Princess

"Ever wondered if things can just be born evil?" Scourge asked rather suddenly. The question was so odd, nobody was expecting it. The group looked at each other, unsure of how to answer, and wondering what the green hedgehog meant by it.

"Uh, no, I don't think so." Sonic finally shook his head after a moment. "I don't think anybody is born evil. They're made evil through influence and terrible things throughout their lives. And even then, evil can be conquered and changed, so that's another reason evil isn't just simply born."

"Well, I believe it can." Scourge sighed. "In this enlightened age of ours, concepts like good and evil are often painted as outmoded, archaic even. According to modern thought, people and animals are simply products of their environment and no more responsible for their actions than a twig in a stream. But I know better. Some things are just born bad."

"And by some things you mean... the dog?" Knuckles asked, turning away from the window to look at him, his gaze questioning.

Scourge nodded slowly before continuing his story.

"About ten years ago, we had a German Shepherd named Duchess that had a litter of puppies - seven in all. Six looked like any other shepherd you've ever seen, but the seventh, however, was a snowy white. Not a true albino, just white-furred with a black nose and blue eyes. There was never any doubt about which one we were keeping out of that litter, and we named her Princess."

"Princess?" Shadow frowned in thought. "Well, I guess if she wasn't covered in blood and snarling at the time, she would've looked a little worthy of the title."

"That's what we thought too."

"So what happened?" Sonic asked, urging the green to continue.

"Before the end of six months, any plans we had about giving away or selling the other puppies became a moot point, as all of the others were dead." Scourge frowned, earning a gasp of shock from his audience. "We'd just find them at a rate of about one a month, not mangled or anything, just dead as if they'd died in their sleep. At first, we thought maybe their mother, it being her first litter and all, was accidentally crushing or smothering them."

"But that's not what happened, is it?" Blaze guessed.

"No. Later, we had no doubt as to what had killed them."

"But, how did she do it, if there was no mark?" Tails asked.

"I'm getting to that, let me continue." Scourge shook his head. "Within a year, Princess came to dominate her mother, her father, the tough old alpha that he was, and to a degree, us too. Her parents shied away from her, and when we put out their food, she ate till her heart's content, unchallenged by the other two. Once I tried to shoo her away and let the other two eat. She snarled at me, baring those perfect white fangs to her incongruously black gums and losing a growl so deep that I felt it in my guts more than heard it. After that, I left her alone too."

Scourge sighed as he lifted his head up, turning his gaze to stare at each person in the room, listening to his story.

"You know, I've often wondered if the parents of serial killers know they have a monster in the making." He admitted. "I mean, sure, some of them are to blame for how their kids turn out, products of fucked up households with systematic abuse of all possible flavors, but then there are the ones that seem to be true aberrations. It's those families I'm curious about. Do they smile and laugh and pretend that everything's fine?"

"What does that have to do with this?" Knuckles challenged.

"Because I know that we sure did. We downplayed the weirdness around Princess, tried to rationalize her behavior, and the bizarre things she'd do, like..."

Suddenly, Scourge stopped, his gaze flicking up to Cream and Cheese, who were sitting in the purple recliner next to him. His mouth became cottony dry as he debated whether to say it in front of her or not.