The Hell We Live In

Seven

__Tails was closer to Scourge now. The green hedgehog was slightly pumped now. He said he was willing to tell them what he knew about this Devil that was in their world causing genocide. Tails felt bad, though. They were taking advantage of someone who had bad depression, even if he was cooperating on his own. In any case it just didn't feel right.
__"How do you know him?" Sonic asked him.
__Scourge was looking straight at the table, still not wanting to make eye contact. "He was sent here years ago. Just two months after me, Fiona and the Destructix were put back here. No one knew what world he came from. He had just been going through zones and causing lots problems that warranted the Zone Cops attention. A lot of them died just to contain him.
__"When we were put back here they added extra measures for us specifically so we couldn't escape again." He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and revealed a weird looking wristband gadget on his wrist. "If we were to mess with this, remove it, or leave the area, then this thing would send some kind of pentobarbital that would instantly kill us."
__Tails was staring at the gadget with horror. "They would resort to this? You were still a kid!"
__Scourge put the sleeve back and continued. "The Devil took interest in my group, mainly because he knew what we had accomplished and what we were trying to do. He was aggressive to everyone else but was friendly to us."
__"What does he look like?" Sonic interrupted. "What is he?"
__"He's bigger than us, maybe bigger than Simian. He has mobian characteristics, but everything about him screams supernatural. He's black with skinny, but really strong limbs. His hands are big with these long, sharp claws that needed to be cut often to prevent him from hurting anyone. His muzzle is like Tails', it's white but sticks out more like a dog. He had fangs that are bigger my own. He had some crazy white hair and his eyes are nothing but red. He claimed to be a demon from hell. I wouldn't disagree."
__Tails was a little frightened by the description. Of all the things they had to deal with over the years, they had never once encountered a demon. They didn't even think demons existed. There were no celestial angels or other supernatural monsters like ghouls, werewolves, vampires, and zombies. This was all unnerving. "What happened between you if he was being so friendly with you?"
__Scourge was quietly growling. "He was using us. We were having trouble getting back on top so we couldn't get hurt by the other inmates and risk dying because of these watches. The Devil, even with the collar, could still kill off the other inmates, so he offered to be our dog."
__Tails felt his ear twitch. "Dog?"
__"He was weird when he wasn't bloodthirsty. He told us he was a fan of our work and wanted to keep seeing us alive. He would single-handedly keep us safe from the other inmates. Fiona was already scared of him and the Destructix were weary, but I didn't want any accidents happening that would cause us to die. I accepted his offer."
__"You couldn't do anything else," Sonic tried to reassure him. "You had your people to look out for."
__Scourge slowly nodded. "My only family." He sighed. "Since we were still uneasy about him we made sure we gave him a lot of things to keep him calm around us. We would give him extra food, drinks, sneak medicine for him, steal the other's mattresses for him to use since he was big, and we would always make excuses for him whenever the Zone Cops tried something with him. Our dog was protecting us, so we protected him. He became part of our family over the years.
__"Recently, though, he had asked us to get something for him. After all we had been through together we heard him out. He told us that he could actually break these collars anytime he wanted to. He had just been biding his time. He could break ours, too, and said he wanted us to come along. He asked us to steal a warp ring from the next Zone Cop that was bringing in new prisoners. We had gotten stronger over the years, so we were confident we could do it. We waited for the next shipment and watched for one cop that was farther from the rest. We had Flying take his ring with his tongue to keep us from having to risk leaving the perimeter. We got back to The Devil and gave him the warp ring. He said he was grateful and that we would all escape in due time. We believed it.
__"A few days later the warden came to us and said the Destructix had been bought and were allowed to go back to their world. They didn't want to leave us, but they forced them to go. I don't know what they did to remove their watches since they did it somewhere else. It was just me and Fiona with The Devil. I was slowly growing upset that they were gone. Fiona tried her best to comfort me and reassure me she was still there. The Devil continued to protect us, but something was off with him by this time. I was too upset to bother seeing what is was.
