The wolf headed on to go meet Johnny. The place at Shōga Street happens to be a bar and billiards house known as 'Kieran'.
Some of the members of the Hooligans that once rolled with Manic were there; having their share of off-hours recreation. Either drinking, smoking, playing one of the arcade games in the corner or playing billiards at one of the many tables in the bar. Akira would reach Kieran and head on inside, passing a few Hooligans that nodded to him in acknowledgement on the way in before finding Johnny seated with a few of Anton's guys.
"Hey, my oven off at home?" One of them called to the disguised Akira upon sighting him coming over to their table. Wearing a yellow beanie, tank-top and cargo pants with a necklace chain.
"Yeah, it is you lazy asshole." Akira replied in his nasally tone, mimicking what Grady would normally sound like with help from the Doctor giving him advice on how to shift his vocal cords a little. "Could have just checked it yourself."
"Eh. Didn't feel like walking all the way over to see if it's on or not."
"Least he didn't leave the fridge runnin' or otherwise he'd have to go catch it." Joked the Hooligan with a red leather jacket and a pair of black leather pants.
"Lame jokes as always. Bet it took ya months to come up with that." Tutted a female Hooligan member clad in a pale pink tube top and skintight pink leopard-print spandex pants, bearing that distinct gyaru look.
"Shut up Harley. Go back to swooning over Hud."
"Yer jus' jealous because I have a chance with that hunk!" Harley snapped; then gained a dreamy look on her face as she swooned over the thought of Hud. "Oh Hud, take me now~"
"Dress more like a slut an' maybe he'll notice you." Said another Hooligan in a blue and tan varsity-style leather jacket, giving Harley a quick slap on the ass before going back over to his billiards game to take his next shot. Akira is told by Manic that this is Weldon.
'Hope you enjoy being his stay in the kitchen woman if he finally notices you...' Akira scoffs as he goes to sit at the table near Johnny. "As if. He putting you to sleep while I was gone?"
"Nah. He's been good company unlike your gooner ass." Said a red rooster in a green cardigan, chewing on some gum.
"Yeah, he's like way more interesting than you." A coyote in olive-green army jacket added.
"Not to mention better-lookin'~" Said an orange vixen wearing the same distinct look that Harley wore though with thicker thighs looking at Johnny. "You got a girlfriend hunny?"
"Don't mind Patty." Said a mouse wearing a tight white leather tank-top and black leather pants with side lacing. "She's a mouthy broad."
"So dumb that she'd be fucking Tod's brains out if you lock them in a room together." Said the tank-top wearing jerboa that Akira knows as Johnson Jerboa and despite the name, he has no known association with Princess Venus. "Couldn't clue a salumi from a penis."
"Yet she only gave you head two nights ago." The red roaster named Vance commented.
"So? She does that for everyone else here."
"Yeah." Added the coyote. "She's like th' village knob polisher. Everyone's had their bells cleaned by her once and she's at least deep throated three of us."
"Yeah, even me!" Said a hummingbird in a leopard-print onesie and black boots. Akira knows him as D. F.
"The only head you ever had was with that drag queen hooker from 43rd Street." Called a bat boy clad in a tattered black tank top with a punk rock band's logo on the front of it.
"Hey, she was very convincing alright?"
"Yeah. As convincing as three kids under a long overcoat passing themselves off as an adult."
"For your question Patty..." Johnny looks to the orange vixen with a coy smile, tipping his sunglasses down a bit and Akira wonders if his charming-natured Persona having that effect on his demeanour or his own. "Unfortunately, that's on a need to know basis only. I don't kiss and tell."
"Oooooh~" Patty cooed with blushing cheeks.
"Aren't you some kinda ladies man..." The billiards-player said to Johnny, looking over his current shot at the table at him. "How many bitches you banged pretty boy?"
"A gentleman never tells..." Johnny pushes his sunglasses back up. "And a good magician never disclose their secrets."
"And I gave Sally the knots." Akira says as something Grady would say. "Don't know what makes a slick like you any different from any other two-bit schmucks off the streets."
"Talent of course." Johnny nonchalantly. "I'm a natural at what I do. If I wasn't any good, I wouldn't be here now."
"Anton will be the judge of that Leadfoot."
"That's the key phrase here tenderfoot. Anton will be the judge of whether or not you're worthy of us." The billiard player smirks when he lined the shot up perfectly, sending the four ball into the corner pocket.
"Exactly." Harley added with a grin. "Boss knows his shit, that's for sure~"
"I suppose I'll have to give him plenty of reasons to consider me for his outfit." Johnny nodded. Having a confidant posture on.
"Yeah, he doesn' bring in just anyone man. He musta seen somethin' in ya if he brought you in."
