March of the Eggcracker

Part I

Warnings: None

Notes: This is a request for DanceDream (for being the 100th reviewer on my other story The Genesis of a Generation). Originally, this was going to be one long chapter depicting the requested scene, but then my imagination got away from me and I concocted a background adventure. So, it's going to have two or three chapters, depending on how I pace everything. Hope you enjoy!

Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius and usually happy guy, sighed as he gazed out the window, mumbling unhappily under his breath. The landscape was white, one of a picturesque beauty. In fact, the white world that surrounded Tails' workshop was photographed many times every year by aspiring photographers who wanted an easy A on their college final. It was isolated – yet very easy to get to – and Tails welcomed visitors into his home with the attitude of a seasoned host. Even though he had the size and sometimes attitude of an eight year old, he held a presence in a room that almost demanded respect. Having a large brain could do that to you.

The workshop was situated in the middle of the Mystic Ruins, one of the few zones that experienced all four seasons of the year. While others were stuck in a permanent state of a season (Ice Cap in winter; Green Hill in spring), Mystic Ruin enjoyed the fluctuation of the seasons, getting warmer or colder depending on the planet's rotation. It was a nice feature that seemed to make it a well chosen spot for campers looking for variety. You could always find a random group of people duking it out with the weather at any time of the year.

Sonic himself enjoyed staying in Mystic Ruin during the summer months, but not so much during the winter because of the wet substance that covered the ground. If he had a choice, he would go somewhere far away and enjoy the sun while Tails froze his namesakes off working on some plane or sharing hot cocoa at the table with visitors, but then he would miss spending the winter holidays with his best buddy.

The annual Winter Celebrations were fêted throughout the whole of Mobius, no matter if you lived in a cold zone or not. They were an excuse to celebrate life, spend time with family, and get drunk. There wasn't a specific reason for the month long holidays; they simply existed to make the dreary winter months enjoyable for those in snowy zones. Most zones held special events consisting of snowman building or pie eating contests, but since he resided in a zone with a population of two plus campers, there wasn't much planned. But, he and Tails usually found things to do, ranging from playing cards to looking through photo albums to playing in the snow – no matter how much he hated it. His snowboard was resting in the closet in his room and he needed to pull it out; the snow was getting thick enough for him to board again.

Tails himself was frantically running around the house like a young child hyped up on candy. This year it was their turn to host the annual holiday party for their group of friends and he was attempting to make the house presentable. It was the only social gathering that the small collection of friends enjoyed every year because they were scattered the rest of the year doing their own things. The winter seemed to subdue everyone, including Robotnik.

Last year, Knuckles had drawn the short straw and the party had been shoved off on him. He had refused to let anyone besides Sonic, Tails, and maybe Espio up on Angel Island, and – thankfully – Vanilla had agreed to have the party at her place at the last minute. But, her parties were always amazing and now Sonic and Tails had a lot to live up to. Tails, being who he was, was more worried than Sonic on the state of the house's cleanliness and had sent his battalion of robots to work on the place. Sonic himself was trying to stay out of the way, having already been squawked at twice by the same vacuuming 'bot for standing right where the dirt was.

"Hey!"

A voice that didn't belong to Tails suddenly pierced the air and yanked Sonic out of his thoughts. He spun away from the window towards the inner rooms of the house, attempting to puzzle out where it had come from.

"Sonic, Tails!" The voice yelled again, and Sonic's sensitive ears pinpointed the front door as the source. "Open up, will ya?"

Sonic sighed again before trudging his way towards the door, mentally preparing himself for the swirl of wetness that was sure to whisk its way in when he moved the thin piece of wood out of its way. He really hated the winter season for one thing: the snow. The fluffy stuff was pretty and all, but he just couldn't stand the way it managed to worm its way into his socks and melt or the way it seemed to coat everything. Rain he could deal with. Rain went away. Snow didn't.

Looking through the peephole in the door, he rolled his eyes before grabbing the handle and yanking it open. The person on the other side yelped slightly at the sudden movement before rushing in when Sonic gestured for him to hurry. As soon as he was over the threshold, Sonic closed the door with a resounding slam.