__"Eventually we asked about the escape plan. We were mainly asking how we would remove the watches without dying. He told us he had the power once he removed his own collar. He just needed us to do one more thing. We needed to distract everyone. For some reason, neither of us thought to second guess this. We were just too tired. Fiona wanted this to be real just in case, so she made sure she didn't eat or drink for a while. I was of course against it, but she was determined to get out. She passed out in the cafeteria and I started freaking out and calling for help. The warden and Zone Cops came running in and were rushing Fiona into the medical bay once they made sure she was really in need of help. I saw The Devil slipping away and curiosity got me. I followed after him and saw what he was doing. He had already broken his collar from the back, but kept it in tact to make the others believe he was still weak. A Zone Cop had come around the corner and saw him. He had ordered him to go back to his cell when The Devil simply pressed his hand against his head and smashed it against the wall. That cop was dead. I was concerned and asked him what the fuck he was doing. He turned to me. This was when I noticed something was wrong and I slowly backed up. He was walking up to me and smiling, calling me a fool. He never intended to bring us with him, and now that we knew what he was doing he didn't want us snitching. He tried to grab my watch when Fiona had come running. We all know how quickly she gets up once she's out. She tackled him and tried to keep him back when he just simply swatted her and threw her to the wall. Before he could go to her I jumped on his back and desperately tried to see if I could choke him out, but his neck was too thick. I knew this, but I was panicking. He knocked me off, too, and I was flung up real high before I hit the ground. The cops finally came in and aimed their weapons at The Devil. The warden was ordering them to move him to a special cell while having us go back to the medical bay."
__Tails was fascinated by this story so far. Both intrigued and terrified. "You knew his weaknesses?"
__Scourge finally looked at him. "Not so much his weakness, but all of his strengths and what didn't work. I know he has a weakness and I almost determined what it is. I could have tested it out right there and then, but I didn't."
__"What happened afterwards?" Sonic asked.
__"The next day we heard that he had escaped after attacking Zonic. He had stolen a ring from him, too. My spirit was already broken enough. After so many years of finally having a real family, I lose majority of them and didn't realize one of them had been deceiving us the entire time. If I know one thing, now that he had two warp rings and used one of them to get to Mobius, he's definitely going to kill the Destructix if he gets the chance." Scourge shut his eyes. "He may have already."
__Tails looked over and saw that the Zone Cops were coming back in the other room, but they already had what they needed. He looked back and saw that Sonic leaned over to Scourge and hugged him. Scourge did not move, but Tails could see his frown shaking. He went over and hugged him, too. Even after learning to hate him all this time, he couldn't bring himself to continue this hatred. After all, he was just like them.
__There was knocking on the window. They all pulled away and saw it was Zonic. He was motioning Sonic and Tails to get out. The two stood up and started walking when Scourge suddenly stood up. "Wait! I didn't get to..."
__Sonic turned and smiled at him. "It's fine! We got this!"
__Tails snorted as he started patting Sonic's arm. "So long as you start getting proper sleep, you dumbass!"
__Sonic shoved the fox away. "Shut up!" He then walked over to the door as it opened.
__Tails smiled as he was about to scratch his face when he saw his glove. Parts of it had turned tan. It was exactly Sonic's skin tone. He knew what this was and turned to Sonic. "Dude. Are you wearing foundation over your bruises?"
__Sonic stopped dead in his tracks and reluctantly turned around. He checked his arm before smiling at Tails. "Yeah, I got tired of everyone worrying about these small bruises. I only fell down the stairs and it's not a big deal, so I don't need anyone pestering me about it. You got me?"
__Tails looked down at his glove and hesitated before giving in and nodded. They didn't have time to worry about his bruises. He tried to wipe away the foundation on his fur as he followed Sonic out of the room. A couple Zone Cops went in and escorted Scourge out of the interrogation center. Zonic walked over to them and actually looked impressed. "You actually got something out of him? How?"
__Tails flattened his ears when he felt Sonic start to heat up. Sonic had walked over to Zonic and leaned in close. "Compassion."
__Zonic looked confused before nodding. "Guess it only works if you really know the person. For us he's still just a lowly criminal."
__Sonic suddenly punched Zonic in the face, causing the other cops to react. Tails had to pull Sonic away and hold him back. "Sonic, what the fuck!? Chill out, dude!"
__Zonic shook his head and glared at Sonic. "What the hell, man?"
__Sonic was glaring at him as he growled. "You Zone Cops are worse than them! You put euthanizing watches on Scourge and Fiona when they were still kids, you allow them to get hurt, and none of you ever even once knew Scourge had depression and needs medication for it!? You're all assholes!"
