My Heart Doth Wander

Chapter 10 : Severed Message

My shadow has disappeared

And so has my ghost

I'm still waiting....

I'll get you before you get me

And I suppose I might leave

Cause I can see, I see my killer

Cause I can see

See my killer.

"Gunner" – Denali

A/N: ARGH! FF . net is seriously pissing me off. It keeps getting rid of some of my italics and nothing I do can make them stay! So, there are parts in this that are supposed to be italiced (thoughts and stuff like that), so if you come across them it's 's FF . net's fault, not mine! XD

Robotropolis – Dining Hall

"This could've been a bird. Singing in the sky. Free as the wind and all that. And now look at it."

"What a pleasant thought...do you always have such lovely thoughts first thing in the morning?" Casssar looked across the small metal table at Snively, who was holding a forkful of egg up to his mouth, the yolk oozing back onto his plate.

"No..." He grinned and ate the bite of egg. "Just think, Casssar," He said, chewing, "That bird could've crapped on my hovercraft windshield, but it can't now, eh? Stop things in advance, Cass, that's what you have to do."

"Black Flower..." She groaned and took a sip of coffee – black and strong, just the way she liked it. "There are plenty of days for planning. Let's take today to..." A devious grin showed over the rim of the coffee mug, "have a little FUN."

Snively eyed her, stabbing another clump of egg with his fork. Then a mad smile lit up his face. "I've been wanting to try that Jacuzzi of Julian's out. The fat bastard NEVER let me use it...well, I did when he was gone...and it's nice, Cass. I think you'll enjoy the water jets..."

She cackled. "What a stimulating thought..."

"Yes." He laughed.

The west side of Robotropolis used to be a glorious place. It had been a lush dreamworld in Sally's childhood mind. Nothing but joy there...in the salt-spray air, daddy smiling at her, twirling her into the sky and water. Sand had been between her toes. By the water it was smushy and wet and further in, it was dry, soft and warm, so wonderful to lay upon.

The bay...the aquamarine jewel of Mobotropolis.

It had been, anyway. Now the waters were poisoned and black, and the beach was a place only a madman would tred barefoot upon. The smell was a constant stench of rotting fish and sickly gray slime that grew upon the trash and charred rocks.

Two factories loomed like cliff walls on the curving shore. They took the filthy water and purified it, for the city denizen's use. 'All two of them,' she thought dryly.

It surely was not the most important target in the world – the water refinery – but it was something. For the test of cause, it was.

They were going to cause the refinery to go bye-bye in a lovely blaze of exploding glory.

Sally had something else in mind, a blow to Snively's face along with the destruction of his water supply. She hoped it would put pride in Lupe's eyes, and fear in Snively's.

I don't care about being careful. No skulking and hiding this time. I want him to SEE.

She almost couldn't wait for that moment. But first, she had to pay attention to the mission.

"Ok," she said aloud. "Let's get the explosives set." She stuck out her arm. "Synchronize watches."

The rest extended their arms; the wolves had watches they had borrowed. After all watches were set to the exact timer, they ran off in separate directions to plant their explosive canisters around the refinery.

Sally's trek took her to the rear of the refinery. She ran delicately along the vast pipes that extended from the building out into the putrid black water. She set a few canisters along the pipes and then made her way back to the shore.

The wind blew back her hair, filling her nose with the poison air. It burned her nostrils. She narrowed her eyes, staring out over the water. It was so dark, and where it met the horizon, the distant blue sky almost seemed to glow neon, just a blazing azure strip of sky below the gray clouds. She shivered. Her father used to tell her stories...about shipwrecks, about ancient civilizations of sea creatures under the waves who...if they favored a sailor, they would take him to shore, or down to their city, using magic to help them breathe.

If they didn't favor you...well...you were left to drown in the deep waters. She imagined any enchanted sailors and sea-creatures were dead now. She didn't think anything could survive in that water now...

There wasn't even a bird in the sky.

Dear Journal, I was wishing to be a leaf again, or a bird, so I could fly over the waves far away, and maybe find a place where the water ran clear again, a shoreline with trees and bushes. A place without corruption.

I don't even know...if there's a place like that anymore...or if there EVER was.

She followed the pipe back to the refinery, planting a few explosives around where the pipes connected to the dirty gray walls. Then she leapt down to the sand, stumbling over a piece of debris. She caught herself with her hands, nearly slicing one on a glass shard lying dangerously close.

