FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination 
mobile edition
Games » Sonic the Hedgehog »
|
Mobius 1602
At the end of the 16th century, Europe was a continent torn between the ways of the old and the promises of the new. On the verge of the Renaissance, new ways of thinking were beginning to emerge. The practices and theories of science conflicted with the theologies and beliefs of the Church. England had recently proved itself a world power when in a amazing display of cunning over force, the English navy under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth defeated the mighty Spanish armada and put their enemies at pause.
But underneath the ways of man, a secret world existed in the back alleys and potion. The inquisition raged, hunting "witches" with impunity. These "witches" supposedly consorted with the devil and used black magic, but who were often just unfortunate souls who somehow invoked the wrath of the papacy. The true masters of magic and alchemy were often nobility or servants of royal families, and easily hid their workings or entered into negotiations with easily corruptible clergy, who were in great supply during this time.
The year is 1590. Germany as a country did not yet exist, but was rather split into hundreds of tiny kingdoms, all fighting for supremacy. One of these kingdoms was the kingdom of Mobius, laid upon the northern shore. It was led by a noble family named Acorn. Their wise and enterprising leader, King Maximilian Acorn, showed great leadership, and was highly respected amongst his peers.
His army, led by the stalwart General D'Coolette, were utter professionals to the core, and showed no fear or doubt in battle. The Mobius Navy, led by the dashing Admiral Prower, racked up numerous victories on the high seas against vastly superior forces. Their assistance in the routing of the Spanish armada gained Mobius the admiration and friendship of England. By all respects, Mobius was the most peaceful and prosperous of all the nation-states, and was poised to reunite the country.
However, it was not to be…
For nearly a century Mobius was ruled by a just and loving line of kings. Peace flourished under their masterful leadership. Unfortunately, such peace was not meant to last. In the twilight years of the third king's rule, a great shadow spread across the land. For the first time in one hundred years, whispers of war were heard in the quiet streets of the kingdom's villages and cities.
The reluctant alliances which held the kingdom's enemies at bay all those years were crumbling, and those who once swore allegiance to the king turned on their former ruler. What use was a military in a time of peace? There was no warning when the hammer of war fell upon Mobius. Thousands died as hordes of the enemy swept across the western provinces, slowly burning a path to the capital city.
Very troubled by this inexplicable turn of events, the king sought the council of his two closest advisors, the mage, Naugus, and the newly appointed minister of science, Sir Charles. However, as the three debated in the castle's highest tower, the enemy's war machine drew ever closer.
Days passed and the war continued to threaten the people of the kingdom. To make matters worse, the queen became stricken with a mysterious illness which was beyond either of the king's advisors to counter. Word reached the king that the city would fall within the week, as the evil continued its march.
Just as nearly all hope faded from the kingdom, a rider in black calmly strode through the city's outer gate. He requested an audience with the king, which the troubled ruler reluctantly granted. The man, massive in stature and of the same race as the enemy was surely sent to offer terms of surrender. To the king's relief and bewilderment, the man offered his unconditional service to the kingdom, for he had been betrayed, shunned, and exiled by his own people. As a gesture to win the king's trust, the self-proclaimed man of science miraculously restored the queen to perfect health. The king was so overjoyed, that he immediately granted the man all the power he would need to bring peace to the land once again, on the minor condition that he reveal his name.
"Count Ivo, my lord," the huge man spoke, his bald head slightly bowed.
The sound brought a chill to the king's weary body, but those were desperate times, and in desperate times, strange allies must be made.
Immediately, the Count began planning a grand counteroffensive to end the war in a single battle at the city gates. Huge instruments of warfare were being constructed in the castle's courtyard, but so far the king saw no troops being trained. The king brought his concern to Ivo, who replied coldly, "You needn't sacrifice any more of your subjects, my liege. The army I shall raise will by unlike anything this world has every seen."
Normally the king would have thought this talk madness, but what other choice did he have but to cooperate with this stranger? He failed his people. He would always remembered by history for his weakness and poor judgment. His forbearers would weep at the tragedy he allowed to befall his kingdom.
The days grew shorter and the nights grew darker as the final battle approached. Count Ivo spent increasingly more time locked away in his sanctuary, his behavior becoming more erratic with each passing hour. Charles and Naugus began to notice pages, whole books missing from their archives. The Count's wraithlike nephew, Snively, always seemed to be lurking in the shadows, masking his sinister intentions with the guise of innocent curiosity. However, their pleas to the king fell on deaf ears. Despite his questionable methods, Count Ivo produced results—he cured the king's beloved wife when no other could. This single act blinded him to Ivo's true intentions.
