Jive and Wail
A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction.
By: Taryn Wander'r.

*The Legal Jargon- Dr Robotnik and King Acorn and all them property of Sega.(Or something- blah blah blah blah blah blah blah) 'Jive and Wail' Copyright 1998 Taryn Wander'r. Sorry to the makers of Gross Pointe Blank and Friends for the 'freakin psycho', 'sock' and 'right arm' bits. I couldn't resist. Thanks to Image Comix for Gen13, Pepsi-Cola for Pepsi, the Cherry Bobbins Daddies for "Zut Zut Riot", Janis Siegel for "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon", That guy who wrote Rent (James something?) For, well, "Rent", and Kids in the Hall for "The Daves I Know".  *
*Author's Note- I know this is a little farfetched for the Sonic universe, but after reading that fanfic "When Bunnie Meets a Bunnie" I couldn't help but feel sorry for Snively. And I started asking myself what if Snively, before all this happened, was a sensitive, artsy, sweet (good looking?) guy? Then Robotnik comes along and ruins everything; you'd get all weird like he did, too. Because of that, this is mostly about him. I noticed no one ELSE had ever written a story about him, so I wrote one. Don't expect a lot of action. And in case anyone is wondering, I tried to make this like earth in the thirties/forties/fifties, with the way people talk and what they wear and the music (Except "Rent" and "Daves I Know") But you can't find much information on that so I went with what I knew.*

"JIVE AND WAIL"

Cast of Characters- in no particular order.
Dr Ivo Robotnik 
John 'Snively' Ivo 
Rosie
Julayla 
Princess Sally
General D'Coolette 
Emma Prower - I made her up for my fanfics. 
Jacel- Emma's BF- fanfics, too. 
Merlin Prower, though 'offscreen' 
A whole bunch of characters I made up for this story. (Including the Prower kids  :P ) 

	I don't think you're ugly. I just think the world has made you weird.
				-Jann Arden, 'I Know You'

	Crashed, floating on the wind again, hoping you can drag me in.
	Can't you see by now? Can't you see by now?
	This is what we are. This is who we are.
				-David Usher, 'Forestfire'.

