Penny grinned as she peddled alongside Sonic in the Speedster. Sonic shared the same excitement. "Whoo-hoo! Nothing like a relaxing Sunday drive."

Penny looked back towards Knuckles. "You doing okay back there, buddy?"

"I'm more than okay! I'm epic!" Knuckles cheered over the wind.

Sonic turned to Tails. "Hey, buddy. Wanna race?"

Tails grinned. "I don't see a downside!"

Penny yelped as Sonic zoomed his car faster, and she quickly started peddling to try to keep up with him. Tails zoomed not too far behind, but he was driving so fast that Knuckles was loosing control over his hover board.

Knuckles yelped as he slammed into a rock. "Hoverboarding isn't as much fun as I remember." He let out another yell as the force of Tails' truck ended up sending Knuckles to the ground. " Driver, please stop the bus. I'll be getting off here."

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Penny cheered as they went even faster.

"Oh no, I stained my dress. Now no one will dance with me at the ice cream social." Knuckles wailed from behind.

The race was doing great when Amy called them. "Sonic, Penny, got a crisis here! I'm trying to make a baked Alaska, but I'm all out of eggs!"

Sonic answered her. "Don't worry, Ames. Penny and I are on it!" Sonic turned to Tails. "Sorry Tails, we gotta go."

They zoomed off. Tails stopped his car and Knuckles whimpered. "I can live with that."

He fainted.

Sonic and Penny drove through town until they heard a yell of anger. Sonic quickly stopped the car and he and Penny hopped out, turning to see Eggman covered in mud and scowling at them.

Sonic winced. "Sorry, Egghead. It was an accident. If it'll make you feel better, you can splash mud on us."

"I don't mind." Penny said.

Eggman scowled angrily and tried splashing mud at them, but Sonic pulled Penny back.

"Now we're even!" Sonic smirked.

"Oh, yeah?!" Eggman hissed. He pressed a button and his robots appeared, surrounding Sonic and Penny. Sonic growled and started destroying them one by one, along with Penny's help. When the fight was over, the crowd booed and started throwing fruits at Eggman.

Eggman scowled. "He covered me with mud! Why are you booing me?!"

He ran off.

"Wow." Penny hummed.

Sonic nodded. "Who knew all those years of being a total dillweed would rub people the wrong way?"

Later...

"If I want to win the hearts and minds of the people, I need to change my image. But how?" Eggman frowned as he walked through the village.

Hearing cheering, the doctor turned to a videogame stand where the villagers were shrieking over the new Tommy Thunder game.

"I can't believe it's finally here!" Tails squealed.

" Shut up and take my money!" Wild Cat yelled enthusiastically, holding out bills.

"I've been waiting for this! Now we can have that rematch Sonic promised me." Penny grinned.

"Man I can't wait for that rematch!" Sonic giggled excitedly.

" I assure you there are enough copies of the new Tommy Thunder video game to go around." Mark said.

Tommy grinned at the crowd. "Don't listen to him. They're in limited supply! Push and shove! Elbows out!"

And right at that, the crowd started cheering and grabbed the nearest videogames they can find.

Eggman walked up to Tommy. "The mouth breathers are really going gaga for your merch."

Tommy grinned at Eggman. "I'm telling ya, Eggy, since he put out this video game, Tommy's image has never been hotter."

Eggman hummed, his expression turning from down to excitement. " I bet a video game will improve my image too! Imagine that. Eggman in a video game."

"Hot new game! Just released today! Finally, a video game starring a pudgy guy with a moustache!"

Eggman turned to the videogame store where Tails, Knuckles, and Penny were at the front desk.

"Can I have a Tommy Figure action figure?" Penny pleaded. Mark nodded and handed her the figure. She handed him the cash with a grin. "Keep the change."

Tails walked up next. "Can I get a new controller, please?"

Mark grabbed one and was about to hand it to Tails when Eggman spoke. "Hey, goober, don't you want to see the newest, coolest video game ever?"

"Kingdom Hearts?" Penny asked.

"No." Eggman said.

"Super Plumber Brothers?" Tails suggested.

"No."

"Mortal Blood Sport 7?" Knuckles asked.

"Nooo!"

"Comedy Chimp's Combat Golf?" Mark suggested.