"You're late," Sonic mumbled at the visitor, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. "And you got snow all over the floor."

"Sorry…" The other replied, stomping the snow off his boots. "I'll take care of it." Suddenly, the snow littering the ground began to glow a crystal blue color and started to levitate. The door opened of its own accord before the snow rocketed its way out, leaving no evidence of it ever having been there, the door replacing itself once all of the snow was clear.

"Silver," Sonic rolled his eyes at the other hedgehog, clapping him on the back. "I keep forgetting you can do stuff like that."

The newly named Silver rolled his eyes at Sonic before taking a few steps into the house. "Why do people always tell me that?" He asked more to himself than anyone else. He sighed before glancing around. "Where's Tails? He wanted me to help him with something."

"Hell if I know," Sonic answered truthfully, leading the other to the kitchen table. "He's been running around all morning trying to clean up the place. I keep trying to tell him it's worthless because I live here, but he won't listen." He paused before turning to eye the other. "You were supposed to be here two hours ago. Why're you so late?"

Silver shrugged. "I was in Green Hill with Blaze watching the winter races."

Sonic sighed. Ever since his rise in fame, Green Hill Zone had gotten a flood of tourists wanting to see the place of Sonic the Hedgehog's birth. Most were usually disappointed however, because Green Hill was like every other hill zone. But, it was trying its best to stand out, which was why it hosted annual races during the holidays in celebration of their hero. They hoped this would lure Sonic back there, but he had vowed to never set foot in that Zone again unless danger demanded it.

"See anything interesting?" Sonic asked, sitting down at the small table.

"Nah," Silver answered, following Sonic's example with the only other chair. "The winner this year was a small brown hedgehog named Nikki. Didn't look like much, but what do I know?"

Sonic grinned. "Not much." He easily dodged the apple that was thrown at his head. "C'mon Silver, what're you even doing here? Shouldn't you be in the future?"

The other hedgehog shook his head, leaning back in his chair and propping his booted feet onto the table. "I've heard legends of the holiday celebrations in this time period. Wanted to experience them myself." He shrugged, shooting Sonic and smile.

"And, Blaze is here, so that's just a nice plus, right?" Sonic smirked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows.

"I didn't say that." Silver retorted quickly, his cheeks reddening. "It's just a coincidence that Blaze is here."

"Uh huh," Sonic affirmed, leaning his chin into his palm, elbow propped on the table. "I believe you."

"Really Sonic!" Silver argued, his feet dropping to the ground and his chair righting itself. "Blaze has nothing to do with my desire to witness your customs an-"

"Woah Silver," Sonic interrupted, "no need to get all defensive. I'm just teasing."

Silver opened his mouth to retort, but the sound of someone stomping down the stairs interrupted him and both he and Sonic turned just in time to catch sight of Tails slide down the last few feet of the banister. He hit the ground running and he skidded into the kitchen, settling Silver with a glare.

"You're late!" He almost-shouted, yanking the taller hedgehog to his feet like he weighed nothing. He dragged the time-traveler out of the room without preamble, speaking over his surprised sputtering. "I need you to move these boxes for me! They're too big for me to pick up and Sonic won't help, so you need to move them."

Silver sent a look toward the blue hedgehog as he was finally pulled through the kitchen door and onto the stairs.

"Don't look at me like that!" Sonic replied, smirking. "I have a bad back today!"

o0o

The next few hours sped by for Sonic in a blur of distant crashes, cuss words, and snowfall. Tails and Silver were holed up in the extra bedroom, moving boxes of junk downstairs into the Workshop for storage until the party was over, and Sonic decided that staying in the kitchen was the best way to keep from getting recruited into working too. He made hot cocoa, sipped at it, winced as a loud crash sounded from upstairs, followed by Tails eight year old version of cussing, pulled out a deck of cards, and sat at the table with his cocoa, spreading the cards on the table.

The game ended quickly, his high speed mind seeing the card combinations before he really comprehended what number or face was on the card. He dropped red on top of black, twos piled on top of their respective aces. Eventually, all of the cards were in their correct positions and his cup was empty of cocoa. He sighed, running his finger down the handle of the mug before standing and taking the cup to the sink to wash it.

