Behind the Screens – Chapter 4
Author: I apologize greatly for not showing barely any activity these past few years. I've been completely distracted by everything that's been happening around me, and haven't been making time to work on updating my stories. I PROMISE I will TRY to show more activity and work more on uploading new chapters and new stories. Again, I apologize!
Attention: The characters within this fiction are the copyright property of their respected television networks. My only reason for using these characters is for the entertainment of my fellow Fanfiction Authors and visitors. No intention of copyright infringement.
Sonic, Tails, Amy and Dr. Eggman burst out of the Chamber room and rushed into the Satellite Central Station. They scanned through the crowd of characters, hoping to spot their friend. But they didn't see so much as a hint of Knuckles anywhere.
"Where is he!?" Amy cried in worry.
"I don't know," said Sonic, "but he couldn't have gotten far in this crowd."
The four characters spread out into the crowd to search for their friend. They tried to ask every passing character if they had seen Knuckles, but most of them either ignored them or shook their heads no and shrugged. After almost fifteen minutes of searching, the four regrouped.
"Any luck?" Sonic asked.
"Nothing," Tails shook his head.
"Same here," answered Eggman.
"Ugh," Amy groaned, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Of all the days to act like a selfish jerk and run off, WHY did he have to pick today?!"
Tails scratched his chin and pondered. "Knuckles has been acting more sore than usual since last year. Though I still can't understand how any toon could be against starting a new show; especially since he was okay when we started Sonic X."
"Yeah," Sonic agreed, "something's definitely off."
Hearing this, Amy suddenly lost her frustration and began to think. "Do you think maybe there's something's wrong with him?"
"Who cares about that," Dr. Eggman shouted! "We have to find that echidna, get him into the chamber, and start preparing for the new show or who knows what will happen!"
"Take it easy, egg-head," Sonic said, "we're not getting anywhere with just the four of us."
"Sonic's right," said Tails, "with the size of this crowd and area, we'll need more help if we're going to find Knuckles."
Amy looked around until she spotted some familiar faces. "I think I just found our extra set of eyes!"
She pointed through the crowd to where they saw who she meant. It was Twilight and the Mane Six talking to Chiro, Jinmay, Antauri, Sparx, Nova, Gipson, and Otto (Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!). Quickly the four made their way through the crowd to the two groups.
"Hey, guys!" Sonic called to them.
Rainbow Dash was the first to hear him and saw him, Amy, Tails, and Eggman pushing through the crowd. At first, she and the others just stood there – taking in the sight of their new designs. Then Rainbow, Pinkie, and Sparx burst out laughing.
"What happened to you guys," Rainbow managed to ask between laughs. " I mean don't get me wrong Sonic; I'm glad you got to keep the streamlined look. I just didn't think you'd get the "string-limbed" look!"
"Ha-ha, what's with the bandages," Sparx asked, "is the new show taking place in a medical clinic?!"
This comment caused the four to give a sour glare.
Once they managed to calm down, Rainbow Dash took a moment to catch her breath before turning back to Sonic. "Now, where and when are we racing, Sonic? I bet my lucky horse shoe that those new limbs slow you down."
"There's no time for that, Rainbow," Sonic replied, "something serious has happened!"
The blue Pegasus's jaw dropped as she gasped in complete disbelief. "More serious than proving who's the fastest around? What could possibly be more serious than that?!"
"It's Knuckles," Amy answered, "he's missing!"
"Missing?" Jinmay asked. "What do you mean "missing"?"
"That stubborn echidna," Dr. Eggman grumbled angrily, "he ran off while we were in the chamber!"
"Now why in tarnation would he do that?" Applejack asked. "He was just as excited to do the show as y'all were. Wasn't he?"
To this the four looked about nervously; not daring to look at their friends in the eye.
Twilight looked at the group quizzically. "Was there something you didn't tell us earlier?"
Amy instantly gave a nervous smile. "W-what makes you think…"
"Amy," Tails said to the pink hedgehog, "we only have six months 'til the new show. If we're going to find Knuckles in time, we need all the help we can get."
"He's right, Ames," Sonic said, "What matters now is that we find knucklehead and get ready for the show."
Amy hated to admit it, but they were right. She and the others instantly explained everything: Knuckles' refusal and his recent sour behavior.
"Wait a minute," Nova said, "he didn't want to do the show? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!"
"I know, right?" Amy said. "I mean, who wouldn't want a new show?"
"There is a reason behind all decisions, Amy" said Antauri. "And Knuckles obviously has reason for his decision."
"Well the only way to know what that reason is," Twilight said, "is to find him and try to make him explain."
