The village of Memoria…
Was in DANGER!
Villagers scrambled as missiles rained down from the grey, cloudy sky, mingling with the gentle snowfall that had promised the villagers a blanket of snow this Hearthside Eve!
High above the tall festive tree, floating menacingly like an evil, mechanical egg-shaped tree topper, was none other than Santa Claus himself! He piloted an Egg Mobile — one of the evil Doctor Robotnik's preferred methods of travel, now in the hands of none other than jolly old Saint Nick himself.
"Ho-ho-heads up!" he bellowed, tossing several bombs from his magical sack. The glowing orbs exploding, upon impact with the streets below.
The Egg Mobile shot off through the sky, spanning town blocks in seconds before coming to the aerial version of a screeching halt. "Have a holly, jolly explosion, Mobius!" The child-friendly character shouted as he lunged a handful of golf-ball sized explosives that exploded mid-air, shattering windows and setting Hearthside decorations aflame!
Villagers screamed for help as the crazy man in red rounded them up into the town square with explosions.
Standing atop the two-storey building at the center of town was the one, the only: Laik the Wolf! Future crossworld traveler and unsung hero of Mobius! He stood in awe at the sight, his mind struggling to register the sight of Santa Claus of all people causing wanton destruction AND using an Egg Mobile to boot.
Laik crossed his arms as he listened to the man begin to monologue, much like another familiar character in red that called Mobius home. The wolf's ears twitched, moving like antennae until he locked onto the man's voice.
"Listen up you merry mites; Sinterklaas is here to make your Hearthside fiery and bright… with bombs and missiles," The Egg Mobile hovered about, gently bobbing up and down as he spoke, hissing every time a child's terrified cry threatened to drown out his voice. "Quite you little snot!"
The Egg Mobile was now nearly level with the building Laik stood upon, the wolf Mobian's tail wagging in anticipation as the threat drew nearer, still seemingly unaware of his location.
"Now you're probably wondering: Why would dear old Santa Claus want to attack such small village, and on Hearthside Eve of all nights?" The hovercraft was mere feet away from the unseen Mobian now. "Well I'll tell you: You see, I—"
WHABAM!
Santa Claus was knocked from his hovercraft, screaming as he plummeted to the ground, crashing into a pile of trash bags that had been awaiting pickup by the local sanitation crew.
Laik's sudden sneak attack had been successful. Not only had the jump attack taken the menace by surprise, but it had also conveniently knocked the man from his floating chariot!
To the wolf's surprise, the sack the guy had been pulling explosives from appeared legit! From the magical, glowing-gold pull string that held it shut right down to the burgundy velvet material the bag comprised, and the silver embroidered "SC" on the front.
The wolf's eyes went wide as he ran his fingerless gloved hand over the stitched marking, then looked over the edge at the flailing fat man as he climbed from the trash heap.
What the wolf saw far below, however, did not surprise him: Dr. Robotnik in all his blubbery mass had scrambled to reattach his fake beard. The man's black sclera punctuated by red irises stared up at his hovercraft and the Mobian that was staring back at him.
"I should have known you'd show up sooner or later, Sonic the—"
"Hold up there, blubber butt," Laik said before kicking the control panel on the machine and slinging the sack over his shoulder. The Egg Mobile sparked violently as the lights on the dashboard blinked in and out. "As flattered as I am to be confused for Sonic, that's not who you're dealing with."
Laik had jumped from the exploding Egg Mobile just seconds before a huge fireball engulfed it from the inside, ripping the EggTek brand metal frame to shreds in a brilliant explosion that lit up the dark night sky above the village.
"I'll never be that good, but apparently it doesn't take a lot of know-how to foil one of your plans, Robuttnik."
The red-clad man stomped his massive foot, impacting the snow that hadn't been melted by nearby fires into a dirty mixture of oil and debris. "Ah, so a Sonic wannabe then, eh? Well nevertheless, I've dealt with my own fair share of fools that have tried following in that vermin's footsteps—"
"Could you shut up for a minute? I've a few questions to ask before you give me the whole villain monologue-thing." Laik swung Santa's magical sack of toys around and held it out. "How did you get ahold of this?"
