2Scourge not only wanted to get Miles comfortable with the city – which was what the tour of it was for – but he wanted to get Miles to start feeling like he was finally overcoming his past by getting revenge on the people of the world. He wanted him to join in on his favorite past-time, of course, but he also wanted him to feel like he had a safe outlet for his stress, and finally fully register that the tables had turned and now he was the one on top. But convincing him to take it all out on random people on the streets was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be. He thought that reminding him of how mean people were to him in the past would be all it would take to rile him up enough, but all it did was make him sad.
He didn't want to have to miss out on the thrills and satisfaction of winning fights because he'd have to worry about Miles being targeted while he was busy, and attacked because he was unwilling to attack first, and at the very least, telling him about that concern was enough to get him to understand. He had been practicing attacks on nothing but unmoving scarecrows set up in his backyard, and he needed to apply that to the real thing to learn how to win a fight, to get the first hit on people who would inevitably hurt him so that he would be able to win. It was all in the interest of getting him stronger.
But he still showed hesitation. Scourge couldn't even get him to agree to knock down a random man on the street and demand his wallet, one of the most petty crimes in his opinion. Needless to say, he found that embarrassing, as Miles had awkwardly went over to the man only to run back into the alley frightened of him, and Scourge felt the need to show him how to do it right. He knocked the man down with a homing-attack and said standing on his chest, " You, bozo! You got any cash on you or what?! "
The man was a Moebian of the jackal race, and he yelped at what happened saying, " Sonic the Hedgehog! Don't hurt me! Take my money! " letting Scourge take the paper bills out of his wallet looking uncharacteristically annoyed rather than smirking during the experience. This was something the man didn't fail to notice, and Scourge in his bad mood had to specifically tell him, " What'dya doin' standin' here?! Get lost! " to get him to leave. All the while, Miles stared at the sight uncomfortable, hoping he wouldn't be seen himself.
Scourge put the money in his leather jacket pocket as he left, and didn't look directly at Miles at first as he tried to make a compromise with him. Normally, Miles was loyal enough to do literally whatever he wanted, so running into that level of hesitation from him was frustrating, to say the least, and he took deep breaths in and out, trying his best to not get him upset by losing his temper. Miles could tell how he was feeling, and wished that it could only be some other way.
" Alright, looks like we gotta start small. What people do you think in this city deserve to suffer the most? " he asked Miles, trying and failing to hide his exasperation with him. " Mean people, " the kid answered unhappily, not understanding what he meant by the figure of speech. Scourge replied, " Well, that man you chickened out of mugging was mean just like your bullies, and that didn't help motivate you, so clearly you want some different targets. "
Miles, feeling pressured to give him an answer, said, " I-I think the people should do something to really get it coming first. And if what you said about city folk was true, then just waiting for someone willing to insult me to my face means we'll be waiting forever. So if they're too afraid to provoke us, maybe we need to look for the people that aren't necessarily being mean to us, but to other people. Not that I care what bullies do to other bullies, I'm just saying I'd feel a lot better if I knew for an absolute fact that our target was an awful person who had it coming. " Scourge, getting an idea, asked him still feeling a bit frustrated with him, " You mean like a criminal or something? "
Seeing the annoyed look in his eyes, Miles said nervously, " Not you! Someone else! A criminal who isn't nice to me, who wouldn't give me a chance. Those are the people that deserve to suffer the most, but you've proven that you're the exception. You're not like those people! You're a good person when it counts… " Scourge looked at him stunned and conflicted once again, and then looked to the left and right of him hoping nobody heard that.
" That's a compliment. What I mean is, well, I had a lot of bad experiences with teenagers wearing black jackets. I heard them calling each other a gang sometimes, and they were the people aside from the cops who were the most willing to hunt me down and, beat me! I-It got to the point where the people of the island would hire them to look for me and supply them with weapons, and whatever they asked for, they got… " Miles was full of sadness and dread by the third sentence, getting increasingly more scared just at talking about it, and had to take a deep breath to calm himself down, remembering what Scourge advised him to do. Getting angry, he continued with a passionate desire for justice against his oppressors,
" Those are the kind of people I hate! Those are the people that should pay! The ones who love to hurt people to the point where they jump at the opportunity to do it to me! A-At least when I wasn't already in the process of taking stuff from their homes, the rest of the island dwellers didn't actively hunt me down. The worst they did was insult me when I was too far away from their frying pans and other weapons. So while the regular law-following people were certainly awful, they were the best of the worst. They're not who I want to hurt. I-I mean, they're not the people I want to focus on right now! The regular people of the world are just as discriminatory as criminals, but at least they're subtle. I wanna prove to them that I'm not to be messed with, just like you said, but maybe the best way to start with that is to find the worst of this city and make an example out of them. "
Scourge nodded, realizing that Miles' desire to be a vigilante could be the only thing that would get him to do what he wanted. It would be much easier of a transition getting Miles to fight criminals with him than regular civilians who hadn't done anything to him. As a result, the general target of Scourge's law-breaking soon switched to the random criminals he found in the inner city and alleys. That wasn't to say he stopped causing trouble to regular people, cutting in line and forcing people out of arcades for Miles' sake, but if he were to get Miles used to starting fights and breaking the law with him, it would be a lot easier getting him to start if he felt justified in it. He'd be able to make up excuses for fighting regular people later, just like his big brother did. But for the first year of their friendship, Miles only targeted criminals.
So he spent a lot of his daily runs through the city with Scourge doing just that, fighting criminals in alleys, taking full advantage of the sheer force at which he attacked with his super speed and how Scourge was always right there by his side. The only thing Miles really complained about when it came to that, was the smell of the dumpsters and trash cans that were often in the alleys that they had to run through looking for criminals, and fortunately, Scourge didn't figure out exactly why he complained.
On the fifth day that Miles ran through the city with Scourge, Miles gasped startled when they heard a gunfire sound in one of the alleys. Scourge immediately ran into it at sonic speed and homing-attacked the one with the gun in a blue blur, knocking him down with a thud, and fortunately for the already traumatized Miles, the gunfire had purely happened because the mugger had fired a shot into the air to scare the civilian he was robbing. As soon as Scourge knocked him down, Miles rushed in and slammed the mugger with his staff repeatedly, shouting angrily to him, " Take this, you bully! "
Kicking the mugger's dropped gun far away from him, Scourge could tell from Miles' shrunken pupils and trembling that he was still terrified from the sound of the gunfire, despite his vicious attacking and angry expression hiding it, and even if that hadn't been a clear enough sign, his use of the word bully gave it away. The civilian they rescued from the mugging stared at the sight in a mixture of anxiety, confusion, and appreciation, and quickly decided to run away while he still had his money, not trusting Scourge to not rob him himself after he was done showing his dominance over the mugger.
When they had attacked him enough that he seemed unwilling to get back up, but was still very much conscious and terrified, Scourge said smugly, " Send a message to all the other scum like you. There's only one lawbreaker worth anything around these parts and it's me! I'll be takin' your money, thank you, " taking his wallet out of his jacket. Miles added bitterly, " I think that'll be the best punishment, considering you were about to do the same thing! " and then smiled, feeling like a hero for what he had done to the robber.
After the two of them ran at almost the speed of sound out of the alley and stopped at the city park, Scourge said happily, " You did great, Miles! I'm so proud of you! " ruffled his hair and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead again much to his delight. Scourge exclaimed in excitement, " I didn't even have to do anything to make ya join in! You just came in swinging that staff of yours and being a badass! And what you said to him, actually talking to our target? Perfect! You're really getting the hang of this. We're gonna make the best duo ever! "
Miles giggled happily at that, and gladly ran after him as they continued their run through the city. While hearing gunfire again was terrifying for him, the sheer pride he felt in taking down a mugger right before he could commit the crime made him feel so great, that it was as if nearly all of his reservations against fighting criminals with Scourge were pointless. It was that moment that taught him that he was doing the right thing. It was satisfying getting all of that pent-up aggression out on someone he knew for a fact deserved it, instead of bottling it all up out of fear while feeling increasingly helpless and unhappy. He would still rather just stand there and let Scourge be the one cutting in line and taking money from more innocent-looking people, but for criminals, he was happy to be the one giving them what they deserved with Scourge.
While he would never stop being intimidated by strangers and being on edge from being in large crowds, Miles was able to get used to running through the city with Scourge, and with him stealing and winning fights with criminals all over the city, Miles quickly gained a reputation as not only a two-tailed fox, but as Scourge the Hedgehog's most loyal and threatening associate, out for revenge against a world that persecuted him for his second tail. Civilians still looked at him in confusion and surprise at him having a second tail, but as long as he was with Scourge, they were too intimidated to harass him.
A month of spending every day with Miles allowed Scourge to learn a lot about him from observing even the most obscure of quirks about his behavior. He noticed that the kid never liked to have his back to anyone, possibly out of the anxiety that they'd yank his tails if he did that. Whenever he did have to have his back to someone, like after cutting in line with him, he always moved his tails to almost in front of his body to prevent the person behind him from grabbing them. It was an instinctive response that Scourge eventually started noticing as he wondered why he was doing it and acting nervous for no good reason.
