It was another battle against Eggman. AGAIN. Penny rode in Tails' Mobile with Tails while Sonic ran aside them. Eggman's new robot chased them around. Its vacuum-like hose rose up to them, trying to suck them up. Penny squeezed her eyes shut and clung to the mobile. She could hear Eggman laughing behind them.
"You can't escape Vacuum Bot!" Eggman snickered. "He's gonna get you out of my hair once and for all!"
"What hair?" Sonic asked. "Your head is as bald as an egg, Egghead!" He hummed in realization of what the doctor was saying. "Oh. Now I understand."
He leaped from his friend's side and tried to attack the robot, but to Penny's horror, the robot sucked him up.
"NOOO!" She and Tails screamed.
Eggman laughed evilly. "Yeah! Oh, victory, you taste so sweet! Like candy! Evil candy! You know, the kind that has raisins hidden in the chocolate and you don't know it, so you think you bit into a fly." He frowned when he realized what he was saying. "Where was I going with this?"
Hearing loud clanging, Penny and Tails turned around towards the robot to see it getting knocked around. Then Sonic burst out, causing the robot to destroy itself. Eggman sighed in disappointment.
"Tadah!" Sonic grinned. Penny ran up to him, catching him in a fierce hug. Tails grinned at Sonic. "Penny and I never should have doubted you!"
"I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up," Eggman grumbled.
Tails frowned at Eggman. "Did you really think you could capture Sonic in that poorly-designed tin can?"
"What would you know? You've never tried to capture Sonic! It's not as easy as it looks, you know!" He grumbled in annoyance as he flew off, and Tails, Sonic, and Penny shared a laugh.
Sonic grinned at Tails. "Well, he was right about one thing."
"Raisins are too much like flies to be used in food?" Tails asked.
"What is he right about, Sonic?" Penny asked curiously. Sonic grinned at her. "Okay, two things. The other is that it's impossible to catch me."
"Actually, he never said "impossible." He said, "it's not easy." For him."
"Are you saying you think you could catch me?"
"Oh, I know I can catch you."
"Impossible!"
"You seem pretty confident." Tails said. "What say we make it interesting?"
Sonic nodded in agreement. "I think the audience will appreciate that."
"The loser has to sing a romantic song at Meh Burger Karaoke night." The kitsune smirked, holding out his hand. Penny nodded. "Rules for the song: It has to be a super cheese love song."
"Sounds good." Sonic nodded in agreement, shaking Tails' hand. "It's a bet!"
At Meh Burger...
"What kind of crazy bet is that?" Amy frowned at Tails, Sonic, and Penny.
"We're just doing it to brush away the cobwebs," Sonic said.
" I have no idea what that archaic expression means, but we're just doing it for fun!" Tails said.
Penny nodded. "Right. It's' for fun." She shot Sonic a warning look.
"What?!" Sonic asked.
"This is gonna end badly," Amy answered for Penny.
"Why do you say that?" Sonic asked.
"What Amy's saying, Sonic, is that you tend to be a little too...competitive." Penny translated for Amy. Sonic scoffed. Amy frowned. "No? Remember the time you and Knuckles competed to see who could put hats on the most monkeys?"
At the memory, Sonic and Knuckles burst into laughter. Penny shuddered. That was too many monkeys to chase down, not to mention picking up the party hats.
"I don't remember them causing any real problems." Sonic wheezed.
"And they looked so festive!" Knuckles added.
"This is just a good-natured competition between friends." Tails reassured Amy and Penny. "One of whom happens to be a mechanical genius."
"And the other is awesomely cool and super-fast."
"Which is which?" Knuckles asked.
"Sonic is fast and Tails is smart," Penny said.
"Right. ...Which one's "Tails" again?"
"May the best man win." Tails grinned at Sonic.
"Oh, I intend to."
Sonic and Tails glared at each other in a friendly way before snickering. This will be fun.
"This isn't going to end well..." Penny hummed. Amy nodded in agreement.
...
At Sonic's place, Penny helped Tails set up a trap for Sonic. Even though it was a bet ONLY between Sonic and Tails, Tails asked Penny to secretly help him with some ideas. So now there they were... Penny made an X out of seashells on the ground and Tails placed a chili dog on top of the x.
Sonic ran up and glanced up at the cage. He frowned at Tails. "Seriously? That's the best you can do?"
"Try to get that chili dog." Tails said.
Sonic zoomed towards it, and the bamboo cage fell to the ground. Sonic chuckled as he took a bite out of his snack. "If you're not gonna take this seriously, I don't really see the point in-"
He let out a startled yell as the ground disappeared below him, and he fell through the hole. Tails grinned. "WAY too easy!"
However, Sonic dashed out of the trap. This caused the cage to trap Tails.
Sonic frowned at Tails. " You sure you understand the bet? You're supposed to catch me, not you. C Minus."
