"Either your stupidity has gone further than ever before, or I am having a nightmare." Alicia snapped, her eyes boring into Scourge's. "And you're forcing me to make decisions. Now I have to choose whether or not I have Anima kill you here and now." Her shoulders slumped, and she arched her back in the throne. "Don't talk, Scourge." Her eyes wavered from him, over to Anima.
The computer's avatar had taken the form of a lynx for the purposes of this meeting, clad in a white silk dress that ran to her dark-furred feet, almost concealing them from view. Pale brown fur bristled as her queen addressed her, deep black hands brushing specks of dust from her dress before grey eyes snapped open, looking down at Scourge and his quarry.

"As you have mentioned, the hedgehog is expendable, my queen. He can be disposed of with little worry. The fox holds great intrinsic value if there are others searching for her, however. Her death would only incite those Miles mentioned to further violence. It is my analysis of the situation that she should not be terminated. Query?"
"Go ahead." Alicia sat back again, flicking hair from her eyes.
"I am detecting biological changes in you that suggest you have taken an interest in the fox. Is this correct?"
"Yes…yes it is!" The queen exclaimed after a moment, throwing her head back and expelling a long, excited breath. "Alright Scourge, I've got an offer for you. You release the girl into my custody and I speak with her myself, then I let you make your case and you might get away from this with your life. This might actually turn out to my advantage." Her gaze shifted to Fiona, ignoring the look of alarm in Miles' eyes at her sudden change in mood. The vixen shifted uneasily under her stare, winding her tail around her body, but still stepped away from Scourge.

"It's not like I have a choice." Scourge groaned. "But if you take her, what's stoppin' Miles from just killin' me?"
"Miles will be coming with me, half-wit. And Anima will not kill you unless I order it. This is the one chance you have to actually be heard, otherwise, I will have you killed, and I will just take her."
"Fine, she's all yours. I can always get another one."

Alicia let out another sigh of exasperation, and stood up, attaching the whip to her belt, and taking hold of the sword, before beckoning to Fiona. Nervously, the vixen moved away from Scourge, and towards her second captor, unsure of whether she was stepping from the frying pan into the fire, or if Alicia actually held some respite for her. As she drew near, one of the squirrel's arms snaked around her shoulders, and she began to lead her through the corridors.

"Why did you let him live?" Miles asked, following them. "You said yourself that you could just kill him and be done with it."
"True, but then the inevitable wrath of our little charge's friends would fall upon us, something that I am keen to avoid if possible. Now, don't worry…" She addressed the vixen under her arm. "You didn't come here with the best guide, but I assure you that I don't have plans like Scourge." Her tone softened, more conversational now the hedgehog wasn't within earshot. "I can't imagine he was particularly accepting with you not wanting to come. Well, until we sort all this out you can stay with us. Miles, can I count on you to keep Scourge away from her?"
"Yes, my queen." The kitsune replied solemnly.
"Good. Neither of us want a repeat performance."

"W-what do you mean?" Fiona stammered, still not quite sure about her new 'friends'.
"Miles dear, would you?" Alicia smiled at him.
"Here, there is an alternate version of everyone in your dimension, as you've likely worked out. There was one of you here, her name was Felicia. Scourge killed her. You see why we wanted to get you away from him."
The vixen felt herself becoming teary-eyed at the thought, and the vivid memory of the knife at her throat was all-too recent for her. She could quite easily envision Scourge doing something like that. She let out a stifled sob, and nodded weakly, causing Alicia to pause, and wrap her other arm around Fiona as well.

"Sssshhhh..." She whispered. "We won't let it happen to you. That's a promise."
"Th-thank you..." Fiona muttered
"Think nothing of it, dear."

Alicia started walking again, taking Fiona and Miles into a small, cosy room, with several couches, and a roaring fire in the hearth. Miles' armour opened up, and he clambered out of it, revealing that he was actually clad in what amounted to a red, more masculine version of the uniform Alicia wore under her cape, and wasn't quite as tall. He flopped down on one of the couches with a heavy sigh, as Alicia and Fiona sat down on the one facing him. Fiona allowed herself to rest her head on Alicia's shoulder. True, she didn't really know enough about her to do such a thing, but currently, she was desperate, and Alicia was welcoming enough. The squirrel began to stroke Fiona's back in a placating manner with one hand, and gently dried her tears with the other.

