AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back (yes, for good this time)! I owe you guys the mother of all apologies for how long it's taken me to get to work on this. Who'd have thought moving house would be so bloody complicated? Oh well, my home internet is now FINALLY connected (does happy dance drawing weird looks from people in street) Ahem. Yes.

One other thing though; Because of the size and detail of the Zones in S3&K as opposed to Sonic 2 (and because some people seem to have missed/skipped over the mini-boss fights in previous chapters :P) from now on I'll be giving each Zone Act its own chapter. This might make the chapters slightly shorter, but on the plus side it means I'll be able to update more often ;)

CalliopeMused: Heh, thanks :) I rewrote Knuckles' line a few times before settling on that one, so I'm glad you like it :D

Taranea: I'd like my new place a lot more if the removal men had put the furniture in behind the boxes as opposed to in front of them ::) And yeah, in his own way I think Sonic can be as inventive as Tails ;)

Professor Vengeance: Yeah, too many Sonic things these days have Tails acting as an adult in a kid's body. He's more fun as a five year old :P

DragonRaiderX9: Short…yeah, there aren't many ways for Knux and Robotnik to basically have the same conversation. Though that's going to be sorted for the next of their chapters ;)

Ippiki Ookami no Kage: Thanks :) And I know it's been too long between updates…never again, I promise. At least, not with this story ;)

Milette Tails Prower: Yeah, I love Robotnik's version of events. Working out convincing lies for how Sonic is the bad guy's fun :P

Awdures: Yep, it's up and running again (and again, and again :P)

D.C.111: Thanks :D

SonicTails123: Thanks :) Yeah, I kind of see Robotnik as the guy who would want to know as much as he can about everything, including various languages. He is a scientist, after all ;)

PyroHedgehog: Heh. I have the feeling Robotnik's lies are going to trip him up sooner or later. Probably sooner.

SexyShadowGirl: Okay, is this soon enough? Um. Actually, on second thoughts, best not to answer that…;)

Matt Lans: You said it:D

Rebell: Oddly enough, it was Knuckles' appearance in Sonic Heroes that got me back into the whole Sonic franchise. I bought the game on a whim after years of being out the Sonic loop (to give you some idea, the only characters I knew were Sonic, Tails and Robotnik) and Knuckles just grabbed me and dragged me back in ;)

TC chan: Ooh, Sonic having to construct an escape with a tube of lipstick…LOVE IT! And here is Ice Cap Zone. At least, the first half of it :P

Supreme Gamesmaster Yddisac: Actually, I think Sonic was born into the Cult of the Insane People ;)

Shika Kev Prower: Hmm…I like that idea. I'll see what I can do for future chapters ;)

Riveraiden: Yeah, it should be…interesting. Heh :P

SSHiei: Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it :D I've given some thought to the Knux/Sonic versus Mecha Sonic story…since I don't want to risk pissing off fans of both events, I have a couple of ideas for working both threads together ;)

angelus2040: Thanks :D Sonic 1 adaptation will be uploaded (or at least begun ;)) after this one is complete :P

shadow-spawn180: Thanks, and as requested, one next update

Sonic was worried.

Firing himself out of a rusty old cannon straight through a window had seemed like such a good idea at the time. The problem came right about now, when he'd realised that he hadn't made any plans for landing and the ground was getting nearer and nearer. Usually in the Mobian atmosphere that wasn't a problem, but with the added velocity from the cannon coupled with some of those nasty looking rocks underneath, Sonic thought that he wasn't likely to come out of this without breaking both legs and very possibly his neck as well.

Then he caught sight of the snowboard sticking up out of the ground. He didn't have time to wonder how it had got there, or what the chances were of a snowboard just happening to be where he was about to crash, as at that point he landed on the tip and flipped the snowboard out of the ground.

There was a brief moment of confusion as Sonic and the snowboard spun around each other in midair, neither sure who was going to end up on top, then the hedgehog managed to get it underneath him and clung on as it hit the ground again.

Sonic wasn't exactly an expert snowboarder; it had always been more Mighty's thing than his. On a run like this, he found it was easier to just drop to his knees, wrap his hands in the bindings, hang on for dear life and hope like hell he didn't hit a—

"TREE!" Tails yelped from up ahead and Sonic's head snapped up to see a large fir apparently leap out of nowhere towards him. Yanking hard with his left hand, he flipped sideways into a snowdrift.

What felt like cold wet fluff surrounded him, entering his ears and nose. Gasping, he struggled upright, still dragging the snowboard behind him.

"Sonic?" Tails came to hover anxiously nearby. "You okay?"

Sonic raised his good hand in a weak thumbs up. "Yeah, squirt. I'm good." Limping slightly, he glared at the snowboard and then down the mountain.

