*Play Song: The Poem of Everyone's Souls*

Akira lay face down on his bed. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he was teleported back into his room, but he refused to move from his position. Forcing himself to move his arm, he reached out to his bedside table to grab his phone.

...Only for his hand to reach out to nothing. Confused, he forced himself to look towards his right, and noticed that his bedside table wasn't there.

In fact, he wasn't even in his own room. Whatever fatigue holding Akira down vanished, as he instantly jolted upright after recognising the room he was now in.

For the third time in his life, Akira Kurusu was in The Velvet Room. The familiar crushed velvet coated cell looked the same as ever. One difference that Akira instantly noticed, was the lack of the prisoners uniform. Instead, his familiar Phantom Thief attire replaced the striped uniform.

After a few seconds, mostly spent trying to calm himself down, Joker looked towards the cell door. The door was locked shut, much like his previous calling to the Velvet Room. Even down to the two crossing chains present in front of the door. As he looked towards the the middle of the room, a familiar long nosed face, that wasn't there during his last quest, was sat at the desk in the centre of the room.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." The long-nose man said.

"My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter... It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future."

"Another fate...?" Joker mentally questioned, wondering what Igor called him here for.

"It appears we meet again." Igor said. "Why don't you remind me of your name...?" Igor added, as a neatly bound contract and pen materialized in front of Joker.

Remember why Igor wouldn't remember his name, Joker obliged and signed his name on the contract.

Once Akira placed the pen back down on the (now signed) contract, it quickly vanished, before rematerializing on Igor's desk. "Hm... I see." Igor muttered, reading over the contract, before the binder that the contract was bound within closed gently.

"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place..." Igor reiterated. "Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so." He added. "I only ask one thing in return... that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices that you make."

Akira was about to question further, until a jolt of pain flashed through his head. Stumbling backwards, he fell onto the cell's bed. With his vision fading, he heard Igor speak once again. "The Velvet Room is almost ready for your use. You shall be called again soon, when it's complete." Igor chuckled lightly. "Farewell, Akira."

Akira's vision went blurry as Igor wrapped up his speech. As he lay on the bed, he blinked his eyes a few times.

*End Song*

Reality Breach: Episode Four

Pinball Table Of Jealousy

Written By Silver Wright

Based on the Video Games developed by Atlus Co. Ltd

Based on the Characters created by Atlus Co. Ltd, Nintendo & Sega

After the last blink, Akira suddenly found himself back in his Smash Mansion room, still clad in his Metaverse attire. Using his slowly returning strength, he pushed himself up, and looked around his room. The only thing of difference that he noticed in his room was the addition of...

"Jacob-San?" Joker questioned, surprisingly calmly.

"Good morning, Aki- Joker, sorry." Jacob replied.

"How long have you been in here?" Joker asked.

"I was teleported here, and I arrived right as you collapsed onto your bed." Jacob chuckled. "You were just too tired to notice."

"Wait, how long have I been asleep for?" Joker asked.

"About two and a half hours." Jacob replied, before giving Joker a look of light concern. "Are you ok? This hasn't stressed you out or anything, has it?"

"No, I'm fine." Joker replied. "It seems that it was more than just a catnap I had."

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked.

"I was called into The Velvet Room. And this time, Igor was there." Joker replied.

"Wait, what?" Jacob questioned. "Why was he there now, if he wasn't there two summers ago?"

"I don't know." Joker replied. "But if he called me directly, especially after what happened in the mansion today, then I fear that we're in for more danger than we anticipated."

"We shouldn't think like that yet." Jacob said. "The first thing we should do right now, is make sure everyone else is safe. And then, we figure out if there's anything we can do to help."

Joker nodded. "You're right." He said. "Let's group with the other thieves, and then we can plan... something, I guess. Although, I'm not sure what we can do."

"I guess we gotta talk with everyone as soon as we can." Jacob said. "If push comes to shove, we can talk to The Retro Renegade."

Speaking of which, The Retro Renegade were in Mario's room. The 4 characters discussing what they could possibly do with the current situation.

"So, what's the game plan?" Pac-Man asked.

Mega Man sighed. "For the first time, I don't know."

Mario placed his head against his hand. "Mama Mia..." He sighed. "What do we do?" Mario turned to his left. "Any ideas, So-"

The trio realised that Sonic was not in the room with them. "Wait, where's Sonic?!" Pac-Man exclaimed.

"Why would he have just left...?" Mega Man pondered, before a look of dread filled his face. "Oh shit." He exclaimed.

"What is it?" Mario questioned.

"If the robots in this attack belong to Eggman..." Mega Man said.

"Oh. Oh no!" Mario realised. "He's going after Eggman isn't he?!"

Mega Man's dread disappeared. "Pac and I will stay here. You go after him."

Mario nodded. "Contact me if you figure anything out."

The other two nodded. "Will do." They said in unison.

Mario charged out of the room, towards where he knew Sonic was going. The mansion's workshop. Even when Sephiroth arrived, Eggman was bunkered down in there. Both Mario and Sonic knew he'd be in there.

Somehow, Mario caught up to Sonic, who noticed the plumber approaching.

Sonic stopped, and sighed. "I almost knew you'd show up." He said, bluntly.

"Sonic..." Mario said, before the Hedgehog cut him off.

