Tails held a hand-made microphone and began making an announcement. "It all comes down to this final toss for the young echidna from Angel Island. He'll need a score of four to take the championship."
Knuckles grabbed Sonic and starts swinging him around. Tails smiled at the crowd. "Can he do it? Can he score a four? The crowd is on their feet!"
"Can you get on with it already?" Amy frowned.
"Amy, be nice," Penny said. "I actually think this is amusing to watch."
Knuckles tossed Sonic and three coconuts fell from the tree. Tails frowned. "Denied! Three coconuts are not quite four!"
"Look!" Sticks cried, pointing up. Everyone glanced up at a coconut, which seemed loose. It finally fell from the tree, hitting Amy on the head. "OW!"
Sonic and Knuckles burst into laughter and celebrated.
"They've done it!" Tails exclaimed excitedly. "They've achieved the impossible! The team of Knuckles and Sonic has bested the team of Sonic and Knuckles!"
"Wait a minute." Penny frowned at them. "You were playing against yourselves?"
"No!" Knuckles told the human girl. "Weren't you listening? We beat Sonic and Knuckles. Ha! In your face, Sonic and Knuckles!"
Penny just shook her head. Hearing thunder rumbling in the distance, she turned towards a storm cloud and frowned. "Hmmm. The weatherman didn't say it was going to rain today..."
A second later, Eggman flew up in his Eggmobile. "Behold, rodents!"
"Hey! I'm not a rodent!" Penny pipped up from behind Sonic. "I'm a human!"
Eggman continued his presentation as if she didn't say anything. "Prepare to face the most fearsome destructive force ever to grace this or any other world."
Eggman lifted his hand towards the storm cloud and stands awkwardly. Penny raised her eyebrows. "Uhh...nothing's coming."
"It'll be just a minute," Eggman told her, sounding awkward. "Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." Eggman lifted his hand one more time towards the storm's direction, taking his pose again. She raised her eyebrows again when a moo is heard, and Eggman smiled happily.
"Ahh, here it is now! This. Is. Cowbot!"
Penny squinted at the object coming towards them, and surprisingly, it was shaped like a cow. Scratch that: it was a cow.
"It's a cow." Amy frowned.
"It's a cow-bot." Eggman corrected her.
Penny stifled out a giggle, and a second later, she was followed by the rest of her friends as they laughed at Cowbot. Lamest. Idea. Ever.
Eggman raised an eyebrow at them. "What's so funny?"
"Cowbot?" Sonic laughed. "That has to be the lamest thing you've ever come up with!"
"Not true." Eggman snapped at him, and right then and there he began naming the rest of his robots. "There was Spoonbot, Crybot, Mathbot, ooh, and who can forget Lamebot? Wait, what am I saying?"
"Yeah..." Sonic and Penny said in sync.
"Forgot about that one." Amy hummed.
"My breakfast is plotting to kill me..." Sticks muttered, and everyone glanced at her.
Right at that moment, a beeping sound was heard, and Eggman smirked at the group. "Ooh! Time to move my laundry to the dryer. I'll leave you with Cowbot's capable hooves."
"EGGMAN!" Penny roared at him as he flew off.
Sonic glanced at Knuckles, Sticks, Amy, and Tails. "Okay guys, let's destroy this thing so we can get back to coconut hurl."
Eggman popped up again. "Oh, did I mention that Cowbot is filled with Mootonium? A pun-based radioactive compound? If you destroy him, he'll vaporize everything in a 20-mile radius. Toodles!"
He flew off again.
Penny's eyes widened. "Now what?" She asked. She yelped as Cowbot started shooting missiles at them, but luckily Sonic pulled her out of the way before she got hit.
"He's firing crud missiles!" Sticks screamed.
The gang ran away from Cowbot, who continued to fire missiles at the group. The team hid behind some bushes, and a missile from Cowbot hits a coconut tree, dropping five coconuts on the ground.
"MY RECORD!" Knuckles wailed, bursting into tears. Penny patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"If we can't smash that thing, what can we do?" Amy asked.
"Looks like there's an access panel on top." Tails said, pointing to the top of Cowbot. "If I can get to it, maybe I can reprogram Cowbot."
"Time to tip this cow!" Knuckles smirked.
"I'll distract him!" Sonic volunteered and zoomed ahead. Knuckles, Penny, Sticks, Amy, and Tails go to Cowbot.
"One..." Knuckles, Penny, Sticks, Tails, and Amy counted.
"ANY DAY NOW!" Sonic yelled out to the gang.
"Two..."
After a few more pushes, Cowbot topples over, and Tails flies up to the access panel, opens it, and proceeds to work on Cowbot. It suddenly is enveloped by electricity and milk suddenly comes from Cowbot's "utters". Knuckles, Penny, Amy, and Sticks manage to dodge it before it hits them.
"That should do it!" Tails smiled.
Cowbot's eyes suddenly turn red, and it tries to get back on its feet.