"He probably sees his fashion sense." The hummingbird grins. "Nice actual outfit my dude~"
"I know. I've had plenty of maidens telling me about it." Johnny sat straighter in his chair. "More times than I can keep track of."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't start blowing your own horn." Akira said dismissively.
"Yet you can?" Johnson Jerboa rolls his eyes. "Talk about pot calling the kettle black..."
"Hey watch it, I outrank you in the gang."
"Whatever."
"Ever gone down to Lilith's on the corner of Prima St?" Vance asks Johnny.
"Can't say I have. Still getting acquainted with the city."
"Would have asked you on if you've met Big Mama there."
"Big Mama?"
"A new rabbit chick they got in. Started showing up a few weeks ago."
"Aw yeah, Big Mama..." The hummingbird said with an indecent expression. "I've heard of her... She's got thick, juicy thighs and plenty of curves~"
"Not like you'd know that." Harley told him.
"And you would?"
"You only know all that because of second hand accounts from the guys who've seen her..." Vance snorted.
"Aside from the thighs, she's got a nice bakery in the back if you catch my drift, legs from here to ya-ya, a fine pair of milkers and a sexy bod that's almost pear-shaped..." Johnson did the pear gesture. "She's the total babe package. Too bad her services doesn't include sex or a bunch of us would be fucking her brains to mush until she can't walk right now."
The Hooligan playing billiards states; "Tight latex, black masquerade mask, whips, crops... She's the dominatrix of our dreams as much as Kanga's the performer of our daydreams."
"I heard her rates vary for the kinda things she does to her clients." Patty says.
"Not an unfounded claim. I visited her one time and she charged me one-hundred ten mobiums for a petplay session."
"You are like a pet." Akira said to him, keeping in mind on how outspoken Grady can be around his colleagues.
"Shut th' fuck up Grady." The bat responded with a glare.
"Easy now Ryder." The billiard-playing mobian told him. "He has a point you know."
"Pfft. Whatever."
"Any idea on when exactly he'll want to see me?" Johnny spoke up.
"Whenever he's done doing one of his business deals, subjecting Tod to his pranks, doing his tiger broad or all three." Vance replied with a lazy wave. "Something in that order."
"Who?"
"Tatiana Tiger. Used to be with Manic's lot and maybe even his girl before a lot of his guys dropped his ass after going to juvie over drug possession. For some, the money from Anton's too tempting to ignore and others saw the writing on the wall. Just ask Grady and them. They dropped his ass like hot potato when he got pinched."
"Yeah, he had it comin' too." Ryder snidely added. "Always so cocky and runnin' around town like he owned th' place. Fool thinks we're his merry men."
"I figure his arrest humbled him a bit." Harley added as well. "Make him remember who the real big dog in Geno City was."
"Yeah, and I bet you want a ride on his 'big dog' in your port too." The billiards player Weldon added with a smirk. Harley flustered a bit with a deep blush and subject of derisive laughter from the others.
'Now I understand Little John's distain for his former homies. So quick to abandon him at the first chance.' Akira thought bitterly while forcing out a laugh. 'So much for gang loyalty...'
"That is if the new fag he's friends with hasn't done it for you." Johnson commented offhandedly. "Another sucker in town."
"Who?" Johnny asked like he doesn't know who he's on about.
"Some rice-eating prick called Akira Amamiya." Vance told him. "Goes to college like Migu. Showed up on Shōga Street with Manic a few days ago and guy had insulted her like calling her a big mouthed, small-brained bitch."
A few of the Hooligans chuckled including Akira, though only as to avoid suspicion as Johnson spoke up; "That mouthy cunt outta needed to be put in her place sometimes and that damn voice man, ugh! Like nails on a chalkboard!"
"Don't let her brothers hear you say that about her." Vance warned him before continuing on. "Anyhow, the two shitstains manages to lose all of us in the chase and Anton had some of our heads afterwards. Turns up at the campus the next morning like nothing had happened."
"Anton and his brother Tod met him at the Dynamo Galleria a few days later talking to some vixen at a gelato. Told him to go fuck his mother in the ass when he tried to persuade him to abandon Manic according to him." Johnson added. "Looking all hard and that when he said it."
"If he was here right this second, I bet he wouldn't be as tough." Harley muses.
"Yeah." D.F added. "Guy sounds like a total loser doesn't he; Grady?"
"Aye. I bet I could break his femur in a fight." Akira said as Grady, silently finding amusement in them unknowingly badmouthing him while he's right there. "What about you slick?"
"Well, I'm trained in martial arts as well as the use of bo staffs in combat." Johnny replied coolly. "Depending on the circumstances, I can deal with him."
