That Time of Year

**That Time of Year** is the second holiday special of Sonic X: Heroes Forever.

## Characters

* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Miles “Tails” Prower (Mentioned; seen in flashback)
* Sally Acorn
* Scarlet Garcia
* Maxwell Xavier
* Chaos (Mentioned)
* Mina Mongoose
* Sonia the Hedgehog
* Manic the Hedgehog
* Ash Mongoose
* Sharps the Parachicken
* Max the Monkey (Does not speak)
* Mach the Rabbit
* Doctor Robotnik/Eggman (Mentioned; seen in flashback)
* Scratch (Flashback)
* Grounder (Flashback)
* Humpty (Flashback)
* Overlander boy (Flashback)
* Bunnie D’Coolette (Flashback)
* Rotor Walrus (Mentioned in flashback)
* Antione D’Coolette (Mentioned in flashback)
* Snively Robotnik (Flashback)
* Santa Claus
* Elf (Flashback)
* Dulcy the Dragon (Flashback)
* SWATBots (Flashback)
* King Maximillian Acorn (Mentioned)
* Brandon Mutt
* Riff
* Rachael Hops

## Plot

The episode starts with several humans shopping for their loved ones for Christmas and police officers monitor the traffic. The Mayor, revealed to be named Maxwell Xavier, is being interviewed by Scarlet. It’s revealed that the Christmas Eve Air Show is quickly approaching and progress is going smoothly. Eggman has been absent since July 1st of that year and G.U.N.’s agents are working hard to make sure things go smoothly.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally are spending quality time together and Sonic laments about it not being a white Christmas. When Sally points out Winter starts ‘tomorrow,’ Sonic mentions that “waiting” is in the top 3 things he hates. Sally tries to point out that “Chaos’ arrival” was something Sonic wasn’t complaining about waiting for and she believes it’s a myth, only for Sonic to point out she thought the same thing about Angel Island and the Time Stones. Sally is annoyed Sonic isn’t letting her live that down and Sonic brings up another embarrassing incident which Sally doesn’t let Sonic get lived down for. Sonic hastily gets Mina to sing some Christmas songs before he’s kicked out of the tent.

Mina, Sonia, and Manic practice the song “Nuttin’ for Christmas,” which Sonic and Sally catch sight of and they are confused why anyone would sing a song about not getting anything for Christmas. Sally suggests they sing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree,” and suddenly, Ash and the Forget Me Knots arrive. Mina happily greets them and Mach tries to explain why they were there, only to not be understood and the tape recorder had to explain the reasoning. Turns out, the Forget Me Knots wanted to take part in a traditional Christmas recital despite them not being on Mobius and, as Christmas is celebrated on Mobius, it’s like they never left. Ash remarks that Mach’s voice is bizarrely normal when he sings.

Sally meanwhile is distracted. She doesn’t know where her family - her parents, brother, sister-in-law, and step-niece - are as they spent so many Christmases apart. Sally doesn’t even know if they are on Earth or not and if they are, it’d take a long time to find them. Sonic remembers how hard it was to find his own siblings, parents, and uncle, and hugs Sally tightly. Manic, however, is insensitive to this, causing Sonia to whack him and they debate about their ability types. Mina breaks things up by suggesting that they sing “Holy Night.” Sonic and Sally feel waves of nostalgia as a flashback starts.

A younger Sonic is with a younger, pink Sally. The two of them make a deal to not get each other any Christmas presents that year. Sonic then dashes off to a younger Tails, who’s confused as to why Sonic is dashing off somewhere. Sonic explains that this is a trick. When Sally and Sonic agreed to not get each other anything, Sally secretly buys two stores full of presents for Sonic. Tails is puzzled, but, Sonic shrugs it off, believing he knows Sally better than his adoptive little brother.

The two dash off to Robotropolis in search of a Christmas gift, only to find every store practically empty. Tails' keen sense of hearing allows him to hear Badniks loading up trucks with various merchandise. The two decide to follow the robots, hoping to uncover what Robotnik is planning. While doing so, they run into a little boy Overlander, who tells them that Santa has retired and has made Robotnik his heir. Meanwhile, Sally is talking with her best friend, Bunnie. As they talk, Sally expresses concern over their promise, as they did the same thing, but, she got him presents anyway, including a strange ring with a marking on it. She then realizes she made the same mistake once again and decides to find the duo before it's too late. She comes to the conclusion that Antoine can help, thanks to his canine sense of smell.