"But we've searched through this whole crowd," Dr. Eggman complained, "We can't find him anywhere!"
Otto looked over to where he saw one of the Network Trains was now boarding. "Hey, maybe he's hiding on one of the trains!"
Hearing this, Gibson instantly began to calculate the number of trains there were: Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney, MGM, Hub, Fox, Discovery, Universal, ABC, CBS, and PBS.
"There are eleven trains in the station, and some have already departed for their home networks," Gibson said to the others. "He could have gone on any one of them."
"If that's the case," Tails sighed, "we'll have to search each network one by one."
"Are you kidding me?!" Amy exclaimed. "That could take us months; a whole year even! And even if we did find him, who knows how long it would take us to drag him all the way to the station and to the chamber room; we'd completely miss our show's deadline!"
Sonic knew Amy had a point. Even if they did managed to find Knuckles in one of eleven expansive Network Halls, there was no guarantee that he would come willingly. They needed to find him and fast.
The hedgehog turned to the two groups. "Would you guys mind helping us search? Like I said; we need all the help we can get if we're going to find Knuckles in time."
"What do you say, girls" Twilight asked her friends.
"I'm in," Applejack answered with determination, "anything for a friend."
"Ditto to that," said Rainbow as she slapped Applejack a 'high-hoof'.
"I'd like to help," Fluttershy said meekly. "I mean, if that's okay."
"Ooh-ooh, me, pick me!" Pinkie urged raising her hoof.
"Oh very well," Rarity sighed, "as long as it doesn't interfere with my schedule; I have a hoof pedicure later this afternoon."
Sonic smiled thankfully at the mane six, and then turned to the Monkey team.
"How about you guys," asked Sonic, "could you give us a hand?"
Jiro and his team looked at each other, then they gathered together in a huddle and whispered among themselves. Two minutes later, they broke the huddle and turned back to Sonic.
"Our show ended completely on a climax," Jinmay answered, "and there is zero chance that we'll ever have another show again to finish the storyline. We don't want your new show to end before it even starts; count us in!"
"Okay everyone," Tails said as the three groups huddled together, "As Gibson already stated: we have one echidna in one of eleven expansive Network Halls. We'll need to spread out into pairs and each search a network.
"Rainbow Dash, you and Sonic search the Fox Network.
"Amy, you and Rarity search through the Disney Network.
"Gibson, you and I have the CBS Network.
"Applejack, you and Otto take the Nickelodeon Network.
"Twilight and Antauri will scout the Discovery Network.
"Nova, you take Fluttershy and look through the PBS Network.
"Chiro, you and Jinmay will search the ABC Network.
"And Pinkie Pie, you and Sparx look through the Hub Network."
The red robotic monkey looked over at Pinkie with an uneasy look.
"Could I exchange with Nova," he asked hopefully. When Nova gave him a dirty look, he instantly knew the answer.
"Hey!" Eggman suddenly shouted, "What about me?"
"Eggman," Tails turned to the rotund doctor, "you stay here in case Knuckles tries to sneak back through the station. Keep searching and ask anyone if they've seen him."
Amy thought for a moment. "Wait, that's only eight networks; what about the other three?"
"We'll meet back here in exactly three hours," Tails answered, "if nobody has found Knuckles before then, we'll split into our individual groups and search the remaining three networks."
"Alright every-pony," shouted Rainbow Dash, showing her eagerness to begin the search, "You know the plan and you know the drill! Now let's get to it!"
The pairs separated and headed straight to their assigned stations, while Dr. Eggman hovered back into the crowd.
Three hours later, Eggman saw each of the search groups entering the station.
"Well?" the mad doctor asked eagerly as Sonic and Rainbow Dash were the first to arrive.
"Nothing," the light-blue Pegasus replied with a depressed sigh.
"We even checked Angel Island back at our old show," Sonic said, "but he wasn't there either."
"He's not in the Nickelodeon Network," Applejack panted as she and Otto arrived.
"But don't worry, "said Otto, "I ran into Inspector Gadget and asked him to help us."
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, Eggman, and Applejack all looked at the mechanical ape in disbelief.
"What," Otto asked with a shrug.
"You asked Inspector Gadget for help," Rainbow Dash asked, "seriously?!"
Otto shrugged again. "I figured he could help us find Knuckles; being an inspector and all."
Applejack looked at him in a mixture of anger and annoyance. "Haven't you seen the reruns of that feller's show? That slow witted critter couldn't find a single apple in an entire orchard on harvest day!"
Nova and Fluttershy were the next to arrive.
"We checked everywhere;" said Nova, "but none of those educated, early morning babies have seen him!"
