The castle was silent, ominous to that effect and echoing every noise, every bit of debris falling, every pitter-patter of rain outside, and every single pin-drop. The air was thick with darkness; even a slight light would not guide one's way.
Everything was cast in a dark, menacing shadow, a shadow that stalked all corridors, corners, and rooms.
However… despite this obstacle that strained vision and blocked it, one creature snuck within its border, tinted blue eyes darting left and right. Those eyes narrowed, and the being took a small stride around the corner, sneaking past an old, beaten tapestry.
He knew his castle by heart, having ran through it several times, and so, the darkness was no stranger to him. He felt around, keeping his hands to the wall and running the tips of his fingers along the bricks—he felt their rough edges, their dents, and any alterations to them.
He knew his destination, and he knew the path towards it. Nothing would stop him; at least, permanently.
Cautiously, he glanced around, then frowned slightly, noting how silent it was, but immediately masked this frown with an arrogant smirk.
"Pfft. Cowards," he commented, moving down the wall as he looked around, listening for any other noises besides his own footsteps. As he progressively neared a large room, he breathed in, straightening slightly and confident no one was there. "…Yep. They wouldn't have the nerve to jump me in my own castle… and even if they did…"
A malicious grin fell on his muzzle, and he cracked his knuckles.
"…The king would be the one doing the jumping," he snickered to himself.
Walking towards it, he came to a halt at the archway, until he stood directly underneath it. The frame towered over him, its features grim, dark, and sinister, but he did not flinch. He simply smirked, readying himself for his return. Lifting his red sun shades, he stared ahead with a look of familiarity and a certain degree of smug pride. His egotistical smile curved further, out loud and proud, as he uttered three words under his breath:
"Home, sweet, home."
He strolled leisurely across the old red carpet, glancing around at the room with a conceited expression, admiring how it was all his, the whole world, even… although he had been gone for a while. Even so, what did all those suckers have what he didn't? It'd be cake to bring the world to its knees again; heck, he didn't mind it… he felt like doing more than necessary for the fun of it most of the time. The looks on their faces were just priceless. It was amazing they could still pull facial expressions after what he did to them…
Speaking of…
The hedgehog glanced around with a sceptical expression, wondering why no one was here. His so-called 'allies' would be around, wouldn't they…? After their betrayal, wouldn't they call dibs and conquer the castle the moment he was gone? That was what confused him, but the ever-so-self-obsessed side of him declared that they may have just skedaddled out of fear of him coming back. That was out-ruled by the other query, however… just where were they? He made a note to stay cautious. Cautious wasn't such a major emotion for him when he had it, though…
"Hey, saps! IF you're hanging around, you better come out—cos, you don't want the king's kind of hanging around!" he called with an overconfident yet almost triumphant tone. Ensuring no one answered and no one was present, he shrugged and continued.
Sauntering across the out-stretched roll of red, he stopped in front of a seat that was old, decayed, and way more dilapidated than anything else in the room. Above all, it still stood straight and sturdy, however, and he had to admire that. Looking down at the foot of the seat, he smirked fondly, and finally, turning around, he parked his behind on the chair, slouching back into it. The feeling he felt now was almost nostalgic; he had been away from his kingdom, stuck with eating sucky prison dinners, and facing so much abuse, that he had almost forgotten the feeling of being 'king'. He sighed, the stress ceasing if only for a little while. He wanted to enjoy this, and that was mostly what he did. He stared ahead, watching every edge of the throne room lazily from his majestic chair of authority. After a moment, he realized this was getting boring pretty fast, and sat up, scowling slightly.
"Man, sucks when you don't have anyone to boss around…" he grumbled to himself, tapping his fingers on the arms of his throne.
Had the others been around, he'd likely be doing something remotely constructive now, like stealing the ol' Doc's star posts so he could finally get some revenge on that sappy blue hedgehog. It felt… weird. Kind of different, kind of strange. Even though he conquered the planet on his own… it was odd not hearing that fox's smart-alec responses, just as it was hearing Acorn's level-headed reminders about loyalty to the group… He thought again for a moment, then huffed irritably.
"Tch. Don't need those chumps," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Whatever happened to them, they got what they deserved, and I'm happy just with that. If they're stupid enough to show their faces to me again, they're dead meat and they can rot like it for all I care. "
Leaning back, he placed his arms comfortably behind his neck, smirking.
"Besides, I have a new gang now. And there ain't no better compromise than that. World'll know by then not to mess with the king of all kings. If not, I'll be happy with teaching them that lesson," he hummed with a sinister, toothy grin, gazing at the ceiling mischievously. "To that blue idiot's world especially. Punk should've took that offer when I gave it, but that's a goody-two-shoes for ya'. Always so freaking predictable…"
"…Sco…u…r…ge…"
"…What was that?" the green being's pupils shrunk slightly at a voice. It sounded… unusually close, but that couldn't be… He'd checked the place out, enough, right? No one was meant to be in here…
Unless…
The green hedgehog stiffened as his ears caught the sound of heavy breathing.