"Or not..." Tails winced.
Cowbot stands back up, making a loud moo before flying away in a different direction toward the ocean.
Sonic frowned, walking up to Penny and Tails. "Uhh, Tails. What's going on?"
"Not sure. Its original programming was to destroy Sonic, so since I reversed it..." Tails stuttered for words.
"It's going after Eggman!" Sonic burst out laughing. "Classic!"
"No, it's not classic," Amy frowned at him. "It's awful! That thing's a killing machine and if it explodes, no more Eggman!"
"And on laundry day?" Knuckles frowned at Sonic. "Not cool, Sonic."
Sonic groaned. "Ugh, fine. I'll go warn him. Penny, Tails, you're coming with me, and Tails, bring your science stuff."
"YES!" Penny pumped her hands, excited to go on an adventure with Tails and Sonic.
"You got it Sonic!" Tails said.
"And while you're there, ask him how he gets out grass stains." Knuckles said. "His whites are always so white!"
Penny let out a giggle. "I'll be sure to try to remember to ask, Knuckles."
...
Soon, they made it to Eggman's layer. Sonic turned to Penny and Tails. "Tails, Penny, wait here. Who knows what kind of crazy defenses Eggman has."
Penny and Tails nodded back at him, and the two watched as Sonic sneaked over to Eggman's front door and knocked.
Nothing.
"Huh, nothing." Sonic hummed, shaking his head and walking away. "You think you know a villain..." He pauses at the sound of the door opening, and he turned around to see Eggman walking towards him, wearing his pink onesies. Eggman gave a start when he saw Sonic. "Oh! I wasn't expecting company."
From the plane, Penny burst out into quiet giggles.
"Yeah, I figured that out," Sonic muttered, side-glancing at Eggman's pink onesies. He looked around Eggman's layer. "Uh, don't you have some kind of defense system... And pants?"
"Funny story," Eggman said. "I used parts from my defense system to make the Cowbot I sent to destroy you. How'd that work out by the way?"
Sonic smirked at Eggman. "Tails reprogrammed it and now it's on the way here to destroy you instead. So, good luck with all that." He turned to walk back towards Tails and Penny. "Toodles."
Eggman looked panicked. "But you can't just leave me here without my defenses. I'd be... Uh... What's the word?"
"Defenseless?" Sonic frowned.
"Do you need us to bring your defense systems back online?" Tails asked, walking up with Penny beside him.
"Nah, I'm good," Eggman said. "Unless you've activated Cowbot's stage two directive, then my defenses will be useless."
"That's not that whole red eyes thingy, is it?" Penny pipped up.
"Yeah," Eggman said. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess?" Sonic said nervously.
...
Soon, Penny stood by Sonic and Eggman as Tails sat on Eggman's console. "The only way to stop Cowbot is to upgrade Eggman's defense system." Tails said.
"You'd do that for me?" Eggman sounded touched. "After all the terrible - yet totally justified - things I've tried to do to you?"
Sonic rolled his eyes and smiled at Tails. "A good thing I told you to bring your science stuff, huh, Tails? You start working on Eggman's defenses, Penny and I'll gather up parts. And Eggman..." He frowned at the pink onesies Eggman was wearing. "Put on some pants..."
Later...
After getting all the defense systems in place, Sonic smirked at his teammates. "Okay. When Cowbot comes in range, Eggman will lower the force field. I'll zap Cowbot with the freeze ray, and Tails, Penny, you fly over and disarm it."
The four placed their hands together.
"All right," Sonic said. "Let's rock!"
The four get into their fighting stances, and Cowbot continues to ever so slowly fly towards the layer.
"Let's butcher this bovine!" Tails said.
Another awkward moment.
" I think we have some time." Sonic sighed.
"You want to go inside? I got cocoa." Eggman said invitingly.
"Ooh." Penny smiled. "I love cocoa!"
Inside...
Penny grimaced as she drank her cocoa. "That is some interesting cocoa."
"Wanna guess my secret ingredient?" Eggman smiled.
"If he says love, I'm outta here," Sonic grumbled.
"Hmm... Is it nutmeg?" Penny guessed, giving Sonic a playful punch.
"Close. It's actually a tablespoon of garlic powder." Eggman said.
"That explains the texture." Tails said. Penny nodded.
Sonic was about to put his cup on the table, but Eggman placed a coaster under Sonic's cup. "Whoa, whoa, coaster. What? Were you raised in a barn?"
Sonic eats a cookie. Just as he does so, Eggman turns on a mini vaccum, sucking up the crumbs on Sonic's scarf. Sonic scowled, and Penny let out a giggle.
"Wanna guess the secret ingredient?"
"Garlic?" Sonic and Penny asked together. Eggman shook his head. "Nope. Love! Just kidding, it's garlic."
"And I thought he was annoying when he was trying to destroy us," Sonic grumbled.
Movie time...
