3With the Freedom Fighters in Rotor's lab while Miles was passed out on the sofa, having just apologized to the Sally ordered, " Okay, Antoine, it's time. Tell us everything you know about him. " Bunnie said more reassuringly, " What she MEANS to say is, what was it like being disguised as Patch? How did Miles treat you? It might be easier to start there, " seeing Sally as being bossy. Antoine sighed, and said, " Well, okay, I'll start. But you have to promise you won't think any less of me, or not believe me. " His friends all promised him they wouldn't, with Bunnie and Sonic putting their hands to their chests, and Antoine took a deep breath, before he started to explain.
" Okay, so when I was first sent to that world, Scourge told me that if I didn't keep on the disguise, I'd lose all hope of ever coming home again. " " Because he'd kill you? " Bunnie asked him nervously. Antoine said, " No, actually. That's the thing! I THOUGHT he meant that. But as time went by, it seemed like, he wasn't that, bad. Now bear with me here, I have good reasons for thinking this. First off, if he was really as evil as I thought he was, he wouldn't have faked Patch's scar on me with a marker, he would've given me it for REAL. I thought for SURE that he'd do that, and I was terrified, but he didn't. He NEVER hurt me. Not even a minor smack. I expected Sonic's evil twin to be this unstoppable psychopath because he's so fast that no one can outrun him and he'd, get rid of them in a single blow, but while he is sadistic against his enemies, he's never killed anybody! Barely even a prank, it's like he thought taking me to Moebius was prank enough. " His friends all look wide-eyed and shocked as he explained nervously, hoping that they wouldn't accuse him of just having Stockholm syndrome,
" Occasionally, he'd tease me, about being worried, but not when I was just unhappy in general with my situation. If anything, he, felt uncomfortable about it. One time, he caught me at my worst, when I was at my most miserable, the third day I was there… "
The Freedom Fighters all looked at him in shock, with Sonic smiling eventually, as Antoine began to explain the most surprising time Scourge and him had together. When he was hiding in a closet in Alicia's castle, wiping away tears and gasping behind Scourge's jackets, he jumped at hearing a knock on the door, and Scourge opened it up, making him wonder why he bothered knocking at all. To his surprise, though, he saw through the blurry white fog of his tears that the blue hedgehog looked worried, and uncomfortable. Despite that, he was dreading on instinct what his reaction would be; this was the evil twin of Sonic the Hedgehog he was looking at, someone he was absolutely mortified to be stuck on a planet with a few days ago, and was trying to be on his best behavior to avoid setting him off. He hadn't even spoken to him since he first showed up there. Since he saw how merciless he was with beating up thugs on the streets, he had a reason to fear his temper.
" C'mon, it's not that bad, " Scourge said with a sad tone, sat down in front of him, and Antoine tensed up startled when he felt his arms embrace him in a warm hug, before he could do anything about it. " What are you doing?! " he asked without thinking as Scourge gently stroked the back of his head to calm him down. Thinking that it was a stupid question, Scourge reluctantly admitted, " T-Trying to get you to stop crying, what does it look like? "
Noticing that he wasn't squeezing him tightly in the hug, but was instead being rather gentle, Antoine asked in confusion, " Why? Don't you like my suffering? " his voice cracking, and he continued gasping, sobbing from homesickness and a desperation to get back.
Scourge answered awkwardly, still holding him close," It… you're remindin' me of Miles, okay? It's a force of habit. You're actin' like you're traumatized by all this! And I've seen firsthand how that can mess a kid up. And I don't wanna have THAT on my head. Being bullied on an island and hunted like a rat is one thing, having to live somewhere else is another. So compared to that? Not a problem! 'Sides, uh, who WOULDN'T like getting a hug? Nobody's watchin'. If I see a perfect opportunity, I take it… " Antoine remembered that Miles told him how unloving Scourge's parents were, and felt sad. So when Scourge added, " You'll feel better if you do it back, 'Twan, " he ended up hugging back.
