It felt strange for the nephalem to be outside in broad daylight, but here he was, strutting down the sidewalk after having left Jamie’s shop mere minutes ago. He was mainly spurred on by the canine’s support of him finally leaving his apartment and the shop, outside of patrols at night, though he did warn him to not bring back anything with him. To the point though, the reason why Katorasu was outside in the first place was that he had decided to go ahead and check out an address within the city, it was part of the batch that was written on the face of the photographs that the hedgehog had taken pictures of the night prior.
Katorasu stopped before a pizza shop of all places, it did match up with the address and the picture itself though. Then again, all those photos were of places that the new organization in town would be shaking down for protection money, so it was expected if anything. Not like they would immediately go for banks right off the bat if that was even in their plans in the first place. Kato didn’t finish reading the document from last night. Nevertheless, the nephalem proceeded to head into the pizza place as a happy little chime rang out within the small building. At first glance, there was only a mother with her son and a lone uniformed teen working the register, while a handful of others worked in the back of the pizza place. The smell of the greasy delight flowed throughout the building, definitely grabbing the attention of the black hedgehog. If his stomach could growl, it would do so by now.
As the nephalem moved across the room, he could feel the eyes of the mother land on him, though he paid no mind to her. His eyes quickly read out each item: “Meat Lover’s,” “Hawaiian,” “Cheese,” “Supreme,” “Pepperoni,” etc. It contained the basic different types of pizzas that you could order from any other pizza place. There was however a unique option on the dimly lit menu that was above the counter: “Chili Cheese Special”
“Made your choice yet, sir?” The teen asked, a bit unenthusiastic, though that seemed to be stemming from the small look of exhaustion in his eyes.
Turns out that Katorasu had been standing in front of the counter for a few minutes just staring at the menu. Truth be told, with each option, he was thinking about whether or not he should get that specific choice before going on to the next type of pizza. Like as if he was discussing with himself if he should try something new or not.
“Uhhhh… what’s the ‘Chilli Cheese Special’?” He asked, genuinely curious over the unique pick on the menu.
“Oh, that,” The teen yawned lightly, “Someone took the idea of a chili dog and used it for pizza. It was made way back then as a way to say thanks to Sonic, everyone would get it from what I’ve heard. Even the guy himself ordered occasionally. Now only a few people order it, don’t know why though but not like I’m dying to find out the reason.” The teen cashier shrugged.
Biting a small portion of his lower lip, the nephalem decided to go ahead and order the special, as he pulled out the proper amount of money to cover the price of one box. After being told that it would take a handful of minutes, fifteen at the most, Katorasu stepped over to the tiled wall closest to him. With his right foot against the wall and his back against it, the ebony swordsman had begun to spend the time thinking about the world he was in and it’s history. It would be ignorant to say that there was no legacy left behind in the world of heroes, something that the nephalem would have to somehow follow up on, or respect, by trying his hardest as, possibly, the only hero in the city. Ever since the night at the convenience store, the nephalem had been enthusiastic with his reading of the autobiography he had purchased; happily spending portions of his mornings reading the book. He had learned about the various adventures of the Blue Blur, all the friends he met and all the enemies he had faced along the way, and the retired hero’s perspective of it all.
In all honesty, Katorasu wasn’t exactly a proper fan of the Fastest Thing Alive. He did have respect for him though, it must’ve been fun being the world’s greatest hero and that was what Kato aspired to be one day. Whether this all was out of personal or redemptive reasons was something he did not know. Still, though, it was inspiring to read about how the blue hedgehog faced off against impossible odds such as a machine god version of his robotic copy, a god-like water guardian, an evil genie, and a mad scientist’s terrifying biological experiment.
In comparison, one could easily determine the two vast differences between Katorasu and Sonic: power and friends. The nephalem did not have any forms beyond the one that he was currently, nor did he have friends that would lay down their lives to fight alongside him in the ongoing war of good vs evil. He did have Jamie though, though to him at times it didn’t feel like a proper friendship, and he did not expect the canine to take up arms with the nephalem if the time ever called for it. He wasn’t even sure if Jamie had powers or not, you could look at the most average person and they could have awesome powers themselves.
That didn’t deter the midnight vigilante, maybe where he was at was as far as he could go in terms of strength, but he knew that given time he most likely could rally a group of friends that he could rely on and vice versa as well. It was that thought that Althaea, a close comparison to him, appeared in his mind. Perhaps she could be the first of many if she hadn’t already left the city by now. Unbeknownst to him, she most likely would stay if asked to by the emerald swordsman.
With all that thinking, the nephalem was distracted as he didn’t notice the mother from across the room wall over to where he was. “Excuse me, you may not remember me but…” His golden eyes took in her appearance: a middle-aged doe, whose eyes seemed to bear sad tiredness to them despite the smile, “... thank you, for what you did a few nights ago.”
It took a few seconds for Katorasu to recognize her, but he soon realized that this mother was present, alongside her child, during the night where Kato intervened in the robbery of a convenience store.
At first, he struggled with deciding whether to play pretend and not know what she was talking about or to accept her thank you. Eventually, he settled on to just accept it, after all, stuff like this did, and would, come with the job, “It’s no big deal, I did what was right.” He smiled, talking softly so only she could hear him.
“For me, it was. They could’ve taken money from my son and me, rent’s coming up and I barely have enough to pay it this month. So, I’m glad that you showed up when you did.” In her hands, she clutched a singular box of pizza, by her side was the aforementioned child. He was no less than eight it seems.
In the same spot as before, he bit his bottom lip. He thought for a moment, before reaching into the back pocket of his pants and pulling out his wallet. Despite having no job, he had a handful of cash on hand; this was all mainly from taking “donations” here and there from criminals he apprehended. Digging into his wallet, he pulled out two $20s and one $10.
“Here,” He said, placing the bills together into the crevice of the box of pizza, made by the top and bottom of it, “let’s change that ‘barely’ to a ‘comfortably.’” A smile formed on his lips.
Understandably, the mother was speechless, she never knew anyone with such kindness before, and to someone, such as her, that was just a mere consequence of his heroics. She struggled to find the words to express her gratitude, before eventually settling on the most simplistic phrase. “Thank you.”
He nodded his head, as he waved goodbye to the doe and her calf. To say he felt good was an understatement, he felt spectacular in every sense of the word. This is what he lived for, fought for, would die for. Something as simple as a mother giving her thanks is what boosted the nephalem. It reminded him that he will never stop his heroics until his name is in the lights and the whole world screams his name. That’s what his dream was made of. Only then would he finally feel the weight on his shoulders lifted.
For now, he was happy with just being a small-time vigilante at night.
“Sir?” The teen at the counter called for the Nephalem’s attention, “Your pizza’s ready, enjoy and all that.” He yawned, as he lightly pushed the square box forward across the counter.
Feeling pretty good about himself, and wanting to sit down and enjoy some pizza, he gladly picked up the box. Having now left the pizza shop, the nephalem began to make his way to both Jamie’s tailor shop and his apartment. In his mind, the black hedgehog was wondering how the canine would berate him this time for eating more greasy food.