"At least you'd do something useful." Johnson points a thumb at Patty. "Gossiper here would probably get her foxhole filled like a cream doughnut if she was sent down to go deal with him."
"Hey!" Patty growls.
"You know you would."
"Yeah, she'd prolly give him the crabs too." Ryder said with a laugh.
"Or submit herself to him." Harley added with a chuckle.
Johnson added, pointing a thumb to Harley. "The type of girl to tell a policeman you're smuggling drugs in your trunk to give you a captivity search just to get off on it."
"I think she did that once actually." Harley chortled as Patty threw her a dirty glare.
"Harley!"
"Actually, I meant you Harley." Johnson corrected her.
"Wait, what?!" Harley said with a growl while Patty laughed at her karma.
"I think Patty mentioned something about walking in on you pulling out a fully-inflated buttplug during a visit. Said you purred real lewdly when it came out before you noticed her. Didn't think you were into that kink but it certainly explains a lot about you." Vance commented with Harley subjected to ridicule. Harley growls as Patty went into full-on laughter.
"Well, learn something new every day." Weldon said with a grin. "That's how life is y'know?"
Akira raised a brow before scoffing ruefully and crossing his arms. "Of course you'd say that."
"What? It's a common mantra. Plenty of things to learn in this world. Not that you'd want to though."
"Fuck you."
Weldon shrugged and waved dismissively, sitting down at a table. "You're a real piece of work Grady, y'know that?"
'And you're a two-faced prick like the rest of them for turning your back on your own friend.' Akira wondered how Little John could put up with a bunch of crass people who just barely tolerate each other's presence half the time, let alone hang out together while they were with Manic. "Yet I outrank you dipshit."
"You act like you're some suit in a corporation." Johnson says to him.
"If you got a problem with me being one, you can both tell Anton about it."
"You're right Grady. You do but get this... Without Anton's good graces, you know what you are?" Weldon glares at Akira and scoffing; getting out a cigarillo and lit it in his mouth before blowing out a puff of smoke. "...Gutter sludge. A dead man walking."
Before Akira could shoot back with a response that would tear him to shreds, he got a message notification on Grady's nicked phone. "Okay slick, boss wants to see you."
"Alright." Johnny nodded as he got up from his seat. A few of the others at the table doing the same.
"Come on, let's go." Vance led the group out of the bar.
"Yeah. Let's." Weldon said as he and the others followed. Harley and Patty seemed to trade insults with each other as they left while Ryder shrugged as he walked alongside Weldon.
"Okay, so this Manic guy..." Johnny spoke up while they were walking and Akira near his side. "If Anton hates him that much, then hasn't he killed him already by now?"
"I question that myself sometimes." Vance replied to his question. "Anton's gone through the trouble of taking his gang, a fair amount of his money and his girl Tatiana but doesn't finish him off there. I'd say he wants to make him suffer as much as possible before he does."
"Seems like a lotta effort for just one guy if ya ask me." The mouse said. Akira secretly agreeing.
"Don't let Anton hear you say that Mona. He might have ya sent back to the brothel like you were before Manic took ya in."
"Ugh, don't even remind me of that. Both the brothel and the twerp. It's bad enough I had to dress like a boy to avoid the pimps in town taking me in after he got pinched... Then again, he got pinched 'coz he wasn't careful." Mona shrugs. If Akira looked, he would notice that Mona seemed unsure as she said that.
"Dumb shit thought he was the hero and we had to follow his rules." Johnson tutted harshly. "Giving the stolen loot to the poor? Man, fuck that shit and we've been earning more through Anton than anything we ever made through him."
"He has made a few hard-working people go homeless because he stole money or what have you whenever they needed them most..." Vance grunted disdainfully. "And let's not forget the times he's alienated people with his decisions."
"I guess so..."
"Yeah, an' besides." Earl the Jokester chimed in. "He had us all quartered in that damn hideout that makes the cheapest one-room tenement apartment downtown better-looking by comparison."
"Yeah. Good riddance to it when we torched it." Johnson said with a smile. "Too bad him and Fatty were out that day. Imagine seeing the look on their faces as we burned it all down."
"Yeah, heh..." Earl said with a grin. "Fuck those guys man. Manic wasn't even that great of a leader and Little John just followed him everywhere. Talk about bandwagonin', am I right?"
"Fat bastard thought a bunch of us were bandwagoning punks." Akira said as Grady, reciting what Little John has told to him. 'And I'm inclined to agree.'
"Yeah... Bandwagoning..." Mona said halfheartedly, turning her gaze away.
"You don't seem so sure Mona..." Earl says with suspicion. "You don't actually sympathize with those two, do you?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
"I can tell her words don't match how she really feels about Manic and Little John." Doctor says to Akira. "You're wondering what's up too."