After a brief six second hug, Scourge reluctantly let him go just to sit beside him, put one arm around him to hold him to his side, and Antoine couldn't help but feel reassured by the warmth of his shoulder as his head leaned against it, frantically wiping away tears ashamed of being caught like that. Shaking and gasping, he kept dreading Scourge insulting him, voicing the insults in his own head, but it never came. Scourge turned his head to him, looked him in the eyes and said seriously,
" If I only cared about making ya suffer, don't you think I'd just do that? Torture ya after lying that you betrayed the team? Think about it! Listen, it's NOT that bad here. Everyone treats ya decently, only mildly annoyed that you're worried all the time. You've never been hurt, or gotten in trouble, and you're even complimented on how well you beat up thugs, and not to mention swipe and pickpocket stuff, you're a NATURAL! I mean, stealing those keys without the guy noticin'? Genius! So we clearly care about 'cha. We're just not lookin' to look like total softies by admitting it constantly. You've never even been pranked. "
Antoine said in a breaking voice, " I thought being stranded here WAS a prank, " hiding his face with his hands. Scourge complained looking away in annoyance, " Yeah, and it got old FAST. It was amusing enough at first, but pretty soon I got sick and tired of your moping around. At first it was interesting seeing how you reacted to Patch's lifestyle. Now it's just depressing. It's not funny anymore. As much as I want it to be. " Then he said under his breath looking uncomfortable, " T-To be honest, I feel like any minute you're gonna snap and, do something really stupid. And get yourself hurt, or worse, " worried that he was going to have a breakdown, and he did not want that happening in front of Miles.
Antoine was stunned at hearing him talk like that. Sometimes his brain mistook him for the Prime Sonic on instinct and got very confused, and hoped that it really was him. " I, t-then, w-why not just send me home? " he asked, thinking it wasn't fair. Scourge put his hand on his shoulder, which startled him but soon comforted him with its warmth, and he told him,
" I CAN'T, 'Twan. I HAD to do this. I didn't do this just to annoy you. I mean you think you're my mortal enemy or somethin', that you're always on my mind? No, why would I go out of my way to focus on you just for the sake of it? Why'd I mess with you and not Sonic? It's not just to prank you of all people, it's 'cause I needed a replacement for Patch. You were just the first to come to mind. "
Scourge seemed scared and frantic being relatable to Antoine as he explained, " Patch's been trying to kill me. He even tried to ice me five times in one week! I didn't have a choice! He HAD to go! And I know what you're thinking, but if I just killed him outright, they'd FIND OUT. I'm not stupid, I can still think ahead. If I got rid of him without a replacement, whether that's from icing him or putting him in a special place to torture him, the gang would figure out he went missing and blame ME for it since I'm the most likely one, and kick me out. And who KNOWS how Miles would react to all of that?! I never killed anyone before as far as I know, n-not that I'm too soft to ever even consider it. But it couldn't be as simple as just doing that to him. "
Antoine felt uneasy about someone with Sonic's voice casually talking about the idea of killing someone like it was a choice between choosing which cereal to have for breakfast. It felt like it was Sonic who was talking like that, and that was part of the whole problem he had with Scourge, that any time he acted more harshly and cruelly, he couldn't help but imagine if Sonic was like that when he was reminded of his times with him. But hearing that Scourge had actually never killed anyone before, at least on purpose, stunned Antoine, and he hoped it wasn't too good to be true.
He thought in French, " Yes it COULD'VE been. And then I wouldn't have my reputation ruined by that monster! Who knows what he's done, who knows how many people he's hurt, all because of you, you reckless, irresponsible hedgehog! You SHOULD'VE… What's wrong with me? Am I becoming like these punks already? He's not THAT bad, he IS comforting me after all. I need to calm down. "
Scourge continued, " Well, actually, I guess it could've. I could've killed him and THEN sent him to another zone with a replacement. I don't know why I didn't. Hell, it would've given Sonic a scare, gotten him to take me seriously finally. And now who knows what he's up to there... Well, I assume he's beating up punks like he always did, maybe he's in jail by now because that's illegal for some weird reason. " He took his hand briefly just because he could as he reassured, " So you can relax, alright? Chances are, he's in prison and not hurting anyone. "
He added, " Well, anyone worth anything I mean. That's what I assume, but I… " He looked awkward letting go because Antoine didn't appreciate it, and explained awkwardly, " Look, s-sorry you're upset, OK? I didn't really think about what I did. I didn't think about what he'll do when I sent him there. It was all a split-second impulse when he threatened me with that teleporter. And you know me, I'm impulsive. The opportunity was so obvious, it was too good to pass up. Get rid of the guy threatening me, that I wasn't allowed to do something about normally, and with only one catch. You. "
As Scourge pulled him close so that his head was resting against his side and chest, Antoine tried to focus on the warmth to avoid feeling too uncomfortable, trying to pretend it was Sonic and failing as he wished that a part of him didn't enjoy the compassion and affection. Scourge smiled as he complimented enthusiastically, " And you're not even that much of a catch to this! You're way better at this than I thought! You play the role like a champ, talking like a typical bad guy playing it up, when I thought all I would get from you is a refusal to do what you're told on the first mission and you'd run away like a coward! That would've solved my problem just fine, explaining why Patch would go missing from their lives. "
Scourge stopped smiling as he continued calmly and Antoine finished crying, " But who knows what'd happen to you after that, where you'd live and what the evil Sally and Rotor would do. Don't think that would be the safer option, because it's not. Where're you gonna go? You got nothing else and nobody else, and Sally wouldn't accept you just up and ditching her. At least I don't think she would. They'd want revenge. This way, well… you're safer here. "
After a confused silence, Antoine said, " Fighting thugs twice my size? " hoping that his constant contradicting Scourge wouldn't make him lose his temper from losing patience with him. It never failed to be a relief to him that such a thing never happened. Scourge encouraged him, " Hey, you're not half bad at it! You knock 'em with your chain somethin' fierce, and you deck 'em pretty hard, too. Guess you have a lot of stress to work out. You take a few bruises here and there, but nothing landing you in the hospital. I kinda take back the wuss and dweeb insults! The only way you'd be one is if you kept letting this get to you. " Antoine found the second to last sentence heartwarming and wished that Sonic had ever said that to him, but was annoyed by the final sentence implying that he was being irrational.