Finally, the day of battle had come. The enemy marshaled its ranks around the city, completely surrounding it. The end had come. At once the battle call was sounded and columns of men marched toward the city gates with siege cannons in tow. To the astonishment of all, before a single cannon could be loaded the gates slowly opened, and out marched a terrible sight. Giant men clad in black armor slowly plodding toward the terrified enemy. A nearby officer rallied his men, ordering them to fire a volley. Through the sulfurous cloud, they heard the sound of lead hitting iron, metal on metal, but the most horrific sound was the marching, completely unimpeded by the attack. Just as the hulking silhouettes began emerging from the smoke, another volley was fired-again, with no effect. Once the metal army was within fifteen yards, the doom of the attackers became clear: Behind the armor, the men clad in metal had no faces, no eyes, no characteristic to make them human or mobian. Those were monsters that only existed in myths, those walking undead, those invincible golems of iron, those hollow soldiers of the Robotnik. The enemy tried to retreat. Count Ivo's army never stopped. It followed them back to their kingdoms and murdered them in their homes while they slept. Men, women, children. Monsters have no pity.
Despite the overwhelming victory, there was little celebration in the kingdom. Ivo's mills and mines blackened the sky so the inhabitants no longer knew the warmth of the sun. The whispers lingered in the streets. The days were a steady stream of funerals as the war's final victims were laid to rest.
Ivo's madness deepened in the days after the war's end. He had completely taken control of Naugus' and Charles' personal archives while the king did nothing but praise the savior of Mobius. Additionally, the queen's behavior became increasingly despondent as symptoms of her illness slowly returned.
- From the journal of the High Priest Dccarmus
Far below the walls of the mighty Castle Acorn, past the dungeons and waterways that twisted and wound through the foundation, but before the catacombs that made up that penetrated deep into the earth, where the tombs of the mighty kings lay, there was a special wing of the dungeon, an amphitheatre, put aside for the sole use of Count Ivo, the savior of the Great War and current master of the most powerful army in Europe, the soulless golems.
In this room, the stone bricks covered with mildew and the walls dripping with condensation, a thousand books were stacked wall to wall, with a thousand more strewn open on the floor, many featuring vignettes of the most heretical and blasphemous science of the age: alchemy.
"Wonderful," the rotund royalty cackled, the organs of a newly dissected furry strewn about the wooden table in front of him. He stabbed a heart with two prongs, both connected by frayed strings wrapped around a primitive turbine, which he turned with one hand to create friction. Small sparks appeared in the turbine, and the heart began to beat. "The power to keep a heart alive when the owner is dead. Truly, the harnessing of the light, the power kept hidden by god himself, shall make me a god amongst all men and beast."
A shadow moved through the chamber, lurking slowly towards the black-clad man. Ivo merely smiled.
"Subtlety was never your strong suit, Naugus old boy."
The shadow took shape, revealing the ape-like sorcerer clad in the mystical objects privy to his calling. His eyes glowed green with power.
"Ha! You, Ivo, lecture me about subtlety, the warlord who is about as subtle as a hammer! Though you can doth claim some truth is thine words, as I only recently deduced your true intentions. King of Mobius does not satisfy thy thirst for power? Thou hast ambitions to conquer the known world?"
"A new age is dawning upon us, Naugus, where kings and old wizards are passed over. Naugus, old boy, I'm afraid your time is over."
Before the creature could raise its mangled hand, Ivo quickly recited an incantation which thrust the old sorcerer into an open portal that instantly sealed itself once it received its victim. The only being able to stand against him had been disposed of.
A new sound echoed through the chamber, that of flapping wings. A bird, black in feather with a red plume and razor-sharp beak, plummeted into the chamber and landed on the Count's shoulder.
Ivo stroked his pet gently, earning a satisfied cluck from the eager bird. Attached to the bird's leg was a note. Unrolling the parchment, Ivo grinned from ear to ear.
The note contained a simple message.
Rosemary Prower has given birth.
That evening, the king hosted a grand feast for the royal court, with Count Ivo as the guest of honor. Naugus' absence was mentioned, but quietly dismissed. He never was one for social gatherings. Before the first course, the king called on Ivo to give a speech to the assembly. He calmly stood and raised his goblet.
His time had come, "Citizens of Mobius, these are troubling times. Such times call for leadership, which is why I am very pleased to finally address you as my subjects."
The king stood in outrage as a great uproar rose in cavernous hall, but Ivo continued, "I spared you all death at the hands of my people and won your trust. Misplaced trust, perhaps, but I appreciate it just the same."