There was no getting away from it, he realised. Even he couldn't run down there without breaking his neck, and it was too far for Tails to carry him. If he was going to go down, it would have to be on the board.

Dropping down, he fastened the bindings more securely around his feet. The slope was steep, but it looked smooth enough to board down.

I just hope I can remember how to do this…

It was going to be a long, long ride. They were above the clouds and looking down through the maze of trees, Sonic found he couldn't actually see the bottom of the slope.

Crouching down, he started to move, picking up speed rapidly. Icy winds cut into his head, making his eyes and nose run and effectively blinding him.

"Sonic! Sonic, there's a tree ahead!"

Sonic threw his weight blindly to the left and the snowboard tumbled sideways across the slope, dropping off a short precipice to land in the canyon ten feet below with enough force to knock the breath from the hedgehog's body. Miraculously, he was still alive and still on top.

The board curved steeply to the right and Sonic felt a sudden weightlessness as the momentum carried it up the wall before diving back down again.

At least the wind wasn't so bad here. Sonic risked opening his eyes and saw he was heading for a sheer edge.

Well, he'd survived the last drop. This one probably wouldn't be any different.

The snowboard sailed off the edge of the cliff in a graceful arc, and Sonic twisted his head around to grin at Tails, who was flying alongside.

"Looks like you're not the only airborne member of this team now! This how your first flight went, squir—?"

There was a loud thud as Sonic crashed into the side of the mountain, cutting him off midsentence. Scrabbling frantically for a handhold, the hedgehog only succeeded in slowing his fall slightly, and if it hadn't been for the fifteen foot snowdrifts at the bottom, he might well have broken his leg.

As he fought his way clear of the snow, shaking his head and cuffing it out of his ear for the second time that day, Tails landed next to him.

"Yup, that was pretty much it, Sonic, 'cept for I hit a tree an' there was no snow."

Sonic rubbed his arms vigorously, wincing at the fresh pain from his shoulder. The cold and the damp were both doing nothing for his injury, and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to be curled up on a couch with a huge mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and a good movie showing on TV.

"Sonic?" Anxious now, Tails reached up and clung to his idol's good arm. "Are you okay?"

The hedgehog reluctantly tore his thoughts away from movies and hot drinks to grin down at his adopted brother.

"Yeah, lil bro, I'm okay." He shivered; there was a bitterly cold wind picking up now and he started walking towards the glacier. Someone had scooped out an opening that looked big enough to drive a blimp into. Inside, the hedgehog could see what looked like a cavern followed by a steep drop – probably into more snow, he thought sourly – and shivered.

"Man, I never wanna see another snowdrift as long as I live!"

A few seconds later, a large amount of snow that had been dislodged by the force of the hedgehog's impact fell on top of him with a soft flump.

After a short while, Sonic tunnelled out of it again, scowling at the helplessly giggling Tails in a way that dared him to comment.

It took several minutes before Tails had composed himself enough to stop laughing, something which wasn't helped by the fact that Sonic was still covered in snow.

"Boy, that sure was funny, huh Sonic?"

"Speak for yourself." Sonic's voice was drier than he intended; his recently repaired shoulder was now starting to throb, a low, damp agony that was only exacerbated by Tails padding over and grabbing his bad arm tightly in a show of affection. Sonic winced and tried to extricate himself (or at the very least, switch arms) without making it too obvious.

Tails peered up at him, no longer giggling or even grinning.

"Does your shoulder still hurt, Sonic?"

Sonic glanced at the anxious little fox and managed a grin. "I'll be fine, squirt. I just gotta take it easy for a day or so. C'mon."

He led the way into the cavern and sat down just inside, propping his back against one of the walls that framed the entrance in the hopes that it would offer some protection from the bitter wind that was now blowing flurries of snow inside.

Yes, that was definitely a drop over there, he realised as he saw the edge of the ice more clearly, and not one he planned on investigating either. He and Tails could rest here and move on in the morning; being trapped inside that carnival-type Zone with its artificial night meant that Sonic had had no idea of what the time might be now. The light hadn't died out the sky yet, but it was starting to, and he didn't much like the idea of wandering around this icy landscape – correction, this icy landscape full of cliffs and precipices – in the dark.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails plonked himself down and wriggled closer to the hedgehog, snuggling into his body warmth. "How come you like snow?"

Sonic blinked. "Well...because it's fun and I never got to see any growing up. Why wouldn't I like it?"

The little fox frowned in return, small snout wrinkled with the effort of thought. "Well...'cause you hate water, an' snow's jus' real cold water that's all fluffy, so how come you don't like water but like snow, huh Sonic? How come?"

Sonic opened his mouth, then shut it again. He'd never thought of it like that before.

"Well...you can't drown in snow," he said, and then cursed himself for giving Tails the perfect opening.

