Reinvention

by Flying Semprini

A look into a possible reason why Snively might have switched sides in the Archie comics storyline. The first two paragraphs are squished together because Netscape WILL NOT COOPERATE, so please bear with my inability to use it. Thanks.

Reinvention. Copyright Flying Semprini, 2002. All Sonic characters are copyright Sega Enterprises or Archie comics, whoever created them first. All other characters are copyright me. Do not steal. Or else.
It had taken Julian Ivo Robotnik several years to work on the DNA restructuring program he had been writing and computing between all his other projects. It didn't help that he was forced to open a portal to the Void after the Doomsday Project was about to literally blow up right in his face – so very close to the end of this as well as his other project, too - and then whip Snively and his empire back into discipline upon his return. At least that blasted hedgehog had taken care of another rival by the name of Naugus. Robotnik had no clue about Naugus' identity. He only knew what he saw from the Void: that Snively had almost blown the whole empire – an empire Robotnik himself had stolen fair and square – against him as well as against the rodents. He supposed in the end that it didn't matter so long as Naugus was dead and his plans could continue.
He was glad that this file was locked away in an especially discrete place so that neither of them could ever find out about this. This new addition to his arsenal should allow him to create juggernaut mutant slaves, or something to that effect. Who cared, he'd think of something nasty enough to do with it.
Now, one week after his return from apparent death, it would finally be complete with one last keystroke. He reveled in his sheer genius as the door opened behind him, and that irritating nasal voice sounded off.
"Sir?"
Robotnik would normally just growl, "What is it, Snively?" at his diminutive nephew. However, after this project's end, he was feeling rather upbeat.
"Greetings, Snively. I feel in the need for a celebration of my rebirth. That is," he glared at Snively, "unless you care to spoil my mood."
Snively seemed relaxed, for once. Maybe he actually found some backbone while running down the empire in his uncle's absence. That ought to be monitored – Robotnik would not tolerate competition.

"I don't plan on it, sir. The biometallic hands and feet we have been working on are nearing completion. I'm sure you will be thrilled with your wonderful new inventions." Snively had improved upon his ability to suck up, which did not bother Robotnik in the least. "The ones with the XG-300 dielectric capacitors and specialized super-electrode nervous cells?" Robotnik asked.
"Yes, sir," Snively replied. The fool probably had no idea what the words meant. No matter – it only bolstered his superior feeling.
This other project had been somewhat easier to compute than the restructuring program, yet just as arduous in carrying out. He had had to copy down every last bit of DNA information into his database from a sample of an executed prisoner, which was admittedly easier than figuring out how to manipulate it safely. Both tasks, however, were nothing compared to incorporating DNA into metal and meshing it with living tissue. But it had been worth it.
Unbeknownst to his underling, this was more than just a new experiment to test on hapless prisoners or against the Knothole brats. Robotnik had realized that his body could not last forever, and his roboticized arm would eventually fall apart as well. This combination of life and titanium should allow for a variety of things. Chief among them would be the ability to keep tissue from dying. In return, cell reproduction would keep the metal from decaying. On top of that, the material could not be deroboticized (he loathed the very term). Best of all, the brain, and thus the person who owned these new attachments, could be used to maintain an entire body of this stuff. That was the point of all this. If and when a complete body was made, his brain could be inserted, and then he would have immortal rule on Mobius. The possibilities were endless from that point.
"Very good. There had better not be any problems with the design, Snively," Robotnik continued to growl.
Snively had not expected that. Now he was beginning to sweat and quake ever so slightly. What did he do now?
"W-w-well, sir, there is one small setback. Due to the DNA's particular structure, the m-m-mechanisms will only work when attached to a f-f-f-f-f-…."
"Spit it out, Snively!" Robotnik roared.
Snively redoubled his efforts. "…f-f-FERRET, sir! A male ferret!" he spluttered, and immediately crumpled into a defensive ball on the floor.
Robotnik was taken aback. All this time…and he had overlooked this one detail! The DNA sample came from a ferret…Of course! How could he have missed it! And he had so stupidly killed him upon obtaining the sample. He wouldn't be able to use his own invention now. It might prove impossible to keep the true meaning of this setback hidden from Snively. This caused him to refrain from using the choice profanity bouncing through his brain's neurons.
"S-s-sir?" Snively no doubt wondered when his beating would commence. However, the other project's completion was sufficient humor for him to grant his bumbling lackey a chance to save himself for once.
"Snively…" Robotnik hissed. "You had better come up with a good, better, best reason why I should spare you this time, or else…"
"W-w-well…it would be good to test it out on a prisoner…w-w-we do have just one available…unfortunately, he's n-no-not a ferret…"
"Well, that doesn't ameliorate our predicament, does it, Snively??" Robotnik's voice began to rapidly increase volume.
"Ameli-what?" The terror was replaced for a quick second to display curiosity.

Robotnik sighed. "Solve our problem, idiot."

"Oh. No, sir. B-but they're so hard to find around here! Please don't!!" Snively squawked. Robotnik was planning a nice kick to the midsection for starters when it hit him. The restructuring project…it did need to be tested as well, didn't it? It wouldn't be good to make a whole body if the first parts didn't work right anyway, even on the right species. Perhaps he could try switching the species of his prisoner before making sure his prosthetic limbs worked. Snively would know about the DNA program then, but he could be…taken care of…later. Why not kill two or perhaps three birds with one stone? Robotnik chuckled at this morbid cliché.
"Luckily for you, Snively, that prisoner will do just fine."
"H-he…will?" the nephew whined.
"Do you question my capabilities?! I suggest you bring me our captive before your reprieve is revoked!!" Robotnik yelled.
Snively didn't bother questioning his fate and wasted no time in scrambling out of the room.
Robotnik grinned to himself, self-glorified in this display of might, and set about preparing the equipment for both the DNA restructuring and the limb attachment procedures. He wanted them both done as quickly as possible.

*************
Snively fumed as he descended the stairwell. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair! He thought – knew, for crying out loud – that Robotnik had died in that horribly planned Doomsday Project and left him to conquer the world by himself. Then Naugus came along, and he'd had to put up with his garbage until that hedgehog defeated that freak. Now his sadistic uncle had cheated death and made Snively his slave again. Blast! It appeared the waiting technique, his only practical strategy at this point given his opponents' superior strength, would have to be tried once again, but Snively's patience was almost gone at this point. He wanted to destroy everyone in his path to global rule with one fell swoop, but he couldn't. All he could do was bottle in his anger and hope his work could be accomplished for him. The task at hand, retrieving the subject of Julian's two experiments, needed to be run over again in his mind and might help him forget his troubles.
No such luck. His uncle made a foolish mistake by ignoring that nasty laser shot the prisoner had taken to his lower ribcage during his capture. It almost certainly would render him an ineffective weapon, if not dead, after the experiments. And Snively had tried to take care of it, in hopes of getting him to cooperate, but to no avail. With credit to his uncle's neglect, it was rather hard to take care of. The guy had attacked at least three SWATbots who went inside to check on him during the month he was here.
That was another thing; he had his qualms about doing these kinds of experiments to fellow humans. It was altogether creepy. In his uncle's absence, he had done it on rodents because they were inferior to fellow overlanders and thus there were no ethical qualms. Humans had merely been roboticized or executed as rodents would sometimes be, which was a bit troubling but also okay if they were enemies. This was much different. He always thought to tamper with humanity like this would cheapen his own life, although getting beat up by Robotnik didn't help that matter either. Of course he kept his mouth shut about it - after all, it wasn't that important considering his eventual goals of conquering the planet - but it still made him a bit uneasy.
Snively also didn't trust the horrid weapons in those…things they had just made in the lab. He just knew that the completed "experiment" subject, even if in good condition, would probably use them to tear him a new mouth some way or another some time after being loosed upon the land. This was because Snively, who was going to operate the anesthetics as the rotund one worked, would be the first thing the prisoner saw when he awoke and realized what had just been done to him. And because Snively was going to let him have it right now with a tranquilizer gun.

He had been walking through the secret prison corridors for a while now. Nobody, not even the hedgehog knew where this place was. Snively had made it in secret for this exact reason after all his prisoners had been stolen from the main jail two months ago.
So far, he'd taken care to deal with prisoners quickly. After this prison was made, he suspected a spy was leaking out top-secret information, but never found him. To keep any further information from leaking out of the jail cells, everybody captured was either eliminated or made a robot so far…except for this one, who just also happened to be the only overlander captured under his rule so far. Snively had to admit he was giving this one a break due to racial sympathy. He'd have to stop going soft on enemies, even if they were fellow humans.
The prisoner was a relatively young one, probably around 20. Between the insults and defiance directed at his captors, he had said something about being recruited from a sea-locked island, probably thousands of miles away from any other civilization. Now he was sitting here in a cell, still recovering from a serious injury, the stupid kid. He didn't know what he was getting into here and now he was going to pay for not minding his own business.
Now Snively passed by the umpteenth empty cell. It was more reassuring than its previous state, which included a boisterous wolf that used rather violent profanity when describing what he'd do if he could get his hands on Snively. That individual had been roboticized three weeks ago after he'd given up on trying to make the wolf betray Knothole.

