Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

by KatherineTheMoth

When Sonic had accidently discovered a mysterious board game, he soon asked his friends to play it with him. Little did the gang realize that the board game is cursed and that they are now forced to finish it for the curse to be over. This resulted in a crazy adventure where they have to play the game in order to save their planet, their lives, and the entire universe. Now Game On!

6. A Game Of Deceit

Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

A Game of Deceit

"Okay! How did my beautiful spaceship crash into some rocks here?! How did we manage to get off course in our trip and then suddenly come to this wretched planet in another second later?! And how the heck did we got here anyway?! HOW?! HOW?! HOW?!" Dr. Eggman yelled in fury as he was ready to dismantle every one of his robot crew in front of him.

"WE DON'T KNOW, SIR!" Decoe and Bocoe shouted together in fear as they held each other while staring at Dr. Eggman's angry face. If there was one thing that they had learned to fear while working for Dr. Eggman, it would be his unbridled wrath when he's ticked off. Bokkun was hiding behind them while covering his head in fear. Dr. Eggman is scary. Bokkun thought as water came upon his eyes since he felt afraid.

"Oh, don't act like you guys don't know anything! One of you guys had screwed up, and I'm going to find out who!" Dr. Eggman yelled in anger.

"B-B-But Doctor! We're telling the truth here! We had no idea how we got here! All we saw was a bright flash of light, and then the next moment we got teleported to this planet! What else could we possibly do to convince you that we're telling the truth?!" Bocoe yelled out in defense.

"He's right, Doctor! We were definitely trailing behind Sonic and his friends before we even reached where they were at! We had most certainly not lied to you! We hadn't even pushed any buttons on the ship either! So, you can agree on us on that! You've been watching us the entire time!" Decoe yelled too as he added to Bocoe's argument.

Dr. Eggman was growling as he listened to his robots' arguments. He had no choice but to agree with them. Those two had not touched a single button or pulled a lever this entire trip. So, what went wrong? He then got an idea.

"Bokkun?" Dr. Eggman asked with spite in his tone.

"Eep!" Bokkun exclaimed in fear.

"Did you press any buttons?" Dr. Eggman asked in an eerily calm tone.

"NO! I DID NOT!" Bokkun shouted as he felt more scared.

"Are...you...sure?" Dr. Eggman asked slowly yet menacingly.

"Yes! I was in my room the entire time while taking a nap! I have no clue what went wrong with your ship, sir!" Bokkun exclaimed quickly.

Dr. Eggman then sighed deeply while face-palming himself as he replied calmly yet tiredly, "Ugh. So, you were sleeping on the job then, I take it?".

"(Gulp)…Yes, sir," Bokkun answered weakly.

"Grrrrrrrr. You are on clean-up duty for now on. Understand?!" Dr. Eggman replied with a frown.

"Ack! Uh, yes, sir! I'm on it now, sir!" Bokkun exclaimed in a panic as he then got up and ran away. He went to the lift in the middle of the ship, wend down on it, and went into another part of the ship to get some cleaning supplies. It's better to do work than to be punished. That was one thing that Bokkun had learned while working for Dr. Eggman.

"So, let me get this straight. Neither of you two have an explanation on how we got here then?" Dr. Eggman said to Decoe and Bocoe now.

"N-No, sir," Decoe and Bocoe replied at the same time while shaking their heads "no".

Dr. Eggman sighed as he crossed his arms while pondering curiously in confusion. Well, great. We landed on a strange planet without any explanation as to why. At least with that Earth incident, that was due to Chaos Control. But what the heck is the explanation for this?!

"Ummm...Doctor? I may have a guess, but it's a little out there," Decoe replied as he and Bocoe slowly let go of each other after they saw Dr. Eggman calming down a little.

Dr. Eggman was silent at first, but he then calmly replied, "...Go on".

"Ummmm...Remember when we were bugging Sonic for information on what's going on with him?" Decoe continued as he put a hand behind his head.

"...Yes, I remember," Dr. Eggman replied with a frown.

"Well, we did catch some parts about a mystical board game that he and his friends were playing at the time. We had also heard his friends go on about how the board game is so powerful since it can do whatever it wants. It's like the board game controls fate itself," Decoe continued his hypothesis.

"...? 'Fate...itself'?" Dr. Eggman repeated in confusion as he raised his eyebrows. He couldn't comprehend that an item could be so powerful that it could control the cosmos itself.

"Yes, Doctor. So, my guess is that the board game probably summoned us to be here in this planet. I mean, If that random flash of light is evidence enough that it's the board game doing all of this, then I don't know what else to tell you. …... Err... Yeah, that does sound ludicrous if you think about it, but I got nothing else of an explanation for why we are here. So, that's my guess in a nutshell. Heheheh," Decoe finished his hypothesis before being sheepish in the end.

"So, you are telling me that we are here because of a board game?" Dr. Eggman replied calmly as he face-palmed himself again after hearing Decoe's hypothesis.

"Uhhh...Yes?" Decoe answered nervously.

"...And it was due to Sonic...and his friends playing it...Correct?" Dr. Eggman continued slowly as he felt the rising anger again.

"Heheheheh, um...Yes," Decoe answered again as a sweat drop formed on his head.

"..." Dr. Eggman was deathly silent as his frustration grew and grew very fast. Decoe and Bocoe can see his face glowing a deep shade of red as he felt very ticked off right now.

Bocoe whispered to Decoe, "...Do you honestly believe that it was due to some sort of board game? I mean, come on. Really? Could that sort of scenario really even happen?".

Decoe whispered back, "Well, what else do you think that it could have been? Portals? Time-travel? Multiverse entryways? What kind of a reality are you living on, man? Science-fiction? Please, a crazy, mystical board game is way more believable than any of those possibilities!".

"I...I...ummm..." Bocoe stuttered as he couldn't think of a reply to that. Wow...He actually has a point to that. Bocoe thought as he sweated too.

"Hmph. I rest my case," Decoe whispered with an annoyed look on his face. When the two robots looked back at Dr. Eggman, they were very surprised on how furious he looked. It was the same angry look that he had about three minutes ago.

"Uhhh...Doctor?" Bocoe asked nervously.

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT HEDGEHOG!" Dr. Eggman screamed in anger. He screamed so loud that it can be heard outside of his spaceship.

Luckily for him, Sonic and his friends were too far away from him to hear that. The reason why? Well, it was because they were all at a village somewhere, getting thanked and congratulated by the village's brown, old leader.

