Chapter 4: Run, run, as fast as you can!
How in the name of Zeus's butthole did you get out of your cell?!
--Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) "The Rock"
Three weeks later. I was wondering how much longer I was going to be here. I mean...I was one of the big traitors to the Acorn Kingdom. Surely they would want to put me on trial. I knew King Acorn would. I heard he was out of the Void now, but it had screwed up his mind. But still, he had to have enough sense to want revenge.
Drago's off-key singing was getting on my nerves, and I was hungry. I paced my cell.
I needed something to drink. Not water. My alcohol. My veins ached for it, and my mind screamed for it. It's just...it floats me away and I feel better. No pain, no boredom. No nothing.
"I need it," I muttered. "Need it!"
"Gettin' desperate, eh?" Drago looked downtrodden. "Yeah, me got pussy...and I do mean pussy; my girlfriend was a cat...HAHAHA!!!...but anyway, I got it a lot. It's hard without it, eh?" He drew out one his magazines and flipped it open to a page. Females were sprawled out in obscene positions.
"You can borrow it if ya want. Just don't get the pages sticky."
"I don't want that," I growled, my fine-thread temper snapping. "I want a drink. A DRINK DAMMIT!!"
Drago grabbed his crotch and sneered, "On yer knees and I'll quench yer thirst."
"Shut up, you bastard," I hissed, giving him my coldest glare. After three weeks, I was more than a little fed up with him.
Marshe and Smiley laughed. They were always standing around our cells. Had nothing better to do. "Yeah, do it, Sniv'. You'd like it."
Shallow bastards, all of them.
I plopped down on my bed, trembling with excessive emotion. Hate. My nails dug into my palms, and they were longer than usual, since I hadn't been able to clip them lately. They left deep moon-shaped wounds that filled with blood.
"Tell me you have some kind of alcohol," I asked the guards.
"Don't know about Smiley, but I'm a virgin to that unclean beverage."
"You're a virgin to something, anyway," I muttered.
"Oh yeah, Needlenose?! You can't tell me you ain't a virgin. No girl would ever screw you."
"Except his mama," said Drago. "Probably molested his mama. With his nose, if ya get my drift."
They all laughed and I felt my anger and rage reach up. It overpowered me and I started to scream. A scream that rubbed my throat raw.
"Ok, ok, calm down," said Smiley, and he reached into his pocket and drew out his keys while Marshe whipped out a syringe. The cell opened.
I hung back, then made a mad dash for Marshe. I slammed him full-force with my shoulder and he stumbled. I ducked under the clumsy Smiley's arms and was off, racing down the hallway. The prisoners screamed, excited, cheering me on.
The guard's boots pounded behind me. I nearly tripped going down the stairs to the lower level. Screw the steps. I leapt down the last five. One of the guards did trip. I heard his heavy body tumbling down, slamming each step.
I ran for the double doors at the end of the corridor. Then something hit me between the shoulder blades and I heard a crackling noise. Pain struck like lightening to my nerves and I collapsed into a heap of twitching muscles and whimpers.
I turned over, my eyes...they were rolling everywhere. I could see opposite sides of the room at the same time. How silly.
I saw a guard looming over me with a frown and a taser. Great. No wonder my brains were fried.
"You little freak," he spat. It was the coati guard. I hadn't noticed before, but now I could tell; he was a human-hater; I saw it in his eyes. He shoved the taser into my groin. I kicked him, but he flipped the button and I screamed so high it could've shattered windows.
I heard the other guards. The electric rod was turned off...the human-hater looked innocent. I was shaking bad, and my stomach was clenched up tight like a fist.
"What's wrong with 'im?"
"Aw, just a few zaps, s'all."
I puked.
My hazy eyes stared at the ceiling. God...I really needed that booze now. I'm not an alcoholic. I just need a painkiller...a problem-clouder.
My mama always cooked this nasty treat for herself. Sauerkraut and keibasa, which is a kind of sausage. She'd buy precooked sausage and a bag of sauerkraut and throw them into a pot. She'd put it on simmer and the smell would waft through the whole house.
I didn't like the smell at all. Normally, it would make me wrinkle my nose and complain about the 'raw sewage' on the stove. Mama found out about my early start on drinking on one of her 'treat' days.
I came home and I'm not a loud drunk. I'm quiet. I don't get violent...I actually get much more calm than usual. My high-strung nerves loosen up a bit and I relax.
"Cookin' my treat!" My mama greeted me, holding a spoonful of the crap out to me. I took one whiff and puked all over the floor.
"Are you sick?" she cried. "Oh...it's the flu, isn't it? I heard it's going around, it's..." then she must've...smelled my breath or clothes or something. I was loaded that day.
"You were drinking?! How could you? You're gonna end up like your father. Just like him."
Even through my drunken haze, I was hurt by the despair in her eyes.
"No," I moaned. "No, I'm not like him!"
"Cueball, knock it off. I'm tryin' to sleep."
I sat up. It was dark and I could barely make out Drago's form in the other cell. Dammit. My fucking nuts hurt. They were scrunched close to my body, still terrified of more pain. I had a stomachache on top of it, and my tongue was a dried sponge, stuck to the roof of my mouth.