"You wouldn't drown in water neither, Sonic, if you'd lemme teach you to swim!"

"I don't swim, Tails."

The little fox sighed so gustily he stirred up snow crystals. "I know that! That's why I gotta teach you!"

"Well…why don't we talk about it in the morning?" Sonic yawned. His hectic flight down the mountain coupled with his injury and the events in that last Zone had left him feeling more tired than he had in a long time.

"You'll lemme teach you in the morning?"

The hedgehog woke up slightly; there was no way he was falling for that!

"Nice try, lil bro."

Pause.

"Sonic?"

"Mph?"

"I'm cold."

Sonic stirred slightly. "Okay. C'mere."

He stretched out an arm and wrapped it around the little fox as Tails burrowed into his ribs, curling up as small as possible.

Just five minutes, Sonic told himself as his eyes forced themselves closed, just five…

When Sonic woke up early the next morning, he was stiff, cold and oddly muzzy. A thin dusting of snow covered his fur and he shivered violently.

They had to get further in. The thought pounded slowly in his head like a gong. Even if Robotnik was waiting for them, for their own sakes they had to get further in or they would be dead from exposure before too long.

Sonic forced himself up onto his knees and elbows. His bad arm almost buckled under this new strain that was put upon it, spilling him sideways.

"Tails?" The hedgehog's voice was slightly slurred with cold. "Tails!"

The fox, who had suffered slightly less than Sonic due to his thick fur and his habit of bundling himself up in both namesakes whenever he was cold, opened groggy eyes.

"Wassamarrer?"

"We're going in. C'mon." Successfully getting to his feet on the third attempt, Sonic bent down to lift Tails into his arms, a process made all the more difficult by the fact that his hands didn't seem to want to cooperate.

Turning, he started to jog. He didn't dare run; his little journey on the snowboard had taught him that high speeds in freezing temperatures resulted in white-hot headaches.

The drop he'd seen earlier turned out to be no more than about ten feet. To Sonic's surprise, he found he was now standing in what appeared to be the entrance to some kind of tunnel network. The corridor he was in was wide, pleasantly lit by the sun's rays through the glacier above, and a little warmer than the ledge he and Tails had been resting on before.

First things first. Sonic looked around and spotted a dark opening behind him. That would do.

Hoisting Tails slightly higher in his arms, the hedgehog walked over to the tunnel, placed his passenger down by the tunnel and then wriggled into it. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to go anywhere, but continued on for about ten feet before coming to an abrupt stop.

Rubbing his now sore head, Sonic crawled backwards for a foot or so and then stopped, thinking. It was worth a try.

Turning away from the dead end, he curled over and started to spin, ploughing through the ice and carving out another tunnel, which he then widened into a small chamber just big enough for him and Tails.

Getting the little fox into this new accommodation proved slightly harder, as Tails wouldn't wake up and Sonic couldn't very well carry him while crawling. Eventually the hedgehog managed it by crawling backwards and dragging the little fox by the ankles.

With the two of them in that small room, it didn't take long for the place to warm up. Much to Sonic's relief, an hour or so after they'd got inside, Tails started to stir and then opened his eyes.

"Sonic?"

Sonic grinned down at him. "Hey squirt. How're you doing?"

"Okay." Tails yawned so hugely Sonic could see down the back of his throat, then snuggled into the hedgehog's body again. "It's real warm here, huh Sonic?"

Sonic tensed. "Yeah. It is."

Even through his drowsiness, Tails felt Sonic's anger and looked up at him, bemused.

"Sonic, how come you're mad? Did I do something bad again?"

The hedgehog forced another grin. "No, squirt. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for letting us sleep out there in those temperatures."

Too groggy to really follow this, Tails just nodded sleepily and fell asleep again.

It was late afternoon before either of them felt up to moving on, something that was decided more by their empty stomachs than any real desire. The chill of the air outside their nook was like a slap in the face, and Sonic had a lot of trouble persuading Tails – who had immediately turned and scampered back into the tunnel so fast he left smoke trails – to come out again. Eventually he managed it by promising to carry Tails until they managed to get out of the mountains…which would happen pretty damn quick if Sonic had his way.

This arrangement lasted until Sonic had leapt up onto a higher ridge, Tails clinging determinedly to his front, and caught sight of the glint of metal that was waiting for them.

Sonic sometimes thought that he'd become like a robot himself; when he saw one of Robotnik's devices he scanned his memory hastily and tried to remember if he'd seen it before and if so, how he'd dealt with it. He often wondered if this mental database with referencing and cross-referencing was how robots saw the world.

Whether it was or not, it did a good job of saving Sonic and Tails' respective lives at that second; Sonic saw the metallic sphere surrounded by razor sharp balls and identified it in under half a second.

Orbinaut!

