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A/N: Okay, I don't own Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the good people of DiC Entertainment do! (and I just love them!) Ahem! This is just a shortf story I wrote specifically for a Fanfiction contest, but it ended up 400 words or so over the limit... :( Awww... Yeah, so I decided to post it here for your holiday enjoyment!
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"Egg Nog for Eggman"
A Christmas Tale by:
Joanie Michelle Rich
A sparkling blur blasted over the darkened, snow-covered countryside, traveling so fast that it appeared to be a streak of light. It turned onto a path that curved around and up a steep hill and came to an aburpt stop infront of the towering fortress that lay at the very top.
It was that special night of the year when Sonic Claus was in town, aided by his two-tailed flying fox helper, Tails. This fortress was always one of the last stops of their Christmas Eve run - delivering presents to the population of the planet Mobius. They visited it last because of the certain someone who abided in it's ovaled halls.
"OHHHHH RO-BUTT-NIK!" Sonic the Hedgehog sang at the top of his lungs, "I've brought your presents!" He waited somewhat impatiently for a response from within, straightening his Santa hat. Tails set down the magical bag he had been carrying, which Santa Claus had given them to carry presents in. Tails sat on top of the bag, fanning himself with his green elf hat. They were both glad that they were almost done for the night.
Robotnik had been expecting their arrival, as usual, and upon hearing the voice of his arch nemesis, poked his head out of a window and glared down at the grinning hedgehog. Sonic Claus waved to him. Robotnik growled and turned away from the window. He yelled into the fortress, "ROBOTS! Destroy that holiday-loving hedgehog!"
He waited for a reply, but none came. He tried again, "SCRATCH! GROUNDER! GET IN HERE!" his voice echoing through the empty halls. What happened to the usual immediate response to his commands?
Meanwhile, just outside the fortress, a few floors down, Sonic whistled a signal to Tails, "Okay, Keed! Bring 'em in!"
Tails leaped into the air, twirling his tails. He lifted the magical bag and hovered over the entrance to the fortress. He grabbed onto the bottom of the velvety, scarlet bag, dumping out its heavy contents. Thousands upon thousands of pieces of coal rained onto Robotnik's un-welcome mat, completely covering it. Magically, more and more coal tumbled out of the bag, until there was an eight foot mound of coal blocking the front doors of the fortress. Tails wiped his brow and landed beside his smiling friend, giving him a high five.
Robotnik peered back out the window and gasped at his doorstep, "WHAT? Coal?" Where were those idiot robots, anyway? They should've been out there catching that teenage troublemaker and his goofy-looking sidekick. He yelled, "You'll pay for this, you rotten rodent!"
"Oh?" Sonic faked a sad face, "You mean, you don't like it?" he sounded offended, "Well, that's what you get for being naughty, Ivo!" Sonic scolded, "Well, If you're nice next year, I'll bring you some real presents... Have a Merry Christmas!" Sonic added with a wink and a smile. He then took hold of fTails's wrist and promptly zoomed off down the winding path.
Robotnik shoved his fist into the wall. That hedgehog will pay, he promised himself. But first, he needed to find his good-for-nothing robots and beat some discipline into them. Knowing those fools, they were probably goofing off somewhere in the fortress.
He quickly slammed the window shut and stomped down the main hallway of the fortress. His hearing suddenly picked up a bunch of chattering voices. He crept down the hallway, towards a light coming from underneath a door. Robotnik quickly determined it was Scratch's room.
He was about to burst in, but his curiousity got the better of him. He had to discover what was so distracting that they would so blatantly ignore his commands. He put an ear to the door and listened.
"It's almost time! Hurry up, Grounder!" Scratch squawked.
"I am! Oh, just wait til he gets a load of this!" Grounder answered.
"Yeah, hoo-hoo, yeah! He'll never know what hit him!" Coconuts added.
Robotnik stumbled back. The three of them were... No, it couldn't be... We're they planning... a mutiny? This situation was worse than he thought. Well, he would show those robots who's the boss around this fortress. He kicked in the door, "WHAT ARE YOU THREE UP TO?" His voice vibrated the walls.
The startled robots screamed in fright and turned to face their creator. Scratch and Coconuts hurriedly shoved Grounder forward. The short, turquoise robot, who was obviously hiding something behind his back, stopped his treads and shivered.
"What are ya waiting for?" Coconuts whispered, "Give it to him!"
Oh no! They're going to kill me! Robotnik trembled slightly while attempting to maintain an angry face.