	Mobotropolis was a beautiful, shining city. If Snively had had a choice, he would've named it something like Resplendant City. No. That was too obvious. Luminopolis.
	Hell, he wasn't good at that. He wondered how his mind had ever wandered onto the subject. Snively didn't like that 'opolis' in there. Everything was Somethingopolis these days. 
	Snively, of course, wasn't his real name. He was called so because of his incredible sensitivity that sorta came outta nowhere. He was also a victim of Riley-Day Syndrome- that is, besides all the other symptoms, he couldn't feel physical pain. When he was younger, he had walked a few miles on a broken leg. Once, after playing football, he had bled himself unconscious before someone noticed he was injured. He couldn't cry. Well, he could, but not tears. And because he WAS so empathetic and romantic, he cried a lot, and whenever he cried his eyes got puffy and red, and his nose ran. He was a snivelly guy, not a crying guy. So everyone called him that.
	His best friend Nathaniel had come up with it. Actually, one day, he had simply said, "From now on, your name is Snively." And no body asked any questions about it. 
	Snively was actually lucky to be alive. He was twenty two last week, and his later teenage years had been plagued with the Great War. He was a half-human- that is, his mother was an Overlander and his father was a...no one was quite sure what his father was, or in fact, WHO he was; Snively was a weird lookin' mix, and apparently his mother was sort of a...well...you know.
	She had died in his birthing, and he had been raised by his Uncle Julian. Oh, sorry, Ivo now. Because he was half-human he hadn't been let into the Overlander army. Better for him, he might've rushed out there with an axe sticking out of his skull and fall dead before he saw the Mobians. 
	Then Uncle Ivo betrayed the Overlander government and he had been run out. That night he had dragged the half asleep John Ivo through the thicket like nothing doing. He had found haven (Not affiliated with Haven) with King Acorn, and John went to the University of Mobotropolis, joined a frat, changed his name to Snively, and lived the rest of the Great War happily.
	Today he stood on the porch of his fraternity house, Theta Pi Omega, leaning against the banister, a can of Pepsi in his hands, staring out at the great shimmering palace. He was awe struck.
	Snively, besides his name, was a pretty attractive guy. He looked human enough so as not to look weird, but Mobian enough so as not to scare anybody. His skin was a weird sorta purplish navy tone, his eyes a deep pupil-less purple. He had straight thick hair, which he wore long to his chin, and was an incredible deep purple, almost black. He had no fur, only the hair on his head, but unlike a human, he had no tiny hairs on his arms or legs or back or chest. His face was perfectly featured, and he stood only an inch short of six feet.
