"...Man, who knew this was gonna be this easy? I figured there'd be some kinda resistance or somethin'." Said one of the four thieves, helping to carry a statue with his teammates. Speaking with a speakeasy accent and wearing a suited attire.
"There will be resistance..." One of the other thieves wearily said to him, speaking with a more stern voice and wearing a blue owl mask as they were halfway through carrying the statue through the office entrance. "It's a matter of when and where."
"Correct." Suddenly, the statue left the four thieves' hands as though it was being pulled back on a string and right into the palm of a smirking purple suited reptile seated behind the desk, said statue shrinking down to a statuette size. "And I've been waiting on you Thieves."
"You've harmed so many people in your greed and we're putting a stop to your ways!" The third thief with a mask partly obscuring the upper-half of his face whips around to face him with a growl, bearing his teeth. "Know that we'll beat your hide bloody if it means prying that Treasure out of your hands!"
"Hmph!" The greedy reptile rolls his eyes. "Such brave talk for a nobody. Though, haven't I—"
"Nobody? That's who you were when you first came to this city..." The blue-masked thief cuts in with a narrowed gaze, pointing finger at the reptile. "You were just another face on the streets and no one could take you seriously in the beginning. A common street no-named punk with a big ego—"
"You act like you know everything about me! You think you're a know it all with me, is that what you think!?"
"I know why you did the things you did..." The speakeasy thief stepped forward a little and stood his ground defiantly against the suited lizard, narrowing his eyes. "And because of that; I'm going to steal your Palace's Treasure, no matter the cost."
"Screw you! I never liked you from the day we met and that hasn't changed since!"
"You've had your fill of the luxury life and now it's time for us to put you out of business!" The half-faced thief boldly says to the reptile. "You're going back to square one!"
"Square one? The owner of the statue's eye twitches and sharp fangs showing. "You're telling me that you are all here to cast me back down to being bottom-feeder trash on the streets!?"
"Yeah. We are. What're ya gonna do about it, lizard-breath?" The speakeasy thief responded, giving a defiant smirk. The lizard gnashes his teeth, the lizard's expression darkening and the smirk replaced by an angry sneer.
"I've finally had it with all of you people..." He shot up from his seat and angrily kicks aside his desk into a wall, destroying it while the whole office shifted outwards into a wider space akin to empty warehouse. "I have the whole of Geno City under my domain!"
"His readings are spiking up!" Another member of the crew warns the rest through some speakers. "Watch out!"
"...And I have no intentions of going back to square one!" Four large hoof legs suddenly bursts through his whole torso to the surprise of the four masked intruders before the rest of his form violently bursts open with an accompanying sound of exploding flesh. Revealing a new larger and more monstrous reptilian centaur-like form.
The suited thief got into a fighting stance, drawing out his baton melee weapon and twirling it for a moment before holding it by the horizontal side handle in the tonfa fighting style while the other three thieves got ready. "Alright, looks like we're doing this the hard way!"
The large four-legged beast emitted a burst of blazing fire from his mouth at the group...
The Phantom Thieves of Mobius
"I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come..."
Written by Talyllyn the Iron Warrior
Co-Written by Weapon X Fox
Content Warning: May contain some distressing scenes, scenes of violence, offensive language and mature subject matters.
January, Sunday 3rd. 32XX
Passenger Express
Afternoon
He awoke with a gasp and shot up in his seat, heartbeats racing inside the ribcage in his chest. The red wolf panting til he took some deep breaths. Another bad dream in a series of bad dreams.
"You alright there mister?" A young rabbit in an orange dress with light blue cravat asks him in concern, seated off to the right side of the passenger express coach they're in. There another older rabbit in a long lavender dress and a blue ascot sitting by her side and two smaller passengers with pudding-like bodies sitting across from them. One a baby-blue with a red bowtie and the other a chocolaty brown with some yellow that wore a blue bowtie.
"Y-Yeah, yeah..." The wolf fixes the glasses on the bridge of his muzzle to sit straight after it was sat wonkily there upon waking up in his seat and sitting up properly, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. "Just a bad dream miss; that's all."
