Meanwhile, Scourge was sitting on the living room armchair near Detective Sonic as they were waiting through TV commercials, bragging to him and gloating as he frowned resentfully with his arms crossed ignoring him. By this point, it had gotten to the topic the blue hedgehog was surprised he hadn't started with in the first place with his girlfriend always being around, as Scourge asked with a self-assured smile, " How's your love life, Blue? Things didn't go so well for the Prime Sonic, from what Fi told me, " and a tone that ended up being more friendly than he expected. He had spent so much time taunting and gloating at him trying to make him feel insecure that it had become hard to keep it up, and he ended up talking to him like a casual acquaintance. " It's going great, thank you very much! Mina and I are very happy together, " he replied defensively.

With his right arm on the arm of the armchair, Scourge teased with a chuckle, " Oh really? Then where is she now? " He responded unhappily and slightly bitterly, " Another concert. The whole singer business makes her pretty busy. " Scourge said casually, " Man, if I had only known she'd be like that later on back on Mobius Prime, I wouldn't have even bothered! Pretty or not, an absentee girlfriend just ain't worth it, pal, not when the whole point is to get some loving. Life is to be enjoyed, and you're missing out if you don't get the chick who'll spend the most amount of time per day makin' out with ya. " Annoyed with him thinking he could give him his idea of wise life advice, Sonic-FN asked him, " Does her personality factor into this at all? "

Scourge considered it for a moment, and then said, " W-Well, depends. You probably should actually like her, or you'll get sick of her eventually, no matter how great a kisser she is. I didn't think so at first, but eventually with my first girlfriend, I started to realize she was so much of a nag that no amount of kissing was making up for it. " Then he muttered sadly and bitterly with his arms crossed, " Not to mention she had no qualms about flippin' me and tryin' to start a fight with me just to get a challenge. Screw that noise. "

Of course, hedgehog ears being sensitive and all, the teenaged detective heard him loud and clear and said, " Wait, challenge? She tried to hurt you? " Scourge looked at him immediately embarrassed that he heard him, and then was promptly surprised that the alternate Sonic felt so sorry for him. " What kinda girlfriend would do that? That's abusive! That ain't right, no matter who you are, " he continued.

There was an awkward silence as Scourge avoided his sympathetic gaze, embarrassed as it dawned on him that Alicia even put him in that kind of position, and then he replied, " I'm way stronger than her. She couldn't dream of trying to humiliate me like that now. Especially not since she's, well, ' landslided. ' " Sonic-FN said looking sad, " What? You serious?! She's… gone?... Well, at least it wasn't you who did her in. It's weird enough with my evil twin being around as a ' partner ' all the time and I wanna be able to sleep at night. "

" Can it with the ' evil twin ' stuff, already, " Scourge replied resentfully pointing at him. Being constantly reminded that he was just a counterpart of the alternate Sonic he was talking to was a recurring event that always made him regret going to talk to him, even if just briefly. " It's hard not to when it's true. You ARE evil. But if it means that much to you, I'll try not to say it from now on, " the blue hedgehog said from his pity about earlier.

Wanting to get back on topic, Scourge quickly cleared his throat and then resumed with his bragging saying, " The point is, Blue, you're not getting any. And with me, it's like EVERY night! She's the most affectionate girl I ever met! I can barely even remember a night where she didn't! Ever since we started all this zone-hopping together. It's every night for the past few months! "

" Can we drop it, I'm very uncomfortable! Besides, that's physically impossible, every night! Y-You know, why, " the Sonic with the detective suit complained. " Well yeah, obviously, I didn't mean literally. There was a two day interlude, last week, but that was it, " Scourge said with a shrug at the end. " Wait, JUST two days? Just ONE interlude? " he replied looking at him suspiciously. " Yeah, what's the big deal? " Scourge said.

Sonic-FN explained while walking up to him and looking pretty serious as well as clearly wanting to get off the topic as soon as possible, " Scourge, I've had experience with the ladies too, and while Mina's busy a lot, even I know that two days is pretty short. And only two days of a break after months? That's not right. " After a second, Scourge asked getting defensive, " What d'ya mean? " leaning forwards in the armchair at him.

Deciding to be blunt and therefore get it out of the way quicker, he told him, " It means that either she's got somethin' wrong with her internally makin' her body all outta whack, " continued while smirking up in his face, " you're LYING, " and then said, " you're misremembering, or she's gonna have a nasty surprise for you, nine, months, from now. "

With his pupils shrunken, Scourge started to sweat saying nervously, " W-What?! " as anxiety started to come to him, and Sonic-FN teased him with a smile, " You're the king of your own planet, right? Then you better start getting prepared for the heir to the throne. "

Scourge snapped at him, " You're just tryin' to psych me out! What are ya, jealous of us? It's not gonna work! " but the clear panic in his tone and the shakiness of his voice was implying that it was getting to him.

Since the armchair was big enough for two people, Sonic-FN had no difficulty with sitting beside him on it to tease him some more by treating him like an old pal, asking, " What, is that a dealbreaker? " Scourge looked irritated and exclaimed, " Of course not! " and then explained more calmly, " It's like I said, she's the most affectionate girlfriend I ever had. I'd be an idiot to give that up. Any other girl wanting to be with a bad boy like me is always just twisted on the inside, and I got sick of that real fast. Alicia was a pain, Buns never got along with Miles and kept whining about being called out on it, and don't get me started on Rouge. But Fi's the ultimate catch! "

Sonic-FN got up from the armchair and asked awkwardly with pity, " Enough to let ya handle a baby around her? I heard they cry, a lot! Loudly. " This clearly made him nervous, but he quickly said with a shrug, " So I'll warp away when that happens. I got a zone-link generator, I can do that. "

The blue hedgehog said sarcastically with a condescending smile, " I'm sure she won't mind, " thinking of how things could go wrong if she starts resenting him for the absenteeism, calling him a deadbeat. Scourge pointed right in his face saying angrily, " It'll be FINE! Can you quit it with the taunting, Sonic, it's not helping! And it's not funny either. Ya bully! " his voice slightly cracking from sheer stress at the end of the second sentence.