	Snively, as well as being awe struck, was also incredibly happy. Tomorrow, his Uncle would be named Chief Science officer for the King. There was to be a huge festival in the palace. One of Nathan's cousins was the boyfriend of the King's Chief Player, Emma Prower. The jesters made the party one to remember, Nathan had been once.
	"Hey! Snive! You here?" He heard Nathan's girlfriend, a pretty young rabbit named Devin, call from the door.
	Snively went back inside and greeted her. "How's it goin', kid?" He asked happily.
	"Great. Here. Gotcha soma Sir Charles' chilidogs," Devin said, handing him the two dogs on a napkin. 
	"Ahh," Snively said, taking them with a smile and shoving a full one in his mouth. "Thanks, Dev," He said around the mouthful.
	"No prob. You're a swingin' kid, Snive,"
	"New skirt?"
	"Ah huh," Devin grinned and spun around on the heeled black sandal. Her beautiful army-green sodashop skirt, just a little shorter than was usual, complemented the military-style shirt she wore perfectly. Her hair she had just got done, as well. It fell in smart curls to her shoulders. She was one moxy doll.
	Snively pushed the thought out of his head. She was Nathan's skirt, and no matter what happened on this freaky little planet, nothing would change the way he loved her. Snively wasn't gonna interfere with THAT.
	Suddenly the pager on his belt beeped. His Uncle wanted him. He told Devin that and started to put some shoes on.
	Devin laughed and leaned against the wall. "Your Uncle's a freakin' psyyyccchhhhooooo!" She said.
	Snively grinned up at her. "Don't....rush to judgement on something like that." He laced up his shiny black and white bowler shoes and stood up. "He's a genius. Or he would be, if I understood what in glory he was talking about half the time."
	Devin smirked at him. "You've got moxy, kid,"
	Snively smiled at her and left.
_______________________________________________________________________	

	At about the same time, downtown near the palace, Emma was sitting in her boyfriend's jalopy sipping a milkshake. 
	Jacel, her boyfriend, adjusted the rear view mirror and ran a comb through his greased hair. "So, Tommy's getting married, ah?"
	Emma nearly choked. "You're serious?"
	"As I'll ever be. Popped the question yesterday."
	"To who?"
	"Ginny,"
	"That's the cat's pajamas," Emma said happily. The eighteen-year-old fox grinned and rested her head on Jacel's shoulder. 
	He smiled and put his arm around her.
	Their song came on the radio.
	"Zut zut riot. Riot! I wanna comb through your full black hair..."
	Emma grinned and soon she and Jacel were kissing to the nonsense swinging sounds of music for the post-war world.
	"Give me zu zay za zo. Zu za za zay. Give me zu zay zel za zel. Give me a za za zay,"
	Emma stopped and looked Jacel in the eyes. "You really zut zut riot, you know that, moxy boy?"
	For a moment all they could think about was each other. In a world no longer plagued by war, they would be safe for the rest of their lives under King Acorn's rule. Or so they thought.
	Glory, were they wrong.
________________________________________________________________________