"Damn guards. I'll kill you all," I hissed, more to let off steam than actual threats. Oh sure...I have killed before. But never with my bare hands. I'm just not strong enough, even with my metal hand.
I'd always killed with some other method; guns or experiments gone awry or something like that.
I'm not a sadist. I swear. But there's something about killing somebody that...it's powerful. It's potent...like strong strong liquor. When they die, when that last gasp whistles through your ears...it's like their dying energy brushes every one of your nerves. Like a feather drawn over your skin...your skin shies and shivers, but it's a good shiver. There's a power there.
It made my blood quicken just thinking of it. Oh...to kill that taser-wielding guard. My hands clenched on the bars.
"I will kill you," I whispered. "I will. I promise you that."
"Shut up, cueball!" growled Drago.
The next day there was a surprise for Drago; he had a visitor! Now who would visit that moron is beyond me. He couldn't possibly have any friends.
I was bored...so bored I was actually contemplating asking Drago for a dirty magazine. It was something to look at, at least...
Then Smiley came bounding down the hall, his flat tail slapping against the floor.
"Hey Drago, somebody's here to see yaaaaaa!"
"Huh? Who?" Drago jumped up.
We both peered down the hallway and lo and behold, this beanpole woman comes slinking down the corridor. She wore a pleasant blue flower-print dress and had cute perky little breasts. She was a white wolf like Drago, with a narrowish face, and slightly bugged-out eyes. Cute in a homely sort of way. Like me, I guess.
"Drago, mah sweet wittle baby-poop, how's my big boy doin'?" She strode up to Drago's cell, reached through and pinched his cheek.
"Hey ma," he said. "Doin' all right."
She thrust a white paper bag through the bars. "Brought ya some stuff, my poopskie. Don'tcha worry, them guards checked it."
"'Ey, thanks ma," said Drago, accepting the bag. "Thanks a bundle."
"Baby-poop," I snickered.
Drago looked over. "'Ey, don'tcha be dissin' my ma."
"I wasn't."
Beanpole looked over also. "Ah, who's yer wittle friend?"
"Ain't my friend, the little faggot."
She moved in front of my cell to see me more clearly. "My oh my, an Overlander! Don't like yer kind much, but I gotta say, I was against that squirrelly ole Acorn king myself. Doggone moron, that feller."
I remained leaning against the wall.
"Like mah dress, hon?" she asked Drago.
"Yep, yer dress looks good, ma. Ya always look good."
"If you like bug eyes," I said.
"What?" She looked over at me.
"Nothing." I gave her my most irritating grin.
I was leaning pretty close to the bars, and I stupidly stayed there while Drago moved over near me. I didn't have time to react when he grabbed me through the bars.
"Uhhhh! Let go!"
"I heard what ya said, ya little ass-fucker. If ya diss my ma one more time, I'll seriously hurt you. Understand?"
I had no choice but to weakly choke out a response of understanding. He let me go and I quickly moved out of his reach.
"Drago, honey, check out what Ah brought ya!"
"Right-o, ma." Drago opened the bag, and drew out the first item. A package of cookies.
"Homemade," said Ma.
"'Ey thanks. Ya know how I love these!" Drago grinned wide enough to expose all his teeth. He drew out the second item, a bundle of magazines. "Any nudies in here?"
"Of course, baby. I collected 'em all up fer a few months before Ah came 'ere. Knew ya liked them dirty poses and whatnot." She looked over at me. "Maybe ya can share 'em with yer wittle friend."
"Cueball is horny enough, ma. He begs me to screw him every night. 'Course I ain't touching that faggot with a ten-foot pole."
She looked at me more shrewdly, while I sputtered indignantly. "Drago, you lie." I pointed a finger at the package of cigarettes on Drago's nighttable. "Why don't you tell her how you got those? They don't give out cigarettes for free." I smirked. "Drago did some 'bonus work' to get those smokes, if you get what I mean."
"YA LITTLE PRICK!!" Drago lunged at the bars separating his cell from mine. His muscular arm reached through, trying to grab me, but I was too far away.
"He had to do a different sort of 'smoking' on Guard Marshe first before he got them."
I heard Flying Frog start belching laughter from his cell.
"I'm gonna rip yer fuckin' dick off and shove it down yer throat," threatened Drago. "Then ya can finally give yerself a blow, I've seen ya tryin' to do it before."
Flying Frog cackled.
"What's with your ma? She talks to you like you're her lover or something. That's it, isn't it?" I widened my eyes in mock-disbelief. "You and your ma are closer than you let on, huh?"
"WHAT?!" Drago and his ma both shrieked. Drago once again tried to get me through the bars, but I just smirked. I even taunted him a little by darting within reach only to jump back.
"What's 'e sayin', honey-poo? Sayin' we's...we...do the thing together?"
"'Ey ma, he's sayin' shit, and when I getta holda ya, dicksnot, I'm gonna rip off yer..."
"My dick and shove it...blah blah..."
"Yer nose and shove it up yer ass."