Meanwhile, Sonic tricks Scratch and Grounder into revealing the location of the true Santa Claus and he smashes them with a dolly. Meanwhile, robots are adding chimneys to Robotnik’s fortress. Scratch and Grounder come back and reveal they were tricked into giving out Santa's location. A frustrated Robotnik tells Humpty to get the radio so he can call Snively.

Later, Sonic and Tails arrived at the North Pole, with SWATBots surrounding it, all in Christmas colors. The SWATBots are guarding a metal door on the side of the mountain. The two Freedom Fighters try to come up with a plan only for a Younger Dulcy to appear in the sky and use her freezing breath on the SWATBots, encasing them in ice. Dulcy lands, crashing into the snow which cushions her fall and Sally is flipped off and lands in the snow. Sonic pulls her out and she explains she wanted to have Antoine to track his scent, but, he refused. However, she ran into Dulcy and learned she has a stronger sense of smell, so she asked for her help. Sonic is surprised that Sally found a dragon in the Great Forest, but, Dulcy explains she was originally hiding in the mountains, but, heard that Robotnik was getting defeated a lot, so she decided to come out to find her mother, whom she lost during the takeover. Sonic and Sally then realize that Dulcy is the same dragon whom they were friends with as children.

After Sonic explains the situation, the four run to save Santa. They open a metal door and are greeted by a cannon that shoots icicles. Sonic easily destroys this with his signature Spin Dash. Next, Snively shows up, riding a Shredder. The Shredder attempts to cut Sonic with one of its blades, but, Sonic manages to dodge by running in a circle around it. After the circle is complete, the shredder falls into the water with Snively. Dulcy stands guard outside the cave where Santa is, as she is too big to enter it. Sonic, Sally, and Tails enter the tunnel  and find Santa in an energy cage. Sally uses a NICOLE 7000 to try and deactivate the energy cage. Sonic has a better idea. Sonic turns aside and presses a button, which opens up a glass door with a cup of water in it. He takes the cup and spills the water on the ground. He goes to the control panel for the cell back to the corner and takes the cup, using it to sound like Robotnik.

Santa is taken back to his workshop, where an elf explains that Robotnik stole every toy in it, along with every present in Mobius. Santa then notices the ring on Sonic's finger. Sonic explains that Sally gave it to him last year and Santa couldn't be more happy, as the Ring is actually The Ring of Ultimate Velocity. He shows Sonic an ancient pictograph in the cave he was locked in. They have the same symbol on Sonic and Santa explains that whoever wears the ring, will achieve the secrets of ultimate velocity, but, only after passing three trials. Sonic then passes the three trials and uses the ring to collect all the presents and deliver them back to everyone. Robotnik is then punched out by Santa. Santa thanks Sonic, who tells him this was only one time and he will not be taking his job.

In the present, Sally admits that adventure was rather silly. Sonic then tells her he once went back in time to stop Eggman from using the Chaos Emeralds of the Ancients. Sally tells Sonic that she wishes that she went on those adventures with him and Tails, to which Sonic replied that she had Princess duties, to which she replies that she permanently stepped down as Princess in the wake of an argument with her father, who she thought didn’t know that Sonic was the son of Queen Aleena. Sonic then tells her that King Maximillian DID know that Sonic was royalty, but, simply kept it secret. He then suggests that the next time she sees him, they should reconcile. Sally agrees to this. The episode ends with Santa Claus, who now wears the Ring of Ultimate Velocity, wishing the viewer a merry Christmas.

## Trivia

* This is the third holiday special in the series. The first being Sonic and Sally Love Origins and the second being Halloween of Hope.
* This is the first holiday special to feature Rachael in the prologue with the writers.
* This episode features Christmas songs from pop culture as opposed to original Christmas music. MrBLUERANGERHERO wanted an at least semi-traditional Christmas song, but, this didn’t happen.
* In this episode, Sally mentions the Chaos Emeralds of the Ancients, one of which can bring objects to life. These are the Chaos Emeralds in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
* Sally also mentions that she permanently stepped down as princess. However, this is subject to change.
* Bunnie appears in her SatAM design.
* The entire episode is based on the plot of Sonic’s Christmas Blast.
* Dulcy is revealed to have joined the Freedom Fighters after reuniting with her friends.