The older rabbit was reading a book at the time, though also keeping a watchful eye on the younger rabbit as she did so while she spoke to him. "Must be quite a scary one."
"Even grownups can have them sometimes..." The wolf pulled out his phone and found its' battery dead much to his annoyance. Of course it'd be dead when he hadn't charged it long enough before getting on the express. He's going to start making sure to start having the phone charged properly from now on once he gets to his new apartment.
"Hey uh, Mrs..." The red lupus looked over to the older rabbit with the book and asks her; "You know what time it is now and has the train stopped at Cyber City Central Station yet?"
"Hmmm..." The adult rabbit woman looked at her watch. "It's about nearly noon, and the train is about two stops away from Cyber City Central Station."
"Thank you." The wolf nodded in appreciation. "My phone's dead and can't see the time on it. I've got an old analogue watch that I seriously need to take in for repairs if I want it working properly again. You know any specialist shops in Cyber City for it?"
"Well, there's a shop on 48th Street that can fix it up for you."
The wolf jotted that one down in a notepad he has on him. "I'll be sure to check there once I get settled in. You from the city?"
"I did stay in the city for a short time. We'd occasionally visit Cyber City; mainly to get things that I can't find in Mobotropolis."
"Must be quite the life in Mobotropolis, living in the same city as Sonic and them." The wolf said, tapping his chin. "Are the rates good over there?"
"Yes but I've often heard housing is cheaper in Cyber City. Especially after the Mayor had just lowered the cost of housing in the city and having even more affordable housing plus apartment units being built."
"That in the good side of the city or over in Geno City?" The wolf quizzes, refraining from referring to the rough side of Cyber City that's often derisively nicknamed as Genocide City due to an incident from years back in the presence of the young rabbit much to the older rabbit's appreciation. "It's not exactly known for being squeaky clean in the past."
"Mostly in both, though the ones in the rough side of the city have less amenities..." The older rabbit answered, recalling from memory. "And many of them are studio apartments with only one room plus a bathroom. Sometimes, they don't even have a full kitchen; just a small fridge, an electric hot plate and a countertop oven."
"Well, I'll be living in this apartment building situated mostly on the good side of it."
"If you ever do need to cross the district wall into the rough part of town, always remember to carry your ID." The mother rabbit advises him. "The guards at the checkpoints are very strict. Also try to be careful when you're purchasing certain items over the border. Some items you can't bring over the border and might get you arrested by the guards."
"Right..."
"The police officers there tend to be a little more jumpy and touchier which unfortunately is understandable considering how brutal that side of town can get. Strange as it is to believe sometimes, they are trying their best to keep people safe and showing them some respect would be much appreciated by them."
"I'll... Try to keep that in mind." He said. Not having the best personal experience with the police himself in the past.
"Of course, I kind of have to make the train ride here often due to my job..." The mother rabbit replied before adding; "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Vanilla Rabbit and this is my daughter Cream."
"And this is Cheese and Chocola!" Cream added, gesturing to the two Chao.
"Chao!" The light blue Chao greeted the wolf with a friendly chirp as did the chocolatey brown Chao.
"Name's Akira Amamiya." The red wolf introduces himself to the four with a gentle smile.
"Nice to meet you, Akira." Vanilla replied, smiling sweetly. "You're quite kind."
"Thank you." The wolf smiled with a quiet chuckle for the first time since she first saw him. "You're a madam yourself. Same with your daughter."
"Why, thank you. It seems our stop is coming up." Vanilla looks out the window on her side. "It was nice meeting you Akira."
"Me too." Cream added with a bright-eyed gaze.
"Likewise." Akira nodded. Glancing at his dead phone.
"Perhaps we'll see you again some time Mister Akira." Cream smiled to the wolf.
"I'll start attending college once I get settle in. So you'll might either see me out about in Cyber City or not whenever you're visiting."
"I do work in Cyber City during the day and evening, so you'll might see me about." Vanilla told him. "Assuming this won't be our last meeting together."
"Ah."
"Well, Cream and I have to go now; so I suppose I'll see you around." Vanilla said as the train came to a stop. Getting up from her seat.
"And I'll see you another time whenever that day comes around."
