Rise of Simone Robotnick

Synopsis:  Taking place after the events of The Slow-Mo, Voiceless Leader. Simone Robotnik, related to the long-deceased Ivo Robotnik, captures Sonia's friend Gina and roboticizes her. Sonia finds her thanks to a distress call Gina puts out by encryption over the New Resistance independent private servers. Gina is able to overcome having some of her brain roboticized, thanks to the Crystal Brooches, and it yields a new talent within her. Gina can now connect to some of the mesh mind in the computer network and ‘talk’ to devices, including hovercraft that once belonged to Simone. Meanwhile, Sonic's queen, Amy Rose, is due to give birth to their 15 children.

Chapter 1—Scheming in the Dark

Maria Robotnick had kept her last name, even when marrying a Mobian millionaire named Remus.   Remus was a multimillionaire, and he often did philanthropic work, particularly with orphans.   Remus had grown up an orphan himself and knew nothing of Maria’s past.   All he had realized was that Maria was his ‘princess’ and that she had once been ill.   Obviously, Maria had improved and overcome the illness that was so intent on ending her life.    She wasn’t involved in her father’s business and lived to help the indigent help themselves.  She wondered how Shadow, her old friend was, and often sent him messages.   Here and there, she would get answers, but little did she know that her daughter was about to start a mechanized revolt the likes of which Mobius had never seen.  

Simone was a precocious teenager with a real gift of engineering.  She understood technology better than any human she had ever met.   She even preferred machinery over humans, even her own brother and parents.   She felt artificial intelligence was far more reliable than anything human and had come to dislike anything ‘natural’.  She felt, with her knowledge, she could better the world and begin roboticising everything.  Her dad had the right idea all along.   Even his old blueprints of the Sleepers he had used to try and foil Sonic and his siblings long ago could still be implemented in the battle against Mother Nature and her cohorts.   Cecil, however, wasn’t going to jump aboard her bandwagon.   He was the baby of the Robotnik family and quite enjoyed the idyllic reign of Sonic and his siblings, but he had an intuition that his sister was scheming and remembered seeing her begin to start repairing the broken roboticizers.   In time, she would be manufacturing her own army, totally obedient to her.   As a failsafe, Cecil knew a bit about coding himself and knew what the laws of robotics stated.   Just in case, when these robots were created, he would implement a crypto code that would also make him someone they would protect.   He also knew that someday he would have to reach out to Sonic and the others, but he would have to be succinct and covert.   He was satisfied it wouldn’t be that difficult, since Simone was so inundated with megalomania that she rarely gave Cecil a second look or thought.   Feeling the shift in power begin to tilt, he realized that finding the siblings would take some time and the trip by foot would be challenging.   He was fit and made rations that would sate him for the road; enough to travel to gain the  succor he needed and plenty of trail mix to keep him going on the sojourn back to the Robotnik mansion.   

Chapter 2—My Sister’s Psychotic !   

Cecil mentally prepared himself to find the siblings.  He had a general idea of where to look and luckily, he had a GPS to chart his course.   His parents didn’t seem to know where he was going or that he had left the mansion.   Simone had begun ironing out the glitches in the roboticizers.  She had restarted the Sleepers for her next phase, and she had begun to send her first droid, Krieg, out to hunt Gina Maplethorne.   She knew enough about the young squirrel and was aware of Gina’s strategies.   

‘Soon as I have you completed, Krieg, your new mission will be the seizure of one Maplethorne, Gina.   My grandfather’s roboticizers are nearly complete.   She will be my first experiment to see whether they are still functional.’, Simone said to herself.   The eerie reflection of the green light in Krieg’s CPU was enough to give Cecil shivers, but he kept his mouth shut before fleeing.   Granted, the journey by foot would be dangerous, but Cecil was prepared to take such risks on his own.   It was for the continued peace and prosperity the Kingdom was savoring.   Simone herself would stop at nothing to throw everything back into a state of chaos, and Cecil wasn’t about to allow her to have her way.   

Cecil began the perilous trek throughout Mobius and found the vast hedgehog estate.   It was everything he had dreamt of and more.   Rolling hills, immense acreage, trees, fauna and more wildlife than he could shake a stick at.   Being so friendly, animals already adored him, so deer were tagging along with him before the lights turned on at the castle and frightened the skittish creatures away.   Tentatively, he rang the doorbell.   A very dashingly dressed Calhoun answered the door.  

‘The king wasn’t expecting any guests today.’, he began, obviously.   Calhoun didn’t seem perturbed.  More inquisitive than anything, he cocked his head and studied the biped.   He had read of them in his history books but never seen one in reality.   

‘Why have you come, human ?’, he asked, curiously.   

‘Firstly, my sister is totally psycho.  Does the name Robotnik ring any bells ?’, Cecil began.   He weighed the irony of the situation in a delicate balance inwardly.   Calhoun grimaced at the name.

‘I’m the good sibling.  I’m on your side.  She’s plotting something, I just know it.  She’s really, really weird, and I don’t mean weird in the beneficial way.’, Cecil said, overtly.   Calhoun tapped a few times on his tablet and instantly, Sonic and his court was summoned.   He was also quite inquisitive as to why a human would come all the way to his kingdom.   Something told him it was dire, or he wouldn’t have traveled that far over such a lengthy distance.   The King and his Queen as well as his siblings, had an audience with him, listening to everything Cecil had to say.    

Chapter 3—Gina Gets Squirrelnapped

As the family was deciding what their next course of action would be, a distress signal came in abruptly interrupting them.   Sonia knew that distinct encryption call anywhere.  It was her dear schoolyard chum, Gina.    She already knew that Gina was in distress and was chilled when she could hear the distinctive manacle laughter of a Robotnik echoing in the audio file attached.  

‘There’s no way...’, she thought for a second.   Manic butted in, hating to burst her bubble.

‘There is though.   Remember Maria ?  She married.   Cecil here is one of her kids.’, he said.   Cecil meekly waved and laughed nervously.  

‘That’s Simone for you.   Bent on destroying everything she deems unfit for progress.’, he said.

‘Sounds like a tyrant to me.   We need to stop her before any other animals are harmed.’, Sonic replied, furrowing his eyebrows, deeply pensive.   

‘But how ?’, Sonia asked.   Although it wasn’t evident that she was riled up by the squirrelnapping of her best friend, Sonic and Manic could detect her ire rising.    

‘I have access to everything she does.  Simone may not know this, but I’m pretty resourceful when I need to be.   I may not be a mechanical evil genius, but I do know how to rally people to a cause that’s worthwhile.   I know my mom’s old friend, Shadow.   Once he gets word of this, he’ll come running, and I’m sure he’ll have back up.’, Cecil said.    Sonia brightened.   

‘I nearly forgot that Maria still had contact with him.  I rarely hear from him anymore, but it shouldn’t surprise me that he would’ve been planning for contingencies.   He’s a strategist.’, Sonia mentioned.    

‘We’ll be formulating on the fly.   We’ve got no time to lose.   Gina is most definitely in danger.’, Cecil said, trying not to worry Sonia too much.    As quickly as they could, they began to plan on the fly and just in case, wore their jewels if it came to a battle with Simone.   As for Amy, she was told to stay home.   Instead, Sir Tails would join the group and at long last, Calhoun had his chance to shine.   For the longest time, Calhoun had been training and was quite adept with plasma blasters.  He had crafted them himself for ‘such a time as this’, knowing that the idyllic nature and peaceful atmosphere would surely dissipate.   Though, he hated the fact that his discernment was right on the money, as it usually had been, the young, punky chameleon was ready to give it his all for Mobian souls to be liberated again.     

Chapter 4—Gina Turns the Tables on Simone

Gina was becoming more of a cyborg by the second.   The process was excruciating, but she finally fought back with her impressive intellect.   Once she discovered she could talk to other mechanical devices, she convinced the helper bots to go against their original programming and release her.   Then, the only roboticizer that had been reconfigured would be ceremoniously destroyed.   What she hadn’t planned on was Simone seeing into the future and realizing there would be an uprising, or a resistance.   The band would be later known as the Luddites, but Simone had foreseen it all in the process of reclaiming Mobius as her own, honoring her grandfather’s wishes to conquer Mobius once and for all.    

Machines had begun attacking each other and questioning each other as to why.   Gina didn’t turn to look back at the melee surrounding her.   She was caught up by Cecil and his friends.   

‘I never thought you’d be leading a militia so soon.’, Sonia said, teasingly.  

‘You truly do underestimate me.   I can communicate among the hive mind.   To them, I’m their queen and they only execute commands I give.’, she said.   She could tell the power made her friend a little sorrowful, but the mechanic bots were non-sentient.   The only semi-sentient bots were the SWATbots, but even they had a protocol they followed as law.    

‘It’s chaos and it’s only going to get worse.  I don’t know what my sister did to reproduce these robots so quickly, but we have to rally our troops…’, Cecil began.    The structure of the lair where Gina had been held was starting to shimmy, shiver and collapse.    The real fight, the real war would have to be duked out on the surface.   It seemed that once again, Simone had the upper hand, but she chose not to sully her hands with the blood of any innocent creatures becoming collateral damage along her pathway to glory.   

Chapter 5—The Sleepers Reawaken

Drawing the fight as far away from civilization as they could, the siblings punched and kicked anything that threatened them.   Gina then realized that Simone had a network that ran everything in her operation.  It was a veritable hub, but it was on the ‘brink of civilization’ where no sign of life could be traced.  Once there, they had been trailed by Sleeper drones, something Sonic and his siblings were familiar with.

‘Tsk.  Simone isn’t much for originality.   Something tells me she’s following her dad’s blueprints.’, Sonic observed astutely.    Manic wanted to counter their lullaby attack with a sonic boom from his drumkit, but what happened next shocked him and his siblings.   Gina ‘spoke’ to the drones and suddenly, they all exploded.  

‘Those aren’t the only ones.   There will be more.  Krieg is her latest mammoth destroyer.   It is slow but swift and, on its way, here.   We can rest while I find the hub in order to talk to the data mesh.’, Gina said.   

The unsteadiness in the air was palpable.    It was dreadfully unnerving in the abandoned waste.  No one here, nothing living.  Only death, darkness and despair.   It didn’t look fit for harboring any kind of life.   

There were more Sleepers being sent in after them.  Having been occupied with the ever-changing structure of the digital mesh, Gina was occupied in shutting the main hub down for good.   The others in the New Resistance were fighting back with all they had.   It was only Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Tails and Calhoun that were together in the ‘Outreaches’.    The only thing that could be heard was the eerie whir of the droids plummeting out of the sky in death rolls to attack.

‘Get ready.  They might have new tricks at their disposal.’, Sonic said.  He clutched his amulet.  It wasn’t glowing and they weren’t outnumbered, at least not at this crucial point.   The Sleepers had been updated and were using mist to put their enemies in a deep slumber.  

‘Don’t breathe in the mist !’, Sonia exclaimed.   Ever resourceful, she had gas masks in her knapsack and handed them out to everyone.   

‘You can evolve, so can we.’, she said, landing a somersault kick atop the back of a sleeper.   It was then the Sleepers began to retreat, since slow clanking could be heard in the distance.

‘Has Gina tapped the mesh network yet ?   Things are lookin’ grim, sis !’, Manic called, stating the obvious.   Krieg had found them and had his lasers focused, poised to kill.   

‘Never doubt the power of our crest.’, Sonic said.   It was as if the words spoken themselves were a talisman that activated the stones.   Before, it had been that they sensed the danger, but apparently, they could be vocally activated as well.  

Chapter 6—Simone Reaches Her Breaking Point

‘No.  No !  NO ! The Robotnik family will not waver !’, Simone screamed.   With a mighty whistle, she called specially made drones to herself.   They had been updated to encapsulate her in a special mechanical suit that she uncreatively named ‘Kill Suit 1000’.   It was basically the Tuxedo but with poison, blades, laser beams and all manner of destruction lurking inside it.   The artillery it held was nearly inexhaustible, but she had forgotten she installed the suit with an ‘off’ switch.    She could only focus on destroying everything that was impeding her from the ultimate goal of digitizing everything.    So far, the mesh had been part of her plan, but the digital mesh also had its limitations.  

Using a technology that was new to her, Simone teleported for the first time.   It left her with a strained wrist from moving at the speed of light, but the jump from and to her destination had been a success.   She gave a vocal command to one of her secretary bots back at the lab to make a note of her first trial run being excellent, other than the momentary pain the effects of light speed travel on a fleshly body could enact.   

Unveiling laser swords, Simone appeared in front of her foes, slashing violently.   This time, the hedgehogs were protected, and Cecil had used a movement he had learned from retro Star Wars films to trip Simone up.   

‘Too overconfident, and much too foolish !   Haven’t you heard pride preceedeth the fall ?’, he said, force kicking her armor to turn off.    He knew there was a way to destroy it as well, since he had been the sneaky sort and caught a glimpse of her blueprints.    On the top of the helmet was an unnecessary self-destruct button.    This didn’t stop Simone though.   

‘I can’t believe you would join these losers !   I don’t understand what you see in them or in nature !   Technology is the only real agent of progressive change !’, she said.   She had implanted a highly speculative and experimental device, which was a nanobot, right into her heart.   She had surgery done by her servobots before the battle begun and the scars were still emblazoned into her chest.   A bit of the scar could be seen peaking between her cleavage and Cecil remembered what his psychotic sister had said not long ago.

‘You won’t be here for the true revolution.  Technology and I are integrating.   There will come a time where you won’t be able to tell if I am human or machine...’, the voice of his insane sister echoed in his mind.  

‘We have to aim for her heart, or at least heal her if possible !’, Cecil cried.   Even after all the abuse Simone had put him through, he still wanted to rehabilitate her.    Although it was likely she would return to being the same draconian titan she had always been, she was family.   Sonia had a quick vision of the future of Simone being healed and it was much more dire than what they were facing now, with Simone 2.0 slashing at them with silver claws and spikes exuding from her body.   She wasn’t a human any longer, but a mechanical demon who’s only goal was death, mayhem and destruction.  

Chapter 6—The Siblings Strike as One

As much as Cecil hated to see it, he knew that Sonia saw something that she was afraid to tell him about.   Her eyes were full of fiery tears.   She understood that Cecil wanted to help his sister no matter the circumstance, but there was no rescuing her from herself at this juncture.  

‘We have to help her !’, Cecil pleaded, his eyes beginning to tear as Simone had pinned him to the ground, growing her fingernails to needlepoints.    She was about to slash his jugular vein when Sonia and her siblings began singing.   Chuckling in an effective way, Simone shook her head in disbelief.  

‘You think a little song is going to stop me ?   Come and fight.   You have no way of defeating me, not even in your fancy little costumes or with your enhanced weaponry !’, she bellowed triumphantly.  

Wake up, what’s goin’ down

That’s the sound of freedom

Check out this thing we’ve found

That’s the sound of freedom

We have battled with our backs to the wall

We have struggled to win freedom for us all

We have lost so many friends

It’s important that we win

Won’t you join us everybody, hear the call

As much as Simone writhed in pain at the siblings’ music, the device she had implanted was literally dissolving and her enhancements were failing.   She could no longer fight, and the mesh network was destroyed once and for all.   Gina had given the network a command to destroy itself.   Before the explosion occurred, it had been Gina that hailed her Freedom Fighting friends with a dirigible she had worked on called Liberation long before capture.

‘That’s the Liberation.   They’ve come for us and just in time.’, she said.   Sonia couldn’t wait to spend more time with her friend.  They had so much to speak of.   It was interesting that Sally Acorn was with them.   She wasn’t with Geoffrey St. John, whom she had dated in the past.   The two had a short-lived relationship, but Geoffrey was married to Hershey the Cat.   She was with another squirrel, named Cyril.   Cyril seemed to be fun-loving but serious and had an inventive nature like Gina.   Apparently, he had been involved with building the Liberation and had become the acting Captain in her absence.    

Chapter 7—Finding Stability in Rocky Times  

Though Simone was jailed and taken away, it was unsure if Sonia’s precognition had been accurate.   The vision itself hadn’t been terribly clear or if it had been another Robotnik in the future that looked like Simone, but one thing was certain.    Simone wasn’t a threat now.   Her brother was on the side of the Freedom Fighters, and he was a magnificent ally.   He had shown unimaginable bravery and ability to think out of the box and react at a moment’s notice.    He also filled them in on ‘Freedom Fighter’ history that he had studied on the sly without Simone knowing.   He could pretty much do whatever he wanted because he was the proverbial ‘good, golden child’ who could do no wrong, but he earned his rock steady, true-blue trustworthy reputation.   

‘So, just who is Sally ?’, Sonia asked as all of them were shuttled back to the castle.   The castle was acres away and their arrival would take hours, but fortunately, Cyril was a splendid chef.   If anyone grew hungry, he’d be certain the crew was fed.    Cecil remembered what he had read.   Sally was one of the first Freedom Fighters.   Obviously, she had befriended Gina and joined the New Freedom Fighters.  She had overcome her blues with Geoffrey’s wedding to Hershey.   It hit her harder than she wanted to admit because she tended to like ‘rebels’, especially when they had causes like Geoffrey’s.    At one time, she and Sonic had been together, but unlike many misheard stories, it was only as friends and never as lovers.    She laughed at the thought.   

‘Sonic was always Amy’s betrothed.   I never had a crush on him, but I always thought we made a stupendous team.   Now I’ve got Cyril by my side.   Maybe we’ll marry someday, but we’re still young.  We’d rather wait until we know the War is officially over.’, Sally explained.   Cyril gave his beloved Sally a side hug and kissed her forehead.   He was a strapping black squirrel in a purple vest, an artillery chest belt, a utility belt for rappelling off Liberation or using any number of convenient technological items of his choosing.  He sported a pair of steel toed leather boots and had a long braid he wore over his shoulder.  His lavender eyes always looked at Sally with love, affection and awe.   

After a lengthy flight, the Liberation landed, and Sonic wanted Sally and Cyril to accompany him.   Neither of them knew that thanks to their help, the two of them were about to be inducted into the royal family.   Not only would they be babysitters for Sonic and Amy’s children, but they would be an offshoot of the Hedgehog royal family in Knothole when they returned there.    Their tenure would be lived in the castle as they cared and taught the children, but after they were grown, it would be back to Knothole until one of the Hedgehogs ascended to become King or Queen of Mobius.   

Chapter 8—Welcoming the Children

It had been a year since Simone’s incarceration.    She was still sulking, pouting and not speaking to anyone.   She didn’t have her implant and the mesh network was shut down permanently.  Any device that she had fashioned was inept and she was left with only herself as comfort.    She began to feel bad that she treated her brother so horribly and her heart began to turn around.    She knew that she really wasn’t much like her dad, even though she had been an evil genius.   It would take her years to fully repent and be trusted by anyone, but one day, she would marry out of the Robotnik line.   She no longer wanted to be associated with it, and with the legal power she was gaining in the process of her re-education in law while incarcerated, Cecil would become a new man as well.    

The frantic day of delivery finally arrived.   Sonia knew it was too early to deliver her own announcement and figured it was time for Amy to truly shine and receive the attention and care she deserved.   Labor and delivery took hours but finally, 15 little hedgehogs came into the world.  The tiny array fluffed themselves into a wee ball and cuddled for warmth.  

‘Now, we have to name them.   This should be interesting.’, Sonic said, chuckling.  

‘Oooh !  I want to help !’, Manic said, eagerly.   Sonia assisted in naming all 15 of the little prickles.  They would be a lot of work and keep everyone on their toes, but luckily, Sally, Gina, Cyril and the entire court was going to be assisting the royal hedgehogs whenever they asked for help.  

Chapter 9—Sonia’s Announcement  

   'I have the perfect ideas for the names, everyone !', Sonia said.

    'Cool, what are they ?', Manic asked.

    'Maira, Mehira, Sherwin, Ranhita, Aella, Amaya, Flashiel, Auretta, Aurella, Aliveni, Ambria, and Aurek.', Sonia said.

'I was thinking that the remaining children could be named

Mawar, Melrose, Nazgul, Sirvard and Cole.', Manic added.