With the blue hedgehog looking surprised, regretful and alarmed with shrunken pupils, that at least made Scourge feel a little better, about himself at actually achieving that with a Sonic, and he continued more casually, " I'd like to see YOU have to deal with the possibility of becoming a father. 'Sides, that's future me's problem! And she's been very accepting of everything else I do. She even humored me when I decided to try to blow up her ex's stupid city on a whim. " " You what?! " Sonic-FN exclaimed, and then wondered why he had been so surprised. He thought, " I guess it was all those missions with him just smashin' robots and machines like one of the heroes. Why else would I forget? "

Scourge said nonchalantly, " Ah, it was just a whim, I'd never bother with that again. Destruction's only satisfying if I'm causing it with my spines! Or fists. You're missing my point. She couldn't have been comfortable with it, but even that didn't make her abandon me. She'll understand. She always does, and it'd be unreasonable of her not to. "

Then he said annoyed again, " And that's pretending what you say is even true! Chances are I'm just remembering it wrong and she had plenty of other breaks, I just forgot 'cause I live in the present and not the past. " Sonic-FN, going back to the couch since the commercials for the action movie had ended, said, " I sure hope so. You're too young for all of that stuff. At my age, I'd hate to be a dad. "

Scourge, ignoring the anxiety and pressure he was feeling, soon smiled saying, " You got Tails, right? That's a kid you're raisin'. And I did the same thing for years. I've already got plenty of experience with having a kid, and mine won't have the kind of, uh, troubles, that he has. " He looked awkward scratching behind his ear saying, " Now the baby thing, that's a whole 'nother story, " and Sonic-FN found himself genuinely smiling at seeing him like that instead of smirking for once, realizing that Scourge's relatable awkwardness was endearing to him, and his evil twin said with a warm smile,

" But she'll take care of it. I trust her, the affectionate girlfriend'll be the affectionate parent! She'll be spending so much time all crazy about the kid, she won't even notice I'm off on adventures without her. It'd kinda suck not having her company around with the exciting stuff going on, though, can't drag a kid into any of that. Part of the whole reason I liked her in the first place was that she joined in on the fun, illegal or not! " He sighed and said in exasperation, " Ugh, let's just watch the movie. I'm sick of talkin' about it, " and Sonic-FN nodded saying, " Agreed. " Deep down, he was glad that he got to talk about that with him.

At that very moment, Fiona was being faced with the undeniable truth as her new friends were very quick to tell her. Queen Sally said to her looking worried and serious, " Fiona, this is a big deal! You're sure you're that late? You're not misremembering it? " " Yes, I'm sure, " she replied feeling increasingly more worried as she sat on the lid of the toilet feeling a sense of dread.

Bunnie-FN said, " Then combine that with the morning sickness and you're pregnant, girl, " and the mere mention of the word had Fiona gasp and wince a lot, and exclaim unhappily, " We don't know that! M-Maybe I really DO have something wrong with me, and it's just never gonna happen again because of that, and I also got a little flu or something to explain the nausea. "

Queen Sally sighed heavily, kneeled to eye level and put her hands on her shoulders saying compassionately, " Fiona, wishful thinking will only last for so long. This is a big deal! Having a kid is the ultimate test to a relationship! " Bunnie-FN then reassured her, " Cheer up, girl! At least now you'll get to find out if he REALLY cares for ya! It's the perfect test! " " But I didn't WANT a test! " she said sadly, and felt really frustrated and ashamed that tears were coming to her eyes in front of them.

She put her hands on her head as well as over her eyes with her head lowered, hoping that this would hide the fact that she was crying and just make her look overwhelmed at least, although it didn't fool either of them, as Bunnie-FN quickly put her warm organic hand on her shoulder. She continued sadly, " I just wanted things to keep going as they are! Things were perfect! Why does it all have to end?! " Queen Sally reassured her, " It won't necessarily! Try to relax! "

Fiona took her hands away from her eyes, saw the compassion and forced smile to humor her, and couldn't help but smile a little herself, thinking back to when Sally used to like her as she asked jokingly, " And I'm guessing I couldn't get away with just, not having it? " Bunnie-FN shook her head right away as Queen Sally answered looking a little annoyed, " Bingo. I'm surprised you even suggested it, Fi, it's not your kid's fault she exists. " Fiona smiled a little wiping away a tear saying while looking hopeful, " You think it's a she? " and Sally awkwardly shrugged saying, " Or he, we don't know. The point is, you have it, and you have a responsibility to it. It's the least you could do. "

Fiona sighed happily and found herself hugging her like she was her old friend, saying with a wistful chuckle, " I figured you'd react like that, ' sugar queen. ' Always the softie, " giggling at the end, and for the first time, she said that nickname with nothing but a positive tone of fondness for her. When she had said it to her own Sally, it was sarcastic, because she viewed her as the definition of an Ice Queen, but for the nicest Sally she ever met, it was genuine. Because of that, Queen Sally, despite looking confused, understood that it wasn't meant as an insult as she hugged back saying, " Thank you. "

The hug ended, with Fiona feeling a little self-conscious and frustrated at it at the end since she still hated the Prime Sally, and wondered what this meant about her, and how the Prime Sally would've reacted to seeing this. Before she could continue on that train of thought, the silence was revealed to be an awkward one when it was broken by Queen Sally awkwardly saying,

" Let me ask you something, Fiona, if you don't mind me asking, um… Do either you or him use, protection? " Fiona answered, " I do at least. Scourge doesn't, he thinks it's too much of a hassle, " and sighed unhappily at the idea that his selfishness was what got her into that situation, making it one of the rare times when she resented him for it. Still, she felt sorry for him just at thinking that, angry with herself at the sheer idea of being mad at him for it, because she knew it wasn't intentional on his part.

