40 - What Did You Do?

An orange fox held up a damaged piece of equipment with narrowed baby blue eyes. "Hopefully we can find something in here. Rouge said this was our best bet."

His voice echoed off the walls. His fingers lightly brushed across it's surface, feeling the small scratches and dents in it's parts. This was a piece attached to the rotor of GUN helicopter. After getting that call from Sonic on the anti-Omega's screen, he realized his big brother was right. Now that Scourge's power over their world was gone, they could get the hell out of here and move to a safer place. When the call ended, Tails asked for the robot to follow him out of the GUN commander's office and head up further to the heliport of the building. Rouge gave him instructions on where it was, and even reminded him to be careful. After all, they still weren't sure what was out there. That's why no one ever left that room to begin with, they weren't sure if it was safe to come out. They didn't know if they were still any GUN employees in the building, mind-controlled by Scourge.

However, since his power was down, they could take that chance.

It didn't take them long to reach the heliport, with decaying bodies and destroyed or damaged parts of aircrafts lying around. The robot would clear the kitsune's way by shoving these objects out of his view. There were some very dimmed ceiling lights around, but it was barely doing anything for them. Tails was still very uncomfortable that there were corpses just staring right at him, knowing that he could do nothing to help or save them before it was too late. He would always try to advert his eyes, keep his big brother's words in mind. He believed in him, he had faith in him. He had to get through and find a way out. Walking through the lengthy and insanely spacious heliport on the roof with the droid close by his side, he swallowed a lingering gulp.

Wanting to break the creepy and longing silence, Tails looked up at the cyan robot. "Hey," He said, wanting to gain it's attention. It moved it's head in his direction. "We wouldn't have been able to connect to the universal wifi without you, but how? And how did it bypass Scourge's control?"

A few beeps and vibrations before an actual response. "The anti-Sonic's power is great, but it cannot overwhelm the universal wifi. Universal wifi is an enormously powerful wavelength that transcends through space and time among all realities of the universe, with No Zone being it's exclusive user. This is why you must obtain permission to use it before utilizing it to your disposal, as it is far too valuable to be tampered with by normal citizens."

Tails blinked curiously. "But, why? Is it because they're scared of it being hacked by somebody? And how is...wifi super powerful?"

"The universal wifi is not just 'wifi' as you Mobians call it. It is not easily hackable, and is extremely difficult to manipulate or even activate. It has a wavelength, not a satellite connection like most internet connections. A chaotic wavelength, to be more precise." It turned it's head forward with a few clicks. "Only very powerful and trusted members of No Zone can access it legally, but those with sinful abilities such as the anti-Sonic, was able to tamper with it. While he could not get rid of the universal wifi entirely, he was only able to manipulate small sources of it in No Zone. Thus, stopping Sonic prime from returning to your world via warp ring or simple chaos control, and even tampered with other equipment in No Zone's possession."

The fox stopped walking. "Wait," He said. "So you're saying Scourge couldn't even destroy the wifi himself? With all that power he stole?"

"Affirmative." The droid replied. "The universal wifi is a chaotic wavelength created by the beings who spawned Chaos Born into your world, and shaped your realities as they saw fit. This is why it is so powerful, and why it cannot be destroyed or easily reshaped." So that's why the robot was able to connect to No Zone despite Scourge's conquering their world. Scourge's power wasn't strong enough to block the universal wifi connection. That being said, Tails probably could have connected with No Zone and got to see Sonic a long time ago.

Still didn't explain why this thing could access it, though.

Tails frowned as he continued to move forward. "So why are you able to-" He stopped mid-sentence when he felt a shadow looming over him. The hangar was already dark enough without much light, as a lot of the electricity here either blew out or lost power. Beside him, some light flickered on. A flashlight. He looked over, and saw that the anti-Omega activated such a feat through it's eyes. "Huh." That was pretty handy. Tails was going to move on once again, until he followed the light. The robot wouldn't move, it was trying to show him something.

Just ahead of them around some rubbish and debris, was something tall and large. It seemed bigger than anything else here in the hangar. Tails walked closer to it to examine it carefully, the robot behind him following to push the boxes and rubble out of the way. Once he did, some dust drifted in the air. But as it settled down to clear his vision, Tails realized they found a grand master piece.