As he was washing, his ears pricked, a soft sound outside of the workshop catching his attention. He turned off the water, left the mug in the sink, and threw his scarf around his neck, pulled on his riding boots (board riding, not horse riding), shrugged into a green fleece jacket (his quills sliding through pre-cut slits in the fabric), and trudged out into the snow. He stood in the cold for about half an hour, feeling the heat seep out of his body and attempting to figure out what was making the strange snow-squashing sound that brought him out of the warm house. His breath puffed out in front of him, warming his nose and he fisted his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

He was just about to turn and go back into the house when the sound came again, this time closer than before. It wasn't so soft anymore, as it zoomed into the hedgehog's ears, making his teeth rattle in his skull. The ground shook under his feet and the snow resting precariously on the branches of the nearby trees tumbled to the ground with a soft poofth. The sound was indeed snow crushing, and tree crushing. Sonic whipped in a circle, attempting to see what was capable of making such a loud noise.

He didn't have to look far, because the thing responsible was right behind him, creeping toward the plateau the workshop was sitting on with creaking slowness. It looked like a large nutcracker – the human toy that resembled a soldier. It walked with straight legs, its joints incapable of bending beyond to help with the stress of its steps. It's glossy, painted on uniform was blue, a large bayonet looking weapon clutched in its wooden hands. It had a large black hat on its head, and it was in this hat that Sonic identified the source of the problem.

"Merry Christmas, Sonic!" Dr. Eggman's voice echoed across the whole of the Ruins, drowning out the massive sounds of the marching machine. "I've brought you a present!" The evil man cackled, making the hedgehog's fur stand on end. The doctor was hiding behind a frosted over pane of glass set into the middle of the mecha's hat, a bright yellow light radiating from behind the overweight man, casting his shadow onto the pristine snow. He was grinning like a maniac, hands holding onto two joysticks and yanking them this way and that, making his machine march toward Sonic.

Sonic huffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms in subtle defiance. He stomped his feet, attempting to get blood flowing back into his numb, cold toes, while he glared up at the slowly advancing Eggman. He was slightly miffed at the doc's Christmas declaration, as Mobians didn't celebrate the human holiday, instead preferring to have their own celebrations. The fact that the two holidays coincided so close together – during the human month of December – was a cause of discontent with a lot of Mobians, but Sonic didn't really care when they fell on the calendar, as long as he didn't have to drag a full-size tree into his house every year, like the human custom dictated.

"Real considerate of you doc," he mumbled under his breath, finally managing to feel his feet again as they warmed up. His green eyes flashing, he started a slow trek toward his adversary, the cold making his legs jar with every step.

Sonic jumped off the plateau, taking the fight away from the Workshop and his two friends currently inside, both unaware of what was going on outside in the cold world. The robot was slowly cranking its way toward him, now about ten yards away.

"You wanna tell me how you plan on that robot beating me? !" Sonic yelled up at Robotnik, shivering slightly now that he was further away from the warm lights of the house. He should have worn a bigger jacket… "It moves at the speed of smell!"

"Oho!" Eggman laughed, halting the nutcracker where it was. "This robot may be slow, but it packs quite a punch!" So saying, he slammed his palm down onto the dashboard in front of him and the top of the hat tore open as three heat seeking missiles soared into the cold air.

Crap. Sonic thought, his mind spinning. Here in this field of snow, he was the only heat signature, a literal sitting duck. Immediately, he spun on his heel, taking off for a nearby network of caves, wary of any campers that could be hiding in the trees. Their body heat would inadvertently distract the missiles, sure, but they would also be in some serious danger if the missiles changed targets. He tore across the frozen lake in front of the caves, the heat of his speed-friction causing the ice to melt under his feet.

Instead of heading into the caves, he made a split second decision and dashed straight up the vertical wall, hoping that his change in direction would be too sudden and the missiles would be unable to correct in time. His plans were squashed, however, when the projectiles zoomed after him, barely scraping the rock. Sonic bit back a curse, pushing his body harder against gravity in an attempt to get as high as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Once he had reached the apex of his running ability, he planted both of his feet for half of a millisecond, feeling gravity taking hold, and pushed, his well-developed leg muscles catapulting him away from the rock wall. He spun out into the air, curling into himself to get better control of his fall, before focusing on the Egg-cracker (at least, that's what he was calling it) and homing attacking straight at the window that Eggman was hiding behind.

