Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Talyllyn Sonic Universe Presents: Fiona’s Lament

Written by Talyllyn the Iron Warrior 

Co-Written by Weapon X Fox

May 1st, 3239

Royal Hedgehog Castle, Mobodoon. West Side Island. Moebius

Evening

Up in the Royal Hedgehog Castle’s throne room, a loud roaring voice belonging to a green hedgehog rang out through the castle halls. “...Unbelievable! You chumps all seriously suck ass! I’d find better minions from a bunch of windowlickers than whatever hole I dragged you schmucks out of!” 

Scourge the Hedgehog. Sonic’s thuggish mirror counterpart originally known as Anti-Sonic from Moebius and was originally the same shade of blue as him until an encounter with the Master Emerald permanently turning him green. The black biker jacket, the shades and the scar on his torso being his three visual hallmarks to separate him from the very similar looking Manic the Hedgehog whom he’s been mistaken for at times. Both to his own advantage and to his own irritation. 

Today, Scourge’s in a bad mood. No, that’d be incorrect; Scourge is in a very foul mood and the verbal tirade he’s on is just one expression of his anger. One may ask what has gotten him in such a mood?

Fiona Fox knows. Knows all too well what has him in this state right now.

A beautiful red vixen that used to be a former member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters before defecting to Scourge’s side and currently known as the girlfriend of the green speed devil. The red vixen is also one of the only Destructix members still left from when Scourge first took command of the group.

She knows exactly why he’s so livid this evening. It is because they have all come back from a recent defeat following a failed scheme and Scourge is in major bad form over it. A scheme he had brainstormed himself and one she had helped shape into something feasible. 

“Scourge, how were we supposed to know that damn fire cat was going to show up and give us trouble back there!?” A surly raccoon in a red coat retorted back, not willing to simply take the abuse and let Scourge get away with it. “This was your plan boss and—AGH!”

He got struck in the face by a golden goblet thrown by Scourge and was knocked to the floor. Shutting up the mouthy raccoon for daring to actually hold him accountable for the plan’s failure.

“All you bozos have to do is carry it out but even that is apparently difficult for you morons to do!” Scourge growled, eyeing at his own group. “I had a real killer scheme to take down both Sonic and his stupid friends as well as those damn Suppression Squad traitors in one fell swoop yet I have to leave it to you dimwits to screw it all up for me!”

The Destructix. A band of criminal scum originally founded by the treasonous ex-Wolf Pack member Drago Wolf and the equally treasonous ex-Robotropolis Spy Network agent Sleuth Doggy at some point after the end of the First Robotnik War before handing the reins over to Scourge. Though how Scourge came to take command of the group from Drago Wolf after Sleuth decides to retire is something of a mystery to others but most assumed Scourge had strong-armed the white wolf into handing over ownership of the group over to him. Only Scourge and Fiona know what went on behind the scenes.

“Look, it didn’t work out for us but there’s always a next time!” Said a golden retriever named Tovio, trying to reassure his leader as a voice of reason and one of the more long-standing newer members of the Destructix. “We’ll get them on the ne—“

“I am not in the mood for any ‘oh, it’s just a rough day’ crap from you!” Scourge curtly cuts him off with a growl. “Not only did the plan fail spectacularly but we’ve also just lost another man and I’ll have to go find a replacement to fill his spot! You know how hard it is to find good help these days!”

When Scourge first took over the Destructix, Sergeant Simian, Flying Toad, Lightning Lynx and Predator Hawk used to make up a bulk of the gang’s numbers back then but the four would eventually bail to become the Fearsome Foursome once again for a myriad of reasons. One of them being their frustrations with his leadership. They only ever saw Scourge and Fiona as associates they just happen to know but were never that close-knit as a whole.

The group’s reputation as a revolving door for many criminals to come and go in wake of their exits became established from there. If a member didn’t leave because they decided to call it quits, then they would usually leave in a bodybag either because they got killed on a job or Scourge kills them for angering him. That did very little to dissuade the negative rep the Destructix has as a group with an unflattering number of fatalities since the departure of the Fearsome Foursome. 

Scourge pitched his brow with a deep frustrated breath, slamming a fist on his own royal throne. “I swear I am saddled with the most useless idiots that I ever had to lead!”

“Hang on, who is the one that had to do up your bandages!?” Fiona was really incensed at that remark given she is the main reason he hasn’t been a fried hedgehog by this point. “We did exactly what you wanted us to do and you want to act like it’s all our fault?!”

The vixen points an accusing finger at the hedgehog on the throne and her anger runs through her systems. “Your so-called “brilliant” plan was half-baked from the word go before I had to step in and rework it into something that we can actually pull off!”

The group serve as a villainous counterpart to the Knothole Freedom Fighters and act as replacements for the Suppression Squad; a gang that he used to lead before they all overthrew him when an opportunity came along to do so. 

Said group being made up of actual mirror counterparts to the K.F.F and led by Miles aka Anti-Tails who was more than happy to betray him for the mistreatment he endured at the hedgehog’s hands. The latter group continues to be a real thorn in Scourge’s side even after he had seized control of the Hedgehog Empire from his own family. Both sides are currently stuck in a stalemate at the moment. Neither his people nor theirs’ can make any headway in the conflict at the moment. 

“Yeah, a lot of good your modifications did for us!” Scourge remarked snidely, more content to blame his girlfriend for the Destructix’s failure than acknowledge himself being at fault. “Thanks to your plan, we’re now down one man!”

Fiona was particularly ticked off by his comment. “Oh when things are going well, it’s your plan but when things are going south; it’s my plan!”

“You’re the one who came up with the one that we went with!” The green hedgehog yelled back crossly. “So much for your brains!”

When she went in and tweaked his plans as someone who used to be part of the Brain Trust during her stint in the K.F.F to make it more strategically sound, Scourge was more than happy to claim all the credit for himself upon its glowing reception from the rest of the gang despite the problems with his original plan. Not even the first time that he’s pulled this stunt on her.

Then on the day when it all went wrong, he pins the blame on her and acts as if she’s the reason it all failed. Never mind the fact that he’s the one who insisted on it against her advice and had ignored most of her more sound suggestions. The few suggestions that did get through to him had to be presented in such a way that appealed to his pride aka they have to be packaged as if he came up with those ideas himself. It’s not the only time that she had to do that just to get him to concede to her to a certain degree. 

Being that he’s an inverted version of Sonic, he is more prone to pass the buck to everyone else except himself. It’s always everyone else’s fault but his own when failure happens and that is the way he goes about it in the field of accountability which had played a part in the Fearsome Foursome quitting in the first place. 

He has to have his arm twisted by force just to even get him to partially own up to his failure. However, doing that is like pulling teeth from a wild grizzly bear because of the massive ego Scourge is infamous for having and unlike Sonic; he still doesn’t know when to rein it in. It has gotten him into trouble more than once and rarely does he ever self-reflect on his mistakes. Much to Fiona’s frustration.

“My brains have saved your dumbass more than once and where would you be today without me!?” Fiona roared at him, storming right up to the hedgehog on his throne to jab a finger in his chest and the only one willing to call him out. “You’d still be with your shower daddy or in a coff—!?“

SMACK!

Fiona stumbles down to the floor clutching her cheek after catching a smack to the face by Scourge. The hedgehog stood over her with a dark look to his eyes while she fearfully looked up at him and realising she just made a bad mistake in prodding the bull in the china shop more than she should.

The Fearsome Foursome may have intervened at that point and even lay hands on him if they had reasons to do so but many of the replacements certainly wouldn’t dare entertain that notion. 

The foul-tempered green hedgehog dragged the terrified vixen up to her feet and proceeded to smack her some more with a closed hand, each one reverberating throughout the throne room. “Wanna repeat that shit to me again!? Not feeling so brave now, huh!?” 

“That buck-toothed bogan Nic should have taught you how to keep your bloody mouth shut when it ain’t wanted!” Scourge roared as he gave Fiona a firm backhand followed by him kneeing her in the stomach before throwing his girlfriend facefirst to the floor and pinning her down with one foot. “I am not in any mood for your backtalks right now!”

Pulling out a leather belt strap he had worn to his failed scheme to angrily lash at her back. Fiona let out pained shrieks with tears pouring out from her eyes while she felt each sting of leather and buckle smacking hard against her exposed back. All while the rest of the Destructix watched on from the sidelines. 

The other members of the Destructix halted Tovio from trying to step in but they didn’t do it for his well-being. They only did it because they’re more concerned with saving their own skins from earning their boss’s ire while he’s busy venting out all of his volcanic rage on her. 

As far as they’re concerned, she did it to herself and they’re not going to risk their own safety for her sake. It’s her own fault for setting him off and what’s happening to her is not their problem.

Soon, the still-irate Scourge ceased with the whippings and took his foot off her; not even sparing a glance at her. “I’m gonna go hit the bar, kill some gangbangers or whatever to calm myself and you idiots better stay out of my sight for the rest of the day in the meantime lest you want to be picking up your teeth with broken fingers!”

On that note, the green hedgehog stormed out of the throne room. Had Miles been present and certain the King of Mobodoon is gone, he would make a snide quip that seeking out the bodies of other women will be one of the things he’ll be doing to cool himself off.

The rest of the Destructix barring one took it as their cue to leave and barely even acknowledged Fiona on the way out. Wondering to themselves on what exactly she even sees in the guy given that they’ve seen the couple fight and argue more often than they have seen them be romantic. From what they could see since joining the gang, it looks like a very dysfunctional relationship to them with a real power imbalance going on… Not that any of them would dare admit it out loud to either of their bosses. 

For the more cynical-minded among them, they think the only reason she hasn’t left him like all the other women in his life is because she’s got nowhere else to go and the only reason he hasn’t dumped her like all the girls is because he needs desperately needs his own Tails to do the thinking for him as well as needing a medic to help patch him up without fear of himself getting poisoned. 

Most of Mobodoon aren’t too keen on her; a foreigner from another world as their Queen and most of Moebius aren’t keen on him for numerous reasons with scorned exes being one of them. They’re more or less stuck with each other. Not that they would know what goes in either one’s head nor could they care less what drama goes on between them as long as they get paid. 

A far cry from what Nic the Weasel would have done. She would have put two in Scourge’s skull with one for laying a hand on the vixen like that and one for the sheer fact that she simply hates his guts with every fiber of her being. Of the many women that had been left scorned by the green womaniser, she’s got one of the biggest axes to grind with him. As the one would say, she’s got a bullet with his name on it.

Nic… Fiona thought of her former partner in crime while she lies bruised and very sore on the floor. Nicolette or Nic for short is the twin sister of former Destructix member Nack the Hunter whom she has an intense rivalry with and the first ever person she met whenever she had freed herself from her imprisonment. An individual who had shown her the ropes from how to pickpocket people to general streetsmarts.

Why is she now thinking of her old partner? She hasn’t done any jobs with her for roughly about three years since she had joined the Knothole Freedom Fighters and haven’t even spoken or heard from her since she had defected from the group to be with Scourge.

“J-Just keep your hands off me.” Fiona suddenly said to Tovio just as he was about to help her up from the floor while blankly staring ahead at the other end of the throne room where a painted portrait of Scourge with a royal crown and cape on. “I-I can get up on my feet by myself.”

“Are yo—“

“YES!” 

The closest thing Scourge has to a best friend of some description got the hint from her yelling and the golden retriever left her be in the throne room while he heads off to do his own thing. Leaving Fiona alone in her own company. 

She let the mind bring her back to the day she first met Nic. How she met the first soul when she got herself free from her imprisonment.

Six Years Ago...

After spending nearly two years digging her way to freedom, Fiona Fox has finally seen the surface for the first time since Doctor J. Robotnik had imprisoned her for use in his Auto-Automation project and left her to rot in her prison once he made a robot clone of her at age ten. If the man hasn’t croaked by then, he’s a dead man to her whenever she gets a chance to get revenge on him someday.

Fiona had to blink and squint her eyes when the natural light of the sun greeted her for the first time in a good long while but once her eyeballs adjusted to the sunlight as well being struck with a blitz of fresh air from the outside. If not for her prison having functional food and water dispensers to feed an unwilling specimen such as her, the young vixen would have died in some godforsaken hole all alone. Likely never to be found for a very long time. 

She had waited for help to arrive but none had ever come. Neither Sonic or Mighty came for her and that left her feeling very resentful towards both of them. They had both left her to die down there. Left her to be that fleshy lump of hate in red’s lab rat.

