A/N Hey what's up, another chapter. Not much to say but I kinda wanted to write more before I lost interest again so here we go.
"Fiona you know this guy?" Silver looked puzzled as he flipped between the female and unconscious hedgehog.
"Of course I do, this jack ass left me for dead!" The fox was just barely able to hold back her anger and ripping him apart right there.
"Scourge!?" Tails exclaimed approaching.
"Why the hell are you back here?" Fiona snarled at him as if he'd answer in his unconscious state.
"What's it matter, he's hurt. We should help him?" Silver said noticing Scourges leg was bleeding.
"He's right, we can get answers when he wakes" Shadow crossed his arms.
"I refuse to carry his ass" the fox turned away.
Tails refused as well, he'd been his enemy for years and had a lot to do with how he'd turned out today. He wasn't doing him a favour.
Silver groaned his hands glowing and lifting Scourge "I'll take him back"
Tails almost refused to let him inside his base but his curiosity was too strong, he had to know why Scourge came back here.
"We should leave him here to die slow" Fiona growled voicing her opinion. Exacting revenge was more important to her.
Shadow walked to her with a face that would not take any back talk and growled "We are not killers"
Fiona stared back at him, she made no attempt to attack him but clearly wouldn't back down.
"Hey, I'm going back whether you like it or not" Silver said floating into the air further proving his point.
Fiona closed her eyes suppressing her rage and making tights fists "AHHH, fine!" she quickly pushed past Shadow and started climbing out of the crater.
Tails was next to follow deciding to silently suppress his anger at the situation as well.
Silver sighed and flew back towards the base hoping atleast Tails would pick up the pace and allow him inside.
To his surprise when he landed the elevator door opened up so he took it feeling saving a life was more important than Tails' rules.
When the door opened all the doors were closed and only one close to him was open and lit. It hadn't been opened by Tails before.
"Get him inside please" Rosemary said over the intercom.
"Ok" he nodded following her orders.
Inside was a table with some mechanical arms hanging over it from the ceiling. He made a quick look around and realized it was the medical room.
"Put him on the surgical bed" her voice sounded a little more urgent than her normal voice, understandably so.
Silver followed her orders as the arms overhead came to life lowering to begin working on Scourge's leg.
"Thank you Silver, he will most likely be fine"
He sighed in relief "Good, why was the elevator open?"
She lightly chuckled "I have remote access of most of the base incase Tails gets hurt. No time to type in codes and open doors if you are bleeding out" she explained.
"Oh makes sense…. So should I leave?"
"Do as you wish, if you are squeamish, then yes leave"
He wasn't too bad around gross stuff but he decided to let her work but stopped and said "Oh and… if he wakes up and nobody is around, don't let him leave. I don't know if you know who he is but that's Scourge. The other three seem to know him and don't like him"
"I know who he is Silver" her voice was stern and told him that Rosemary clearly knew about the hedgehog more than him as well.
Silver left to go do something to pass the time.
Outside…
Nobody had spoken since they started heading back but Fiona was still fuming, kicking up ash occasionally as she walked. Sometimes she could vaguely be heard mumbling curses at the hedgehog she once cared for so much.
Shadow stayed away from her, he had little experience working with angry woman. The few times he did he always felt like he was losing a battle he couldn't win. When Rouge was angry he never won, or when Amy and Blaze had been angry at him for doing his job instead of helping them. He eventually gave up and handed the chaos emerald over to them, then received an ear full from Rouge.
He didn't feel like going against an even more pissed off female.
It was surprisingly Tails who walked to her side "What was it like seeing him again?"
Fiona continued to stare forward, a thousand mile stare extending past the horizon, her eyes filled with nothing but rage.
"Anger, resentment, sadness and betrayal"
"You know how it feels then?"
"Don't talk to me Tails" her voice harsh.
"You felt it, knowing someone you thought you could trust and care about betrayed you and letting it eat away at you?"
"I said shut up" she growled "I didn't believe you at first. I really didn't believe you felt that bad about what he did, but now I see. It's satisfying to know that what goes around comes around"
"SHUT UP!" she yelled turning to back hand him.
He saw it coming and caught it, twisting it making her yelp and drop to a knee immobilizing her.
His head inched towards hers. He could see into her soul, she truly was damaged like him, filled with regret, anger and sadness. Everything he had felt long ago. He knew what he wanted to do and she knew it too.
"Guess you can't count on anyone" he whispered.
She flinched expecting to be back handed but instead felt the pressure disappear from her wrist and looked to see Tails had continued walking back home. She was confused, why didn't he finish it, humiliate her as she did to him? She could see it, he wanted to do it. His eyes didn't lie.
Somehow him not doing it felt worse. Maybe she felt like she deserved it. As she rubbed her wrist and prepared to get up she heard him say "Now we're even"
It sure didn't feel that way.
Shadow had silently watched and offered Fiona a hand, only for her to swat it away. She didn't feel like she deserved his pity. Her rage was gone and replaced by self pity, she wanted this day to just end.