Knowing what was about to transpire, the captain of the guard ordered his troops to surround Ivo, but that realization was months too late. Grinning sadistically, Count Ivo raised his glass to the drawn swords and let out a booming laugh. Suddenly, the crowd turned at the sound to heavy footsteps just outside the door. Massive armored hulks burst into the room and brutally subdued all opposition.
"My services come at a price, your highness. You know of what I speak. The stone! Give me the stone!"
Ivo lifted the king effortlessly off the ground as his grip tightened. The king's eyes were filled with such despair and betrayal that the scientist could barely contain his glee. Quickly reaching into his own cloak, he removed a crystal globe containing what appeared to be half of a polished stone. The king remained silent. He knew what the madman wanted. The other half of the stone was entrusted to the young princess Sally. He would surely murder her if he discovered this.
"Ahhhh. The king has chosen silence. Very well."
Ivo carefully pulled a vial of a glistening red liquid from a satchel on his belt, "Perhaps this will persuade you to cooperate: a special blend of poison, disease, and a hint of black magic."
The scream of the young princess could be heard from a nearby stairwell. She saw everything. Before Ivo could take a step, a blue blur impacted his chest, causing his grip to tighten around the vial, shattering it. The poison acted quickly- its effects horrific.
"Charles' nephew! Get him! Get him!" he bellowed to his legions as he fled to his sanctuary.
Outside of the Castle Acorn, in Ferdinand Square based in the surrounding village, the mighty General D'Coollette directed the chaotic evacuation as best as he could. At a nearby tavern, the remaining members of the Old Guard equipped themselves for battle, silent with the acknowledgement of their fate.
A shout came from the mass. "General. General D'Collette!" The General looked to the source of the voice, finding his gaze stopped on an old friend, the king's science advisor Sir Charles Hedgehog.
"Sir Charles!"
The science advisor was out of breath.
"General, the East Gate has fallen! The people are coming back this way!"
Sure enough, a massive flood of villagers and refugees flooded back into the square, unsure of what to do. Ivo's forces had blocked off all exits by land.
"Charles! Charles Hedgehog!" Charles and the General observed in the mob the nurse/tutor of the Princess herself, Rosie, leading the heir to the throne as well the son of the General and several other children, their eyes wide with fear and confusion.
A small shadow passing over the people caught Charles eye. In the air, a white bird flew over the town, calm compared with the madness below.
"Flicky." His sense of awe quickly dissipated. "Quick! Everyone to the docks!"
Charles ran up to Rosie.
"Where is my nephew?"
Rosie shook her head. "He said he was going back to find stragglers. I told him to come with me, but he took off." She looked like she was about to tear up.
Charles patted her on the shoulder. "He'll be fine. He truly is his parents' son."
Nearby, the General stood over his son, showing no emotion. Then, in a most uncharacteristic gesture, the perpetually cold warrior knelt down and hugged his only progeny.
"I want you to grow strong, and protect the Princess. It has been our privileged task for generations. May it continue with you."
Breaking his embrace, the General, without a glance back, drew his sword and joined his fellow soldiers.
"General, this is madness! Come with us!" shouted Charles.
The General turned, a perfect about-face. He saluted the science advisor.
"It has been my privilege to serve with you, Sir Charles. But I have sworn an blood oath, and I will follow that oath to the end."
Repeating his previous actions, the General drew his sword and charged in the direction of the castle.
"God save the King!"
"Is anybody in here?" shouted the young blue hedgehog. Not a reply was heard. Running deeper into the dungeons, looking for anyone locked up, Sonic stopped.
In the distance, he heard a faint noise. It sounded like crying.
Racing in the direction of the sound, the cries grew louder and louder until Sonic arrived in an amphitheatre. Laying unconscious on a wooden table was an older woman, a female fox, her body badly roughed up. Next to her lay a cradle, from which the crying emanated.
Peeking in the cradle, Sonic was shocked to find, lying underneath an upside-down cross, a newly born baby fox with two tails, with strange markings drawn on its forehead, hands, feet, and stomach, with what appeared to be blood, most likely from the woman nearby.
"Please…" A faint voice jolted Sonic. He turned to the woman, who weakly stared back at him.
Sonic picked up the child.
"What's his name?" asked the blue hedgehog.
The fox whispered a name to him.
In the hallways nearby, heavy footsteps echoed through the stone walls, followed by the clanking of metal and iron.
The clanking grew louder. The golems were almost upon them.
"Take my son… Get him away from here…" The woman smiled at Sonic.
Nodding one last time, Sonic raced out another hallway, up into the castle above.