Perhaps her adoptive family might still be looking for her after all these years when she became a runaway. Maybe beneath her sorry excuse for adopted parents and siblings, they actually do care about her after all and not just because she’s earning them money. Somehow, that doesn’t seem likely given the way her home life was like before she ran away. 

Her feet can feel the earth beneath her. The natural ground she’s on being unaffected by Robotnik’s spoiling of nature. How something so common can feel so blissful when you’re starved of it for too long.

The self-liberated vixen slowly and cautiously took a step forward away from the hole she came out of. Afraid to come across a Swatbot that would drag her back down into the hole. She would rather kill herself than to ever go back down there. 

Looking at her surroundings; she could see a wall of metal that belongs to the lab she had escaped from to her left while to her right, Fiona can see the forests. Judging from how intact the trees and foliage in the area looks, Julian didn’t want this hidden lab to be too inconspicuous or this lab is such a throwaway for him that he doesn’t bother dedicating much resources into turning the surrounding forest into an industrial zone. All the more reason for her to want to make the fat bastard suffer should the opportunity come her way.

Everything seems quiet in the area to her ears. She doesn’t know whether to take solace in the fact or be on edge. Who knows what’s happened to the world since she was left to rot in her cell.

Seeing as there’s little reason for her to loiter around the premises without a box of matchsticks on hand, Fiona starts walking on. No doubt expecting to make a long journey back to civilization on foot if there’s still any left. 

However, the vixen didn’t get too far when she stood on a twig near a tree that made an audible snap and a stern Downunda-accented feminine voice from nearby quickly called out to her afterwards followed by the sound of something clicking; likely the hammer of a revolver pistol. “I know you’re there you little spook. Come out from behind that tree slowly but steadily with your hands up where I can see you. I’m in no mood to play games right now.”

Seeing as this newcomer made her intentions known and knowing better than to irritate someone who’s got a gun, Fiona slowly stepped out from the tree that’s blocking her view of the other person. When she stepped out fully in the open with both hands up, she finally saw what the owner of that voice looked like. 

Standing across from her, there stood a blue-eyed purple-furred mobian with matching hair tied into a ponytail, white fur from the stomach up to just below her neck and a blue nose. Dressed in a brown tank top, brown gloves with metal patches on the backpalms, a brown belt with a silver buckle on the waist and brown blue-tipped boots. Judging from where she’s standing, she’s not sure if she’s wearing matching-coloured pants or not. Must be a Downunda custom.

The major thing about this bent-tailed stranger besides the fact that she has a little snaggletooth, a black nose that looks a little blueish in coloration and a developed figure is she’s carrying a loaded piece in her right hand with the index finger on the trigger. Her eyes were initially intense-looking until she saw it's only a child. 

“A weasel!” The twelve year old exclaimed at the purple mobian. For her, seeing a weasel is better than seeing a Swatbot.

The hatted mobian lowered her weapon and holsters it upon realising how young she is; likely assuming the sight of the pistol might be upsetting to the teen.

“Nice deduction skills you got there kid.” The purple woman quipped at her for stating the obvious. “This ain’t a playground for children your age. Unless you know something that I don't know about this place, you just go run back to your settlement and leave this to the grownup that knows how to use a gun.”

With the stranger seemingly unaware of what grounds she’s standing on, Fiona quickly spoke up again. “Wait, you’re not safe scavenging around these parts! It’s too dangerous here!” 

“Oh yeah?” The hatted bent-tailed mobian with a strong Downundaian accent remarked dryly as she was starting to walk away, intending to go check another area in hopes of finding something valuable to grab and sell off for a profit. “And why is that kiddo?”

“Because this is one of Robotnik’s abandoned labs!” Fiona told the stranger. Upon being informed of what exactly this area is, the weasel abruptly stopped in her tracks.

“You’re not pulling my bloody leg here, right?” The female weasel slowly turned around to face her and took another scan of the area before at the ground. “I’m actually standing right in Robotnik Empire territory? For that matter, what’s a kid like you doing hanging around these parts?”

“I-I just got out of that lab over there.” The young teen shakily replied to the older mobian, pointing to the metal structure behind her. “Uhhh, what is today’s date?”

“Today is May Twelfth...” The weasel answered as she checked her watch for the date before looking over the vixen’s dirtied appearance and seeing how malnourished she is. “And the year is 3233 in case you’ve been living under a rock.”

The look of genuine shock in Fiona’s eyes upon hearing what year she’s in made the weasel paused a moment before quickly asking her something; “Wait, just how long were you down in that lab for? If you don’t mind my asking luv.”

“I…” Fiona was a little bit reluctant but seeing as this purple stranger in a hat is the first living soul she’s met in a long time, she figured she might as well tell her and get it all off her chest. “I was down there for two years and the last person I spoke to was Doctor Julian Robotnik who had captured me in 3231. I-I was ten when that happened.”

The purple mobian’s wary, skeptical expression shifts to one of absolute shock whenever she puts two and two together. Her mouth hung open. 

Seeing as she hadn’t spoken to another person in a long time, Fiona wasn’t sure what social cue was supposed to be good or bad. When someone looks shocked, it usually means they’re taken aback by something but that could be a different story in 3233. 

The hatted stranger’s eyes narrowed as she glares but not at Fiona. The glare is seemingly for the lab she had escaped from. The vixen wasn’t sure why and the best guess she can make is that she’s furious at the man who abandoned her here.

When her gaze focused back on the vixen, the eyes softened considerably as did the tone of her voice where it sounds more gentle than before. “Do you have any family to go back home to?”

“...I’m a runaway. I don’t know if they’re still alive or not.” Fiona uttered meekly. 

The purple stranger reached into her utility belt she had on her and pulled out an apple fruit from one of the pouches before tossing it over to the vixen. “Here. It’s not much but it should keep you go—“

However as quickly as Fiona caught the green fruit, she proceeded to quickly gobble the entire apple like it was going to disappear on her or the stranger was going to take it back from her at any moment. After eating bland and sterile food for a long stretch of time, the tangy taste of the green apple made her eyes water up as tears trickled down both her cheeks. 

The vixen cried over the simple juicy moisture of the fruit in her hands. Nearly two years in the hole, this cheaply priced apple is like a luxury item to her. 

Only when she looked up to see the stranger a few feet closer to her with a look of concern in her eyes did Fiona realize that she had eaten like a starved animal in front of the grownup; feeling some shame over the fact. She had to ration her own food and water supply from the dispensers while she was slowly digging her way out to freedom in case supplies just in case they were finite. Have enough to keep her going for two years until she can see the sunlight again. 

“Crikey… I’ve seen convicts released from Prison Island that go less crazy over a simple ham and cheese than you and that apple.” The purple mobian sighed in disbelief yet with an air of sympathy for her situation. “I take it that whatever he was feeding you down there is just as bad as the slop they serve over there?”

With a slow nod from the young tearful mobian, the purple weasel’s earlier aggression went away entirely. She stepped closer over to her and checked first if she was okay with it before gently pulling the vixen into a hug. Let Fiona cry on her.

“Considering what you’ve been through, I don’t blame you for wolfing down on that whole apple.” The purple stranger said kindly to her in a quiet, soothing voice and lightly ruffled her brown hair while she bawled her eyes out. “You got one hell of a will to survive two years of that hell and make it out alive. I know some wannabe hardmen twice your age that couldn’t even last half a year in a solitary joint without cracking.” 

Once Fiona got it all out of her system, the older mobian would pull back from her and wipe away the tears from under her eyes with her thumb. Compared to her adopted mother, this mercenary with a weapon that can end lives and probably have ended lives has shown far more maternal care towards her in only a few minutes than someone that’s actually getting paid to take care of her in years.

The weasel nudged her head towards one direction away from the abandoned site and gave the vixen a smile. “Come with me. I happen to know a good restaurant on the way over and you’re going to looooove the taste of their food…” 

The pair would make the drive over to a restaurant on a hover-quad vehicle named the Remarkable King. A vermillion and silver airbike heavily modified from a stock Sky Sled basis with custom specification to make it both well-armoured, well-equipped and well-tuned for whatever jobs her owner needs it to perform. 

Whatever distance Fiona had to travel from the abandoned lab to the restaurant, it can do that in about five minutes. She was first nervous about the Remarkable King’s velocity given how powerful its’ engine is before quickly finding the thrill in the speed it was going at, equating it to being on a motorcycle. The breeze of the winds passing through is a sensation she won’t be taking for granted ever again.

The restaurant is called Corto Pratt’s. An Spagnoian-themed restaurant that’s been reviewed well and the menu prices are quite reasonable. It wasn’t hard for the helpful purple stranger to get a table for both herself and Fiona.

For her meal, Fiona picked out the beef stromboli with antipasto salad as a main course. It’d be a hefty dish for most people around her age but given her case, it’s exactly what she needed to cure that lingering hunger of hers’. The purple weasel went for pasta e fagioli soup with garlic bread and chianti classico for wine.

“...What were you doing back there?” Fiona suddenly asked while the two waited for their orders to arrive. “You certainly didn’t come over to rescue me.”

“Are you always that cynical of others?” The weasel said after taking a sip of her wine. No judgment in her words and having her hat off while they’re in doors.

“From the way you reacted, you weren’t expecting to find me there.” The dauntless vixen replied. “If you were, you wouldn’t have called me a little spook and you would have brought along more people than just yourself. Probably not supposed to be there.”

“If that’s the way you want it, then fine.” The stranger sets down her glass. “I was doing a salvage job. Look for anything worthwhile to grab and bring back to be sold off for a profit. I knew that place had been left abandoned for a good while, few ever go near it because of how remote it is as well as the red tape bureaucracy involved in getting a permit ready to clean it out and had heard that it might have been one of Robotnik’s but I just figured it was a rumor. Never once heard even a murmur of a child being held there.”

“...Not surprised.” The twelve year old said bitterly. “No one looks for you if they don’t even know you’ve been missing…”

“I wouldn’t be saying that kid. After all, I didn’t expect to be finding you there but here we are having dinner together.” The stranger lightly chided her. “I know there are plenty of children your age taken by Doctor J. Robotnik who weren’t as fortunate as you are and most were subjected to more than just a case of identity theft.”

“So, the fat bastard is still alive.”

“Sadly. Most of the Northamer is still under his iron fist to excuse the pun and the Robotnik Empire still stands. Those gun-toting cowboys over at G.U.N are still not much help as per usual.” The weasel sighed with a tut. “Just a week ago and you won’t be hearing any of this in the media, he had an attempt on his life with a bomb but he managed to avoid getting blown to pieces when he called away to deal with a situation involving the Freedom Fighters that day. The media as controlled by the empire reports it as a mere gas explosion which claimed the life of an intern.”

“They’re still around?”

“The perpetual flies in the ointment are still around and the Princess Acorn in exile is still leading them and been making plenty of noise while you were away. As for the culprit behind the bomb, I hear all kinds of suspects ranging from a disgruntled minion to one of his own family members but the one actually responsible for the attempt remains at large unofficially. I’m betting on his brother Ivo being the one behind it because he’s got a lot of political influence within the empire for someone who’s just meant to be a duke and he stands to gain a lot had the plan to assassinate the current emperor on the throne succeeded. I doubt Snively would be that bold as to stick a bomb under his throne.”

“Family, ey?” Fiona smirked and the weasel let off a chuckle at that. 

“You got that right.” 

Soon, their meals would arrive at the table and the two start digging into their food. It wouldn’t be long before Fiona spoke up again.

“I never did get your name.” The vixen child asked. “Who are you anyway?”

“Nicolette. Nic for short.” The weasel replied simply. “I never got your name either.”

“...It’s Fiona. Fiona Fox.” 

“Beautiful name. Are you from that old green country by any chance?”

“I wouldn’t know. I was raised in an orphanage boarding school and never knew my real family. Got taken in by an adopted family.”

“And you ran away from said family. Must be a real rough home life for you to run away from it.”

“Hmph, that’s an understatement.” Fiona growled to herself. “They only took me in because I looked cute with the yellow bow on and they’d be getting paid to take care of me; money that is meant for me. I’m nothing more than an ATM machine to those worthless bastards.”

“Most orphans would kill to have a family away from the orphanage.”

“Well, they can have these ones if they’re that desperate.”

“A girl your age should be wondering what pony she’ll be wanting or who’s the most pretty looking in the most popular boy band of the day, not be bitterly mulling over what a hard lot in life you’ve been dealt.” Nic remarked with a headshake. “You’re still young enough to find joy in the world before the reality of adulthood along with societal pressures comes and grinds you down into a woman who’s got no time for such childish nonsense.”

