2Three weeks later, they were running by a residential area on their way to the city when Miles saw a civilian raking their lawn of leaves, and gasped jumping startled at the sight, which unfortunately caused the civilian to notice him and make things worse. " Come on, let's go, " Scourge said hurriedly, briefly grabbing Miles' hand and running with him. When he regained his bearings and managed to get his feet back on the ground, rather than only remaining upright with Scourge because of his tails spinning behind him blasting wind, he stammered, " T-Thanks, Sonic. I don't like those things… " to his concerned but understanding brother.
Scourge didn't want to imagine how much it would hurt to be hit by a rake, and the damage it caused to Miles' young skin, let alone how bad it would be to be hurt by them enough to start only thinking of them as weapons. There was a reason he promised to himself that if he ever took over the world or something, he'd get revenge on Miles' island for him on sheer principle.
As the winter began to start, Miles began to complain about the dropping temperatures that he had to deal with every time he went outside with him, and considering they spent most of every day outside, it was clear that solving such a problem was in high priority. " It's so cold… " Miles said sadly with his head hung low shivering a little, with a familiar depressed tone in his voice. Scourge remembered how hard he said it was surviving the winter with nobody giving him winter clothes as a kid, and immediately decided to make sure that would never be a problem for him again.
" Well, getting you a warm coat will be our first priority! I'll get ya a black one, one that looks like your leather jacket, but with warm thick lining inside of it. If we can't find one in the clothing store, I'll force someone to put warm lining in the jacket you got now. It'll be easy, don't worry. I know a guy, " Scourge said, putting his arm around him holding him close, and Miles appreciated it for two reasons at once this time, liking the warmth of it as well as the affection and love. " Thanks, Sonic, " Miles said, his smile being both appreciative and a bit strained from the cold. While their friendship wasn't perfect, he still loved how he finally had someone care about him enough to get him warm clothes for the winter.
After getting him a leather jacket with warm lining in it, Scourge set out to try to make Miles see the positive side of winter, and the first thing he did was bring him to the snowboarding hill that just opened up. As usual, he scared away everyone by running around them in a tornado and throwing them down the hill, leaving him and Miles alone. With a grin, he then handed Miles a snowboard saying, " Welcome to the most fun part of winter! Come on, Miles, snowboarding's fun! "
As Miles looked nervous, Scourge taught him how to stand on it for balance, explained basically how to move it left and right and how to brake it, and snowboarded down the hill in front of him to show it off, enjoying himself in all the excitement. Miles had to admit to himself that it did look fun, in spite of his concerns that it was too dangerous, and it helped that there wasn't really much to dodge on the way down the hill. He didn't like being left all alone, but watching Scourge snowboard from the top of the hill helped distract him from that anxiety, and soon he started to snowboard after him, carefully moving the board forwards by dragging his foot back on the snow behind him.
When the board tilted forwards as he started snowboarding down the sloped hill, he gasped, but avoided panicking and looked determined as he took some deep breaths, and soon, he was smiling at the speed that the snowboard was going down the hill, the wind rushing past him as the snowy scenery passed him by. For the first time in his life, he felt the thrills and excitement that Scourge wanted him to for so long.
By the end of it, he was giggling and laughing, much to Scourge's joy at getting him to loosen up. " Again! Again! " Miles exclaimed happily, and Scourge said, " Race ya! " before the two of them ran back up the hill. They never did go into the city to break the law that day, as they were too busy having fun.
As they walked towards the front door of their home with a smile hours before supper time, Miles said happily, " I have to admit, Sonic, winter can be pretty fun! Snowboarding isn't as dangerous as I thought it would be. " Scourge nodded, thinking, " That's because I took ya to the easy hill. Maybe I shouldn't take the risk of stepping it up. Poor kid would just change his mind at the slightest bump in the snow. " Miles stopped smiling at seeing his unhappy expression, and Scourge noticed and realized he had messed up. To try to cheer him up again, he said, " Hey, ya know, that's not the only thing people can only do in the winter. They can also build snowmen! "
" Snowmen?... Are those the things we ran past earlier with the branches sticking out of them? " Miles said unexcitedly. " Hey, it's something at least! Why don't 'cha at least try? Just to be able to say you did it. No childhood is complete without it! You just roll a snowball into a bigger one like this… " Scourge replied with some forced enthusiasm. He then showed him how to make a snowman, ripping the branches off a nearby tree for the arms and leaving two for Miles afterwards.
" Now you try! " he said, and Miles with a blank expression did what he was told, rolling large balls of snow and piling them on top of each other from smallest to largest, and sticking branches into the sides of the snowman he made. He didn't look too impressed, until Scourge said, " Hold on, I'll get some more stuff, " ran into the house in a blue and black blur, and instantly returned giving him a carrot, his old winter hat, and a bunch of buttons he tore off from his father's coat.