On the other hand Tails finally felt like he got what he wanted, he thought it was Fionas death, but now he knew that he had wanted her to understand his pain. He knew she felt it so didn't gloat, nor plan to gloat in the future. As far as he was concerned he got her back and felt content.
Scourge, he was a whole-nother problem he now he to worry about.
In half an hour they were back and inside. Tails had guessed Rosemary let Silver in and was working on Scourge. He got an update on his health and learned he was fine and resting. Fiona avoided the room entirely getting back to a book she had been reading to hopefully distract her.
Shadow checked in with Silver to see if he was ok, he'd never actually seen that much blood. The two working together back at their old home protected people near perfectly. That was mostly Shadows work though.
"Why does everyone not like this Scourge guy?" he asked. He was never around for those times so the hedgehog was entirely foreign to him.
"He's Sonics polar opposite"
"I thought that was you?"
"Don't ever compare me to him again, no Scourge is from Moebius. Our universes opposite universe. Everyone there is opposite, so good people are bad and bad people are good"
"But wouldn't that mean his name would be Sonics name as well, or close to it?"
Shadow sighed "From what I know Scourge tried to be Sonic, I think he believed he could be better than Sonic, who knows. During that time he and Fiona dated. That's how this whole Tails and Fiona thing started. When Sonic came back he betrayed everyone. Somehow being forcibly being taken out of his super form from a non-chaos emerald power up caused him to reverse his colours. Unlike Sonic who is blue with green eyes he turned green and now has blue eyes. Not to mention he scarred on his chest. From that day on he went by Scourge choosing to not try and be better than Sonic but be his own person"
"Damn… so Fiona left with him after he was defeated?" Silver asked scratching his head confused.
Shadow shook his head "No, she started dating the real Sonic from what I heard. It just wasn't the same, perhaps Fiona knew Scourge wasn't Sonic at the time but when he was gone it never flared between her and the real Sonic. Finally one day Tails got curious and found her sneaking off. She went to meet with Scourge, and well… I don't know exactly what happened but Fiona left and Tails was destroyed. And that's how it all started"
"And after leaving all her friends behind he abandons her to die…. No wonder she was so pissed" he frowned feeling sad for both foxes.
"Just stay out of their thing and I'm sure you'll be fine" Shadow advised "But… it might be over, mostly"
"What makes you say that, you think their mutual hate of Scourge will keep them off eachother?"
"No, on the walk back I think Tails got what he wanted, that's all I'll say about it" their business and Silver really didn't need to know that stuff.
The young hedgehog decided to take his advice and stay out of it "Ok, so how's Scourge anyway?"
"He's fine, don't talk to him until I or Tails say so. Got it?"
"Ya, I got it" he nodded.
"Good" Shadow gave him a small smile and left him to pass the time for himself.
Tails took awhile to quickly check up on anything that may have happened while they were gone, but there was nothing. So he sat in the control room chair thinking. He needed to talk. He needed a second opinion on what to do with Scourge and since only one other person here had previous experience with him, he'd have to cut through the barrier he made earlier on the way back.
So he got up and walked to the bedrooms and found Fiona reading in her bed. She was oblivious to him watching her. She had her knee propped up in her laying position to hold up her book and had her head propped up with her pillow.
Her tail hung over the side swiftly swinging left and right very subtly showing she was still trying to work off her anger.
He quit staring feeling himself zoning out and cleared his throat.
The female fox lightly snorted also coming out of a zoned out state and looked over quickly looking submissive. She wasn't afraid, no it was nothing else, but she clearly couldn't keep eye contact with him.
"Yes?" she hesitantly asked.
Tails flicked his head back signifying he wanted her to follow "Need to talk"
Her ears flicked back once again showing hesitance getting up.
"Talk about what?" she gulped.
"Just come on, I don't want the other two being apart of this"
That only made her more anxious following him out. He led her to a door he didn't allow anyone in, but Fiona had peaked in before and vaguely figured out it was probably his workshop.
"You sure you want me in here?"
He turned "Listen, you either follow me in or get the hell out of my base" he knew she'd follow so the threat was kinda empty.
He opened the door and walked in hearing her footsteps follow. The door closed behind her as he walked to a work bench in the middle of the room. Facing the desk he leaned forward using his arms to keep him up and sighed.
"I don't know what to do with Scourge"
It clearly caught her off guard as she froze for a second before asking "Do you… want my opinion?"
He rolled his eyes "No I asked you in here just so I could tell you that, of course I want your opinion" he said sarcastically "You and I are the only two here who have personal experience with him… so I think you deserve to voice your opinion"
She paced over to the opposite side of the desk as he stood up straight and crossed his arms. She thought briefly and sighed "I want to hurt him so bad… but Shadow is right, we aren't bad guys…" she paused at the irony of what she was saying, she had been a bad guy "So as much as I want him dead… we can't" it was like letting go of a long held breath saying that.
"I agree, besides, he has a reason for being here again. I want to know why he came back to this place, and why he didn't use his warp ring when he got in trouble" Tails said rubbing his chin.
It only occurred to Fiona that he had a warp ring and could have escaped but didn't, her anger made her forget that. Suddenly she was curious as well.