“Well, I’m not like most girls and I’m young enough to see how just cruel the world can be to people like me. I haven’t exactly been a child for a long time…”

“It’s a tough world, a hard world, a man’s world. You are either born with a golden ticket or get feck all.” Nic sighed, setting down her fork. “What you’ve been through is beyond what any child should be put in and believe me Fiona when I say this, I have seen things that would make someone of your disposition want to see the world burn.” 

“...Who says I don’t already want to see the world burn?”

“Because deep down, you are more upset with how unfair the world is than you are being absolutely done with it. You cried over an apple.” The weasel lists off before letting off a knowing smirk. “You wouldn’t have even bothered to warn me about the hazards if you were really that much of a misanthrope.” 

“A misanthropod?” 

Despite having a seemingly more mature mindset than her peers, Fiona is still a child at her core and thus the limitations of her total knowledge at her age is evident here.

“A misanthrope .” Nic corrected her patiently. “Someone who is a misanthrope is not the kind of personality you want to hook up with. They’re miserable, full of snideness and the type of people to tell a child that Santa Claus ain’t real.” 

“Obviously Santa is real, how else do children get presents under their tree on the day of Christmas?” The young vixen scoffed at that thought. “And I only warned you because you’re the only one that knows how to drive that bike.”

“You make it sound like I rigged my beloved Remarkable King to blow up if it sensed that I’m not on it.” Nic picked up her fork again. “You already know how to pickpocket that ol’ stuck-up on the way in without him noticing, you know how to articulate yourself at your age and still sane from your stint in the joint. Already from the get-go, you’re no ordinary runaway.”

“What, are you offering me an apprenticeship?” Fiona quipped lightly. “Repay your generosity in exchange?”

“That depends if you would rather try and survive on your own while thinking of a way of getting back at Emperor Fat Bastard, go back to a family you could care less for and deal with seeing your money go into their pockets or live dangerously with me while I show you the way on how to get up in the world and go to see many exotic locations that most would give anything for.” The purple weasel swallowed her pasta before continuing. “I can’t guarantee your absolute safety and there are risks involved if you really want to roll with me but I can teach you everything you need to know to get through life in general with the way the world’s looking right now and I can make sure you’re taken care of.” 

“...You really would do that for me?” Fiona looked up at Nic, cocking a brow. “From what I know of your types and the type of work you’d be involved in, you don’t tend to be the most altruistic bunch. Always have an angle to something.” 

The gunslinger gave her a nod. “I could say you’re looking too much into it but you’re not stupid and you know I’m not stupid either. Yeah, I do have an angle for this. I was originally just going to get you a bite to eat, find your legal guardians, if they’re offering mobiums for a reward; I’ll take it and then be on my way. Treat it like another bounty job but with less bruising and coercion involved.”

“What changed?”

“To be frank with you, I haven’t a clue on why I am even doing this but I realised that one of two things are going to happen to you. One, you’ll be at a severe disadvantage because you lost two years of your life and be left trying to play catch-up on everything while other children will decide to pick on you because of matters that’s out of your control. Two, you’ll be put back in the orphanage system and knowing how things go for folks like you; either you luck out and be picked up by a rich family or what’s more likely to happen, you’re going to be passed over constantly until you age out of the system and be kicked out to the streets where you’re likely to turn to crime. Neither case sounds like good outcomes for you.”

Then pointing her fork at the vixen. “You got talent, have some real willpower in you, got the smarts to smell what’s up and you seem capable enough but you got a lot to learn kiddo. I’ll show you the ropes, teach you a thing or two and maybe by the time you hit eighteen; you know a lot more about how the world really works than any college graduates spending thousands for a fancy roll of paper with student debts they have to pay off throughout the rest of their lives. Real life experience without the fluff and you’ll have everything you need to survive this harsh unforgiving world.”

“And what do you get out of this arrangement?” Fiona questioned. Wanting to know what Nic’s angle is here before giving an answer.

“A reliable second set of hands to help me out, someone that I can actually talk to while on the job and one to help me out in my schemes to earn extra mobiums from hoarding crooks who aren’t going to spend them. Make the days a lot less lonely for myself. Make enough to treat ourselves to more worldly cuisines like this. Have someone to keep you out of trouble.” Nic held up her wine glass with a grin “A partner in crime you could say.” 

Fiona mulled over the offer. Contemplate it for a moment.

At first, she would rather go back home to her family but then remembered why she ran off in the first place. They didn’t make an effort to come look for her in the two years she was stranded in that lab and she doesn’t exactly have the warmest relationship with them. Probably forgotten all about her. 

Looking up at the weasel patiently awaiting her answer. She figured there are far worse people to be associating with than Nicolette who’s been upfront enough in her intentions to make the merc come off as more honest than her so-called family and learning from her would be really helpful for her own survival. Helps that the young vixen felt safe around this woman’s company. 

Fiona gave Nic a grin, holding out a hand to her. “Nic. If it’s a partner in crime you’re looking for, then I’m in.”

“Welcome to your new life Fi.” The weasel shook her hand with a grin of her own and a pact formed between the two. “I think we’re going to get along just fine. Maybe in a few years, we’re going to look back on this moment and think how good the food was that day…”

Chapter Text

Nic taught Fiona a lot of essential skills to survive in the real world. Skills she still uses to this day and plenty of them have saved her life more than once. Ones that helped Fiona through her time as both a Freedom Fighter and as a member of the Destructix.

Plenty of good memories were had in their adventures together even with Rouge the Bat occasionally sticking her nose in. Memories of much happier times for the now-downtrodden vixen while she’s slowly making her way over to the castle’s dedicated bathing house area where she can clean herself and soothe her sores in warm soapy waters. Wash away the grime of a failed plan.

Once she’s done cleaning herself up, she intends to head up to her secondary room in the castle where she can sleep alone and have a space all to herself. It used to be part of a security precaution against assassins whenever the main bedroom proved to be a security hazard but recently, it has been seeing more and more use as a place to be away from Scourge. 

Her and Nic would have been on the go constantly during their time together. Both to keep ahead of any law enforcement looking to arrest them for criminal offences they committed as well as to head to places they wanted to go to where treasures are likely to be. Nic happened to own a number of safehouses under aliases where she would have both of their gear stored at and have roofs over their heads. Likely made possible by her coming from a wealthy family or so she had said in an offhand comment. 

She rarely discussed much of her own personal background in any great detail unless it was necessary for her ward to know such as how a bounty hunter like her can afford the best of the best like the custom-built Remarkable King. A woman of expensive tastes but isn’t too particular about her sense of fashion or personal preferences compared to fellow upperclassman Miraju. 

From what Fiona can remember, Nic is a mixed breed as the result of her grandparents and ancestors mixing their wolf, weasel and jerboa DNAs together to produce grandchildren who’s all three. Something of a real touchy subject for her given society’s less than progressive attitude towards mixed breeds even now. Too canine to be a full weasel, too threatening to a full jerboa and too mousy to be a full wolf. Never able to be fully accepted by any of the three groups because of how mobian society at large looks down on people like her.

Sure the likes of Antoine and Sally have managed to break through that glass ceiling but either that’s due to their family connection or the fact they’re famous enough that such attitudes are royally frowned upon in regards to them. Even these examples are not enough to shift society’s attitudes towards mobians of mixed species other than making them dial it down from casual speciesism to just casual othering of said mobians from their non-mixed peers. Some social evils are eternal.

Fiona can vividly recall the time Antoine had angrily popped off at some mouthy jerk who decided to make an uncalled for remark about foxes in his presence during a mission and being as he’s got some fox ancestry in him on top of him being close with Tails, the mercian-born coyote verbally tore the guy a new one in both english and french much to the disbelief of all his teammates including her... And people say Shortfuse is bad when his temper goes off. 

From what she knows of Nic’s background, she isn’t on good terms with her parents, has a twin brother named Nack, had been involved in a lesser known but very brutal war at some point before becoming a bounty hunter and has an older brother named Fang the Sniper who in Nic’s own words is a real nasty piece of work. 

Nic has a strong rivalry with her twin and Fang’s current whereabouts are unknown with him presumed killed or retired. Through one of her drunken episodes, she discloses how abusive Fang was to his own younger siblings with implications of Nack’s more unpleasant qualities like coming from him as he idolises his brother too much to see what an unpleasant guy he actually is. 

In the same drunk episode, she once ruefully remarked how the hunt for the big payday might be a coping mechanism when she was still a solo act. From how Fiona remembers the scene and the way she interprets in hindsight, she got the impression that Nic’s own life was an unhappy one on top of some undiagnosed shell shock before meeting her ward which is a rather sobering thought when she thinks about it like that.

She’d reach for a bath that she puts on upon arrival. The servants who usually have it ready for their masters were on leave for the day and had to prepare it herself. Once it was ready, she stripped down and went down into the warm soapy waters to let the heated moisture wash over her; soothing the aching body. Allow the moisture to run right through her red fur.

The vixen swam in her own musings. Something she’s taken to doing more and more often over the years. They used to be focused on whether or not she actually loved Scourge. Now they’re being spent on if she’s made some real bad life choices and stuck having to sleep in a bed she made that now has exposed rusted springs pricking at her. 

She was right to say she’s the reason Scourge got out of that prison in the No Zone alive as the Destructix’s employer Doctor Finitevus wasn’t in any hurry to rescue him nor was interested until she convinced that albino echidna in bringing him into the fold regarding his grand plans. He actually wasn’t needed in the albino echidna’s plans and Fiona was doing just fine leading the Destructix by herself but like a co-dependant drinker or a sleeper agent, the former Freedom Fighter decided he had to be rescued. 

To this day, she isn’t sure what possessed her to even stage the Zone Jail Job to free Scourge from custody or why she bothered to help him out in overthrowing his stepmother Empress Aleena and her children just to take over the Hedgehog Empire from them. 

All Scourge really did in terms of contributions towards Doctor Finitevus’ operations in the grand scheme of things was him throwing a massive wrench into what he had cooked up given he’s a Sonic and thanks to him, they made an enemy out of the echidna when things hit the fan because he isn’t someone who likes being under anyone’s thumb. Scourge had his own plan for both Mobius and Moebius after becoming a free man again. Said plan would predictably end in failure but not for lack of trying and the only reason he lost is due to factors out of his own control like Sonic just being infuriatingly lucky. 

Only because that albino got knocked through a portal to some uncharted realm with no Finitevus Warp Ring on him to come back from it have neither her or Scourge faced his wrath for ruining his carefully-laid schemes. She prays that the psychopath stays in wherever hell he’s at for the foreseeable future because the guy genuinely scares her and knows what he’s capable of. As long as he’s still alive out there wherever he is, she’ll keep having that nightmare of herself waking up in the middle of the night and seeing him right at her bedside with that soul-piercing gaze to be mistaken for demonic ones. 

All thanks to Scourge choosing to doublecross the echidna the same way his old crew had double-crossed him and condemning both of them. 

Fiona spent nearly an hour in the warm bath before coming out of the soapy waters feeling less sore. Taking a shower to rinse off the soap on her red coat prior to drying herself down with a towel. The vixen threw on some spare clothes from a nearby locker while tossing her partially ash-covered clothes into a clothes bin for the dry cleaners to deal with in the morning and hoping they don’t end up going ‘missing’ in the hands of the disgruntled like some of her other ones in the past. 

By the time she came out of the bathing room, it was already night time. Scourge has yet to return from his activities and she hopes it stays that way for the rest of the night as Fiona isn’t in any mood to see his mug right now. Her romantic feelings for the green hedgehog have been chipped away by the passage of time to where it’s now a matter of having patience for his presence and even that can be very trying with the kind of personality he’s got. 

Not even her Sonic has ever gotten on her nerves as much as he has.

Nic would have said that running with bad boys like Scourge is fun to hang out with for a while but the fun wears off eventually and you start getting annoyed by their company the longer you’re around them. The red vixen could just hear her say something along those lines. Always had an observation about everything. 

The weasel was even seeing Anti-Sonic for a short spell before things ended on a real sour note and leaving her with a real animosity towards the hedgehog. Scourge should consider himself lucky today that she’s not around to witness him laying hands on her ward or else the citizens of Mobodoon will be the first people to ever see a king leave his castle inside a black body bag. 

Anti-Aleena would certainly be more than happy to see Jules’ little bastard croak with how much of a disdain she has for him as a child not born from her womb. Said person would like to subject Fiona to a very cruel fate for being his girlfriend and for daring to wear her crown. 

