One Snively too Many by Sniper I had this basic storyline in my head since I read STH #45 when Evil Sonic made a reappearance. I wondered what the other villains would be like in a world where they were the good guys. If you haven't read my other story, "Julie-Su’s Dilemma", you should first; it will tie in to the second half of the story briefly. The events in this story take place sometime after STH #58 P.S. All characters belong to Sega and Archie (But if they're planning on selling any of them, I just came into some money!) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was that time of the week again. Time to make sure the Parasites still had food and water. Geoffrey St. John hated playing baby-sitter to the prisoners of the Devil’s Gulag. It was unglamorous and basically a monkey’s job. But this time it was a little different. This time he had to show a rookie member of the Mobian police the ropes. The new recruit was rabbit, only sixteen. He wore the same purple French hat and and belt that Geoffrey’s two guards, Smiley and Flemming, did. Besides the being a different species, the thing that made him stand out the most was the unhardened look in his face. Geoffrey grimaced to himself. The shuttle made it over the tall cliffs of the Devil’s Gulag, and commenced docking. Inside, the ship rocked a little, causing the rookie to put his arms against the wall for support. Geoffrey and his men just kept their arms at their sides, confident in their footing. The hydraulic doors hissed, and the four departed. "Alright then ....uh?.. What’s your name again, mate?" Geoffrey asked, turning to the young rabbit. "D-Duncan, sir," he replied. "Alright then, Duncan. Today you're just going to be following the professionals around, so next time you're here you can run this place yourself." With that, the skunk turned away and walked down a thin corridor, the walls covered with grease from the numerous exhaust fumes of the shuttle. Geoffrey and his older men looked straight ahead, their eyes front, except Duncan. His eyes looked around at the horror of the dungeon. "It's kind of hard to believe we built this place, and not Robotnik," Duncan said, hoping to break the silence, and maybe start a conversation with his new commanding officer. "This is a prison. It’s meant to punish people, not make them feel all comfy like, okay, mate?" Geoffrey stated, rather arrogantly. "Uh, YES sir, I didn't mean it like that!" Duncan thought to himself. He was beginning to understand what Sonic had against the skunk. "And here we are at the prisoners' holding cells," Flemming said gruffly. The rest of the tour had been tremendously boring, and Duncan was looking forward to finally getting to the work part of the tour. Flemming pushed some buttons and the door whooshed open. On the other side was a long corridor, with barred doors on both sides. Duncan suddenly felt a rush of nervousness. He was going to see evil first- hand. The group moved down the corridor. Geoffrey pointed out each of the villains as he crossed them by. "Uma Arachniss is kept in this cell, along with Warlord Kodos. Just make sure the door is locked. Neither of them need food since they're still frozen in crystal." The group moved on a little further, then stopped. "Here we have a three time loser. Nack the Weasel, arrested for selling secret information, kidnapping the hedgehog, and treason." The weasel in the cage stayed still, eyeing over his captors. "In this cell is Snoop Doggy dog. He was a member of Sir Charles' spy group until he went bad. Watch out for him; he already tried several escape attempts." Duncan was careful to keep as much distance from the dog as possible. Judging from the size difference, he could take him apart from the other side of the bars. "And here is one of scumiest of the scum. Drago. Arrested for Treason, Conspiracy to commit murder, assault, and battery, to name a few of his crimes." Duncan noticed a note of true hatred in Geoffrey's voice. He guessed the rumours of Hershey's beatings at the hand of Drago were true. "So I see you brought me some fresh meat, eh, STINKY?" Drago growled, looking at Duncan. The rabbit tried his best to put on a brave front. Geoffrey ignored the comment. "And last, but certainly not least, the tyrant Robotnik’s right hand man, Snively. Arrested for treason, five hundred charges of attempted murder, destruction of royal property, enslavement, torture, kidnapping, menace to society and massive illegal dumping of toxic waste." "Wasn’t I also charged with parking in a handicap spot?" Snively glared at the skunk. "Zip it, big nose!" the skunk snapped. "I would. However, I have run out of food, and I do believe it is your duty to refill my dispenser!" Snively said smugly, trying to taunt the skunk into a frenzy. "Well, boy, it looks like you're going to be working today after all," Geoffrey stated. Flemming