Tails' mouth slowly dropped as his blue eyes twinkled in glee.

That wasn't a plane, that wasn't a helicopter and it certainly wasn't a jet. That, was an illustrious-

"-A VTOL!" The fox exclaimed with joy. His namesakes propelled happily as he launched himself up in the air to get a better look from up above. "Shine the light up here!" He told the droid. It did as he demanded, shining illumination onto the large sci-fi-like aircraft. It was beautiful.

A VOTL is a type of aircraft that can hover, take off, and land vertically. They were literally the coolest flying machines in the world, at least in Tails' eyes. And this was no normal VTOL either, Tails could tell from just a few glances that this thing was beyond advanced. It's wing span was overwhelming, reaching yards that would take some time to calculate. It's white coating was shiny for the most part, excluding a few smudged spots from all the damage that was wrought onto the building. It looked so advanced, it nearly made his own Tornado 2 look like child's play. Looks like he had to step his game up, GUN had nice tastes. Tails briefly looked around through the dark to see if he could spot any other huge shadows that might lead to another VTOL, but he remembered that GUN was a cheap ass 'military' base. Of course they'd only have one of these bad boys. They were both pricy to buy and engineer.

He landed back on the metal floor beside the robot and smiled confidently. That baby was a six-seater, and no doubt it was fast. He could fly up to Angel Island no problem with this. Alright, all he had to do was get this thing off the roof and out into the sky. He could fly by the windows to the chief's office and tell his friends to hop on. Tails turned to the anti-robot. "Think you could help me get this thing out of the hangar?"

It began to march towards the VTOL with hard stomps. "Correct." It replied.

Tails smirked. "Sweet."

It wouldn't matter if the VTOL was inoperable due to damages, Tails could easily find a way to fix it. When he and Sonic were children, he made a TV out of actual trash. He used a paperclip, a few random ass digital chips he found in a garbage can, some torn wires and the glass of an old computer monitor from the eighties. He's made plenty of other miracle inventions all his life with barely any tools, this wouldn't be a challenge. Besides, even if he had some trouble, he was positive this robot would help him along the way. He didn't know why, but it wanted Tails to succeed. He'd help him get whatever he needed to get this VTOL up and running again.

This would be a cakewalk!

Zonic grit his teeth and he desperately tried pulling his hands out of Shadow's grasp, but the more he pulled, the worse he made his position. Shadow only tightened his grip and yanked his limbs further, nearly breaking the commander's arm. He winced in pain, causing Zhadow from below to flinch. He was going to move, until Sonic stomped his heel into his spine. He grunted in agony and ceased his movements once more. "D-Don't..." The second lieutenant general begged his twin. "Sonic prime, please-Ngh..." He clenched his eye shut as Shadow shoved him further against the wall. "Don't h-hurt him, he has nothing to do with this-!"

"Shut up." Sonic instantly spat as a retort. "He's been helping you, he's been helping you hide your secrets this whole time!" He yelled. "You kept cutting me off, stopping me from asking certain questions that you knew Scourge would have no problem answering." He craned his head to glare violently at his twin, his teeth fanged and sharpened. "Like he said, you wanted to save your asses by killing him off before we stepped in the room. You really poisoned him, didn't you?! If it wasn't for his abilities hopelessly returning to him before we showed up, we wouldn't get the answers we want." After a few seconds of silence with Zonic refusing to answer, he demanded for him to open his mouth. "You really tried that hard to keep me ignorant? Answer me!" He hollered while digging his heel into Zhadow's back. The first lieutenant growled both in frustration and pain. Zonic opened his eyes fearfully, shifting in Shadow's hold once more.

"Stop!" He cried. "Stop hurting him!"

Sonic snarled. "Damn it, Zonic! Just do it! Just," He took his foot off of his back, placing it on the floor to walk over to both Shadow and the commander. "Tell me, come on." His voice decreased it's volume, his conscience screaming at him to stop the violence. He didn't want to do this, he didn't want to hurt his friends. That's what thugs do, physically threatening people to get what they wanted. Sonic never wanted to resort to this, he truly didn't. "Stop making this hard for me, just tell me the truth!"