The light purple hedgehog used to be the wife of the late Anti-Jules with their loveless marriage being a political arrangement rather than any romantic inclination, a merciless femme fatale with a streak of cruelty towards her enemies including her first husband and a war-hungry empress who fancies herself as the current day Arthur Slyvannia; a cruel and merciless warlord responsible for a number of atrocities including genocide of a large population of tazmanian devils. Someone who had ruled over both West Side Island and Hedgehog Island with an iron fist until she was deposed by her adopted son. 

She only tolerated her second husband’s Great Peace due to seeing it as a potential way of trying to secure more territory under the guise of peace from her enemies including Caesar Lupe Wolf and King Maxx Acorn. Even situating her armies led by her most trusted around key strategic locations with hidden orders to invade whenever it came time to execute their empress’ plot. If not for Scourge up aggressively ending the Great Peace much sooner than predicted by killing her husband, she could have seen through said plans. 

In this universe, the Masonic Bloodline never surrendered their nobility to become a family of travelers, nomads and explorers. Because of that, Scourge is a descendant of kings who ruled over Hedgehog Island and the reunion with the Aman-Rapi Bloodline was a means of unifying both houses together to stand strong politically against the Acorn Empire. 

Fiona remembered how Scourge had procured the aid of disgruntled people on his stepmother’s payroll like Reeno and Ty to help him oust the ruling family from within without much issue the same way Doctor Ivo Robotnik had convinced the aristocrats to help him overthrow Queen Aleena back on her world; a parallel made her uneasy every time she thought about it. This was one of the first things Scourge did upon getting out of the No Zone and the Royal Hedgehog Castle became the Destructix's new defacto hideout as well as a place to meet with Doctor Finitevus away from any prying ears. 

She doesn’t know what actually became of Anti-Aleena and her family after taking over the Hedgehog Empire other than Scourge vaguely saying they’re getting what they deserved. Whether they're still alive or not is up in the air as only he's privy to their current fates and it's none of her business or so she tells herself. 

Last time she had probed him about the matter with his stepmother and why he has such a hatred for her, he gave her a blackeye before she got to even finish her question. A feeble “I had a rough upbringing with her” explanation is all she got for an apology on why he impulsively decided to clock her in the face with a closed fist. Sure he felt bad about it but it's not an incident that would have made him self-reflect or learn from the matter like an emotionally stable person like Sonic would do. 

What prompted her to ask him about it out of the blue has been lost to time but the blackeye might have been the first sign things weren't going to be rosy between them in the long run and her bruises today is just another reminder of that depressing fact.

Nicolette once told her of a story about a woman that used to be with someone who treated her poorly and how it ended in the abuser getting buried alive in a coffin with help from a friend when she finally had enough of the abuse. 

Fiona for years wondered if that was a story she had happened to hear from somewhere or she had something to do with the story itself and spun it as an anecdote about the dangers of bad romance. It wouldn't be the first time she had made a story out of one of her past life experiences. The bounty huntress knows how to tell a story and gets the vixen captivated by her tales every time.

Feeling less sore now, Fiona is making her way over to her secondary bedroom. Besides the odd maid or two about in the halls that greets her only because she's the boss’ girlfriend, it's a lonely trek through the big castle. 

The servants around the Royal Hedgehog Castle are not too keen on her themselves since she is not from Moebius with her organs being on the wrong side and getting the crown because she's the king's girlfriend. It didn't help that her younger self used to have a real attitude problem in the past which did little to help with her less than stellar reputation amongst the castle staff. She has stopped acting like that since then but it hasn't done much to make her less hated by them.

Fiona can still catch them gossiping to each other about their dislike for her when they think she isn't in earshot while acting polite to her face. All of them othering her as if she doesn't belong around here. A far worse treatment than even what the Knothole Freedom Fighters were doing to her on their worst days as they're all doing it on purpose.

It didn't bother her much then when the Fearsome Foursome were around as company and her love for Scourge was still all there. 

With the Destructix being a very different team now to the one she used to know and her relationship with Scourge being on the rocks alongside a sinking feeling in Fiona’s gut that he might be acting unfaithful to her behind her back, it's a pretty isolating feeling when she's got nobody to really talk to. No one she could actually vent to. Nobody can lend an ear to her without having ulterior motives for doing so.

The more recent incarnations of the Destructix really are a true collection of both scum and villainy. Real lowlifes that even Sleet nor Dingo would want to associate with for any reason.

One of the newer members Frank ‘Little Rascal’ Bulley had once operated a mobini puppy farm before having to bail from his old home because someone in his outfit had squealed when he got pinched by the authorities and ended up in Scourge's crew sometime later. Having no remorse for his part in exploiting those poor creatures for profits and tragically not the guy who was lost on the latest job.

If she confessed her secrets to these guys, they would probably use her personal secrets as blackmail against her and force her to do certain favors including ones of the sleazy kind. She wouldn't put it past one or two of them to have some very indecent thoughts about her and how badly they would like to act out those fantasies on her for real if she didn't have Scourge around to keep them back. Her skin crawls at the very thought of that.

The Knothole Freedom Fighters. For all her issues with a lot of them, none ever made her feel unsafe and part of her begrudgingly thinks she would have listened to some of their advice in hindsight. Not that she would ever admit it to their faces.

Sure, Tovio is a reasonable guy and manages to survive long enough to have a somewhat functional friendship with Scourge; even being a second voice of reason to the hedgehog but he’s not someone Fiona would personally entrust any of her secrets to. That and he's not the type to really understand what she's going through. 

Nic would have asked what's on her mind today and Fiona would say that she's feeling down because she just had another crappy day with a boyfriend who knows how to bring the mood down around him. Complain how this life with him just isn't fun anymore. Be a good listening ear to the vixen as she rants and vents about everything she wanted to get off her chest. 

Her old partner in crime would know how to cheer her up. Take her somewhere to take her mind off the Destructix’s latest failure and have a good time together. 

Even when they didn't always succeed in their jobs together, her disappointment was limited to the fact they didn't come out of it with the gold and never berated the vixen for matters that was clearly her own fault. At worst, she would give Fiona a stern talking to for any mistakes she did actually cause but it's no different than how a parent would scold a child for getting muck on a car that's just been washed. 

The times they did pull off a successful caper, they both knew how to celebrate the occasion together. Do it over drinks, over dinner or go on holidays. Celebrate success with a day out or a night out depending on the time of day.

Fiona can remember that time they both knocked off a pack of crooks and how the two of them got away with it before celebrating their success at a place she had wanted to check out that day.

Four Years Ago…

"...Come on Fiona! Hurry up!" 

Both Nic and Fiona were hurriedly rushing over to the parked Remarkable King after they'd seized a valuable item with the jerboa-weasel-wolfess firing shots behind them. Fending off a pursuing group of mean-looking thugs who would shakedown an old granny if they could earn an extra mobium in their pocket.

"I'm hurryin'!" Fiona shouted, firing back at their pursuers with a Sterling L2 submachine gun on fully-automatic fire as she got on the vehicle with her partner. 

Nic had the Remarkable King's engine all warmed up and ready to go when the craft roars to life before Nic quickly pulls the hover-quad away from the scene while deploying some shielding against enemy gunfire. The vixen reloaded her submachine gun before firing back at their pursuers as they sped away from them. The Remarkable King speeding down the road leading out to the main roadway and racing onto it, going at fast speeds as they escape their pursuers.

Fiona cheered loudly as Nic's hover-quad evaded their pursuers. "Hell yeah! Night out!~" 

"Bloody-A!" Nic whooped as they drove on together with the valuable in their possession. "Rotten bastards can't come after us unless they want to put the spotlight on themselves!"

"Yeah!" Fiona said with a toothy grin. "We're fuckin' untouchable you and I! We could rob fuckin' anything and get away scot-free!"

"What we want, we get!"

"Payday is every day!~"

"We'll head back to our hideout. Stash the thing away safely and then wait for it to cool down before we can sell it off for a profit.” Nic says to her, eyes focused on the road as the driver of the Remarkable King. "In the meantime, we'll go and celebrate a job well done."

"Yeah. So, what will it be for our celebration, then? We goin' to th' Helluva Tang again?"

"Unless you got another place you want us to celebrate at."

"Well, there was this one place I was thinkin' of..."

"What is the place then?"

"It's a neat little place called 'Desire' and it’s downtown. Here, I'll enter the coordinates into the GPS." 

Fiona then began entering the address coordinates for Desire into the R.K’s GPS system while Nic was inquisitive about the new place. "Desire?"

"It's a BDSM brothel that I scoped out a week ago. Cleanest doms and subs this side of Mobius. Most of the staff are women but plenty of men are there too.”

"Looks like your heterosexuality might be on the bent side again." Nic the Weasel chuckles to herself. Knowing how defensive Fiona gets when questioned about her straightness and one of the things she’d wind her up on whenever she’s in the mood for some trolling.

"Heyyy, c'mon!" Fiona replied defensively just as predicted. "There's plenty of guy subs for us to dominate there!"

"Sure, sure ..." Nic then adds pointedly; “But we’re going to have a long word about how you know things someone your age shouldn’t later.”

"That's the spirit Nicolette!" Fiona smiles cheekily. "Plus, we'll have plenty of coin from this hit to splurge in there~"

"Splurging on dominatrixes old enough to be your mum and showing you the joys of a woman’s touch, making your knees wobble~"

"Oh, please. I’m straighter than any skyscraper.” 

"Whatever you say..." The older of the two mobians said teasingly to her younger ward with a smug smirk. “Just know no one is going to judge you if you find Bunnie Rabbot or Sally Acorn really attractive~”

"C'mon, enough of that!” The vixen said with clear annoyance at her legally uncertain guardian’s teasing. “Just drive."

"Alright then. We’ll drive to the workplace of your future girlfriend.”

“I swear to god Nic, I’m gonna pound you so hard if you’re going to keep being like that!”

“Wait until you’re eighteen to do that to me but just know I don’t go gentle sweetie~” Nic glanced over her shoulder to give the annoyed red vixen a smug grin and having a real good laugh at her indignant fuming. “And you of all people should know that using the lord’s name in a lewd context is considered blasphemous!”

“Oh shut it you!”

Night would fall and the two would soon arrive at Desire. The exterior of the building itself bears a very gothic motif in its architecture and even had easy access to a parking garage across the street that didn't charge for parking.

"This' the place." Fiona looked up at the building sign with a grin.

"Got your fake ID with you? You're legally not of age yet and you know how panicky these places get if they knew your real age." 

Nic parks the Remarkable King at one of the available parking spots in the parking garage before turning off the engine and getting off the hover-quad.

"Of course. I never leave home without it." Fiona smiled as she reached into her purse and produced her universal fake ID. "Miss Scarlett Reynard McLovin, twenty-four old organ donor from Soleanna."

"Michelle Heathcliff Gallagher would have been a more subtle name than that."

"Hasn't stopped it from working. Plus, it's not the only one I use either." She then reached around her bags again and got out another one. "Gretchen Mallory Hempson. A twenty-two library intern with a secret nightlife of BDSM joints, cabarets, and traditional Yamatoese bathhouse brothels."

"Might as well have an ID for Tommie Vercetto. A twenty-three year old package collector while you're at it." Nic checks her belongings.

"I do have one ID for Kenzie Kensington, a twenty-nine-year-old G.U.N desk worker with a thing for kinks and a former beef with a teenage hacker nerd who's obsessed with all things retro cyberpunk." Fiona replied, checking her own bags as well. “All able to fool any bouncer that doesn't carry U.V pen lights on them.”

"Alright, let's go. They'll be closed if we keep going through all of your fake ID's." Nic said as she put her keys away and was getting out the wallet when it fell out from her hand. The leather-pants wearing wolf-weasel sighs as she bends over to retrieve it off the ground. 

Fiona blinked a moment as she watched Nic bend over to pick the wallet up, blushing at the sight of her leather-clad rear. Given she's at an age when she is going to be experiencing some usual teenage issues on her path to adulthood, this is a situation that's awkward and confusing for her internally.

"Like my arse or something?" Nic suddenly spoke up after getting her wallet back, looking back at the vixen from between her thighs. "I can feel your stare from over here.”

"Oh! Uhhh..." Fiona quickly replied, blushing even deeper as she got flustered from being caught out for ogling. "I mean... I-It's nice and all... You make the leather pants look work as much as I do..."

She turned her gaze away quickly, biting her lip as she tried to keep herself straight. Think straight thoughts. Think unerotic thoughts.

"With a reply like that, I may have to start looking over my shoulder when I go to shower in case you decide to invite yourself in with a cucumber in hand..." Nic said sardonically as they walked over towards Desire. "And you complained to me about my purple tights that made me look like I've got my fanny hanging out in the open with it matching my purple coat. Saying that it's distracting for you unless you mean it in a sexy way?”