"That I am Doctor. Perhaps she didn't want to turn on Manic but had no other choice. Little John did say the gang more or less disbanded upon Manic being sentenced to juvie. I'll keep note of her."
"...Is that really how many there are of them?" Johnny questioned.
"Like Tatiana, there wasn't any reason to stick around when Manic got busted." Vance explains. "Anton offered us money to join his gang and we did. Best decision we ever made."
'Until Anton goes down.' Akira remarked snidely in his thoughts.
"Who could really argue with that?" Earl agreed. "I was able to buy a new Kontrolle-U with the money I got from Anton."
"And Harley was able to fund her lip injections." Richard added with a smirk.
"Plumper lips for bigger schlongs in the mouth." Johnson sniggered to himself. With how they speak and act around each other, Akira sensed that a lot of these folks are fond of putting one another down.
"...We're here." Vance announced a few minutes later as they reach the location of Hooligan's key hideout in the form of an abandoned office building currently occupied by the gang members dwelling onside it.
"Heh. Home sweet home~" Earl said with a grin.
"Can't wait to light up that bong and play some Infinite Wealth!" Ryder added with a toothy grin.
"Yeah, whatever." Akira said as they walked into the abandoned office building. The interior of the building was very much what you'd expect from an abandoned building-turned gang hideout; decrepit, desolate, but functional and decorated in a very barebones manner. The lobby itself had a hookah set up in one corner, a few retro arcade consoles set up in another and a minibar set up in the next corner after. In addition, there was a couch set up in front of a TV with a retro video game console hooked up to it.
'The lion's den. If anything goes wrong, I better hope there's a way out or a way to escape into the Metaverse without dragging those thugs into it.' Akira walked with Vance as he, Johnny and a few of the other gang members ascended up the stairs while the rest dispersed from them.
The upper floors of the hideout were even more sparsely furnished and decorated as well, with many floors having their office rooms converted into either lounge rooms, armories, contraband storage rooms, barracks, or even standard storerooms.
Every single room made use of the space each office suite in the building had and he'd even spot a room where drugs are being stored at for distribution. Akira now sees why Anton's Palace takes the form of a corporate HQ building. They'd head on further up the building, Akira sparing a glance to Johnny Lightfoot while they made their way towards Anton's office. They need to not screw this up or else they're in serious trouble.
Eventually, they'd reach the highest floor and one that Anton seems to reside in. Unlike the other floors, this one has been decked out with decorations and furniture that looks to serve as a way to highlight the V.I.P-ish nature of Anton's floor with the presence of a few guards in the halls.
Even the guards stationed in the halls outside the office were decked-out; all of them were armed with G36C rifles and wearing medium-protection bulletproof vests with the flak jacket-style shoulder-pads and at least two of them were armed with SPAS-12 semi-automatic shotguns. Each guard had a bandana covering their mouths done up in the colors of the Hooligan's main colors and bearing the Hooligan emblem. In addition, they all also wore dark-tinted sunglasses to further obscure their identities and give them a very uniform look to them, almost like members of an inner-urban militia.
Seeing their weapons, Akira grew a nervous anxious feeling in his gut. The scope of the perilous situation he and Johnny are in is great.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Akira's thoughts bore his panicking cries while outwardly looking calm. "We'll both be dead if we botch this one!"
"Akira. Take a deep breath, calm down and settle yourself..." The Doctor says to him, helping the wolf internally calm down. "You panicking won't do you or Johnny any favours. Okay?"
"Alright, alright..." Akira starts calming down. "But the sight of their guns are pretty intimidating."
"As they would be for anyone. However, you must keep a level head and your wits sharp."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks Doctor."
"No problem young man. I'm always here to help." Doctor Omega said assuringly. "Now, stay focused on the mission..."
One of the other higher-ranked gang members, a mobian otter Craig knocked on the door to Anton's office as they approached it.
"What is it now?!" Anton called out from the other side of the door.
"We got that new member we picked up."
"Fine. Send him in."
Craig nodded to Johnny as he opened the door to let him and Akira in, standing to the side of the door inside the room to stand guard. The interior office of Anton has a luxurious or at least as luxurious as a room can be in this building.
Having a red carpet, hanged pictures up on the walls, a lamp in the corner near a recliner couch and coffee table, the walls decorated in a goldish colour, a shelving unit featuring a bunch of items on it meant to make Anton look like a serious businessman, a brown oak wooden desk with a name plaque on it and desk light, a leather wheelie seat, two chairs in front of the desk and positioned near a makeshift window. Additionally, there's another door set off to the left of the office.
Anton seeing himself as a CEO wasn't exclusive to the Metaverse. This office only further proves that fact.
