Disclaimer: Please support the official releases and all that legal jazz. This is something long overdue, and I do apologize. I was getting hooked on writing The Whirlpool Gangster: Reverb and having way too fun writing it. So it's time to get into the groove.

To make this more fun to you the reader, I suggest putting on the theme from Video Game Confessions ( /watch?v=tCrrZ1NnCuM )

Multimedia Confessions - Season 1

You're introduced to a young Saya-jin/Endurion male of Blasian descent at about 6'0" with a fighter's frame. His hair spiked and black with eyes of light gray and electrical blue ends on his hair. He wears a black three piece suit with a dark blue collared tie, a tie, and black boots.

"This is Ryo Nazo Blackthorn, a Time Patroller and younger brother to Joshinari Blackthorn. Ryo works in the seven-star restaurant known as the Tori Dragon Palace (which is two blocks away from the Pixel Palace). Now it has expanded where all across the media, all around the multiverse, many pop in to have a drink. Sometimes, they share stories, and even secrets. Because—as we all know—what the bartender hears is confidential... isn't it?"

Episode 1 – Shade the Echidna

So here I was tending the bar, when in walks someone I've never got to know well. Shade the Echidna. She certainly was a bit more ripped than her canon typical, built like a mini Cassie Cage…or a young Sonya Blade if you prefer. She even dressed similarly with the sports bra, track pants, sneakers, and open jacket which did not hide the tattoo across her abs. Fuck Penders. How fitting. She sits at the bar and orders a sazerac. I made her the drink and ask,

"Oi, Shade…how's life treating you? Haven't exactly been seeing you around."

She looks me in the eye.

"You know damn well why I haven't shown up." She says as we end up saying at the same time, "Fucking Penders."

I nod in sympathy.

"That fat bastard ruined my life. I was able to keep appearing in the Archie comics, but that fell apart for obvious reasons. I was practically punted out of the door with them only keeping my copyright because that's all SEGA cared about. It was a downward sprial." She said to me downing her drink before asking for another. "I hit rock bottom."

I asked what was rock bottom and looked downcast about it.

"Rock bottom was facing homelessness and having a Loa dust habit. By then, I ended up with a day of Loa habit and videos of me doing shit I haven't heard of on the internet. My fault for living in Stilwater."

She tells me a bit of the details and I could not help but offer lighter drinks in hopes she does not break down crying. I can say those details were sordid, but I digress…because I won't repeat them.

"I ended up getting out of that hole…there was an amateur fight night at the arena…and I really needed the money. So I went…and won while completely high off my ass." She said before getting a grin. "That's when I met a recruiter for Multiversal MMA. I got invited…and I said yes. Thanks to that, it led to getting clean, in the best shape of my life, and my life back."

She finished her drink and I realized something. SEGA let her run out of money and end up in the gutter! So I ask about that and she sighs.

"Yeah, apparently…I wasn't important enough to follow up on. They were too focused on their projects and making sure Penders pounds sand. He's the reason I ended up like this…the game I starred in is not even acknowledged at all by anyone. Sonic '06 gets more respect than I do and that game's awful."

I can't help but wince at this sad truth, but I do make it clear Princess Elise probably isn't having an easy thing either.

"About that. She's in the MMA circuit too. A lot of characters from the Archie comics who can't be used because of Penders ended up all over the place, but a lot ended up in the MMMA. It was nice to beat the shit of Julie-Su and knowing she would have to get dental work on her teeth. Never liked that trollop." Shade said to me with all smiles.

"Do you miss them? Sonic and company?" I asked.

"I do. As badly as SEGA treated me, if they called with a new game that I could be in…I'd jump for the chance. As for Sonic, he's been a bit too busy to talk to the likes of me. He's got a crowd of his friends, a close circle. I just didn't get close enough…and Knuckles. Well, he had a certain bat keeping him on a leash."

Paid for her drinks and left the bar without another word. Damn. It's kinda messed up if you really think about it. More so considering I might have seen several of those videos she was in. But I guess if you end up on Ghetto Gaggers with glazed eyes…I guess that is rock bottom. I did decide to pay for a membership fee to support the M-MMA. I did feel pretty bad…and I wanted to make it up in some way. I guess I'm getting soft…

You see a lot of strange things as a bartender, see a lot of strange things at the Tori Dragon. So, I see a lot of strange things as a bartender at the Tori Dragon, and that isn't no lie. Swear to it!

(A/N: This should have been released in January, and I do apologize. Life happens. Shade might have been an odd character to start with, but I promised Trollucard/Hapless-Ace that Shade would be the first one I'd after I ended Anime Confessions. But now that it's done, it's time to get to the nitty gritty, all is fair game now.)