Notes: So a lot of you already know what this next chapter is going to be about, so I won't say much here! But I've had this chapter planned since I started writing Time Warp, and I spent a lot of time making it the best it could be. I'm super happy with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy!
Scourge groaned softly as the last of the rocks fell from the ceiling, tumbling to the floor. His ears were ringing, even though it was now almost completely quiet. At least he had cleared out of the way fast enough, and hadn't gotten buried in the collapse. He'd been knocked to the floor, but aside from that he was okay. There was so much dust and dirt in the air that he had some difficulty breathing. He coughed vigorously, trying to get the tiny bits of debris out of his lungs. He found his flashlight, which had slipped out of his hand when he fell, and switched it on. Thankfully, it still worked. When he could finally see again, his eyes widened. The tunnel behind him had completely collapsed, blocking it off and separating him from the rest of the group.
"The others… they made it out too, right?" he muttered aloud, unable to help but worry. "They're not…" He gulped and took a quick look around. The tunnel he found himself in was long, too long for his light to shine down. He hoped the path led somewhere, or else he would be stuck. Looking back at the collapsed wall, it didn't seem possible to tunnel through without causing the rest of the ceiling to crash down. Scourge grimaced as he shined his light around the cave, looking for a sign that anyone else made it through the cave in. "Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing feebly through the cavern until it quieted into nothing. The hedgehog felt his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't like this. He felt trapped, enclosed, alone. There was no one else there, there was no way out, there was-
There was something moving underneath some of the debris.
Scourge skidded over to the rustling pile of rocks and began to toss aside one after another, eventually uncovering the small fox who was trapped underneath. Lil' T luckily didn't look too bad. He was alive and breathing, and while he had some scrapes and bruises, it didn't look like he'd sustained any major injuries. The Moebian breathed a sigh of relief. "Kid, you alright?" he asked, shoving the remaining rocks aside.
"Scourge…?" he coughed, accidentally breathing in dust and dirt. "What happened?"
"The tunnel caved in," the hedgehog said. "I think we got cut off from the others."
"Are they all okay?"
"I don't know." Scourge sat down cross-legged next to Lil' T and looked at the communicator on his wrist. The screen was cracked, and there was a huge dent in it. "It looks like I can't call them to find out," he said, furrowing his brow. "And I'm not about to spindash through those rocks, 'cause that'll just bring the rest of this joint down on top of us."
"So what do we do?" the child asked, sitting up.
"I… I guess we start walking and hope this tunnel leads somewhere," the hedgehog said uncertainly, the feeling of being trapped beginning to set in. Before, even when they'd purposely blocked themselves in the cave, he knew they would be able to get back out again. But what if they were stuck down here? He hated feeling trapped, it made him feel helpless, like he was back there… "We gotta get outta here," he said quietly, balling his hands into fists and wrapping his arms around his knees. "Like, soon. I do not like being stuck in one place like this,"
Lil' T blinked. He certainly wasn't used to seeing Scourge act this way. He'd seen the green hedgehog upset before, but he seemed… weirdly anxious. "Are you alright? You look really freaked out," he said nervously, watching as the Moebian's hands started to shake.
"W-what? Nah, m'fine," Scourge breathed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. He slowly rose to his feet, moving in such a way that he avoid facing Lil' T. He didn't want to have any flashbacks or anything, not now. Not in front of the younger Tails. Not in front of anyone. For a few brief moments, the newly formed wall of rock became metal bars, his leather jacket became an orange jumpsuit, the quiet sounds of settling stones became the chatter of the cellblock. Luckily, it was no more than that, but it was still enough to get him spooked. They could be trapped down here for good. Sonic and the others might never find them. Sonic and the others might be dead. 'Oh gods if they're dead because I lead them in here… if it's my fault… oh Chaos please don't let it be my fault, I really need them all to not be dead right now.'
"Scourge?"
"Yep! Uh, I'm fine," he said. His voice was slightly shaky but he played it off like it was nothing. "Um, we should probably get going. We were just at that big crossroads, so we might be able to get to the guys by exploring around a bit. Can you stand?" he asked, offering Tails his hand to help him get up. The child refused it. Instead, he insisted on getting up on his own. He used the wall to pull himself up to his feet. He quickly collapsed back down to the ground, clutching his left ankle.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" he cried, curling in on himself instinctively.
"Hey, hey!" Scourge hushed in an attempt to be comforting, crouching down next to Lil' T. "What is it, what's hurtin'?"
