With a crying newborn vixen girl in his bed being patiently soothed to sleep by Fiona, it was only natural that Scourge decided to leave the castle for a few hours. He left their bedroom and closed the door, and used his zone-link generator to create a portal just outside it. After pressing the arrow buttons on it for a while to get the portal to show him the various different places in another dimension going through them at high speed, he stopped when he finally saw who he wanted; an alternate version of Robotnik. He thought, " Finally. The perfect target, " pressed the yellow button to create the portal officially in one of the other dimensions and ran through the portal, spindashing at the head of the Robotnik in an instant as the portal automatically closed behind him.
He knocked him screaming to the floor of his lab, and shouted, " This is it, Eggman! I'm gonna snap you like a twig! " much to the outrage and confusion of the mad scientist he attacked. With that, he got into a fight with him, taking all of his anger and stress out on him.
Punches and kicks were traded and either dodged or landed, with Scourge only keeping him alive for so long from sadism, as he so gladly pointed out in a taunt, " You know I'm only not immediately icin' ya to have fun with ya. As soon as I get tired and bored, you're finished! " The panicking Robotnik, after being punched in the face, asked from the floor, " I-Isn't there some sort of hedgehog moral code?! You heroes don't- " Scourge then corrected looking serious, " I'm not a hero, " and punched him in the head knocking him out. " NO! " a familiar young voice shouted nearby, causing Scourge to immediately turn around looking alarmed as he sat on top of his chest.
" Tails?! " he exclaimed in confusion, seeing an alternate version of Tails wearing a red Eggman-styled military jacket with golden shoulder plates that was cutely sized down for him to wear, and some goggles on his forehead. He appeared horrified, and looked to be barely 5 years old. The instant he saw him, he realized he was in for a difficult situation. The two-tailed kid shouted with tears in his eyes, " My daddy! You'll pay for this! " and impulsively ran up to him in a rage, knocking him over to the floor in a yellow blur. He managed to get a few punches in while he was lying on top of his scarred chest before Scourge grabbed his wrists angry at being attacked and responded, " Stop! Your daddy, what are you talking about?! "
With his tails swiping and legs kicking frantically behind him wishing he could hit him with them, he replied passionately, " He adopted me! He found me when I was all alone being bullied by a whole town of people and took me into his home, and said he'd give the world what they deserve for not accepting me! He may not be a normal daddy, but he took my side, he keeps me fed, he gives me a soft bed to sleep on that he tucks me into every night with a goodnight kiss, and you killed him! "
Scourge was stunned for a second at the imagery of what he just said, and briefly wondered if he had unintentionally killed one of the good Robotniks without even knowing it, but soon he said, " Goodnight kiss? He really went out of his way to make you think he gives a rat's ass about you! He wasn't on your side, he was just USING you! " His expression looked more worried than bitter by the end.
The other Tails was very miffed at those accusations, not wanting to believe they were true, and shouted, " Liar! " wishing he could wipe away the tears blinding him. Scourge sat up despite the weight on his chest and made him sit up with him as a result, still clutching his wrists keeping them at a distance from him, and he asked him angrily, " Does he make killer robots? How'd he GET revenge? Did he know you could make technology stuff like him before he recruited you? You should know he's the kind of nutjob psycho who would lie to you! "
As a blue-uniformed Snively crept into the room, the two-tailed fox stammered a little before saying angrily, " H-He didn't know I'm a genius, he, I told him! And all of the targets of his robots and stuff are jerks! They deserve it! Every Mobia-" " How do you know he didn't spy on you with his dictator position and technology and find out he could use you? He was just manipulating you, dude! He brainwashed you! " Scourge replied seriously, starting to reveal pity for him in his expression and tone at the end as he loosened his grip on his wrists.
Just then, they both heard a loud sound and turned to see a smirking Robotnik behind glass doors teleporting away with Snively in front of them, implying that he had used a type of escape pod to escape from him. Snively then ran out of the room in a hurry. " He survived, " Scourge whispered looking stunned, and horrified at the prospect that he'd have to go through the tedium of searching for him with the portal-generator all over again. " He did? " the kid said in confusion.
