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| Tiny little crackle on the telephone line (Ch. 6 prologue) http://sonic.spindash.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=431 |
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| Author: | Sheff [ Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Tiny little crackle on the telephone line (Ch. 6 prologue) |
The night air was cool, mixed with the sting of salt as the green hedgehog discreetly guided himself across the expansive dock, hands shoved into a brown, weathered jacket he now possessed. Behind him lay a boat, lights glaring all around as it was prepared to set off, the work hectic. Back towards land, however, was a much more quiet scene. A shoddy looking phone booth waited for Geoff up ahead, a light flickering weakly behind the dirtied glass, seeming to be the last place anyone would want to confine themselves in at such a late hour. Yet he held no hesitation as he slipped inside into its gloom, and after a few moments of fiddling with some change, a number was punched in. Fingers tapped against the receiver with the rings that soon commenced, Geoff's eyes glancing back, as if expecting one of his acquaintances to come striding on up in curiosity. For the moment, however, the coast was clear, the booth remaining his sanctuary for the time being. Soon enough, he heard a familiar click, his attention being reeled back in to the phone. "Hello?" Came the voice on the other end of the line, soft and slightly apprehensive as anyone answering a call from an unknown number would be. "Ah, hey... This is Geoff," he responded with an unsure tone that was expected when the recipient was one he'd never imagined to purposefully communicate with. Not after what happened on South Island all those months ago, anyway. There was a bit of a pause, apparently Jack was caught a little off guard by the hedgehog. "Geoff, I'll be, I wasn't expectin' yer call." she replied, she didn't sound as irritated and certainly not as short as she'd once been with the hedgehog. "Yeah, neither was I." The griffin's lack of deprecation was pleasant, yet surprising. Perhaps time could manage to heal some wounds, even if it barely stitched them together. The hedgehog took a moment to collect his thoughts, clearing his throat with a small cough. "Lot of things have gone down as of late, but... Well, I don't feel like I'm in a good position to ask this, but I need a favor." "I see." said, a bit more apprehension creeping into her voice now. "What do you need?" It was fortunate this wasn't face to face, or else Jack would have noticed the flinch cross Geoff's expression at the signs of suspicion starting to flourish. His words started to quicken in an attempt to hold the call before things became sour. "It's too long of a story to explain just yet, but Ace— You remember him, right? Well, we managed to poke the wrong bear and he's gotten himself kidnapped. Some illusive mob boss in Chun-nan named Li Fang snatched him." "What?!" Jack gasped into the phone. "Li Fang ain't just some mob boss, Geoff, He's THE mob boss. How'd you even get to Chun-nan? And Ace, ya'll even know if he's alive still?" she didn't want to say it, but what she knew of the crime boss was nothing good for Ace. A disgruntled sigh came from his end as the hedgehog was reminded of the dire feel to the whole situation. "We... We don't know. But we're givin' it our all to try to find him." His voice seemed to drain of energy. "I'll have to give you the run down some other time, but what matters right now is that we know Li Fang trekked it over to South Island. I just need to know if you can help us out with trackin' him down. I know that badge of yours gets you some pull around there still." "Ah." She said after a long pause. "I'd love to help you out, and I'll call in what favors I can, but I ain't Sheriff anymore... I guess with you bein' in Chu-nan an' all you might nott'a heard." She said, then there was a moment of quiet and some rustling. "It'll be a bit before I can track down anything for ya, If I managed it. Where can I reach you? Better yet, where are ya?" "Some pier on the coast over here. We've been through too many places for me to even remember the name. Probably couldn't pronounce it right anyway." A small pause as he shifted in the phone booth. "Anyway, it's going to be a bit before we get back. Sounds like we're headed to Gigapolis... and the boat my friend here found us looks like it was slapped together with whatever pieces the crew could find. It's going to be a... interesting trip." And, as a belated consideration: "And sorry to hear that. Your job, that is." "Sorry nuthin." Jack replied quickly. There was more rustling on her end as she took down some notes. "I quit. I just can't sit still in Yellow Desert when Eggman's in the middle of Central and Gun and Whats-it-called are at open war with each other over everyone's heads. I gotta help people who need it, and Yellow Desert will do fine enough without me fer now." The griffin paused there a moment, before suddenly changing to the topic of their last conversations in Yellow Desert. "I was too hard on you." She admitted, with a bit of obvious guilt and anxiety in her tone. She took a deep breath and plowed on, obviously she'd been looking for an opportunity to get this out into the open. "I know why you did what ya did, and It makes perfect sense, ya didn't know me or what I was gonna do. And them emeralds are more then dangerous, ya had sense in trying to keep it low. I just... I didn't take the whole mess well, and I took it out on you, Geoff, I'm sorry." The new path the conversation was directed down now was unexpected by Geoff, falling into a contemplative silence as he considered her words. There was suddenly an extra chill to the air filtering in through the booth as he stood there, the activity on the sea faring vessel behind him echoing through the night. "...you weren't the one to run away from the problem," he replied, his voice quiet and meek in his admittance to his fault. "I should be the one apologizing." His response was a bit of a surprise. Especially given how it was said. Jack knew that wasn't easy for the standoffish hedgehog, and could appreciate his sincerity, it's a shame her smile was lost on the phone conversation, but it did lighten her voice accordingly. "Takes a big man to admit when he's wrong," Jack said, smiling still. "We both made some mistakes, but its in the past. We got more then enough to focus on in the here an' now. I guess I'll meet you in Gigapolis then, I'll bring whatever I can work out between now an' then." Which was just as well because a pair of dark violet rabbits had jumped on top of the phone booth and were taking turns hopping on its roof with thumps as each landed. "GET A MOVE ON LAND LUBBER!" One shouted. "TELL YOUR MOMMY GOOD BYE ITS TIME TO SHOVE OFF!" The other jeered, both still hopping on the roof. CRACK. Of course, said roof was made of wood, and poorly at that, so one of them fell through onto the hedgehog below. One could only imagine what it must have sounded like from Jack's end. Splintering wood, a pained grunt and some involuntary, muted profanities could be heard crackling across the many miles between the two in a misguided symphony of chaos. It was only a few questionable moments later before Geoff could reply, a hare (unbeknownst to the griffin) now sitting on his shoulders. "...sounds like a grand plan," finally said the hedgehog, a new edge now evident in his voice, yet in no ways directed towards the former sheriff. There was another moment of pause of shifting. "And Jack? Thanks." Jack was more then a little confused, and had to strongly resist the urge to ask what that was about. "No problem Geoff, you be careful." It was best she hung up now, because shortly after the fall there was guffawing laughter in the background, so much so the rabbit that hadn't fallen into the booth, fell off the outside of it. searchindextag chapter6search |
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