Vanilla nodded, picking her purse off of her seat as she gently took Cream's hand as they both got off the express train. Their two Chao followed them out.
"Mommy, you think we'll see him again?" Cream asks her mother as they walked towards the station building from one of the platforms.
"I'm sure we will someday." Vanilla told her, smiling. Thinking he's a nice lad.
"He seemed lonely there."
"Perhaps he is... Come on sweetie, We have to go get both our Chao checked at the Health Centre."
"Okay..."
Back over on the express train, Akira sighs and leans back in his seat. Left by himself as he checks through his pocket notepad to refreshen his memory of the new address he's moving to. Going from being a United Federation citizen living in Eurish to a citizen of the Republic of Acorn.
'They both look happy together...' He thought after seeing off the Rabbits. 'They know what to do and know their plans for the future. Cream's fortunate to be having her mother there to watch her grow up with purpose while I'm left in limbo with no way to go forwards or backwards...'
It's been three years and he still hasn't forgotten what transpired in his childhood home. Moving from Golden Bay City to Cyber City in the new year of 3239 was meant to get away from the trauma of his old life or so he says to his former social worker. If he's being honest, he isn't any closer to moving on from it than when he first got help for it then.
The express train would move again til it arrived at a station platform at Cyber City Central Station and he'd get off it with his belongings, heading through the station building and out of the front entrance. He'd hail a cab and told the driver to take him to the address.
The taxi taking him through a short mini-tour of the city en-route to his destination while the radio was tuned to a news station. The radio broadcast talked of what was described as a 'mental incident' and that this instance had been the tenth reported incident to happen in the span of a few months. Apparently, a restaurant cook had one and fell face-first into a deep fryer.
"Geez... These mental cases are messed up, ey?" The driver remarks to Akira while listening to the news.
"What could be causing them?" Akira asks him.
"Your guess is as good as mine." The driver replied, waiting on a traffic light to turn green. "Whatever's the case, it's not as bad as the one from a while back. That one left a whole plane of people dead and mangled in the crash... The company who owned that plane got sued by the victims' families for negligence and letting a pilot who wasn't well that morning into the cockpit. Paid seven digits for it and the CEO in charge got fired from his job. Drank himself to death not long after."
Akira have been keeping an eye on the reports from time to time regarding the mental incidents: Noticing that most of the reported victims being prominent figure in politics, in considerable positions of authority in law or apart of the corporate industries. A few of the victims were ordinary people who caught it too for reason known only to whatever's causing them if it's not a contagious disease. Sounds scary all the same.
He stares out through the window while the car is moving, seeing the streets of Cyber City and the various folks walking on the sidewalks pass him by including a grey rabbit in a reddish jacket, white shirt, brown shoes, white gloves and blue jeans with a light blue badger in a blue coat, yellow shirt, blue pants, white gloves and purple boots walking alongside each other. The two briefly looking in Akira's direction as the taxi passes them by, though they were likely seeing what was on the other side of the street rather than at him.
The newscast would then transition to a report on an interview with the current Mayor of Cyber City, the driver turns up the volume on the radio to listen to the program. The interview detailed Mayor Fumfer's efforts to make life for both sides of the city much more comfortable and habitable, even going into detail about the blocks of affordable housing been put up.
Akira quietly scoffs at that cynically, knowing that Geno City will probably and likely get the short end of the stick compared to Cyber City as per usual. Just another PR move for the politician to endear himself to the public unaware of his dirty laundry.
"...On other news, a reported two million mobiums has been donated to the Children of Mobius Charity..." The radio would then report on some other pieces of news. Eventually, the taxi arrived at the drop-off point over at the apartment building in the east side parts of the city near towards the border as Akira exits the vehicle with the luggages in hand.
He looked up at the building he'll be living in as the taxi drove away. 'Looks like this is it...'
The wolf knew he's to expect a new social worker to come see him soon and make the introductions, go to Cyber City College Campus tomorrow to sign himself in before he is due to start his term, get a good understanding on where he's supposed to go in the city and all that. Akira stepped into the council-owned building, sign in at the receptionist desk and get his apartment key as he goes up to the second floor level to find his new apartment.
