Hedgehog in the Iron Mask

 

. Synopsis: The Hedgehogs' latest stop on their quest to find their mother and father takes them to the prison tower where they encounter a masked stranger who insists he is family. This stranger is being used as bait for another attempt by Robotnik to capture them. The stranger creates a rift between the siblings over who will lay claim to the throne after Robotnik is defeated (even though by custom of agnatic primogeniture it is Sonic that is to wear the Crown of Mobius), which leaves the Underground disbanded, vulnerable, and trapped. The Hedgehogs find a way to escape the prison walls that held their mother captive many years ago.

 

‘Maybe what truly matters isn’t the journey but the friends we made along the way.’—Sonic, Sonic Prime, S1, Ep. 2, The Yoke’s on You

 

Chapter 1—The Prison Tower

           

            Sonic, Manic and Sonia continued their quest across a vast, verdant and lush field, full of vibrancy and life.   From their vantage, they can see a looming tower not far in the distance.  Ominous as it is, it stands out as an anomaly.   Around the tower the weather is foreboding, one might say, even a bit eerie.  

            ‘I don’t know about this, guys.  How can it be unwelcoming there but pleasant everywhere else ?’, Sonia asked, curiously.  

            ‘Not sure, but if this was the tower where our mother was held prisoner years ago, we have no choice but to investigate.’, Sonic quipped.

            ‘Yeah, Sonic’s right !   There might be something there in the records that confirm this, and then we’ll know for certain.’, Manic agreed.

 

            Briskly walking across the drawbridge to head to the glowering tower, overhead lightning crackled, and thunder boomed.   Sleet and snow blanketed them from above, sending down an unwelcomed barrage of frigid precipitation.    

            From the window, a mysterious figure stood, doing vocal warmups and clearing his throat.   Lamenting, he plaintively moaned,

            ‘Oh !  Why ?  Why have I been so unjustly imprisoned ?’, he kvetched. 

            ‘Unmask my face and let me look upon, uh, freedom !  Precious freedom !’, he continued, acrimoniously.  

            The triplets looked at each other dubiously for a moment, but Sonia’s inquisitive nature overcame her. 

            ‘Who is that ?  A prisoner ?’, she asked. 

            ‘The question is why a prisoner.’, Sonic added, cynically. 

            ‘Yeah, Buttnick usually just roboticizes them.’, Manic chimed in astutely.  

            ‘Let me ou-ow-ow-ow-out !’, cried the masked prisoner, pathetically.   

            ‘That voice sounds really familiar.’, Sonia noted aloud.

            ‘Yeah, it reminds me of Sonic’s off-key singing.’, Manic jested.  

            ‘Very funny.   Maybe we can find some answers once we get inside.’, Sonic said, spin dashing through the closed door and leaving them all in an entryway inside the unsettling tower.

 

 

Chapter 2—Searching for Answers

 

            Once inside, Sonic looked around for anything that might be useful in helping him unearth more clues as to where his mom and dad were hiding.  He saw there was a large orange console there and knew Manic was the hedgehog for the job.

            ‘Hey, Manic !  Can you hack this hardware ?’, he asked.    Helpfully Manic went right to work.  

            Behind a curtain, Sleet skulked about, and Sonia caught him hiding unsuccessfully. 

            ‘What did you expect, a wristband and key to the city ?’, he said, triumphantly.    Using his morph gun, he returned Dingo to his normal form.  What followed was a most impressive beatdown of three against two.    The triplets tripped, foot swept, and spin dashed their way to victory while sonic used old film to keep Dingo tied up to no longer be a threat to them.   

            ‘Where are the records on my parents ?’, Sonic demanded.

            ‘There aren’t any !’, Dingo confessed, realizing he was in a literal bind.

            ‘It was all meant as a ruse…’, Sleet added.    Realizing that Sleet could still capture them, Sonic and his family dashed away, wondering if they could ask the townspeople about the mysterious prisoner. 

 

 

Chapter 3—Back to Square One

            In the pleasant village, Sonic and his siblings started asking the townspeople if they knew anything about the mysterious stranger and why Robotnik had kept him imprisoned.    Everyone seemed tight lipped about it.   Since music was the universal language, Sonia activated her crystal and her keyboard appeared before her.   With a rollicking drumbeat, the trio began to sing.

