Notes: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I've been working on writing a couple of different things over the summer. This chapter is pretty Scourge-centric, so be prepared!
Scourge grabbed a candle and took the steps two at a time. He had to get to the younger Tails. He had to fix things, make everything right again. The kid actually liked him, and stood up for him when the younger Sonic accused him of murder. 'But now he knows the truth,' Scourge grimaced. 'I just hope he'll give me another chance, or else I'm back to square one.'
The second floor of the house contained no sign of the fox, so the green hog raced up to the third. Upon reaching the top, he could faintly hear the sound of a child trying his best not to cry. Scourge gulped. Did he really mean that much to the kid? Was he… worth crying over? He shook his head. No way, that couldn't be the case. Tails was probably just scared, finding out that a member of their team was an ex-convict and murderer. That make more sense.
The sound of Lil' T's small voice was coming from Scourge's old bedroom, the door firmly closed. The hedgehog reached a hand up and tentatively knocked on the door. "Kid?" he asked. Tails went dead silent inside. "S'me. I'm not gonna hurt'cha, I just wanna talk."
"No!" came the young fox's voice from inside. He sounded stuffed up and upset, though he was trying to hide it. "Go away! I don't wanna talk to you!"
"Look, just hear me out, okay?" Scourge said, leaning up against the door. "You… you said we were friends, right?" he asked softly, looking down at the flickering candle in his hands. He waited for an answer, for confirmation, but Lil' T remained silent. His heart sank a bit. "Um, no one's ever said that about me before, or… or stood up for me like you did back there… I'm sorry, kid. I didn't want anyone to find out about my dad. I guess I just kind of wanted to forget all about it, too. Been wanting to put a lot of stuff behind me lately… You know I wouldn't even be here unless Sonic and Z trusted me, right…?"
He waited for Tails to say something, and he heard the child sniffle through the door. "...Why'd you do it though?" he asked, sounding confused.
"Um, that's kind of… complicated…" the hedgehog sighed. Well, it looked like he was going to have to explain himself. Great. "I might as well start at the beginning, huh? I don't know if you know this or not, but this world… Nowadays it's called Moebius, but it used to just be called Anti-Mobius. Everyone on this world is the opposite of their counterpart on your world. If you wanna get real cliche about it, I'm Sonic's evil twin. Well, used to be. Dunno what I really am anymore… Anyway, my world had been plagued by war for years, since before I was even born. But when I was a kid, we had a period called the Great Peace. My dad was a politician. A really important one too, like, almost presidential levels of important. And he was a big part of that peace, helping to keep the world together any way he could. He was pretty good at it, too. Gotta give credit where it's due, I guess.
"But politics was about the only thing he was good at. He was a terrible dad. He barely cared about my mom, and she died when I was just a kid. Cancer. Once she was out of the picture, my dad felt even less obligated to care about me. On good days, he just ignored me. On bad days… He'd call me useless, make fun of me, hit me even. Most of the time, he just forgot I was even there. All I wanted was to play catch with him on the weekend, have him read me a bedtime story, share a meal at the dinner table with the guy. I just got constantly brushed aside. I just wanted a little attention, a little respect, but I didn't get a damn thing. Yeah, I had plenty of toys an' stuff, but what good are those when you don't got anyone to play with?"
Scourge leaned his back against the door and slid down until he was sitting on the ground, his knees close to his chest. Tails made no sound of response, so he kept going.
"It got to the point where I hated my dad, and the Great Peace, too. I just associated peace with him, and… yeah, it's not really a surprise that I turned out pretty bad." He dragged his sunglasses off the top of his head and inspected their frames absentmindedly. "Anyway, once I was about ten or eleven or so, the Great Peace had fallen apart. My dad did everything he could to keep it together, but Moebians just can't really handle the concept of world peace like you Mobians can. And I thought, finally, now that the Peace was over, maybe my dad would wanna spend time with me. Well, it was a nice thought, anyway. He was spendin' more time away than ever, travelin' around the world to try and stitch back together what he'd worked so hard for. I couldn't stand it. So, one night, when he was actually home for once in his life, I went into his study and I... well, you know." His voice waivered a little bit on that last part. He had never told any of this to anyone. Thinking about his past never hurt quite as much as talking about it. Telling someone else made it all the more real.
"I did a lot of bad stuff after that. Started a gang, robbed people, tried to make everyone as miserable as I was. Eventually I managed to take over Moebius. Sonic stopped me when I tried to take over your world, and he and Zonic sent me to prison in the No Zone. And I just kind of… came to the realization that all the bad stuff I'd done was for nothin'. At the end of it all, no one respected me, no one cared. I'd wasted my life bein' bad, and all I got out of it was my ass stuck behind bars. And now I can't undo what I've done, I can't take it back, no matter how much I might want to.
"Look, I'm not tryin' to justify what I did, I'm not tryin' to make it sound like it was right. It wasn't. It was a fucked up thing to do, and I wish I'd never done it. And... I didn't mean to lie to you or nothin'. It's just that you're the only person I ever met who thought I was an alright dude, and… I guess I just wanted to keep it that way."
Scourge fell silent, closing his eyes. Had he really just said all that aloud? He could barely believe it himself. Scourge the Hedgehog, former King of Moebius, making a heartfelt apology towards a little kid. This was certainly a first for him. Did he do a good job? Was Lil' T going to forgive him?
