Before the Destructix could eagerly begin their journey of revenge and chaos, however, there was one thing they couldn't ignore.
They needed food.
Their search led them through the grimy and confined labyrinth of neon-lit city streets, eventually bringing them to a modest ramen shop tucked away in the urban chaos. The windows looked as though they'd never been washed, the staff's lack of hope was visually obvious, and there were roaches crawling around a man's bowl who had fallen asleep at his table. The ramen itself, however, was listed at a great price!
Scourge found himself fighting back a rush of saliva threatening to spill from his mouth. He was typically indifferent when it came to ramen, but he was more than willing to have any somewhat edible food that wasn't shoved in his face or stolen from him. As it stands, his jacket had gotten noticeably loose from losing at least 10 pounds, leaving the disgruntled green hedgehog to constantly adjust it.
"Here, guys." Scourge almost blurted out as he headed for the door, his hunger pulling him forward like a magnet. The closer he got, the more potent the smell became thus causing his accelerating heartbeat to block out most noise.
Fiona Fox couldn't help but laugh a little as she heard her tough-as-nails boyfriend quietly begin panting over some cheap ramen.
"What?" A confused Scourge turned to face Fiona, his brows furrowed in confusion.
Realizing that her boyfriend was unaware of his irregular breathing, Fiona dismissed his question with a nonchalant wave and a whispered "nuthin." Turning to the cashier, she ordered, "6 bowls." Then she instructed one of their group, "Fly, save us some seats outside," completing the transaction and accepting the waiting number in return.
"Okay-dokay!" replied Flying Frog, hopping outside with wild enthusiasm. Moments later, the group watched through the grimy window as six startled people were flung through the air, accompanied by Flying Frog's triumphant voice announcing, "I got us the neat-eat-seats!"
Unfazed, the group waited until their food was done before going outside to an equally unfazed population.
"Uh, does nobody care that Flying threw people around?" Sgt. Simian inquired, unsuccessfully searching the crowd for any signs of terror at what had just occurred.
"If you live here, you've seen worse." Scourge rolled his eyes as they sat at the table. Once the aroma of ramen sat beneath his nose, he felt his other senses fade into a blur. His movements felt automatic as he cleaned the bowl in less than a minute.
"Babe, that's hot," Fiona warned, watching as the green hedgehog practically inhaled his ramen.
"You fhink me eating ramen is hoht?" He asked, chewing down the last mouthful of noodles with a puzzled look.
"No, Scourge, the ramen's hot."
Indeed it was. But since Scourge was a tough guy, he handled it with ease. He totally didn't want to yelp as he felt a small yet painful burn forming on the roof of his mouth. He was too tough to let that bother him. He was perfectly fine.
"Yeah, ha," he managed to say after gulping down the remainder of his noodles and guzzling his soda in a single, long swig.
"Hey, don't make yourself throw up, hon." Fiona gently patted his back.
"Yes, please…" Predator Hawk muttered, blowing on his food before taking a bite.
"Yeah! I bet 'Snot' isn't the worst name you could be yuck-muck-stuck with!" Flying blurted out, hopping in his seat. His comment incited quiet laughter from Predator and Lightning Lynx.
Scourge feigned laughter, "Yeah, right. Now, shut up."
"Lighten up, tough guy. We're out of prison and we've got plans ahead of us." Fiona tried to soothe him, offering a light kiss on his cheek.
"Yep." Scourge perked up, reminded of his plan for vengeance, "That kid Miles is the first on the list. The whole 'Suppression Squad betraying me' thing was his idea."
"Are we killing a kid?" Lightning asked, leaning back in his seat and sipping his drink.
"No. At least not yet." Scourge readjusted his red sunglasses. "He's tougher than he looks, but I'm sure with all of us we can nab him that way we can get information on the castle's security."
"What??" Simon nearly spit out his drink as he growled, "the brat gave you hell. He deserves-"
"Yeah, yeah I know that better than anyone, man." Scourge sighed, "but look, it's the most fool-proof way to get the castle back."
"Yeah, well where are we gonna keep the runt?" Predator raised a brow crossing his arms.
"Welp, that's the first part of the plan, we need a safehouse," Scourge mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Somewhere low profile, where nobody will bother to look."