" You put the buttons in the snowman's middle section and then give it eyes, give it a hat after that, and use a carrot for the nose! " Scourge said cheerfully. " You'd waste a perfectly good carrot?! " Miles exclaimed missing the point completely, and Scourge looked at him with concern, seeing that even months later, he still thought like someone who didn't know when he was getting his next meal. After some brief hesitation, he said, " It won't be wasted, we can just wash it and it'll be fine. There's no dirt in this snow, just frozen water. "
Miles was reluctant at first, but soon followed through with what Scourge told him to do, and at the end of it, he placed the carrot into the snowman unhappily, before looking at the result and smiling a little. " Huh. I made that… " he commented putting his hand on his chin, a bit interested.
" It's no snowboarding, and it's sure as hell no badass law-breaking, but hey, at least you can say you did it, " Scourge said with his arm around him, patting his shoulder at the end. Miles didn't fail to take note of the fact that he was subtly telling him that he wasn't allowed to like snowboarding more than breaking the law, and sighed with downcast eyes. First it was TV, then it was reading, then it was violin playing, then arcade games, then piano playing, all of which he was constantly discouraged from liking more than crime, and now this. " What's wrong now? " Scourge asked, and soon caught his annoyed phrasing and stammered before clarifying nervously, " I'm not mad, just asking. "
Miles complained in innocent confusion, " Why is giving awful people what they deserve, against the law? W-Why is it considered law-breaking and, rebellious in society? Isn't giving bad people what they deserve supposed to be a good thing? That prison does it, and they outright kidnap people and make their lives a living hell! I'm supposed to be worse than them? I'm the bad guy here?! N-Not that I mind ' law-breaking ' after all the times I had to do it to survive, I'm numb to it by now. It… just doesn't make sense… I can understand my stealing food and water bottles and toilet paper from people being against the rules because I'm taking it from people who want to use it, even if they can just buy more whenever they want, the lucky bastards. I didn't have a choice. I earned the right to get what I needed to stay alive after all the beatings people put me through. So I'm the exception to that rule. I get it, if everybody was allowed to do that, nobody's food would be safe. So that rule makes sense. "
Scourge rolled his eyes knowing that Miles wasn't looking at him to see it, seeing that Miles' value system didn't really approve of his stealing, and Miles continued in sad frustration, " But, bullies deserve to get what's coming to them, don't they?... You're telling me those mean gang members we fight don't deserve it? Why is that wrong? Why aren't I called a hero and praised?! I-I-If the law is supposed to be based on punishing bad people, then why aren't the cops accepting what I'm doing with you? What, am I not allowed to do their jobs for them? Is that too helpful? I don't get it, what am I missing? Why are the cops still treating me like the bad guy when I haven't done anything wrong? "
" 'Cause they don't know what they're talking about, " Scourge replied quickly with a dismissive wand of his hand, acting annoyed to hide his nervousness and discomfort. He didn't fail to notice the implications of the fact that Miles was complaining about that at all, and he was getting worried once again that Miles wasn't really happy with being a villain.
" I'm doing literally the same thing the cops do except I'm not kidnapping people and holding them prisoner. How dare I. And all I use is a staff instead of that short black stick they have and that ' taser ' thing, that you said makes people lose control of their bodies and become helpless! I never experienced that myself, I honestly don't even know if my island's cops even had those things, but I can't imagine how bad that would be, and I've never done that to imprison someone. That's no better than tranquilizing someone with a needle! I give the worst of the world what they deserve, just like they do… and those hypocrites still go after me… People try to act like they're heroes, but I fight criminals too and I'm talked about like the scum of the earth, " Miles complained bitterly.
Worried at how he seemed to want to be a hero more than an outright criminal, Scourge tried to get him back down to earth in his eyes by placing both hands on his shoulders and kneeling to his eye level in front of him, and explaining seriously, " Is that what this is all about? Being praised?... I hate to break it to ya, kid, but, they're never going to accept you as a hero. No matter how much karma you deal out. You can be a hero in your head all you want, but it won't change how people see you. It's just not how people think. I hate to remind you of this, but, they're never gonna get past your second tail. You're gifted, and special, but they don't care. They just want you to be normal. "
He stood up and said while angry with the world, " Well, screw 'em! Why try to be a hero for a world of people like that? They don't deserve you trying to help ' clean up society, ' if that's all you're in it for! I thought this was about revenge! It doesn't matter whether people thank you for it. " Miles couldn't help but be intimidated at how irritated Scourge was with him, but he tried to keep it together and forced a serious expression to hide his fear, with only his eyes showing that he was on edge.