“It is distracting because whenever you wear them, I worry that some cop will think you're naked and stop ya for indecent exposure."

"Crooked cops look for any reason to throw their batons around while they get their daily greasy bribes."

"Even still and especially considering our professions, I don't think we need them breathing down our necks. Not that you would mind one of them doing that to you given what you're into." Fiona replied while getting in a quip on her companion as they walked into the club. "And 'sides, this place is supposed to be so kinky, it'll take our minds off of literally everything else. Trust me, I'll book us a room with a pair of nice subs for us to dominate." 

"If I were a woman of conservative views, I'd be objecting to it but then you had a rough life before meeting me and I taught you some habits that'd be considered criminal yet necessary..." Nic said with some hints of reservations in her words. "Alright, get us somewhere that we can both sit down at."

"I think there's a booth seat over by the walkway stage we can sit at while we book our rooms." 

"Let's go over to it then."

Fiona nodded, leading Nic over to the booth table. Nic took her seat at the booth table. 

The place bustled with patrons and employees alike. There are some neon lights decorated the interior space, techno music playing through the speakers with a lot of folks dancing away to them, there's a slight smokiness in the air from people puffing on cigars, a handful of stripper pole areas where a few of the more physically agile employees would perform on, a few cages suspended off the floors for their dancers to go into to dance away, a sense of horniness circulating around the establishment and a good number of rooms for more intimate activities to take place in. 

The kind of place that'd be seen in a crime film or in a film festival feature; the kind Fiona has no business knowing about on her own. The employees dressed in clothing just revealing enough to get the imagination going but covered enough to not give away the goods for free. A lot of them have heavy make-up on and no doubt plenty of plastic surgery being done to them in service of earning extra tips from patrons like what the naturals are earning. 

"This place is pretty lively." Fiona said to Nic, sitting across from her partner. "I figure we could get a pair of pathetic betas as our subs for tonight."

"Yeah but let's get some good strong liquor first." Nic taps her gloved fingers on the booth table. “The last pub’s offering was a real pack of pisswaters I tell ya. Wouldn’t even give any of them to a stay mutt.” 

"Yeah, let's get something strong for once one of those rubber-clad waitresses comes by our table." Fiona replied in agreement, looking over at the waitresses clad in the latex leotards and BDSM gear and harnesses.

One soon came over to them, the rabbit waitress chewing gum in her mouth as she looked at both of them. "Alright, what'll it be for you both?"

"A glass of Dolgoch’s Spring for me." Fiona answered. “Plenty of ice.”

"Beer. The good lager stuff." Nic gave her order. “Nothing watered down.”

"And bring us over one of the booking tablets so we can book a room for both of us remotely." Fiona added to her order. “That’ll be all.

"Understood."

The waitress nodded and then walked off with her heels clicking on the floors, leaving Fiona and Nic alone with the vixen speaking up once she was out of earshot. "Jeez louise, you could practically smell the latex wafting from her outfit. Hell, you could smell it all over the place here."

"You certainly like to smell the waitresses, don't ya?" Nic sits back in her seat. Having removed her hat.

"No, I'm just commenting on how this place smells like latex, booze and pent-up sexual frustrations." 

"You're a pent-up sexual frustration case yourself."

"As surprising as it is to hear, I'm still a virgin FYI."

"Bloody hell, seriously? Thought you'd have your cherry popped by now given your casual attitude towards stuff like this.”

Fiona nodded slowly. “...I-I've had someone pin me down on the floor and try to force himself onto me once, trying to pop my cherry as you would put it. You know what happened that day.”

"I remember that one alright. Splattered the bastard’s brains all over the wall with a blast of my shotgun when I came rushing to your rescue when I heard your scream from nearby. The crime scene fellas had a long day cleaning up the mess in that room...” Nic’s face sours at that memory as did Fiona. “You were rightfully traumatised by that and you got a damaged left ear out of it.”

Nic thought of something and quickly moved from the current subject. “Speaking of ears, have you thought of getting a hearing aid for that ear? I know you can still hear alright from that ear alright but nowhere as good as your right.” 

"Actually, I'm considering getting corrective nanite surgery. Just need to do a few more jobs to pay for it. Like maybe two or so." 

Fiona glanced at the direction the waitress went and whispered to Nic. "I'm surprised that chick didn't card us when we were ordering out drinks.”

"Are they meant to card patrons in here?" Nic whispered back.

"I guess it must not be a rule that's enforced here often. I'll still keep mine handy just in case..." The vixen looked around for a moment. "Where is that waitress with our drinks, anyway? I wanna get at least some alcohol in me before I go pegging some poor, passive accounting firm worker who can't get an erection unless he's being furiously pegged."

"Or some schmuck from a computer shop."

"Hah! Yeah. I bet we could prolly rent some kinky attire to wear while we're dominating them too."

"Or go all nature-like with them." Nic said deadpanned before letting out a smile. "In all seriousness, we've pulled off a good one today."

"We really did..." Fiona grinned, feeling pleased with herself and her purple partner in crime. "I actually got an eye on a particular job that we got offered recently."

Nic leans her elbows on the table and the biceps pushing out her chest forwards from under with the half-jerboa smirking at her young ward. "Yeah? Which one? Whatever one it is, I think I'll let you helm this one since you've saved my fine arse on the last job. One that you couldn't live without.” 

“You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

“As long as you're still in denial about liking women as much as men, yes.”

“Whatever.” Fiona rolled her eyes before continuing on. “Anywho, this job came from Clutch Opossum.”

“Wait, the Clutch Opossum?” Nic blinked at that. Unsure if she heard it right.

“The very same.”

“Bloody hell. I thought he had retired from the scene some years ago.”

“Apparently not. With Humpty-Dumpty dead, the Kingdom of Acorn back in existence again and everything, he must be smelling opportunities in this brave new world and figuring it’s as good as any to start coming out of retirement.” Fiona explained to her partner. “Five-hundred and thousand mobiums for payment.”

“Sounds good enough to me but what does he want from us?”

“He didn’t say. We would have to call him up and meet him at a club of his choosing to be given the rundown of what he wants us to do.” 

“If he’s offering us this job, then he either must be aware of who we are or know of my family ties to Fang.”

“Would Fang have worked for him?”

“Probably. He was active before the Great War kicked off like Clutch was and is well-known enough to many within the underworld that Nack would get the odd job offers from his former clients who think he’s his brother while unaware that the real Fang had fallen off the face of Mobius.” Nic shrugs her shoulders. “If the old man's coming out of retirement to make some moves and he's willing to pay us that amount, then it’s another payday for us but what do you think mate?”

Fiona seemed a little pensive at the offer. “I don't know. It seems fishy how a retired master criminal is suddenly wanting our services and I know how silly that sounds.”

“Not really, that's you using your head. I have my own doubts about him but as far as I could tell from what I know of him, the guy always pays well. I'd rather deal with him than that Mogul one though that's not saying much.”

“Well for starters, he doesn't seem to have any magic on his side if he tries to swindle us both and it's probably some work that doesn't put us right in the path of Sonic or his treehouse pals.” 

“Or Mighty and Ray.” Nic reminded the vixen. 

“Yes, them too.” Fiona glanced around the place looking for that rabbit waitress from earlier. “Should have been here with the drinks by now…”

“Either their service is lousy here or some dickhead is chatting her up right now.” 

“Probably both.” Fiona then asked Nic about her older brother; “Seeing as we’re talking about him, what he is actually like? I know about your twin and all but you rarely talk about your other brother.”

Nic’s face falls to a neutral one. “I should have figured this question was going to come up. Fang like me and Nack is all about trying to make money but while me and Nack have a limit on how far we’re willing to make a profit, he’s got no such boundaries. I’m far from the best person in the world and I have a lot to say about Nack as a person but I’ll say that he’s at least capable of forming relationships with other people and has a thing called professional standards. Nothing is off limits to Fang in pursuit of wealth including even his own family.”

“What sets him apart from you two besides him being the eldest sibling?” Fiona asked. The jerboa rubbed her forehead.

“Between the three of us, Fang is easily the smartest. Guy has a PhD in quantum mechanics and computer science which should tell you just how smart he actually is but even if you didn’t know, he’ll make sure you know about it in a very condescending way while making snide remarks about your intelligence. You remember that time you remarked how much easier things would be if we had shrink ray technology?”

“I did. I take it he actually had access to shrink-ray technology?”

“Not just access to it, he makes his own technology and always keeps a shrink ray on him for all kinds of eventualities. He’s also a damn good hacker that could crack through the firewalls on the Eggnet or even break into that N.I.C.O.L.E device Princess Acorn supposedly carries around on her.” The female jerboa says with a furrowed brow. “A crafty guy always thinks ahead, morality is a suggestion to him and probably a closet psychopath. You never know what real pettiness looks like until you meet him.”

“Isn’t your twin just as petty?”

“Nack’s pettiness is tame compared to his brother’s and you’d have to be actively getting in Nack’s way to really earn his ire while it takes very little to earn Fang’s. It takes as much as sneezing on him to make him swear harm onto you...” Nic said with some hint of bitterness in her voice. “Not that it hurts his standing with our parents’ opinion of him. He’s always the best child in their eyes and I could never truly measure up to his excellence no matter what I do or how well I’m doing. I sometimes wonder why they even bothered to have me and Nack in the first place…”

Before Fiona could comment, the rabbit waitress came back with their orders and a booking tablet. “Here you go. Have fun girls~”

Nic winked at the female staff member. “We’ll try to have fun luv. We might want your phone number for later when my friend is done with the boys in here hehe.”

“Ignore her!” Fiona quickly spoke up with a little blush, flashing a glare at Nic. “She’s a real gremlin for doing that!”

“That'd be true mate! I am a gremlin!” Nic hollered as the waitress wrote down her phone and handed it to the half-jerboa. “I'm just trying to get my friend here out of her own comfort zone and show her that there is nothing wrong in liking other fine sheilas like yourself.”

“Here in Desire, we only judge based on how big your bar tab is and how much debt you have for using our services…” The rabbit grinned seductively at the pair. “And you know our policy on intolerance towards members of staff~”

“Fortunately...” Nic says as she playfully smacks the waitress on the rear while she was leaving and watching her go. “We are quite the tolerant folks!”

“Nic!” Fiona whispered harshly at her friend once the waitress was gone. “The hell were you playing at!?”

“Playing at what?” Nic replied coyfully while looking at the little slip of paper with a phone number on it in her hand. “Oh, you mean this?”

“You know what I mean!” 

“Fi. I know you were raised as a catholic in that orphanage as well as those stuck-up parents of yours’ but you do know you don't have to be such a prude.” 

“Doesn't mean you have to keep tormenting me about it!” Fiona complained to her purple mentor. “I'm actually getting tired of the teasing and I would really like you to knock it off!”

“Then be honest with me and I'll stop busting your fanny over it. I too happen to know Princess Molystia and what she's all about as well.” Nic said in a knowing tone. Aware of her ward's recent nightly habits.

“Fine… If only so you'd get off my back.” The vixen muttered that last part out before letting off a relented sigh. “I… I suppose I am finding myself admiring the female form as much as the men's lately and I don't know how to feel about it…”

“There's no shame in that as long as you don't be a creep about it. You're just undergoing a hormonal phase that comes naturally to all growing women like yourself and you are feeling confused about all these new foreign sensations.” Nicolette sips her mug of lager. “Stuff that is pretty awkward and embarrassing to explain even to your own family.”

“...Have you ever been through this yourself?”

“Fiona. Everyone has gone through it once unless your brain is wired a little differently and it was just as uncomfortable for me to even want to tell it to my parents but that’s besides the point.” Nic nodded. “I understand if the teasing might get annoying for you but I'd rather know that you know who you are versus what you aren't and being in denial. Do you get what I'm getting at here?”

“I guess…” Fiona sips her drink, looking down at the table and semi-staring at the tablet in front of her. “Supposed I'm growing up and I don't know what to do about it.” 

“If you don’t know what to do, you know who to call for help.” Nic smiled, pointing a thumb at herself. “I didn't just take you on to just be my great partner in crime after all.”

“The adult always knows everything.”

“Adults know just enough to pretend they know what they're doing.” The weasel quipped in response. “When in doubt, ask the child that knows what the hell's going on and then bullshit your way from there.”

“Like that time you wanted a rusty walrus without knowing what it actually is and what it’s slang for. You certainly fell for that one.”

“Maybe but I got back at you for it a week later with the backing signal trick.”

