Chapter Text
The sound of Scourge’s boisterous laugh rang throughout the concrete and metal structuring of the No Zone after he punched a zone cop over the edge of the platform he was on, breaking their glass visor. The shrieking screams of terror from the zone cop was like music to Scourge’s ears. Oh, how he’s missed this feeling. The feeling of power. A wicked, damn-near crazed smile split across his muzzle, sharp teeth glinted in the harsh light. Scourge tossed the pouch of warp rings he nabbed from the zone cop in his hands.
“You got the goods, hon?” Fiona asked from behind the hedgehog.
“Ya know it, babe!” Scourge exclaimed with a glance to her, proudly showing off the small leather pouch.
“Then let’s ditch this joint!” Flying Frog proclaimed with a giggle.
The frog bounced in place as the rest of the Destructix crew cheered in agreement. The green hedgehog peered over the platform they were on to see practically all of No Zone’s prisoners escaping, either by sliding down support beams like firemen poles or straight up falling. Some zone cops tried to stop them but they were quickly overpowered. It was almost sympathy-inducing to see.
Almost.
Scourge turned to their gang and placed their hands on their hips. Now that their orange jumpsuit was shredded and they didn’t have their leather jacket anymore they weren’t too sure what to do with their hands. They cockily puffed out their scarred chest in hopes to cover up their awkward hand placement and that gaudy inhibitor collar. Damn those zone cops. Gold wasn’t even their color!
“Well boys,” Scourge stepped back to the edge and raised the small bag, “here’s to freedom.”
The hedgehog leaned back and started falling head first as a laugh escaped him. Seeing his crew following suit and jumping off the platform too made his pre-existing grin grow wider, if that was even possible. With a quick spin Scourge was able to fix himself to be feet first. He wants to see his descent into freedom after all.
Now this.
After being locked up and being the bottom of the pecking order for so long? This feeling is exactly what Scourge needed. No, what they deserved. This feeling of power, liberation - and most importantly - control. It’s such a… what’s the word? Euphoric feeling? Ecstatic? Scourge didn’t know nor care, they were never a word guy. But what they do know is that this feeling was good. So damn good. Maybe even better than beating up Sonic! Maybe. Okay, Scourge might’ve gone a little insane in that prison.
Regardless, he’s missed the wind engulfing him like this. Sweeping against his face and across his scarred body. Lifting his clothes up as if they were wings. Ruffling his green fur and combing through his short and choppy quills. Ugh. Another thing this chaos-forsaken place has ruined for him. Cutting through the air is meant to remind Scourge that he’s in control, not that one of his best features was brutally taken from him, dammit!
Once they’re out of this shithole they've gotta find a way to fix up their quills and also get this darn collar off of them. Maybe even get some new threads, too! Scourge chuckled at that thought but shook it away all the same. As nice as a new everything sounded that wasn’t important right now. What was important was breaking out of the No Zone. If Fiona found out they got distracted so easily she’d probably throw a fit, maybe kick them again, too.
Scourge got rid of that thought even quicker though as one of the prisoners that used to pick on him got closer to him. A grey wolf that he never cared to learn the name of. The wolf reached out a hand to him to either beg for help or to demand it, Scourge didn’t care. He huffed out a dark chuckle and gave a toothy smirk.
“Sorry not sorry, bud!”
Scourge gave the wolf a swift kick square in the jaw. A mad and triumphant cackle escaped them as the grey wolf went backwards into a concrete wall with a pained groan, slumping down. Catharsis. That’s what Scourge was feeling. More and more the feeling of catharsis washed over them, raging like the sea.
“Haha! That’s what you get, ya fuck!” Scourge bellowed.
“Glad to see you havin’ fun with this, hon,” Fiona said as Predator Hawk carried her.
“Ya know it, babe! It’s about time that the shoes on the other foot! Or face - whatever!”
“Just remember the plan in all that fun.”
“C’mon, babe! Have a lil faith in ya boy, huh?” The hedgehog winked at her.
As Scourge was falling he caught a glimpse at another inmate out of the corner of his eye, except this one was one of the few who didn’t bully him. At least, not that he was aware of. This prisoner was sliding down a support beam when the two ended up making eye contact, sky blue meeting piercing green eyes that were honestly extremely freaky. Was this guy high? Why was their sclera red?
Didn’t matter to the hedgehog, really. You can find just about anyone in the No Zone, themself included. They figured since this guy wasn’t terrible to them then Scourge could be decent to them, too. Scourge gave them a two finger salute and a wink, shark teeth displayed in a proud smile. The inmate tilted their head in possible confusion, crystal quills clinking against each other all while not blinking once which made them near unreadable. Chaos, this guy was freaky.