__Tails was shaking Sonic a bit to get him to stop. "They're just doing their job!" He then found himself glaring at Zonic. "Even if it is disgraceful!"
__Zonic had calmed down and actually looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry to hear this. I don't work in that department. I just arrest criminals and bring them here. What they go through here is not supposed to be my concern." He then sighed. "I never even knew about those watches. I'll have to report this. Anyway, we need to find that monster." He turned to lead them away.
__Tails let go as Sonic stopped squirming. The hedgehog was not following after him. "We're not doing that."
__Zonic stopped and looked at Sonic with shock. "What?"
__Sonic shook his head. "Don't take this the wrong way. We're not doing this with the Zone Patrol. We need to do this our way."
__Tails immediately understood; he had since their interrogation. Part of him still didn't trust this and wanted to disagree, but this was in their best interest.
__Zonic looked annoyed. "What the hell do you plan on doing!?"
__Sonic and Tails looked at each other and smirked.

__The Zone Cops were leading them into the cafeteria where all the inmates were having lunch. They were looking for Scourge and Fiona. Tails saw them eating at the table closest to the hallway they were in. They had their plates of gross looking food, but they weren't eating. Scourge was resting his head on the table while Fiona looked down at him and rubbed his back. Since she had her sleeves rolled up her watch was visible, which was kinda stupid. You would think she would try to hide it to keep the others from messing with it.
__Sonic and Tails were about to walk up to them when a giant dark purple cat, who reminded them of their friend Big the Cat, walked up to Scourge and Fiona. They both stood up and Fiona was making Scourge back up. "Back off, Smalls!" She snarled.
__"Out of the way, girly," the big cat said with such an annoying, heavy voice. "I still need to give Snot here some payback."
__Tails turned to Sonic but he wasn't next to him. He looked back and saw Sonic was already running to them and chased after him. Sonic didn't stop running until Smalls saw him and started backing up. Sonic was glaring up at him. "Fuck off, asshole!" Scourge and Fiona were surprised as they continued to back up.
__Tails was next to Sonic as he glared at Smalls. He didn't know why, but this place was fueling his anger. "Big guy, huh? The hell does 'Smalls' stand for? You ain't proud of what you got down there, prick!?"
__Sonic looked at Tails. "Not cool, dude." But Smalls was already retreating back to his table.
__Scourge pulled his arm out of Fiona's grip and walked up to him. "Why are you two still here?"
__Sonic turned to Scourge and Fiona with a grin on his face. He put two fingers to his forehead and flicked it towards them. "Business."
__"What's going on here?" The warden, who looked like a skinnier version of Doctor Eggman, was stomping over to their direction. But Zonic stood in front of him, making him stop.
__"Stand down, warden. Let them deal with this."
__Scourge was shaking his head in disbelief. "You got what you wanted out of me already. What more do you want?"
__Tails saw that Fiona was examining him. She then looked into his eyes and smiled, a smile he was too familiar with. He remembered the big crush he had on her when he was just a child. She was his first ever love. But after Sally and Sonic broke up, Sonic swooped in and took Fiona from him (it was what he believed at the time). All that time she was cheating on Sonic with Scourge. Even after it was revealed, Tails did not want to believe she was bad. He begged her to stay and not go with Scourge, even if she didn't love Tails back. But she still went with him and has stayed with him since.
__"Look at you," Fiona rasped, almost sounding happy. "You sure grew up, didn't you?"
__Tails didn't reply. He just looked at Sonic's feet as he started speaking.
__"We got a deal that you two are not going to pass up," Sonic started. "We both want to deal with The Devil and you two know him best. If you two come back with us and help us bring him down, we're willing to let you stay with us in our world."
__"What!?" Scourge and Fiona gasped in unison.
__Tails nodded. "Of course, only if you don't betray us afterwards. We can even find the Destructix for you. I'm sure they're still out there."
__Scourge and Fiona looked at each other. They leaned closer to each other and started whispering to one another. Scourge had asked Fiona something and she just nodded. He then sighed and looked at Sonic. "Fine. We'll take you up on your offer. Anything just to get out of this hellhole."
__Sonic was patting Scourge's shoulder. "That's the spirit!"
__Zonic then walked over to them. "Great, but we have some prep work to do with these two." He brought up his own wrist and pointed at it, making Scourge and Fiona look at their watches nervously.