pressed the code to the door at the far end of the corridor that opened Snively’s cell. Geoffrey kept his eye on Snively, making sure he didn’t get too close to the exit. Duncan opened up the food dispenser, and filled it up. While all of this was happening, no one noticed Snively holding his arm out of the bars next to the wires that led to the lock on the cell door. The Mobian police finished quickly, and then left. "Did you get it, Mr. Snively?" Drago asked once he saw the airship leave. "Yes, yes! The circuits in my thumb recorded the codes to open my cell!" With that, the short little Overlander placed his thumb on the lock of his cell, a blinking light came out of the thumbnail, it blinked ten times, then a loud click echoed through the Gulag. It was the sound of undeserved freedom. Snively made short work of the control panel at the end of corridor. In half an hour, all the inmates besides the two crystallized ones had been released. Snively looked over his new foot soldiers, then talked. "Alright, everyone, here's the plan. We're going to go to the main communications department in this dungeon. The signal in there should be strong enough to reach West Robotropolis. Once we send out that message, the Royal Mobius police will know we made it out. Once our ship comes, we'll only have twenty minutes to make it to the city. But once we're there, there's won’t be a force on Mobius that will stop us!" (Warning, you are now going to enter the reverse universe of Mobius, first seen in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics.) Nack leaned against the massive brick building, and took another drag from his cigarette. It was early dawn, and the sunrise gave everything a lonely yellow tint. The autumn wind tickled his fur as his eyes scoured the landscape. Mobotropolis had really gone downhill in the past five years. Graffiti littered the streets, huge factories had been built to support the need for more industry, and although they were as environmentally friendly as possible, they were still a blemish on the once beautiful city. Nack took another drag, his cigarette "almost finished," he thought, and considered taking out another one, but decided not to. He couldn’t afford to smoke more then three a day, and the doctor had warned him about his health. Nack finished off his cigarette, crushed it under his heel, and started to walk back to his "home". As he crossed the street, he saw a group of young punks around the corner, jumping and yelling obnoxious obscenities. Sonic's gang! As usual, Princess Sally was with them. Nack walked a little faster to his apartment entrance, hoping to avoid the gang. Not out of fear. He knew no one in their right mind would mess with him, but still ignoring Sonic's gang was a wise idea. He unlocked the door and walked into the two story building that bore a roughly made sign. "Sniv and Nack’s Transport Service". Nack walked past the small reception area at the front of the building and into the back where there was a messy, poorly furnished living room. In the center was the couch he had to sleep on. He used to have his own place, but with dwindling business over the past few years, he eventually had to move in with his partner. "(Yawn) Mornin', Nack! Did we get any calls last night?" The short Overlander who had just entered the room was an almost exact look-alike of Snively, with a few exceptions. He was about a foot taller than Snively, his head was in better proportions to his body, his nose wasn’t quite as sharp at the end, and the most distinguishing difference was he had rough sand coloured hair! He was wearing dark blue sweat pants and a ratty green T-shirt. Overall he looked like a person who had given up hope of ever improving himself. "Hey, Sniv, we only got a call from the Iron Company. They said that their sales are dropping, and they only want us to ship out half the normal amount of iron," Nack muttered sitting in his couch, reading a discarded newspaper. "Aw, for the love of the Ancient Walkers!" Sniv whined, throwing his arms in the air. "Hey, it’s not that big a deal, Sniv, we still have other clients." "Not that big a deal? Not that big a DEAL?" Sniv yelled at Nack like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sniv stomped over to the desk in the corner of the room, cluttered with papers. "See these, Nack? These are BILLS!" With that, Sniv threw them over the ground. "Now how the hell are we going to pay these bills if we keep losing clients?" With that, Sniv walked down to the couch and slumped down a respective distance from Nack. "Sometimes I think the people in this city has forgotten all we’ve done for them! Just six years ago we got free meals in restaurants just so we would be seen eating there. When did people start forgetting we were heroes?" Yes, in this world they were heroes. During the Great War between the Overlanders and