"M-Merry Christmas, sir," Grounder held out in his drill hands a gift horribly wrapped in plain newspaper and topped off with a crooked red bow. A couple pieces of tape were dangling off the edges.
What's going on? They weren't planning a mutiny? They weren't goofing off? They were... They had... "YOU are giving ME a present?" What had gotten into these robots?
Grounder nodded slowly. Robotnik narrowed his eyes, suspiciously examining the present. Maybe this was the trick! Maybe if he opened it there was some deadly surprise inside. There was no telling what kind of terrifying horror awaited him.
Robotnik glared at his robots. He began to sweat. He couldn't refuse to open it, or they might suspect that he was onto them. But what if opening the package killed him? At last, Robotnik's intial curiousity took control and he finally snatched the curious gift from Grounder. It felt heavy. Perhaps it was a bomb? Oh no, why did he deserve this torture!
Then, an ingenious plan formed itself in Robotnik's cunning mind, "There is a humungous pile of coal littering the doorstep of the fortress," he growled, "I want it cleaned up by tomorrow morning or I will turn you into tacky lawn decorations! Have I made myself clear?"
They could only nod and dashed out of the room. He heard their footsteps echo down the stairs and out the front door, slamming it behind them.
Robotnik also headed downstairs and carefully set the gift near his humungous Christmas tree, but not under it, as there was no more room due to the monsterous pile of presents he had already purchased and wrapped for himself.
He decided that he would make up his mind about their "gift" in the morning, and headed up to bed. Unfortunately, he found after an hour or so that he couldn't sleep. He kept constantly thinking about the strange gift that waited for him down by the tree.
Robotnik wandered downstairs and collasped onto his fluffy armchair, wiggling around until he was completely sunk down into it. Perhaps if he watched a little television that would set his mind at ease. He reached over the side of his chair, plucking his remote out of it's compartment, and turned on the TV.
"Oooh-WOW!" The screen flashed red and green, "Just in time for the Holidays - our new-"
He flipped through the channels. A menagerie of Christmas shows were on. He couldn't stand any of that mindless drivel and so continued surfing through the channels, getting more frustrated with each click. Finally, he found some kind of soap opera that appeared to have nothing to do with the horrid holiday. Robotnik heaved a sigh. Well, it was certainly better than nothing.
"Oh Howard," The stunning female on the screen squealed as she swooned into her lover's arms.
"Oh Vernoica," he replied, pulling her up into a passionate kiss. Suddenly, he shoved her away, "I can't stand it anymore!" he thrust himself away from her.
"What dear?" she pleaded, tugging on his arm.
He grasped her shoulders, "There's no use keeping it from me anymore, Vernoica!" he scowled, "I know your dirty little secret!"
"Howard! What are you talking about?"
"Bobby, he... he... he saw YOU kissing SANTA CLAUS!" the man wailed, falling to his knees.
Robotnik grumbled and switched off the TV. There was nothing on TV to keep him occupied, and he couldn't sleep. Now what could he do?
Again, he felt the pull of the gift. Should he open it? It can't be that bad, can it? If it was a bomb, wouldn't it have gone off by now? But what if it is activated once it's opened? Robotnik's mind raced as he peered over his armchair at the present as if it were a sleeping beast ready to devour him as soon as he crept close enough.
Robotnik couldn't take the madness any longer! He had to see what was inside that tempting Pandora's Box - be it deadly or not. So, he snatched the present and rushed into his laboratory. He frantically searched a metal cabinet for just the right tool. Ah ha! He placed the gift on a table and donned his Super-Sensitive Super-Sight Goggles. He switch them on and scanned the gift.
"WHAT?" He didn't recognize the form he saw. He had never seen such a mysterious contraption. Luckily, he detected no explosives or any other device capable of harming him. He sighed a relief and removed his goggles. This called for a closer inspection. He bit the inside of his lip as he carefully tore off the bow and ripped the worn newspaper off, revealing a box. This was it. He grabbed the lid and tossed it aside, and ducked. Nothing happened.
Slowly, he peered into the box. He examined the machine inside more closely, "It's an..." his mouth dropped open. He gently pulled the machine out of the box. Dr. Robotnik held in his hands the one thing he had always intended to make, but never had enough time to put together himself. He was usually too busy chasing that pesky teenage hedgehog. "An Egg Nog maker?"
Robotnik carefully inspected the machine. The craftsmanship was certainly lacking, but the device appeared to be fully functional. He decided to test it, grabbing a clean beaker from the table. He set it inside a small alcove in the machine. He then pressed a green button labeled, "START".