"Ugh," she grunted, standing up. "What a mess..."

It would take us years to clean this place if we ever win the city back. It might not ever be the same, not in my lifetime, anyway.

Angrily, she kicked the glass shard away. Seconds later, the glowing red of a laser blast exploded next to it.

She turned sharply on her heel. A SWATbot was standing, its arm outstretched, wrist-laser aimed towards her. "Surrender, Intruder," it demanded.

"Crap," she said, midnight-blue eyes narrowing. She took a few steps back, pretending to trip and land upon her rear. A pitiful wail filled the air.

The SWATbot advanced, the threatening arm held outwards. She reached behind her, feeling the sharp edges in her hand.

Robotnik's SWATbots didn't shoot when they thought their prey was helpless. He wanted them alive – so he could go beyond killing them, so he could damn them to robotic hell, like a spiteful dark God. The thought made her sneer, the expression jarring on her pretty face. Snively apparently hadn't changed any SWATbot protocol.

But who's to say this is good or bad? But lazy, it seems. Lazy. Lazy child, you'll pay for that, Snively.

She hurled the hunk of glass at the bot. The laser blast hit accurately and shattered the glass; Sally was already upon the bot before it could refocus, her dagger in hand. The handle was hard wood, the blade a sharpened rock. Ideal for cutting the neck wires of a SWATbot.

Strong legs vaulted her upon the SWAT's back and she hooked one arm around its neck, the other quickly slicing through the wires. She gritted her teeth as the sparking ends touched her fur and crackled.

The bot fell silently and she landed upon the sand. This time, her hand didn't avoid its fate with the glass. A sliver sliced into her palm and the warm blood oozed.

I won, but I was wounded. She pressed her other hand to the cut. Funny, isn't it, Journal? That's how this whole war has gone.

Sonic and Thunderhill were the first back to the meeting spot. Sonic eyed the brown wolf with a wary grin. Thunderhill had a dagger in his hand and he was flipping it and catching it by the handle. Sonic kept expecting him to cut himself at any moment.

"This is gonna rock," the hedgehog commented, staring at the refinery.

"I suppose," the wolf grunted. "If you like pretty fireworks."

Sonic cast a sidelong glance at him. His watch was ticking down, and from their view atop a hill, he could see Lupe and the others approaching. But Sally wasn't there...

"And what do you like, dude?"

The knife handle landed firmly in the large brown paw and the blade was jutted towards Sonic. The hedgehog blinked but didn't recoil. "I'd like to see his entrails spilling onto the floor. No games. Straight to the-," Thunderhill extended the knife, so the tip poked into Sonic's peach chest fur, "-point."

The hedgehog lowered his head and his eyes focused on the shining metal. Slowly, his lip curled into a snarl.

From the mind of Sonic 'I don't like death 'Hedgehog...

I don't know what came over me. I'm usually so calm and cool, ya know? 'Steels of Nerves' as ole Ant would say. But at that moment, I just wanted to strangle the guy, or maybe spin-dash him into a million pieces.

It's really weird...me wanting to hurt him. When it was him talking about hurting others that made me so mad.

Maybe I'm just scared...that I have a killer in me too...

Maybe I'm scared Sally does.

"I heard talk around the town. It was your female that killed him."

Thunderhill had a smirky sort of look on his face. It made my hackles raise. I hated it. The bloodlust. It was like Robotnik, sort of. Ole Fat-boy always wanted to hurt people. He got jollies from it.

"Fine woman. A fine woman, most definitely."

Don't talk about her, you cretin. I don't want you looking at my girl. She isn't like you.

"I'm sure she's proud. And I'm sure you honor her, right?"

I wished the others would get here. I was starting to get that trembling feel in my legs, the feeling I get when I need to RUN and fight and RUN. And rip apart metal with my spin-dashes. My spin-dash could probably rip him apart, like a saw blade. I bet it could. His guts would be the ones on the ground.

I gulped and looked up. I guess I needed to see his face in order to get control. I have to remember that he's a living person. I pushed the knife away with my gloved hand. "No, she isn't. Sally doesn't LIKE to kill. She wasn't herself that day."