The man he was going after now wouldn't say where it was either – partly due to loyalty and partly because he didn't know the geography of this part of the world well enough. He'd mumble something about being blindfolded and led around when outside of Knothole. Utterly useless…until now.
Snively turned the corner, and there he was, sitting in his cell. Amazing. The tall, skinny brown-haired man who called himself the obnoxious title of Top Agent Man (Snively couldn't get a real name out of him, so he abbreviated it and called the guy "Tam") looked quite well for a person whose ribcage had been trying to heal for a month. Maybe he'd eventually be as good as new.
Every prisoner down here usually greeted him with a traditional insult as Snively passed by. This time was no different.
"Well, if it isn't the vertically challenged one instead of a SWAT. I'm certainly getting the red carpet today." He coughed hard suddenly, and grasped his side. "What you got this time, slop instead of swill on a shingle? How thoughtful."
"You're slipping with the insults, it seems," Snively deadpanned. He knew it was unusual for himself; he despised any and all short jokes. But he had a reason not to get angry this time.
"Oh, and it can take a barb for once! What's got you so bright and happy?" "Tam" retorted.
"This." Snively raised the gun and pointed. Tam was taken aback for a second, then regained his composure.

"So this is it, eh? Rather lousy way to go, being shot by a gloating little man. But I guess there's worse ways." Tam hacked away again, his voice becoming very slightly forced. "I'm not afraid. I've lived more fighting for God and for liberty for a few months than you probably have your whole li-"
His speech was interrupted by a quick, whooshing release of air by the gun, accompanying the dart that came out of it and lodged in his arm.
"It's not that kind of gun, you twit," Snively smirked. "You're going to take a bit of a nap."
Tam only had a few seconds to contemplate this and then slumped forward unconscious. Snively snickered. It actually might have been a little more fun to blast his head off – and a little easier on his conscience. He walked forward and unlocked the cage.
Ugh. SWATbots would have been a good thing to bring with him down here. Now Snively would have to drag the sleeping beauty upstairs all by himself. Good thing the tranquilizer was good for a few hours.

*****3 weeks later*****

Robotnik was beginning to love these test procedures with Project Tam (that name would have to change sooner or later though, it wasn't menacing enough). What had started as a mere trial of his two latest pet inventions had grown into a new obsession and perhaps another plan to finally destroy the hedgehog. During further experiments, he'd found that he could manipulate the limbs, even his entire test subject, externally with a remote control.

So, Robotnik had made a collar for Tam that controlled not just the mind, but all aspects of the body as well. He could, and did, make his patient move and even fight from miles away within the comfort of his control room. As a safeguard, most of the weapons were linked to the collar and could be turned off. He'd also installed several enhancements built onto the new hands and feet since the initial operation, which would allow for more damaging maneuvers.

He had set his test subject against 40 opponents over the past three weeks. This translated to about two a day, and despite the intense and extended workload, his new creation was still nearly flawless when fighting. The enhanced ferret had shown no signs of health problems from either procedure, nor did DNA tests reveal any complications down the road. Sure, he looked quite a bit scarred from Robotnik's mistakes made in combat, but that was fine, as it added a frightening effect to his stature. And the weaponry in his new hands and feet worked to a T. They were a subtle, dull gray from the wrists and ankles down – Robotnik's personal touch.

As were the forest green fur, the dark brown pants and hair, and the red eyes. They'd given him an idea for a future plan, even. Tam would be camouflaged in the Great Forest until he found Knothole. He'd slink around, quiet and undetected, and maybe scare someone with the red eyes before killing him. No one would see him when he destroyed them all – except the bursts of energy from his weapons. Oh, it was perfect.

Today was the final test. He would need Snively here in the observation tower above the warehouse room to observe and record the results, as usual. Where was that lout anyway?

"Snively!" he roared.

"Coming sir!" The little man came running with a flask in his hand. Great. Just what Robotnik needed, an intoxicated assistant. Well, maybe not. He seemed in control of his faculties as he ran.

"Ready, sir!" he yipped, ditching the flask and removing the notepad from his pocket.

"Good. I want very precise notes taken today, Snively. We are going to test him against Mecha. If my pet can destroy the imitation," Robotnik gloated, "the original has no chance against him."

"But, sir, Mecha was destroyed while you were gone."

"Yes, and I rebuilt him. What do you take me for, a simpleton?" Robotnik growled.

Snively muttered something that sounded like, "You act that way sometimes."

"What?!"

"Err…your brain is so sublime?"

"Oh. Well of course it is." Robotnik took great pride in his extraordinary IQ. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. We won't need Mecha's services anymore if we are successful today. Summon the robot. I will guide my creation in."

Snively complied. Soon there was a whirring, and a blue blur blazed inside and congealed into a robotic copy of that detestable rodent at a position 30 feet from the door. Robotnik then took out a remote control and fiddled with it. Presently, Tam lurched inside as well, and Robotnik guided him to a genuflecting position. It was enthralling how his eyes glowed with the collar's bidding. The scars he had accumulated in his previous battles added a good effect as well.

Mecha diverted attention to the new arrival. Puzzled, the robot clanked up to this...strange being...that crouched there expressionless.

"Master…" Mecha droned. "Specimen unidentified. Please define."

"That, Mecha, is your competition," Robotnik spoke into the microphone. "It is an experiment designed to fight with superior arms and speed to yours. Destroy it, if you can."

"Mission accepted," the monotone voice stated.

*********

How many more of these do I have to face?
Wait...this one isn't like the others. It's cold and dead, not containing a living soul like the others…
Maybe it wouldn't be a crime if I took this one out.
If only I could move the way I want to…I've got to get this collar off.
And then perhaps some revenge on that monster who did this. There he is, all nice and cozy, grinning and gloating. I hate him.
Err… it's coming right at me…those spines don't look too nice…why isn't that lout moving me? Pay attention, you - !!!!

*********

"Well, sir, you seem to be doing well," Snively said.

"Well isn't good enough, Snively. It will be when the business at hand is finished!" Robotnik, despite this rational-sounding comment, was evidently basking in his glory.

Mecha had started the fight with a spinning attack that nailed Tam in the ribcage (the spot where the laser had hit two months ago – Snively had cringed at that) and sent him flying. Robotnik had cursed, screaming at Snively that he wasn't ready for the battle to begin (like that was going to help), and then directed Sam with the controller to get up, turn his hand into a laser pistol, and blast an energy beam along the floor at a moderately fast clip.

The rebuilt robot didn't see that one coming and was blown back by it. Robotnik then had his "pet" unleash three claws on each hand and run at the prone robot, slashing wildly. The latter got up just in time to block the repeated blows, and then grabbed the attacker's arm and thrown him. Robotnik, who apparently was getting good at the controls, got his creation to right himself and land without harm. Snively had never seen that before, thus prompting his comment.

Mecha unleashed a laser cannon, and Robotnik, again distracted by talking with Snively, swore again and tried to make his fighter parry. The attempt was successful, although the blast grazed Tam's chest. Mecha then began to accelerate, and quickly disappeared into the same blur he always did when at subsonic speed. Not having the reflexes for this, Robotnik pressed a button labeled "Auto-Mode" and watched the remote controlled ferret follow suit until he too was too fast. Robotnik then turned to Snively.

"Do you realize the meaning of this latest improvement?" Snively shook his head no; the Auto Mode button was new to him. It made sense, though – Tam would have to keep up with the hedgehog in order to defeat him.

Robotnik sported a menacing grin. "I've spent a long time installing more in that collar than just mind control, Snively. This button gives him the capabilities to..."

Snively tuned out, wearing a feigned attentive face, while his boss rambled through the technical details.

"...The upshot of it all is, if he can fight well even without my surveillance at the speed he reaches, there will be no possible resistance to my invasion plans," Robotnik continued. "Even that hedgehog will not be able to match him blow for blow. My pet will conquer the world for me!" Robotnik cackled in sheer twisted glee.

Sonic booms erupted in the room, and the shatterproof glass around the observation tower creaked but held. Metallic tings curiously sounded off as visible clashes appeared randomly throughout the room. Snively could only try to follow the action.

Eventually, a large clash erupted with finality. A scraping thud was heard, and both occupants in the tower turned to see Mecha's short-circuiting, heavily dented body crunch on the floor with Tam's quasi-metallic fingers pinning it by its neck.