Scourge continued passionately, " See, this is why I taught you about graffiti, and why I get people away from you at the arcade, and why I get so much cool stuff for free and have so many connections, and why I cut in line. None of that has anything to do with fightin' criminals. That's fun too, but there's a reason I do all that other stuff, and it's because I want people to know that I go by my own rules! No one can tell me what to do! My old man tries to control me, when he's actually there, but outside that house, I'm free! I benefit from causing mischief with a reputation, as someone you don't wanna mess with, as someone people can't hold out stuff on or give the shaft! I do it to get the ultimate freedom, the kind you've been striving for since you were born! I do it to dominate the city! To be known as a badass law-breaker, who can do whatever he wants, to get my own identity with my own skills no matter what my parents think! It's not about cleaning up the trash for me, I can have any target I want. "
There was a silence as Miles looked sad and nervous with fear in his eyes, and Scourge, thinking he might have intimidated him, reassured him more gently, " Although it's fine if that's how you see it. Look, kiddo, all I'm saying is, I want you to see what I see. You're free now! The only rules you have to live under are mine! And y-you know what, that's okay, because I still live under some rules, too. There are things I make rules against for myself to avoid making stupid mistakes. And even with that, I got more freedom than anyone else in the world! There's nothing I can't get away with! There's nowhere I can't run! I want you to realize that you have that freedom too. I want you to know that you're not on that island anymore, that you can do whatever you want to make yourself happy! Because you've earned it, Tails old pal. You deserve to be happy. Like I said earlier, I live life to the fullest! And I want you to live life to the fullest, too, because restraining yourself 'cause you're nervous isn't fun. Obviously don't make harmful mistakes, like I don't want ya to touch any drugs or anything like that, but at least try to loosen up and have fun. "
Seeing Miles still looked nervous and uncomfortable, he compassionately put his hand on his shoulder, getting the kid to look at him, and said sincerely, " The world needs to start making it up to you. That's what I've been trying to tell you all along. Look, I can respect that you're giving jerks what they deserve. I hate those guys too! Way more than the random schmucks on the street. As much as I love breaking the law myself, I'd be furious if they did those crimes to me, so I can admire you wanting to give those bozos what's coming to them. It's a well-meaning selfless noble effort. You're a sweet kid! But by restricting yourself to taking your anger out on only them, you're restricting your freedom, and your potential, and not getting enough out of a world that should be paying you back… "
Miles sighed sadly, and Scourge continued calmly, " I know it's hard to accept that the world isn't worth fighting for, everyone's idealistic at your age. I get that you don't really wanna believe it. And look, I won't force you to do anything, alright? The whole point is to get you to loosen up and enjoy yourself, there's no point if you won't enjoy it. You can keep fighting those jerks to your heart's content! Get that stress and anger out, let people keep seeing what a badass you are! Just keep in mind that you're not getting the whole cake. You'll understand when you get older. "
Miles tried to avoid looking annoyed at how he was being treated like his age was inherently making him not as smart as him, but at the very least, he could appreciate how Scourge was trying to be nice to him after scaring him and was trying to give him well-meaning advice.
He was conflicted as he walked into the house with him. Scourge did have a point in that humanity making it up to him was long overdue, but that wouldn't erase the memories that his mistreatment left and the emotional scarring it did to him, and it wouldn't get the islanders specifically to apologize and like him. It wouldn't fix his problems. Doing all the same things Scourge did wouldn't get people to like and accept him, which was what he always wanted all along. He already enjoyed himself with Scourge, with the arcade games, playing music, getting to learn all sorts of interesting new things and having someone who cares about him. Wasn't he already being made up to? And he still felt miserable at times. His life was happy, but it could be so much more.
He couldn't imagine lashing out at innocent people and getting them to benefit him out of fear being that one thing suddenly giving him a happy life. He would feel more free, but he'd always be restrained in the painfully tight shackles of his memories, his self-doubt and insecurity would constantly be criticizing everything he does and thinks, and he'd always have to do what his friend pressured him to in order to avoid causing even more tension between them. He would never truly be free, so why bother striving for ultimate freedom that wouldn't make him happy anyways? But if freedom wasn't what he wanted, what was?
The logic in him was disagreeing with Scourge's reasoning at every turn, seeing it as self-centered, entitled and hypocritical, but Scourge did succeed in appealing to the emotional side of him that wanted the people of the world to stop being threats. If they couldn't ever become his friends, they could at least become his pawns. He felt discomfort at thinking that, and continued feeling conflicted, knowing that Scourge would never change his mind. He'd never accept him for what he really wanted. And judging from Scourge's irritation with him, being more assertive about that desire would only hurt their friendship in the long run.
Scourge brought to his attention that Miles wanted to be a hero, but what was the point if people would still treat him like a villain? What if he wasn't a hero after all? What if his situation left him with no possible way of becoming one? It wasn't like there was a really terrible villain that they could fight regularly for the rest of their lives. If there was, he'd probably be happier. He'd get Scourge to fight him out of thrills, excitement, and the ego boost of being praised for it, and it was possible that Scourge would've been happier, too, and end up being a hero, even if he'd keep breaking the law. But there was simply nothing he could do, and if he brought it up again, he would only get another argument.