"Down!" Sonic yelled, dropping Tails and then flinging himself face down on the floor beside him as a crystalline object flashed over their heads to burrow a hole in the icy wall beyond. Seconds later, a shaft of brilliant sunlight flashed through the newly created tunnel.

"Wha—" Tails started to get to his feet, but Sonic slammed him back to the ground again and leapt up, presenting himself as a more inviting target.

Orbinauts…orbinauts…they were deadly, yes, but also somewhat predictable. The spiked balls orbited around them before being flung off at nearby targets. Once the last had gone, you could attack and destroy the machine whenever you wanted.

As if to prove the point, light glinted at the corner of Sonic's eye and he leapt reflexively. The sphere barely clipped his foot, hard enough to knock him off balance and send him stumbling forward upon landing.

"Sonic!" Tails leapt up and grabbed the nearest sphere, yanking hard in an effort to pull it away from the robot. It worked better than he expected; the orbit direction changed as the machine flung the ball away, Tails still clinging determinedly to it. The little fox spun both namesakes rapidly, lifting himself out the path of the fourth and final sphere, then dropped to the ground.

"C'mon Sonic! You c'n whump that robot now, 'cause he hasn't got the balls to kill you now!"

Sonic, who had been curling up in preparation to do just that, paused and shot Tails a sharp look. There were times when he really wondered about some of the little fox's remarks.

"C'mon Sonic, it's easy! Watch!" Tails bounded to his feet and pounced on the orbinaut feet first, smashing it and releasing what looked like a feral penguin chick. It gave a small squeak, turned and promptly tried to sit on Sonic's feet.

Tails giggled. "Can we keep him, Sonic?"

"No." The word was surprised out of Sonic before he could stop himself and Tails' face drooped. "It's not fair, squirt." Bending down, Sonic moved the baby penguin out of the way as gently as he could. "He belongs with his own kind."

"But I wanna pet, Sonic!" Tails' eyes were huge and Sonic, who recognised the danger signs, thought fast.

"Yeah, well, we can talk about that another time, squirt. When we leave this island, maybe."

Tails opened his mouth to protest, saw Sonic was wearing what Tails always thought of as his Firm Face, and shut it again reluctantly. The Firm Face was not to be argued with.

"C'n I keep this then?" Tails demanded, holding up the stray sphere from the orbinaut in the manner of one who is determined to get some good out of the deal. "Is it ice, Sonic?"

The hedgehog took it, testing the weight in one hand, then held it up to the light, staring at it. Surely not…

"I think..." Sonic's voice was low, disbelieving. "Anything like that ice woulda shattered. This is gonna sound crazy, squirt, but...I think this could be a diamond."

Tails' eyes lit up, slowly. "Wow. Really?"

"Yeah. It's about the only thing I can think of that would go through the rock like the others did."

"I heard somewhere that diamonds're real expensive!"

"You heard right, lil bro." Especially one this size; the largest diamond Sonic had ever seen had been on display in the Jungle Zone, and that had been slightly smaller than his clenched fist. This one was easily the size of his head. "Whatever it is, someone's sure gone to a lot of trouble to carve these spikes into it."

Tails frowned, puzzled. "How come? Who'd wanna big spiky diamond rock thing?"

"Another big spiky diamond rock thing?" Sonic quipped under his breath.

"What?"

"Never mind." A glance at the little fox's fur, now somewhat shorter on top following the orbinaut's attack, prompted Sonic to add, "Are you okay?"

Tails sat down with a bump and looked up at Sonic. "Yup, 'cept for I'm real hungry, Sonic."

And no wonder, Sonic thought grimly; shivering burnt up calories faster than any amount of exercise. Why had he done it? What could have possessed him to make camp practically out in the open in conditions like these?

"Okay. You stay here, squirt." Reaching down, Sonic wrapped the little fox up in both namesakes, then ruffled his fur. "I'm gonna go find us some food, okay?"

Getting down was a lot easier than getting up had been; all Sonic had to do was jump off the edge, extricate himself from the snowdrift and set off.

There was no sign of life as he explored the mountains. He couldn't get back the way they'd come; that cliff was just too high and too steep.

What is this place? Breath misting in the air, Sonic rubbed his arms, wincing as he made contact with his bad shoulder. It was better than before, but the coldness had stiffened it up and made it throb dully.

Well, at least he wouldn't have to climb too many rocks. Sonic's little snowboarding sojourn had dumped him in what looked like a valley, or canyon. Various other caves were visible as stark black holes against the white of the mountains, and it was clear by the smoothness of the snow that nobody ever came here.

Sonic continued on, feet crunching loudly on the packed snow. The stillness of the place was eerie; there weren't even any birds in the trees.