Although the creature was remote controlled, Snively could see a slight grimace on his face. There were a few more cuts on him, and that hard hit he took on the ribs wasn't looking any better. He was gasping for breath, too. Could it be...

Nahh. No way he could be conscious of all that with the collar around his neck...right?

"And now…to finish the job." Robotnik mashed the buttons on the controller.

Tam jerked into action, throwing Mecha up into the air. He then raised his arms above his head, and then cast them down as if he was hurling a heavy burden into an imaginary hole.

What happened next completely stunned Snively as Ivo roared with delight.

A gigantic beam of green energy, perhaps ten feet in diameter, exploded out of Tam's palms onto the floor. From there it bounced, slicing upwards, and exerted a perpendicular force that strained the shatterproof glass even further than the sonic booms had. Mecha's frame was only visible for a moment, crumbling into dust against this absolute torrent of carnage.

Snively could not even look at the bright light of this beam for longer than a split second, and dropped his notepad to shield his eyes. It only lasted a few seconds. When it died out, a gaping tunnel had been carved through the roof, and the remaining fighter fell to the floor half-conscious, wheezing for breath. It was obvious the move had sapped him of strength.

Robotnik's insane laughter continued as he strode out of the room. "This time, I have succeeded! I have the perfect weapon!!! The world is mine!!!!!" he cackled. Just like he had countless failures before.

Snively could not stop staring at the poor brute. What had they done? He used to be another person, and now he was an involuntary, otherworldly monster.

And Snively himself had helped play God and tamper with creation. This was a sin, an unforgivable sin...

Enough! Where did all this nonsense suddenly come from? He was overreacting. It had happened enough times before. What did he care about? There would be no recompense for what they had done. Who would know about it? No one, until it was too late to prevent his global domination. That was what he wanted to begin with. Let good old Uncle Julian do all the dirty work, and then stage a quick, unexpected coup. It didn't matter how it happened, now, did it? The ends justified the means.

But Snively was beginning to have second thoughts…

Bother, he finally decided to himself. If you're going to get all sappy, then call up the SWATbots to clean him up. No time to get sentimental or the fat oaf will beat me senseless for dillydallying. And then eat a bowl of what? Ice cream topped with pickled green olives? Filet of lard, perhaps?

The task at hand, cooking a large and rather nauseating dinner, enabled Snively to release himself from doubt and proceed with his duties.

*****2 weeks later*****

Robotnik sat in the control room, contemplating. Snively was showing signs of unwarranted confidence of late. He had been griping rather loudly as well about that beast Tam's health conditions ever since the final test against the rebuilt – and redestroyed – version of Mecha.

Tam. What a pathetic name too. That wouldn't scare an infant.

The evil genius had at first responded by thrashing Snively for a few minutes at a time, but eventually had to admit the experiment would cease to function if not bandaged and taken care of. He was not, and could not be, sympathetic towards an inferior being. However, a deceased tool that would never work again could not fulfill his wishes, now, could it? And there wasn't a spare prisoner or set of limbs to use. It would take years to do it all over again.

So the thing had rotted there for two weeks swathed in bandages, surrounded by a cage that was in turn enveloped in a force field. This was so he wouldn't think about shooting Robotnik. Oh well. At least Tam would be healthy and more usable when the time came.

That was not his main concern at the moment. Why was Snively getting soft all of a sudden? He had to have some hidden motive – Robotnik knew his nephew would do him in and do anything to achieve his own goals, if feasible. That was part of the reason he had to be smacked around – to keep him in line.

What if he was planning something? Better to be safe than dead. Snively knew something, oh yes, he did. He was going to use that ferret against his own uncle, and then conquer Mobius himself. It was so clear, and it made sense, considering Snively had been in charge until he got Robotnik back from the Void. That was why he pretended to care, especially when the beast was in earshot. Why else would he stick up for the in terms of that. But his mind wasn't as brilliant as the great Ivo's, not at all. It had been a bad idea to keep the prating, walking waste of time around for this long. But how to dispose of him...

Robotnik glanced over at the cage containing the bandaged beast in question, and suddenly had a wickedly clever idea. If Snively liked that ferret so much, then he should share quarters with him. The thing would rip him to shreds and then blast what was left to ashes, all within the process of a few minutes.

He briefly considered controlling Tam with the remote to do this, but decided against it. It was too far a walk to the table across the room to go get it. Besides, his pet should by now be mean enough to kill his nephew without his command. A diabolical smile gradually formed across his sinister face.

One of his roboticized digits buzzed the intercom. "Snively! Get your miserable butt in here! I have a new task for you!"

The insubordinate groan was heard against the crackling of the intercom, but that didn't matter now. "Yes, sir. Coming right away."

A few minutes later, the deceptive little traitor walked through the door. How unsuspecting, right into the spider's lair. Robotnik afforded himself a few hidden words of praise.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Snively. It's time for you to feed the pet ferret, and perhaps take out his garbage." He was on a roll today. A good scheme and a good witticism. Snively stared blankly for a moment; his mind obviously was never deep enough to comprehend Robotnik's superior sense of humor.

"Get off your fat butt and do it, you big oaf," the dwarf eventually muttered. Robotnik did catch that one, but pretended not to notice. Snively would pay for it oh so soon. Still, he might as well show a display of power one last time before he dispatched one of his only living relatives.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do you wish to disobey and suffer the consequences?" Robotnik made himself get up out of his chair, and began to swagger up to Snively as if to give another shellacking.

"N-n-no, sir!" He hurried out of the room for a minute, returning with a piece of raw meat and a bowl of water. These he took over to the beast's cage, and waited for a moment for the cage's automatic locking door to recognize his handprint, turn off the force field, and open. Robotnik overheard him whisper something like, "Sorry, wish I could give you better." The last nail in your coffin, dear nephew, he thought.

The door to the cage opened. Now!

He gave Snively a hard boot to the backside, sending him flying into the bars on the opposite side of the cage. He then noticed the ferret lining up for a pounce, and manually slammed the door, laughing as hard as he could.

The ferret made a beautiful leap from its hind legs, claws extended, as Snively screamed in delicious mortal terror – and unexpectedly smashed into the door that was just slammed shut on him, with his left claw nicking Robotnik on the shoulder through the adjacent bars.

The Eggman gasped. His own creation had tried to attack him! And now he roared at him, trying to get at him, while completely ignoring Snively, who was screaming and huddled in a ball on the floor next to the spilt food materials. How dare he!

"You ungrateful piece of filth! I'll show you what you get for striking your master!!" the large scientist ranted as he slammed the force field back on and strode off to get the cattle prod, ignoring the scratch he sustained. Maybe the dark green furball needed more convincing. He'd almost certainly become frustrated enough to vent on Snively's carcass.

However, in his rage, he had forgotten about the remote control on the table directly in his path. Only noticing the table, he brutally threw it aside. Too late did he see the flying device; he stared as it arced sharply to the ground, striking with a show of sparks and smoke and several small parts.

The room was now filled with Robotnik's cursing as well as Tam's roaring and Snively's screaming. Anyone naïve or brave enough to be wandering around in Robotropolis willingly could walk by the room and think he was walking right past the entrance to Hades. Maybe that would be enough to scare this hypothetical person away.

Robotnik wanted to risk breaking his metallic fist by punching the wall. He loathed delays, especially ones that happened while he was angry and had caused them. Now he'd have to calm himself down and make another one. That would take all night for the piece of junk. Why did it have to be on the stupid table? Storming through the doorway, he proceeded to his electrical and computer labs to start the daunting task at hand.

***********

Snively still couldn't relax. He had been here for five hours now, sharing a cage with none other than the person who would have the largest grudge with him at the moment. And Tam hadn't killed him yet, but just stood there, bandages and scars and all, arms folded, with the same stony glare from his crimson eyes, and did nothing else. Oh wait, once in a while he would actually cough. Snively remained on guard, in the faint hopes it would do him any good if he were attacked.

It was, admittedly, getting very boring despite the peril. He wanted to say something, just for something to do, but still didn't know if it would forfeit his life. What was the use, anyway...Tam had probably forgotten how to speak after Ivo made him wear that compelling, mind-bending collar for so long.

Now it was turned off, and his uncle had been angry and foolish enough at being cut by Sam to smash the remote control that could have been used to finish him once and for all. Forgetting all about the cattle prod, Chubnik was now off in a lab somewhere, muttering nasty words and working on a new one overnight. The smart oaf had probably wanted to off him for a while now. Snively kicked himself for not seeing this coming.

Well, he was doomed anyway. Why not say something, just to end the tedium?

"Well...sure is a nice night out tonight," he said, bracing for any possible outcome.

The ferret just continued to stare at him, and Snively felt fatalism set in. If his time had come, no way was his uncle going to get to see it.

"Hmm...perhaps you'd care to kill me now? Julian will make you do it anyway when he makes a new remote control collar for you."