"I couldn't even find him in the Wild Kratts show," said Fluttershy.
"I'm afraid our search was also not so fortuitous," Gibson said when he and Tails arrived.
The next to arrive was Amy and Rarity; the latter smiling while levitating several shopping bags with her magic.
"We searched everywhere from Aladdin to Tailspin," Amy said with a depressed slump. "We couldn't find anything."
"Well that's not entirely true, darling," said Rarity, "I found this nice set of fabrics and these lovely additions which were at amazingly low prices. Can you imagine anyone selling such fabulous texture and at very cheap?"
The other characters all looked at her with withering scowls.
"Though I am also disappointed that we were not successful in finding the poor dear, too," Rarity quickly said with a nervous giggle.
Twilight and Antari arrived next.
"Anything," Amy asked, hoping for a good answer.
"I am sorry," Antari bowed with despair, "we couldn't find him."
"I still can't understand why Knuckles would do this," Twilight said thinking out loud. "I mean, I can understand him needing solitude for feeling depressed. But refusing to do a show after eight years?"
Performing and living through TV shows is the main purpose of every cartoon characters life; gives them reason to exist, and occupies their time. When there are no new episodes, or their show is cancelled, the characters are left in a rut with nothing to do. This is one of the main reasons why they spend their temporary or permanent free time visiting other networks.
"As I said previously," said Antari, "there is a reason behind all decisions."
Sparx and Pinkie were the next to arrive. "We were able to check the whole Hub network and not one sign of him," said Sparx.
"I searched every show using my Pinkie speed," the pink pony said with a depressed frown. "I searched up, down, left, right, sideways, front ways, back ways, in ways, out ways, upside ways, downside ways, and every ways, but I still didn't find him. I even checked Digifydum (digi-fy-dum)."
"…You even checked where?" Tails asked, not certain he had heard correctly.
"Digifydum," Pinkie repeated.
The characters looked at each other in confusion.
"Uh, where's Digifydum," Applejack asked.
"I don't know," replied the pink pony, "but he wasn't there either."
Again, the characters looked at each other. Nova opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow Dash placed her hoof over her mouth.
"Trust me, don't ask," the blue Pegasus warned.
Amy's eyes filled with hope when she saw Chiro and Jinmay approaching.
"Oh please-please-please tell us you found him!" Amy begged.
The boy and girl/robot shook their heads.
Amy quickly turned to Dr. Eggman with desperation in her eyes. "Eggman, you have found someone who has seen him, right?!"
"I talked to just about every character in here," the villain said with a sigh, "nobody has seen that stubborn echidna anywhere!"
"Are you kidding me!" Amy shouted as she grabbed the rotund mad scientist in frustration. "The only red, super strong, stern-face, thick-headed, animated echidna in the entire airwaves and nobody has seen him - NOBODY?!"
As Eggman shivered in fear of the pink hedgehog's wrath, Chiro suddenly spoke up. "Wait! I don't know if this helps, but when I was in the Back to the Future show, Doc Brown said something about Knuckles."
This instantly caught everyone's attention.
"Well don't just stand there," urged Amy, "where is he?"
"He said he doesn't know where he is," Chiro explained, "but he told me that Knuckles came to him several weeks ago; something about wanting to use the DeLorean time machine outside of the show."
"Hey, now that y'all mention it," spoke up Applejack, "I remember bumping into Jimmy Neutron, and he said the exact same thing. Only, it was with his time portal thingy."
"When Antauri and I were in the Discovery Network," Twilight said, "the Time Warp Trio said Knuckles stole their Time Book and tried to use it in the Network Hall last week."
Sparks also remembered something. "When I checked out the My Little Pony show, Princess Celestia told me Knuckles came to her requesting a time spell."
"Hold it!" Nova shouted, motioning everyone to stop. "I don't get it, why would Knuckles do these things?"
"Yeah," agreed Otto, "everyone knows show-built technology doesn't function outside of their own shows."
"And the only magic we unicorns have accomplished outside of our show is levitation," Rarity added.
Just then, Pinkie Pie held up her hoof. "Oh-oh-oh I remembered something! While I was looking for Knuckles I bumped into my next door show neighbor, Buttercream (Littlest Pet Shop). She said she saw him in the station three hours ago."
Everyone gasped when they heard this.
"What?" Sparx cried looking at the pink pony. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"
"Duh, because we were told to look for Knuckles," Pinkie replied with a smile, "not anyone who had seen Knuckles, silly."
To this the red robot monkey slapped his palm to his forehead.
