Snively's Return: The Castle of the King Chapter 1 First, he looked at the bars. The cold, damp bars that were less forgiving than Robotnik had ever been. But he remembered that less than three hundred feet below were the boiling waters at the base of the Devil's Gulag. He, in his malevolent, evil ways, had already cracked the security code on the doors. Hell, he even toured the complex a few times. And, he thought of what the Freedom Fighters did to him after Doomsday. He especially wanted the skunk... "Hey, Sniveler!" shouted Drago, traitorous ex-wolf pack member, "Tell us again how bad Robotnik used to beat you." A vile grin spread across the wolf's gruff face. "Shut up. I've got more important things to do than to listen to your every whim," said the bald, long nosed lackey, Snively. "If you want something to do, why don't you jump off a cliff? I'd watch your blood seeping out of your body, kick dirt onto the visible organs, cut your head off and shit down your neck!" Drago lunged at the bars between their cells, hit with a sickening crack and slumped to the floor. You always knew which buttons to push, Snivley thought, smiling. Chapter 2 "Yo, Sonic!" called one Sir Charles Hedgehog, "Wait up!" Uncle Chuck, as he prefers to be called, was running behind of Sonic. And when you ran behind Sonic, you ran behind Sonic. True to folklore, Sonic was fast, very fast, and he never let anyone forget it. "I'm trying, Unc." Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. After a few seconds, Uncle Chuck caught up. Using Nicole, Sally's little hand held computer, Charles displayed the blueprints for the SWATbot factory which they were disabling. They'd been hacking through Robotnik's computers, but it was very slow going. "Here we go. Okay, Sonic, you get to this station here and sabotage..." "Gotcha, Unc." "Then move over to the robotic arm pulling their..." "No problemo." "Then head to this generator and use the satellite conductor to upload the power to the palace." "What?" "Use the box in your backpack and put it on this station", Chuck said, pointing at the generator. He smiled. That's my boy. "Cool, be back in a second." The blue blur was off. The workstation was crackling, all the automated arms disconnected, and the generator was humming like never before. "I'm back!" Sonic announced, bowing to his adoring audience. "I don't know. You seem to be slowing up in your old age," Uncle Chuck said, stifling a giggle. Sonic took off at his regular speed of sound. "3, 2, 1-" Sonic turned around, jamming on the brakes just in front of his uncle. "Whatdaya mean, slowing down?" Charles laughed. "Gotcha!" "Unc!" Sonic jumped over and gave his uncle a noggie. Still chuckling, Charles said, "Let's go home." Chapter 3 Drago had since recovered to his senses, and he wasn't all too happy about it. "You little piece of shit, don't sleep too close to my cell. You may never wake up!" he grumbled. "Don't worry about it. What you should be worried about is the fact that anywhere anytime, I can get you!" "What the hell are you talking about? We're penned separately. I can't get you, you can't get me." Chuckling, Snively said, "You haven't figured it out, have you, you boob. And here I thought the Hedgehog was stupid." "Don't you dare compare me to the hedgehog!" Drago almost leapt through the bars again. "Here, I'll spell it out. I can get out of any cell, any room in this place." "How?" "How doesn't matter. In fact, it's a matter of do I want to go to." "I dares yah to break out!" "I double dares yah, you little pimp" "I triple double dog dares yah," said the other inmates. Snively laughed, a sadistic, evil laugh. He sat down, ready to mock Drago some more. But his foot knocked down his comb, not that he needed it, and the doors silently opened on magnetic hinges. All of the inmates stepped out of their cells. Immediately the alarms sounded. All of the guards that came were no match for Snively, let alone Warlord Kodos or Drago who easily tossed them aside. The riot was nothing short of a massacre for the guards. After they were finished, the gang, headed by Drago, walked to Snivley's cell. "Snively..." Drago began Snively began to whimper. "Stand up, you little piece of shit." Drago grabbed Snively and bodily lifted him to his feet. "We owe everything to you, so since there's nothing better to do, what do you want us to do?" Snively couldn't believe his ears. These guys which he poked and prodded at were just gonna follow him. An evil smile crossed Snivley's face. "Alright then, let's search the complex." "For what?" "Survivors and weapons." Chapter 4 "THAT'S 37 SWATBOT PLANTS OFF-LINE. AN ESTIMATED 12 REMAIN." "Thank you, Nicole." Princess Sally quickly returned to the business at hand. They received preliminary reports of the Devil's Gulag situation, and it wasn't good. They already had heavy casualties when the call was suddenly cut off. "We'll sent a scout ship out to the island, Geoffrey. You can head out there right away." The skunk nodded, and left. "Good riddance to stinkn' rubbish," Sonic said, nudging Tails, the two tailed fox. "I heard that, hedgehog!" came Geoffrey's voice from the hall. Sonic tilted his head back with an invisible bottle, chugging it. Looking round, Sonic noticed Tails was the only one laughing. "Who wouldn't have done the same thing?" They all looked at him with dead serious eyes. "Anyway," Sally said, "how's the progress with the other factories?" There were few remarks, but generally, nothing new. The meeting was dismissed. "You busy, Sal?" asked Sonic. "No, I'm not. What's up?" "Come on, there's this great place I want to show