Chapter Text
Part One
It was a moderately quiet day. Mighty hadn't expected anything crazy to happen when he had agreed to stay with the Freedom Fighters for a few weeks to help with errands while he and Ray were in the area.
That was until, of course, the radar began beeping.
That stupid radar.
"Hey, guys? I'm picking up mysterious Chaos Energy signals South of the Great Forest."
Mighty saw Sonic zip over to the desk where Tails' technology was set up.
"Does it say what it's from?"
"No, but it was going at a speed similar to yours a minute ago."
Sonic scoffed. "Don't make me laugh."
Mighty stood up from the cold steel floor, from which he was sitting cross-legged.
"You and your giant ego. Do you want us to go investigate?"
Sonic began to retort, but thankfully, the two-tailed genius cut him off before he could start retaliating.
"If it's not much of a hassle, I'd appreciate it. Whatever -- whoever -- it is, it's radiating a lot more energy than for it to just be a local going for a stroll."
The hedgehog and the armadillo both gave him a small nod and quickly went on their way.
"You see anything?"
Mighty shook his head, glancing around the tall trees of the deeper end of the Great Forest. They had gotten South relatively quickly, yet to no avail, as the possible cause of the energy signal was nowhere in sight.
Wait.
"Shh."
Mighty hushed Sonic quietly, trying to hear a soft noise that caught his attention.
Thunk. Thunk.
The two cautiously approached the direction of the noise, expecting it to be a Badnik repeatedly walking into a wall or something. But when peeking through the trees, they were met with something worse and much more annoying.
"Scourge?! What are you doing here?! You're meant to be in prison!" Sonic groaned, bursting through the trees and into the grassy clearing. He was clearly sick and tired of his nonstop antics. Mighty blinked in confusion. Did Sonic have a miscoloured doppelganger?
"Oh, great. Just my luck," Scourge muttered to himself.
Mighty watched them bicker back and forth, glancing from left to right as if watching a tennis match. There was suddenly a loud CRASH noise from the background that neither of the hedgehogs seemed to notice.
"Um, sorry to interrupt but--"
"Didn't we JUST take care of you?!"
"By throwing me into a cell with the shittiest enforcement ever? Pfft, don't make me laugh!"
He even says similar things to him, Mighty thought, yet somehow he makes them sound a hundred times snarkier. God, do either of them shut up? Why in the world are there TWO?? The GOOD one was bothersome enough, and we're childhood friends!
He sighed, finally getting a word in.
"You two! Stop it! Look, I have no idea who this Scor-"
"Scourge."
"Oh, yeah, whatever! Look, whatever problems you have can be sorted out later! We have a bigger situation!-"
That got the two to stop arguing for a moment and look over in the direction Mighty was pointing. There was a large, heavy-duty mechanical creature looming over the trees, but thankfully, it was slow.
"Of course, a Badnik turns up now! Just wonderful," Sonic groaned, zipping over to the weaponised machine. "Watch the criminal for me, wouldja Red?" He called out behind him, not actually giving him a decision.
"I- but--! ugh, fine..."
Mighty had quickly learnt that Scourge was... annoying. He must've picked up the fact that the armadillo was rather gentle for his big size and very, very patient.
...Usually.
So, as one does, he did the only logical thing in that situation and decided to annoy the living shit out of him, throwing petty insults and mockery at him until he snapped.
It started off as tame. Light teasing of the taller armadillo, nothing crazy. Just being as spoiled as he was always. But then it progressively got more personal.
“You got a girl? Actually, I dunno why I asked that. Obviously not, you’re a Freedom Fighter. All you do is flaunt about how you’re some kind of hero group and rub it in everyone’s faces like you’re better… I bet I could take you in a fight! You don’t even look like you could defend yourself against a child~”
Mighty let out a frustrated groan.
“You sure are full of yourself.”
“Me? Ha! You’re talkin' to the King, doll.”
“Do not call me that.”
The taunting got so obnoxious to the point it was genuinely annoying.
“You’re nothing but a loner tryna make himself feel better by working with these suck-ups, eh? How about we make a deal? Ya get me outta here and I’ll get you somethin’ in return?”
Mighty groaned, finally having had enough of his bullshit. He was NOT going to work with a criminal!
"Be quiet. I'd rather throw myself at a sword than work with a felon."
"Jeez, doll. You're playin' hard to get. I like it."
"Did I ask?"
"Easy there, tiger. I'm just curious what might be going on in that pretty head of yours. I bet you're thinkin' of all the benefits you could get workin' with a stud like me--"
Mid-sentence, Scourge was interrupted by a loud CRACK! and the feeling of his nose getting crushed by a punch.
Mighty looked fully unbothered as he continued to quietly gaze and hum at his surroundings as if nothing had happened.
Scourge, on the other hand, stood there stunned. After his initial shock began to fade, he felt blood seeping through the fur on his snout.
He brought his hands up to his face and grimaced in pain, letting out a rough groan.
“Fuck! Seriously?!”
Mighty had shut his eyes. He was a pacifist; he often avoided violence, yet somehow Scourge had pushed his buttons so much that the anger in his head, which he would desperately try to keep hidden at most times, was seeping through.
Scourge’s nose began to throb in pain.
“God, I didn’t think you had that in you,” he muttered, thick red blood spilling over his fingers and palms. He let out a low growl, yet surprisingly didn’t fight him like he usually would with any person. He had gotten punched in the face plenty of times, but this was different. He put so much force into it without even trying. Never had being decked in the face hurt this much!
“Sorry,” Mighty sighed, trying to regain his bearings. “Sometimes I snap.”
“Are you joking?! Ya broke my damn nose!”
He yelped, more of the crimson liquid fighting through his hands and gushing down his chin and to his throat. He could feel the bones in his nose bridge being shattered and a gnarly bruise forming on his face. It wasn’t enough to make him cry, but he’d be a damned liar if he said it didn’t hurt.
Who does this guy think he is?! Scourge thought as he winced in pain, and why do I want to know?
Sonic eventually returned, dusting himself off as the robot smoked in a puddle of oil and steel on the soft grass.
"Sorry about tha-- What happened?!"
Mighty shrugged awkwardly.
"Um.. sorry. I lost my temper."
Scourge was, for once in his life, silent.
"Wow, Scourge. You managed to actually get him to hit you. That's impressive."
Scourge was too busy pouting to respond.
Sonic cringed internally as he saw the intensity of the hit when he took his hands away... and also because he was about to drop something his armadillo friend did NOT need right now.
"He's... gonna have to stay with us."
"WHAT?!"
The cobalt hedgehog sighed.
"Sorry, dude, but we have to take him back to the base and wait for authorities to come get him."
"For how long...?"
"Usually it takes a couple of weeks or so? We're pretty far away from the cells," Sonic sighed with a shrug.
This was gonna be a long month.
"...Great. Guess you're all bite and no bark under all that, doll. Can't wait to get to know you," Scourge muttered.
"My name is Mighty. Don't wear it out."