His wrists were let go as Scourge instantly snapped at him, slapping the back of his head turning to face him in a rage shouting, " You IDIOT! " He growled with his fists clenched for a second or two feeling the rage simmer in him as the kid looked scared and sad in front of him, holding his head, and finally Scourge shouted, " Now I have to find him all over again! Thanks a lot! "
He got up and ran after Snively as the alternate Tails exclaimed in fear, " NO! " but before he could finish standing up, it was too late, and the blue-uniformed Snively was lying on the floor with fatal injuries by the time he caught up to them. While he didn't like him nearly as much as his " father, " he still had a clear attachment to him, as he quickly displayed when he smacked Scourge with his tails hitting him against the metal wall behind him. " You jerk! " he exclaimed, and then as Scourge started standing up again in pain trying to hide that he was intimidated, the kid shouted, " Maybe if you hadn't killed him, you could've gotten the information out of him! "
Scourge was surprised hearing that and then looked over at Snively, realizing that he was right; the sniveling traitor would've sold out his uncle in a heartbeat for a chance at saving his own skin. " Damn, " he cursed, feeling like an idiot. He wished he had waited just a couple seconds first. The two-tailed kid punched him in the chest and attacked him with his tails while he was distracted, knocking him against the wall again, but Scourge soon recovered from the blows and punched him in the chest for revenge, getting seriously annoyed at his attacking him, and the added stress of having to fight a kid who looked so much like the little boy he saved from that island and raised as his own wasn't helping. The punch was at a speed that completely outmatched that of Tails', causing the kid to be knocked into the metal wall hard enough to leave some marks in it from dents, and collapse with his eyes closed.
At first, Scourge gasped, thinking while thrown into a panic, " Not again! NOT again! " and rushed to his side, but checking his pulse revealed that he was still alive, before the alternate Tails groaning in pain and hitting him with his tails did, getting him right back into being angry since he had made himself vulnerable with his compassion. The alternate Tails miserably sat up holding the back of his head, dazed with blurry vision from the back of his head hitting the wall.
Scourge shouted, " Do you have any idea who you're dealin' with?! I'm Scourge the Hedgehog, the most badass law-breaker in the world and the fastest thing alive! Stop wasting my time trying to pick a fight you can't win! Don't make me hurt you! " The concern and fear slipped out in his tone at the final sentence, and his expression of anger faltered. The alternate Tails snapped at him, " You already have! If anything happens to my daddy, I'm taking his place in a second and giving you the punishment you deserve! "
Scourge, after being taken aback by what someone like Tails said, realized that if he just killed the Robotniks here and left it at that, he wouldn't have ended up accomplishing much of anything, and that wouldn't prove his point that he was better at Sonic at that kind of thing. Taking down some Robotniks just to have the world taken over by Tails wouldn't be anything to brag about. He had to do something, but just the thought of finishing off the two-tailed fox in front of him only brought back the horrible memory of when a Tails was struck by lightning and killed thanks to him. It horrified him, and he realized he didn't want anything like that to happen again if he could help it. Scourge asked frantically sounding worried, " You're defending a madman, kid! What's it gonna take for me to convince you?! "
Tails whimpered, " You could stop beating me up for starters, " the tears slipping out of his eyes as he became overwhelmed with fear and despair. It made Scourge feel terrible as it dawned on him how he was feeling; he was just seeing him as another bully. Trying to explain himself, Scourge reasoned, " I was just trying to defend myself! If you hadn't gone in trying to hit me, I wouldn't have laid a finger on ya! I'm not like your old bullies! I actually like your extra tail! It's pretty cool! I go zone-hopping all the time and let's just say I've gotten fond of two-tailed foxes. A-A few, anyway. I'm not a total softie. " The child stared at him shocked and wary as he said that to him, having a hard time believing someone could be so accepting of him again, especially with the aching pain in his chest and back.
