Surge Breaker

Synopsis: Hannibal is definitely up to no good once again.   Taking a page from Simone's book, he begins to build a mech army, including a mech he pilots himself he dubs 'Breaker'.   Another character that will become important is Surge.   What are Surge's plans here and why exactly is she so irate with the hedgehogs ?   Since she is so truculent, her only ally happens to be Hannibal, because Hannibal makes a deal with her she cannot refuse. Meanwhile the royal family travels to Mesopot on an archaeological excavation to uncover more of their family's treasures, as several kings and queens ruled the region for 3,000 years.

‘It’s easy to be bad, but it’s hard to be a warrior with dignity.  Remember that.’—Spirit to Bear,  Reservation Dogs, Season 1, Episode 1 

‘Even the smallest among us can be capable of great things.  All you have to do is find your inner beast and YAWP !’—Acupuncture Kung Fu Lady, Minions: RIse of Gru 

Chapter 1—Three’s Company 

A fellow scientist and psychologist, Doctor Abnus Rishad, a thylacine, had recently discovered Surge the Tenrec marooned while recruiting soldiers for her love-interest.   Nothing she had done so far, not even the assistance of building his mechs from the ground up, nor sending him somatic bombs hidden in a simple birthday present to place all the guards into a deep sleep while they escaped from maximum security prison seemed to endear her to Hannibal.   To him, she was a mere tool to achieve his goal, even if he had been inspired by one of the evilest humans to exist on Mobius since Ivo Robotnik himself.   It was Simone’s work that inspired him, and her obsession with mechs had been given new life.   Only now would be be introduced to the triplet Tenrecs.    Of course, there was Surge, she was nothing new.    Her record had been well-researched by Abnus and Surge was a bit of a bad girl who thrived living her life on the wrong side of the tracks.    She did so because she knew no other way, but she never meant any harm to anyone simply keeping her and her siblings afloat.    She was the assertive, intellectual, bombastic and truculent leader of her sibling trio.   Then there was Tsunami, her sister, younger by only a few seconds.   She was just as argumentative and caustic when it came to arguments and fist fights, especially if someone badmouthed her, Surge or her family.   Then there was the youngest, Ridge, the little brother.   All were marked by misdemeanors that were written off due to survival.   After all, they had lived a rather rough life, but Abnus had ‘rescued’ them and wiped their memory without their approval or forethought.    She presented them as clean slates, which brought a smile to the hyena’s villainous, yet handsome face.   

‘Once this is all over, I promise you, you’re becoming Mrs. Abnus Hannibal.   That is, if you plan on becoming my partner for so long as I have breath in these vengeful lungs.’, he said.   It was enough for her to wrap her lascivious arms around the debonair doctor and kiss him, long, deep and fiercely.     

‘Disgusting.   If you two are done tonguing each other, could you fill us in on why our services are needed in your plot ?’, Surge began, adjusting her spiked bracelets momentarily.   

‘Well, from a report my associate conducted after you were so horrendously marooned, it seems that the inhabitants of Crystal Castle were in need of some of the resources near your encampment.   They never thought to check the area around where the detonation spot was.’, Reis began.   All of this was a lie, of course.   The subsequent marooning had occurred because it had started to become too violent in their camp with each tribe starting to argue over petty elements and no one agreeing on anything.   They had become territorial and violent.   To avoid injury and perhaps, death, Surge thought it pertinent to ‘borrow’ a boat and escape.    Tsunami could feel a massive wave approaching.  Just like Surge had an understanding and control of electricity, she could sense, feel, and bend water to her telekinetic whims.   As for Ridge, he had the same ability with the earth.    They were three very dangerous PK elementals that had never used their abilities until this moment to escape the great wave threatening the families back at the camp.   

Surge had forgotten everything and she had believed the lie that Reis had presented her.   It seemed a logical explanation for what had happened.    That place was demolished after the flood, anyways.   The rage inside her grew, and she felt nothing but malice against Sonic.  

‘So, you’ll lead the attack, you and your elemental siblings ?’, Reis asked, curiously, raising an eyebrow.   Abnus held his paw in anticipation.  She could almost hear those wedding bells ringing out in jubilation.    

‘I’ll stop his heart myself.’, she vowed. 