Sonic patted Tails on the shoulder and zoomed off. Tails grumbled before following Sonic.
"This is going to end badly..." Penny shook her head. She walked inside to see Sonic staring hungrily at the chili dog, but then he glanced at the rope on the ground. Sonic shook his head. "Ha! Oh, Tails. I didn't fall for that the first time."
He ran around the table and jumped over the rope. He grabbed his chili dog and landed on his hammock. However, a creaking sound was heard, and a giant hand popped up in front of Sonic.
Sonic gulped.
The hand pulled his hammock back, and Sonic soon found himself sailing through tubes. Penny smirked. Did Tails actually do it? She and the kitsune ran outside. Tails grinned. "Ha! I knew my hammock slingshot pipe cage trap would work, despite its terrible name!" He flew towards the cage and gasped when he saw that Sonic wasn't there.
"Where'd...I could've sworn..." Penny's eyes widened.
"WHAT THE?!" Tails sounded shocked as well.
Hearing clapping, the two looked up. Sonic hopped from the cage. "Better! You caught me off guard for, like, a whole second!" He reached into the cage and grabbed the chili dog. "The trap itself is kinda same-y, though. C Plus."
Tails growled.
...
"I knew this would be bad." Penny shook her head. Sonic chuckled. "Did you see the look on his face when I escaped his traps?" He laughed. "There's no way he's going to catch me!"
"He would if you weren't so competitive!" Penny grumbled at him.
"Competitive? Oh, please. I-"
Penny turned around, and a snapping sound was heard. The human girl let out a yelp as she felt ropes lift her off the ground, pinning her arms to the side. She looked up to find herself hanging from a tree branch.
"H-hey!" She yelped, struggling in the trap. "Get me down from here! Sonic!"
However, he wasn't looking in her direction. He was glancing at Tails, who looked irritated. Sonic chuckled. "Like I said: Same-y. Good try, though."
He zoomed off.
"SONIC! TAILS!" She yelled, but they were gone.
...
Sonic and Knuckles walked up to see Tails struggling with some barrows. Sonic raised his brows. "Don't tell me you're giving up on our bet already?"
"Not a chance." The fox said, struggling to lift the barrow. "But I'd promised Zooey I'd stack these for her. Give me a hand, will you, Sonic?"
"Sure, I..." Sonic grinned but paused studying Tails' situation. He smirked, an idea popping in his head. "I could help, but what you really need is some serious muscle." He said, putting an arm on Knuckles' shoulder.
"You mean me, right?" Knuckles grinned.
"Yup."
Tails started stuttering nervously as Knuckles picked up the barrow. "No, that's okay. I don't wanna trouble you! YOU MIGHT GET A SPLINTER!"
Knuckles set the barrow on the pile and grinned. However, the barrows sprang into action and one fell on Knuckles, trapping him inside the barrow. A second later, a barrow slammed against his head, and Knuckles let out a yell as he rolled down the hill.
Sonic snickered. "Looks like someone's on a "roll." Haha!" He patted Tails on the head and zoomed off.
...
"So then I says, "looks like someone's on a 'roll'," Sonic said with a laugh.
"Really?" Amy raised her eyebrows.
"I'm clever that way." Sonic bragged, and the two continued walking until rumbling was heard. Rocks were tumbling towards them. Amy used her hammer to try to hammer them away, but the rocks trapped her.
Sonic zoomed up to Tails. "Well, looks like your traps are getting... "boulder." Like a rock. You should probably set Amy free since you trapped her."
He zoomed off.
Tails let out a frustrated yell and stomped on his binoculars, breaking them.
...
Soon, Sonic ran through the canyon, running over Tails' animal traps. Tails scowled, holding his taped up binoculars. "That's it! No holding back!"
"Not bad," Sticks hummed, trapped by her hair and hanging upside down in the traps. "Beautiful craftsmanship."
...
Sonic soon made his way to Tails, who was sitting in the middle of an ice pond next to a trap, looking glum. Sonic struggled over to Tails until he was close enough.
"Dude, what are you doing out here?"
"I was setting a trap but gave up. Guess Eggman was right about me."
"Aww, don't feel bad. You were just outmatched."
" Yeah. Well, might as well take the bait."
Sonic grinned. "I never let a chili dog go to waste."
However, as soon as he reached for the chili dog, creaking sounds were heard. Sonic's eyes widened, and he glanced up. The plate sprung away, and a spinning vane pulls a rope until it snaps, causing a hammer to hit a bowling bawl, which rolled into a cannon. The cannon launched the ball into the air, and Sonic realized right at that moment that he fell for a trick.
" Betrayed by the chili dog." He groaned.
The ball smashed against the ice, and the ice broke in half. Sonic let out a startled yell, slipping on the ice and clinging to one of the edges. "No-no-no-no-no! Can't swim! Can't swim! Can't swim!"
