Blanked Soul

Chapter 2: Can hedgehogs even fly?

Blank let out a yawn so wide, it could devour the sun he stared at.

Exaggeration aside, the cat was bored beyond relief. He couldn't even remember what he was doing again, he was lost for a bit before he felt a pistol being pressed against his back.

"Get a move on!" an 8-bit voice ordered. It now became clear to him as he looked at the shackles on his wrists. He was captured no thanks to Rotor and Tails.

Speaking of which, he checked up on the two who were also in the same situation as him, moving towards a ship to be deported back to Robotropolis. All of a sudden, he wished he never went to check on the robot that 'escaped' earlier. But it was too late for 'what-ifs' so he decided to ask the 'what-now's

"Any chance we can make a run for it," he whispered to Rotor, the walrus opened his mouth to answer that question but was interrupted by the wolf known as Drago.

"Don't even think about it, 'less you wanna see those losers get their heads blown out before reaching Robotropolis." Drago gestured a finger at what seemed to be cages containing mobians to be sent for the roboticization process.

"That answer your question yet?" Rotor asked as he rolled his eyes, the reason why they surrendered wasn't because they couldn't fight back, as freedom fighters, they were responsible for the lives of civilians meaning they had to assure the prisoners safety.

Blank realized this and nodded, he wanted a much more easier approach rather than going this route, but he had no say in the matter, especially when lives were at stake.

"HAHAHA!"

His attention, along with the other two freedom fighters, was turned towards Drago who was laughing uncontrollably.

"Something funny?" Blank asked

The wolf replied "You freedom fighters are real losers, don't tell me you'd rather save a bunch 'o randoms over your own skin? Y'all are pathetic!" he kept on laughing, which annoyed Rotor a bit. Tails shrunk back nervously at this, though he didn't feel afraid one bit.

"So?"

Drago looked at the one who asked that question, it came from the cat who landed on his face earlier. His mood died down "What do you mean 'so'?"

"They clearly knew what they'd be getting into when they signed up for this job, I don't see a problem with it"

"It proves how weak you are, making those sacrifices all to amount to-"

"No," Blank sharply interrupted, everyone in that area became surprised even the combots.

Drago's patience with the cat began to thin "What?"

"No, no, no," The cat continued with a stern face "You're saying the complete opposite, sacrifices shouldn't make you weak, it just proves you're strong enough to make the decisions normal people can't,"

Tails looked up at the guy in surprise, the cat returned the glance before continuing

"These are people who have probably been fighting since childhood for years now. They didn't stop to think of what they want, rather what they needed, their freedom which was taken away by the guy you're working for to satisfy your wants." He paused to recollect lost breath "That's why they're more stronger than you'll ever be." Blank concluded, there was silence in that surrounding environment

Rotor the Walrus became even more curious about this new guy after the speech he had just heard, he couldn't have worded it out any better even if he tried. Tails just nodded in agreement at those words.

Drago hissed as he replied "Well, that's not gonna stop you from becoming a robot slave, loser."

"Honestly I kinda expected it, hehe" Blank laughed as he used one free hand to scratch his head which sent the two freedom fighters into shock

"You broke free?!"

"Well yeah, I had an itch I needed to scratch." He answered them "What? You think I'd let myself feel uncomfortable just like that? SMH dudes"

"Grrr, get them!" Drago growled at the robots who aimed their guns at the three captured mobians. They all got into defensive stances with Blank looking around.

Tails shuddered "Looks like it's really the end of the line…"

"Hey be positive here," Blank assured the fox

"You have a lot to say when this is over," Rotor added.

Blank smirked, but his confidence was cut short as his ears picked up a sudden sound. "That noise…"

"It's an airplane!" one of the combots exclaimed, turning everyone's attention to the vehicle in the sky. Blank could see some dots falling from the plane, they gradually grew bigger until the cat could notice what they were, or 'who' they were.

Falling from the sky were three people equipped with parachutes, two of them Blank could recognize as Sonic the Hedgehog and Geoffrey St. John, the one other being a red echidna. He was curious about the identity of the third person

"Wait," Rotor pointed out "Geoffrey, Knuckles and Sonic working together?"

"I take it they don't really see eye to eye," Blank deadpanned

"Just about right," the walrus confirmed his thoughts.

Drago began sweating, he turned at the robots "The hell are you guys doing? Shoot them before they reach the ground!"

They quickly aimed at the guys in parachutes about to fill them with bullets before they even landed.