Akira's Apartment, Cyber City
Evening
Apartment 15 is a basic one with the standard kitchen comprising of the essential fridge, oven, microwave, cupboards, sink, presses, kitchen counters, a toaster and drawers. Plus a dining table with four chairs to have his meals at. The living room has a window looking out into the streets below, a long couch, two single couches, a coffee table, a grey rug and a TV atop a wooden unit.
No doubt his bedroom would be just like any other common bedroom. He sets down his phone and connects a charger to it, then plugs it into one of the wall sockets in the kitchen. Then he goes to set his luggage down in his bedroom.
He'd come back to the living room and turns the TV on to pass the time til his social worker arrives. Only to be greeted by an advert for a daytime talkshow hosted by a sea-green female hedghog with teal-black hair/quills and a curvy hourglass figure under her red dress. The wolf snarking to himself that she must be some kind of robot or somebody gifted with really good genetics from her parents to have that type of figure.
"...'On today's episode of Breezie Talks, Breezie interviews the man who plays Jamie Clint and his double life'..." The announcer said as it cut to Breezie saying; "..."So, you swap between being yourself and being this other person in both heart and mind?"..."
And then the announcer added; "...'Plus Breezie interviews country star Catty Carlisle on her new hit single and fashion designer Honey the Cat on her new book 'Sweet Success'. All of this on today's episode of Breezie Talks! Only on...'..."
'What else is on at this time?' Akira scratches his forehead as he sat back in his couch. Sighing to himself while flicking through the other channels and finding nothing else on either.
He got up and walked over to the window to see the quiet but bustling streets of his neighbourhood below. The view from his apartment showed the very bustling, high-tech but decently middle-class suburban neighbourhood outside his apartment, resembling a cyberpunk version of a street found in Central City complete with an elevated maglev railway that went over some of the buildings yet high-enough over them that there was no noise pollution.
There was an elevated walkway and a plaza too complete with shops food stalls. Even a few outdoor outlet malls and marketplaces seen in the distance. Able to be seen from the comfort of his window. Down the streets from the neighbourhood stood the ominous city border wall and the security checkpoint that leads into and out of the Geno City half. From where he is, he could see a delivery truck head in through the road checkpoint and a car coming out of it.
'Cyber City... Hmph, they should be calling this Janus City...' Akira stared out through his window. 'I've never seen a city that's able to be this divided til I read up on it.'
Cyber City was always something of an anomaly out of all the cities in Northamer. A weird Jekyll and Hyde-type urban jungle. The walling off of the Geno City half being part of some one-sided policy installed years ago in an effort to allow for the city's more 'subversive' elements to 'keep to themselves' and to allow for the 'good-hearted, hard-working' people of the city's 'good' half to live a quiet but prosperous, productive life without bother from the criminal element.
Akira thought that a good city shouldn't be having this great a divide, let alone a need for a wall to separate the two halves. It just makes the other side seem like it's a crime-infested hole of scum and villainy... Though maybe it is if what he's heard about it is true.
As he's waiting for his social worker to arrive, he went over to check his phone and how much of it's battery has been charged so far. So far his phone seemed to be at half-charge. These newer phones always seem to charge faster than older models.
"Should have asked for her number..." Akira murmurs to himself before shaking off the thought, thinking of that sentence as something uttered in some cruddy love story. Besides, she's better adjusted with her life than he is and he's only just met her today.
She's quite classy and modest based on first impressions; even has a job here in this city. Granted, she didn't specify what kind of job it was and where she was working but Akira could probably safely assume it was some boring office secretary job or something of the kind. Regardless, it is possible that he'll see her again some day if he's lucky enough.
Despite the planet being a vast place of various environments, Mobius was surprisingly small in spite of it. Everyone on the planet usually knows who each other is usually and more often than not, they're always drawn to one another.
It's like the old Japanese legend of the red threads of fate and how people are drawn to one another. Even though he's been raised in a Japanese family household and thus having extensive knowledge of the culture from his family, he has more of an interest for Eastern Europe of the Old World Earth.