He put the knife away, finally. "Oh? Is that so? It sounds more like the whining of a hero too afraid to get his hands wet..."

What a chump. I really don't want Sally hanging around him. He'll make her feel awful. She DIDN'T like what she did, I know it! I don't like it either, but I know Sally was in a strange state of mind. Robotnik was in the village. She flipped out. She lost it; she was just trying to protect us and everything. It was either Robotnik or us. And hey, I don't have any problem with it being Robuttnik.

Sally? Where was she, anyway? I squinted down the hill, trying to ignore Thunderhill's stare, his stupid fangs glinting. "It ain't like that, buddy," I spoke without looking at his ugly mug. "We just don't think killing is right. It's a last resort for us."

"Perhaps Lupe underestimated the valor of your group." Thunderhill snorted.

I finally looked at him. I was really pissed off at this point. "Lupe is one of the smartest people around, besides Sally. She KNOWS people. If she says she respects us, then she respects us!"

I just couldn't believe Lupe was in the same league as this guy. They weren't anything alike. Lupe was WISE, that's what she was. Like Rosie or Uncle Chuck. She isn't some chump who's gonna hate us because we don't believe in killing people. Even if she believes in it herself, she's like...respectful, you know? She would never think bad of us because of that. Never.

This guy is a moron.

"Ah Lupe," he says, as the beautiful Chieftain finally comes up to us. "How did it go?"

"Fine," she answered. The rest of the group was coming up behind her. I glanced around and didn't see Sally's face.

"Where's Sally?" I asked, trying not to sound too worried.

Everyone peered about. No sign of her.

I had a wild thought then, of Sally marching into the command Center with a knife. Snively was cowering in the throne like the pansy he is. Sally grabs him by the shirt collar and raises her other hand.

She's got her knife...and she stabs it into his stomach over and over and he makes these really horrible squealing noises. All his guts fall on the floor.

No way!! Sally isn't ANYTHING like that...she's not like that at all. I suddenly glared over at Thunderhill and his stupid face...I hated him so much in that moment. I hated him and the Death that he coveted....I hated him for thinking Sally was like him.

She's NOT.

I stared down the hill again, trying to look cool.

Where the hell was she, anyway?

Sally was running. She was sprinting along the shore. She was following a SpyEye. It wasn't moving very fast, and it wasn't looking at her. She glanced over her shoulder, trying to gauge the distance between here and the meeting hill, her quick mind trying to calculate the time it would take to get there. They would be waiting for her, by now, most likely.

She leaned down while running and scooped up a piece of debris. One eye shut and aimed on the floating camera and she let the garbage chunk fly. It hit the camera squarely and knocked it to the sand. She was upon it in moments, disconnecting the visual wire and tucking it under her arm.

He WOULD see now, for sure. When she was ready.

She checked her watch. Three minutes to detonation.

She turned, and running madly, made for the hill.

Four delicate fingers cut a path through steam. A ragged crooked path, like the scratches still healing on his arms. Snively could see himself, mostly obscured by a veil of white coating the bathroom mirror, but clearly, clearly through those finger-made paths he could see his eyes.

The eyes, an empty blue, a frozen lake or the internals of a cold lonely glacier. Casssar said his eyes were beautiful.

Snively blinked one eye slowly, watching his lid slide over pupil and retina and cornea, till the lashes lay closed in a soft brown fringe. Maybe he liked his eye better like this, hidden away.

Casssar said they were lovely – she said they were a Wonder of Mobius. 'Or they should be, anyway,' her sensuous voice had chuckled.

But he didn't. He wasn't sure about THAT. Everyone said eyes were the window to the soul. If his eyes led to his soul, then there was no way his eyes were beautiful. His eyes were the gates to Hell.

'Don't let them deceive you,' he'd told Casssar.

Snively drifted from the bathroom to his bedroom, catching a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror. Robotnik used to stare into that mirror. Snively's body was a contrast to that massive form. Milk-pale, reed-slender. Weak. He twisted his arms to see the self-inflicted scratches, a small smile tugging his lips. The scratches were blooming rose-red against their white backdrop. It was oddly beautiful, in some strange way.

'Like Snow White,' he thought with a sneer. Red as blood, white as snow. Black as ebony? He narrowed those pale eyes. No black on his body, but inside, his heart was as dark as charred wood. Ebony indeed.

