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“Sonic! Help!”
It was a good plan!
Nay, the perfect one, in the twisted copy's insidious ego-driven mind.
“Sonic, help me!” Scourge mocked, holding the little fox up by the scruff of his neck and throwing him into a table. “Oh look at you, I can’t believe that idiot hangs out around you, like… who the hell are you really? You’re just a little fo-”
“My name is Tails!” the twin-tailed kit said, in defiance and Scourge let out a howl of pain as the kit bit him in the arm, actually drawing blood.
“Blood… that’s my blood,” Scourge snarled, bearing his fangs and slapping Tails across the face, knocking him backward. “Oh you insolent little brat! Just for that, oh… I was going to make this process quick, but since you’re such a sniveling little brat I might just take my time with this!”
He laughed, the dim lights of the abandoned laboratory flickering on and off. Behind him, vats of sickly green liquid bubbled and broiled, some containing nothing while others contained past failed experiments.
“I have to admit kiddo, your Eggman, he’s had some good ideas even if he completely fails at executing them every time. The Metal Virus,” Scourge said with a low chuckle as Tails’ eyes widened in fear, no absolute terror and Scourge decided he rather liked that look. “Now there was a scheme! Eggboy, well sure it failed in the end, but he came close! Nine out of ten, almost a gold star! Sadly, the virus barely exists anymore but yours truly… heh, well there’s just enough left for…”
He smirked.
“Getting my revenge,” Scourge said as he paced around the room, hands behind his back, the pine-green hedgehog from another world keeping a crazed eye on Tails at all times. “See, your brother, he’s always one upped me. He thinks he’s so cool. What does he know? He’s always so bright, and so heroic, and he could use his powers for anything in the world and what does he do with them?”
“He uses them to save the world,” Tails snarked, last shreds of defiance before the end he supposed. “From people like you. You’re not Sonic, you’ll never be like him. You’re nothing like him.”
“No no no,” Scourge said, wagging a finger. “I’m not trying to be like him, I’m trying to be better. More awesome, cooler than he’ll ever be! I got the looks, the duds, even a sweet set of scars! I’m just the top cat, while your idiot brother chooses to associate himself with… well you and a bunch of other lame-brains. He can’t even get himself a decent girlfriend, while everyone, hehehee, remember that time I posed as him? They all just threw themselves at me!”
“Only because they thought you were Sonic,” Tails said, snarkily and disgustedly. “I can’t possibly see how they made that mistake, you may have looked like Sonic back then but you certainly never acted like it.”
“Well, they saw what they wanted to see and heh, I certainly wasn’t complaining,” Scourge said. “...still, that was the past and I think it’s time to look towards the future, expand my little family. Maybe add a little brother?”
He grinned menacingly, and Tails swallowed.
“Robots, robots are always cool. Robuttnik always uses them, though he never seems to really design good ones. Hmmm, let’s see, maybe I can do better,” Scourge said as he pulled out a syringe and moved closer to Tails, his eyes flickering with madness as he loomed over him with a dangerous sickly smile. “Wouldn’t that just tweak that little blueberry’s ego, having his dearly beloved little brother abandon him for someone far far cooler?”
“SOOOOOOOOOOONICCCCCCCCC!” Tails screamed, tears welling up in his eyes as Scourge readied the syringe, filled with a familiar metallic fluid. “HELP ME!”
“He’s not-”
Then, the wall exploded and Scourge was flattened by a single punch to the face. The lights flickered and Tails’ eyes widened.
“S-Sonic?” he asked, the silhouette looking familiar enough until he saw the shark-toothed grin.
A gloved fist crackled with blue lightning and was slammed into an open palm.
“Sorry squirt, you got the wrong speedster,” Surge the Tenrec said as Scourge groaned in pain, slowly picking himself off the floor and rubbing his bleeding jaw. Scourge spat a tooth and glared at his attack, who could only smirk. “...though just between you and me kiddo, I don’t think Sonic needs to worry too much, if this is the kind of idiot who wanted his attention.”
Surge tapped her boots against the floor, waiting impatiently for Scourge to recover and mimed checking a watch before cracking her neck. For a moment, Tails could absolutely see his big brother in that moment, though it was only a brief moment. The tenrec smiled the sort of wild feral grin, bordering on vicious like a predator before her prey and Tails was reminded she was absolutely not the hedgehog all of Mobius knew and loved.