It might have something to do with him reading the literary works of H.G Wells and other noteworthy science fiction authors or watching various science fiction productions that made him lean that way like the long-running Doctor Omega series. The last of which he fell in love with when he saw the four-part serial 'City of Morte' starring Stuart Baker which was written by David Agnew and has become a modest Omegaian himself.
Speaking of, he went back over to his TV and checked through the channel list if it's got one that happens to be rerunning episodes from the series. It seemed the SyFo channel would occasionally host the reruns, though only on the odd-numbered days of the week. Luckily for him, it would be on this evening.
So, he tuned into SyFo to be greeted by the classic time tunnel intro before the diamond logo of Doctor Omega appears before fading into the distance and the story title of 'Robots of Doomsday' makes it's appearance followed by the additional text in the form of 'Episode 1'. Being the Omegaian he is, he's already seen the story before starring Doctor Omega and companion Jane but he didn't mind seeing it again considering it's a story from the highly-regarded Phil Clifford Era.
He sat down in his couch and watches the episode. Then watches the other three episodes of the serials while waiting for his social worker to arrive. Eventually, there was then a knock at his door.
The red wolf got up from his couch and went to answer the door. The humorist in him thinks it could be D49 needing his help in pursuing the mastermind the rogue robots or Omega wanting his help in uncovering the truth behind the mental incident cases. In actuality, it was a slightly older mobian collie woman wearing deep red office attire.
This is his new social worker.
"You the new social worker I've spoken to over the phone last week?" The wolf asks.
"Yes." The collie sheepdog replied, a distinct Soumerica-sounding accent in her voice as she then held out her hand for Akira to shake. "Cristina Bravo."
"Akira Amamiya." The wolf replied back as he shook her hand before letting her into his apartment and closing the door after her. "I haven't unpacked my luggages yet and I've just arrived half an hour ago."
"I'm glad you're doing well at least. Admittedly, a lot of people in your position tend to break down by this point in their lives but not you." Cristina said with an assuring, comforting nod and expression.
"I had to attend therapy sessions and study hard through my final years in Golden Bay High." Akira said to her as he goes to the kitchen to fill the kettle and then sets it down to it's power base to boil the water inside. "Moving here was to put distance between myself and the city for reasons you're already aware of when you got assigned to me."
"Si." The social worker spoke, looking over to him. "I'm to understand you put in the request for a new social worker after you felt the previous one wasn't as the agency put it, 'a good fit'?"
"That and with me moving here, I had to get a new social worker."
"Rest assured Mr. Amamiya; I will be certain to do much better than your previous case worker. You should know I have nearly twelve years of experience in the profession."
Akira nodded to that as he grabs the electric kettle. "Tea or coffee?"
"Coffee is fine." Cristina replied, nodding as she looked about the apartment. Akira made up two cups of joes while she's checking out his new apartment. The wolf had checked the fridge and found nothing in it for obvious reasons, so they'll have to enjoy the coffee the Sakura way.
"I assume you'll be attending classes while you're living here and I can assume you have a source of income to pay rent, yes?"
"I had signed up for Abraham Credit when it first launched while I was in high school and earning some mobiums from a part-time job that I took for work experience. Saving up as much I could before coming here."
"That's good. The last thing I'd want for you is for you to be out on the street or in a group home. I want you to flourish, not regress."
"That I'm trying not to."
"Again, that's good." Cristina then looked to him and smiled and added; "I'm certain you won't disappoint."
"I'll try not to." Akira said as he brought the cups over to the dining table, putting one of them over to where she would be sitting at with him before going over to his phone. "Heard what's been going on in the news?"
"Si." The collie sighed, sitting at the dining table, "It's quite frightening to say the least. To think something like this could happen any time..."
"The last one before it saw a whole plane crash and go up in flames with all it's passengers and crew killed."
"It's so awful what happened. To think there were children on it too..."
"They seem to be happening to either companies that end up getting sued for the tragedy, certain political figures caught doing scandalous things or the odd person here and there for whatever reason." Akira checks his phone and finds it fully-charged before unplugging it to check up on the device to be greeted by the home screen. He'd looked up just as a red eye against a black background inside a square appears over app his thumb was going to tap on.