Bunnie-FN told her, " Well, birth control isn't foolproof, Fi, especially not when only one person in the couple's bothering to use it. " Fiona said unhappily with her head lowered, " I know… I was just hoping it'd… just wait like ten years, until we were ready. He said he wouldn't even be ready to marry me until he's like 30 because he thinks marriage is for old middle-aged people! What am I gonna do?! He might not be ready for committing to this, what if he panics, and cuts and runs?! "

Bunnie-FN reassured her, " Fi, I've seen him around you. He's crazy about you! I've seen how you two interact. Y'all put me and Antoine to shame sometimes! He wouldn't want to be without you. " Fiona replied, " That's true, and he's very stubborn and persistent. He doesn't give up easy. Especially not on me. " She thought about how Scourge was proud of being able to say that he took Sonic's girlfriend and how he wouldn't want to give that up. He'd never be able to replace her. Would he? She then asked herself nervously, " What if he finds another Fiona? With a crying baby to deal with, I wouldn't be able to compete! " full of dread, and the silence around her wasn't exactly reassuring.

Queen Sally asked her, " How are you two on the parents situation? What were your parents like? " Fiona winced, and admitted, " Not great. Scourge's parents were the definition of neglectful. His mom spent all day talking on her Bluetooth being a businesswoman and his dad was almost never there! They never even celebrated his birthday! And I don't remember my parents at all. They ditched me for all I know. I have NO solid foundation for how to raise a kid! Aside from how I saw Sonic taking care of Tails, and how Scourge treated Miles, which was even more affectionate. " Queen Sally reassured with a hopeful smile, " There you go! That's perfect! Just focus on that and you'll be fine. "

Fiona said nervously, " It's just that I'm trying as hard as I can and I just can't imagine him putting up with a crying baby! He's very impatient. He puts a lot of focus on enjoying himself above all else, it's like a whole life philosophy to him! He's not gonna be happy having to deal with the crying, he'll just run off telling me to call him when it stops. And I'll just have to accept it, if I want him around. " She hoped she wouldn't grow to resent him for it when she loved him so much, and that he wouldn't resent her, or even worse, their kid, for making their relationship more distant.

Bunnie said idealistically, " Maybe he won't mind as much if it's his own kid. The moment he holds it in his arms, that's when the magic'll happen! " She sighed heavily rolling her eyes at that, and Queen Sally ended the conversation by reassuring her, " You'll see. He loves you too much to just stop being around you entirely. He'll just have one problem, and you'll deal with it together. It's all about whether you can accept him. And if not, no big deal! For what it's worth, Fiona, you'll always be welcome in my home. " She couldn't help but smile in relief at hearing that; even if she lost Scourge, she wouldn't have to go back to being alone.

As the months passed, it became increasingly harder for Fiona to hide it. She was able to put it off for a while by changing to wearing an outfit that hid her midriff and was a little baggy, while still being low-cut and whatnot to make Scourge find it appealing. Her last change in clothes was a long black dress. But eventually he realized that the truth couldn't be denied anymore.

When he did, he didn't confront her on it, wanting to skip what he figured would be a stressful conversation for both sides, and instead they kept on doing what they were before, spending every day assassinating Robotniks for a couple hours and then going on missions with the FN Freedom Fighters just for the excitement of it.

Several months later, Scourge started telling her to take it easy and sit missions out, while keeping her as the ray gun holder because tasering Robotniks only required standing there for a minute. It wasn't until a civilian on the street near the castle said to them in the passing, " Congratulations! And good luck! Is it a boy or a girl? " in response to the way she looked, that he couldn't fake obliviousness anymore.

Fiona stammered looking incredibly nervous, with a sinking feeling terrified of how he'd react. Scourge immediately said casually with his arm around her, " We don't know yet, we'd rather be surprised. Come on Fi, dinner's ready! " and ran to the dining room with the others, leaving her looking dumbfounded.

Taking care not to run herself, she went up to him and whispered sitting next to him, " How long were you waiting to tell me that you knew? That could've been a huge load off for me! You know how worried I was?! "

With everyone being served steak and mashed potatoes, Scourge replied shrugging as Frost and Queen Sally were the only ones able to overhear, " As long as I could, sweets. Sorry I guess. Didn't wanna have that awkward conversation. Take it as my way of sayin', it's fine. it's not a deal breaker for me. " With everyone in the kitchen realizing what they were talking about, Fiona said looking hopeful, " It's not? "

Scourge continued, " I already got experience raising Miles! How hard could it be? The most awesome Sonic in existence can deal with a kid just fine! I'd be lying if I said there'd be no problem when it's out, but you're the best girlfriend I've ever had! Let's just make an agreement that when the baby's all loud, I won't have to hear it. I don't know if I could stand it, especially if it's all night. Maybe I'll warp away, maybe I'll get some industrial strength ear plugs, whatever it takes. As long as that one problem is outta the way, I'll put up with everything else. Miles was a tough kid to raise, " he whispered, " with the PTSD, " and said, " After that anything would be easy. Just don't make me have to hear the crying for hours on end. Will that be too much to ask? "

