Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world—More specifically, reality—Had a set of…rules. Foundational to them as the old tongues were to the knowledge of the mystical. Things like Law, Order, Fate, and above all, Chaos. They pervaded every atom, every moment, every space, and nothing at all, all at once. It had been this way since before the Dawn of Everything, and should have been that way for all eternity, even after the Dusk of Everything. Something that stood unalterable. Something that held fast against any power, against anyone or anything.

However, reality had not anticipated being used against itself. When it happened, those absolute rules were destroyed and repurposed. Such a cataclysmic event was the result of one act. One last collision of Good and Evil, of Freedom and Tyranny in the Old World…and it had changed everything.

A golden mote of light holding a bright viridescent energy in the endless darkness, holding Chaos itself, crashed into by a machine beyond imagination. The reversal of the immense destruction the Embodiment of Tyranny had been causing was interrupted, and in a single, infinitesimal instant, Reality shattered.

In one. Big. BANG.

The outward explosion of light, for it could only be light, expanded in an all consuming wave as reality screamed, the stars within cried, gravity they generated wailed in hysteria, and the very in-between of all space-time died. It kept growing, growing, and growing, enveloping All of Creation. Even the Source of All. And in another moment, in the fraction between the Lack of Time and No-Time, it contracted, becoming an Eldritch Supernova that took in everything it had consumed into one ball. It left the ineffable in its wake, for it not even nothing was left.

The next instant, it BURST back open, and everything that once was had been replaced. The Stories of Old had been replaced with Stories of New, and a New Dawn had begun. It was similar to the Old World, but not quite the same as before. A New World. However, not even that Eldritch Supernova could kill everything, for some things had become so deeply entrenched in the rules of reality, rules that had been reused in the New World, that they persevered.

Our story is about one of those individuals.

Finally, after what felt like eons, Space and Time fragmented, violet energy ripped across the sky of the planet, and the walls of their dimension retched. Out, blazing towards a beautiful set of autumn forests was what the eldritch supernova could not destroy, swiftly--but briefly--colliding with the world and causing quakes across the Kingdom it had landed in. Flames radiated outward from the impact, swallowing the vermillion and auburn leaves, burning the trees down as that individual, the survivor of the Old World—groaned fitfully, unable to move. Unable to even think. Instead, they lied there, letting their consciousness fade, and letting the embers continue to rage.

Footsteps echoed the halls of the Kingdom, as its leader, the Princess of the entire Dimension, moved with purpose. Eyes of amber, covered in magenta fur, and wearing an aura of regality, she was a brightly shining beacon for her people, and they were looking up to her for aid. She was determined to give it to them no matter the cost, including even her own life. Briskly pushing into the throne room to her head aide, she took in a breath and spoke.

"What information, if any, do we have on what just happened?" She asked, deadly serious, but holding an air of mental exhaustion.

At this point, she expected the unknown and dangerous trying to destroy her home daily, so she was fairly used to these circumstances. If only due to how frequently they occurred, regardless of if she was in her home dimension or that of her friends'. Her aide was just as used to them, so he deeply related to her ire and disdain for the constant litany of crises that befell them. Though he quickly answered her query regardless.

"Princess Blaze, we're not quite sure. The readings on the machines your ally left behind hasn't made heads or Tails of what exactly just occurred." He stated, with a small uptick to his mouth thanks to his pun.

She repressed a groan at his humor, putting her face in her hands.

"Wonderful. Thank you for your help, Tom."

"You're welcome! Though, we do have good news and bad news. We don't know what happened, but we have gained some other information." He chimed helpfully.

Looking up from her hands, Blaze glared at the aide balefully and motioned for him to go on.

"The good news is, from what we can observe, the damage of whatever we just felt is minimal. It only caused a fire in the nearby forest, which is mostly contained."

"Hm. That is good. I thought there would be far more damage from a shockwave like that." She muttered as she put a hand on her chin and started to pace, awaiting for the "bad" part of this.

"Quite. Unfortunately, that leads pretty cleanly into the bad news. Whatever it was that caused the shockwave and fire, that forest was ground zero for the event." Blaze hummed at that response. "We've limited investigation to limit any danger as well as to await your input."

Stopping her pacing, the cat Princess turned to her aid and pointed at him as she began her instruction, channeling every fiber of her royal training. "Good work. I-" She didn't get to finish, as suddenly, the seven gemstones she held charge over moved without her consent out of her body, glowing brightly, leaving her speechless at first. Then, she was grinning. She recognized what that radiating energy meant. The Sol Emeralds had done this once before, to notify her of the appearance of her closest ally. It was identical, albeit strange in how much brighter and yet darker it was relative to that time, and all of the tension ebbed from her.

"Ma'am?" Tom started in confusion, breaking her from her reverie.

"It seems it's a friend, not a foe. We've gained a visit from Sonic the Hedgehog. I'll go and investigate his presence here alone. Last time he arrived, it was somewhat similar. Not this violently, but he did crash into our kingdom. More importantly, last time he lacked his memory. If I go with a party to his location and he's lost his memory…" She left it incomplete, but the message was clear.

"Ah. That would be pretty bad." Tom winced, trying not to imagine Sonic the Hedgehog on a rampage due to fear of being harmed. Someone like that, a man who's slayed countless gods? The concept was downright horrifying.

"I doubt he will, of course-Last time he was quite pacifistic. But-"

"-Better safe than sorry." The aide finished for her.

"Right." She affirmed before willing the Sol Emeralds back into her being. There was something nagging at her, a niggling doubt in her head due to the slight difference in the way energy the Sol Emeralds had radiated with this time compared to the last time, but she shoved it to the side. Focusing, after she confirmed the location, Blaze bolted and let her super speed carry her towards her destination.

As she grew closer, the first thing she noticed was the distinct crater that stretched, almost like a chasm had grown outward from the planet itself. The next was how the flames, which she felt so fiercely, thanks to her pyrokinesis, were jutting outwards unnaturally. As if trying to avoid the center, where she expected her ally to be. Slowing down, she called his name in case he had awakened.

"Sonic! SONIC!"

No response. Looking into the crater, the fire's unnatural shape cloaked him in shadow, but she could tell it was him. That silhouette was unmistakable. It was clear he was unconscious, though. Unsurprising, considering the circumstances. Sliding down the side of the newly formed hole in the earth, the Princess of Fire raised her hand and commanded the raging flames, dispelling the soon to be forest fire into nothing.

Grabbing him by the arm, she lifted the hedgehog up into the light--And immediately dropped him, stepping back. Whoever this was, he wasn't Sonic. He definitely looked like him, an almost identical copy, but there were some key differences. One, he wasn't BLUE. Instead he was a form of green. Second, his eyes were a beautiful crystal azure--Just as piercing as Sonic's, but Sonic's were emerald. And lastly, outside of the fairly obvious scars on his chest, he wore additional clothes beyond the standard fare of gloves and shoes that Sonic wore. A midnight jacket with flames on the sleeves, with a pair of sunglasses resting on his forehead.

To say she was confused was…an understatement. After all, she had what was clearly not Sonic in front of her, but the Sol Emeralds-They didn't lie. So this MUST be Sonic. But he wasn't. Unless Sonic got a really strange makeover recently, though she supposed-As unlikely as it was-It wasn't impossible. Looking down at him, she weighed her decisions. To take this unknown stranger into the Kingdom invited trouble, surely. She knew nothing about him, after all. However, the Sol Emeralds had spoken, and she was not one to leave someone who needed help to lie on the floor to simply wither away. It only took a moment, but she made her decision.

With a sigh, she got to work, picking him back up off the floor by his sleeve, she slung his body over her shoulder. Hoping she wouldn't regret this, she took him home.

With a groan, the verdant hedgehog awoke, confused. Looking around the room, he took in the clinical white room with a cautious eye, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Letting his gaze slide towards the side, he focused on the fact there was a window. An open window. Briefly analyzing his body—He felt awful, but he still felt capable of running at his body's insane speeds. The teen went to bolt, but it was that very moment Blaze stepped in. Whatever plan the hedgehog had died before it could even really start. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try and talk his way out.

"Y'know, typically I'd be happy to see a babe like you at my bedside, but I think I'd rather take my chances roughin' it in the sticks this time around." He tried as he went to move. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't to be.

"You can't leave here even if you wanted—You were badly hurt when we found you days ago. How you feel now is a combination of medicine and your surprising recuperative abilities." Blaze stated as she moved closer, ignoring the stranger's more…crass vocabulary. "So talk. Who are you? Why have you come here?" She demanded as she pushed him back down.

At first he thought she was bluffing. Then he went to push back and pain radiated across his entire body, flowing like water from his head to his toes. He couldn't even actually get up. Leaning back he sighed and let his plotting totally die out. "Fuck. This blows."

Blaze blinked.

"So where the Hell am I?"

Blaze blinked again. Collecting her thoughts, she spoke once more—Albeit somewhat amused. "Well, I did literally ask you questions first, but your confusion is warranted, so I'll answer some in turn."

"Uh huh. So gracious of you, Princess." The hedgehog snarked with a roll of his eyes.

"You know of my role?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What? No! You're actually a fucking-?" He facepalmed as he tried to catch his bearings. Probably not such an idea to be as sharp against such a figure whilst he's so vulnerable. She could try to order him dead and he wouldn't even be able to fight back. 'Guess this means I gotta lay low, too. Keep my…colorful past hidden until I'm fully recovered. Then I can crack some skulls and make my way back to Fi'.'

"Correct. I believe it's my turn to ask, now. Your name?"

Looking her in the eyes, the hedgehog searches for something in her gaze. It takes a bit, but once he's satisfied, he answers. "Scourge. Scourge the Hedgehog."

"Scourge?"

"That's right. Short, sweet, and the ladies love it."

Staring at him, she merely crossed her arms.

"…Somehow, I find that doubtful. I am Blaze the Cat," She introduced herself before pressing on. "Can you tell me your purpose for being here?"

"No fuckin' clue. I don't even know where I am." Scourge replied honestly as he crossed his arms.

"The Sol Empire," the cat provided as she gave him a once over, trying to ascertain the truthfulness of his claims.

"Never heard of it."

"Mm. What do you remember?"

"About?"

"Anything. Do you recall your life? The last person in your circumstances ended up amnesiac from the experience…"

"Pfft. Of course I remember my fuckin' life. How can I forget it? Last person in this bed must've been a real dumbass." He retorted casually as he looked away, before realizing the meaning of her words and looking back at her. "My 'circumstances?'"

"Well, I can only assume you've traveled dimensions based on the spatio-temporal anomaly you generated. Or are a time traveller of some kind. We've had those kinds of visitors before." She explained cordially.

"I don't…remember anything like that," The hedgehog started with a pause, his thoughts slowing down as he more deeply considered the events that transpired.

"Then what's the last thing you do remember?"

"I was…" Scourge takes a moment, thinking and choosing his words carefully. "…I was talking to my…friends…about a plan when a light went off in the sky. Then there was this…bang. Suddenly everything is white and I'm in pain as it all shattered. After that I feel myself slam into something really fuckin' hard. Bing bang boom, I then wake up in a hospital bed playing twenty questions with a hot cat chick." He said the last bit sardonically.

"I see…" Blaze mumbles as she puts her hand on her chin, not even entertaining his attempt at flattery. "…It sounds like an unpleasant experience hoisted onto you."

"No fuckin' shit." He bit out without thinking, forgetting how he was supposed to 'play nice.'

Sighing, Blaze flicked Scourge in the forehead. "Please refrain from using such vulgar language, at least within my presence. It's becoming difficult to ignore it when an expletive leaves your mouth every other sentence."

Scowling, Scourge held back from engaging in a long string of swears. Mostly because he was stuck in a bed unable to fight back if Blaze decided he was more trouble than he's worth. Taking a breath, he grumbles.

"I'll try."

"Thank you."

A small beat of awkward silence passed before the Hedgehog spoke up again.

"So how did I get here, anyway?" Scourge asked, motioning to the room around him.

"I carried you from where you crash landed. You left quite the impression." The flame princess supplied as she considered whether or not she should inquire the more pressing questions dominating her mind. Like, 'why did the Sol Emeralds react to you,' or 'why are you almost identical to Sonic?' Though, the second question probably was down to coincidence if she was honest. Shadow was similar in appearance to Super Sonic if you just darkened the fur and added chest hair, and Silver was pretty similar outside of his unique haircut. It wouldn't be the first time for someone eerily Sonic looking was walking around. Admittedly, this was far closer—Near uncanny—But still. Which left the first question. So she bit the bullet.

"What is your experience in Chaos Energy?"

"Mild." The hedgehog replied with a shrug, as if it was at all the concise answer she wanted. Blaze was about to double down, but before she could he interjected. "Do you not have a Power Ring somewhere? It'd help me a lot more than whatever the fu-" Catching himself, he corrected his word choice. "-Fudge you got goin' on here."

"Power Ring?" She asked, not bothering to harp on his slip up.

"Y'know, golden rings of power? Grants wishes?"

"I'm not familiar with any sort of wish granting rings. Merely ordinary ones that revitalize power and nullify damage."

Scourge resisted the urge to groan. Of course this place didn't have Power Rings. It'd be too easy and convenient. No, instead his life had to be hard and annoying. Instead, he grit his teeth and facepalmed. "Okay, what Dimension did you say this was again?"

"I didn't." The cat princess offered with an amused lilt.

"Ha ha. So funny." The verdant King scowled as he waited for her to amend her answer.

"The Sol Dimension."

"Your society's naming convention is boring. Sol Empire, of the Sol Dimension. Next you'll tell me your planet is named Sol." Scourge commented sullenly as he tried to think of something. Then his brain clicked. "Wait, you know what Chaos Energy is. Do you have access to it somehow? I could definitely use that for a quick pick-me-up."

Blaze shook her head. "None that you would be able to utilize."

"Shiz." He cursed.

"Shiz?"

"Look, I ain't gonna stop cussing. It's not who I am. But I will change the words around for your dainty lil' ears since it bothers you so much." Scourge motioned with his hands vaguely as he spoke, almost dismissively but not quite.

"That seems like a fair trade to me." Biting her lip as she considered the omen of the Sol Emeralds, she placed her fingers on the hedgehog's chest.

"Whoa, babe, not that I don't appreciate the attention, but I think I'm a bit too injured for the kind of game you wanna play." The male intoned with a smirk and a placating hand.

Blaze was pulled out of her thoughts and simply stared at him as if he was an idiot. Because he was. He was a complete and total idiot and she was now feeling stupid for being concerned that this Sonic-Look-ALike could be dangerous when he was too busy thinking about such disgusting things. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and spoke up. "I'm going to heal you. Don't make me regret this."