Tails grinned happily. "Gotcha! A play to your ego, the old sympathy card, a touch of misdirection, and a little help from Mother Nature, and boom! One Sonic, caught!"
Eggman soon came up, smirking. "My plan was brilliant!"
"What plan?!" Tails snarled.
"Tricking you into catching Sonic. You did the work, and I got the rodent!"
"Well, we won't let you have him! Right, guys?" Tails looked around for his friends but gasped when he realized they were still in the traps. "Oh no! In my maniacal zeal, I left them all in the failed traps!"
He ran off.
...
"49 bottles of milk on the wall..." Penny sang sarcastically as she hung in her rope trap, still attached to the tree branch. "Take one down, pass it around..."
Hearing beeping, she let out a yelp as she fell. Tails grinned at her. However, Penny wasn't grinning. "YOU." She hissed at Tails. "You were going to leave me hanging!"
"Sorry!" Tails said. "But Sonic's in trouble!"
"What!" Penny gasped.
"I'll explain on the way, come on, let's go get the others!"
When they reached Knuckles, Tails freed him from the trap. Knuckles gasped awake. "Oh, I'm glad you woke me. I was having that dream where I show up at school wearing pants."
Penny looked panicked. " Eggman has Sonic!"
"And it's all my fault!" Tails added.
They raced off. First, they freed Amy from the rock trap, and boy was she not happy about that. She held her hammer in her hand, snarling at Tails. "I told you this would go too far!"
"I know, and I'm sorry! You can lecture me later, but we've gotta save Sonic from Eggman!"
"I'll lecture you on the way. Kill two birds with one stone."
They ran off, soon joined by Sticks. Penny winced at the sight of the animal traps in her hair. "I got tired of waiting for you guys. What's up?"
"Eggman! Sonic in danger! My fault!" Tails gasped.
"This must be bad. You have no time for verbs! Let's go!"
...
Eggman snickered as he watched Sonic struggle to hang on while his robots swarmed him. "I'm going to have to build quite the freezer to hold Sonic the Hedge-cicle!"
"I don't know how to ride a Hedge-cycle," Cubot said.
"Not "cycle" like "bicycle," "cicle" like "icicle"!" Eggman snapped.
"There's also "sickle" like "hammer and sickle." Perhaps a less confusing moniker is called for. May I suggest Hedge-cube, like "ice cube"?" Orbot suggested.
Eggman shook his head. "That's really more about the shape than it is about the cold. I'm gonna stick with "hedge-cicle."
Amy and the gang soon joined in and started fighting the bots. Penny placed on ice skates to try to help Sonic, but she couldn't get any closer due to the water that separated them.
Eggman scowled at Orbot. "This is your fault! You took so long criticizing my name for Sonic that his dingus friends had time to get here!"
"Uh, guys? I know your intentions were good, but help!" Sonic yelled.
Seeing no other way to help Sonic, Penny yelled over her shoulder. "Knuckles! Help us out here!"
Knuckles ran up, smirking at Sonic. "Well, well, if it isn't Sonic the Hedge-cube."
Orbot smirked at Eggman.
Knuckles lifted the chunk of ice that Sonic was clinging to and Sonic landed on Knuckles' shoulders. "Knux, do me a solid and throw me at Egghead as hard as you can."
Knuckles flung Sonic into the air, and Sonic kicked Eggman's mobile out of the way. Eggman snarled at them. "I still get to claim victory! I had you! You were trapped for over a minute! I won!"
He flew off.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Penny gasped, running over to him.
"I'm fine, Pen." Sonic smiled at her. He let out a yelp as he slipped on the ice, and Penny grabbed his arm. He smirked flirtingly at her. "Thanks, princess."
She blushed, quickly looking down.
Tails walked up. "Sorry things got out of hand."
Sonic grinned at Tails. "I guess I got a little over-competitive. Why didn't somebody warn me that could happen?"
Penny and Amy shot him a displeased look.
Sonic held out his hand to Tails. "No hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings."
Amy cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting you trapped all of us, too?"
"I got a nifty hair accessory out of it," Sticks grinned. "But still!"
"I was starting to feel numb by the time you reached me!" Penny grumbled at Tails.
"I'm sorry I trapped all of you, but it all worked out, right? I mean, I knew where you were, which made rallying you to save Sonic easier!"
"We all have communications." Amy pointed out.
Tails sighed. "Can't we just put this behind us?"
"Of course we can!" Sonic grinned. He placed a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Oh, there's just one more thing..."
Soon, Penny and the gang sat down in front of the stage at Meh Burger Kareoke night, listening to Tails sing a cheesy love song that Penny picked out for him.
"You're the girl of my dreams. Please hold me tight!" The kitsune sang.
Sonic leaned into Penny. " I'm beginning to think that I lost that bet."
"You did," Penny nodded.
"Don't tell Tails."
Next Chapter: In The Midnight Hour