you." And with out another word, Sonic and Sally were long gone. Sally never told anyone, but she loved the speed and just going full tilt. With Sonic there was never a worry. She never once said a word to anyone. It was a wonderful unspoken trust and love that both were enjoying that night; a love that would never die. Sonic stopped in a large grassy meadow. The sun was setting. It was giving off the most beautiful reds, purples and oranges all reflecting off a wondrously clear lake. The two of them stood there watching the sun set. Then they cuddled up under a tree and talked about their day, the stars, and the latest gossip. Their relationship was never in question, but the three immortal words "I love you" would come another night. Chapter 5 The fog was terrible. Geoffrey knew by the winds that it was gonna be bad. He and his crack team were on route to the Devil's Gulag. Cursing his luck, he'd have to land with only his sensors. It wasn't that he was bad, it was just the situation that they were in. The Gulag was close. The computer chirped, "ETA* 20 seconds." They landed quietly. No one made a sound as they quickly moved through the halls of the gulag. They heard heavy footsteps for many directions. Then, they were jumped from behind. Snively personally got St. John with the butt of his "Eradicator 2001+." Once they were securely tied and gagged, the gulag's former guests took the ship from St. John and began the flight back to Mobotropolis. Snively was laughing his maniac head off the whole time. * Estimated Target Acquisition Chapter 6 When Sonic and Sally returned from Blue Meadow Lake, they were giggling like any couple high on love, and they were. They made their way to the throne room of the palace. "Any news, Rotor?" Sally asked. "Nothing yet, Sally. And that worries me." "Did they even signal their arrival?" "Yes they did, about half an hour ago." Sally reached over the radar control panel. There was an incoming ship. It had the right signature, but when it didn't respond to the hails, Sal was worried. She punched a button. The AA* grid lit up. *Anti Aircraft "Identify yourself or else!" That's one thing about Sal, she used a little brawn with that brain of hers. There was a spine-chilling laugh over the PA system. "Hello, Princess, remember me?" "Snively!" "Oh, one-one. We're tied now." Sally began to fire the guns. Snively started to make his way to a secure landing place. This was just to the left of the palace. The AA guns could never hit someone here, and the one guarding this spot was a dud. Sally quickly summoned the royal guard. They attacked with surprising swiftness. There was not a sound. Chapter 7 Geoffrey slowly drifted into consciousness. He tried to rub his sore mouth, but his hands were tied. Feeling something loose, he spit out a tooth. The little pointy nosed bastard is gonna get it, thought St. John. There was still a guard in the hovercraft, but he was asleep. St. John felt at the knot holding his hands. Overhand? No, a Figure Eight. One small tug and he was free. There was also a second guard behind him. Figures, he though. Quietly he took the gun of the first guard, and hit him with the butt. Spinning like a madman, Geoffrey aimed at the spot where the other guard should be. "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh" "Bull's eye!" St. John released everyone else. They quickly made their way to the small munitions store under the palace. Chapter 8 Snively and crew were making short work of the place guard. The guards were good, but didn't have the crucial bloodlust, which the escapees did. With Snively knowing the complex like the back of his hand, they headed straight for the throne room. And that was where Sally was calling most of the reinforcements. Preparing for the worst, they set-up a firing line, while Sally, Sonic, and Rotor climbed above the door and waited. They waited for what seemed an eternity. Finally the place guard started firing. Chapter 9 Sonic was just itching for some action. He almost jumped down twice, waiting for the firefight to end. After the last guard was hit, then Gulag escapees confidently strode into the throne room. The signal was given. Sonic ran down, bowling three guys over. Rotor had a makeshift shield and was batting people around with it. Sally, used all of her gymnist skills was kick flipping, doing handsprings, moonsaults, and other tricks to keep kicking ass. Sonic continued to bowl people, and eventually ran into Kodos! "It's been long, speedy one. Now let's see if you're up to the task again!" The warlord began swinging his mighty battle-axe at Sonic. The warlord was keeping up with Sonic while Sally, with a might leap, narrowly missed Drago's head. Drago quickly turned around and nailed the Princess. She flew into the wall, unconscious. Rotor had been busy chasing Snively around the room. Rotor finally caught up, and grabbed at him, but only caught his boot. Snively fell into the pit in the middle of the room. "NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" There was a metallic thump as Snively's body hit the bottom. With nothing else important or pressing, Rotor helped Sonic with the warlord, to get his mind off Snively's demise. Kodos was confident, knowing that the hedgehog would be worried about the princess. A mighty fist knocked Rotor twenty feet away. I'm fighting the losing end of the battle, better juice! thought Sonic. He ran over to Rotor's limp body, picked him up and grabbed Sally. "Later, dog meat!" said Sonic as he quickly poured on the juice on his way back to Knothole Village. "I'll be back, Kodos, you can count on it!" The Beginning :)