The large and (in his own mind) in-charge human took a few steps toward the small wolf Mobian (who couldn't have been no older than Sonic; another annoying kid, the man thought), removing his fake beard as he did. It had only been a few short months since Sonic and the Freedom Fighters had destroyed his glorious Death Egg, along with ninety percent of his army, when the planet-sized machine exploded high above the planet.
"How? Oh wouldn't that make for a fun Hearthside tale? Tell you what, mutt, you tell me what your gimmick is and I'll tell you how I came into possession of Cringle's bag there."
Robotnik's appearance was terrifying. His frame was massive, held aloft by two hoof-like booted legs. A thick cape hung from his thick shoulder pads, fluttering in the chilly wind that had accompanied the conveniently timed winter storm.
The evil-looking man glared at Laik the Wolf, almost regarding him with the same ire he only ever afforded for the blue rat.
And Laik smirked back, baring a fang.
"My 'gimmick'? What am I, some sort of toy? You need to lay off the sodas, I think the fizzies are making you delirious." Laik shrugged as he hefted the bag over his shoulder once again. "But if you're super curious, I guess I could tell you. As my Hearthside gift to you."
Robotnik continued to glare, his brow dropping further and further as he loomed over the small Mobian. Rubbing his hands together, pleased with himself that yet another Mobian proved his theory that the animal-based species were intelligently deficient. He wanted to laugh.
He tried to laugh. But the foot that had quickly found itself rammed into his bit fat belly had knocked all the wind out of him, causing the big man to hunch over.
Where he came face to face with Laik.
"Phew, your breath really does smell as bad as Sonic says! Anyway," Laik slapped the gasping man with his hand, eliciting a look of utter shock. "My gimmick is that I'm not Sonic the Hedgehog." Laik then performed a leg sweep, knocking the giant man onto his back! Robotnik screamed in anger, still clutching his pained blubbery stomach as the silhouette of the wolf appeared against the street lamp that loomed overhead, curling into a ball and then slamming down — again on his already aching gut — with a mighty Mobian jump attack!
Things went black for the big man after that.
Laik was greeted with cheers and applause from the residents of Memoria Village as they rushed to their hero's side, offering their gratitude amid a swirling flurry of questions. Where'd he come from? Who was he? How'd he know how to fight Robotnik so efficiently?
But most importantly, how had the evil genius come into possession of the magical bag? And what had become of Santa himself.? Questions that Laik also wanted, no, needed to know the answers to.
As the snow fell and the fires around town tended to, the bigger, stronger villagers — a large green bison by the name of Balsam — had helped to tie the gluttonous human up using bent bars of steel.
Finally, after propping the unconscious man up in the corner of a local mechanic's garage, some cold water was splashed across his face, snapping the evil black eyes open. Robotnik then screamed, no, roared in anger! He'd underestimated his foes once more, and this time it had gotten him into a real fine mess.
"You… you filthy mongrel mutt! You cur! I'll have your pelt for this!" Robotnik growled, causing the red handprint on his face to glow a brighter red.
The large bison leaned in to look at the mark and nearly had his snout bitten by the fuming mad genius. "Did you slap him…?" He asked, his voice deep and powerful.
"Wait, you did slap me!"
"I slapped him." Laik said with a shrug. The wolf had been well-trained in a very fluid, delicate fighting style that few Mobians knew about, let alone could use. "Wing Chun kung-fu. That's my gimmick."
"And fighting dirty," Robotnik spat a glob of gelatinous mucus onto the garage floor.
"No, you left yourself open, Buttnik. Now if you want your left cheek to match the right, you'll tell me how what you did with Santa!"
The giant green bison Mobian cracked every one of his thick fingers. "If you know what's good for you, that is." He exhaled, creating a thick plume of vapor from his muzzle.
Laik and Robotnik locked eyes with one another, their stares intensifying with each passing second.
"That's my little secret, pup."
"Balsam was it?" The big Mobian nodded. "Wanna pull that mustache off his face?"
Balsam the Bison smiled and nodded, "Gladly."
"Torture. Interesting, I didn't think you Mobian lowlifes had it in you." Robotnik covered each word with an ever-thickening venom that caused even the mighty awesome Balsam to pause.