“Can’t believe I somehow fell for that one and at my age no less…”

“That oughta teach you to not get too overconfident in your own abilities against someone who knows a lot more than you because they’ll always have an answer to cheek like yours’.” Nic chuckled with a smug grin. “Take one to know one.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Fiona rolled her eyes with a smile as she pulled over the tablet and started scrolling through it. “Alright, let's see what subs they have available here.”

Nic shook her head. “I am beginning to think I'm a bad influence on you.“

“After everything we've done together and have been through, this is where you draw the line?”

“Last I checked, they’re the equivalent of sneaking in to see a feature rated R.” Nic points out. “This is like going in to see a film rated X and only people my age are legally allowed to see it.”

“As you had told me once Mother ; you tell a child not to do something, they'll screw around and find out.” Fiona snarked back.

“That applies to people looking for mischief by ignoring all the warning signs and making fools of themselves. This is like seeking out an uncensored copy of Sixty Days of Gomorrah.” The jerboa countered. “I sure as bloody hell didn't teach you about any of this stuff.” 

“If you have such a problem with it, why put up with it and come here then?” The young vixen questioned her partner. “I didn't drag you here.”

“Because if I tried to stop you, I know it would only encourage you to do it behind my back and someone has to be with you to keep your pretty face out of trouble.” Nic replied simply before taking another sip of her lager. “You need someone who can help keep you in check. Make sure you don't find yourself rolling with some punk who sees you as property rather than someone with real thoughts and feelings. Look out for you like a real mother would.”

“Aye…” Fiona nodded slowly before adding with a cheeky smirk. “You certainly have the body for it.”

Nic's face fell as she stared at the red vixen with a flat expression. “...I don't know whether to smack you or have an early midlife crisis over that remark.”

“You could always spank me Mommy.” Fiona fluttered her eyelashes playfully. “I'm being a very bad girl today~”

“Or I could take you to go see a therapist if you're going to keep making things weird like that. I fear the next thing you'll be doing if this keeps up is that you'll be making a grandmother out of me.” Nic snorted in response.

The eldest between the duo patted her pockets and just realised she had forgotten to pick up a packet of Macbeth on the drive over to Desire. “Damn it, I knew I was forgetting something today.”

“The less time you get to smoke, the longer you’ll live to see your grandkids and being able to spoil them.” Fiona let out a roar of laughter. Finding it all too funny to ignore.

Nic just rolled her eyes at her partner's youthful silliness and let out a scoff. “Ha, that'll be the day…”

Chapter Text

Though she never said it outright, Fiona thinks Nic emptying a lot of shotgun shells into that man’s corpse was out of anger for what he had tried to do to her. She remembers vividly just how truly mad Nic looked that day when she blew away the would-be assaulter from her younger partner. Nic has had plenty of moments where she got real angry but none which ever matched the pure rage she saw in the purple hybrid while she left that man’s face beyond recognition. The amount of shotgun shells she emptied into his corpse is not something she’s known to do in her line of work and anytime she sensed the vixen was in real danger, that brand of aggression really comes through. It admittedly had frightened her each time Nic pops off like that.

The twin sister of Nack the Hunter had always looked out for her as the more experienced woman between them. Despite her denial at the claim whenever asked about it and how emotionally guarded she is in general, she had that maternal instinct to the way she cared for her ward than she lets on when she was running a fever, being harassed by real creeps or having nightmares about the Roboticizer Camp. She always gave her ward a fair slice and never tried to undercut her even to the end of their partnership. Anytime a client or a dealer tried to screw over Fiona, she would step in and make them think twice when she brandished her iron piece. A fool would have to be suicidal to test the patience of a loaded one and when guns don't work, a little piece of blackmail tends to do the trick.

Compared to her brothers, she is the most morally conscious of her siblings and least likely to harm innocents given she would rather be a professional focused on doing her job to get paid than being a maniac. The fact she’s willing to take Fiona Fox under her wing despite having to invest a lot into her and teaching her what she knows for free speaks to her more generous nature than she’s willing to admit. 

Nack’s unwilling partnership with Trip made by Eggman over on the Northstar Islands ended in him being hospitalized by her and giving her unwarranted abuse all but proved him unfit to be Fiona’s mentor. Not if he doesn’t want to end up with something far worse from the vixen than a concussion caused by a sungazer who had enough of his abuse just because he couldn’t take his frustrations out on Eggman himself for giving him a partner he didn’t even want in the first place. 

Fang would not even entertain the thought of an apprentice unless it’s for really sinister reasons and from what Nic had said about him in the few instances she did discuss her older brother with her, Fiona counts herself as very fortunate for not crossing paths with him. Guy sounded like a real nasty piece of work from all accounts, likely a natural born psychopath and a favourite child in the eyes of Nic’s parents. The type of guy to snuff the life out of a tearful Chao just for making too much noise in his presence.

A guy right up Scourge’s alley for his little motley gang of morally bankrupt dirtbags she thought bitterly. The red vixen soon reaches her secondary bedroom and quickly makes her inside as if afraid of being seen in this hallway by her boyfriend. Not an unfounded assumption to make given Scourge’s own track record of less than stellar nights whenever he comes back from a bar. Guy consumes vices like they're sugar to a cup of tea in the morning.

When he does get buzzed on the drink, she's seen the unpleasant side of him come through just as much as his insecurities and what a nightmare he can be depending on his emotional state. A rowdy and drunk Scourge with the powers he has is as terrifying as it sounds. Last year, a widowed wife had to bury what was left of her husband in a small box after a very drunk Scourge ran right through him like a bullet train and didn't even notice the mess on himself until he got back to the castle where Fiona would point it out to him and the Suppression Squad weren't long in using it against him. Not that he helped his own case with how little remorse he showed over the incident other than expressing annoyance at how his jacket will have to be cleaned down for hours while the wife of the victim who saw her partner of fourteen years suddenly turn to red paste in a wink of an eye mid-sentence and how traumatised she was by it. 

The same guy she had stabbed her old teammates including Tails in the back for. The same guy who lets Sonic live rent free in his head and she used to think Amy was the one most obsessive with him.

Fiona surveyed her secondary bedroom. It looked plain and less flashy than her main with only the rooming essentials like a wooden wardrobe being present. The kind of room she would have normally stayed in whenever she and Nic were on the road during jobs. It isn't much but it's her own little place of solitude away from everyone else. A safe haven for herself when he comes back drunk as a skunk where he has less self-control than usual and acting all loving towards her as if his beating on her didn't happen hours ago.

She laid down on her bed and rested on her side, facing the wall next to her. Having her back to everything else while staring at the little imperfections in the castle wall from whenever it was first built under Arthur Slyvannia's ownership. Letting her thoughts swim.

Fiona wondered why her old partner in crime doesn't see her anymore but then she remembered that one night where their partnership ceased to be and her vomiting out words she regrets uttering out aloud. The night they both fell out for good…

Two Years Ago...

"...First you leave me for them because you happened to be moved by a not-so-dead blue bloke and now you leave them for that green tosser from whatever the bloody hell he's supposed to be from?!” Nic yelled at the vixen. “What's next, dump him for someone with the same coat as you or dump him for another Sonic when you get tired of this model?!"

"It's not like that and you fucking damn well know it!" Fiona shouted back, feeling strangely defensive with her. "Scourge gives me something nearly no one else has given me!”

"Oh?!" Nic lets off a snidely snort. "I guess you consort with Scourge the Green Womaniser behind their backs because your treehouse club didn't like what they saw and you suddenly became too good to be seen with me just around the same time he started showing up more often but go on... Enlighten your dear old Nic here on what it is he's giving you that almost nobody else has given you. Perhaps you're right, I'm wrong and we're all happy as daffodils."

The two were in the middle of a very heated argument. They've bickered before in the past but none were as intense and anger-fuelled as this one with the pair outright yelling at each other. All over one hedgehog from another zone.

Only because they are well away from Knothole Village did no one else like Bunnie Rabbot come across this argument. Not that any other villager would want any part of this argument from how tense it is.

"Hey, you watch your mouth about him Nicolette!" Fiona shouted at her, incensed from the perceived disrespect shown towards her new boyfriend from Moebius. "And furthermore, I joined the Freedom Fighters because I had thought they would provide me with a sense of belonging and acceptance! Like a home! And a family!"

"Then what am I to you then?!" Nic growled, almost sounding actually hurt by her response. "Who was the first person who you met when you first found the day of light after being left to rot in a cell? Who was the one who took you in and taught you the tools of the trade? Who's the person that gave you opportunities when you had nothing and let you decide for yourself? Who's the one that had to give up getting that valuable gemstone to go save you from falling to your death? What am I to you Fiona, huh? We are partners. We were partners."

"Partners are one thing but family is a whole other thing entirely!" Fiona hissed, letting what had happened to her recently cloud the vixen's judgement. “I never knew my family, my real family and I don't even know if I ever will... But Sally gave me a chance and I trusted her as well as the rest of them but now I don't even know if I can trust her people anymore after they made me spill about my past with you because of that bitch of a bat!”

"I know what it is. I abso-bloody-lutely know what it is..." Nic furrows her brow as she points both index fingers at Fiona Fox. "It's you. It's always been you. You just have this thing for letting your personal feelings get between you and everyone else, enough to do stupid shit like this. You said they were family but yet you're hanging around with one of their enemies and even playing a few of their emotions on them like what you're doing to Sonic. You said they were even willing to overlook what you did in the past as long as it doesn't affect the now yet instead of trying to talk things out, you come running to that Green Bastard's arms."

"Oh really, is that what you think it's all about?" Fiona snarled, her tone more akin to that of a housewife arguing with her husband pre-divorce. "Me? You think it's about me and my emotions? Fuck you.”

"Nah, fuck you." Nic snapped back. "Actually, let me rephrase that; fuck you for being a real indecisive hypocritical two-faced punk-ass bitch who doesn't know how to take her own life advice and instead uses her newfound trust nobody motto as a reason to give up on other people at the slightest sign of a rough patch because it's way easier for you to do than actually making an effort to patch things up with others or prove that you're not one who belongs on the streets. You want acceptance from others but the moment you’re even challenged on anything about yourself, you’re quick to give up and drop them like a bad date.”

The seasoned treasure hunter then let out a loud scoff when she got to the main point of contention between them. “Scourge loves you? The Flying Tosserman has kissed half the women in the village including your ex-best friend Bunnie, probably has shagged a lot of slags before he ever got to you and you seriously believe that you're the one for him? I had a fling with him and let me tell you something babe, he is not someone you want to give up everything for to put it lightly. Not when you grow out of that young love phase.” 

"You are just fucking jealous is what you are Nicolette. A real jealous scorned bitch who's mad that he pulled out on you and not in the way you like it." Fiona responded bitterly, letting her emotions run wild and making a snide remark at the hybrid. "At least I'm the one of us two who got the good looks whereas you border on taking after your own twin brother in terms of looks. Least, you were smart enough to not fuck around with your teeth when they were growing in during infancy."

Nic gritted her teeth at Fiona's remark, just a hair-trigger away from royally pounding the vixen's face in for that. However, she took a deep long breath to calm herself from bursting out into a real fit of rage. Her ward is fortunate that she’s learned self-control or else she’d be having to explain to Sally why the cream of her mouth is suddenly the same colour as her coat.

"...I could excuse your ignorance of what's been happening in the world while you were kept in that facility but I can't excuse you on how unbelievably naïve you actually to hang around a egocentric hustler like him, how unbelievable you are to be swooned by someone who was nothing more than a mighty pushover before he eventually grew a pair. Someone who has just about all the traits of a thug." She shook her head. "He's the kind of man to let you make bad choices and do nothing about it as long as it doesn’t affect him too much. A bad influence on everything around him. A walking disease.” 

"He's more than a fucking thug and he ain’t a virus Nic!” Fiona was quick to say, almost like she's been gaslighted into defending a dime a dozen thug from someone who’s met plenty of his type in her line of experience. “He is a king who has intentions of taking his world for himself and I would strongly suggest that you watch you say about him you fucking bent-tailed, crooked-toothed bitch."

"I ain't afraid of that chicken-shit coward and I can take on that Moebian bastard anytime. He couldn't take on anyone in a straight fight unless he's got the advantage and is the kind of person who loves to play dirty." Nic scoffed harshly. "Oh and don't be shocked if you find him more controlling than you realise or find things about him that you don’t like about him. Hell, maybe you’ll even catch him in the middle of pounding some bitch with hotter assets than yours’ behind your back all while telling you with a straight face that you're the only woman who "truly" matters in his life just because you wouldn’t put out for him."

"You fucking take that back!" Fiona warned her. “Just because he's had history with other women before we hooked up doesn't mean he's a womaniser!”

"For what? For stating something you of all people should be able to see with two working eyeballs?” Nic replied back. “For pointing out the fact that for someone who once said you can't count on anybody, you're eerily resembling someone with a real case of Stockholm Syndrome and denial thrown in the mix. He doesn’t know you well but I do and what you’re doing right now is being very selfish in what you want because you want to do whatever you want no matter how detrimental it is to you.” 

Nic narrowed her gaze, both as her mentor and someone pleading with her one family to reconsider before it’s too late. “One day when both of your backs are up against a wall thanks to a mess he made, you are going to see exactly what kind of man he truly is when it's his own life on the line; you'll see his true colours. You might even stop in your paces some day and feel regret in throwing away your whole life for him once that young love haze clears up for you to see what kind of man he truly is at his core. See what a real sucker you’ve been for not noticing the red flags sooner.”

Fiona glared and shook her head, too caught up in her own feelings to stop herself from vomiting out words she'll be regretting later in hindsight. "Yeah, who fucking needs you anyway? You have a problem with my man? Then fucking beat it and get lost, you stupid fat cow!"

Nic stared at her, looking both livid… And really hurt by the vixen's words. "...You just can't trust anyone and when you do, you trust the wrong people like him. If he decides to leave you and any of your children he fathered behind like a deadbeat, don't expect me to forget this and what you said when you come running back to me or them because I'll be saying this to you; I told you so.”

She starts to walk away before stopping for a moment and having her back fully to Fiona Fox, trying to keep her composure with the crack in her voice betraying how she actually feels deep down. "The biggest problem with you has always been you blaming everyone else for your misfortunes but it's never your own fault when you do it to yourself. You use what's happened to you in the past as an excuse to justify stabbing others in the back for any reason when it serves you. You are a hypocrite Fiona Fox, a self-denying hypocrite who's quick to sour on anyone that's less than perfect in your eyes.”

With that said, she walks off and heads over to the Remarkable King before getting up on it. “You will never know what true acceptance looks like as long as you are set in your own ways like what you’re doing now and not change for the better. Like understanding why some people who do accept you tell you no while others’ just let you do what you want with no checking in. People who care will do what they can to stop yourself from digging your own grave.”

Letting off a sigh as she continued. “For all your whining about acceptance, you seem to forget who was the first to actually accept you when you got out of your prison, who decided to take you in because they knew you needed someone who does care and who was willing to let you join the Freedom Fighters despite her own feelings on the matter because she knew that’s a far more stable career path for you than the life of crime. Girl, you still have a lot to learn about life but that’s for you to find out for yourself. You’re on your own now.”

Nic gives her one last glance with sombre eyes, almost on the verge of crying as she fires up the hover-quad's engine. “I wish you well in all your future endeavours whatever they may be and hope you’ll meet someone who will help you find what you’ve been looking for... Farewell…”

She soon drove away from the area. Growing smaller and smaller the further she drove away from her until eventually disappearing in the distance. Gone out of her life.

With how deep he has his hooks in her, Fiona doesn't realise the gravity of what she's just done tonight and what she's lost because she's more upset that Nic had bad mouthed her boyfriend than the fact she had just burned bridges with someone who actually cared about her more than Scourge ever will.

A guy she had first met while he was going around impersonating Sonic, only confessed to his real identity after being caught out no less and has a history of not being a good guy in general. That's the guy Fiona is willing to throw away her whole life for. 

The vixen scoffed. She doesn’t need Nic or the Freedom Fighters. Scourge is all she ever needs and anyone who says he's a bad influence are people that wished they could be loved by him. He accepts her. He lets her do what she wants to do. He gives her the freedom to do as she desires. Someone who won’t tell her no.

With Nicolette gone, it's just a matter of time until she severs ties with Sonic and his friends either once Scourge is done getting all he needs on his foes or they find out. As far as she's concerned, her time with the Knothole Freedom Fighters is on borrowed time and it won't be long till she hands in her resignation. 

Scourge is right. If they couldn't handle her having former ties to Nic despite everything she's done for them, then they don't deserve her as a friend. Unlike Bunnie and them, he certainly knows how to speak to her. Let her do what she wants.

Fiona's eyes waters as tears start trickling down her cheeks when recalling that fateful night. Quietly letting out the sounds of her own sobbing.

How much she really regrets what she said that night. How truly childish she had been to dismiss Nic all because she allowed the temporary bliss of her relationship with Scourge to destroy a bond that had saved her from a much darker path and just how badly she wants to take it all back. Tell her she didn't mean any of what she said that night. She just wasn't thinking straight that night because of all the drama she was going through at the time and being naïve to the kind of person Scourge really is under the sunglasses at the time.

For as long as Nic had her for and that extends to her former team, she felt safe with them even despite all of their faults. The hoopla over her past could have been all talked out and dealt with like sensible adults instead of acting like stupid kids. Sally and them could have learned to stop holding her past as a criminal against her either by realising they’re being too hard on her and catching onto their own hypocrisy or Sonic tells them all off for their judging and telling them to wise up.

Despite her own grievances with Sonic, he really did want to see her become a better person and was willing to help her find true self. The blue hedgehog always did see things differently from his own friends. He marches to the beats of his own drums but not above making compromises on his own terms to meet his loved ones halfway. She could never figure out if he’s a lot wiser than he lets on or just a guy who’s morality is better suited in comic books than in the realm of reality. Too hung up on what happened years ago to properly get him when they were on the same side.

She should have just listened to Nic. She had done so much for her including supporting her decision to join Sally’s group following the Xorda Invasion despite her reservations and she repaid all that by turning her back on the closest thing she had to a real family. All for a green thug of a hedgehog whose whole bad boy attitude has gotten very old and tiresome as time went on. Compared to Nic, the amount of times Scourge has given back for all she has done for him can be counted on one hand. It’s always his wants that have to be met first no matter what while she gets the bare minimum in return and that’s being generous. His brand of acceptance comes with a catch that she’s slowly been becoming aware of. His type of freedom comes with the same issue of addiction as nicotine where it's bad for the health but hard to quit the habit when you become very dependent on it to function.

Nicolette is the type of person who is seldom shaken to her core by anything. That fact only made the sad look she held on her before leaving Fiona’s life forever sting even more for the vixen. She had witnessed Nic’s heart being shattered to pieces in real time but her younger self was too self-absorbed in her own pity party to see she’s no better than her old adopted family. All because she was too stubborn that day to see any sense and apologise to her for the uncalled for remarks towards a person who never once led her astray towards a path detrimental to her wellbeing unlike Scourge. Both allowed her to make her own choices and do as she pleases but the key difference between them is Nic will step in to stop her from making a serious mistake that leaves her in a far worse place than before while Scourge would just let her at it; maybe even encourage it in his own indirect way. Enable by inaction.

The twin sister of Nack never claimed to be a saint herself but she knew Fiona needed someone to keep her in check or else her own bad habit would get her killed someday and tried to be the vixen’s rock whenever she could. Be her moral compass. 

After all, when has Scourge ever stopped her from making a bad call since the day they started hooking up? She stopped him from resigning to his own fate in the No Zone yet he still has not repaid the gesture in return even nearly two years later. 

He may still be in love with her given she hasn't been left on the streets at this point but he sure as hell takes a lot more from his own father than he likes to admit and his obsessive desire to not be a Sonic even to the point of being everything his twin isn't is seriously hurting their bond. Oh boohoo, his daddy didn't love him enough as a child growing up and has to make everyone else on Moebius miserable because of it… How about spending two years alone in a cell as a child where no one knows you're there and have an adopted family who don't give a flying damn about you to make the effort to look for you? See what a real bad childhood looks like firsthand as she thought bitterly to herself.

The term sunk costs is a very apt description for how she feels about her relationship with Scourge right now. She's alienated Nic, disliked by most of Mobodoon, wanted by the Zone Cops for her role in Scourge's breakout and she's probably still wanted by Sally's people for her act of treason. She even made a few powerful enemies within the Eggman Empire like Grimer Wormtongue and Kommissar Gae-Na.

The former was nearly a victim of a “freak accident” at her hands when she had managed to corner him but because of an ill-timed intervention from Amy, Grimer would manage to escape with his life while they were squabbling at each other before the rest of the Knothole Freedom Fighters could close the net on the green reptile. Both Fiona and Amy were severely and angrily scolded by Sally later that day for royally botching the capture of Grimer Wormtongue because the two decided to go against orders in regards to their target. The whole incident was a real major blemish on her career up until her betrayal that ends with her slapping Tails in the face.

Poor Tails. Though she didn't feel much remorse for it then, she does feel guilty now over how she treated him given he was one of the only other people on her old team who had full faith in her as a teammate and she repaid that with a backhanded slap to his face while telling him to count on nobody. The same kit who has his biological family, his adopted family, a girlfriend and many friends that are with him today while she's got nobody. 

Although she could never admit it out loud, she is really envious of how Sonic, Tails and the rest of the Knothole Freedom Fighters can remain so tight-knit despite everything they've been through together over the years. Comas, fallouts and many hardships have come their way yet they emerge stronger than they ever were prior. Sonic and Tails remain as close as ever like brothers, Bunnie and Antoine are still happily married, Shortfuse and Tekno are managing to still be together, Sonic, Johnny, Porker and Rotor are still firm friends and Amy gets on brilliantly with Sally as her best friend. They even have a replacement in the team medic department with Cobalt the Cobra.

Her old team hasn't changed too much other than they have grown in size in terms of membership and a lot of relationship developments. A family of bonds and they're all doing well without her in the picture. A family that could have been hers’ as well.

Meanwhile the Destructix; especially the current iteration, is made up of crooks who would be more than happy to screw each other over if the price is right and most of them have mercenary attitudes towards their own membership in the gang with the odd bootlicker or two. A crowd she's stuck with for company.

When the tough gets going, they'll either all bail or jump ship to the new highest bidder. Money, protection from Scourge’s crown and privileges from said crown is the only reason they haven't all gone off to join the likes of Clutch Opossum by now. They lack the real comradery of the Fearsome Foursome that made him very effective members of the Destructix. The loyalty those four guys have to each other is a rare quality she didn't understand or appreciate until after they quit the gang and she had to put up with most of their replacements. 

If Scourge wasn't there as their leader, she doubts they would actually put their own necks on the line for her. She just knows they wouldn't hesitate to abandon her based on the way they had treated their past colleagues less fortunate than them. It's not in their imperatives to save her unless she's got dirt on them or has something they need to force them to go back and rescue her should anything happen to her. If you're not seen as essential to the operation or viewed as a liability that can be offloaded, they'll discard you like garbage. In a bitterly ironic way, they actually practice the philosophy of counting on nobody but yourself far better than she ever could preach. In a gang where loyalty is merely brought in cash, rings and coins, she's ironically the odd one out for wanting real loyalty from her own teammates while they just want to get paid and get laid. 

Then there's Sonic and Sally. The pair are now a stable couple who have both matured to learn how to make sacrifices for each other and finding middle grounds where both can be happy. For all their differences, those two really do love each other flaws and all. They are what she had always hoped for her relationship with Scourge to be someday yet it instead comes off as a dark twisted parody of the happy pair if they had both refused to change or grow to become better for each other. A relationship where both parties are awful to one another and was originally built on a lie.

The thought of Scourge cheating on her would have been something her younger self denies fervently even in the face of facts but now? She wouldn't even be shocked if that's actually the case because of how bad things have gotten between them. The spark just isn't there anymore. Nearly three years later, Nic has yet to be definitively proven wrong in what she had said about the guy. Scourge has failed to really prove her wrong. Failed to prove to Fiona that she didn't make a serious mistake in going with him. If Nic was still here with her, she'd say she told her so. 

Instead, Nic has fallen off the face of Mobius and is unable to be reached by the vixen. Last seen in 3237; nearly three years ago with her disappearing after Fiona would run off to be with Scourge and was never heard from again. Fiona doesn't know if Nack has finally killed her for good or she's retired from her profession with all the rumours circulating around her disappearance. The last words she told to her companion were the most cutting. Hurt her more than any bullet could ever deliver.

Fiona ran a sleeve over her tear-stained eyes, a part of her just wishes to wake up from her miserable present and find herself anywhere else but this godforsaken shithole. Find it all to be one long nightmare where she’s in. She would wake up in a cold sweat and her partner in bed asks what happened. 

But she knows better than that. This ain’t no dream. It's real and something she's helped create for herself. 

Behind her, she can hear the door creek open and can hear a set of footsteps coming into the room. “Heeeey babe~”

He must be on the drink again with how he's slurring his words there and somehow finding her secondary room. Scourge’s footsteps inch themselves towards her bed until she can feel the bed springs compressing under his weight and feeling one of his hands playing with a loose strand of her hair. 