Scourge nodded silently, withholding the evil grin inside him. Any moment and he'd be back at his peak, and he'd be able to wipe the floor with this whole reality of chumps. He watched the cat princess' hands glow, coated in multi-colored energy, Chaos Energy, and felt the rush of that energy spreading across his body. It was reinvigorating, exciting, fulfilling, and-Wait.

As Blaze pulled her hand away, Scourge frowned as he tested his body, getting up out of bed. "I thought you said you were healing me. My body feels fine, but everything else…feels wrong." He murmured.

"I did. I healed you to the best of my ability." The verdant hedgehog looked at her, and felt no lie in her words, for there was none. Whatever this was, it meant that either Blaze could not heal it, or something was wrong with him, specifically. Scourge scowled. He was brought back into fighting shape, but not his peak. He felt slower, weaker. His connection to the Chaos Force itself felt cut. In his current state he could probably beat most people, but Sonic? Fat chance. He needed to buy more time. To lay low. And that meant…more playing nice. Motherf-

"Scourge?" The princess said softly as she touched his shoulder. It was only his quick thinking that caused him to resist the instinctual reflex of tossing her over his shoulder and trying to rip her heart out.

"Huh? Sorry, I was thinkin'. Thanks for the heal, doll. You capable of Dimensional Travel?"

"You're welcome, and I am." Blaze affirmed with a nod.

"Then send me home."

"I cannot at the moment. I need to know the location I'm going before I can go there. I do not know where you come from, so…" She cut herself off, and let Scourge fill in the rest.

"...I'm shiz outta luck. Damn it. Guess I'm gonna have to just sit around until I get all the way better." He went to leave.

Blaze grabbed him by the jacket, preventing his escape. "You will not. I may have healed you, but my trust in you is still minimal. I will have you accompany me."

"You're kiddin', right? What are you gonna do, force me to be a fudging butler?" He joked, not taking her seriously whatsoever.

"If I must. However, something tells me you're more than capable of fighting and being an active member on the field." She noted as she turned him around.

"And how exactly do you figure that?" Scourge asked as he pulled his shades down, covering his eyes.

"Your eyes when I walked in were looking for escape routes, judging your ability to beat me in your condition. When I went to touch you, you immediately tensed and almost went for a strike. You have combat experience of some kind, though the quality of which I cannot ascertain." Blaze explained as she crossed her arms, looking at him expectantly.

"So what if I do? It's not like I'm gonna fight for ya."

"Why not? I could compensate you for your efforts."

'That's cute. Anything you could GIVE me, I could STEAL, doll.' The hedgehog thought to himself without letting it affect his features. "Say you do. What exactly do you have that I would want? Don't get me wrong, I like myself money and jewels, but I doubt they'll get me home—Unless it's stuff connected to Chaos Energy. In which case you're not forking it over to me for some minor gig."

'Are the Sol Emeralds SURE this is supposed to be Sonic? A hero? He's…insufferable. Driven only on baser instincts, selfish, and downright rude. I have half a mind to just set him on fire…' The cat thought to herself as she sighed and raised her hands. "Your aid could assist me in accelerating your trip back to your home. Should we find you something to use, I have no reason to deny you safe passage to your own world."

"So a bit of quid pro quo, then?" Scourge said aloud as he leaned back.

"Something like that." Blaze responded blankly. After a moment, Scourge offered his hand for a handshake, which the princess returned.

"You got a deal. I crack skulls for ya, you find me something shiny to use, I go home and you get me out of your fur." The cosmic double listed as the manipulator of flames nodded.

"I look forward to working with you." She replied in kind, eyes locking on one another's. Neither knew that this would the beginning of something extraordinary.

Chapter Text

Scourge walked down the hall with his hands resting on the back of his head, strolling next to the Princess of the Sol Kingdom without a care in the world. After all, he currently didn't have any, really. Sure, he was split from his team and his girl, but they were tough. He knew they'd survived whatever the Hell that thing was. Not to mention he was kind of in a neutral zone at the moment--No one knew who he was, so he could afford to relax. At least, for now. Obviously he intended to backstab the purple pussycat later, but why ruin his setup when he could live nice and easy until his 'problem' (whatever it was) went away?

Any answer that wasn't "You shouldn't," wasn't gonna be entertained by him. So he decided that he wasn't going to-That simple. Besides, this little arrangement was the best way he currently had to get back to them anyway. So really, he was about as happy as a clam. Sure, he'd like to have a bit more, but didn't everybody? Plus, it wasn't like he had much of a choice-He was on cosmic strings, always. If they wanted to throw him a bone every once in a while, then he'd take it. Eventually, though, he got bored of the silence and started talking.

"So, I appreciate this little tour-Really, I think it's been a blast, babe-But why exactly are you giving it to me? I'm the Fastest Thing Alive-I could visit everywhere you have to visit so fast you wouldn't even notice the afterimage." The hedgehog-Well, it wasn't boasting because it was true, but it was still arrogant.

"I have a friend who would gladly contest you for that title, because he's been sporting it for as long as I can remember." Blaze muttered back as she straightened herself out. "I'm 'giving you the tour,' so I may familiarize you with your surroundings."

"One, your friend has got nothin' on me. Nobody does. Two-Again, why? You're the Princess, ain't ya? Don't you have a shiz ton of servants for this?" Scourge waved his hand about his surroundings.

"I do, but it is not the duty of a ruler to shirk responsibility off onto someone else, but to take upon the responsibilities of your subjects." Blaze responded curtly, turning to the hedgehog with crossed arms.

Scourge could only blink at her response. He had no idea what she was talking about. When he was King, half the point of it was the power over others, which he used on a whim to force others into doing what he wanted. It was literally the most free one could be, and Scourge craved freedom more than anything.

"If you say so, doll."

"Do you have to do that?"

"Do what?"

She sighed and moved on. "Nevermind." Pointing out the window of the hallway, she directed his gaze to an auburn forest. "That is the Everfall Forest. You crash landed there."

"Huh. Guessing by the name it's always in Fall? Cool. What about any sunken cities?" The green teen noted and inquired as he flicked his gaze back to Blaze.

"Sunken cities?" The cat echoed questioningly.

"Yeah. Back in my home dimension, there's a whole island that's stuck in the ocean. It's a pretty neat place if you can ignore how wet you get when you visit." Scourge intoned casually as he leaned against the window.

"I see. It seems there's interesting locations to visit in every Dimension," the Princess of Fire murmured. Refocusing her gaze, she pointed at a location directly opposite the forest, on the top of a massive monastery that was built into the mountain. "That is Luna Landing."

"What, does the Moon fall and hit there at night?" The hedgehog jabbed as he crossed his arms, smirking.

"Not as such. Or rather, it does in a non-literal sense. You see, due to a battle my ancestor had there-In which the monastery was made in honor of-That area's atmosphere is charged with unique particles. It is the one place at night in which the Moonlight is purified, becoming the light of the Sun. The Moon metaphorically falls there, becoming Day in the Midst of Night." Blaze explained, a soft smile on her face as she recalled the story told to her by her mother, given to her by her mother before her, and even the mother before her still. She remembered visiting the location in person, seeing the truth of the myth, to experience the full breadth of the Sun at Night. The beauty of the world in that moment could not be understated.

Even when she was young, Blaze had always felt connected with the Sun. It made sense on a fundamental level--Her bloodline's connection to the Fire, to the Sol Emeralds, made her almost inherently inclined to enjoying the warmth it gave on her fur, to relish watching it give life to her world, to indulge in the feeling of protection it granted her Soul, and moreover, want to give that to others. And to experience those things in the midst of night, the Sun in the midst of a darkened sky, alit with endless stardust, the pale white dots shining brightly around the Purified Moon? It was divine. An experience that would be burned forever into one's memory.

All that reminiscing came to a halt thanks to two fingers snapping in front of the Princess' face, reminding her that unfortunately, she lived in the present and not the past.

"Yo. Hello? Is the smoking hot cat chick alive in that skull of yours?" Scourge pestered, because he wasn't gonna be ignored on a tour he explicitly didn't even want to be on by the girl who forced him to go on it.

"Yes. I'm here. You can stop snapping in my face, now." Blaze replied sharply, getting up and going back to the walk in the castle. She didn't say anything, but it was clear she wanted the hedgehog to follow.

"Okay, great. I got some travel spots to hit," he said before his tone became sardonic. "Unless I need a chaperone for that, too?"

"You'll be under my supervision for most of the day, but no--There will not be a personal chaperone with you at all times." Blaze clarified, much to Scourge's relief.

"Thanks for the heads up. I was starting to get worried I'd need to watch out for spies in the bathroom too." The former King snarked some more, 'ever so grateful' at Blaze's restraint.

'Don't tempt me.' Was all the Princess could think in response, at this point really tired of the fellow teen's antics and no longer wanting to bother with him. Turning around, she handed him a key. "Your room is down the hall, in the second corridor. It's not the most spacious ever, but it should suit you just fine."

Snatching the key from the Princess, Scourge's smirk grew as he tossed up towards the ceiling, letting it fall, and catching it right out the air. Up. Down. Catch. Up. Down. Catch. Over and over. "So I guess this means I'm off the hook then, right? Because I could go for some chili dogs and a nap."

"Yes-" And then, before Blaze could fully register what the hedgehog had said, he was gone. Leaving her only with the withering away image of the Sonic-Double. Chili dogs and a nap? That's-Well-Something Sonic has told her a dozen times before. Looking at her gloved hands, she clenched them into fists and simply took a moment to think. Perhaps…perhaps the Sol Emeralds weren't as off as she thought. Of course, she always trusted them-Even above her own instincts, but even she was starting to feel a bit of doubt after experiencing hours with Scourge. So to have her faith rewarded-Even if small-It was a start. Currently, then, it was just a matter of figuring out what exactly the Sol Emeralds had planned for…'Sonic.'

Scourge opened the door of the room he was given and walked in, expecting something fancy but low-key, given the girl's description. He was half right. It was absolutely fancy, and not at all low-key. It was full of ornate furniture, the bed had golden embellishments, the room was bigger than basically anything he'd ever seen, and he'd be lying if he wasn't eyeing the minifridge, massive flatscreen TV, or the other amenities. This place had it all. It was great. The hedgehog was pretty glad to have played his cards so close to his chest, because otherwise he'd have been missing out on some awesome stuff.

Opening the fridge, he carelessly cracked open a soda-Chaos Cola, which he'd never heard of before-And chugged it without a second thought. First impression? This shit was GREAT. Second impression? This shit was FUCKING GREAT. He'd need boxes of this stuff sent to his room, pronto, because he wasn't going a day without whatever the hell he was chugging if he could help it.

Once he finished the can, he crushed it in his hand and casually tossed it towards the trash can. Naturally, despite all logic--His insane accuracy in fights, his flawless precision with his speed, his perfect marksmanship when it came to kicking Sonic's ass where he wanted it to fly, and other factors that meant by all metrics it should've easily sank into the can with the rest of the waste--Scourge missed. He scowled. What he just experienced was a microcosm of his entire life story.

And he really didn't want a reminder.

Instead-After crushing another Chaos Cola-He decided he had been through enough with this whole Interdimensional game of hide and seek. The plan was simple-Help Queen Kitty here, heal in the meantime, get a fancy gem harnessing Chaos Energy, (it was always in fancy gems for some reason), Chaos Control himself to his team, and then from there Chaos Control the whole group to Mobius-To beat the tar out of Sonic-Or Moebius, to re-conquer it. Then he'd do some expansion, (who wouldn't?), and conquer a few more dimensions while he was at it.

Then maybe at some point Scourge might get his fill of conquering worlds, he'd go home, have some 'amazing' time with Fiona, and they'd rule multiple realities together as the baddest power couple to ever hit their side of the rinky-dink thing they called a Multiverse. It was a pretty solid plan. Sure, there were a few gaps-Like how he was gonna find a Chaos Energy harnessing gem in the middle of a primitive Dimension that lacked Power RIngs, or that he had no idea what was wrong with him and if he'd ever heal, but those were small details. Meaningless, really.

Plan made, full of soda, and tired with…well, living consciously, the teen laid on his back and closed his eyes, inviting sleep to take him. Normally it'd take him a good while to actually succeed, but he was still pretty out of it from that explosion he'd survived, even if physically he was in peak form. So this time, the claws of slumber gripped him and pulled him under swiftly.

Looking down at his hand, the first thing Scourge noticed was the color of his arms. It wasn't the green he was proud of, the proof of his independence he'd carved onto himself on a metaphysical level accidentally by being interrupted whilst transforming into his Super State. No, they were the familiar, hated blue. The fuckin' blue of the guy he wanted to gut more than anyone else in all of creation. Next it was his jacket. It lacked the flames he'd been so happy to give himself in his upgrade, the distinction of himself he'd chosen to separate himself from his past.

His past.

It hit him like a ton of bricks. That's what the cosmic copy was staring at. What he was living. It was the past. Before he'd hooked up with that looker (and traitor) of a bat, Rouge. Before he'd even temporarily swapped places with Sonic, or even ripped out Anti-Antoine's eye, giving him a real reason to wear that silly ol' eyepatch. It wasn't any period of time he'd liked at all, even if such periods were fairly few and far between, rare bastions of true happiness in the utter hell he called a life.

No, it was the moment that decided everything and nothing. The moment where he found out just how empty his father was. Suddenly, his legs were in motion-Taking him exactly where he had wanted to be at the time. The place he didn't want to be ANYWHERE near NOW.Against his will, he was forced to relive the memory, the day it all changed. Walking by a set of hollow buildings, Scourge saw the reflection of someone else staring back. Anti-Sonic.

Scourge tried to snarl, to rage against the reality that looked back at him, the image of his Truth, but it was all for naught. He was a prisoner in his own body, just as he was a prisoner puppeted by Fate. All Anti-Sonic did was scowl and kept moving, kept walking, kept strolling back to that house. His old house, the one he had burned down when he became King of Anti-Mobotroblis alongside Alicia when they tossed out Maxx, (her father, the former King) to the Zone of Silence. Opening the door, Anti-Sonic strode in without a second thought, his gaze flitting about the house.

"Yo, pops. You there?"

"Sonic, I've told you one hundred times, I'm too busy to respond to you at the moment." Anti-Jules automatically responded in monotone, not even sparing his son a look. He never did. Anti-Sonic could be bleeding, could've been sporting a victory that stretched across time, and Anti-Jules wouldn't ever just look up. Scourge knew this for fact-He'd tried. Now he knew them as Anti-Events, the Events that Sonic went through Scourge was destined to reflect. Sonic went off fighting Knuckles and threatening to drop Angel Island? Anti-Sonic fought O'Knux and rose Demon island. Sonic meets Tails and fights Kintobor for freedom? Anti-Sonic got Miles and fought to maintain the disorder (of stagnation, of the "wonderful" Great Peace). That meant Anti-Sonic had checked. He'd lived it.

