will be right there to feed and water you all!" She called out as she spread apart the thin curtain the separated her living courters from her work place. She looked out to see many eyes looking to her. Some excited to see her, some sad for wont of their morning feeding and just a few surprised that she had suddenly appeared. "Don't worry, Sherry is here to take care of you all." she spoke to them as she grabbed a bag of animal feed and stepped to the nearest cage. She looked inside to see the animal inside and it looked back.
"Hello Amy, you're looking cute today." She said to the pink anthro hedgehog inside. Amy just pawed at the cage door, wanting what was in the bag Sherry had. The girl took a scoop and used it to get out a large amount of food, pouring it into a bowl in Amy's cage. The hedgehog, happy to be feed, went in a circle on her hands and knees before lowering her face to the bowl and taking several large bites out of it. Sherry smiled. Amy was a nice animal and she thought it a shame that no one had adopted her yet. As she looked around she felt that way about many of the creatures she kept, all of them Mobians and all of them were in her shop to be sold as pets.
The history of how this came to pass was strange, but short. During the years the girl Kimmy had spent in the world of Mobius she had accomplish many great things. The greatest though was the complete enslavement of each and every Mobian man, woman and child. Once assured that she had complete control over the race she found the planet of no further use and returned to her home plane and the kingdom of Talwar. Upon arrival she was greeted by her father, the evil ruler of the city and most of the known world, and she offered him a tenth of her captives as a gift to him. He was so shocked at her return (believing her to be dead) and proud of her conquest that he accepted the gift with the stipulation the she would be the head heir to his legacy. She agreed to his terms.
Two years passed and within it the people of Mobius were treated as any other slaves of Talwar. The men were forced to work night and day in the mines or as solders in the armies of Kimmy's father. The women where turned into maids and service workers to serve the many aristocrats of Talwar hand and foot, though some where placed in the royal harem. Lastly, the children were set to the task of household servants or as what was know as "decoration slaves", slaves simply there to look nice for when important visitors came to the kingdom. None of them resisted as any thought of resistant was suppressed by the immense psychic powers of Kimmy's father. Within that time the king of Talwar had used the new found powers of the mobians to conquer the rest of their world and defeated all his enemies. The world was under his complete rule and the suffering and torment he inflicted went unchecked until one fateful day...
Only one year since his rule had become absolute the evil king's body began to fail. The tyrant knew that his time was up. He called his three daughters Kimmy, Rose and Ashley, to his throne and declared them all to be the rightful rulers of all he controlled. While he feared a civil war between the three he felt that with Kimmy as his head heir she would join them all together to create a permanent hold on this world, making it an outpost of evil for all eternity. The three sisters agreed to rule the land with Kimmy as the queen of the world and satisfied with that their father passed away sending one last mental command to the world he had enslaved. "Obey the heir to my legacy". This command was implanted so deep into the subconscious of the people of that world that it would pass from parent to child ensuring that as long as there was an heir to the throne the world would be force to obey any command they would give.
What happen next was a shock to everyone. Kimmy, now the queen of the realm, had many changes from the way her father did things. First she banished her father's demon forces from the realm and closed off the portals lower planes from which he summoned them. Next she had the blighted land renewed to lush green foliage. Lastly she gathered the enslaved masses and assigned each and every person a city to stay in and a job to preform in that town, allowing families to stay together and forming small utopias all over the world. In just a few years the world went from one ruled by fear to one united in peace under the rule of a single person.
Though despite her best intentions Kimmy could not ignore her father's influence. While she no longer tortured for fun she used such methods as forms of discipline. She also forced all except her closest allies to called her mistress. Lastly, when it came to assign the mobians with tasks she could not overlook that in her mind they were just animals and she decreed that each one be equipped with a collar that would mentally bring them an I.Q. that would match her view of them. Each one becoming nothing more than an animal with no form of humanoid intelligence. With that she gave them the only role they could now preform, they would be retrained to be household pets.
