𝕬 𝖍𝖚𝖌𝖊 𝖘𝖓𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗!

      The next day, Cream woke up first and early. She decided to look into Scourge. Taking a voice recorder with a microphone, taking a couple of carrots and a bag with a straw of tomato juice, and also leaving a farewell note warning mom and dad not to lose her and not worry about her, and then hit the road. First she went to visit her neighbors Tangle and Whisper. She wanted to ask them about Scourge, but they only widened their eyes at what they heard and looked around to see if anyone else had heard them and refused to tell, because they were afraid of a fine from the mayor for violating the ban. They only asked for forgiveness and closed the doors behind them. Realizing that they would not say anything, Cream decided to move on. She headed to Mayor Knuckles himself. He was just sitting on a bench near his white house and reading a newspaper with Scourge, who was leaving the cave. The photo was taken yesterday when Scourge was walking down the mountain. Cream whispered in the mayor's ear about Scourge, why he forbade everyone to tell about him. The mayor also refused to discuss it, because this topic was sore for him. He also said that he could write her a fine, but since she was still a child and asked him in a whisper so that no one but him could hear, and was also interested in why he forbade it, he took pity on her and made a promise that he would not write her a fine. she and her family will be fined for this. He thereby forgave her for the first time. Of course, he forgave her on one condition: that she would no longer ask him or anyone else about it. Cream made a promise, but at the same time hid her right hand with her fingers in a cross behind her back, thereby lying. After all, she still wants to know the truth. But this time Knuckles won’t be bothered with these questions. She went to other neighbors with such questions. To Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Sammy, Benny, Eggman, Luz Bucket, Rouge, Big, Klonoa, Sally, Aurora, Tails, Tiny, Nellie and even Blaze and Silver. She contacted many others in the city, but unfortunately some also refused to tell, for fear of getting a fine from the mayor, others themselves did not know and could not help in any way, and still others were even rude and sent her to call her a mongrel. Cream did not give up and looked further among the residents of the city for someone who would not be afraid to talk about Scourge and still knew at least something about him. The last such and only inhabitant was the house where Sonic and Shadow lived. She knocked on the door and Sonic himself opened the door. — O! Hello Cream. Are you on a visit or on business? — To the point, Uncle Sonic. You and Uncle Shadow are the last and only ones left that I can count on. — And what happened? — Shadow himself came. — You can tell me about... — Cream looked around and whispered to them, placing her palm on her right cheek: — About Scourge! Sonic and Shadow widened their eyes and looked around. No one was around and no one was listening. Shadow grabbed the rabbit by the shoulders and dragged her into the house. Sonic looked around again and locked the door. He also ran around the whole house and covered all the windows with curtains so that no one could peek or eavesdrop. The hedgehogs sat the rabbit down on the sofa and brought her tea and cookies in the shape of hedgehogs. Cream took out her voice recorder and, like a reporter, began to pay extra with her uncle: — So! Since we are alone and no one is watching us, then tell me about Scourge! What do you know about him? — To be honest, we ourselves almost forgot about it. It’s not that the mayor forbade talking about him, but besides, no one except you came to us and was interested. You're the only one who's interested in him. By the way, why only you? — Sonic asked. — He was at the post office yesterday, where I met him in the Workshop. He was a hooligan there then, if I'm not mistaken. I almost fell under the press and died, but he pulled me out of there and saved me. — Cream explained. — Saved? Are you serious? — The black-scarlet didn’t believe it at first, but the rabbit confirmed with a nod. — I knew! I always knew that there was at least something good in him! — Did you know? — the rabbit was surprised. — Yes, because he was our younger brother. — the blue one answers. — Your... Younger... Brother? — she asks them. — It was twenty years ago. Shadow and I were five years old at the time. — Sonic answers, and then Shadow finished: — Have they told you where children come from? — No. — Cream answered thoughtfully and ate a cookie. — Then now we will explain everything to you, how and where children come from. And also that this is how Scourge first appeared in our city. — Shadow answers, spooning some sugar into the rabbit’s tea. The latter began to listen carefully and decided not to interrupt them. Sonic continued talking. — So! To begin with... Where do children come from?