‘I’ll be glad to bury him when he’s dead.’, Ridge agreed.    Tsunami, being her tacit self, simply nodded.   With that, and a straight-forward handshake, the deal was struck, and Breaker, the mech, was nearly battle ready.   That, and a ton of arachnid-drones would be primed for the siege against Sonic and his kin, and none of them even realized it.   

Chapter 2—Family Field Trip  

All of the hedgehoglets were transfixed with wonder as they saw the ancient ruins and artifacts in front of them.    Their guide, Juliette, coincidentally, an Ibis, had been curating the antiquated items of Mesopot for a decade now and knew every inch of this land better than her own pinions.      

Juliette directed the attention towards gorgeous jewelry that the pharaohs were buried with.    Alongside them could be seen myriads of treasures, honey, provisions and even sarcophagi for beloved pets.    

‘These were your ancestors.   Their reign lasted a good many centuries before their Roman descendants.’, Juliette stated, remembering her training and history.    The hedgehoglets gasped in awe, dazzled by the glimmering jewels and cash of gold, silver and other priceless items.    Of course, everything that the Pharaohs had was also theirs, but it belonged to all Mobius.    

On the way to the gift shop, there was an unusual trio of characters that approached them.   One was neon green, the other robin’s egg blue, and another, neon yellow.    Knuckles and Tails were with them and could feel something was definitely off kilter with the triplets.    

Chapter 3—You Will Pay For Your Crimes 

‘I have a very bad feeling about these guys.’, Knuckles whispered.

‘You said it.’, replied Tails.   

‘Which one of you is Sonic the Hedgehog ?’, Ridge queried.   

Sonic stepped forward, feeling a ripple of electricity create an arc of current.   

‘There was no xelineum in our encampment but you drowned them all simply for your stupid, greedy little high life.’, Surge growled.    Before Sonic could elaborate on why he couldn’t understand what she was talking about, Surge and her siblings were walloping Sonic and his team intensely.   

To avoid death, Sonic and the others fought back and matched the triplets move for move.   They weren’t much on the topic of why xelineum had been brought into the conversation and just how nonsensical the whole accusation the strangers had been.   Sonic and his tribe had no clue who these Tenrec’s were, but they certainly wouldn’t relent.   

In the midst of fighting against the elemental siblings, Knuckles had been able to open his utility belt he had worn out of habit due to his penchant for getting in fights because of his explosive temper.     This time, he had found a ‘knock out bomb’, which would put the trio to sleep for a while.   He warned the others not to inhale and the bomb detonated immediately.    Finding the siblings asleep, they were taken back to the Castle and locked away under the watchful eyes of robust security guards.    Sonic, Amy and the rest of the gang longed for answers, but they had no clue they wouldn’t be receiving any.    Hannibal was on his way in his heavy metal mech, Breaker.     One thing was for certain, and it was that everything was about to become a heck of a lot tougher on the hedgehog dynasty and its associates.    

Chapter 4—‘We’ll Simply Hit Harder’  

‘Who were those guys, and why were they after you, bro ?’, Manic asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.  

‘I know they were Tenrecs.   Beyond anything besides the obvious, the leader of the trio was accusing me of something I hadn’t done.   There are no underground mines in the area she mentioned.   Even if there were, our technology has synchronized with our own crystalline fusion.   It’s everlasting and non-polluting.   I get the feeling that these three have had their memories wiped and they’ve been bent to Hannibal’s will.   He’s the only one twisted enough to devise something so insidious.’, Sonic said.  

‘I think Hannibal is working in tandem with someone.   I don’t have anything to back this up yet, however, my gut instinct tells me he’s not alone and knowing him, he’s probably out of that maximum security prison, given his intellect.’, Amy added.  

Before Sonia could interject with a witty remark, Hannibal stood before them with an army and he and his new partner were piloting his brand new mech, Breaker together.  

‘I see you’ve met the troublesome trio, Surge, Tsunami and Ridge.   I have to say my wife to be Abnus really did her homework when it came to scrambling their memories.’ Hannibal said with a crooked, smug, cocky grin.   