But the fox had nothing to say. They sat in awkward silence on opposite sides of the bedroom door. Realizing he wouldn't get an answer after a few minutes of quiet, Scourge stood up. "Zonic should be back soon with pizza, if you're hungry," the hedgehog said, pulling away from the door. He lingered for a moment, waiting if Lil' T had anything to say or if he would come out from inside the bedroom. But nothing happened. 'Isn't this supposed to be the part where he says "It's okay, I forgive you"? Isn't that how this works?' Scourge thought, stepping away. He apologized, he meant it, so why wasn't the problem fixed? Was there something he was missing? He started slowly down the stairs, each one creaking under his weight. 'Maybe… Maybe he just needs some time to think. I probably would, if I were him. But then what am I supposed to do now? Is this… out of my hands? This sucks.'
He made it down to the first floor, where he found Zonic sitting on the steps with a box of pizza open in front of him. Judging by the yelling coming from the living room, the older Tails and younger Sonic were still arguing. 'Arguing over me,' Scourge reminded himself.
"Oh, hey, there you are," Zonic said, turning his head to face the green hedgehog. "I heard that your little homicide came to light while I was gone."
Scourge paused, still a few steps above where the teen was sitting. "What? Did… did you know? This whole time, you knew about this? About my dad?!" He couldn't believe it. Zonic knew the whole time, and hadn't ever even mentioned it? Why?
"Dude, yeah. I'm a Zone Cop. Emphasis on cop. I've seen your record." He took a bite of pizza, not the least bit fazed by Scourge's recently uncovered past. Scourge waited for him to elaborate further, but he said nothing more.
"So… How the hell are you so calm about this?!" the older hedgehog exclaimed. This was a murder they were talking about. How could Zonic be so relaxed about this whole thing?
"Scourge," the No-Zoner said, putting down his pizza, "Sonic and I got you out of prison knowing full well that you've done bad things in the past. Horrible things, even. I've been looking past all of that stuff, why wouldn't I look past this, too?"
Scourge blinked. "Huh… Not a bad point. I hadn't really thought about it like that." He came down the remaining few steps, having calmed down a little bit. Zonic slid to the side to make room for him, patting the bottom step and inviting him to sit. The green hog accepted the offer and sat down with a stress-filled shrug. "I just wish the others were as willing to look past what I did as you are."
Zonic picked up his pizza again and glanced between Scourge and the door to the living room. "Well, from what I've been hearing," he said, taking a bite, "the older Tails does want to look past it, it's just hard, y'know? Everyone's just gonna need some time."
"Cap, this is me we're talkin' about. These guys'll take any chance they can get to hate me, Sonic especially."
"The younger Sonic just wants to prove that he was right about you all along," the smaller hedgehog shook his head. "Calling you out for something you did ten-ish years ago and regret isn't a very strong argument against you, in my opinion. He'll see that eventually. And the older Sonic hasn't been himself lately, as evidenced by my lip," he said, slowing off the injury he'd sustained earlier that day. The broken skin had scabbed up nicely. "I wouldn't worry about him right now. I mean, it's Sonic. He wants you to be on our side, he doesn't want to hate you. And we've all seen how Tails' younger self has been buddying up with you these past few days. I… have a feeling he's a forgiving kid."
"You think so?"
"This is the most time I've ever spent with Sonic and Tails Prime. I know them personally as well as you do. You tell me." Zonic finished off his remaining bit of pizza before reaching into the box for another slice, eating while Scourge thought.
'Maybe this whole thing about my dad will just blow over… Well, at the very least, Z seems to still be okay with me, and Tails is trying… if anything-'
"Oh, here," the No-Zoner interrupted Scourge's train of thought, handing him a white paper bag. "Got your garlic knots."
"'m not hungry," the grumpy hedgehog mumbled and shook his head.
"No one's hungry," Zonic said sternly. "Not after everything that's happened today. Not after Mobius got torn apart like that. But we've all barely eaten in the past two days, and our job's not done yet. We all need to eat." He forced the bag of warm food into Scourge's hands, not taking no for an answer.
"Alright, alright, mom," Scourge rolled his eyes, pulling a knot out of the bag and taking a bite. As soon as the tasty bit of bread hit his tastebuds, his appetite ignited, growing rapidly. He kept forgetting how good food tasted outside of prison.
"Y'know, I've realized you guys all call me 'mom' a lot," Zonic observed as the Moebian chowed down relentlessly on his dinner. "Well, at the very least it's happened more than once."
"Well, you can be a smidge protective of all of us. Telling us all to remember to eat is just the cherry on the cake," the green one grinned, licking salt off of his fingers. "'Course, not like my mom ever did anything like that, but still. It's the principle of the matter. Lesse, you've bandaged up my head and made sure I didn't puke everywhere, kept us from creating time paradoxes a few times, kept us focused, provided transportation. Yep, you're a regular soccer mom with a teleporting minivan."
"Ah, yes. I've finally found my true calling in life. Zonic the Hedgehog, professional transdimensional mom. It all makes sense now!" the Zone Cop smiled, sarcastically throwing his hands up into the air.
The two hedgehogs shared a laugh, finally enjoying themselves a little bit for the first time that day, when suddenly the argument in the living room exploded into a shouting match. The two on the were stairs immediately quieted. Sonic and Tails were both yelling over each other, so it was hard to make out what they were saying, but it wasn't long before the small hedgehog burst out of the room and raced upstairs, the gust of wind in his wake nearly knocking over the still-mostly-full box of pizza. He vanished up the steps within an instant, and Scourge had a strong feeling he was going to pay a visit to the younger Tails.
The green hedgehog's mood had immediately soured as he was reminded of the predicament he was in. "Great," he scowled, "just great. Now the kid's gonna have a talk with Mr. Hates-My-Guts… I can tell you right now who's side he's going to take."
"You don't know that for sure. Lil' T is a smart kid," Zonic said as lightning flashed outside. "And from a tactical negotiations standpoint, you spoke to him first. That puts you at an advantage."
"Can it really be called tactical negotiations when he's only six?" the Moebian raised an eyeridge. He sighed. "I knew bringin' everyone here when I just wanted to leave my past alone was a stupid idea. Letting the kids explore around was even stupider. I knew somethin' like this would happen, I'm such a fuckin' idiot-"
"No," the Zone Cop stopped him. "Look, this is my fault, okay?"
"Wait, what?"
"I was the one who opened up the portal that brought us all here. I could have easily taken us to any other Zone, but the only ones in my head at the time were No-Zone and Moebius. I was selfish. I knew that if the Time Eater decided to follow us, that whatever world I took us to was at risk… so I 'ported us to your world, not wanting to put my own on the chopping block. I'm sorry."
"Huh. Well, thanks a lot for that, jerkface," Scourge jokingly biffed Zonic on the back of the head. "But you make a good point, losing No Zone like we lost Mobius would probably be fucking catastrophic… Frankly, we're probably both equally guilty for this whole thing," he said, picking at a splinter sticking out of the stair. "I knew I should have ripped that tape in the study up years ago, just in case, but… I mean, who would have ever thought I'd bring you all here? I never thought I'd ever come here again, let alone that I would want to keep my old man's death a secret. I used to be proud of that. Damn… I've gone soft."
"Hard to believe we only teamed up with Sonic, what, four days ago?"
"Shit, that's it? I thought it was at least a week. Damn. I swear, the good vibes coming off all you guys must be contagious or somethin'."
"Is the ex-con startin' to feel the loooove?" Zonic sang, trying to get Scourge back into a better mood again.
"Gods, don't make me sick," the older hedgehog gagged, a smirk gracing his face for a split second.
"Haha! We have had some good times though. We played video games a few times, I vaguely nursed your concussion. It almost felt like were friends once or twice."
'Now Z's usin' the f-word? Yeesh, he's gone soft, too.' Scourge shuddered. "Again: gagsville. You're tolerable, at best."
"Really? I buy you garlic knots and all I get is tolerable? I thought I'd at least leveled up to acceptable by now," the teen said, levels of sass increasing.
"Don't push me, kid. I'll gladly kick your ass right off the friendship ladder, right back down into arch-nemesis hell-territory."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyeah," the green one said, slowly turning his head to the side and allowing his sunglasses to fall crookedly over his eyes. Zonic laughed.
"Aw, gee willikers mister, and here I was hoping I'd get to be your bestest friend!" he joked, speaking in an old-timey radio voice. He leaned back on the stairs until he was lying down on the sloped surface. Scourge rolled his eyes.
"Aw, shucks," he replied, resting his elbows on his knees.
They sat on the stairs quietly, the conversation having reached a lull. The could hear the rain pounding on the house, and the house creaking in return. The place finally felt quiet again. No yelling, no crying, no fighting. At least, none within earshot. It wasn't quite calm, as the air was still full of tension throughout the house, but it was as close to calm as they could probably get. A lot had happened that day. Too much. Everyone felt like a failure for letting the Time Eater claim Mobius, for letting Sonic's scar spread so much, even for letting Zonic de-age in the first place. None of it should have happened. They let the Time Eater get too far, and now the multiverse was going to pay for it.
Thunder cracked outside, lightning flashing in tandem. The two hedgehogs heard Tails yelp quietly from the other room. The door to the living room opened, and the fox emerged, looking frazzled. He tried to quickly compose himself when he saw that Scourge and Zonic were sitting on the steps. "I, um," he said, fur standing on end, "I'm gonna go check how Sonic's doing. He hasn't come down since we got here, so, um. Yeah." He took off up the stairs, twisting namesakes propelling him forward at high speed.
"Poor kid," Zonic said softly when the fox was out of earshot. "First Mobius, then the whole business with you and your dad, then arguing with his brother...and a thunderstorm to top it all off."
"Yeah, today's sucked for everyone," Scourge muttered, stealing a glance up the stairs. "Can't wait for it to be over… Actually, you know what? I'm done with today. I'm going to bed. Tomorrow can't get here fast enough," he said, standing up and stretching his back. He walked over to the living room door, pausing as he went to open it. He turned back and offered Zonic a wave. "Thanks, Z," he said, ducking into the living room.
"Thanks for what?" Zonic asked as the green hedgehog disappeared inside. He didn't get an answer, and he didn't think he was going to get one if he asked again. The Zone Cop sighed. "You're welcome, Scourge."
ooo
Scourge twisted and turned on the couch later that night, having found himself back in the dreaded hallway of his dreams. "I'm back here again," he groaned, reaching up to his throat to find an inhibitor collar securely fastened to him. "As if this day wasn't bad enough already, now I gotta deal with this shit… Why does this keep happening? And what the hell is going to happen this time?"
As if on command, a door opened on the wall to his right, the only door in the hall. It was open just a crack, and it looked totally pitch black inside. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked," Scourge gulped, taking a step back. Doors were never a good thing in this place, he'd learned that already. What would be inside this one? He wasn't too sure he wanted to find out. Maybe he could just stay in the hall and wait it out-
Without warning, the door blasted all the way open, and the blackness inside started sucking everything in as if it were a black hole. Scourge's feet were pulled out from under him, and he was dragged into the doorway too quickly for him to react.