"You're safe now, Miss..."
"Fiona."
"Ah, yes. You're safe with us, Fiona. Can you tell me how you ended up stuck with that waste of oxygen in the other room?"
"O-okay..." Fiona whimpered. "But it's a fairly long story..."
"I don't mind."

"Well, I'm a member of my world's Freedom Fighters. I joined them, and... after a while, I started to get attracted to our field commander, Sonic. Except... it wasn't Sonic. It was Scourge. He hadn't greened up yet, and he was able to pretend he was the real deal pretty easily. I was creeped out that he'd... he'd put the moves on me while pretending to be someone else, but... by then I'd opened up to him too much. See, I used to be a criminal- nothing too evil, just tomb robbing and participating in an underground arena thing, and when I decided to make something of my life, well, the others... they didn't trust me that much. But I'd told Scourge that, and I told him that they didn't trust me... and I pretty much handed him everything he needed to get inside my head. I was dating the real Sonic by now, but he kept showing up when I was alone, and talking to me. He kept going on about how great his life as a criminal was, and saying that he trusted me... he said all the right things, and well, he was actually pretty handsome before he got those scars, and he filed his teeth, and stopped taking breathmints. He got me to cheat on Sonic with him, and convinced me to run off with him... but one of the Freedom Fighters, Amy, caught me. Sonic found us and broke up the fight, but Scourge arrived, and then Tails did too. He attacked Scourge, and he... he told me the sort of things Scourge tended to do, and that... that I can't survive here, but... but Scourge put a knife to my throat, and dragged me back here!"

"I can confirm that." Miles muttered sourly. "He performed something similar when I appeared to them. I can't imagine that he would bother refining the process for myself."
"Now that really is unfortunate…" Alicia clucked, gently stroking the vixen's shoulders. "This hasn't been such a problem before. Normally Scourge spends his time kidnapping our girls over here, romping round the bedroom a few times and then either kicking them out or disposing with them some other way. He hasn't gone this far before…"
"Last time he was boasting that he literally fucked the last girl to death." Miles sighed despondently. "Both a realistically and theoretically impossible feat for someone whose interest is as fleeting as the life of a greenfly."

The prospect brought on a fresh shudder from Fiona, and Alicia quickly passed Miles a sharp glare. "Don't worry my dear, we won't let anything like that happen to you. Scourge won't get within ten feet of you and you could fit his prick in a pencil sharpener, so you really don't need to worry about that."
"After what he did to Felicia you can believe that now he's let you out of his sight, his chances have now gone." In the flickering light of the fire, Miles' canines looked all the more frightening, but somehow...the way he said it, the context, made it feel somehow reassuring. He was willing to fight and if necessary kill scourge to defend her. It was a familiar feeling.

There was a soft tapping at the door. A moment later it half-opened and Anima stepped inside, one hand balancing a silver tray of drinks in one hand and a bottle-opener in the other.
"Excellent timing." The queen smiled. "Wine, Fiona?"
"Uh…" The fox hesitated.
"Don't worry, there isn't anything wrong with it. Just red wine. If we wanted anything to happen to you don't you think we would have just left you with Scourge? Right now I just want you to relax and calm down. Once you're feeling a little better, we can decide what to do next."

Again Fiona hesitated, less so with the presence of her unspoken defender, then took one of the glasses, swirling the liquid experimentally within.
"Nocturnus red." Their AI waitress informed them, "only the best."
"I don't recall asking you to open those barrels…" The queen frowned, looking at Miles. The kitsune nodded his confirmation.
"We haven't had a glass of Nocturnus red for some time. Don't worry; I left the oldest barrel sealed. I understand you want to save that for special occasions."

