Chapter 3:
Been there... haven't done that
Sonic and Tails crawled through the air ducts. Tails paused to cough. Sonic stopped him before he could resume crawling.
"I think we're here, little bro," he said softly, looking down through the grating below his hands. They stared down into an empty cell. They moved along, peering down into each cell they encountered, but saw no one.
"He doesn't have any prisoners, Sonic," said Tails.
"Well, that's a good thing, but where's Antoine?"
"The roboticizer?"
"Maybe. We'll check interrogation first. C'mon, we gotta hurry."
"Ok."
Sonic pulled a small flat device out of his shoe and flipped it open. It was a small holographic map of the entire airduct system. His uncle had made it for him a few months earlier, and it made travel through the city much faster and easier.
After examining it for a moment, he traced the quickest path to the interrogation room with his finger. "Computer, save track."
The computer trilled an affirmative note. The path he'd traced lit up.
"Let's go."
They reached the interrogation room quickly. Peering down through the air vent, they saw Commander Packbell. The android was humming, sharpening some very sinister looking tools.
"Wonder who those are for?" whispered Sonic.
"Poor Antoine," Tails replied.
Sonic nodded, making a face. *Ant might be a dork, but nobody deserves that kinda stuff!* He looked down again at the android, grinding his teeth. He hated that 'droid.
"Let's wait," whispered Sonic. "Until they bring Ant in."
*******
As he glanced over at the ermine, Snively noticed that Casssar's eyelashes were eerily illuminated in this strange light. They looked like a golden fringe. She turned her head down towards him, crinkling her face in a smile. Her teeth shone silver.
Her brief dip in the river had turned her white again, but she'd quickly remedied it with a swipe of her hand, restoring fur back to its midnight shade. He quirked an eyebrow; he hadn't minded her white, it made her look sweeter, more gentle. A slight tremor went through him at the thought of her rising from that liquid, and that horrid magic she'd thrown at him.
Gentle was not quite a good description for her.
"What were you thinking about before?" he asked. "That made you...stop..."
"I was thinking about my daddy," she said simply.
"So...how uh...was your father?"
"Oh ho ho, my father!" she laughed dryly. "Before he found the Source pool, he was my hero. After...he was my nightmare." She threw her arms out, a sick grin on her face. "He raped my mother everyday. And when he was done with her, he fucked me."
Snively made a face.
"He beat us, too. With whatever he could get his hands on. Pans, belts, rocks, whatever...but he liked using his hands best."
"All right, you don't have to tell me everything!"
She looked down at her stricken friend. "Does it turn you on?"
"No..." his voice went soft. "I think it's awful."
"Your father was quite the same, wasn't he?"
He was quiet, looking at the ground. Beatings, now that was a familiar memory. Perhaps not with rocks or pans, but certainly with belts. And fists. "Yes..." he said finally, voice still lowered. "But...uh...minus the molestation. He never did...sexual things to me." He bit his lip; this was not a discussion he found pleasant, but it tumbled forth anyway. "He was always beating me, and calling me names."
She raised an eyebrow. "When I first met you, you told me 'Snively' wasn't your real name. Your father called you that, didn't he?"
Her small friend seemed a bit startled. "Yes...that's right."
She nodded and smiled. "Yes, I figured it was... My daddy had a nickname for me too. 'Whore'. But nobody else called me that. Because I wasn't a whore. **He** was the whore."
He was silent for a moment. Her voice struck him. She'd been hurt, she'd been dragged into the dirt, humiliated, she'd suffered just as much as he. Yet, she still spoke with such pride, such strength. *How's it possible...how does she do it?*
"How come your nickname stuck?" she questioned.
"Because everybody called me it. My whole family. My pops had a big sense of humor...he thought it was funny to register me as Snively in the schools. I guess it was funny. Nobody knew who I really was..."
Teeth clenched as his thoughts swirled. *Even my damn mother. She could've at least kept my real name... but no. She went along with it.*
Casssar's voice shook him out of his reverie. "You should quit using it. Use your real name! What your father gave you is a weakness. Why should you continue the 'joke'?"
"It's too late," he growled. "Anything other than Snively wouldn't sound right."
"Even Castdecass?"
He smiled. "No, I like Castdecass."
She laughed. "Or Black Flower. I am beginning to like that better."
He grinned wryly. "Yes, very cute, Cass." He returned to her earlier comment. "But, still...changing my name isn't going to make me strong."
She touched him on the shoulder. As he looked up at her, she cradled his face in her hands. "You could be strong if you wished. I used to be weak. With training and confidence, you can be strong! Hush." She put her finger to his protesting mouth. "You're going to say you're small...huh...that doesn't matter. Sometimes size doesn't matter." She closed her eye in a wink.
He nudged her with a smirk. "Sure, Cass. You're such a joker."
"You should listen to me," she chuckled. "I'm one smart girl."