"You believe they're being inflicted with some kind of unknown disease or someone could be doing something to their minds?" He'd ask, turning around to her.
"Personally, I would think it might be some kind of neural virus." She said, holding up the cup in her hand. "One that attacks the brain. My brother happens to be a neurosurgeon, so I'm familiar with some forms of neural ailments."
"A neural virus—Huh!?" Akira stopped as his guest suddenly froze in mid-action while drinking her coffee and the sounds of the streets below abruptly go dead silent. "Cristina?"
He waved a hand over her eyes but the pupils didn't retract or react to anything he was doing; frozen like a wax figure. The wolf then checks the streets outside his window, finding everything else has came to a picture perfect standstill.
The mobini pigeons were flying in mid-air, a guy was having a coin toss with his friends while the coin hangs frozen in the air, a mobini dog ready to pee on a fire hydrant, a human couple inches from kissing each other on the mouths at their doorstep, a police helicopter frozen in mid-air and the one sight that caught Akira's attention the most is a blue flame down across the street opposite of his window side. It's the only object of interest that's actually showing movement.
"What the..." Akira murmurs to himself in confusion. Then his eyes widens.
The blue flames had golden orbs and a golden line that made a grinning face at him, briefly taking on a humanoid silhouette followed by the sight of his own face appearing in the flames with the same expression; one that has trickster-like glint to it before dissolving into the blue blaze that seemingly went out moments later. When the flame went, the world around him suddenly started moving normally again including the helicopter flying over head much to his bafflement.
"Is everything alright Akira?" Cristina asked. Seeing him over at the window and not notice anything out of the norm.
"...Thought I'd seen something weird out there." Akira shook his head and went over to the table to take his cup. "Probably the exhaustion that's kicking in."
"Oh, I see. It is quite a beautiful city in some parts, isn't it?"
"From what I could see of it."
"The maglev railway seems to have helped quell traffic jams too along with the adage of the free public transportation edict."
"They have to get their money from somewhere to justify having the edict."
"Hence the tax stamp on certain buyable goods..."
"Right..." A part of Akira wondered what exactly caused time to freeze out of the blue and what was that thing he saw outside. "So, what am I to expect when I start my term here..."
Night
His social worker had finished explaining to Akira what to expect for his college term as well as what to expect regarding his case. She had spared no detail and did not sugarcoat anything with him. She was bluntly forward with him and wasn't afraid to tell things like they were. A fact Akira appreciates.
Even with that trait; she did so in a very comforting, genuine manner and being sure to be tactful while being completely honest towards him. When she was done explaining those details to him, the collie took her leave and bid him a good night. Leaving Akira alone in his apartment.
He picks up his cups and washes them under the tap at the sink to give them a good clean before drying them, then putting them away. The wolf went over to check his phone and took notice of the red eye app, Akira furrows his brow in confusion; "Huh? What did you come from?"
He puts a finger over the app and drags it to the trash to get rid of what he figures is one of those weird apps that somehow got onto his phone before taking the phone charger with him. Heading off towards his room.
On his way over to his bedroom, he notices a strange and out of place door that he doesn't remember being there before in the hallway to his left. An oak-brown door with a frosted glass and golden graphic lettering on it that reads 'Psychiatrist's Office' on the glass.
'Cristina said nothing about this door being here...' He thought to himself. 'Ugh, am I really starting to lose my mind now?'
A part of him wanted to stay away but another part of him implores the wolf to check out the door and see if it really leads to anywhere. The curious part of him also wanted to know what's the deal with this door being in his apartment of all places.
Besides; if it ends up being the end of him, least it'll be a quick and swift one for him. He'll finally have his peace of mind at last...
Cautiously, he reached out for the door and grabs onto the doorknob. Then twisting it to one side and slowly pushes it forwards to see a white heavenly glow that encased the entire space inside the door frames. Mystified and growing more curious, he decided to step on in through the white glow...
?, ?
?
Akira wasn't sure where he is now in relation to his own apartment. He knows it couldn't be apart of his apartment's layout since the door's over the wall where the bathroom would be located behind. What he saw with his own two amber eyes is the usual layout of a psychiatrist's office.