It wasn't just any heavy breathing; it wasn't just the wind; it wasn't just some random stranger. He recognized the tone, the emotion, and most of all, the voice behind it… Feminine, excited, and most of all, manic.
Slowly, but almost sluggishly, he looked up. His eyes were the size of grain of sand as he saw a face illuminated by an unnaturally wide grin. The owner of that unnerving smile was leering over the top of the throne, their eyes shrank as well, tinting the irises with insanity—
—intent on him.
A hammer suddenly slammed in front of him, just between his legs, stopping him from standing.
There was a squeal, and, from a young girl, it sounded extremely unstable, excited, and most of all giddy for a morbid ending.
"You came back…" she breathed, ending on a high-pitched note, "SCOURGEYYYYY!"
"*$£#!"
Said hedgehog shifted his legs from around the hammer, trying to move himself so the pink female wouldn't be almost smushed against his face with such a mad expression. With difficulty, he succeeded, just as his opposition pouted and lugged her hammer from the dent in the throne.
He leapt to the floor, then glanced at this, before groaning afterwards with an irritated expression, "Why'd you have to go nutcase on my throne, Rosy?" He'd just got home…
She didn't respond to his question, just grinned at him widely, eager to smash the hedgehog in front of her into itty bitty pieces.
"Rosy's been waiting for ages and ages for you to come home, Scourgey…" she hummed, slowly creeping forward as she gripped the pole of her hammer tightly, ready to swing. The fastest thing alive took several steps back every time she put one foot forward, visibly sweating and staring at the missile-shaped hammer and, more importantly, its owner in slight fear. She finished, with a sweet little smile that was a tiny bit too innocent for its own good, "…Don't you think Rosy deserves a hug?"
At Scourge's end, 'Hug' was not an advisable option, because Rosy looked like she was about to smash his face into green jelly.
"No!" he shot, side-stepping just as the hammer hit the dry-wall. He dreaded being hit by that thing. The impact alone was massive, catastrophic on the wall as it made an incredibly long crack straight up the wall. It climbed it like ivy; Scourge did not know where it stopped but he didn't care. Right now, he cared about saving his skin.
Rosy growled as her target dashed towards the exit, pulling at her hammer once again.
"Scourgey!" she scolded. "Wait for Rosy!"
The rain outside increased, running through the recently-made cracks in the wall, and dampening its exterior with ease. The clouds were gray, and by the looks of things, the weather and situation was getting worse and worse.
Scourge cursed under his breath, thinking himself stupid for believing he was safe in his little fort. He'd completely forgotten about Rosy—she had been nothing to him when he was in his super form… and it had been so long. He'd been busying himself with other matters, like vengeance on Blue. This logically explained why the place was empty, too… who in their right frame of mind would want to live in the place if Rosy stalked its halls to her own accord?
Shaking his head, the green Moebian sped up the pace, his running motions forming a circular blur as he shot towards one of the exits to the castle. It was not long before the perky girl was following him, swinging her hammer and bouncing gleefully on her heels. The darkness did not scare her, and she seemed to know exactly where she and Scourge were going. What a radar…
"Oh, Scouuurrrgggeey!" she hummed merrily, nearing him and waving her hammer around like a wand. Her squeals were a lot more obvious before, more energetic, so full of excitement and just raring for the final results. "There's something you need to knnoooowwww! Before smush goes your e-gooo!"
"Go away, Rosy!" Scourge called back to her, turning his suddenly-shocked face to see her closely on his tail. After all these years, it was getting harder to avoid her… She could catch up now, which was very bad… "I don't have time for your little games! I got planets to conquer and brat spats to settle!"
"Do you?" Rosy pouted adorably, but her thoughts were anything less than adorable. "It's okay. You'll have time for me soon. VERY SOON."
The tone the rascal had spoken with was a very disturbing one to Scourge. It was that sort of tone where you knew something someone else didn't. If Rosy wasn't willing to part with the information, then this could all end up putting the green hedgehog out of commission and into a grave. Scourge wasn't ready for that, and he never would be!
Nearing the exit, he turned his head forward, narrowing his eyes before—
THUD!
…crashing face-first into a brick-wall.
"Heeheehee!"
He fell back, looking extremely disorientated and confused at the wall. Rubbing his face, he stared at the wall in disbelief.
"…B-but… the exit… it's supposed… to be right here!" he stuttered, unsure of why a solid wall had popped up out of nowhere. He glanced at the wall, then blinked. There was a small piece of card with writing on it.
'Excuse me, sire, but this exit has been blocked off for renovations. Do forgive us.'
Scourge scowled.
Even if it IS just writing, I can hear his cocky, sarcastic tone…
"Miles, you piece of—UGH…!"
He was slapped sideways like a doll, thrown against the wall and feeling its rough edges graze against him, piercing cells and making him cringe as his cranium echoed with agony. Luckily, the hit wasn't directed correctly… if it had been…
Scourge did not want to think about it.
He didn't have time to react either, for once again, she was in front of him, so close to breaching personal space.
He tried to move, but the world was a blur from the earlier hit. He could see her outline, though, and it wasn't pretty.
She was breathing through her teeth, withholding squeals and giddy as she raised the hammer high.
"Rosy—!"
"Time to die, Scourgey!" she chimed happily, much joy within that one sentence. "I'm ready… are you?"
"N-no…!"
"Good!" Rosy nodded with approval, her smile innocent and chirpy.
"Cut it—!"
He couldn't finish his sentence as a blur of green surged towards his eyeballs; by that point, he couldn't decipher what was in front of him, but before it could end so abruptly, before his lifeline could be cut, before he could hear Rosy giggle maniacally one last time, lightning flashed.
There was a grumbling noise, but it was not from either of them. It was from the clouds outside, ever miserable to that effect. Rain. Lightning. Thunder.
After several seconds, his lifeline was not cut. He wondered why.
That reason soon came to being, for on his being, Rosy was laying, hugging his chest and whimpering like a scared child. Her hammer was tossed aside, no longer a threat, and she posed no danger yet…
Wh-what the…?
At that point, Scourge was unsure of what to say. How to act, how to get Rosy off him.
As his sight refocused, he could just about see the pink hedgehog's eyes tightly shut, fearful as the thunder and lightning continued gradually in the background.
She was scared.
Of what? The storm?
Whatever it was, he needed to get her off him. It was vital he wouldn't get smashed today.
"Rosy…" he growled.
"I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared…" the rascal muttered, over and over again—was she… sobbing?
Great. Now he had to work with a crying brat, much less a more affectionate one.
He tried to move her, ignoring the throbbing in his head, but he couldn't. She was latched around his being pretty tight, and didn't seem intent on moving any time soon. He was restricted from using his arms, and his legs. He was against the wall, and she was against him. He could only move if she did.
Sighing, he growled irritably, then looked above. There was a window, perched slightly high, but still close to their level. The flash had definitely been noticeable from there. He looked down at Rosy again, who sniffling into his jacket (gross; he made a note to get it dry-cleaned later) as the storm roared on at its own pace.
"Rosy, I real—"
"Don't let it get me!" she whimpered suddenly, hugging him tighter and causing said hedgehog to gakk. "Please don't let it get me, Scourgey!"
I swear, you…!
Exhaling to calm himself after trying to grab at oxygen, he stared at her with a begrudging expression.
"Yeah, whatever. I won't let it get you. Now get off, brat!"
Rosy ignored him. She was content enough with using him as an emotional punchbag, if needed.
He glared at her visibly, and if looks could kill… he wondered if it would really work on her.
The situation was incredibly bipolar. A second ago, she had been trying to kill him, but now, she was hugging him. What the heck was she after?
As he observed a little longer, though, he noticed how petrified she looked. Petrified like a child…
Scourge blinked.
Rosy really was a child when it came down to it… even if she had aged up two years just to 'be with him'… or get noticed… Her mentality still had little bits of it, despite having gone 'shatter, shatter' like she had stated.
She was hugging him because she was scared. When she was scared, she wanted protection. So why…?
The green hedgehog shook his head, huffing and shaking his head. Death or hugs, he hated it.
He supposed… he'd just wait until Rosy calmed down, or the storm stopped. Then he'd leg it.
He was sat there all night.
*~S~*
Hellllloooo, my lovely readers! Yet another One-Shot from me!
Yes, I've started reading the comics, and this is one of my favourite crack-ships… I love Rosy; absolutely mental, and even more so her interactions with Scourge. So, I made a little one-shot about it. Scourosy, kinda, too…
This takes place after Scourge got out of prison. The Destructix and Fiona are somewhere else, I guess… but Scourge's just popping home for that bit of nostalgia. Not what he asked for. XD
I got this idea since Rosy seems pretty child-like, considering that ring messed up her head quite a bit and her age prior to it, and a common fear in children is that of storms. I remember having a fear like that. Was pretty scary... in my younger ages, anyway.
Keep in mind this is my first proper portrayal of these two, especially Scourge, so please let me know how I did!
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this One-Shot! T'was a simple plotbunny. If you don't ship it, I'm sorry. D: Please take these cookies as an apology.
Until next time,
-Toxic. : )