And the teen knew for fact it didn't matter if Anti-Sonic returned dying, because his father simply didn't care.

"I know, pops. I know. I just had a few questions. You see, me and my girl-"

"'My girl and I,' Sonic. Grammar." Anti-Jules immediately cut in, still not even looking up. The Blue Blur's Fake merely grit his teeth and pressed on.

"-Wanted to know if my Uncle ever finished that Dimensional Tearing device." Anti-Sonic stated as he flexed his fingers, preparing for what he had to do, for what he wanted to do.

"Hm. I believe Chuck put it in the garage. Your Uncle is a genius, but he's also incapable of doing anything but wreaking havoc and 'having fun,' so you shouldn't have expected anything from him." The teen's father said casually, utterly dismissing his own brother with the tone one did to garbage, an utter disregard for that very real life. It grated on Anti-Sonic's nerves immensely, because in absence of his father he'd had to rely on his Uncle Chuck as a role model. Someone who also couldn't give a rat's ass about him, wasn't even in his life often, but it was still somehow more than Anti-Jules was. And Anti-Sonic lived with Anti-Jules. It wasn't much, but it was something that the boy clung onto his whole life.

"Just wanted to know. We're about to use it for a project that's gonna change the world." Suddenly, Anti-Jules stopped writing. Suddenly, he looked Anti-Sonic in the eyes.

The act stopped the Blue Blur cold. He'd NEVER looked his own son in the eyes before, not even once, and now to finally see them? After he'd already given up? After he already built up his hatred? His animosity? To finish the job he'd personally signed up for? It took the wind out of his sails-It gave him HOPE-

Immediately, Anti-Jules killed it.

"Change the world how? Don't tell me you're going to interfere with the Great Peace!" His father said as he got up, standing in front of the teen with all the menace of a man with no strength could muster. Absolutely none.

Anti-Sonic had thought that he might've cared, but all his father ever worried about was the Great Peace. All his father had heard was his son going out of his way to tamper with the world he'd created. The teen's jaw set, and a rage like no other burst through him, erupting life fire through his veins. The embers inside him burned hot, and Anti-Sonic only gave Anti-Jules a toothy grin.

"Of course I am, pop. I'm going to remodel this whole Kingdom. Your vaunted Great Peace only is ruining everything. We've stagnated. As is, Miles predicts we all die within our lifetime. The world needs a shake-up, and my squad and I are gonna give it." Anti-Sonic taunted, putting on a show for his old man. The same pony show he gave to everyone to hide what he felt inside.

"You can't! I won't let you!"

"And what are you gonna do, old man? You've never seen a day of combat. I've killed monsters, I've stood on swathes of robotic corpses, I've ended the unkillable. What are you going to do to stop me?" Anti-Sonic said, stepping forward and puffing himself up.

He was smacked across the face by his father with contempt, sending him into the couch on the other side of the room. Anti-Sonic hadn't seen it coming, so sure he could cow his father.

"The same thing I already do. Treat you, and this little plan of yours with the value it's all worth: Nothing." Anti-Jules said something so callous so casually, as if it was as simple as breathing. "Then I will report you to the proper authorities, to King Max, and…"

However, at that point Anti-Sonic stopped listening. All he knew was the rage. The hatred. Even now, all he had earned was "Nothing." Would he ever know anything MORE than the Nothing? Anything more than the Hollow Hole that took the place of his Heart? Anything more than the Abyss that swallowed him up from the Inside Out?

Standing up, he cut into whatever tirade his father was spitting out and grinned maliciously, because from another point of view, this anger that Jules had hit him with, that pain he was delivered was something. In fact, it was more than anything he'd ever gotten before. And for some twisted, fucked-up reason, he wanted MORE.

"Weak shit."

"-What?"

"That hit? Your little report you're gonna write up? That whole rant? All of it, weak shit. I'm Sonic the Fuckin' Hedgehog. You've got nothing on me." His grin grew, manic and malicious.

His father responded in kind.

Punch to the face. Kick to the stomach. Elbow to the side. His father was a complete scrub in a fight, but it didn't matter when his target was letting it happen. Was allowing himself to be beaten back. It was that day that Anti-Sonic learned that if he couldn't earn attention, he'd be able to force it through conflict. That he could shape his life through pure and total violence. All the while he grinned, laughing, raging inside.

Eventually, though, he grew tired of this. You can only take so many punches before you get tired of taking a hit, even if it was all weak and wimpy hits coming from a man who didn't know what the word "combat" was. Finally the rage he'd built the entire time, the fury, the hatred, the sorrow, all of it released at once.

Catching the next punch, Anti-Sonic pulled Anti-Jules forward and twisted his arm, shattering it in several places. His father screamed in agony, wholly unprepared for the suffering he was being forced to endure. The world leader fell to his knees, and the Blue Blur crouched to be on level with him. "Y'know, I think I finally know what you're about, old man."

"A-and what w-would t-that be?" Anti-Jules bit out, bleeding profusely from his mangled arm, still holding a glare that felt nothing for Anti-Sonic.

"Empty words. That's exactly what you're about. You parade around a Great Peace. It kills us all and we die slow deaths. You parade around your smarts, but you only get by through using the brains of others, like Uncle Chuck or King Max. You parade around how happy your family is for politics, but you can't be bothered to look at me. Everything you've ever said in your whole life has been string after string of Empty Words." Anti-Sonic listed out with brutal accuracy, gripping Anti-Jules by the shoulder.

"The only thing empty here is you." Anti-Jules bit back. Even staring death in the eyes, he held fast in his hollow beliefs.

Those were his last words.

Anti-Sonic's hand jutted out at incredible speed-Super sonic, hypersonic, lightspeed-The value didn't matter. All that did was one moment, his father was alive. The next, he was dead, and the Blue Blur's fist clenched around a still beating heart. But the cosmic copy didn't see that. All he saw was the blood on the wall, shaped in rings around the two of them. And looking down, following the blood of his father splattered on his jacket, he absentmindedly realized that it was shaped like…flames. It was the fire he had raging within, the heat that burned in his skull for years, the inferno that made his blood hot and boiling. He'd remember those flames for the rest of time, he knew.

Dropping Anti-Jules' heart, he pulled his arm out of the corpse of his father, tossing the worthless carcass to the side. His own heart was pumping, beating fast. The exhilaration of the kill was coursing through him, and pure joy radiated out of him. So why…?

Why was he crying?

Waking up with a startled jump from his bed, he caught the gloved hand of someone he couldn't recognize through bleary eyes. "Wha-Huh?" Wiping his eyes and focusing, he saw it was Blaze, who had pursed lips and shiny eyes.

"What's up with you? Why're you all weird?" Scourge asked with a yawn, sitting up and pretending his blood wasn't boiling hot thanks to his sudden walk down memory lane. Why had that memory surfaced? He'd already gotten over killing his own dad years ago. This was old news, something the pissant Anti-Sonic would have felt. He was Scourge. He was above such stupid nonsense.

"It seems there's been the appearance of a known criminal-Captain Whisker-Trying his luck at stealing a powerful relic he's discovered. A relic that I've been told has Chaos Energy." She explains as he hops off the bed, cracking his neck. Grunting, he goes to the mini-fridge and nabs himself a Chaos Cola.

"Alright, perfect. We get in, tear him apart, take the shiny, and call it a day." Scourge commented as he started chugging his new addiction-that-definitely-wasn't-an-addiction.

"Not as such. It's a gem hidden behind several different quests on different islands. We're to set sail. I've already made preparations at the Port." Blaze responds as she moves towards the door, waiting for the green hedgehog to follow her. She had to wait a little bit, because he stocked up on a few Colas before he decided to leave the room.

"Fine. We do a few mini-quests. I tear apart anything on those quests, then I tear apart Captain Ahab, take his shiny whale, and get out of this Dimension." Scourge grunted.

The cat princess blinked. "You've read Moby Dick? I'd never thought you were the type-"

"Listen here broad, I'm not a fudging idiot. I just happen to enjoy the simpler things in life." The hedgehog scowled irritably, still not over his dream and letting his displeasure leak out a tad bit. Blaze's eyes widened a tad, and she raised her hands placatingly.

"That's not what I meant. I was referring more to the way you spoke." She tried to clarify. It didn't help much.

"Oh yeah, that's much better. You think I'mma idiot not because I enjoy idiot shiz, but because I talk like one. Spectacular. Truly, the most wonderful of changes." Turning away from her, he just went back to drinking his soda, apparently done with the conversation. Unfortunately, Blaze wasn't. Speed walking to catch up, she started talking again.

"Okay, that is…my fault. I didn't intend to speak so inconsiderately." The princess apologized, but Scourge wasn't hearing it. Because he'd never heard an apology from anyone not trying to backstab, kill, or manipulate him. Except Fiona, but she was different. Special. And Blaze was no Fiona. No one was.

As he stomped his way towards the port of the Sol Kingdom, so they could chase Captain Whisker, his crystal blue eyes met the azure ocean, and staring at himself, at his proper green reflection instead of that disgusting blue, all he could think about was the truth that dream reminded him of. He was alone. Always alone. Alone in his hatred of cosmic strings. Alone and stranded in some random dimension. Alone in his prison. Even as he stood among others…he was alone.

Chapter Text

Staring at the gleaming blue seawater beneath the moving boat, Scourge grunted as he took in the sights around him. A shining yellow Sun, fish that were as miraculous as they were colorful—And they were quite colorful—As well as the land they sailed away from, covered in gorgeous greens. It was a whole Dimension basically untouched by strife or struggle. It knew peace and only peace. It was paradise. It was perfect. It was the place of dreams.

How…pathetic. That's all Scourge could think as he gazed upon it all. How fake it all seemed. Because it was exactly that—Fake. No place was this perfect without a catch, without a knife in the back. There was a monkey's paw here, (sorry Sergeant Simian), and he was going to find it. Even a world like Sonic's, when it was in peace, had a built in monkey's paw. Cursing billions to live like puppets.

And that was the vaunted Prime Dimension. Worse if it was real, because then it'd led to something more awful. Scourge had seen first hand what "perfect" peace caused. Stagnation. Death. Suffering. Not that he cared, (he really didn't), but they all had to know the other shoe was gonna drop at some point, right? That eventually, because they'd rested on their laurels and let themselves be coddled, they'd sealed their own fates? That by having grown weak, fat, and lived without conflict, they'd made themselves easy to crush and the face of someone truly strong, like him?

It seemed so obvious to him. Basic "Kill or be killed," and "Survival of the fittest," logic they seemed to ignore. Cosmic and evolutionary arithmetic he had blaring like an air horn with every beating heart around him. As he greeted ship captains, shook hands with sailors, stood amongst the wimps of this reality, every new face had a glowing neon sign printed above their head.

"I'M GONNA DIE."

Something that was getting harder and harder to ignore with each passing moment. To cut a long story short, these people were weak. Pitiful. Just like the people of Moebius, they needed a wake up call. So, once Scourge was free from this…weakness, he'd free himself from reality's chains and finally gut Sonic. Then he'd free these people from being so weak and wimpy. From rules. He'd sit on a throne after unleashing anarchy. It was the perfect little side quest before he finally could find his girl—

"Scourge?" Blaze cut in, arms crossed and staring at him carefully.

"Hm? Sorry doll, I wasn't listening." He admitted truthfully to the one exception, the one who lacked a sign above her head, as he leaned against the rail on the side of the ship.

"Tch. I figured. I was trying to explain to you what exactly we're dealing with." The cat said with exasperation before speaking again. "This is a multi-island excursion against Captain Whisker and his new crew. We will be expected to fight and capture those crew members on top of gaining the relic and keeping it from their hands."

"Okay, cool—Bash some heads. Don't see the big deal." The hedgehog said with a tilted head.

"It's a big deal because his new crew is powerful. They've been plaguing the seas for some time now and eluded capture. The fact Captain Whisker has colluded with this separate group means their danger level has shot up considerably." Blaze explained, trying to impress upon the other teen the seriousness of this expedition.

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't to be. Shrugging his shoulders, his sharp toothed grin was clearly visible. "Yeah-yeah, you got some sea wimps you need me to get rid of."

"You're not taking me seriously at all, are you?"

"Not at all. Anyway, what's with the relic? You implied it could get me home, but haven't given me anymore than that. What is it, and are you sure it can get me home?" Scourge changed the subject—Because explaining why he was so confident was more trouble than it's worth.

"Unfortunately we lack too much information on the subject, merely what our informants have dug up. It's a gemstone of some kind, capable of altering reality in some form. It's full of what as far as we know is Chaos Energy, and it's dangerous. It's name hasn't yet been identified, but we're working on finding out exactly what it is currently, and should have more information on it in the coming days." The Princess clarified as she began to circle around him.

"So—to be clear—you know jack squat."

"I wouldn't phrase it as such-"

"Well tough shit. I am." Her (reluctant) ally cut in, dropping his censor to further punctuate and emphasize his position.

"Then…yes. I suppose I know…" Blaze pauses, hesitating before quoting the other teen. "…'jack squat.'"

Scourge snorted as he turned to the glittering sea. "Figures. Whatever, then. I'll just gut whoever we come across."

"Regardless, we'll be coming upon our first stop soon in a few hours. It's an island not too far from here—The location being a tavern, the last sighting Captain Whisker and his new crew had before they set sail for the relic."

"Ha! First day together and you're already taking me out for drinks." The green hedgehog commented smugly, a cocky grin on his face as he teased.

Blaze merely rolled her eyes and turned away. Normally a comment like that would pull a blush out of her—Heck, holding hands with Sonic too long had did it—But the mystery of the person making it destroyed any embarrassment she felt. Though, there was a vague sense of amusement left. Letting her gaze slide to Scourge's form, she turned away, crossing her arms as Blaze let her mind…wander, and let the gentle rocking waves soak her thoughts.

Once the two of them landed at the port of this island—Merchant's Cove—Scourge walked off the ship onto the wooden bridge, letting his azure irises rove over everything nearby. For everyone else, it was hyper-quick, absolutely imperceptible. Blaze wasn't everyone else, though. For her, she was watching him perform a slow and deliberate motion, taking into account his environment, judging danger, and making adjustments based on assumptions. It was a novel, if obvious for others as fast as you, a subtle (for the normal people) use of super speed to take stock of an entire area with a glance.

Following behind him, once they reached the edge of the sand, Blaze grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside, behind her. Before he could protest—Though admittedly it didn't look like he was going to start, she explained herself. "Let me lead, from here. I'm more familiar with the area, and my status will work more to our benefit if I am seen leading the charge."