	Michelle Prower hated her job. Well, she liked it before, and now she hated it. She USED to be a secretary and personal assistant to Sir Charles. Then, he had to invent the 'roboticizer' (what's the skinny on that?), and tested it on his own brother and sister-in-law. And it didn't work. Couldn't change the poor couple back. And they had a son, Sonic, too. Poor kid.
	Now he was being stripped of his title of Chief Science Officer, and being given his position was Dr Robotnik. An Overlander. An incredibly OBESE  Overlander. And where the hell did he come up with a name like 'Robotnik'? Worse, SHE,  Michelle Prower, was his secretrary. Ick. 
	Michelle was now on a cell, waiting for her big brother to pick up. She had to tell him the news about their little brother. 
	The Prowers were a very large family. Between Merlin, the oldest, who was god-only-knows how old, to Emma, the youngest, who was eighteen, there were about fourteen kids in the family. Seven guys and seven skirts. With professions ranging from Chief Player (Emma) and Permanent Agriculture Student (Tommy) to Chairperson of the Center for Aeronautics and Space Administration (Majik) and Charalatan (Merlin) the Prowers had pretty much covered everything. Even Michelle's own twin brother, Geoffrey, was a guy who sat around choklitt shoppes slacking off- no one really knew what he did.
	Michelle hated her job for a simple reason. She hated Robotnik. The guy was a freaking ppppssssssyyyycccchhhhhooooooo. 
	Everyone else thought he was great. Oh, he's a big smart man. Oh, he's got blonde hair and blue eyes and was probably (yet at the same time not likely) very cute when he was younger and slimmer and actually HAD hair. Oh, he's a mathematical genius. Oh, he defeated the Overlanders. Oh, he saved our lives.
	Michelle couldn't stand the guy. He was a fat, obnoxious WEIRDO who hated EVERYTHING on God's green Mobius. He was overly eager to get this title, most people would have been all blushing and smiling and shy and modest. Any DECENT people, that is.
	But no one ever listened to the middle doll of a family, the one who wants to be a secretary for her life and was the president of the Map Club in high school. No one ever did.
	And Michelle couldn't help but think that he was planning to use the roboticizer for things OTHER than medical reasons. Then her hate was justified.
	Or maybe it was just a chemical thing. Whenever she was around him, even before she knew him, she had this almost irrepressible urge to rip off her right arm just so she could have something to beat him with.
	So Michelle was on the balcony of Robotnik's apartments (Where she absoloutely hated being- she felt so dirty) pacing with a cell to her ear. She looked smart enough for her job, her hair just permed, a floral print dress not too casual and not too formal for the daytime. At night, if she went out, she would change into a white radiostar dress with long gloves and a shiny bracelet. She didn't go in much for sodashop skirts or military shirts or bowler shoes, not like her younger, hipper sister Emma. And she didn't really like the guys wearing either heavy suit coats with drab shirts and slacks and bowler shoes, or jeans and white shirts and leather jackets.
	The clothes she hated MOST were Robotniks. Tight plastic coverall suits, much like the military Overlander kind but not as sexy. HIS were just disgusting.
	Thank God he wasn't back from his meeting with his nephew yet. Michelle leaned against the railing of the balcony as she heard someone pick up on the other end. Good. Merlin didn't usually answer the phone- he was amazingly technologically illiterate.
	"Hey! Merlin. Still swinging?"
	Merlin, being older and more up in the clouds than the rest of them, was silent for a second. "Huh?"
	"How are you?"
	"Oh. Been better. You?"
	"Still got moxy, I would hope. Hear about our little Tommy?"
	"No. What?"
	"Popped the question. Wants to have kids, too."
	Merlin was silent a moment. She could almost hear his face break out into a grin. "That's fantastic!"
	"It's the cat's pajamas."
	"Pardon?"
	"It's a good thing. I'd have thought he wouldn't want kids, what with the...thing and all."
	The 'thing' was Tommy's second tail, which enabled him to fly. This hadn't happened in a few centuries, when one of the Prower ancestors had been a powerful sorcerer for the Great King Tristan himself. But Tommy carried no magical powers. However, of all his little siblings, Tommy was Merlin's favourite. He taught him how to read, too, at an early age.  
	"No, not at all. That's a blessing, you know,"
	"Glory, Mer, he's only nineteen. You want him to get married so young?"
	"He may be only nineteen, Mich, but believe me," She imagined him grinning again. "We've been waiting for this for a long, LONG time,"
	Michelle stared out at the huge beautiful city, and, wondering who 'we' were, said. "Too weird for me, man. Look, I better go. That stupendous moron other stupendous morons call a leader is gonna be back soon. I swear, if he doesn't work out soon he won't wake up at all one morning."
	"Don't underestimate him, sister. He can bring more pain than you know."
	"Yeah, well I'll just have to tell him where he can shove that. Keep swinging, boogie woogie baby," Michelle matter-of-factly tossed the cell phone into the sink where Robotnik frequently washed his face and hands (For he sweated so much) without turning it off.
	Robotnik indeed did come back, and went to wash the sweat off his face. He spotted the live phone lying happily in the bottom of the soapy water.
	"Michelle? Why is there a phone in the sink? I nearly killed myself!"
	Michelle, still on the balcony, glanced at him. "Nearly, huh?" She turned back to the city and muttered under her breath. "That's a shame,"
________________________________________________________________________