Getting more comfortable around Miles caused Scourge to be more reckless, forgetting how sensitive Miles really was, and that led to more instances where he would get him frustrated or upset. Interrupting Miles got him depressed and quiet at believing that talking was pointless, the kid was becoming increasingly more likely to get annoyed at being called kiddo and treated differently for being young, and one time, Scourge playfully pinched him to get him to stop being absorbed in a past memory and get his attention, only to startle him severely as a result. For the most part, though, he was just as friendly and considerate to him as he was before, and his insensitivity wasn't anything he didn't show trying to lightheartedly tease and poke fun at him when they first knew each other.
On the way to the first alley they'd run through, over a month after they met, Miles gasped at hearing the sound of a car engine backfiring and was thrown into a panic. The memory of the last time he had heard gunfire on his island came back so clear that it was as if he could actually hear the voice of the person who had fired it right across from him. " Freak! Hold still! " he heard in his panicked mind, and as a result, while he was already running to keep up with Scourge on the sidewalk, the fear of getting shot caused him to immediately want to hide.
As soon as they found the alley, Miles ran ahead of Scourge and hid himself in the dumpster, much to Scourge's shock and confusion. He had heard the sound as well, but he had hoped that it sounded too different from gunfire for him to panic, or that it had been long enough that he would stop reacting so severely to what he started calling his reminders. " Miles, it's okay! Come on, get outta there, it must stink! " he said opening the dumpster, trying to ignore the frightened gasp from Miles at him doing so.
Hearing that he was being called by his actual name stunned him back into the present for the most part, and despite his trembling, he forced a sheepish smile as he flew out of the dumpster and back onto the cement floor of the alley. Humiliated, he said quietly, " Thanks. I hate it in there… I just wanted a safe place to hide. " His head was hung low, and his eyes were downcast and miserable. Feeling terrible for him, and thankful that no one seemed to be around to witness the scene, Scourge asked him, " Were these what you usually had to hide in? "
Starting out depressed and becoming more passionately angry, Miles explained, " No, my island had so little people, it only had one of these big things, and I got thrown inside of it for trying to drink from the park fountain! Occasionally I'd hide in trash cans and be able to avoid getting hurt, but most of the time they either had too much stuff in them to fit me, or I'd get attacked and thrown into them instead, and then the contents of them would be dumped on me by those stupid teenagers! I hate those things!... Even the food in them is terrible. Just made me sick. "
Scourge knew he shouldn't be surprised anymore whenever he was given new information about how Miles had been treated in the past, but for some reason, he still had enough compassion in him for the child to still be horrified and stunned every time he heard about it. It just didn't seem fair that Miles was treated like that consistently his whole life, without even a single person feeling sorry for him enough to start helping him. " You'd think they would've gotten used to the second tail… " he muttered facing the wall to the left of him with his fist clenched.
Miles heard him, and continued to feel just as melancholic as before, saying, " No one will ever be used to it. " Scourge immediately replied, " I am. I love it! Used to it is an understatement. Don't listen to those jealous idiots, you're gifted, Miles. You're special! " and put his arm around him to hold him close. " Thanks, " Miles said with a small smile, thinking, " But that's only you… Everyone else knows I'm just a freak. "
Seeing that Miles was still depressed, Scourge tried to cheer him up some more. " Hey, you know, there's a photographer at the mall today! How's about I bring ya there to celebrate a month of our friendship? " he said cheerfully, with his smile a bit forced from pity. " Sure, okay, " Miles replied reluctantly, not knowing what a photographer was but not feeling like making himself sound like an idiot again by asking. With that, the two of them started running through the streets to the mall.
When they got there, Miles gasped at seeing a flash of light come from the small black box the photographer was holding in front of a couple. Scourge, misinterpreting the source of his anxiety, said to the photographer while giving him his stolen money, " Don't use the flash on it for us, " with an annoyed expression. Noticing Miles hadn't followed him up to the photographer yet, he reassured him, " It's okay, it's fine. You won't see that flash of light anymore. Now come here! Let's get a family photo! "
Miles nervously smiled until the final sentence, where he was caught between being really happy and excited and being nervous again at his picture being taken. Not wanting him to waste his money, Miles went up to Scourge obediently, and his nervous expression became a more happy one when Scourge ruffled his hair and put his arm around him holding him close to his side. The photographer told them to, " Say cheese! " and since Scourge did it, Miles followed suit despite not understanding why he should.
" There you go, " the photographer said giving them the resulting photograph, which had them in the same poses as before smiling happily, even if Miles was clearly trying to hide one of his tails behind his back. With that, Scourge handed it to Miles saying, " Here ya go, a picture of us for posterity! You can keep it in your pocket and treasure it! " Miles very quickly did just that, putting the picture in his leather jacket pocket and zipping the pocket up trying to avoid looking at the picture of himself. Scourge looked concerned at his reaction, wondering if his hatred of seeing himself ran deep enough to ruin photographs for him.
Trying to distract him, Miles cheerfully pointed out, " Posterity, huh? " Scourge, also wanting to lighten things up, replied, " Yep, I learned it from you! I keep tellin' ya, you're getting a better vocabulary every day thanks to that dictionary I found ya. And you're making me smarter because of it! Keep it up! " and gave him a thumbs up. Walking away from the photographer with him, Miles found it amusing and charming that Scourge, a wannabe gangster and proud criminal, was so proud of using big words just for the sake of it, and wondered if it showed that he really did respect him. At the same time, though, hearing that humbled him once again, as he admitted sheepishly,
" Well, I don't always remember every word I read about. I didn't even know what a photographer was until you brought me to that guy. Although that worked out for us, I would've irrationally said no otherwise. " Looking worried, Scourge said, " Don't tell me you've had bad experiences with photographers too! " Miles replied unhappily, " Okay. " " I didn't mean literally! " Scourge said in annoyance, which only made Miles feel worse.
Trying to pretend he wasn't offended, Miles reluctantly explained, " People on my island tried to take pictures of me to humiliate me, and worst of all, to spread the word of what I looked like so nobody would make the mistake of helping me, even if they didn't live on the island. They told me why they were doing it before doing it, so it's no wonder I don't like getting my picture taken. "
Scourge wished there was something he could to make him completely get over that fear, and all of his irrational fears, but all he could do was compassionately rub his shoulder and say, " Well, that's all over now, " despite knowing Miles' mind wouldn't register that as true. After that, they quickly resumed their run through the city, showing dominance over the various criminals around.
Another month passed, and on their way to their first alley of the day a morning after a storm, Scourge ran across a puddle on the sidewalk once again, but this time, the splash of water his shoes created reached high up enough to splash in Miles' eyes behind him. Most of the time, Miles was able to avoid such a scenario by wearing sunglasses and running beside Scourge rather than behind him, but this time, he wasn't so lucky, and the water in his eyes immediately made him close them out of an inability to see ahead of him. Not wanting to blindly run into anything, like the back of Scourge's spines, or a car, he stopped in his tracks to rub his eyes frantically in an instinctive reaction, forgetting that he was trying to keep up with someone.
Fortunately, Scourge quickly noticed a lack of the sound of footsteps behind him and asked the question, " You okay, Miles? " wondering if he had started flying behind him. Getting no answer caused him to immediately run back at the speed of sound to where he last heard Miles, where he saw him drying his eyes with his gloves. Jumping to the conclusion that he was crying and wondering what could've possibly caused it this time, he hugged him, getting his attention immediately.
" Thank you… I-I'm not crying, Sonic. A puddle splashed water in my eyes, and I couldn't see for a little bit. It's dangerous to run blind, " Miles said sadly after reluctantly letting go of him when the hug ended. " Do you have a lot of experience with that? I mean, you can't always stop running just because a puddle splashed ya, and it was pretty rainy back on your island, " Scourge asked unhappily.
" Sometimes it was a puddle, sometimes it was sand, sometimes it was, my own tears… " Miles replied, whispering the last few words full of shame and disrespect for himself. There was a brief silence as Scourge let it all sink in, before Miles continued sadly,
" It always sucked getting something in my eyes, especially when I was running! I had to constantly do zig zags and run in unpredictable routes to try to throw people off my trail, and in a forest full of trees for me to run into and tree trunks to trip on and bushes to get caught in, that was hard enough on its own even with being able to see. Sure, I could leave them all in the dust at first, but they'd never stop chasing me, they'd call up people in the direction I was headed warning them to be ready for me, and I would get tired eventually and need to hide… I'm sorry I brought up such a depressing topic again. I promised myself I'd stop talking about the past. You already know enough. "
Once again, Scourge could do nothing but reassure him. " It's okay now, little bro. You'll never have to set foot on that island again, " to briefly cheer him up for the time being. " Come on, let's go to the arcade, have some fun! " he added happily to his delight. " Sure! You know, Sonic, the very concept of a video game never ceases to amaze me. Being able to interact with a colorful fictional world in a way that's satisfying, with music and visuals nothing like that of the real world, it's perfect escapism! "
Scourge commented as they started walking to the arcade, " You wouldn't like modern games, then. They like to have realistic graphics that look dark and gritty, all black and brown. Oh, by graphics, I mean the way they look. " Wanting to not look ignorant, Miles nodded despite not knowing what he meant by modern games, as from his perspective, since arcade machines still existed in the present time, arcade games were modern to him.