Sherry sat behind her counter having finished feeding all the mobians in her pet shop. She knew that not too many people would stop in. The people who would still be considered aristocrats already had mobians they enjoyed as pets and normal people usually had to many responsibilities to want a high maintenence pet like a mobian. She looked up from the book she was reading for a moment to look at Amy, who she had been let out of her cage to allow the hedgehog stretch her legs. She walked around on her hands and knees going around to each cage and inspecting the other mobians. Like all mobians in this day and age Amy was completely naked except for a collar around her neck that prevented her from using the higher functions of her brain to allow her what was called "human-like intellect". Luckily mobian fur grew to conceal the private part of their bodies, so the hedgehog girl still was able to keep her modesty. "Amy, come here girl." Sherry said as put down her book and opened a bag of treats. The hedgehog heard the call and happily crawled over to the girl.
Sherry reached into the bag and pulled out a small piece of chocolate. "Okay Amy, you know how this works. Lets see a few tricks. Lay down." Amy obeyed and got as low to the ground as she could, placing her breasts flat across the floor. "Good, now roll over." Amy turned over on her back to reveal her belly. "Okay, now beg." The hedgehog moved back to he hands and knees and sat up so she was sitting on her legs with her hands curled up to her chest. She gave Sherry a small whine and sad eyes to complete the act. Sherry laughed at the display. "Okay, okay, you win. You can have it, but stay still till I say so." With that the girl placed the chocolate right on the pink hedgehog's nose, balancing it perfectly. Amy stared at it with anticipation, but she knew better than to act without Sherry's say so. For a moment Sherry just watched Amy struggle not to move or take the candy. "And...NOW!" Amy moved her head to the side and in one quick move grabbed the chocolate out of mid air using only her mouth. "Good girl!" Sherry exclaimed as she petted Amy's head. Amy closed her eyes and smiled, within her tiny mind she couldn't be happier than she was just then. The candy along with the affection from the human that took care of her daily was bliss.
Afterwards Sherry lead Amy back into her cage and locked it just in time to hear her door open. "A customer?" She said before turning to see who had come in. Standing at the door was an older man with a young girl. "Welcome." She said to them. "Feel free to have a look around." As she headed back to her counter the little girl did just that while the man approached Sherry. "May I help you sir?" He nodded. "My daughter turned twelve the other day and for her birthday she said that she wanted a mobian. While me and her mother know they require a lot of attention we thought that it would be a good way to teach her responsibility." Sherry smiled. "Yes, a few parents have done the same in the past. With her age of accountability just six years away it is a perfect time to have her understand that she has a role to fulfill in the mistress' world. So was there any type you were looking for?" The man took a moment before saying. "It would be nice to have one that would be a good guard pet." Sherry understood his request. While the mistress' world was essentially a paradise there would always be those who would pick on those weaker than them or want to abuse others. "Very well sir, let me show you to our more powerful mobians. The ones in the front are mostly the gentle kind that are only good as house pets." The man turned to his daughter. "Katherine, come on. We are going to look at some other mobians." The girl turned and followed her father and Sherry into the next room of the shop.
Katherine was so excited. She was so happy she was going to get a mobian as a pet. She knew of a few other kids who had there own. A boy just down the street from her had a red echidna named Knuckles and a friend of hers from school had a rabbit that she called Bunny. "But there are so many types to choose from." She thought as she looked from cage to cage at the animals. "I really liked that rabbit out front named Vanilla. She looks big enough that I could ride her down the street." It was a known fact that most mobians didn't get that tall or big, most were not even taller than your average twelve year old, but big ones like Vanilla always seemed cute to Katherine.
Sherry looked back to the father and daughter as she showed them around. "As you can see we have a wide selection to choose from." She started pointing them out. "There is Jet the Hawk, I have been looking for an owner for him but he has a bit of an attitude, nothing a firm tap on the beak won't cure though. Here is Rouge the bat, but with her you have to keep your valuables out of reach for she'll make a small nest out of them. This one here is Lupe the wolf. She is actually a nice girl who doesn't get into much trouble, but she has a small scar under her eye from a battle she was in long ago and some don't like such marks to be on their pets." Katherine looked at the wolf and felt a bit sorry for her. She was about ready to pick her, but then she heard a light pawing at one of the cages behind her. She looked and saw a beautiful mobian cat. She quickly ran over to the cage and took a look at the tag on her collar that stated her name, something that all the mobians came with. "So your name is Blaze?" The cat rubbed her face against Katherine's arm, almost as if to say yes to her question.
