I don't own anything, don't sue me bro!
R&R please!
Focus. Look down the barrel. Fire! Direct hit! The monstrous scorpion's head exploded. "Hah, after all this time, I've still got it," I said, laughing.
At this, Sniv-no, Colin snapped awake. "What's going on?" he asked.
I put away my blaster pistol and pointed to where the giant insect was smoldering about twenty yards away. "That thing caught scent of us a while back, so I had to kill it. I was hoping it would miss us, but we weren't so lucky. You know, we never did figure out where they came from," I said, stroking my metallic chin.
He peered out into the wastes. "Oh, those?" he said, getting to his feet. "Robotnik made them one day when he was bored. I think he wanted to see if he could create something that could actually thrive out here. Called them Radscorpions for some reason, I wasn't about to ask. All I know is they're big, they're poisonous, and they're always hungry."
I nodded. "Well Colin, let's get going."
"Just call me Snively. It's what I'm used to," he said tiredly, shifting the morbid bundle on his back.
I frowned, but didn't argue. Already, the giant trees of the Great Forest loomed in the distance. We set off, luckily not encountering any more mutated creatures. About two hours later, we had arrived at the meeting spot, a small clearing just inside the forest. A light snowfall dusted the bare trees. The Freedom Fighters hadn't arrived yet.
"Do you… do you think we could bury her here?" Snively awkwardly asked me.
"No, there's a graveyard in Knothole, we can bury her there," I replied, though not unkindly. Carrying the dead body of a stranger for days just to see she got a proper burial was hard, cold work, more than most people would do, really. I should know, I did it more than once during the war. "Besides, I doubt you could shift the frozen soil here anyways, so close to the hard packed wastes."
"Alright," Snively said, looking around.
It was then we heard something moving in the forest, coming towards us. They burst out of the frozen underbrush, shaking off the snow. Though not the original group of Freedom Fighters, they were who I had come to think of as the core, Princess Sally Acorn, my nephew Sonic the Hedgehog, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, and Rotor Walrus. Plenty of others had joined up along the way, but they had been among the first. I frowned. For some reason they'd brought along Tails as well. He looked curious, sneaking glances at the bundle on Snively's back. I'd never approved of Sonic and the others involving him in our war against Robotnik, but sometimes we needed everyone we could get. My nephew looked unhappy to be here, but he kept his piece for now.
"Hello, Sir Charles, Snively," the princess started, "I'm glad to see you got here safely. Were you followed?"
"No, I think we got out undetected," I replied, "Though I had to kill a mutant scorpion out in the wastes."
"Good, one less of those creatures to worry about," she said. Most mobians respected nature, but the monsters out in the wastes weren't part of it and were freely killed by anyone who encountered them, if they could. It was considered a mercy.
"Now, Snively, I've heard that you wanted to get away from your uncle's control. Would you mind telling us exactly why you want to go?" she asked, not unkindly.
Snively told them everything that he'd told me. At the end, everyone wore varying looks of horror, with Tails himself looking rather nauseous and pale.
Finally, Sonic spoke up, "All that stuff that happened to you is not cool, but there's one thing that's been bugging me. After lardbutt trapped himself in the Void, why did you try to suck the entire Great Forest into that portal if he was forcing you to do everything?"
Snively looked uncomfortable. Finally, he said, "There's something… weird about the Void portal. When you're around it, you don't think straight, and the longer you stay, the worse it gets. We had been working on it for days before Robotnik was trapped in there."
Princess Sally made a choked sound and cried, "Oh no, father!"
"Why are you worried about him?" Snively asked, truly sounding puzzled, "King Acorn was banished to the Zone of Silence, not the Void, though they are similar."
"That's, that's good," Princess Sally said. She took a moment to compose herself. "Well, you know that once he realizes you've left, if he hasn't already, he'll hunt you forever, since he can't afford to let you go with the information in your head. I'd be willing to let you join the Freedom Fighters on a provisional basis, if you will help us in our war against Robotnik."
"I, I," Snively stuttered, looking uncertain. Just as he was about to respond, he was interrupted by a voice we all dreaded.
"SNIVELAAAAAAAAY!"
"Oh no!" the short overlander shrieked, seeming to shrink in on himself.
"I was investigating the death of one of my beloved Radscorpions, and what do I find? You, consorting with these disgusting animals! I overlooked it last time because I thought it might be a chance to capture some Freedom Fighters, but I heard everything you've said! How dare you betray me like this! If this thing had weapons I'd shoot you on the spot!" Robotnik's voice bellowed from a small surveillance drone that was hovering on the edge of the clearing. "When I get my hands on you I'll-"
He was interrupted by an explosion as Sonic spindashed through the drone, destroying it. "Well, that takes care of that," the blue hedgehog said, shaking metal particles out of his quills. "We'd better juice."
"Yes, I agree," Snively said, calming down as he realized that Robotnik was nowhere near. "Standard procedure in case of something like this is to send out three squads of swatbots in a wide pattern to search the area." He appeared to do some quick mental calculations. "The closest one should be here in about twenty minutes. And as for your earlier question, Princess Sally, yes, I'll join the Freedom Fighters. I don't think I would survive on my own and I don't know if I could live with myself otherwise."
"Alright everyone, grab a hand," Sonic said, taking a Power Ring out of his backpack. I knew what was about to happen and quickly grabbed the two nearest to me, Rotor and Snively. "And hold on tight!" my nephew cried, the Power Ring glowing brightly. The world seemed to blur as we burst off at incredible speed, snow flying away in a great wake behind us.