the Mobians, the Overlanders who saw the cruelty their government was performing on other living beings defected over to Mobotropolis to stop the cruelty. Sniv was among them, back when he was young and optimistic. He soon rose to a military Legend, along with his partner, Nack. They were the ones who brought the knock-out punch to the Overlander's High Minister, the tyrant known as Minister Krask! But that was then, this was now, and time can be cruel. Suddenly, the phone rang, and Sniv was brought out of his stupor. "Oh great! The phone. With our luck, it will probably be another client deciding to quit!" Sniv got up and walked into a reception area, Nack heard a muffled conversation from where he sat, there was a minute of silence, then Sniv walked back into the living room, a stunned look on his face. "Sniv? What’s wrong? Did we just get an eviction notice?" "No," Snively said shaking his head. "That was my uncle. He says King Acorn has a job for us, and he’ll pay five million credits if we do it!" Back in the other Universe, King Acorn was sitting on his throne. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Positive, sir. We picked up the radio transmission from the Gulag. It seems the prisoners have escaped. A shuttle from West Robotropolis picked them up," Geoffrey said, trying to avoid accepting the blame for the foul up. "Well then, I think we know what we must do," King Acorn started, and stood up. "Send in the Royal forces to West Robotropolis. We must stop Snively from restarting what his Uncle started." West Robotroplis was an Island just off of the west coast of the Mobius main continent. It was a stinking filthy pit of an island. Robotnik had created it seven years after he had assumed power, and this city was even more technologically advanced than East Robotropolis was. The airship that brought the four escaped prisoners in docked at the main control center of this city, and like East Robotropolis, or Mobotropolis as it was now called, the control center resembled its master. The building was tall and thin, with thousands of conduits connecting it to the rest of the city. A long balcony came out of the control center, resembling Snively's nose. The convicts quickly moved into their positions around the center. "Drago, I want you to get the power up, Nack keep an eye on what’s happening around the island, and tell me if there are any unfriendlies moving in," Snively ordered. "What do I do?" Snoop asked. "You? You're going to help me prepare a surprise for the King Acorn." Back in the reverse Universe, Sniv and Nack had made it to King Acorn's palace. The sun was shining brightly now, and the gardens surrounding the castle gave off rich green. Chief Julian of Medicine stood waiting for the two. This world’s version of Robotnik looked as kind as the other looked cruel. His eyes twinkled, his head didn’t have the villainous point that Robotnik had, his mustache was trimmed, and instead of fat, he looked more plump. "Hello, Sniv, Nack, how are you?" "Fine, Uncle Julian. Now what’s this about getting paid five million credits?" "Uh... YES! Right, I suppose you would want to know. Well come on then, boys, his majesty is waiting for us inside the palace. He’ll fill you in on all the details." The inside of the Palace was made of the finest white marble in the world, with gold trimming. King Acorn sat in a solid gold throne. His royal uniform was made of black cloth instead of the royal blue of his universal counterpart. "Welcome, Sniv and Nack. It's nice to see you." "If it’s so nice to see us, how come you haven't called us in over six years?" Nack muttered. This prompted Sniv to give him a jab with his elbow. The King heard Nack comment, and knew that the pleasantries were over. "Okay then, I see you want to get straight down to business, as usual," Acorn said aloud. He then stood up and walked to the three standing before him, with his hands behind his back. "Four months ago there was a major disturbance at the sunken island. I assume you heard about it?" "Heard about it? Man, that was on the news for over a week. They called it the biggest accident of the decade!" "Yes, but what you didn’t know was that it wasn't an accident. Now pay attention because things start to get tricky here," the king said arrogantly to Sniv and Nack. "There are... beings in another universe, a universe that is very much like ours, but still very different. It seems everyone has their own counterpart in this universe which has a totally different character and attitude. One of those beings crossed over into our universe in an attempt to steal the Chaos Emeralds from the sunken island." "So if this guy has it in for the sunken island, why do you care? You hate the sunken island!" Nack asked. Acorn continued on his speech. "The reason I care is because the person who tried to steal the Emerald matched the description