"That sounds painful," said F. Frog.
"Yer sayin' I do my son?" screeched Ma, her eyes bulging out even more. She reached through the bars of my cell, her hands clawing. "I LOVE MY SON, BUT NOT LIKE THAT. YA PERVERTED WITTLE BITCH!!!" She suddenly drew something from her purse, but I didn't have time to see what it was. All I knew was she'd sprayed me with something...
"AHHHHHHH! OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD!!!" I wailed, falling to my knees. The bitch! It was pepper spray! My eyes were tearing up; I could feel the water on my cheeks. I rubbed at them, whining miserably.
Drago and Flying Frog were both cracking up.
I blinked, my vision blurred. "GUARDS!!!" I screamed. "GUARDS!" I rubbed at my eyes harder but it didn't seem to do any good. The awful burning was now on my hands and I waved them around. The air rushing against them just seemed to irritate them more.
Through the tears, I saw Smiley come trotting down the hallway. "What's going on? What is it?"
"She sprayed me with pepper spray," I whined. "Get her out of here!"
"E's insultin' me," said Ma. "Butted in my talkin' and insults me and mah boy. The little prick's jest plain mean, I say. 'E deserved a wittle pepper in the eyes fer that."
"Yep, Snively's a troublemaker," said Smiley.
I glared. No one's ever on my side. Ever.
The other guard sauntered up...that coati taser-wielding one. "Overlander causin' trouble?"
"Yep."
The guard's eyes locked with my watering ones, and he grinned. His fingers stroked the taser lovingly. "Zap," he whispered.
"Fuck you," I spat. Literally. I leaned in and got a big hunk of spit right on his face. He screamed like it was acid.
Smiley shook his head. "Come along, ma'am. Vistin' times over, anyhoo."
"Goodbye, sweetums," she said to Drago, before Smiley escorted her away.
Taser-Guard waited, leaning against the wall. His eyes stabbed daggers into me, even when I turned away.
I picked up the plastic water cup near my bed and tilted my head back. The lukewarm water felt good as I poured it into my eyes. I blinked and shook the water from my eyes. The spray must've been mild. It was wearing off, and I felt much better. I used the rest of the water in the glass to rinse off my itching hands.
Smiley came back, and I heard the whine of a small hovercraft's engines start up outside. Drago's ma leaving, I guess.
"Gimme those keys, Smiley...I've got business with number 212."
"Eh...can't do that, Tattle. Ya can't be zapping the prisoners just cause they mouth off a little. Specially that one. Ya know he's bad tempered."
"Gimme the damn keys! No one cares about these low lifes anyway."
I heard the jingle of keys. Then the squeak as my cell was opened. I whirled around. Tattle...guess that's his name, was standing there, holding the taser. I snarled, but my body was shaking. Tattle was bigger than me...just like everyone else. DAMN! Why did I get stuck in this skinny little body?!
I backed away. Tattle came closer. "I'm gonna fry your ass, Snide-ly," he giggled. Actually giggled. When anyone laughs like that...you know they're insane. It's a proven fact. Written down somewhere, I'm sure.
"Get away," I said, and I knew my desperation was showing through my voice. But that taser hurt. My poor balls were witness to that.
He giggled again. There had to be something...AH! I grabbed the night table and hurled it at him. He tried to bat it away, but one of the legs bashed him right in the nose. I caught a glimpse of blood trickling from his nostrils before he rushed me. I twisted my slight body out of the way, and he crashed into the metal wall. Then I took off.
Second time in one week I was free. I ran down the hallway, feeling very deja-vuish, but of course, I have been here before. Just yesterday!
I went down the steps, leapt down the last ones and charged towards the double doors again. I head Tattle pounding down the steps. He was going to be close...very soon!
I reached the doors. Guards were coming in on all sides. I felt like a deer about to fall prey to wolves. Not a bad analogy actually. DAMN! I should've known. The doors were locked!
I whirled around. The guards were too close to run now. Still, I charged them, going for the smallest one. The full-force of my shoulder slammed him in the chest. He spun away, went down. I utilized my tiny body now; ducking, dodging, and squirming away from the guards.
I veered out of the area, going down another hallway. Holy Mobius! A window. Opened and beckoning. How lucky can you get?
I scrambled out it. I was outside now, standing on flat red-gray rock. There was an edge. I ran to it and looked down. And nearly pissed my pants.
HOLY SHITTT!!! It was at least a thousand feet down. I was unconscious when they brought me to the jail...I've never seen the outside. Didn't know it was up on a cliff like this.
"FUCK!" I screamed.
I looked around wildly and saw them. Hovercraft. A few of them, all parked neatly side by side. Hallelujah! A sight to make me almost believe in salvation.
I dashed towards them. Guards burst out of the building.
NO! I'M ALMOST THERE!!! I put on more speed...they put on more speed.
I was tackled from behind. My chin hit the rock hard; I bit my tongue. Bright flashes of white assaulted my vision, and I tried to squirm away. But the guard held onto me tight. Hands grabbed me by the scruff roughly and I was dragged back inside.
