Blanked Soul
Chapter 3: Those TV messages you always see were meaningless
Freedom HQ
"So, how's he holding up Sal?"
Sally's eyes widened in surprise at the familiar voice that called her, Sonic leaned against a wall while tapping his feat, it was as if he had been there the whole time
"And here I thought you'd be more engrossed in your celebration." She rolled her eyes
Sonic let out a chuckle as he walked towards her "Heh, can't make it all about me"
He pulled her in for a kiss to which she warmly consented, it was short but still passionate.
Pulling away, Sally said with a mischievous smirk "You've gotten soft,"
"Have I?" he looked her deeply in the eyes, both of them wanted this moment to last for an eternity, but sadly there were other things to attend to "He really helped me out y'know, Blank,"
"You told me this already," she replied, she had been told of the events that had transpired during her short coma, the appearance of this mysterious cat was in her top three in those said events as not only manage to outsmart the kingdom's secret service, but took out Geoffrey in a swift move, someone who'd give even Sonic a hard time. He couldn't just be tossed away like some random and was even Sally's primary reason for asking the cat to join the Freedom Fighters.
"There something wrong?" the hedgehog asked
"No, it's just…" she paused for a bit "Who even is this guy? You expect me to believe a random person has been travelling round the world on his own during a war, a war Sonic!"
Sonic looked down, yeah she wasn't wrong. Till the climax of the Robotnik war, nowhere on Mobius was really a safe place unless you count Knothole, Angel Island, and some few other places, but that was just it. He definitely would have gotten captured and roboticized. The story he was given would be half believable if he had a companion to vouch for him, but even then he'd still have a hard time buying that.
"I can't exactly say I trust him too Sal, but where are you heading at?"
Sally let out a breath before concluding "I'm saying he can't be trusted even though he helped you escape to prove your innocence, though letting Drago escape already speaks for itself,"
"O-Oh, I forgot about that," He nervously chuckled, it wasn't really a faint memory as he could easily recall slamming Blank to the ground by accident. It was honestly an embarrassing moment he wished to forget
"He's still mad about that you know" she looked back "And from the look of things I doubt he'd easily forget,"
"Don't blame me, not like I was born with brakes,"
Sally sighed "Honestly, you're too reckless Sonic, can't even think of what to do with you."
"Mhm, you think of that while I go grab a plate of chili-dogs," he responded before speeding off to Chuck's Diner.
"Wait!"
He paused in his tracks "Uh, anything else Sal?"
She replied "We need to keep an eye on him, at least that's clear enough"
Sonic thought deeply before responding "I don't know Sally, I say we leave him be. He seems real nice even though he's a bit…"
"Lazy?" Sally interjected as if she read his mind
"Yeah that,"
"Wouldn't hurt to take precaution," she explained "which is why I told him he'd be working with the others, of course I didn't tell him why he'd be doing it"
"You make it sound like he's a kid" Sonic deadpanned
"Safe to assume?" Sally raised an eyebrow
'Well, he did seem so happy-go-lucky first time we met' he thought a bit before turning around "Anyhow, gotta juice, see ya!"
And with that, Sonic accelerated out of the headquarters leaving his signature trail of dust behind. A loud coughing echoed throughout the room as Sally tried clearing the dust with her hand.
"Hate when he does that,"
"So after he learns reverse curse technique and shoots the guy with a red, he combines both red and blue to make an imaginary mass called purple,"
Blank stated whilst gesturing both his index fingers and joined them, a coyote mobian wearing a blonde toupee just stared baffled.
"My apologies but I understood not one out of ze things you speak," the coyote replied
Blank shot back "Me neither Antoine, it seemed fun when I didn't know what was going on,"
A few hours had passed since he'd woken up, though he didn't sustain that much injuries, he was still ordered to remain indoors. It was only through countless pleas and begging he was able to go out and at least enjoy the ongoing celebration before it was over.
"So, what does a fellow mobian do to entertain himself around these parts?" Blank asked with a raised eyebrow
Antoine answered boldly "Ooh, zat is quite eazy, mon ami, we can find ze music bar not too far from here"
Blank's attention was now caught "Hey not bad, how is it?"
The coyote simply made a circle with his hands by joining his index and thumbs together, "Perfect, magnifique, from ze stereo to ze waitresses, and do not get me started on-"
He was briefly interrupted by Blank "Wait, wait, wait, waitresses?"
"Hm? Well yes but-"
The cat now leaned in, smirking mischievously as he stroked his chin "Pray tell, do they happen to be smoking?"
Antoine looked away nervously "I cannot say exactly, I have no focus for such." he seemed to be a bit afraid of answering that one question
"Aw c'mon Ant, gimme a number, one to ten," he begged the coyote in a playful tone
"Uhh, ten?"