Bah. He stuck his tongue out at the mirror and narrowed his Gates in defiance of the weakling reflection. Let that reflection rot there. Let it seethe with all its memories and fuck-ups. He didn't care. He wasn't even that person anymore.

"Fuck you Robotnik..." he whispered, "and fuck you, Snively..." He turned away from the mirror. "I'm a Black Flower now..."

Robotnik's Jacuzzi room was a room Snively had saw very little of in the old days. The metal walls, instead of being smooth, were large paneled tile made of different colors of metal. Copper and Bronze tiles were intermingled with the usual steel alloy that made up the rest of the city's interior. The floor was some kind of dark metal, or stone perhaps, he couldn't tell.

He padded in, white towel wrapped about his waist. His skin was still wet from his recent shower.

In the center of the room, sunk into the floor, with steps leading down, was the pit of bubbling frothy water. He blinked.

Casssar was waiting for him. She was dancing. She seemed oblivious to his presence, twirling and swaying as smooth as fog across the room. Arms lifted and curled to an unheard song, but he could imagine it: something, dark, rhythmic. Chanting maybe. She half-turned in a slow lazy motion, peering over her shoulder at him. "Was it necessary to bathe your entire body? You are just going to get wet again."

He'd spilled coffee on himself at breakfast. So he'd showered. It had burnt his leg and reminded him of the blood. Just the thought of Julian's caustic fluids had started the awful blood specks burning on his body again. He really couldn't stand it.

But it was washed off now – for now. Until it came back...

"I felt a bit unclean," he said.

She was still dancing, delicate steps around the perimeter of the Jacuzzi. The black body was turned away from him, her tail floating out lazily in an arc around her. He stared at her rear, and gulped.

"For some reason, I'm starting to feel that way again."

Casssar let loose her sensuous laugh. It wrapped around him. Nerves all over his body tingled like tiny sparking wires, and he shivered. She winked. She knew all that trembling wasn't from cold...the room was steamy and warm as a jungle.

"This is called Shadow Dancing," She informed him, while her hands did their own little dance across her body. He watched them, utterly intrigued. "My mother was teaching me. Before Daddy found the Source..." She smiled slightly, swaying a bit closer to him. "She didn't dance after that. I almost forgot about it, myself. But..." She grinned, leaning her face into his. "I suppose I didn't."

"Your mother didn't include the fondling, did she?" Snively returned a devious grin.

"No." Another one of those warm laughs made him tingle. "That's my own personal..." One of her hands drifted to his towel. "...Touch."

He blushed as she pulled the towel away and let it drop to the floor. "Well, let's get in already," he mumbled, staring down at the tile. She chuckled and grabbed one of his slender wrists, and pulled him down the steps into the Jacuzzi.

"Shit happens. Everyone dies eventually. The end."

Shit happens. – It didn't have to happen on his time. He wouldn't let it.

Everyone dies eventually. – Yeah, so? You couldn't beat Death, but that didn't mean you had to lay down for it.

Why do you have to lay down for Life, then? Why do you have to let Life dance you around like a little puppet? Sonic frowned. He frowned hard. He'd never thought of it that way before.

The end – Did anything ever end? Really? He didn't know that. He wasn't the philosophical type. The Acorn's Royal Symbol was an Arborous, a snake that bit its own tail. It meant that things went around and around with beginning and endings overlapping. In a sense, there wasn't any beginning or end.

Shit, his head hurt. No wonder he didn't think very often. So Sonic focused on what he did best. He put every ounce of focus into running.

"Sally...where are you?"

He whipped around the factory. She wasn't in sight. He dashed to the massive pipes that brought water into the refinery; that was Sally's area to place explosives. The explosives were there, so she'd made it this far, at least. He hopped atop a pipe, surveying the area.

There was a SWATbot laying on the sand below.

He leapt down and dashed along the beach, following the indentations in the sand.

There she was! Running this way, her hair so bright against the gray sky. He stopped and watched her for a moment; she was running with her head down and her arms pistoning. Quite fast for a regular Mobian.

Pretty slow to him.

"Sally!" He was before her in seconds. "Where the heck have you been?!" He thrust his watch into her face. "There's like a minute before ka-blooey!"

He reached for her arm, then noticed the disengaged SpyEye. "What's that for?"

"You'll see," she said mysteriously.