" Really ought to thank the arcade's owner for building all of those amazing machines, " Miles commented cheerfully. Scourge chuckled at the end of it finding his wrong assumption cute, and said, " You think he programmed all those games himself? Nah, he just gets them from someone who did. I can't imagine he'd have the time, let alone the ability when all he's capable of doing is taking money from behind a counter all day. "
Miles looked embarrassed and sheepishly replied, " Oh. Should've known, " with nervous body language. Scourge playfully teased him, " What, did ya think that was the case for all stores, that every little tiny thing in a store was personally crafted by the store owner himself and all of the fruits and veggies were grown and harvested by him, and every little fish was personally fished up by the store owner himself? " There was a brief silence before Miles admitted, " Maybe… " having not thought about it all the way through.
Scourge chuckled and exclaimed, " Aw, that's adorable! " and ruffled his hair, saying lovingly, " Love ya, little bro. Never change. " Miles laughed nervously, torn between being blissfully appreciative of being loved and feeling frustration at the condescending treatment. He couldn't help being inexperienced.
Needless to say, Scourge ever since they first went in there had made it a monthly routine to go to the arcade that Miles liked so much, viewing it as the one fun part of the city. They would've gone every day, but Miles to Scourge's annoyance was opposed to that, explaining, " W-Well, the people going to the arcade can only have so much money, so what if they get to a point where they won't be able to show up there for you to take their money anymore? What if they give up and stop showing up there entirely because we show up too much? What if the arcade's owner stops getting people showing up entirely and gives up on the arcade? That's also why we shouldn't be too predictable and consistent, because if they learn to predict when we're going to show up, then we're gonna end up going there to an empty arcade with no coins for us to use. So we can't go there every day and expect it to always work out. It's just impractical. "
Scourge had no choice but to reluctantly nod in agreement, understanding that Miles had a very strong point, even if he was ultimately just telling him he couldn't do too much stealing or there would be consequences for him, just like his parents used to nag him.
After leaving the arcade together, they ran through the city for a while until the sight and smell of a burning building stopped them in their tracks. In front of them was a house on fire, and there were various firemen using hoses to put out the flames. Seeing the familiar sight made Miles stare at it with an expression of dread and horror, and the clouds just above the house started to increase in size rapidly and darken within the span of a couple seconds before pouring torrential rains onto the flames, as if in an effort to put them out. Of course, everyone noticed how unusual this was, having torrential downpours concentrated into such a tiny area, but Miles being in the city for so long had at least gotten people to accept it as a regular occurrence, if a strange one with no real explanation.
Seeing that Miles was trembling uncontrollably with his pupils shrunken at the sight and smell of the burning house, and one he had no real attachment to at that, Scourge sighed unhappily. He wanted to just grab his hand and pull him behind him as he ran away from the house with him, but that might only get him even more panicked at being pulled by someone so suddenly. He asked one of the fireman awkwardly, " S-So, why's it on fire? " The fireman looked at him surprised, knowing how uncharacteristic someone of his reputation was acting, and quickly answered as he continuing spraying the hose, " Lightning strike. "
Unfortunately, this was the worst possible response he could give for Miles, and the fact that he was a fireman looking in his general direction didn't help, as he started to irrationally fear that he would blame him for it and turn his hose on him. He exclaimed hysterically, " Lightning?! NO! Don't look at me! I-I didn't want this to happen, it's awful! PLEASE! " and impulsively started running away in a yellow blur, certain that the fireman's next action would be to try to drown him with his hose. All Scourge could do in response was run after him and eventually catch up with him, incredibly concerned and worried about him, while at the same time, he was frustrated that the scene he caused gave the people of the city even more reason to call Miles a coward.
Catching up to him and saying, " Miles, relax, " in a reassuring tone mixed with panic only gave him a startled jolt, and he impulsively turned to the right into the thankfully empty city park and continued running away, saying, " No, no! Everyone's gonna blame me for this! Everyone's gonna try to kill me again! We gotta move, we gotta change towns! "
Seeing that he had no other choice, Scourge scooped him up into his arms carrying him as he ran beside him and shushed him as he slowed to a halt with him, trying his best to get him back to his senses. Miles was surprised and caught off guard by that bold action, but being caressed reassuringly helped to calm him down to merely whimpering as he was being carefully sat down on the park grass and hugged.
Scourge explained to him with a smile as Miles returned the hug, " Relax, everything will be fine… Remember, Miles, you live with me, and no one's gonna cross me, and considering my father has an insane amount of power over the world, no one's gonna force him to move either. Hell, even if people do blame you, that'll just add to your menacing factor and make people less likely to wanna mess with ya, especially since you're with me… Things are different in the city, Miles. In your small town, everybody knew each other, so everyone was willing to work together against you, but in the city, everyone's a stranger. They're not gonna all rise up in an angry mob with people they don't even trust… And even if they do, I'll just run around 'em in a circle and catch 'em all in a tornado to humiliate 'em. With my super speed, I'm basically invincible compared to those slowpokes! So don't worry, Miles. We'll be just fine… "
After hearing a familiar sniffle, he realized Miles had started crying, and the kid said sadly, " It isn't just people hurting me that I'm worried about... I've always been blamed for lightning strikes, and they only started happening in a huge quantity in one area when I was born, when I was brought to the island, so what if people are right? What if that lightning strike only happened because of me? I didn't wanna be responsible for some random person's house getting burned down! But I couldn't keep it from happening. What if the same thing happens to our house?! Just like with the orphanage! It got struck when I was still living in it and I was barely able to escape! There were people in there and… "
It was hard to argue with Miles' reasoning, and Scourge couldn't help but be worried at hearing it, but ultimately, it was his job to comfort him, not tell him he was right all the time. Scourge reassured him successfully, " Well, that orphanage was full of people who hated ya. Now that you live with me, maybe that lightning won't wanna bother me because you like me so much. How about that? And besides, maybe the lightning that hit that house you saw, was going to happen anyways even if you weren't in this city. I know you didn't want that to happen. So if you really aren't the type to like setting things on fire – n-not that I've ever done it – then I can't imagine you telling lightning to do that, even subconsciously. Assuming that ridiculous superstition that you can control it by accident is even true! Those backwoods islanders might have just brainwashed you into believing it. I don't see how having a second tail would give you the ability to control the weather. It'd be cool as hell, but let's not get our hopes up. "
Miles smiled a little at hearing him say the word subconsciously, always finding it charming when a criminal like him used a big word like that for the sake of it, and feeling like he might be a positive influence on him in intelligence alone. Of course, when Scourge said he never set anything on fire, he was lying through his teeth, but Miles by that point blindly trusted him enough to believe him. After all, he did say to him, " You're a good person when it counts, " a sentence that still haunted Scourge with his supposed badass rebellious lawbreaker persona.
Finally feeling better, Miles looked him in the eyes and asked, " You really think controlling the weather would be cool? " full of hope. " Of course it would! It'd just be another reason you'd be awesome! " Scourge replied encouragingly.
After some brief consideration, he stopped smiling and let him go while saying, " But again, let's not get our hopes up. And even if you could do that, heh, let's not have you stealing my thunder. " Confused, Miles said, " You mean you like hearing thunder too? Why? " It took a couple seconds of Scourge staring at him in confusion for him to realize he had taken it literally, and shook his head before correcting him,
" No, no, it's just a figure of speech. Wh-What I mean to say is, I don't want 'cha upstagin' me, ya know? I'm the one who's the most badass criminal alive! That's not to say I don't want ya to get stronger and better, and more capable of defending yourself without me. I'm just saying, I don't want people to be too afraid of you, you know? "
Miles was silent for a second before cautiously replying, " I understand… " Unfortunately, the annoyance he had from that little speech slipped out in his tone, and Scourge caught it. " It's no big deal, is it? " he asked nervously, not wanting to get into an argument with his only friend.
" I, uh, no. I understand! Being a feared criminal is extremely important to you, and since you care about it so much more than me, it's only right that you should be the one with all the spotlight from that. Besides, spotlight isn't something I appreciate myself, so even pretending I could control the weather and stuff, it'd just give people even more reason to pay attention to me. One of the best things about having a friend is that you draw attention away from me. People can't focus on my second tail for too long when they have to talk to you the minute they look at it! S-So yeah, I understand, Sonic, " Miles explained awkwardly, and thought to himself, " It's an ego thing, " finishing the sentence where Scourge couldn't hear him.
For most of the time he knew Scourge, he found his unwavering confidence in himself inspiring and charming, something he tried to live vicariously through and support, something he felt was the source of Scourge's strength and allowed him to achieve things he'd be too scared to otherwise. But occasionally, Scourge's ego could get a bit too much even for him, particularly in situations where his brother was reminding him of how he should keep to his place and not upstage him from the limelight. He would always attack second, not first, and speak after he did. He wasn't the one in charge, and sometimes he was frustrated with himself for even questioning that, since logically, Scourge should be in charge, being the one who was not only older than him, but well-versed in common knowledge at a much greater extent than him, making him both older and wiser. Miles wouldn't even be able to spell his own name if it weren't for him.