[Meanwhile With Sonic And His Friends]

The whole village was filled with crowds of people. Sonic and his friends were standing near each other while looking at the elderly village leader. The brown leader spoke with thankfulness in his voice.

"You have no idea how grateful I am for protecting us from those robot aliens. If it wasn't for your timing and your kindness, our village would've been sunken down into the dreadful sea thanks to those heartless robot aliens. You had saved our planet. You had saved us all. We are in your debt. To return your kindness, my people and I had decided to throw a celebration to commemorate your acts of bravery. There will be lots of food, music, dancing, and best of all, a parade! We will party like there's no tomorrow! That is how grateful we all are. We wanted to appreciate our second chance in life by partying our hearts out! And it's all thanks to you, Sonic the Hedgehog. We would not have realized how valuable our lives were if you hadn't come here in time to save us. I thank you and your friends very, very much. Please enjoy the festivities that we will throw very soon," the brown elder said calmly. He bowed himself before Sonic and the others in gratitude after his speech.

Sonic whistled as he said, "Aw sweet! Also, it was nothing. Really. I'm just glad that you are going to enjoy yourself much more after this. Enjoy your life as much as possible, old man! Because you can never know when your time comes!".

The elder chuckled as he replied, "Hahaha, very true, young man. You're lucky that I respect you because otherwise I would've reprimand you for that...'old man' comment".

"Heheheh, uh, sorry about that," Sonic replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

Amy, who was next to him, replied happily, "Oooh! I just love a good party! This will be awesome! I can't wait to see the parade!".

"I like parades too, Amy! Hey, Tails? Have you been to a parade?" Chris Thorndike replied with a smile as he looked down at Tails.

Tails looked confused as he asked, "The heck is a parade?!".

A Few Minutes Later...

"This here is a parade, young man!" the brown leader yelled as he waved his wooden cane around to direct the dancers in front of him. The elderly leader was smiling as he was standing on top of a ship, decorated with shiny, rainbow lights. The crowd was cheering as the parade had started. They started to dance. There were several ships like the one the elderly leader was on ahead of him. It makes sense why it would be sea-themed considering the name their home planet was based off of. Sonic and his friends were either on the ships or walking beside the moving as they gazed at the parade.

"Wow, this is actually kind of cool!" Tails exclaimed with a happy smile.

"Do you like this, Tails?" Chris asked to Tails while he was busy looking at the ships and crowds before him.

"'Like this'? I love it! This is fun! Hahahahaha!" Tails replied happily as he laughed. Man, this is great! I feel like I am a very important figure here! I am so ready for this party now after seeing so many people respect me! Tails thought with a huge smile. It is rare moments like this that he is happy just to be recognized by others in a friendly manner.

Cosmo was walking on the ground while keeping up with the ship where Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Chris were on. She was accompanied by Cream and Knuckles. Cosmo was staring at Tails' happy face as he soaked in the positive atmosphere. Cosmo smiled gently as she thought. I've never been to a parade before either, and, I'm already enjoying this jovial atmosphere that is going on right now. Perhaps it is mostly due to Tails' happiness in this event that is making it enjoyable. Hmm...I guess I can learn from Tails and enjoy this peaceful event too.

While Cosmo was busy watching Tails enjoy himself, Cream was busy talking to Knuckles while holding the board game with her. She got it back from Sonic after arriving back to the Blue Typhoon.

"Are you enjoying the parade, Mr. Knuckles? This seems rather nice," Cream replied happily as she looked at Knuckles.

"Just...(sigh)...what am I doing here?" Knuckles replied as he sighed in the middle of his sentence. He placed a hand on his head as he looked exasperated. He had look that literally reads "I want out now!".

"Aw, don't be like that, Mr. Knuckles! Parades are enjoyable and peaceful! This is a time to be happy, not being grumpy! We've found our first Chaos Emerald and had stopped the Metarex from talking this planet's Planet Egg! I think that it is a perfect time to relax and enjoy yourself!" Cream replied optimistically with a happy grin on her face.

"I'll be happy once we're back on the ship and being near the Master Emerald again. We could've left this planet the moment the others had gotten back at the ship, but this old geezer and his sappy followers just HAD to delay us from leaving all because they want a stupid party! I don't have time for parties! We need to get going and find the rest of Chaos Emeralds in the other planets before the Metarex do!" Knuckles exclaimed in slight frustration as he frowned.

Cream frowned as she replied, "I know that you want to leave, but it is for the best if we tried to relax a little. It is good for you to enjoy yourself with your friends, Mr. Knuckles. It is like Mr. Sonic had said. You don't know when your time is up, so, you should enjoy this moment to the best that you can!".

"I!...I!" Knuckles stuttered as he quickly looked at Cream with wide eyes. Cream smiled as she knows that she had a point in her argument. Knuckles sighed again as he brooded. "Friends"? More like "acquaintances" at best. But regardless, she does have a point. I don't know when I'm going to die, but I would love it if it was while protecting the Master Emerald. At least my death would've been honorable as I continue to do my duty...alone. Please. As if I'll make a real friend in the future...in which that won't happen anytime soon.

He smirked as he felt confident that it is the likely outcome in the future. Cream grinned as she asked with hope in her voice, "Mr. Knuckles? Did you understand what I was telling you? Are you going to enjoy yourself?".

Knuckles shrugged as he casually replied, "Meh. I'll try".

"Yay!" Cream exclaimed happy as she beamed at him. Knuckles rolled his eyes as he smiled a little at her. Well, at least she's easy to please. I'll give her that much. Knuckles thought with a calm smile.

As the parade went on, Chris said to Sonic, "Boy, even for just a party, these people do like to give it their all. Just look at how excited they are!".

"Yeah, I can see that," Sonic replied. He grinned as he turned around to look at Chris before he added, "Heh! My kind of people!". Chris smiled at Sonic and nodded in agreement. Sonic winked at him before he turned his attention to Knuckles.

He then called out to him. "Yo, Knuckles! Are ya enjoying yourself?! Because I'm certainly am!".

Knuckles quickly looked up and growled at him. He snapped back with some sarcasm thrown in there, "Oh, good for you! You're having fun! Meanwhile, I want out of this!".

Sonic grinned as he continued to tease playfully, "Knuckles! Don't be a party pooper now! This celebration is only getting started! Of coarse, you wanted out because you're not good with crowds, are ya?".

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at Sonic as he replied, "I just wanted to have some peace and quiet. Crowds are just loud and noisy. So, why would I want to be at a parade like this?".