"Snively! Wake up!" Somebody smacked my cheek.
"Where am I? UH!" I was tied up to something. My wrists! They were bound above my head.
I opened my eyes. I was in...the shower room? Tied up to the wall by my wrists. My uniform was unzipped part-way. Tattle stood before me...I gulped loudly.
He was holding a bullwhip in one hand.
And I was completely at his mercy.
"Oh nooo," I whimpered.
"Oh yes."
He giggled.
Some black hole opened before me and I fell into it. Fell headlong into a deep dark memory...
What was it? What terrible atrocity had I committed? Oh yes. I'd forgotten to do the dishes. I went to a movie, because I had a little extra spending money. It was a stupid movie.
I came home, and pops was sitting at the kitchen table. I mumbled hello at him, and headed towards my room.
His voice stopped me.
"You didn't do the dishes."
I turned around. "Huh?"
"You left for your own damn little entertainment, and you didn't do the fucking dishes?! Your ma did 'em. You know how bad she felt today. She stayed home from work. And then you have the nerve to leave your chores for her?!"
I gulped. "I forgot about them. I honestly forgot. I would've done them..."
"YOU LITTLE LIAR!!" He stood up, and I could smell his breath from where I stood. Vodka perhaps? Or just cheap whiskey? It didn't make a difference...it was alcohol and alcohol made my father even more vicious than usual.
Oh yes... I've learned how to beg long before I lived with Robotnik. Robotnik wasn't the first to abuse me. My whole life's been one big bruise after another.
I begged then. I pleaded with him to forgive me for my forgetfulness. That's all it had been. But he saw it as a malicious act towards my mother. That's real funny. I might be a dickweed to the Mobians...but my mother? No. I loved her. I loved her so much it hurt.
"You stay there," he said. He stalked from the room. He returned, with a whip. His father used to raise horses or something. My pops had all that old horse stuff. Including all the crops and whips.
You don't really whip a horse with the whips. Just touch them with it gently. But the whips are capable of breaking open the skin, if you hit hard enough.
My pops had big arms, bulging with muscle that was turning slightly soft from his days of sitting around. But he could still hit plenty hard.
"Take off your shirt," he said.
"No, please..."
"Do it."
I shrugged out of my white tee. It was chilly, and I shivered. My gym teacher saw me in the locker room, and thought I looked malnutritioned. I told him that I was just skinny... But I'll give the teacher credit...I did look semi-starved. My ribs and the ridge of my spine stuck out. I didn't have an ounce of fat on my body, and little muscle. It's not that I didn't eat. My metabolism was just off the charts, I guess.
"Stand against the wall," said pops. I obeyed, planting my hands against it. I screwed my eyes shut.
"Say you're sorry for being lazy."
"I'm sorry for being lazy," I whined.
"Say 'I deserve punishment'."
"I...I...I deserve punishment," the words stuck in my throat like popcorn kernels.
"Say 'punish me'."
I whimpered.
"SAY IT!"
"P...P...P..." I had to clear my throat. "Punish me," I whispered.
The whip cracked down.
"AH!" I jerked out of the memory. Tattle was staring at me. "Think you can just black out and not get punished, eh? Well, now that you're awake again, let's begin."
"I'm sorry I spit on you," I said.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Too late for sorries now, little buddy." He raised the whip.
I switched tactics. "Do it. Do it! Do it now..."
"What?" He looked startled.
"HIT ME!"
He looked perplexed. One finger scratched at his head. "You actually want to be hit?"
I squirmed around. "Yes...I love it. Packbell...you know him right?"
"Yeah, that sick android."
"Yes, he used to whip me just like this..." I rolled my eyes upwards in an expression of rapture. "It felt sooo good. It even made me co-"
"SHUT UP!" he said.
"No, you shut up and hit me!!" I howled, like I couldn't stand the wait. He looked disgusted.
"You're a sick puppy, Snively."
He reached up, and I thought he was going to undo my bonds. But he stepped back, looking at me shrewdly. Then he flipped the whip back over his shoulder. He swung it forward and let me have it.
"AHHH!" I squealed and wiggled around from the pain of it. It left a red stripe across my chest. Then I remembered my tactic. "Ahhh...God!" I cried out in as lustful a voice I could, and I squirmed like I was in ecstasy.
"You're sick," he said again, and he looked thoroughly disgusted. This time he did untie me and dragged me back to my cell. After he left, a snickering Drago turned to me. "Did ya get yer ass whooped?"
"Yes. And it hurt so good." I rubbed my chest and zipped my uniform back up.
"Huh?"
"No, I didn't."
"What?" Drago looked angry. "Well, ya watch it, punk, cause when I get ya I'm gonna cream ya."
I yawned. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Drago." I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to go to sleep.
Marshe came by, along with Tattle. They looked at me through the bars for a moment. I felt the weight of their stares and peeked out from under the blanket.
"Everyone agreed...can't have stuff like that go unpunished..."
"Made the other prisoners wound up, little bastard..."
They opened my cell door. I was grabbed up, rather roughly. They dragged me down the hallway.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
They didn't answer.