Of course he should be the one telling him what to do, because he was the only one who was very likely to be right about what he should do. Miles didn't always agree with his ideas, for example, not thinking that spray-painting the orphanage was a good decision, but he would always end up at least feeling half satisfied with it in the end, and consiering he never felt 100% of any emotion anyways, how was he supposed to know if that satisfaction was hollow? He didn't even feel 100% happy when shown affection because a part of him didn't think he deserved it. Did that mean he didn't actually like being shown love? Of course not. He couldn't get enough of it. With Miles being conflicted with basically every emotion he felt, always feeling at least two emotions at once, it was easy for him to get confused, and not know what he wanted or believed.
" A-After all, why should I upstage you? You're the older and wiser one. You're the one in charge, and you should be! You never doubt yourself and the decisions you make, while I do, and if you're the leader of this duo, then it's better to have the leader be a confident one. Meanwhile, I'm perfectly happy just being your ' trusty sidekick. ' I-I used that word right, right? Heard some kids saying it near the arcade, and… " Miles said to Scourge earnestly, despite some hesitation deep down that he mostly looked down on.
" Don't worry, you used it right, sidekick. It's just kinda weird since it's applied to heroes, not criminals, " Scourge said with a smile that was slightly forced, as he was nervous from what he said at remembering that even he doubted himself sometimes. From the very first day he met Miles, he had doubts over whether he'd be able to keep a friend so sensitive and troubled and whether he should even try taking on that responsibility, but he would never tell Miles that. He'd only overreact.
Miles replied, " Uh, okay. Guess I won't say it often, then, " confused, as he usually tried to convince himself that by limiting his targets to criminals, he was a hero, albeit a non-traditional one. His only idea of a hero for his entire life was a person that would save his life and show compassion to him in spite of his mutation, and after meeting Scourge, perhaps even someone who liked his second tail. His definition of hero couldn't get any more simplistic than that and the bar wasn't very high, and since it was such a broad definition, applying to anyone who wasn't discriminatory against someone different-looking to the point of wanting them dead, applying it to Scourge was easy for him.
That wasn't to say he thought criminals were the true heroes for rebelling against the rules of society. He suffered from criminals in the form of the teenaged gang members hired to bully him and hunt him down, so he still saw most criminals as villainous, but Scourge taught him to view his friends as exceptions to the rule, and he had never met any policeman or even fireman who was nice to him even though they were considered heroes in society. Doctors and nurses he was considering as heroes now that he met some that actually wanted to help him, but other than that, his morality had been twisted, viewing himself and Scourge as some of the only truly good people in the world.
" Well, that's good, kiddo. Good to see you know your place! Again, no offense. Now come on, let's find some more people to show who's boss! People are learning to respect your authority already! " Scourge said ruffling his hair at the first sentence. For the first time, Miles was irritated at him for talking to him like that, and Scourge noticed, and awkwardly had to ignore it as they started running down the sidewalk together. Even being called kiddo by him had lost its novelty as an affectionate nickname as the continued reminder of how it was used as an excuse to subordinate him became increasingly more frustrating for him, and he hated himself for it.
A part of him appreciated following all of Scourge's orders because he didn't have to think, he didn't have to be overwhelmed with uncertainty trying to figure out what the right way to live life was in a world of people that didn't grant him all the opportunities he'd want anyways.
But another part of him saw Scourge treating him like a child and making him do everything he said as restrictive and even condescending, and felt like he wasn't truly free just because he left his oppressive island, because he had to do everything Scourge said, even if he was opposed to it. Just last week, Scourge tried to get him to mug a regular person again, and while he didn't punish him for refusing per se, his annoyance with him and embarrassment was punishment enough. Not enough to discourage him from doing it again, but it was still a grim reminder that he wasn't truly free.
Did Scourge not really respect him? Did he not respect the idea of Miles being his own person, and having an identity and set of interests and opinions separate from him? Scourge always got mildly annoyed whenever he expressed morality and hesitated to break certain laws just for the sake of it, always leaving it up to him to terrorize regular people in spite of his attempt to get them to take turns. He didn't seem to like the idea that he loved playing music and arcade games and reseaching the weather much more than breaking the law and being seen as a feared criminal. It was as if regardless of how much he didn't want to, Scourge looked down on him being different from him, like a bully, and Miles was frustrated that he even dared to feel that way about Scourge since he was still very grateful and appreciative of even having a friend at all.
The thought of being " free " from Scourge terrified him, and drove him to tears just thinking about going back to being all alone. He didn't even want to be the one in charge because pretending Scourge even would like to follow his idea of only ever victimizing criminals, he didn't trust himself to not screw up with that authority, especially with his lack of experience and practical knowledge. He could name every type of cloud in the sky, but that kind of science trivia didn't help his day to day life, so he often wondered whether being a genius meant anything at all.
The part of him that was still blindly devoted and grateful just for the sake of it hated the part of him that was " immaturely " getting resentful of being treated like the child that he was, the ignorant uneducated naïve kid that he was, and he worried that if that resentment grew too much, it could cost him the only friend he had. There were a few times when that gave him nightmares, about something other than his past for once. He was determined to not show anything more than very brief frustration and annoyance with him, refusing to ever get into an argument, and instead used the anger and resentment in a " productive " way by fighting criminals even harder than before, something that only made Scourge proud of him and compliment him for " really getting into it. " Was that really someone he wanted to become?
Unfortunately, Scourge had his fair share of frustrations with the friendship, too. He just watched him have a panic attack in front of him, the worst one he ever had, and could barely get him to feel better, and even after he did, he knew full well that he might still end up feeling that way again. It was getting frustrating how he was completely powerless to fix the problem permanently. Even two months after Miles was on that island, traumatic memories would keep resurfacing and he'd keep being reminded of the past by even the slightest of things, and it looked like a situation that couldn't get better.
At the very least, he could take comfort in the fact that he made Miles' present situation a lot happier, even if his mind couldn't catch up to it, but sometimes all of his efforts to help him felt pointless knowing that he would always be suffering from his bullies' mistreatment long after leaving their island. There was no denying anymore that there might be something seriously wrong with him, and he'd have to accept that as part of who his friend is, as depressing as that would be.
He couldn't even express the sheer frustration and powerlessness properly because if he told Miles about it, the kid would only jump to the conclusion that he'd eventually get sick of such an emotionally draining friendship and give up on it. Scourge would rather believe he was too stubborn to do such a thing and would always stick with him, but Miles even months after meeting him thought he was extremely lucky he was even bothering with him at all, and often wondered why he put up with him.
So the only way he could even remotely express that frustration and feel more powerful than he was, was to keep beating up criminals in the alleys, just like he always did. Miles at least had gotten used to it, and even seemed to feel good about doing it justifying it to himself, which Scourge viewed as a huge step from just preferring to lock himself away in his house like a hermit and avoiding trying to interact with anyone but him.
But sometimes he felt that he would give all of that away in an instant to just get rid of the post-traumatic stress Miles kept showing he had. He was at the point where he secretly bought a book on psychological disorders at the book store just so he could learn more about how Miles thought. He had to read it at night with a dictionary on hand because of all the big words. At the very least, he finished reading it understanding it fairly well, and was proud of himself for that, but he wouldn't be bragging about it any time soon.
Just like he had worried at their first meeting, Miles was an overwhelming friend to have considering just how much he had suffered in the past, and it was an emotional rollercoaster having to comfort him so many times knowing he would only feel the same way again. The only up-side, which he tried to focus on the best he could, was that Miles appreciated affection from him so deeply from a lack of getting it in life. His comfort with him had even caused him to get gutsy enough to start showing affection to him himself recently, hugging him when no one was there to witness it. Considering Scourge himself had never gotten any affection to his recollection until he met Miles, with his parents being neglectful and all, having a friend who desperately craved affection and felt it was only right to show it to him in return seemed like the perfect match. It was a shame it came with so many downsides.
He only wished there was a way he could have that much affection without having to deal with a person's numerous fears and insecurities, and every so often, he internally scolded himself for seeming to not appreciate his only friend as much as he should. He was being disloyal just from thinking about that.
An ideal friendship could only stay ideal for so long, and the longer they knew each other, the harder it became to be unaware of the problems and concerns they each had about it. Miles wasn't entirely okay with the power dynamic of their friendship and how he wasn't fully respected for who he really was, and Scourge wished Miles wasn't so overwhelming to deal with at times.
They still appreciated each other, of course, with Scourge viewing Miles as otherwise the perfect friend from just how blindly loyal, devoted, compassionate and polite he was, and Miles loving how he had someone essentially raising him and being there for him mutation or not, someone who believed in him. No friendship could be perfect. At the very least, they appreciated the fact that they had one. It wouldn't be until they would meet a certain princess that cracks would start to form in the seams.
For now, Scourge was devoted to being as good a friend to Miles as possible, spending nearly every waking hour of the day with him, refusing to let his natural impatience, self-centeredness and recklessness ruin the only positive relationship with a person he ever had. And because Scourge was so loyal, so devoted to making him feel like he was loved, Miles was even more loyal to repay him. He felt like he earned it, even if it wasn't perfect.
A couple times over the year that they were each other's only friends, Miles became sick with a fever and had to stay in bed for almost the entirety of the day, and Scourge stayed home with him to reassure him, bringing him all of his meals and letting him sleep with his head on his chest in bed as they watched TV together. He didn't like having to stay at home, but at least he felt like he was needed and accomplishing something good for someone he cared about. On the rare occasion that Scourge was sick, Miles was happy to help.