The stare continued.

"I mean, even if I did have your permission to try, I don't know how to get that thing off or get by the force field. Right now, I wish for both of us that I did."

Stare.

Snively had had enough. Why not come out with it and clear the air? What was the goon going to do anyways by now? Look at him to death?

"Look – I never wanted to turn you into what you are. I just planned to keep you in prison in the hopes you'd talk. I've never operated on a human before and never wanted to. It's bothered me right from the start." Now to blame Uncle Julian a bit, he thought. "If my uncle weren't so much bigger than me, I would have showed him a thing or two. He always makes me do cruel things to other people." Ehh, who am I kidding, I'm evil and deserve to die. "Oh well. I'll let you know right now…I still want to rule Mobius as a dictator myself, the same way my uncle has done it, and that makes me against everything you stood for, so you have every right to do this. I know I deserve it after all I've done. All I can say is I'm sorry."

Silence. What, is he deaf…"Why don't you destroy me? Come on and do it already!! You bloody twit!!"

He stopped ranting for a minute. Maybe the guy's brain circuits were fried. Intermittent nervous system manipulation was never a good thing for a person's faculties -

"I knew it."

Strange...Snively hadn't wanted to say that in particular at the moment. His voice also sounded funny suddenly.

"I knew you weren't all bad."

Wait a minute – he wasn't trying to say anything!

"I think I can forgive you now that you're sorry for what you did."

"What the bloody...!! You're talking!!" Snively shrieked.

"Yes," Tam grinned, putting his hands in the pockets of his now-raggedy brown pants.

"But...you stood there for five hours doing nothing!"

"I did that because I had nothing I wanted to do or say to you," Tam responded simply.

"B-but I thought you were reduced to a mindless brute!!" Snively wondered why he wasn't having a seizure at all this. All this time this guy could have spoken up to ease his extreme terror at the thought of being ripped apart...and he didn't!

"I may have to wear the collar but it doesn't wear me. I've been fully aware of everything the whole time. If I'd done anything earlier, Robotnik would have found out and done something worse to me."

Well, perhaps Snively wasn't done for just yet after all. It would be wise to get on his cellmate's good side next.

"Uh...I'm extremely glad to know you're okay mentally, Tam. Now if we could just get you and me out of here..."

Tam smiled again. "Don't worry, I have a bit of an idea. And you don't have to call me Tam anymore. My real name is Dare Forrester."

Good. That had been very irritating, having to improvise with the acronym of "Top Agent Man."

"Pleased to meet you on friendly terms, Dare."

The two continued to talk. In a nearby vent, two red eyes belonging to a certain spy glowed, watching the two. The roboticized hedgehog had seen it all. This was potentially very bad news. He scurried back out, knowing that he had to tell his own nephew in Knothole this new information.

**********

Robotnik waddled back to the control room, new remote control in hand, half awake but still intent on his goal after his all-nighter effort. His treacherous nephew would die so horribly. Maybe he'd have to give Sam a beating too from outside the cage for not cooperating and for causing all this bother to begin with. Accursed excuses for living beings that they were! He had worked all night making a new remote, after completing it five times only to break it five times in renewed fury. This time, he intended to vent where he should have earlier.

He entered, and turned to Tam's cage. "Now, Snively," he ranted, "you will taste the wrath of my - "

!!! What?? Where the blazes did that little spit go?

The ferret lay there by himself, snoozing. Not a trace of Snively in the cage. Either he had actually been swallowed whole – which was unfeasible unless the beast could unhinge his jaws – or...

Snively had escaped!

How?! Impossible! There was no way the little pipsqueak could get through those bars, or bend them. Yet, vanished he was.

Robotnik let out yet another round of unprintable language, awakening the ferret with a growl.

"Of all the blighted curses and foul plagues!!" he raved at the surveillance screens. Snively could be anywhere, plotting to kill him. "What else could possibly go wrong…"

*********

Snively was actually still in the cage as Robotnik cursed his absence. He had been helping Dare examine his hands' capabilities as they waited for the despot to return. Dare was annoyed he hadn't thought of this earlier while Robotnik manipulated his body during all those tests.

Oh, he had fought off the mind control easily enough. And after that, it had taken a while to accept his present condition and the polluted, metallic insanity that was Robotropolis. All the blows he had taken thus far in the fights, especially against Mecha, hurt like crazy, and he grieved over every person that had died as a robot by his hands. Indeed, Snively's few humane words to him every day, as well as fervent prayer, kept him from going insane.

However, Dare wasn't about to let his spirit break to some nutcase who happened to know some computer science, no matter what the circumstances. Besides, not enough effort had been put into the mental function of his collar. But his tormentor had completely worn him out with all the involuntary fighting and he couldn't focus on what he was doing.

Now was not the time to dwell on this, however. He would be fine, just as soon as he escaped. That would be as soon as possible under the circumstances. Until then, he would stay strong.

At any rate, one of these tools had turned out to be a cloaking device. This was now applied to Snively as he tried desperately not to make a sound, invisible to everyone.

The dictator turned from the surveillance screens and sneered at them. "When I find Snively, you are going to kill him. I assure you that."

Dare of course had to play along, snarling at him.

"I can't believe this," Robotnik stated as he began to talk to himself again. "What could make this day worse..."

Right on cue, the distinct noise of someone giving him the raspberry tagged everyone's ears from screen number 26.

"Hey, 'Buttnik! You gonna fail at catching me again or what!" Sonic the Hedgehog taunted.

Both cage occupants watched Snively's uncle seethe in rage as he had always done when encountering his nemesis.

"Miserable rodent!" he now screamed. He ripped open the intercom box and stabbed the button down.

"SWATbots!" he roared. "Report to sector -"

He glanced in their direction. Then a goofy grin began to etch itself across his face. This was not good news. Robotnik always seemed to do that when he was about to do something particularly nasty.

"No...Wait...Cancel that order," he cooed into the intercom, closing the connection. Then he turned to Dare, switching on the remote. He grunted as his body defied him and stood bolt upright. Oh no...what if he lost control of the cloaking device? Snively would be doomed.

"I think Snively's pursuit and demise will have to wait," the turgid one purred.

#@$%. Sonic had been a good friend as well as a role model for him in Knothole. He was also the best hope the planet had to topple this creep from power. And now Dare was going to be forced to try to kill him. All he could do was hope Sonic destroyed him first, which wasn't quite the way out of here he wanted.

"Your new target awaits you." That smell of ozone that defined the force field vanished. The door to the cage opened, and he half-heard Snively slip out, synchronizing his steps as best as he could with the clanking pace of his new ally to keep Robotnik from hearing as well.

"Now," Robotnik commanded with a rush of bravado in his voice, "destroy the hedgehog!!"

The ferret could only sit back and watch his muscles obey, but did his best to maintain the cloaking field. His body galloped off, taking his protesting mind and spirit with it. He hoped Snively could leave quickly before he lost all control.

***********

"Haaahahaha!!" Snively whooped as he sprinted down the hallways, like an enthralled schoolchild on recess, and away from his uncle's death sentence. "What wonderful luck!" The beast had been a fool for sparing his life, and now he would make good on his second chance. Of course, he couldn't do much now; his uncle had probably beefed up security just looking for him, so he'd have to wait a bit until Ivo had forgotten about him. Then – oh yes, then – there a triumphant Snively would be with a laser rifle! There would be a nice hole through that brain Uncle Julian exulted in so much.

He bolted headlong, noticing some more surveillance screens in another room, then halted. Why not see his uncle and the "miserable rodent" fight it out? It would be a most entertaining show. He wasn't an actor in that particular scene of this war anymore. Plus, he would be safely tucked away here. There weren't any security cameras in here that fed to the control room, nor would the brilliant idiot leave it in trying yet again – and probably failing as usual – to defeat his nemesis.

Snively rubbed his hands in anticipation. Once his uncle was eliminated, he would step in and finish off the resistance movement, as he had wanted to over a month ago anyway. It was true, he had made many mistakes and almost faced total annihilation the first time. But not again, Snively thought. Adopt, adapt, and improve. This time he'd use what he learned from his mistakes to efficient and deadly effect.

He looked upon a random screen, and saw the hedgehog doing what he usually did – making a mess of Robotnik's SWATbots. They would be his again soon, and they would be used more effectively.

"What, a million times I've faced you guys and you stilldon't know how to even find me?!" Snively heard him say with a tinny effect to his voice from the speakers.

"Blast you, rodent!" spit out another screen with the tyrant's mustachioed likeness on it. "No matter! You will meet your doom by my new creation soon enough!"

"Ohhh, I'm definitely shakin'. Tell me that when you've got something worth my time!"