He then looked worried at the idea that she'd get really annoyed with him, and she replied reluctantly, " Alright. You couldn't be faulted for that, I'm not looking forward to it either. Neither of us are ready, but we'll deal with it together, " held his hand, and thought, " As a family… It's just a shame he still hasn't proposed. I guess he's waiting to see if he can handle the ' test ' first. Why do it now when the future's uncertain? "

Queen Sally then reassured them, " It's not like you'll have to look after him or her all the time. Bunnie and I will be happy to babysit when it's necessary. " While Scourge immediately responded, " Awesome! We can still go do fun stuff together! So you see, Fi, nothing will really change! " Fiona looked stunned and nervous, and asked,

" Are you SURE it's okay? You have to promise me you won't grow to resent me for it. One Sally's bad enough. Well, two with Alicia, but she never gave me a chance anyways. " With everyone at the kitchen table smiling to various degrees, even Sonic-FN, Queen Sally responded happily, " You guys took down Robotnik! It's the least we could do! Don't think I haven't forgotten about that in the six months we've known you. "

Fiona sighed in relief, and said, " Thank you. I won't take too much advantage of it, I don't wanna be a, female deadbeat dad, or whatever. I promise. How about we alternate so I have some days off a week, but not all? "

As Sally agreed, " Perfect! We'll tell you the schedules when the time comes. As queen, I'll be pretty busy though, so it'll mostly be Bunnie, " Scourge still looked stunned, speechless at the word deadbeat from earlier, and started reflecting unhappily on how his parents were. They were always busy doing something, and he remembered that when he was a kid, he promised himself that he wouldn't be the kind of apathetic neglectful parents they were. He didn't want his own kid to grow up hating him, and make the same mistake his parents did.

Then he remembered that he had already made the same mistake with Miles, who resented him for most of the time they were friends because once he got a girlfriend, he barely spent any quality time alone with him. He had become too busy. With that in mind, he found himself agreeing with Fiona's plan to only sometimes have a babysitter, which at first had disappointed him at the idea of him constantly doing exciting things without her. He didn't want to make the same mistake as his father, so he promised himself that he would try to beat him at his own game, just like with Sonic, and be there.

" It's a girl, " the doctor said months later when Scourge went into the hospital room where Fiona was. He had left for the entire duration to avoid having to deal with her suffering through it all. Fiona, with a content and relieved smile, was lying in bed holding a newborn red fox Mobian covered with a blue baby blanket in her arms, and he immediately noticed her green eyes staring up at her, the same green eyes he used to have. There was something about a baby looking directly upwards that was the cutest sight in the multiverse, and even he couldn't ignore it. Noticing him staring awkwardly from the door, Fiona asked with a nervous smile, " Don't you wanna hold her? There's no better time to do it! "

There was a brief silence from him not being used to any of this, before Scourge walked over to her with an awkward smile, sat down on the bed beside her with a blank expression on his face, and found himself really hoping she wouldn't get hurt as she was carefully brought into his arms by her mother. Before he knew it, he was holding a warm, cute little red fox baby, who was staring up at him with innocent green eyes having no idea what was going on and who she was looking at.

Wanting to avoid an awkward silence, he started actually trying to talk to her, feeling self-conscious the whole time. " Hi. Uh. Phoebe… I'm new at this, so bear with me, capiche? I think I'm gonna like you! But just try to keep the crying to a minimum. I got enough of that from Miles. And at least he was quiet. " She lightly grabbed the finger he was pointing at her and giggled the cutest giggle he ever heard, clearly taking a liking to him in his awkwardness.

" You're pretty cute! Makes perfect sense, your mom's such a looker! You'll be a beautiful girl some day, I bet, " Scourge commented with a grin, looking back at Fiona flirtatiously at the end. " And she's got her father's eyes, " Fiona pointed out cheerfully. " Exactly. The perfect combination of good-looking rogues. Of course she's adorable! So, uh, I should really introduce myself. I'm Scourge the Hedgehog, the most badass law-breaker and the fastest thing alive! And someday, I'll make my mark out there, by destroying every evil Robotnik in the multiverse! No more tyrants turning people into robots will be left when I'm done. You're gonna be so impressed! I hope, " and he really hoped that she wouldn't grow to disapprove of him for his harsh methods. He didn't want his own kid to be scared of him, even if it might make her behave.

Then he sighed and gently handed her back to Fiona muttering while feeling like an idiot, " Why am I talking to someone that can't understand a word I'm sayin'? " He clearly had no familiarity with anything like baby talk and was just talking to her like a person who could understand him, and it seemed like Fiona would be the same way. " It's how they learn how to talk, and understand you. Even if they don't know what you're saying, they appreciate it anyways. She loves the quality time, I can just tell. And you can tell her anything, without ever being judged. Isn't that great? " Fiona replied with a smile, holding her.

Scourge liked the sound of that, and said, " She's perfect. " Of course, they were sure she would demonstrate some flaws later on in life when she'd be able to talk, especially considering the kinds of parents she came from, but at the moment, her only flaw would be making noise. Fiona thought back to Bunnie-FN and smiled as she realized that somehow, she was right, that all that Sonic's evil twin had to do was look into his daughter's eyes for the magic to start to happen. She hoped it would be enough to let him forgive her and be patient with her, since it wouldn't be all fun and games, for a person who wanted life to be nothing but.

