The Royal Archives: A Return To Origins

(A/N: This story won't be nearly as long as my previous two. It's mainly just introducing more characters into my stories. I have siblings of my own, and personally, I can't keep children away from parents or siblings away from each other. There won't be too much action in this story either, but then again, I have more to add to it, so who knows. Enjoy.)

Fang's Secret

Sleet was waiting impatiently at the rendezvous point, arms crossed. What was taking those two incompetents? Suddenly he heard Dingo call, "Sleet, hey Sleet!"

Sleet unfolded his arms and looked in the direction of the voice, instantly on guard. Dingo sounded like he had found something. Sure enough, as Dingo burst through into the clearing, Sleet saw a figure in his arms. His eyes hardened as he asked, "What is that?"

Dingo stopped and displayed the burden. Sleet gasped, eyes widening. "It's a weasel wolf mix mate. She looks just like Nack. Ya think she's a freedom fighter?"

Sleet looked at her in disbelief. It was like looking at a clone of the sniper! After a moment, Sleet replied, "I think that Fang hasn't told us everything."

Dingo looked curious, but just then Fang came from the woods, saying, "Nothing to report Sleet. I think we're alone." He looked ahead at his partners, rather team. He gasped, though, on seeing the girl. If he could have paled, he would have. "Nic!" he exclaimed in terror. "No, no, no, no, no!" he began, running towards them. He slid to a stop then demanded, "What did you do!"

"N-nothin' mate. I found her in a cove where a plane crash had happened," Dingo said, confused at the reaction.

"A plane crash? How, when?" Fang mused, half to himself.

Sleet suddenly shoved him back, saying, "Well, well, are we missing something here?"

"Can we talk later? She needs help," Nack pled.

"Talk," Sleet ordered.

Fang nervously looked to her as she moaned. Quickly he said, "Okay, okay, she… she's my big sister." He looked away, embarrassed.

"What!" Dingo exclaimed. Sleet didn't seem surprised.

"I never told you about her because, frankly, we can't stand each other, and that's putting it mildly," Nack admitted. "She's always been ahead of me, and I always tried to impress her to earn her respect. We've tried working together in the past, but it rarely worked well. We hardly keep in touch."

"You seem concerned now," Sleet remarked.

"Sleet, come on, give me a break. We might not get along, but, I mean, she's my sister. You know, blood is thicker than water and all that jazz," Fang whined.

"He's got a point mate," Dingo said.

Fang was looking worriedly at her. "Nack…" she suddenly moaned, her brother's voice barely breaking through her hazy thoughts. "Fang… little brother," she said, tossing her head as if trying to wake up, but not able to.

"I'm here Nic, I'm here," he said worriedly.

Sleet sighed then relented. "Let's get her to Robotnick. I'm safe in assuming he knows about her and just neglected to tell me?"

"Oh yeah," Nack confirmed.

"Hey, I just got it! Nic and Nack, Nic Nack!" Dingo exclaimed.

Sleet and Fang slapped their faces. "Come on you dolt!" Sleet ordered. With that, the three raced back to Eggman's ship.

They burst inside, Nack saying, "Eggman, we need a room."

Eggman whirled, startled, only to see Team Vile standing there, plus one. Eggman's eyes widened. "Nicolette?" he questioned, shocked to see her again after so long.

"You bet Docta. I found her in a cove, by the wreck of a plane. I thought she was a freedom fighter," Dingo said.

"By a plane wreck?" Eggman suspiciously asked, looking at Fang accusingly.

"He was just as surprised as we were your rotundness," Sleet said, catching Eggman's gaze at the weasel. Fang sighed in relief.

After a moment, Robotnick said, "Very well, get her into a room."

"Thank you sir," Nack quickly murmured. With that, Sleet led the way into a room.

Now Team Vile hovered over her, Nack sitting at her bedside, Dingo standing by her head, Sleet hanging back and watching suspiciously. "What was she doing here?" Sleet suddenly questioned.

Fang paused, straightening up, then began to think. What was she doing here? After a moment he shook his head, saying, "I don't know. We'll have to ask when she wakes up. All I can tell you is that she's a bounty hunter too. Not as good at shooting as me, that's the one thing I beat her at, but she's a good shot. She doesn't have an air bike either. My guess is that somehow, back in Robotropolis or Knothole, or somewhere; somehow they've heard about the crash. She might have been hired to check it out and bring back pictures, a souvenir, or Eggman himself. I don't know how, though, after all this time, that suddenly someone from back then would know where to find him again. After Sonic stopped returning with his friends, they didn't know where he'd gone. Sally was crushed, so were the others, but they keep hoping he'll show up someday soon."