"Ding-Ding-Ding!" The machine chimed as a green light on top flashed rhythmically. The entire machine vibrated a little bit, the sound of bubbling liquid making Robotnik step back a little. Maybe testing this contraption wasn't such a smart idea. It quickly stopped and a steady stream of eggy liquid filled up the beaker, "Ding-Ding-Ding!" the machine chimed once more and the light flickered off.
Reaching his hand carefully in, Robotnik snatched up the beaker and waved it under his nose, smelling its contents. The delightful smell that flooded his senses made his mouth water, so he quickly took a slight sip.
"Mmmm..." It tasted even more delicious than it smelled! He gulped down about half of it and set the beaker down on the table. Never had he drank finer Egg Nog! Never had he received such a gift! Then again, he had never received a real one before. He had always given himself presents. But what was this for? He didn't order them to make it, so why did they do it? The whole situation puzzled him now even more than before.
"SCRATCH! GROUNDER! COCONUTS!" he screeched. Within a flash, the three robots burst into the room.
"What is the meaning of this?" Robotnik pointed to the contraption. He stared at his robots. They began to tremble a little.
"Christmas, sir," Grounder muttered.
His robot's answer stirred a little something in the back of his mind. He turned away from them and stared back at the beaker of Egg Nog and the Egg Nog Maker.
"Did it work okay sir?" Scratch asked, "We didn't get a chance to test it..."
Robotnik remained silent, continuing to stare at the contraption.
The robots looked at each other nervously, "Now you can drink Egg Nog all year long," Scratch said.
"Yeah," Coconuts added, "Instead of just around Christmas..."
"Why?" Robotnik asked, his genius for the first time, utterly stumped.
His robots looked puzzled as well.
"Why," Robotnik asked again, "Did you make this for me?"
Coconuts spoke up, "B-Because, well... We're always messin' up... an-and... well, you always work so hard... y-you deserve a break..."
A warmness he didn't recognize sparked inside him. This strange feeling inside of him grew like kindling igniting a bonfire. Those brainless bimbos had done this just for him? A whisper echoed in his thoughts, "Perhaps I'm not the only one who deserves a break?" What? Where did that come from? The thought, however random, did seem somewhat... reasonable. Strange, indeed.
Robotnik turned back around, "Boys," he started, the robots cowering silently, "You can have tomorrow off." He returned to the table and pulled up a chair. He picked up the beaker and took another sip of the delectable drink.
Their eyes widened, "Pardon me sir," Scratch spoke up, "But are you giving us a vacation?"
"If you want to call it that," he took another luxurious sip.
"Thank you, sir!" Scratch replied.
"Just stay out of my way... I want to have a QUIET Christmas," Robotnik turned away from them and sipped more of his Egg Nog.
"Wow-wow-wow! We will! We will!" Coconuts leaped up and down.
"Yeah! You're the best boss in the world!" Grounder cheered.
A smile of satisfaction slowly formed on Robotnik's gloomy face, as the bots dashed out of the lab, whooping and cheering. He knew that their gratitude was truthful. It felt odd really, the warmness filling him with... what was it? The feeling was something new. Was he getting a fever? No, I feel good, he chuckled.
Suddenly he spit out some Egg Nog. GOOD! Did he just think he felt... GOOD? No... No... NO! He corrected himself, I feel... WELL. Yes, well. Even so, he didn't feel like... well, himself.
The whisper echoed again, "But really, I am lucky to have such loyal assistants. They really do care about me," a salty liquid began to cloud his vision.
Wait! What was he thinking? He furiously rubbed the fluid out of his eyes and glared towards the door. Those bots aren't worth the scrap they were made out of.
Robotnik replaced the beaker into the machine and started it up again. He leaned forward and watched the machine work it's magic. He watched the blinking green light at the top like a child gazing at beautiful Christmas tree star. You know, he thought, this Christmas isn't so bad. Not even that pesky hedgehog could ruin his night now. Perhaps there is something to all this holiday nonsense? Something behind all the decorations and shopping and... and presents.
The rhythmic dinging of the machine interrupted his thoughts. What had gotten into him, anyway? He picked up the full beaker and held it up towards the lights above. He could've sworn he saw a few twinkles in the glass. He drank the cool refreshing liquid. Surprisingly, this batch of Egg Nog was even more tasty than the last glass. Maybe his strange feelings were this delicious Egg Nog's doing?
Yes, he decided. The Egg Nog must be the cause.
THE END