He was surrounded by darkness on all sides. He was standing on a solid floor, but he had no idea where he was. He stumbled around in the dark, unable to feel anything around him. "Hello?" the hedgehog called out hesitantly, before freezing in place. That… wasn't his voice. It sounded more like the younger Sonic's than it did his own. 'Oh, don't tell me I'm pullin' a Zonic here,' he thought nervously. 'I don't wanna be a kid! No no no no no no!' He wished that he could see himself to see if it was really true, but it was too dark to make anything out. His hands certainly felt smaller at any rate, and as he used them to grab at his head and face, he realized there wasn't any way he could still be his normal height. "I-I'm still dreaming, right? Please tell me I'm still dreaming," he said in a harsh whisper, cringing at his own voice. "Shit, am I missing a tooth? Jeez, how little am I?"
Suddenly, he could see; as if the lights had been turned on, but his eyes took no time at all to adjust. Scourge immediately knew where he was. It was his childhood bedroom, but it seemed way bigger, and everything seemed new instead of old and dusty. He dashed up to the mirror hanging from his wall. He stared at his reflection wide-eyed. He was barely able to recognize himself. His eyes were black, like they were when he was younger. But his fur was still green, and he looked positively tiny. He couldn't have been older than eight or nine. The inhibitor collar was still tight around his neck, and his chest retained its II-shaped scar.
"This is too weird," he gasped, stepping back from the mirror while clenching and unclenching his small fists. He didn't like this. It might've just been another bad dream, but everything felt too solid, too real. It almost could've been real life, if the Time Eater had come to Moebius and decided to mess with Scourge and his old house.
The small hedgehog heard shouting coming from the hallway outside his bedroom door, and he froze. "Sonic?! Sonic, get out here, now!" the owner of the voice yelled forcefully, pounding on the door. Scourge flinched and stepped backwards towards the opposite wall.
'No no no no no, not Dad, not Dad!' he thought frantically, ducking behind his bed as the door slammed open. His father entered the room, his pose intimidating and his expression furious. Blood was gushing out of the fresh hole in his forehead.
"Can't you do ANYTHING right?!" he bellowed, his voice impossibly loud. "It's just one mistake after another with you! You couldn't take over the world, you couldn't save the world, what the hell good are you?!" He forced his way through the bedroom, sending Scourge into a near panic. The young hedgehog scrambled back until he was backed up against the wall, his heart pounding in his chest. "You even killed me, shot your own father right in the head, and now you're saying even that was a mistake!"
"G-get away from me!" the small hedgehog said, trying to stand his ground but his voice coming out shaky. "You don't know anything!"
"What don't I know?" his father asked, now towering over him. "That you think your so-called "friends" will forgive you? That this'll all just blow over?" He grabbed Scourge by the collar, lifting him into the air so they were at eye level. "Not even in your dreams, you stupid brat."
"No! You're wrong!" Scourge cried, kicking and trying uselessly to loosen his dad's grip on the inhibitor collar. His heart was pounding in his throat, he was scared out of his mind. "You're wrong, let me go, let me go, let me go, you're wrong…" he fought, but his father was unfazed. The man seemed even larger than ever- or did Scourge feel smaller? His bedroom seemed enormous now, and looking down gave him vertigo. It was like he was at the top of a skyscraper. His old man grinned horribly, blood still dripping from his skull.
"You've been alone your whole life, Sonic," he said coldly. "And you know as well as I do that that won't be changing anytime soon." Before Scourge could work up the courage to argue, he felt his dad's grip on the collar around his neck weaken. He was falling, plummeting towards the floor. Wind was rushing past his face. The floor was getting closer. Something was ripping apart the ground, huge chunks being sent into the sky, heading straight towards him. Under the flying bits of his bedroom floor was the Time Eater, waiting for him at the bottom. Mouth wide open, laughing, ready to consume him like it consumed Mobius. He was going to die, he was going to-
Scourge hit the floor with a dull thump, having fallen off the couch in his sleep. He scrambled to a sitting position, breathing heavy. His heart was pounding, hands sweating, eyes darting around the room so he could get a grip on his surroundings. 'I'm not dead,' he quickly realized. 'I'm not dead, and I'm not a kid. It was all just another dream. It wasn't real.' He held his hands in front of his face, the dim light from the dwindling fire barely allowing him to see. His hands were indeed normal size, and upon feeling his face, he confirmed that he was an adult again. 'It felt so real,' he shivered.
A snore suddenly erupted in the room. Scourge jumped, curling into himself. He realized a second later that the sound had come from Zonic, who was still sleeping relatively soundly in one of the room's armchairs. The young teenager seemed small, cradled in the chair with his back facing the green hedgehog. Scourge felt his heart drop a bit.
'Does he feel tiny? Like everything else is huge, everyone else is a giant?' he thought weakly, remembering the dream. 'Dad… He was wrong, wasn't he? The others… Zonic and Tails, and Sonic, they won't give up on me that easy… I hope.' He had a dark feeling bubbling up in his gut, causing him to feel achy and nauseous. He didn't know what he could do, what he should do. What if the rest of the gang hated him now? Well, for one thing, it would be really hard to work with them to stop the Time Eater. He was one of the only hedgehogs still fully capable, wasn't he? The older Sonic was a complete wreck, and while Zonic wasn't a bad fighter, he still hadn't completely gotten used to his smaller body. His reach wasn't as far as he was used to, and he was more accustomed to using guns than his fists. The younger Sonic was still plenty able to fight, but he was just a kid, and wasn't as strong as Scourge was. 'If we want to defeat the Time Eater, if we want the best chance of saving Mobius, they'll have to stick with me. But I would like the rest of this shitty quest to be as not-terrible as possible, thank you. The less these guys hate me, the better this will go for everyone. Plus...' He didn't even like to admit it to himself, but he felt better when he was with people who didn't want him dead, with people who seemed to like him.