"Because you secretly wanted to have some fun, but you are just too proud to admit it! Come on, Knuckles! You know that you wanted to join us! That was why I had invited you, Cream, and Cosmo to join us! The old man wanted to thank us, and I'm letting him do it by throwing us a party!" Sonic replied cheerfully with a big grin.

Knuckles' eyes had widened as he heard this. He brooded with a grimace. So, this is the real reason why our departure to space is delayed. Not because of that old man, but because of Sonic. All because he wanted to have fun. Grrrrr! Oh, that does it! I am going to get back at Sonic for this delay one way or another! I don't care how, but I'm going to do it with results! That will show him not to delay important missions such as obtaining all of the seven Chaos Emeralds! Which need I remind you that it was HIS fault that they were gone in the first place!

After he thought that, he then replied to Sonic, "Sonic! I don't want to be here! When will you ever realize that I like being alone?! I just want to go back to the ship and be at the Master Emerald's side in the main engine room! I'm not in a partying mood!".

"Aw, come on, Knuckles! Just try and loosen up a little! These people like to throw parties! If you had at least one ounce of their joy, then you too would be in a partying mood! Enjoy yourself, Knuckles! That is how you get joy in your life! Just throw yourself into the happy, peaceful moments and relax! It's that easy!" Sonic exclaimed with a smile.

"Speak for yourself, Sonic! You don't have a huge emerald weighing on your shoulders! I have a good reason to stay focused! I'll relax in my own time! Just not this way!" Knuckles exclaimed back in frustration.

Sonic smirked as he shrugged. He then replied, "Man, you really do enjoy bringing the joy down, Knuckles! But do you know what I think?".

Knuckles rolled his eyes in annoyance as he replied, "No. What?".

Sonic grinned cheekily as he replied, "I bet that it is possible that someone could stay joyful while carrying something like your emerald over their shoulders! If that person could stay smiling and be joyful despite those responsibilities, then I think that you need to reevaluate yourself and change that grumpy attitude of yours! After all, true joy comes from being happy within yourself despite what is currently happening to you right now. And if that person could just simply smile and laugh at those responsibilities weighing down on them...then I'm sure that you can too!".

Knuckles opened his mouth to retort to that bold statement, but before he could do that, a random person came behind Sonic and picked him up. Sonic was surprised as he exclaimed, "H-Hey! What gives?! What are you doing?!".

"Well, we are throwing you and your friends a party, right?" the random stranger said as he held Sonic.

"Um, right," Sonic replied awkwardly.

"Then we should literally throw you and your friends a party! Come on! Have fun already!" the stranger exclaimed before he threw Sonic into the air.

"Waaaaaaaah!" Sonic exclaimed in shock as he was spinning in the air.

"Yes! Yes! Throw your troubles away, my friends! Just throw yourself into some fun!" the old man declared as he pointed his cane at Sonic's gang. Two other strangers grabbed Tails and Amy and threw them into the air too.

"Why us?!" Tails exclaimed while spinning in the air.

"Not cool!" Amy exclaimed in the air while holding her dress down to avoid her panties being seen. The crowd was cheering some more as they enjoyed the parade.

Chris exclaimed while also being at the air, "I'm not sure that I enjoy this now!".

"Me either!" Sonic exclaimed too in the air while having his arms crossed and while in a sitting position.

"See?! See?! We want to express our immense joy that we are still alive by having you guys bouncing up and down on our rope trampolines! It is a metaphor on how you are traveling in life! You will always be bouncing up and down every day, but it is your choice be joyful or not! We are happy that you are okay and well just as we are happy that we're okay too! So, since you guys are still alive, this will be a perfect opportunity for guys to appreciate life while bouncing on top of those trampolines! Have fun you guys!" the elderly leader exclaimed with a happy smile on his face.

Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Chris kept on bouncing on the trampolines while the parade float moves forward slowly. Cosmo, Cream, and Knuckles stared at the four bouncing on the rope trampoline with confused faces.

Cosmo then said, "Um, Sonic? Are you okay with this?".

"What does this look like?" Sonic replied with an annoyed look while in a laying down position now.

"Hmm..." Cosmo hummed a bit as a response. Knuckles then smirked as he saw that his rival is starting to feel annoyed at this turn of events.

He started to tease Sonic by saying, "So, what's that about feeling true joy despite the circumstances? Because I think that you are becoming a hypocrite seeing how much you are actually enjoying yourself right now".

Sonic looked unamused as he replied, "Knuckles...not now".

Knuckles teased even more as he replied with a devious smirk, "What's that? Are you feeling grumpy, Sonic? I thought that you said throwing yourself into the happy, peaceful moments is easy!".

"Knuckles...Shut up," Sonic replied as he bounced on the trampoline twice to utter that sentence. Knuckles snickered in slight amusement as he finally saw Sonic looking ticked off now, and the best part about that is that he can't come down and beat him up right now. Not that he is afraid of Sonic fighting him in the first place, but rather that he was a bit happy that he got his revenge somehow. Ha. Serves him right for being a pretentious show-off. As if he actually knows what's he's talking about. He should really learn when to shut up sometimes. Knuckles thought with a smirk.

"I don't understand why Mr. Sonic seems to be displeased by this. It looks like fun! I want to get on it too!" Cream replied with a happy smile. Cheese exclaimed too, "Chao chao chao!".

"It's probably too nauseating for him by the looks of it," Knuckles commentated while still smirking a little.

"That's too bad. But I wonder why the locals wanted to throw a party in the first place," Cosmo replied with a confused look.

"They did this because we had saved their Planet Egg from the Metarex!" Chris exclaimed in the air.

"It's a way to show us how joyful they are because of that," Sonic replied in the air as he looked more calmer than before.

"I can see that! Just please stop this!" Tails exclaimed with a panicked look on his face.

"I want to be joyful on the ground!" Amy exclaimed while still holding down her dress a bit.

"Wow, it is amazing how far people can go to express their joy in life, isn't that right, Cream?" Cosmo said to Cream with a smile on her face.

"I agree, Cosmo! People shouldn't hide their joy from others! It's the only way to be happy! Being free to express their emotions!" Cream agreed with a bright smile. Cheese exclaimed, "Chao chao!".

What am I listening to? A philosophy class? Or a therapy session? Knuckles thought with a slight frown as he is listening to the girls talk some more about joy, life, and emotions.

"Hey, do you guys want to come up to the ship too? We got plenty of room for you guys to bounce on! It's really fun!" the old leader declared with a grin.

"Ooooh! Can we?!" Cream exclaimed happily.

"Of coarse, young lady! The more the merrier!" the old man exclaimed with a nod.