"Well, well... The dude I've been hearing about from my guys." Anton greeted them from behind the desk, smoking a cigar in his mouth.
Accompanied by a few of his guys that he was talking to plus the unexpected appearance of Tatiana Tiger whom is dressed in a red tube-top that shows her mid-riff, a short hip-length skirt with straps over her shoulders, earring loops and stiletto boots whose clothing choice seems to be decided by Anton with how pleasing to the male eye her attire looks along with the non-matching expression she has being that of a frown.
"In the flesh." Johnny took a seat while Akira took a stand to the side. "I could say the same about you."
"Well, I am the top dog in Cyber City. My gang are quite influential on this side of the side and what I say here goes bro." Anton chuckled, grinning to himself. "Everyone wants to get behind the winning horse. Bitches come seeking a piece of me. That's why you came to me over the other gangs in the city."
"Based on what your guys have been saying about your organisation, seems to be the gang to join if you're looking to be set for life." Johnny nodded, working to appealing to Anton's ego. "For any new prospects, joining you would be a smart investment if I say so myself."
"Good to know you've got the good sense to recognise that unlike some people in this craphole part of the city." Anton puffs his cigar. "Those morons would stand by their "principles" rather than seizing the opportunity and making a lot of money in the process. Robin Hood could have been a richer man if he wasn't such a commie and I'd say this kingdom needs a king who understands that taking is better than giving on the throne over some hippie princess girl right now."
"Don't agree with the idea of Sally Acorn being our queen?" Johnny asks.
"Well, my brother Hud had made a good point; we need a strong leader willing to kick some ass after years of Robotnik's rule while girls like her should leave the important roles to boys and attend to their designated tasks like making babies for us." Anton answered. "After all, her father was the king when Robotnik seized power in Mobotropolis and subjugated most of Northamer to his rule until over three years ago."
"Yeah, an' besides..." Craig added with a nod. "Who'd want a nudist Queen? Can you imagine the kinda policies that'd come from a snooty nudist in charge of the kingdom? But hey, I guess that's to be expected when you spend half your life fornicating in a forest all day. Isn't that right, boss?"
"That and the fact she's associating herself with the likes of Sonic. Someone who comes from no known family like the D'Coolettes or the MontClairs. She'd make him King if she could and what a shitshow that would be. Who knows how things would have been if her brother Elias hadn't disappeared in the Great War along with their moms."
'Good to know the Hooligans are buying into those unproven rumours about Sally Acorn along with their stance on a Queen-ruled Kingdom of Acorn...' Akira glances over to Tatiana, seeing if she has an reaction to the exchange. He'd spot her visibly clenching her jaw over some of the statements but that's about it with her. She probably thought the same as him.
"That depends on how you see it." Johnny said with the sunglasses masking his eyes. "She and even Sonic by extension could be what the kingdom needs right now with the work they've done for it or maybe not."
Akira could tell Johnny added that last bit onto his sentence to placate the male Hooligans' sentiments by seemingly playing it neutral on the subject matter.
"Pfft. Yeah, right." Craig snorted. "The last kinds of people the kingdom needs to be ruled by are a nudist hippie and a dumb, speedy deadbeat. If anything, Anton here should be ruker. He runs this gang excellently. I'm sure he'd be great at ruling the kingdom if given the chance and show those sissies what a real alpha male looks like."
'It'll be like living under Robotnik's despot rule all over again and you better pray you have a place in it or else...' Akira thought of Anton, a sociopathic piece of shit ruling over the Kingdom of Acorn a terrifying one. The idea of him given the full authority to do and enacts laws to his own benefit as he pleases is not something he enjoys entertaining. People like Manic or others he disagrees with would be made to disappear along with the facts if they contradict his vision and his truth...
"Yeah, yeah. Knock it off with the asskissing." Anton suddenly tosses a mug from his desk at Craig's head and landing a hit as the mug bounced off his skull. "Now get the fuck out of my office and stand outside like you're supposed to be doing!"
"Y-yes boss!" Craig exclaims before quickly rushing out of the office to stand guard.
Anton sighs out aloud. "The only reason I keep him up here is because I fuck his hot sister when Tatiana ain't putting out, his eldest brother's one of my top earners on the streets and if Tod's not around for me to vent at."
Pointing to Tod who was sitting on the recliner chair when he mentioned his name before calling to him; "Tod! Get off your useless ass and fetch us some refreshments! Now!"
"Y-Yes big brother!" Tod scrambled to his feet and rushed out the front door to fetch the refreshments.
"Guy's a real dumb shit..." Anton leans back in his seat and looking to Johnny. "You ever had those types of slow people in your family?"
"I wouldn't know anything about it..." Johnny replied vaguely.