Scourge continued, " I mean, I can understand you not wanting to bother Kintobor, but the punks in the city? Come on, the minute Sonic takes Robotnik down, you and the other heroes would have to fight guys like that all day anyways. It's no different than beating up Swatbots. Just try to see the positives of your situation, alright? I'm tired of ya mopin' around. "
With an excited smile, Scourge said to him, " If you think about it, I did you a favor! You get to loosen up, get all your repressed anger out, do whatever you always wanted to do that your old friends like Sally would never let ya, 'cause with me and my gang, you're ABOVE the law! You can take anything you like and any time you feel like you wanna punch someone, aside from one of us, you can just do it to your heart's content. You're basically invincible. Any time you ever wished you could cause some mischief, daydreamed about even the slightest prank, you can! You have the freedom to do anything you want that doesn't cross us. Think of this as a vacation! A vacation from a world constantly pestered by that egghead's rule! "
" …But you didn't do it for me… " Antoine pointed out, despite his fear, and he forced himself to continue despite the fear of being lashed out at, " Y-Y-You're just making excuses, a-AFTER the fact. To j-justify what you're doing. You don't r-really care about me, do you? It's Miles who gets all worried when I take a hit. If you really cared about me, y-you'd let me go home, you'd let me take off during a mission and let me warp home with your teleporter. "
Scourge sighed. Accepting that his affection wasn't appreciated, he reluctantly let him go, and said, " Again, Antoine, I have to keep you here. Or I'll get in a lot of hot water. Miles wouldn't react well to losing one of his best friends and the rest of the gang would all blame me, and if you acted too out of character and took off from having a conscience, for all I know they'd figure out you're not really Patch and I'll get in trouble. If you betrayed them, you might get in hot water long before you'd get a chance to warp back home. They might not believe me if I tried to have them believe you betrayed them just to try to explain away ' Patch ' leaving, and in fact, I DID TRY to have that happen to Patch and it didn't work!... As much as I'm being, well, soft on you, that's ONLY because you're not causing me all sorts of headaches like Patch did. I wouldn't put up with you inconveniencing me, especially not like that. "
Worried, Antoine asked, " Would you try to kill me? Torture me in a dungeon for the rest of my life? " and Scourge actually looked uncertain, and quickly covered it up by saying, " MILES, remember? I can't. That's the ONLY reason, obviously. He was… he would know how it… Although, ugh, okay, look, I do appreciate you on some level, because you're the person I kind of wish Patch WAS. " Antoine looked at him wide-eyed and shocked. None of his old friends ever said they appreciated him. " Not the fact that you're miserable and complaining about being here with us. In fact, I wish you liked it here and enjoyed the fun. If only I could brainwash you into being happy here, " Scourge continued awkwardly. Antoine was surprised by the idea, and saw a contrast to Robotnik who would never make someone happy with brainwashing, just brainwash them to benefit him.
" I mean that while you're not exactly grade A friend material since you obviously resent me for what I did, you're still leaps and bounds and YARDS ahead of Patch. And I respect that, bud, " Scourge admitted reluctantly, smiled at the end putting his arm around him and said, " I really do, " putting his hands on his shoulders briefly with a sincere smile.