***

      Sonic and Shadow, remembering their childhood and how their mother told them this very story, began to tell Cream that children fly in baskets on umbrellas, but when children grow up, they immediately forget about it, until mom and dad or who -he won’t tell them about it yet. Then Sonic and Shadow themselves were flying among the children in baskets while they were still babies. Shadow himself says in voiceover: — In the night couples, little Mobians, in white diapers, descend from the sky. Two baskets with those two hedgehogs flew straight to one of the houses in the city. Of course, they were rivals then in infancy and pushed each other’s baskets. But be that as it may, both landed on the porch of the house. A purple hedgehog named Alina then came out of this house. She went out to hang mistletoe over the porch of her house. I was just about to go into the house when I heard the cries of two babies. The hedgehog turned around and saw those same hedgehogs. One was blue, and the other was black and with red stripes. Jezhikha did not expect to see children from nowhere at home. Moreover, she was a loner and lived completely alone. No husband, no children. She was even a little bored, and then there was such an unexpected surprise in the form of not one, but two children. Of course, she was very happy about this and took both hedgehogs into her house. Let them live with her and grow up like twin brothers, even though they look completely different. Sonic says in voiceover: — Our mother immediately took Shadow and me in as soon as she saw us. She loved us very much and took care of each of us. — A! So this is how it happens. — Cream was happy. “But neither she, and especially not Sonic and I, knew then that five years later a flow of wind would accidentally bring another baby to our city. — And that baby was Scourge himself? — Cream asked off-screen, and Shadow confirmed: — Yes. Moreover, he was a little less lucky than Sonic and I. Because when he arrived, we weren’t expecting another little brother and were just celebrating for ourselves. That night of the holiday, such a strange wind was blowing outside. — My mother, Shadow, and I celebrated the holiday with our family, as usual, sitting at home. The poor baby spent all this time lying on a tree branch next to our house all that night. Because of the fun and sleep, we didn’t even hear him, how he began to cry, that we were not paying attention to him, and he, poor thing, almost died from the cold, as it seemed to us later. An iron and black saucepan on a very large and slightly holey umbrella flew in the wind and landed next to the same house. Or rather, he got caught in the wind of a tree next to the house. Inside the pot was a baby with a snake tail. A green hedgehog with a smiling face looked out of his pan and expected that mom, or dad, or someone else would pick him up. But the owners of the house themselves, consisting of a single mother with two sons, were not expecting a new baby. They decorated their Christmas tree and decorated the house with garlands. Then they danced and sang until they were tired and went to bed. The baby was left hanging on that same branch on the street all alone. He felt offended that he was not noticed and was not taken in, although he landed next to this very house, where he should be adopted, as he himself believed. The baby began to cry and scream in the hope that they would hear him and come to take him home. But unfortunately, no one from the house breathed on him and never picked him up. And the neighbors, who heard the baby’s screams and cries, did not pay attention to him and mistakenly perceived him as the meowing of cats. So the poor baby hung on the branch of that same tree, next to that same house, right up until the morning. Sonic voiceover says: — We discovered it only the next day. Sonic had just left the house to get a news newspaper and noticed a baby hanging from his pan on a tree branch next to their house. Without waiting for the owners, he himself did not notice how he fell asleep. The hedgehog immediately returned quickly to the house, woke up his mother and brother and took them outside to show who he saw. They ran out and saw the hedgehog itself in a large saucepan. This was very unexpected for them and without hesitation they immediately took the baby into their home. The baby was slightly larger than Sonic and Shadow themselves. It was probably a giant or even a teenager. Only later did they realize that this child was not a Mobian when they saw that he had no legs at all. Only a tail, like a snake's. They were scared and wanted to get rid of him first. However, my mother thought that this would probably not be right. He's all alone and they can't leave him to die on the street. He must have appeared in the lands of the nagas, but the wind directions changed and he accidentally fell among them. The baby woke up right now and saw the hedgehog, reached out to her with his hands and spoke in a human voice: — Mo... Om... mom! Having heard that the beast called her mom, she even more so flatly refused to throw him out into the street. Let him live with them. Moreover, since he thinks that they are his family, then perhaps they will be able to re-educate him, so that in the future, when he grows up, he does not attack anyone and does not eat any of the residents of Mobiustown, but rather protects them. — We understood that he was a monster and not like us. But we couldn’t leave him to die on the street. Especially when he called our mom his mom. — Sonic finished off-screen, and then Shadow: — Then we decided. Let him live with us. We will raise him as our own, we thought then, and in the future he will be able to protect all of us and our city. So he began to live with us in our family and was called our younger brother, despite the fact that he was taller than us. — By the way. We didn't come up with the name Scourge ourselves. It was written on the same huge saucepan on which he arrived instead of a basket. We then realized that this was his name and decided to call him that. — The youngest was generally obedient and well-mannered. He even listened to us and didn’t argue. Even Sonic and I stayed and tried to take care of him while mom wasn’t around and even fed him New Year’s cookies. One day we discovered that our little brother was not ordinary. The baby sat naked on the sofa and curiously looked around him. The hedgehogs come up to him and bring him a plate in the shape of Santa Claus with cookies in the shape of little men. — Hey, little one, would you like some New Year's cookies? — asks young Shadow. — Which one do you like best? — The little blue hedgehog pointed to the various types of cookies on plates in the shape of Santa. Scourge turns his attention to the Santa-shaped plate itself and says: — Santa! — He wants to hold Santa Claus himself. — Young Sonic was delighted and handed him a plate. Suddenly, the baby snake without teeth easily bites off the head of Santa's plate without cookies and gives the plate itself back to his older brothers. The hedgehogs were a little surprised that he did not eat the cookies, but instead only bit off Santa’s head. Scourge then chewed on Santa's bitten head and said: — No Santa! — He was wonderful. I won’t say exactly by whom, but my mother and I raised him, like other children. We even taught him to love New Year. - Shadow says in voiceover.

***

      When Scourge grew up and was eight years old, he was taken to school among the same students. Among the students were young rabbits Vanilla and Ice, as well as young Knuckles the Echidna, young Tangle, young Whisper and young Shade the Echidna. Everyone wrote their homework in notebooks, while Scourge, who was taller than the rest of the students, looked like a grown man, which is why some people sometimes mocked him, thinking that he had been repeated several times and had grown up. such an adult classmate, he had already finished his homework. I finished a long time ago and started doing my own work so as not to get bored in class before the break. He took paper with felt-tip pens and drew how he used a cannon with rocket launchers to knock down Santa Claus and Sanya and laugh quietly under his breath so that no one could hear him. At this moment, teacher Sage comes up and says: — And so, class, tomorrow we will give each other New Year's gifts. Make it yourself or just buy something from the store and give it to the one you love more than anyone else in the world. — Fi! — Scourge whispered to himself, thinking that this was complete nonsense. — By the way. — Shadow continued off-screen. — When he turned eight and he also went to study, although there were some hooligans who mocked him because of his height, thinking that he was being kept in the second year, although in fact nothing like that happened, he met there for the first time with Shade. — Echidna Shade? — Cream asked off-screen. — Yes. — Sonic confirmed off-screen. — It’s true that she herself doesn’t remember anything about him now. But we remember that then for the first time she herself fell in love with him at first sight, despite his appearance. She was the only one then. who accepted him for who he was, despite his appearance. After all, the appearance of a couple can be deceiving. Humans and Mobians are often judged not by their appearance, but by their actions. But it was something like this! — She didn’t have time to communicate, she was too busy... Studying. However, during breaks or when she finished her homework before everyone else, she often looked at him. Let's not lie, even he himself really liked Shade, and Shade at that time was a friend of our mayor, who was also studying at the same school, in the same class. Knuckles was a real bully back then. He often bullied and made fun of our youngest, and also provoked others to laugh at him. — Shadow finished off-screen, and then Sonic continued: — Ugh! I would have strangled this red freak if I had caught him as a child, when he had not yet become mayor! Scourge gets up from his desk, and Knuckles then gets up and looking up at the naga, says to him with a grin: — Nothing will work out with her. You’re only eight years old, and you already look like a grown-up guy who’s been left for a second year several times. All classmates, except Shade, immediately laughed at Scourge. The latter was offended by such bullying. Naga even grabbed Knuckles by the shoulders and growled at him: — Well, repeat what you just blurted out, little one? — Scourge, stop this and let Knuckles go, or I’ll put him in the corner! — the teacher threatened, deciding that Scourge was the first to start misbehaving. The snake released the echidna and he followed the others out of the classroom. Scourge imperceptibly extended his tail forward and tripped the echidna, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor. Now the naga himself laughed at the future mayor. — “And many people ask why I have a tail instead of legs!” — he thought jokingly in his head, realizing what a useful tail he had. Then he extended his helping hand. — What's wrong! I tripped over a nail in the floor, you crooked leg! — I know it was you who tripped me. — Knuckles snapped, refusing to accept a helping hand and stood up himself. — I’ll get my revenge on you for this, Scourge. You will see! — with these words he left the class, and Scourge only mocked himself: — Oh-oh-oh! I'm afraid, I'm afraid! And why should he be afraid of him, if he knows perfectly well that that little guy won’t do anything that bad to him. After all, whoever is taller wins, as he always knew at that time. Before he also left the classroom following the rest of the students, he crawled up to Shade the echidna and looked at her questioningly. She, in turn, looked at him with sympathy in silence for a couple of minutes, and only then spoke: — You know, I love New Year most of all. — At these words, Scourge rolled his eyes, and Shade continued to say: — But even more, I like the biggest and tallest, like you. And my favorite color is green. Like you. — the echidna stood with her feet on the chair and, reaching up with her left hand, lightly ran her palm over the snake-hedgehog’s cheek. The latter took a short breath, opened his mouth less widely and bulged his eyes. He really didn't expect this. Shade also gets up from his desk and leaves, waving goodbye to Scourge. Scourge then smiled and a blush appeared on his cheeks. Sonic continued to speak off-screen: — Whether Scourge was in love with Shade is hard to say. Shadow, Alina, and I didn’t understand it ourselves, but when he returned home that day, he suddenly became imbued with a festive mood for the first time. Scourge went into a trash can near his house and pulled out a pipe to play music. He decided that this would be useful to him. He also opened drawers in the cabinets in the kitchen and took out an extra fork and spoon. I tore off some straws from the broom and took out the grinder. I also put on my sunglasses and started making my own gift with my own hands. He made an iron doll with salom hair. The gift for Shade was ready tomorrow. Scourge began to clean himself up. I took from the closet a business suit that Alina had long ago bought for her future husband, but never found it. Let him at least be dressed fashionably for the holiday. In addition, the snake combed its quills with his mother's hairbrush and brushed his teeth for the first time with Sonic's mint toothpaste, which featured a picture of Colgate the pony. The next day, all the students came to school and everyone managed to give a gift to their beloved friend. Even Scourge himself came cleanly and gave his own gift to Shade. The echidna really liked the naga's gift and even kissed him on the cheek for the first time. When Knuckles saw this, he grumbled with anger. When teacher Sage arrived, she asked: — Did everyone manage to give their gifts to each other? — Not yet. I also have a gift. — the future mayor answers and points to the red cross on the floor. — There will be a big tree around which we will all dance. — Where? — They all asked at once and looked there. They saw a cross on the floor and a kind of hatch on the ceiling. Scourge looked up at the ceiling out of curiosity. — Is this... She will appear from above? — he asked. — Yes. Scourge, you are the tallest of us, try to get her out of there. — Knuckles asked. — I'll try. — the snake answers and reaches up. He opens what looks like an attic and a bunch of garlands with light bulbs fall on him. They tied his torso with his arms and grabbed him. Knuckles immediately grinned. — And here is our New Year tree! - he said and laughed at the top of his lungs. Following him, everyone immediately laughed, except for Shade, who did not understand why they were making fun of him, and the teacher, who just grinned at him. Then everyone stood around the naga and began laughing mockingly, walking around holding hands and singing: — An ugly snake was born in the forest. He grew up and lived in the forest. He was always left for the second year. He was green! Knuckles, in turn, looked slyly at the naga and grinned and thought: — “I told you that I would take revenge on you!” Scourge watched as they danced around him and laughed. He immediately could not stand it, got angry and tore the garland out of anger, stretching out his arms, and then shouted: — VILE GARLAND!!! — he pushed Knuckles and the rest of the students, crawling over to the gifts and taking Knuckles' gift, which he threw at Knuckles himself. Echidna managed to dodge. — VILE GIFTS!!! — SCORGE, STOP IT, OR I'LL TELL YOUR MOM EVERYTHING!!! — the teacher shouted, trying to calm the naga down. — SHUT UP!!! — he shouted and hit the teacher with his tail, spinning in place. Thus, he pushed her to the floor. He was also angry at her for not standing up for him. — DISGUSTING AND SALE TEACHER!!! All the students were immediately afraid of the evil naga. Only Shade stood in shock and did not know how to react. Scourge crawled out of the classroom and grabbed one decorated Christmas tree from the warehouse. — They finally brought him down and he couldn’t stand it at the last moment... Fury and anger! — Shadow said off-screen, followed by Sonic: — Power and strength! — I HATE NEW YEAR!!! — the naga shouted, lifting it above himself and preparing to throw it at his classmates. — STUPID TREE!!! All the students except Sage and Shade ran away, and Scourge threw the tree right at Knuckles. He was overwhelmed and the naga, hissing through his teeth, began to hiss and wanted to bite the echidna’s head off for all his bullying. Knuckles began to cry and beg for mercy. — Please! I have a mom and dad. They will worry about me. — I don’t care. I will tear you apart for all your bullying. — the snake answers and, grabbing his head, prepares to bite off the bully’s head, when suddenly Shade herself intervenes: — NO, SCORGE!!! Please! You're not a monster! Let him go! — she begged him so that she almost cried. Scourge immediately changed his anger to fear as he looked at her. Realizing what he had done and what a terrible monster he showed himself to be in front of her, he threw Knuckles against the wall like a toy and crawled away. Before leaving, he looked sadly at Shade one last time and ran away. Shade herself, worried about the naga, kept his own gift to herself and cried. — It was a terrible day then. — Shadow said off-screen so that he almost cried. Sonic continued for him: — Yes. They treated him so cruelly. Shadow, Mom and I almost burst into tears ourselves. Especially when after that day he left home and left us alone in the family, and he went high into the mountains, away from all of us and even his family, who raised him and was the only one who understood him. From that day on, we never saw or heard from him again, and our mother died of grief, unable to bear such mockery of her youngest and separation from him. And Shadow and I were the only ones left who lived in our house further. We never saw or heard from Scourge again. He remained there, high up, completely alone, without us, without love and without affection. He grew up cruel and angry because of one bastard. And the name of this bastard is Knuckles. Scourge crawled high into the mountains and repeated to himself: — I hate New Year! I hate New Year!