He glanced to his left, to a cave there. Large icicles hung down in the entrance, turning it into a mouth full of teeth. Sonic shivered and quickened his pace. He couldn't go too fast, or he might miss spotting anything edible, but he had a haunting feeling that something in or about that cave was watching him.

The trees were getting thicker around him. Instead of reassuring the hedgehog, making him feel less exposed, it had the opposite effect; now the creaking branches seemed ominous.

You're not welcome here.

Sonic was never able to explain where that particular realisation came from, or why it hit him harder here than it had during his and Tails' confrontations with that red guy.

Against his will, his mind flashed back to his and Mighty's favourite bedtime story. He was damned if he could remember it all now, but one of the pictures had shown the hero running through a haunted forest with the trees behind him stretching out evil, clawed branches to grab him. Turning round hadn't done any good either; it was only the trees the hero couldn't see that tried to snatch him.

Sonic shuddered. He didn't believe in ghosts or haunted forests, but if they did exist, he had an uncomfortable feeling that they'd look a lot like the one he was in now. He also couldn't shake the thought that he was still being watched.

"Who's there?" His voice rang out strongly, betraying no sign of the trepidation he was feeling. The words bounced off the nearest mountain and probably half a dozen trees as well, then died away into silence.

There was no response, but somehow Sonic knew for certain that he wasn't alone. Clearing his throat, he tried again.

"Look...this is really freaking me out. If someone is there, why don't you come on out? I won't hurt you; I just want to talk. I'm looking for some food. My kid brother's back in the cave, he needs something to eat. We both do."

More silence. Sonic waited in case his mystery watcher was going to break it and when it became apparent that he wasn't, he continued walking until a clump of bushes caught his eye.

Crowberries! Sonic grinned broadly. He'd know those anywhere; his adoptive grandmother had had entire thickets in her garden.

Reaching in past the leaves, he started pulling the shiny black berries off the nearest bush, eventually stuffing them into both his gloves. There were still plenty left when he'd finished and he grinned broadly. Maybe they wouldn't starve after all.

Wandering back down the path, he ducked under a low-hanging branch and then paused, frowning slightly as he peered up at it.

Pine trees. Sonic hesitated before making up his mind; after all, everyone knew you could eat tree bark, right? Right?

Moving back for a good run up, he hurtled towards the nearest specimen and spun through it. There was a low creaking sound, and the tree started to lean.

It didn't lean up the slope, like Sonic had been expecting; instead it keeled over backwards and almost flattened him before rolling down the mountain and landing with a loud crash at the bottom.

Looking down at it, Sonic scratched his head.

Well...that kind of worked.

He broke into a jog, slipping on treacherous ice patches on the way down. He didn't know why, but he had a sudden urge to get out of this forest, and fast.

Tails was asleep and snoring loudly when the hedgehog got back. Grinning, Sonic started forward and then stopped dead as he caught sight of something.

Footprints. Too large and the wrong shape for his sneakers, too small for Robotnik. Twisting his head, he saw he'd been following them all the way from the entrance; he'd just been too preoccupied to notice them before. The prints led all the way up to Tails, stopping not six inches away from him. One of them was blurred, leading into a second set of tracks going away from the fox.

Sonic stared at them, needles of ice shooting through his veins.

Someone came...they came right up to Tails and...what?

As far as Sonic could make out, the visitor had done nothing except possibly look at the fox and then turn and walk off. Had he left because he'd decided Tails was no threat? Or had Sonic's arrival scared him off before he'd had a chance to do anything?

Sonic swallowed hard. If Tails had been hurt, it might have been because of Sonic himself; he'd called out in the forest, giving away the little fox's location.

Abruptly, he dropped his full gloves onto the freezing ground and followed the tracks to a small tunnel, so well hidden that Sonic spent a good few minutes wondering if their owner could somehow walk through walls.

He didn't try entering the tunnel; he wasn't that reckless. Instead he crouched down in the entrance and spoke into the passage in a low voice, careful not to wake the still snoring Tails.

"I don't know who the hell you are or think you are. I don't know why you've taken against us so much or what we've done to you; neither of us came to this island to pick a fight with you." He lowered his voice even further, one fist clenched, eyes little more than blazing green crescents. "But if you dare threaten or come anywhere near my little brother again, I'll kill you. You hear me? I'll kill you."

There was no response, not that he'd expected one. Still seething, Sonic spun on his heel and strode back over to Tails, reaching down to shake the little fox's shoulder gently.

"C'mon lil bro, wake up. I brought you some food."

Tails opened eyes stiff with sleep and stretched out, chewing on the air.

"Huh…?" He sat up, brushing ice crystals off his fur, then inhaled loudly. "Boy, you smell nice, Sonic."

"Thanks, squirt," Sonic said lightly, examining his fur, which was still sticky with sawdust and pine resin. "Here." He filled the small pan half full with water, then emptied the contents of both gloves into it.