He bounced right off of the plexi-glass, using his feet to push himself back into the air once more. His spin this time was angled toward the ground, and he slammed into the ground still in a ball, burrowing through the snow and into the dirt underneath as he slowed to a halt.

Behind him, Eggman was smirking. "Did you really think you could break the glass, rodent? It's specifically designed to withstand your attacks!"

Sonic turned, now completely covered in snow, smirking right back, before pointing toward the sky. Eggman, his natural curiosity getting the better than him, followed Sonic's finger and his eyes widened comically.

The missiles that had been chasing Sonic were not the fastest in Eggman's arsenal; in fact, they were some of the slowest, optimized to work in the coldest weather possible without their synapses freezing over. Because of this, they had fallen behind Sonic's superior speed significantly, and when they had finally figured out that Sonic was no longer scaling the wall and had jumped in a horizontal direction, they had corrected, running a diagnostic search for the hedgehog's heat signature. Fortunately, by the time the missiles finished their search, Sonic had already burrowed into the snow, masking his heat signature. That only left one source of warmth for them to attack.

Eggman's robot.

Sonic winced a little as the three projectiles slammed into the nutcracker, their explosion igniting all of the other explosives Eggman had packed on board. The machine went up in an impressive display of colors, melting all of the snow for meters. Sonic, having known better than to stay standing when an explosion of that magnitude went off so close to him, had dived into the snow, and he popped his head up back up once all seemed calm.

Standing fully, he whistled, brushing snow off of his legs and jacket. The place where the robot had been standing was now a small crater, large chunks of shrapnel the only testament to what had just stood there. He was tempted to go collect a souvenir to keep as a memento to his easiest win yet, but a yell from above stopped him.

"Oh Sonic!" The hedgehog in question whipped his head up toward the voice, almost cracking his neck. "Don't that you prevailed so easily! I have an even bigger surprise waiting for you in Station Square!" Eggman cowed, floating above Sonic in his Egg-O-Matic, the machine only slightly blackened around the edges. "Ohohoho!" He laughed loudly, prompting the machine to zoom off toward the giant, human city.

"Crap." Sonic sighed, turning after Eggman and scowling as the doctor disappeared over a distant cliff.

"Hey Sonic, are you okay? I heard an explos- Woah." The hedgehog turned just in time to see Tails land next to him, kicking up snow as his fit hit the ground. "What happened here?"

"Eggman's robot blew up." Sonic answered simply, kicking at a stray bundle of wires. "Doc got away though, headed toward Station Square. I guess we should follow." He didn't sound excited about the prospect, probably because his teeth were starting to chatter.

Tails ticked under his breath, looking over the destruction. "I suppose we should." The fox sighed. "There's a storm heading this way." He explained, expression exasperated. "We can't take the Tornado because there's no telling if it'll hit while we're in the air."

Sonic nodded, rubbing his hands on his arms. "Guess we'll have to take the train." His expression was tortured. The train that traversed the Crush Canal* between the Mystic Ruins and Station Square was mind-numbingly slow – in Sonic's opinion – and over-crowded with humans. He avoided it at all costs, but if the Tornado couldn't fly, then he would have to. Sighing, he turned back to the Workshop. "Let's go get you a jacket and we can head off." He started toward the house, but paused after a few steps. "What about Silver?"

Tails waved his hand, sending Sonic a smile. "The guest room was filled almost to the ceiling with boxes. He's got his work cut out for him. He won't even notice that we're gone."

*Don't dwell on this. Decided that the body of water needed a name. I'm sure you can all guess why it's called so. ;D

Also, when the prose says something about Christmas, we're talking about the secular holiday, not the religious one. I'm a Christian, but I don't want to delve into the sensitivity of religion, so we're going to just use the non-religious aspects of the holiday. I don't want to offend anyone.

Next part soon.

Review please?