Time Travel Trouble

Synopsis:   Doctor Hannibal Reis travels back in time to take his revenge on the current idyllic rule of Mobius by preventing the first meeting of Prince Jules (of the Celeritas Dynasty) and Princess Aleena (of the Hedgehog Dynasty) from taking place, preventing the marriage of the couple, the union of the two dynasties into one, and the births of Sonic and his two siblings, Sonia and Manic. 

Chapter 1—A Tome of Untold Unholy Power 

Hannibal was a hyena who always stood by his research.   If something existed within the realm of myth, he had to make certain that the certain myth being discussed in an article was either a myth or had the probability of being real.    The Memphis Necronomicon was one such tome of antiquity and iniquities.    The massive volume was rumored to be resting in Akenanten’s crypt, untouched by anyone, locked away tight, and apparently impervious to being forcefully opened in any way, shape or form.    He called Bomba, a Bomb Beetle ballistic expert, who had been devoted to his cause in upending the peaceful reign (or as Hannibal had defined it, ‘fascist dictatorship’ and ‘authoritarian’) after discovering where the novel was.  

‘I ain’t scared of NOTHING, Doctor.   Just get me in there, let me work my magic.  You and that book will be united in no time, lickety split.', Bomba vowed.   Demolitions and destruction were what the bombardier beetle lived for, and all he ever knew.   Once everything had been scouted, droids were flown in to the catacombs in Memphis to trip any unsprung booby traps left for curious treasure seekers, Bomba went to work.  

Emerging without a scratch and curse free, Bomba retrieved the nefarious tome and high-tailed it home with none being the wiser about his thievery.   Trembling, nearly salivating, Hannibal overlooked the massive volume with the evilest glint in his eyes.   His beady black eyes glimmered behind his spectacles and he laughed.  

‘Just one spell, that’s all I ask.   It might be myth, but now that I know this book is real, anything is possible.’, he said, beginning to thumb through the pages.  

It was smack dab in the middle of the necronomicon.    It was a tesseract incantation that would transport Hannibal back in time and delicately, as he put it, ‘remove any parts of the equation that grant me a solution to the hedgehog infestation.’     Being familiar with spells, rites, rituals and sacrifices, lending the powers that be a strand of fur was nothing.   Before him hovered a deep rip in space and time and the place where Prince Jules Celeritas and Aleena Hedgehog were about to meet.     He chuckled to himself.   It was almost too easy, but he wouldn’t allow himself to become overconfident.   ‘Pride preceedeth the fall.’, he admonished himself, recalling Earth’s bard, Sir William Shakes-the-spear.     Adjusting his lab coat, he spent no further time dawdling and jumped into the tesseract, bracing for full event force impact and turbulence.   

Chapter 2—I’m Fading Fast, Literally 

Amy awoke in abject horror when she found that she could literally see through her own skin.   There had been many theories of what was causing this but she managed to self soothe, particularly after Sonic drew her close to him at the waste and inquired what was wrong.    

‘We can’t spend idle time chatting.   We need Rotor, Cecil, Bunnie, all of our best scientists, physicists and any other eggheads we can muster.’, she said.    It wasn’t long after this revelation that Sonia discovered she too, was disappearing.    This was definitely no time to be chatting. 

Rotor already knew the cause of the problem and in spite of everyone’s best efforts the castle’s technological system couldn’t keep updated with every single cashe that the Hedgehog empire was privy to. 

‘I know this goes without saying, but you need to work quickly, Sonic.’, Cecil said, worried about his hedgehog friend.   Cecil, one of Sonic’s many human allies, had seen quite a lot of unusual bends and breaks in physics before and this was no different.    They would be prepared as they all could be, but Hannibal was a loose cannon, certainly an enemy that was unpredictable at best.    

Chapter 3—Don’t Forget the Rules

It was solely the Hedgehogs and their siblings that took this journey.   The children were back in Crystal Palace, getting taught and learning etiquette, among other royal duties.   If they asked, and most assuredly, they would, they would hear the whole tale afterward.   That was, if Sonic and his gang was successful in their quest.   

‘We have to be careful.’, Manic reminded them.   Sonia nodded with grave understanding.   Seeing Mobius this far back into the past gave them an unusual sense of nostalgia that none of them quite knew how to explain, but yet, it felt familiar and strangely comforting.    

Poised on the edge of the city, looking down from above, Hannibal oddly blended in with the metropolis of Mobius.    Down below, a very determined Jules Celeritas started to dash to school.   He wouldn’t have any trouble thanks to his power shoes, since on his own, he had no super speed.    Fiddling with a poison dart, he sighed.

‘Just a few more seconds and the Hedgehog reign will be no more.’, he thought, nearly delirious.     

Chapter 4—Not So Fast   

Manic easily spotted Hannibal from the hamlet below, avoiding traffic and the normal hustle and bustle that accompanied any day in Mobius past or present.    Pressing his finger to his lips, he signaled to the others to split up.   It wasn’t the most intelligent plan, but he figured if he and his family surrounded Hannibal, they would have a better opportunity to corner him.   

Manic became angry and began chasing Hannibal.   Not suspecting the attack, Hannibal thrust and wriggled about, knowing that he had been caught red handed preparing to initiate phase 1 of his nefarious scheme.    Not much of an exchange occurred between the hyena and hedgehog, even though Hannibal could’ve easily overpowered Manic.   