Zonic turned his face away. "I can't..."

"Yes you can."

"I can't...!"

The hero rose his voice again. "Zonic, I'm your fucking friend!"

Zonic shook his head rapidly. "I told you, I cant'! I can't do it!"

"Why!?"

"Because if I tell you, everyone will-" Zonic cut himself off with a fearful gasp. He then tore his eyes away from Sonic, now darting them to the floor. As if a zipper glazed across his lips, he was suddenly silenced. Then, Zonic's body began to shift again. Only he wasn't trying to get out of Shadow's hold, his body was hunching. Almost as if he was going to puke. More like, he was trying to force something out of his mouth. Not vomit per say, but actual words. His mouth was twitching, his lips attempting to separate and move to form vocals.

He was even mumbling, but his lips refused to move. Like something glued or stitched his lips shut. It was as if he was trying to make them move, trying to force his mouth to speak. He looked panicked, he looked frightened. His mumbles became more frantic, and Shadow slowly let go with furrowed brows. Zonic's arms immediately went to his muzzle, grabbing at his mouth before just completely covering it in shame. He was even breathing a lot harder through his nose, making strong sniffs and inhales. Since his lips were closed, he couldn't breathe through his mouth right now. He looked guilty, he looked like he wanted to keep talking, but he couldn't and it was scaring him.

"Mmnffh...Mmmffh!" Help me, help me! Was that what he was saying? "Mmmmffgh!" I can't talk, I can't breathe!

Something or someone was making him keep his mouth shut.

Sonic and Shadow suddenly turned to Scourge, who didn't look too surprised. The green hedgehog just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I knew it, GOd I hate when I'm right." He said while sighing. He stepped back and pulled the chair back up to sit down again. "Those damn spirits, they put some kind of bind on him. I've read up on it before." He leaned back and crossed his legs. "It's almost like a magic spell, or a curse. If the spirits don't want you sayin' something, they'll literally zip up your lips anytime you try to bring it up." A silencing spell, is what it sounded like. "Now I don't know why they did that to step daddy Zonic over there, but I'm guessing they gave him an ultimatum in the past behind closed doors. 'Never speak of this again, and we don't hurt anybody. But to make sure you don't say anything, we're gonna seal your lips anyway whenever you ever bring it up.' Just a theory." He said with a shrug. "The deities are the types of bastards to pull something like that, I'm fairly certain that's what happened."

They slowly turned back to Zonic, who just resorted to sitting on the floor against the wall with his hands still covering his mouth. His head was lowered, his face not visible. He was still mumbling, still trying to talk again. Sonic never thought he'd see his twin look so frightened before, none of that was an act. That does it. Tails already tried warning him before about his own super forms, Zonic was hiding something, and now even Scourge was saying there was something wrong.

Sonic may not have been book smart, but he was no idiot. Like Shadow once said, he pondered about several things every second of the day, and that's why he was always a nervous wreck. He may have been a courageous hero to everyone else, but in reality, Sonic was an analyzer. He was a thinker, he was an observer. He listened, he watched, he calculated and he had an astounding memory. Every sentence, every word, every image he's ever seen, it was all stored in his brain. That's why he was able to remember every single discrepancy in Zonic's words, every odd sentence Scourge ever uttered from his mouth. He remembered Scourge's words back during the war...

"Blue, you still refuse to understand me." Scourge dropped his smirk and stepped in front of the blue doppleganger. He got down on one of his knees as well, and offered him a hand. "In the end, I don't want you to be some slave of mine. I want you to be willing. I don't want you to keep fighting me like this."

"Stop messing with me, damn it. Just stop it! Stop screwing with my head!"

With irritation, Scourge rolled his eyes. "I'm not. I'm just trying to-"

"I don't care! SHUT UP!"

"I know you don't care. No one did. That's why I'm still so fucked up. No one listens until it's too late. So I guess I can't be too mad at you," The anti hedgehog then glided his palm to the side of Sonic's muzzle, dragging the back of his fingers against his cheek affectionately and ever so softly. "But since you won't listen to me, then I can't accept your request to just 'stop'. You already had your chance to save me Blue, and you missed it..."

What was Scourge trying to tell him? And not only that but-

Shadow's voice nearly interrupted his thinking process. "Sonic?"