"Like somewhere abandoned?" Fiona suggested, resting her hand against her chin as she leaned on the table.
"Yeah… Hell, I'm sure it won't be too hard to find…" as Scourge pondered potential locations for their hideout, he was distracted by a disgruntled man whose food was stolen from him. The man then stormed around, demanding to know who took it.
Fiona scoffed at his behavior and yelled, "get another bowl, jackass!"
"Fuck you, bitch! I want my fucking food!" Before he could yell anything else, he was lifted by the neck and slammed against a nearby wall.
"What the hell did you say to her!?" the man heard Scourge growl in his face, sending him into a sheepish state.
"I-I didn't mean her I-"
"Bullshit! I'm gonna fucki-"
"Babe." Fiona gently patted Scourge's back, "If he's bold enough to talk like that, he wants business with me. Let me handle it."
Scourge rolled his eyes before tossing his victim to the ground.
"Now, it sucks that your ramen was stolen. But instead of yelling in people's faces about who stole it…" she hoisted him up by his shirt and flung him into the shop like an unwanted rag doll, "just buy another fucking bowl!"
With that, she calmly returned to her seat, smoothing down her hair.
Scourge couldn't tear his eyes off of her, and he certainly couldn't suppress the grin that was spreading across his face. He muttered an appreciative "attagirl."
Fiona winked at him, having heard him murmur before asking, "More ramen?"
"Nah, I think I'm all set for now."
"Are we all done?" Fiona asked the rest of the Destructix, receiving a collective 'yeah' in response.
"M'kay lezzgo." She said before they got up to begin their search.
As they walked among the streets of the urban wasteland, Scourge frowned as he reached for his quills, searching for signs of growth. He was disappointed by the dull texture as a result of them being shaved down in prison.
"They'll grow back." Fiona reassured him, wrapping an arm around his midsection as they walked.
"Not fast enough. Hey, do ya have my smokes?" The thought energized him, as he hadn't had one since before he was arrested.
She pulled the pack out of her purse, "Not many left, but better than nothing." The fiery fox pulled one out and placed it between his lips before arching an eyebrow and asking, "Mind if I have one?"
"Knock yourself out, Fi."
"Thanks." After lighting their cigarettes, she took a puff and sighed, "Oh, this would be so much better if we were on our thrones…"
"Oh, I know what ya mean, baby." He took a long puff and fixed his sunglasses, looking at the slums around them, "we fell from grace for sure, but it's just a setback. It's all part of the beginning." He turned his head to her and gently ran a couple fingers through her hair. "Besides, I'm not leavin' the queen of Moebius disappointed."
Warmth flooded Fiona's cheeks as she leaned into him, unable to fight off a grin "Well, when ya put it like that…"
"God, get a room…" Lightning rolled his eyes.
"Shove it." Scourge scoffed, flipping the lynx off, sending him into a fuming rage.
"You shove it, you son of a-"
"Looky! Nobody's been here for a smile-mile-while!" Flying Frog hopped over to a large, decrepit, concrete building with a rusted illegible sign.
Scourge inspected the building closely. Something about it was familiar. He couldn't put his finger on it until he saw the rotting remains of a small playground.
The realization sucked all the air from the green hedgehog's lungs.
"What was this, a school?" Lightning asked.
"An orphanage," Scourge felt like he was being strangled as he spoke.
Fiona, who knew Scourge better than anybody, recognized his tense state and told the others to set up inside as she spoke to Scourge in private.
"This is where you put her, isn't it?" She asked quietly, her gaze drifting over the shattered windows and crude graffiti.
"Yeah," Scourge muttered after swallowing thickly.
"Hey… You didn't know it'd turn out like this. Besides, maybe she got adopted before it--"
'Let me see the pack and lighter," he interrupted sharply, extending his hand.
With a slight purse of her lips, Fiona handed them to Scourge, crossing her arms as she watched him light up another cigarette.
"Wanna head in?" He asked, adjusting his glasses, his words accompanied by a puff of smoke.
"Lead the way, bruiser." Fiona replied, motioning towards the door.