With a happy smile, she grabbed Knuckles' arm for his attention. Knuckles got out of his thoughts and turned to look at Cream. "Eh? What is it, Cream?" Knuckles asked in curiousity.

"Mr. Knuckles, can you please hold onto this board game for me? I want to go onto the bouncy float!" Cream asked while looking excited. Knuckles raised his eyebrows at her before he shrugged and took the board game from her.

"Okay, Cream. Have fun now," Knuckles replied calmly while holding the board game now.

"Teehee! Thanks, Dad!" Cream exclaimed happily before she flew up towards the float and started bouncing on it.

Knuckles exclaimed in embarrassment, "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not your Dad?!".

Sonic grinned as he replied, "Well, if you keep being a boring person and not try to have fun, then sorry, buddy, but you are going to have to be the Dad of the group. End of story!".

"But I'm sixteen! I'm too young to be any of your Dads!" Knuckles exclaimed with a frown while blushing a little.

"O,h yeah? Well, I'm fifteen, and I want to stay young and have fun!" Sonic exclaimed with a teasing grin.

"Well, go have fun somewhere else when I'm not invited next time!" Knuckles exclaimed with grimace as he looked away from Sonic.

"Heh! I will!" Sonic exclaimed with a smirk. Oh, great. Just when I thought that Sonic was not having fun before, he certainly got it back by teasing me. Now, I definitely want to plan my revenge on him somehow. Knuckles brooded with a frown on his face.

Cosmo kept on staring at the bouncy float. She can see Cream laughing and having fun bouncing on the rope trampoline. She decided that she wanted to get up there too and join Cream. She looked over at Knuckles and put her hand on his arm too. Knuckles sighed as he looked over again. He saw Cosmo and replied, "...What is it now?".

"Oh, uh, sorry, Knuckles, but I was wondering if you would be okay walking by yourself because I want to go on the float with Cream and the others. You don't mind, do you?" Cosmo requested politely.

Knuckles stared at Cosmo before he said, "Did you even had listened to at least one of my arguments between me and Sonic? I said that I'm fine being alone and that I prefer it that way. Of coarse, I don't mind you leaving me alone. If you want to go and have fun with your friends, then I won't stop you. Just go and enjoy yourself. You don't have to get my permission or anyone else's permission to go or do what you want to do. There is no reason to act like you're under someone's control or anything".

Cosmo gasped in shock after she heard that. Knuckles continued as he said, "...Listen, when you are with us, you are completely free to do whatever you want. Sure, you can be like Sonic and make fun of us or our feelings like a jerk would do...". He then looked at Sonic with a frown on his face. Sonic winked at him while smiling widely.

Knuckles then turned to look at Cosmo again to finish his speech, "...but it is your choice to make. There will be consequences in what you will do and how you will treat us but understand that we do want you to make your own choices that are from the heart. So, in other words, just go. Have fun up there, Cosmo. Enjoy yourself".

Cosmo was silent but was surprised on how wise Knuckles was. She then replied after being quiet for a moment, "Th-Thank you, Knuckles. I'll go, but, oh, uh, by the way, it's your turn on that game. Please make your move soon, okay?".

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks for reminding me, Cosmo. I'll do that," Knuckles replied as he nodded his head.

Cosmo smiled happily as she let go of her hand on Knuckles and said, "Good! Well, I'm off!".

Knuckles smiled a little to her as he replied, "Have fun, Cosmo".

Cosmo nodded as she turned around and asked the locals to help her get up on the float. The locals did help her by throwing her up there. She then bounced on top of the rope trampoline. She was smiling and laughing along with Cream. The others were still feeling a bit unamused, but they gave up and tried to have fun with it.

The old man then said to Knuckles, "Are you sure that you don't want to join your friends? They're having a lot of fun up here!".

Knuckles replied by having his hand up while holding the board game with his other hand, "Actually, I'm having more fun playing this board game here. So, don't mind me". Cream...Cosmo...I think that I might have to thank you two for encouraging me to play this game. Because now I have a legitimate excuse to get out some uncomfortable situations. Knuckles thought with a smile as he then focused on the board game now to distract himself.

The old man saw that Knuckles was more interested in the board game than at the float. So, he said, "Okay. Suit yourself then!".

Knuckles decided to open the board game and take his turn by pushing the red button. He watched the roulette wheel keep on going until it had reached a certain number. "An 8, huh? …...I guess it's not so bad," Knuckles commented to himself as he watched his red spaceship move to space 9.

KACHING!

Another white card got out of the card slot. Knuckles took the card out and read it out loud. "'Be very watchful, little prey. Because there will be a snare to catch you today.' …...Hmmm? 'A snare' huh? Grrr. I will not get caught in a trap today. Not on my watch! I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for any traps that will be laid before me. Hmph!".

He then held the board game more tightly as he looked ahead of him, on the sides of him, and from behind of him from any traps that are waiting to catch him. He is completely on guard now. While Knuckles was busy looking for the so-called trap, there was a floating, round spy camera in the air and away from the parade as possible. The camera was watching the parade unfold and looked at Sonic and his friends up closer.

Meanwhile, in different area, a voice said, "I...found...you...you...stupid...hedge...hog".

-Back With Dr. Eggman-

"Ohohohohoho! You're so screwed, hedgehog!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed as he watched the parade in his computer monitor. He then said, "Once I figure out the perfect plan for revenge, I would exact it on you and your friends! That will teach you not to drag me along for the ride by using your fancy-smancy board game! If you start screwing with me with your board game, then I'm going to screw you back!". At this moment, he started to think of a new plan as he kept on humming and musing to himself. While Dr. Eggman was pondering, Bocue and Decoe started to whisper to each other.

"Umm, didn't the Doctor originally followed Sonic because he wanted to get the Chaos Emeralds before Sonic does? What is he talking about being dragged here by him? I mean he would've found Sonic either way," Bocue whispered while feeling confused.

"But Bocue, this is the Doctor we are speaking here. He can be so crazy that he sometimes forgets his own original plans. Although that could be because he is getting old," Decoe whispered back.

"How old is he anyhow?" Bocue asked while feeling curious now.

"I don't know. He says that he's in his mid-40's, but lately, that is becoming debatable. I remember yesterday that he tried to find his daily newspaper, but he forgot that we had left it at the base just a few days ago. I swear. His memory is getting worse and worse every day," Decoe whispered back with an annoyed look on his face.

"Wow, that bad, huh?" Bocue replied with surprised eyes.

