At high speed, Sonic the Hedgehog ran up the side of a snowy mountain, aware of the dangers that lay ahead, but not too concerned about them. His partner Kiriko Hoshikira was a safe distance behind him and off to one side, smartly avoiding the falling pieces of rock that came because of her master's rapid movements.

The snow falling around them was heavy and blindingly white in the sun's rays – an odd mix of two weather conditions that only occurred at this height, where the clouds gave way to the majestic rocky peaks.

The sky blue hedgehog rose upwards nimbly on the frosted earth, taking advantage of footholds and jagged edges as she leaped off them towards the peaks ahead. Golden eyes focused through the driving snow as the winds threw it around in her face. Her breaths came out smoky white against the ever-blackening skies.

Sonic stopped lightly on a small ledge, one seemingly too small to stand on normally. His expertise allowed him to shift his weight easily as he stood, barely disturbing the fragile structure as he waited for Kiriko to catch up. She came within a reasonable distance, and he took off swiftly again, leaving the ledge intact for Kiriko as she launched off it just as lightly.

The two quickly danced up the mountain face, breaking through the clouds and reaching a space of incredible calm, the sky a perfect blue and the sun shining lovingly upon them.

"It's beautiful," Kiriko whispered, taking in every sight while she still could. The whole world was beneath her, and she had seen nothing like it before. The milky clouds, the sparkling snow…it was so perfect, all of it.

"You want to stay for a while?" Sonic asked. Kiriko pondered the thought for a moment before answering.

"It's up to you, Master."

He simply nodded in response and started down the other side of the peak. "We might come back later."

"If that is your wish, Master." Though she really did want to stay for a while longer, her mind told her that Sonic wouldn't really like waiting for her to finish admiring the world above the clouds…but then again, he had asked if she wanted to stay…

Shaking her head of the thought, she started to follow him as he made his descent, but noticed that he had stopped for some reason and was examining his sword.

"Hm. Maybe I can get some downtime in…"

"Master? Is something the matter?"

"Nope. Kiriko, this'll be a good time to practice your spinning technique. It's a lot easier going downhill. I'll make my own way to the bottom," he said, dropping his sword into the snow. It promptly started to slide down the incline, and he planted both feet on top of it like a snowboard, shredding down the mountain face.

"See you at the bottom!"

"Ah…Master…" She sighed and then jumped off the peak herself, rolling into a spiked ball and tearing through rock as she spun down the mountain's face after Sonic.

He watched as she raced past him, swerving expertly to avoid any major obstacles as she rolled on towards the bottom.

"Coming along pretty good," he said with a smile. "You'll get where you need to be in no time, Kiriko."

Lightning flashed as they crossed back into one of the many blizzards that ran across the mountain. Sonic simply cracked a smile as he was launched off a ridge, catching big air as the raging wind screamed in his ears.

I guess this is the start of something new...

After crossing the mountain range, the two hedgehogs made their way across the icy plains towards the lone and remote village of Holoska. The world around them was in a state of perpetual dusk, the sun hanging in the same place for hours on end as they ran on top of hardened snow.

"Whoa…seems like they've been doing some growing lately."

The last time Sonic had visited the village, it was relatively small, consisting of a few clans and their hand-built igloos. Now, the population had exploded, with several modern-looking buildings, frost-covered roads with cars driving down them, and people walking about like it was a normal day in a normal town. Holoska was different, and while he was unsure if he liked it (Chun-nan's advancements were small and not as obvious), Sonic thought it was certainly a unique sight.

Entering the newly expanded Holoska brought Sonic and Kiriko under the soft glow of electric streetlights, which only gave enough light to navigate safely and nothing more. The glowing of the stars as they hung in the sky was clearly visible, even with the large poles illuminating the streets. Frosted windows caught the waning rays of the sun and reflected them back onto the streets, casting soft shadows as the village's inhabitants headed for their destinations.

"Perhaps we should find a place to stay, Master? It might get a lot colder later on."

Sonic pondered Kiriko's words for a moment before shaking his head. "Not yet. I think we need to figure out what's in store before we take any more breaks. Is that alright with you?"

"If that is your will, Master."

He eyed her thoughtfully before heading towards a nearby general store. Might do well to stock up on a few things before heading into the abyss.