"I know how they suddenly know," Sleet said in an icily calm and eerie voice, a hard glint in his eyes. The other two looked at him fearfully, then nervously at each other.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how mate?" Dingo inquired.

"Aleena," Sleet finished.

"Sleet, think about that for a minute. How? If she had stayed in contact with them, she would have known Sonic was alive a long time ago," Fang said.

With that question, Sleet launched into a long narrative. "The royals were outlawed, separated. They dropped all contact with each other. Aleena disappeared form the face of Mobius. All through the Sonic Underground's crusade, she never once mentioned any of the royals, and they never mentioned her. For all they knew of each other, they could be dead. Chuck was roboticized, I remember, so was Jules according to Eggman, and she never heard of it, her own brothers. She wouldn't contact them for fear of Eggman, and after the incident she was too distraught to know what to do. Aleena and her brats looked for each other, but she couldn't go to Jules or Chuck or King Max, or any of them, because she had no clue where they were. Because she didn't know where they were, she couldn't check for Sonic where he was supposed to be. Even if she had, she wouldn't have found him, because he didn't return right away. He found Tails, remember, then the Knothole Freedom Fighters, then he left again with Tails and met the others, once in a while returning. Soon enough, though, he stopped going back and focused on his main battles with Eggman, and he never looked back. Sonic put his family behind him, thinking they were dead, but not his old friends or adoptive parents. Silver met them too, remember, and Aleena only just met Silver. She would have found out, by now, that finally, after all this these years; she could get in contact with her family again. She would have been overjoyed. Sonic would have told her everything that happened to her brother's and friend's over time. She would have gone through every emotion in the book. She would want more than ever to speak to them again. They'd heard nothing from her, and if Sonic was to be believed, they would think she was dead. Now, through Silver, she can speak to them again without putting them in danger. Eggman is here, not there. She would have told them everything. I foresee a return to origins in the near future. At some point it will happen. It's been a long time since Sonic's last visit to his roots."

"Too much explanation," Dingo moaned.

"You want us to inform Eggman of your enlightening?" Fang asked. "Nic isn't going to wake up for a while, it seems, and I need to walk around."

"You read my mind," Sleet replied. "I'll watch the weasel. I mean, your sister."

"Right mate," Dingo said as he and Nack left.

Sleet sat down with a bored expression to watch. Just as he was about to drift off, though, he heard her groan. He perked up, watching her. She tossed her head a moment, then all at once her eyes opened on him. He stared coldly back. She closed her eyes. Suddenly she sat up with a gasp, realizing what she'd seen. She looked at him and demanded, "Who are you!"

"None of your business," he replied.

She settled down and cocked her head. "The last thing I remember is grabbing onto some driftwood after a crash, then blacking out. Then there were arms pulling me from the wood. I tried to struggle, thinking I would drown, but a voice told me to calm down. The person brought me to shore…" she said in confusion. She looked at him curiously, then said, "Your voice sounded more Australian I thought. And you felt more, well, bulky, than you look."

Sleet was confused for barely a second, before he understood. She thought he'd rescued her. "That's probably because it wasn't me," he corrected.

"Then who…?" she began.

Just then, though, the doors slid open, and Dingo and Fang entered, talking. They stopped, however, on seeing Nic sitting up. "Nicolette, you're okay!" Nack exclaimed, hurrying to her.

"Nack, bro?" she asked, as her brother embraced her. Not knowing what to do, she lightly held him back. She'd thought she'd heard his voice, but she couldn't see how. She thought he was still back around Knothole somewhere. Well why wouldn't she think so? She hadn't talked to him for a long time. She didn't bother keeping tabs on him. She shoved him back and demanded, "What's going on? Where am I? Who are these guys Fang?"

"Glad to see your awake Sheila," the big orange dingo suddenly said. She froze and looked at him. That voice… Had he rescued her? "I thought you were a gonna when I swam out to get ya," the dingo continued.

"That was you?" she asked, confused.

"Lay back down, sis, and we'll explain everything," Fang said; and explain they did.

Nic listened in shock. She could hardly process it all. It was now late. She was on Eggman's newest base surrounded by her brother and two others, Sleet and Dingo, who had all apparently been put into a team called Team Vile. She liked that Sleet and Dingo were bounty hunters too. She'd heard of their adventure, or adventures, rather. She summed them up. Dingo, not much to say. He rescued her and he was the brawn of the group, hands down. Stupid, but useful, and lovable. If not for him, she'd be dead. Fang had said he was a flight member. Apparently Sleet thought highly enough of him. More highly than he'd thought of most. Sleet… now there was an interesting one. She had been instantly intrigued, hung off his every word, and to be fair, she smirked, he wasn't bad looking. He was the leader of the team too. She'd like to get to know him better.