“...well, are you gonna get up or not?” Surge said, sounding honestly bored. “Wow, you really are the anti-Sonic, because I know the real deal… he’s taken way harder punches than that and not all of them are from me!”
“I’M NOT SONIC!” Scourge shouted, launching himself at Surge with a feral, primal scream.
“Yeah, heh, you’re definitely not,” Surge said, reaching out with a crackling hand, grabbing Scourge by the head and slamming him into the ground. “Awwwww, did I give you a boo-boo? Want me to kiss it all better?”
She kicked Scourge in the head, and he slid backwards into a table knocking over some lab equipment with a crash.
“...heh, sorry, but no, my lips… they’re never gonna touch yours,” Surge said, all just to tweak Scourge’s ego even further. “For one thing, you’re a guy, and a pretty sad pathetic one at that.”
Scourge was on her like lightning, shifting into a spinning, scything ball of energy which Surge ducked under in the blink of an eye.
“Too slow,” Surge said, before knocking the alternate hedgehog out of his Spin Dash with a kick. “...are you sure you’re Sonic’s match? I mean come on, where’s the good shit? Like this is amateur hour, right now I’m not even working up a sweat.”
Surge leaped backwards, propelling herself back with blasts of lightning that recharged everything in the room exposing her acid-green fur in all of its full glory. Her lemon-yellow pants created a striking contrast with her quills, and she flexed her muscles, and cracked her knuckles.
Scourge and her exchanged punches and blows, striking each other in their respective Spin Dash forms and knocking the other out of them.
“Heh, so maybe you can keep up,” Surge said, barely able to contain her laughter. “Actual mad respec… no, not really, I’m just laughing thinking of a time when I’ll ever respect you. Sorry dude, but you’re just a cheap copy. You’re literally that idiot hedgehog but green, and the leather biker jacket? Bit early for a midlife crisis you think? You’re old school, old and busted! A relic from a failed world-” -and here she gestured to herself- “While I’m the new hotness, baby. Wake up, welcome to the new age!”
Surge caught a punch from Scourge and pulled him closer, yanking him by the arm into a headbutt. She kneed him in the gut, making Scourge cough and wheeze and Tails wanted to look away but a part of him admitted seeing Scourge like this? …well, he didn’t even know why he’d been terrified of him at all. Scourge was way out of his league and he seemed to be the only one who didn’t realize it yet.
“You’re not even a hedgehog!” Scourge said, a blur of motion, racing around the room in a dark green dash of energy. He zigzagged around the room, barely visible for more than a few precious seconds before Surge joined him. She, well she surged forwards leaving behind a trail of blue lightning.
Papers flew all around the room, old forgotten experiments and files thrown around in a miniature hurricane. A thunderstorm of light and motion and electricity and Surge slammed into Scourge, slamming a fist into his face and making him stumble.
“...so what? I mean, Metal Sonic’s a robot, and he’s actually a legit threat,” Surge said. “Never said you had to be a hedgehog to rival Sonic. Eggman’s a… well he’s a really fat human, he’s not even Mobian and yet he’s nearly taken over the world several times. You’re the same species as Sonic, what the hell have you done?”
“I am a KING!” Scourge said, drawing a sword that Tails vaguely remembered. A twisted, dark copy of the regal Cailbarn, though any luster and regality it once had, well it had dulled. Assuming of course, this sword had ever been regal in the first place. Given its wielder, Tails highly doubted it. “I RULED MY WORLD! And… I’ll do the same with this one!”
“With what, that toothpick?” Surge said, with another laugh. “Lemme guess, this is the part where I slip in an easy overcompensating for something crack at your expense right? That’s what Sonic would do, right?”
“YOU’RE NOT SONIC!” Scourge screamed, swinging the blade at Surge and if she’d been any slower he would have decapitated her.
“You’re right,” Surge said, dodging in a flash of light. “I’m not and neither are you. So those scars of yours, did you get them cutting yourself on your own edge?”
Scourge roared, slashing his sword in another fierce swing. Tails spotted a sickly green beryl embedded in the blade’s hilt and his eyes widened.
“Surge!” he shouted, fear in his voice, far more afraid of what would happen next than he was of Surge! “He’s got an Anarchy Beryl, he can go Super!”
“That’s right kiddo,” Scourge said with a nasty grin, even as Surge caught the blade in her bare hands, blood dripping from them. She kneed upwards, shattering the blade. Scourge slid backwards, glowing with power. “Thanks for reminding me!”