Alicia half-smiled at his consideration, for both her needs and Fiona's, and looked back to the other girl, who was testing the wine with short sips. "What do you think?"
"A bit sweet." The vixen winced. "I'm not used to wine."
"It's an acquired taste." Miles assured her. "Give it a little time." It was painfully evident in his tone and manner that he was still unsure how to act around her, how to treat her. Felicia's memory still haunted him painfully and he was determined to not have the event repeated, but he was not sure how he should treat Fiona.
"You'll have all the time you need to peruse the wines we have and find one more to your taste." He added as an afterthought, guessing the mind of his queen. But something about the way he phrased it flagged up for Fiona, and she stopped drinking, looking between the three others present.
"What do you mean?" She whispered in the silence.
"Well, that you can stay of course." Alicia cooed in her ear. "Just because I put up with people like Scourge doesn't mean I'm a poor ruler – people like him are just for the purpose of cannon fodder. But I sympathise with your situation dear Fiona. You weren't given much trust by those 'friends' of yours to begin with, and when Scourge showed up he was like a convenient way to start a new life. Well, he brought you here with more unsavoury intentions, but Miles and I aren't like that."

"You can trust us." Miles elaborated, crossing to the fireplace and balancing his glass on the mantelpiece. "Our aims aren't to simply defile you like Scourge would have done."
"You'll have a comfortable life here. You can stay with us in the castle. Fiona, you can trust us to be here for you, and we won't abandon you or let you down."
"Why the sudden hospitality?"
"Because you've told us your story and I can sympathise with it. You've had a lot on your plate and you really don't deserve it. From the looks of things you haven't actually done anything wrong. Not intentionally anyway. If you stay here you can be sure you'll be treated exactly as you deserve. You deserve a great deal more than you've been given so far. How does that sound?"

"I…I don't know." The vulpine girl sighed. "This isn't my world. I don't belong here. And…Tails said…he said I would die if I stayed here."
"I'm a scientist and warrior both, Fiona." Miles interjected. "I know the science behind anarchy and chaos and I'm confident, with some testing and work, I could come up with a workable solution to stop the decay. I can keep you alive, and in good health as well. The science of it will not be a problem, provided you're willing to go through a couple of tests to see exactly what needs doing. Like a medical examination."

"I can't." Her voice shrank.
"Wait, what?" Alicia was frankly stunned. She thought she had played her cards quite well.
"I'm grateful for the hospitality, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Scourge. None of you would even know about my situation if he hadn't brought me here. I let that happen because I thought they didn't trust me. But someone showed me that I do matter. It's a nice offer, but I don't belong here, and I won't betray their trust again."

"Well-" The queen began, adjusting her crown as Anima interrupted.
"Mistress. My scanners are detecting seven non-Moebian life forms in the forest. There is a ninety-seven percent chance they are the Mobian group known as the Freedom Fighters. Based on recent events, their goal will be to eliminate Scourge."
Alicia let the words sink in for a moment, seeing how she could best manipulate this situation. Finally, she looked to Miles. "Looks like we were right, dear."
"Your orders, my queen?" The male kitsune asked, dropping to one knee.
"Give them what they want. If Scourge now thinks he can defy my orders, he is guilty of treason. He deserves no less than the death penalty."

Miles simply nodded in acknowledgement, stepping back into his armour. The plates folded back around him like clothing, and he left without a word. He went immediately to the throne room – for it intersected with the path he would take – and also to give a message to Scourge. Strangely enough, the hedgehog had waited the duration, though had taken the liberty of lounging in the throne.

"Whad'ya think? Suits me, don't it?" He guffawed as the kitsune entered, but eliciting no response. "Come on, no insult? Ya got nothing? New for ya."
Miles stopped very abruptly halfway across the chamber, and tilted his head to Scourge. "The Freedom Fighters are here. Alicia wants you to deal with them. Get going. Now."
"Aww…and here I was, thinkin' I had some time off. Well, I ain't gonna pass up a chance to kick the crap outta them a second time." Scourge vaulted from the throne, coming slowly down the steps and then picking up as he passed Miles, disappearing off a resounding cackle. The fox shook his head in dismay, and then continued.