Eggman stared at the TV. "Don't go in there..." He frowned as a scream soon echoed. "Can you believe she went in there?"
"Yeah," Sonic said sarcastically. "After you warned her and everything!"
Outside...
Penny sighed in annoyance. "Will he ever get here?!"
Eggman glanced at the three friends. "So what do you guys do for fun?"
"Here we are at the coconut hurl Grand Championship." Tails whispered into the microphone. "Sonic the Hedgehog will be tossing his arch-rival, Dr. Eggman. Let's join the game already in progress."
Sonic tried to lift Eggman, but he was too heavy for the hedgehog to lift.
"Oh!" Tails gasped. "That's going to be a penalty!"
Finally bored, the four sat together, waiting for the ever-so-slow Cowbot to come up.
"Hey." Eggman suddenly popped up. "I got an idea!"
Sonic tossed Eggman with a catapult. Eggman bumped into a palm tree, causing a large number of coconuts to drop on him.
"Wow! They did it!" Penny gasped.
"They've done it!" Tails exclaimed. "A new record!"
Crowds of people cheering are heard offscreen as Eggman and Sonic shared a high five.
Later...
"We've been up forever." Sonic sighed. "When is Cowbot gonna get here?"
"You're so impatient, Sonic. Sometimes you got to slow down and enjoy life. Here, have a roasted marshmallow." Sonic takes the stick of marshmallow off Eggman and tastes it. He smiled. "Mm. Sticky but good!"
"I seriously love marshmallows!" Penny sighed happily.
"Really good." Tails said with a happy sigh.
"I never get to do stuff like this with Orbot and Cubot. Marshmallows always gunk up their circuitry." Eggman sighed.
"Yeah, that's the problem with having no real friends," Sonic said in agreement.
"Yeah..." Eggman said. "Hey, you know who I hate? That Dave the Intern. Am I right, eh?"
"You know, I never gave him that much thought," Sonic said.
"Are there any more marshmallows?" Penny asked.
"Hey, Sonic. Bro-to-bro. What's up with you and Penny?" Eggman asked.
Sonic blushed.
...
The next day, Penny woke up to the sound of something smashing against the force field she, Sonic, Tails, and Eggman pulled up. She groaned, shifting in Sonic's warm arms. He had pulled her into a night hug for warmth, and she had slept soundly that night.
Eggman's yelling ruined the moment. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Engage all defense systems!" Tails announced.
"Turning on the forcefield!" Eggman announced as well. He frowned, glancing at his hands, which were covered in sticky marshmallows. "Uh, I'm having some trouble here."
Sonic tries to control the freeze ray, but cannot, as his hands are covered in marshmallow gunk. "This thing's all gunked up. My hands are sticky from the marshmallows!"
"It's game over, man. Game over!" Eggman wailed.
"Oh, no!" Penny whimpered.
Tails looks at his hands which are also covered in marshmallows. "Marshmallow! If they gunk up our machinery, they'll gunk up Cowbot's too!"
"But how are we gonna reach the access panel?" Penny asked.
Soon, Penny found herself in the catapult, and she is holding a bucket of marshmallows. Sonic directs Eggman on how to launch. "Ready...aim...Fire!"
Penny felt herself being tossed into the air, and the next thing she knew, she slammed on the forcefield, away from the hole Cowbot was melting. She groaned as she fell to the ground.
Sonic growled at Eggman. "I said AIM!"
"Oh, was that meant for me?" Eggman asked.
With Sonic's help, Penny was now sitting at the catapult and Sonic spoke again, glaring at Eggman. "Ready...aim...FIRE!"
Eggman releases the catapult again. Penny flies through the hole in the force field and lands on Cowbot. The human girl opens up the access panel and pours marshmallow into Cowbot. Cowbot malfunctions and breaks down. Penny jumps back inside the force field, and Sonic caught her in his arms. Cowbot crashes on the island and shuts down.
"It worked!" Eggman said with a smile.
"That's the beauty of teamwork." Tails smiled.
"Not teamwork, my master plan." Eggman snickered. "I tricked you into helping me upgrade my security system. Now, I can use your own tech against you!"
"Oh. So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Sonic, with a bucket of marshmallow, runs around Eggman's lair and pours marshmallow over Eggman's various equipment and new machines that he made with Sonic and Tails' aid, short-circuiting them. The force field de-activates.
"All right!" Penny grinned, high fiving Sonic.
Eggman sighed. "I really need to stop doing that thing where I gloat and explain exactly what you need to do to stop me."
"Our work here is done." Sonic smiled, walking off. "Come on, Tails and Penny."
Sonic, Penny, and Tails walk off. When they were gone, the lair door opens with Orbot and Cubot showing up. "Dr. Eggman, may we come out now?"
"NO!" Eggman snapped.
"Ooh, marshmallows!" Cubot smiled, picking up some along with his friend Once they did, their circuits sparked and they fell to the ground, unconcious.
Next Chapter: Curse of the Buddy- Buddy Temple