He quirked an eyebrow in his usual fashion. "Yes, agreed. But I can't ever hope to beat Julian."
"Your master."
"Yes." He made a face to that word; 'master'. But it was true... Robotnik controlled him, using fear and pain as his chain and collar.
"We shall have to kill him sometime." Casssar laughed in her eerie way, and a tremor went through him.
"Oh, agreed again," he chuckled darkly. "Killing Julian would make for a most pleasant day."
She answered with another laugh, squeezing his shoulder gently.
They made their way down the tunnel. It was starting to get a bit narrow. Snively didn't particularly like that. He wasn't claustrophobic, but still...
Cass's voice soothed him as they walked. She was being awfully chatty. He did his best to hold up his end of the conversation. He found it both easy...and hard... He had a lot to talk about, but at the same time, was a bit uneasy discussing personal things with her.
As they slithered down the narrow passage, they walked very close. Her fur brushed against his skin occasionally, making him shiver.
*I should be afraid of her. After what she did.*
But he wasn't.
Even after remembering how she'd blasted him...so nonchalantly. Barely a flick of her fingers.
But he wasn't.
*But I should be!*
But he wasn't.
*She likes me. It's not like...she's going to beat me like Julian does.* He ground his teeth. *she's just...weird...sometimes. But it's not like she does it deliberately.*
He shook his head. *Quit thinking about it. Shut up.* He looked over at her.
*She's beautiful. So leave me be. I want to enjoy being with her as long as possible.*
********
Her throat was raw from panting. Sally paused, leaning heavily against a tree.
*Man, don't think I've ever run so hard in my life!*
---Much is at stake.---
"I know!" she said aloud, words marred by her heavy breathing. "But I'm not going to do any good if I collapse of exhaustion!"
---You can rest for a moment.---
"I intend to!" She shut up then. Too much effort to talk. After she regained her breath, and her heart had slowed a bit, she leaped into a run.
She was almost there.
*When I get ahold of that little brat Snively, I'm gonna...Well, it ain't gonna be pretty. If he finds Knothole, he'll annihilate us for sure.*
---We will wipe his mind free of any memory. Even if he does not find Knothole. We will wipe any memories of even seeing the Source.---
*I'd rather just kill the little creep.*
---Why this sudden hatred towards the small one? I did not sense that in you before. Not to such a degree.---
*I'm just fed up with all this crap. Him and Robotnik have to go down sometime. We never kill them. We could. We've had opportunities. I know...it's not our way. But maybe it should be.*
---That is not like you.---
*Fine. Ok. So maybe I wouldn't kill him. But, seriously, it's time we really start to hurt Robotnik!*
Maybe, if we capture Snively, we can hold him for ransom or something. Make Robotnik give up something important. Or we can like...interrogate Snively for information. Everything we can get.*
---Doesn't interrogation involve torture?---
She laughed. *You wouldn't have to torture Snively to make him talk! He's a total wuss! Although I wouldn't mind smacking the little runt.*
Cu Chulainne sighed inwardly. The small one **could** be annoying sometimes.
*******
The tunnel was very narrow at this point. Casssar had problems squeezing herself through.
Snively, of course, had no troubles. He nearly slammed into Casssar, who was standing rigidly in front of him.
They were in a cavern. More importantly, a cavern with a source pool.
"This place looks very familiar," said Casssar.
Snively looked around, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu'. "This is the Acorn Source pool!" he exclaimed. "Look!" he fingered a tapestry on the wall that bore the royal symbol. "This is definitely the same place!"
She suddenly clamped her hand over his mouth.
He looked up at her questioningly. She pointed.
Something was floating in the pool.
He gasped underneath her hand.
A dead body?
It moved. He nearly screamed, but Cass's hand was so firm he couldn't make a sound.
Whatever it was came to the shore, then shook off. Snively's eyes widened.
The long tail. The regal poise. The long cloaks.
King Acorn!
He pried Cass's hand off his mouth, narrowing his eyes in thought. If King Acorn was here, Knothole couldn't be too far away.
*Never thought of that before*, he thought dryly. *Guess I was too busy getting abducted by Princess Sally*. That stupid whore. She'd taken him right out of his bedroom. All wrapped up in a sheet, so he hadn't seen where they were going. Ah well.
With the King all things were possible...
********
Sally felt a strange sensation in her mind, as if Cu had suddenly jumped. It startled her and she tripped. Fortunately, she landed rather soft upon a bed of moss.
*What is it?*
--Your father was bathing in the Source. Now I sense another presence there with him...the small one! He is fighting with your father!---
*No!*
---Yes. Hurry.---
*I know! I'm going!*
Though it seemed impossible, Sally forced her body to move faster.
She couldn't allow them to harm her father.
She couldn't allow them to find Knothole.