Sonic instantly held up a hand without turning to his mate, gesturing for him to please silence himself as he continued to replay everything that led up to this moment so far.

Yes, there was that time in his office...

"No, Sonic prime. You know that just as well as I do. Besides, we wanted nothing to do with that demon anymore. After he escaped, he fell off the map. We had no idea where he was, and I couldn't find him in his own world from my monitors. It was like he disappeared. I have suspicions why, but nothing solid. We figured letting him go elsewhere and doing whatever he wanted was the best for our own home. We thought it was best just to deal with him later should he stir up trouble again. He wasn't your responsibility."

"He may be your anti, but that doesn't matter. He wasn't your problem, he was ours. And now, you're both my responsibility. You always have been, and I wanted to protect you. I know I'm not there for you much, but I am now. And you may not ever realize it, but I've interfered with your previous battles multiple times, just to ensure your safety. I don't want you to get hurt, don't you understand that?"

"You don't have to treat me like a kid. Hell, we're the same age, Z!"

"And that may be true, but I don't care. Like I said, whether you like it or not, you're both my problems. And it's my goal to make sure he's detained, and that you and your world are safe."

Zonic said he only wanted to keep Sonic safe but, that didn't sound right. At the time he just thought Zonic was just being overprotective, but now, maybe he didn't want Sonic here for a reason. And also, no matter how Zonic might have felt about Scourge, he was still his Overseer. An Overseer's job was to watch over all versions of all Sonics, no matter what. Even if Scourge was a demented psychopath, his goal should never be to detain one of his own brethren. At the very least, he should have found a way to reform him or help him-Something! Not kill off one of their own kind with something as cruel as numerous executions, and Chaos knew what else. He was supposed to look after Scourge too, so why did he become this way in the first place? Zonic should have prevented that from happening.

Where was Zonic when Scourge turned this way? Where was he when he needed him?

Why wasn't he there for him like he was for Sonic?

"Oh Shadow prime, there's so many realities, I would need at least a full package of fresh copy paper to write down all the ones that I know of. There's even some that I have not yet visited. There are millions if not billions of Sonics, Shadows, Tails', Rouges...The list goes on and on." He then smiled. "But most of the realities that I've visited have good Sonics." He added warmly.

If there were millions of other Sonics out there, why was Scourge the only one making trouble? Zonic said most of the other realities had good Sonics, not all. So why weren't the bad ones causing problems like this?

Why is it Scourge of all people doing so much damage?

And how about when Scourge got grabbed by Zonic and the other soldiers?

"Stop it! Get off of me! Get off! Get off, get off GET OFF OF ME!" Scourge screamed to the heavens, his voice having hints of both fear and trauma.

Yeah, that was right before the rocket hit him.

And speaking of which, why did it aim for Scourge's stomach? Not his head, not his face, but his stomach. That's an odd place to aim for.

Hey, didn't Scourge something weird to Shadow when they were fused?

"I'd almost rather you kick me in the balls a thousand times, before you punch me in my stomach."

"Fuck...You.." Shadow weakly retorted. "As if I give a damn...about your personal rules of a street fight.."

Scourge made a small laugh at that. "True, that does seem a bit ironic and hypocritical, only I don't give a shit." He hissed. "My tum-tum's a sensitive place, and I advise you to keep your hands away from it."

"It's a fight you jack ass! The hell's so special...about your stomach anyway?"

"None of your damn business," The young adult replied defensively. "Just stay away from it. If you hit me there again, I won't hesitate in killing all three of you for good. Would make my job easier anyway."

Scourge made a big deal about it when they were fighting. Don't touch his stomach, period. But why? And why did that rocket aim and hit him there specifically? That was a little too coincidental. And right when it did, a red light blinded everyone. Like, that hit was severing some kind of connection from him.

Did...

Did Zonic order for the HQ to directly aim and shoot Scourge's stomach? How would he even know that was some kind of weak point for him? As their Overseer, Zonic should know everything about both him and his anti-double. That means it would actually be common sense for him to know their weaknesses, or their sources of energy. Like how Sonic's was in his neck, and how Scourge's was probably in his...

...Stomach.