Her fellow teen just shrugged and silently motioned for her to move forward. The motion was fairly innocuous, but something about the way he did it was…suspicious. Letting the feeling go, she took charge of their stroll, power walking through the sand towards the bazaar for trade. After awhile, Blaze stopped and pulled aside a bystander.

"Pardon me, sir, but do you perhaps know the directions to Taberna del Diablo?" She inquired, and the man—A brown canine with floppy ears, a golden tooth, and an eyepatch, smirked.

"Yer sure you want to go there? You look a bit…soft…for that kind of environment." The sea dog commented with a leer.

"I am quite sure." Blaze responded calmly, not even batting an eye at the antics of the hound. Scourge was just as nonplussed.

After some thought, the pirate hummed. "Mm. Then I might. For the right price."

"And what price would that be?"

"Fifteen silver." He grunted.

The Princess of the Sol Empire forked them over without question—She had plenty of monetary resources, after all—And awaited the response. Instead of getting one, he put a piece of rolled parchment in her hands as he walked away. Looking down at it, Blaze opened the scroll and found an incredibly detailed map.

Scourge scoffed. "So much for knowing where to go. Also, if it was as simple as a map, why not come prepared with one?"

"None of them would be accurate. Locations like this thrive on black market deals and illegal activity. All of the reports we get are falsified thanks to corruption. In order to have an accurate picture of the criminal breeding ground, we need information from the criminal element." Blaze explained calmly.

The hedgehog rolled his shoulders in thought. That made sense, he supposed. Plus, it kind of helped dispel the illusion this was a perfect little place. Instead it had its own bad side, even if tame. Anyway, the cat princess led them around the corner, down two streets, and there it was. Taberna del Diablo.

Opening the door to the tavern and stepping in, the two of them looked around the place and strolled through to the mahogany bar. Some went quiet to observe them, but for the most part everyone went about their business. Why wouldn't they? They didn't need to know every single criminal to ever exist, so not recognizing someone wasn't unsurprising.

The King and Princess moved towards the bar, silently, not making much of a presence and purposely not drawing attention. Something not new to Scourge, but also not something he was used to. So he just chose to not do anything in particular, except order a drink.

"Hey, bartender—I'd like a Chaos Cola." Small pause. "And vodka."

Blaze's eyes turned to slits and she glared at the hedgehog, who stared back in confusion. Her animosity only grew. "No."

"Why? I'm not hurting nobody—" He tried, but before he could finish she just crossed her arms and intensified her glare. If looks could kill, he'd be dead.

"There will be no argument."

The bartender slid the cola and vodka over, and Scourge tried to drink the alcohol before she could stop him. Unfortunately, it all evaporated before it touched his tongue. He sighed. "You're a real buzzkill, you know that?"

"Just drink your soda." Scourge grunted and started chugging the Chaos Cola like no tomorrow. As he did, Blaze cleared her throat a bit and focused on the bartender.

"Excuse me, I'd like information on Captain Whisker and his new crew." She requested as she set down some gold pieces, already having caught on to the need to pay for information from the sea dog from before.

Said bartender looked side to side before sliding the golden pieces into his hand and then his pocket. He leaned forward and lowered his voice to naught more than a whisper.

"I dunno much, but what I can say is that ol' bot Whisker ain't involved. He tried to recruit 'em, but had both ship and loot stolen. Last anyone's seen him, he scampered off half dead. Who you should really be asking is Norman."

Blaze hummed and motioned for him to continue.

"Norman's been working as a hand on the ship. He likes to hop from ship to ship for maximum amount of income. His ma's sick, so no one begrudges him for it. Needs the money, you see?" Not letting her respond, the barman presses on. "Currently he's just three tables down," He points as he continues. "And just got off their boat." Raising his head, he maintained his low tone and went back to clean his glass. "This conversation never happened, ya hear?"

Blaze nodded, pulling away from the bar to move towards the yellow furred (said fur matted and full of general mud and muck) Norman. Then, realizing Scourge hadn't been following, she turned around, grabbed him by the elbow, and DRAGGED him towards the table.

Pulling his arm from her halfway, he scowled. "Listen here babe, I've got no problem coming along your little chase, but you can't decide literally every action I take. There's a limit to how much I enjoy you encroaching on my ability to choose." Then he muttered under his breath, something that sounded like, "As small as that is with those fuckin' strings."

Blaze's eyes didn't waver, but she did pull her hand away. "We're doing this as a team, Scourge. That means together."

"Uh huh. I'm like, one hundred percent certain a broad like yourself could easily crush everyone in here. You can play diplomat all you want, I can see you for what you really are, Spitfire. You're just keepin' the heat turned down out of a misguided belief in your own duty and responsibility or whatever." Scourge commented nonchalantly.

Blaze bristled. 'Misguided?' On one end, the attempt to psychoanalyze her got on her nerves. They've barely been around each other a day or two at best. How could hepossibly know her?

And yet…

There was some part of her that radiated validation. Small, hidden, and repressed. The fire that raged to spread and burn everything down, a part of her power and psyche she kept in check and funneled into her desire for justice. For protection. It was a truth to her only unleashed when she donned the power of the Sol Emeralds and turned her thoughts into power, and thus arguably her true form, the mind stare she was in when she became Burning Blaze.

In short, she felt seen. Seen in a way no one but him had seen her in. Turning her head away, she clenched her eyes and pictured him. Beautiful blue fur, glorious viridescent eyes, and brilliant red shoes. Sonic. Of course, it had been different. He'd seen the truth of fire within for its other purposes—To warm, to protect, to heal.

It had inspired her. It inspired her in the same way Scourge's words seemed to lure and tempt her. It was another bit of proof, of the Sol Emeralds being right. So why did it feel so wrong?

Shaking it all off—It'd take more than mere words to get into her head, for she was as unshakable as the Sun—she scowled back. "You don't know who I am."

"Uh huh. If you say so, Princess. Now let's go shakedown a Pirate Bum." Scourge taunted as he flicked her forehead, making her almost let out a low pitched 'Ow!' Almost.

Blaze rubbed her head and followed behind the former King of Moebius, filing the words away for later. They finally arrived at the yellow wolf's table, which had other members at it. The green hedgehog paid them no mind, and neither did she.

"So, you're Norman, right?"

Norman didn't speak, instead staring at Scourge with confusion. The King pressed on.

"How much do we fork over to make you leak details on the crew on Whisker's ship?"

The wolf spoke then, a low rumble that made many run. Scourge only smirked. "I don't rat out anyone. That's the agreement for me to work on multiple crews. I don't tell anyone anything."

"Really? Not even if we fork over enough gold to help out your poor wittle Ma?" The hedgehog asked as he leaned forward. It was this moment the actual diplomat realized the colossal mistake of letting Scourge talk. (Or rather, being so lost in thought that Scourge spoke first.)

Norman's eyes dilated and focused more on the two, then. Taking them in. Really analyzing them. "No. Not even then." Turning to Blaze. "I know who you are. Nothin' you could offer me could change my mind. If I flip on 'em, they'll kill me."

Blaze spoke up, then. "We could protect you, bring you and her back to my Kingdom."

Norman snorted. "I said what I said because I know it's not true. Not because you wouldn't try, but because they'd crush you."

"My power remains largely unchecked in my realm, matched by a small few. You have nothing to fear." Blaze tried again. She got nowhere.

"Yeah? Well, these are the few." Then he looked back at his drink, finished by now, and set down his silver pieces as he got up to walk away.

An arm leapt out, the black jacket with flames over it creating a blur of shadow as white gloves gripped Norman by the neck. "Mm. My turn to have a crack at this, Princess. Tell us what we want to know, and I don't kick your ass into next week."

It was at that moment the two men at that table leapt forward to attack Scourge, but it was futile. At hypersonic speed, his left leg smashed into both their faces before they could blink, sending them flying into another group's table. Crashing through that table, that group suddenly began to turn and look at the source of the disturbance.

Blaze sighed. Of course she'd end up in a bar fight.

Immediately after, they began charging at the two. Scourge dropped Norman and hit him in the face, knocking him out cold and preventing him from running. Turning to the invading force of patrons, which had gone from that singular table into…literally everyone but the bartender, he grinned as the fun started.

Ducking under a swing, the hedgehog's right arm raised up and smashed into the chin of one attacker. Right after he sidestepped a kick from another and responded with his own, smashing into their knee and forcing them onto one leg before he kneed their face. Then he caught an elbow from a third and SLAMMED his head into theirs, rendering them unconscious immediately and causing blood to coat his shades. Scourge's sharp toothed grin grew, immensely enjoying the experience as the cycle continued.

Blaze next to him was much the same—Though in combat, not in mood. Don't get her wrong, she herself got a thrill out of combat, a high matched by few other things, especially in the hunt, but she didn't rebel in it quite the same way Sonic and Scourge did. It was more of something she deeply enjoyed and then sealed away, not letting that rush drive her actions. But as she delivered right hooks, evaded straight jabs, and returned with roundhouse kicks, the cat couldn't help but feel the fire within grow.

Soon it was over. Far too soon, it felt like. The rush faded, the exhilaration died, and as she began to exercise control, Scourge licked his lips and instead let the adrenaline take hold. "Fuck yeah! I've needed a punching bag ever since this shit started!"

"If you wanted to train, I would've obliged you."

"Uh huh." Scourge intoned blandly, not at all going to correct her when he knew she'd disapprove. He knew what he said. He'd wanted a punching bag, AKA, people to whale on. Not a whole training match. "Anyway, time to get this over with."

Grabbing Norman off the floor, he dragged him behind the bar.

"Scourge, what are you doing—?" Blaze inquired with concern.

"Waking him up." Filling the sink to the brim with cold water, he shoved Norman's head in.

"No, stop!" She ordered.

"Shuuush. I'm not gonna kill him. Just scare him." At that same moment Norman shook, now awake and thrashing. Scourge counted the seconds before pulling him up to see everyone in the bar laid out. "Let's try this again, eh? What do you know?"

Norman simply stared at the knocked out men and women before turning to the other two and shaking his head. Scourge forced him back into the water. Blaze raised her hand to manifest her flames and stop her ally, but seeing her protest the hedgehog pulled him back up again.

"Information, now."

"N-no. They'll…kill…me…" The yellow wolf rasped.

The former King went to force the pirate back into the water, his strength overpowering Norman's attempts to resist. The pirate thrashed, kicked, and shouted, but none of it mattered. His head went into the water, and the drowning started again. After a good minute, he was pulled up, face to face with those sickly blue eyes.

"Feel like talking now?"

"N-never…"

Scourge hummed. "Y'know what? Maybe I'm going about this wrong. You're all about how you could die, but how about I give you a fate worse than death?" Picking up the wolf, he put him on level with his hand.

"Scourge…" Blaze started, the heat in her hands becoming fire. "…Don't."

"Mm. Told ya there was a limit on your control, babe. Anyway, Norman—Do you know how super speed works?"

"S-super speed?" The pirate sputtered.

"Yep."

"Like Sonic?"

At the mention of the name, Scourge's eyes became feral, his atmosphere changed, and the grip tightened. "Right. Like Sonic."

"N-no…"

"Did you know that at a certain speed, you can move so fast you pass through objects?" The hedgehog inquired as he put his fingers on the skull of the wolf.

"T-That's…n-no…!" The thrashing started again, stronger. "Y-you're lying!"

"Really? We're thinking of what Sonic can do. Haven't you heard of him phasing?"

"That was wisps! The stories about that said wisps!"

Scourge smirked. "You can't believe everything you hear, y'know?" Pulling his hand back, his hand starts to vibrate, slow at first, then fast. Faster. Until nobody but him could see his hand. "An interestin' thing happens when you stick a phasing hand at super speed into the brain. You become a whole vegetable as my hand scrambles all the matter inside. So you tell me, or I trap you in your own body for decades before someone gives you the mercy of pulling the plug."

Norman's head swiveled over to Blaze, desperation in his eyes. "I-is it true?! Could Sonic…?!"

Making a snappy decision, she did something she usually never does. She lied. Nodding solemnly. "Usually he doesn't, but he has told me that he could if he wanted…"

Scourge rolled his eyes. "So what's it gonna be?"

Norman's gaze flitted between them for a moment. Then he broke. "I-I don't know much! Just their names and next stop!"

"That's all we want, anyway."

"T-they're a small group! It's just those three plus a b-bunch of ship hands. There's Noctules, their heavy h-hitter Saber La Bark, and t-their Captain, Xebec."

The flames in Blaze's hands snuffed themselves out as she gasped at the second name. Someone she knew, a name from her past. The cat hadn't known if she was alive or dead for years, and now—Now there she was. On the trail of a powerful artifact, allied with ne'er-do-wells.

"And their next destination?" She pressed quietly.

"Port Moonchester! They're going there for s-some trial! They didn't say what, I swear!" Scourge stared at the wolf, hard, before his eyes widened.

"Don't worry buddy, I believe you." Then he stopped his motions, did a nonchalant spin, and shoved his face THROUGH THE WALL. Smacking his hands together as if he just finished taking out the trash, he strolled over. "So, what's with the expression?"

Weighing her options, she turned and began to power walk away. "I'll tell you on the ship."

"If you say so."

"Clever thinking on the phasing lie, by the way." Blaze complimented.

Scourge scoffed. "I didn't lie."

She paused and spun around. "Then you can…?"

"Phase? Hell yeah."

"The control over your speed must be immense, especially if you restrict it to your hand. It did look different than anything I'd observed before. That's…it's more control than I've ever seen in my life…" She breathed out in awe.

The hedgehog chuckled. "And you still haven't seen it."

"What do you mean? I thought you said you could phase?"

"Listen doll, I can phase. But I can't restrict it to my hand. You'd have to be able to consciously control every single atom or molecule or whatever in your body and use supercomputer perfect level bullshit on 'em to to be that precise. That's not possible for anyone to do. I can just make my whole body do it, because that's a blanket level of thought and control." Scourge explained as if it was obvious as he walked past her.

"I…see…" Well, she was markedly less impressed now, but it was still pretty noteworthy. But if he hadn't been phasing his hand, then…what was his hand doing? If that was just basic motion then…well, Scourge was fast. Faster than anything she'd fought before. Her only comparison to him was Sonic. And his 'Metal' copy. Though, she'd never seen those two's true speeds, beyond them all. No one had. She was just closer than most to reaching that level. Still, if he was at all close to the Sonic she remembered—Just what did the Sol Emeralds have in store for her?

Filing that thought away, she followed the cosmic copy of Sonic the Hedgehog towards their method of transportation. After all, they had a pirate crew to catch.