I had a feeling this was not good.
How in the name of Zeus's butthole did you get out of your cell?!
--Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) "The Rock"
Three weeks later. I was wondering how much longer I was going to be here. I mean...I was one of the big traitors to the Acorn Kingdom. Surely they would want to put me on trial. I knew King Acorn would. I heard he was out of the Void now, but it had screwed up his mind. But still, he had to have enough sense to want revenge.
Drago's off-key singing was getting on my nerves, and I was hungry. I paced my cell.
I needed something to drink. Not water. My alcohol. My veins ached for it, and my mind screamed for it. It's just...it floats me away and I feel better. No pain, no boredom. No nothing.
"I need it," I muttered. "Need it!"
"Gettin' desperate, eh?" Drago looked downtrodden. "Yeah, me got pussy...and I do mean pussy; my girlfriend was a cat...HAHAHA!!!...but anyway, I got it a lot. It's hard without it, eh?" He drew out one his magazines and flipped it open to a page. Females were sprawled out in obscene positions.
"You can borrow it if ya want. Just don't get the pages sticky."
"I don't want that," I growled, my fine-thread temper snapping. "I want a drink. A DRINK DAMMIT!!"
Drago grabbed his crotch and sneered, "On yer knees and I'll quench yer thirst."
"Shut up, you bastard," I hissed, giving him my coldest glare. After three weeks, I was more than a little fed up with him.
Marshe and Smiley laughed. They were always standing around our cells. Had nothing better to do. "Yeah, do it, Sniv'. You'd like it."
Shallow bastards, all of them.
I plopped down on my bed, trembling with excessive emotion. Hate. My nails dug into my palms, and they were longer than usual, since I hadn't been able to clip them lately. They left deep moon-shaped wounds that filled with blood.
"Tell me you have some kind of alcohol," I asked the guards.
"Don't know about Smiley, but I'm a virgin to that unclean beverage."
"You're a virgin to something, anyway," I muttered.
"Oh yeah, Needlenose?! You can't tell me you ain't a virgin. No girl would ever screw you."
"Except his mama," said Drago. "Probably molested his mama. With his nose, if ya get my drift."
They all laughed and I felt my anger and rage reach up. It overpowered me and I started to scream. A scream that rubbed my throat raw.
"Ok, ok, calm down," said Smiley, and he reached into his pocket and drew out his keys while Marshe whipped out a syringe. The cell opened.
I hung back, then made a mad dash for Marshe. I slammed him full-force with my shoulder and he stumbled. I ducked under the clumsy Smiley's arms and was off, racing down the hallway. The prisoners screamed, excited, cheering me on.
The guard's boots pounded behind me. I nearly tripped going down the stairs to the lower level. Screw the steps. I leapt down the last five. One of the guards did trip. I heard his heavy body tumbling down, slamming each step.
I ran for the double doors at the end of the corridor. Then something hit me between the shoulder blades and I heard a crackling noise. Pain struck like lightening to my nerves and I collapsed into a heap of twitching muscles and whimpers.
I turned over, my eyes...they were rolling everywhere. I could see opposite sides of the room at the same time. How silly.
I saw a guard looming over me with a frown and a taser. Great. No wonder my brains were fried.
"You little freak," he spat. It was the coati guard. I hadn't noticed before, but now I could tell; he was a human-hater; I saw it in his eyes. He shoved the taser into my groin. I kicked him, but he flipped the button and I screamed so high it could've shattered windows.
I heard the other guards. The electric rod was turned off...the human-hater looked innocent. I was shaking bad, and my stomach was clenched up tight like a fist.
"What's wrong with 'im?"
"Aw, just a few zaps, s'all."
I puked.
My hazy eyes stared at the ceiling. God...I really needed that booze now. I'm not an alcoholic. I just need a painkiller...a problem-clouder.
My mama always cooked this nasty treat for herself. Sauerkraut and keibasa, which is a kind of sausage. She'd buy precooked sausage and a bag of sauerkraut and throw them into a pot. She'd put it on simmer and the smell would waft through the whole house.
I didn't like the smell at all. Normally, it would make me wrinkle my nose and complain about the 'raw sewage' on the stove. Mama found out about my early start on drinking on one of her 'treat' days.
I came home and I'm not a loud drunk. I'm quiet. I don't get violent...I actually get much more calm than usual. My high-strung nerves loosen up a bit and I relax.
"Cookin' my treat!" My mama greeted me, holding a spoonful of the crap out to me. I took one whiff and puked all over the floor.
"Are you sick?" she cried. "Oh...it's the flu, isn't it? I heard it's going around, it's..." then she must've...smelled my breath or clothes or something. I was loaded that day.
"You were drinking?! How could you? You're gonna end up like your father. Just like him."
Even through my drunken haze, I was hurt by the despair in her eyes.
"No," I moaned. "No, I'm not like him!"
"Cueball, knock it off. I'm tryin' to sleep."
I sat up. It was dark and I could barely make out Drago's form in the other cell. Dammit. My fucking nuts hurt. They were scrunched close to my body, still terrified of more pain. I had a stomachache on top of it, and my tongue was a dried sponge, stuck to the roof of my mouth.