"That defect was born breached from my mother's womb and doesn't know how to do anything right." Anton says to him. "He does those weird throaty noises and hand things which gets really fucking annoying whenever he does it and have to repeatedly get him to knock it the fuck off with that whenever we're out in public together. I have to sometimes get physical with him to make him quit doing it or at least take his rituals somewhere where he won't embarrass m—"
There was another knock on the door. "What is it now Bootlicker?!"
"Mons wants to see you." Craig called. "Apparently it's 'urgent'."
"Let her in then."
Craig opened the door as Mona stepped inside, looking visibly worried. "Boss, I... I just... I was thinking about that offer you made me when I first joined with you... You know, the protection plan offer and all... And... I decided I wanted it..."
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Anton groans out loud in annoyed frustration, gesturing over to Johnny with a displeased expression. "I am having an important meeting with this fella here and all of a sudden, you decide to come to me about that now of all times?"
"W-Well... I... It's just... I kind of need it now because... Well... Because earlier today, I nearly got recognized by a pimp..."
"Can this shit wait for now Monica? I'm having a meeting with a new prospect here for fuck's sake!" Anton growled at the mouse. "If he's that much of a problem, then fucking waste the bastard!"
"Anton, I don't think that'd be a wise idea. That'd might anger the—" A dark-haired bespectacled advisor standing off to Anton's right side tried to say but the lizard interrupts him.
"Did I ask you there you four-eyed prick? No?" Anton snarled at him. "So shut the fuck up and speak when I ask you to speak. It's what I'm paying you to do."
'Must be tough working for a guy with his temperament...' Akira watched from the sidelines, glancing over to Mona. 'Though why would a pimp be a cause for concern with her when she's with the Hooligans? Something's not adding up here...'
"Boss, Please..." Monica pleaded. "I took a big risk going to Kieran today. If I go out again, I'll might be grabbed and sold to a brothel or forced to work corners or-"
"I'M BUSY HERE!" Anton roared at her. "Are my words not clear enough for your thick head or something? Come back later!"
"H-Here's your refreshments brother!" Tod came in, carrying a tray of refreshments for him and his guest Johnny Lightfoot. "F-For you and hi—"
The already irritable Anton grabbed one of the hot mugs off the tray to take a sip and immediately spat out the liquid. "The fuck is this Tod? This tastes like shit!"
"S-Sorry brother..." Tod stammers. "I-I must have—"
"UGH!"
Anton suddenly tosses the liquid in his brother's face that emitted a shriek from him; then smashing the ceramic cup over his head with Tod letting out a pained cry before his older brother shot up to knock him to the floor before proceeding to him up in anger to the shock of those around him. "I've got a ton of morons working for me but you're the biggest moron of them all and you have to be related to me! Why can't you do anything right you fucking defective piece of shit, huh!?"
Akira suddenly found himself intervening and putting his hand to Anton to the surprise of the tigress. "Stop it Anton!"
"The fuck you doing Grady?!" Anton yelled at him. "Since when did you started stepping in for this imbecile?!"
"You're gonna scare off the new guy with what you're doing there and that's gonna be bad for business!" Akira said as Grady, trying to get Anton off Tod and whispering to him. "Especially if word of this gets out onto the streets about you trying to beat your brother to death over bad tea or how your new prospect left over it and how that reflects on you as a player..."
"You fu—Wait, you have a point there..." Anton stopped to think about what Akira had to say and seeing his point, taking his foot off Tod as well as calming down. "Yeah. That would be bad for business... I don't know what's different about you today Grady but you've said the first smart thing I've heard today unlike any of these numbfucks here..."
Anton conceded surprisingly and Tatiana is shocked to see the usually argumentative Anton agree with something he hadn't already thought of. "I kind of like the fact you've grown a brain there. Just don't get too clever with me, okay?"
"Understood Don Chairman." Akira winces internally when he absentmindedly and accidentally addressed Anton by his Shadow's moniker. Caught up in the heat of the moment after his intervention.
"Don ey?" Anton smirked to himself at that. "I quite like the sound of that, Don Chairman Anton... What do you guys think?"
The mention of the concept of Shadow Anton's moniker made Monica visibly uncomfortable even if she didn't know the actual context for it. In fact the entire spectacle of being yelled at and witnessing Tod's beating over a cup made her even more uncomfortable than that.
"...Y-Yeah... It's fitting for a boss of your status." Monica fidgeted nervously.
"Then you shall all address me by that from now on." Anton says to all of them before turning to her and points at the beaten up Tod on the floor. "Make yourself useful and take him to a hospital, bring some guys along with you if you have to."
"...Y-Yes Don..." The mouse replied; gingerly going and helping Tod up before helping him walk out of the room to go secure an escort to the hospital.