of Medical Chief Julian, meaning he is Julian’s counterpart, and apparently in this ‘reverse’ universe he is a mad dictator bent on world domination!" the king stated in a grave voice. Sniv asked the king in his mind. "We believe that if this ‘reverse’ Julian has the ability to send soldiers to into our world, he could pose a major threat to our world. We want you to see that he never has a chance to realise that threat," the king said coldly. "Okay, so you want an assassination carried out. That I understand. What I don’t understand is why you chose us," Sniv said. "We want someone with experience and skill," the king said simply. "You mean someone who’s so desperate for money and respect they would do just about anything," Nack said. "That too," the king admitted. "If you accept, your uncle will fill you in on the details." And with that, the king marched back to his throne and sat down. "What do you think, Sniv?" Nack asked. "I don't know. Accepting would mean going into a conflict zone after ten years of being out of action, and then risking life and limb in another world where our deaths would be utterly meaningless." "So you're saying we should go home and forget the whole thing?" "Naw! We don’t have anything better to do." The King was not amused by the joke. "Very well then. Julian, show these gentlemen to the briefing room, and prepare them for the mission." Nack and Sniv were brought to a dark sterile room, stories beneath Castle Acorn. Julian carried a metallic suitcase. "Alright then, boys, here’s your gear!" The medical chief heaved the suitcase up on the table, then snapped open the locks, and began pulling out the equipment. The first items he brought out were two leather long-coats, one black, the other brown. "Material armour. This stuff is fire proof. It will shield you from most forms of digital surveillance. The weaving has been designed to absorb high impact. This stuff will protect you more then a five layer steel shield!" "I take the black one," Sniv said, and grabbed the jacket off the table. "You always get the black one!" Nack whined. "Excuse me, CHILDREN!?" Julian broke in, "but we have more important matters to worry about." Julian then brought out two foot long blasters. "These are different from the models you used in the Great War. They can be switched from automatic to semi-automatic. It can be fired for three hours solid before needing a recharge." "Hell YA!" Nack exclaimed in his best Texas accent, taking the weapon, and cocking it. Julian grunted his disapproval of Nack’s attitude to violence, then went on explaining the arsenal. "Now this equipment is the most important piece there is. Guard it with your life if you ever want to make it back to our universe!" With that, he took out an incredibly complex piece of machinery. It was cubical in shape, with millions of transistors and circuits on the inside. "This device will open up a hole in between our two universes. Once it is open, you will take the device and take it with you through the hole. The hole will only be open for three minutes, so be warned. Once you make it to the other side, you press this button, and the device will open another hole back to our universe. Jump through, but leave the device behind. It has a self-destruct sequence built into it that will destroy the doorway between our two worlds forever." Julian put extra emphasis on the last thing he said. Nack picked up the device, and turned it over in his hands. "Wow, Julian, you built this yourself? You, you...you need to get a girlfriend." Sniv ignored Nack’s comment. "If this thing is just made to break down the door, why don’t we just use it in our universe?" Julian remained silent for a minute, then he started speaking slowly, as if about something shameful. "The power levels needed to destroy the doorway is enormous. I had to use a very unstable substance to make it. We believe that once the self-destruct sequence has been started, it will destroy an area the size of twelve city blocks." "And King Acorn didn’t want his insurance policy to start a fit," Sniv muttered. "Okay when do we leave?" "Right away!" Back in the ‘normal’ Universe, Princess Sally had just been informed about the break out in the Devil’s Gulag. "How did this happen?" Sally yelled angrily as she stormed down palace hall to go to the airship "We're not sure yet, Princess, we...uh, we’ll find out after we catch them!" Duncan said, trying to sound self-assured. "Okay then, are all the troops in the airship?" Sally asked. "Yes, Princess!" Duncan answered. "And all the Freedom Fighters?" "Uh.. everyone except for Sonic, Tails, Antoine, and Bunnie. But then, you know Sonic and Tails are on the other side of Mobius right now, so technically just Antoine and Bunnie are missing. I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’ll go find them!" Duncan scurried off. He always got like that in front of the Princess. Like most Mobian boys his age, he had a crush on her. "Just hope she didn’t catch me staring," he thought to himself. "Antoine, your communicator is beeping ah-gain, shouldn't y’all see what’s it about?" Bunnie asked Antoine contentedly. The two were sitting on an easy chair in Antoine's new quarters in Mobotropolis, Bunnie sitting on Antoine's lap. "Oh, eet iz probalee just anothair drill! And zis is the first time we have had time to ourselves in such a long time!" "Ya, I suppose you're right!" Bunnie then nuzzled her nose under his neck. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "D’Coolette? Sir? We have an emergency, and the Princess wants to see you!" With that, Bunnie and Antoine's eyes went wide, both jumped off the couch, and Antoine tried to hurriedly button up his uniform. "Uh, just be giving me a minute! I’ll be zere soon! Darn zees infernal bootons!" Bunnie quickly offered her aid, and they quickly got his uniform on straight. Antoine then rushed to the door, unlocked it, and stuck his head out. "Duncan! ‘Ow nice to see you! Zo what’s the emergency?" "A breakout at the Devil’s Gulag! All the prisoners made it to West Robotropolis! By the way, I’m also looking for Bunnie. Have you seen her?" "Ah’m right here!" Bunnie said, as she opened the door the rest of the way. "Let’s all go kick some Snively butt!" Duncan looked at Bunnie, then Antoine. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. Not that I’m saying you were doing anything to interrupt. Well, I don’t mean you weren’t, there’s nothing wrong with what I’m assuming you did." Both Antoine and Bunnie shot ice cold glances at Duncan. "Uh.. Right! Let’s go kick some Snively butt!" he said sheepishly. The airship took off into the night sky. With everyone inside, Sally started relaying her plan. "Okay, everyone, listen up! This ship will make it to West Robotropolis within an hour. All of you will be divided up into teams to surround the island, so we can cover lots of ground and find the prisoners as quickly as possible. Our last survey of the island showed there were no working attack robots there, but we have been wrong before, so look out! Rotor and I will be managing your progress from inside the air ship, so keep in radio contact with us at all times! Are there any questions?" Sally waited for a minute. There was silence. "Alright then. Good luck to you all!" In the reverse Universe, Nack and Sniv were witnessing Julian preparing the device to open up the hole between the two universes. "Hey, Uncle Julian, what part of the other Mobius will this thing take us to?" Julian was looked up from the controls and answered. "From what I’ve seen, the device will most likely take you within about a one mile radius of your other selves, so the odds are you will be split up when you cross the barrier!" "Wonderful!" Nack complained. "There! The device will open up the hole now!" Julian exclaimed. He then stepped back. There was a hissing sound. The device started to vibrate, then shake violently. Then, there was sound like a thunder clap, as a bolt of power surged from the device. It struck thin air, and the hole appeared. A swirling pool of blue energy. "Okay, Nack, let’s go!" Sniv yelled against the noise that the doorway made. He picked up the device, and jumped through. Nack walked up to, holding his hat firmly on his head, squinting his eyes trying to see through to the other side. "Aw, to hell with it!" he yelled, and jumped in after his friend. The Universal doorway slammed shut behind him. "Good luck, boys," Julian said to himself. In the other world, West Robotropolis was deadly silent. The stale air was still. Then the wind picked up. A hissing sound followed. Suddenly a thunderclap, and the door opened on the other side, six feet above ground level. Sniv and Nack were thrown from it and struck the cement ground. Both rolled expertly to avoid injury, although their jackets would have protected them. "Sniv?" Nack said laying on the ground. "You okay?" Sniv who was also still laying down turned to his partner. "I think so. Jeeze, Uncle Julian didn’t say nothing about how much that would hurt!" Nack sat up and looked around at his surroundings. "Would you look at this place?" he said in awe. Sniv sat up and looked around. "Oh my God!" he said in shock. They were in the filthiest city he had ever seen. It seemed every building was diseased. Diseased fungus grew up the walls of giant factories. The buildings were so tall, just looking at them gave you a sense of vertigo! The sky was blanketed by a hideous red and green cloud of methane emissions. "You know what I think, Nack?" Sniv asked, staring at the horror before him. "What?" "I think we should get that device, blow up this universe, and get the hell out of here!" "Good idea!" Nack said, then posed, and looked at Sniv with a confused look