Hi guys!
I am very, very, VERY sorry about the EXTREMELY long delay in my writing :( the coursework at my univeristy had been very demanding leading up to Christmas. THEN I had to focus on Christmas with the shopping, working overtime, visiting family and THEN it was revision for my exams... needless to say my writing remained neglected up until now lol!
However, I DID receive reviews via email so any readers who felt as though their reviews had been neglected, I would like to stress that I did receive them and read them, and I thank my readers for their positve feedback :D.
I will try to update more often from now on, and I thank my readers for their patience.
Happy reading!
~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo
He wasn't alone. He could feel somebody watching him. Sonic dithered on the spot as he focussed on the dark corridor in front of him. Regardless of the fact that he had a reputation as a hero, he couldn't help but feel wary. And somehow… his feet began to move forwards towards the intimidating darkness. His conscience screamed at him to do otherwise, but he couldn't stop himself. It felt as though he was on the verge of a significant discovery, as though he couldn't bear to miss out on what could be the opportunity of a life-time…
Sonic held his breath as he stumbled towards what felt like an endless pathway that lured him towards the darkness. He had to be dreaming; he had to be! There was no possible way that he would have been able to stand up, let alone walk, properly after his stomach had been slashed by that stupid skunk. And if that was the case, why did he wake up in a dismal, grim, unusual place by himself rather than waking up in a hospital ward full of doctors and nurses? Sonic smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, shaking his head slightly. He had to be dreaming; either that or he was dead…
A sudden thought came to his attention.
"Eggman!", Sonic shouted into the darkness as he paced forward, "If this is one of your stupid tricks, I'm not falling for it! Come on out, you coward!"
Nothing. Not even a whimper could be detected within the darkness. Sonic stopped abruptly and swallowed nervously. He really wasn't expecting anyone to respond to him, but the intense silence began to infuriate him. No, terrify him. Sonic felt beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, his breathing becoming rapid as each agonizing second went by. There was somebody watching him; he could feel it. It was as though the unknown was lurking all around him, leering at the trembling hedgehog, ready to attack Sonic when he would least expect it…
It was too much. Sonic felt his legs begin to quiver with anxiety. Then he scoffed, placing his hands on his hips. He was Sonic the Hedgehog, for God's sake! He wasn't afraid of anything! If he could take on the deadliest robots built by Dr. Eggman, he could take on anyone. Anyone. So… why did he suddenly feel claustrophobic? What was it about this dismal place that the blue hero react in such a way?
"I said come on out!", he screamed loudly, raking one hand through his quills desperately. Then, out of nowhere, he heard it. Heard them. A muffled cry echoed towards his direction, followed by what he considered was an evil cackle. Sonic's first instinct was to find the victim in distress and rescue them. He began to run towards the direction of the shouting, and then stopped. When was he going to learn to stop helping others and to look out for number one? He always helped Mobians during dangerous times, but when were they going to return the favour? Wouldn't Scourge do that?
More painful cries escaped from the victim. Sonic winced; he really wanted to run off in the other direction, but his hero-persona got the better of him. He had to help the Mobian in need. He just had to…
Before he knew it, Sonic found his feet running towards the sounds, his eyes darting left-and-right, looking for any tell-tale signs or any clues from where the cries were coming from. Slowing down, Sonic began to feel doubtful, wondering if the sounds were just his imagination. Sonic closed his eyes despairingly, and then re-opened them… and gasped. Directly in front of him was a male skunk lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, his torso being viciously kicked by another Mobian wearing a leather jacket, their back turned to Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened. On the ground, in excruciating pain, was Jeffrey St. Croix.
"Hey!", Sonic shouted, moved towards the Mobian attacking the skunk and planted a firm grip on the Mobian's shoulder, "Yo! You can't-"
He stopped abruptly when the mysterious Mobian spun around and glared at him. Sonic was at loss for words when he discovered that the Mobian… was Scourge.