A fireplace with a mantlepiece that has a few wooden carved items set atop it off to his right, a grandfather clock off to his left next to a shelf unit built into the wall that displays various books and other items like a white head sculpture he'd expect a psychiatrist to have, a set of three paintings hung up on the walls of the office, a lamp resting in one corner of the office, a set of couches placed over a rug including a purplish chaise lounge couch in the center of the office with an accompanying coffee table and a few other things he could see with his eyes including a door to the left of the grandfather clock.
Then he looked over at the black desk with a desk name plaque, a tub for a set of pens, a novelty bobblehead item on the left side of the desk next to a computer monitor and keyboard, a black bulky detachable phone resting in it's stand, a flower vase on the right side of the desk, little wooden carved figures at the front of the desk, a glass ashtray, a shiny silver call bell, a brown file resting on top of the desk, a chair in front of the desk and a black leather behind the desk that has it's back to him.
Behind the desk is a window view with curtains on it and around frame of the window is a brown shelving unit containing some more books. The whole office is what Akira pictures a psychiatrist's office to look like except for one element: A lot of it has the color purple dominating it and the fabrics around the office are done in the velvet purple colors. Said color has a calming effect on the wolf as did the soothing music that seems to be playing from seemingly nowhere.
"Ah, you've arrived at last. Welcome to the Velvet Room..." The chair turns around to reveal a blue hedgehog looking almost like Sonic being dressed in a black tuxedo suit with a white black-buttoned formal shirt and a black bow tie, leaning forwards with his elbows on the desk while resting his chin atop his clasped hands. "Young Trickster."
"W-Who are you, w-w-where is this and who are you calling a trickster?!" Akira stammers, wondering if he's really losing his mind now.
"I am Mr. Hedgehog, Master of the Velvet Room. Glad to make your acquaintance at last..." The mysterious grinning blue hedgehog replied with a warm, welcoming voice; gesturing to the chair in front of his desk which Akira went and sat down on. "And for your information; this place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."
"So, t-this isn't another zone?" Akira meekly asks. Feeling confused, scared and curious all at once about this 'Velvet Room' he's in.
"This is no mere zone I assure you. It is a place where only those who are bound by a contract may enter and in rare cases, associates may only enter the room at the guest's permission." Mr. Hedgehog chuckled lightly. "You are our guest and therefore, it is the responsibility of the Velvet Room to help you on the journey you'll be undertaking very soon once you exit this room."
"Journey? Contract?" Akira repeated the words, feeling lost himself. "I don't understand, I never agreed to any contract about this and you even didn't answer my other question—"
"Allow me to introduce you to my attendants that'll be helping you out in good time..." The tuxedo hedgehog reaches over to the silver call bell and taps on it, producing a familiar-sounding bell ding. "We have a new guest in the Velvet Room."
The door next to the grandfather clock would open to reveal three individuals. A brown-furred female mobian manx cat would approach first; dressed in a white button-up shirt, a strikingly blue suit befitting the psychiatrist motif of the Velvet Room and a yellow bowtie for her auburn ponytail.
The second person to approach would be a gray mobian walrus bearing a white moustache, a bald head, a strongman physique that made him look big and wore a blue outfit resembling that of an orderly with brown shoes. Having the same shade of blue as the cat girl's attire.
Lastly; the third attendant is a male manx cat mobian of a tubby build with grayish brown fur, thick eyebrows and a bushy beard that gave him an aged appearance as well as looking like he could be the girl's father. Coming dressed in a white shirt, a tie, blue pants, gray loafers and wearing a blue lab coat that made him resemble the stereotypical image of a ward doctor. The blues of his clothes matching the shades of the other two's attires.
He seemed to have a slightly more relaxed expression compared to the stern look of the seal and the scrutinizing look of the female manx cat.
"He doesn' look like much..." The female attendant spoke at last, a cockney accent in her voice. "Ya sure he's up to th' task boss?"
"I'm pretty sure he wouldst have been called here if he wasn' up to it Tiara." The moustached walrus said, having a gruff infliction to his voice.