And if he knew that much, he should know a bunch more. Such as his executions, why he was imprisoned, why he killed his dad, why coming out of prison seemed to have done him more harm than good. When Zonic gave a brief explanation of Scourge's history here in No Zone, Zonic didn't need to read off of paperwork. It was like he knew everything about him by heart. And if he knew that much about Scourge, he should know everything about Sonic, too. Especially about his super forms. One of the very things he wasn't allowed to speak of. If it was true that his super forms were keeping his twin from talking, well damn it, he'd make them stop this nonsense.

Suddenly, Sonic took in a deep breath before hollering to the heavens. "HEY!" He angrily screamed. "Whoever it is keeping Zonic silenced, quit it!" Sonic pointed his thumb to himself. "This is your host talking, and I'm the boss here!" The others in the room watched him curiously as he did this. "Super, Dark, Fleetway, Hyper-I don't give a damn who it is, but you better cut it the hell out right now!" Sonic then readied his voice once more, raising it highly with assertiveness. "I want to know the truth, I'm tired of all these lies and secrets! You want me to be satisfied?" He asked the divine spirits from above out loud. "You don't want me to be a problem, right? You don't want me to be a pain in the ass like Scourge over here, right?! Then you all better do what the hell I say, and lift that curse off of Zonic!" He pointed to the commander roughly. "Right NOW!"

As if the spirits heard and answered his demands, Zonic made a loud gasp of air.

He then sighed in relief, his mouth opening easily. He looked up at the ceiling, almost thanking the spirits for releasing their hold on him. He lost feeling in his legs, and dropped to the floor while panting. Sonic then marched away from them all, moving to Scourge's cell. He stopped in front of the glass, before holding his hand out and glaring directly at Zector. "Give me that lie detector bracelet." The crocodile flinched at his tone, but nodded and moved over to remove the shackle from Scourge's wrist. After doing so, he gave it to Sonic, who swiped it away and traveled back over to Zonic.

Shadow moved aside, who watched as his mate walked behind Zonic and bent down. He yanked his arm back and snapped the bracelet onto his wrist. He let his arm go and stood up to move back in front of him. He crossed his arms and gave Zonic a deathly glower, who refused to face his champion.

"So," The hero quietly began. "Wanna explain what the hell he's talking about over there?"

Shadow winced at his tone and cleared his throat. Ouch. Zonic just scoffed and continued looking away from him. "Sonic prime-"

"A straight forward God damn answer is all I'm asking for, Z." A growl was developing in his throat. "I just told them to take their control off of you. You've got no excuse to keep playing this game with me!" After he yelled this, Zonic still wouldn't budge. Sonic's forehead began fuming red, but he silently bit his tongue. Without turning to Shadow, he asked for him to do him a favor. "Shads," He whispered in an unusually scary voice. "Do me a solid and beat the shit out of Zhadow for me?" He tilted his head. "Please? For me?"

Shadow's eyes widened, and so did Zonic's. Scourge watched with amusement, while the two colonels flinched at barbaric the request.

The green hedgehog started giggling under his breath. "So this is what happens when you piss off the Champion. Looks like it's just another part of your plan that went haywire, huh step daddy?" He mocked.

Zhadow stiffened, but didn't move. "...Sonic?" Shadow muttered his name in confusion. Brutality was not his lover's style, what was going on with him? He didn't sense Dark influencing him, no, this was all on his own volition. What was he thinking? Was he willing to force the truth out of them that bad? Suddenly, that's when Sonic glanced at him. He could feel it in his wavelength, his intentions weren't true. He didn't actually want Shadow to hurt anyone, but he did want to scare Zonic. Now he understood what Sonic meant. He slowly nodded and turned to Zhadow's direction. "I see, of course." He even charged some chaos energy in his hand to make it believable. "This is nothing personal, first lieutenant-"

Zonic immediately ceased his vow of silence. "NO! Stop, please! I'll talk! Just get away from him!" He cried. He clenched his teeth, he was in a horrible spot right now. He lowered his head back down pathetically. "I'll...tell you...everything..."