"How did I forget that?" she whispered.
"You forget alot of things when you are angry" Tails whispered back.
Fiona looked up at him hearing him say that then looked back down "Tails…"
His eyes shifted to her, something her voice sounded genuine.
"I fucked up…. I'm so sorry Tails… after everything… I truly thought what I was doing was right… I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to leave that day… but then you found Scourge and I. I know I looked composed… but I panicked… I wanted to leave quietly. All you were doing was looking out for me and how did I repay you… by destroying your happy life"
Tails just watched her, eyes never deviating from her listening to her apologize again. This time he knew she meant it.
"Now I know how you feel… There's no way I can ever repay you, I thought… you were angry but I clearly hurt you more than I could ever imagine. I'm sorry Tails… I'm so sorry" she cried leaning against the desk like he had before tears dripping onto the wood.
Tails simply stood there listening to her sobs and walked around the desk gently grabbing her arm.
She flinched slightly but realized he wasn't trying to hurt her and sniffed trying to gain her composure back.
"I know you don't believe me but we're even now. You felt what I felt, that's all I need" he wanted to say he could move on now, but he'd been like this too long, it was a promise he probably couldn't make.
Fiona hiccupped as she struggled to breath feeling Tails pull her into a soft hug, if only briefly. Enough to show he didn't hate her guts anymore. To show that maybe they could be a team again.
As quickly as he got soft and showed a little compassion he backed off to the other side of the desk "So we agree that we'll listen to Scourges story, then decide what to do with him?"
She sniffed and nodded "Either we keep him here locked up or make him leave?"
"What I was thinking too" they both agreed so he walked to the door. Fiona almost followed but Tails turned "Stay here until you're better"
He quickly turned and left leaving her alone in the large workshop, she smiled slightly before coughing some flem in her throat. He really was trying to be nice again.
Her eye wondered around the room. Years of his work all over the place, either finished, partially finished or blueprints. Tons of it, everywhere. On the desk they'd been talking over there were two blueprints. One detailing future improvements of the base with a note attached "Just need supplies"
Infact a lot of them had notes like that. He clearly had a lot of ideas before or after Eggmans attack that he never got to or thought up afterwards and simply had no materials to produce them.
The other blueprint detailed a robot, similar in design of Eggmans, except not as fat.
"Man we could use our own robot army" she mumbled.
Soon she was walking around the room looking at what was a partially completed rifle-like weapon on top of its corresponding blueprint. The name on it said "Anti gravity device" followed by a note "Still missing specific rare elements"
Then there was an orb that turned out to a prototype grenade that when it exploded it would create a field of such intense heat it could melt and disintegrate metal. Once again he was missing elements to make the reaction happen. As a side note it mentioned it would be great for getting through walls as a wall charge of sorts.
More and more blue prints with either partially constructed devices or nothing at all. It continued like this until she looked apon his journal. A medium sized brown book, worn and torn over the years.
"Wait a minute…" she paused "This is the exact same book he had back in his lab with the freedom fighters" the memories made her smile, she'd bug him and tease him occasionally. She sighed with a smile on her face.
Her hands slid over the book picking it up gently not wanting to damage the old thing. The feeling of nostalgia made her hand open it and look inside. Even more memories flooded in seeing crude pictures of things Tails made in the past. Slowly going through the book the drawings became less crude overtime, his drawing skills being refined.
Occasionally a note would be added to the page like a reminder of a new idea added to the invention or a warning that it could be dangerous, after awhile most had a caution sign as they got more and more ambitious.
Finally she reached unknown inventions, clearly made recently before or after she left. The drawings at first seemed lazy, not detailed or just plain unfinished. Then they got aggressive, the lines being less precise and more angry. Some pictures were scratched out aggressively either scrapping an idea he found stupid or felt needed to be restarted.
After a few more pages a page was filled with dark bold letters that spelt "I HATE HER!"
She frowned looking away, but her guilt made her need to see further and see how he progressed.
Several pages all repeated that he hated her always extremely aggressive and big letters.
About a quarter of the book was filled with this until it finally stopped on a page simply of a mechanical mobian, on closer inspection it was Fiona. The outline made it hard but she figured it out. Instead of her normal self it was transparent and showed mechanical parts.
"Oh my god… he wanted to make a robot of me" to replace her, to make a Fiona that he wanted her to be, no, to make a Fiona she could have been.
She wondered why he never actually did it… or maybe he did then scrapped it. Whatever the reason there was one page left so she hesistantly turned.
On the final page were calmly written words that read.
"I hate her…. Because I hate myself… because I still love her"
So there the mystery Mobian was Scourge and it seems Tails is coming around, but then we got a little creepy a the end only to end with that little quote.
Guys I need to ask, do you think this all going right… you feel like what's happening is natural or how they are acting makes sense. Cause I'm a little worried I'm getting slightly random. Like I don't know… maybe I'm worrying too much cause I'm not doing this as often but yes, I feel like I'm doing something wrong. If you guys think you have an answer I'll read it and really consider it. But if you like than I'm just a worry wort.
Anyway Have a good day and remember to live long and prosper
Admiralkirk