Before they could even pull the trigger, both Blank and Rotor disarmed the robots faster than they could react. The cat quickly landed a punch on one of them, sending them flying away, he felt the impact on his fist which pained him a lot and was more lucky he was wearing gloves otherwise he'd just be a liability in this upcoming all-out brawl.

Another robot aimed its pistol at Blank but was immediately destroyed as Tails curled up into a ball and charged at him, this was the famous 'Spin Dash' used by Sonic, the hedgehog in question landing safely along with his companions.

"Thanks," Blank turned towards the fox who nodded back.

"Let's join them," Tails asked with a determined look "Princess Sally's counting on us!"

The other two agreed in unison "Right!"

Pandemonium began, Blank decided the first and best choice of option should be releasing the prisoners and rally up the ones who could fight. Rotor realized this and soon came to his aid as they both destroyed every one of the cages with brute force. They were deeply thanked by the rescued mobians who went to join the fight. Words echoed through Blank's mind, these were the words of people who revolted against the empire of the mad genius, words of determined mobians who sought to reclaim their world.

'FIGHT!' 'FREEDOM!'

Everyone was fighting, even the badger soldiers from the cave had joined along with their Tasmanian devils. They didn't care about what'd become of them, reclaiming their home was their first priority.

Their sacrifice

'Sacrifices shouldn't make you weak, it just proves you're strong enough to make the decisions normal people can't,'

Blank recalled his own words earlier as a chuckle escaped his lips. Oh how he loved being this right.

'I just hope that guy sees it-'

Speaking of the devil, Drago was making a run for it after pushing Sonic away. Of course there were times life lessons had to be drilled into someone, through a thorough beatdown.

"GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE YA BASTARD!" he cursed as he began chasing the member of the wolf tribe.

Drago looked back at who called him which made him even more annoyed than he already was "You! Look I already got enough on my plate so why not sit this one out?!"

"Fat chance, not after that crap you pulled off," the cat replied back. It was clear he wasn't giving up till justice was served.

He slowly began catching up to the wolf, as soon as he was in close range, he leaped up with the aim of tackling him to the ground. The cat was merely a few centimeters away from catching his prey, when all of a sudden, he felt a ball run into him from the back. Though the thing was, it wasn't just an ordinary ball as it felt like a cannonball was fired at his spine.

"Ghk!" Blank bit his lip in shock as the ball sent him flying towards a tree.

"Blank?" The blue ball, revealing itself to be Sonic, quickly realized his actions as he accelerated to where the cat had landed "Oh man, I'm so, so sorry! I was moving too fast I didn't-"

All of Sonic's apologies fell on deaf ears as the cat slowly lost consciousness, his eyes turned white as all life around him slowly faded into darkness.

"w-why… did… I… ev-en… come… here?" he uttered out using the last of his strength before passing out.

…

"Blank?" a voice called out

He found himself inside a void, he couldn't see or feel anything, just hear it.

"Blank, where are you?" a different voice called out, he had no choice but to answer the question, the same question that recurred throughout his life from that day.

"Here,"

"Good, now please listen," the first voice added "Forgive me, for being so weak"

"What are you saying?" Blank asked "Why should I be mad?"

His attention was diverted as he checked his palms, rather than their usual white color, they were dyed in red, or rather blood.

He found himself standing in a sea of blood.

A loud shriek resounded through the atmosphere.

…

"GAH!"

Blank the cat woke up from his hospital bed in shock, he rapidly felt round his face and checked his hands for any signs of blood stains, fortunately, there was none.

'Not that dream again' he pinched the bridge between his nose while groaning. This wasn't the first nor the last he'd be hearing about this dream.

"Damn it…" he muttered

"I don't know if you're aware, but cursing like that isn't exactly welcome here in Knothole." A calm adult voice said.

Blank turned to the owner of that voice, finding a yellow duck mobian in a doctor's outfit.

"Who're you supposed to be? Daffy Duck's lost cousin?" he asked in sarcasm

"You should try stand-up comedy sometime," the assumed doctor replied with the same tone.

"I get that a lot where I'm from," Blank regained his casual smile

The doctor let out a sigh before bringing out a pad with a medical form attached to it, "Which ponders the question, where are you from? According to Sonic, you aren't even a citizen of this kingdom, do you know how hard it was finding a blood sample of your type?"