'I just want this to stop. I'm done with the nightmares, I'm done with being haunted by this shit in my sleep. All I want is some rest,' he thought wearily, climbing back onto the couch. Rain was still pounding on the windows, and the house felt cold. He looked into the small fire, reduced nearly to embers. He stood up, walking towards the fireplace. He built the fire back up, until eventually it was crackling with warmth and light again. He still shivered though, and pulled his jacket closer around himself as he sat back down on the sofa. 'Just… please let dad be wrong. I don't wanna be alone again.'
It took him a while to fall asleep again, but when he finally did, it was a light, restless sleep; the kind where, upon waking, he was unsure if he'd slept at all.
ooo
Zonic breathed slowly, in and out. He held his arms out steady and planted his feet firmly on the ground. He stood as still as he could and pulled the trigger.
BANG! The small, condensed blast of energy shot out of the barrel and flew through the air, missing the target by about two feet. The gun pushed him backwards, sending him stumbling. He regained his posture and rubbed his arms. They were starting to get sore. His young muscles weren't used to the recoil. It was hurting him and messing with his aim.
He grunted. He'd been out here doing target practice for the past hour, and it was well into the morning now. Normally, he would have been able to hit the tin can resting on the tree stump without even thinking about it. Heck, just the other day he was landing headshots while shooting from a moving roller coaster. He never realised just how much he relied on his muscle memory.
He reloaded the gun again, turned off the safety, and took aim. He steadied his breathing and fired. The energy bullet got a bit closer to the can this time, but there was still no contact. He tried again. Another miss, more pain shooting up his arms. He shot it again, and again, and again, seething with frustration, until he emptied the clip. Only one of the blasts grazed the can, the rest missed. He threw the pistol on the ground, stomped over to the tin can, and kicked it angrily off the stump.
Scourge opened the front door of the mansion, drawn out by the sound of rapid gunfire. It was only 10 in the morning, and while he'd woken up a while ago, he had only just gotten up and let the others know he was awake. "Yo, Chrome Dome," he yawned, walking over to the side of the lawn where Zonic had his makeshift shooting range set up. Seeing the smoldering gun and the in-tact can, he smirked. "If y'need a bigger target, I got some family portraits in the house you can shoot up."
"I shouldn't need a bigger target," Zonic replied, his frustration rising. "But with my muscle memory gone, and the fact that my body can barely handle the recoil of this thing, I can't even hit a freakin' can at fifty feet." He sat down on the tree stump, crossing his arms and hunching forward.
"So what?" Scourge shrugged. "You got yer speed, that'll do fer now. And it's not like you'll be like this forever, Sonic'd die before he let this whole 'teenager' thing be permanent for you."
"I… I know. You're right." Zonic rubbed his temples, looking somewhat annoyed. "I'm just- really frustrated that I can't get this. I should be getting this! I know how to do this, I have done this! And all of a sudden, I just can't. It sucks. Being stuck in a kid's body sucks, dude. Speed or no speed."
"I can imagine," Scourge said, shivering slightly. "I'm glad it's not me. Look, I'm goin' for a run. I gotta get outta this house fer a while."
The young teen nodded. "Understandable. Don't be gone too long, you don't want the younger Sonic to have any more reasons not to trust you."
"Yeah, yeah," Scourge frowned. He took off, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.
The clouds from the last night's storm hadn't yet passed, blocking the morning sun. The ground was damp, the grass still wet, and the air was still heavily laden with moisture. The green hedgehog didn't mind. He wasn't really in the mood for sunshine, anyway.
'I'm seriously glad that me bein' a kid again was just a bad dream. I don't think I could handle somethin' like that… I could barely handle the dream. Those things are starting to get out of hand. Every night with this shit… What's goin' on with me? Not only the nightmares, but the mirror maze in Twinkle Park...' he thought back, remembering the haunting reflections from a few days ago. 'Feels like an eternity ago, that Sonic showed up in those mirrors instead of me… Am I goin' crazy or somethin'? I'm startin' to crack?' He sighed and shook his head. He had things to do, he had to push those thoughts out of his mind for the time being.
He was well out of sight of his old house by now. He looked around for a few seconds to get his bearings straight, and then he headed west towards the city of Mobotropolis. His old hideout was there and, unless looters managed to get to it, so was a backup stash of Anarchy Beryl from his short-lived reign as king. While Moebius' versions of the Chaos Emeralds were just about as powerful, Anarchy Beryl was extremely volatile and hard to control in comparison. It might not help at all against the Time Eater, but he needed something to do with himself. He'd have to be careful to avoid being spotted in the city; he wasn't particularly well-liked, and it wasn't well-known that he was out on parole. But he needed an excuse to get out of the house, to get away from the others for a bit. He wasn't used to always being around people. He needed space to think.
After about ten minutes of running, the city was finally in sight. The place looked like a wreck. It made sense, since Scourge had practically enslaved the population last year. Going unseen would probably be in his best interests. It didn't matter he was trying to save them now, the hedgehog doubted that the city folk would be hospitable towards him.