Chapter Text

"So. It's occurred to me that I haven't gotten a real feel for your combat ability. Traditionally, I would have had you tested first, but the suddenness of your arrival and our need to depart prevented that possibility." Blaze commented proddingly, standing with crossed arms as she gave him a once over. It was dark out, the ship gently rocking with the waves as they sailed to Port Moonchester.

The infinite gleaming lights in the sky reflected off the blackened sea, bright splotches that radiated beauty in conjunction with the glowing green sea floor. Honestly, it was breathtaking. Something that someone would look at at say such a sight would be burned into their memory.

Scourge did not have such proclivities. He lived in the moment, in the present. So when he saw such a view, he didn't actually see it. Even when he dared to slow down and take it all in, he was apathetic. Nature did not entertain. Nothing about it was interesting or good. It wasn't any better than the mechanical slop that the Egghead of Mobius Prime cooked up. Both were utter shit. Just of different varieties. "Nature," made Scourge itchy. It made obstacles. It was filthy, it was irritating, it led to the shit ton of issues Moebius faced. It stole his freedom. Nature was hideous. And so despite an utterly perfect view, one that would make anyone be convinced the divine were real, the Cosmic Copy didn't even register it. Sonic would've loved it, be entranced. Instead, Scourge scoffed and spat into the seawaters. Tainting it.

Turning to Blaze, he leaned on a clenched fist. "So?"

"So, I've decided it would be prudent to rectify that mistake. I want to fight you and see what exactly I'm dealing with. I don't want to end up having you hold me back in a fight, or vice versa." She explained without too much fuss, at this point having gotten used to Scourge's attitude.

"Sure, I can beat ya around for a little, toots." The male replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, like the outcome was a forgone conclusion.

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "You underestimate me and my abilities."

"Don't take it personally, doll. I underestimate everybody. Though, really, it's not an underestimation of ya if I really live up to my own hype." He quipped as he opened his arms to the side, palms open.

Slightly used to his attitude as she was, Blaze had her own pride as a capable fighter and defender of the Sol Emeralds as well, and did not take kindly to the arrogant. Her hand caught fire. "Then I suppose you won't mind if we have our little spar now, then?"

"What--?" Was all Scourge got out before the flames flew towards his face. Reacting at superspeed, his body went completely flat and let it sail over his shaded eyes into the waters. Getting up just as quickly, as he went to look back at his newfound foe, a high heel slammed into his face and sent him off the side of the ship and bouncing off the water. His body collided with the sea multiple times before he landed on his feet. Thanks to superspeed, though, he didn't sink, moving on the surface of the aqueous "floor" with no trouble. "--THE FUCK?!"

Blaze wasn't done, though, and leapt off the side of the ship herself, moving at speeds that'd make hypersonic jets blush across the territory of Davy Jones. Her burning hot hand came closer and closer to Scourge's chest, but he deflected the blow without too much trouble and with a spin kick, literally jumping and rotating a full one hundred and eighty degrees in the air to hit her back, sent her reeling in turn.

"You know, that was a cheap shot." Scourge commented as he ran on the waters, dusting off his coat. "I didn't think you had it in you, Spitfire."

Fury welled up in Blaze's chest, and with a breath she tempered it, controlling the rage. Scourge had been driving her up the wall for the entire time she'd known him. Being crass, having hedonistic tendencies, the insight he had of her (that made her stomach coil), the way he had interrogated that man, and now with his arrogance. Channeling her negative emotions into her flames, she threw multiple fireballs at the hedgehog. "All's fair in love and war."

"Oh! So you do love me. I didn't think you'd just come out and say it, but now they we got that out in the open…" Her foe quipped as he zipped to and fro, evading each projectile as if it were simply child's play. Suddenly, Scourge vanished, disappearing into a blur of warped green. The next second, his gloved fist was centimeters from her amber eyes, almost in slow motion.

Blaze's eyes widened in that half moment, unable to react as fist met face. Reeling, she intended to catch herself in the air with her ability to propel herself via her flames. Her enemy had different plans. Gripping her by the leg, he pulled her down and smashed her into the salty seawater. Then, before she could react properly, he'd already adjusted and gripped her face from behind.

Here's a question for you—Have you ever felt your face dragged through water at the speed of light? No? Well, Blaze can now tell you from first-hand experience that it's NOT fun. The sea warbled and gurgled at the magenta cat as her face was used to split it, and the magenta cat warbled and gurgled back at it, because she had no other option left available to her. And they did split the sea, because the rate they were moving left no time for it to join back together.

Suddenly her foe accelerated, and time stopped passing. At least from her limited perception. Instead it stood still as Scourge went fast, faster still, and kept dragging. Because of this, he'd achieved a level of velocity so high the very physics of displacement just didn't apply to the water, causing a build-up of seawater on her face. Eventually, Scourge got tired of the routine—He must've, because as far as she could tell he could do this for as long as he wanted. Though admittedly, considering Blaze was drowning, one could view her testimony as less-than-accurate. Regardless, the moment he was tired of this little trick, he spun a full three hundred sixty degrees before tossing at a rock formation jutting out of the sea.

The built up water on Blaze's face, shaped as her face, acted as a mallet that doubled the agony at the sudden stop she was forced to undergo when her body hit its destination. Additionally, it felt like when someone belly-flopped by diving onto water than into it. Meaning the sodden cat as she got up was a hissing mess, the burning pain a distraction. Moreover, her eyes were absolutely not having a great time right now.

"ARGH—YOU—" Blaze cried as she stumbled, holding her face.

"So, do I pass the test, or do I have to toy with the little pussy cat some more before ya give in?" Scourge teased with a cocksure grin. She could hear the cocksure grin, too.

The Princess of the Sol Dimension growled. "I'm not done!"

"So what you're saying is that the little pussy cat likes it rough—" Scourge said, but was interrupted by a punch, bolstered by flames to make it even faster than her ordinary super speed, coming towards him. With only a second to spare, his head rolled to the side. Thinking it was a fluke that she got so close, he went to taunt her again and felt her knee CRASH into his chest. "—You should learn to take a joke." He wheezed.

"You should learn the merits of shutting up." Was all he got in response before she started swinging again, eyes closed. They clashed once more, with the jade jerk throwing a litany of haymakers and speedy kicks—Moving with (a limited form of) finesse and strength. But Blaze was always one step ahead. For every right hook, she slipped right out. For every straight jab, she deflected. For every left kick prodding at her defense, there was a block in place. Punch. Kick. Elbow. Knee. Punch. Punch. Kick. Kick. Feint. Punch. To his frustration, none of it landed and none of it mattered. Suddenly, then, the girl went on the attack.

Scourge was put on the backfoot again, unable to do more than block and dodge. And somehow, despite being slower than the jade jerk by over half, she was pressing him. Stepping back and giving ground, he went to kick Blaze whilst she had overextended, but with a burst of flame from her hands her body was propelled back, letting his leg hit nothing but air.

Then her legs engaged her fiery powers as her hands stopped, her right foot kicking with impossible intensity downward that forced Scourge to block, lest he be sent flying by the shockwave. Then, the moment she pulled away and he relaxed his arms--A half second he had prepared to use to counter, her leg reignited, CRASHING into his skull through his lowered guard. The shockwave made the frozen in time waters ripple around them, and the hedgehog was on his hands and knees, beneath the Princess.

'Fuck! I'm…a King…I can't let this happen!' Scourge tried to get up, but her leg came down again, forcing him to eat rocks and she had been forced to drink water. It was about to come down a fourth time, but finally he was able to roll to the side and evade the strike. The Jade Jerk watched as solid matter, rock full of metals and impurities, became nothing but melted slag. With the realization he had taken three of those hits, only one thing occurred to that brain of his. 'Damn, I'm cooler than I thought.'

With a double handstand, both of Scourge's legs jutted out to hit Blaze, and for the first time since she was blinded one of his hits landed. Unfortunately, that wasn't because he earned that blow. No, it was something she let happen. Using the fact he had put his feet into the air—And thus had considerably less mobility—She span to smite him with flames, to rend ocean and earth to naught but superheated dust.

With just his hands, Scourge demonstrated more control over his form than expected, using his upper body strength as a platform to aid and manipulate his lower body—His airborne legs rotating to allow him cleanly evade both fire blasts, and when Blaze aimed lower, to burn his skull to cinders, he pushed against the floor to mimic the act of jumping. It was then, when he had given all control of his motion up, no longer capable of using leverage, did the Princess finally regain the ability to hit him, kicking him once more in the chest.

Scourge hit the water. He bounced. He bounced. And this time, he sank. The water coiled around his body, consciousness drifting in and out of his grasp. His mouth and lungs filled with bitter tasting liquid, and as the cold swallowed him up, the tendrils of the night pulled him down. Darkness gripped the corners of his vision as the stability of his mind ebbed and flowed. He sank. He sank, as he closed his eyes, he drowned.


——


Anti-Sonic stared at the mirror with a wry, happy grin. Unlike the usual outfit, with that black jacket shades, he was in less formal wear. The shades he wore today were the cheesy, old film kind. They were red and had gaps, strips of nothing so light could pass through. The boy never quite understood the reason why someone would want 'em, but as it was the tradition to wear them at beaches, (or at least it was given Uncle Chuck's films), he decided it would be cool to wear them.

The five year old admired himself and his grin only grew. Turning and looking upward, he looked at his mother with an inquisitive expression. She gave him nothing in return. Anti-Bernadette (or Anti-Bernie, for short) had only married Anti-Jules and had the kid out of optics and convenience. She was no more tied to the brat than her husband, (who she also had no lost love for).

But Anti-Sonic had never minded this. Even though she was just as bad as Jules, she never pretended like his father did. In front of the cameras, Jules liked to portray the happy and optimal family unit. To everyone outside their circle, viewing from an external perspective, their life looked perfect. And that was on purpose, to maintain the illusion, to maintain the Great Peace.

It certainly didn't help that people pestered him all the time to know what he thought of his dad—If he was proud of a man who could create such a perfect peace, if he was happy to know his dad was the kind of guy that could just up and see King Maxx and the Acorn Family. As far as everyone was concerned, Anti-Sonic should revere Anti-Jules as a God. So he tried harder with him than his mom.

Anyway, Anti-Sonic pulled on Anti-Bernie's dress, his inquisitive one (to see if she was even looking) becoming a strained but expectant one. "I'm ready, ma. To go to the pool."

"Okay. Let's go then." Was all the response he was given as she looked up from her…whatever she had in her hand. Anti-Sonic didn't quite know at the time, but if the Scourge within was to guess, a really old prototype communicator before his reign of anarchy with the Suppression Squad had forced Moebius to evolve. The cosmic copy dutifully trailed behind her, ready to have fun.

Sure, there would be no parents. Sure, there would be no friends to play with. Sure, he would be alone. But Anti-Sonic had his imagination, his toys, and was already used to this scenario to work with. So he could make this work. Probably. (He had no other choice, after all.)

The trip to the pool did not take long. But it felt like it did. Going from hall to hall, room to room, and eventually the exit towards the pool. Anti-Bernie sat at the side at a table, doing whatever she did on that retro-grade communicator, and for the first few hours, that worked out for the blue blur. But, eventually, like all children before him, he had gotten to the deep end. Bitten off more than he can chew. (Or maybe he did it on purpose for attention. He can't quite remember.)

Kicking and thrashing, Anti-Sonic put his head above water and called for his mother. To save him. To bring him out of the clutches of death and bring him to the surface, to land. Her head turned, she locked eyes with him, realizing his precarious position, and all that came out was—

"Oh. Someone should do something about that." And then she turned back to her communicator. Moments later, she outright walked away, leaving him.

Anti-Sonic's fingers and face no longer broke the surface. Gasping for air in an airless, cold world, chlorine and liquid filled his lungs instead. He sank beneath the surface, unable to fight back against the world anymore. It was an oppressive force dragging him down, a tightened chest. The water coiled around his body, consciousness drifting in and out of his grasp. His mouth and lungs filled with bitter tasting liquid, and as the cold swallowed him up, the tendrils of the day pulled him down. He sank. He sank, as he closed his eyes, he drowned.

Suddenly, fingers intertwined with his, and Anti-Sonic's gaze flickered open, surprised to see Anti-Sally dragging him back up from the depths. Bringing him back, back to life. He flopped on the side of the pool like a lifeless husk—Because he basically was—And watched as she rushed to save him. It had meant the world to him at the time. Someone DID care for him. Love him. That was what he had believed.

He was wrong. Anti-Sally, Alicia, had merely saved him because in the Prime world at the same time, Sally herself had endangered Sonic. Thus reality bent, strings were pulled, and his fate was decided. Anti-Sonic, saved for once by his status, rather than condemned by it. Regardless, his future lover had saved him.

After that, Anti-Bernie had left. Another twist of fate came at the behest of Mobius and the vaunted Prime Dimension. Bernadette was stolen by Sonic through Robotnik's scheme. She had been a loving, doting mother, forced out of her role. As such, the natural opposite was a woman who simply didn't care, left for some plan of Kintobor's by choice, and lacked any of the real Bernie's charm. A hollow mother to complement his father's empty words.

Of course, though, Anti-Sonic and Anti-Bernadette had to reunite, as Sonic and Bernadette did in his teenage years. Sonic had earned his mother after a grueling battle. Anti-Sonic got the 'privilege' of his mom trying to use her role to fleece him for money and opportunity, as she had Jules and Kintobor.

The next day, it turned out someone had killed Anti-Bernie. The same guy who gutted Anti-Jules, apparently. Forced her to drown. It made sense, didn't it? Sonic's dad was a warfighter robot who was saved by his son, so Anti-Sonic's dad was a peaceful politician that was murdered by his. The same only naturally followed for their mothers, too.


——


Fingers intertwined with his, pulling him up, and Scourge's eyes snapped open to see someone pulling him up to the surface, staring in surprise as the black figure saved his life from the water. The water, which refocused him. Sonic's near death experience with the stuff had given him an inability to swim and depending on the day a phobia. It had given Scourge a means of mental acuity. He thought best in the water.

Which meant that as he was brought onto his hands and knees by the new individual, he looked at the floor and barfed out the water forced inside him. The person got closer in concern. Once Scourge finished, he looked up and saw who it was, his expression vulnerable.

"M-mom?"

The figure stepped back in surprise—And suddenly the vulnerable expression became a smirk as Scourge's fist rocketed into Blaze as a punishing uppercut. Caught off guard as she was, hit by a foe greater than her in strength, right on the chin, she was sent flying. She crashed into the rocks in a heap, and the magenta cat tried to get up, to no avail. The Moebian looked down at her, face smug as ever.

"Really can't believe you fell for that. Does a guy like me really seem so wimpy he calls out for his mommy when life gets tough?" Scourge taunted, and Blaze scowled.