Scourge not only wanted to get Miles comfortable with the city – which was what the tour of it was for – but he wanted to get Miles to start feeling like he was finally overcoming his past by getting revenge on the people of the world. He wanted him to join in on his favorite past-time, of course, but he also wanted him to feel like he had a safe outlet for his stress, and finally fully register that the tables had turned and now he was the one on top. But convincing him to take it all out on random people on the streets was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be. He thought that reminding him of how mean people were to him in the past would be all it would take to rile him up enough, but all it did was make him sad.
He didn't want to have to miss out on the thrills and satisfaction of winning fights because he'd have to worry about Miles being targeted while he was busy, and attacked because he was unwilling to attack first, and at the very least, telling him about that concern was enough to get him to understand. He had been practicing attacks on nothing but unmoving scarecrows set up in his backyard, and he needed to apply that to the real thing to learn how to win a fight, to get the first hit on people who would inevitably hurt him so that he would be able to win. It was all in the interest of getting him stronger.
But he still showed hesitation. Scourge couldn't even get him to agree to knock down a random man on the street and demand his wallet, one of the most petty crimes in his opinion. Needless to say, he found that embarrassing, as Miles had awkwardly went over to the man only to run back into the alley frightened of him, and Scourge felt the need to show him how to do it right. He knocked the man down with a homing-attack and said standing on his chest, " You, bozo! You got any cash on you or what?! "
The man was a Moebian of the jackal race, and he yelped at what happened saying, " Sonic the Hedgehog! Don't hurt me! Take my money! " letting Scourge take the paper bills out of his wallet looking uncharacteristically annoyed rather than smirking during the experience. This was something the man didn't fail to notice, and Scourge in his bad mood had to specifically tell him, " What'dya doin' standin' here?! Get lost! " to get him to leave. All the while, Miles stared at the sight uncomfortable, hoping he wouldn't be seen himself.
Scourge put the money in his leather jacket pocket as he left, and didn't look directly at Miles at first as he tried to make a compromise with him. Normally, Miles was loyal enough to do literally whatever he wanted, so running into that level of hesitation from him was frustrating, to say the least, and he took deep breaths in and out, trying his best to not get him upset by losing his temper. Miles could tell how he was feeling, and wished that it could only be some other way.
" Alright, looks like we gotta start small. What people do you think in this city deserve to suffer the most? " he asked Miles, trying and failing to hide his exasperation with him. " Mean people, " the kid answered unhappily, not understanding what he meant by the figure of speech. Scourge replied, " Well, that man you chickened out of mugging was mean just like your bullies, and that didn't help motivate you, so clearly you want some different targets. "
Miles, feeling pressured to give him an answer, said, " I-I think the people should do something to really get it coming first. And if what you said about city folk was true, then just waiting for someone willing to insult me to my face means we'll be waiting forever. So if they're too afraid to provoke us, maybe we need to look for the people that aren't necessarily being mean to us, but to other people. Not that I care what bullies do to other bullies, I'm just saying I'd feel a lot better if I knew for an absolute fact that our target was an awful person who had it coming. " Scourge, getting an idea, asked him still feeling a bit frustrated with him, " You mean like a criminal or something? "
Seeing the annoyed look in his eyes, Miles said nervously, " Not you! Someone else! A criminal who isn't nice to me, who wouldn't give me a chance. Those are the people that deserve to suffer the most, but you've proven that you're the exception. You're not like those people! You're a good person when it counts… " Scourge looked at him stunned and conflicted once again, and then looked to the left and right of him hoping nobody heard that.
" That's a compliment. What I mean is, well, I had a lot of bad experiences with teenagers wearing black jackets. I heard them calling each other a gang sometimes, and they were the people aside from the cops who were the most willing to hunt me down and, beat me! I-It got to the point where the people of the island would hire them to look for me and supply them with weapons, and whatever they asked for, they got… " Miles was full of sadness and dread by the third sentence, getting increasingly more scared just at talking about it, and had to take a deep breath to calm himself down, remembering what Scourge advised him to do. Getting angry, he continued with a passionate desire for justice against his oppressors,
" Those are the kind of people I hate! Those are the people that should pay! The ones who love to hurt people to the point where they jump at the opportunity to do it to me! A-At least when I wasn't already in the process of taking stuff from their homes, the rest of the island dwellers didn't actively hunt me down. The worst they did was insult me when I was too far away from their frying pans and other weapons. So while the regular law-following people were certainly awful, they were the best of the worst. They're not who I want to hurt. I-I mean, they're not the people I want to focus on right now! The regular people of the world are just as discriminatory as criminals, but at least they're subtle. I wanna prove to them that I'm not to be messed with, just like you said, but maybe the best way to start with that is to find the worst of this city and make an example out of them. "
Scourge nodded, realizing that Miles' desire to be a vigilante could be the only thing that would get him to do what he wanted. It would be much easier of a transition getting Miles to fight criminals with him than regular civilians who hadn't done anything to him. As a result, the general target of Scourge's law-breaking soon switched to the random criminals he found in the inner city and alleys. That wasn't to say he stopped causing trouble to regular people, cutting in line and forcing people out of arcades for Miles' sake, but if he were to get Miles used to starting fights and breaking the law with him, it would be a lot easier getting him to start if he felt justified in it. He'd be able to make up excuses for fighting regular people later, just like his big brother did. But for the first year of their friendship, Miles only targeted criminals.
So he spent a lot of his daily runs through the city with Scourge doing just that, fighting criminals in alleys, taking full advantage of the sheer force at which he attacked with his super speed and how Scourge was always right there by his side. The only thing Miles really complained about when it came to that, was the smell of the dumpsters and trash cans that were often in the alleys that they had to run through looking for criminals, and fortunately, Scourge didn't figure out exactly why he complained.
On the fifth day that Miles ran through the city with Scourge, Miles gasped startled when they heard a gunfire sound in one of the alleys. Scourge immediately ran into it at sonic speed and homing-attacked the one with the gun in a blue blur, knocking him down with a thud, and fortunately for the already traumatized Miles, the gunfire had purely happened because the mugger had fired a shot into the air to scare the civilian he was robbing. As soon as Scourge knocked him down, Miles rushed in and slammed the mugger with his staff repeatedly, shouting angrily to him, " Take this, you bully! "
Kicking the mugger's dropped gun far away from him, Scourge could tell from Miles' shrunken pupils and trembling that he was still terrified from the sound of the gunfire, despite his vicious attacking and angry expression hiding it, and even if that hadn't been a clear enough sign, his use of the word bully gave it away. The civilian they rescued from the mugging stared at the sight in a mixture of anxiety, confusion, and appreciation, and quickly decided to run away while he still had his money, not trusting Scourge to not rob him himself after he was done showing his dominance over the mugger.
When they had attacked him enough that he seemed unwilling to get back up, but was still very much conscious and terrified, Scourge said smugly, " Send a message to all the other scum like you. There's only one lawbreaker worth anything around these parts and it's me! I'll be takin' your money, thank you, " taking his wallet out of his jacket. Miles added bitterly, " I think that'll be the best punishment, considering you were about to do the same thing! " and then smiled, feeling like a hero for what he had done to the robber.
After the two of them ran at almost the speed of sound out of the alley and stopped at the city park, Scourge said happily, " You did great, Miles! I'm so proud of you! " ruffled his hair and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead again much to his delight. Scourge exclaimed in excitement, " I didn't even have to do anything to make ya join in! You just came in swinging that staff of yours and being a badass! And what you said to him, actually talking to our target? Perfect! You're really getting the hang of this. We're gonna make the best duo ever! "
Miles giggled happily at that, and gladly ran after him as they continued their run through the city. While hearing gunfire again was terrifying for him, the sheer pride he felt in taking down a mugger right before he could commit the crime made him feel so great, that it was as if nearly all of his reservations against fighting criminals with Scourge were pointless. It was that moment that taught him that he was doing the right thing. It was satisfying getting all of that pent-up aggression out on someone he knew for a fact deserved it, instead of bottling it all up out of fear while feeling increasingly helpless and unhappy. He would still rather just stand there and let Scourge be the one cutting in line and taking money from more innocent-looking people, but for criminals, he was happy to be the one giving them what they deserved with Scourge.
While he would never stop being intimidated by strangers and being on edge from being in large crowds, Miles was able to get used to running through the city with Scourge, and with him stealing and winning fights with criminals all over the city, Miles quickly gained a reputation as not only a two-tailed fox, but as Scourge the Hedgehog's most loyal and threatening associate, out for revenge against a world that persecuted him for his second tail. Civilians still looked at him in confusion and surprise at him having a second tail, but as long as he was with Scourge, they were too intimidated to harass him.
A month of spending every day with Miles allowed Scourge to learn a lot about him from observing even the most obscure of quirks about his behavior. He noticed that the kid never liked to have his back to anyone, possibly out of the anxiety that they'd yank his tails if he did that. Whenever he did have to have his back to someone, like after cutting in line with him, he always moved his tails to almost in front of his body to prevent the person behind him from grabbing them. It was an instinctive response that Scourge eventually started noticing as he wondered why he was doing it and acting nervous for no good reason.