“Yoooo, been looking for you...” Scourge slurred his words with a hiccup. “What's up?”

“Nothing and you're on the drink again.” Fiona said curtly. Refusing to turn around to face him and trying to not flinch from the unwanted contact or feeling his alcohol breath on the back of her neck.

“Oh come on baby, it's just a little drop this time.”

“A little drop is the same as drinking a lot in your case.” The vixen said sharply. “Now leave me alone in peace. Please.”

“If it's about what happened between us earlier, then I'm sorry baby.” The drunk hedgehog told her, seemingly trying to win her good graces again and trying to say his words coherently. “I shouldn't have lashed out like that but you know how I am whenever I see red.”

“Oh, is that why you beat on me?” Fiona said pointedly, trying to stay calm in Scourge’s presence; knowing what a handful he is while under the influence. “Because I happen to be red?” 

“Geez, I was being figurative.” The hedgehog replied with annoyance in his tone. “I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have taken it out on you.” 

‘...That's what you told me last time and the one before it.’ Fiona thought to herself. “Yeah, you shouldn't have but you did it anyway. I just want to be left alone tonight...”

Scourge reached to stroke the side of her face. “Come on sexy, you may be angry with me but deep down; you still love me~”

“...Sometimes, I just question what I even see in you.” Fiona quietly muttered to herself. Her words went unheard by the drunk hedgehog.

“Gimme some sugar here Fio~” 

The drunken Scourge attempts to lean to get a kiss from her but she turns her head away and shows him some resistance which only agitated the green hedgehog. Finding himself struggling with his girlfriend who just wants no part of him tonight. 

“Why do you gotta be so damn difficult with me here!?” He yelled at her, suddenly grabbing hold of Fiona by the arms before forcing himself on top of her to pin his woman down to the bed. Her verbal protests were muffled by him having his mouth over hers’ in a forced kiss. Trying to pull herself away from him but he wouldn't let her. 

After that uncomfortable moment had passed for what felt like an eternity, Scourge would pass out thanks to the alcohol in his systems and slump awkwardly on top of the vixen who was busy letting out a gagged cough from having to inhale the smell of his alcohol breath. Fighting to not throw up on the bed. It took her a minute to get out from under him and when she did, Fiona was quick to get off the bed that he’s now on. She looks down at his snoring form on the bed. If it was anybody else who did that to her like Drago Wolf, they'd have their throats slashed open in their sleep.

Even in this little haven of hers’, she's not safe from his drunken advances. Doing little to help with their relationship devolving into the toxic matter that it is. Abuse, gaslighting and general instability make for an unhappy couple at the worst of times. Days of much happier times between them become more distant memories. 

She suspects that Scourge has developed some kind of mental disorder; probably from letting Sonic live in his head rent free all the time and screwing with his psyche or something because his shtick of being an inverse of Sonic is becoming a serious problem for both of them. As long as Sonic is alive and as he is, Scourge will continue down this path until either Sonic loses which is unlikely or he snaps which is likely. It's a lose-lose for her either way.

His drive to not be a Sonic and be everything he isn’t has become a borderline obsession. A self-destructive habit that's going to kill the both of them someday if she doesn't get away before it gets to that point but where can she really go? Who will want her? Could she even find real love? 

Fiona turned away from her boyfriend to lean on a nearby drawer and the eyes started watering again. The encounter left her feeling shaken. An encounter that reminded her too much of what nearly happened to her four years ago. The only difference is that Nic isn't around to put shells into Scourge’s drunken corpse and he holds all the power here as the head of the Hedgehog Empire while she's just a glorified tourist wearing a crown that's not hers’ on his land. She feels trapped in a relationship that has seen better days with no friends around to help her. Trapped with an edge lord narcissist who thinks more about his doppelganger than her. Stuck between hating him for being such a lousy boyfriend who likely loves her in a possessive way and loving him for the fun he did bring to her life.

One half of her agrees with Nicolette in Scourge being a cancer to everything around him and the Suppression Squad had every right to give him the boot for being so awful to be around. An egocentric asshole who thinks highly of himself as the alpha male in the male while in reality, he's just a pathetic loser under the jacket who treats women as objects for his own satisfaction, someone who has made her co-dependent on him and had probably gaslighted her to turn against her old friends while putting his ideas into her head like what Doctor J. Robotnik would do.

Nic is right about him being a thug wearing Sonic’s face and a coward. A two-timing lowlife who makes life hell for everyone else around him.

The other half still think that she could fix him and still believes that if the other women like Alicia Acorn can't handle him at his worst, then they don't deserve him at his best or so she tries to tell herself that to help sleep better at night. She still makes excuses for his bad behaviour to absolve him of either accountability or responsibility for his actions, everything he does has a reason behind it however flimsy the reasoning and it's everyone else's fault for making her choose poorly with her own life choices; not her.

Nic is jealous that he fancies her ward over her and not the one getting spoiled by him. A good looking young man who knows how to charm a woman into submission. 

With him asleep on the bed, Fiona left him where he was and went off to go to their main bedroom for the night. Wanting to sleep the night away alone. Perhaps dream of a better life with someone better who can accept her than this waking nightmare. 

May 2nd, 3239

Royal Hedgehog Castle, Mobodoon. Moebius

Early Morning

Tovio and the other members of the Destructix barring Scourge were having their breakfast in the dining hall. All being tended to by the servants of the castle.

Fiona sat silently at her end of the table away from her peers. She picked away at her own food on the plate and resting her chin on one hand. The boys left her be.

“Ugh, my freakin’ head…” Came a moan belonging to a green hedgehog suffering from a hangover. Coming into the dining room and clutching his head with a wincing face.

“How was it last night?” Tovio greeted him.

The green hedgehog mouthed something to one of the servants before turning to face the golden retriever. “You ask me man. I don't even remember what I did last night or how I got back to the castle… Did anythin’ happen while I was out?”

“Nothing of interest. We did what you told us to do and stayed out of your sight for the whole night.” Tovio replied. “Take it you had a few drinks out in the town?”

“More than a few…” Scourge groaned, fighting against his own aching head as a servant came up to him with a glass of raw eggs and quickly downing them before handing the glass back to her. “Must be the strong stuff again.”

“So it seems. What's on the agenda today?”

“I just got up and don't feel like doing any agendas right now…” 

“Guess we're laying low again.” Tovio remarked to his boss. “Need me to go scout for a replacement?”

“Nah, we'll do it another time.” The green hedgehog told him. “I may have to employ a fellow moebian again.”

“It's your call Boss.”

“Damn right it is.” 

Scourge walked over to Fiona’s side of the table and leaned over her shoulder from behind to greet his girlfriend with a kiss to the side of her neck. “Good morning, my beautiful queen.”

“Morning… Scourge.” Fiona replied in a silted and flat manner, almost automatically like her own Auto-Automation imposter. Not breaking her gaze from her food to spare him a glance.

For his part, Scourge wasn't slow to pick up on the elephant in the room. “...Maybe I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that yesterday. I'm not exactly good with controllin’ my own impulses and all that.”

“Just forget about it.” The vixen said simply. 

“I understand if you're still pissed at me and everything but I'm sorry about it.” The hedgehog told her in an effort to earn Fiona’s goodwill again. “I shouldn't have put the blame on you given how things turned out for us.”

“Go get your breakfast.” 

“Fiona, I–”

“I said go get your breakfast.” Fiona repeated in a more sharpish tone, cutting him off mid-sentence. “It's yesterday's news and I just want to forget all about it, okay?”

“Fine…” Scourge said with a sigh. Knowing she's not in the mood to talk right now and he's in need of some breakfast anyhow.

“...Heh, just another usual day with the two lovebirds.” Levesque was speaking quietly to his colleague next to him. “I don't think I ever see them kiss muc–AGH!”

“You got something worthwhile to say to the whole class, ey?” Scourge held the raccoon by the left ear and leaned over his shoulder from behind him. “No, got nothing? Then quit gossipin’ about the people payin’ your cut and mind your own fuckin’ business or you can kiss a cement block with your own teeth!”

“C-Crystal!” The raccoon gets his words out and Scourge releases his ear but not before shoving his face into the plate. Producing a loud thud as a part of Levesque's face smacks against the ceramic plate.

“Stupid cunt…” The hedgehog muttered to himself before going over to his side of the table. “Tovio, have you ever been in love?”

“What?” Tovio looked at him.

“I said, have you ever been in love? Yes or no?”

“Well, there was this woman I dated once but I already told you about her.” The golden retriever answered. “What's up?”

Scourge sighed. “Let’s say I'm in need of help here with my girl. Show her I'm sorry and that.”

“I suppose you could buy her some chocolate and a bouquet of flowers or take her out somewhere nice.” Tovio suggested his ideas to the green hedgehog. “Do something romantic for her. Say, how about Soleanna?”

“Been a while since I've been there.”

“How was your last trip?”

“Well, I remember taking this pika chick up to go see the old castle ruins in Kingdom Valley and leaving her there. It was a few years ago if I remember.” Scourge recalled his last visit to the island. “She wasn't too pleased about it when she found out I had fled from her and had gone off with another chick by the time she finally caught up to me again.”

“When was this?”

“Either before I met Buns Rabbot or after I dumped her. It's all a blur to me after her and Penelope around that point.” Scourge shrugged his shoulders before smirking at the idea. “But taking Fiona to Soleanna doesn't sound too bad though. I could “persuade” the Princess of Soleanna to get us the luxury treatment we need for our little vacation.”

“Persuade her with what exactly?” 

Scourge grinned devilishly to his friend. “Did I ever tell you the time that me and her were doing some private cross-cultural exchange if you catch my drift?” 

“What do you–Oh, eww…” Tovio was quick to figure out the insinuation with an appropriate expression to match. “If it's anything like on Mobius, it would be a very bad look for her family should that get out.”

“Hehe. It's her own damn fault for being so freaky with me~”

“Please.” Tovio quickly told him. “I really don't want to be put off from my breakfast here.” 

“Alright, alright. Geez, keep your panties on…” 

Scourge went and had his breakfast with most of the Destructix. All eating in silence. Both the hedgehog and the vixen barely glanced at one another. 

Fiona ate her breakfast with a heavy thought on her mind. As quiet as he tried to be while speaking with Tovio, Scourge forgets that she can hear well even in spite of having to undertake corrective surgery to repair one of her ears years ago. She didn't let on that she had heard anything from over at the other end of the table and Scourge does tend to underestimate her hearing ability more often than not.

Soleanna does sound lovely to her but this is Moebius’ Soleanna; not exactly the romantic capital like the one back in her world. It is another one of his many efforts to earn back her goodwill every time he fouls up with her but does nothing to change his own ways for the better like having a center. He usually buys her love back in materialistic goods like jewellery and dresses. Temporary solutions to a problem he's seemingly unwilling to confront himself. She suppose it is the thought that counts even if it was actually Tovio's idea, not Scourge’s. 

Only jealous naysayers like Buns and Nic would say that Scourge is only doing this to make her forget all about the abuse he had dished out to her the other day. Say it's a sign of desperation from Scourge to try stopping her from leaving him… And she keeps taking him back despite how he treats her. A vicious cycle if there ever was one.

Three years into their relationship, Fiona still believes she could make it work. She just hasn't found the solution yet. Her own happily ever after with him could still be achieved somehow despite all the problems they've both faced… And that means blinding herself to her own grim reality of being around someone who’s a living detriment to her as Nic had warned her about once. A warning that fell on deaf ears because she just didn't want to admit that Nicolette is right since her pride wouldn’t allow herself to be wrong and proving the cynic in her partner right about how a lot of people these days are too quick to think of themselves first before others including her own ward. 

Nic always knew best while Fiona is too proud for her own good to admit whenever she is wrong. Nic is always right. 

Fiona does want acceptance from others but doesn't have the patience or willingness to actually change herself even if it would help better her life overall to earn it. Failing to truly understand that acceptance is a two-way street. It's that unwillingness to challenge herself which has brought her to where she is now. She's trapped within her own victim complex and will always blame other people for her own failures. Stifling any growth she could achieve for herself with Scourge helping to keep her in that state as long as they remain together with him acting her jail warden. As long as she remains in that self-made prison of hers’, she will never be truly free from her self-casted shackles. She is still trapped even if she doesn't see it nor feel the cold steely walls she had spent two of her childhood years living in.

There is a part of Fiona Fox deep down that still quietly yearns to be free just like the little girl who was left to rot in that jail all those years ago…