" I don't believe you! Why'd you call me ' Tails ' making fun of me then?! You're lying! " he replied with a cracking voice. With the tears completely obscuring his vision in a white haze, he closed his eyes and started gasping as his body started shaking uncontrollably, and he put his knees drawn up in front of him with his arms and tails wrapping around them, and begged him with a breaking voice, " PLEASE don't kill me! " The sight of it all broke his heart, and as much as he wanted to smirk in satisfaction at giving someone who had the nerve to attack him what he deserved, he couldn't. He couldn't stand it.
" I won't! Never! Come on, man, I came here to get AWAY from the crying! " Scourge replied sadly, wondering if he should approach someone so easily frightened in that kind of jumpy state. Confused, Tails asked in curiosity with a whimpering voice, " Away? Huh? " barely able to talk in between the sobbing. Scourge explained nonchalantly looking irritated, " Oh, it's nothing, it's just that my wife's getting the baby to sleep and I don't wanna put up with all that noise. She's normally so quiet and well-behaved, though, it's just nights where she doesn't wanna humor us, " calling Fiona his wife by accident without realizing it.
The alternate Tails was dumbfounded at the idea that someone like him actually had a family of his own back home, and asked scared and creeped out, " So your way of dealing with the stress of a crying baby is to go and assassinate my father on a whim? " " He deserves it! Look, I'll show you he's psycho. It'll only take a couple seconds, " Scourge reasoned with him looking worried. He went up to the crying child and immediately got hit by one of his tails sent to his side in a panicked response, and the kid started standing up from the floor looking scared preparing for a fight again.
As would be expected from Sonic's more ill-tempered evil twin, being attacked like that when he was trying to be nice and reason with him made him blow his top, and Tails only had a few seconds to run away in a yellow blur going to a larger room with another escape pod, before Scourge punched him running up to him, sending him to the floor again. Some more punches and kicks were traded between the two, before the alternate Tails exclaimed in a panic, " OK, you win! Stop! "
Scourge was still angry as he held him by the neck above the floor not tight enough to cause pain, but hearing those words warned him that if he continued to attack him, he'd only prove he was no better than his bullies, that it wasn't just defending himself anymore, so he sighed in exasperation trying to calm himself down, dropped him, pulled out his zone-link generator and activated a portal with it looking resentful as the kid watched in confusion from the floor, getting up. Scourge then lifted him bridal style to a yelp from the kid, and explained as he went through the portal, " I'm provin' it to you, kid. "
They emerged from the portal in a meadow in another dimension under the night sky, and he quickly set him down ordering the scared kid, " Stay here! " and got his zone-link generator back out from his jacket pocket. He created a portal to a dark room where some Mobian villagers were being roboticized one by one, with Swatbots supervising, and told him, " See what your ' daddy ' is doing?! "
He then pointed to the screen of the zone-link generator explaining, " This is YOUR dimension's Robotnik, so don't even give me that. " The alternate Tails felt awkward, looking down at his red Eggman-styled suit as he said nervously, " I-I don't like seeing that either, but they're all criminals! That's how he punishes them! " Scourge said dismissively, " You bought that? " and then paused a little wondering if that could actually be true, since this was an alternate Robotnik and all, before saying to him, " Even if it's true, it's still disgusting of him to do! " Before the kid could ask him why a hardened callous arrogant criminal like him would even care about people being roboticized, Scourge continued bitterly,
" That almost happened to me with another Robotnik! When I didn't even do anything to him to deserve it! If anything, I should've been rewarded for bringing the superweapon pieces to him, but NO! Instead he pretended we never even had a deal, and threw me in a cell to be roboticized! I was perfectly willing to work with him for power and for fun, but NO! That's what Robotniks do! They trick you and betray! "
The two-tailed fox looked sad and unsettled at the compelling evidence, mumbling, " Maybe this one's different? " in denial, and Scourge said looking irritated, " How would YOU feel being turned into a robotic monstrosity, and LOSING all of your freedom to do whatever you want?! " outraged just at thinking that someone almost humiliated him with that kind of disrespectful mistreatment. Just as they saw some more people being thrown in roboticizers, he snapped and ran into the portal spindashing through all of the robots in the room in a rage, causing the alternate Tails to rush in after him not wanting to be left behind.