Sonic silently commended Shadow for his work, before placing his hands on his hips. "Good. Yo," He turned to the side in Scourge's direction over in his cell. "Feel free to add whatever you want." He looked back to Zonic. "At this point, I don't care what happens, I just want to know everything. Sadly, Scourge is the only person who'll have no problem telling me the truth. I'm bein' nice here, Z."

"...Understood." His twin murmured.

"Question one," The hero began. "Why can you use chaos?"

Zonic looked immediately stumped. Then he began to look anxious due to Sonic's dissatisfaction of his lack of answers. "I-I, I don't know. I promise, I truly do not know. I was under the impression that no Overseer in history could ever use chaos like regular Chaos Born. And I don't know why I can suddenly use it now." He fidgeted when Sonic nudged Shadow to go back over to his first lieutenant again. "W-Wait! I'm serious, I truly don't know!"

After exclaiming this, they paused. That bracelet did not emit a beeping sound to indicate a lie. Zonic told the truth. That's when Scourge suddenly gave his two cents. "Actually, if I may Blue?" He playfully cleared his throat while placing his glasses on the tip of his nose. "Ahem. You see," He made sure to use his 'teacher' voice for this. "Commander Zonic always had chaotic power. Overseers are supposed to have them, but only to maintain the universal wifi since it requires chaos power to activate. However, they are not to be used any further, as the spirits do not want them becoming too powerful for their own good." He slyly smirked and pulled down his glasses, dropping his teacher act. "They'd be repeating the mistakes of our old original ancestor, a usurper who tried murdering those divine assholes several thousand years ago. The first Chaos Born, an idiot Icarus who flew a little too close to the sun." He shrugged. "But I digress. I betcha Zonic never used his powers to turn on the wifi until just yesterday, since it's been going on and off on it's own thanks to me and Fleetway. Other than that, it's always stayed on for decades before we showed up, so Zonic never had to awaken his abilities in the first place until now. Still, the fact that Zonic's are a lot stronger than they should be is a bit alarming. No Overseer was able to use that much, not that they should. Definitely put a stain in my plans."

Sonic tightened his scowl at Zonic. Alright, he had to let this one slide. Zonic truly didn't know about any of that, and he was never needed to awaken his abilities in the first place. It's no wonder he never knew he could have them at all, no one told him about this. The Warden probably didn't even want him to know, assuming he already knew only Overseers could activate it. But still, didn't Zonic used to study his ass off about stuff like this? Why didn't he know about this? And that still didn't explain why he was able to use so much as only an Overseer. "How come you didn't know you had chaos abilities at all? Scourge said all Overseers are supposed to have it, just not as much as you do. And why are your powers so strong? You special or something?"

Zonic sighed and hugged himself while leaning against the wall. "With all the work piling for No Zone, I...I neglected my studies. Because of that, there are plenty of things I do not know. At least, not as well as I should. Only a little more than the basics. I do not know why I can use them so well." He made a disappointed expression at himself.

"Now hold on there step daddy," Scourge held up a finger with a sneer. "Just 'cause ya got powers now, don't make you special. Being a 'chosen one of chaos', doesn't make you special at all. That's a stupid ass concept." He directed his attention to Sonic. "The only reason why Zonic managed to awaken his abilities is because those evil divine beings wanted him to. All in order to power up the remaining Chaos Born, so they can all get ready to conquer their worlds after our nineteenth birthday arrived. Zonic here's only a drinking well for you." He chuckled at their alarmed expressions. "Durr, that's what any Overseer's for. To help out their brethren, make sure they're satisfied. Right? So, it's only fair that you supply your own kind with the power they need to handle their duties." He pointed to the hero then to Shadow. "Let's say Stripes over there gets amnesia for the thousandth time and starts fightin' Blue all over again. And let's say Blue's too weak to activate a super form." He cupped his cheeks adorably with a cute smile. "Weeelll, guess what Zonic can do for ya, my cutesy-Sonikuu-whootsie?"

A pulsating vein began to form in Sonic's head. "...Are you telling me he could have gave us back our super forms this whole time...?" He hissed.