"My ankle," the fox said, clearly in pain.
"Here, lemme take a look at that," he said as he reached for the ankle in question. The kit eyed him warily, glancing back to the pile of crumbled ceiling behind him.
"Sonic said…" he muttered quietly, "that I shouldn't trust you. Or talk to you, or anything." He looked conflicted about it, unsure of what he should do.
"Oh," Scourge said, withdrawing. "Right. That whole thing. But wait, you've been talkin' to me!"
"That's only 'cause there's no one else to talk to," Lil' T crossed his arms and looked away in an overdramatic huff.
The hedgehog sighed. "Of course that's why," he said dully. Great, so he was close to having a flashback/panic attack/whatever it was, and Lil' T wanted nothing to do with him. This was going swimmingly. "Look, you know I ain't gonna hurt you, right? We're both stuck here, so we're gonna hafta work together if we wanna get outta here. So do you think you can trust me for now? At least?" he asked hopefully. Even if it was just temporary, he found himself wanting Tails to trust him again.
The fox didn't answer at first, taking a moment to think about the proposal. He looked at Scourge carefully, eyeing him up and down, before settling on his eyes. The hedgehog's expression was calm and confident, yet something in his eyes seemed… afraid. It reminded Tails of the brave face Sonic wore in face of danger; always acting cool and collected even if he was scared. The kit pouted. "Okay," he said, and he noticed Scourge visibly relax a bit in response. "But! No funny business, or else!"
"Aw, not even a little?" the hedgehog joked. "Bummer, there go my weekend plans." Lil' T tried not to smile, still not 100% on board with this situation, but Scourge's joke did cheer him up a little bit. "Oh well, a deal's a deal. Now let's check out your ankle, see what the damage is." The fox nodded, and Scourge took a look at his ankle. It didn't look swollen, which was good. He knew from his own previous ankle injuries that it had to be wrapped up, but he was no doctor. There was only so much he was going to be able to do for the kid. Of course, he hadn't had the foresight to pack any bandages in his bag. He would have to improvise. But what was he going to use?
Tails was starting to get a little antsy. Scourge supposed he should do something, rather than just sit there and look completely dumbfounded. He slipped the kid's shoe off his foot, making sure to be as gentle as he could. 'Gentle' wasn't exactly his thing, though, and the child moaned in discomfort. Once the shoe was off, Scourge pulled the sock back until the ankle was exposed. Okay, maybe it looked a bit swollen. Lil' T would want to avoid walking on it for a little while, that much was for sure. The hedgehog looked inside his backpack for anything he could use to wrap up the injured ankle. The only things inside were a sandwich, a water bottle, and some extra batteries for the flashlight. Nothing that could be tied around a foot.
"Hey, you have any bandages in your backpack?" the Moebian asked, and Tails wormed his backpack off of his shoulders.
"Um…" the child hummed, zipping the pack open and digging around inside. "I have band-aids. Will that help?"
"Not quite," Scourge huffed. "I need something to wrap around your ankle, those won't work." He exhaled in frustration and ran a gloved hand through his choppy quills. Wait- gloves. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would have to do. He pulled them off of his hands, tying the fingers together. Then, he took the gloves and managed to wrap them around the fox's foot. "There," he said, tightening the knot so the gloves would stay secure. "How's that, not too tight or nothin'?"
"It's okay," Tails said skeptically. He still didn't trust Scourge entirely, and he certainly didn't want to make it look like he was happy around him. The hedgehog nodded before slipping the sock and shoe back on over the makeshift bandages. Tails moved his foot around and tried putting some weight on top of it. "It still hurts," he said with a frown.
"Of course it still hurts. What do you think, my gloves are magic?" Scourge said, getting to his feet. "The wrap is just to help it heal faster, if I did it right."
"If?"
"Hey, I never claimed to be a doctor! Come on, we gotta get moving. We won't find the others, or the seventh Chaos Emerald just sitting around here."
"But I can't walk," Tails pouted, arms crossed. Scourged placed his ungloved hands on his hips.
"What do you want me to do? Carry you?"
Which is exactly what he ended up doing. He carried Lil' T on his back, and the fox carried one of the backpacks on his. They'd decided to consolidate their supplies, stuffing everything in the one backpack to make things easier. They were making their way through the dark tunnels, aided only by a flashlight and Tails' above-average night vision. They had no idea where they were going. It was times like these that Scourge really wished that he was better at sensing Emeralds. Or that he could get in touch with the others. Or that Lil' T would stop glaring daggers at him.