Their arrangement worked as well as it could've, as Fiona tried not to hold it against Scourge for leaving the castle when Phoebe was crying. They kept her at Queen Sally's castle, in the Film Noir pocket dimension, since it was the closest to a permanent residence the two traveling vigilantes had. This also meant that they kept her crib and Fiona and Scourge's new bed there, and toys in general, in a guest room that was specially prepared for their daughter a few months ago.

Scourge was allowed to leave when the baby was crying, leading to him spending some nights holding Frost in his arms as a little brother figure to compensate for Fiona not being there. Fiona and Scourge still showed their love to each other, but at different times than the night when the baby was supposed to be asleep as soon as possible. Because of this, the only major problem Scourge had, the closest there was to it, was that Fiona made some days every week where she was simply too busy spending time with the baby to join in on the fun with him, whether that was crime for the sake of it or going with the FN Freedom Fighters smashing robots and whatnot with them for the fun of it.

Either way, daughter or not, he was continuing to cause as much destruction as possible, for good or evil, doing what he could to have fun and feel like he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted, as he liked to sugarcoat it. But he always felt a depressing emptiness whenever Fiona wasn't there. Sometimes she was, thanks to the babysitting days of the week, but whenever she wasn't, he kept thinking about how he wished she had been there to see him do impressive things, and wished that she was there to remind him about stuff or warn him about things or give advice whenever he made an impulsive mistake from his inexperience at missions like that.

He felt lonely without her, wishing she was there to kiss whenever he felt like it and cheer him up, despite the fact that he spent some of that time around other girls, whether it was FN Sally, Bunnie, or even Mina since she was Sonic's girlfriend in that zone. It was that loneliness that constantly reminded him that leaving Fiona because she had a baby to deal with would be a huge mistake, because he knew what it was like without her, and that no other girl, no matter how he tried to imagine things, would be as endearing to him.

Speaking of endearing to him, that was exactly how his daughter was, since the rogue couple had the very good fortune to have a happy, good-natured baby who indeed kept the crying to a minimum. The years went by as they kept up the usual schedule of rebelling against society, fighting the sub-bosses destroying their robots and major buildings, and most importantly, getting rid of Robotniks for a few hours each day, with Scourge enjoying how he was showing off how powerful and capable he was all the while in the excitement.

The only difference was the cheerful and naïve little girl they would come home to. Or Queen Sally's home, at least, but they came to think of it as their own as well. By the time Phoebe Fox was almost 4, the influence of her parents growing up was becoming increasingly focused on convincing her that her parents were doing the right things, because while Scourge didn't want to ever be that type of self-righteous holier-than-thou person in truth, he still didn't want his own daughter to become scared of him and see him as a monster.

She tended to make it clear that she thought of Scourge as the biggest hero of her life, the most heroic person in the multiverse, no matter how much Scourge bragged and boasted about being a bad boy, and her parents had been reinforcing that belief since she was a baby, with Fiona telling her bedtime stories about heroes defeating evil villains by attacking them enough in a valiant fight until they fell asleep forever. Fiona ended off one of her bedtime stories with, " And with the final blow with his sword, the valiant knight finally slayed the evil dragon, saving the town from the curse that they'd been put under! A parade was held to honor him, and they all lived happily ever after! " her almost 4-year-old redhaired daughter lying in bed listening intently with a smile.

The sheer idea that his daughter might only admire and like him and be comfortable around him because she thought he was a hero was worrying to Scourge, who based his entire individuality around doing things his way and not Sonic's. Fiona, wanting to be a bad girl, had that worry, too. But Fiona regularly reassured him that as long as he did things his way, it didn't matter if some of the things he did were what Sonic would do, too, because he was still being unique with his harsh methods. " Sonic would never kill anyone, " she always reasoned with him. But in spite of that, he continued to remind everyone of his bad boy persona and image, boasting about it whenever he had an excuse.

Speaking of boasting, however, he gradually did that less and less to Sonic-FN over time. The blue hedgehog noticed it, remarking at one point, " Gettin' humble? " and Scourge ended up admitting, " Well, bragging and boasting the same things over and over again gets repetitive after a while. I could only remind you that I'm better-looking, faster, stronger, cooler and a better kisser so many times before even I got bored of it. I guess I'm all gloated out. Be grateful, Blue. " And he was, smiling a little finding it sweet. He often asked himself if he was crazy for even being able to warm up to his evil twin at all.

Of course, Phoebe wasn't just influenced by Fiona and Scourge. Living in Queen Sally's castle, she grew up surrounded with the Freedom Fighters of the Film Noir universe, and whether Scourge liked it or not, that meant she grew to view those " do-gooders " as extensions of her own family. They were her aunts and uncles, from Rotor to Antoine to Bunnie, and as the Freedom Fighters in question found it sweet and adorable, and gladly reciprocated the affection, her parents wondered at times if she would have the same attachment to the " goody-two-shoes " they had left behind.

Ever since she was 2, for as early as she was able to watch TV and talk about it, she thought Detective Sonic was her uncle, since even she could recognize the resemblance to Scourge, and Scourge was of course pretty annoyed and awkward about it at first and couldn't help imagining how the Prime Sonic would joke about it if he knew. On the other end, Fiona was surprised when her daughter started calling Queen Sally " Aunt Sally, " like Tails did with his own Sally, and when she decided to stop correcting her, it dawned on her just how close their friendship had become.

She never would've expected when she left the Freedom Fighters for Scourge that she would end up having an alternate version of Sally as her close friend and babysitter, when she still viewed her own Sally as a cold judgmental ice queen who would never be supportive of her " following her heart " to be with Scourge, since he didn't have the same morality that she did. But over time, she realized that she had gradually mellowed out on her old friends, who she used to have nothing but resentment and derisive condescension for, because she had ended up replacing them with reasonable facsimiles of them as if to fill a void in her life. All because they accepted her into their lives.

