The Mobian Marvel vs. the Melisian Menace

 

Synopsis: When King Sonic and his siblings, Lady Sonia and Lord Manic, accidentally travel through a warp zone, they get separated once again. Manic ends up on planet Melis, where he is taken prisoner by a powerful tsar. Based on the upcoming Illumination and Nintendo film, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie".

 

 

Previously…

 

On Melis, Tsar Tusk tsked at seeing King Sonic victorious after repairing the notorious Paradox Prism.  

                ‘Ugh, I already can’t stand this guy.    Who does he think he is ?  Supermelis ?’, Tusk wondered aloud.    On Melis, there had been an ‘ubermelis’ once known as Supermelis.  He had come with godlike power and talent, bringing harmony to all.   He had been someone to model one’s life after.    This blue hedgehog, however, seemed a bit conceited, brash and egotistical.     If anything, Tusk felt that the planet needed a bit of a makeover and a new ruler.    Besides, the tech there was far more advanced than it had been on his own planet.   While Supermelis had been myth and there was still a cult that worshipped him, Tusk would embody everything Supermelis was to the Melisians.    He would pay Mobius a visit and rattle King Sonic’s world a little.   

 

                Victory hadn’t even had a chance to be celebrated when the gargantuan ships began to descend into the stratosphere.

                ‘Holy Moley, those are huge.’, Big said, with great concern.   

                ‘Yeah, but, we’ve got mechs and other weapons if we need them.’, Blaze said, grinning, patting his shoulder to calm him.     There was an unearthly calm before Tusk began firing on them with lasers, pell mell, no holds barred.      That was when, before they were certain everything had come to Armageddon, that time stopped. 

                It was Quanta, Mortimer, Q, Loki and Discord, to name a few.    A few other heavy quantum hitters appeared too.    If it was to be the end of Mobius, they thought, why not even the odds for the little guy ?

 

Chapter 1—Separated for a Second Time

                Sonic and Sonia needed a boost in their tech and abilities, so in order to gain more fortitude, they warped themselves to the Emerald Island, where the Master Emerald waited for them to assist their upgrades.    Thinking they had come to the Emerald Island without any issue, they searched for Manic and found him missing.  

                ‘Everything happened so quickly.  While everyone’s battling back on Mobius against only Mobius knows what, Manic simply vanished !’, Sonia said, anxiety beginning to key up.  Her quills started to ache, being so pent up with fear.  

                ‘I could’ve sworn he was right next to me.   He was telling me a story about Wiley, a weasel who infiltrated Robotnik’s base.   He taught him everything he knew and became even more skilled than he ever was.’, Sonic said, wondering when Manic and Wiley would ever reunite.   He was more concerned with where Manic was currently and held Sonia’s hand to slow her breathing.   Her chest rose and fell quickly as she nearly went into a panic attack.

                ‘Sonia, it’s going to be alright, just breathe.  Big brother’s here…’, Sonic said, assuaging her.   Trying not to give in to tears, Sonic simply embraced her close and smoothed her quills to settle her nerves.  

                ‘I’m sorry !  I’m worried about Manic.  Neither one of us knows where he is right now !   Mobius is in a rough spot too !   I know you’re always the optimist about situations like this one, but it feels so…helpless and hopeless !’, Sonia stated, starting to weep.   Sonic patted her back and took out a handkerchief, giving it to her.   She dried her eyes and took a few deep breaths to finally settle herself.    Stabilizing herself and standing straighter, Sonia knew what the two of them must do.

                ‘We came here to get a recharge, of course, with Knuckles blessing.’, She said.   They, more than likely, would be receiving permission from Locke, Knuckles’ father, whom all the echidnas revered and respected.   

                ‘We’ll get him back.  You’ll see.   One way or another, we’ll be reunited.’, Sonic vowed, confidently.   Sonia had a slight tremble in her lip that she hoped Sonic wouldn’t see because part of her wanted to believe it would be easy, but her gut told her it was going to be anything but.  

 

                Meanwhile, on Melis…

                ‘You’re not the one I was hoping to capture.’, Tsar Tusk said.   Tusk towered over all the other badgers, an imposing, acerbic figure of great prowess.  

                ‘Dude, you totally lost me.  I have no idea to whom you are implying.’, Manic stated, clearly bewildered.    Tsar Tusk chortled lightly, the overbite of his incisor glinted in the moonlight above them.   A chill ran through Manic, and he wasn’t likely to be overcome by dread, but something about this badger just made his blood run cold.   

                ‘I’m looking for another erinaceous much like yourself, except cyan in color.’, Tusk said, elocuting properly.   

                ‘Still drawing a blank, man.’, Manic said, feeling a bit dumb and altogether lost.    It would’ve helped if this badger spoke English, he thought to himself.

                ‘A blue hedgehog, you nitwit !   My spell brought you here to my playground.   I was hoping to borrow some mystic charm or technology to use against you.   You see, I, Tsar Tusk, had only begun observing you lot.’, he said.  

                ‘Firstly, creepy.   Don’t you have any hobbies to occupy your time with ?’, Manic said, clearly not bothered that he was still in Tusk’s iron-clad grip.  

                ‘What I do with my own time doesn’t concern you, eracidae.   I will use you as bait.   Clearly your medallion can be used as a beacon ?  I believe I have seen it in action once before, long ago…’, Tusk stated.    Manic grunted, trying to wriggle free from Tusk’s clutch, but it was no use, his grip was tighter than a vice.    Although he wasn’t being tortured, Manic had no other option than to use his homing device to hail his siblings to come and rescue him, and maybe teach this tyrant a thing or two about etiquette.  

 

 

Chapter 2—The Battle Rages On !    

                Back on Mobius…

                ‘Manic’s gone ?!’, Apheelia asked in pure shock.   She couldn’t believe the news she had received from her husband, Jules, who had heard it from the grapevine of command on the battlefield.    The two were warring amongst the badgers in what had become simply known as Strife Field.    She fought back bitter tears as she engaged with one of the armored badgers Tusk had sent her way.     They tended to be dirty, sneaky fighters that opted to stab their opponents in the back whenever they could catch them off guard.  

                Weirdly time seemed to slow down for them and moved in increments.   Nothing seemed to make sense about the sequence of the war, or how the badgers had literally barged in on them full bore.   The scientists were trying to puzzle a meaning from what had been happening but they had no answer.   The only action anyone could take now was to continue defending themselves against an enemy that wanted nothing more than to destroy them, and Mobius right along with them.

                Help had to come from somewhere.   Apheelia and Jules couldn’t hold off the battalion on their own, even if they did have all of Mobius on their side.   None of them appreciated having been awoken late at night from perfectly pleasant slumbers to a full cete of rampagers.   

                ‘What do these jerks even want ?’, a harpy eagle named Eurydice yelled at the top of her lungs.   Against them, even with time being slowed, they were no match.    In front of them stood a bearded badger with a stopwatch and a menacing look while everything resumed a semblance of normalcy. 

                ‘Now that you’re all subdued and no longer a threat, I’ll be taking what Tusk needs and get out of your hair, but mark my words, Tusk will want more of this pathetic place.’, the warlock said, with a sardonic, haughty smirk.    The energetic manacles and ropes held the Mobians in place.   Where they were able to fight against this menace, they were all at a standstill.    Nothing could stop them now, now with their timelord warlock.    The lot of them knew they were beaten, but Amon wasn’t about to let them go without teaching them a lesson…

 

 

Chapter 3—An Agreement with Tsar Tusk

                It had taken a good amount of time to follow the warp zone to Melis, where Tusk had been holding Manic.  When Manic noticed his siblings saw the beacon, he couldn’t help but shed a grateful tear.

                ‘Thank Mobius…’, he prayed silently.    There had been a combination attack the three had never tried but directing his beacon to the other’s medallions, they in turn, responded.

                ‘Hmm, the Oracle and his wife were correct again.  So much lies hidden within…’, he thought.    Instead of fighting the Tsar, they sang. 

                Think of what you’re doing

                Pause for a moment, reflect

                Is violence the way ? 

                Think of it in retrospect

                Would you want a sudden outbreak

                When all was peace and calm ?

                That is not at all polite

                When we mean you no harm…

               

                Although badgers hated hedgehogs in every way shape and form, the song made him pensive.   There was still a war being waged on Mobius where he had sent out his skilled knights, centurions and mages.   He had even sent Barnabus, his highest grade warlock, who could mess with time.   So far, Barnabus had been loyal, but he had noticed him being shifty in the past days.    He had to keep watch on his warlock because that dark power was feeding his already expansive ego.

                ‘So, all you want is tech ?   You could have just asked, Tusk.’, Sonic said, a little hotheaded and annoyed.    It had been true that Tusk had gone about acquisitioning Mobian tech to use on Melis.   Melis had been slightly backward and needed to catch up with modern times, but he had been doing this incorrectly.   Kidnapping Manic, he realized, was terribly wrong and for once in his life, he felt guilty.    

                ‘Whatever you need, just let us know.  How are you at understanding blueprints ?’, Sonia questioned.   Tusk brightened.   Anything in a blueprint format was much easier to implement, he mused.    His once tyrannical approach had turned into a far more amicable strategy.    However, there came the trouble back on Mobius itself and it seemed a full on war was on the verge of occurring.  