His fur turned a dark purple, a demonic look in his ruby red eyes which were as red as the blood he was about to spill. Surge?
She didn’t seem impressed at all as she let out more lightning bolts, the electricity shattering walls blowing holes in them and the roof and exposing the lab to the shining sun. Surge was coated in electricity, the lightning serving as a form of armor for her.
Green and purple clashed, in blurs of motion and Tails couldn’t quite tell who was winning. Surge slid along the floor, her boots kicking up sparks before she became a blur again, almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.
For a moment, Surge had her, slamming her up against a pillar and holding her by the throat. Then he didn’t, as Surge let off another blast of electricity and grabbed ahold of him. The chase resumed, green following purple around and around the lab.
Purple tumbled, spinning along the floor as Surge stood above him. Scourge rocketed upwards, firing a sickly violet bolt of energy which Surge ripped out of existence with a thunderbolt.
“Good grief, Shadow the Edgehog is more of a challenge than you, even with his Ultimate Lifeform thing always giving me the ultimate headache. Him I respect as a worthy rival, you not so much really. Because thunder always follows lightning!” Surge said, leaping forwards and tackling Super Scourge into the ground. “And I… I’M LIGHTNING! So what… THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE YOU CHEAP FUCKING FAKE?”
“I AM NOT A FAKE!” Scourge screamed, a mad god on a power trip as he drew back his fist into a powerful punch that would surely splatter Surge across the wall if it connected. For a brief horrifying moment, it did and Tails shut his eyes not wanting to see the splatter of blood and electronics.
“I did it, I beat you!” Scourge said, breaking out into a laugh. “I beat you! Who’s the fake now?”
“...nope, still you,” Surge said and Tails’ eyes widened. Was she a ghost? With a surprising warmth and kindness that Tails had never heard in Surge’s voice, she said: “It’s okay kid, you can open your eyes again.”
Scourge had punched a Surge sure, but only her afterimage. The real Surge… was right behind him. Scourge whirled on her in a fraction of a second, only for Surge to grab him by the arm with a cocky, well-earned smug little smirk showing her fangs. She then shoved him away, kicking him in the back and into a pillar.
Scourge crashed through the pillar and he kept going and going and tumbled over some rumble. Blood was dripping from his jaw, and Tails gasped. Super Scourge was actually bleeding.
“...so what was that, your top speed?” Surge asked. “Because… honestly, I can go even faster, like that was only half speed for me. Even at your strongest, you’re barely keeping up.”
“I can Spin Dash this or any other planet in half before you’d even know what happened!”
“Uh huh, sure you can. Is this where I make that overcompensating joke at your expense?” Surge asked, dodging every attack in acidic motion. “Because this seems like the place to make it. You’re like one of those guys at the gym, always and I mean always bragging about their prowess even when they’re just literally flexing. All the power in the world means jack shit if you can’t even hit your target!”
She leaped off Scourge’s head, backflipping behind him and grabbing him by the back of his jacket.
“I could have killed you so many times by this point, but I haven’t,” Surge said and Tails realized that yes she very well could have. And Surge was not known for being the merciful type. Just ask Whisper, Tails thought with a shudder. “I probably should, I mean hurting a kid and wanting to turn him into your robotic servant with the same shit that nearly brought about an age of steel? That’s pretty low. Like really super low. Low enough that I should put you six feet under.”
“So you’re just toying with me?” Scourge said, with an ugly snarl that’d probably stay in Tails’ nightmares for a bit. Scourge managed to wriggle out of Surge’s grip. No, Tails realized, she’d let him go.
“...eh, pretty much? It’s fun!” Surge said. “Watching you struggle and try to get a real hit on me, it’s the funniest shit I’ve ever seen in years! Mind, that’s not saying much, as I barely remember anything and I’ll probably forget about you in less than a week.”
“Then I’ll make you remember me!”
“...sorry, what was your name again?” Surge asked, and Tails couldn’t honestly tell if she’d forgotten already or was just still toying with Scourge again.
“It’s SCOURGE!” Scourge snapped. “And your future king, bitch!”
“Oh that’s right, you even got a crown. How cute,” Surge said, mockingly. “Think it makes you a big man or anything? Nah bro, you’re just playing dress up, trying to be an adult. You’re little better than a playground bully, from a whole world of them. You'd be at least fun to fight if your head wasn't so lodged up your own ass you only talk shit. That form is powerful, but it doesn't mean shit if you can't hit me."