She hadn't even intended to do that, as she thought she was only tolerating them to go on robot-smashing control-tower-destroying missions with them. But Phoebe made it impossible to ignore that now she could have her cake and eat it too, being a Freedom Fighter while still having Scourge, and the way she always remembered him. She often reflected on just how lucky she was to get that, and how she probably didn't deserve such a happy ending for herself, when she looked back on some of the things she did, especially breaking Tails' heart. Occasionally, she wondered if going through the trouble of apologizing would make her feel a little better, or just be more tedium than it was worth.

She would often regal her daughter with stories of her time as a Freedom Fighter on Mobius, which Scourge didn't entirely mind since he was curious about that time himself, and knew firsthand how fun destroying robots and Robotnik's communications towers could be, but he tended to push Fiona to tell her about her time as a treasure hunter before she joined Sonic, as well. He was still Sonic's evil twin, after all, so he didn't know if he wanted his daughter to only lean towards Sonic's side morally; that would just be begging for trouble later down the line because she'd find out her father's past eventually.

He didn't want her, or anyone, to be righteous just for the sake of doing what society wanted without questioning their morals. He wanted her to be her own person and come to her opinions and goals on her own, without realizing the irony of how he was raising her to support him anyways, which Sonic-FN occasionally dismissed as " brainwashing, " much to his irritation.

He never really told her just how much of a terror he had been on Anti-Mobius, especially his time as King Scourge, where he even went as far as making part of Anti-Angel Island go down in flames as Anti-Knuckles swore revenge on him. That wasn't even mentioning what he did to his own father – which Phoebe, a real daddy's girl, could be horrified at if she learned about it at too young an age – or the fact that he had the island Miles was bullied for years on razed to the ground with explosives dropped by helicopters after personally spindashing around it, all in the name of karma against the kid's oppressors. He realized that that was the first time he had done something evil in the interests of basically doing something good, standing up to Miles' bullies and giving them a punishment. So that act at least, he thought he might be able to tell her about to her support, but he realized that he would also have to tell her all about the horrible ways Miles was treated to get her to understand his reaction first, and he didn't want to upset her with all of that until she was at least a little older.

At the very least, he had the perfect way to make her hate humanity and understand his rebelling against society that way, but he didn't feel like doing it right away. He found her naïve innocence endearing, and didn't want to ruin that until she wasn't cute anymore. Perhaps when she would become more of a rowdy teenager, he'd tell her all about it, to avoid her rebelling against him later on. It was frustrating to him, that most of his proud stories about his past couldn't really be bragged about in front of her, especially when it involved Kintobor, because the one time Fiona mentioned him in front of her, there was an awkward silence as she asked, " Who's that? " and Scourge had to admit,

" The good Robotnik, from my universe. " " There's a good Robotnik? How? " she questioned, and he admitted awkwardly, " That's what I keep being told, anyways. He runs a hospital tower and he loves nature. My old ' friend ' Buns Rabbot ditched me to work for him, after he said he could cure her overly depressing disease. She's still in a robot suit keeping it from getting worse for all I know. I don't really check back home no more. I-It's way better here. " " Oh, cool! Huh. A good Robotnik. Could I meet him some day? " she asked innocently.

There was an uncomfortable silence between Scourge and Fiona looking at each other, before Scourge said, " Sorry, sweetie. He's, uh, I don't think that's necessary. " She looked disappointed, and after some careful consideration where she decided not to just lie that he was dead, Fiona then came up with the half-truth, " We don't know what universe he traveled to. He's looking for medical techniques to heal Buns. Who knows where he is. It's not a big deal right now, we're better off focusing on the Robotniks who ruin people's lives. "

He was pretty awkward and uncomfortable about the fact that his daughter had a great big smile of admiration when learning about his old enemy. It was impossible to ignore the fact that if she found out he used to spend so much time bothering someone that he couldn't even remotely justify as deserving it, there would be trouble. He tried not to believe that he was actually regretful and ashamed of the way he acted against him, outraged just at the very idea because he saw it as losing his identity, rather than as gradually changing for the better as life went on. Sometimes he complained with rants like, " It's not fair! If he had been trying to kill me, I would've been completely justified! NOT that I care about whether I'm doing the right thing. I care about FEELING good, not being good. It's just that Kintobor was lame, that's all... "

Scourge was on the sofa watching an action movie with Fiona in the evening, with the FN Sally busy with her royal duties and the other Freedom Fighters busy celebrating Antoine-FN's birthday at a French restaurant, something Scourge wasn't interested in doing and only said to save some of the food for him. In front of them was a red fox girl with her short hair in pigtails and an orange headband, wearing a yellow and black dress, opening a color book for the first time with crayons all around her. As their three-year-old daughter started with her coloring book, she noticed a picture of a tree, and asked Scourge, " Daddy, which color do you think I should pick? " with a cute smile.

" Whatever ya want, kiddo! You're an artist, be creative! Don't let society tell you what colors the trees should be! Screw what society thinks and be your own person! " he suggested with a smile and his arms crossed, to the amusement of Fiona from him always trying to think of an excuse to try to influence her. " That's so him, " she thought cheerfully, seeing nothing wrong with it.

Phoebe said in excitement, " I'll color it purple then! Purple and pink, " and as she got started, Fiona commented, " Cool, like some sort of psychedelic magical universe where the trees are all upside-down or something. Like the Zone of Silence. " Phoebe, who had already been told all about that zone from her based-on-a-true-story bedtime stories, instead asked with curiosity, " So what IS wrong with society, anyways? Why do you wanna rebel? Just curious. I always love hearing your stories. "

Scourge was caught off guard by the question, since no one had the guts to ask him that in years, and looked nervous and awkward, saying while fidgeting, " Well, uh, um, " as Fiona looked on during the dull part of the movie looking worried. He mumbled unhappily with his head lowered scratching the back of his neck, " They're, uh, stuck-up and all. "

Phoebe, trying to help him as she wondered why even he didn't know why he was such a rebel, asked, " Who? " using the crayons to draw a pink bird on the tree branch that wasn't in the coloring book at all, after coloring the branches of the tree light purple using her left hand. She was ambidextrous, but Scourge encouraged her to be a lefty as just another way to be unique and special. Scourge said a bit more confidently, " The ones in charge. The authority figures. They make up these stupid rules and apply them in all cases even when it's not right. It's frustrating as hell, so I rebel. "

Phoebe giggled saying, " Hey, that rhymes! " which made Fiona smile looking at him, while Scourge only slightly smiled from the cuteness since he thought she missed his point entirely. Then Phoebe said with her right hand on her chin and legs up in the air behind her as she laid on the floor on her chest coloring, " I get it, Daddy. I see 'em on TV sometimes. Especially the bad guys ruling the worlds and stuff in shows and movies, burning down cities and stuff. And especially Robotniks! I wanna rebel against them too. They're stupid and mean, so it's only right. "

Scourge smiled, although there was always a worry in the back of his mind that by thinking it was " right " and hating " bad guys " she was unintentionally being raised to turn against her own parents. She had to find out they were villains eventually. Fiona said to help Scourge out, " It's not just the bad guys, sweetheart. Even so-called heroes can be real jerks. Even the people on councils making the big decisions for countries can deserve to be rebelled against, provided that they're being stupid and annoying with what they're doing. " Phoebe simply replied, " And being bad guys as a result! " which worried her parents.

It might only be a matter of time before she would realize that he was in the same position as the bad guys she saw on TV causing mindless destruction. That was the main reason he didn't want to bring her to visit Moebius; he had seen from his zone-link generator how much people hated him there, the legacy he had made for himself. He even saw people burning effigies of him in a festival celebrating the days that he'd left the zone. As he sadly looked on seeing just how little " respect " the same people who bowed down to him really had for him, he tried to ignore the fact that by not taking over worlds like before, he might have learned the very lesson it was teaching him, which to him was a bad thing because he was giving them exactly what they wanted, instead of rebelling against them for hating him so much.

While walking down the streets of a Moebian slum he used to terrorize on a dark night, Scourge had tried to smirk and chuckle like a demented psychopath at the ruins of the places he'd destroyed, acting like he made his mark as an intimidating presence, the ultimate bad boy, strutting confidently with his head high. But ultimately, his heart wasn't into it, his strut slowing to a walk of shame, because he couldn't help being unhappy at how little he was loved, seeing an entire dimension wishing death on him. He sighed heavily with his head lowered. Unaware that Kintobor was watching his reaction.

For his entire life, especially once he took over his planet, he had been wanting the respect he " deserved, " and he wasn't getting it from being destructive. He loved being destructive, though, finding it satisfying, cathartic and liberating smashing things with his power. Not using his power would be a waste, he thought, seeing it as nothing but destruction potential. He just wished that there could be an entire dimension of just things to destroy with no people in the way to give people an excuse to call him evil for it. He thought unhappily, " It was so fun though, wasn't it? Causing mayhem, wrecking havoc? It's such a shame those annoying people have to get in the way… by trying to make me feel guilty. "

He had certainly made his mark on Moebius, especially with a certain island he destroyed. He didn't want his daughter to see any of that and potentially turn on him or become scared of him, especially if she found out what he did to make Anti-Knuckles so upset as the king. It also didn't help that the entire planet was divided in civil war from the fact that he left a giant power vacuum upon leaving, especially when Miles had already done that when he left to become a Freedom Fighter.

After leaving Moebius during his brief time reflecting back on it, he had told a concerned Fiona in front of the portal there, " I don't want my kid going to a place like this. Not only will they poison her against me, but the daughter of King Scourge? Those warring bozos are gonna be after her in seconds. I ain't takin' no chances. Maybe 30 years from now, I'll take it over again, but not when she's so easily influenced. "

Scourge was taken from his train of thought when his little girl asked in the present day, " What made you start rebelling? I mean, it must be pretty scary starting out with breaking rules, and trying to avoid being punished for them! Not to mention being disapproved of. That's why I follow the rules at home, I want my family to, keep liking me. You're so brave, being able to rebel no matter what. What made ya start? "

Scourge thought a little reaching deep down inside before admitting sadly and bitterly, " My dad. All he did was run the world lapping up praise from people sucking up to him, while making me hold his cape. He didn't care about me, so I wanted to punish him for it in the only way I could think of. I dedicated myself to being THE most rebellious kid who ever lived! Got a leather jacket and shades and broke any rule I could find! And he still barely talked to me. Too damn busy. " He felt his eyes start to water, and forcibly willed them to go back to normal with an angry expression. Phoebe asked him recognizing his sad tone, " So it was pointless? "

" N-No, of course not, it got me started and made me who I am. An individual! My own person! That's the most important thing to focus on, Pheebs. Especially when there's so many different counterparts of people out there, and that could include you. You gotta make sure you're unique! Besides, eventually my dad got what he deserved. It just took a while for me to, get motivated to… 'c-cause I was lazy, that's all. Nothing else, " he said hurriedly, awkwardly defending his way of life. No one except his little girl could get away with saying his whole lifestyle and motivation for it was pointless to his face. If it was the Prime Sonic, he might have snapped and decked him for it.