Immediately, the room was filled with roaring cheers and applause and overjoyed laughter from their green savior, and Scourge found it intoxicating the sheer amount of praise for himself, smiling so much looking satisfied and feeling so accomplished relishing in it that he forgot to try to make it look like a confident smirk. And while Scourge was enjoying the respect and was freeing people from roboticizers to get more of it, the two-tailed fox child couldn't ignore the fact that all those people cheering made his " father " look even more in the wrong, as they were treating Scourge like a hero. Still in denial and trying to fit things with the worldview he was raised with, he stammered, " I-I get why you're happy, but he's evil! He murdered Snively! He's gonna do the same thing to Robotnik! " getting the crowd's unbearable attention immediately as they recognized him.
" He did? "" Really? " a few people said as the crowd murmured amongst themselves, but to Scourge's relief, they all cheered again, believing that their points were proven. The confused fox asked, " Are any of you guys criminals? Did you do evil things? " and the crowd varied between shaking their heads at him and saying no, causing Scourge to say, " I told ya. " The child sighed sadly, realizing that his " father " really was roboticizing innocent people after all, and said,
" Okay, none of you deserve that fate then. B-But you're aware this guy's a criminal, aren't you? Just look at him, he has a leather jacket and fangs, for crying out loud! " still having a hard time accepting that Scourge could be in the right.
One of the people in the crowd, a deer Mobian, shrugged and said, " Whoever saves us! And he's gonna take down Robotnik! Of course we respect him! It figures Robotnik's favorite lackey wouldn't understand that. " Then someone beside him, a squirrel Mobian lady, asked, " What are you, anyway, a mutant he created in a lab to do his bidding? " Before Scourge could get really angry with her, she followed it up with, " Poor kid, " confusing him and the mutant in front of him.
Scourge put his arm around him making him jump and flinch, and tried to ignore that as he said, " No, he's just born that way. He's special, unlike the other boring people. " Tails smiled a little in appreciation at him standing up for him so casually, and admitted, " O-Okay, you're not so bad. But I still need a little more proof. Maybe I could convince him to stop this, and then it'd all be fine. "
Scourge sighed rolling his eyes at his albeit endearing naivety, and said, " First thing's first, I'm killin' all the robots in the building. And out of it. Otherwise you'd all just get captured again and what would be the point? " He left in a green blur, and returned seconds later with a grin, gesturing for the crowd to start making their escape. With that, he created a portal, brought the alternate Tails with him into it, and created a portal back leading to a polluted wasteland that neither of them were happy at seeing. Wanting the extra effect, he brought the kid to just the outskirts of it whether he liked it or not, and the two immediately were disgusted by the stench of the place alone.
Scourge complained as the kid held his nose and breath, " Oh, man! Maybe that's why Kintobor was all naggy about garbage and pollution and stuff. It was never really my problem before, but this… It's not like I care, but I'd rather not have places like this left standing. Too bad spindashing around would probably just get nasty chemicals and stuff in me. See, kiddo? The guy's an idiot. Smartest guy in the world and still can't figure out how to get rid of toxic waste. And there's plenty more places like this. " The two-tailed fox looked devastated, unable to hide from the truth anymore, and after asking, " Can we leave now?! " and getting a positive response of, " Gladly! " the two ran away for a little while to a place that didn't stink to continue their conversation.
Scourge then resentfully created another portal bringing him through it and started using the zone-link generator to search for the kid's adoptive father, as the kid reflected sadly on what he just saw, and had smelled. " Okay, fine, you're right. He's not doing good for the world this way. But at least give me a chance to convince him to stop! If there's anyone he'd listen to, it's me! " the alternate Tails exclaimed sadly.