"Honestly, are you going to do nothing but be a grump this whole time?" the green one asked, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"'M thinking," Tails mumbled, his tails twisting around in frustration.
"About what? The guys? They're probably alright, you know. They're tougher than I give them credit for, and dying in a place like this ain't their style."
Tails didn't respond past a simple "Mmm," going only as far as to acknowledge that he'd heard the hedgehog. Scourge ugh'd.
"Look, you gonna talk to me or what?" he asked, getting annoyed. "'Cause or else this is going to be one hell of a boring trip."
Several beats passed without the fox saying anything. Scourge opened his mouth to talk again when he suddenly spoke up. "I wish Sonic was here," he said softly, tightening his grip around Scourge's shoulders.
"Yeah, well, believe it or not, I wish he was here too," the Moebian said. "But he ain't here right now. I am."
"You're not Sonic, though," Tails protested.
"Technically, I am."
"No. You're not."
"I was born with the same DNA as Sonic. My parents named me Sonic. Sure, I changed it, but... it's still kinda technically my name." Scourge shrugged. It felt kind of weird saying that his name was Sonic. It wasn't something he had admitted very often.
Tails thought for a moment before saying, "I wish my Sonic was here."
Scourge couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well, at least you're honest, kid."
"… So why'd you change your name?"
"Huh? I, uh, didn't want to be just another Sonic clone. Before, everyone just called me Evil Sonic, or Anti-Sonic. I wasn't me, I was just another him. So I made myself different."
Just then, the walls started to shake again, the whole cave rumbling. Loose rocks and debris crashed down from the ceiling. Without hesitation, Scourged yanked Tails off his back, pulled him into his chest, and got down low, protecting the small fox from the falling boulders. Tails was probably shaking as much as the floor. He'd experienced quakes before, but he could always fly away from those. In the tunnel, there was nowhere to run or hide. You just had to sit there and hope there wasn't a cave in. It was even worse than a thunderstorm in the fox's eyes.
Thankfully, no huge rocks came down. Scourge still got nailed in the back by a few fist-sized stones, and his flashlight was smashed to bits by a similar rock, but aside from that, he and Tails were okay. The ground finally settled, and the shaking eventually stopped. Dust was still swirling around everywhere, but at least they were safe.
"Are you-" Scourge coughed. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Lil' T said timidly. "I think so."
"Good," the hedgehog said, tentatively getting up. The tunnel was completely pitch black without the flashlight, which lay in pieces on the ground. Scourge felt around and found his sunglasses, which had fallen off during the quake, and perched them back on his head. "Your eyes are better than mine in the dark. Can you see anything?" he asked.
"Yeah, the path keeps going down straight." Tails got up on his one good leg and starting twisting his twin namesakes until he was up in the air. "Let's keep going. Follow me!" He flew down the tunnel, checking to make sure the green one was following behind him as he went. Scourge sighed in relief as his footsteps echoed through the otherwise quiet cave. He needed a break from lugging Tails around.
For the past ten minutes or so, the natural rock of the tunnel had been fading away, turning to something more artificial. Still stone, but now the walls were made of stacked blocks, and the floors and ceiling were made of some sort of old brick. An occasional torch could be found hanging from the wall, providing the first light the two had seen since the flashlight broke. Scourge picked one up out of its sconce and carried it along, lighting the way.
"What is this place?" the green one wondered aloud, referring to the unexpected change in scenery.
"It looks like a pyramid, almost. Well, the inside of one, anyway," Tails said, inspecting the walls. "Sonic did say that all of history was happening at once. We musta' walked into a different time zone."
"Time period, you mean," Scourge nodded. He recalled the initial shock everyone experienced when they returned to Mobius. He ran his bare hand across the stone brick wall. He could feel all the dust and dirt, all the nooks and crannies- all the stuff he couldn't normally feel with his gloves on. He knew that he was getting dirt and all sorts of crud under his fingernails, but he had more important things on his mind.
Like why Doctor Eggman's face was spray-painted on all the walls.
"Don't tell me the Doc is here," Scourge said, furrowing his brow and taking a step back. Lil' T gulped, looking back and forth down the hallway.
"I haven't seen any badniks around…" he said quietly.