"Damn guards. I'll kill you all," I hissed, more to let off steam than actual threats. Oh sure...I have killed before. But never with my bare hands. I'm just not strong enough, even with my metal hand.
I'd always killed with some other method; guns or experiments gone awry or something like that.
I'm not a sadist. I swear. But there's something about killing somebody that...it's powerful. It's potent...like strong strong liquor. When they die, when that last gasp whistles through your ears...it's like their dying energy brushes every one of your nerves. Like a feather drawn over your skin...your skin shies and shivers, but it's a good shiver. There's a power there.
It made my blood quicken just thinking of it. Oh...to kill that taser-wielding guard. My hands clenched on the bars.
"I will kill you," I whispered. "I will. I promise you that."
"Shut up, cueball!" growled Drago.
The next day there was a surprise for Drago; he had a visitor! Now who would visit that moron is beyond me. He couldn't possibly have any friends.
I was bored...so bored I was actually contemplating asking Drago for a dirty magazine. It was something to look at, at least...
Then Smiley came bounding down the hall, his flat tail slapping against the floor.
"Hey Drago, somebody's here to see yaaaaaa!"
"Huh? Who?" Drago jumped up.
We both peered down the hallway and lo and behold, this beanpole woman comes slinking down the corridor. She wore a pleasant blue flower-print dress and had cute perky little breasts. She was a white wolf like Drago, with a narrowish face, and slightly bugged-out eyes. Cute in a homely sort of way. Like me, I guess.
"Drago, mah sweet wittle baby-poop, how's my big boy doin'?" She strode up to Drago's cell, reached through and pinched his cheek.
"Hey ma," he said. "Doin' all right."
She thrust a white paper bag through the bars. "Brought ya some stuff, my poopskie. Don'tcha worry, them guards checked it."
"'Ey, thanks ma," said Drago, accepting the bag. "Thanks a bundle."
"Baby-poop," I snickered.
Drago looked over. "'Ey, don'tcha be dissin' my ma."
"I wasn't."
Beanpole looked over also. "Ah, who's yer wittle friend?"
"Ain't my friend, the little faggot."
She moved in front of my cell to see me more clearly. "My oh my, an Overlander! Don't like yer kind much, but I gotta say, I was against that squirrelly ole Acorn king myself. Doggone moron, that feller."
I remained leaning against the wall.
"Like mah dress, hon?" she asked Drago.
"Yep, yer dress looks good, ma. Ya always look good."
"If you like bug eyes," I said.
"What?" She looked over at me.
"Nothing." I gave her my most irritating grin.
I was leaning pretty close to the bars, and I stupidly stayed there while Drago moved over near me. I didn't have time to react when he grabbed me through the bars.
"Uhhhh! Let go!"
"I heard what ya said, ya little ass-fucker. If ya diss my ma one more time, I'll seriously hurt you. Understand?"
I had no choice but to weakly choke out a response of understanding. He let me go and I quickly moved out of his reach.
"Drago, honey, check out what Ah brought ya!"
"Right-o, ma." Drago opened the bag, and drew out the first item. A package of cookies.
"Homemade," said Ma.
"'Ey thanks. Ya know how I love these!" Drago grinned wide enough to expose all his teeth. He drew out the second item, a bundle of magazines. "Any nudies in here?"
"Of course, baby. I collected 'em all up fer a few months before Ah came 'ere. Knew ya liked them dirty poses and whatnot." She looked over at me. "Maybe ya can share 'em with yer wittle friend."
"Cueball is horny enough, ma. He begs me to screw him every night. 'Course I ain't touching that faggot with a ten-foot pole."
She looked at me more shrewdly, while I sputtered indignantly. "Drago, you lie." I pointed a finger at the package of cigarettes on Drago's nighttable. "Why don't you tell her how you got those? They don't give out cigarettes for free." I smirked. "Drago did some 'bonus work' to get those smokes, if you get what I mean."
"YA LITTLE PRICK!!" Drago lunged at the bars separating his cell from mine. His muscular arm reached through, trying to grab me, but I was too far away.
"He had to do a different sort of 'smoking' on Guard Marshe first before he got them."
I heard Flying Frog start belching laughter from his cell.
"I'm gonna rip yer fuckin' dick off and shove it down yer throat," threatened Drago. "Then ya can finally give yerself a blow, I've seen ya tryin' to do it before."
Flying Frog cackled.
"What's with your ma? She talks to you like you're her lover or something. That's it, isn't it?" I widened my eyes in mock-disbelief. "You and your ma are closer than you let on, huh?"
"WHAT?!" Drago and his ma both shrieked. Drago once again tried to get me through the bars, but I just smirked. I even taunted him a little by darting within reach only to jump back.
"What's 'e sayin', honey-poo? Sayin' we's...we...do the thing together?"
"'Ey ma, he's sayin' shit, and when I getta holda ya, dicksnot, I'm gonna rip off yer..."
"My dick and shove it...blah blah..."
"Yer nose and shove it up yer ass."