As she passed him, Akira would notice she had a miserable expression that was a nonverbal cry for help.
"If you can, try meeting her alone somewhere later." The Doctor advises him before adding; "She's also looking at you."
Akira directed his gaze to Tatiana whom was indeed looking his way before averting her gaze away from him; he doubted he'll be off her radar. Anton sat back down in his seat and facing Johnny; "Apologies about that display. I've been having a stressful day myself today."
"Who doesn't have a stressful day from time to time?" Johnny said to Anton, snapping out of his earlier shock from the display of violence he had just witnessed.
"Hehe, true dat bro." Anton smirked. Akira notes to himself to tell Manic to not ever say that sentence around him or he'd clock him for reminding the wolf of this scene. "So, let's talk about you new guy..."
Anton's Palace, Metaverse
Afternoon
After making their way up from the last Safe Room and sneaking passed the Shadows lurking the halls, they stopped at the golden elevator doors. Waiting near them for said doors to open at any time. Seeker and Sly hid nearby, waiting on the doors to open.
"...So uhh... What was she like?" Seeker broke the ice. "Venus I mean."
"How do I put this... Try to imagine the best sex of your life."
"Okay. What else?"
"Sex with Her is basically the best sex of your life triplicated."
"Mmm. What about her as a person?"
"One of the nicest people I know." Sly told the badger. "One of the few that stood by me after I got convicted."
"Keep in touch with her?"
"I do. Sometimes she comes over to play video games or bake cookies and muffins."
"Sounds like a lovely sort."
"She really is."
"Anton's guys or Krouch ever give her any trouble?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"She'd have told you about if they did. She know about Akira or us yet?"
"Uhhh... I don't think I've introduced you three to her if that's what you mean."
"Know when she's coming over next? I thought no one else ever comes to yours' and John's hideout?"
"She's pretty much the only one that comes by that we can trust. Well, besides you guys and Jean of course. As for the next time she's coming by, it'll probably be after her next porno shoot."
"I see."
"Yeah, she typically has a busy schedule whenever she's shooting."
"What would she think if she knew of the Metaverse's existence?"
"I think she'd treat it like a possible porn shoot set."
"Of course she would... Probably a few Shadows would fit the bill."
"She'd probably treat them like other actors or extras so to speak."
"Til they start getting aggressive with her and all..." Seeker murmurs. "What do you think her Persona would be based on her personality if she awoke to one?"
"No offense to her but I kinda doubt she has the 'Phantom Thief' capabilities in her. I don't know Persona she'd have."
"Other than the obvious kind of 'in' like yourself of course." Seeker shook his head before addressing another topic; "...Your old crew. Were you ever close with a lot of them before they jumped ship to Anton's gang besides Tatiana?"
"A few of them, yeah..." Sly sighs, forced to remember those turncoats. "There was this one named Monica that I was pretty close to as well. Orphaned at a pretty young age, nearly got picked up by pimps and sold to brothels a few times before joining with me for safety. Then I got pinched and she was pressured into joining with Anton by the others."
"So much for gang loyalty with those guys." Seeker scoffs. "John mentioned how your crew had a few pretty shifty or seedy characters in it... One of them even having raped an thirteen year old after one of your heist jobs and neither of you knew anything about it because of his equally friends covering for him plus threatening the victim into silence til after he had jumped ship."
"I wasn't even aware of it until way after the fact. Had I known, I'd have made him pay for it."
"He did say there was always something about the guy that didn't sit right with him before he knew what it was later. Said if he had known back then, he'd have either killed the bastard, have him sent on a suicide run or castrate him and ripping his friends' heads off for covering it up from you."
"Well, not too much we can do about that right this minute. For now, we have to look to the present."
"That leads me into asking you this question: What would you have done if you had access to the Metaverse, this elevator obstruction wasn't in the way and you're the only one who knows anything about it?" Seeker asked pointedly.
"That's a good question actually..." Sly considered the question. "I guess... I guess I would've gone ahead and steal Shadow Anton's treasure."
"What if it wasn't so simple and you don't know the rules of the Metaverse?"
"I don't know what I'd do."
"Would you have killed him if Little John and us weren't here?"
"I...I really don't know..."
"Most people in your shoes would choose revenge for everything he's done. Killing him from within his own Palace like those news reports you'd hear and walking away with the perfect crime without nothing to link them to his death. Not even their phone." Seeker said calmly. "I don't know what exactly causes a mental shutdown or how it's done but I imagine they'd want to kill him if given the opportunity. That app is one powerful tool for what it is and imagine what the likes of G.U.N would do with it if they had their hands on it."
Punctuating his sentence; "Pretty scary, isn't it?"
