Notes: Hey everyone! I know I just posted Beach Episode like, a week ago, but it's time for the real November chapter, lol :D Thank you all sooooo much for the positive response to the last chapter! I got more positive reviews than I was expecting, and I was really blown away. You guys are the best! Now prepare... for some angst B)
Sonic smiled triumphantly, tossing the cyan Emerald up in the air with one hand. "Well, that wasn't too hard."
"Piece of cake," Scourge agreed, stretching his arms up above his head before letting out a loud yawn. "Took for-freakin'-ever, though."
"Yeah, unfortunately, there's no real shortcut to getting through Rail Canyon." The two hedgehogs trudged out of the old train station, newly-acquired Emerald in tow. The once normal station had been long ago claimed by Eggman, and had been subsequently warped into a deathtrap. Though the place had largely been abandoned since the last time Sonic had his friends had run through, portions of the machinery had started to recently come back online. The Chaos Emerald had been found in one of the generator rooms, sending power to the bullet trains and cannons all across the canyon. Whether Eggman had put it there or if it had appeared all by itself, the twin hedgehogs weren't sure yet. "We should keep an eye on this place," Sonic said as they walked. It was dark outside, the stars in clear view overhead. "Just in case Eggman decides to show."
"A stakeout, huh? That's something I'd expect from a mission with Captain Helmet Head." Scourge rolled his eyes and kicked at a loose rock, sending it tumbling against the dark red ground. "Do we at least get coffee and donuts?"
"Um," the blue one swung his small backpack over his shoulder and unzipped it, peering inside. "We can have hotdogs if we get a fire going."
Scourge snorted. "Yeah, alright."
There wasn't a ton of wood lying around the industrial canyon, but they found plenty of crates and fire-starting materials inside the station. Soon they had a roaring fire going, and with the hotdogs roasting, it felt kind of like a camping trip. They were up on a high cliff, next to a station, and they had a good view of the whole canyon from there. Scourge kept watch, looking for movement below, while Sonic cooked. The fire burned hot, so it wasn't long before the hotdogs were done.
"I wish we had some chili for these," Scourge said, eating his dog dry. While his good twin had packed hotdogs and buns, he'd neglected to bring any condiments.
"Ugh, I know, right?!" Sonic lamented. "I wanted to make some before I left and put it in a tupperware to bring along, but Tails said there wasn't enough time." He sighed loudly before taking a big bite of his dinner. "Didn't know you liked chili dogs, though."
"They're like, the perfect food."
"Couldn't agree with you more, pal. Tails thinks I'm delusional, but he just doesn't understand."
"That's what Miles always said about me! Usually paired with an insult or a threat or something, though," Scourge snickered.
"Heh. Well, at the very least, I'm glad we get along now. It's much less exhausting that way." Sonic winked before stuffing his mouth with hotdog.
The green hedgehog smiled mischievously. "Bet I can eat my hotdogs faster than you."
"YOU'RE ON!"
Like most contests of speed, they were evenly matched. After eating five dogs each, barely tasting them as they went down, the two declared themselves "Done!" at the same time. This lead to a screaming match of "Jinx! Double jinx! Black magic!" before turning into a wrestling match. They didn't fight for long, tired from the day's events and feeling slightly sick from the hotdogs. Soon, they were lying on their backs, laughing and playfully arguing about who the victor was.
"I totally-" Scourge cough-wheezed, "won that hotdog thing."
"Okay, then I won jinx. You owe me a soda," Sonic said in between deep breaths.
"Yeah, in your dreams, Blue." He stuck his tongue out at him before yawning ferociously.
Sonic chuckled as he sat up. "Sounds like the King needs his beauty sleep."
"Like I need sleep to look this good," the Moebian scoffed. "... And don't call me King."
"Oh. No prob," the blue one lightly shrugged. "I'll take the first watch?"
Scourge stretched out on the ground, getting comfortable. "Yyyyyyyyep. Night, Blue."
"Night, Green."
The green hedgehog quickly nodded off, while Sonic stayed up, sitting with the light blue Chaos Emerald in his hands. He looked over the canyon, checking for signs of Eggman or any robot activity. He kept the fire burning, occasionally glanced over at Scourge, and ultimately decided to meditate a little bit with the Emerald. Knuckles had been hard on his case lately about Chaos stuff. Zonic was training, so Sonic was expected to put in more effort, too (Scourge was exempt, since he was still banned from Angel Island). He managed to meditate for a little while, but he ended up falling asleep, the Emerald still in his hands.
Sonic found himself in a long, seemingly endless hallway. It reminded him of a fancy hotel: ornate carpet and lighting, and identical doors lining each wall. The fur on the back of his neck bristled. Something about this place made him feel uncomfortable. Like he was trapped, or being watched. He decided to start walking, arbitrarily picking a direction, since the hall continued infinitely both ways.
He had started off walking, but when the scenery remained the same after a few minutes, he started running. Something around here had to change at some point. Eventually he started tugging on all the doors, finding them all locked. He groaned. If he had been able to realize then that this was a dream, he'd quickly rank it as one of the most boring dreams he'd ever had.
His ears flicked as he heard something. It sounded like… far off breathing, like whimpering. Not quite sobbing, but a similar tone. Was there someone else there? The blue blur stopped running and listened for the source of the sound. Inexplicably, it seemed to be coming from far behind him, which seemed weird, but nothing in this hallway felt normal so far. Simply rolling with it, Sonic turned around, seeing a figure in the distance, curled up and sitting on the floor against one wall. The hedgehog's eyes widened, and he slowly made his way back the way he came. He didn't want to scare… whoever this was.
"Hey, are you okay?" he called out. The figure looked up, seemingly terrified. They were still far away, but… they looked like a certain green hedgehog. "Scourge?" Sonic gasped.
He kept walking closer, now easily able to recognize the other person as Scourge. But the closer he got, even though he was walking slowly, the more frightened Scourge looked. When they were only about fifty feet apart, Scourge stood up and bolted away, running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
"Wha- wait, stop!" Sonic yelled, breaking into a run. Why the heck was Scourge running from him? What was going on? He hit his top speed quickly, the hallway around him blurring as he blasted through the sound barrier. Even though Scourge could run as fast as him, and the green one had a head start, the gap between them was closing. "Scourge, what's going on?!" Sonic yelled uselessly, since he was running faster than sound could travel. His words got lost behind him as he closed in on Scourge. He got close enough to latch his hand around Scourge's wrist, causing the green one to freak out and stop dead in his tracks. This sent both of them tumbling, hitting the carpet hard. Their arms and legs got rug burned as they both rolled to a stop, good twin on top of the bad.
Sonic was seconds away from asking Scourge why he ran, what this place was, what was going on, when he saw his friend's face. Scourge was terrified. Not only that, but he looked… a little bit younger. Maybe fifteen, sixteen years old. What was going on? "... Scourge? Are you okay?"
Scourge shoved, trying to get Sonic off of him. "Get away from me!" he shouted, voice cracking and blue eyes wild.
"What? Why? I'm your friend, remember?"
"Not in this place you aren't," he hissed, choking back tears. "Either you're gonna try to kill me, or somethin'll take over my body and I'll try to kill you and I can't do nothin' but watch- agh!" He almost wriggled himself out from under Sonic, but the blue hedgehog threw himself on top of him again.
Sonic frowned. He hated seeing Scourge this freaked out, but if he let him get up, they'd just end up in a chase again. "Why would I try and kill you?! I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk! What happened to you, where are we?"
"Stop trying to trick me!" the Moebian yelled, continuing to struggle. "You know where we are, and I know you're not on my side! You're not really Sonic, you're just-"
"I'm just what?! Tell me, 'cause I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You're just a damn nightmare!" Scourge screamed, tears pricking at his eyes. "Just some fucking figment of my imagination! It's always the same thing! I fall asleep, dream about this fuckin' hallway, and something tries to fucking kill me! Smalls, dad, the Time Eater, myself, and fuckin' Blue and Tails and Z! Dreamin' about my fuckin' best friends tryin' to murder me while I can't do nothin'-"
"Whoa whoa! Calm down, hey, shh," Sonic said, loosening his grip on Scourge ever so slightly. "A nightmare…? Am I dreaming this right now?"
Scourge froze, his eyes still wet, and his face contorting in confusion. "You dreamin'? Nuh uh, this is my nightmare, pal, my head. I've lived through it enough times to know."
"But… no, I'm really me. I know I'm Sonic," the blue one said, thinking out loud. "You fell asleep, I kept watch, I decided to start meditating… with the Chaos Emerald… shit, I must've fallen asleep while I was using it."
"... You said 'shit.' Sonic never says 'shit.' Not even when I dream him up," Scourge said quietly, narrowing his eyes.
"First of all, not true, I just save language like that for special occasions," Sonic corrected him. "And second, if I'm dreaming, I don't have much of a filter, do I? Just my brain, raw and uncut. Kind of 'stream of consciousness' right now, y'know?"
"You… you fell asleep with the Emerald… you wound up in my dream?" the scared hedgehog breathed.
"I guess so. Damn Emeralds, can't they just behave predictably for once?" Sonic sighed. He climbed off of Scourge, who was still frozen in shock, his face still that of a terrified kid. Sonic smiled down at him. "I'm the real deal, man. I'm not gonna hurt'cha, I promise." He extended a hand to help up the fallen hedgehog.
Scourge stared wide-eyed at the gloved hand, tentatively reaching up with his own. He touched Sonic's hand, feeling that it was solid, and warm. It felt substantial, more so than anything else in this place. "You're real," he choked, pulling himself up and wrapping his arms around Sonic's shoulders in one swift movement. "Oh my gods you're real, you're real…!" He started to laugh, which quickly turned into a half-laugh half-cry as tears started to leak out of his eyes.
Sonic was surprised by this outburst from the normally apathetic hedgehog, but if he didn't have much of a filter in his dreams, why would Scourge? He returned the hug, noticing that Scourge was definitely a couple inches shorter than him. "I got you, dude. I'm not gonna hurt ya, I promise."
"Thank Chaos… Wait, what the fuck am I doing?!" he gasped, pushing himself away from Sonic. "You're real! And I just… Ah jeez, please don't remember that when you wake up," he groaned, quickly wiping away his tears.
Sonic laughed. "No promises! But don't worry about it, I won't tell anyone. I know you work hard to keep up your 'tough guy' image."
"Thanks," the younger one sniffled, smiling a little bit.
"So," the blue hog said as he looked around, hands on his hips, "what is this place?"
"I think it's supposed to be like my parent's house?" Scourge said softly, still shaken up. "It's like some freakish nightmare hub. Every stinkin' bad dream I've had for the past few months… they've all started here."
"Yikes."
"Yeah… welcome to my twisted mind," he grinned, trying to suppress a laugh.
"Oh Chaos you've been waiting to use that one."
"I mean, not that I ever thought the opportunity would fuckin' present itself, but… C'mon, I had to."
"Hah. Okay, you angsty teen, you," Sonic joked, giving him a nudge, before realizing, "Wait, yeah, you are a teenager. You're smaller than me, why is that?"
"Wha…? Oh… Ah shit, you're right… I-I didn't even notice," Scourge stammered, just now noticing their height difference. He had to look up at him a little bit when talking. "I dunno man, dreams are weird like that."
Sonic shrugged. "Maybe it's 'cause you feel vulnerable in here, or something?"
"I do not!" the green one insisted, when all of a sudden, a door opened a little ways down the hall. It creaked open slowly, and Scourge practically melted into a shivering puddle. He backed into Sonic, his eyes glued to the door.
Sonic had never seen him act like this. Whatever these nightmares were like, they must be really bad. "What's happening?" he whispered.
"I dunno, it's different every time… Shit shit shit shit shit…"
"Here." Sonic took his hand, squeezing it tight. "This time's different. This time, I got you."
The lights started to flicker, and the door creaked open a little bit wider. It was pitch black inside, and the two hedgehogs could feel cold air rushing from it, like the door lead outside on a windy winter day.
"We should run," Scourge gulped.
"Agreed," Sonic said, taking off in the opposite direction of the door, pulling Scourge behind him. The two sped down the hallway, hand-in-hand, thankful that there were no obstacles or turns in their way. The continuously flickering lights were making it difficult to see. Doors started slamming open all around them as they ran, the cold darkness seeping out of them until it filled the entire hallway. The lights turned off entirely. Scourge yelped. Sonic nearly lost his hold on his hand for a moment, but was able to hold on as everything around them seemed to vanish.
When they could see again, they found themselves in a dark, gray room. It felt like a warehouse, just because of the cold, industrial feel it had. Cement floors, metal ceiling with exposed pipes and wires, cheap overhead lighting. It was small though, around the size of a living room. Nowhere to run. The lights above were buzzing and flickering. The two hedgehogs found themselves in the middle of the room, looking all around, hearts beating rapidly.
The small room had one door, and both pairs of eyes were drawn to it when it opened. In walked Scourge- normally aged, wearing old jacket and sunglasses, Super Scourge.
Sonic was shocked. He knew this was a dream and all, but two Scourges? And this new one didn't seem particularly friendly, judging from the pissed-off look in his black-and-red eyes. The real Scourge, still gripping his hand, looked scared to death.
"Well, lookie what we have here," Super Scourge grinned maliciously, walking over to them. "Pipsqueak brought a friend along!" He slapped a hand on Sonic's back, raising an eyeridge as he did so. His hand was cold, Sonic noticed- not like ice, but definitely chilly enough to send a shiver up his spine. "Whoa, the real deal, huh? Looks like we got a live one! Oh Sonic, you are in for a treat tonight!" The purple hedgehog laughed, giving the blue one a gentle couple of slaps on the cheek.
"Oh yeah?" Sonic asked, deciding to push his luck. "Mind if I ask what the main attraction is?"
"Oh, it's something Little Scourgey here knows quite well," the Super hedgehog smiled. He floated off the ground, grossing his legs at the ankles as the aura radiating off him grew a little stronger. "It's a little something I like to call 'Me Murdering all of his Friends and Loved Ones and Forcing Him to Watch as the Life Drains out of Their Eyes.' Although, since we have a guest, I might have to turn up the heat a little. Whaddaya say?"
"I say, good luck tryin' to lay a hand on anybody while I'm here!" Sonic growled.
Scourge whimpered and shook his head. "Blue, you… you can't. I tried, ya can't fight 'im," he said, his voice hushed.
"Greenie's right," the violet hedgehog smirked. In the blink of an eye, his hand was around Scourge's throat, suspending him in midair. "I mean, it ain't called a nightmare for nothin'." He launched Scourge forcefully across the room, the green hog flying painfully into a pile of crates in one corner. "Of course," Super Scourge said, looking right at Sonic with piercing red eyes, "you're always welcome to try. C'mon, punch right through me. It tickles." He turned his head to the side, letting his cheek be the perfect target.
Sonic looked back at the smashed boxes, relieved to see Scourge slowly climbing out of them. He turned his attention back to the apparent orchestrator of the nightmare. He took one step back, readying a kick. "Well, if you insist," he said, face set in a scowl. He let a supersonic kick fly, nailing Super solidly in the side of the head.
Not expecting to feel anything, Super Scourge was easily knocked across the room, landing hard on the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK," he howled, clutching his head. Not only had he felt the kick, but it hurt. He gritted his teeth, the dark aura around him bursting as his rage grew like a forest fire. "HOW. DID. YOU. DO THAT?!"
Sonic merely rolled his shoulder, cracking it, as he got into a loose fighting stance. "I don't play by your rules. This may be a nightmare, but it ain't mine."
Scourge looked at his good twin in pure awe. While he himself had never been able to do anything in these dreams, Sonic was kicking his inner demons to the ground effortlessly. It was something he'd never thought possible.
The energy around Super crackled like electricity. "We'll see about that," he threatened, reaching one arm through the floor like it wasn't even there. He pulled back up, dragging a struggling Tails by the throat.
The fox was bruised and battered, fighting to breathe. "Sonic!" He choked out, looking at his brother with a terrified expression.
Sonic tensed up. "I know he's not real. You can't trick me," he said, trying his best not to appear shaking and to keep his eyes off Tails.
"He doesn't need to be real," Super Scourge said, squeezing hard on Tails's neck. "I just gotta do this." He took the fox in both hands and slammed him over his knee. There was a sickening crack, and Tails fell to the ground. Super kicked him hard in the ribs, which sent him tumbling and weakly moaning across the cement floor.
"Tails!" Sonic cried instinctively, and he resisted the urge to run over to his "brother's" side. He gritted his teeth. He knew that this wasn't real, but it felt real. If he wasn't careful, he'd easily lose himself.
Behind him, Scourge was kicking the rest of the broken wood off of him, his eyes focused on Tails. Sonic held his hands out to the side, stopping Scourge from running over to the fox, and stopping Super from trying to hurt the green hedgehog again.
Super grinned. "You're no fun, Sonic. Looks like I'll have to turn up the heat, after all!"
The next thing they knew, everything was on fire. All of their friends were on the ground, bleeding and crying out for help. Sonic found it hard to breathe, both from the heat and the smoke, but also from the tight feeling in his chest. The blue hedgehog froze at the sight, unable to process what he was seeing, how all this happened. Even as Scourge kneeled down next the nearest friend he could find, panicking as his hands went right through them, Sonic struggled to move. Super Scourge floated in the middle of the room, laughing cruelly, but it was almost as if he were behind glass. The sound was distorted, and he looked blurry and faded. Far more tangible were the bodies of Sonic's friends, all reaching out for him.
Sonic slowly moved towards Tails, unable to help himself. He was stuck in a weird limbo of being convinced that this was all real, and knowing that it wasn't. Scourge, despite having been the one to tell him this was all a dream in the first place, now fully believed that everything he was seeing was real. It was easy for the green one to lose his senses and forget he was dreaming. He'd been through this so many times, had grown so tired of resisting it night after night. In comparison, Sonic's mind was a much tougher nut to crack. This wasn't his dream, so it was easier to distance himself from the events. But now his head was getting foggy, and the vision of his battered younger brother reaching out for him was too powerful for him to fight back.
Super Scourge seemed to vanish, everyone else fading from view as Sonic focused on getting to Tails. He felt like he was walking through molasses, even though everything around him was burning hot. The smoke that billowed around him was thick and soupy, slowing his movements. He walked across the small room, never reaching the opposite wall. Tails, continuously crying, never got any closer. Soon, everyone else was gone, too far away. It was just Sonic, the cruel mirage of his brother, and the tons of liquid smoke that pooled around his feet. His head grew foggier and foggier, and his view of Tails became blocked by smoke and fire. Sonic broke into a coughing fit, falling to his knees.