"Yeah, it is that bad. I am willing to bet that someday he will be so forgetful that he wanted to fight Sonic again with his old creations in the past because he forgot what went down back then," Decoe replied with an eyeroll.

"...You know what, Decoe? I'm not gonna lie, but I agree with you on that one. You know that it's sad when you do know that Sonic had already beaten the Doctor in the past, but the Doctor himself doesn't remember it. It's like he's blocking out the past on purpose so that he could still retain that huge ego of his. It's kind of depressing," Bocue replied with a slightly sympathetic look.

"True. It is. But do you know what could be even worse than that?" Decoe asked with a nod.

Bokkun had showed up out of nowhere next to Decoe to hear what he had to say next.

"What?" Bocue and Bokkun asked at the same time.

"...If he started coming up with old schemes that had failed before in the past," Decoe finished as he looked back at the Doctor as he wished that wasn't the case.

"I got it! I'll just trick Knuckles again so that I get my revenge on Sonic! Screwing with his friends is the best plan that I've come up with!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed proudly as had an evil grin.

Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun just sighed in unison while saying, "Oh, for goodness sake!".

Dr. Eggman slammed on the panel before he yelled at his robots, "What are you guys complaining about?! It IS the best plan that I had come up with!".

"But Doctor! You had already gone through with that plan...twice...no...maybe four times in the past! We're kind of sick of it at this point!" Decoe exclaimed with an exasperated look on his face as he slapped his hand on his head.

"Oh! As if you know a better plan than that!" Dr. Eggman yelled back in anger. He felt insulted that his robots disagree on his decision to trick Knuckles again. In his mind, it is too easy to do that. What can go wrong this time?

"I'm in agreement with Decoe here, sir. Seriously? Had you forgotten the last time that plan had backfired in some way?" Bocue replied as he shook his head in disappointment.

"What are you talking about? I got all six of the Chaos Emeralds as a result of tricking him! Don't you dare say that it was a failure!" Dr. Eggman defended as he crossed his arms and frowned.

Decoe rested his head on his arms as he slumped on top of his chair. He then replied with an annoyed look on his face, "Doctor...Sonic had beaten you in the end".

"But he didn't stop Knuckles from getting tricked, right?" Dr. Eggman countered with a smarmy grin.

"Is...Is tricking Knuckles the only goal that you care about being successful?" Bocue asked with a sweat drop on his head.

"Of coarse, it is! Hey, as long as Sonic gets screwed over in some fasion then it's a win for me!" Dr. Eggman yelled out with a huge smile as he placed his hands on his hips.

Decoe and Bocue sighed tiredly again. They then said in unison, "It's going to backfire again".

"Hey! I didn't ask for your opinion, guys! And also, why aren't you boneheads trying to fix my ship?! Get back to work! How else are we going to escape Sonic's and his friends' wrath if this whole thing blows up in our faces?!" Dr Eggman yelled in frustration.

"So, he is aware that this plan might fail then. Good to know," Decoe replied as he stood up and started to fix the control panel.

"Careful, Decoe. He's remembering," Bocue joked with teasing eyebrows. He and Decoe snickered a little before focusing on the repairs on the purple ship. Bokkun giggled a bit before he turned around and walked towards the middle of the room before he stood on it.

"Well, um, I'm going back to cleaning duties. See you guys later! Also, have fun being old, Dr. Eggman!" Bokkun exclaimed before he went down to another level of the ship.

"What was that?!" Dr. Eggman yelled in anger. Oh, shoot! Decoe and Bocue thought in unision as sweat drops formed on their heads.

"Uhhh...Ummm...D-Doctor? It's not what it looks like!" Decoe replied awkwardly as he nervously stared at Dr. Eggman.

"So, you two dolts think that I'm too old for you, huh?!" Dr. Eggman yelled in fury.

"N-N-Now D-Doctor! We-We-We don't think you're that old! It's just...umm...well...you're just fine! Not forgetful at all! Ack!" Bocue exclaimed nervously before he let that last comment out accidently.

"You idiot!" Decoe hissed as he glared at Decoe.

"S-Sorry!" Bocue exclaimed in guilt.

When the two looked back at Dr. Eggman, they screamed in fear as they saw him holding multiple tools such as hammers, wrenches, saws, and screwdrivers in his hands.

"I may be old and forgetful, but that doesn't I had forgotten how to dismantle you!" Dr. Eggman yelled with a wicked grin on his face. Before the two robots realize it, they were now running around in the ship while avoiding being caught by Dr. Eggman.

"WE'RE SORRY, MASTER! PLEASE SPARE US!" Decoe and Bocue shouted as they ran from Dr. Eggman.

"I'LL SPARE YOU ONCE I'M DONE DISMANTLING YOU!" Dr. Eggman shouted as he ran with a hammer in his hand.

Bokkun heard these shouts and giggled to himself. He then carefully walked away from the bridge to go to the closed closet where the cleaning supplies are. He then pondered to himself. Man, that was kind of fun! It is pretty boring being in Dr. Eggman's ship with barely anything to do here. So, some entertainment like that is nice. I guess I should get busy working on my cleaning duties then. I already cleaned the ship's windows, so, maybe the floors should be my next task. Yeah! That should do it!

As he walked towards another corner of the room, someone then grabbed him suddenly and quickly.

"Ack! Hey! What gives?! Who's touching me?! That isn't polite you know!" Bokkun exclaimed in frustraion while being held by the captor's arms.

"Aw, now that's no way to speak to a lady," a sultry voice said.

"Ehh?" Bokkun replied before he was thrown back down to a wall. He turned around and was surprised to see Rouge the Bat here. "Rouge?! Just what are you-" Bokkun exclaimed before he was cut off by Rouge.

"-Doing here? Why I just wanted to come and hide here with you. Can you make some space for another guest in your room? I heard that it's spacious and comfortable. Can't you do that for pretty ole me?" Rouge replied with a smile.

"What?! No way! You're just an intruder in our ship! I can't hide you and not tell Dr. Eggman about it! Besides, why should I let you in my room?! I don't even like girls! They're nasty like you!" Bokkun exclaimed as he pointed at Rouge before crossing his arms.

Rouge then placed a finger at his lips and exclaimed in mock surprise, "Oh my! Really then? You despise girls that much?!".

"Yes! Hmph!" Bokkun exclaimed as he swatted Rouge's hand away. Rouge just smirked as she placed her hands on her hips.

She then teased him by saying, "Well, if that's the truth, then why is this in your room then?".