 

Chapter 3—Put the Weapons DOWN ! 

                Tusk had gotten what he initially had come by, quite by accident and asked his construction workers to start building.   The architects, the masonry workers, the technical geeks, all of them would join paws and start fabricating the new city that Tusk had been envisioning into a reality.             Getting straight to work, he sent the trio back to Mobius and the trio sensed tensions were at their breaking point.

                The fighting was defensive and only minor injuries occurred at the get go of the battle.   Barnabas was facing off against Amon, who was far more talented and formidable than he. 

                ‘There’s no need for warring any longer.   Put the weapons down, now !’, Sonic commanded, sternly.    Being the king he was, he garnered everyone’s attention, and there had been no need for further fighting once his steely look persuaded everyone to set their weaponry down.    Even Amon, who had Barnabus at a disadvantage, released the scruff of his neck and sat him on the verdant grass of Strife Field.   

                ‘It was a bit of work, but Tusk has what he came for.   We have an agreement that whatever he needs to build Meliopolis, we can relay that to him through electronic messages, or holo tutorials.   He won’t be attacking us any longer.   We may never be friends, but we’re not exactly enemies.’, Sonic stated.    The quantum heavy hitters looked surprised that they weren’t even needed in this skirmish, and no skirmish had happened.   

                ‘Well, if there’s ever some sort of unsettled time distortion, you know how, when and where we can be reached.’, Loki said, with a bit of a wink.   Q rolled his eyes while his regal daughter, Quanta, smiled sweetly and gave a bit of a curtsy, just to be cute.    With that, she had disappeared and he had followed suit.    Loki gave a salute, dissolving into gold glitter, most likely back to the TVA where he was needed the most.    Something told them all this wasn’t the last they would see the quantum team or that they would be delving into space and time conundrums because, frankly, there was something unsettling about Barnabas.   

 

Chapter 4—Well, That Was Easier Than Expected

                Apheelia had been hugging and kissing Manic way more than he would’ve liked or found comfortable.

                ‘Woah, ma !   Personal space !   I wasn’t hurt, well, intimidated, more like.   Hurt, not at all.   Tusk is more agreeable than you might think.’, he stated, calmly.    For a hedgehog that had been kidnapped, he was far more laid back than they expected.    Sonic and Sonia were pleased that all it had taken was an impromptu song, not even fighting to turn Tusk around and get him to see there was a better solution.

                All the while, Amy, Sally, Rogue, Julie and Cream couldn’t shake that something felt off about that warlock.    For a brief moment, he had command of everyone on Strife Field and the look of pure lunacy in his eyes was unmistakable.    He was waiting for his turn to become a Judas.   Even Tusk had mentioned this, suspicion or not.   The evidence was circumstantial, but the Tsar had been paranoid enough to keep eyes on his warlock.    Regardless, it was Tusk’s responsibility to keep Barnabas monitored.    

                Manic had been the only hedgehog who had seen the potential Melis held, and like the others, had begun learning more about the video game solar system.   There were so many avenues one could travel and so many probabilities and possibilities.     They had known about the video game universe but didn’t know their place in it, that is, until Barnabas found something on another planet known only as the Mushroom Kingdom, where strange items existed.    He stole a warp whistle, invincibility star, fire flower, super cape and tanuki suit.     He also took a poison mushroom, looking for his next opportunity to kill the Tsar.    He would never be next in line since he wasn’t related to Tusk’s lineage, but the title of ‘Baron Barnabas’ had a very lovely ring to it…

 

Epilogue

                Using the power of hypnosis, Barnabas was able to be released and he successfully poisoned Tusk.   Though he was one badger, he planned to take as many elements from video game planets as conceivably possible.    He recently created a magic ‘bag of tricks’ that was everlasting.    He could place anything in the bag he wished and never lose it.    Whenever he needed something from it, he would reach down deep into the cosmic sack and pull out exactly what he needed to find favor in any situation.   

                Things were looking bad for Tusk.   He was ailing and close to death, so who better to help than Sonic and his friends ?   Although he was in no shape to holovid him, he did so, praying in the back of his mind that the poison could be cured.    It just so happened that an unknown party, oddly dressed an mycelian as he was, wanted to lend a hand.

                ‘I have a cure for that very poison.   It seems you have a rogue lunatic vying for galactic domination.   We didn’t know what hit us when he started harvesting power ups here…He’s unhinged !’, the bespectacled scientist, Portobello said, adjusting his specs.   

                ‘Once more into the breech, I suppose.  No time to relax.   Time to dash.’, Sonic said, getting suited up for a trip through space and time.

 

To Be Continued…