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Never Got to Hear Him Play
1.
One day he disappeared. No one was really sure where he went. The two most prevalent theories were that he hopped on a train and skipped town or his abusive old man finally killed him and he's buried in the backyard. Manic choose to believe the train theory, just because it made his heart hurt less.
In the end, he never really did get to hear him play.
Xxx
The first time Manic noticed him was during the summer after seventh grade. Sonic had somehow convinced him to go on a cross-town jog to the border of Peach Tree and back. (Peach Tree was the name of the low-income neighborhood on the south end of town. It was separated from the rest of the town by a set of train tracks, turning the saying 'from the wrong side of the tracks' into a reality.)
As they jogged past the train tracks they heard a commotion from one of the houses nearby. There was a loud crash, the sound of glass breaking, and then an obviously drunk voice roared: "GET OUTTA HERE YA' LITTLE SHIT!" The screen door banged open and a hedgehog wearing hand-me-down clothing and an oversized leather jacket stumbled out of the house, one of his cheeks already swelling. He stood on the dilapidated front porch for a moment, looking oddly vulnerable and defeated. Then he shook his head briskly, hopped off the porch and walked down the street, further into Peach Tree.
"Dude, Knux said that Scourge's dad was abusive but…I thought he was joking," Sonic sounded a little queasy.
Manic didn't say anything, he just watched Scourge grow smaller and smaller as he got farther away.
Xxx