Scourge inevitably flew past them and shrugged. Not his problem. The sound of more zone cops arriving to stop them all was his problem, however. Scourge swiftly opened the draw-string pouch and took out a few warp rings. He turned to his gang with a wide smile as he raised his hand with the rings up high. Realizing what was about to happen, cheering rang out. It seems that people caught on that Scourge was leading this little event.
Good.
The green hedgehog chucked the warp rings below to where they were falling where they grew to gigantic size in mere seconds. The colors of the Cosmic Interstate and different universes - or zones - mixed together in a flash. It was quite the sight really, what with the blues and reds blending together for sparkly purples to flourish, and the greens joining with yellows to create a dazzling line coloring. Unfortunately, Scourge couldn’t appreciate the view - not that they really did in the first place - for long before the whole prison erupted in bombastic cheering.
As quickly as they could, the prisoners gunned for the open portals. Some even went past Scourge which made him release an angry ‘woah!’ in response. Glancing over his shoulder, the hedgehog got one last look of the Destructix before he dropped through one of the rings and took a step onto the Cosmic Interstate. He had to take a few steps just to make sure he didn’t stumble. Wouldn’t exactly be the best look if he did. He got used to the feeling of no wind just as fast as the wind took him in. At least he’s fast in some places still.
Seeing the pinks and purples of the interstates' spacey sky against the grey concrete of the roads was a welcome sight. Scourge couldn’t think on that for too long though as more prisoners entered the Cosmic Interstate, pushing them forward. They would’ve been angerier if not for the fact that zone cops - in and out of vehicles - started to pour in. Scourge, being so damn close to freedom - booked it as fast as they could, which wasn’t nearly as fast as they wanted. They scanned behind themself but saw no one from their group.
No Sergeant Simian. No Flying Frog. No Lightning Lynx. No Predator Hawk. And most importantly, no Fiona Fox. Shit.
Shit!
No Destructix gang members in sight, but what was in sight was a zone cop chasing after him specifically. He couldn’t blame her really, he did cause all this mess. Catching Scourge would get her high praise, maybe even a raise? Scourge doesn’t know how zone cops work, just that they’re all assholes. The hedgehog growled in frustration, lip curling up as a thought crossed his mind. Those idiots better not have gotten caught after all they did.
Slowly the zone cop got even closer, closer than the escapee would’ve liked. Scourge tried going faster which only caused an ache in their legs. The zone cop started yelling at them to stop as she began readying to fire her wrist gauntlet. Blue eyes darted around, trying to find an escape route. Which is when they saw a flash of white from below and thought up an idea. A frankly idiotic idea.
The cop continued to yell things at the hedgehog as he hugged the edge of the road. Taking in a deep breath to try to prepare himself, Scourge gave the cop a smirk before taking a dive off of the side of the concrete road into the vast space of the Cosmic Interstate. The zone cop skidded to a stop and watched as the hedgehog fell, mouth agape. Scourge bet her eyes were like saucers behind her visor.
Scourge found the sight quite funny honestly, bringing a giggle out of them. They figured she deserved a proper goodbye for almost catching them. So, they raised both of their hands and gave her two middle fingers, black painted claws proudly on display. This is why they only painted the middle ones after all. A bellowing laugh echoed from Scourge as the space of the Cosmic Interstate ripped, casting a light behind them.
Once he entered the rip in space Scourge was instantly blinded by a bright white light. The white was so bright and vast that Scourge swore he could see through his eyelids. Or were his eyes open? What are eyes? What is he? Who is he? Scourge’s mind was too foggy to answer any questions he may or may not be asking himself. Just as suddenly as the white came it went - swiftly turning into a swallowing black.
When Scourge awoke they were met with a violet sky peppered with what seemed to be blue clouds. The hedgehog slowly sat up from their position of lying flat on their back. As soon as they sat up they were assaulted by a pounding migraine. Scourge held their head and screwed their eyes shut, a groan dragging out from deep within their throat.
“What a fuckin’ boom of a headache..,” he grumbled.
They slowly stood up, trying to push down the pain as they grimaced in annoyance. The green hedgehog winced at the sunlight hitting their blue eyes. Oh, how they missed their shades right now. They squinted as they looked around to try and find anything. However, all Scourge saw was an empty, odd colored world. As Scourge gazed across the plaine all they could see was the violet sky from before along with short, light grey grass. Adorning the grey grass were tiny green and blue flowers, however there were no trees or any other plant.