Scourge rolled his eyes and said in exasperation, " You're kidding yourself. Best case scenario, he'd lie and keep doing it anyways. " He finally found the Robotnik he was looking for, made the portal get officially created and put away the zone-link generator, and said seriously, " I need to END this, " pounding his fists together. He ran into the portal as the kid screamed, " No! " and finished the man off with a well-aimed spindash.
" NO! " the kid exclaimed again looking scared, and checked his pulse as Scourge glared at him in frustration, complaining, " I already proved to you he was evil, and you're still defending him? " Tails exclaimed starting to cry again, " You could've at least given me a chance! Now I have NO ONE! " Scourge quickly grabbed his wrists again to keep him from attacking him, and pushed him over on his back to take him down a peg, before yelling,
" No you don't! Go to the damn ' Freedom Fighters ' and apologize. Chances are, they'll take you in and forgive you just because of your age. " " N-No they wouldn't, " he replied sadly, terrified as he remembered how they used to glare at him and look uncomfortable from him. Standing up again, Scourge created another portal with his zone-link generator, saying, " At least TRY it, okay? Don't try to take his place, you don't want ME coming after ya. "
Getting vengeful from what he just did, the kid screamed furiously, tackling him into the portal. The two tumbled into the lab of another Robotnik and Snively while they were working on a giant death robot, and since Scourge knew he wasn't in a safe place at the time, he wanted the kid to stop attacking him as fast as possible, and eliminate the greatest threat to him before he could take advantage of him being distracted. As a result, he kicked Tails in the face from behind him into the wall and spindashed at the panicked man in front of him, making him lose his balance and fall to the floor, right on top of Snively, with predictable results.
Angry that the kid was keeping him too busy to fully enjoy his assassination, he simply grabbed the Robotnik with the black military jacket by the neck shouting, " I don't have TIME for this! " and finished him off, causing Tails to gasp in horror at it happening again. Before he could say anything, Scourge screamed at him standing over him,
" YOU need to get back to your own ZONE! I am NOT having the zone cops on my ass again! " After briefly being speechless from fear at the sheer volume of his furious but panicked shout, the alternate Tails asked curiously, " Again? B-But, I made the decision to come here! " " It wouldn't have happened if I didn't show up, " Scourge replied taking his zone-link generator out, and then shouted suddenly with a terrified tone of panic in his voice as he tried to cover it up with sheer volume,
" They'll FIND an EXCUSE! They're waiting for it! I'm lucky they haven't gone after me in the middle of the night with my wife and daughter, and kidnapped me in their prison AGAIN! " As the kid started feeling sorry for Scourge as he started to tremble, Scourge continued, " Fi thinks maybe they're turning a blind eye to me 'cause I'm solvin' the Robotnik problem, but who knows what'll happen if they get an excuse again?! "
He created a portal back to the Eggman-supporting Tails dimension, and started holding down an arrow button as he shouted, " I'm not going back to prison! I'm NEVER going back to prison! " He took a deep breath, and continued a little calmer, " At least my babe back home's in a stable situation now. She gets to live in a castle with Queen Sally and is basically a Freedom Fighter again, all because they respect me and her for icing Robotnik. Sure, she'd be upset, but other than that, she'd be fine without me. She at least has other people supporting her now. Don't need no job or nothin'. All thanks to me! "
Scourge then exclaimed, " I'm not getting separated from 'em. I'm not givin' 'em an excuse. I worked HARD on achieving what I got, damn it! " Then Tails asked him, " You have a partner in this ' Robotnik assassination ' stuff? " " Yeah, she even busted me outta prison, " Scourge replied, smiling from being proud of her accomplishment. " Wouldn't she be almost just as sought after by them as you? You're a criminal, they're not gonna care much about the family you made for yourself. Who would you rather they arrest? You or your wife and kid? " the two-tailed fox questioned, wanting to know if he really cared about his family.