" What did'cha do? Did'cha slay him like a Robotnik? " Her happy tone and look of admiration for him reassured him immensely, as he had been avoiding telling her the truth fearing her reaction, and he said with a smile, " Yep, I sure did! And now I'm a better dad than he ever was, remember that. Now could ya try to keep quiet, there's a movie on. Y-Ya got plenty of coloring to do anyway. " She nodded, a little unhappy at not getting any details on how his father had slain the dictator father he had grown up with, completely unaware that she might not have been happy if she had.

Her parents were hoping the movies they watched in the evenings would desensitize her to violence, although she mostly just ignored them and did her own thing, just like Miles, whether that was coloring, cuddling up to her mother just like Miles would with Alicia, or playing video games on her handheld.

When she started running by the time she was 4, Phoebe made it clear that she inherited the super speed Scourge was born with, so it was a good thing for her parents that they could both catch up with her any time she started running around in a red blur, and scoop her up in their arms. The two would dedicate a few hours at least every day to spending time with their daughter, including playing catch with her using a baseball since they got the idea from TV that this was a thing every good parent did, and the games of catch were all the more fun with the three participants moving at high speed in the courtyard of the castle.

" What a cute little girl. Gets it from her mom, " one of the guards of the castle commented, and Fiona said with a smile, " She's got her father's eyes, " with her arm around her looking proud. Her daughter, who was wearing a pink bow in her hair, asked in complete confusion, " But Daddy has BLUE eyes, doesn't he? " Scourge looked self-conscious as Fiona explained with her hand on her shoulder, " He didn't always, " since he still was sore about not always looking different from Sonic, and he explained unhappily, " Didn't always have green fur either, I used to look just like Sonic, minus the dorky detective suit. The best I could do to look cool was my black leather! "

Then he smirked proudly pointing to himself as he explained, " But then I powered myself up a couple years ago and that all changed! A little sample from a Master Emerald makes ALL the difference! " Fiona added, " He used the most magical gem in the Prime universe to make himself a more capable person, " sugarcoating it for her without realizing it, and Pheebs said all wide-eyed, " Cool! I wanna do that! " innocently.

Scourge chuckled finding her adorable and said, " When you're older, kiddo. There's no point to it right now. Even if you could like throw lightning outta your hands, I wouldn't want you going in dangerous situations if you don't hafta. Lucky I even have a daughter, I wanna keep it that way. Maybe when you're 8. "

Fiona said to her disappointed daughter, " Yeah, and besides, the Freedom Fighters already have two super speedy people, not to mention Mina. Just be patient. You're lucky you get to HAVE a safe childhood, you know. I didn't. I didn't have any parents myself, never even got to go to school. " Pheebs said sadly feeling sorry for her, " Yeah, I know Mommy, " having been told all about her past as a treasure hunter. She knew she was abandoned by her parents, and even had to work in a jewel mine thanks to Robotnik, which Fiona used as the first of many stories to raise her daughter to view Robotniks as the ultimate evil.

Scourge said reassuringly as she looked melancholic with downcast eyes, " That's not all bad, school stinks anyways. I stopped going the minute I knew I could get away with it. "

Fiona looked annoyed at him with her hands on her hips, despite reminding herself that she herself didn't go to school and turned out just fine as far as she was concerned, and she said nervously, " Phoebe, I don't know if I want you to follow in his example like that. There won't always be Robotnik sub-bosses out there and whatnot giving you a career fighting them. It's good to learn as much as you can and maximize your potential so you can get whatever job you want! " Scourge said with a shrug, " She could just go to another zone and smash robots with us. She'll be joining in on our fun eventually, as soon as I can be sure she won't get too hurt from it. Maybe when you're a teenager. "

Fiona pointed out, " What if we beat all the Robotniks in the multiverse before that point? Or what if she won't think it's cool to spend her life with her parents doing what they do and wanna rebel, be her own person? " She looked at the confused little girl and said, " Your daddy was no stranger to THAT, lemme tell you. "

Scourge said looking annoyed, " That's because my dad didn't care about anyone but himself. He was begging to be rebelled against! He was askin' for it! But with us, it's different. We promised ourselves we wouldn't make the same mistakes our moms and pops did. SHE has a family that cares about her. " Everyone could see the simmering resentment Scourge had for his father, and was nervous and uncomfortable as a result, with even his daughter finding it tense every time he was angry, even though he was nothing but nice to her.

When Fiona contradicted, " Kids don't exactly need neglectful parents to have a rebellious teen phase, tons of them do it, " Pheebs happily reassured them, " Don't worry, Mommy and Daddy! I'll always think you're cool! You guys dedicate your lives to slaying evil Robotniks and making the multiverse a safe place. And you're STILL rebels! You're the coolest parents ever! I'm glad I have badass heroes like you two around. When I grow up, I wanna be just like you, I don't see why I wouldn't. "

The two criminal vigilantes embraced her in a group hug, with them both finding it sweet and reassuring while Scourge found the way she talked adorable. He admired that she was saying words like " badass " even at her age, proud that his kid was a rebel no matter what the influence of her " Aunt " Sally and the other was, and Fiona, while less comfortable with it, still thought, " ' Badass. ' You ARE your father's daughter. " When the hug ended, Fiona said as an ice cream truck started rolling down the street, " Just don't say badass around Sally, she'll just nag you about it. Now let's go get some ice cream! " which made her giggle at the end.