	About three hours after leaving, Snively returned to the frat house, depressed. There were a bunch of the guys, doing various guy things. Snively didn't even nod an acknowledgement to them, he went upstairs, his head low, in a melancholy sorta way.
	It's not like any of the guys noticed. Half-Overlanders were weird.
	Snively leaned against the doorway of the bedroom he and Nathan shared. He watched Nathan and Devin dance a jive to swing.
	"Bie mir bischt du schon," The stereo blared. "Please let me explain. Bie mir bischt bu schon means that you're grand. Bie mir bischt du schon. Again I'll explain. It mean you're the fairest in the land. I could say bella, bella, even say wunderbar, each language only helps me tell you how grand you are!"
	Snively smiled and crossed his arms. It took a few minutes before the two noticed him. Nathan grinned when he saw Snively, and the twenty year old black cat jived his way over, whispering his own song. "Jump and jive, twirl and wail, you gotta jump and jive and twirl and wail. Jump jive, twirl, wail, you gotta come inside and I'll teach ya how to jive and wail," He stopped and panted, hands on his hips, and shouted over the music. "What's with the threads?"
	See, Snively was no longer wearing the usual garb of a moxy young swinger. He was dressed in the garb of an Overland soldier, tight fitting and polyester, blue, with black rubber boots. (No, he wasn't a geek yet. That comes later.)
	He nodded at Devin, who turned off the stereo, then sat on his bed and said. "Have you ever heard of genetic correction?"
	"What, like genetic engineering?" Devin asked, fiddling with some records.
	"No. That was different. Then, the child would be designed, created, and matured before birth. Most of the Overland Army was born out of a tank at eighteen. Genetic correction is new,"
	Nathan grinned and sat on the floor; Devin came and snuggled up next to him. Snively stayed on the bed, staring up at the roof. 
	"It's when they use this beam, sorta like one a the roboticizers, but this can change a human's eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, bone structure, genetic makeup, just about anything. It's almost like having a brain transplant; getting a new body. But it doesn't work on Mobians. Only Overlanders,"
	Nathan obviously thought it was another weird, stupid Overland invention. "So?"
He asked.
	Snively sighed and closed his eyes. "Robotnik wants to use it on me," He said flatly. 
	Silence.
	"Why?" Asked Devin, who had noticed that he had called Robotnik Robotnik and not Uncle Julian.
	"To make me perfect. One a the superrace," Snively sighed again and stared at his palms. "He told me that he knew my mother was an impure, wanting to poison the Overlanders with Mobian blood. And I was the result. He said he couldn't risk his own nephew being a half breed. He said he's going to correct me, improve me, perfect me." His voice shook slightly when he said that. 
	Nathan was silent as he came to the chilling conclusion. "You mean," He said slowly. "Robotnik's a fascist?"
	Snively nodded. "He never really betrayed the Overlanders. Or maybe he did, but...I don't know. All I know is that he doesn't like Mobians, he doesn't like King Acorn, and he's not gonna help Mobius at all. If anything, he might let the Overlanders in, and the 'superrace' will take over the planet."
	Snively looked straight at his two best friends. "And I know something awful is gonna happen tomorrow. Please, get out of here. Go where it's safe,"
	Devin laughed. "Alright, I'll admit the guy's a psycho, but there's no way he's gonna take over all us. He's the Science Officer; the King is an excellent judge of character. He wouldn't appoint someone who'd do that that title."
	Snively sighed. "But don't you get it? Robotnik's been planning this BEHIND King Acorn's back. If King Acorn knew, that would defeat the purpose of the conspiracy, wouldn't it?"
	Nathan, who was incredibly patriotic and believed the King could do no wrong, sighed and said. "King Acorn would know,"
	"Did it ever occur to you that he was THAT stupid?"
	"Don't talk about the King that way,"
	"Sorry. Ever heard of the void?"
	"The what?"
	"The void."
	"Which is?"
	"Exactly what it sounds like. A void of nothingness. I think Robotnik wants to exile the King there,"
	Silence. Again. 
	"Guys! King's life is in danger here. So's the fate of the planet. Guys. Seriously."
	Devin coughed a bit and stood up. "I'd love to believe you, daddyo, but this is too weird for me," She left quickly.
	Nathan, still on the floor, watched her go. Snively stared at him.
	"You believe me. Right?"
	Nathan looked at Snively. 
	Silence. Yet again. 
	"RIGHT?!?"
	"I don't KNOW! I don't know what to believe! You, or...my own common sense, which was really never that reliable, but for some reason I trust it now more than you. I'd like to believe you, I really would. But that's just..." Nathan paused. "Unbelievable, I guess,"
	Snively sighed. "Kay. Fine. I can accept that. Just promise me this,"
	"What?"
	Snively slid to his knees and stared at Nathan, dangerously close to his best friend's face. "That you'll be careful tomorrow. And at the slightest sign of unsettlement, take Devin and GET OUT OF HERE,"
	Nathan stared at his best friend, surprised at the seriousness in his voice. "S-sure,"
	"And whatever you do, DON'T TRUST ANYONE."
	Nathan was silent a second, before he nodded. "Sure, kid." He got up and left.
	Snively stayed there, staring at the wall. Slowly his right hand met his left, and felt around the finger that held his fraternity ring, the gold band that held the ancient characters Theta Pi Omega. He twisted the thick ring around his finger and soon started to cry.
	Yet he shed no tears.
________________________________________________________________________