"Wh-what?", Sonic whispered, his grip on Scourge loosened, "But… how… you-"
Scourge simply smirked at Sonic's reaction and returned his attention to Jeff, concluding his assault with one final kick in Jeff's torso. Jeff wheezed hoarsely before falling silent, his body unresponsive. Scourge relaxed slightly and calmly spat at Jeff's fragile physique. Sonic stared at Jeff, and the shock within his system was quickly replaced with hatred towards the green hedgehog. Sonic lunged towards Scourge, his hand curled into a fist ready to strike Scourge in the face, quickly back-fired as Scourge grabbed Sonic's wrist and twisted it painfully. Sonic exclaimed in pain. In response, Scourge struck Sonic's face with his free elbow, causing Sonic to instantly fall to the ground. Before Sonic had the opportunity to defend himself, Scourge grabbed Sonic by his shoulders and sneered at the injured hedgehog.
"Call yourself a criminal!", Scourge growled, "You're such a faker it's unreal!"
"Wh-what?", Sonic croaked as he attempted to regain himself. Scourge approached Sonic within seconds and viciously grabbed Sonic's quills, forcing Sonic back onto his knees so that he had no choice but to stare at Jeff's limp body a few feet away from him. Sonic struggled, however Scourge had kept a firm grip on him.
"Make a decision!", Scourge demanded, "You're either with them, or against them! You can't be both a hero and a criminal at the same time!"
"What are you talking about?", Sonic snapped angrily, hissing at the stinging sensation from his quills.
"Don't be naïve! When will you learn that helping other Mobians will only land you in more trouble?"
"Oh", Sonic retorted, "So I've only to listen to you now?", he snorted, "This is stupid; you're not even real! You're just a stupid persona I made up"
"So you'd rather listen to the Mobians who turned against you and let them treat you like shit?", Scourge demanded and instantly let go of Sonic's quills, allowing the blue hedgehog to fall forwards onto the ground once more.
"You're too forgiving", Scourge continued, "You think that the planet is all sunshine and smiles, and that being the 'hero' will make everything better and that everyone will treat you with the upmost respect because of it; making them desperate to be your friend because – let's face it – you'll always be there to lend them a helping hand"
Sonic remained silent. Scourge had a point; there was no simple answer to his statement.
"But when you eventually decide to croak, who's going to be there for you?", Scourge pointed out. Sonic scoffed, growing impatient as he scrabbled onto his feet once more. He turned around to glare at Scourge, his hands on his hips.
"What are you talking about?", Sonic demanded.
"Remember whenever you saved Mobians when Eggman threatened their lives, and how they were so grateful for your help that they devoted their lives to worship you? How they praised your heroism and treated you like a God? How they promised to return the favour one day whenever you'd be in trouble?", Scourge commented. He then leaned forward towards Sonic, arms folded, "And the one time you completely fuck things up, what do they do…?"
Sonic didn't answer Scourge's answer. He didn't need to.
"They completely backstabbed you and branded you a murderer", Scourge sneered.
"Right! Fine! I get it!", Sonic snapped impatiently, "I've been screwed over! Tell me something I don't already know!"
"But let's also not forget your number one fan!", Scourge continued, ignoring Sonic's infuriated grunt, "This bitch who loved and worshipped you so much and would have gone as far as fucking marrying you… put a restraining order on you and didn't bother defending you-"
"Right!", Sonic snapped, "I got the message the first time around!"
"And then there's your so-called 'little bro' who simply threw you in the gutter to-"
"That's enough!", Sonic roared and immediately lunged at Scourge. Scourge responded quickly and twisted Sonic's arm, putting him in an arm-lock. Sonic hissed at the pain and began to struggle. But even his poor attempt to defend himself couldn't prevent Scourge's words slipping into his ears.
"If you're gonna act like the 'hero' and run after everyone else, then they'll just take you for granted and use you again and again without returning the favour", Scourge stated, "It's time for you to show them who's the boss around here; to gain their fear and respect… it's time for you to get in touch with your darker side"
Sonic felt his arm suddenly being released. He exhaled as he felt the blood circulate back into his arm, turned round to confront Scourge… only to find nobody there but himself. He spun this way and that… but there was nobody there. When he looked up, Sonic discovered mirrors placed on the walls of the corridors; each mirror consisting of his reflection. Sonic glanced intimidatingly at them, awaiting anything to occur.