He dashed into the city, keeping mainly to the back alleys and rooftops. The whiff of pollution hung in the air, and a car alarm went off in the distance. Scourge turned right, making his way through the gridded layout of the city. The route was burned into his mind from having gone to the hideout so many times, which was good because he was running too fast to read the street signs.
He reached the old hideout in a matter of a few seconds. In classic old-school bad guy fashion, the base was located in an old boarded up factory. Scourge didn't spend any time reminiscing- his old team wasn't worth getting nostalgic about- and kicked down the door with ease. It fell off its hinges and clattered to the ground. He flipped the light switch, and a few of the lights flickered to life, dimly lighting the room. Well, he expected as much. He scraped the mud off his shoes and stepped into the abandoned building. He knew his stash of Anarchy Beryl shouldn't be too far from the entrance, but he couldn't sense anything. That didn't give him much hope.
He walked into what he used to refer to as his "throne room," back before he ever sat on an actual throne. The room had concrete floors, walls, and ceiling, and an old tattered rug was in the center, leading to a fancy but flimsy armchair at the back. The hedgehog groaned. No wonder no one used to take him seriously, this looked like a little kid's playhouse.
He heard something crash in the next room. His ears perked up. He wasn't alone.
"Who's there?" he yelled, feeling tense. The door to the next room opened, the intruder stepping out. Scourge's jaw dropped. Standing before him was a red fox, a girl, wearing a black tank top, jeans, and combat boots. "Fiona?" Of all the people he thought he might run into, his girlfriend was not one of them. Once Sonic's friend, she had betrayed the blue blur to run with Scourge and his crew instead. She had become the anti-hog's first steady girlfriend, and she was right by his side as he took over Moebius. While the rest of Scourge's old team turned against them shortly after, Fiona had managed to escape, and Scourge ended up being the only one to go to Zone Jail. He hadn't seen or heard from her since- well, until now.
"Scourge?!" she gasped, not seeming happy at all to see him. "So it is true then!"
"Woah woah wait, what's true?" the hedgehog stammered, having expected an "I miss you, how did you escape prison" type of conversation. Somehow, he didn't think this encounter would be that friendly.
"That you got out of prison, with Sonic's help no less!" Fiona spat, saying Sonic's name like it was poison. "It's a damn good thing I heard the rumor, 'cause I was literally two days away from risking my ass to bust you out!" she yelled, jabbing a finger angrily at him as she advanced. Scourge's eyes widened.
"You... were comin' to get me?" he said, surprised.
"A'course I was! But no, you can just leave and hang out with your new friend Sonic, and not even tell me you got out of the joint! I was real close to gettin' thrown in jail for nothin', all 'cause you wanted to play hero!" She swung a fist towards Scourge's face, the hedgehog barely ducking out of the way in time.
"Woah! Fi, calm down!" the green one said, taking a few steps back.
"You traitor!" the fox growled, spinning and kicking him in the gut. Scourge stumbled backwards, the kick not quite enough to knock him over. "You used to be the baddest guy in the multiverse! And you just leave your crown, leave me to rot?!"
"I was never the baddest anything! I was a fucking joke!" The hedgehog dodged and weaved through all her attacks, but not returning any. Fiona was being an unreasonable bitch, sure, but he didn't want to hurt his probably-ex-girlfriend. "No one feared me in Zone Jail, no one respected me! I was a punching bag and a laughing stock!"
But Fiona didn't care. She swept her leg behind him, tripping him and sending him to the ground. While Scourge was dazed, she picked up a rusty folding chair and launched it at him, aiming straight at his head.
Luckily, the hedgehog scrambled away in the nick of time. 'Holy shit, she's really serious!' He thought, getting to his feet. 'Is this bitch trying to kill me?!' As she glared at him with death in her eyes, he concluded that yes, it was entirely possible that Fiona wanted to kill him. She ran up and tried for another punch, which was easily dodged. "Can't we just talk about this?"
"Fine! Talk!" she yelled, grabbing the collar of Scourge's jacket and dragging him closer. "Why the hell would you go with Sonic of all people? It can't just be that "get out of jail free" card he waved in front of your face. Why?" There was a note of betrayal in her voice.
"I faced the facts, babe," Scourge said, his eyes narrowing. "Bein' evil got me nowhere. I was miserable. Something had to change."
"So you decided to leave behind everything you ever worked for? You brought an entire planet to it's knees, Scourge!" She released her grip on his jacket and pushed him away. "Everyone was bowing to you- to us! We were the perfect team! The only reason you lost to Sonic in the first place was because he tricked you, and you know he can't do that twice. You could be great again, you could rule again-"
"Maybe I don't want to!" Scourge yelled back, getting frustrated. It was true, he was powerful. With Sonic weak and the Zone Cops scrambled, he could conquer the entire multiverse without a problem, aside from the Time Eater. But he found himself thinking of Lil' T, crying his eyes out the night before. "Maybe… Maybe I found somethin' better than bein' King."
Fiona's death glare strengthened. "Don't tell me you and Sonic are all buddy-buddy now," she said, sounding disgusted. "I don't believe this, that my mean green man is stupid enough to fall for all that fuckin' hero talk…!" She turned and paced away, shaking her head. "I was with them once, remember? I'm from Mobius, I was on Sonic's side! But Chaos forbid you make one little mistake, let them find out about your past, because then it's all over."
Scourge thought his heart skipped a beat. 'Let them find out about your past and it's over… Could… Could she have a point?'