"Alright," he said begrudgingly. He didn't like being kept out of the loop, especially Sally's loop. "Let's get back then." Without further words, he scooped her into his arms and took off for the hill.

She clutched the SpyEye tight. It was the only guarantee he would see.

Snively sank into the bubbles until they rode up around his bare shoulders. The heat wrapped him like a warm blanket and he sighed blissfully. Across from him, Casssar winked, letting out a similar contented sound.

"This is quite nice, Black Flower."

"Oh yes. Just wait till I turn on the jets-"

He faltered in mid-reach. He could feel the floor trembling, as if afflicted by a slight earthquake. Red lights began to flash, silently; there were no klaxon sirens. Which was a good thing. But red flashy lights were never a good sign in Robotropolis.

He could see the red blinking on the water, turning it from clear to scarlet. Like blood. He grimaced and shut his eyes tight. "What now? What now?!"

"It must be a rebel attack," Casssar said, casually. Her foot moved underwater and nestled into his lap.

He sank back down. "I should see what's going on."

"Then go," said she, with a devious smile. Her toes curled, groping.

"...there's no sirens. It probably isn't serious..." He sat up again and turned on the jets. Casssar's smile lingered. Finally, Black Flower was learning to relax!

"Mmmm..." She arched her back against the pulsing jet behind her. "Feels nice..."

"Yes," he said, distractedly. His eyes were half-closed, his head titled back onto the Jacuzzi's headrest. "It does..." He stared up at the light. Red. Red. Red. "Maybe I should go..."

She purred. "Ignore it."

"At least turn off the lights," he said. "I can't..." he mumbled incoherently and stirred his hand lazily about in the water. "They're bothering me."

"They're just lights." Her eyes were flashing. Her toes continued massaging into his lap and he sighed.

"Just lights, right."

"Right."

"Right," he chuckled. "Maybe they showed up to surrender."

She yawned contentedly. "They can surrender –after- we get out."

He was blocking out the lights now. It seemed easy when he focused on Cass's lazy smile, and the feel of her feet fondling him. The jets were massaging his muscles, almost forcing him to lay back and relax.

Ok. So maybe that was a good idea. Snively thought maybe he'd listen to her, for once. She leaned forward, and he tilted his head to kiss, only a lip-space away...

When the sirens went off.

The explosion had been beautiful. Beyond fireworks. Even Thunderhill had seemed delighted at the flumes of smoke that rose up like the innards of a flower, surrounded by petals of flame. The ground had rocked under their feet.

They had left quickly. The sound of water...water gushing everywhere...out of the building, crashing down onto the streets, pouring into the city and back into the ocean...even their hill seemed a bit too close to the flood.

Sally was glad. She wanted to be closer to the citadel. She had her eyes and thoughts on something that wavered there. A flag of Robotropolis, torn at the edges, a brilliant red flag iconed with a black circle in the middle, and in the middle of that? A bold yellow R for Robotnik, for Robotropolis. It stood for everything she hated in this life.

"Let's go," she said, as they strode towards the looming Death Egg. Sonic and Bunnie shot her a quizzical look, but said nothing; the wolves all followed obediently. Geoffrey kept looking backwards at the billowing cloud of smoke. He seemed very pleased at the sight.

So was Sally. But it wasn't enough. She was vaguely surprised to see not much retaliation...no SWATbot troops bearing down on them, no hovercraft on their tails.

She pictured Snively coming out and surrendering, his mouth twisted into a pout, begging for mercy. That was one scenario. Or maybe he was in the control room, with his pistol in his mouth, unable to live anymore, knowing that he was going to lose. Maybe he was tired of being a loser his whole life.

She hoped he wouldn't kill himself, because she wanted him to live suffering. It was what he deserved. He didn't deserve to suicide, didn't deserve peace. It wasn't fair for him to run into eternity and escape the punishment, escape the PAIN that he deserved.

Her jaw was aching. She realized she was clenching her teeth, snarling, her hands made into hard fists. Sonic was casting her an odd look, but she ignored him. They were in front of the citadel and she could see the flag wavering from the immense cement block it was planted in. Looming above the flag was a hideous statue of Robotnik, with his arm pointing downwards, like a God condemning them from the heavens.

"First thing we gotta do, when we get the city back, is get rid of this ugly thing," Sonic commented, giving the statue a thumbs-down.