*I'm coming, daddy. Hang on.*
Been there... haven't done that
Sonic and Tails crawled through the air ducts. Tails paused to cough. Sonic stopped him before he could resume crawling.
"I think we're here, little bro," he said softly, looking down through the grating below his hands. They stared down into an empty cell. They moved along, peering down into each cell they encountered, but saw no one.
"He doesn't have any prisoners, Sonic," said Tails.
"Well, that's a good thing, but where's Antoine?"
"The roboticizer?"
"Maybe. We'll check interrogation first. C'mon, we gotta hurry."
"Ok."
Sonic pulled a small flat device out of his shoe and flipped it open. It was a small holographic map of the entire airduct system. His uncle had made it for him a few months earlier, and it made travel through the city much faster and easier.
After examining it for a moment, he traced the quickest path to the interrogation room with his finger. "Computer, save track."
The computer trilled an affirmative note. The path he'd traced lit up.
"Let's go."
They reached the interrogation room quickly. Peering down through the air vent, they saw Commander Packbell. The android was humming, sharpening some very sinister looking tools.
"Wonder who those are for?" whispered Sonic.
"Poor Antoine," Tails replied.
Sonic nodded, making a face. *Ant might be a dork, but nobody deserves that kinda stuff!* He looked down again at the android, grinding his teeth. He hated that 'droid.
"Let's wait," whispered Sonic. "Until they bring Ant in."
*******
As he glanced over at the ermine, Snively noticed that Casssar's eyelashes were eerily illuminated in this strange light. They looked like a golden fringe. She turned her head down towards him, crinkling her face in a smile. Her teeth shone silver.
Her brief dip in the river had turned her white again, but she'd quickly remedied it with a swipe of her hand, restoring fur back to its midnight shade. He quirked an eyebrow; he hadn't minded her white, it made her look sweeter, more gentle. A slight tremor went through him at the thought of her rising from that liquid, and that horrid magic she'd thrown at him.
Gentle was not quite a good description for her.
"What were you thinking about before?" he asked. "That made you...stop..."
"I was thinking about my daddy," she said simply.
"So...how uh...was your father?"
"Oh ho ho, my father!" she laughed dryly. "Before he found the Source pool, he was my hero. After...he was my nightmare." She threw her arms out, a sick grin on her face. "He raped my mother everyday. And when he was done with her, he fucked me."
Snively made a face.
"He beat us, too. With whatever he could get his hands on. Pans, belts, rocks, whatever...but he liked using his hands best."
"All right, you don't have to tell me everything!"
She looked down at her stricken friend. "Does it turn you on?"
"No..." his voice went soft. "I think it's awful."
"Your father was quite the same, wasn't he?"
He was quiet, looking at the ground. Beatings, now that was a familiar memory. Perhaps not with rocks or pans, but certainly with belts. And fists. "Yes..." he said finally, voice still lowered. "But...uh...minus the molestation. He never did...sexual things to me." He bit his lip; this was not a discussion he found pleasant, but it tumbled forth anyway. "He was always beating me, and calling me names."
She raised an eyebrow. "When I first met you, you told me 'Snively' wasn't your real name. Your father called you that, didn't he?"
Her small friend seemed a bit startled. "Yes...that's right."
She nodded and smiled. "Yes, I figured it was... My daddy had a nickname for me too. 'Whore'. But nobody else called me that. Because I wasn't a whore. **He** was the whore."
He was silent for a moment. Her voice struck him. She'd been hurt, she'd been dragged into the dirt, humiliated, she'd suffered just as much as he. Yet, she still spoke with such pride, such strength. *How's it possible...how does she do it?*
"How come your nickname stuck?" she questioned.
"Because everybody called me it. My whole family. My pops had a big sense of humor...he thought it was funny to register me as Snively in the schools. I guess it was funny. Nobody knew who I really was..."
Teeth clenched as his thoughts swirled. *Even my damn mother. She could've at least kept my real name... but no. She went along with it.*
Casssar's voice shook him out of his reverie. "You should quit using it. Use your real name! What your father gave you is a weakness. Why should you continue the 'joke'?"
"It's too late," he growled. "Anything other than Snively wouldn't sound right."
"Even Castdecass?"
He smiled. "No, I like Castdecass."
She laughed. "Or Black Flower. I am beginning to like that better."
He grinned wryly. "Yes, very cute, Cass." He returned to her earlier comment. "But, still...changing my name isn't going to make me strong."
She touched him on the shoulder. As he looked up at her, she cradled his face in her hands. "You could be strong if you wished. I used to be weak. With training and confidence, you can be strong! Hush." She put her finger to his protesting mouth. "You're going to say you're small...huh...that doesn't matter. Sometimes size doesn't matter." She closed her eye in a wink.
He nudged her with a smirk. "Sure, Cass. You're such a joker."
"You should listen to me," she chuckled. "I'm one smart girl."