"What's what in my room?" Bokkun replied with annoyed eyes as he glared at Rouge. He then gasped in horror when Rouge pulled out a silver locket with a pink heart in the middle of it.

"This little locket in your room of coarse. If you really don't care that much about it, then I'll just go tell Dr. Eggman about this locket since you clearly despise girls that much," Rouge replied with a smug grin as she held the locket in front of Bokkun.

Bokkun blushed very hard as he stared at the locket. He couldn't let his secret out no matter what. He stuttered a little, "Uh...Uh...um...A-Actually I...uh...I do care about this locket! A lot! N-N-Now give it back!". He tried to grab it, but Rouge dodged out of the way. Bokkun fell down to the ground again. He looked back at Rouge with a nervous look in his eyes.

"But I thought that you didn't care for it. Why should I listen to you if you are lying?" Rouge replied coyly as she held her hands behind her back.

Bokkun gulped as he realized that he had been cornered. So, he gave up as he replied, "Okay! Okay! You win! You can stay in my room! You can hide in there! Just please don't show that locket to Dr. Eggman or to anyone else! Don't you dare tell anyone about my secret! Please!".

Rouge smirked as she got what she wanted. She then replied casually, "Alright. I promise. I won't tell anyone about your secret. Especially...to that person in the photo".

"Eeeep! Yes! Especially NOT to that person! (Gulp)" Bokkun exclaimed as he blushed some more while sitting on the ground in a defeated position. Oh, man, I sure hope that she will keep her word about this. I would be totally embarrassed if someone had figured out my crush for...for...Oh! I dread to think about what will happen if she knows my crush for her! Bokkun thought as he felt worried.

"Oh, don't worry, hon. It's completely safe with me. Just like this little locket here because...hahaha...I'm keeping it," Rouge replied calmly.

"Oh, come on!" Bokkun exclaimed in frustration. Something tells him that he isn't going to get his locket back, and he is right about that.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman and his robots were still running around the bridge of the ship. "Get back here!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he waved his hammer around.

"We said that we are sorry!" Decoe and Bocue yelled back as they kept on running from Dr. Eggman. Bokkun then got back up to the bridge by using the small lift in the middle of the room. He tried to call out to Dr. Eggman several times before he had to shout loudly.

"DR. EGGMAN! STOP! THIS IS IMPORTANT!" Bokkun shouted loudly. Dr. Eggman actually stopped running and stared at Bokkun.

"Yes? What is it?" Dr. Eggman asked as he stared at Bokkun. Decoe and Bocue were relieved that their Master had stopped chasing them. Bokkun then asked the Doctor to come closer to whisper to him. Dr. Eggman did as he asked and listened to him.

"Ummm...didn't you plan to trick Knuckles earlier? I think that it would be best if you start doing that now," Bokkun whispered to Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman nodded in agreement before he stood up and exclaimed, "You're right, Bokkun! I had completely forgot!".

Decoe and Bocue both face-palmed after Dr. Eggman said that. "(Sigh)...I knew it. He is forgetful sometimes," Decoe replied quietly so that Dr. Eggman wouldn't hear that.

"He really knows how to test our patience, doesn't he?" Bocue agreed as he shook his head in disappointment.

"At this point, he is the master at it," Decoe replied as he shook his head too in disappointment.

"Alright, guys! You all know what to do! Keep on fixing this ship while I'm gone! And if my plan fails, then we'll switch to Plan B as a precautionary measure! You got that?!" Dr. Eggman ordered as he smiled wickedly.

"Roger sir!" Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun exclaimed in agreement as they saluted to him.

"Good! Because I'm off then! Ta ta!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed gleefully as he started to leave his ship. Meanwhile, Rouge was outside as she waited for Dr. Eggman to make his move. She was hiding behind a rock while looking at the purple ship. She held a small, pink spy camera to see if the Doctor had left. A few minutes later, he was soon flying in his infamous hovercraft and had left his ship.

She smiled to herself as she replied, "Well, it looks like the Doctor had finally made his move. Now, it's my turn".

-10 Minutes Later-

Knuckles was now walking by himself. After the parade had stopped, Sonic and his friends were soon eating a feast outside of the old leader's house. Knuckles gave the board game to Tails and said that he had made his turn already. Tails asked if Knuckles would stay to eat, but Knuckles declined saying that he would rather have some alone time by himself. Tails was disappointed, but he allowed him to go because he knows how much Knuckles is a loner at times such as these. So, Knuckles was walking through the rocky valley while pondering to himself.

He then said out loud, "'Expressing your joy freely about being alive'. Hmph! Big deal. If those aliens had realized the pain about staying alive and being alone for so long like I have, then they won't feel as joyous as they are right now! My life only revolves around the Master Emerald and nothing else! What other reason should I feel happy about?! I am alive, but...but...I...Ugh. Why am I thinking like this?".

He then stopped and grabbed his head as he brooded. Just why am I thinking these thoughts right now? I should feel content about guarding the Master Emerald for the rest of my life. It is an honor. But then why...why am I starting to feel this empty feeling? Is it because of how much emphasis the locals are about expressing joy and such that even my acquaintances had started to change their attitude to having a joyful one? Maybe...but if that's the case...then how come...I can't change my attitude on this? Why can't I allow myself to feel joyful or happy? Why can't I ever allow myself to relax? Just...what is wrong with me?

He grimaced as he looked down in shame. Is it really because I'm so worried about the Master Emerald and its safety that I couldn't relax even if I wanted to? Hmmm...

"I bet that it is possible that someone could stay joyful while carrying something like your emerald over their shoulders! If that person could stay smiling and be joyful despite those responsibilities, then I think that you need to reevaluate yourself and change that grumpy attitude of yours! After all, true joy comes from being happy within yourself despite what is currently happening to you right now. And if that person could simply smile and laugh at those responsibilities weighing down on them...then I'm sure that you can too!"

Hmph. As if there is a person like that. How can anyone feel jovial while protecting such a powerful jewel such as the Master Emerald for example? How can they feel joyful in life as they know how important a jewel like that can be if it was in the wrong hands somehow? The fate of the world would be at stake if such a gem like that gets to be used for evil. Their whole purpose in life is to guard it. There shouldn't be anything else valuable besides that. Hmmm...

He then said out loud as he looked up in the sky, "Could...Could that person really exist?".

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a floating object in the sky. His eyes widened as he was surprised at what that object was.

"What the-! Dr. Eggman?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock. He spotted Dr. Eggman's infamous hovercraft floating in the air. The hovercraft was floating ahead of him. It moved back and forth again and again while Dr. Eggman was yelling in frustration.