"Well," Sonic urged Pinkie, "don't just stand there Pink, what did she say?"
"She said he was rushing through the station like he was in a big hurry, and his face was looking all frownzy-wownzy-upsy-downzy."
The characters just looked at the pink pony in confused silence. After a minute, they finally asked in unison, "What?"
"What?" Pinkie echoed as her eyes suddenly grew wide and vacant. The pony then jerked up with a goofy smile – causing her eyes to vibrate left and right like a pair of rubber bands. Then the pony stamped one of her forelegs rapidly as her mane and tail twisted up into two pink cones. Finally, Pinkie let out a sigh of relief and her mane and tail uncurled back to their natural puffiness.
"Anyhoo," Pinkie said snapping out of her minor trance, "She said she saw Knuckles heading towards the Cartoon Network train."
"And you're sure that's all she said?" Tails asked.
The Pink pony crossed her heart with her hoof and then stuck it in her eye. "Pinkie promise."
Sonic and the others instantly looked at the Cartoon Network station.
"Cartoon Network has a multitude of shows stretching back to the late fifties (plus shows from Adult Swim and Toonami); there's no telling where he might be," Twilight assumed out loud. "And if it has been three hours, it's a fifty-percent chance that he's either still there hiding or has moved onto another network."
"Well if he is still there," Amy said with a mad/determined look, "I'm going to tear that whole network apart until I find that jerk. I still can't believe that he just ran off on the day of our new designs!"
"Okay guys," said Sonic, "just like Tails said: we'll search Cartoon Network, while the rest of you split into your own groups and search the other two."
Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Dr. Eggman rushed towards the Cartoon Network station train, while the "Mane Six" galloped over to the MGM Network station, and Chiro, Jinmay, and the robot monkeys raced off to the Universal Network station.
After waiting impatiently for over fifteen minutes, the Cartoon Network (along with train departed to its home Network Hall.
Once they had arrived at the Cartoon Network Network-Hall, the four quickly began asking around.
"Hey Dexter," Tails called over a short red haired boy with wide-rimmed glasses, black work boots, gloves, and a lab coat (Dexter's Laboratory), "have you recently seen Knuckles anywhere?"
"No I haven't," said the boy genius. "But please do me a favor and tell that stupid echidna of yours to – STAY OUT OF MY LABORATORY! For the past three days, that echidna has been trying to move my time machine and dimensional portal outside of my televisual programming; despite the number of times that I have told him that they won't work! Honestly, and I thought my sister Dee-Dee was stupid!"
As Dexter stomped off, Sonic and the others looked at each other in surprise; again, what was Knuckles up to? Shaking off the confusion, the four continued the search for their friend. They searched Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, Ed Edd'n Eddy, Johnny Test, Megas XLR, DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Camp Lazlo; they even checked Dragon Ball Z (Knuckles's favorite place to visit in Cartoon Network).
But when they still didn't find Knuckles, they began to slowly lose hope. Fortunately, Vegeta told them Knuckles HAD visited; saying that Knuckles had spent over an hour and a half in his training room wanting to work off some aggression. The anime character then told them that Knuckles left; saying something about the Hanna-Barbera Bar in CN City. Quickly, the four raced over to one of the biggest doors in the Cartoon Network Network Hall.
CN City had started as a series of CGI bumpers that would play between shows and during commercials in the third era of Cartoon Network. Many did not see this counting as an animated program, and yet this entire CGI metropolitan city where Cartoon Network characters could meet and interact had indeed materialized.
Moving through the busy streets and crowds, Sonic and the others reached the small animated establishment of the Hanna-Barbera Bar. Stepping into the bar, the quartet saw the Japanese based singers Ami and Yumi (Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Show) performing onstage for the customers. Looking around, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Eggman saw an array of characters seated at tables, booths, and bar stools: Zim (Invader Zim), Blitz (Road Rovers), Squidward (Spongebob Squarepants), Raimundo and Kimiko (Xiaolin Showdown), Baloo (Tailspin), Wiley Coyote and Sylvester the cat (Looney Toons), Pink Panther (Pink Panther and Friends), Brooklyn (Gargoyles), George Jetson (The Jetsons), Bob and Dot (ReBoot), Skipper (Penguins of Madagascar), Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Man(Sailor Moon), Samurai Jack, Duke (G.I. Joe: Renegades), and Tigger and Kanga (My Best Friends Tigger and Pooh).
Tending the bar counter was Fred Flintstone and his friend Barney Rubble. Their wives, Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble, walked around and served the customers as waitresses. The job didn't pay either of them, but it at least kept their minds off their present retirement.