"I'm still not able to follow those conversations too well…what was that all about?"

Amy and Tails were at a small restaurant in Spagonia, enjoying a dish of homemade lasagna. They had finished their meeting with the American businessman earlier, who discussed the development and specifications of the newest G.U.N. project with Tails. The fox had made sure to take note of his surroundings as they left the building, and saw that there wasn't anyone following them within proximity.

Even if he was still paranoid about the whole thing, he didn't dare let it show on his face, and especially not in front of Amy. She was quite keen when she wanted to be…

"It's something public, so I can tell you a little about it under the whole Freedom of Information deal. The project's codenamed 'Thor'."

"Thor? As in, the God of Thunder from Norse mythology?"

"Yeah. You know about that sort of thing?"

She shrugged and sipped her glass of grape juice. "A little bit. And there's the whole superhero thing."

"Right, right. Anyways…it's pretty big in the scientific world, and it's not just a fancy name, here. Endless possibilities for the generation, study, and use of electricity. Seeing as it's the military, the first build's gonna be in the form of autonomous mobile armour."

Amy blinked and placed a piece of lasagna into her mouth.

"I guess in layman's terms…uh, a really big, really smart robot," Tails said, scratching his head.

"Ah. That works," she said with a nod.

"We're collaborating with different corporations the world over, like the one that the Boss runs. And you-know-who is working on it, too."

"Hm," she grunted with a frown.

"The old days are pretty much over, Amy. He can't cause any more trouble, no matter how hard he tries."

"You sound so sure of that," she replied.

"I am sure of it, Amy."

"I guess we'll see in time," she said softly.

"…I know you're still bitter about what happened. So am I…but we can't keep dwelling on those things, you know?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"Eggman – or Doctor Robotnik, if we want to be politically correct, is part of something else with the higher-ups. Ironically, it's coded as 'Jörmungandr'."

"How's that ironic?" Amy asked curiously.

"It's because Thor kills Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, in Ragnarök, or the end of the world in Norse mythos. It's just speculation from me, but maybe the government is planning something huge, some kind of epic strike against their enemies. I'm just on the project as one of the leads."

Amy leaned back in her chair, swishing around the juice in her glass as she held it.

"I wonder what could be going on that's so demanding of that kind of secrecy? I haven't heard from Sonic, either."

"He's fine. I think he's just tied up with something else right now." Tails noted the flashing light on his wrist computer – a new message had arrived. He took the time to read it while shovelling in forkfuls of lasagna from his plate.

"Work stuff again?" Amy asked, sipping from her glass.

Tails swallowed his food before answering. "Nah, personal." He kept himself neutral even as he read the news from Vector and Shadow. There was a side note from Rouge in another message that he couldn't check out at the moment.

"Everything's okay, I hope."

"Yeah. No worries." He gave her a smile as he resumed eating. For now, at least…if I don't solve this problem soon, we'll have quite a lot to worry about in the end.

Amy looked up into the skies above, sighing softly.

"I hope you're safe, Sonic…wherever you are…"

"Master…"

"I know."

Carrying backpacks full of supplies, Sonic and Kiriko happened upon a small mitten as they made their way through town.

It was covered in pitch black ice.

"Let's get started," he said, tossing the frozen mitten into the air.

"As you wish."

It hit the ground and shattered in front of them. Sonic grunted and cracked his neck before moving forward. The world around them seemed to darken, despite the fact that the sun wouldn't set for a few months.

"This looks like it could be trouble, Master…"

"Yup."

He drew his sword, exhaling deeply.

"Another day at the office, I guess."

a/n: Welcome to Jailhouse Rock, Part 3: Curse of the Black Ice. This picks up from where we left off with Wrath of the Five Dragons, though I don't think I'm quite finished with that one yet (despite reaching the end of the main story), so look out for more stuff. The adventure continues in this part of the saga. Questions and comments are welcomed as usual.

Sonic the Hedgehog in

"Curse of the Black Ice"

Amy Rose

Kiriko Hoshikira

Miles 'Tails' Prower

with:

Shadow the Hedgehog

Rouge the Bat

Vector the Crocodile

Espio the Chameleon

and featuring:

Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik