The Downfall of the Hannibal Empire

Synopsis:   Synopsis: The Hedgehog Dynasty finally brings down the Hannibal family for good.

 

Chapter 1—The Scarab of Scarcity

           

                Cary licked her lips in sinister anticipation of finding the dybbuk box that held the Scarab for which she had searched.    It had taken at least seven sleepless nights to unearth the bejeweled scarab but once she unlocked the box, the scarab came to life. 

                It was as if the epitome of evil knew it had found its perfect match in Cary.   Flying around her head and eerily illuminating her in the stark darkness, the scarab landed atop the middle of her collarbone and sank its legs into her chest.   Her originally colorful body began to transform into a cloaked figure with ominous green glowing eyes.   Lowering her hood, she smirked saucily. 

                ‘Let’s destroy something.  I’ve got the urge to burn some buildings down.’, she said, her tone full of malice.    She was able to hover in her newfound form and found traveling so much easier as Scarab Cary or as she dubbed herself, Entropy.    

                Cary’s parents were able to keep up with her at a fair clip.   She was traveling rapidly and was following ley lines to where ‘all realities merged’. 

                ‘This is the spot !   Once I open a tesseract here, I am rewriting everything.    Just call me destiny’s eraser !’, Cary laughed maniacally.   

                ‘Are we coming along with you ?’, Abnus asked, curiously.

                ‘This will be so much easier and more entertaining as a family, so yes, of course, you are traveling with me as we remake history.’, Cary responded, her lips curled in a sardonic smile.  

                ‘That’s our daughter.   Finally, we’ll have our victory over the cursed Celeritas.    Soon, we will live and reign in our perfect anarchist paradise.’, Cary relayed, throwing her head back in a chilling lunatic laugh.    

                It had only taken a matter of moments, but Cary opened the tesseract and the trio jumped inside.    With a swipe of her hand, the tesseract shut.

                ‘Don’t fret.   Once we’re done here, it’s a quick finger snap and back to Hannibalopolis.’, Cary reassured them.

                ‘I love the sound of that.’, Abnus chimed in, agreeably.     They would begin their reign of terror immediately, but Sonic and his gang had no idea what was happening or how their beautiful planet was about to be turned on its proverbial ear. 

 

Chapter 2—‘This Isn’t Home At All’

                Amy was devastated.    Everywhere she looked, there were signs of chaos and mayhem.   Most buildings were ablaze and many lived in the street.   In fact, she was certain that she had seen quite a few dead bodies lying about in the streets with no trace as to what had caused their early demises.    The stench was bad enough but seeing all the rubble and ruin had nearly shaken her to her core.

                ‘This isn’t home at all.’, she said, in a tone that was barely above a whisper.

                ‘Hannibal.   It was the Hannibals !  I know it !’, Sonic said.

                ‘You’re right on the money as usual, Sonic.   Their daughter found something called the scarcity scarab.’, Tails said. 

                ‘It was once thought to be an artifact of legend, but as you can tell, it’s definitely real.’, Cyril said, adjusting his glasses.    Without any further dawdling, Sonic rallied everyone together.    With the help of their newfound powers, they would be able to follow Cary and the Hannibals into a reality that they were building as they spoke.

                There was no telling if Sonic and the others would be able to repair the damage that had been done.   Cary certainly suited her new moniker ‘Entropy’ well.   Whatever she came across, with a single touch, it would wither, disintegrate, die or simply turn into dust.   Even with her slow and steady walk and her newfound scythe accessory, she was a plague in hyena form and took immense delight in causing devastation and pain.    It was as if Reis and Abnus had to watch in beaming pride as their daughter became their lifelong dream realized.    

                Across the ether there came two familiar voices.   It was that of the Orc and his wife, Sybille.   

                ‘I can lead you to one pocket they haven’t corrupted.   Mind you, there will be a battle here.   There could be loss of life.’, he cautioned.  

                ‘We can provide you with a little extra oomph for your attacks and lend Tails a little extra speed in building weaponry.’, Sybille added.    Granted, Tails wouldn’t be the only inventor there.   There was Cyril, Sally’s husband and their tiniest innovatrix, Brittany and Rotor’s shrewdness.    Even Bronto had been recruited and had squared off head-to-head with Cary and both were equally matched.   However, it seemed from Reis and Abnus’ vantage that they had the upper hand.   Despite being outnumbered, the court and Freedom Fighters pulled together against the Hannibal Empire and struck hard and fast.  

 

Chapter 3—Losses on Both Sides

                In the heat of the battle, Hannibal’s Empire and the Hedgehogs suffered terrible damage.    They hadn’t maxed out their full power using the medallions yet, but they had no other option than to enter their ultimate forms.   

                Cary laughed at each soul she had reaped.   She had never felt more euphoria in her entire existence.   The Visser’s wish so many eons ago, she felt, was about to come true, until Bronto caught her overconfident galivanting off guard and seized her with a massive lightning strike through the chest.     The scarab started to crawl away, searching for a new host to create more upheaval, until Knuckles crushed it under his boot.

                ‘And stay dead, you no good pest !’, he crowed, feeling a smite of the glow of victory, if only momentarily.

                Reis and his army rose up, walloping Sonic and the others.   Coming into ultimate form tended to take a while, but once it did, the tides ultimately turned. 

 'C'mon, guys !', Sonic exclaimed. 'We...can't let them beat us down !'

The ultimate power took a bit out of all of them, but given their spectacular power, each one of Sonic’s court decimated Hannibal’s battalion.  

Abnus shrieked gutturally and launched herself, full bore, at Amy, a staff pointed directly at Amy’s chest.    With heat surrounding her, Amy incinerated the spear and gazed at Abnus without saying a word. 

‘I…was foolhardy…Please spare me…’, she begged.    Just then, Julie Su launched a harpoon hook that impaled her and the remainder of Amy’s flames ignited Abnus.   Tsunami doused the flames but sadly had to pull some water out of the ground to aid her.   

Reis had seen what had happened and noticed that despite the fact he had begun with more than enough goons to help him achieve victory, they had all been dying like mayflies.   

‘Cary…Abnus !   NO !   You monsters !   DIE !’, Reis screamed as he used his turrets to fire at the ultimate hedgehogs and their friends.   They were impenetrable to anything, including bullets.    The ricocheting bullets struck Reis, leaving him riddled with open wounds.    Seeing that he wasn’t likely to recover, he died, cursing the hedgehogs all the way as his life left his body.    When the ringing in their ears dissipated, all of Hannibal’s army lay dead in the field.   Sonic came to himself and was in a bit of a shock.   Some of the carnage had made him vomit.   The Empire had left him and the Freedom Fighters no other recourse than to meet violence with violence.   At least now, once the brutality had come to an end, everyone would be buried and memorialized.   The only question lingering on everyone’s lips after the funerals were through was, what lay in store for the Celeritas Reign next ?  

 

Chapter 4—Heartbeat Day

            The war had happened in the coldest time of the year in January.  It was February and Mobius was still cold, but Mobians were warm and safe inside their homes.  Wildvania had started becoming a more prominent kingdom in the forests and their king, Amon, ruled peaceably and equitably.    He now had a family of his own and had learned from the example of the Celerita’s Monarchy.    

            Heartbeat Day was just around the corner and everyone was decorating, all across Mobius.   Everybody had put up paper machete hearts full of candy that would be broken during the annual Heartbeat Day ball.    Everyone was invited, and no one was left out.   It was a day of respect, unconditional love and friendship for all Mobians alike.  

            Sonic had gotten his beloved a brand new sparkling fuchsia gown as well as fresh water pearls and pearl earrings for their date later that evening.    Each husband had a gift that wowed their wife and friends exchanged ‘heartbeat cards’ to show each other how much they cared.      

 

Epilogue

                It felt all too surreal.   Hannibal and his lunacy had finally ended.   This didn’t mean that Sonic, his friends and family could slack off.   The whole Monarchy continued their training and learning more of their updated abilities.   There was still so much the trio didn’t understand about their medallions.   Thus far, they had come in handy in keeping the peace in Mobius, but they were concerned that there would be a force that would be equal to theirs someday.    With Amon on their side as Hamonrampi reborn, they had the scales tipped in their favor, but there was always a probability that there was another Hannibal or Ivo Robotnick somewhere, waiting, plotting, scheming and planning to remake Mobius in their image.    Currently, however, the Hedgehogs wouldn’t stand for that and they remained the Sentinels of Mobius. 

 

To Be Continued…