Scourge knew it was useless to try and piece together what happened to her. It didn't matter if she was dead, adopted, or gathered up by law enforcement to be forced to work in a factory. He was never going to see her again. Even still, he couldn't help but spare a thought for her.
That thought didn't last long as he was brought back to reality by the gentle brush of his girlfriend's hand against his.
"You alright?" she asked, her pinky finger instinctively curling around his in a comforting gesture.
"Hm? Yep." He replied tersely with a nonchalant nod, his hand remaining static and unresponsive to her affectionate touch.
"Okay…" she murmured in response as they stepped in to join the rest of their gang, ready to inspect their new territory.
If it weren't for the sparse remnants of cheap toys and child-sized furniture scattered haphazardly, it would be difficult to imagine this place had ever served as an orphanage. The few decorative elements that had survived the wrath of vandals were dull and devoid of life, rendering the place akin to austere military barracks rather than a haven for orphaned children.
However, the place had its advantages, offering ample space to establish a makeshift base and plenty of mattresses for their comfort.
"How long has this place been abandoned?" Lightning asked monotonously.
"I last heard about this place being active when I was 11." Scourge peered over his sunglasses to see better in the progressively dimming evening light.
"And you're what? 15?" Predator interjected, a look of puzzlement etched across his face, "it looks like it's been abandoned way longer.
"16," Scourge corrected him, rolling his eyes in mild annoyance as he adjusted his jacket once more. "It was a dump then, too. But it was the only orphanage around, so…"
"So, what?" Simon asked apathetically, crossing his arms.
"Nothing." Scourge replied curtly, clearing his throat.
With an air of growing exhaustion, Fiona slowly blinked as she raised her hand to rub her eyes before instructing the gang, "well, we haven't slept much since before we broke out, so we should do that before we get the show officially rollin',"
A unanimous agreement followed, and together they scrounged up an assortment of worn-out mattresses to sleep on in various rooms for the night.
As Scourge laid on a set of child-sized, rotting mattresses, sleep proved itself to be rather difficult as the oppressive summer heat not only soaked him in a sticky layer of sweat but seemed to amplify the pungent aroma of neglect that permeated the decrepit building. Upstairs, Flying had chosen his resting spot, but was struggling to wind down. He vented his restless energy through a series of thunderous hops, each one so powerful that it dislodged tiny bits of debris from the ceiling, raining them down onto Scourge and Fiona as they sought rest in the room below.
"We only slept for, like, 3 hours since we broke out," Fiona complained, her voice heavy with exasperation. "How the hell does he have that much energy?"
Scourge merely grumbled in response, his words barely comprehensible. He sat up, stripping off his jacket and sunglasses, and laid them neatly beside his makeshift bed.
"I almost miss the prison's air conditioning," the fox complained, her fingers restlessly picking at a loose thread on the mattress.
"Well, at least we're not lying on bare springs here," Scourge countered, trying to find a silver lining. He let himself fall back onto the mattress with a tired sigh.
"True." Fiona grinned, conceding his point, before their conversation was interrupted by…
THUD!
Suddenly, they could no longer hear Fly hopping around.
A moment of silence passed before Scourge ventured to ask, "he dead?"
"Probably not." Fiona dismissed the idea nonchalantly.
Realizing the absurdity of the situation, the two erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
"Rest in peace!" Scourge wheezed out between fits of laughter.
"We need...we need lights!" Fiona managed to gasp out between her guffaws.
Their laughter continued uncontrollably for the next ten minutes, each time they managed to regain composure, one would succumb to a fresh wave of laughter, triggering a relapse in the other.
Once they had finally regained control of themselves, Fiona clutched her stomach, wincing slightly from the strain the laughter had put on her muscles.
"Okay, we gotta sleep for real," she said, reaching out to take Scourge's hand, her thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of it.
In response, he gave her hand a loving squeeze, "goodnight baby."
"G'night, handsome…" she replied, a soft smile on her face as she began to sink into some much needed sleep.
In the quiet darkness of the night, Scourge let his mind roam free. Of course, he thought about the long journey ahead of rising to power and reclaiming what was once his and more. However, the thought of her reappeared in his mind again. Where was she? Was she ok?
He sternly reminded himself that it didn't matter anymore before ignoring any more thoughts and drifting off to sleep.