"Yes," she said, idly. She aimed a finger at the flag. "Bunnie, could you get that for me?"

"Well shore..." The rabbot raised an eyebrow but did as instructed. Her powerful robotic arm snapped the flagpole off at the base and she brought the Robotropolian banner over to Sally.

"Hold onto it for a moment."

"Alraight." Bunnie looked over at Sonic. The hedgehog shrugged.

She took the SpyEye from under her arm and reconnected the visual wire. Then she let it go. It hovered, its red glaring lens staring at them. It would stay there, she knew...they were programmed to follow intruders.

She beckoned for Bunnie to hand her the flag. The Rabbot did, and Sally took it and set it firmly onto the ground beside her, holding it like a war banner. It fluttered in a weak breeze.

She stared back at the camera.

"Snively. I hope you're listening. For your sake."

His bare feet slapped upon the floors. Crisp and sharp. Echoing anxiety and anger. His brow was furrowed, his breathing labored as Snively finally arrived before the doors of the command center. His towel was hanging askew at his waist. He was shivering...after leaving the heat of the Jacuzzi the air felt like ice. He expected the water on his skin to start freezing over at any minute.

When he entered, red, yellow, and blue lights were flashing on the computer console. He was grateful, in some unconscious way, for the yellow and blue. He went over, still dripping onto the floor, and scanned for the source of the sirens.

It was the water refinery. It had been attacked. He brought up a surveillance cam view from a factory across the street, taking note of the smoke and flooding streets. The fire. The sheer damage. He swore and slammed a fist onto the console.

There was a light blinking, indicating SpyEye feed of intruders. With his eye still trained on the footage of the smoldering refinery, he hit a button and another monitor lit up with the new footage.

"...Hope you're listening. For your sake."

He saw Princess Sally.

She peered into the rotating red lens, picturing his face staring back. She saw his eyes widen and his mouth drop. He was sweating in fear, and she smiled viciously. She kept the image of Snively subdued, Snively in terror, in her head. It helped fuel her words with that edge of confidence.

"I have a message for you. Your battle is useless. You can't win this, Snively. Your uncle tried, he gave his life for it. There's some things you can't break, no matter how much hate and anger you pile on them. I'm telling you this Snively, to give you a chance to back down."

Thunderhill snorted in the background, but Lupe silenced further remarks with a wave of her hand. Bunnie and Sonic stood behind Sally, their faces gone from bewildered to stern as they too gazed into the camera lens. They were always there to back her up.

"It isn't our role to bring death. But we can, Snively...you've seen what happened to Robotnik. We might not have wanted it exactly that way, but we've shown that we can create that outcome. Believe me," and here a slender accusing finger jabbed towards the lens, "I could care less if you live or die. Honestly. That's up to you...if you surrender peacefully then we'll have no reason to harm you...aside from your deserved punishment."

Sonic nodded. Bunnie's gleaming arm rested on her hip. "That's raight sugah, ya'll just come out-"

Sally turned her head. There was something fierce in her midnight-blue gaze...it silenced the rabbot in the midst of her words. She stuttered for a moment, then shut her mouth, averting her eyes to the ground. Sally turned back to the camera. Her body was trembling slightly.

Dear Journal...I wish it had just gone like my vision. With Snively coming out and dying so there was nothing to worry about. I think maybe, if I saw him dead...all this horrible anger and hate inside me would just dissipate...like morning fog. I really can't stand the feeling of it inside me. It's like a black fungus...spreading around my insides.

I wonder if it's from him. If it's Snively's thoughts...like Cu said...he left remnants...he left a touch on my soul. The fingerprints Cu was talking about. I want to think these bitter feelings are from Snively. I don't want to believe they can come from ME.

I wish Cu was here. It could tell me what is mine and what is his.

Maybe I don't want Cu here.

Maybe Cu would tell me this is all me.

Maybe I'm not a good person at all.

Oh well. Good or not...She was still better than Snively. And she still didn't care if he died...she wanted it. She still wanted it, even if she was good.

She didn't know about the visual wire in the SpyEye. She hadn't wiggled it in all the way, and now it began to wiggle its way out again, threatening to sever her visual and audio connection to the tyrant.