"Yeah, and I don't hear any machines running," said the hedgehog, his ears perked up. "Don't let your guard down, though. Who knows what could be lurking around here…" He led his small charge further into the cave, hoping they'd find the last Chaos Emerald, the other members of their team, or both. Preferably both. Instead, all they found were dusty, rusted over machines and bits of smashed robots that were littering the various hallways and chambers they walked through. Tails flew low to the ground, inspecting the robot parts.
"Looks like Sonic came through here once," he observed. "Pro'lly a few years ago, these 'bots look pretty old."
Scourge nodded, kicking the blasted-off arm of an E-100 unit out of his way. There was an outline of dirt and rust where it had been laying. "That sounds about right." They continued walking and taking in the sights, rarely talking. There was just too much to talk about, too much in their minds to even know where to start. What was this place exactly? Would they ever find a way out? Were Sonic and the others okay? Where were the Time Eater and its minions? Where was the last Emerald? How much longer would Mobius be safe? What if No Zone or Moebius was next to be consumed, torn apart, and then stuck existing in a timeless void?
"Hey, Scourge?" Tails asked, breaking the silence.
Scourge blinked, his train of thought derailed. "Whaddaya want?" he asked bluntly.
"How long've we been walking?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to tell, what with time not existing here anymore and all that."
"Guess," the fox said simply. The hedgehog huffed.
"I dunno, a few hours since we lost the others. Why, you gettin' tired?"
"Um, no, I'm okay," the child shook his head. "But…"
Scourge eyed him suspiciously. "But what? Spill it, shorty."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Tails blurted out. The green one's eyes widened. Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that.
"What?" he asked, thinking that he maybe heard the kid wrong.
"You carried me, an' wrapped up my ankle, an' you protected me when the quakes started up again. Why're you bein' so nice?"
Scourge shrugged one of his shoulders. "What, just 'cause you don't like me anymore, that means I can't look out for ya? 'Sides, Sonic'd kill me if I let you get hurt," he explained.
"So, even after I stopped talkin' to you… Y'know, after I found out what you did to your dad… You're not mad at me or nothin'?" Tails asked shyly, looking down at his hands.
"Wha- no, why would I be mad?" the hedgehog asked, legitimately a little surprised. "Kid, I wasn't mad at you cause you weren't talking to me. I was mad at myself, you kiddin'? Nah, I get why you would hate my guts. Can't be mad at you for that."
Lil' T's expression lifted, turning into a smile that he was trying to hide. "Okay. Good," he said simply. Scourge couldn't help but smile a little bit too. Maybe things would get better from here on out. He held the torch out farther away from him, making his good mood harder to see.
"C'mon, let's pick up the pace, slowpoke," the hedgehog said, patting the child on the shoulder and watching him bob up and down. "I'd like to get out of these caves sometime before next year."
"But you said that time-"
"Just come on!"
Ooo
If time were moving, about an hour would have passed since the generic caves turned to pyramid insides. Scourge and Tails carried light conversation along the way, something Scourge was grateful for. At least the kid had started talking to him again. It helped to keep both their minds off the gloomy circumstances they were currently stuck in. The little fox had gotten tired of flying, and had gone back to sitting comfortably on Scourge's back, wedged snugly between the hedgehog's short quills. Lil' T was talking extensively about his plans for a retractable plane runway when something rumbled. Only, it wasn't the ground or the walls this time.
"Getting hungry, huh?" Scourge asked, turning his head towards the kid, an eyeridge cocked. The young Tails shook his head.
"Nuh-uh," he protested. He hiccupped.
The hedgehog laughed. "Oh, your pants are so on fire, shorty." He plucked Lil' T off of his back and sat him down on the floor, against the wall. He then sat down next to him, crossing his legs. He yanked open his backpack, which Tails was carrying, and rummaged around in it, looking for the food he had packed. Tails licked his lips hungrily as the green one pulled a sandwich out of his bag. Scourge's eyes widened a bit when he saw the fox's hungry expression. He ripped the sandwich in half, handing one half to Tails and keeping the other half for himself. The kid inspected the sandwich for a few seconds before diving in, quickly wolfing down most of his half. Scourge hadn't even taken a bite of his yet.
"Jeez, slow down there, Speed Racer," he said, taking his own food away from his mouth. "You're gonna choke yourself, you keep eating that fast."
Lil' T blinked up at him with wide eyes, his mouth still full. "Joo say somefin?" he mumbled, crumbs falling out of his mouth.
