A Melodic Mess

Synopsis:  Based on the three Sailor Moon S episodes, ‘Everything’s Coming Up Rosey’, ‘Bad Harmony’ and and ‘Mimel’s Mess’.   King Sonic and his family go to a concert once built by Robotic to attend a violin concert but there are attacked by a violin/songbird hybrid.   Later the king and his court are invited to a party but are attacked by an anthropomorphic gramophone monster.   After they finish her, Manic is attacked by an anthropomorphic microphone monster who attacks by singing.  

‘Being a hero isn’t about taking care of yourself, it’s about taking care of others.’—Tom Wicowzki, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022 film) 

Chapter 1—A Lovely Day for a Concert 

One of Longclaw’s descendants, Fiercetalon, had come with an old fashioned parchment, addressed to Sonic and his family.  

‘I know it’s early, but the scroll had a time limit, and I was told by the post master back at Parliament it had to be delivered ‘post haste’.’, the owlet said.   He had never met Sonic in person but seeing him, his Queen, their children and the glorious Crystal Castle was enough to send his fanboy heart into overdrive. 

‘Wait until I tell Owletta.  She will be so jealous !’, Fiercetalon thought to himself, practically giddy.    There wasn’t anything suspicious about the parchment, but it wasn’t signed.   It was only Sonic’s family and friends that had been invited to the soiree.   Tails seemed to be the only one asking about the concert itself, but unfortunately, he and Antoine kept getting brushed off.    

‘You two need to stop worrying so much.   We got a free invite to a concert.  You know this sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time.’, Manic said, hoping to rekindle his muse at the concert. 

‘Yeah, but it just seems so unusual.  How did this person know our address ?  How did they know about our old system of mail carrying ?   No one uses that anymore.   Sure, the owls deliver messages, but this seems so mundane, arbitrary and trivial…’, Geoffrey mentioned.   Sally tried to calm her friend.    His intuition never failed him, and Cyrus, Sally’s husband to be, also agreed with him.    Tails was still in the minority among them, but he just got the odd feeling that something wasn’t quite right about this whole venture, especially since an afterparty followed it.     

Chapter 2—Uneasy Feeling 

At the concert, there was a suite of orchestra members, eerily all robotic and drably attired.   They simply carried on their commands, whatever they happened to be at that moment in time.   The main violinist was a steampunk songbird violin.    Her torso was threaded like the bow of a violin and she played haunting melodies across her midsection skillfully with her multiple arms.    She was stunning in appearance, even with the mechanization of her cogs and wheels and each piece shimmering the light.   Her name was Lark Songthrush and she had been known for her incredible concertos, but it was clear that the concert was a set up for something far darker.   

Tails tried to settle his kits.   

‘Papa, this doesn’t feel good.   I don’t think Lark is in control of herself.   Her expression is all wrong.’, Miles Junior said, his voice wavering.    Young Vixie grabbed her daddy’s two tails and snuggled them for comfort.    

‘Sonic won’t listen to reason.   Perhaps it was because he wanted a bit of a respite with us, but this simply doesn’t feel right.’, Tails said.   He left the kits with his lovely wife Zooey.   All of a sudden, Lark was beginning to strike out against her will and Sonic had discovered on his own that the concert had been a trap all along.  

‘I don’t know who set it, but we should’ve listened to you, Tails.’, Sonic said, apologetically. 

‘Apologies come later.  I’m glad you saw the deception before it was too late.’, Tails agreed, no longer sore over feeling discounted due to his age and lack of experience.    

The trio decided not to harm Lark since they knew it wasn’t Lark’s decision to attack them.   Instead, they isolated her and locked her into a stasis with music as defense.  

‘I found something !’, Amy said, plucking something unusual from behind Lark’s ear.   It was a very strange looking kind of millipede that, upon its discovery, tried to run away before it was smashed into smithereens by Knuckles’ massive fist.    Julie Su put in a few stomps for good measure, grinding the destroyed piece of tech into nano-dust.    

‘There !  Can’t hurt anyone anymore now !’, she declared proudly.    

Chapter 3—There’s More to Come 

Lark elaborated what she had heard during her kidnapping and experimentation.  

‘I honestly cannot say I know who did this to me.   This new threat is a canker sore on the mouth of our planet !’, she said, a distasteful look upon her mechanical face.   Lark had been an animal once, but whatever scientist had gotten a hold of her wanted to see just how far he could take mechanization and hybridization.    

‘I do not know who this madman, or woman might be.   I was the first of their hybrids, and I am certain there are others.   When they got to me in the club, they used minions to take me by force, and not kindly or gently.  I fought as much as I could…’, Lark said, breaking into tears.    

‘Come on, please don’t cry.  We don’t want you rusting.’, Sonia said, gently, wiping Lark’s tears from her lacrimal glands.   Lark chuckled.  

‘I’m pretty certain I’m rustproof.   Believe me, I have cried enough and I am through crying.’, Lark said, with some determination.    With their small band, even though technically they weren’t ‘Freedom Fighters’ anymore, they would discover who was behind the trap at the concert and what sinister creations were waiting for them at the supposed ‘afterparty’.   

Chapter 4—Let’s Get it Started 

‘This whole thing really harshes my mellow, man.’, Manic said, feeling tricked.   Knuckles had felt worse, since he had been the one to fall for the trap as usual.   The big lug meant well, but there were times his neurons and synapses didn’t communicate to each other and an obvious ploy or pincer move simply seemed like it had to Manic, a ‘bomb party to go ravin’ at’.    

The afterparty was as the group had expected.   There were no drinks and refreshments, only anthropomorphic creatures waiting for them.   The first that attacked was an old fashioned gramophone.

‘Jeez, dude, get with the times.   Only hipsters use these things !’, Sonic said, snidely.   Although it was a very well-made gramophone, it was obvious it’s programming was more on the hostile side.   With the family working as a unit, it was an easy victory, but a short lived one.

‘You might have defeated Alexandra, but I have a mission from my maker, Doctor Ries.  To eliminate you ALL !’, the microphone robot said.   He often spoke of himself in third person, but Dolbar himself had a particular vendetta against Manic for some strange reason.  

‘If you just die quietly like the has been you are, this wouldn’t be so hard !  You don’t have to make it a challenge for Dolbar !’, Dolbar said, giving Manic the fight of his life.   The others helped as much as they could, but Dolbar proved to be a mighty enemy using sound waves as defense.   One sweep and the family was down for the count.  

‘Dolbar, leave my family and friends alone !  It’s ME you want !’, Manic said.   In a sweeping movement, he broke out his drum set and the sheer decibel level was enough to make Dolbar crack.   

‘No !  Stop !  That hurts !’, Dolbar griped before cracking completely and crumbling to the ground.    A recording finally tuned in on the PA.  

‘Now I see what I am dealing with.   Next time you lot won’t be so lucky.  I’ll have you eradicated yet !’, the gruff voice of Doctor Ries vowed.   It was ominous enough, but the fact that the doctor had set up the area with CCTV was enough to make the whole group’s skin crawl.    This hyena was certainly familiar with technology and electronics.   Already, he had shown what he could do with hybrids, but what Sonic and crew had seen was a mere taste of what was to come.   

Chapter 5—A Low Down Dirty Trick 

Doctor Hannibal Ries had sent out small camdroids to record and track Sonic and his family.    He was aware that the Crystal Palace wouldn’t be an opportune location to attack his nemesis.    Hannibal loathed everything King Sonic and his lot stood for.   He hated the monarchy and wanted free rule by the people, for the people, anarchist and ungoverned.   Most Mobians already lived their lives in harmony with the government.   The regency acted as a vehicle to serve the people and the two worked in tandem.    In fact, it was thanks to King Sonic that many of his sentries were fire officers and police.    It was such a finely honed system that people lived contentedly.     Reis found this archaic and ancient, a relic coming from Mobius’ medisteampunk age.     