"You're gonna tell me this isn't worth it, aren't you?" Sonic questioned. "I know, but after what he's already done..." Sonic sighed. "...I just don't know what else to do besides confronting Eggman..."

"We can ask him what's going on, and then get out opinions from after talking with him." Mario said. "If we go straight into attacking him, then we might not get him to cooperate."

Sonic took a moment to think, before nodding. "Yeah, you're right." Sonic said.

Mario and Sonic began walking towards the workshop. "Plus, with the way the mansion rules apply to the villains, part of me wants to doubt that Eggman would even consider this idea. He may have moments of utter stupidity, but he's not a total idiot."

Mario chuckled. "Man, you saying nice things about Eggman?"

"Don't get the wrong idea." Sonic replied. "I'm mostly referring to the fact he's intelligent enough to create actual working robots. Nothing more."

"Fair enough." Mario responded.

The two reached the workshop, and pushed the doors open. As predicted, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was in the room. As soon as the doors opened, he noticed the two icons by the doors.

"I take it you two are here to tell me where everyone is?" He said.

Mario and Sonic went silent. "Are... are you playing dumb?" Sonic questioned.

"What?" Eggman asked.

"You are aware that the mansion is in lockdown, right?" Mario asked.

"Lockdown?" Eggman asked. "How long has it been locked down?"

"Roughly two hours." Sonic replied. "Honestly, I'm impressed that you think playing dumb will work. It's your robots that have got us on lockdown."

Eggman was suddenly taken aback. "What?! My robots are attacking the mansion?!" he exclaimed in shock.

Seeing Eggman's reaction, Sonic suddenly found himself wondering if Eggman was actually playing dumb or not. Before he could say anything, Mario spoke up. "Do you have any clue as to what's been going on today?"

Eggman paused for a moment, lost in thought. Before speaking up. "I was here in the workshop, and planned to leave around ten minutes before the tournament started. But just as I was leaving, everything went black, and I felt a jolt of pain in my back. And then, I woke up back here about three minutes ago."

Mario's face suddenly soured, and Sonic took notice. "What's with that face?" Sonic asked.

"If Bowser wasn't aware of what was going on with the fight, then Eggman could've been the one in control." Mario said. "That said, I think Eggman might've been unwillingly used."

"Unwillingly?" Eggman questioned. "Are you saying...?"

"Mind control." Sonic said. "But if that was the case, it doesn't explain how he has no knowledge of the past few hours..."

"I'm not sure how much I can provide, but I'm willing to cooperate with you two in whatever you're doing." Eggman said. "If you're saying that my robots are involved, then I'll see what I can do to stop them."

The other two nodded. "Follow us, Eggman. We'll show you what's going on."

"Narukami! Why did you bring her here?" Yosuke questioned. "The teleporters are down!"

Everyone else looked towards Yu, and noticed that he was holding the hand of mansion visiting Hazel Brown. Which unbeknownst to anyone but Yosuke, trapped her in Inaba with no way back to her friends, who were still in danger in the locked down mansion.

Upon Yosuke's exclamation, Yu's face went blank. His eyes widening slightly. "This... was not planned." He said, looking towards Hazel.

"What was the plan?" Yosuke asked.

"I felt myself being pushed and dragged as everyone was leaving the arena..." Hazel began. "I then felt Narukami-Kun grab my arm in an attempt to make sure I wasn't lost in the crowd."

"That's our Senpai!" Rise exclaimed, proudly.

"Yeah, Yeah, noble cause and all that..." Yosuke said. "But the teleporters are down, so Hazel-Chan is trapped here with us, while her friends are stuck in the mansion."

Rise huffed at Yosuke's comment, before noticing that Hazel displayed a face of complete and total panic. Almost as quickly as it was noticed, it disappeared from Hazel's face. "I don't see much of an issue with this." Hazel began. "After all, if everyone else is in the mansion, then my friends have probably the greatest security in the world."

Kanji nodded. "She's got a point." He said.

"Gotta say, I'm with Hazel-Chan on this one." Chie added.

"Really?" Hazel asked. "Because I'm actually really scared for everyone's safety." Hazel took a deep breath, before continuing. "The chaos in the mansion when everything happened, added in with the fact that not even Sephiroth created a reaction this serious when he arrived, has really got me worried."

Naoto sighed. "Unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do." She said. "Aside from checking the teleporter status every now and again, all you can do is just stay with us."

Yu spoke up. "On that note, if need be, I can check with Dojima-San to see if there is any space in his house for you to stay."

Hazel was taken aback. "You don't need to do that, Narukami-San!" she exclaimed.

"It's no big deal." Yu casually brushed off.

"Also!" Yukiko cut in. "If Yu-Kun is unable to help, then please come to The Amagi Inn! I'll see to it that you have a room to sleep in should you need it."

Hazel smiled at Yu and Yukiko, touched by their generosity. "Thank you both, so much."

"Now then..." Chie began. "I believe that we need to learn more about our new friend."

"You're right." Kanji said, before triumphantly punching the air. "Time for a group bonding session."

"Great idea!" Teddie replied. "Maybe this'll prevent Hazel-Chan from feeling as bear-rified as she is now!"

Hazel gave Teddie a deadpanned look, before pushing the bear onto his back.

"N-Noooooooooooo...!" Teddie cried, rocking back and forth on his back as he tried in vain to get back up.

To Be Continued...