There wasn’t much in the way of dialogue between Hannibal and his enemies.   The moment he saw an opening to attack them, he struck first.    Although they had all the power and might they needed on their side, Sonic knew that he and his family was in trouble.    The hedgehoglets put everything they knew into practice.    The problem is, most of them were kids and Breaker threw them off his back like a dog shaking fleas and ticks away.   Most the kids had been knocked unconscious and the guards were finding it difficult to keep Hannibal’s droids at bay.    His future wife, Arbus, sent in Ninjabots that were hard to defend against thanks to cloaking and stealth tech that not even Sonic and his crew had a chance to perfect.   

‘It’s Simone’s work !   He’s copying her !’, Cyril called out.  

‘Duh !  We already knew that !   We’re getting our tuchuses handed to us !’, Manic retorted, in an irritated tone as the brashly dominant Breaker picked up the drummer in his iron grip.   

‘We just have to hit harder !’, Knuckles cried out with a warrior-like yawp.    He and his Echinda clan had come to join the fight.   Every friend that Sonic had ever encountered, even Bronto from a completely different planet, had volunteered their services.    Apparently, Cyril had gotten the signal out to Bronto’s homeworld, and the tarpaulin answered immediately.    

The Chaotix had begun finding weak points in Breaker and exploiting them.   Fearing for their very lives, Arbus hit the eject button.    She wasn’t running away.   Her ejection seat transformed into a combat wing suit, replete with missiles.   

‘Try THIS on for size, heroes !’, she said, firing her missiles, which, unbelievably, were heat-seeking.  

Chapter 5—All Out Melee 

Hannibal had pulled out all the stops to make certain that he would destroy the Hedgehog Dynasty once and for all.    Each move he made was careful and calculated.   At long last, he and his siblings had endured all they could and saw what Cyril had developed.   It was a similar type of mech to Breaker but it was the only thing that would possibly save the hedgehogs.  

‘I call it ‘Melee’.  Its the best I could do given the circumstances.’, Cyril said, feeling inadequate.   

‘You’re definitely getting a raise once this is all over, my friend.’, Sonic replied with a small smile.    It would be enough to keep morale up, since Cyril and his family were fighting with everything they had.    Bunnie and Antoine used their own specific type of combat they had learned in the Resistance.   It was like Judo, Karate and Pencat Silat mixed together.   It was so unpredictable, the bots that had been sent to slaughter them had sparked out of control and begun murdering each other.    

All the while Breaker was suffering attacks to its knees and behind its neck, where Hannibal still piloted the behemoth.    

‘You haven’t won.   Not yet.   I’ll see you in your own grave !’, he vowed with a blood-curdling maniacal cackle.     

Cyril had been built with an intuitive feature that allowed it to anticipate the tactics of the user.    Melee opened its hood and received Sonic as its pilot.    The others had similar mechs that Cyril fashioned.    Chaos was one that received Manic to pilot it, and the last one was Mayhem, steered by none other than Sonia. 

‘Crap.’, Hannibal swore under his breath.   He hadn’t anticipated 3 mechs, especially masterfully piloted ones.    He was still on an even playing field given Breaker’s iron-ton fists, diamond retracting and piercing knuckles for destruction.   Every sleek, streamlined move had been mapped out perfectly and he had matched the siblings strike for strike, but he wasn’t anticipating Manic’s impeccable drum solo.   

‘Drum solo !’, he screamed, hammering out one of the licks from a popular Earth song, Master of Puppets.   It had nothing to do with the battle but it seemed to suit the brooding, dark and unsettling mood.     

In the midst of the skirmish Blaze the cat, Bronto, and others used their abilities to tip the scales in Sonic’s favor.    Even in her tricked out mech suit, Abnus couldn’t help her beloved, but somehow she knew even if she wasn’t successful, he would still marry her since she had been such a boon to his business and cause.    

Chapter 5—The Tenrecs Get Wise 

Even when battling, Surge and her siblings had a moment of clarity in seeing that they were no longer relying on their elemental prowess, which was by far more impressive and damaging than anything the mechs could accomplish.   

‘Ever get the feeling you’re like twice microwaved potatoes ?’, Ridge asked his sisters.   They looked at the situation, taking a beat and removing themselves from the equation.   The battle was going on without them in it.    