	The next day, Emma was freaking out. 
	No, the show was fine, everyone was ready, and nervous enough so as not to get cocky. And the feast and such were not her concern. Yet at the same time, it was her concern.
	See, if everything, and I mean EVERYTHING was perfect, the King would say something like: "Last night was fantastic,"
	If not, he'd say something like: "The show was okay, the the food- eh,"
	Which brought the show (and Emma's reputation) from a fantastic to an okay!
	And if (God forbid) everything was horrible, the King would wonder why he even got out of bed. 
	So little Emma Prower was running around the lower levels of the palace, her traditional kilt swishing around her thighs, her jester cap bells jingling, when she ran into...wait for it...General D'Coolette.
	Emma didn't like the General much. That St John guy, either. Emma, as well as being the Chief Player, helped Rosie and Julayla with the kids. She didn't like Geoffrey or Antoine that much. Which was mean, considering they were both kids. But what're you gonna do?
	Come to think of it, Emma didn't really like government types that much, even though she WAS in the King's service. Being the king's jester was WORLDS apart from doing real work. 
	But, being a jester, Emma was polite to everyone, giving movie star smiles and witty remarks when the timing was right. 
	She gave such a smile and did a cute li'l curtsey bob thing to the General at this point. 
	He gave a slight bow and started with the idle chatter. 
	After a few moments of this, he said. "Emma. Can I trust you with a private message to the King?"
	"Of course, sir, if he'll see me,"
	"I think he will. See, the King has been under much stress lately, and won't see anyone. But I think he can do with a smile and a laugh right now," He handed her a small, folded piece of paper. "It's private, now, I can trust you with that?"
	Emma grinned and slid the paper under her kilt belt. "Of course, sir, you can trust me,"
	The General smiled at her. "Thank you, Emma. Now, if you'll excuse me," He walked off.
	Emma smiled and went in the other direction. "Loser," She muttered under her breath. 
	After entertaining the King for a good two hours and delivering the message, Emma collapsed in her apartment and closed her eyes. She sighed. Her apartment was in the servant's quarters, and down the hall a few of the jesters were rehearsing Rent. She listened, easily picking out mistakes in timing, rhythm, pitch and such, and cursed herself for ruining the song for her.
	"Alison, baby, you sound sad, I don't believe those two after everything I've done for them. Ever since the wedding, I'm dirt, they'll see, I can help them ALL out in the long run,"
	Emma sighed. It was 'everything I've done', not with 'for them'. 'Our wedding', not 'the'. 
	Her videophone beeped. Emma sat up on the bed and opened it up. Michelle was calling her.   
	"Hey. Didja tell Merlin 'bout Tommy?" Emma asked after the usual hellos were exchanged. 
	"Yeah. He said something about someone 'waiting a long, long time for this'."
	Emma was silent a minute. Then. "Oh, my god, he's right!"
	"What?"
	"You know what I'm talking about! Tommy's tails! It's a sign. Is he planning on having kids?" Emma, of course, being a storyteller, knew the signs of the 'Chosen One' and was amazed at herself for just realizing it. Of course, she was not to tell others, and even Merlin didn't know she knew the truth.
	"Yes. Why?"
	"That's just the cat's pajamas! See..." Emma stopped, she had said too much.
	"What?"
	"Nothing."
	"Oh, come on. What?"
	"I can't say,"
	"Does it have something to do with our family?"
	"Sorta."
	"Oh! Does it have something to do with Majik and that sock she keeps beside her bed?"
	"...No, but let's go back to that later!"
	"Does it have something to do with the Ancient Walkers?"
	"The Ancient Walkers have something to do with lotsa stuff," Emma picked at a nail.
	"Do they have something to do with THIS?"
	Emma hesitated, cracking open a can of Pepsi. "Yes. But I'm not supposed to say anything about it until it happens."
	"I don't dig,"
	Emma chugged some Pepsi. "You think I dig? I'm just a storyteller. Basically, I just read what's given to me,"
	"Can't you tell me ANYTHING?" He big sister pleaded. 
	Emma sighed, and stared into the Pepsi can. "I can tell you this. Something bad is about to happen. Really bad. I can't say what, because I don't know what it is. But Tommy and Ginny will be safe, for the time being. They will have a child. And this child will be a good thing. To defeat the bad thing. Or something. You dig?"
	"...Sorta. Is that all you can tell me?"	
	"That's all I KNOW.  You COULD ask Merlin, but he won't tell you,"
	"Then why should I ask Merlin?"
	"You got me there,"
	"Well, I better go. Hey, you think Robotnik has something to do with the bad thing you were talking about?"
	Emma had been chugging more Pepsi. She spat it out. "Don't EVER scare me like that again!"
	"But do you?" Michelle asked. 
	Emma sighed. "I don't KNOW! I told you! I''m justa storyteller, I don't actually know anything! Now can we get off that subject? Please? Don't you have something important to do?"
	Michelle looked at her. She was real uneasy. "Yeah, sure. See ya tonight, kid. Good luck,"
	Michelle's image blinked out. 
	Emma stared at the blank videophone for a minute, then sighed at collapsed back on the bed. She wondered what was in that message. And she prayed nothing horrible would happen that night. 
________________________________________________________________________