Instead of hitting the floor, he fell down, down into an ocean of smoke. It was dark and heavy, crawling into his lungs and dragging him downward. He could still faintly hear Tails's cries, Scourge screaming, and Super Scourge still laughing. Sonic felt numb. Wanting to think but his mind too clouded, wanting to move but unable to find the strength. He didn't know where he was. What was going on? He couldn't remember how he'd ended up here, buried under black swirling nothingness. He knew there was something going on, someone he needed to protect… but who?
He coughed, the memories dislodging themselves and exploding into his mind. Scourge. This was Scourge's dream, and he was getting lost in it. What was he doing? None of this was real. He needed to get out of here, he needed to get back to Scourge. He didn't know how long he was gone for, but he needed to get back. "Scourge!" he cried out, eyes scanning the darkness for his friend. "Green, where are you? Scourge?" He tried to move towards the smoke, pushing himself in the direction the green hedgehog's faint cries seemed to be coming from. Sonic didn't expect to move at all, but after a while of struggling, the faint sounds seemed to grow louder, and the smoke less dense. Feeling more confident, he pushed harder, making more progress. The darkness surrounding him eventually faded away, leaving him back in the burning warehouse room once more.
Super Scourge was still there, still laughing, now joined by Smalls the Cat and a person Sonic had to assume was Scourge's father. They circled around Scourge, who was kneeling defeated on the floor, pounding the words "It's your fault" into his head over and over again. The mirages of their hurt friends lying on the ground had all stopped moving, succumbing to the flames.
Sonic's presence hadn't been noticed yet, so he took the opportunity to line himself up with the closest badguy. He sprinted forward, jumping up and homing attacking the back of Smalls's head. The cat fell to the ground in front of Scourge, stunned, and Sonic landed on the far end of the broken circle. Everyone was fully aware of his presence now, to say the least.
Super Scourge screamed angrily, bursting into dark purple flame. He raised a fist, but Sonic came at him with a spinning double kick. His first leg connected with Super's fist, and the second leg with his face, pushing him away. Jules tried to get a hand around Sonic's neck as his feet came back down to the ground, but Sonic ducked down to the ground in time to avoid it. He slammed a fist upward into Jules's chest, sending the older hedgehog stumbling back.
"Scourge, c'mon! Let's get out of here!" Sonic said, reaching a hand down to the other hedgehog, who was still on the ground.
"No… No, I can't… They're all dead, it's my fault, I killed them…" Scourge stammered to himself, head tilted down and tears streaming down his face. "They hate me now, they're all dead and they all hate me…"
"No no no no, it's okay. They're not dead, they don't hate you! It's just a trick!" Sonic tried to comfort him, while also fending off the three tormentors who had gotten up and were coming for them. He curled into a spindash and knocked them all away in the blink of an eye. He landed next to Scourge, putting both hands on his shoulders. "None of this is real, buddy. It's a nightmare, remember? You need to focus so we can get out of here."
"A… a nightmare? No… No, this is all real, they're all dead-"
"Scourge, focus. Please." Sonic tilted Scourge's face up, and gritted his teeth as he realized the green one looked even younger than he did before. Being alone, scared, vulnerable like this… it was really messing with him. "It's me, Sonic, remember? I'm real, like you are."
Scourge grabbed onto Sonic's hand with his own, reassured by its solidity and warmth. "Just a nightmare," he whispered to himself, seemingly trying to make himself believe the words. His dad, Smalls, and Super Scourge were all getting up, hurting from Sonic's hits on them but still willing to fight. "W-we gotta get outta here…!"
Sonic looked around the burning room, trying to see a way out. There were a set of double doors, but they were surrounded by fire. Good thing he had a solution for that. "Get down!" he hissed, waiting for Scourge to drop to the ground before he started to rev up in a furious spindash. He careened for the doors, the wind in his wake blowing the flames back. He cleared the way of fire, before turning around and launching himself towards Super Scourge once more. "Stay down, jerk!" he shouted, pushing the violet hedgehog back but not knocking him over.
"I have had enough of you!" Super yelled back, blasting him to the ground.
The wind got knocked out of him as he hit the floor hard. Super Scourge planted a boot on his chest, preventing him from easily getting back up. "Scourge, go! I'll catch up!" the blue one said.
The younger hedgehog was understandably apprehensive about leaving his friend alone in this place. He backed towards the door, refusing to take his eyes off anyone. The back of his foot gently nudged Amy's body, unmoving on the floor. "I-it's just a nightmare, just a nightmare, none of this is real," he stuttered to himself, a shiver shooting up his spine. He forced himself to move, needing to get out of there. He zipped over to the double doors, but hesitated going through without Sonic.
Luckily, he didn't have to wait for very long. Sonic breakdanced himself out from underneath Super Scourge, kicking the purple hog right in the jaw in the process. Not wanting to waste any time, the speedster scrambled to his feet, making a mad dash for the double doors. He picked Scourge up, tucking him under one arm, and blew through the doors like they weren't hot, heavy metal.