"I said calm down with the eating before you make yourself sick! You little pain in the-"
"Hey, you gonna eat that?" Tails asked, conveniently cutting off the rest of Scourge's sentence. He had already polished off his half of the sandwich and was licking his fingers. The hedgehog sighed.
"Fine, you can have it. If!" he held the sandwich right out of the kid's reach. "If you don't inhale this one. Because if you puke on me, I am leaving you here."
"Deal!" Tails said, snatching the sandwich and going in to take a massive bite. Then, remembering the deal he just made, stopped himself and took a smaller bit instead. Scourge humphed in satisfaction and leaned back against the cool wall. He looked at the hallway that was still ahead of them. It continued on for as far as he could see, and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. He was starting to get stir crazy from being stuck in this place for so long. Yes, he was more accustomed to being stuck in one place than someone like Sonic, but it didn't mean he enjoyed it. He wanted to run, blast through the pyramid caves like nobody's business. But of course, he had to get stuck on babysitting duty.
He stood up restlessly and started stretching. He was getting antsy. He needed to move. He needed to do something.
"As soon as you're done with that sandwich," he said to Lil' T, "we're gonna get moving again."
The fox made a disappointed face. "Can't we rest longer?" he whined. "I'm getting tired."
Scourge was about to point how how he had done all the walking and carrying, but it struck him that Tails was still just a kid. If time were working, it would probably be way past his bedtime by now. "Fine," he grunted. "We'll keep going until we find a good place to rest. How's that?"
Tails nodded. "Okay," he said simply. He polished off the rest of the sandwich and then got up on his good leg. Scourge picked up his backpack, and the child climbed back onto his back with a yawn. He made sure the fox was secure before taking off at a 70 mph jog. He was sick of walking.
Scenery blew past them in a blur, hieroglyphics on the walls speeding by. Soon the walls and ceiling themselves were gone, and the two were traveling on a suspended stone path with accents of red and blue and green. The walkway led into a seemingly bottomless chamber. Even with the massive torches on either side of the path lighting their way, they couldn't see any ceiling above or floor below, and they could just barely make out walls surrounding them. They could see in the distant darkness what looked to be massive, ancient ships, rocking back and forth like carnival rides.
The pathway itself twisted and turned and loop-de-looped, which Scourge sprinted through without a problem. The problem came when the path leveled out, and he found himself running towards a solid stone wall. There was no visible way around it, above it, below it, or even through it, not even if he let loose with a powerful spindash (which, because his quills were so short, wouldn't be able to cut through stone anyway). Standing in between he and Tails and the wall, however, was a large hourglass with a red and blue star on top. The hourglass was even taller than Scourge, by about half a foot or so. Even still, the hedgehog nearly missed it, preoccupied with the wall in front of him. He only paid attention to it once Tails pointed it out to him, and by then it was too late for him to stop or move out of the way. So, on a whim, he jumped, his strong legs sending him and the kid on his back up high into the air. In his haste, Scourge timed his jump wrong; instead of jumping over the hourglass, he landed on top of it, his boots slamming into the star. To his surprise, he found himself launched into the air, the top of the hourglass acting like a spring of some sort. While he was in the air, the hourglass somehow flipped itself upside-down, and an ominous ticking began to ring out through the chamber. The hedgehog landed on his feet a yard or two past the hourglass, and had his attention once again redirected by the fox riding on his back- this time to a door that had opened up in the wall, but was quickly closing. Scourge dashed through it just in the nick of time, barely making it through with Tails' tails still in tact.
The two emerged through the door into a large room, though this one wasn't so large that they couldn't see the other walls or ceiling. There were stone pillars everywhere, supporting the roof, and a huge, broken beetle-esque robot lay rusting in one corner. The room was hexagon-shaped, with two of the parallel walls being longer than the other four. One of these walls had a raised platform in front of it, almost like a stage. At the center of the platform was a pit of bright green fire, which matched the green markings on the walls and above the doors. One of these doors was in the wall to which the "stage" was connected to. Above this door was a huge cobra statue, jutting out of the wall and filling the chamber with its somewhat creepy presence.
Scourge jumped up to the platform and set Tails down next to the green fire. "This seems like a good a place as any to camp for the night," he muttered. Even his voice was tired at this point, there was no denying it. It had been a long day.
