(A/N: Thanks for reviewing, everyone. Chaos Flower, I have no intention of putting in any spoilers (I almost did in chapter 1). That's why I distanced this fic from Sonic Battle; I knew it'd be hard to write about that without spoilers. D.W. and Freak of Nature, thanks for your continued support. And now, the beginning of The Plot Twist.)
Chapter 4: The Plot Twist
(A/N: OK, so I'm not big on chapter titles.)
"There, they're coming right toward us. Can I fight now?" Knuckles growled impatiently. "You can't tell me you're going to let them down here."
"Quit your whining, echidna. I have plans for these two; did you ever stop to consider that maybe I wantthem to enter my domain?"
This retort silenced Knuckles for only a moment. "Then I get to fight them, right?"
"Hey, get over it, gramps, we did what you couldn't," Charmy interrupted, not needing to change his normal tone of voice to be taunting and obnoxious.
Eggman glared at Charmy but grabbed Knuckles, who was clearly livid. "If you touch that bee I will make sure that you end up in the back of the lab. I told you already I have everything worked out. You'll have plenty of time to fight after we have Espio and Amy."
Clearly dissatisfied at this answer, Knuckles sulked away, and Shadow replaced him next to Eggman. "So who does get to fight these two?" he asked calmly, striking his most intimidating pose.
"Not you either, sorry," Eggman rolled his eyes. "Big will take care of Espio, and Sonic will confront Amy."
"Why-"
"Because, you meddling hedgehog, even Big is quick enough to fight the chameleon now, and Espio will let his guard down. As for sending Sonic against Amy, I think that choice is pretty clear. Besides, Sonic had the easiest job last time-"
"Sonic had the easiest job? Didn't Rouge beat him?" Shadow wondered, confused.
Eggman smiled. "Of course, silly me. Nonetheless, he will deal with the chameleon, and that's settled." Pausing in thought for a bit, he turned around. "Knuckles, I may have a job for you after all."
"We're almost there, keep your guard up," Espio muttered, looking around cautiously as they approached the clearing that hid Eggman's trap door.
"OK," Amy acknowledged, imitating Espio and checking her surroundings. When she faced forward again, she was surprised to have a clear view of the cliff. "Espio!" she yelled, realizing he had become invisible and abandoned her.
At the yell, Eggman's trap door opened. Perfect, Espio thought. She'd only get in my way down here. He leapt down behind Big and Sonic, who didn't notice him.
"S-Sonic!" Amy gasped.
"Where's your friend?" Big glared, brandishing his fishing pole menacingly (A/N: don't ask).
"H-he's already gone," Amy replied, not showing her fear. "I can t-take both of you!"
"You must be joking," Sonic disagreed. "You don't stand a chance with me, Amy, fighting or marrying."
I won't let him get to me, Amy told herself. Sonic will be so proud of me if I save him from Eggman now!
"Enough fooling around, you're mine!" Sonic yelled, charging forward. Amy barely had time to flinch before Sonic was right on top of her. Just then, she realized he wasn't moving. She also realized someone was grabbing her arm.
"Chaos Control!"
"Shadow! You saved me!" Sonic and Big were frozen stiff. Amy, in contact with Shadow, was unaffected. However, Shadow clearly still had Eggman's device on his head. "How-"
"After Espio was knocked out, Chocola swooped in with one MCPE cap for me. I put it on just before Charmy knocked me out, so I pretended to be under Eggman's control for a while."
"That's great! But why didn't Rouge-"
"We honestly have no idea. By the way, Espio did the right thing by going ahead. He can climb around on the walls and make it very difficult for anyone to find him; you'd almost certainly get in his way."
Amy sighed, knowing Shadow was right, but this was clearly the demise of her heroic fantasies. "How long will they be frozen?"
"Not much longer. We just need to buy Espio enough time to shut them down."
Espio crawled around the ceiling, ducking around corners when anyone looked his way. He was fairly certain no one had seen him yet, but he hadn't found Eggman either.
"Where's Shadow?!"
Ah, there's Eggman.
"Look at this," Tails scowled, pointing to the viewscreen. Sonic and Big had just awoken and Shadow was battling them fiercely.
"A shame," Eggman commented, "But we have more important things to worry about. Find the chameleon."
Tails nodded, looking around carefully. Espio snuck around until he reached Eggman and the master computer. Suddenly he heard a gasp; had someone heard him? He turned around carefully to see Vector glaring at him. Before either of them could react, a red flash charged at Vector, knocking him over. Knuckles silently battered Vector into silence, and turned his head to wink at Espio. Thoroughly confused, Espio continued forward until he was just within reach of the computer.
"Knuckles, what are you doing?" Eggman shouted furiously, holding a strange-looking gun. "I warned you about fighting your allies!" He aimed the gun straight at Knuckles' head.
Great, Espio thought. He may be my enemy, but he did save me. Besides, once we get those devices off he'll thank me. Well, probably not, but still…
"No, I was just-" Knuckles began to protest, but Eggman fired. Espio leapt off the wall to push Knuckles out of the way. Eggman grinned widely, and Knuckles swung his fist powerfully. Caught off guard, Espio was hit squarely, and slammed into a wall for a second time. He felt his consciousness fading, and he reverted to visibility. Knuckles and Eggman were laughing evilly.
"Impeccable acting as usual," Knuckles complimented.
"I hope you've fought enough to satisfy you for today," Eggman smiled.
Espio was shocked. They had tricked him, almost effortlessly. All the time off was definitely getting to him. He knew he was caught, but he struggled to stand up to see how Amy was faring.
Noticing this, Eggman chuckled again. "Don't worry about your friend, she's already taken care of."
"-aos Control!" Shadow teleported in mid-shout holding Amy and her hammer firmly.
"You tricked me too!" Amy squirmed, her voice thick with contempt. "But the cap-"
"Sorry, I'm afraid those MCPE caps are really quite useless," a familiar voice said behind them.
"Rouge?!" Espio, Amy, and the newest slaves gasped. Rouge was indeed floating in front of them, wearing one of Eggman's devices.
"Game over, Espio and Amy," Eggman leered as the others forcibly attached the heroes to the device.
(A/N: Well, it looks like the end for our heroes. Knuckles and Shadow's deceptions leave these two trapped in Eggman's machine. Who can save them now? Will evil triumph? And what is up with Rouge, anyway? Stay tuned!)