Taking the big man's wiry, orange mustache in his hand, Balsam said, "Last chance, your pudginess, tell us what you did with Santa, or else—"
"Ho, ho holy smokes, what are you doing, young Balsam!?" another voice. This one struck a familiar chord with both Laik and Balsam, drawing their attention away from the imprisoned evil genius.
There, standing in the shrouded glow of the streetlight as snow fell harder than ever, was a silhouette that any Mobian with half a mind would instantly identify: Santa Claus!
"Santa?!" A collective voice rang out, Laik, Balsam, and Robotnik's voices merging in an odd crescendo.
"So that's where my bag got, goodness I was so worried!" Santa bellowed, his voice sounding cheery and kind; a far cry from the poor imitation Robotnik had shown earlier this night.
"You see, I was making my first trip around Mobius, plotting my course for tonight's activities earlier today when I was struck by one of Ivo here's SCUD missiles."
Laik and Balsam's heads snapped to the prisoner, expressions that screamed, 'you had the audacity to launch missiles at SANTA?!' plastered across their faces. Robotnik replied with an admitting shrug.
"Left a slight scratch on the sled and startled the reindeer, but I was fine; However, my poor bag took a tumble and I've been searching for it ever since. Should have known Ivo had his pudgy mitts on it." Santa let loose with a jolly old laugh.
"The pot calling the kettle black, Saint Nick." Robotnik shot the Hearthside celebrity with a look that, if looks could kill, would have left Santa Claus as a pile of ash.
"Thank you so much, Laik. Usually it's Sonic the Hedgehog that — Oh do you know Sonic? What a fine lad he his, always helping me out. If he wasn't so fast, I would have tracked him down to help find my bag." Santa patted Laik on the shoulder, then ruffled Balsam's thick, wool-like hair. "You lads did good, but do please go easy on Ivo here, just for tonight. He's got a lot of work ahead of him, after all." Santa winked and wriggled his red nose.
Magic. That was magic the fae-creature that looked human had just used! "What?" Robotnik growled, now sounding more animal-like than human. "What do you mean by THAT, Claus?!"
Santa winked once more and smiled.
Meanwhile, across the land. Flooding every hallway, every control room, every confined space in every single one of Doctor Ivo Robotnik's hidden labs, was thick, black, dirty coal!
A shrill, whiny voice screamed. Snively, Robotnik's left-hand man. "Scratch, Grounder. To me, both of you! What is the meaning of this?!"
"And that's how Laik saved Christmas from Robuttstink!" Root said excitedly as he turned the screen off on his tablet, setting it down. "Now can we open presents, please?"
A piece of white-chocolate covered popcorn dropped from Eclair's mouth. "You… wrote fanfiction… about Laik." The rabbit plucked the stray candy from her cleavage and tossed it aside.
Raiza giggled. "I liked it. You even added Balsam in there at the end." The cat sipped her hot chocolate, leaving behind a faint chocolate stain on her upper lip.
"I liked the part where I slapped Robotnik," Laik chimed in finally as he picked up a small present from under the tree.
Snow fell heavily outside on this Hearthside Eve, the midnight hour drawing ever closer, the promise of Santa's magical visit drawing near. Laik and his friends had gathered together, free of TV and other distractions, to enjoy each other's company.
Balsam the Bison, Athena the Otter and her Wisp pal, Caspian. Root the Cicada, Eclair the Rabbit, Raiza the Cat. He'd not admit it out loud, not yet at least, but the connection he'd felt himself forming with this group was growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.
"Okay now presents please! I wanna get to bed before Santa gets here." Root fingered each Mobian in the room, fixing them all with a glare. "You'd all better go to bed too; I'm not going to lose out on gifts because you fools stayed up late." He paused for a second, realizing who he was lumping in with that remark.
"Except for you Eclair. Love you."
The red rabbit rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, let's open our gifts to each other. I gotta be up early to head for the city; Going to spend the week with parents, in case you all forgot."
Her gaze fixed itself on the cicada, who was dressed in festive pajamas under a blue housecoat with red trim. "And bug: Stay out of my studio, got that?" He grinned and nodded at her.
"Enough!" Athena shouted as Caspian pulled his purple-blue light! "No more talkies. It's pressie time!"
Happy holidays from the Crossworld Travelers.
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