Getting more comfortable around Miles caused Scourge to be more reckless, forgetting how sensitive Miles really was, and that led to more instances where he would get him frustrated or upset. Interrupting Miles got him depressed and quiet at believing that talking was pointless, the kid was becoming increasingly more likely to get annoyed at being called kiddo and treated differently for being young, and one time, Scourge playfully pinched him to get him to stop being absorbed in a past memory and get his attention, only to startle him severely as a result. For the most part, though, he was just as friendly and considerate to him as he was before, and his insensitivity wasn't anything he didn't show trying to lightheartedly tease and poke fun at him when they first knew each other.
On the way to the first alley they'd run through, over a month after they met, Miles gasped at hearing the sound of a car engine backfiring and was thrown into a panic. The memory of the last time he had heard gunfire on his island came back so clear that it was as if he could actually hear the voice of the person who had fired it right across from him. " Freak! Hold still! " he heard in his panicked mind, and as a result, while he was already running to keep up with Scourge on the sidewalk, the fear of getting shot caused him to immediately want to hide.
As soon as they found the alley, Miles ran ahead of Scourge and hid himself in the dumpster, much to Scourge's shock and confusion. He had heard the sound as well, but he had hoped that it sounded too different from gunfire for him to panic, or that it had been long enough that he would stop reacting so severely to what he started calling his reminders. " Miles, it's okay! Come on, get outta there, it must stink! " he said opening the dumpster, trying to ignore the frightened gasp from Miles at him doing so.
Hearing that he was being called by his actual name stunned him back into the present for the most part, and despite his trembling, he forced a sheepish smile as he flew out of the dumpster and back onto the cement floor of the alley. Humiliated, he said quietly, " Thanks. I hate it in there… I just wanted a safe place to hide. " His head was hung low, and his eyes were downcast and miserable. Feeling terrible for him, and thankful that no one seemed to be around to witness the scene, Scourge asked him, " Were these what you usually had to hide in? "
Starting out depressed and becoming more passionately angry, Miles explained, " No, my island had so little people, it only had one of these big things, and I got thrown inside of it for trying to drink from the park fountain! Occasionally I'd hide in trash cans and be able to avoid getting hurt, but most of the time they either had too much stuff in them to fit me, or I'd get attacked and thrown into them instead, and then the contents of them would be dumped on me by those stupid teenagers! I hate those things!... Even the food in them is terrible. Just made me sick. "
Scourge knew he shouldn't be surprised anymore whenever he was given new information about how Miles had been treated in the past, but for some reason, he still had enough compassion in him for the child to still be horrified and stunned every time he heard about it. It just didn't seem fair that Miles was treated like that consistently his whole life, without even a single person feeling sorry for him enough to start helping him. " You'd think they would've gotten used to the second tail… " he muttered facing the wall to the left of him with his fist clenched.
Miles heard him, and continued to feel just as melancholic as before, saying, " No one will ever be used to it. " Scourge immediately replied, " I am. I love it! Used to it is an understatement. Don't listen to those jealous idiots, you're gifted, Miles. You're special! " and put his arm around him to hold him close. " Thanks, " Miles said with a small smile, thinking, " But that's only you… Everyone else knows I'm just a freak. "
Seeing that Miles was still depressed, Scourge tried to cheer him up some more. " Hey, you know, there's a photographer at the mall today! How's about I bring ya there to celebrate a month of our friendship? " he said cheerfully, with his smile a bit forced from pity. " Sure, okay, " Miles replied reluctantly, not knowing what a photographer was but not feeling like making himself sound like an idiot again by asking. With that, the two of them started running through the streets to the mall.
When they got there, Miles gasped at seeing a flash of light come from the small black box the photographer was holding in front of a couple. Scourge, misinterpreting the source of his anxiety, said to the photographer while giving him his stolen money, " Don't use the flash on it for us, " with an annoyed expression. Noticing Miles hadn't followed him up to the photographer yet, he reassured him, " It's okay, it's fine. You won't see that flash of light anymore. Now come here! Let's get a family photo! "
Miles nervously smiled until the final sentence, where he was caught between being really happy and excited and being nervous again at his picture being taken. Not wanting him to waste his money, Miles went up to Scourge obediently, and his nervous expression became a more happy one when Scourge ruffled his hair and put his arm around him holding him close to his side. The photographer told them to, " Say cheese! " and since Scourge did it, Miles followed suit despite not understanding why he should.
" There you go, " the photographer said giving them the resulting photograph, which had them in the same poses as before smiling happily, even if Miles was clearly trying to hide one of his tails behind his back. With that, Scourge handed it to Miles saying, " Here ya go, a picture of us for posterity! You can keep it in your pocket and treasure it! " Miles very quickly did just that, putting the picture in his leather jacket pocket and zipping the pocket up trying to avoid looking at the picture of himself. Scourge looked concerned at his reaction, wondering if his hatred of seeing himself ran deep enough to ruin photographs for him.
Trying to distract him, Miles cheerfully pointed out, " Posterity, huh? " Scourge, also wanting to lighten things up, replied, " Yep, I learned it from you! I keep tellin' ya, you're getting a better vocabulary every day thanks to that dictionary I found ya. And you're making me smarter because of it! Keep it up! " and gave him a thumbs up. Walking away from the photographer with him, Miles found it amusing and charming that Scourge, a wannabe gangster and proud criminal, was so proud of using big words just for the sake of it, and wondered if it showed that he really did respect him. At the same time, though, hearing that humbled him once again, as he admitted sheepishly,
" Well, I don't always remember every word I read about. I didn't even know what a photographer was until you brought me to that guy. Although that worked out for us, I would've irrationally said no otherwise. " Looking worried, Scourge said, " Don't tell me you've had bad experiences with photographers too! " Miles replied unhappily, " Okay. " " I didn't mean literally! " Scourge said in annoyance, which only made Miles feel worse.
Trying to pretend he wasn't offended, Miles reluctantly explained, " People on my island tried to take pictures of me to humiliate me, and worst of all, to spread the word of what I looked like so nobody would make the mistake of helping me, even if they didn't live on the island. They told me why they were doing it before doing it, so it's no wonder I don't like getting my picture taken. "
Scourge wished there was something he could to make him completely get over that fear, and all of his irrational fears, but all he could do was compassionately rub his shoulder and say, " Well, that's all over now, " despite knowing Miles' mind wouldn't register that as true. After that, they quickly resumed their run through the city, showing dominance over the various criminals around.
Another month passed, and on their way to their first alley of the day a morning after a storm, Scourge ran across a puddle on the sidewalk once again, but this time, the splash of water his shoes created reached high up enough to splash in Miles' eyes behind him. Most of the time, Miles was able to avoid such a scenario by wearing sunglasses and running beside Scourge rather than behind him, but this time, he wasn't so lucky, and the water in his eyes immediately made him close them out of an inability to see ahead of him. Not wanting to blindly run into anything, like the back of Scourge's spines, or a car, he stopped in his tracks to rub his eyes frantically in an instinctive reaction, forgetting that he was trying to keep up with someone.
Fortunately, Scourge quickly noticed a lack of the sound of footsteps behind him and asked the question, " You okay, Miles? " wondering if he had started flying behind him. Getting no answer caused him to immediately run back at the speed of sound to where he last heard Miles, where he saw him drying his eyes with his gloves. Jumping to the conclusion that he was crying and wondering what could've possibly caused it this time, he hugged him, getting his attention immediately.
" Thank you… I-I'm not crying, Sonic. A puddle splashed water in my eyes, and I couldn't see for a little bit. It's dangerous to run blind, " Miles said sadly after reluctantly letting go of him when the hug ended. " Do you have a lot of experience with that? I mean, you can't always stop running just because a puddle splashed ya, and it was pretty rainy back on your island, " Scourge asked unhappily.
" Sometimes it was a puddle, sometimes it was sand, sometimes it was, my own tears… " Miles replied, whispering the last few words full of shame and disrespect for himself. There was a brief silence as Scourge let it all sink in, before Miles continued sadly,
" It always sucked getting something in my eyes, especially when I was running! I had to constantly do zig zags and run in unpredictable routes to try to throw people off my trail, and in a forest full of trees for me to run into and tree trunks to trip on and bushes to get caught in, that was hard enough on its own even with being able to see. Sure, I could leave them all in the dust at first, but they'd never stop chasing me, they'd call up people in the direction I was headed warning them to be ready for me, and I would get tired eventually and need to hide… I'm sorry I brought up such a depressing topic again. I promised myself I'd stop talking about the past. You already know enough. "
Once again, Scourge could do nothing but reassure him. " It's okay now, little bro. You'll never have to set foot on that island again, " to briefly cheer him up for the time being. " Come on, let's go to the arcade, have some fun! " he added happily to his delight. " Sure! You know, Sonic, the very concept of a video game never ceases to amaze me. Being able to interact with a colorful fictional world in a way that's satisfying, with music and visuals nothing like that of the real world, it's perfect escapism! "
Scourge commented as they started walking to the arcade, " You wouldn't like modern games, then. They like to have realistic graphics that look dark and gritty, all black and brown. Oh, by graphics, I mean the way they look. " Wanting to not look ignorant, Miles nodded despite not knowing what he meant by modern games, as from his perspective, since arcade machines still existed in the present time, arcade games were modern to him.