Scourge nodded. "Yup, yup! And that's something he already knew about too, he just never told you. Even if Zonic didn't have powers before, there was another way of helping you get your super forms back before the war." He crossed his legs with boredom as he lectured them. "Look, the universal wifi is a big fuckin' deal, and it's like, super duper powerful. It might as well be another source of chaos energy from another Chaos Born. That's how crazy strong it is. That alone could have allowed Zonic to get personal contact with your super forms, using it like a damn beacon that only an Overseer can activate. And it would have helped you regain all that power back. But I knew he wouldn't do it 'cause he was scared of 'em coming out." He hummed to himself while innocently poking his finger on his lip. "Huh, I guess that doesn't technically count as a lie, does it step daddy?" He asked with daunting pursed lips.

Zonic began to sweat, swallowing a gulp as he tried to remain calm. "H...How do you even know that!? How do you know how far I've gotten in my studies?"

"'Cause' if you fuckin' finished 'em like you were supposed to, which is your actual damn job mind you, you wouldn't have made so many mistakes in this whole ordeal." The green hedgehog harshly scolded him. "Shit, you could have killed me when ya had the chance, because you would have known exactly what to do to get rid of me. If you knew as much as I do, I don't think I would be so fucked up right now. And you wouldn't be crazy, neither. Hell," Scourge laughed loudly while slapping his knee. "Hahaha! I planned my whole scheme around your ignorance, you idiot! Hahahaha!" He cackled. "I could tell from the way you worked so hard to climb your pathetic ass up the ranks. Way back when I was in that shitty ass asylum, you never paid your studies any attention! I knew you didn't know as much as you were supposed to! The only reason why I succeeded this far is because you're such a shitty-ass Overseer, dumb ass!"

Zonic bit his bottom lip, clenching his eyes shut as he didn't want to hear this.

"And with your new fuck toy over here, your superior gladly kept all the juicy details away from everybody. You kept giving him that cute little blue ass of yours to fuck over and over, and he lapped it up like milk. You played him like a puppet, making him hide everything and protect you from any heat that could have burned you in your way." Scourge steadily turned his gaze to Zhadow, who looked away in shame. "You stayed in that No Zone fantasy just a little bit longer, Zhadow. You're nothin' but an enabler, a pawn. A chump. A side-character for the protagonist." He turned away from him in disgust. "Tch, like these assholes are your people or something. You make me sick, Zonic." He spat bitterly. "And that, my poorly deluded commander, is why I fucking hate you. You don't stick up for your own kind, you defend bastards who don't even realize how powerful we are. Just, ugh..." He sighed. "Like, you're such a bore. A moronic failure."

Sonic then narrowed his disparaging eyes down at his twin. "All that true, Z?" The commander slowly nodded without words. This made Sonic raise a brow with a false smile of interest. "Oho yeah? Even that other part? The part where you don't defend the very race you were assigned to protect?"

With a dried out voice, Zonic replied softly. "Yes." His bracelet didn't beep.

"And the part about my super forms wanting to conquer my world? About them being evil? That's all true too?"

With his body now slightly shaking, Zonic nodded once more. "...Yes, Sonic prime."

The ultimate life form's eyes widened. They were all evil? Sonic's super forms were the bad guys this whole time?

Shadow then saw that Sonic's arm was reeling back. "And you knew about that too? This whole fucking time?" The hero asked in a callous whisper.

"Yes-"

Sonic swung. "You mother fucker...!" The ultimate life form quickly grasped his mate's arm before he could swing his fist down. He then pulled him back, whispering to him that he couldn't just beat on him like this. This was wrong, no matter how pissed the hero was. They'd be stooping to Scourge's level, to Shadow's old ways. If this was the old him, he would have been the one wailing on Zonic right now. But, they both were better than that. With Sonic's feral sharpened fangs poking out of his mouth, he growled and settled his arm down. "You let them play me, this whole time." His fist tightened, but Shadow wouldn't let go. "How could you!?" He yelled. "Why would you ever let this happen!?

Zonic buried his face in his hands, his knees bending up to his chest. "...Can I please say something now?" He carefully whispered in a shaky voice.

"Oh go right ahead, you liar." Sonic spat.

His twin tried his best to ignore the insult, and began to explain his ways. "No matter what happens, nothing will change the fact that I'm still your Overseer," He began to move to stand up on his own. He uncovered his face and tried to remain professional in front of his champion. "I understand your rage, but you still need to respect me." He suddenly stated in a stern manner, his eyes seriously gazing into the hero's to show that he was being completely legit right now. No tricks.