"That sounds painful," said F. Frog.
"Yer sayin' I do my son?" screeched Ma, her eyes bulging out even more. She reached through the bars of my cell, her hands clawing. "I LOVE MY SON, BUT NOT LIKE THAT. YA PERVERTED WITTLE BITCH!!!" She suddenly drew something from her purse, but I didn't have time to see what it was. All I knew was she'd sprayed me with something...
"AHHHHHHH! OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD!!!" I wailed, falling to my knees. The bitch! It was pepper spray! My eyes were tearing up; I could feel the water on my cheeks. I rubbed at them, whining miserably.
Drago and Flying Frog were both cracking up.
I blinked, my vision blurred. "GUARDS!!!" I screamed. "GUARDS!" I rubbed at my eyes harder but it didn't seem to do any good. The awful burning was now on my hands and I waved them around. The air rushing against them just seemed to irritate them more.
Through the tears, I saw Smiley come trotting down the hallway. "What's going on? What is it?"
"She sprayed me with pepper spray," I whined. "Get her out of here!"
"E's insultin' me," said Ma. "Butted in my talkin' and insults me and mah boy. The little prick's jest plain mean, I say. 'E deserved a wittle pepper in the eyes fer that."
"Yep, Snively's a troublemaker," said Smiley.
I glared. No one's ever on my side. Ever.
The other guard sauntered up...that coati taser-wielding one. "Overlander causin' trouble?"
"Yep."
The guard's eyes locked with my watering ones, and he grinned. His fingers stroked the taser lovingly. "Zap," he whispered.
"Fuck you," I spat. Literally. I leaned in and got a big hunk of spit right on his face. He screamed like it was acid.
Smiley shook his head. "Come along, ma'am. Vistin' times over, anyhoo."
"Goodbye, sweetums," she said to Drago, before Smiley escorted her away.
Taser-Guard waited, leaning against the wall. His eyes stabbed daggers into me, even when I turned away.
I picked up the plastic water cup near my bed and tilted my head back. The lukewarm water felt good as I poured it into my eyes. I blinked and shook the water from my eyes. The spray must've been mild. It was wearing off, and I felt much better. I used the rest of the water in the glass to rinse off my itching hands.
Smiley came back, and I heard the whine of a small hovercraft's engines start up outside. Drago's ma leaving, I guess.
"Gimme those keys, Smiley...I've got business with number 212."
"Eh...can't do that, Tattle. Ya can't be zapping the prisoners just cause they mouth off a little. Specially that one. Ya know he's bad tempered."
"Gimme the damn keys! No one cares about these low lifes anyway."
I heard the jingle of keys. Then the squeak as my cell was opened. I whirled around. Tattle...guess that's his name, was standing there, holding the taser. I snarled, but my body was shaking. Tattle was bigger than me...just like everyone else. DAMN! Why did I get stuck in this skinny little body?!
I backed away. Tattle came closer. "I'm gonna fry your ass, Snide-ly," he giggled. Actually giggled. When anyone laughs like that...you know they're insane. It's a proven fact. Written down somewhere, I'm sure.
"Get away," I said, and I knew my desperation was showing through my voice. But that taser hurt. My poor balls were witness to that.
He giggled again. There had to be something...AH! I grabbed the night table and hurled it at him. He tried to bat it away, but one of the legs bashed him right in the nose. I caught a glimpse of blood trickling from his nostrils before he rushed me. I twisted my slight body out of the way, and he crashed into the metal wall. Then I took off.
Second time in one week I was free. I ran down the hallway, feeling very deja-vuish, but of course, I have been here before. Just yesterday!
I went down the steps, leapt down the last ones and charged towards the double doors again. I head Tattle pounding down the steps. He was going to be close...very soon!
I reached the doors. Guards were coming in on all sides. I felt like a deer about to fall prey to wolves. Not a bad analogy actually. DAMN! I should've known. The doors were locked!
I whirled around. The guards were too close to run now. Still, I charged them, going for the smallest one. The full-force of my shoulder slammed him in the chest. He spun away, went down. I utilized my tiny body now; ducking, dodging, and squirming away from the guards.
I veered out of the area, going down another hallway. Holy Mobius! A window. Opened and beckoning. How lucky can you get?
I scrambled out it. I was outside now, standing on flat red-gray rock. There was an edge. I ran to it and looked down. And nearly pissed my pants.
HOLY SHITTT!!! It was at least a thousand feet down. I was unconscious when they brought me to the jail...I've never seen the outside. Didn't know it was up on a cliff like this.
"FUCK!" I screamed.
I looked around wildly and saw them. Hovercraft. A few of them, all parked neatly side by side. Hallelujah! A sight to make me almost believe in salvation.
I dashed towards them. Guards burst out of the building.
NO! I'M ALMOST THERE!!! I put on more speed...they put on more speed.
I was tackled from behind. My chin hit the rock hard; I bit my tongue. Bright flashes of white assaulted my vision, and I tried to squirm away. But the guard held onto me tight. Hands grabbed me by the scruff roughly and I was dragged back inside.
"Snively! Wake up!" Somebody smacked my cheek.