"Ah, your daughter has a good eye. Blaze here was one of the soldiers in The Last War." Sherry said referring to the war that enslaved the planet under the rule of the now dead king. "Afterwards she stayed as one of the royal guards in the palace of Talwar until the mistress came into power. Since then she has been trained to be a loyal pet and she can preform many cute tricks to entertain your daughter. She is a bit shy, but once she warms up to your family she can be very loving." Katherine looked up to her father. "Daddy I want her. I promise I'll take care of her and give her love everyday. Can I please have her?" He looked at the cat and decided that she seemed like a fine, healthy animal. "Well it is your birthday present so you can have her." "Yay!' The young girl yelled, bouncing with joy.
Sherry opened the cage and put a leash onto the cat's collar, handing it to Katherine. She then lead Blaze, Katherine and the girl's father to the front counter. Katherine could tell that Blaze was a bit scared, but it only made her seem all that much more cute. Sherry pulled out a few paper from beneath the counter and put them in front of Katherine's dad. "I am just going to need you to fill this out and Blaze the cat will belong to you." "No wait!" Katherine yelled going up to the counter. "I want to own her so I'll do it." Sherry couldn't help but to chuckle at the girl. "Very well." She said handing her the papers. "But there are many questions on here that you will need to ask your father about." Katherine nodded and went over to a chair to fill out the forms.
Blaze watched the girl as she sat the looking at the papers in her hand. Katherine looked nice. Her wavy red hair came down to her shoulders and her eyes where a nice color of blue. She didn't understand why Sherry, who had been the only person to hold her leash aside from the mistress, had handed it to this girl. She decided that maybe there was something about it on the papers the girl was writing on. She jumped up onto a small stand next to Katherine's seat, which caused the girl and her father to look to her. Looking at the paper though she saw nothing but squiggly lines that she had no way of understanding. A moment later she received a tap on her nose, a gesture she knew meant she had done something wrong. "Bad girl." Said Katherine, who had given her the tap. "You are not allowed on the table." She said pointing to the floor. While Blaze didn't understand more than the words "Bad girl" and "Not allowed" She decided to follow the girl's finger, knowing that humans pointed out what they wanted most of the time. Her action was rewarded with a "Good girl." and she knew she had done the right thing.
Within thirty minutes the girl had finish the forms. She handed them in and Sherry. Who took them saying. "Okay then, Blaze is now yours. Make sure to take good care of her." Katherine nodded. "I will." "Oh, and you will be needing this." Sherry said handing the girl a book with Blaze's name on it. "What is this?" Katherine asked. "It is a book that will tell you all about Blaze. It has some facts like how old she is and what to feed her and how she will act. It was written by the mistress herself so it should be very accurate." With that she and her father heading to the door. "Bye, bye Blaze." Sherry said. Blaze looked back hearing her name, but a tug at her neck instructed her to follow the girl holding her leash.
For the first time in what might of been a year Blaze was not only out of her cage, but outside of the pet store. She was a bit nervous. She decided to hide behind the closest thing she could, which happened to be the girl with her leash. Katherine looked down at the cat and saw a tiny amount of fear in Blaze's eyes. Blaze confirmed that fear by meowing to the girl with a slight panic. "It's okay Blaze, nothing will hurt you." Katherine said in a calming tone as she reached down to pet Blaze's head. Blaze didn't know why, but the hand of a human on her body always made her feel better.
As they walked through the city Blaze recognized many of the landmarks. She knew that she was in the grand city of Talwar. Though while she recognized the area it looked much different than she remembered. The city, once a haven for evil, was now bright and cheery. Where once people were tortured in the streets and forced into slavery now there were people just living normal lives. The cries of suffering had been trading off for the sound of people talking and children laughing as they played. Even the sky it's self had changed. Once it had been blood red with dark clouds swirling above the city, but now it was a clear blue with only a few white puff clouds. Whatever had happened she felt that the mistress must have been the cause of it and she was happy thinking that as fact.
"Daddy..." The girl said as they walked. "I don't want to go straight home. If you don't mind I am going to show off my new pet to my friends at the park." Her father looked at her. "Ok, but be home before dark." She nodded and they separated. "Let's go Blaze." Katherine said before going into a skip. This caused Blaze to have to move at a faster pace, though she knew from her training that she was suppose to stay behind a person holding her leash at all times unless told otherwise so she had to stay at a slow walking speed. After a moment Blaze found a speed that worked without tiring her, but she still wished the girl would slow down. Luckily for Blaze it wasn't that far to the park and once they got there Katherine slowed down to a walk.