"As if I'm scared of you." Sonic darkly scoffed.

"I don't want you to fear me!" Zonic yelled back. "I just want you to understand, that I was only trying to keep you safe!" He glanced at Shadow. "All of you! I didn't have a choice!"

"Ha," The speed demon's shoulder shook as he snickered. "Right, like how you tried keeping Scourge safe in those execution videos? You didn't have a choice then, either?"

The commander's face instantly went pale, before flattening his lips. "..."

"Yeah," Sonic challenged. "How 'bout you explain that bullshit? What kind of 'man of honor', a war hero like you, allows people to torture and kill inmates over and over again?" His voice rose once again. "What happened to outlawing police brutality? What happened to being morally fair? To being a real soldier? What were the executions for, and why did you let Scourge get hurt so much? Are you the reason why he's like this? Why did you fail him as his Overseer!?"

Scourge rubbed his fingers against the sides of his own chair, mentally whispering for Fleetway to do him a favor. Zonic was still tight-lipped, he wouldn't sing thanks to his overwhelming guilt and despair. As angry as Sonic was right now, he would only yell and holler at him some more to attempt at getting something out of him. No, the only way to make Zonic speak the complete truth was through force. Sonic didn't actually have the balls to beat his twin to a bloody pulp just to get answers, and scaring Zonic into talking would work but so much.

No, Scourge had a better way.

The green hedgehog stood up from his chair and carelessly kicked it over. Zector flinched and looked his way, realizing that he no longer was sitting submissively like he was supposed to. He had to take the prisoner down before he did anything reckless. Before Zector could reach out to grab him, Scourge held up a hand to stop him. "Hold on there, bucko." He said while his blue eyes became red swirls. "I'm not gonna do anything crazy."

The crocodile backed away in fear at this. "No way," He murmured. "T-That's impossible, how can you use your powers in a room like this? You don't have a control bracelet-" The green hedgehog suddenly placed a finger upon his scaled lips with a hush.

"Shh shh, just be cool. I don't wanna hurt anybody, seriously." He genuinely gave him the benefit of the doubt. "I mean come on, you honestly think I can tussle with both Blue and Stripes in the room with their super forms back online? I wouldn't risk that." In actuality, Scourge could take both Shadow and Sonic in their super forms if he used all of his power at once, but nobody had time for that right now. Not yet, that was for the grand finale. For now, he just wanted to get his point across. "I just wanna show you what Zonic's hiding." He glanced over at the hedgehogs over on the other side of the room and raised his voice so they could hear him over Sonic's yelling. "Hey! All of you, come closer so I can look at ya."

Sonic and Shadow briefly turned to the side, seeing Scourge's eyes swirling red. Everyone was instantly on their guard when he brought attention to himself, but Scourge once again tried settling them down. Stating he didn't mean any harm, he only wanted to reveal Zonic's secrets.

"Calm down, just lemme show ya. I wanna put you in his head, I wanna show you his exact memories!" He raised his hands up, red and black aura surrounding his arms. "Alright Fleetway, let's give it everything we've got!" He announced with a smile. "I've got a very special surprise for step daddy Zonic, the Supreme Overseer of all Chaotic Life in the universe. A punishment truly fitting for a failed soldier, the memories of a cowardly private now revealed to all! Iiiiit's Flashback Tiiiime!"

In another red flash, everything went white.

END - 40

EDIT: So sorry for my absence, I...

Sigh.

Nothing worth talking about, nothing but excuses.

This chapter was ready for weeks, I was just being lazy is all. Anyway, some people are probably gonna be pissed at Zonic now. And to that I say: Good. You should be. Like Shadow said, intentions mean jack shit. What truly matters, is what you have done. And Zonic, has done some bad things by lying. His reasons? Well like I said before, words mean nothing, and intentions are also worthless at the end of the day if you did something heinous.

However...

Well, I won't say anything.

Dunno if I'll be posting before or immediately after Christmas. Until the next update, please be patient.

Hopefully I won't have you waiting so long like this again, because the next few chapters' are gonna be hellah heavy.

And that's something you don't wanna miss.