He continued as Antoine looked confused, " So I'm not about to reward your good behavior by treating you like him. That'd be stupid, you'd end up trying to ice me too, and I guarantee ya if you dared to tried to kill me, you'd be outta here! But as long as you keep it up, things are gonna be just fine. " He briefly stroked his hair like he was Miles saying, ' You'll see! " with a reassuring smile, and stopped while looking hurt because Antoine only backed away nervous and bewildered. Scourge sighed, and said, " I guess I'm only confusing you by being nice to ya. Just like Miles when we first met. So fine. I know when I'm not, wanted. But hey, I got you to stop crying, so I say it was worth it! Mission accomplished! "
Antoine felt so confused, and thought in French, " He's the master of mixed messages. First he threatens to kill me and then he says he likes me? Who IS he? I think I might have preferred it if it was simpler and he really was pure evil. Oh who am I kidding, of course I wouldn't, I'd probably be dead by now, " and Scourge continued after standing up from the floor,
" And again, you're way safer here. Our Robotnik's not evil, trying to turn everyone into robots or anything. If it weren't for me, who knows what would've happened to you? You're lucky you got as far as you did, with your lack of special powers! You could've been killed! Or injured, or turned into a robot, or tortured, or put in a coma! You should be, well... " he looked irritated predicting his reaction to what he'd say and continued in frustration, " well, okay fine, you're homesick, you miss your normal friends, so maybe THANKING me wouldn't make much sense. I get it! But at least TRY to focus on the silver lining here and have fun with what you've got. You're making things a lot harder for yourself than it could be. Try makin' a list, doing everything you can think of that you'd enjoy, a lot of which you wouldn't get to do back home. Maybe faking enjoying it would be a good start; smiling can fool your brain into actually being happy if you do it long enough… I mean, not that I would know. Miles just told me!... And I think that could apply to you. "
He put his hand on his shoulder one last time, and told him seriously as Antoine looked guilty, " Remember, you're playing a role. Not the real thing. Don't let yourself feel too guilty for the role you got forced into by circumstance. It'll eat you up inside. " Antoine cringed a little at the image from that, and again found the courage to speak to him, feeling more encouraged to every time he didn't snap at him as he began to fear him less and less as time went on. " Then doing bad things when I don't have to will only make me feel worse. " " Define bad things, " Scourge said, rolling his eyes thinking he didn't get it, and opened the closet door, saying,
" That's subjective. You need to think more open-mindedly, because real heroes are open-minded, not quick to judge. At least that's what Miles used to say, and I'M his hero. Don't bottle it up, Antoine, you'll be a ticking time bomb if you do. And I don't want you doing anything stupid because you lose control of yourself. "
Antoine didn't want to admit that he felt like Scourge had a good point. He was stressed out, and there were plenty of times when he felt like decking Sonic when he pranked him, but didn't because he was scared of the consequences. Maybe with his reputation on Moebius, he had nothing to be scared of, especially with the other members of the gang around. He didn't want to act just as bad as Patch, but something about the idea that he was in power and in control when trapped in a helpless situation was enticing. He never had that position before. It used to be Robotnik in power, but here, Scourge's gang was if anything.
After Scourge walked out of the closet, he snapped him out of his conflicted train of thought by telling him, " I'm SERIOUS, 'Twan, don't get yourself killed. We don't need that, MILES definitely doesn't need that, and neither do your friends back home. And I'm not talking about attacking too recklessly. I think you'll be fine with that. You got US around. Just, don't… get too emotional. Just be patient, okay? 'Cause eventually, I might wanna fight Sonic again, not like I'm trying to work up the nerve, just the motivation, of course. And who knows. Maybe I'll have to bring you along. " With an oddly sweet smile, he took off after the final two sentences, leaving Antoine stunned and remembering the hug he gave him earlier.
