World Restored in Imbalanced Chaos
Author's note: Hi! And welcome to my AU: World Restored in Imbalanced Chaos - details about this story, upload schedule, and thoughts and so on will be on my bio instead of filling this chapter with a ton of info that doesn't matter.
Prologue - very short, but the main chapters will get longer, just to give you taste of the mood and such
Hope you have a good ride, and hope you enjoy! :D
Author's note edit: 6/8/2022
As I've been working on this piece for about a year and a half now, you'll recognize my writing will get better as chapters got uploaded. The first 15 chapters or so have some grammar mistakes and weird sentence structures I'm not gonna edit for the sole purpose of both you and me being able to see the progress being made throughout my writing. The quality of the chapters remain fine, however the errors mentioned before will be scattered throughout in the beginning. In later chapters I have more or less caught them as I've been working and uploading and hopefully I can keep doing that as I'm still uploading as of this date. Nevertheless, if you come across something which remains completely unreadable or confusing, don't hesitate to reach out and I'll edit them.
Either way, if this is your first time coming across this story, I hope you'll have a wonderful time :)
Author's note edit: 6/28/2023
In the author's note right above this I mention that the errors and mistakes from early chapters will remain, but I've changed my mind. There's now a lovely edtior who goes by the name CloudyCrayon from AO3 who has agreed to work with me to edit all the chapters. This is a slow-going process as it takes time. But this story is now officially being uploaded on AO3 too, I go by the same name there. On AO3 the newly edited chaptesr will be released but new chapters will only go here on until AO3 has caught up. And the newly edited stuff will be reuploaded here too. But if you want to give it a re-read with new eyes then you're more than welcome to take a peek on the AO3 version :D
Rated T: Mild language, mentioning of alcohol, injuries, sickness, fights and tough topics - no ships
Beware of spoilers in the reviews
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or any characters that makes their appearances in future chapters, SEGA does
Cover art by Tullemor2007
This prologue is edited by CloudyCrayon - you can find her on Tumblr under the same username
The Street
"There isn't a lot of things in this world that's fair. If fairness is even a concept that you can trust in anymore. Being fair means that both parties get a chance to win - or to lose. It means that no matter what happens you always have the ability to gain the upper hand, to be the shining champion. But, in this world, that concept is dead. There is nothing here that is fair, there is nothing here that can guarantee that you will win. Everything is a game. There are no rules that will assure you that you will get out alive, you have to do it yourself."'
His eyes narrowed, as he quickly disappeared around the corner, clutching the bottle tight to his chest. He drew out a relieved breath before his ears swirled around, ducking underneath a fence, jumping down to the lower level to get to the ally.
"If you think you're safe just because you have a house and a family then you're wrong. There is nothing that will make you believe that you can do as you please. You have to be wary. Have to keep thinking, to survive. I hear people keep saying that they have a good life and a nice job and all, but the fact of the matter is that no one is truly living. We're all surviving. Despite what they tell themselves."
He pressed his body against the wall, letting the Mobians run past him when he reached the alley. Using his ears rather than his eyes, he concluded that they were gone and disappeared deeper into the narrow hallway, running past shutters and barrels holding who knew what. The backs of the houses passed by him as he ran with trained feet, making as little sound as possible while shadowing around another corner, briefly looking up at the tower ahead of him.
"Of course, there are some people who know how to exploit the game. Know how to avoid the dangers and dance around the threats that this world consists of. Those people are cowards. They haven't lived among the ones who are fighting every day. They meet someone who already has exploited everything and misuse it for their own benefit. They avoid everything and everyone else because they have some charisma skills. They know how to play around the rules rather than ignoring them - it's easier to forget the rules than acknowledge that they're there."
He narrowed his eyes in disgust as he made his way around another barrel, reaching the end of the alley. A curtain hung from the wall, seemingly hiding barrels and boxes inside. With a steady hand, he pushed it away, letting himself inside, dodging another a barrel. He barely squeezed through a tower of boxes he had stacked with his own hands and arrived at a familiar sight. He let out a breath and walked to his desk.
"There is no one who is willing to help you. You have to figure everything out for yourself. There is no safety net - if you make one mistake then you've lost everything. No one is willing to help you despite who you are, what you look like and how old you are. In this world, you gotta survive by yourself, otherwise you won't make it. You need to learn how to boil water, how to get food and how to survive the gangs and the thieves. Either avoid them, run from them, or join them. There's nothing else to do."
He placed the light blue bottle on the desk as he rubbed a hand over his face, ears drawn back to listen for stranger's steps following him. As safety settled in his bones, he shook his head and pulled down his hood.
"If you want to play fair then you need to be somewhere else but here. No one will agree with you, and no one will live by the rules, despite what everyone thinks. Mobians huddle around in groups, obey to the rules they're given thinking that they're safe. But - they're wrong. Very, very wrong."