‘They’re too into each other.   Ugh, I think I’m gonna puke…’, Tsunami stated, making a gagging gesture and pretending to hang herself in jest.   The others joked.    They had beaten Abnus and Hannibal to the point where they could no longer fight back, so the two did what smart villains typically do in a ’no win’ situation.   They ran, and vowed they would return.    

The Tenrecs were faced down by Sonic and his crew, who were ready to fight at any given moment.   Surge put her hands up and reassured them she wasn’t there to battle. 

‘You are clearly the victors here.   You bested our employer…’, she said.

‘FORMER employer.’, Ridge added, spitting on the ground in disgust.   He folded his arms across his chest and exhaled sharply, clearly angered that his and his sibling’s bosses had left them literally in the dust and had fought without their aide.   

‘They don’t care about us !’, Tsunami yelled. 

‘Obviously !   What they told you about your caravan was a lie, too !’, Manic started.

‘Precisely.   My brother would’ve never stolen.   We grow our own crystals here.  They regenerate, so there is plenty of synergistic power for all Mobians.    We don’t exclude.   Even those considered ‘poor’ can have power.  It’s a basic Mobian right.’,  Amy said.    Surge felt her head hurt.   Perhaps all the fighting had gotten to her.     She and her siblings felt fatigued.   She still didn’t trust them, but Sonic figured he could summon the Oracle and she would quickly heal them.    The faster their memories were restored the easier their lives would be.  Truth would come to light and perhaps the Tenrecs would become allies rather than enemies.  

Chapter 6—Slow Start to Trust 

The Tenrecs were aloof, isolationists and suspicious of everyone and everything at first.  Although the Oracle had given them their memories back, they knew they could never return.  Surge sighed and breathed out her lament, 

‘We can never go back.  Not after we turned our back on our camp.’ 

‘That doesn’t mean you can’t make a fresh start somewhere new.   I know it’s scary.   Honey, I went through the same thing.’, Rogue explained.   Most of the animals had gone through something similar, though the circumstances of their migration had been unique to them.    Surge wasn’t certain if she or her siblings could be benevolent since they had been living such devious lives thus far.   

‘We’ve thought about this extensively.   Everything here is totally new to us…’, Tsunami said, a bit wearily.   Ridge nervously tapped his toe, looking irritated.    

‘They’re royalty.  Don’t think they can help us.   We’ve been duped by all types of humans and anthros before.’, he reminded them with a disgusted huff.    

‘Sonic’s different.   I think maybe he can help us.   Amy and the others were sincere, even after everything we put them through.   If they can give irreprehensibles like us a second chance, we need to reevaluate our own code of ethics…’, Tsunami told Surge.  Surge knew her siblings were correct and the lot of them had shown nothing if not kindness to all 3 of them equally.    The hyena and thylacine had been traitorous.   It was obvious they were untrustworthy, mercurial, manipulative and narcissistic.    Deep inside, Surge knew she wanted, nay, needed to be part of a family, a tribe.   Acceptance was the one thing she had always lacked.   She had lived intimidating others and she only received adulation out of fear, shock and awe.   It was time to make a drastic change, although it would be challenging at first.    

     Epilogue

Surge and her siblings were given jobs that suited their natural abilities.   Before long, Surge forgot why she had been so bitter and resentful.   She was befriending the other anthros and even the humans that lived in the Crystal palace.   She was starting to enjoy life in Knothole, where she lived with her siblings in a new caravan with an interesting psychic called Clair Voyance.   She was a traveling sage, fortuneteller and psychokinetic elemental who could weave an exquisite story.   She also made incredible music that no one could resist.   In time, she hoped she could introduce Sonic and the band to her, she would make an excellent forth member to the Underground with her native instruments and pure voice.   

Meanwhile…

Though all was joyous upon the eve of Abnus and Ries wedding, they still seethed. 

‘I know you’re sore over losing to those damnable hedgehogs.    We will have to strike elsewhere, someplace they don’t expect, and somewhere vulnerable.   We need to recruit a mole…’, Reis stated with a snarled grin.   

‘When you talk like that, it’s just so freaking sexy…’, Abnus said.   The two united as so many wedded couples did on their honeymoon, making love multiple times into the wee hours until they were completely tuckered out.    Spooning, they plotzed and plotted their next incredible scheme.  

To be Continued…