He looked to the mirrors on his left; his reflection imitated his every move and facial expressions. He looked to the mirrors his right; his reflection, instead of copying his movements, stood laughing at him in an intimidating manner whilst voices echoed, "Hero or criminal, hero or criminal, hero or criminal…"
Stunned, Sonic took off at – what he thought was – the speed of sound; his heart racing, sweat forming on his face, tears of panic and confusion forming in his eyes as he zoomed into the stretched darkness. The confrontation had been extremely overwhelming, but his alter-ego had a point; either way, Sonic had to decide who's side he was going to be on: either he faced the reality of serving as the 'hero' who would automatically help selfish Mobians… or get his revenge. Of course, Sonic didn't want to even consider the idea of his entire life devoting his assistance to others as a complete waste, but… Mobians really did take him for granted. And… the idea of becoming much more assertive towards others did sound appealing.
Yet, who was he, exactly?
The hero… or the villain…?
A bright light began to form in front of the blue hedgehog as he continued to run. Sonic peered at the light, unable to stop his legs in motion. It remained unclear whether the bright light indicated death or was simply a hallucination, but his curiosity became the better of him.
Sonic took a deep breath.
He ran towards the light…
Sonic flinched as he allowed the bright light to slip through the small openings of his eyelids. Hissing at the impact, Sonic blinked, allowing his eyesight to focus on his surroundings; a bright, pristine room consisting of basic furniture including a bed which Sonic found himself to be tucked in, medical charts, machinery, and a female Mobian nurse scribbling notes on a clipboard, her back turned to him. When the realisation hit him that he was in hospital, Sonic sighed softly and nestled into the soft pillows behind him, attempting to recall what had happened to him.
Then the memories of Jeffrey St. Croix came flooding back to him. The idea that he had failed to knock the living daylights out of the stupid skunk caused Sonic's blood to boil, forcing him to wrestle out of the crisp sheets of the bed.
God, Sonic thought, If Jeffrey was here, right now, I'd smack his stupid teeth in and-
"Whoa, whoa!", the nurse, a turquoise hawk, exclaimed in a soft, Irish accent as she placed her hands firmly on Sonic's shoulders, forcing him back into bed, "Easy does it, now"
"Don't stop me!", he demanded, "I need to get even with that fucking skunk!"
"There's no skunk here", the nurse reassured him, "You're perfectly safe, I assure you"
"But you don't understand", Sonic protested as he struggled out of his bed, " I need to-", he stopped abruptly, hissing at the pain that soared from his chest.
"Take it easy!", the nurse commanded and then sighed, "Well, it's no wonder you're in pain; you've just had your stitches put in"
"Stitches?", Sonic repeated, and pulled up his gown, only to discover two ugly, jagged scars that stretched across his chest, both consisting of tender flesh and thick, black threads. Sonic stared at them with horror and peered at the nurse, his heart racing.
"Wha… what happened to me?", he cried, "What's going on?"
"Calm down, now", the nurse cooed, "Can you remember what happened to you?"
"I just…", Sonic swallowed nervously, fighting the urge to vomit, "There was this guy who was being a jerk to Fiona, and w-we got into a fight… all I remember was fighting him a-and then I felt something cut my chest and-"
The nurse nodded as she plumped his pillows, "You were in critical condition when you arrived here; your lady friend told us that the Mobian had slashed your stomach with a piece of glass, and you had lost a lot of blood by that point. We thought you weren't going to make it!"
"Mm", Sonic replied. The near-death experience had terrified him to the core; the idea that the ex-hero of Mobius, who had spent many years fighting and destroying life-threatening robots, had nearly died simply due to a few cuts on the chest forced him to wake up to reality; causing him to realise how unpredictable life could be. The nurse took note of his facial expression and added softly, "Your lady friend is outside. Would you like to see her?"
"Fi's here?", he croaked.