"Now, now... Looks can be deceiving you know?" Mr. Hedgehog lightly chides two of his attendants, looking over to them before looking back at Akira. "These are my attendants, residents of the Velvet Room like myself and they will be the ones that you'll call upon the services of in due time..."
"This is Joe..." The odd-looking hedgehog points over to the burly walrus without looking at him while pointing with the thumb pressed under the end of his glove middle finger before rotating the wrist like a stargazing telescope rotating to focus on another stars as it pointed towards the stout male tailless cat. "This is Gazebo..."
Then he straightened out his fingers in a relaxed palm gesture when he got to the tailless cat woman in the blue suit. "And this assistant of mine is Tiara. She will be the one to accompany you in your eventual journey."
Mr. Hedgehog then says to Akira; "Now then... Why don't you introduce yourself to us?"
"...Akira. Akira Amamiya." The red glasses-wearing wolf replied, seeing as there isn't much of a point to lie to these four.
"Good to meet you Akira." Gazebo greeted with a big smile, his voice nearly as gruff as Joe's but much more gentle if eccentric sounding. "Our boss have big plans for you as you can probably tell."
"We can discuss details later as this is just to make the formalities but all you need to know right now is that the next time you come here, you'd have already made the contract. Now..." The head of the Velvet Room leans back in his desk just as the grandfather clock begins to chime. "Return to your apartment and resume your daily life til we meet again. Before you go..."
The hedgehog snaps his fingers and a shiny golden key magically materialises into existence on the desk in front of Akira. "Take this. Until then, pleasant dreams~"
Akira nodded and accepted the key, pocketing it. He got up from his chair and took a bow to Mr. Hedgehog, then did the same for the other three residents before heading for the door he had came through...
Akira's Apartment, Cyber City. Mobius
Night
The room Akira had been in prior would fade back into his apartment when he exited through the door. Akira saw himself staring in the direction of where he had returned from and found the out of place door gone like it was never there in the first place. He checked his pocket where he put the gold key in but found nothing there.
'What was that? Had I imagined it? Was it even real?' Questions ran abound in Akira's mind before he let off a yawn as he checked his phone, finding that time has passed while he was in the Velvet Room and knew he should get to bed soon to be up early in the morning to get down to the Cyber City College Campus to get himself registered.
Heading off to get ready and then go to his bed with the phone placed in the drawer next to his bed, falling asleep eventually. All while his mind is preoccupied by the thought of the mysterious Velvet Room and what his journey will be if it's all real...
Author's Notes: The Phantom Thieves of Mobius is a Sonic the Hedgehog and Persona 5 mashup story. A reinterpretation of Persona 5 and its' series concepts within the world of Sonic the Hedgehog.
The world of PToM's Mobius along with it's history will largely be based off on a fusion of Pre-SGW and Post-SGW Archie Mobius plus bits from other pieces of Sonic lore will be mixed in here and there along with some Persona elements. Putting my own creative spin to it all. The game characters will be as you know them with additions to flesh their backgrounds out more while the rest are subject to reimagining to fit this world's setting.
The current year is 3239.
To fit with the Persona tradition, I will select one of the Sonic Forces Promo Avatars to act the story's protagonist. Specifically the Red Wolf Hero/Buddy 1 nicknamed as 'Gadget the Wolf' or 'Buddy the Wolf' by fans that I'll use as a blank slate for my writings akin to the protagonists of their respective Persona titles. He is the most recognisable of the Promo Avatars and the one who's in most of the promotional materials...
Fear not readers, the likes of Sonic and Amy will still play roles in but the focus are on our titular thieves and their exploits. A lucky few might even get to be a Confidant/Social Link but you'll have to wait and see.
Lastly; regardless if you're coming in as a Sonic fan, a Persona fan or just someone who just came upon this looking for something engaging to read, my aim for this is to create a work of fiction that can be enjoyed regardless of fandom. I do know of the likes of the Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers fandom where people got introduced to the series from the fanfictions rather through the official works and perhaps you've had that experience too. Feel free to share it in the reviews.
I hope this one and others to come can capture your heart like the Phantom Thieves themselves would... I'll see you all another time in the next chapter...