"Where am I? UH!" I was tied up to something. My wrists! They were bound above my head.
I opened my eyes. I was in...the shower room? Tied up to the wall by my wrists. My uniform was unzipped part-way. Tattle stood before me...I gulped loudly.
He was holding a bullwhip in one hand.
And I was completely at his mercy.
"Oh nooo," I whimpered.
"Oh yes."
He giggled.
Some black hole opened before me and I fell into it. Fell headlong into a deep dark memory...
What was it? What terrible atrocity had I committed? Oh yes. I'd forgotten to do the dishes. I went to a movie, because I had a little extra spending money. It was a stupid movie.
I came home, and pops was sitting at the kitchen table. I mumbled hello at him, and headed towards my room.
His voice stopped me.
"You didn't do the dishes."
I turned around. "Huh?"
"You left for your own damn little entertainment, and you didn't do the fucking dishes?! Your ma did 'em. You know how bad she felt today. She stayed home from work. And then you have the nerve to leave your chores for her?!"
I gulped. "I forgot about them. I honestly forgot. I would've done them..."
"YOU LITTLE LIAR!!" He stood up, and I could smell his breath from where I stood. Vodka perhaps? Or just cheap whiskey? It didn't make a difference...it was alcohol and alcohol made my father even more vicious than usual.
Oh yes... I've learned how to beg long before I lived with Robotnik. Robotnik wasn't the first to abuse me. My whole life's been one big bruise after another.
I begged then. I pleaded with him to forgive me for my forgetfulness. That's all it had been. But he saw it as a malicious act towards my mother. That's real funny. I might be a dickweed to the Mobians...but my mother? No. I loved her. I loved her so much it hurt.
"You stay there," he said. He stalked from the room. He returned, with a whip. His father used to raise horses or something. My pops had all that old horse stuff. Including all the crops and whips.
You don't really whip a horse with the whips. Just touch them with it gently. But the whips are capable of breaking open the skin, if you hit hard enough.
My pops had big arms, bulging with muscle that was turning slightly soft from his days of sitting around. But he could still hit plenty hard.
"Take off your shirt," he said.
"No, please..."
"Do it."
I shrugged out of my white tee. It was chilly, and I shivered. My gym teacher saw me in the locker room, and thought I looked malnutritioned. I told him that I was just skinny... But I'll give the teacher credit...I did look semi-starved. My ribs and the ridge of my spine stuck out. I didn't have an ounce of fat on my body, and little muscle. It's not that I didn't eat. My metabolism was just off the charts, I guess.
"Stand against the wall," said pops. I obeyed, planting my hands against it. I screwed my eyes shut.
"Say you're sorry for being lazy."
"I'm sorry for being lazy," I whined.
"Say 'I deserve punishment'."
"I...I...I deserve punishment," the words stuck in my throat like popcorn kernels.
"Say 'punish me'."
I whimpered.
"SAY IT!"
"P...P...P..." I had to clear my throat. "Punish me," I whispered.
The whip cracked down.
"AH!" I jerked out of the memory. Tattle was staring at me. "Think you can just black out and not get punished, eh? Well, now that you're awake again, let's begin."
"I'm sorry I spit on you," I said.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Too late for sorries now, little buddy." He raised the whip.
I switched tactics. "Do it. Do it! Do it now..."
"What?" He looked startled.
"HIT ME!"
He looked perplexed. One finger scratched at his head. "You actually want to be hit?"
I squirmed around. "Yes...I love it. Packbell...you know him right?"
"Yeah, that sick android."
"Yes, he used to whip me just like this..." I rolled my eyes upwards in an expression of rapture. "It felt sooo good. It even made me co-"
"SHUT UP!" he said.
"No, you shut up and hit me!!" I howled, like I couldn't stand the wait. He looked disgusted.
"You're a sick puppy, Snively."
He reached up, and I thought he was going to undo my bonds. But he stepped back, looking at me shrewdly. Then he flipped the whip back over his shoulder. He swung it forward and let me have it.
"AHHH!" I squealed and wiggled around from the pain of it. It left a red stripe across my chest. Then I remembered my tactic. "Ahhh...God!" I cried out in as lustful a voice I could, and I squirmed like I was in ecstasy.
"You're sick," he said again, and he looked thoroughly disgusted. This time he did untie me and dragged me back to my cell. After he left, a snickering Drago turned to me. "Did ya get yer ass whooped?"
"Yes. And it hurt so good." I rubbed my chest and zipped my uniform back up.
"Huh?"
"No, I didn't."
"What?" Drago looked angry. "Well, ya watch it, punk, cause when I get ya I'm gonna cream ya."
I yawned. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Drago." I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to go to sleep.
Marshe came by, along with Tattle. They looked at me through the bars for a moment. I felt the weight of their stares and peeked out from under the blanket.
"Everyone agreed...can't have stuff like that go unpunished..."
"Made the other prisoners wound up, little bastard..."
They opened my cell door. I was grabbed up, rather roughly. They dragged me down the hallway.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
They didn't answer.
I had a feeling this was not good.