"NO!" Eggman said. "Stache Smash! It's a side scrolling strategy-platformer full of twists, turns and egg puns!" He used quotation fingers for the next thing he said. "To "beat it" you need to collect all seven-"

"Pass." Penny and Tails said flatly.

"WHY?!"

"It's so old-fashioned." Knuckles pointed out. "Where are the cool graphics? The boss battles? The gratuitous violence?"

"Don't forget the amazing background music to lighten up your spirits and unlock your deepest emotions?" Penny added.

"Besides, everyone knows all the best games use motion capture." Tails said.

Knuckles chuckled. "You're living in the past, man."

They walked off, and Eggman scowled.

"I've planted Spy Bots everywhere. Once Team Sonic arrives, I'll record their movements using my patented yolk capture technology for my new state of the art Super Stache Smash! " Eggman told Orbot and Cubot as they waited for Sonic and the rest of the team. He looked around to see them coming. "Here they come now."

Eggman quickly ordered his robots to attack them, and the gang swept into action. Penny pulled out her bo staff and wacked as much as she could until she got tired. Sonic quickly saved her from being shot by another laser and smashed it. The rest of the team fought until the robots were finished, and Sonic smashed the rest of Eggman's robots.

Eggman grinned excitedly. "Oh, this is great! These are gonna be the sickest boss battles ever! Now, time for the star of the game."

The spybots left Team Sonic and surrounded Eggman as the doctor started doing his own battle moves. In the end, Eggman tried hopping into his mobile but landed on his head. The doctor smirked as he straightened himself and did his final pose. Orbot and Cubot also made their move by getting in their copilot seats.

Penny raised her brows a bit. "What in the world?"

Sticks frowned. "...Do we even retaliate, or has he humiliated himself enough already?"

" I guess I could spin attack him over the horizon, but I kinda feel bad about it." Sonic hummed.

He stood there for a few moments before finally making his mind. "Meh, whatever." Sonic smirked and smashed Eggman into the air.

"I got all I need of Team Sonic, but somehow my sweet moves don't look at cool as I hoped." Eggman sighed as he watched himself on his records.

Cubot glanced at Eggman. " Maybe it's 'cause you're getting your butt kicked."

"No, that's not it."

"Might I suggest motion capturing a foe who can actually defeat Sonic, then just digitally replace their image with yours?" Orbot suggested.

"What a brilliant idea!" Eggman grinned. "Glad I thought of it."

"That's why you're the boss, sir." Orbot said dryly.

Eggman frowned thoughtfully. "Who do I know that stands a chance of defeating Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Shadow the Hedgehog zoomed through the cannons, his thoughts trailing to Penny. He scoffed a bit, trying to get her out of his mind.

Seeing a familiar person up ahead and blocking his path, Shadow stopped in his tracks. He glared.

Eggman.

Eggman smiled nervously at Shadow. " Shadow, I have a proposition for you."

Shadow scoffed at Eggman. "Find some other pawn, Eggman. I'll never work with you again. Now get out of my sight."

Eggman sighed and walked off.

"I wonder what Eggman's planning." Penny hummed as she and Sonic prepared to go out.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Well..." Penny hummed. "He has been showing up lately and putting up more fights."

"You know, you're right, that is kind of strange." Sonic hummed, crossing his arms. "What has gotten into him..."

"You know, let's put this aside for now and enjoy our time." Penny smiled. Sonic smiled back and grabbed her hand. The two walked out, and they were pretty surprised to see Eggman standing there.

"Eggman?!" Penny asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Sonic! Penny! What do you think about Shadow the Hedgehog? I mean, eww, right?" Eggman snickered.

"How dare you talk about my friend like that?!" Penny hissed. Sonic quickly pulled her behind him before she could strangle Eggman for insulting Shadow.

Sonic frowned at Eggman. "What a random question. Why are you asking us about him? Penny and I haven't seen him in weeks."

"A quick correction, Sonic. I haven't seen him since the Strike episode." Penny said. "So it wasn't too long ago,"

"No, it was weeks." Sonic sighed at her.

"Oh, just curious." Eggman said. "Hey, bet you'd love to beat him up, huh?"

"Beat him up?" Sonic shook his head. "Nah, never thought about it. I mean that battle last time was a bit of a whirlwind, but he is a tough customer."

"Yeah, but what about his shoes? Aren't they weird looking?"