"Oh, come on! Just go! No! Not back! Forward! Yes, I ...No! This way! I..I! Argh! Why is flying my hovercraft so difficult to control sometimes?! I should be a pro at this by now! I...No! Not again! Stop being stuck and go!" Dr. Eggman yelled in the distance. Knuckles kept on looking at Dr. Eggman in confusion. He had a sweat drop on his head as he watched Dr. Eggman embarrassing himself by failing to fly his hovercraft properly.

Dr. Eggman continued to grunt in frustration while Knuckles watched in the distance. "Ngh! Grr! Go! I must go! Get! Right! Out! Here! Yes! I...Noooooooo!" Dr. Eggman yelled before he went too far and "accidently" crashed his hovercraft to the ground. Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise after he saw Dr. Eggman crash very hard to the ground. He then ran towards the crashed hovercraft where Dr. Eggman is.

Once he got there, he then exclaimed, "Just what are you doing here, Eggman?!".

Dr. Eggman coughed a little as he turned to look at Knuckles. He then thought. Okay, to be honest, I...I honestly have no idea what I'm going to lie about, but I'm just going to have to improvise for now. After all, I have an I.Q. of 300. It won't be a problem.

Dr. Eggman was smiling at Knuckles as he thought of this. Knuckles was staring at Dr. Eggman with scrutiny in his eyes. He knows that Dr. Eggman is always up to something. He couldn't possibly imagine what scheme he has this time around. He was about to say something again since Dr. Eggman was strangely quiet for a few seconds.

Instead, Dr. Eggman finally spoke up. "Why Knuckles. Why are you here at my vacation spot?" Dr. Eggman said casually. Aha! Genius! Dr. Eggman thought.

Knuckles was quiet for a moment as he thought. Okay, those were certainly...not the first words that I thought I would hear him say from him ever. Huh. First time for everything I suppose.

"...Vacation spot?" Knuckles repeated slowly with scrutiny in his voice.

"Why, uh, yes! Yeah, this planet was my, um, vacation spot!" Dr. Eggman lied while having a "sincere" smile on his face.

Knuckles was quiet again, and Dr. Eggman was still smiling "innocently". Dr. Eggman knows that Knuckles is easily gullible. So, even if he doesn't buy this now, he will eventually. It's not a matter "if", but rather, only a matter of "when" he falls for the "nice guy" act.

And just as he predicted, Knuckles replied, "...I don't believe you".

"Oh, don't be like that, Knuckles! It's true! I was having a lovely vacation in a different world other than Mobius! I'm still on vacation!" Dr. Eggman argued back as he soon got up from his hovercraft and onto the ground.

As he made some gestures with his hands, he continued by saying, "Did you seriously forget that I hadn't made a single attempt on conquering the world for over six months?! I hadn't even tried stealing your Master Emerald either! I did no such evil thing for over six months!". He then went down on his knees as he pretended to sound hurt and defeated. He then went on saying in a sad tone, "Oh, what's the use? You and your friends won't believe me anyway. No matter how many times I could tell you that I'm on vacation you will still think I have some ulterior motives in my actions, even harmless ones like getting my groceries at the supermarket! I can't go out and get my groceries anymore because people will think that I'll just blow the market up or something! It's horrible! Do you have any idea how hard it is to live a normal life after being identified by others as evil? No, you don't! Because you're good, and I'm bad! …...(Sigh)…...It's just hard, okay?".

Knuckles had watched Dr. Eggman feel depressed, and he can't help but feel sympathy for him. He may not realize it, but he was slowly starting to fall for Dr. Eggman's act at this moment. Knuckles closed his eyes and brooded for a moment. Sigh. The sad thing is I can somewhat relate to him. I may be good, but others still treat me like an outsider. I always feel like I don't belong in their world. That I'm just separated from others. I even feel like an outsider...when I'm with Sonic and his friends.

Knuckles opened his eyes and walked over to Dr. Eggman. He placed a hand over his back and replied, "I can imagine that it is hard for you to live a normal life after doing so much evil deeds. But don't let that get you down. Maybe if you did officially retire from your evil life then maybe others will believe you".

Dr. Eggman then placed his hands over his chest as replied, "Oh! Oh! Yes! You are absolutely right, Knuckles! Of coarse, only you would get it! But Sonic wouldn't give me the chance! The worst part about this is that I can't even go back home to prove to others that I've changed!".

Knuckles looked sad as he replied, "What? You can't go back?".

"Yes! My ship is now broken and is under repairs! I thought that my vacation would be a smooth one, but somehow my ship had malfunctioned and got broken! My vacation is now ruined thanks to my hubris! I can't even enjoy my vacation without something going wrong! It's awful! There is no rest for the wicked! Not even for me!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in mock sadness as he had his hands on the ground. Knuckles narrowed his eyes in sympathy for him. It is devasting to see that people like Dr. Eggman couldn't even be granted a chance for change. And to see that he is having some difficulties in his vacation is quite sad.

I guess even bad guys do have bad days like good guys do. Knuckles thought as he stared at Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman now made more gestures with his hands as he continued, "Oh, if only I could have a Chaos Emerald, then that would fix my ship! It would grant me enough power for me to travel back home so that I could continue on with my vacation! I want to live a comfortable, relaxing life for now on! I don't want my vacation to end! But if I can't go back home...then what should I do then?". He then finished that last sentence while having his hands on the ground and with his head down. Knuckles may not realize it yet, but he had finally given in to Dr. Eggman's story and believed it. Knuckles stared at Dr. Eggman with wide eyes as he saw how remorseful Dr. Eggman was. However, Dr. Eggman was not remorseful at all. In fact, he smirked a bit as he can tell without looking that he was successful into tricking Knuckles.

Hook, line, and sinker! Dr. Eggman thought with a grin.

-Back With Sonic And Others-

After Knuckles told Sonic and the others what's going on with Dr. Eggman, they were all startled as they cried out, "ARE YOU NUTS?!".

Sonic was laying casually on a rock as he replied, "Do you honestly believe that if we give Dr. Eggman the Chaos Emerald then he would give it back to us since he is still...as you quote 'on vacation'?".

Knuckles nodded as he replied, "Well, yeah. If he is that sick of people judging him harshly because of his evil ways, then maybe he is serious about wanting to change. I mean he is telling the truth since he hadn't done anything evil for the last six months. He had probably finally decided to give up".

Sonic and the others either sighed or shook their heads in slight disappointment. Knuckles looked confused as he replied, "What? What did I say?".