"Hmph, so what does that make me?" a new voice interrupted the dialogue, it sounded something similar to a southern American in terms of tone, the attention of the two was turned towards a blonde female anthromorphic rabbit, but unlike her fellow mobians, her left arm and both her legs were mechanical. Blank noticed this and theorized it as some form of incomplete roboticization which piqued his interest on this mystery mobian.
"And you are?" he asked with a blank expression.
Antoine rushed in at that moment "Bunnie, zis is ze new recruit, Blank. Blank, zis is Bunnie Rabbot, an uhh… acquaintance of mine, yes zat."
Blank tilted his head "Acquaintance huh? That a fancy word for girlfriend?"
The other two froze instantly at that question, Bunnie just staring in surprise while Antoine's face turned red in embarrassment.
"AHAHAHA!" the rabbit burst out laughing in hysterics "Yer crackin' me up real good Blank, but ah assure ya, we're not like that."
The cat leaned back a bit "You sure? You seem like you'd make a great couple."
"Okay zat is enough!" Antoine quickly interrupted before walking away quickly before anyone could notice the blush on his face
"Where ya goin?!" Bunnie called back in confusion
"To ze HQ, Princess Sally requests my presence immediately."
With that the coyote left the two in a more confused state
"Anyone call him?" Blank asked
"Ah don't think so, ah'd better follow just to be safe." She replied before taking pursuit after her teammate.
Blank was now on his own, the company was fun while it lasted. Hopefully, there was something to keep him entertained before he lost his sanity.
"Oh right, Ant said something about a bar, wonder if there's anything worth checking out there,"
He set off, walking through the calm and playful streets of Knothole. He saw the looks of pure excitement on the people's faces, it was well deserved especially now that the war was over. People could now go out as freely as they pleased without being scared of being captured.
'Not bad,' Blank commented, a time of peace didn't seem so bad after all 'Just wish…'
"Hey Blank!"
The cat turned to see who was possibly calling him, all he found was a blue blur moving at the speed of sound. The blur decelerated, creating a cloud of dust followed by a screeching sound which made Blank cover his ears in agony.
"GAIA DAMMIT, YOU TRYNA BLOW MY EARS OUT NEEDLERAT?!"
Sonic the hedgehog finally appeared out from the dust cloud, waving the dust away before he went to the aid of the cat "Oh sorry about that, you okay?"
Blank recovered as he replied "I've been through worse"
"Your ears sure are sensitive huh?" Sonic asked
"Yeah, downside to having good hearing," he answered back, making the hedgehog a bit more curious.
"How does that even work?"
"I dunno, it's just there," Blank explained "I can see, hear, smell and taste far better than most people, so any sounds normal mobians hear is amplified, like the Dragon Slayers from Fairy Tail."
"The who from what?" Sonic asked in confusion
"Eh? It's a really popular manga, haven't you heard of it?" he leaned forward
"Now you lost me, what on Mobius is a 'manga'?"
'How doesn't he know what that is? Is he some shut-in?' Blank stared in disbelief, throughout his time across the world, he'd found many interesting places, one of them being Yurasia, a beautiful land brimming with cherry blossom trees, also the place where these 'manga' were made. From the way the hedgehog spoke, he could tell he hadn't really been round the world so he could understand his lack of knowledge.
"Ah, just these brand of comics I read in some country."
Sonic became enthusiastic at that sentence "Comics? Now you're speaking my language, got any of them?"
"I did have a few in my backpack, but I," he paused "Hey, almost forgot, you seen any big brown hiking bag around? Got some important stuff in it which I'd rather not talk about."
Unfortunately, all he earned was a shrug "No dice, where'd you drop it?"
"Dropped it at a corner near the entrance, now it's not there" Blank answered, he could remember vividly leaving it at the entrance of the village after saving the civilians before running off. 'It's filled with souvenirs from my trip round the world, I can't afford to lose it'
He felt a hand on his shoulder, Sonic calmly assured him "No problem, I'll help ya look."
Blank tilted his head "Really?"
"The least I could do for the help you've been," Sonic answered with a smirk, Blank could rest easy now with that look he was given.
"Appreciate it man," he sighed in relief 'Everyone's so nice here it's unbelievable'
It wasn't like some of the other mobian civilizations he'd visited, at Knothole, everyone was treated warmly.
"Hey, whatd'ya say we grab a quick bite at my Uncle Chuck's?"
"He owns a restaurant?" Blank asked
"The best of the best in all of Mobius," he answered the cat with a boastful face "You'll find chili dogs like no other"
"Chili dogs?" Blank raised an eyebrow "Are you sure? I don't really hear good stories from the people who try them."
Sonic shook his head "Nah, just rumors, trust me you'll love 'em"
"Hmm," he stroked his chin in consideration, the people who took a bite all seemed scared when they shared their testimonies so he should say no, but he hadn't tasted one of those so there was always a first time for everything.