Antoine said to his confused friends in the present day, " He didn't HAVE to comfort me that one time, but he did anyway. I thought he would tease me, insult me, hit me, but not only did he not do any of that, but he gave me a hug and told me everything he could to make me feel better. He tried to have me think of it as a blessing, a vacation from my earlier troubles, and he calmly explained to me WHY he had trapped me on his planet, which he didn't bother to do earlier. Of course, it was to save his own skin, because he'd get in trouble if word got out that he got rid of Patch, and Patch was constantly trying to kill him, but the sheer fact that he didn't kill Patch outright, and reassured me when he didn't have to at all… I don't know. I think he's not as bad as he makes himself out to be. "
Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, Amy, Rotor and Tails were in various states of shock, confusion, and curiosity at what Antoine had to say, with Amy and Sonic even smiling at points, and Antoine, the whole time, was scared that they wouldn't even believe him, and would dismiss him as delusional. " And remember, you promised me you'd believe me. I don't have a reason to lie and he's not the type to embarrass himself by looking like a softie on purpose, so I don't think he'd try to manipulate someone THAT much with no reason to. He was, a complicated person. Vicious one moment, but friendly the next. It was creepy because he was, almost there, but he just wasn't Sonic, and every time he did something like punched a criminal in the gut or kicked them below the belt, or threw everyone out of the arcade, I wished he was you, Sonic, and he almost was, which is why I survived. One minute he was holding me to his side complimenting me and the next he was saying Kintobor was just a lying hypocrite. I didn't know what to think and I settled on hating him for what he did. But honestly… "
He took a deep breath since he was afraid of being judged for what he would say, and admitted, " It wasn't that bad. Of course, I hated bothering Kintobor, it's not like I was evil over there! But I think the fact that I came back home acting braver instead of traumatized and quitting the action from sheer stress, means a lot about my situation over there. Because Scourge was part of the reason I BECAME braver. Every single time I felt like I was pushing my luck with him, he didn't lose his temper. I just kept on contradicting him, while still staying relatively polite, and it simply annoyed him. Same goes for Miles. "
Sonic and Bunnie said, " Finally, " relieved at Antoine getting to the original point at last, and Sally, after hoping they wouldn't be seen as rude, asked, " What about him? And don't worry, we're not judging you for doing what you had to do. You're probably right. " " …Well, with Miles, the reason he made me braver was not only that I never got him to hurt me, but it's also because he gave me advice. He knows how it feels to be, you know, well coward's not really fair to HIM, I mean timid and worried is more like it. When he's scared, he acts angry and serious to cover it up and fights against the threat to lash out. He knew how I was feeling and wanted me to feel better. "
" How exactly? Did he KNOW who you were? " Sally asked in curiosity. Antoine explained nervously, " I don't think so. I let him believe I was just Patch with amnesia. He said he'd tell me everything I needed to be reminded of and keep my secret to help protect me from being taken advantage of. When it was the end of my first day, he walked into my room and asked me why I was so quiet and nervous earlier, and he was really concerned about me. So I took a huge risk, which I think I only did because he was young and reminded me of Tails. I asked him if he liked bothering Kintobor all the time, being an evil twin. And he said he didn't! "
He continued with an excited smile, " He smiled, figuring out that I didn't like doing that, and he started complaining about how pointless he felt it was and that he was only doing it to appease his friends, and he wished he could have a bigger villain to fight like Robotnik! I thought he'd just think I was being stupid, but he loved having someone he could finally relate to. The most relatable person to him before me was Scourge, and that was only because their parents hated them and they wanted to lash out… They were both lonely people, honestly, and it showed. It's why Scourge was so willing to hold me close to him on a whim, and it's why MILES was. In fact, he took every opportunity to hug me and reassure me that he could! I feel like he was my only real friend there! The only one I could open up to and be myself around. Even when I was sick, he volunteered to spend all day with me in my bed until I got better, and even covered for me when I faked it for as long as I could get away with. "
Everyone looked surprised, and Bunnie exclaimed, " I figured he had a soft side, but I didn't think it was that much! Are you sure? " Antoine said, " He'd have nothing to gain from pretending. Remember, he's not comfortable looking like a softie, either. He's, well, scared. He's worried about people reacting badly to it, not trusting him or mistreating him, thinking he's an easy target. Like they always used to… He had to be with Scourge for a reason! People, really didn't like him, and for the flimsiest of a reason, long before he had done anything to deserve it. All because he had two tails… I don't want to go into that too much. Not only would it take all day, but I think it'd be unfair to him, he's already ashamed enough of how his past has affected him, and you'll figure it all out as you spend time with him anyways and see what, gets him on edge. Is that okay with you? I'd feel awful if I just told you everything about the bullying he used to go through, especially since YOU'D feel awful. "
Sally sighed and reluctantly admitted, " Okay, fine. I suppose it's none of our business. But if he's scared of something we'll be seeing a lot, you should let me know in advance, " as everyone looked worried and sympathetic to Miles. Antoine smiled in relief, and said, " Me and Miles would go on ' let's not and say we did ' missions when we were alone together where we'd just go cooking or go to the arcade when we were supposed to do something evil instead. That's right, cooking. He was a GREAT cook! He actually taught me quite a lot about it. He could be a professional chef! If only… if only he wasn't so shy. He won't even play music in front of anyone. I hope we could help him get over that. Maybe he'd be happier here, helping us out. He certainly thought he might be when I first got to know him. " They all smiled, and held out the same hope.