" They're not TOUCHIN' 'em! I'd never let 'em take her and my little girl! I wouldn't LET them! Even if it came to that, I'd fight to th-wait, WIFE? " Scourge replied furiously as he got the portal to settle on the Freedom HQ of the kid's dimension. " Yeah, wife. Didn't you call that Fi your wife a couple times? " the kid pointed out in confusion, still reeling from the sweet revelation that he might defend them at risk to himself, although he wondered if he was just not thinking ahead and would've done it out of a protective impulse rather than truly accepting the sacrifice he might be making.
Scourge on the other hand, looked stunned for a few seconds at the knowledge that he had called Fiona his wife, and more than once, and wondered why he did that, before saying quietly with his hand on his chin, " Well, she is the mother of my kid, I guess it just came out of me. Makes sense, it's only natural. Most moms are wives too. She ISN'T, though, yet. What am I waiting for? "
After some brief consideration, he then said unhappily, " Oh, right. The crying. I'm not botherin' to make it official until I know for sure that I can take her having a kid. We're still going through our biggest ' test ' right now. Why tie the knot if I'm not sure yet? Though I don't WANT to leave her. She's the only girlfriend I've been fully happy with, occasional arguing aside. But just me calling her wife so easy… Huh. " Then he looked at the portal, was reminded of his goal, and pushed the kid in there screaming and closed the portal on his end before he could do anything to stop him.
Still able to see the alternate Tails through the portal on his own end, Scourge was relieved at the kid, after some brief hesitation, awkwardly knocking on the door of Freedom HQ, taking off his Eggman uniform and throwing it away sadly as the door was opened by an alternate version of Sonic. Scourge wondered what the Prime Sonic would say in response to what he did, irritated that he kept wondering this all the time like an obsession, and could practically hear his voice as he imagined him saying,
" You did the right thing, Scourge. You could've killed him, and it would've fit right in with your plan, but you didn't. There might be hope for you yet. " Scourge sighed and said in response, " Get outta my head, " uncomfortable and conflicted, but all the self-doubt and identity crisis faded for the moment when he saw the heartwarming sight of the crying Tails on his knees being given a hug, and smiled in contentment. He didn't care about doing the " right " thing for the sake of it, but he knew he was happy with what he did, and that made it the right decision to him.
A few hours passed, and when a knock was heard on the door to Freedom HQ, the alternate Tails that was raised by Robotnik jumped and yelped at seeing Scourge, and it took a second for him to notice that not only was he standing a few feet away from him at a safe distance, but he looked melancholic and depressed with his arms crossed, altogether looking completely harmless after the vicious way he acted earlier. Still, just seeing him reminded him of how much his bruises hurt, and Scourge felt even worse at seeing him rub his chest in pain at the sight of him.
Scourge admitted reluctantly, " I just wanted to say I-I'm, not happy that I hurt you. I wasn't comfortable with it, y'know. Hope you didn't have to, go to the hospital or nothin'. So there, okay? I'm sorry I lost my temper! And that the fight happened at all. " The kid said with downcast eyes looking completely ashamed,
" Me, too. I-I started it. You were right, I shouldn't have been trying to stop you, although I wish you had been less cruel about it. Tied them up instead of… Thanks for apologizing, though, it means a lot. And it couldn't have been easy for you. " Scourge replied, " You have no idea. I'm just glad I didn't see a THIRD version of you get hurt or worse 'cause I didn't protect him! I came pretty close to that, but you're a tough kid, I'm glad ya toughed it out… So are we cool? Want a… "
He put his arms wide on either side of him outstretched in preparation for a hug, and the two-tailed fox happily embraced him with tears in his eyes, finding it incredibly sweet that even a callous destructive criminal like him would have good in him. The two of them both smiled in contentment at the warm soft hug, with Scourge being reminded of Miles and Frost and encouraged even more to be proud of what he did. With that, Scourge created a portal with his zone-link generator and said looking depressed at leaving him forever, " Well, g'bye. Shame I'm too busy to go visit ya. Good luck. "