What fun! The best television program couldn't top this. Snively giggled as a third screen butted in. "Come on! Get the lead out! We've got to get in range and fast!" Hmph, probably Sonic's backup crew running to aid. Yes it was – but no Princess Sally or the usual crew this time. Perhaps they were on another mission elsewhere or something. It looked like one of those simple, meaningless missions for new recruits that they'd do from time to time, except now they had probably scrapped it and were racing to help their fast friend. This comment came from the skunk named St. John, leading a raccoon, a cat, and...

Snively raised an eyebrow. Two humans in jumpsuits. Two fellow overlanders.

What were they doing here? Snively didn't understand why overlanders would help non-humans. That was about the only thing he agreed on with his vengeful uncle. The latter were inferior.

Or are they, he found himself thinking.

**********

Sonic leapt, curling into a spheroid and neatly cleaving in half yet another SWATbot. This was actually relaxing compared to some things he'd had to do on behalf of Mobius. It could get very old-hat sometimes, but it was a nice mindless diversion. He hoped Geoffery and the rest of the team here with him had finished with the three newbies' introductory reconnaissance mission by now or would soon.

Slam and crash. The last two tin cans around here are down, he thought. Now, he decided to have a little sightseeing tour of the ugly place to avoid the tedium of standing still, and saw a warehouse that didn't look quite as hideous as the rest of the buildings.

He was about to take off for it when the radio he had set down near his backpack flashed its LED crystals for the third time in the past thirty seconds. Sheesh. This was way too early for them to be done already. The mutual agreement had been to give a buzz only once to signify that everything was all right on the other end until everything was good to go. What did Geoffery want that was so important already?

Seeing that no SWATbots or spy cameras were currently near him and in commission at the same time, he finally picked up the annoying device and turned it on.

"Geoffery, you worry too much. It's all under control here."

"Sonic," the other voice panted. "You need to get out of there now! That ferret your uncle Chuck talked about is headed your way! And so are we, but he's almost as fast as you and he'll get there way before we do! What can we do to help?"

Crud. Maybe he shouldn't have taunted 'Buttnik quite so much.

"All right, Geoff. You guys stay where you are until I get back. I'll handle this guy."

"Okay. Be careful, all right? He's not exactly a pushover from the looks of it. St. John out." The radio's crackling died out.

Great. That wasn't encouraging. Well, at least his opponent was a little bit slower than him. He'd get this done, no problem as usual. If he hid somewhere, he could get the jump on his new adversary. He had a collar, right? Maybe Sonic could get in close, pull it off immediately and avoid any bloodshed.

Now to find a place to hide. Maybe that warehouse he saw earlier…. He looked around to make sure any cameras floating around weren't looking at him. There were none at all. Good. Sonic revved up and vanished inside.

***********

Well, Sonic's meddlesome friends had decided to stay put and leave their idol to face the beast alone? That was smart, and easier to swallow for Snively as he sat with his feet propped up on the console. Not only would it be bad to see Overlanders teaming up with non-humans, the human male also looked disturbingly familiar. Where did Snively see it before...

Of course! With the exception of looking shorter and with a less slight build, he looked almost exactly like the human prisoner.

That had been operated on and was now a ferret, and a beat-up and cyborgish one at that. Ick. Snively hoped they weren't related. It was bad enough to see one life ruined without seeing the other ones that had been hurt by it. How terrible to see what cousin thought of other cousin's new and permanent predicament…

Where did such foolish reasoning come from all of a sudden? Enough with this nonsense! It was bad enough he had blubbered like an idiot to that living experiment with this garbage in his head. True, it had got him a new lease on life, but it made him such a sympathetic weakling too. He'd never conquer Mobius if he kept letting his mind drift to this stuff. It was a lucky break and now he'd have to put it behind him.

A previously dark screen flickered on. This was a warehouse that was built more solidly than most of the other buildings in Mobotropolis and thus was easier on the eyes. Snively soon saw why the hidden camera there had snapped to life. Sonic was inside, and had tripped the motion sensor that turned on the camera. Hmph, now Robotnik would know where he was, right in warehouse 45. And Dare was doubtless headed there.

The door slammed shut, making for a very alarmed hedgehog, from the looks of it. What did the insane doctor have in mind? Gas him? No, that wasn't flamboyant enough for the overdramatic Robotnik.

"Ah, so I have you at last," the screen stated.

Snively jumped a foot before he realized Julian's comment was directed at the hedgehog, not him. So Robotnik also had an intercom inside the warehouse. What a pity Snively hadn't noticed it earlier. It would have made storage so much easier to order robots from the main control room rather than be there in person and waste time.

"Whaddaya want, Robo-butt? Just don't talk me to death," the blue blur started off with. It was like he read Snively's mind.

"Perhaps you'd like to meet my latest creation," Robotnik snapped back. What an unoriginal opening line.

"Aww, not another one, 'Buttnik! This is getting really old! Couldn't you think of something else while you were in that Void? Doesn't matter, I've cleaned the clocks of all the other ones and I'll beat this guy too."

"Oh really? I've got him armed to the teeth…well, to the hands and feet anyways. He's fast enough for you, and it would be a shame if he has to kill you at such a speed. I won't be able to see it." A silly giggle followed it.

"How corny," came the unfazed reply. "You tried that already. Mecha couldn't stop me and neither can this guy."

"Well, it is so regrettable how wrong you are. May I introduce Project...Oh dear," Robotnik muttered abruptly.

Snively allowed himself a humored snort. This would be worth a chuckle or two.

"'Sa matter?" Sonic was clearly getting impatient with his perennial opponent's jabbering. "Lost your voice – finally?"

"Err..." the super genius hesitated. "May I introduce Project...ah...Project Tammy. Wait, that didn't come out right…oh, bother," he finally resigned with a sigh.

"Tammy?! Hah!! How scary! Are you siccing your girlfriend on me?" The speedy one liked to taunt the names of various projects and this particular name was a prime example. Turning the name from "Tam" to "Tammy" as a last ditch effort only made it worse. "What happened to some freaky name like Doomsday, or Death Egg? What a weak name!"

"Shut up! I couldn't think of a better name, all right?"
"Right, whatever, Doctor Jim-Bob I-Like-to-Make-Stupid-Things-and-Name-Them-Even-Stupider-Things."

This was the sign that Robotnik just lost the war of petty words.

"Grrr...No matter," seethed the tyrant. "You won't be laughing when he gets through with you. Prepare to meet your doom!"

And there Dare was, blasting through the roof with a shot from a laser cannon on his arm. What a pity. He seemed like a noble enough chap, and talked about Sonic as such when Snively chatted with him in the cage. Now one of them would kill the other. It almost didn't seem right.

Ugh. He was going soft again on the ferret. Snively decided to counter this with thoughts of how to make his uncle expire as painfully as possible, as he turned away from the battle beginning to unfold and concentrated on the backup party for a bit.

**********

"Hmph. I don't like this," the 23-year-old overlander Wake Forrester muttered. He was huddled with the rest of his party just inside a drainage pipe, standing by with weapons drawn, up to their knees in squishy solid matter of thankfully unknown origin.

"Stop your worrying already!" Geoffery St. John responded. "There's not a thing we can do about it! Besides, Sonic's got a good track record. He can handle this. You'll see more of that as you get to do more challenging missions."

"It would have been nice if Charles gave us a name for whoever that ferret is," the other human, a 22-year-old woman by the name of Vega Kent, remarked. I just hope he doesn't have to end that person's life."

"Probably not," Baretta Artemix, a female raccoon and the third rookie aside from the two humans, answered. "I heard he tries not to kill roboticized people set against him. I doubt it would be any different here. Right?"

"That's right," Geoffery affirmed. "All we can do is be optimistic. We have good reason to be anyhow."

Wake noticed his professor was still extremely agitated.

"Those swinehunds," Dr. Mauser Panzer muttered. "Look vat they did to that ferret. That is why we cats stay out of outside affairs, so idiots can't get their hands on us."

"Sonic will see to it that he's going to be set free anyway," Wake pointed out.

"Ja...but at what cost? He's not exactly going to be good as new. I've seen enough civil rights being violated before this."

A somber mood descended over the feline academic's words.

"Well," Vega broke in. "How about we lighten the mood some, huh? Switch topics, and keep our spirits up. I've always wondered where your strange accent came from, Doc. You don't sound like any other cat I've heard talk."

"Well," Panzer chuckled, "it's a long story. But in summary, I was adopted as an infant from Cat Country und vas brought up und educated in another part of the world before I came back to my homeland."

"Heh, well, that's enough for me," Baretta grinned.

"I hate to be a party-pooper," interrupted Geoffery, "but could you jolly little gabbers keep it down a bit? We've got to see trouble coming before it reaches us, and that means keeping an ear open as well as your eyes. Surveillance cameras don't just ignore things they see, you know."