He quirked an eyebrow in his usual fashion. "Yes, agreed. But I can't ever hope to beat Julian."
"Your master."
"Yes." He made a face to that word; 'master'. But it was true... Robotnik controlled him, using fear and pain as his chain and collar.
"We shall have to kill him sometime." Casssar laughed in her eerie way, and a tremor went through him.
"Oh, agreed again," he chuckled darkly. "Killing Julian would make for a most pleasant day."
She answered with another laugh, squeezing his shoulder gently.
They made their way down the tunnel. It was starting to get a bit narrow. Snively didn't particularly like that. He wasn't claustrophobic, but still...
Cass's voice soothed him as they walked. She was being awfully chatty. He did his best to hold up his end of the conversation. He found it both easy...and hard... He had a lot to talk about, but at the same time, was a bit uneasy discussing personal things with her.
As they slithered down the narrow passage, they walked very close. Her fur brushed against his skin occasionally, making him shiver.
*I should be afraid of her. After what she did.*
But he wasn't.
Even after remembering how she'd blasted him...so nonchalantly. Barely a flick of her fingers.
But he wasn't.
*But I should be!*
But he wasn't.
*She likes me. It's not like...she's going to beat me like Julian does.* He ground his teeth. *she's just...weird...sometimes. But it's not like she does it deliberately.*
He shook his head. *Quit thinking about it. Shut up.* He looked over at her.
*She's beautiful. So leave me be. I want to enjoy being with her as long as possible.*
********
Her throat was raw from panting. Sally paused, leaning heavily against a tree.
*Man, don't think I've ever run so hard in my life!*
---Much is at stake.---
"I know!" she said aloud, words marred by her heavy breathing. "But I'm not going to do any good if I collapse of exhaustion!"
---You can rest for a moment.---
"I intend to!" She shut up then. Too much effort to talk. After she regained her breath, and her heart had slowed a bit, she leaped into a run.
She was almost there.
*When I get ahold of that little brat Snively, I'm gonna...Well, it ain't gonna be pretty. If he finds Knothole, he'll annihilate us for sure.*
---We will wipe his mind free of any memory. Even if he does not find Knothole. We will wipe any memories of even seeing the Source.---
*I'd rather just kill the little creep.*
---Why this sudden hatred towards the small one? I did not sense that in you before. Not to such a degree.---
*I'm just fed up with all this crap. Him and Robotnik have to go down sometime. We never kill them. We could. We've had opportunities. I know...it's not our way. But maybe it should be.*
---That is not like you.---
*Fine. Ok. So maybe I wouldn't kill him. But, seriously, it's time we really start to hurt Robotnik!*
Maybe, if we capture Snively, we can hold him for ransom or something. Make Robotnik give up something important. Or we can like...interrogate Snively for information. Everything we can get.*
---Doesn't interrogation involve torture?---
She laughed. *You wouldn't have to torture Snively to make him talk! He's a total wuss! Although I wouldn't mind smacking the little runt.*
Cu Chulainne sighed inwardly. The small one **could** be annoying sometimes.
*******
The tunnel was very narrow at this point. Casssar had problems squeezing herself through.
Snively, of course, had no troubles. He nearly slammed into Casssar, who was standing rigidly in front of him.
They were in a cavern. More importantly, a cavern with a source pool.
"This place looks very familiar," said Casssar.
Snively looked around, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu'. "This is the Acorn Source pool!" he exclaimed. "Look!" he fingered a tapestry on the wall that bore the royal symbol. "This is definitely the same place!"
She suddenly clamped her hand over his mouth.
He looked up at her questioningly. She pointed.
Something was floating in the pool.
He gasped underneath her hand.
A dead body?
It moved. He nearly screamed, but Cass's hand was so firm he couldn't make a sound.
Whatever it was came to the shore, then shook off. Snively's eyes widened.
The long tail. The regal poise. The long cloaks.
King Acorn!
He pried Cass's hand off his mouth, narrowing his eyes in thought. If King Acorn was here, Knothole couldn't be too far away.
*Never thought of that before*, he thought dryly. *Guess I was too busy getting abducted by Princess Sally*. That stupid whore. She'd taken him right out of his bedroom. All wrapped up in a sheet, so he hadn't seen where they were going. Ah well.
With the King all things were possible...
********
Sally felt a strange sensation in her mind, as if Cu had suddenly jumped. It startled her and she tripped. Fortunately, she landed rather soft upon a bed of moss.
*What is it?*
--Your father was bathing in the Source. Now I sense another presence there with him...the small one! He is fighting with your father!---
*No!*
---Yes. Hurry.---
*I know! I'm going!*
Though it seemed impossible, Sally forced her body to move faster.
She couldn't allow them to harm her father.
She couldn't allow them to find Knothole.
*I'm coming, daddy. Hang on.*