They wound up back in the endless ornate hallway. While Scourge was still trying to process what was happening, Sonic moved the green hedgehog to his back, picked a direction, and started sprinting. Giving a piggyback ride was a lot easier and safer than carrying Scourge around like a rag doll. 'What the hell was that back there?!' Sonic thought, finally having a free second to think about what they just went through. Scourge was having nightmares about seeing his friends' dead bodies, and being told by some of worst enemies (and himself) that it was all his fault. That certainly raised some questions about the green one's mental state. Sonic had nearly succumbed to the dream himself, drowning alone in the smoke, unable to form a cohesive thought. He shuddered. He didn't like not being in control of himself like that. Hopefully it wouldn't happen again, and he'd be able to keep his cool.
"Oh Chaos they're coming, they're chasing us!" Scourge yelped as he glanced behind them. He wrapped his arms tighter around Sonic, trying not to shake.
The blue hedgehog, in response, sped up, moving through the hallway at a blistering pace. "How do we get out of here?"
"I don't know! One time the hallway ended and there was a door, but that wasn't the end of the dream! W-we're trapped!"
"What about these other doors?"
"No, there's never anything good behind them, they just get worse and worse and worse-"
"Hey, it'll be okay. Don't start freaking out on me, bud," Sonic said, trying to come up with a plan. He couldn't go back, and going forward wasn't leading to anything new. The corridor never ended, never changed. The only options were the doors, which apparently, weren't the most fun to explore. But maybe… so far, Sonic had been able to do things here that Scourge couldn't. Fight back, remember that it was all just a dream. He wasn't as affected. He glanced back for a second, seeing that Super Scourge was gaining on them, fast. "Hang on!" He pushed forward even more, trying to get a little extra time. He couldn't outrun the Super hedgehog forever.
Once there was a big enough distance between them, Sonic ducked inside a door, slamming it shut behind him.
"No no no no no! What are you doing?!" Scourge yelped, squeezing his eyes shut. "What part of 'doors are bad' did you not understand?!"
"I… I think it's okay," the older of the two said, his voice hushed. He took a step away from the door, looking around. "It looks like the workshop in here." Everything was there: the old beat-up couch, the tv, the shelves with music and video games. Sun was streaming in through the window, and the house felt cozy and warm. There were sounds of tinkering coming from the basement, filling the space with a comforting sound that indicated that Tails was down there.
Scourge took a peek at the room, still clinging to Sonic's back. It did seem just like the workshop, and with nothing immediately trying to hurt him, he was able to relax a little bit. "I don't trust it," he murmured, quills bristling. Just because it was quiet now didn't mean it would stay that way. He looked tentatively out the small window in the front door, and shied away when he saw Super Scourge banging on the door furiously. Inside though, the door wasn't budging- there was no indication that anyone was pounding on it at all. Maybe they were safe, at least from outside attackers.
Sonic set the young Moebian down, carefully stepping and peering around the workshop. The place definitely felt dreamier than normal, less substantial, but that was to be expected, really. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. He padded over to the basement door, opening it up and looking down inside. Again, all normal. Lights on, dream-Tails sitting at his workbench, banging away at something. "Yo, Tails!" he called down.
The fox stopped working, pushing his goggles up on his forehead and looking up. "Sup, Sonic?"
The hedgehog sighed in relief. He half expected Tails to be hurt or dead or something, but he looked fine. "Uh, not much. Just gonna chill up here with Scourge for a bit until we wake up."
"Alright, sounds good. Tell him I say hi, alright?"
"No prob, bud," Sonic nodded. Tails went back to working, so he closed the door and stepped back into the living room. He walked slowly, still feeling a bit on edge, but starting to release some of the tension in his muscles. "Scourge? I think everything's okay here," he said, keeping his volume down. The peace of the workshop felt like it could easily be shattered.
Scourge was sitting on the couch, balled up in the corner, keeping the front door constantly in his peripheral vision. "It better be. I'm fuckin' sick of this shit… I-I mean, look at me!" He stood up, drawing himself to his full height. He was nearly a head shorter than Sonic was, and his leather jacket hung limply off of him. "I'm gettin' so freaked out, I'm pullin' a fuckin' Zonic here." He held his head in his hands and plopped himself back down on the couch, Sonic joining him.
"Sorry," the blue one sighed. "I guess... me being here is kind of a big-time invasion of privacy, huh?"
"Well, yeah. You're in my dream, you dick," Scourge joked, finally feeling just a bit more at ease. "Then again, you were able to fight off those jerks. And you got us here, someplace that's… safe enough. I should probably be thanking you. This would've been a lot worse if you hadn't crash landed in my brain."
"Um… anytime?" Sonic shrugged. "Anyway, Tails is downstairs, he says hi. I told him we would just kind of chill here until we wake up."