She dodged another attack, and then another and another, before racing around the room in another blur of motion. A wall of green energy and blue lightning surrounded Scourge, Surge’s afterimages all laughing at him mockingly.
The real Surge reappeared, grabbing Scourge’s crown off his head and crushing it underneath her boot.
“I’ll tell you what your problem is,” Surge said. “You’re only just Sonic’s copy, nothing else. Look, I hate the bastard, probably even more than you. Like, I’m literally programmed to, and trust me… it’s exhausting.”
“Is this the part where you tell me to let go of my hate?” Scourge hissed at her, floating above her. “Because it’s never gonna happen.”
“Pffft, no!” Surge laughed. “I’m just saying, get a new hobby. Get a life. I dunno, take up… I dunno, I don’t think you’re a knitting guy. Maybe start a band, if you can find anyone willing to put up with your massive ego.”
“I do play a mean guitar, I’ll shred some after I shred YOU!” Scourge said, dashing towards Surge in a purple wave of energy. Surge just let himself trip all over her boot and drove him underneath her heel.
“Kinky, though again not into guys,” Surge said, looking down at him with one of her signature shark-toothed grins before she frowned. She mimed a gag. “Especially not you, uh yuck. Honestly, considering you share the face of that massive idiot, it’s a real massive turn off. Now that Amy girl, she’s cute. Hell, even Tangle and Whisper are cute, even if they’re so totally in love with each other they’d never consider dating anyone else.”
Surge stepped off Scourge, and picked him up, looking him dead in the eyes. Blue met red.
“You wanna know what the funniest thing is, I don’t even have a super form as far as I know. Though if I did, I’d call it something totally boss like Storm Surge or something like that. I’ll workshop it. Despite that, despite that drawback, well… Look at yourself. I still beat you. Isn’t that a nice kick in the pants?”
She watched as Super Scourge’s time ran out and he fell limp in her arms, still enough energy left to glare hatefully at her.
She ripped off his jacket, throwing it around her shoulders.
“That’s mine!”
“Correction, it was yours and now it’s mine,” Surge said. “I dunno, I think I pull it off better. What do you think eh, kid?”
She looked towards Tails.
“It’s okay kid, you can come out! Not gonna hurt you, I’m not this dipshit,” Surge said and Tails didn’t know why but he somehow believed her. “Now, kid, do yourself a favor, find better villains to fight. This guy… totally a waste of your fucking time. Like a real loser.”
“You’re the loser!” Scourge managed to say weakly before slipping into unconsciousness.
“...nice comeback, you pick that one up from the playground sandlot?” Surge snarked and her eyes widened as Tails threw herself around her in a tight hug. “Woah, okay kid. Ever heard of personal space?”
“You… you saved me,” Tails said, tears welling up in his eyes again even as his rescuer shoved him away. “Thanks…”
“Awwww shit, please don’t get all blubbery on me. Last thing I need is you turning into a crybaby, I get enough of that with Drippy,” Surge rolled her eyes, somewhat affectionately. “There’s a reason I call him that, y’know.”
“Just… Why'd you save me?” Tails asked. “Why?”
“Not sure,” Surge said, looking at him though Tails was certain she was seeing someone else in his place instead. “Just felt like it, I guess. Maybe I want to beat you and Sonic at the same time, maybe it wouldn’t feel right otherwise. Can’t deny Kit his chance at kicking your ass, now can I? What kind of big sister would I be?”
“Heh, sure,” Tails said, rubbing his eyes. “Whatever you say, Surge.”
“Awwwwww shaddup, can you just stop talking? The more I listen to your voice, the more annoying it honestly gets!” Surge said, grumbling to herself.
“...you know, you’re not Sonic,” Tails said.
“Damn right I’m not, I’ve been putting a lot of work into that.”
“...but you’re just as much of a hero as he is, if you ask me,” Tails said and he didn’t miss the way Surge’s eyes widened. The way she almost, almost smiled warmly at him, her face quickly resuming its usual scowl.
“Oh fuck off kid.”
Tails hugged her briefly again.
“Oh now, what’d I say again? Personal space!” Surge barked out, even as Tails laughed and took to the sky with his tails. “Goddamn that kid, he’s so annoying! Just like that hedgehog, I can see why they’re related! Fucking idiots, the both of them!”