"Cheap…shot…"

"Oh? And I thought all was fair in love and war." He quipped as he strolled over and picked up the soggy and sodden cat in a bridal carry. Looking down, he saw how she shivered and unconsciously leaned into him for body heat with crossed arms.

"I-I'm going to get you b-back for this…"

"Uh huh. Tell that to your current win-loss record."

Stretching his legs, Scourge blasted off at superspeed. And for just a moment he achieved his top velocity (in his current, weakened state). For the two, time did more than stand still. It utterly came undone. Light strobed in colorful patterns that made no sense but tantalized the eyes. Scents became mangled messes that were soaked into the nose hungrily. Sound became a symphony as the impossible met the possible in an infinite series. Flavor became magnified as they tasted every individual inflection and alteration in the air as they moved across the waters. And the very feel, the touch of the air rippling across them in a cone of sensation tickled the nervous system, a relieving calm.

It lasted an eternity. And all at once, immediately, it was gone, paradoxically short. Blaze was sat down by Scourge, and she frowned, missing the feeling of the teen's speed. It was soothing, magical, and almost addictive. No wonder why Sonic was so obsessed with his speed and was beside himself when he lost it. If she could feel like that all the time—She would. She looked up to see the jade jerk's face, to ask how he coped…and saw none of the euphoria. So the question never left her lips.

"Neat trick, fighting while blind. How'd you do it?" Scourge asked the stunned girl, who blinked before replying.

"O-oh. I used the alterations of heat in the air to keep track of and m-monitor your movement. Of course, I have to m-maintain impressive levels of focus to do that, s-so using the ability whilst seeing is hard. Too much visual stimuli to maintain the n-necessary c-concentration." Blaze explained as she rubbed her shoulders.

Scourge looked down at her nodded, impressed. Then he scoffed at her shivering. "Doll, you got fire powers. Use 'em to warm up."

The magenta cat opened her mouth to retort—And then it died on her tongue because he was right. Turning her face away with a light blush for being embarrassed, she used her powers over the flame to bolster her own body heat. All the water on her body evaporated, making her nice and toasty as she rested on the ship deck.

Scourge sat next to her, grunting. "You know, you're not half bad, toots. Still not as good as me, though."

"You won off a cheap shot!" Blaze protested.

"Love and war, babe. Love and war."

The Princess scowled, looking at the waters and taking into account the combat experience. 'He fights like Sonic. Not the same, but similar. More…unrefined. My thoughts from before were definitely on point. He's as fast, maybe faster, than Sonic is. He's stronger, too. Scourge is also just more ruthless and dishonorable—He had no qualms with using the environment to pummel and blind me when he didn't need to for a spar, and tricked me into lowering my guard by…purposely drowning…? An incredible threat, but not unbeatable or insurmountable. He also didn't use any extra abilities or gimmicks, so he probably doesn't have any, or they need to be kept close to the chest because it's a trump card.'

From there, she surmised how applicable his skills were and viability of beating the Moebian in a fight. It may seem counterintuitive, considering he just beat her in a fight, but—One, that was a cheap shot! And two, both of them had been holding back. She wasn't sure how much on his end, but she could make a guess. And honestly, she couldn't decide a surefire victory on either side. Similar to when she fought Sonic, the collision of their powers seemed like a fifty-fifty shot of winning. He was stronger and faster, but she had more skill and power over the flame. He was ruthless, but she could methodically plan out a confrontation and how to leave reeling. She was smart, but had limits—Clearly, Scourge lacked that and shame, using it to catch her off guard. And where Blaze had some pretty good resourcefulness, Scourge had immediately caught on how to leverage his physics breaking speed to brutal effect.

Of course, she had her Burning Blaze transformation to give her a leg up on him, but if this was really 'Sonic' as the Sol Emeralds had indicated, she would be a fool to not account for the potential of one of those all-powerful Super Forms. Scourge…Scourge was dangerous. Definitely a risk to gamble on. But then again, Blaze was a woman who had grown quite experienced to the act of playing with fire.

Chapter Text

Scourge bit into his chili dog, (covered in ridiculous amounts of capsaicin. Unhealthy, cancer causing amounts. Blaze was sure of this) with gusto, grinning wildly. Sure, his life was in the toilet right now, but they were gonna fix it sometime soon. All they needed was the shiny. Leaning his head back as he finished consuming the last long bit of the chili dog with a sigh. Sitting up and stretching, he blinked blearily as he did—For someone like him, sitting still wasn't great. But food made it bearable.

Glancing at the shimmering waters, he grinned at the memory of his victory over Blaze. That little bit of chaos was fun. Stretching in earnest, forcing each part of his body to get it into motion and prepared for a day of moving. He wondered if he could get the Princess to indulge him in another bout. Really prove to her he was the King now that he knew what she was about. Maybe sometime after he got his hands on whatever that thing the pirate captain wanted. Until then, he'd content himself with driving Blaze up the wall with his humor. If for no other reason than he thought it was funny.

As Scourge had the thought, he hopped up from his spot and landed on the ship deck, his smirk at full force. That sounded like the makings of a good day. Violence, some laughs, and another one of those Chaos Colas. Yeah. After he'd be able to tell Fiona all about it. The Destructix too. This whole experience in this Zone would just be a fond memory he'd be able to laugh about once he got home. The boat rocked with the waves, and as the teen got ready to start his venture off this godforsaken boat onto Port Moonchester, he looked to the side…and did not see Port Moonchester.

Now, to be completely fair, Scourge had no idea what a 'Port Moonchester' looked like. It could've been some sci-fi paradise (he doubted it), it could've been some miraculous floating water tower (not sure about the chances on that one), or it could've been some low-life shanty town (if he was a betting man, which he was, he's picking this one.) However, one thing the hedgehog was certain of was that a place called "Port Moonchester," well, had a port. Instead this was some island in the middle of nowhere.

"Uh. Princess Purple, I think you should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque, because wherever your Port is, it ain't here." The green teen commented scratching his ear, looking down at the quaint little place with confusion and apathy.

"No, we've arrived in the right spot. We've taken a detour to Southern Island." Blaze replied as she walked over, purple hair flowing gently into the wind. The cat stared for a bit before walking towards the shore, confidently.

"...Why the Hell have we taken a detour?" Scourge asked with a growl of irritation. He just wanted to get home to Fiona and kick some ass. And unfortunately, the whole pirate-quest-distraction-thing he had going on wasn't nearly as fun as he thought it was going to be. "Shouldn't we be tryna outpace Xebec and his little gang?"

Blaze rolled her eyes at the fellow teen's frustration, not impressed or cowed. "Yes, but I've decided that our quest needs the expertise of someone in particular. She's resourceful, far better at manning ships, and most importantly--Has technological expertise."

"Right." Small pause. "Why does that matter?"

"Captain Whisker was a machine." She said as if that explained everything. And it mostly did. To everyone except Scourge, anyway.

"...So?" The hedgehog asked, clueless as ever.

Blaze's eye twitches as she spells it out for him. "If he's out of commission after his little runaway, or even if he's still in commission and we capture him, she can parse the data in his systems to find out what exactly we're after and any locations we might need to go outside of Port Moonchester."

Scourge blinks and digs into his ear with his index finger. "Oh. 'Kay, fine. Makes sense or whatever. Well, while you do that I'll stay on the ship, then. I got a nap to catch up on…" He says as he goes to point towards his quarters, only to wilt at the pointed stare the flame princess was giving him. "God-Fucking-Damn-It!"

"Language!" The girl reprimanded, only for her reluctant partner to balk and snark back thanks to being cheated out of his nap.

"I'LL CUSS AT MY OWN DISCRETION!" Then, brazenly, he stomped off the ship, walking ahead of her. 'It's like babysitting a toddler! Chick can't even walk without me there to hold her up!'

Blaze was holding in her own curses towards the green furred hedgehog, suppressing a groan. 'It's like babysitting a toddler! The manchild has to be wrangled for every single thing!'

They walked together as a pair, fiercely radiating negativity towards each other. Blaze's arms were crossed, her steps measured and full of malcontent. Closing herself off from the world. Conversely, Scourge was swinging his arms in his walk far too exuberantly than a normal person would, almost attacking the air. They stayed like this until they reached the edge of the village, which had a sign that said "Windmill Village."

The green teen felt it was poorly named. There wasn't a single windmill jutting out of the ground anywhere, and that made him feel…well, nothing, but still! It was the principle of the matter. You go to Windmill Village, you get windmills. Sighing, Scourge flicked his eyes towards Blaze, who maintained her disposition. Gritting his teeth, he spoke up. "Does this science-chick have a name?"

Blaze raised a brow and, after deliberating a moment on whether or not she felt Scourge was being genuine, she replied softly. Uncrossing her arms, she looked down upon her hands and her lips turned upward into a wry grin. "Her name is Marine. Marine the Raccoon. One of the best friends I've ever had the pleasure of having."

Scourge grunted as he repressed the urge to make fun of her for being so sappy over a friend. "Right, right. So. I'm free to assume she's not a robot herself?"

Blaze looked up, startled. "What? Of course she's not--What are you--" And then looking over to the village, she saw it suffering occupation. Mechanical men of generic, silvery and humanoid variety stood in the middle of the town, patrolling with their blades and firearms drawn. The people of the village openly cowered and avoided the automatons, and a few homes were clearly destroyed or in use by those who were not welcome residents. "What…what happened here?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm a foreigner." Scourge quipped, but his lackadaisical answer at this moment wasn't appreciated.

The flames of the Sol Empire raged in her palms, becoming a frenetic red-yellow spheres of destruction. She prepared to throw the gusts of fire and utterly annihilate them, her rage burning red hot. Swinging her hand back, she was only stopped by Scourge leaping in front of her, hands out. "Wait-wait-wait, kitty-kat. Think about this. We're on a timer. You really want to waste it on some mooks?"

"They may be the fodder of my enemy, but they are my enemy all the same." Blaze bit out in fury.

"I meant the people. Your 'enemy' is gaining on some mystical object. Are you really gonna blow some time to protect some nobodies when we have bigger fish to fry?" Scourge clarified. And for his troubles, he received a palm to his shoulder, burning hot. Unlike before in the bar, where he had seen and played and tempted the flames within her, she felt no such pull. Nothing existed in those honey-like eyes. The honey was ringed with fire and the ferocity within. That and…disgust. Disgust at the idea of abandoning the innocent, her friends, her people. Disgust at fact her newfound ally would suggest it so callously. Disgust that the Sol Emeralds would dare suggest that this was Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Let me make one thing clear. Nothing comes before my duties as the Imperial Princess. Nothing." Her voice was wrapped in timbre, a wildfire had replaced the kindling. Scourge hissed in pain, not having expected the lashing out of the Princess, and the King used every bit of his ego to stop himself from falling to his knees. It wasn't just a quelling of Scourge on a physical level, though. Loathe was he to admit it, he needed Blaze for navigation, resources, and leads. The hedgehog could fight back, he could kick her teeth in, and he'd lose everything.

"Fine, fuck!" Scourge said through a hiss. Blaze lifted her palm from his shoulder and scowled, pointing her fiery aura at the robots from before. Then he snarled. "If we don't end up getting whatever the Hell that Xebec-guy is after, though, I'm crushing your skull, broad."

Blaze didn't respond, too soaked up in her vengeance. Fire wreaked havoc upon the machine men, and the flaming claws of a royal did what they do best--Rip and tear until it's done. Their blasters were too slow, their physical force too weak, their durability too low, and their brains not at all advanced enough to compensate for the immense gap between them. The feline menace moved with impossible precision for a woman full of rage, evading constant attacks and returning with her own.

One by one each automaton was felled, slayed by a cat bathed in firelight. She was burning brightly, so brightly, as she continued her rampage. Scourge just watched on the sideline, rolling his burnt shoulder in circles as he got used to the pain. "Huh. Hurts a lot less than I thought it would…"

Suddenly, though, there was a cry. One of fright. Of fear, terror, and the desire to escape the violence. While Blaze was obliterating foes with utmost care, she was not perfect. For no one was. She was still limited by her organic limitations, like emotion, to flawed calculation, to inexperience. And as such, one of her gouts of flame hit the wrong place at the wrong time. Spreading.

Admittedly, it wasn't much. They weren't exactly in an area full of flammable objects. It was just the ruins and nearby remains of houses destroyed by the automatons on a sand-based landmass. But it was enough to threaten the innocent caught in the crosshairs of the conflict. The ardent flames ignited on the hollowed wooden structure, threatening to fall, crush, and kill some villagers. And Scourge…well.

He did nothing. Why would he? This was Blaze's little shindig. Scourge was here to be a mini-enforcer, an asskicker on standby, not a hero. For him, all these weak oppressed people were just that. Weak and free to be oppressed. Free for him to sate his desire for freedom on. So he watched impassively as they scampered about in fear. Though, usually watching a fight would have him enthused. It's just that Blaze's 'temperature play' on his shoulder had ruined his mood. In fact, it had him exceptionally pissed off. So the hedgehog wasn't going to play ball of his own volition.

"Mm. Didn't realize the pristine and perfect princess could be so sloppy." Scourge quipped sardonically. Letting his gaze slide to the bonfire in question, he saw a little girl—A red furred (with black stripes) mammal of some kind—sitting under it, clutching a teddy bear, about to meet her end to falling flaming debris. Scourge wasn't moved. He didn't feel any pull to help the innocent. He just waited for the inevitable. He waited for that child to die.

Flicking his azure eyes back to Blaze, (still fighting), before the kid bit the dust, he saw her stare at him. Her heat growing, fury rising. She saw his inaction and it made her pissed. Scourge raised his head up inquisitively. She only glared harder.

Finally, Scourge sighed. "What?"

"You know what!"

The hedgehog grumbled. Not only was she wasting her time with these guys, she was forcing him to as well. Scourge would've laughed if he didn't find it to be completely pathetic. "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Raising his voice, "Fine. FINE."

It took no effort. He raced across the beach and saved the girl the instant before she was crushed by the debris, dropping her safely near the seashore. There was no expended energy, or thought, or even really time. It was simply an instant. One moment she was at point 'A', guaranteed to die. The next she was at point 'B,' safe and sound. Scourge was back before a second even passed. He went to stand back where he was, only to meet Blaze's expectant gaze again in her flurry with the machines.

"What now?!" Scourge groaned. Then the pieces in his head came together and he groaned more. This dumbass cat woman wanted him to save every wimp here?! Sonovabitch—Sighing, he whizzed around at super speed. Nabbing every idiot, moron, worthless bag of bones, and general wastes of space from their flaming demise. Trivial. Each zip cost nothing. Each blitz was without any loss. At no point did he spend anything in his super speedy rescue of these people.