	Meanwhile, Robotnik was 'correcting' his nephew's 'impurities'. Snively was scared stiff. He didn't wanna be 'perfect'. He didn't wanna be a superracer, he didn't like that word. But he didn't dare displease his Uncle. 
	Unfortuantely, the genetic corrector didn't exactly work on half-Mobians. 
________________________________________________________________________

	"These are the Daves I know, I know. These are the Daves I know," Nathan was lying on his floor, a Gen13 comic suspended above his head, reading and whispering to the stereo. "Some of the them are Davids, but most of them are Daves. These are the Daves I know I know, these are the Daves I know."
	The house was utterly empty, save Nathan. Everyone was out, and all the important people were at the palace. Nathan had took this time to go to all the late night record shops he hadn't been able to go, because they were too crowded every other night, and shop for Devin's birthday present. Now he was basically vegging out, eating junk, reading his comics, playing the stereo super loud (all the music he loved but his frat brothers couldn't stand) and waiting for Devin to get home and call him. (Wink, wink)
	He was just getting to enjoy himself when he heard the door open and slam shut downstairs and someone say "Ow! Dang,"
	Nathan furrowed a brow. It SOUNDED a lot like the ol' Snivester, but he couldn't feel pain. Nathan cautiously sat up as he heard someone ascend the stairs. 
	A small, ugly little human with no hair and a long nose came to his doorway, and stayed there, staring at Nathan. 		
	Needless to say, Nathan was at a loss for words. "Uh...can I help you?"
	The ugly little man sighed. "Nathe! It's me!"
	Nathan cocked his head, trying to remember a friend called Me. He wasn't the smartest guy. At long last he came to a conclusion. "S...Sn...Snively?!?"
	"Yes!" Snively exploded. 
	"Whoa! What in glory happened to you?"
	"Genetic correction happened to me! Now look! Remember how it only worked on Overlanders? Now you know why!"
	"C'mon, man, it's not like you were gonna land a date anyway,"
	Snively stared at him, amazed. He spread his arms to add emphasis to whatever he was going to say next, and hit his elbow on the doorway. "Ouch!" He cried. 
	"What's wrong with it? I thought you wanted to feel pain so you wouldn't kill yourself by accident," Nathan said innocently. 
	"Yeah, but I didn't know it would hurt so much," Snivley complained. Nathan was looking him over, and he stifled a laugh. "Nathe, do you even know what's going on?"
	"No. I've been here all night. What?"
	Snively went over to the window, and yanked the blinds open. Havoc. People running left and right. Cars crashing into each other. Screaming. Cursing. More screaming. 
	"Oh," Nathan said. "I must've not heard it because of the stereo,"
	Snively sighed. "Do you understand what's happening?"
	Nathan looked at him blankly. 
	"The king is dead! Or as good as dead. Robotnik threw him into the void. Just like I thought,"
	"Oh, my god,"	 was all Nathan could sputter. He couldn't accept that his King was gone forever. 
	"Look. You have to leave. Robotnik's gone nuts. Most of the court's already dead or roboticized. Entire palace is falling to pieces, and-"
	"Criminy, Devin's at the palace!" Nathan cried. He started shaking. 
	Snively closed his eyes for second, then said: "Look, I've done all I can. Robotnik's making me stay here or he'll kill me, too. Go north, and keep running until you find a safe place. And don't ever look back. Forget Devin-"
	"No!" Nathan screamed, and he ran. Out the door, down the stairs, out of the frat house, off campus, in the direction of the palace. 
	Snively sighed and fell against the wall. It was too late, he knew. He had seen Devin get roboticized himself. His hand touched his face, and he found a warm, salty liquid running down it. 
	It amazed him that this was the first time in his life that he had cried. 
________________________________________________________________________