"Woah, it's cool in here…" the fox said, looking around the chamber. His voice echoed slightly off the walls. He fingered the makeshift bandage around his bad ankle. "What about Sonic and the others, though?" he asked, looking up at Scourge hopefully. "What if they're in trouble?"
"Yeesh kid, you were the one who wanted to take a nap," the green one said, sitting down next to him. "Look, I'm sure they're fine. They're pretty tough. Who knows, maybe they'll find us while we're here."
"But what if they don't?"
"Then we'll find 'em and save 'em, I dunno! I'll try and fix this stupid communicator, maybe I can get in touch with the others. Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Scourge suggested, tapping the broken device around his wrist. "You need to rest your ankle some more, and it's probably past your bedtime anyway." Tails pouted.
"I'm good with machines and stuff, though! Maybe I could-"
"You sayin' I can't figure this out?" the hedgehog playfully snapped back. Tails' pout showed no signs of going away, even after an intense bout of glaring from Scourge. He sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll wake you up if I think you can lend a hand. Happy?"
Tails nodded, letting out a small yawn. He lied down on the stone ground, using the backpack as a pillow and his namesakes as a blanket. "... Hey, Scourge?" He asked, turning back to look at the hedgehog. The green one was caught mid-yawn himself, trying to compose himself.
"Aaah, hmm?" He replied airily. He was starting to really feel tired, his lack of sleep catching up to him big time.
"I was thinking, um… and I think…" Tails stammered, trying to think of how to say what was on his mind. "I think, maybe… you're not so bad after all."
Scourge's ears perked up. Did he just hear him correctly? "W-what? Really?"
"Well… you've been really nice, and you're worried about the others, and you seem really sorry about all the bad stuff you did…" Lil' T rubbed his arms, which were covered in goosebumps. "And older-me and older-Sonic and Zonic all trust you, so… If you wanna be friends again…"
"I, uh," the Moebian gasped, surprised to hear this coming from the child who until recently was terrified of him. "Uh, yeah! Yeah, let's...let's…"
"Be friends?" Lil' T finished for him.
"Y-yeah," Scourge nodded. The fox giggled.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just not used to people wanting to me my… friend." He made a face and stuck out his tongue. "Yeah, that word tastes weird." The child laughed at that, his shy smile growing wider. The hedgehog started to smile, too. "Thanks, kid. Now go to sleep, will ya?" Scourge said, rustling the fox's bangs.
"Wait! Just… one more thing," the young fox looked up at him curiously. "What changed your mind? About being a bad guy, I mean? Why do you not wanna be like that anymore?" he asked, his voice growing quiet.
Scourge blinked, trying to think of an acceptable answer. What made him realize that the whole 'evil' thing wasn't working out for him? "Well I mean, it was a number of things, I guess. But the big one has to be Zone Jail," he said with a shiver. "I hated everyone in there. They all beat up on me all the time, every day, just because I couldn't defend myself. They were…" he searched for a word that wouldn't be too inappropriate. "Jerks. Total jerks. And I don't wanna be like them, I hate them! So… So… shit, I think I just realized that as I was saying it." His eyeridges lifted up, and he looked sideways at Tails. "I mean, I've been thinking about this stuff for days, y'know, why exactly I'm doing this, but… damn. I think that specifically is definitely a big part of the reason why."
"Really? You didn't know that before?" Tails asked, a bit more confidently now.
"Nuh-uh. Sometimes it can take a while to realize stuff, even about yourself. Y'know?" the hedgehog said. "Well, I think that's enough Q&A for one day, huh? I'd say you know me now better than you know Sonic."
The kit giggled and shook his head, but didn't protest. Tails smiled warmly, shifting closer to the hedgehog. "M'kay. G'night, Scourge," he said softly, closing his eyes.
"Night, kid," Scourge muttered, looking into the flame. The chamber was filled with an eerie quiet, the only sounds being breathing and the crackling of fire. 'I can't believe it. Tails, he… he's really giving me another chance.' He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He'd been fretting about the kid for days now, worrying about what he thought of him. The hedgehog never really had anyone before who would stand up for him like Lil' T did, so when he lost that… He couldn't help but grin. He never thought he would would enjoy having… f...fr… allies. He still wasn't entirely keen on using the f-word. But it felt kind of nice.