"Absolutely", the nurse smiled, "Poor girl was worried for you; she sat by your side as we examined you", then her smile vanished, "but she had a bit of a panic attack when we examined your eyes and found out you were wearing contact lenses – we had to ask her to leave the room for a bit-"
"Why did you do that?", Sonic shouted. The nurse jumped at his reaction, her hands gripping her clipboard.
"She had trouble breathing and she tried to interfere with our examination, so we had no choice but to remove her from the room", she explained softly, "Don't worry, we had a nurse to see to her and provide emotional support"
"No, you moron!", Sonic spat, "Why did you remove my contacts?"
"It's a medical procedure", the hawk stated firmly, "We must follow the procedure to determine whether or not you're in a conscious state. I know those silly contact lenses are meant to be fun, but it makes our jobs even more difficult-"
"B-but", Sonic spluttered, "What about Fiona? What did she say?", the idea that Fiona had sussed out he had been lying about his identity terrified him. She was going to murder him. No, worse: Tikal would most likely become involved. Much worse: he would be arrested for violating his restraining order. From the way things looked, Sonic decided he may as well bid farewell to his freedom… or his life for that matter.
"Let me get her for you" the nurse smiled and went to the door, opening it slightly and whispered. The peace ended abruptly as Fiona furiously marched into the room towards the confused hedgehog, shouting as she did so.
"… not until after I smash this stupid fucker's face in!", she screamed at the top of her voice, ignoring the nurse who quickly followed her, trying to hold Fiona back.
"Please control yourself, my dear, or we'll remove you from the premises", she coaxed Fiona, "There's no need to get your knickers in a twist!"
"What?", Fiona screamed, her cheeks pink with rage, "Do you even realise what this asshole's done to me? Do you?"
"Now, now", the nurse soothed, "I'm sure it can't be that bad!"
"Just as I thought", Fiona snapped angrily, "I knew you wouldn't understand. I knew none of you would understand the pain this has caused me! I knew it!"
"Okay, just take a deep breath, and relax", the nurse advised. Fiona huffed and crossed her arms.
"Oh my God", she snarled, "It's like talking to a three-year-old!"
"Fi?", Sonic piped up cautiously. Fiona focussed her attention on him and sped towards him. She reached out to grab his throat, only to be held back by the nurse. Another nurse entered the room and assisted in preventing Fiona from harming Sonic; both hands firmly planted on Fiona's left arm.
"I bet you had a laugh at my expense, yeah?", Fiona shouted, "Convincing me that you were the most dangerous Mobian on the fucking planet, when all along you were that blue blur loser who had every Mobian kissing up to you because of your heroic acts! I bet you listened to what I had told you about my past, and laughed about it behind my back, because your life is so perfect with your perfect reputation and your perfect family and friends!"
"I can explain-", Sonic tried to chip in, but failed.
"I trusted you!", she cried, "I thought you were the one Mobian who understood what I was going through, and for once in my life I felt like I wasn't alone", Fiona paused for breath, tears streaming down her face, "All my life I've had family and friends backstab me and lie to my face, and for once I thought I had found somebody I could relate to; somebody who was an outcast and was misunderstood by others…somebody who would have made a difference in my life and helped me trust other Mobians…", Fiona glared at him, shaking her head slightly, "But I was wrong. You're just like the rest of them. You're fake. You're like everybody else"
"No, Fiona, you don't understand", Sonic sat up on his bed, but then doubled over in pain, clutching his stitches.
"I hope it fucking hurt you, just like you hurt me!", Fiona shouted at him.
"What about the Jeffrey guy?", Sonic croaked as he gently rubbed his stomach, "Aren't you going to thank me for saving you?"
"You still lied to me!", Fiona screamed at the top of her lungs.
"… excuse me", a voice whispered at the door. Sonic looked past Fiona and found Tikal standing at the doorway wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. Tikal glanced at Fiona and nodded wanly at her before approaching Sonic. Fiona shook her head in despair.
"And who the fuck is this?", Fiona demanded furiously, "Your secret girlfriend?"
The very idea of having Tikal for a girlfriend was enough for Sonic to splutter with laughter. He didn't mean to, considering the situation, but he couldn't help but find the accusation humorous.