"Oh, calm down," Panzer dismissed. "It's not like we are being immediately followed by a -"

"FREEZE, INTRUDERS," droned a rather rude voice coming out of nowhere. "THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SURRENDER."

" - team of SWATbots," Panzer finished, looking sheepish.

Everyone turned around, and saw that exactly that group had marched in from behind, their clunky footsteps muted by the solid sewage of the drainage pipe. Now it was pointing laser rifles at them at point blank range. They dropped various expletives along with their weapons, and raised their hands above their heads.

***********

"Idiots," Snively stated aloud as he watched the five Freedom Fighters being escorted away by the SWATbots who had just captured them. He had heard all of the conversation, and it was mostly unnecessary. It had easily given them away. Ivo obviously heard them and had enough time to go read a book, eat a snack, and come back in time to order the SWATbots out there and witness their capture.

He wished he hadn't heard it too. All the bonding, all the good-hearted intentions…it was like the rodents were indeed human. The two Overlanders talking with them augmented this image.

And it made him feel like dirt. He only half-knew why, it just did. A cloud of guilt seemed to be looming over him.

Well, it would pass. He couldn't waste time on sentiment. Why was he even still sitting here? He should be outside of Robotropolis by now.

"Impressive, isn't he?" Robotnik now smirked on the other channel, which Snively now turned to.

"Save it, dork," Sonic spat out as he dodged a slashing attack by Dare's extended claws. Snively watched as Sonic grabbed the ferret and began to wrestle with him. He was definitely going for the collar, and finally grasped it. It was no use – the thing would never come off, it was constructed too well.

Robotnik shouted incoherently at this, underestimating the integrity of the collar's design, and began desperately making commands, putting the living puppet in some very odd positions. Eventually, he got his toy to throw Sonic across the room.

He then performed that super death beam move that had finished off Mecha, aiming the deadly blast right at Sonic. It could not blind Snively here, but still looked just as impressive. He could see the screen snow up right in front of him, eventually turning into complete static for a split second. When the picture returned, Snively wondered if Sonic's skeleton had even survived –

The ferret – or rather, Robotnik – had whiffed completely.

Sonic had seen it coming and dashed around it easily, only to find that Dare had taken to flying by way of rocket-powered feet. Snively could hear Robotnik's mashing his remote control through both the warehouse intercom and the room's speakers. Dare then spun upside down and hurtled head first at his opponent.

"Don't hurt yourself, pal!" he heard Sonic snicker as he easily dodged each and every one of Dare's diving attacks. It was obvious. Robotnik could never counter Sonic's speed, no matter what he did. Snively would have to figure out how when he came to power.

"Come here, you miserable little – stand still!!" Robotnik's fingers must be aching by now, Snively snickered to himself. Well, his organic fingers, anyway.

"And you, 'Buttnik...well, go right ahead and give yourself an ulcer!" The hedgehog wasn't even trying. Robotnik had underestimated him yet again. Snively had been right, his uncle had indeed been a simpleton when he rebuilt Mecha. The new robot, in retrospect, probably wasn't even close to its original capacities, which resulted in the ferret's powers being overrated when he blew it to oblivion. Why didn't Sonic just kill him?

"Very well!" Robotnik had something up his sleeve. "Let's see how you do on speeds closer to your level."

Of course!

The Auto-Mode button. Snively had forgotten all about that. That command had the collar make Dare go much faster than he had been going thus far. This battle was not over yet. Robotnik's cackling could be heard as Dare increased his speed around the warehouse, becoming a blur that was increasingly hard to track. The hedgehog caught on, and burst immediately into a sonic boom from standing position.

Well, while Snively was waiting for that business to finish, he decided to divert his attention to the new prisoners. They were still marching with the SWATs behind them. This went on tediously for a while until they finally reached a door. The view shifted, revealing more of the building, its roof, then a conspicuous hole in that roof, then the number "45" -

It was the exact same warehouse Sonic and Robotnik were now fighting in. His uncle did that a lot, checking a building's details on camera to make sure it was the right one. But what were they doing there?

**********

What a change. Sonic actually had to concentrate now. He sidestepped and backtracked, even flipped over the guy's head, and the ferret was still on his case. Whatever 'Buttnik was doing with his adversary, it was more than the half-baked effort initially given. Too bad the coward was hiding in another building somewhere, yanking the guy's chains as if he were just another robot. If he was here, then Sonic might have been able to take him out instead and end everybody's worries for good.

Now, he ducked a slash, and found himself avoiding swing after swing while backpedaling at Mach 2 trying to look where he was going. A trip-up would be fatal for either of them, so he stopped as gradually as he could, feeling a couple of slight grazes from the furious slashing. The fury halted with him, mirroring his every footstep. Sonic looked for an opening to counterattack.

"Not so easy as you thought, is he, hedgehog?" Robotnik taunted, hiding behind his stupid intercom.

Sonic saw that a witty rebuttal was a waste of time, and kept his attention focused. This fighting technique had to have flaws in it somewhere...

There!

Sonic let fly with his fist, right at the beast's jaw. The latter could not put up his hands in time, but instead crossed his wrists curiously, and Sonic felt his hand slam into a force field inches from the ferret's face that gave off a green tinge. It lasted just for a split second, long enough to absorb the counter, and then the claws came at him again.

Darn it, Sonic thought as he continued to evade the blows. This one just had too many tools in those new hands and feet...they couldn't possibly be roboticized. He continued to study the entire person of his assailant, avoiding the glowing gaze of the fixed, expressionless eyes. The arms, obviously, would be guarded, as were the upper torso. But the legs and feet, maybe...

Sonic stuck out a foot, and this time it worked. The ferret tripped flush upon his sneaker, and sailed headlong, falling rather hard on his face. His claws stuck and held into the floor, preventing him from even getting up.

"What?? Impossible!" Robotnik screamed. "No fair!!! How did you...?!?!"

"Easy enough, loser! There is nothing you can build, and no one you can mess with, that I can't take care of!" Sonic declared.

"Thank God...for that."

Sonic swiveled his head as rapidly as possible, trying to figure out who had just said that. There was no one in here except him and...

The ferret. He had somehow gotten to his feet, the controller still trying to make him loose his claws, and stood gasping desperately for breath, looking beaten and downright exhausted. While he was still underneath outside power, his eyes no longer displayed the soulless glare of the collar's control.

"I'm...so sorry..." he panted. "I'm sorry...for putting you…through this...and for what I've done...already." He caught his breath. I'm glad you survived my attack. I wish I could keep it from happening." With one last tug he was freed from the floor.

So he had fought off the mind control, but still had no control over his body. This posed a new spin on events. To kill him was no longer even a last-ditch option; he was reachable and conscious. No way was Sonic going to destroy him now.

This left only one alternative. That collar had to come off, regardless of anything.

"It seems that you can figure out my creation, and that he is of no serious threat to you anymore," that hateful voice seethed over the hidden intercom. "However, I still have you. Perhaps you would care to surrender if, shall we say, different circumstances arise?"

How weak did 'Buttnik take him for? Surrender? In a pig's eye. Sonic waved his hand in a rather undignified fashion that signified such line of thought.

"Very mature of you," Robotnik continued. "Would you care to see what circumstances I am referring to?"

Luminosity bloomed from a crack in a hidden door that slowly creaked open, revealing the gloom of outside, as well as Sonic's captured comrades. They marched in, the door slamming shut behind them.

Sonic couldn't believe it. What could possibly convince someone, after being trained for long enough, to walk right into armed SWATbots without any chance of fighting back? Yet there were his five friends, standing there with their hands on their hands with laser rifles in their backs.

"Don't even try to make a dash and free them," sneered the dictator. "I'll have Tam occupy you as your courageous friends have their spinal cords blasted out."

Great. Absolutely perfect, Sonic grimly thought to himself. Now what was he going to do?

**********

Snively felt his unease continue to grow.

First off, this was unorthodox, taking prisoners to the scene of a duel with the hedgehog rather than simply escorting them to prison cells. They could, and would, mess up the entire proceedings after getting free some way or another. Second, it was simply creepy that two humans were right next to another being who was once human. Plus the fact that the man looked way too much like Dare. A rather unfunny "before and after" comparison of the two, it seemed like divine manipulation aimed right at Snively himself. He knew he should have protested those experiments, even if it didn't get him anywhere.

And he could not rid himself of this guilt, no matter what he tried. What was wrong with him? Here he was, still letting his conscience bother him, when it had never gotten in his way before. What gave?

Snively knew what gave. He'd tampered with the humanity of a fellow overlander. Now, not only did he feel remorse, he was actually beginning to think that maybe he never had the right to do it to members of other species either. Even exterminating and roboticizing them was beginning to sound wrong. What had he done? Maybe he should let Robotnik kill him for what he did.