 

When there’s trouble you don’t wanna face

You disappear without a trace

You run and hide your head in the sand

But if you wanna be a winner someday

Gotta learn to chase the wolf away

Gonna have to get involved, don’t cha understand

You’re part of the problem

If you’re not helpin’ solve them

Stand up and show ‘em what you’ve got

Be part of the solution

No reason for losin

Just be sure you’re not

Part of the problem

Part of the problem

 

Although their song had been catchy, the townspeople were all mum about the prisoner.  Sonic was quite irritated at this turn of events.

            ‘Looks like we have to go rescue the prisoner ourselves if we want any answers.’, he concluded. 

 

 

Chapter 4—Return to the Tower

 

            I found a map of the tower. It'll help us re-traverse the area just in case we forgot.', Sonic concluded.   The other two followed him back to the tower and they rescued the masked hedgehog.   He had told them the headgear he wore was going to explode if it had been removed, but neither of the triplets knew that this hedgehog was an actor who had taken a role in tricking the siblings, causing them to bicker, split them up, and capture them.    He had been able to do all this, all while convincing them he was their uncle.   He had even gone so far to say that it had been forever since he had seen them, and the three took the bait.

            While rescuing their supposed Uncle, the three bickered about who was going to take the throne.

            ‘You do realize that not all three of us can reign at once.’, Sonia pointed out.   It was true, true succession didn’t work in this way.   Each could see themselves ruling in a way that suited them best rather than what was more suitable for Mobius as a whole.   As they complained, they all took their own path and were all duped by Dingo and Sleet.   Before long, they all found themselves prisoners.

 

 

Chapter 5—Periwinkle’s Out of the Bag

           

            The mask had fallen off the mysterious hedgehog’s face, revealing none other than the famous actor Luke Periwinkle.    The three had been massive fans of his work but were hurt, confused and upset he had betrayed them.

            ‘Robotnik was going to robotocize me if he didn’t.  The mask, well, that lame device was only used to broadcast where Sleet and Dingo could round you up.  The rings were used to track you.’, Luke confessed, feeling massively guilty.  He apologized for what he had done, wondering if he could redeem himself, especially after how Robotnik had used his own cunning against him.   

            ‘It’s unarmed, not harmless at all.’, Luke said about the mask, that is, until it exploded.

            ‘It was a bomb !  Woah, gnarly !’, Manic stated, realizing Robotnik truly was excessive in blackmail and extortion.

            ‘You mean my pretty face ?  Boom ?  Decimated ?’, Luke asked before swooning.    Sonic snapped him out of his syncope, and they were able to exit the tower, once and for all.    As for Sleet and Dingo, they were defeated, since the hedgehogs now had a fourth member fighting on their side.

 

 

Chapter 6—Someday, I’ll Rule

           

            It was true that one day there would be a crystalline palace where the trio would live.   They each would have their own throne, but they would rule over different sectors of Mobius in castles of their own.   They all saw this playing out, but they all knew due to primogeniture, Sonic was the true ruler and one day, he and Amy would be reunited to reign over Mobius. 

 

            Before they departed, Luke had a gift to give them.

            ‘Ivo tried stealing these from me too, but while he was sleeping, I found them in his confiscated items.   I figured you’d need these someday for your official coronations…’, he said.

            ‘Wow, thanks, Luke.  Very thoughtful.’, Sonic grinned, accepting the gift wholeheartedly.  

            ‘I’ll be running a resistance movement of my own.   We’ll meet again.’, Luke said, with a friendly wink. 

            ‘Come on, let’s get moving.  I gotta get the van out of the ditch.’, Sonic said, laughing.

            ‘At least I won’t run Mobius into a ditch or wreck it like you did the van !’, Sonia said, teasingly.

            ‘Let’s just agree that my reign is going to be the coolest and will rock all your socks off.   No one will go without rock n’ roll !’, Manic fired back, flashing rock n’ roll signs under his flickering tongue.    The three laughed it off.   They loved each other immensely but as siblings did sometimes, they argued.   Right now, it was one of their capricious burn battles.   Neither of them meant any of it and in the end, they only did so because they would all laugh themselves silly at how ridiculous they sounded.    So, again, it was off to find their mother and father, and the rings would give them clues.  

 

To Be Continued…