" Really ought to thank the arcade's owner for building all of those amazing machines, " Miles commented cheerfully. Scourge chuckled at the end of it finding his wrong assumption cute, and said, " You think he programmed all those games himself? Nah, he just gets them from someone who did. I can't imagine he'd have the time, let alone the ability when all he's capable of doing is taking money from behind a counter all day. "
Miles looked embarrassed and sheepishly replied, " Oh. Should've known, " with nervous body language. Scourge playfully teased him, " What, did ya think that was the case for all stores, that every little tiny thing in a store was personally crafted by the store owner himself and all of the fruits and veggies were grown and harvested by him, and every little fish was personally fished up by the store owner himself? " There was a brief silence before Miles admitted, " Maybe… " having not thought about it all the way through.
Scourge chuckled and exclaimed, " Aw, that's adorable! " and ruffled his hair, saying lovingly, " Love ya, little bro. Never change. " Miles laughed nervously, torn between being blissfully appreciative of being loved and feeling frustration at the condescending treatment. He couldn't help being inexperienced.
Needless to say, Scourge ever since they first went in there had made it a monthly routine to go to the arcade that Miles liked so much, viewing it as the one fun part of the city. They would've gone every day, but Miles to Scourge's annoyance was opposed to that, explaining, " W-Well, the people going to the arcade can only have so much money, so what if they get to a point where they won't be able to show up there for you to take their money anymore? What if they give up and stop showing up there entirely because we show up too much? What if the arcade's owner stops getting people showing up entirely and gives up on the arcade? That's also why we shouldn't be too predictable and consistent, because if they learn to predict when we're going to show up, then we're gonna end up going there to an empty arcade with no coins for us to use. So we can't go there every day and expect it to always work out. It's just impractical. "
Scourge had no choice but to reluctantly nod in agreement, understanding that Miles had a very strong point, even if he was ultimately just telling him he couldn't do too much stealing or there would be consequences for him, just like his parents used to nag him.
After leaving the arcade together, they ran through the city for a while until the sight and smell of a burning building stopped them in their tracks. In front of them was a house on fire, and there were various firemen using hoses to put out the flames. Seeing the familiar sight made Miles stare at it with an expression of dread and horror, and the clouds just above the house started to increase in size rapidly and darken within the span of a couple seconds before pouring torrential rains onto the flames, as if in an effort to put them out. Of course, everyone noticed how unusual this was, having torrential downpours concentrated into such a tiny area, but Miles being in the city for so long had at least gotten people to accept it as a regular occurrence, if a strange one with no real explanation.
Seeing that Miles was trembling uncontrollably with his pupils shrunken at the sight and smell of the burning house, and one he had no real attachment to at that, Scourge sighed unhappily. He wanted to just grab his hand and pull him behind him as he ran away from the house with him, but that might only get him even more panicked at being pulled by someone so suddenly. He asked one of the fireman awkwardly, " S-So, why's it on fire? " The fireman looked at him surprised, knowing how uncharacteristic someone of his reputation was acting, and quickly answered as he continuing spraying the hose, " Lightning strike. "
Unfortunately, this was the worst possible response he could give for Miles, and the fact that he was a fireman looking in his general direction didn't help, as he started to irrationally fear that he would blame him for it and turn his hose on him. He exclaimed hysterically, " Lightning?! NO! Don't look at me! I-I didn't want this to happen, it's awful! PLEASE! " and impulsively started running away in a yellow blur, certain that the fireman's next action would be to try to drown him with his hose. All Scourge could do in response was run after him and eventually catch up with him, incredibly concerned and worried about him, while at the same time, he was frustrated that the scene he caused gave the people of the city even more reason to call Miles a coward.
Catching up to him and saying, " Miles, relax, " in a reassuring tone mixed with panic only gave him a startled jolt, and he impulsively turned to the right into the thankfully empty city park and continued running away, saying, " No, no! Everyone's gonna blame me for this! Everyone's gonna try to kill me again! We gotta move, we gotta change towns! "
Seeing that he had no other choice, Scourge scooped him up into his arms carrying him as he ran beside him and shushed him as he slowed to a halt with him, trying his best to get him back to his senses. Miles was surprised and caught off guard by that bold action, but being caressed reassuringly helped to calm him down to merely whimpering as he was being carefully sat down on the park grass and hugged.
Scourge explained to him with a smile as Miles returned the hug, " Relax, everything will be fine… Remember, Miles, you live with me, and no one's gonna cross me, and considering my father has an insane amount of power over the world, no one's gonna force him to move either. Hell, even if people do blame you, that'll just add to your menacing factor and make people less likely to wanna mess with ya, especially since you're with me… Things are different in the city, Miles. In your small town, everybody knew each other, so everyone was willing to work together against you, but in the city, everyone's a stranger. They're not gonna all rise up in an angry mob with people they don't even trust… And even if they do, I'll just run around 'em in a circle and catch 'em all in a tornado to humiliate 'em. With my super speed, I'm basically invincible compared to those slowpokes! So don't worry, Miles. We'll be just fine… "
After hearing a familiar sniffle, he realized Miles had started crying, and the kid said sadly, " It isn't just people hurting me that I'm worried about... I've always been blamed for lightning strikes, and they only started happening in a huge quantity in one area when I was born, when I was brought to the island, so what if people are right? What if that lightning strike only happened because of me? I didn't wanna be responsible for some random person's house getting burned down! But I couldn't keep it from happening. What if the same thing happens to our house?! Just like with the orphanage! It got struck when I was still living in it and I was barely able to escape! There were people in there and… "
It was hard to argue with Miles' reasoning, and Scourge couldn't help but be worried at hearing it, but ultimately, it was his job to comfort him, not tell him he was right all the time. Scourge reassured him successfully, " Well, that orphanage was full of people who hated ya. Now that you live with me, maybe that lightning won't wanna bother me because you like me so much. How about that? And besides, maybe the lightning that hit that house you saw, was going to happen anyways even if you weren't in this city. I know you didn't want that to happen. So if you really aren't the type to like setting things on fire – n-not that I've ever done it – then I can't imagine you telling lightning to do that, even subconsciously. Assuming that ridiculous superstition that you can control it by accident is even true! Those backwoods islanders might have just brainwashed you into believing it. I don't see how having a second tail would give you the ability to control the weather. It'd be cool as hell, but let's not get our hopes up. "
Miles smiled a little at hearing him say the word subconsciously, always finding it charming when a criminal like him used a big word like that for the sake of it, and feeling like he might be a positive influence on him in intelligence alone. Of course, when Scourge said he never set anything on fire, he was lying through his teeth, but Miles by that point blindly trusted him enough to believe him. After all, he did say to him, " You're a good person when it counts, " a sentence that still haunted Scourge with his supposed badass rebellious lawbreaker persona.
Finally feeling better, Miles looked him in the eyes and asked, " You really think controlling the weather would be cool? " full of hope. " Of course it would! It'd just be another reason you'd be awesome! " Scourge replied encouragingly.
After some brief consideration, he stopped smiling and let him go while saying, " But again, let's not get our hopes up. And even if you could do that, heh, let's not have you stealing my thunder. " Confused, Miles said, " You mean you like hearing thunder too? Why? " It took a couple seconds of Scourge staring at him in confusion for him to realize he had taken it literally, and shook his head before correcting him,
" No, no, it's just a figure of speech. Wh-What I mean to say is, I don't want 'cha upstagin' me, ya know? I'm the one who's the most badass criminal alive! That's not to say I don't want ya to get stronger and better, and more capable of defending yourself without me. I'm just saying, I don't want people to be too afraid of you, you know? "
Miles was silent for a second before cautiously replying, " I understand… " Unfortunately, the annoyance he had from that little speech slipped out in his tone, and Scourge caught it. " It's no big deal, is it? " he asked nervously, not wanting to get into an argument with his only friend.
" I, uh, no. I understand! Being a feared criminal is extremely important to you, and since you care about it so much more than me, it's only right that you should be the one with all the spotlight from that. Besides, spotlight isn't something I appreciate myself, so even pretending I could control the weather and stuff, it'd just give people even more reason to pay attention to me. One of the best things about having a friend is that you draw attention away from me. People can't focus on my second tail for too long when they have to talk to you the minute they look at it! S-So yeah, I understand, Sonic, " Miles explained awkwardly, and thought to himself, " It's an ego thing, " finishing the sentence where Scourge couldn't hear him.
For most of the time he knew Scourge, he found his unwavering confidence in himself inspiring and charming, something he tried to live vicariously through and support, something he felt was the source of Scourge's strength and allowed him to achieve things he'd be too scared to otherwise. But occasionally, Scourge's ego could get a bit too much even for him, particularly in situations where his brother was reminding him of how he should keep to his place and not upstage him from the limelight. He would always attack second, not first, and speak after he did. He wasn't the one in charge, and sometimes he was frustrated with himself for even questioning that, since logically, Scourge should be in charge, being the one who was not only older than him, but well-versed in common knowledge at a much greater extent than him, making him both older and wiser. Miles wouldn't even be able to spell his own name if it weren't for him.