"And you're laughing!", Fiona shouted, "Is there anything else you haven't told me? Are you bald? Do you have a twin? Are you an undercover pervert who gets his kicks by video-taping on me or stalking me?"
"What?", Sonic replied, confused, but then shook his head, "No, look, Fi-"
"You know what?", Fiona continued, "I've had it with your lying. I thought you'd have learned by now that I hate liars and I hate backstabbers", she paused and stated in a stern voice, "I hate you, and I never want to see you again... Never. Never. Never. Never. NEVER! NEVER!", her voice rose with anxiety and anger as she repeated the word over and over again, more tears streaming down her face. The nurses gently manoeuvred Fiona out of the room, the volume of her voice gradually declining as she was escorted out of the ward. A deathly silence was left behind from her outburst. Tikal breathed out cautiously as she sat down beside Sonic's bed.
"I think she's made her point", she muttered.
"I'd thought… I'd thought she'd be okay with…", Sonic struggled to find the right words. Tikal shook her head bitterly.
"No", she stated, "And don't expect her to get over it easily. It may take her months before she'd be able to trust anyone again"
"Oh, what do you know?", Sonic snapped, "Look, I know she's had a tough time in the past, but life goes on"
"She's well known in Social Services", Tikal informed him, "Fiona's been to a lot of therapy sessions in the past, and what you've just done has caused her to throw away years of therapy and release her true potential. It's not pretty, let me tell you"
"Will… will she be okay?", Sonic asked timidly. Tikal shrugged.
"It's hard to tell at this stage", she commented, "She might recover. She might not"
"I need to see if she's okay", Sonic insisted as he stood up. However, Tikal held onto his arm, preventing him from leaving the room.
"She'll be fine. We've contacted her social worker to come and collect her", Tikal reassured him, "You, on the other hand, will remain here until you're fully recovered. All I know just now is that the police will escort you home when you're discharged from the ward. Then we'll contact you about when you're due back in court in order to evaluate your current situation. All I can say at this moment of time is that what you did was not smart!"
"What?", Sonic asked, "Why? How did they know it was me?"
"When police officers arrived at the nightclub to investigate the scene of the crime, paramedics were placing your body onto a stretcher", Tikal explained as she opened her briefcase and flipped through a collection of documents, "One of the officers at the investigation instantly recognised you. Said something about you being under his surveillance before the incident…"
Sonic closed his eyes with dismay. The officer outside his apartment!
"… and I spoke to the doctors", Tikal continued as she got out a pen, "They took the officer's details into account as they examined you. Apparently Fiona began to question what was going on, so when the doctors removed your jacket and t-shirt to inspect your wounds and your contact lenses, she put two-and-two together"
"I… I thought my disguise worked", Sonic mumbled as he gently rubbed his torso, allowing his fingers to trace the thick threads. Tikal held her breath briefly and then exhaled slowly.
"You tried", she reassured him, "But Fiona isn't stupid. Neither is anybody else. The green dye in your blue fur doesn't work. I mean, everybody on this planet knows what you look like, so there really wasn't any point trying in the first place"
"Mm"
"Right", Tikal began as she shuffled her documents, "I may as well get this out the road. I take it you haven't been looking for a job since I last saw you?"
"Wha… why are you bringing this up now?", Sonic demanded, exasperated, "This is stupid. I need to talk to Fiona. Where is she?"
"I haven't a clue", Tikal answered, and then added with a mutter, "Not that you'd care anyway"
But Sonic heard her.
"I do care about her!", he protested, sitting up in his bed, "I saved her from that Jeffrey St. Croix! He was harassing her!"
"Well, you shouldn't have lied to her to that extent!", Tikal protested, pointing her pen at the frustrated hedgehog, "What you did to Fiona will psychologically damage her for the time being! I can't believe this, Sonic, we've been very fair to you regarding this restraining order: we had given you everything to help you start a new life, and we warned you about the consequences of violating the restraining order-"
"I did my best!", Sonic argued, "Do you think it's easy creating a new identity whilst the cops are spying on you?"
