"You know, for someone who’s supposedly so powerful, you’re seriously disappointing me, bud." Scourge twirled the metal ring holding the key to Super’s cell on his index finger, leaning against the bars.
Super had seen Sonic do a lot of things. He himself had been at the helm for a few of them. Still, he’d never seen Sonic be this… evil? Wrong? Twisted? He couldn’t quite find the right word, staring at the odd double poisoned to his core clear as the green tainting his fur. Peering through thick bars, Super struggled weakly, tied up with ropes that were as strong as chains, for all he could do. Wiggling his spines didn’t help, and unless he-
He’d always promised himself, and he wasn’t going to break that now. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Even if it meant dying, because he absolutely would not let people get hurt because of him again.
"You’re the one who captured me when I was sleeping and dragged me… wherever this is." Super blinked, vision shaky. Ugh, he couldn’t last much longer, every cell in his body was begging him to change, to give in and find power, screams that morphed into laughs-
"Well, can’t fault a guy for being cautious." Scourge shoved the key into his jacket pocket. "Seriously, though? You’re it?"
"What, did you want me to do a flip? Shoot lasers out of my eyes?"
"Actually, yeah. I was looking for a good show." Super pulled against his bonds, before collapsing back with a sigh.
"You’re not getting one." He paused, swallowing thickly. The saliva in his mouth felt like bile. "You realize I’m dying, right? I mean-"
"Yeah, you look like utter shit. I didn’t know if that’s what you usually look like- Super? Can I call you Super?"
"…Mhm." Super shifted, wiggling his toes inside his shoes. "And who’re you?"
"Scourge the hedgehog, king of Moebius." He dipped his head in a mock bow, kicking at the bars once. Hard. The vibrations echoed around the cell, shaking Super’s chair and sending shivers up his spine. "You know, I might not even need the Beryl for this. You’re pathetic." Super swallowed again, ears lying flat in submission. He hated this, he hadn’t been out of the shop without Ebony at his side for months, and before that it was all sort of a blur of fire and destruction and being locked up inside his own head…
"Are you going to kill me?" There. It was out. His teeth grated against each other before he pulled his lower lip into his mouth, chewing on the skin nervously.
"I’m just going to have some fun. So, chaos energy makes you go psycho?" Super’s eyes widened.
"Don’t have any emeralds at the moment, but I do have some Beryl." Scourge zipped out, and Super resumed his struggle with the chair, fighting with renewed vigor. He needed out. Now. If Scourge got him near the emeralds, who knew what could happen?
Well, Super knew. And it wouldn’t be pretty. There was no way Scourge could contain him- he was from another dimension, he couldn’t know what he was unleashing! Super felt the rope dig into his thin arms as he struggled, the rough nylon carving tiny scratches into bare skin. His stomach dropped when Scourge returned, arms bearing several glowing green gems.
"Please, don’t do this, you don’t want to-"
"You should be thanking me. I’m freeing you!" Scourge shifted the emeralds to one arm before adjusting his glasses. "Oh, this is gonna be fucking awesome." He tossed the emeralds into the cell before retreating to the back wall and waiting.
Super ended up knocking the chair over in his attempts to get away from the gems, but the pure energy radiated around him, permeating the very air and sinking into his skin. He shivered, closing his eyes.
Please don’t hurt anyone, please let Scourge just toy with me then force me back, I don’t want to kill anyone, I don’t want to… huh...?
He blinked his eyes open. He was still in control, but his body was burning with a new fire, light pouring out of his fur. His muscles weren’t as weak as they’d been a mere minute before. He was back to full power, but… he was himself.
"What…?" Super experimentally flexed his arms, and yelped as the rope crumpled like sand. He floated into the air almost unconciously. "How is this…?"
"Aw, come on." Scourge rolled his eyes, pulling off his glasses and rubbing them on his jacket. "You’re kidding me. Beryl doesn’t make you nutso?" Suddenly, a sly grin spread across Super’s face.
"I guess not…" He held up a hand, raising it above his head before slicing down in a single motion. A bright beam sizzled through the bars, creating a huge gap that Super floated through effortlessly. He looked down at Scourge. "Now, what to do with you…?" The green hedgehog swallowed once, before slowly pulling his glasses back on with a nervous grin.
"Let me go?" Super tapped his chin a few times, thinking. He didn’t want to hurt him- what was the use maintaining control if he resorted to violence in the end anyways? No, it was better to scare him into leaving without causing harm.
"You know what I can do. I can melt mountains, set fires, rip chaos from your body." Good, good, just play this up for a little longer and he’d have Scourge running scared and a chance to find a way out. "Now, are we going to do this the easy way…" He raised his hand, chaos flames dancing eagerly from each fingertip, "…Or the hard way?" He smiled, showing every one of the razor teeth he’d avoided brushing in front of the mirror from the sick feeling the image of them caused in his stomach.
A sick feeling swam in Super’s gut, and he had a feeling the Beryl wasn’t as good as he’d thought at first, but swallowed it down, instead setting a hand on the wall and concentrating.
All right, if I get out of here, I can probably open another portal and go home… but what if the bad energy still affects me there? I'd lose it again…
The cold stone seeped into his gloves, but the fire swam around his body, encircling him and forcing the chill away. After a moment of thought, he jumped further into the air, the motion effortless as he sailed through a high window that had been boarded up. The wood dissolved with a touch, and bright sunbeams shone in his eyes. Super blinked.