"Ooh!" Curiosity replacing sleepiness, Tails wriggled forward with such alacrity he almost burned himself. "What're them?"

"Crowberries. My adopted grandmother had a bush in her garden; she used to make pies for me and Mighty."

Tails stared at Sonic with something akin to awe. "You can make pies?"

The hedgehog winked at him. "Well, I can boil berries. That's a start. Here, try this." He passed over a slice of bark to Tails, who sniffed it suspiciously, licked it, nibbled off a corner and then pulled a face.

"Don't like it!"

"Sorry to hear that, lil bro, 'cause apart from the berries, that's all we got. Look." Taking the bark back from Tails, he held it over the fire until it had dried out a little, then passed it back. "Pretend it's a piece of toast or something."

Tails took it, sniffed it again, then shook his head stubbornly. "Nuh uh!"

Sonic stifled a groan; the last thing he needed was for Tails to be in a Bad Mood, as the little fox always put it (taking care to pronounce the capital letters). He started to repeat what he'd said, and then thought of something better.

"Okay squirt. If you really don't like it, I'll get you something else just as soon as I've eaten."

"Yeah!" Tails bundled his namesakes under both legs for a cushion and sat crosslegged on them. "You're gonna go soon, right Sonic? Right? 'Cause I'm real hungry!"

"Yeah, lil bro, I'm gonna go soon." Sonic pretended interest in the slowly bubbling mess of berries and water for a few seconds, then added, "But if you're not going to eat that, can I have it?"

Tails pulled a face. "Sure!"

Thrusting the bark at Sonic as though glad to be rid of it, he folded his arms and started tapping his foot in his best impression of the hedgehog.

"Thanks." Dipping the bark into the pot of makeshift jam, Sonic took a bite and chewed with obvious relish. "Oh man, that's good!"

"What?" Tails clambered into Sonic's lap, reaching out for the bark. "Lemme try some, Sonic."

The hedgehog held the food just out of reach, shaking his head. "Oh no. You don't like it, remember?"

"B-but that was before you put the jelly on it, Sonic, an' it smells real good an'…an' I wanna eat it 'cause I'm hungry," Tails finished plaintively.

Sonic held out for a few more seconds before relenting. Teasing Tails like this was fun, but it was also a little too reminiscent of what the little fox had undergone at the hands of bullies in Emerald Hill Zone, and the last thing Sonic wanted was to remind him of that.

"Okay, here." He passed the bark over to Tails, who seized it and gulped it down in two bites, licking his lips afterwards.

It took three more pieces and all of the crowberries before Tails finally pronounced himself stuffed, and by that time there was nothing left for Sonic. Briefly the hedgehog entertained the idea of going out and fetching some more food, then rejected it. Growing up on a tropical island meant that the biting cold of this icy Zone was affecting him far worse than Mobians from more temperate climes. All he wanted right then was to get out, and quickly.

It was with that in mind that he and Tails clambered up to the next ledge and headed for what looked like a platform. The links on the chains suspending it on either side from the ceiling were large enough to fit through (and Tails, who was considerably smaller than Sonic, amused himself by doing just that, weaving in and out of the holes until Sonic felt dizzy).

The only question was, how did it work? Sonic examined it from all angles, even getting Tails to fly underneath and check for switches, but found nothing.

Did it even work? The shield monitors Sonic had discovered on the island had been overgrown and taken a lot of effort to activate, leading the hedgehog to believe that they were the remnants of some ancient civilisation. Maybe the mechanism on this platform had simply worn away over time.

He craned his neck back, peering up towards the ceiling. He couldn't see anything up there, but he thought he could probably climb one of the chains without too much difficulty.

It was an odd design though, the hedgehog mused as he studied it more closely. He was even less of an engineer than he was a scientist, but hanging around with Tails meant he'd picked up a few things. The chains were attached on either side by bolts, which was fine except that if you didn't balance on this thing exactly, it would probably tip over. It was like some kind of giant swing.

A swing.

Sonic held his breath. The far wall was very far away; maybe this had been designed to swing right out or even up…

There was only one way to find out. Hoping that he wasn't about to make a big mistake, Sonic beckoned to Tails.

"Tails? C'mon down here a minute."

Tails zipped down obediently, landing next to the hedgehog with a bump that vibrated the whole platform.

"Yup?"

"Hang on to this very tightly," Sonic instructed, wrapping Tails' fingers around the platform's railing. "Whatever happens, don't let go."

The little fox twisted around to look up at him beseechingly. "But Sonic, s'pose the chain breaks an' this thing falls to the bottom an' I hit my head on the rock an' all my brains squeegle out?"

Sonic felt a little queasy. "Well…yeah, okay, you can let go then, squirt."