'Excellent names, bro !', Sonic said.

'And I have finally decided on mine.', Sonia said. 'Opal, Ruby, Sapphira, Amethysta, and Esmeralda - yes, all of them daughters. Oh, and one son - Alamar.'

‘How are we going to tell them apart ?’, Cyril asked, curiously.   Sally scratched her head.   It was quite a quandary with so many hedgehoglets, but Amy had a plan.

‘As silly as it is, our seamstress, Harper, will be making corresponding outfits to suit each child.   Once they’re older, they’ll begin showing their own quirks and characteristics.   Colors will be able to set them apart as they grow.’, Amy said wisely.    Sonic knew it would be a challenge, but he would learn each children’s name in due time.   After all, he was a rapid learner; it simply came with the territory.  

Chapter 10—On the Brink of a New Battle

Sonia had found a quiet moment to reveal she was going to become a mother.   Like with Amy it had been bad timing, but pregnancy had tendencies to occur at the worst possible times.    Simone had broken out of her cell even without the aid of technology.   She was plotting on reverting to her typical ways and becoming the rightful heir and dictator to the Robotnik throne that had ‘laid dormant for so long’, as she had been heard murmuring when she hid in areas unknown.

‘My vision about her is still cloudy.    My first initial premonition on Simone itself wasn’t good, but as the prickles grow larger and stronger, there will be more allies on our side.  Sally, Cyril, Cecil, Calhoun and our other martial artists will train them in all the combat training they need.   It’s imperative we continue our training as well, even in the throes of pregnancy.’, Sonia said, her tone serious.   Her pregnancy was in its 3rd trimester, and it looked that in time, she would burst.   Fortunately, she wasn’t having a large array of hedgehoglets like her sister-in-law Amy did.   

‘Maybe we can recruit more help !’, Amy said, rocking one of her little ones in her arms.   The others were playing and having a blast around the castle, mingling with each other.   Even though they were small, they could move extremely quickly.    They certainly kept the couple and the court on their toes, but they were all very loved and caused joy to cascade wherever they toddled about.    

‘I know of a young Airedale soldier named Griffin.   He’s still a teen, but he implicated interest in becoming more familiar with war tactics.   He may be young, but he is a master strategist.’, Manic recalled.   Since Simone’s untimely escape from the brig, Griffin had rallied new troops together and begun to prepare new battalions of Mobians for the battle to come.   

‘I never met him.’, Sonic chimed in.  

‘We may be meeting him sooner than we’d like, given how desperate Simone is.   Our magical attack didn’t heal her heart fully.   The darkness inside her still has quite the stranglehold.’, Amy lamented.    It was true that the umbrage Ivo had for Sonic still raged within Simone’s body.   She would stop at nothing to put him to an end as well as Mobians and their freedoms.   It would take time, particularly without the help of technology she had become so used to.   No nanobots to save her, no droids to assist her, nothing.    She would have to use new tactics if she wanted to gain a foothold in her empire.  All the while, madness was beginning to consume her.    

Chapter 11—Necromanceress Simone

Simone knew of ancient sorcery books her dad kept locked away in the belly of his old headquarters.   They were rotted and decaying, but the library, preserved by its sub-zero temperatures, managed to hold onto old school text-based books in all their musty glory.   One such artifact that Ivo had kept and never touched was a grimoire.   Simone had known of Ivo’s connection to Alistair Robotnik, an ancestor who had sold his soul simply to gain insurmountable power.  

‘Technology didn’t do the job, so I am resorting to dark magic.  If I must lose myself to it, that’s a risk I must take.   Brother, I know you tried to save me, but you and I are two sides of a different coin.  You would never understand why I must do this.   I want to make grandfather proud.  If not me, then who ?’, she thought to herself.    Where there might have been a glimmer of turnaround with her, the pride and megalomania had won out.   Besides, a Robotnik hadn’t been successful in overtaking Mobius for centuries.    ‘I will be the first and only.’, Simone mused to herself as she located her grandfather’s emergency meals and learned to subsist underground.   It would be a while until she rose to greatness again, but anything as grand as her phoenix rebirth would be, she would emerge with a prominent bang.   

Chapter 12—Shift in the Ether

The little baby hedgehog cuddled into her mother Amy's arms and cooed. Amy sang to her, as Sonic and the court put the other little ones to sleep.  She was able to put the little girl in her crib and kiss her on the forehead before tucking her in with her little cuddly blanket.   One of the babies, Opal, was crying.  

‘Ohh, hush, hush, little one...’   She sang a song that her own mother had sung and nuzzled the little fuchsia hoglet’s nose against hers.

Why are you crying ?

Don’t cry my dear

No need to fear, cuz I’m here

Nothing can harm you

I’ve got your back

Nothing evil can attack you

So, dry those tears

No need to dismay

Here comes the sun

It’s the end of the rain

Here comes the rainbow

All the colors shine through

Shining bright like you do

Cuz, I love you true

So, dry those tears

No more fear

Don’t cry, my dear.

As the song came to an end, Opal yawned, and her tears ceased.   She was fast asleep in her mom’s arms.   Sonic then took her and put her in her crib.   All the babies were lost in their own little dream realms, now.    Cecil came to them, covered with sweat and almost trembling.

‘It’s bad.  My sister’s found my many times great grandfather’s grimoire.   Alistair Robotnik was a necromancer, a warlock of the worst variety.   He nearly caused the fall of Mobodoon by convincing Mobians to follow him under a trance.   I fear Simone will soon do this.’, Cecil said.  

‘The babies aren’t old enough to fight and I think Sonia is close to her delivery date.  It’s 8 months and 3 days for a female to go into labor.   She’s near that already.’, Amy said, with some trepidation.  

‘We’ll get Griffin and his battalion to help.   We’ll use our magic.   Perhaps this time, it will be enough.’, Sonic said.   Cecil beamed.   If there was a grimoire, perhaps there would be light magic in a tome somewhere.   They would need Antoine DeCoolette to find it, since he was the resident historian in the castle.   If anyone knew where this tome was located, he could find it, Tails would be sent to locate it, rapidly.   Before long, they would all be using Knuckles and the Echidnas as allies.   If anything would assist them all now, it would be chaos emerald energy.   

Chapter 13—The Coming Magic Storm

It took only hours to find what they had been searching for, due to Antoine and Tails.  Knuckles was soon contacted, and, under the leadership of Sally and Gina, a formidable force was united.  

‘I guess the Knothole Freedom Fighters ride again, right, mon chere ?’, Antoine said to his beautiful wife, Bunnie.   She kissed his cheek and smiled brilliantly.

‘You’re darn tootin, Antoine.’, she agreed, pulling him aside to kiss him in a passionate lean.   Rotor couldn’t help but laugh as some of his younger kids pretended to gag.  

‘Gasket, stop rolling your eyes.’, he called to which Gasket stuck out his tongue.  

‘We’re here for the fight.   The sooner Simone goes down, the better.’, Geoffrey St. James said, proudly.   All of them cheered, raising up their fists in defiance.   Simone would meet them soon enough, and it would take every last one of them to defeat her at last.  

‘We gotta find some way to waste ‘er !’, Sir Tails agreed.  Griffin and Argus nodded in agreement.  

‘The Palaces need protection too !’, Sonia replied.   Cecil knew how to set barriers around objects and that this was the most basic spell he could perform.   Without being prompted, he spoke a singular word in Latin and the kingdoms were blocked by all black magic attacks.   It seemed that Simone was after bigger targets, though.   The more she could sway to fight in her little army, the better, but she just didn’t realize how loose of a hold her charms had on the vulnerable animals that followed her.

Chapter 14—Magical Showdown

Once again, the jewels that had been given to the triplets by their mother had begun to illuminate.   Transforming quickly, the trio were granted with new abilities.

‘The crystals know how to adapt !   We were never told this.’, Manic said, absolutely amazed at his new white magic abilities.   Every attack, he countered.  He could even project attacks and they began to chink away at Simone’s dragon-scale armor.  She grew irritated and growled.  Out of hatred she formed a soul sword.  She had made a contract in blood to forge it and it came from the only viable thing left inside her she hadn’t relinquished until the sword formed in her hands.