"Meh, we could take them or leave them." Sonic said flatly. He glared at Eggman. "Where are you getting these questions anyway? Just pulling them out of a bag? I'm outta here."

Sonic grabbed Penny's hand and walked off, pushing the camera away as he did so. Eggman growled.

"Oh, Shadow!" Eggman sang, walking into Shadow's cave.

Shadow glared at Eggman. "You again?"

"Just wanted to let you know I ran into our old pal Sonic today. And he did not have the nicest things to say about you. Penny tried to stop him but he was on a roll."

Eggman turned on his wrist control, and a hologram of Sonic popped up. "Shadow? He is-week-that-wind-bag-could-never-beat-me-what a-week-week-week-wind-bag-he is."

Shadow scowled. "This aggression shall not stand. Sonic and his friends shall pay. Time to take out the trash."

"Already on it." Eggman smirked, holding the trash bag. "Then you'll go beat up Team Sonic, right?"

Eggman ran off and Shadow growled in annoyance.

"Tell us another joke, Knuckles!" Penny giggled.

"All right," Knuckles grinned at her. "Here's a good one. "A horse walks into a bar. The bartender yells, 'Hey, no animals in here!'"

Penny burst out into laughter. Her laughter was soon caught abruptly as Knuckles let out a yell. Penny glanced at him and her eyes widened to see that he was punched back.

"KNUCKLES!" Penny yelled, running up to the echidna with Tails at her side. "What happened?!"

Knuckles groaned. " If I had to guess, I'd say I was knocked into a wall."

"Correction: Pummeled into a wall."

Penny gasped, her eyes widening. She knew that voice. She turned to see the ebony hedgehog glaring at them, his arms crossed. "Shadow!" Penny gasped, backing up a little.

Tails glared at Shadow. "Shadow! What are you doing here?"

"Fox hunting." Shadow hissed. He lunged for Tails and grabbed him by the tails, swinging him and tossing him down a well.

"TAILS!" Penny screamed. She turned to Shadow, her eyes wide. "Shadow, what has gotten into you?! I thought we were friends!"

"Sorry." Shadow hissed. He zoomed over to the girl and grabbed her by her shirt collar, and flew up in the air. Penny gasped, grabbing onto his arms and tried prying him off. "Let me go!"

"Pleasure is mine." Shadow growled. He twirled Penny around and let go, sending her flying back side against a tree. The girl cried out in pain before passing out.

"PENNY!" Knuckles gasped. He glared at Shadow. "Good thing I took that shadow boxing class!"

The echidna let out a yell and tried to punch Shadow, but the hedgehog was too quick and used his teleportation to block Knuckles' attacks.

Penny gritted her teeth and opened her eyes a little to see Knuckles and Shadow fighting. The girl grabbed a nearby branch and stood up, groaning. She narrowed her eyes at Shadow.

"Shadow!"

Shadow turned to her, and the girl let out a yell and ran towards him, her staff raised. Shadow easily kicked her to the ground.

"Don't worry Pen, Knux, I got him!" Tails said, flying out of the well. He zoomed towards him, and Shadow teleported out of the way and Knuckles accidentally punched Tails.

Knuckles gasped.

"That was almost too easy." Shadow sneered.

"Well, it ain't over yet!" Sticks hissed. She helped Penny to her feet, and Sticks, Amy, and Penny lunged towards Shadow. Shadow knocked Amy easily aside and grabbed Penny and Sticks. He flew in the air and spun both girls around before letting go.

Penny let out a scream as she fell. She weakly turned on her communicator. "Sonic...help..." She gasped before passing out.

Sonic zoomed over, and his eyes widened. He ran over to the the human girl, picking her up in his arms. "Penny?! Penny?!"

She groaned in response but didn't open her eyes. Her face was scrunched in pain. Sonic angrily gritted his teeth.

"About time you showed up, slowpoke."

Sonic angrily turned around to see Shadow smirking at him, crossing his arms. "Shadow!" Sonic hissed. "What have you done?!"

Shadow said nothing but charged towards Sonic, and the two launched punch after punch and kick after kick at each other. Shadow gained the upper hand and easily punched Sonic, and the blue hedgehog smashed through several palm trees and smacked into a wall.

Shadow landed by him and sneered at him. "Say goodnight, blue boy."

Knuckles groaned. "Aww, a cliffhanger?! I hate those."