"Chaos knows when that'll be. I only seem to wake up from these things when something terrible happens."
"Something worse than what we just came from?"
"I guess. I dunno. Maybe if you hadn't gotten me out of there, I would've just woken up then. Convinced that everyone was dead and it was all my fault. Pretty fuckin' par for the course…" he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. "Gods, I'm so fuckin' tired a' this… I've been livin' the good life for a couple months now, and it's still hard for me to get a good night's sleep. S'all I want."
"Good thing we're here in the workshop, then," Sonic said, a smidge of a smile forming on his face. "We seem to be pretty safe here. We can just chill. Let you sleep soundly for once. Yeah?"
Scourge took a deep breath in and out. "Yeah." He leaned back, letting himself rest against the back of the sofa. He kept one eye trained on the front door, and the windows next to it. Super Scourge, his father, and Smalls were all clawing at the doors and windows, screaming inaudibly. He may have been safe, but he was also trapped. He grimaced. Just looking at them was making him nervous. Remembering everything they did… everything he was afraid of… he could practically feel himself getting even smaller, more nervous.
"Don't pay attention to them," Sonic said, having followed Scourge's gaze to the window. "They can't get in, they can't hurt you. They're just trying to scare you."
"Yeah, well, it's workin'," Scourge breathed, curling in on himself a little bit tighter.
The blue hedgehog frowned, standing back up again. He walked over to the windows, closing all the blinds one by one. The three aggressors stuck outside, still banging away, were now only blurry silhouettes. "There," he said, nodding in satisfaction. He sat back down next to Scourge, who looked a bit more relaxed now that he couldn't see them. "So, I get the deal with your dad and Smalls, but what's with Super Scourge? I'm a little confused about him," Sonic asked, crossing one leg as he sat down and letting the other dangle off the couch. He noticed Scourge squirm a little bit, trying to avoid looking at the curtains. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I've already invaded the hell out of your privacy, so I won't pry."
"I don't… really wanna talk about him," Scourge muttered, his fingers tightening around the sleeves of his too-big jacket. "I don't wanna talk about any of 'em. I just want 'em to go away."
"I dunno how much I can do about that, buddy," Sonic sighed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "They seem like they're pretty tough. But I don't think they can get in here, so we should be safe. If anything else bad happens, I'm gonna be here to protect you, yeah?"
"But back there… there was fire everywhere, and everyone was dead, and… and I did it. It was my fault. A-at least, I thought I did it. And you were gone."
"Because I was scared too. I forgot that this wasn't real, just like you did. 'Cause you were right, man, your dreams are freaky, and right now this feels real as hell. Seeing Tails and the others hurt back there… I knew it wasn't real, but I didn't care. It felt real, and I was freakin' terrified." He shivered, pulling Scourge a little closer.
"... Really?" the younger hedgehog asked, looking up at him in disbelief. "You were scared?"
"Whuh- yeah! Of course I was, who wouldn't be?!" Sonic practically laughed. "Dude, this shit is the worst. Worse than a lot of the nightmares I've had. And the fact that you've been living through these for months now? Don't sell yourself short, Scourge. You're tough as nails for dealing with this."
"Y'call this tough as nails?" Scourge pouted, looking down at himself. "The more scared I get, the smaller I get. And right now, I look like… Pft, I look younger than fuckin Little Blue."
The blue hedgehog smiled a bit, remembering their adventure with his past-self. "Yeah, I guess you do. But there's nothing wrong with being scared."
"Yeah, but I get scared way more than you do," Scourge said. He pulled his knees up closer to his chest, burying his face in them. "Like, the only times I've seen you get scared in real life… was when we saw the Time Eater destroying Mobius. And I guess a little bit when yer time powers were outta control an' shit."
"Well then, I guess I'm just good at hiding it, because I was scared a lot more than that over the course of that whole adventure. And I get scared by other things too, not just the entire world coming to an end." He looked down at Scourge, who was looking down at his small hands. His fingertips were poking out from the sleeves of his jacket, and the material was bunched up around his wrists and his elbow. He really was small, a scared little kid beneath all the bravado and the tough-guy act. That wasn't something that could be fixed with one impromptu amateur therapy session in one of his nightmares. Building his confidence would take time. "...Y'know something? You… actually remind me of Tails."
Scourge scoffed, looking up at Sonic like the hero had just grown an extra head. "How the fuck am I like him? That kid is fuckin' liquid sunshine, and I'm definitely not."
"When I found Tails," Sonic said, his voice low, almost like he was telling a bedtime story, "he was scared out of his wits. He grew up on Westside Island, getting bullied all the time. He didn't like other people, he didn't like lightning... he was afraid of making anyone mad, and that lead to him being afraid of messing up. Kid was a little bundle of nerves. It was a miracle he even let me help him out."