Of course he should be the one telling him what to do, because he was the only one who was very likely to be right about what he should do. Miles didn't always agree with his ideas, for example, not thinking that spray-painting the orphanage was a good decision, but he would always end up at least feeling half satisfied with it in the end, and consiering he never felt 100% of any emotion anyways, how was he supposed to know if that satisfaction was hollow? He didn't even feel 100% happy when shown affection because a part of him didn't think he deserved it. Did that mean he didn't actually like being shown love? Of course not. He couldn't get enough of it. With Miles being conflicted with basically every emotion he felt, always feeling at least two emotions at once, it was easy for him to get confused, and not know what he wanted or believed.
" A-After all, why should I upstage you? You're the older and wiser one. You're the one in charge, and you should be! You never doubt yourself and the decisions you make, while I do, and if you're the leader of this duo, then it's better to have the leader be a confident one. Meanwhile, I'm perfectly happy just being your ' trusty sidekick. ' I-I used that word right, right? Heard some kids saying it near the arcade, and… " Miles said to Scourge earnestly, despite some hesitation deep down that he mostly looked down on.
" Don't worry, you used it right, sidekick. It's just kinda weird since it's applied to heroes, not criminals, " Scourge said with a smile that was slightly forced, as he was nervous from what he said at remembering that even he doubted himself sometimes. From the very first day he met Miles, he had doubts over whether he'd be able to keep a friend so sensitive and troubled and whether he should even try taking on that responsibility, but he would never tell Miles that. He'd only overreact.
Miles replied, " Uh, okay. Guess I won't say it often, then, " confused, as he usually tried to convince himself that by limiting his targets to criminals, he was a hero, albeit a non-traditional one. His only idea of a hero for his entire life was a person that would save his life and show compassion to him in spite of his mutation, and after meeting Scourge, perhaps even someone who liked his second tail. His definition of hero couldn't get any more simplistic than that and the bar wasn't very high, and since it was such a broad definition, applying to anyone who wasn't discriminatory against someone different-looking to the point of wanting them dead, applying it to Scourge was easy for him.
That wasn't to say he thought criminals were the true heroes for rebelling against the rules of society. He suffered from criminals in the form of the teenaged gang members hired to bully him and hunt him down, so he still saw most criminals as villainous, but Scourge taught him to view his friends as exceptions to the rule, and he had never met any policeman or even fireman who was nice to him even though they were considered heroes in society. Doctors and nurses he was considering as heroes now that he met some that actually wanted to help him, but other than that, his morality had been twisted, viewing himself and Scourge as some of the only truly good people in the world.
" Well, that's good, kiddo. Good to see you know your place! Again, no offense. Now come on, let's find some more people to show who's boss! People are learning to respect your authority already! " Scourge said ruffling his hair at the first sentence. For the first time, Miles was irritated at him for talking to him like that, and Scourge noticed, and awkwardly had to ignore it as they started running down the sidewalk together. Even being called kiddo by him had lost its novelty as an affectionate nickname as the continued reminder of how it was used as an excuse to subordinate him became increasingly more frustrating for him, and he hated himself for it.
A part of him appreciated following all of Scourge's orders because he didn't have to think, he didn't have to be overwhelmed with uncertainty trying to figure out what the right way to live life was in a world of people that didn't grant him all the opportunities he'd want anyways.
But another part of him saw Scourge treating him like a child and making him do everything he said as restrictive and even condescending, and felt like he wasn't truly free just because he left his oppressive island, because he had to do everything Scourge said, even if he was opposed to it. Just last week, Scourge tried to get him to mug a regular person again, and while he didn't punish him for refusing per se, his annoyance with him and embarrassment was punishment enough. Not enough to discourage him from doing it again, but it was still a grim reminder that he wasn't truly free.
Did Scourge not really respect him? Did he not respect the idea of Miles being his own person, and having an identity and set of interests and opinions separate from him? Scourge always got mildly annoyed whenever he expressed morality and hesitated to break certain laws just for the sake of it, always leaving it up to him to terrorize regular people in spite of his attempt to get them to take turns. He didn't seem to like the idea that he loved playing music and arcade games and reseaching the weather much more than breaking the law and being seen as a feared criminal. It was as if regardless of how much he didn't want to, Scourge looked down on him being different from him, like a bully, and Miles was frustrated that he even dared to feel that way about Scourge since he was still very grateful and appreciative of even having a friend at all.
The thought of being " free " from Scourge terrified him, and drove him to tears just thinking about going back to being all alone. He didn't even want to be the one in charge because pretending Scourge even would like to follow his idea of only ever victimizing criminals, he didn't trust himself to not screw up with that authority, especially with his lack of experience and practical knowledge. He could name every type of cloud in the sky, but that kind of science trivia didn't help his day to day life, so he often wondered whether being a genius meant anything at all.
The part of him that was still blindly devoted and grateful just for the sake of it hated the part of him that was " immaturely " getting resentful of being treated like the child that he was, the ignorant uneducated naïve kid that he was, and he worried that if that resentment grew too much, it could cost him the only friend he had. There were a few times when that gave him nightmares, about something other than his past for once. He was determined to not show anything more than very brief frustration and annoyance with him, refusing to ever get into an argument, and instead used the anger and resentment in a " productive " way by fighting criminals even harder than before, something that only made Scourge proud of him and compliment him for " really getting into it. " Was that really someone he wanted to become?
Unfortunately, Scourge had his fair share of frustrations with the friendship, too. He just watched him have a panic attack in front of him, the worst one he ever had, and could barely get him to feel better, and even after he did, he knew full well that he might still end up feeling that way again. It was getting frustrating how he was completely powerless to fix the problem permanently. Even two months after Miles was on that island, traumatic memories would keep resurfacing and he'd keep being reminded of the past by even the slightest of things, and it looked like a situation that couldn't get better.
At the very least, he could take comfort in the fact that he made Miles' present situation a lot happier, even if his mind couldn't catch up to it, but sometimes all of his efforts to help him felt pointless knowing that he would always be suffering from his bullies' mistreatment long after leaving their island. There was no denying anymore that there might be something seriously wrong with him, and he'd have to accept that as part of who his friend is, as depressing as that would be.
He couldn't even express the sheer frustration and powerlessness properly because if he told Miles about it, the kid would only jump to the conclusion that he'd eventually get sick of such an emotionally draining friendship and give up on it. Scourge would rather believe he was too stubborn to do such a thing and would always stick with him, but Miles even months after meeting him thought he was extremely lucky he was even bothering with him at all, and often wondered why he put up with him.
So the only way he could even remotely express that frustration and feel more powerful than he was, was to keep beating up criminals in the alleys, just like he always did. Miles at least had gotten used to it, and even seemed to feel good about doing it justifying it to himself, which Scourge viewed as a huge step from just preferring to lock himself away in his house like a hermit and avoiding trying to interact with anyone but him.
But sometimes he felt that he would give all of that away in an instant to just get rid of the post-traumatic stress Miles kept showing he had. He was at the point where he secretly bought a book on psychological disorders at the book store just so he could learn more about how Miles thought. He had to read it at night with a dictionary on hand because of all the big words. At the very least, he finished reading it understanding it fairly well, and was proud of himself for that, but he wouldn't be bragging about it any time soon.
Just like he had worried at their first meeting, Miles was an overwhelming friend to have considering just how much he had suffered in the past, and it was an emotional rollercoaster having to comfort him so many times knowing he would only feel the same way again. The only up-side, which he tried to focus on the best he could, was that Miles appreciated affection from him so deeply from a lack of getting it in life. His comfort with him had even caused him to get gutsy enough to start showing affection to him himself recently, hugging him when no one was there to witness it. Considering Scourge himself had never gotten any affection to his recollection until he met Miles, with his parents being neglectful and all, having a friend who desperately craved affection and felt it was only right to show it to him in return seemed like the perfect match. It was a shame it came with so many downsides.
He only wished there was a way he could have that much affection without having to deal with a person's numerous fears and insecurities, and every so often, he internally scolded himself for seeming to not appreciate his only friend as much as he should. He was being disloyal just from thinking about that.
An ideal friendship could only stay ideal for so long, and the longer they knew each other, the harder it became to be unaware of the problems and concerns they each had about it. Miles wasn't entirely okay with the power dynamic of their friendship and how he wasn't fully respected for who he really was, and Scourge wished Miles wasn't so overwhelming to deal with at times.
They still appreciated each other, of course, with Scourge viewing Miles as otherwise the perfect friend from just how blindly loyal, devoted, compassionate and polite he was, and Miles loving how he had someone essentially raising him and being there for him mutation or not, someone who believed in him. No friendship could be perfect. At the very least, they appreciated the fact that they had one. It wouldn't be until they would meet a certain princess that cracks would start to form in the seams.
For now, Scourge was devoted to being as good a friend to Miles as possible, spending nearly every waking hour of the day with him, refusing to let his natural impatience, self-centeredness and recklessness ruin the only positive relationship with a person he ever had. And because Scourge was so loyal, so devoted to making him feel like he was loved, Miles was even more loyal to repay him. He felt like he earned it, even if it wasn't perfect.
A couple times over the year that they were each other's only friends, Miles became sick with a fever and had to stay in bed for almost the entirety of the day, and Scourge stayed home with him to reassure him, bringing him all of his meals and letting him sleep with his head on his chest in bed as they watched TV together. He didn't like having to stay at home, but at least he felt like he was needed and accomplishing something good for someone he cared about. On the rare occasion that Scourge was sick, Miles was happy to help.