She thrust the flag of Robotropolis into the hard ground, her head lowered. She glared under her eyelashes at the lens, her most hateful, unnerving stare she could muster, trying to convey all her loathing for this flag and all it stood for...in that gaze.

"If you fight us, Snively...you will die."

Her hair blew. Eyes smoldered. And the flag of Robotnik flapped in the sudden breeze.

The SpyeEye wire popped out.

Behind Sally, the statue of Robotnik aimed its condemning finger. Snively couldn't see his face, but he could imagine it in reality...Robotnik's glowing eyes, his gleaming square teeth. The blue and yellow lights faded out...all Snively could see was the red. The red. The red.

Sally's eyes were blue, but they had something in them...something like Robotnik. Giving a threat and a promise of pain. Of death. She had Robotnik's flag in her hand, her fingers wrapped around it, and her lips formed awful words.

Snively felt dizzy, backing away from the monitor. Sally with Robotnik's flag.

"You will die."

Sally with Robotnik's flag.

The screen turned to static; the last thing he saw was the banner unfurling in the breeze, revealing its emblem of Robotnik, the harbinger of all his pain...

He could hear the growl in her voice, the enunciation of each word.

'You.'

She had his flag. She was allied with HIM, now.

'Will.'

She was going to go back to Knothole and Cu Chulainne would surround Robotnik's putrid, rotting corpse with light...

'Die.'

He would get to his feet. He wouldn't care about Knothole, or Sally, or Sonic, anymore.

Robotnik was coming. Sally would bring him. He was coming.

Snively was going to die.

He moaned, bringing hands to his head. His knees were weak and he stumbled against the console, shivering violently. He curled up against it, strange noises coming from his throat.

A prey aware of its oncoming slaughter.

Sally didn't notice the red glow of the SpyEye's lens had died out. She was throwing herself into her words, fevered, barely even aware of the other Freedom Fighters around her. They were silent, eyes locked onto her slight trembling body.

"But it can end here...it can end NOW, Snively! Give yourself up. Enough death. Enough slavery. Your uncle is DEAD. His reign is over...and his empire is turning to dust. We aren't going to let it stand anymore. I can promise you that."

There was still no retaliation. No hovercrafts or robot troops. Maybe Snively was really listening to her. She scoffed inwardly.

She doubted it. If there was one thing she and Snively shared, it was their stubbornness. The little brat would wave her words away, like so much water rolling off a duck's back, to splash useless and unnoticed upon the floor. Nothing she said would affect Snively.

He probably will die then, she thought, with a spark of fierce pleasure. As much as she wanted to see him dead, she would stick to her word; she wouldn't kill him if he surrendered peacefully.

Maybe I'm better than...I thought?

But was restraint necessarily goodness? If she held back her urge to harm, did it make her a better person?

Can evilness be measured by mere intent, or does if have to include action? If I don't act on it, am I still good...or am I still wicked for even having the thought within me?

Her voice began to tremble severely, on the verge of breaking.

I'm NOT evil...I'm NOT bad. Action always speaks louder than words, they say. It IS the action of evil that makes a person truly evil! IT HAS TO BE.

She threw the flag onto the ground, viciously and sudden, as if it'd burnt her. "This is ALL over, Snively...just let it GO! This KILLS everyone when you hold onto it. You can have a chance. You can live again. You don't deserve it, but you can have it, Snively...just LET HIM GO." She kicked a clod of dirt onto the flag, sullying the brilliant scarlet cloth.

She turned away from the dead camera, her eyes gleaming with tears. "Let's go," she said to Sonic. "Let's just get out of here."

They left.

Sonic looked back at the fallen flag, and his mouth twisted. "I wonder if he'll listen..."

Thunderhill snorted and fingered the knife in his belt. "I hope not."

Casssar followed the wet slicked footsteps to the control room. She was shivering by the time she got there. Her fur was sodden and sticking to her skin, chilling her.

Another sort of shiver hit her when she entered...a sick jolting feeling down her spine as her ears witnessed the sound of pain...a combination of hoarse sobbing and whimpering.

Snively was curled in a fetal ball by the console, his towel twisted around his waist, head buried in his arms. Goosebumps were all over his pale skin and he was shaking even more violently than she.

"Cast...?" She approached him cautiously, her breath held in her lungs. "Cast...what is wrong?"