"Judging from the look on your face, I'd say you know what I'm talking about," the vixen said, looking him up and down. "Believe me when I say this. You're their little pet project, babe. They don't trust you, they just want to see if they can turn you good. They want to prove a point, or some shit. They don't care. They never care." Her voice was cold, her words twisting and manipulative. She needed Scourge back, for both their sakes- at least so she believed.
The hedgehog looked her right in the eyes. "Ya might be right about that, Fi," he said with a nod. "But even if Sonic and the others don't give a shit about me, I know one little kid who does." He clenched his fists. "I'm done with prison, I'm done bein' a bad guy, and… And I guess I'm done with you."
Fiona's expression went from hopeful to furious in about the space of a second. She swung at him again and again, screaming obscenities. "Out of all the girls you ever messed around with," she yelled, "I was the only one who cared! I helped you be incredible! I was supposed to be your queen!" One of her fists connected with Scourge's jaw, sending him reeling backwards to the floor.
"Why the hell did I even put up with you?!" Scourge blurted, holding his hand to where he got hit. "You're a freakin' lunatic! You psychotic bitch!"
"Selfish asshole!" She went to kick him, but Scourge grabbed her foot and pulled hard, sending her flying over him and to the floor.
The hedgehog jumped to his feet and raced towards his old quote-unquote throne, where he knew his old stash of Anarchy Beryl would be hidden. He was not in the mood to fight, and he knew there wasn't much he could do to Fiona that wouldn't seriously hurt her. She was strong, but no where near super-powered. He hated to run from a fight, but maybe that was best right now.
He kicked the old chair aside and opened up the small trap door hidden underneath it. Aside from spiderwebs, the thing was completely empty. Just as he thought. And he hadn't sensed any of the stuff on Fiona, so she didn't take it. It probably got looted months ago.
A swift kick to the back reminded him of Smalls' presence. He collided hard with the floor of the rec yard- no, that wasn't right. He shook his head, and the inside of the abandoned factory came back into view. 'What the hell?' he thought, slightly panicked and disoriented. What was going on? Where was he? The Zone Jail rec yard blinked back into view, and Scourge felt someone grab at the back of his collar to try and lift him up. He heard a deep, threatening laugh ring in his ears as he saw other inmates close in. They were all waiting for a chance to beat him to a pulp, hoping there would be enough of him left after Smalls softened him up. "NO!" he cried, reflexively curling up, trying to get away from the overgrown purple cat. He unintentionally spin-dashed, ramming his assailant into the floor and running them over before he himself crashed into the wall of the rec yard. He put a crack in the cement, small dusty chunks of the wall crumbling on him. His eyes were wide open and darting around the room. Where was he? He was so confused, there was no way he could be back in Zone Jail but he felt as if he really were there-
The hedgehog closed his eyes, waiting for Smalls, Fiona, whoever to come and keep wailing on him, but nothing happened. Wherever he really was, it was quiet. He opened his eyes, back in his old base again. 'Okay, what the fuck was that,' he wondered, breathing shakily. He looked around for Fiona, and found her lying face-down on the floor. 'Shit, that was her?! Fuck fuck fuck fuck.' He pulled himself to his feet, which was difficult because he was still disoriented. Scourge stumbled over to her side, kneeling down next to her. He flipped her onto her back. She was knocked cold, but definitely still alive. She didn't appear to be hurt too bad overall, which was a cause for relief. 'Guess I must'a slammed her into the floor… I panicked, I thought she was Smalls… What was that? I thought I was in Zone Jail, but I was here the whole time...' He held his head in his hands, a headache beginning to form in his temples. He shuddered. 'This is bad. I'm seein' shit again… What's the matter with me? I… I gotta get outta here. Before anything like that happens again. She'll be fine. Just go, go go go.' He slowly rose to his feet, his mind a complete jumble. It took him a second to find his footing again, but as soon as he did, he blasted out of there without looking back. He raced out of the city as fast as he could, honestly not caring if anyone saw him or not. He needed space, and he needed it now.
He tried to keep his mind focused exclusively on running. One foot in front of the other. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't hit anyone or anything. But other thoughts kept worming their way into his head, such as 'Am I going insane?' and 'Was Fiona right about no one really trusting me?' He refused to dwell on them until he was far from the city, but that was becoming increasingly difficult.
The hedgehog slowed to a stop a few miles outside the city. His parent's house was nowhere in sight, but he didn't think it could be that far. Confident that no one would find him, he collapsed, kneeling down in the soft grass. His hands were trembling, and he balled them into fists and shoved them in his jacket pockets. 'I… I think that was some sort of flashback,' he thought, trying to stay calm. He didn't need to panic again. 'At least, I'm not sure what else to call it. Because it was way more than just seeing things, that's for sure.' He took slow, shuddery breaths. This was bad. First the nightmares, then the hallucinations in Twinkle Park's mirror maze, now this? What next? He was getting worse by the day, and he didn't even know what was wrong with him, let alone how to fix it. 'I'm goin' nuts. Everyone else is losin' a grip because of timey-wimey bullshit, but I'm just straight up going crazy.'
Speaking of crazy, Fiona was on a whole 'nother level than usual. Yeah, she was usually a violent jerk; that's why Scourge liked her in the first place. But those feelings had never been so strong, and never directed at him before. She was furious at having been inadvertently turned against. Whether she was actually upset, or was just angry because she'd only been using Scourge to gain power, the hedgehog couldn't tell. It was probably a little bit of both. 'Well, she's evil for a reason, I guess,' he thought with a shudder. It was so weird. It wasn't long ago that Scourge was the more ruthless, the more villainous of the two. It felt weird to refer to Fiona as 'evil', but to not use the term to describe himself.