He paused for breath when Scourge spoke just as quietly, "He's still scared'a lightnin'. Doesn't like storms…"
"Heh, yeah. He got better about all the other things, though," Sonic smiled. "And I mean, he was just a kid. Little kids have an easier time adapting and changing and learning. So for you, it might take longer than it took him. So yeah, maybe you do feel scared a lot. But I think that won't always be the case. I believe in you, bud."
"... You do?"
"'Course I do! You're my friend, and you've come so far already. I think you can do anything, including facing your fears. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, Scourge."
"Heh… if you say so, Blue."
"Well, I do say so. So there." Sonic stuck his tongue out at him, and Scourge leaned into his side to give him a shove. The kid started to laugh as Sonic gave him a noogie.
And then they woke up.
Scourge's eyes fluttered open, quickly adjusting to the morning sun shining overhead. He was lying on his back, and his fingers grasped at the solid ground underneath him. He exhaled slowly, the gesture not as shaky as it usually was when he woke up from a nightmare. The dream still clung to his mind like cobwebs, fuzzing his mind and clouding up his thoughts. It was just a dream, it wasn't real, but at the same time... "Sonic," he spoke, his voice raspy and thick. "Was that… did you-"
"Wind up in your dream last night? Yeah," his friend replied, lying on the floor on the other side of their dying campfire. Sonic pushed himself up to a sitting position, the Chaos Emerald still in one of his hands. "That was… weird. Very, very weird."
"How much do you remember?"
"Um… more than I usually remember when I wake up from something like that. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I uh… I think so." The green one yawned, stretching out on the hard ground. "I feel like I actually got some rest for once… You?"
"I feel totally drained," Sonic laughed, "but I'm also not used to having dreams like that. Plus, I guess I was sort of using the Chaos Emerald all night… Yeesh. I need a nap."
"We just woke up."
"Your point?"
Scourge snorted, and rubbed at his sleepy eyes with the back of his hand. "I guess… I should probably thank you. If you hadn't hitchhiked on my dream train, that would have been way worse. Not that I appreciate you snooping around in my head or anything."
"Sorry. Next time I'll knock first." Sonic slowly pushed himself onto his feet, letting loose a loud yawn. "Oh, Chaos… Yeah, not gonna try that again for a while… But I'm still glad I was able to help. It sucks that you always have to go through that alone. Now, what do you say we get outta here? I wanna get back to the workshop… sleep on an actual bed…" He trudged over next to Scourge, holding his hand out to him to help him up.
Scourge looked blankly at his hand, his mind still jumbled up and clouded. He lazily lifted up his arm, gently slapping Sonic's hand rather than grabbing it. "Gimme a few minutes," he said tiredly, dropping his arm back down at his side.
Sonic smiled, getting down onto his knees and then lying down next to him. "Sure thing." He stretched his arms out over his head, grunting in satisfaction. They both needed a bit of a rest after all that had happened, even though they technically slept through the whole thing. As it turned out, sharing dreams was an exhausting experience, especially very personal dreams. Sonic was pretty used to getting up and moving around first thing in the morning, but today, all he wanted to do was move to his bed. He didn't mind lying down for a little while longer.
"Hey… promise you won't tell anyone what happened in my dream," the green one quietly said. "They already know I got nightmares, I don't need 'em knowin' any details."
"You got it, boss," Sonic said, closing his eyes.
The two hedgehogs relaxed quietly, each with closed eyes and just listening to the quiet sounds of Rail Canyon in the morning. Wind billowed around the mountains and valleys, the rails creaking and straining against the strong breeze. There was the distant cawing of large birds, the occasional huff of steam from machines that were still running. It was a rather quiet setting, which was just what they needed after such a wild and chaotic night. Sonic breathed slowly, in and out through his nose, his mind still trying to piece together everything that happened in Scourge's nightmare. As was the case with most dreams, he didn't remember all of it, and a lot of what he did remember was blurry or in the wrong order. He would've loved to ask Scourge more questions about it, to find out what everything meant, to find out how his friend was really doing. To find out if he really was just the frightened, lost child his subconscious portrayed him as. But those questions would be way too pressing and personal, and there wasn't much Scourge hated talking about more than the things that scared him. He was just going to have to speculate by himself for now- at least until Scourge opened himself up again.
Notes: I couldn't resist doing another Scourge nightmare sequence. All the ones in Time Warp were just so fun, I couldn't let them go! Scourge still isn't totally willing to open up to his friends about what exactly he goes through, but he'll get there. Someday. Maybe.
Don't forget to leave a review if you liked this chapter! Each review I get seriously makes my day better and makes me want to keep writing this story. Plus, every review counts as a hug for little baby Scourge. Comfort the child.
Thanks for reading! See you all next time... for the Cosmic Technicality Holiday Special! I can't wait lmaooo