"It's gonna take ages to find that sugah-fox in this place!" Bunnie groaned, "Trees, trees and more trees!"
"Be glad we got here at all." Rotor offered in short reprimand. "The star posts are pretty old tech. We were going to get around to mothballing them soon."
"Ah guess…" The rabbit sighed heavily. "It's just, ah knew this whole thang weren't gonna be a cakewalk, but we don't know where anythin' is on this planet!"
"I know where one thing is." Tails growled. "I can hear him coming."
"Me too." Sonic grinned readily. "You ready for round two, bud?"
"Yes. And this time, I'm going to kill him."
"Bud?"
"Sonic, don't try and dissuade me from this. It's not just about revenge. Scourge is a bastard. He's a knife-thug who cheats, lies and kidnaps. Fiona probably isn't the first girl he's done this too, and this is my way of stopping it from ever happening. Let's face it – if we slap his wrists and tell him no, he'll give it about an hour then be right at it again."
"Come on, you give me an hour?"

All seven heads turned and focussed on the hedgehog, now back to being a replica of Sonic with a jacket, relaxing idly in a tree above their heads.
"I was being optimistic." Tails snarled at him, baring his teeth. "Come and fight me, you coward."

"Hey, I'm not the coward." Scourge retaliated, his tone conversational as he swung over the edge of the branch and dropped to the forest floor, landing on one knee in front of the group. "You're the coward. You didn't have the balls to try and kill me while I was holding your eye-candy. I mean seriously? Is she worth that much to you? Busty vixens are a dime a dozen. Take one of ours, no-one would notice."

There were over half a dozen mouths ready with rebuttals to the statement, but all were sharply cut off by a fizzing noise and then a high-pitched whistle, a flash of light a moment later heralding Miles' appearance, his armoured silhouette visible against the light. It faded away rapidly, revealing the kitsune's hands both tightly gripping a blade that travelled from his shoulders to the ground.

"Hey, queenie send you to take out the trash too?" He laughed, glancing behind him at the armoured warrior."
"In a manner of speaking."
That was answer enough, for Scourge. He turned back to the Freedom Fighters and opened his mouth to further taunt them, and choked on his words. His body froze in shock, not comprehending what had happened. No-one moved, no-one spoke, and the hedgehog finally mustered the strength to tilt his head down, and to see the ornate carving of Miles' blade protruding from his stomach, coated with red. His blood.
"W-w-h-" He spluttered, blood starting to fill his lungs.

"Why?" Miles asked for him. "You've had this coming for a long time, Scourge." He twisted the blade and the hedgehog grunted in pain, then crumpled to the floor as he jerked it sharply from him. He was dead before he hit the floor, his lifeblood and organs steaming against the ground.
The kitsune looked down at the body coldly for a moment. "Her debt is repaid." Then his gaze rose to the Freedom Fighters. "I apologise for not letting you have the pleasure, but he was unreliable. There is a job to complete here, and let's face it, would you trust him with anything?"

"Where. Is. Fiona?" Tails couldn't care less. He was happy that Scourge was dead, to be sure, but it wasn't why he had come. Her words had snapped him out of his darkness, and while killing Scourge had too been his objective, Fiona was his priority. They all understood that, and they were there for the same reason…all of them except Amy. She still hadn't entirely processed the idea that she wasn't exactly evil, but she was willing to follow the others' judgement.

"At the castle." It was between Tails and Miles now, and the others remained silent.
"Take me to her."
"I can't do that. She belongs to Alicia now, and I won't defy my queen's orders."
"What do you mean…belongs?" Tails' patience was waning, and his rage was becoming harder and harder to control.
"On this planet, Fiona Fox doesn't exist. Never did. She isn't a Moebian, she has no rights. She's not even technically a person here. Just be glad that she'll treat her well. If she'd been left with Scourge I couldn't even vouch for her life." He gripped the blade in both hands, bending his legs slightly and twisting the hilt to his head in a defensive stance. "But she's with Alicia right now, and she's told me that she's staying. So, I hope you understand…but I can't let you pass."