"Yeah dude. It is pretty scary without a doubt." Sly knew Seeker made a good point about the Metaverse. "This mental shutdown shit is like one of the deadliest methods of killing people on the planet. No one sees you killing him and no sees how you did it.
"The deadliest after the Chaos Emeralds and Nuclear Bombs."
"Or the Roboticizer..."
"With what the four of us can do, we could easily rule the world if we wanted to with no one else to stop us. Not even Sonic the Hedgehog or the Knothole Freedom Fighters..." Seeker noted before shaking his head and says to him; "From everyone who has been given much; more will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked..."
Sly nodded in agreement. "We have the capacity... But do we have the nerve to go over the line?"
"Morals, principles and intentions. Wether you want to do it or not, those three elements are what guides our actions for good and bad... All of us function on all three..." Going silent for a moment before the badger suddenly came out with; "Like clapping Princess Venus's cheeks at full throttle speeds while at a public park as she moans loudly with the likely of being caught in the act by people high!"
Sly laughed at that. "Yeah, what she does is art; no matter what your views are on pornography."
"What does he think?"
"He thinks it's raunchy for his tastes."
"Leave it to the thief to put it that way."
"Art is art. No matter how much we dress it up."
"I—Wait..." Seeker stops when he hears the elevator lift coming down through the whirring of the winch. "They've done it, we're in. Alright Sly; let's see what your mask can do..."
Glancing over to the elevator doors; "If it doesn't work, there's always the good ol' brute force method of getting the ID's."
"Got it." Sly raises a finger to touch his mask which then made his outfit and appearance turn into that of Johnny Lightfoot when he looked at the pocket mirror the badger was carrying around on him to see the results. Seeing the rabbit in the reflection despite his actual hands still remaining the same from his perspective.
"Whoa..." Sly said in amazement. "Well, hopefully this is convincing enough."
"That Shadow in the elevator should be seeing you as Rogue rather than yourself." Seeker commented, putting away his pocket mirror. "See if it works."
"Well, I suppose we'll find out if it does." Sly remarks as the elevator approached. "Wish me luck."
"Get it far enough away from the doors to stop the Secretary from rushing back in with the card."
"Got it." Sly nods; giving the rock and roll hand gesture. Seeker hid himself from sight as the elevator lift arrives and the golden doors opens to reveal a cognitive copy of Patty in a pink short-skirted secretary dress that did little to hide her most noticeable physical traits around the hip areas.
"Hey, how's it going?" Sly greeted Shadow Patty, though internally was upset with being confronted with one of the members of his gang that defected. Even if it wasn't the real Patty.
"Hey." Shadow Patty greeted him. "You going somewhere handsome?"
"Yeah, uh... I'm pretty going the same place you are." Sly replied. Seeker listened to the exchange from the sides, staying put at where he is now.
"Well, I guess you could tag along..." Shadow Patty replied as she began to pass Sly. However when she did, Sly discreetly swiped the keycards from her while disguising the gesture as swatting her on the ass, making the vixen secretary yelp and Sly quickly pocketed the keycards right before she turned around to face him.
"...Eheh..." Sly said, chuckling nervously. "Uhhh... You have a nice ass?"
Shadow Patty shrugged, then muttered to herself about how 'Boys will be boys' before walking off. Sly waited until she was completely out of sight before heading over to Seeker.
"Mission accomplished. Patty gave us the ticket." He said with a grin. Holding up the ID keycard.
"Good. Let's go find the first Safe Room on the floors above secured." Seeker got out of his hiding spot and quickly gets into the lift with Sly. Travelling upwards towards the first of the Anton Levels.
"Patty huh?" The badger says to Sly. Breaking the silence.
"She was actually nicer when she was with my gang if you can believe that."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, she was a nice person back then. Kind, charitable and made really good chili-mac... But then she was blinded by greed when Anton offered her to join his gang."
"Happens to a lot of us... How close is that Shadow to the real Patty and were you both close in real life?"
"We were but not close close. Honestly, we were just friends. As for how close her Shadow is to her in the real world, it seems to be on the nose and exaggerated... Always good at taking orders. While she talks big, she's often very passive bordering on submissive and lets others have their way with her."
"A pushover, huh?"
"Yup. Talks big, can deal them out but can't take them."
"What about her other friends?"
"The majority of them are either all cowards who followed Anton in order to survive or scumbags that found better opportunities to make money with him without me keeping them on a leash. The rest were pressured into doing it. I had some bad eggs in my old crew."
"Mmm..." Seeker nodded as the elevator eventually reaches the first of the Anton Levels and coming to a stop. "Right. That's enough chitchat for now, we got work to do..."
To Be Continued...