Green With Envy
A "Sonic Underground"/Archie Comics crossover
A Manic vs. Scourge drabble
Part 3
After learning a little too late that his evil alter-ego had escaped the No Zone prison, Sonic figured that the best place to look for Scourge would be at the one place he had targeted for his latest scheme: the award ceremony. Sonic and his siblings talked it over, and before long they were back at the podium at Harbor City, setting a trap.
It was noontime, and the street was crowded with dozens, maybe hundreds, of unsuspecting humans and woodlanders who came to see their beloved blue hero accept the key to the city. The three hedgehog siblings took the stage along with the city mayor, and the cameras all started rolling. How could Scourge possibly resist?
"Sonic the Hedgehog," gleamed the proud mayor with his giant key trophy, "on behalf of the people of Harbor City, we'd like to present to you our most esteemed award for your brave and selfless deeds against our enemy, Dr. Ivo Robotnik."
Sonic bowed his head in acceptance and took up the key, much to the joy of his applauding fans. That key was the signal to start the real show.
Manic, who was still a little skeptical of what his brother was plotting, stepped forward to say his scripted lines: "Not so fast, you great big faker!"
Acting stunned, Sonic turned to him with a gasp. "What did you say, Manic?"
"You heard me! You can't accept that award, because you're a big phony."
"Oh! Is that so?" Sonic's ears folded back in pretend anger. "What, you suddenly think you're better than me?"
"I always have been, it's just that everybody likes you for your super speed. What they don't know is that you run away more often than you stand and fight!"
As their bickering went on, the audience became nervous and wary. Some of Sonic's closest friends were among the spectators, and even they had no idea what was going on. But just as Sonic had hoped, another set of eyes were gazing at the drama unfolding, only these eyes were all too joyful.
"You're just jealous of me," grinned Sonic, elbowing Manic gently. "Look at you, you're green with envy."
"I'm not jealous, I happen to be tougher and smarter than you!" Manic shoved him back.
"Once a kid brother, always a kid brother." Sonic nudged him again.
"Faker." Nudge.
"Gutless wimp." Push.
"Phony." Bigger push.
"Loser." Shove.
"Jerk!" Manic shoved Sonic so hard that time that he knocked the older sibling to the ground.
"Oof!" Sonic whimpered, then looked up at Manic with true shock. "Dude, Manic relax- it's just for show," he then whispered.
"Oops, sorry," Manic whispered back with drooped ears.
Sonic jumped back to his feet and declared, "I suppose this means war, little brother!"
"Yeah, you're on! Come on, I can take you." Manic balled his fists, as he did earlier, only this time his stance was far more loose and melodramatic.
"Hee-hee," giggle Sonic softly, "you look silly."
Meanwhile, Sonia seemed to be in her own little world, always looking upward. In reality, she was their lookout, scanning the crowd and nearby buildings for any signs of a tall green hedgehog. Sure enough, her violet eyes picked up the image of a figure standing atop City Hall itself. It was moving erratically, as if it were a drunk dancing on the roof. To prove her suspicions, Sonic suddenly jumped down to the crowd to grab a pair of binoculars from an unsuspecting red echidna.
"Hey, give those back!" barked Knuckles.
Not listening to him, Sonic jumped back onto the podium and used them to catch a clear sign of Scourge the Hedgehog, laughing uncontrollably at his master plan. So overzealous was he, that he looked as though he would lose his balance on the roof at any given moment.
"Sonic, the rooftop!" she shouted, pointing up at the building.
That was all he needed to look up and glance up at his evil anti-self. "….SCOURGE!" roared Sonic, taking off in a blue, lightning-fast blur.
All eyes lifted toward the rooftop of City Hall; in an instant, two blurs- one blue, one bright green- were dancing around the building with twists, sharp turns and loop-de-loops. This was Sonic and Scourge, coming to kicks and blows at the speed of sound, one counter-hitting the other. All on-lookers gasped and stared in awe, none more so than Manic. But in just a few seconds, both gusts of wind came crashing down, onto the podium, in a great crash.
A puff of smoke rose and cleared, revealing Sonic standing behind a defeated and knee-bent Scourge, his hands tightly gripped onto the green hedgehog's arms. Sonic then grabbed Scourge's head quills with one hand and jerked his head up, forcing him to face Sonic's younger brother.
It was in that brief instance when Manic came to a stunning realization: his "future self" had clean, uncut ears, while his own left ear had piercings. There was just no way that could have been possible... unless...
"Tell him who you really are," growled the blue one to his captive. "…Tell him!"
"Okay… o-kay," grunted Scourge, his sunglass lenses shattered along with his pride. He then eyeballed Manic and said, "I… I'm not your future self. My name is Scourge; I'm an evil counterpart of your brother Sonic."
"Evil counterpart?" Manic muttered, still in shock.
"Yes," admitted Scourge. "I'm from an alternate dimension where everything is backwards- up is down, right is wrong, you get the idea…"
Shaken but now convinced, Manic approached him. "Why did you lie to me?"
Scourge grinned, bearing his fangs. "Heh-heh-heh… Come on, even guys like me are allowed to have a little fun."
"Turning brothers against each other is your idea of fun?" replied a furious Sonic.
"Hey, you're lucky to even have a brother," hissed Scourge. "I have nobody… All my friends betrayed me and left me with nothing! Even Fiona… the one girl I really cared about… she left me. So what else is there for me to do?"
"So, because you're so miserable, you think it's only fair to make everyone else miserable," said Sonia coldly. "…That's just sick, dude."
"Why me?" Manic had to ask. "Why was I your pawn?"
Scourge couldn't help but bust out laughing. "Bwa-hahahahahaha! Are you serious? Who wouldn't pick you? You're just so damn easy, you're like as easy to read as a kindergarten book with pretty little pictures! HAhahahaha-AAAAAUGH! AAUUGH!" Scourge's laughs turned quickly to cries of pain, as Sonic twisted his arm, nearly breaking it.
Manic's eyes beamed with fury and disgust before he turned away. "Get him out of my sight." Sonic was obliged to pull Scourge away, but then Manic said, "Wait! …One more thing." He bravely approached the beaten green hedgehog, paused for a moment… then-
POW!
Scourge's head reeled so quickly by Manic's punched that it almost could have rolled right off his shoulders. He then drooped downward, unconscious.
"…That's my little bro," smiled a proud Sonic, before police carried Scourge off the podium, and ultimately to jail.
As Sonia and Sonic embraced Manic warmly, the crowd jumped up with a loud roar of applause. But none of those cheers would reach their ears. That moment belonged only to them, the three hedgehog siblings, who were now closer than ever.
"Sonic," muttered Manic humbly, "I'm so sorry I accused you of-"
"Dude, it's all forgotten," smiled Sonic. "I'm just glad that everything worked out… But you know what? I now realize that I should be more open to you guys about my enemies. I don't ever want them to mess with you again."
"They won't," promised Sonia. "We'll be all the wiser next time."
And so, the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, with the key of Harbor City to be placed in the home shared by all three hedgehogs.
And in the very end, the only hedgehog that was truly green with envy was Scourge. All of that planning and scheming for nothing, the only thing to carry from that day being a black eye and a wounded spirit. He was still very much alone.
…Oh well. There would always be next time.
End