"Okay!" Reassured, Tails gripped the railing tightly and Sonic turned, jogging away to the far edge.

The hedgehog spun around when he got there, preparing himself, then broke into a sprint.

He cannoned into the edge of the platform at close on a hundred and twenty miles per hour. To his relief, it held firm as the whole thing swung upwards on a perfect arc, pausing briefly some three feet below another ledge. Grabbing Tails, Sonic leapt for it, skidding on the ice and eventually coming to a stop on his back. Pushing himself to his feet, he picked his way carefully back to the edge just in time to see the platform crash against the spot they'd just left with an impact that made snow crystals vibrate across the floor by Sonic's foot.

The hedgehog shivered; he was glad to have escaped that impact, at any rate.

Tails scrambled to his feet and beamed up at his hero.

"That was cool, Sonic! Let's do it again!"

"No!" Sonic said sharply, as Tails made a beeline for the edge, namesakes already whirring. "We gotta keep going."

"But—"

"No buts, squirt. We still gotta find Robotnik, remember?" Although Sonic usually balked at using the prospect of a fight with Robotnik as an incentive, there was no denying it was effective; Tails reversed direction so rapidly he caught an unsuspecting Sonic off guard and sent him staggering.

Regaining his footing with difficulty – this patch really was icy – Sonic started walking deeper into the maze, Tails scampering alongside. The path they were on was sloping down, something that worried Sonic slightly; he wanted to get out of this place, not go further in.

He'd just started to wonder if Robotnik hadn't got around to roboticising this Zone (or more likely, hadn't found anyone or anything to roboticise) when the icy ceiling above his head cracked open and a robotic penguin dropped out and slid towards them on its belly.

It was only Tails' yelp of surprise that saved him; Sonic leapt up reflexively and the penguin with its razor sharp beak and feathers slid harmlessly underneath him. The hedgehog barely had time to register its presence before Tails had hurtled past and jumped on the robot hard with both feet, shattering it and releasing the animal inside.

It was, appropriately enough, another penguin. Unlike the one in the orbinaut, this one was fully grown. It squawked at Sonic, clattered its beak at Tails and without another sound turned and threw itself onto its belly, sliding down the icy slope and zooming out of sight.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

Tails clung to the hedgehog's hand as they picked their way carefully down the steep decline. "Was that big penguin the little penguin's daddy? You know, the baby penguin that came out when you whumped that ball bot?"

Sonic glanced down and grinned. "Yeah, squirt. I'm sure he was."

Tails blew out a huge sigh of relief. "That's good, 'cause the big one'll look after the little one, right Sonic? Right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he will," Sonic said again. He knew nothing about penguins except they lived in huge colonies, so they had to look out for each other, right? Quite how the small penguin from the orbinaut was supposed to catch up to the big one, Sonic didn't know, but he supposed it'd find a way.

The slope petered out after a few hundred yards to form a roundish ledge that dropped into another decline that was smooth and almost vertical. Looking at the opposite wall, Sonic could see it dropped in much the same way. There was no chance he could leap across and climb down from there.

Several rocks were scattered around the ledge. The sight was unusual enough – the ice tunnels and ledges had at least been reasonably clear – but Sonic's gaze was drawn to one in particular. Almost perfectly round, it was a little under three feet in diameter and oddly smooth on top.

"Tails?"

"Yup?"

"If I go down this slope, can you fly after me? Just in case I slip?"

The little fox's face lit up jubilantly. "You betcha!"

"Okay." Sonic studied the rock curiously, circling it. It looked about the right shape, and it would probably be much easier than trying to run down himself.

Pushing the rock towards the slope hard enough to get it going (something made easier by the icy floor) he jumped on and leaned forward, clinging on with both hands and hooking his feet over the edges for good measure as the makeshift sled picked up speed. It reminded him of a video game he'd once played, where the character had to surf down an erupting volcano on a board of solidified lava. Of course, that character had stood up boldly, as though he was doing nothing more exciting than surf on a beach.

As Sonic's own makeshift board slammed into the opposite slope and rode up it for several feet before gravity took over and sent it sliding back down again, the hedgehog thought rather bitterly that any game designer who thought looking cool under these circumstances was easy had obviously never tried it. And that they should, at the earliest opportunity.

One thing was for damn sure, Sonic thought as the rock whammed into another slope, if the designers responsible for his games ever put this into one of them, they probably wouldn't show him spreadeagled flat on his belly and clinging on for dear life when riding the rock.

Chances are they wouldn't show his less than dignified exit either; the rock ploughed through three ice walls in a row and finally exploded out of the side of the glacier, spun over and dropped Sonic headfirst into a snowdrift, leaving only his sneakers sticking out.

Wriggling free, Sonic dusted himself off, thankful that he'd managed to do both before Tails flew down to join him.