Quickly, Sonic, Sonia and Amy ganged up on Hannibal and had him surrounded.   Hannibal exhaled fiercely, looking irritated.   

‘Just you wait.   You think you have me figured out.  You don’t know me at all.’, Hannibal said with a sinister glint in his eye.    Just then, he vanished into thin air right in front of them.    Sonia looked at her hands and before they were completely solid.  Once again, they were starting to become transparent.    

‘Once again, the doctor is ahead of us !   We have to think, FAST !’, she said, not wanting to put undue pressure on herself or her family.    It was difficult to think quickly, let alone under the threat of non-existence and what would occur after they were nothing but a blip in the memory banks of the hallowed library halls.    It was only then they encountered their future selves.     Neither one of them had much to say to the other, thanks to the unwritten cardinal law of time travel.    The more mature Sonic took them back and then zapped them to a time when Jules and Aleena were still babies, not even prospective mates.    Sonic Prime looked at the elder version of himself with a raised eyebrow; totally not understanding a wit of anything happening whether it was in the past or how the proliferation of actions would carry out in the present day.    All he knew is Future Sonic knew what he was doing and all of them had to trust the mature Sonic in his leading if they wanted everything to return to whatever ‘normal’ the present was going to maintain.     

Chapter 5—Attempted Infanticide 

Reis was unstoppable, indefatigable.    The necronomicon had given him unbelievable ability to leap into any moment of time he so chose, and now he had the Hedgehog and Celeritas families right where he wanted them; at their most vulnerable, while they were still in diapers.    It wouldn’t be so simple, however, given the fact that the Freedom Fighters had started their own mission while Sonic was away.   It wasn’t exactly insubordination, but Sonic had reminded the others back at the Crystal Castle it was their duty to make certain everything ran smoothly while he and the others went after the insane Dr. Reis.    

The intention was as clear as day, particularly as Hannibal took aim with a sniper rifle from afar directly at Jules’ head.   Going it alone as usual, he was overly cocky, not thinking that Sonic or the others would have followed him back into the past so far.    Time being an overflowing stream in both directions, it was an unknown where they could’ve ended, but Sonic knew the mind was a powerful tool in helping one direct their path, particularly when there was a specific target in mind.     

It hadn’t been revealed yet how future Sonic had come to his solution, but it had something to do with the present day Freedom Fighters’ insubordination.   They had infiltrated Doctor Reis’ keep, retrieved the tome and burned it for fear another’s evil grasp would use the incantations for evil.    Future Sonic wouldn’t allow the tome to be burned.   No one could fathom why, particularly when the necronomicon could taint anyone who came in contact with it.   It was considered an incredibly cursed book, and for good reason.   Yet, future Sonic was aware of all these elements even if the property of the tome being ‘cursed’ was the fact that being ‘dark’ made it all the more mysterious and unknown.    Simply because it was unknown didn’t precisely condemn it or its handlers.   It was just that, a tool that could be used for good or evil, and even in this attempted infanticide, which was easily foiled, future Sonic left it to his present self to muddle through and piece the puzzle together why the book had to be returned to its rightful place.     

Chapter 6—Was it a Dream ? 

So many events of what had occurred within the past hadn’t made any sense.   The present Sonic, Sonia, Amy and Manic had indeed stopped Hannibal from killing their future parents while still infants.    Though he had been on a rooftop, looking down from a lofty vantage, the insidious hyena had Jules in the sights of his sniper rifle, red beam affixed on the neonate’s head.    It had been a swift blow to Hannibal’s neck that sent him into slumber.    To make certain this didn’t happen again, Hannibal was put into a maximum security prison, fortified by guards, surrounded by electricity and state of the art technology.     

The encounter with future Sonic had been as elusive as it had been enigmatic.   He had been the only one to come out of the future, looking very stylish, aerodynamic and cyberpunk.   

It was thought that future Sonic could break the space/time continuum using sound, but he wouldn’t divulge his secrets.    All he let them know was that the tome had to be returned to its initial burial ground and put right back where it had been unearthed.     

Future Sonic knew that in his timeline, the Freedom Fighters had gone ahead and undertaken the mission of returning the tome on their own, without prompting.   In Sonic Prime’s universe, it had been disobedience.    Both actions resulted in perfect harmony in their own unusual way.     Hannibal, on the other hand, was disquieted in mind and spirit in the cold, dark, cell where he took a handball and allowed its automatic retrieval to entertain him.   Sulking, he stewed.  

‘Time might not have been a good avenue to walk.’, he thought to himself, realizing he had been overzealous once again.    He reviewed a tactic one of the Robotnicks had used.   Shock, awe and violence had worked perfectly once before and if he could implement his own use of poison without killing everyone and everything on site, regicide would be imminent.   Vengeance would take time, but seeing he was only middle aged, Reis had all the time he wanted on his side.  

                                                                  Epilogue 

All things were back into their places.   The necronomicon had been shut up tighter than a sphinx’s riddle and not even Bomba could retrieve it this time.    Seeing that he had no further use for Hannibal, the bombardier beetle was left unemployed.   Bomba didn’t let it get him down.   Perhaps there was a use for his expertise somewhere, he thought to himself while on the look for food, home and lodging.   Fortunately, he had a willing heart to change and a new point of view to put his talent to good use… 

To Be Continued…