Ries had science in his favor and many gadgets at his disposal.   With his devoted minions, there were plenty that would gladly die simply to have everything provided for.  The only tradeoff was complete loyalty to Hannibal himself.    

Sitting in his lab, Hannibal adjusted his austere looking glasses and became pensive.  There was a summer festival coming, and music would be involved.   Even though Sonic and his family were busy, the old band had been talking about playing a concert for the benefit of Mobius.   It would be a method of celebrating everyone’s hard work and opening the market for the summer season.    He could also have his pick of new hybrids to experiment with.    Rubbing his hands together, the hyena cackled.    Oh, it was far too good to be true.   He nearly had to pinch himself to make certain he wasn’t daydreaming.     Without dallying, the mad doctor started piloting his insectoid camdroids and commanded a small army of minions to do a bit of ‘recruiting’ for their latest batch of ‘immortals’.    In his eyes, they would crush the monarchy to a sticky paste.    

At the market, he had already made a subtle, incognito move and had begun putting hybrids where local vendors should’ve been.   The regular vendors were knocked out cold with chloroform vapor.    Most likely, they wouldn’t be awakening until it was too late.   Ries already knew these particular vendors were heavy muscle and technically literate.   The more talented and apt an animal was, Ries had them all placed in holding for future use.   

One by one Sonic’s loyal legion was being taken down and kidnapped.   The last Freedom Fighter to go missing was Amy and the hedgehoglets were already gone.    Only Sonic and a few others stood against whatever menace was uprooting them where they stood. 

Chapter 6—Ambushed by Doctor Reis 

It was a little too late when Sonic came to realization that the market had been a ruse.  None of the vendors were selling any products, or offering any service.    He had thought that his wife was off shopping but when he got an emergency text from Cecil that he knew matters were about to get a whole lot worse.    

Dr. Ries gloated.    For once it had seemed that the villain was finally going to be victorious, until Bronto arrived with fellow mages from other worlds.   He had chosen the most valiant and skilled magicians that he could think of, ones that could easily thwart technology in its tracks and reverse what Hannibal had done.  

“No !  Not my years of hard work !  Curse you, warlock !”, Hannibal swore.   Before Hannibal could be apprehended he had vanished with a faithful entourage and scores of information that would be used to continue his search for immortality.   The hybrids had been returned to normal, but few of them remained devoted to Hannibal all because he had shown them fealty and hospitality for exchange of their obedience.   

Sonic’s group embraced and Amy couldn’t have thanked him enough.

‘Had you not used that beacon to hail Bronto I don’t know what would’ve happened.  That lunatic had his sights set on me…’, she said.   He could trace fear in her voice, which he had never heard before.    Gently, he kissed her and the terror she had was nothing more than a memory.    All Sonic’s prickle  were huddled around him, huggling him like there was no tomorrow.     Cecil reported that he and the IT team would commit to a ‘major overhaul’ of the Crystal Palace’s security.    Ries was brilliant, but they were more so.   

                                                                Epilogue

It seemed that Hannibal had been a threat for longer than Sonic and his family had realized.   He had been working covertly until the proper moment to reveal his true intentions.   He had always hated the monarchy and loathed the ‘archaic’ way they had ruled, when it was nothing of the sort.   The only ‘ancient’ influence was how they dressed to honor the Gods of Mobius and to keep that tradition and belief alive.   Traditions gave stability and believes gave hope.    These concepts never changed over time, but one thing that remained was that of villainy.    Hannibal was remorseless, even though he gave his devotees room and board.   Somehow he had to be put to a stop before he could become more powerful, for there was an ancient tome, hidden deep within the pharaonic ruins that would allow him the ability to travel back in time.   In the wrong hands, such knowledge could be horribly destructive… 

To Be Continued…