"So you've finally found a team you can actually stand and haven't betrayed yet, huh Nack," she said to her brother.

"Bark and Bean weren't that bad," Nack half-heartedly defended with a shrug. "The weasel group was meh."

She was about to reply when Eggman suddenly entered, saying, "Now Nicolette dear, tell us, what exactly are you doing here?" He had heard Nack and Sleet's guesses. He only needed it validated.

Sure enough, Nic replied, "Believe it or not, I was hired to check out a mysteriously Eggman like object that had fallen from the sky somewhere around here. You'll never guess who hired me Fang…"

Fang's eyes widened. "You're kidding. She asked for your help? Sally. Princess Sally?"

"You got it. By the way, she was asking about you little brother," Nic teased, knowing exactly how much it would bug him.

Nack rolled his eyes then focused on his gun, seemingly indifferent. "Good, let her know all she wants to know," he muttered, surprising her by not instantly losing it.

"She ain't a favorite of yours mate?" Dingo asked.

He snorted, then replied, "I have a bullet with her name on it, literally. It's carved out of silver with diamond lettering outlined with gold. It reads: To Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. With all the love in my heart, straight through yours. Forever thinking of you in your grave, Fang the Sniper, aka Nack the Weasel." He pulled it out and showed it to them. Sleet and Dingo were looking at him in shock. "What? The spoiled brat has it coming. She's messed around with me a few times too many."

"Sounds like another Sleet and Aleena," Dingo remarked.

Fang nearly gagged. "Oh heck no! It ain't nothin' like them! I swore revenge on her. I beg every immortal I know to kill her every time she enters my mind."

"So do I," Sleet grimaced.

"He understands," Fang said, jerking a thumb Sleet's way. "He hates Aleena now."

"Hah, that's not the reason. It's nothing like Sleet and Aleena, because Fang wouldn't be almost executed. They'd have a happily ever after," Nic taunted her brother.

"Why don't you just leave!" Nack barked.

Ignoring him, Nic continued, "Anyway, Sally's parents, Tails' parents, and Sonic's parents, well, I guess his aunt and uncle actually, all told her that after all this time they finally got a tip from Silver about Eggman being somewhere around here. She hired me to come check it out and, if you were alive, Doctor, to bring you back with any new recruit you had."

"Will you?" Sleet dangerously challenged.

She looked up at him, making intrigued and interested eyes at him. He backed up, slightly worried by the look. "Now Sleet, why would I turn in my brother? Blood is thicker than water after all. Besides, I like it here." Mm, she liked the sound of his name in her mouth. She winked at him. Sleet looked blankly at her.

Nack raised an eyebrow at his sister. She usually wasn't so obvious. In fact, he didn't recall her ever having an interest. After a moment, Sleet recovered then harrumphed, saying to Eggman, "Aleena, just as I said." Nic clenched her jaw coldly on hearing Sonic's mother's name.

"What's wrong Nic?" Dingo asked.

"Nothing Dingo," she replied. She became confused once more as she looked back on all the new information. Sonic had a mother, and siblings. Jules and Bernadette weren't his birth parents after all? She'd thought something was a little off there. Aleena was his mother's name… Sleet's one time lover, a story she still couldn't digest, and actually chose to omit from all her new knowledge. She couldn't believe it. She hadn't even met the woman and she already hated her.

"I suppose you'll be leaving now," Eggman said, breaking into her thoughts. She looked up at him, mildly startled, then answered after a moment, "Oh, I thought I'd be allowed to stay for a bit. After all Doctor Robotnick, you know I can be of some use."

"No way! You can take a hike!" Nack shot, instantly feeling threatened for his position in Team Vile. "Teams can only have three members!"

"Then maybe one should be replaced," Nic sneered.

"Unlikely," Sleet flatly said.

She pouted at him, saying, "Oh Sleet, come on."

He rolled his eyes, unmoved, then replied, "I suppose you could be of some use, but I wouldn't start considering myself part of the team if I were you."

"You obey every word Sleet and Eggman say, no arguments Sheila," Dingo stated firmly.

"You had to use the word obey?" she asked coldly.

"Like a dog," Fang supported. "The same goes for us too."

She huffed then replied, "Fine. I'm not a part of the team, but I'm here to help when you need me."

"Excellent, we could use a double agent," Eggman said. "Let's see how this all plays out, shall we? I have a feeling that things are going to get quite interesting." He began to laugh. Sleet instantly copied him, followed by the others, and the island was filled with evil laughter.