"Well, impersonating a gangster or some psychotic killer isn't exactly a great way of doing so! Couldn't you have pretended to be a normal Mobian?", Tikal snapped, forgetting to be professional, "My God, Sonic, you just had to take this 'new identity' thing to a whole new level, didn't you?"
"Well, what did you expect me to do when that bastard skunk was harassing Fiona?"
"Oh, I don't know Sonic", Tikal replied with sarcasm, "How about simply talking to him?"
"Actions speak louder than words, Tikal!"
"Right", Tikal snapped, "This discussion ends now! We won't speak another word about this"
"Fuck this!", Sonic retorted and climbed out of his bed, hissing at the staining sensation from his torso, and made for the door.
"Get back here, Sonic", she ordered, "Get back here. Right. Now."
"I don't need to listen to you!", Sonic immediately retorted as he opened the door, "I'm Scourge the hedgehog, and nobody tells me what to do!"
Tikal's eyes widened as she came to realisation that Sonic was intending to leave the hospital ward after all. She sprang out of her chair and managed to reach him at the door. Tikal grabbed Sonic's arm to prevent him from leaving the room.
"Sonic, what are you talking about?", she gabbled desperately, "What's going on? Who's Scourge?"
Sonic spun round and grabbed her arm that gripped his own. Without warning, Sonic twisted her arm, causing Tikal to cry out in pain, release her grip on his arm and collapse onto the floor.
"Just you wait", he continued, "One day I'm going to make this planet mine, and then I'll get my revenge on those who lost faith in me… but if you want to live, I suggest you stay here and keep quiet about me… or you'll live to regret it – got it?"
"Yes", Tikal whimpered, exclaiming at her twisted arm.
"Good", Sonic stated and let go of her arm.
However, Tikal did not keep her word. Sonic only managed to exit the room, only to hear Tikal shout from behind, "Stop him! He's a fugitive!"
Infuriated, Sonic spun round and shoved her back into the room. Tikal wrestled him and attempted to escape the room, but only managed to grip the doorframe with one hand.
"What did I say?", Sonic shouted, "What did I just say?"
And with that, Sonic grabbed the door and slammed it shut, wincing at the sound of Tikal screaming in pain as he slammed the door on her fingers. Yet, he couldn't stop there. Sonic opened the door slightly and viciously slammed it shut on Tikal's fingers once more, feeling his anger being quickly replaced with satisfaction as he heard bones breaking, from the force of the door, in Tikal's injured hand. Exhaling, Sonic turned to find police officers and nurses running towards him, heckling him as they did so.
"Hey!", an officer shouted, "Stop right there!"
"Oh yeah?", Sonic remarked with a grin, "You gonna make me?"
The police officers ran towards the blue hedgehog, intending to capture him. However, Sonic managed to defend himself by running towards them and tackled the oncoming officers and medical staff with a spin attack, causing the group of Mobians to collide into the corridor walls and medical equipment surrounding them. Satisfied, Sonic took off at rapid speed, as he kept an eye out for a female fox. He zipped through each individual corridor until he caught sight of a female fox wearing dark clothing, arguing with a male rabbit wearing a suit. This was his chance; Sonic had to clear the tension between the two of them. If he had to be perfectly honest with himself, he really enjoyed Fiona's company when they got together; as though there was actually chemistry occurring between them. The idea that Fiona hated him made Sonic feel awful; the only Mobian who understood his emotional pain no longer wanted to be associated with him. He panicked at the possibility of being on his own once again…
Sonic held his breath. He had one opportunity to do this. Sonic focussed on Fiona and presumably her social worker and sped towards them. Without warning, Sonic ran past them, grabbing Fiona in the process and carrying her over his shoulder. The sudden action panicked Fiona.
"Wha… Get off of me!", she screamed angrily and immediately began to wriggle out of his grasp, but Sonic kept a firm grip on her, "Let me go, you bastard!"
"You're not going anywhere", Sonic stated firmly, ignoring Fiona as she began to beat his back with both her fists, "We need to talk"
And with that, Sonic dodged visitors and patients at the main entrance, and took off into the city.