Fred was busy cleaning a mug when he saw Sonic and the other approach the counter.
"Hah, I figured you guys would come in sooner or later," Fred said. "By the way; congrats on the new designs."
"Fred, you remember every toon that comes into this bar," said Sonic, looking intensely into the animated caveman's face. "Tell us, please. Have – You - Seen - Knuckles?!"
"Knuckles," Fred said, thinking for a moment. "Oh yeah, he was in here. And let me tell you, I've never seen anyone so depressed, angry, and heartbroken in all my life."
"Knuckles, heartbroken?" Amy asked
"Yep, poor guy came stomping in like a T-Rex. He marches up to the bar, orders an extra-large drink and tells me to leave him the bottle. Of course I warned him against it - after that one incident when he and Team Chaotix had that drinking contest. And do you know what he does? He slams his fist down on the counter (practically cracking it) and says "I don't want your opinion, I want my drink!""
"Hee-hee, if that doesn't say heartbreak, I don't know what does," chuckled Barney.
"Anyways," Fred continued, "the guy just sits there drinking and looking around the place with that scowl of his. Me and Barn, we tried making conversation (you know, ease the tension) but he just growls at us like a dog and goes back to drinking and scowling."
Sonic and the others looked at each other in disbelief. This couldn't be the same Knuckles Echidna that they knew…could it?
"Finally, after nothing but drinking and scowling for the past two-and-a-half hours, he turns to us and asks, "What's the point?""
"What's the point of what?" Tails asked.
"That's exactly what we asked," Said Barney as he and Fred kept wiping the bar counter. "He motions to everything and says "This, all of this! Why do we do this? What's the point in doing all these ridiculous stunts and situations even after we find out that none of it is real?" Well, me and Fred, we know exactly what he's talking about. With no chance of our show having new episodes or a future reboot after eighteen long years, it's gotten a little hard for us to find reason to stay on the airwaves."
"Yep," Fred said with a depressed sigh. "One minute we're the stars of practically the best animated series on the air (with a breakfast cereal, two live action films, and more spinoffs and specials than you can shake a stegosaurus's tail at). And the next, we're just another couple of old toons who are lucky enough just to be reruns on Boomerang."
Hearing all this, Wilma walked up to the counter and gave Fred a kiss on his cheek. "Well, I for one don't care if we never get another show."
"Me neither," said Betty out loud as she also walked up and gave Barney a kiss on the cheek. "All that matters is that we're still together, and we're both still happy. And I think that's better than having five-hundred episodes; I mean, just ask The Simpsons."
Fred, Barney, Wilma, and Sonic and the others all laughed at Betty's little quip. Seeing this pair of happy couples, Sonic and the others couldn't help but smile; almost forgetting why they came into the Hanna-Barbera Bar in the first place.
"Oh boy," Fred smiled after the laughter died down, "If it weren't for moments like this, we would've committed Permanent Cancellation years ago."
Hearing this, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Eggman's eyes instantly widened in realization.
"Committed what?" asked Amy.
"Permanent Cancellation," Barney said, "you know, like what Crusader Rabbit and Ragland T. Tiger, Heathcliff, Bucky and Pepito, and Paddy the Pelican did."
"Oh, I still can't believe they went through with it," Wilma sighed with a sad shake of her head.
"Yeah," said Betty with a shiver, "can you just imagine doing something so horrible?"
"Fred," Sonic said urgently, "you said Knuckles was here. When did he leave?"
The animated caveman thought for a moment. "I think he ran out of here ten minutes ago, just before you all showed up."
Without saying another word, Sonic and the others quickly rushed out of the bar, pushed their way through CN City and stepped back out into the Network Hall. They began looking left and right for any sign of their friend.
"You don't think Knuckles would really do something so drastic, do you Sonic?" Tails asked in worry.
Sonic turned to the young fox. "Tails, he refused to come with us for the new character designs, then he ran away from us without warning, and now we've just learned that he's been drinking in a bar feeling upset and angry with everything. If he IS going to go through with it, then it's now more important than ever that we find him!"
"Oh no, he isn't!" Dr. Eggman shouted defiantly. "We've waited eight long years, and that mixed up echidna ISN'T going to ruin it for us!"
"Quiet, Eggman!" Amy shouted. "We have to focus! Now, IF Knuckles is going to do what we think he's going to do, then where is he going to do it?"
For the longest moment, the four characters concentrated long and hard on where their friend could possibly commit what would possibly be the most stupid act ever done. Then, the answer instantly came to all of them at once.
"The Train!" they all shouted.
Quickly, the four rushed down the Network Hall; each hoping that they weren't too late!