He looked down at the communicator around his wrist. Of course, getting along with Lil' T again was all well and good, but he didn't want the others to be dead, either. He said he'd try and fix the device, but it didn't even look like it could be fixed. The screen was badly cracked for one thing, and he didn't have any tools to open the device with. It was probably a lost cause. Scourge tried again to turn the communicator on, but to no avail. It was well and truly busted. His stomach grumbled loudly. He found himself wishing that he'd packed more than one lousy sandwich, or had at least not let Tails eat the whole thing by himself. He was starved. He was pretty sure he wouldn't even turn down prison food, with how loudly his stomach was complaining. He had a sip of water from the bottle in his backpack, hoping that would at least quiet his stomach down. He was just going to have to go without food until they found some way to escape the expansive cave system.
He spent what would have been another hour more trying to pry the back of the communicator off. Maybe there was some sort of distress signal he could activate, that the others could track and use to find him and Lil' T. It was no use. Even by using his razor-sharp teeth to attack the device's backing, it still held on. 'Well, I have to give the older Tails props here. This thing could withstand a freaking nuclear blast.'
It was then that he noticed something twitching in the corner of his vision. He glanced down at the young fox at his side, shivering, twin tails wrapped tight around his small body. Scourge raised an eyeridge. They were sitting right next to a fire, how could he be cold? The hedgehog put a hand out towards the fire. The green flame was plenty hot, but nearly all its heat was contained. He pulled his hand away a bit, and felt hardly any warmth at all. 'Stupid magical fire, no wonder the kid's freezing,' he thought. Knowing he would probably hate himself for it later, he pulled off his leather jacket and draped it over the fox like a blanket. Without waking up, Tails immediately snatched it up and wormed his way inside it. While doing this, he also somehow squirmed up closer to Scourge, ending up with his head in the hedgehog's lap. Scourge, luckily, was too tired to complain. He shivered a little, now feeling the full effects of the room's chill. He sighed.
"Looks like I'm a softie now. Officially, this is the softest moment of my life. Taking care of a small child, who is now snuggled up in my lap," he deadpanned. 'If someone had told me a year ago… hell, even a week or two ago, that all this was going to happen… no way in hell I'd believe it. But shit, here I am.' The hedgehog yawned, his sunglasses falling a little bit in front of his eyes. He took them off and looked at them. One of the lenses was missing entirely, and the other one was cracked, a small portion of the red glass missing. The frames were dented and smashed up. Scourge frowned. He hadn't realized how busted up his shades had become since the cave-in. Perfect, those had been his last pair, too. He tossed them aside, the glasses clattering against the hard floor, and laid down with a huff. Tails repositioned himself so that his head was laying on the green one's stomach. His head was sort of an uncomfortable weight on Scourge's midsection, restricting the hedgehog from moving around or rolling over. But to be fair, the kid's head was keeping him warm. Scourge yawned again, sharp teeth bared. He felt exhausted. He'd done nothing but hike through caves and worry all day, and it had taken its toll. He definitely needed to get some sleep.
His whole body tensed up at the thought of what might happen when he closed his eyes. It was a very real possibility that he would have another vivid nightmare like the one he had the night before. Being terrified again like that… didn't exactly appeal to him. Having another dream about Smalls, or his dad, or anything else for that matter… He didn't want to think about it, let alone experience it. But he couldn't just stay awake for hours, just laying there, could he? He was already incredibly tired, yawning every few minutes. His eyes were starting to hurt from being open so long, his body was tired of moving. He doubted his ability to function if he continued to stay awake. But he wouldn't be able to deal with another nightmare, either. And with Lil' T literally sleeping on top of him, he didn't want to have a sudden freakout.
'So, basically picking the lesser of two evils here. I sleep enough to function, and I freak the fuck out. I stay awake, and I just… postpone the freakout. And possibly pass out later in the day.' Scourge closed his eyes, his hand moving to the bangs on Tails's head. 'I should sleep. I really should sleep, even if I just wake up in the middle of it. But I really, really don't want to. I just want this nightmare bullshit to be over,' he thought tiredly. He opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling. 'I guess I should stay awake. It's better if I keep watch, anyway. This way we don't get murdered by monsters in our sleep.' He shivered, the chill of the stone floor worming through his short fur. "G'night, kid," the hedgehog said quietly. "It's gonna be a long one."
Notes: And we've done it. Scourge is officially a big softie. We've done it everyone! About time these two made up, right? I know a lot of you were looking forward to it. I was too! But you'll have to wait and see what happens next chapter ;) Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying this story! It means so much to me, it really does. If you liked this chapter, please leave a review! They always brighten my day. See you next time!