"SWATbots!" his uncle barked through the speakers, interrupting his thoughts. "Secure the hedgehog, and bring the prisoners forward!" The robots complied on the screen, training their laser rifles on Sonic at point blank range; even he wouldn't be able to get out of the way quickly enough. Two of them then threw the prisoners forward on their hands and knees, one after the other. The ferret himself was silently jerked into a threatening stance, claws unsheathed. Sonic stood at bay, eyeing him with a look of disgust on his face.

"What are you doing here? I told you to get lost!" the hedgehog hissed at his compatriots.

"Sorry, Sonic. They sneaked up on us somehow," the skunk sheepishly replied.

"Yeah, we were doing everything right too. They just came out of nowhere," pleaded the raccoon. Snively was beside himself trying to figure out why he sympathized with them rather than condemning them as fools.

"Ehh, I guess it happens, guys," Sonic said forgivingly, a bit of static fuzzing his words to Snively. "Don't worry, we'll think of a way out of this."

"Silence!" yelled Robotnik. "You have two choices, rodent! Surrender, or watch your friends be ripped to shreds right in front of you! How do you answer to that?"

"In your dreams!" was the angry answer from the human female. "We'll die gladly! You're cheap and crooked enough to take us out even if he does surrender!"

The other four doomed captives agreed with according discord.

Snively could see Sonic for the first time have a look of panic on his face. He'd never shown that when he himself was in a dire situation. This time was different; he was held helpless while his fellow Freedom Fighters – the term "friends" seemed more accurate now – stood about to meet their Maker. And it was by something Sonic would have been able to stop but they could not. Robotnik had finally found out how to really make his mortal enemy squirm. And Snively suddenly hated the idea after relishing it for so long.

"Come on! You can't be serious!" he begged them.

"We've got something in mind," Snively barely heard the skunk whisper, and they began to argue with each other. So they were going to make a last stand themselves against this enemy. Too bad Robotnik was too ruthless to let it pass.

"You have delayed too long, hedgehog! Perhaps if one of your pathetic fellow rebels is dispatched, you will give a more immediate answer! Would the male human care to go first? Too bad – you will anyway."

The green one advanced, claws poised to strike at the person mentioned. Snively had to turn away.

YOU!
What are you doing here? Did you come for me?
You always did look out for me. You told me not to come here and join the Freedom Fighters. I was so stupid not to listen.
You shouldn't be here. You should have heeded your own advice.
And you don't even know it's me. It's probably for the better. Curse Robotnik and his meddling with me!
Oh no, it's happening again. Don't sit there, you idiot, move!
Too late, he's given up, he won't move.
No.
I refuse.
I will not take another life.
I WILL NOT!

***********

"EAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The scream Snively heard sent him off his seat and running back a few steps, holding his ears and tightening his face in terror. It was absolutely undescribable. Pain, struggle, rage, it was all there. He'd heard it so many times before when someone expired or gave in under his brutal interrogating techniques, and it never fazed him before. But this time he couldn't stand it. Someone – an innocent human child of a man, at that – being turned into a monster, and now forced to kill his own brother...and Snively, he was to blame for it all. It was driving him crazy.

"Please, God, I'll do anything," he sputtered. "I'll change! I swear I will! Just take it away!"

Something presented itself to Snively's mind, almost like it was whispered in his ear.

Change your heart and let your eyes be opened. That's all I ask of you for now.

Who had said that?

You'll find out soon enough who I am when you're ready. Now look at the screen in front of you.

Snively found himself looking at the screen.

It wasn't the human at all making that caterwauling. It was Dare.

He was fighting Robotnik for his freedom and his brother.

************

Wake knelt there, still not comprehending.

He should be at the pearly gates right now, but instead he was still here. And the monster in front of him, rather than sending him to those gates, was standing there yelling his head off and grasping at his neck.

"You worthless wretch! Kill him!" he heard the rather disagreeable voice spurt out from the hidden intercom.

The ferret referred to as "Tammy" somehow refused. Those metallic claws reached his collar, visibly shaking, with a will that shouldn't be there, defying the commands shocking his neurons against his will. With two quick motions, he sliced through the neck brace, and tore it off his neck as Wake continued to look on. Then he threw it away from everybody as it exploded, knocking him over but leaving everyone else unharmed.

The intercom was abuzz with foul language as "Tammy" tumbled to the floor and lay there coughing and wheezing, devastated by the effort and subsequent explosion.

"Come on already! That's not supposed to happen!" Robotnik whined. "SWATbots, kill him!"

The SWATbots aimed their blasters at the ferret, and away from Sonic and the others. Big mistake.

Wake leapt to his feet and let the closest robot have it with a flying kick to the head, knocking it off. He looked around in anticipation of another target, and saw that he didn't have to bother. Panzer and Geoffery produced grenades they couldn't reach while being guarded by the SWATbots. These were tossed like so much debris, combusting and taking out a few more robots farther away from the living occupants of the present space. Sonic bashed through still more, and Vega and Baretta struggled with one SWATbot apiece, overcoming and bashing their enemies with martial arts techniques. All of them were taken care of. Now for that...thing. Wake ran over to the beast and tried to figure out what he could do for him.

"Get out of here. Save yourself, Wake. I'm only going to slow you down."

He could speak. But that wasn't all.

"Wha-? How'd you know my name?"

"Heh...you still don't recognize me? It's all right – couldn't expect you to."

Wake was beginning to feel a tinge of shock and anger set in. No way. It couldn't be. It just couldn't!

"You always did look out for me, even when you weren't trying to."

"...Dare?!"

The beaten, exhausted, quasi-cyborg ferret nodded with a smile, then passed out.

Now the trickle of rage grew into a tsunami as the information sunk in concerning who this person was. Wake then tried to comprehend what had happened to him, and suddenly snapped. He whirled around, trying to find some semblance of the evil that was responsible.

"You monster!! What did you do to my only brother?!" he roared. "He's just a kid! What kind of a person does this to people?! I swear if I ever find you, I will smash you with my bare hands!"

With tears running down his eyes, he stared at his younger brother as the others could do nothing but look on.

***********

So they were brothers? That sure sounded right. Snively was in for it if the other one ever found him.

Oh well. He had it coming. He'd hurt and destroyed so many lives and he had it coming. But whatever – no, whoever – had spoken to him just now seemed to give the impression that it wouldn't come after all.

He watched onscreen as Wake knelt by his fallen but still living relative. The others began to walk over to him with consoling words, trying to make sure they were okay. The woman, probably a girlfriend of one of the brothers, put a hand on Wake's shoulder, saying things of comfort that Snively couldn't hear over the intercom. Almost all the others stood by, trying to offer what they could for assistance. The skunk was busy looking for a way out and ignored the whole situation.

What a support group – even in this dire situation. Snively was accustomed to untrusting alliances with the assurance that backstabbing would come down the road as everyone tried to protect his own skin and take everything. This was way different. Was there some way he could ever experience such honesty and commitment from whom he could call friends? Especially from those he used to condemn as beastly nuisances to be eliminated?

Nah. Not for him. He was a hopeless case.

Still, he wished so badly he could do something for them, just to make up for his evil ways. And he obviously couldn't stay in Robotropolis. Robotnik would find him and devise some decidedly unpleasant way to kill him if he did that. What to do?

Could he give the other side of this struggle a try?

***********

Robotnik swore in wrath, ignoring the human's threats. That collar was foolproof! No way in the world could anyone fight off the programming he'd put in there! Indeed the mind-control was rather weak, but the physical manipulation should have lowered his resistance to the point where it wouldn't have mattered. Now he'd lost yet another weapon to his enemies. Good thing the ferret's new abilites were partly powered by the now-obliterated collar.

Blast it! He shouldn't have even bothered trying experiments outside of roboticizing on prisoners. It was so aggravatingly obvious that he might lose weapons like this to the Freedom Fighters, particularly conscious ones. Not only that, but his nephew was alive and well somewhere, a constant threat to his own safety. The increased security around him should be sufficient to forget about Snively.

Should. Intangibles were displeasing to think about.

At least he still had the hedgehog and those other brats trapped in that warehouse. Robotnik himself was a good mile away, safely in the main building. There was no way out for those arrogant fools, unless somehow they could defy physics and jump fifty feet through the hole in the roof, or tunnel through two feet of solid lead-steel amalgam on any side. Even the hedgehog couldn't do those things. Or so he hoped.

"Sonic! We have to get the door open!" he heard Geoffery yell through the intercom.

Oh, no you don't, Robotnik sneered to himself. The rodent and his friends weren't getting away this time. The price of a warehouse was well worth destroying the main obstacle to his global plans. He could hardly keep from salivating at this precious moment as he furiously punched in the key codes for the building's destruction.

"Right away!" Sonic hollered back. "Everybody! Get ready and let's kick this door down and get out!"

