Disclaimer- To quote Danny Deveto from Grease: “Don’t make me laugh- ha, ha, ha.”

A/N- WOO! It’s been awhile since I updated this baby, but I’m taking two college classes and working two jobs... so... yeah. That was a long commercial break, wasn’t it? We now return you to tonight’s feature fic.

I’m sorry, Mama.

I never meant to hurt you.

I never meant to make you cry,

but tonight, I’m cleaning out my closset.

- Emminem, “Cleaning Out My Closest.”

Robotnik’s fist’s clenched. “What did you say, Snively?” he growled through gritted teeth, after managing to choke down his shocked sputters and find his voice again. (Prior to that, he had been stunned into sheer silence at his usually-obedient nephew’s bold, defiant, and most out-of-character reply. He’d expected Snively’s usual timid “Yes, sir”, with the possible addition of slumped shoulders, and that would be the end of that whole foolish matter.) Not that he would dare admit so, but he had even been most impressed with his lackey’s determined and assertive attitude... almost to the point of finding a tiny, fleeting amount of respect for him, God forbid! But he’d quickly pushed those emotions aside, upon suddenly remembering himself again, and let them evolve into pure outrage. “What... did you just dare say, you little wretch?”His voice was shaking with both left-over shock and fury.

It was during that previous and enlightening moment, when Snively had firmly made up his own mind, that he had discovered an entirely new side to himself, of which he was entirely oblivious to, and it startled him almost as much as it did his uncle- for the first time ever, not only had he decided to actually learned to think for himself... to take total control of his own life and destiny... but he had deliberately defied his own boss, his master-the one whom he had lived in great fear, tension, and suffering for all his days, the one whom would not even hesitate to smack him if he so much as buttoned his shirt-collar crooked! This new discovery of himself filled him with a strange, wonderful, and powerful sense of independence, strength, and courage... and, once he’d gotten over the sheer shock, he- amazingly enough- felt no fear.

“Oh, yes. You heard me, Julian,” he said in a stern voice of determination, placing his hands on his hips, and narrowing his brows. “I’m carrying out my dear, late mother’s final wish. And I’m not doing this for myself- I’m doing this for her, and her alone. After all, it was my own birth which caused her death- a fact which Father never allowed me to forget... not that I could ever forget-” he added in a low tone of immense guilt, sighing sadly, “- and so, undertaking this great commitment is the very least I can do to make up for what I have stolen from her. This is how I can, and will, honor the woman whom I never even knew all my life... of whose own life I unwillingly usurped.” Fighting back his tears, he then continued in a breaking voice of great anxiety and desperation, “Dammit, Julian, don’t you understand? You have no idea how much this means to me- what it means to her! This is the only decent, honorable, and selfless thing to do, especially considering that she died only mere moments after I was born! This is my ultimate sacrifice, of which I willingly chose to make! Lord knows it’s certainly not an easy decision for me, by no means- I admit that- but this isn’t about me! This isn’t about what I want! I am willing to die a little inside, for her sake- and that’s nothing, for she died altogether!”

“You little fool! Do you have any idea how utterly ridiculous you are being?” Robotnik yelled. “Throughout your entire life, you never even knew this woman- as you’ve just said! Why, you’ve never even seen her; she’s no less than a complete stranger to you! You’re abandoning reason for absurdity, all for a perfect stranger! Think about it the logic behind that; just think about it for a second!” He scowled at Snively. “I must say, nephew, I always knew that you were no less than an ignoramus- you’ve proven that to me countless times throughout the years- but now... now you have proven to me that I’ve clearly underestimated your sheer ignorance, by a thousandfold!” He smiled coldly, as though slightly amused. “But come now, Snively- do spare us all this unnecessary drama, won’t you? Now, I know that you throughly understand my point, and agree wholeheartedly... and so, I am willing to compromise- admit to the fact that you were wrong, that you were simply being a fool- that you are, infact, a fool- and dismiss this whole absurd matter entirely, resuming your standard business- and, even now, I will be so generous as to forgive you... meaning, of course, that I won’t roboticize you for your insolence, after I’ve beaten you to a bloody pulp!” he yelled, grabbing him by the front of his green turtle-neck shirt. “Well? Which is it, Snively? Withdrawal... or death?”

Snively glared into those cruel red eyes, not allowing himself to neither show or possess any sense of fear or timidness. “How dare you?” he hissed in a voice of uncontrollable outrage and disbelief, his blood boiling. “That “stranger” you refer to is not just any woman, Julian... this is my mother you speak of- my own mother, my own flesh-and-blood... and your half-sister, for that matter! Oh, how dare you insult my poor mother’s honor, Julian!” He suddenly cried, “Don’t you understand? All my life, I lived in nothing but pure guilt for her death, the seeds of which were planted by my father! You haven’t any idea of the agony I’m been going through, ever since I was a young child! It’s been simply horrible living my lonely, miserable childhood without a mother... practically an orphan, save a cold and callous father who behaved as though I didn’t even exist, who wished so... never knowing any love or compassion whatsoever, not to mention my mother’s warm, loving voice, kiss, and touch... let alone suffering with the harsh knowledge that I’m the very reason behind all that!” He then burst into tears, in spite of himself, unable to hold them back any longer. “Why, everytime I would so much as humbly approach Colin and ask him about Mother, he would only completely ignore me... or lash out at me... or even strike me. He made me feel as though I didn’t even have a right to know what she was like,” he sobbed bitterly.

Sniffling, he narrowed his eyes hatefully at his uncle. “You selfish bastard... I hate you, more so than I ever have in the past.” He ignored Robotnik’s outraged, rather shocked expression. “Contrary to what you believe- and what you’ve always made me believe, ever since that day you’ve robbed me of my own will, right before your Coup- my life does not belong to you! This is my life alone, to do whatever I please with- I am, therefore, entitled to freedom of speech, act, and thought! You don’t own me, dammit- and you never did!” He gritted his teeth. “Oh, mark my words, Julian- I am not the one who hasn’t any clue, whatsoever... you are! As a matter of fact, you have proven yourself to be an even greater ignoramus than I ever knew you to be before! But in one sense, you were right when you said that you’ve greatly underestimated my lack of intelligence- for, I now realize what a fool I was to have ever joined you in the first place, after I left home... to have been so blind as to actually believe that you respected me, that my future with you was bright! Oh, how could I have ever fallen for your lies and false promises? But then, I was young, eager, foolish, and desperate- if I had known that I would come to experience an entirely new world of misery, I never even would’ve came to you! Besides,” he sniffled, “now that I think about it, I know this isn’t what my mother ever wanted for me. She never meant for her only child to end up like this- not only living a life of isolation, depression, and pain, eventually coming to always being consumed with bitterness, spite, and hatred... but having chosen a path of pure evil! With my intelligence and skills, I could’ve been something great- I could’ve amounted to something, and made my mother proud- but instead, I’ve chosen to waste them on you! Oh, my mother must be looking down from Heaven with her heart full of shame, disappointment, and sorrow. Well, I’m going to make it up to her- I’m going to turn my life around, turn over a new leaf, and live my life according to how my mother always hoped and dreamed for me... I’m going to return home to the Overlander Regions- never to return to Robotropolis, never to see the likes of you again- and start over with a new and better life altogether: I’ll marry Sabrina, settle down with her in a nice house, and perhaps even raise a family.”

He frowned deeply. “And the more I think about it... the more I truly do want this- not only for my mother, but for myself as well! And what’s more, there’s nothing you can do to prevent it from becoming reality! You can’t stop me, Julian!”

This was too much for Robotnik... for he now realized just how dead-serious his nephew really was, and that both shocked and outraged him to no end. “YOU’LL DO NO SUCH THING, YOU LITTLE MUTANT!” he roared, roughly smashing Snively against the wall with all his might- and with his roboticized arm, at that. “I warned you, Snively... I gave you the chance of repenting from your foolishness... but you have elected the way of pain.” He smiled coldly as he observed Snively wince and moan in pain, despite his best efforts. “A very nice dream, I must admit- but, as I recall once saying to that foolish French Freedom Fighter- dreams are made to be... broken.” He narrowed his red glowing eyes, which beamed angrily on the wheezing lackey who had just had the wind knocked out of him. “As are every one of your bones... your spirit... and your very life, shortly following.”

With that, Robotnik grabbed Snively and began to inflict upon him the worst beating that he had ever known- that he had ever imagined to be possible. Oh, he could not count the number of times he was mercilessly punched and kicked with all of his uncle’s strength. The experience became so painful and constant, he soon could not even tell where the blows were coming from. He felt the cracking of ribs and bones, along with the smell and sight of red bodily substance, and heard his own screams and cries. He tried desperately to summon up all of his courage, but it was no use. However, amidst the horrid agony, he did manage to yell out at the top of his lungs, “I REGRET NOTHING, JULIAN! I TAKE BACK NOTHING!” This, of course, only caused his pain to tripple, but he didn’t care.

The beating seemed to last for hours. A part of him wished that- as he always wished, whenever these beating would occur- that his uncle would just kill him altogether, and end his pain... but this time, the other part of him told him to hold on with all his might and soul, for he sorely wished for his life to be spared so that he fulfill his and his mother’s desire. And- and yet, a third part of him told him that he deserved death... after all, he stole his mother’s life; and so the debt was now being payed... besides, he just wanted to not only find everlasting peace and happiness, but to be with his mother.

Well, he knew that if he didn’t die as a result of the beating, his uncle would certainly roboticize or kill him altogether, afterwards- but right then and there, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to live or die; it was a catch-22. But he certainly did not wish to be roboticized, for then no good would come of it!

“Please, sir... kill me if you so wish- only, don’t roboticize me,” he pleaded in a whisper, tears running down his face- not so much from the pain, but from the horrible possibility of not being given the chance of carrying out his and his mother’s dream, and/or meeting with his mother in Heaven. “Please, sir, I beg of you...” he wept.

It was at that moment that Snively then lost all consciousness.

Robotnik grunted, then knelt down to check his pulse. It was very weak; he barely even had one. Possibly internal-bleeding. “Oh, fuck it- if he doesn’t make it, then he doesn’t. But if he comes to, I’ll roboticize him. I personally don’t give a shit; either way, it’s no great loss, for I’ll finally be rid of that sorry little wretch. Sometimes, I don’t know why I never killed or roboticized the little bastard a long time ago- I suppose then, I wouldn’t have a stress-reliever... but if he dies, then I’ll replace him with Packbell- which I also should’ve done, long ago- and if I end up roboticizing him, then he’ll be of a far greater use to me than he ever was before.”

With that, he gave Snively one final kick in the ribs, and returned to his seat. “Packbell, dispatch to the Control Room at once. Snively’s... currently unavailable to work, and so I need you to keep a close eye on the monitors. I don’t want that hedgehog and his band of rebels receiving the advantage,” he said through the small monitor on the arm-rest of his seat. The android replied in the affirmative, before the screen resumed its previous blank state.

THE END... for now?

Will Snively live, or will he die?Wil he escape to the Overlander Regions and carry out his/his mother’s dream, or will he be doomed to robotization? Find out in Chapter 3!

(By the way, Sabrina is a girl from Snively’s childhood, who he’s been arranged to marry when he comes of age... but you probably already knew that. She is a character I made up... but you probably already knew that, as well. I gave her my own name, XD... but if you’ve read my profile, then you know that too. And she will be in the next chapter, regardless of Snvely’s fate!)

Is very embarrassed Listen, I really have to appologize if that sounded wayyyy too corny, cheesy, and overall cliche’... which I know it did- but I personally love that kind of stuff; it’s all the more touching and emotional, IMO! I’m old-fashioned, I guess, but everyone has different tastes. Sorry if it sucked...

This has been a Shychick Production!