She threw her hands up in the air and sighed, shaking her head. She fought back a fond little smile, hating the way that kid was starting to grow on her. Like a fucking weed.
-----
“So, heh, Vicious Mockery for maximum damage?” Kit asked, the two cyborgs crashing at their current hideout. “Is that what you did?”
“...right, I don’t understand your nerd speak, Drippy,” Surge said, falling backwards onto a couch which had seen plenty of better days. “In English, please?”
“Right, you got him angry so he made mistakes Ma’am,” Kit said. “And you exploited those mistakes and turned them into very obvious openings.”
“I mean, it wasn’t that hard, kiddo,” Surge said, as she reflected. “Scourge, god what an edgy name. Who seriously calls themselves that? I’ll call him Idiot, because that suits him better. It’s a way more fitting name for him. But Idiot, it wasn’t too hard to get him all mad. Worse temper than mine and that’s honestly saying something. I’m almost impressed.”
“Well, you do have a way of getting under people’s skin,” Kit said as Surge rose up from the couch and glared venomously at him. He shrunk into himself, trying to get even smaller than usual which was a pretty impressive feat actually.
“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?” Surge said, scowling.
“You know how people tick Ma’am?” Kit said, nervously and choosing his reply carefully.
“Damn right I do,” Surge said. “Fucking idiots, everyone has something that pisses them off. All you need to do is find the right pressure point, and let them do all the work for you. It’s almost never a fight after that.”
She looked at her nails, all black and grinned seeing her reflection in them as she laid back on the couch.
“So why did you save him anyways?” Kit asked, somewhat confused.
“Eh?” Surge asked, looking over at the fennec curiously.
“I thought we were supposed to kill them?” Kit said.
“Well, I'm programmed to kill Sonic, but Tails? I could care less, the little squirt could drown himself in his own tears for all I care. But you Drippy? Well, you want to kill him right?" -and at this Kit shrugged in a 'not really' sort of motion. "So I can’t just let some other idiot upstage my baby brother,” Surge said, walking over and affectionately grabbing him in a headlock. Playfully, she ran her hand through his hair. “Besides, I had something to prove, that I’m the only Sonic-killer in time. He’s my enemy, not that idiot’s! I had to deal with him, before he became a thorn in my side down the road.”
She sighed, still remembering the honestly grateful look on Tails’ face, the way the squirt had called her… she growled, she wasn’t that word. She didn’t want to be! Heroes… they weren’t killers and Surge… that’s what she knew how to do best. Kill. Her whole purpose was to kill Sonic the Hedgehog, though… if she was being honest helping out little kids even if they were Sonic’s baby brother? Well honestly it made her feel like she’d accomplished something though she wasn’t sure what yet.
“Least I got this rad new jacket though, at least that idiot had at least some sense of fashion. Might need to make it more me though, get my name on the back. Maybe rip a few holes in it,” Surge said, looking at herself in an old busted mirror. “...still… the way that squirt looked at me, not sure how I feel about it. God I hate talking about my feelings, but it still bothers the hell out of me.”
“How did he look at you?” Kit asked.
“Like I was the greatest fucking thing he’d ever seen, like I was one of the greatest things in this shitty world,” Surge said. “Do you know what that little dipshit had the nerve to call me? His balls haven’t even dropped yet and yet he called me a fucking hero of all things! Now that’s funny!”
If it was, why wasn’t she laughing?
“A hero?” Kit asked, looking at her, stunned.
“I know! Isn’t that hilarious? That little pussy thinks I’m a hero! Me! I’m fucking Surge the Tenrec! I’m not a hero to anyone!” Surge said, her fists clenching and crackling with lightning.
“He thinks you are, Surge.”
“Yeah, well, what the hell does he know? God, I’m exhausted, being up idiots wore me out and I think my throat’s sore from all the yelling I did today. I’m just gonna crash now. Don’t stay up too late, okay Drippy?”
“I’ll go to sleep right now Ma’am!”
“Okay…” Surge mumbled, stuffing her face into a pillow as her eyes grew heavy and she thought of Tails’ smiling face. She wondered why she was smiling too.
After all, she wasn’t a hero!
No matter what that stupid kid thought!
Her, a hero. Now that’d be the day!
As she drifted off to sleep, the smile never quite left her face.
fin