"All for nothing, hedgehog!" Robotnik barked over the intercom, watching his prey's heads snap up in alarm at his voice. "I'm blasting this building to pieces and you with it! Take ten seconds to say your prayers!" His fist slammed on the "execute command" button.

***********

"Ten!" Snively's uncle began to count on the screen's speakers.

That door in the warehouse...

"Nine!"

Emergency switches to it were in this room beside the doorway, he suddenly remembered.

"Eight!"

Perhaps it was time to make a step in the right direction for once.

"Seven!"

Snively scrambled over to the control box.

"Six!"

His eyes darted as quickly and efficiently as possible...where could it be...

"Five!"

There it was, Warehouse 45. Snively threw the switch, disabling the lock mechanisms.

"Four!"

He turned back to the screen, and saw the door swing open. The male human deftly shouldered the ferret, who opened his jaw for a moment – was it him or was Dare telling him "Thank you" – and everyone stopped ramming the now-open door and joined hands. Sonic and company zoomed out, making a clean escape.

"What the – ! ...Wait – It was you, Snively!" Robotnik yelled while this occurred, not needing too much time to figure out whom to blame. "When I find you, I will rip off your head and -"

The last four seconds were up.

Snively didn't notice the minor earthquake caused by the warehouse's explosion, nor did he care that the screen for its camera had turned to static. He was too busy sprinting out the door and down the corridor, like he should have been in the first place, running for his life.
Then it occurred to him. Why not leave his uncle a little "present" before he vacated the premises entirely? It would only take a minute, which he probably had.

***********

Princess Sally Acorn stood outside Robotropolis, worrying. The others hadn't come back yet. Something was wrong.

She had, once again, gone completely undetected in Robotropolis while stealing as much data as she possibly could from Robotnik's database. It was routine now for her to do these missions as quickly as possible. Her father, now reclaimed from the Void, frowned upon her involvement in the activity, often telling her that it wasn't safe and the dirty work should be left to Sonic and other individuals. But she'd grown used to it and nothing too bad had happened to her as of yet. Well, nothing she didn't get away from.

However, she wasn't thinking about her own safety at the moment. Usually, when Sonic took this long to distract the security, he was doing one of two things: either getting carried away and having a bit too much fun breaking things, or being in serious trouble. Since the three recruits and two other people were also still unaccounted for, she feared the latter.

A large explosion from far off shook the ground. Oh no. They had better not have been in whatever just blew up.

Thousands of thoughts ran through her head as she hoped against hope for their safe arrival. True, she admitted that she loved Sonic and would be devastated if anything happened to him. He was their best hope, their main chance, for victory. They could not afford to lose him of all people. And of course, the five other lives at stake were important as well. In particular, Geoffery St. John was the leader of the Secret Service team of Knothole, and to lose him would also be a crippling blow. That was all one problem in itself.

There was another matter. One of the others was a college professor whose immediate job was to see to the welfare of the two humans also in the missing party. He'd recruited those humans right out of his class from a colony situated on an island in the middle of a large ocean, one of the few places yet unaffected by Robotnik's grasp. They were here to see what was going on, then go back and make an impression on that colony and get some much-needed aid in the form of soldiers and resources. If all three were lost, the whole plan would go up in smoke. She'd already lost one member of that colony to Robotnik, and she didn't care to lose another. Sally was at a loss as to what to do at the moment.

A sudden, trademark blue blur, accompanied with a sonic boom, abruptly alleviated her fears.

"Yo, Sal? Sorry to keep you waiting," apologized Sonic as the other people dusted themselves off.

Sally ran to him, wrapping his shoulders in a death grip. "I'm so glad you're all safe," she whispered. Then she shoved him hard onto his backside. "And just what in blazes took you so long?! I was worried sick!! If you take that long again just having fun, Sonic T. Hedgehog, I swear I'll – "

"Whoa, easy!" Sonic flipped back onto his feet. "We ran into a little trouble."

"Oh, there better have been more than just a little." The threatening stance stood.

"We ran into Dare Forrester, courtesy of 'Buttnik. Naturally, we took care of that easily." Sonic's glum face belied the enthusiasm that should have accented this statement.

Dare Forrester? That's both good and bad, Sally thought. That was the individual they had lost on a previous mission over two months ago, presumed dead because he had been shot. So he was still alive? That was good to hear. But she felt bad for Wake. That must have been unsettling for him, having to see his brother in Robotnik's control.

"Right," said Geoffery, eager to impress and unaware of the events that had transpired during his quest to open the door. "He actually gave Robotnik more of a fight than he gave us. Mind control and all. But he fought it off very admirably. Too bad we had to leave him there in order to escape in time."

"Uh, Geoff..." Dr. Panzer interrupted.

"Well, after all," Geoffery continued, ignoring him, "what could we do? The way out only opened up just in the nick of time. I had to forget about him the second he fell over from an explosion just to try to find a way out." Now he began to turn around, toward Wake's direction. "I'm just glad we could save our – Blimey!!!"

Sally looked too, and gasped.

Wake was carrying what looked to be a ferret, with a shock of brown hair and green fur, draped unconscious over his shoulder. From his arms dangled hands and wrists that were robotic. However, they looked far different from anything she had seen before out of the roboticizer and had claws extending from them, much like Knuckles' burrs but larger and more menacing. On top of that, he didn't look in the best of health, to say the absolute least. He was a sight. Wake looked absolutely furious, and Vega and Baretta stood by with Panzer, trying to figure out how to present this situation to the princess.

Geoffery, however, was oblivious in his shock.

"Forrester! What in blazes are you doing! He could kill us all!!" he screamed.

"I doubt he's in any condition to do that," Vega answered angrily. Wake just gave Geoffery a deadly stare. Still not realizing his faux pas but understanding he'd made some sort of error, Geoffery stood down with an apologetic look on his face.

Now Sally overcame her initial shock, and spoke.

"Who is that?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"It seems I got my brother back," Wake replied, still trying to comprehend what happened.

Sally couldn't believe it. Robotnik had the power to do this? Did he hold nothing sacred about life? Poor Dare was fortunate just to get away. What if there was a whole army of people like this in the works? She hoped that the data she had stolen would point to the contrary.

Sonic broke the awkward silence.

"We'd better get back. We can't help him here."

As everyone grabbed onto each other for the trip back, they all failed to notice a very small, very nervous man inching out of the nearest building in Robotropolis, about 200 yards behind them, making his way away from the city. They were too busy wondering what to do in the light of this turn of events, as well as just how that warehouse's door had decided to open and release them from a terrible fate.

*********

It was stupid of him to throw himself upon the mercy of the Freedom Fighters. They'd hang him for treason rather than have him, most probably. Ah well, he deserved death for what he'd done anyway. It was worth a chance. They would condemn him as a bloodthirsty, murderous tyrant – he more or less was one anyway – or they might forgive him and allow him to join. He was satisfied with either possible outcome. Of course, it would take him a couple of days in the woods to be spotted by somebody from Knothole, surrender, and be escorted there. He wished it would happen quickly so he'd know his fate sooner.

There were two bargaining cards up his sleeve. First, he'd saved a few important lives by opening that door. Second, before escaping Robotropolis completely, it occurred to him to have a bit of entertainment at the expense of the DNA restructuring program and data that had caused the whole mess. Indeed, it had taken a bit longer than expected to find and hack it. But, since Robotnik left himself exposed by letting Snively know about the program to begin with, it hadn't been too hard.

Now, not only was it erased, if dear Uncle Julian tried using it again the software would block him with an obscene error message followed by a system shutdown. As for the disturbing quasi-living limbs, all he could do was pray that Julian could be defeated before he got around to messing with it any further. It should take the tyrant an excessively long time to build another prototype. Hopefully all that would be enough to spare him.

He'd seen the hedgehog's roboticized uncle spying while he was locked up that night. So that was the spy, was he? And he'd learned to fight off the mind control, too. Princess Sally was there, too – he saw her hacking into the computer systems on the way out. Wouldn't she be relieved and pleased with what he did? There was no doubt those two could be turned to if proof was needed. Yes, hopefully it would all work out and he would learn to abandon his evil ways.

Besides, if he was spared and had any regrets about this, the hedgehog would surely triumph over Robotnik because the latter was too arrogant to truly take "rodents" seriously. He could still take over the world from his new position as soon as his uncle was defeated. That was the stance he'd have to take anyways, to avoid looking deceptive and having cynical people poke their noses into his business. They wouldn't fully accept him, probably ever, no matter what he did.

But he had to try. He had been wrong, and if he had to face the truth in any fashion, then so be it. Maybe he'd even overcome his prejudices towards the non-humans as well. As for his uncle, that conceited fool would pay for his own crimes at a later date, but never again would Snively be associated with him.

Thus he continued on, away from the dead city and towards the Great Forest, leaving Robotnik for good.