What could he have to lose?
"Sure, I'll try,"
Charles 'Chuck' the hedgehog sat behind the counter of his newly refurbished restaurant. He had a lot on his mind, especially since the great war was finally over.
'Though I'm still a robot, I can adjust to it.' he thought
He could clearly recall the day he was kidnapped and sent to the roboticizer, a machine intended to save lives now turned to the worst nightmares of mobians. A punishment he believed was just since it was his creation after all.
Chuck quickly shook his head, now wasn't the time for regrets, he finally had the time to rest and enjoy this time of peace.
"Hey Uncle Chuck!"
A familiar voice called out, he could recognize it as clear as day.
"Sonny boy, Welcome!" he answered back to his nephew who approached the diner along with a cat mobian "I see you brought another friend."
Sonic nodded "Yeah, this is Blank, the guy who helped me out when I was on the run."
'Oh, Sonic wasn't kidding when he said he's a robot.' Blank thought as he examined the old man's mechanical body
The robian suddenly bowed his head in gratitude towards the cat "In that case I'd like to thank you for helping out my boy in his time of need, you have no idea how grateful I am"
Blank's shoulders jerked a bit in surprise "Wait you don't have to do that, it's not really a big deal."
Chuck instantly objected "But it is! If Sonic was recaptured, he wouldn't have had time to stop Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator, this planet would've been blown to bits"
"Wait Ultimate what?! I just passed out for a few hours, what the hell happened?!" the cat exclaimed, he knew that Robotnik was defeated, but what was this about the planet blowing up?
"Don't sweat it, it's all water under the bridge." Sonic playfully patted him on the back, his robot uncle nodding in agreement.
"Yes, and we are in serious debt to you Blank,"
The cat stared in dismay before answering "Don't worry about it, I don't really take rewards from old people, just happy for the creds."
"Nonsense, just name it, as long as it's something I can do." Chuck replied with a gesture "I won't take no for an answer."
Sonic added "Better believe it Blank, once Uncle Chuck makes up his mind there's no stopping him."
'No wonder they're related' Blank looked away, he didn't want to put stress on the elderly because he always respected them, and refusing wasn't an option anymore. 'Gotta keep it simple,'
He made up his mind as he concluded "You make chili dogs right? Yeah I'll just take one of those."
Both hedgehogs blinked, Chuck asked with a surprised look "You sure?"
The cat nodded "Something wrong?"
"No I just…" the old man paused "Are you okay with just that?"
"Yeah I'm cool with it." Blank promptly answered
"Really?" the hero of Mobius asked this time "Not even a plate of chili-dogs?"
"Maybe next time I indirectly save the planet," Blank shrugged "For now just a quick taste."
Chuck the hedgehog just stared at the boy a bit "Okay… I'll get right to it then" he turned back as he started the grill to prepare the meal. Blank quickly turned to Sonic as he spoke in a low tone
"What was that all about?"
Sonic replied "He probably expected you to say something cool like a hoverboard or a lightsaber."
"Where does he even want to dream of finding those things?" Blank scoffed
"Uhh, his workshop?" the hedgehog answered "He's actually an inventor."
"Of course he is," Blank muttered "I'm more surprised you're taking this in well."
After hearing that, Sonic looked down "I can't really say I am,"
The cat had an enthusiastic look "Do enlighten"
"When Robotnik kidnapped my uncle, I was so mad, you wouldn't even believe it. Then the next time I saw him, I broke down on the spot, I just thought I lost. Like I thought I lost someone who's been there all my life, right Blank?"
Blank just looked at him with a blank expression, he preferred not to dive into this case because it'd mean going through painful flashbacks, the things he hated the most. So he answered "How'd I know, I'm a lazy cat who travels round the world."
'Is this guy for real' Sonic irked at the cat, then again, he knew nothing about him so now might be the best chance "So why do you travel?"
"Cuz I can."
"Not really the expressive type huh?" Sonic deadpanned
"Only when needed," he raised his shoulders,
"Just make sure it's not too late for that"
Blank looked down after that response, it wasn't entirely bad to be open and share personal stuff, but that only worked between people who mutually trusted each other. Now wasn't the time to do so.
"I'll have that in mind."
"Order up!" Chuck exclaimed as he arrived at the counter with Blank's requested order.
I know, I know
"Two chapters in a week!"
Schedules being a bitch right there, and playing Sonic Adventure 2 (NOTE: I skipped from Sonic 2 DX)
I wanted this to be longer, but fear of not completing the chapter before New Year didn't allow me to sadly. So enjoy, stay safe and
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Blank: The fall off of this fic will be funny as hell.
Next: Those who make fillers are worse than the people who watch them!
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