He sighed and shook his head. He should probably head back to the house soon. It was well past noon now, and he could do with a nap. But at the same time, he wasn't at all looking forward to the younger Sonic's threatening glares, or to the younger Tails being terrified of him. Maybe he could just hang out on the roof and ignore everyone. He wasn't sure he believed Fiona when she said that everyone was playing him for a chump; they were all too nice for that. That still didn't mean he wanted to talk to anyone right then.
What he really wanted was something to take his mind off the various issues plaguing his mind, but there wasn't much he could do that didn't involve talking to one of the members of their little group. And if he talked to someone, he would probably get fed up extremely quickly because they would want to talk about one of the various issues plaguing his mind. Dilemas, dilemas.
ooo
He eventually did decide to seek refuge on the roof, and was able to stay there for a couple of hours without anyone finding him. He had tried to take a nap, but the old roof didn't make for the most comfortable bed in the world. The hedgehog was wary about what nightmares he might have, as well, and that nagging fear kept him from doing anything more than just dozing. Scourge was sure his eyes were bloodshot from how much sleep he'd been missing lately, and his head was starting to feel fuzzy. He yawned. What'd he'd give for a good night's sleep, to have the nightmares and the visions go away.
His ear twitched as he heard one of the un-boarded up windows slide open and click into place. Someone climbed out onto the roof. Scourge opened one eye, annoyed that his relative peace and quiet was about to be disturbed. He looked up to see Sonic approaching, his large scar looking as bad as ever. The green hedgehog almost forgot one of Sonic's eyes had turned completely black as the scar cut through his face.
"There you are," the black-and-blue hedgehog said, sounding as tired as Scourge felt. He gingerly lowered himself down so that he was sitting down next to his doppelganger. Scourge grunted, acknowledging his presence. "So, uh… Tails told me the news. About what happened to your dad."
"Gods, how many times do I gotta say it?!" Scourge demanded, shooting up into a sitting position. "I'm sorry, okay? I was a fuckin' stupid kid, what kid doesn't make mistakes that they regret later?!"
"Woah woah, hey!" Sonic held his hands out and tried to get his twin to calm down. "I know you're sorry, Tails told me everything. It's okay."
The green hedgehog froze, barely believing his ears. This Sonic was angry, temperamental, unreasonable. How could he not be furious? He blinked. "It's… okay? What?"
Sonic looked right at him, seemingly almost into him. That black and purple eye looked as if it could see right through somebody. "Well, I was pissed when I first heard. Like, really pissed. Bet that's no surprise, especially with my temper lately." He ran a finger over his scar, feeling the rough skin. The scar tissue didn't look normal, it was an odd, dark color with flecks of violet in it. "But then Tails told me… how you just looked miserable when everyone found out, 'specially Lil' T. And I started to think. 'Cause you… you did it when you were ten, right?"
"Eleven."
"Right. You were just a kid. I'm not saying you couldn't have known any better, but you're right, everyone screws up when they're young. What matters is that you've proved that we can trust you now," the blue hedgehog said with a confident nod.
Scourge sighed. "Jeez, I can't believe you sometimes… The amount of times I've fucked up, and yer still willin' to give me a chance… Why? Am I… just some pet project? You get yer kicks outta takin' bad guys and makin' 'em good?"
Sonic raised an eyeridge. "Wha…? I mean, I'm all for people turnin' around and trying to be the best they can be, but… I mean, it's not like it's my weekend hobby or anything. Where'd you get that idea from?"
"Uh… Fiona. I sort of ran into her today," the green hog said, averting his eyes and looking off into the distance. The Mobotropolis skyline could be seen on the horizon, and the clouds were finally starting to break. "Let's just say we had a pretty bad breakup. She tried to convince me that you're all just usin' me."
"Well, just remember there's a difference between using someone and asking them for help," Sonic said with a wink. "Where did you manage to find Fiona, anyway? Haven't heard from her in a while."
"I was checkin' out one of my old hideouts in the city, seein' if there was any Anarchy Beryl still stashed there. Since, y'know, we don't have all the Chaos Emeralds…"
"Huh. Good plan. I assume it didn't quite pan out, though."
"Nah, the place'd been cleaned out," Scourge replied. He saw Sonic's expression fall, as the hero's hopes for saving his world were dashed again. "Eh, we'll think of somethin', Blue. We gotta, 'cause now I gotta prove your past-self AND Fiona wrong," he chuckled.
The window that Sonic had used to get onto the roof slid open again, and this time Zonic stuck his head out. "There you guys are," he said, exasperation in his voice. "Zector and Zespio have news. Apparently, it's news we should all hear."
"Good news or bad news?" Sonic asked, ears perked.
"No idea. Everyone's down in the living room already, let's go!" the teenager said before disappearing back inside the house. Sonic and Scourge got to their feet, careful not to lose their footing on the slanted slope of the roof.
"Well," Sonic shrugged, leading the way, "let's go see what all the fuss is about."
Notes: Thanks for reading this monster of a chapter centered on one character, haha! Sorry if it seemed a bit disjointed with all the different things that happened, this one chapter was originally three smaller chapters, but I took stuff out and added stuff in, so a whole bunch happened in the development of this chapter. I hope it turned out okay! The next chapter won't be so totally focused on Scourge, so we'll get a bit of a break from him xD Don't forget to review if you liked it! Thanks a ton, guys!