The cat laid back nonchalantly, "I'm just a guy following wherever his nose leads him,"

"Poetic are we?" The doctor raised an eyebrow "Better hope you choose the right words when facing the king tomorrow, be lucky Sonic pleaded for you not to be thrown into the dungeon."

"Eh? What for?!" Blank tried standing up but failed as he felt something round his foot, unveiling the blanket, he found himself chained to the bed "What is it with you guys and shackles?!"

"We can start with 'the assaulting of several secret agents and a high ranking commander'," A new voice joined the conversation, it belonged to a female chipmunk with short red hair and a blue jacket "Princess Sally Acorn, Leader of the Freedom Fighters-" she stretched out a hand for a formal handshake which Blank accepted

Blank turned his attention towards the window, the streets were filled with festivities and people celebrating everywhere, which made him question what was going on

"Someone throwing a birthday party?"

"It's a celebration of honor," Sally answered "after you passed out, Sonic proceeded to Robotropolis for a decisive battle between him and Robotnik with the world at stake. He ultimately emerged victorious, ending the decade old war."

"But aren't you supposed to be dead?" the moment he asked that question, the whole room froze, the doctor shivered in shock before sneaking out of the medical facility in a hurry to avoid the outrage which would occur shortly. Sally's face remained still for a bit before shaking off the question.

"Let's just focus on the current matters at hand, hm?" she asked with a forced smile, Blank could tell she was probably holding off her temper for his sake.

"Uhh, yeah sure," he nodded "So what's this bit about attacking soldiers? As far as I know the only citizens of Knothole I've met so far are - oh…" he came to the sudden realization of the events that transpired when he first met Sonic.

"See it now?" Sally asked "Not even ignoring the fact you helped in letting Drago of the wolfpack, a terrorist, get away"

Blank looked at the princess in disbelief "The wolf guy?"

She nodded "You basically committed treason by aiding someone who was charged with attempted regicide,"

He then retorted "I was chasing him down personally till Sonic bulldozed me into a tree, shouldn't he be the one getting the boot?!"

"That's not how the jury sees it sadly," Sally shook her head in disappointment

"Your system sucks," he muttered in annoyance

"Like I haven't heard that before," the chipmunk remarked in sarcasm "Anyways, you're down to two options since Rotor and Tails also intervened on your behalf."

"Why does it feel like I already know what they are?" Blank chuckled nervously

"You're to come under my supervision and join Knothole's Freedom Fighters, report back to me daily and carry out tasks with your teammates" Sally stated

"Hm," Blank thought about it, so basically its work, the one thing he disliked. Though it wasn't that bad, he enjoyed doing nothing. Hopefully, the second option was better.

"And the other?"

"To Devil's Gulag effective immediately"

'Ah so that's how it's gonna be,' he leaned back. Hey, at least he could be allowed to sleep in as much as he wanted even if it was prison, with a comfy bed and a stable roof over his head, the only minor problem being the meal choices and poor facilities for mostly everything. 'Nope, not that one either.'

"Can't I just use Run?"

" Fufufu," She chuckled lightly but in a creepy tone, there was definitely no escape for him.

'She's chuckling! Why does it feel I'm about to get exploited?!' Blank commented anxiously, no matter what option he chose, he had basically made a deal with the devil. A prison room didn't sound bad but eating good food sounded better even if it meant being *ugh* diligent.

"So, what's it gonna be?" the princess asked confidently

Blank thought about it, 'work or prison, work or prison, work or prison?' the answer was definitely going to be something he'd regret choosing regardless. So the safest option counts then

"Blank the cat, reporting for duty ma'am," he saluted 'I'm screwed.'

"Alright then!" she exclaimed in satisfaction at that answer "Dr. Quack says you'll recover by tomorrow so your duties begin the day after," she explained before walking out joyfully "Be sure to save up a lot of energy, you'll be needing it!"

And with that, Sally Acorn left the room leaving Blank alone. At least now he had his thoughts all to himself, now he could bash his head continuously against the wall on how he got himself stuck in this mess just because he was being nosy.

Things were just getting started for the cat.

With that, the Welcome to Knothole arc is concluded.

Honestly I feel this was a bit rushed

(like all my stories DX) but the concept seemed entertaining to me nonetheless.

So this story might be going on a short break cuz of exams and allat. But I'll be back with longer chapters and more interesting arcs so be sure to read, review and fav/follow.

Gear out

Next Chapter: What kind of weirdo puts almonds in an omelette?