Floor after floor the hedgehog rose, until nearby windows showed that he had reached the surface. Turn one more corner and…
He was trapped.
In front of Sonic, the hallway was blocked by the iron golems of Robotnik. Turning around, Sonic found the way he came blocked in a similar fashion, with one difference; a tall, gangly man with no hair, decked out in leather wear with several chains around him stood leading the golems.
"Now, now, where do you think you're going with something that valuable?"
Sonic didn't know who this man was, but the mere sight of him sent shivers down the hedgehog's spine. The golems slowly were closing in. The baby, as if sensing the impending danger, clutched Sonic tightly.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the wall behind Sonic exploded, piercing a hole through which glorious sunshine poured through. In the distance, a mighty ship lay in the harbor, its many guns pointed straight at Castle Acorn.
"The fleet! To the cannons! Destroy them!" shouted the horrible man.
Without another moment's hesitation, Sonic jumped through the hole to an awning below, landing perfectly without harming the child. He raced down to the docks where the people were cheering.
"It's the Tornado! It's Admiral Prower!"
Sure enough, standing at the bow of the mighty flagship of the Acorn kingdom, defiant to the last was the young Admiral. He shouted orders to his many sailors, who bombarded the castle and kept the iron men at bay. While swords and pistols had no effect on the iron men, even they could not survive against cannon.
Other ships entered the harbor, and the remaining refugees clambered on to the first ship they could reach as they pulled alongside the ports.
An English sloop entered the port, flying the colors of her majesty Elizabeth I. As the refugees began to board enmasse, the sailors had to forcefully keep them off, lest the ship overturn. The Captain, a duck, disembarked, only to be met by Sir Charles. Beckoning to Rosie and the children, he implored the Captain.
"This is the King's only daughter, the last of the Acorn line."
The Captain nodded. He ordered the sailors to allow the children and their guardian onboard.
"She will be taken to the Queen herself. You have my word. Shall you be coming?"
Charles shook his head. "I have matters which I must attend to before I can take my leave. May god be with you."
Deembarking, Charles watched as the English sloop quickly left the harbor to join the other ships headed away from the besieged town.
The roar of cannon and the sound of shattered timber brought Sir Charles back into the moment. The Tornado had taken heavy damage, but was still putting up a stubborn fight. Charles needed to leave soon. There was only one matter still left to deal with…
"Uncle Chuck!"
The sound of his nephew filled Charles heart with joy. His heart leaped when he saw what the young boy was carrying. Gently lifting the child from Sonic's arms, Charles cradled the baby.
"Well done, my lad. Well done."
The sky flared red with fire as the cannons from Castle Acorn took their toll on the Tornado, striking its gunpowder reserve and sending the once proud flagship of the Acorn Navy into a million pieces.
Charles watched as on shore the iron golems waited in vain for any survivors to come out, for the valiant sailors of the Tornado refused to abandon their ship. Even with three-quarters of the ship gone and the rest aflame, the remaining cannons continued to fire, a final stand for the proud kingdom of Acorn.
Boarding the final sloop, the two hedgehogs watched as the smoke rose high over their once beautiful kingdom, the sounds of battle growing faint.
"What do we do now, Uncle Chuck?" asked Sonic.
"Someday, my lad, we will fight back. But for now, we have more important things at hand, namely this young child."
"I will find you, my dear princess," Ivo muttered to the wind. Several figures shuffled toward him, their eyes glazed over by some demonic spell. "Run little children, run. Until we meet again, your families will make marvelous servants," Ivo chucked as he vilely ran his hand through the flowing hair of the former queen, her eyes fixed on her new master. "Now begins the reign of Robotnik."
The low morning fog over the city concealed the exchange. One cloaked figure, a short blue hedgehog with a white mustache and spines down his back, handed a small white bundle to two foxes dressed in peasant clothes. The male fox took the child and handed it to his wife, who hugged the babe closely. The two males exchanged nods, and the blue hedgehog headed to a nearby hotel. Up in one of the rooms, a younger hedgehog sat impatiently looking out the window.
Sir Charles sat down and pulled out a small pipe, which he lit and puffed. He sat in thought for quite a long time, before finally speaking:
"You asked me, lad, what we are going to do now. With monsters like Count Ivo in this world, no one is safe. There need to be heroes ready to fight against the dark desires of men's hearts. I am going to take you around the world. We will not return here until there are those heroes to stand with us."
First and foremost, I would like to thank dcaarmus and SATAM fans unite for first holding this contest which laid the foundation for this work. This also takes inspiration from, of course, Marvel 1602.
Mobius 1602