on his face. "Sniv?" "Yeah, what?" "Where is the device?" Duncan’s palms were sweaty. He could see West Robotropolis in the window of the airship. This was going to be his first time in actual battle. "You okay?" a concerned voice asked behind him. Duncan turned to see Rotor. "Yeah! Of course!" he blurted. "Look, don’t worry, we’ve dealt with Robotnik hundreds of times, and Snively's just his lackey! We’ll be home in time for breakfast!" Duncan gave a nervous grin. Suddenly the ship shook. "Stupid docking procedure!" Duncan cursed. It was time for battle. "Mr. Snively! I was watching to sensors like you asked, and two life forms just came out of nowhere!" Snoop yelled to Snively, who was sitting in a chair that was ridiculously too big for him. "Only two? That doesn't seem to be such a problem!" "Yeah, but here’s the problem! Just after, an airship landed on the shore! This thing is filled with soldiers!" "Excellent," Snively whispered, smiling evilly to himself. Drago was sick of taking orders and not knowing what was going on, he walked over to Snively’s chair and grasped the little Overlander by the collar and lifted him up to his eye level. "They're going to outnumber us and catch us! What’s so ‘excellent’ about that?" Drago growled. "Drago, put me down right now, or you really will be captured," Snively said calmly. Drago dropped him roughly. "Well? What’s this big secret weapon of yours?" "This!" Snively exclaimed, and pushed three buttons on the arm of his chair. All throughout the city, small circular seams appeared in the cement roads. The circles fell underground leaving deep dark holes. Drago saw one of these holes on the main view screen in Snively’s control center. "What’s in there?" he asked. "You’ll see soon enough, but first, we must let the freedom fighters come in a little farther!" Sniv and Nack at the meantime were rummaging through a garbage heap looking for the device. "I’m telling you, man, I heard it land somewhere around here!" Sniv said, as he threw back some more garbage. Suddenly there was a grinding sound behind them. "Sniv, do you hear something?" Knack asked. "Not now, I’m looking for the device!" Nack looked behind him to see a section of the pavement drop down, leaving a perfectly circular hole. "Uh, Sniv, I think you should see this!" Nack said worriedly. "Aha! I found it! It’s hooked onto this grate though! Let me see if I can unhook it!" "Sniv, there’s a big hole in the ground Here! There, I got the device, Nack! Now let’s get the....Hell! What’s that?" Sniv asked, looking at the hole. "The first group of Freedom Fighters are almost at the center of the city, Mr. Snively!" (evil) Nack said. "Perfect," Snively hissed. "We've given them enough rope, now to hang them!" With that, Snively pressed another button on the arm of his chair, and on the main view screen, one could see thousands of eggbots emerging from the holes. There were so many, they looked like a swarm of bees! "Eggbots!" Drago cried! "That’s your secret weapon? It doesn't matter how many you have! Those freedom fighters can always beat your robots!" "Calm yourself, Drago! The eggbots are only half of my plan!" "Everyone duck for cover!" Geoffrey cried just as a small platoon of eggbots swooped low firing on the soldiers. "Eggbots." Geoffrey muttered to Flemming. The robots had swooped past but they were quickly turning around for another pass. "Everyone get your blasters ready!" Geoffrey yelled to his group. The Eggobots flew at them at frightening speed. "Fire!" Geoffrey screamed. The soldiers fired their blasters, and the eggbots fired in return! Five of the twelve eggbots were destroyed in the second pass, and one of the soldiers was hit square in chest! The rest of the soldiers rushed to his aid. He was laying face down in the ground. Geoffrey rolled him over expecting to see a dead animal. Instead he was staring into the cold eyes of a robotocized tiger! The robot grabbed a badger by the neck with his left arm, and pointed the blasters on his right arm at the badger’s head. "FREEDOM FIGHTER. ROBOTOCIZE BY ORDER OF SNIVELY." The blaster went off, and to everyone's horror, the badger also turned into a robot. "Everyone fall back!" Geoffrey ordered. Similar occurrences were happening all over West Robotropolis. The Freedom Fighters soon realised they were fighting a hopeless battle. "Princess Sally!" Geoffrey screamed over the radio. "Sally here! What’s happening out there, St. John?" "Eggbots! Lot’s of them! They all have Roboticizer guns!" Rotor took the communicator from Sally. "That's scientifically impossible! You have to be fully immersed in roboticization rays to.." "Maybe you should be telling this to the Eggbots! Sally, I have to request a strategic retreat! We're being slaughtered out here!" Sally looked glumly at Rotor, then hung her head in defeat. "Order all troops to retreat," she said sullenly.