***

— Okay. Thank you for telling me everything. — Cream answers and, having finished recording something like an interview, went outside. Shadow and Sonic waved goodbye to her. The rabbit, now having learned the whole truth about Scourge, felt sorry for him. Especially when she looked at the mountain itself where the naga was hiding.

***

      The only thing that neither Sonic, nor Shadow, nor Cream knew so far was how Scourge later lived in the mountains, hiding from the Mobians that day. The kid climbed very high and looked at the city, remembering how he scared Shade herself. The snake held on as best he could so as not to cry. He thought he heard some crying. Apparently the child was crying. Scourge looked around and was curious, who was that crying? And most importantly, where is he? Going to the source of the crying, he found a basket on an umbrella lying in the snow. Apparently she was supposed to land in the city, but due to the wrong wind, she ended up here by accident. The baby's name "Fiona" was written on the side of the basket. In the basket itself lay a red fox and cried, because she had landed somewhere in the wrong place and there was no one around. The baby was simply desperate and crying in despair. Scourge, looking at the baby, remembered himself in a similar situation, when there were no parents nearby and when he, in the same way, almost died from the cold. This is what the fox reminded him of. Even though she was a Mobian, the naga still couldn’t leave her here to die. — Hello, baby. Are you lost? The fox saw the monster and, frightened by the appearance of the snake, began to cry even more. The snake took her in his arms and began to rock and lull her to sleep. The fox stopped crying and fell asleep. Scourge shed tears again and smiled, looking at the baby. — "I promise! I'll take care of you."