Okay, weird.
His headache began to ebb as he started to remember everything that happened and their whole plan. Scourge blinked then frantically and wildly whipped his head around, hoping - praying - to see any of his gang members. Seeing no one the hedgehog swore then took in a deep breath. Okay, Scourge. No need to get all up in arms over those losers. That would be pretty lame. That’s what went through the hedgehog’s mind in an attempt to not freak out. He soon realised that he was no longer holding the bag of warp rings.
Oh fuck no.
Scourge is not gonna be stuck in this freaky place! They began to frantically search through their short green quills and pulled out the only thing they could find, a switch blade they stole from their ex-cellmate, Smalls the cat. Bastard. At least they have something more than fists. They slipped the knife back into their quills as they scanned the grass. Not having the bag on their person pissed them off, but they swore they had it with them when they fell through that tear in space.
So he was banking on it being on the ground somewhere. The universe must finally be taking a liking to him because he spotted the leather pouch near instantly. He made a ‘hah!’ sound in triumphant before yanking it off the ground. The hedgehog peaked inside and counted the rings. About eighteen or so rings.
Good.
“Now to find my crew,” they said.
He turned around and started running. Running but not running fast enough. Chaos. Getting this collar off is gonna feel like heaven.
“Sergeant! Lightning? Predator?! Flying Frog!!”
“FIONA!” Scourge called out as they ran around in a panic.
Scourge ran and ran for what felt like hours. Maybe it was, it could’ve also been mere minutes. Possibly even seconds! Scourge couldn’t tell, and even if he could he wasn’t paying enough attention. However, what he could tell was that he seemed to be completely alone in this strangely colored place. That is, until he saw a small house in the distance.
Finally!
Scourge huffed with a tired grin. This is exactly what they needed. Things were really turning up Scourge recently! Now all they had to do is barge into the place and play up the whole “crazy-escapee-gimmie-your-money” shtick. They can threaten whatever poor soul lives there and force them into helping them. Easy peasy. Maybe they can swipe some food along the way. Their hope was quickly rekindled just by seeing the house.
He took the switchblade out once more, flicked it open, and sauntered over to the little off-white house. This place really looked like it was copy pasted from a quaint little suburb, just a little more worn out. Once he reached the weathered door he gained a sinister smirk and gave the door a swift kick inwards. His legs are starting to ache from all the use, just like the rest of him will tomorrow.
Scourge took in a breath, about to say a truly badass statement but cut themself off with a violent coughing fit. They waved their hand in an attempt to clear the dust that they literally kicked up. Once the dust settled and they could breathe again Scourge took in the inside of the house and quickly realised…
It was completely vacant.
Everything looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. Dust was on every square inch of this place. Spiderwebs along all the nooks and crannies. The small amount of furniture there had been draped in grey - no, those are white - cloths. The couches, the tables, the chairs, and all that; covered and protected.
Scourge stared at the home, expression unreadable. He clenched his fists, knife pressing into his palm. His lips curled up into a scowl as his breathing became ragged. Suddenly, a guttural yell ripped through him as he chucked the knife into the wall, the handle sticking out.
Unfair.
Unfair, unfair. Unfair!
This was unfair! They did everything right!
Scourge threw everything throwable and flipped everything flippable. He broke everything he could get his dirty little gloved hands on as screams and expletives raged out of him. His cheeks steadily became more rosey red as more dust entered the air and entered Scourge’s lungs.
The hedgehog only stopped their rage fit because they couldn’t breath. The thick dust invading their senses as if it was a village protecting its quaint little town from a giant, rampaging, fire-breathing dragon. Their coughing was so rough that it shook their ribs and brought tears to the corners of their eyes. It also brought that headache from before back in full swing.
Scourge tried to catch his breath as his mind swam and pulsated. He shuffled backwards against the three seater couch - the only thing he couldn’t move - and fell over the armrest onto the cushions. More dust flew up into the air as he flopped down. Which if anything made his hacking worse.
They coughed and hacked into their hand as their vision got spotty and their legs went numb. They tried covering their muzzle with their torn up orange jumpsuit, which surprisingly worked. Their breathing slowly and steadily returned to normal with a few coughs here and there. The hedgehog closed their eyes as a few tears rolled down their red cheeks - and if Scourge was aware then they’d tell you that those tears were due to the choking and nothing else.
Scourge hacked into his hand one more time, this time however, he felt something wet on hand. Glancing down with weak eyes the hedgehog was met with a red splotch staining his white fingerless glove.
“F-fuck… That ain’t good..,” Scourge mumbled before their vision went blurry then black.