	"Emma! Where are you going, child?"
	Rosie stopped Emma and Jacel in their path. 
	"Rosie!" Emma cried and hugged her. 
	"Come, children. The king has given me and my cousin orders to go north to Knothole with the children."
	Emma and Jacel glanced at each other. They had no other choice. Outside the city, they didn't know up from down. They would follow Rosie. 
	But it was hard enough following her out of the city. Eventually Emma suddenly stopped and cried. "What about the kids?"
	Jacel bumped into her. "What? Rosie's got them,"
	"Not THOSE kids! The servant kids! They weren't there. Last I saw, they were still in the servant's quarters."
	Jacel was silent a second, then suddenly his eyes widened. 
	Emma and Jacel ran, fast as they could, back to the servant's quarters. 
Needless to say, they never made it to Knothole.
________________________________________________________________________

Nathan was a nervous wreck. When he saw the palace he froze, a chill ran up his spine.
It was amazing how fast Overland technology went. The palace was no longer like a shining piece of jade, a jewel in the crown of the city. It was a huge, black metal egg-shaped tower. Already the sky was overcast, even before the pollution of the yet-to-be built factories had touched it. 
Nathan stared up at it, knowing he was too late to save his beloved Devin, when a child's cry grabbed his attention.
There was the Princess Sally, bedraggled and scratched, sitting on the ground hidden in the shadows, crying for her father. 
'Glory,' Nathan thought. 'That's the princess!' His body moved towards her without him even thinking. He picked her up and held her to him, rocking her back and forth. 
"Daddy!" She cried, her eyes closed against the dust that had been raised in the havoc. Nathan himself was crying for Devin. 
 Nathan suddenly spun around, to see the girl's mentor, Julayla, running down the street, looking for her. Of course, he didn't know who she was, but she was calling the Princess' name, so he figured 'what the hell'. 
"Ah...here...miss," He managed through his tears, and slowly gave the crying child to the kindly looking woman. 
"Bless you," She said. She noticed his tears, and took him by the elbow. "Come," They started running back the way she came, north. 
As if on cue, five SWATbots came out of the alleys around them and attacked.
"Take her! Go!" Nathan cried to Julayla. "I'll hold them off!"
Julayla ran with Sally. And Nathan tried, he really did, to destroy the SWATbots. 
But who was he trying to kid? A college frat boy whose primary interests included girls, swing, and comic books couldn't destroy five SWATbots.
________________________________________________________________________

The next day the sun came up and was greeted by a grotesque picture. The once beautiful city of Mobotropolis was now a pile of flaming junk. Dead bodies were strewn here and there, and armies of SWATbots marched the streets, looking for barely living beings to roboticize. Those that already had the honour were working, building factories and clearing away garbage. 
Emma and Jacel were not among them. They had managed to find the servant's kids, and fled east. Far east. Past Overland territory and across the ocean east. They didn't want to raise those kids so close to the murder scene.
Rosie and Julayla had taken the royal kids north, to the tiny village of Knothole. Though they didn't know it yet, those children and that village would one day, a long ways off, free the King and the planet. 
Tommy and Ginny had escaped with their lives. But not for very long. They weren't to know, but the 'bad thing' was just beginning. The village they lived in was to be eventually destroyed, roboticized, but Tommy would trust his older brother Merlin with his newborn child, Miles. The Chosen One.
But at this moment, all there was was silence. Except for the occassianal clanking of metal and groan from poor pathetic still living creature, the silence was haunting. Snively stood amidst the rubble, watching a gang of robot slaves building a factory. 
Among them was his two best friends, Nathan and Devin. 
He thought what they would do in his situation. Make the most of it, he guessed. 
Snively twisted the gold band, engraved with the ancient characters Theta Pi Gamma, off his finger, and angrily threw it into the dust and ruins. 
'To a new life' he thought.

The End of the Beginning.

Hey, mail's always kewl. Please send me feedback, if you liked this story, is it's okay, is you wondered "Why the hell did I bother with THIS crap?" tell me. Help out a struggling young author! Email me at taryn_wanderr@hotmail.com