There were many children in the park. Many were playing while others were just relaxing. A few of them even had other mobians with them. Most she didn't know, but she did see a familiar black hedgehog playing fetch with a young boy. She smiled as she watched Shadow catch a Frisbee out of mid air with his mouth. "Hey Seth!" Katherine called out to the boy. He turned his gaze and started walking over once he saw who it was. Shadow quickly followed, still holding the Frisbee in his mouth. "Hey Katherine. I see you got a mobian." He went over to Blaze and reached under her neck. While she was scared Blaze knew that this was normal behavior from humans as it somehow let them know her name. "So your Blaze, huh? I wonder how you got a name like that?" "Let's find out." Katherine said opening her book to the chapter that told of Blaze's origin. "It says here that Blaze was named for her powers to create fire with the power of her mind, though that power has been disabled because of her collar." Katherine pouted. "That is too bad, I wanted to see her make fire." Then a thought came to her. "If the collar is the problem why don't we take it off?" She reached down to the collar to work the strap, but Seth grabbed her arm. "Don't do that! It's against the law to remove a mobian's collar. If you do the mistress will put a collar around your neck and you will become her next pet." Katherine was a bit scared at the thought of that. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Seth nodded. "It's ok, just remember to never take off Blaze's collar, no matter what."
As the two children talked about Blaze she couldn't help but look over to Shadow. She felt that she liked the hedgehog and she wanted to play with him, but without permission from a human she knew that it would be a bad idea and she didn't enjoy getting tapped on the nose. She let out a low whine to get Katherine's attention. "Oh, I'm sorry Blaze. Seth do you mind in she plays with Shadow?" "Not at all." He replied. Katherine unclipped the leash from Blaze's collar. "You can go and play Blaze as long as you don't go out of my sight." "You too Shadow." Seth added. Blaze went over to Shadow and pawed at the Frisbee before Shadow ran off into an open field. Blaze went after him and Seth and Katherine laughed at the sight. "They must know each other. Mobians are usually wary of strangers." said Seth. "You sure do know a lot about mobians Seth." said Katherine. "Well my mom got me Shadow a year ago. At first he was a hand full but now I can make him do lots of tricks. I can even get him to fetch my shoes in the morning and I taught him to sleep outside in the house I built him." Katherine shook her head. "I want Blaze to be an indoors mobian. She can sleep on my bed at night right next to me." "That's okay I guess, but I hear some mobians shed and it can get hair everywhere." Katherine thought about it. "That might be some work, but I think I will try it and see how it goes."
After a while of going back and forth taking the Frisbee from each other Blaze and Shadow got tired. They went back over to their respective owners who clipped leashes onto their collars. "It is getting late anyways. I'll see you tomorrow." Katherine told the boy. "Sure, I'll bring Veronica along too so she can bring Big." "Okay and I'll invite Jake so he can bring Knuckles. They will all have so much fun together." They agreed and gave each other their goodbyes and Katherine headed home with her new mobian. "You will like it at home Blaze. It's not too big but it's nice."
Once they got to Katherine's home Blaze was introduced to her mother and they sat down to diner. "What does Blaze eat?" Katherine's mom asked the girl, who had her book open. "It says here that Blaze can eat a large amount of meats like beef, fish and chicken, but it is best to feed her cat food at least once a day to keep her content with being a simple house mobian. Too many treats will spoil her and make her a picky eater." "Well we'll have to get some tomorrow, but it shouldn't hurt for tonight if she has what we are having." She said placing before the cat a bowl of milk and a large juicy steak on a plate. Blaze's thoughts of the mother quickly changed to pure approval. She was happy to get something other than cat food and water like she did at the pet store.
Later that night Katherine showed Blaze to her room. "You will be sleeping in here. I am going to try letting you sleep with me on the bed, but you start to shed I'll have to get a little kitty bed for you to sleep in." Blaze hardly understood a word of that, but when the girl picked her up and placed her under the covers of the bed she figured it was time to go to sleep. The girl changed into a pair of pink pajamas and climbed into bed next to Blaze. "We are going to have so much fun from now on Blaze. Now be a good girl and go to sleep." Katherine kissed the cat on the cheek and in return Blaze licked her once on the face. With a smile Katherine turned off her light and the both of them went soundly to sleep.