Soon, the entire village's populace was safe near the water. Not long after that, Blaze's destruction of the machines was over, too. She silently walked by Scourge, fuming. The Moebian only grunted. His girlfriend wasn't even this demanding of him, and she's the kind of woman to demand of him a potential suicide mission on the (off) chance their prison breakout failed. Scourge walked a bit behind her towards the villagers, rolling his shoulder again. Standing in the front was the unofficially elected voice of the people, Setter, who spoke. "Thank you, Princess."

Setter was a short grey koala with white chest hair, sporting a pair of red swim shorts and a beach hat. His voice was older, but not wizened. There was a firm but humble nature to it, and it showed in the grateful way he nodded his head. "We appreciate your help. Though, I don't imagine that this will cure the problem that plagues our village."

Blaze pointedly didn't look or speak to Scourge. Taking in a breath and restraining herself, she spoke powerfully through a soft voice. "What happened here? Why was I not notified of this?"

Setter took his hat off and used its rim as a stress toy as he started talking. "It's thanks to a pirate crew that came by. They came in and used their mechanical men to keep us in line as they kidnapped one of our own. We've tried to contact you, but they didn't take too kindly to that." He motioned to the broken and ruined houses. "We've been lucky in that they need us alive to hold as hostages. Keeping us fed, clothed, and well."

"How? For what purpose? Marine would never stand for this!" Blaze bit out fiercely.

Setter wringed his hat, closing his eyes. "That's who they took, Princess. She fought for us, aye. She fought hard. But she's just a girl. She couldn't be in two places at once. They drew her away and used their machines to hold us at gunpoint. We're being kept hostage to keep Marine in line."

Blaze's expression turned venomous. The Guardian of the Sol Emeralds had her flames quelled, contained in her stormy eyes. "Where have they taken her?"

"She's still on the island. They're using her to work on their machines. In fact, more will come to replace what you've destroyed soon." Setter says as he puts his hat back on. Letting his gaze turn towards the giant tower slightly out of the village's borders, he points. "I think she may be there. Equipment is hauled in and out of that place. Constantly."

The cat nods and turns around, grabbing Scourge by the jacket to drag him on her quest. The hedgehog was about to fight back, but the red furred little girl leaped up and hugged him, causing the pair to freeze.

"Thank you for saving me, Mister!" She chimed as she looked up and squeezed him tightly. Pretty green eyes, large, childish, and admiring, beamed up at the teen. Her happy, sharp tooth grin couldn't be removed, and her sharp triangular ears preened. Scourge only spluttered, surprised. He'd saved someone before and got rewarded for it, yes, but it was a passing chili dog when people believed he was Sonic. An impersonal little bonus. This was…different. Physical. Affectionate. Sent to him. And the King didn't like it.

Grabbing the girl by the scruff, he pried her off and lifted her up. "Don't ever do that again, and go bother someone else." Then he dropped her—A bit more gently than he strictly needed to, but she was small and whatnot so he had to be careful—Before he turned around and pulled his arm away from Blaze's grip.

The little girl didn't let up, though. Instead of taking the hint, her arms wrapped around his leg and she rubbed her face into it. "You're funny, Mister!"

"Listen, kid. I'm twenty seconds away from punting you into the fu—frackin' stratosphere. Get off." Scourge threatened down at the child, who only giggled.

"You're like a big mean teddy bear." The red furred lass replied instead. Then she snuggled deeper into the green fur.

The older boy scowled down at the girl he had saved not too long ago. "You got a name, runt?"

"Abbie! Abbie the Tiger!" Was the cheery response she gave. It was far too cheery. Christ, this kid was gonna have their Soul crushed, weren't they?

"Listen, Abbie, I got bigger fish to fry than some random kid's delusions." Prying the child off again, Scourge lifted her up to look her in the emerald eyes. "Got it?"

"Nope." She replied with crossed arms.

"Nope?"

"Nope."

Scourge clearly wasn't amused. "Why not?"

"Because you didn't say 'You're welcome.'" Abbie replied innocently. It was almost petulant. Almost. But it was just sincere and genuine enough that Scourge grumbled after getting over how legitimately baffled he was.

Taking a breath, he exhales. "Yer welcome. Happy?"

"Mhm!" The lass intoned with an enthusiastic nod. An enthusiastic, hyper-quick chain of nods. It was clear she had a very simplistic and childish view on the world. Cute. Adorable. Intolerable.

"Great. Now stay."

He dropped Abbie and turned to Blaze. Glaring at the teen cat for being the cause of that whole interaction, who was momentarily surprised at his reaction to the child. It came out of left field, and caused her to re-evaluate how she perceived him. She carefully looked him over, drawing his ire. "What?"

"Nothing. Just follow me so we can save Marine." The woman said as she started her march again, but Scourge rolled his eyes. "No. I'm not."

"What?"

What followed was a nonchalant shrug. "Followin' you. Jeez, I'm having a hard time believin' you led anyone. Haven't you heard of delegatin' and having people do stuff for you?" The hedgehog asked as if she was dumb.

"This again? I told you before, it is not the duty of a ruler to shirk responsibility off onto someone else, but—" Blaze started, but was interrupted.

"—to take upon the responsibilities of your subjects. Yeah, yeah. 'Cept you forgot the part where you make me do all your grunt work." Scourge jabbed as he tilted his head.

The woman only scoffed in disbelief. "I do not. And how is this at all relevant right now?"

"Anarchy, you're a moron. Listen—This whole setup is a protection racket." Scourge had personal experience leading those, so he could recognize it pretty easily. "They pay with the girl, and the mechs keep everything normal. Try something, they get smoked. Fairly simple concept."

"Yes, hence why I'm going to annihilate them." She replied in turn, holding a hand up and igniting it.

"Your man over there just told you more are probably coming. He also told you their primary strat is using the people as hostages. So all you're gonna do is run over there and lose. We gotta split up. You to stay and protect these scrubs and I leave to go get your girl." Scourge said as if it was easy math, walking backwards towards the tower.

"You—What?! No, I'll go!" Blaze protested, insistent to go out and save her friend. Of course she was. A maiden like Blaze had very few of those thanks to her solitude-based lifestyle. Her duties as Guardian, her responsibilities as the Imperial Princess, the control she needed to exert constantly on her own power, and more. Meeting Sonic had changed that. He had changed her. Given her the opportunity to have friends, to be more than what her titles decided. And now the feline was being told she needed to stay put as her friend suffered. To put her trust in a man who already proved he was untrustworthy.

"For a chick that's so gung-ho about protecting people, you got'a strange aversion to doing it." The green furred teen commented as he kept walking.

"You—" The Princess tried again, but she was interrupted pretty soon after, not allowed at all to say her piece. Much to her chagrin.

"Listen, doll. You're so angry you accidentally burned down a house and can't even think straight. Plus, I'm faster and can't shoot fire. I'm just better suited at going ahead and you're better at playin' long range defense." Finally, he turned around and started moving in earnest, calling back. "By the way, you owe me a drink after this!"

Blaze stepped forward, hand out, and only received the hedgehog's dust for her troubles. Turning back around to Setter, she let the rage within her simmer. She hated to admit it, but Scourge was right. Someone did need to stay here. And with her inferior speed, that last little burst he did robbed her choice in the matter away. It was either she stayed and defended, or she leave these people helpless. The Princess knew exactly which option she had to pick, no matter how her blood boiled. Arms spread, she maintained a regal stance as she started a vigil. Blaze murmured under her breath, infuriated. "I never know what that man is thinking."

Setter coughed. "I didn't want to mention it while he was here, but is there a reason Sonic decided to go green instead of blue? I thought he looked fine the way he was. And what's with the scars?"

The Imperial Princess focused on her friend and let her tail flick about. "Ah. Right. Well, that's not Sonic. His name is…Scourge. He's a newfound ally from another dimension. Soon we'll part ways. As for the scars, I'm not quite sure. He hasn't told me."

"Oh. I see. Why does he look like Sonic?" He followed up, inquisitively.

"I hope to find out. Truthfully, I'm not sure of just about anything that surrounds him. The Sol Emeralds have given me hints, and I have seen glimmers of something beyond the horizons he has created for himself, but he's also incredibly confusing and irritating. Self centered, vulgar, arrogant…" She spat out the last bits violently, crossing her arms. Only for her gaze to soften at the next words. "…And yet when confronted with a child…" Blaze cut the thought off.

"Ah. So a complicated fella. I see. Well, I'm sure you'll figure it all out. You can do anything you set your mind to, Princess Blaze." Setter said as he looked towards the tower, in thought. "Though, I hope he's as capable as his lookalike."

"Why is that?" Blaze asked, surprised.

"Because that Xebec fella is mighty dangerous. It took everything in Marine to fight them off as long as she had." The koala said casually, looking off into the distance.

"You said Xebec?" The cat asked in a hurried manner, her voice filling with concern.

"Yeah, why?" He asked with an oblivious expression, not at all realizing the implications of his statement whatsoever.

"That's who we're hunting! If he's here with his crew…Scourge needs backup!" But before she could run off to join her ally, more copies of those prior machines landed, as predicted by the hedgehog. And none looked too happy with the results of Blaze's rampage, all aiming their attacks at her and the innocent villagers. Cursing her luck, she set her hands ablaze, staring down the mechanical men with renewed fury. She swore she'd take them all on, and that not a single hair on a single one of these villager's heads would be touched.

Chapter Text

Scourge ran forward with unparalleled speed, hopping back and forth between various elemental factors without breaking a sweat. Trees, puddles, rocks--He moved with incredible fluidity. As he did, the verdant hedgehog looked up to see flying copies of those mechanical men from before. A great number of them, in fact. Wonderful. 

The Cosmic Copy seriously considered letting them all pile up on Blaze. She already proved she could take on a large quantity of them, and if she keeled over, then that's a bonus. Then he remembered the whole reason he took that burn and was here in the first place instead of watching all those people die is that he needed that damn woman.

"Fuck."

Cursing under his breath, he ran up a tree in a spiral before turning into a green pinball--Homing in on an enemy and smashing into their metal skull, and then chaining that hit with another machine's face, and another's, and another's. In an instant, five of the bots were dead, getting the attention of the nearby platoon.

Well, if there was any silver lining, it was that he could go full 'hog on some mooks, as well as stop watching how he spoke. God, that prissy princess and the stick up her ass was so annoying. She really needed to get off his case.

Setting that thought aside, his hand shot out--viper-quick--Grabbing one of these pitiful robots and letting gravity take hold, slamming them into the ground at terminal velocity, creating a miniature quake in his wake. 

Standing straight as nine machine men landed around him, Scourge grinned. "Let's see how a bunch of toasters stack up to the King, eh?" Then time…froze.

That was the only way to describe it. The machines moved, Scourge moved, but the world didn't. The breeze was caught in a snapshot of itself, the trees held no motion, and velocity itself became inert. The power of his speed made the hedgehog feel like a veritable God, and as he blasted forward--Fist powering through a metallic chassis and ripping out the metal man's body, its sorry excuse for a heart--Scourge took the time to revel in the moment.

In the violence. 

Ducking under an attack from one of the automatons by popping a squat, the Cosmic Copy struck with devious intent as he twisted and let his leg sweep the next android. Then, his fingers tore through the metal, ripping the two halves of his foe apart. Not letting up for a second, he continued his rampage by blitzing by another machine, his jagged teeth cocked upward as he savored the moment cause and effect finally synced up.

One instant, the mech was one whole fighter. The next, it was in pieces, and he didn't even have to move. However, that brief egostatistical pause allowed one of the remaining foes to check him--Their sword nicking his cheek as he jumped back to avoid the strike, only to be kicked by the one who'd snuck up on him from behind while he was tooting his own horn. 

Said kick sent Scourge reeling, and bouncing like a pinball, striking the trees back and forth. By the time gravity caught up with him and his face entered the mud, the former King of Moebius was sure that the overgrown toaster had just got himself a brand new high score. Annoyingly.

Getting up, he wasn't prepared for how fast they were--Ironically--And was kneed into the chin, snapping his head up and forcing him to skid back. That brief moment of pain allowed the other five to pummel him, passing him around in a circle. A brutal cycle of attacks that chained together, intended to continue indefinitely until he died.

Fortunately, Scourge and Death were on bad terms. As his head was whipped back from another punch, the hedgehog leaned into it, giving him a full rotation of his body, and thus his leg. It cut downward, diagonally, as he applied his super speed.The machine split in two, and the other five immediately rocketed forward. That wasn't metaphorical, either, as they literally were propelled towards him thanks to their rocket-based flight boosters

Jumping up, he let two crash into each other as he built up power in his upward ascension. Fast. Faster. Accelerating in his upward arc, he grinned. 'Fine, these things are pretty tough. Not the toughest I've ever fought, but still--Tough. That said, are these tincans FAST ENOUGH?!'

He came down at the Speed of Scourge, a Speed rivaled only by Sonic and the Azure Automaton cooked up by Eggman. Leaving afterimages in his wake, he spiralled, turning the battlefield into a space full of illusory copies of himself as he created a whirlwind, a tornado of velocity that battered at his foes as it circled around them. It forced the other three back, to the safety that was the eye of the speed-storm.

"What's wrong? Are unfeelin' machines like yourself scared?" Scourge's voice echoed inside the cyclone, his shadowy silhouette repeatedly manifesting, stretching with the tide of the tornado, making him a seemingly omnipresent entity that taunted and haunted his enemy. With a laugh, he ramped it up, only to skid to the side and leap through the center.

It was like a horror movie. There was a sickening squelch and crunch as Scourge obliterated their skull right before he landed on the other side of his man-made twister, before chaining more attacks on one of the last two bots. Repeatedly passing through and cutting them apart.

The final one tried to fly back up, using the calm that was the epicenter to try and escape. It didn't even make it five inches before Scourge grabbed its leg and pulled, winning the tug of war with its boosters to slam it into the dirt at mach speed. The impact superheated it, warping the metal and flattening it out like a pancake. 

"Heh. That put me in a better mood." The hedgehog quipped as he stood there, only to realize he was supposed to be doing something. "Right. The Raccoon." Scourge went to boost away, but paused, his gaze flicking up and looking at the treeline. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

His hairs stood on end, raising up. The hedgehog widened his legs and took a stance as he carefully took stock of his surroundings. Something or someone was watching him. Putting weight into his voice, he projected it outward with as much intensity as he could. "OI, fuckface! I know you're there! So you can either come out of your hidin' spot and face me mano a mano, or I can drag you out."

A beat. Two beats. Three. Then Abbie walked out of the foliage, pouting. "How did you know I was there, Mister?!"

Scourge, to his credit, blinked in surprise. THIS was who had him up and ready to brawl? Jeez, he was getting rusty. Letting his stance fall, he scratched his chin. "Uh, instincts, I guess." Pause. "Wait, what the Hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be with the fire broad."

"Oh! Well, I figured since you were so cool, I could follow you and help!" She chirped sincerely.

The hedgehog blinked and started rubbing the underside of his nose with his finger. "I am pretty cool, huh?"

"The coolest!" There were stars in the little girls' eyes as she said this. Abbie intensely believed in her inadvertent saviour's awesomeness.

Scourge hummed, looking at the still whirling, intensely dangerous tornado he just created. He considered how this little girl probably wouldn't survive following in his footsteps. Or how Blaze would be pissed if he didn't send her away. Or generally just the risk of his lifestyle. Then he compared it to the free stoking of his ego. The choice was obvious. After all, he really wouldn't risk a little girl's life over something so petty, right?

"Well, I guess you can come along."

Nevermind. He totally would. "Yaaay!" Abbie cheered as she ran up to be beside him. Not thinking twice about this decision whatsoever, he picked up the brat and put her on his back. "Hold tight." 

"Kay!"

The little girl's arms wrapped around the hedgehog's neck, her legs locking on his sides. As soon as the kid was ready, Scourge blasted forward at super speed, running beyond the limits of normal mortality. 

He moved with unshakeable fluidity, breaking the treeline.

It wasn't until much later that he realized he never stopped feeling like he was being watched, or that the prickly feeling beneath the skin that had his fur standing on edge never went away.

-- --

The dynamic duo came in like a comet. Green and red, leaving what appeared like stardust in their wake. Scourge didn't even attempt to slow down, instead going faster and smirking as the cone of pure force came into being. 

What was the use of speed if it didn't have perks? He crashed through its protective, feet thick metal door without even breaking a sweat, while the little girl on his back cheered. "OH-MY-GOD-THIS-IS-SO-COOOOOL!" 

The Cosmic Copy didn't even take a moment to re-orientate. The machines in the tower simply didn't have the time to react. The instant he was inside, their off-guard nature and vastly inferior speed meant immediate death. 

For two reasons--One, if he's going to be battling and forced to babysit, he's doing it fast so Blaze isn't ranting about child safety. Two, because that leaves him totally undetected by the bots topside of this whole operation. Unless they got one of those neural networks, which Scourge doubted, because otherwise there would've been some on his tail when he left. Or immediate reinforcements once they started thrashing the automatons back at the village. There wasn't even a new platoon to replace the one he thrashed in the forest after him. The fact there were sizable delays or lack of action implied a lack of information sharing. 

That seemed like a clever deduction until you realized it was just basic business. Things only happen thanks to the flow of information. A punch is only dodged because you see it coming. Scourge just happened to have a better grasp on that concept than most people because of his father's profession and the nature of his rule. You can't suppress anyone with a squad if you don't know you need to.

Of course, despite the fact that Scourge wasn't an idiot--He had a brain just as capable as Sonic's, and he'd been clever enough to fool everyone into thinking he'd gotten rid of the Beryl, sneak it into his chair undetected (even by those who can sense the power of Chaos), as well as keep the stuff in reserve for a final showdown as Super Scourge--All of the planning and whatnot wasn't really his forte. Fiona was the brains of his operation.

Regardless, he came to a hard stop after a very graphic slaughtering of various mechanical men. It would've been horrific and traumatic if they weren't mindless bots. Probably why the girlie on his shoulders was still grinning and not screaming at sight of the gore.

Coming to a dead stop, he dropped the kid not-too gently (or ungently), looking around the place with his aquamarine eyes. "Let's see here…" He mumbled as he flicked his gaze about, analyzing his surroundings more carefully.

Abbie just stared at him, causing Scourge to pause and slowly turn, staring back. His eye twitched. She just silently maintained her disposition—Jaw dropped, star struck, and body vibrating.

Scourge raised a brow. "What?"

"That-was-so-AWESOME!" The girl rambled altogether in one big chunk, causing the older boy to step back in surprise.

"Yeah. We established that in the forest."

"This was different! There was so many lights, and sounds, andandandAND—" That was the last Scourge could actually make out of her words, the rest gibberish. 

"Look. Brat. Slow down." The irony of that statement was not lost on him, though it did irritate.

Abbie stood as she channeled all that free flowing emotion into a singular, sincere question. "Can I ever be as fast as you? So I can see the lights all the time?"

Scourge snorted, not even sure what the girl was blabbering on about, but he knew the answer all the same. Leaning back, he pointed his thumb up to his chin. "No. No one can. It's my whole thing. I'm the Fastest Thing Alive. Past, present, future? Nothin' has come close to what I am, nothin' current can keep up, and there's no surpassing or matching what I got, no much the world tries."

The tiger just pouted, gripping the edges of her skirt and exerting force. "Really?"

"Really." Somehow, the teen didn't see her downtrodden face as he turned around and resumed his search. "Anyway, back to business. Looking for a raccoon."

Abbie let go of her skirt, but still sulked. She stomped around as she tried her hardest (and failed) to engage with the task at hand. 

Scourge strolled and kept up his search before huffing. "Great. I guess they are keepin' the girl at the top of the tower. How cliche."

He was about to get into a running pose and race up the stairs, only for Abbie to stumble on her way towards him (darn those robo-corpses!) and fall onto the floor. It'd have been absolutely normal. Expected, even, for a clumsily young girl.

But something was off. Scourge got up from his sprinter stance and made his way over, jumping up and down.

"Uh, Mister, whatcha doing?"

"Back in my day, I used-ta crack skulls of people using…let's call 'em hidey-holes for your convenience." He started, thinking back to his heyday with the Suppression Squad, wreaking havoc across Moebius. "Some of the folks thought they were clever. Used fake walls and floors. I think you just found something similar."

"Whoooa! I bet you were a real hero, beating on those bad guys!"

It took everything in the hedgehog not to laugh in Abbie's face. He coughed to keep his composure. "Yeah, sure kid. I kicked their ass."

Each jump made him more and more certain. The ground was hollow. Jumping up one final time, he Spindashed down with a CRAAACK resounding throughout the room as he smashed his way through the wooden floors.

Landing on concrete stairs that lead downward into the pitch-black abyss, Scourge motioned for his partner to follow. "Don't lag too far behind, or I'll leave ya here." The teen threatened nonchalantly, causing the little girl to rush to his side.

"M-Mister?" Abbie whispered urgently.

The hedgehog suppressed a sigh. "What?"

"I'm afraid of the d-dark."

Scourge paused. Then he facepalmed. "For the love of—" He picked up the girl and returned her onto his back. "—Better?"

She clutched his jacket, nuzzling into the back of his neck, becoming totally hidden in his quills. "A little."

'I should'a just sent her home. I thought this'd be more "You're so cool," and less being her actual  goddamn babysitter.  Fuckin' Hell. You know, I think my mom was onto something at that pool considering how annoyin' this whole experience has been.'

"Thank you, Mister."

Scourge just grunted as he kept moving down the staircase. Slowly. Ever so slowly. For stealth purposes. Finally, he got too annoyed to deal with that. 

"Fuck this stealth shit. I'm going all in!"

And a green blur he became, blitzing down the stairs at speeds that exceeded the comprehension of…well, literally anything. It was an inconceivable level that caused confusion to even the supergenius, let alone the average mind. With that speed, he appeared at the bottom of the staircase, and found himself face to face with a metal door. 

He punched right through on raw velocity, finding himself in the center of a room full of technology as he came to a stop.

"Yo. There a Marine in here?"

The answer he got was a gun to the side of his head. It was silvery, pulsing with blue energy, and very clearly dangerous. "Wo's asking?"

Scourge snorted. Then he actually laughed. "I'm sorry—Is that really your voice? Seriously?"

"Wat's that supposed ta mean?!"

The voice squawked, surprised and offended by the insult. That momentary hesitation cost them, and suddenly—at super speed—The gun had been stolen and the attacker lifted by the throat.

Then the teen realized that his trigger happy friend was the raccoon he was looking for, (hard to mistake the tail), and dropped her. "Huh. I didn't expect ya to be a half pint."

"A 'alf-pint?!"

Scourge smirked. "You're right. More like quarter pint."

"Oi!"

The hedgehog took stock of the raccoon in question, giving her a once over. She was a short little thing, wearing black capri leggings and a lime green tube top with white trim. Unlike everyone else's gloves, who were white, hers were a nasty yellow, accompanied by two equally unsavory yellow scrunchies she used for her hair that held her upturned pigtails together. Sky blue eyes, white muzzle, and orange fur. Yeah, someone who looked this goofy felt about Blaze's speed.

At that point, Abbie dug herself out of the teen's back and showed herself. "Hey, Miss Marine!"

"…Abbie?" Marine inquired in surprise before locking her gaze onto Scourge's and preparing to charge in.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa. I'm on…" The green hedgehog paused. "…Well, not your side. Uh, a similar side to you."

"Wat’s that supposed ta mean?!"

"I'm here to break you out. Blaze is defendin' the village while I free you. Once you're clear, we'll finish cleanin' the place up."

"Blaze…is here?" Marine repeated with tears building on the edge of her eyes.

"Yeah—" Was all he got out before Marine charged at him, wrapping her arms around his body and crying her eyes out. Scourge just sat there, arms lifted up and his expression somewhere in the 'I don't get paid enough for this' range. 'I miss when I was back in the Suppression Squad. At least then I didn't have to deal with sappy schmucks all the time.'

Marine pulled away, her eyes rimmed with red as she wiped her face. "T-Thanks. I've been keeping it together—"

Scourge just tuned her out. Blah blah blah. Sob-worthy backstory. Tragic events. Potentially viscera! It was all the same. Really, it was kind of like a fully realized skip button. Skip buttons were always nice. Hm. He felt like he was forgetting something. Oh, right, babbling girl. The hedgehog started paying a little bit of attention.

"—and I was so—"

He tuned her out again. Briefly, he wondered how Blaze was doing. She was probably alright, right? Couldn't be that hard for a princess who could move at super speed and shoot fire to handle some bots, right? Scourge hoped so. It'd really bite it if she up and died on him when he was relying on her to get out of this place. She was the one with the connections and information that was giving him the deets on this place. Also the boat. And the money. And thus food. Really, he was relying on her for everything. It was about this moment that Scourge realized that Marine was seemingly about to finish whatever she's saying.

"--nic! But now that ya 'n Blaze ahah here, everything's gonnah be okay! Strewth!"  The girl cheered with a raised fist, and Scourge felt (and heard, loudly in his ear) as Abbie cheered with her.

"Yeah-yeah. Great. Now that I've got ya, I'm taking you back to PPPA."

"PPPA?" Marine asked with a confused blink.

"Prissy Purple Pain in my Ass," Scourge replied with a smirk as his hand went out to grab Marine by the arm and drag her out of this place. Unfortunately for him, Marine stepped out of range, causing Scourge to scowl. "The Hell? What's with the hold up?"

"Before we go, we 'av ta destroy my work heah, mate. I'm not as smart as Tails, but I'm smart enough, 'n Xebec used my brains ta create some machines of his own design that'll sink us if we don't get rid of 'em!"

The hedgehog crossed his arms. "Is that all? Pfft. There's nothing that you can build that I can't break!"

Marine held up a hand, placatingly. "Yer, but this was some advanced stuff. Tech i've only seen from y'all side of the bloody multiverse."

"Tech I'll bust up." Scourge retorted as he flicked his shades down.

It was at this moment Abbie punched the air. "Yeah! You should've seen him, Miss Marine! He was super fast, and beat the bots up without even blinking, and there were explosions, and, AND—"

Marine chuckled. "I believe it."

The oldest of the three turned to the exit. “Okay, so what exactly am I smashing?”

“He 'ad me build a teleporter, a duplicator, 'n some sort of fusion device.”

“That…sounds awfully basic.”

“'Cuz you'ah not thinkin' big enough. It's an endless range teleporter so long as he 'as the bloody transmission points built. The duplicator 'as no limit, 'n he can fuse literally anythin' togethah." Marine supplied freely as she turned to the door with him. "So we gotta shut it down."

Scourge merely picked Marine up, bridal carry—To her surprise—And prepared to run. "All the shinies are at the top of the tower, right?"

"R-right!" Marine chirped, embarrassed a bit by the sudden physical contact.

"Perfect." He remarked as his body suddenly became frames of light, noting only where he HAD been rather than where he currently was.

"Hah?!" The raccoon cried out in surprise as she felt her body accelerate.

Suddenly, Abbie and Marine were standing with each other, alone, in the midst of trees. There wasn't even a transition, or passage of time. In the moment, no—In GENERAL—It feel like utterly instantaneous teleportation. The tower was a decent distance away, but in sight. Clearly, the intent was for them to run back towards the village and get out of their savior's fur while he cleaned up shop back at Xebec's new outpost.

Marine caught her bearings first, noticing the shift in environment, and the distinct lack of a hedgehog. "Man, Sonic's different from wat I remember."

Abbie tilted her head. "Sonic?"

"The bloke we were just with?" Marine replied with confusion.

"I don't think his name is Sonic. It's something like…Skully."

"Skully? That don't sound right." The slightly older girl responded doubtfully.

"Well, it was hard to hear Miss Blaze yelling over the fire!" The tiger lass said with crossed arms as she stomped away from Marine.

"Oi! Hold up!" Marine called as she chased after Abbie.

—

Scourge raced up the stairs without batting an eye, grinning. 'This'll be too easy! Smash up some bots, break some toys, and we immediately get back on track to catch that Pirate punk. Bing-bang-boom, I'm home with Fiona in arms and we can restart our plans.'

It was on that final thought that the hedgehog bolted through the wooden door of the uppermost room, finding himself face to face with a veritable legion of the earlier machines, as well as one that looked starkly different from the rest. 

He was a taller individual, sporting a nearly all-black ensemble. A Stygian black pirate cap, crimson ribbon, equally dark pirate coat with very notable shoulder pads, decorated with a mildew outline for each piece of fabric to really bind the outfit all together. Well, that and the ruby red jewels the shoulder pads had that connected the coat into the flowing cape-like end of the coat, and the skulls that adorned his chest and ankles of his boots, which were just as black as the rest of his arrangement—Though colored in that same sunshine sheen on the soles and high heels.

The bigger machine rumbled, his voice smooth but full of timbre and holding hints of synthetic. "I see that the little village of peons has broken our deal. Mm." He raised his fingers and snapped. "Men, burn it all down."

Scourge scoffed. "None of you fuckfaces are doin' shit except eatin' dirt."

"You are going to stop me?" The large machine inquired with amusement audible in his artificial voice. "At the risk of sounding cliché, you and what army?"

Lifting his arms up and widening the distance between his legs to create a makeshift stance, he prepared to leap into the fray. "Pfft. I'm Scourge the Hedgehog. I don't need an army!"