‘No wand will do the job.  A sword makes a swifter point, if you will mind the pun.’, Simone said.   Her eyes had become more serpentine as did her whole body.  It was as if her skin was scaly, and she was transforming into a dragon.   Dragons had been the friends of Mobodoon and when Dulcy saw a human becoming one, she was frankly, pissed.

‘Vile necromanceress, this shall not stand with my people.  How dare you make such a debauchery of us !’, she cried.  She struck Simone with flames, which cowed her for a moment.  Sonic saw this as an opportune time to strike.  Instead of using his own saber, he used an attack of pure love and shattered the sword moving faster than light.  A song burst forth from the trio and the chorus around them.   Simone knew she had been beaten.  Her soul began to disappear, and her body followed not long after.    Cecil, who was watching, immobile, cried.

‘I don’t care if you were evil.  I still love you because you were my sister.’, he said, shaking through nearly uncontrollable sobs.   Although she didn’t join in the song, it seemed Simone redeemed herself.

‘I let pride get the better of me.  I should’ve listened to you.  None of this would’ve ever happened.  If I am ever reborn, I hope I can be the sister I should’ve been to you.’, she said, her body continuing to turn to dust and rise into the air.

‘A brighter day comes for us all

The short, the tall, grand and small

Let all Moboddon hear your call

We are once again free

Free to stand tall...’

Cecil stood crying among the soot and ashes that were once his sister.  The army that had been swayed by Simone was liberated from her dark suggestions.   The book that Alistair had left to Simone burned on the ground, unusable.   Without a host to feed from, the parasitic book was useless and it perished without food to keep it viable.

‘It will take me a while to fully heal from my sister’s death, but I think tending to the royal array will keep me stable.’, Cecil said, wiping his eyes dry of tears.   There would be a funeral held even if there was nothing to bury.   It was only respectable and proper to do so.   It seemed that evil had finally been silenced and Mobodoon could begin rebuilding from the catastrophes caused by Simone’s lust for power.   It would take some time, but together, the refurbishing would be done  lickety split.

Epilogue

The time finally arrived for Sonia to give birth to her little hoglets.   

‘Shadow !   SHADOW !   My water just broke !’, Sonia exclaimed.   The contractions were growing so close together and the pain was starting to get worse. 

‘Oh no !’, Shadow exclaimed.  In an ebony blur, he rushed to Sonia and gathered her in his strong arms.   He kissed her forehead softly.

‘I’m taking you to the palace’s infirmary.’, he said, gently and rushed her to the OB wing of the infirmary immediately.   He thanked his lucky stars for the gifts he received from Sonic and Amy during Sonia’s baby shower.    Their dowry was placed in stocks, and Sonic knew how to invest well.   Needless to say, Sonia’s little hoglets were going to be living the high life and have the choice of whatever school or career they desired when they grew older.   

The hoglets were all born in record time.   The first was noisy little Alamar, who felt it proper to announce his birth to everyone in the room, near or far.   He was quickly quieted down by Shadow, who marveled over his new responsibilities and just how tiny the hoglets actually were.   The other hoglets were Opal, Ruby, Sapphira, Amethysta and Esmerelda. 

‘Darling, I’m feeling a little bit outnumbered by all these baby girls…’, Shadow said.   Sonia laughed.   It was genetics that had the luck of the draw in this case.  

‘I’m sure Alamar will look over them.  He seems to be the brave, chivalrous type, just like someone else I know.’, Sonia said, getting a chance to rock, hug and kiss each of the little ones.   It would be a lot of work, but all of them would be well taken care of.   Besides, they had plenty of nieces and nephews much older than them that would adore seeing to their most basic of needs.   Whatever lay ahead for them, though, was quite the mystery.   For the present, the regent would have to rest, and King Shadow would need to rest as well.    They would have plenty of time figuring out how to parent their lovely princesses and sole prince in due time.   Rest came to them all so easily back in the castle as they heard the familiar and beautiful strains of Brahms’s Lullaby mixed in with Mockingbird.  The future was wide open, full of opportunity.   Where it would lead next, none of them knew and that’s exactly what made life worth living. 

To Be Continued…