They were out. Sonic knew it wouldn't last long, that this was only a small crevasse in the mountains that was blocked at one end by rock and the other by water, but still…they were out!

Their trip through the ice had taken longer than Sonic had anticipated too; it was fully dark now. The moons reflected off huge chunks of ice that floated serenely through freezing water, which looked almost black in the night air. The adult penguin Sonic and Tails had saved back in the tunnel was lying on one of the ice chunks, sleeping. It looked almost comically lonely.

Something delicate and feathery touched Sonic's snout and he shivered. It was snowing now, snowing in large clumps made of several flakes stuck together.

"I'm cold," Tails complained.

Sonic barely heard him. Cold, yes, but this place was beautiful. Quiet, tranquil, so peaceful…standing here and looking up at the stars, Sonic could almost pretend he'd never heard of Robotnik, had never been sucked into this damn fight.

The pretence didn't last long, however, as a humming sound announced the arrival of a large robot that looked a little like a giant orbinaut. The resemblance became even more apparent as huge, ice-covered rocks of varying sizes – the smallest of which was at least as big as Sonic – rose into the air and started spinning around the machine at different angles so fast they were almost a blur. It was like watching a caffeinated atom.

Sonic backed away. The speed of the orbit was creating a small vacuum now, not strong enough to suck him in, but strong enough to be noticed.

Abruptly, the rocks soared into the air as the robot cut the gravitational field. The stones hung in midair forty feet above Sonic and Tails' heads, suspended for what seemed like forever before they started to fall.

Watching the impromptu avalanche, Sonic swallowed hard.

"Uh oh."

"Sonic?"

"Run!" Sonic grabbed Tails and bolted for the relative shelter of an iceberg, crouching against it, hoping to shield the little fox with his body.

The rocks hit the ground so hard the hedgehog felt each individual impact. One particularly large stone bounced up again and flew through the air into the iceberg, smashing the top to pieces.

Hard chunks of ice rained down on Sonic, who winced. They couldn't hope to get away with hiding like this too much.

Emerging from his shattered refuge, Sonic raced towards the robot. Without the rocks surrounding it, it was vulnerable. If he could destroy it…

Too late, he felt the suction as the machine dragged the rocks back up and into orbit. Something about this thing reminded him a little of Robotnik's Eggsploder back in Metropolis Zone, except that machine had fired bombs at him one at a time, not all at once.

Sonic leapt for the machine, but he knew even before he took off that it was a wasted effort. Robotnik had learned from past mistakes; the robot was too high for Sonic to get to.

"Hang on!" Tails swooped down to grab the hedgehog, but Sonic fielded him neatly out of the air and pushed him into a snowdrift, out of harm's way.

"No! You stay down there; I don't want you getting hurt!"

Tails felt that this was a bit rich coming from someone who had just slam-dunked him into four feet of snow, but something in Sonic's expression convinced him not to argue.

Sonic dodged another hail of rocks, barely managing to dart out the way as they rose back up.

Great. Now what? He couldn't reach the machine...maybe if he could somehow yank the rocks away from it, he'd stand a better chance.

Sonic leapt into the air, seizing one of the rocks as it swooped underneath the machine and yanking hard, an action that had no effect except to almost dislocate both shoulders. Dropping to the ground, he darted behind the same rock Tails was using, mind racing frantically. If the rocks' orbit was so strong that he couldn't break it, how the hell was he supposed to do this?

An idea struck the hedgehog, one that verged on suicidal and reckless even by his standards. He didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try.

"Tails? Let me have that diamond."

Tails pulled out the large jewel and handed it to Sonic without question. The hedgehog caught it neatly, testing the weight of it, turning his plan over in his mind, searching for flaws.

There were a few too many for his liking, but he didn't have time to iron out all the little bugs. He'd just have to do it and trust to luck.

Pushing himself to his feet, Sonic jogged out into the clearing and paused in the middle of it, a tempting target, heart hammering in his chest.

Just as he expected, the robot saw (detected? registered?) him and promptly flung the orbiting rocks into the air. Sonic dodged as they came crashing down – that part was easy – and stood there by one rock in particular, waiting.

It shuddered and lifted into the air to return to its orbit with the others. Lunging, Sonic caught hold of it and hung on grimly as it ascended, carrying him up to the robot. As soon as it was over the top, Sonic let go and dropped onto the machine, diamond in his hand. Without pausing, he brought the spiked jewel up and rammed it down into the metal carapace with all his strength.

The explosion not only took out the robot; it blasted Sonic off the device and into the side of the mountain. The hedgehog's last conscious thought was, Jeez, you'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you?

Then everything went dark.

Heh. So…the next half of Ice Cap Zone (along with Robotnik) should be up fairly soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this one and if you read, please review!