He didn't acknowledge her. She stared down at him, so white and tiny against the vast metal floor. So weak.

A sudden flash of memory made her grimace...the sight of floating above herself...seeing her little girl form, with its white snowy fur, cringing on the floor, so pathetically helpless... She always seemed to float out when Daddy loomed over her, his hands on her legs, his eyes dead-lust.

She hated to see herself. She hated to be in that skin even more...back then.

She stared down at Snively and her mouth curled into a snarl, her sharp teeth flashing. She HATED to see him like that!

She reached down, so roughly, and dug her claws into his shoulder, throwing him to a sitting position against the console.

He stared at her in shock, blood trickling down onto his collarbone. His small body was pressed back against the console, his arms clutched to his chest. His eyes were insanely wide, spilling over with tears.

"Cast..." Her snarl faded at the sight of him, so bound up in fear.

She had hated to be in her skin back then...but her skin hadn't deserved what had happened to it. It hadn't been able to fight it, not then.

His eyes, pale and luminous, were staring right through her. One finger touched the trickling blood and smeared it over the white skin. "He's coming..." It was a weak whisper. "He's coming...they're bringing him..."

She stared over the room. A monitor was hissing with static; another showed a view of some building by the bay, terribly damaged by explosives. It was still smoking and the streets were flooded.

"What has happened?" she demanded.

He curled up again. His eyes closed...he looked spent and hopeless. "It doesn't matter," he said dully.

"It looks quite bad." She eyed the monitor again. "Maybe you should take care of this."

He didn't answer.

"Cast..." She nudged him with her foot. "You must take care of it."

"Leave me alone..." he rolled over onto his back, gazing up at the ceiling. His skin was still prickled with goosebumps but he wasn't shivering anymore. "It doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"He's coming."

"No, he isn't!" She reached down and picked him off the floor. She cradled him in her arms just as a baby. He was limp and unresponsive. "Get this idea out of your head! He IS NOT coming back!"

Snively's eyes shifted from the ceiling to her face, just staring, for a long unnerving moment. Something mad touched them, lighting up, like a flare under ice. "SHE's bringing him back...she said so. She bloody SAID SO!" He aimed a finger at the hissing static-ridden monitor. "She had his flag...she said he was coming...Don't tell me it's NOT TRUE, Cass!"

The ermine seemed at a loss for words, then firmly shook her head. "Cu wouldn't bring him back. I KNOW it wouldn't." She knelt down and deposited him back on the floor.

He didn't stay there for long...he stood, retying the drooping towel around his waist. A few buttons were pushed and the flashing lights winked out. The two monitors regained their usual black screens, plunging the room into twilight. He pushed another button and spoke. "All Techbots and SWATbots in Sector D, report to the Water Refinery. Begin emergency clean-up."

There was an affirmative response and he closed the COM-link, turning to lean back against the console.

Casssar crossed her arms. "What are you going to do now, Black Flower?"

She thought he was calm. Collected now. All the stupid fantasies flown out of his head.

But as he stared at her, his mouth twisted and he began to sob again, sliding down to his haunches. "I'll KILL them all, Cass. I'll KILL THEM ALL! Before they can bring him back."

He looked up, his eyes blazing. "Next time they come. You just watch..."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I so do love a good massacre."

From the mind of dementia – Snively Kintobar.

She thinks I'm joking.

I think I could kill myself right now, just to escape the fear. Julian was always the nightmare of my existence, and the plague of my dreams. And I finally rid myself of him...but he stays with me...he's in my skin...he's in my damn blood. That's how deeply he hurt me...he scarred me on the inside...and they won't heal...and they won't let me forget. Ever.

I thought he was gone though. I can live with scars, I suppose, as long as their maker is gone.

Princess Sally Acorn...

She's bringing him back. She really hates me that much. I always hated her too... the way she judges with that gaze, and the way she has a control that I don't.

I always admired her, in some twisted way too...I always even thought...she was beautiful. I fantasized about her sometimes...I wanted her too...sometimes. Ah, hate and love can coincide, you know. But now? Hate has tipped the scales.

That beauty and that courage and that DAMN heart...they're all going to die.

Casssar thinks I'm joking.

She always underestimated me, from the beginning. Casssar likes to mother me, she likes to act like I'm her childhood self...she wants to save me because she couldn't save herself.

I'll save my own self.