Tails cheekily replied, "Something dumb again".

"What?!" Knuckles replied as he was startled by that comment.

"He's not wrong there, Knuckles," Chris agreed with a sheepish smile.

"Huh?! Huh?!" Knuckles replied as he looked at Tails and Chris with a shocked expression before he looked at Cream and Amy.

"Mr. Knuckles...having Dr. Eggman trying to stick to being retired is like having him trying to stick to a healthy diet. It's short, and it doesn't last long," Cream replied while having a finger up.

"Ohohoho! It sure does not! Heh!" Sonic commented with a chuckle.

Amy sighed as she said, "Speaking of things not lasting long, your brightness doesn't last long, Knuckles".

Knuckles then felt irritated as he growled. The others started talking amongst themselves while ignoring Knuckles. Sonic was just yawning, Tails and Chris were laughing a bit, and girls were just talking.

"Man, did you remember that one time when Dr. Eggman took a break for six months, and then he returned by releasing Chaos since it was a part of his latest scheme?" Amy said as she talked to Cream.

"Teehee! Oh, I remember that! That one was a doozy!" Cream replied with a grin.

"C-Chaos? Who's that?" Cosmo asked with curiosity.

"Basically, a water god monster," Cream answered promptly as she looked at Cosmo.

"O-oh! Um, I see," Cosmo replied in alarm. Geez, Sonic and his friends had seen more fearsome beings than I had. No wonder the Metarex doesn't faze them so much. Cosmo thought with a surprised expression.

Chris then said to Tails, "So, are you going to make your turn yet on that board game, Tails? You've held onto it for a while now".

"Hahaha! Yeah, you're right! I just wanted to get some peace and quiet for little while before we get to deal with more Metarex robots. I'll start making my move soon. No need to rush," Tails replied casually while he did held onto the board game on his lap.

"Heheheh, okay then. Take your time, Tails," Chris replied with a smile.

"Stop ignoring me!" Knuckles yelled out in frustration. Everyone then stopped talking and looked at him.

Knuckles continued while holding out the blue Chaos Emerald, "Look! I was trying to give you guys a chance to listen to me and perhaps agree with me on this! But nooooo! You all have to be smartalecs and ignore me! I came for your advice and yet all you do is just make fun of me and pass me off as stupid! I even held onto this Chaos Emerald without giving it to Dr. Eggman for crying out loud! It was because I had trusted you to help me out and help me make the right decision, but if you are just going to keep on making fun of me and ignore me, then you leave me no choice but to do things my way! I'm leaving, and I'm going to give this emerald to Dr. Eggman himself! Thanks for nothing, you jerks!".

He turned around and started to walk away from the group. The others aside from Sonic gasped at this. Cosmo yelled out, "Please! No! Don't go!". Sonic shrugged and sighed before he got up and sped in front of Knuckles to stop him from heading to Dr. Eggman.

"As if I'm going to let you do that!" Sonic exclaimed as he blocked Knuckles' path.

"Sonic, move," Knuckles stated calmly.

"No way! Besides...you need to understand that we are helping you making the right decision here. If we think that it's stupid, then maybe you should take that as a hint and reconsider your decisions before making another dumb move again," Sonic replied with a smile.

Knuckles smiled deviously as he replied with, "Oh? So, you will think it will be a dumb move for me if I start fighting you to get you out my way then? Do you think that's stupid?".

"Well, I won't say that it's a smart move either...but I can't say that it's not entertaining though," Sonic replied back with smirk.

"You know what, Sonic?" Knuckles replied as he placed the blue Chaos Emerald on top of a rock before he continued, "That may be the only thing that we can agree upon. I'll never get tired of fighting just as you'll never get tired of running. So, get ready, Sonic...because I'm ready to release all my pent-up frustration upon you".

"Then bring it, Knucklehead!" Sonic exclaimed as he prepared himself for another duel with Knuckles.

"Oh, you'll get it!" Knuckles yelled out before he and Sonic jumped and punched through each other.

However, Cosmo was alarmed as she exclaimed, "No! Don't! Please don't fight!".

But her cries were ignored as Sonic and Knuckles punched and dodged each other. Sonic threw rapid punches while Knuckles dodged before he threw his hard punches at Sonic. Yet, Sonic's speed made him dodge the hard hits very easily. However, Knuckles can dodge fluently as he ducked under Sonic's punches or kicks. They even tried to ram into each other to knock the other out, but they were too evenly matched for each other. They soon jumped out of the way to gain some distance from each other.

Cosmo watched the fight with horror in her eyes. She then muttered with fear in her voice, "No...it's happening again...they are going to fight and then the game might...might not continue".

No! This has to stop! Before...Before it happens again! Cosmo thought with rising fear in her heart. She could remember the harsh yelling and rage-induced fights that the various players from other planets had before...and they had traumatized her. From all the cursing, the hurtful comments, the blood, and all the injuries that players had done all because they got involved in this cursed board game. All of that had scarred her, and all she could do was stay silent and watch these sad, hurtful events unfold right before her scared eyes. And worst part in every fighting event she had witnessed...they usually end with one of the players dying.

Cosmo felt her heart beating fast and her eyes turning a little darker as she reminisces about the past fights with other players.

"I hate you! It was all because you wanted to play this stupid game!" "It wasn't my fault! I wouldn't have known that this would happen!"..."You were always so cruel to me, brother! You had never respected me!" "That was because our parents loved you more than me!"..."I've lost my best friend because of you! Thanks to these poachers, my best friend had died! And you couldn't protect her!" "There was nothing that I could do! We have to survive! We can't do anything about it! We have to leave her behind if we are going to continue on with this game!" "You are such a coward! I can't even believe that you are my friend! You are the worst!"..."I thought that you had loved me, Tera! You lied to me! Now you are going to get what you deserve! Take this!" "OW! Theodore! Please forgive me! It was a mistake! I'll change I promise!" "I DON'T EVEN BELIEVE YOU ANYMORE!"...

...P-Please...Please stop fighting...Please...Cosmo thought with tears in her eyes. She unconsciously had her hands covering her ears as she remembered those awful fights. She then had renewed courage as she thought. I should stop this! Maybe my new friends could help!

"Hey! Guys! Can you please help me stop these two from fighting?! We need them to work this out so that the game will continue! …...Guys?" Cosmo exclaimed as she turned around to face the group. However, to her disappointment, they weren't concerned with Sonic and Knuckles fighting each other. Instead, they were busy talking to each other.

"Cream? Should I wear a new outfit? I think this outfit is getting old. Are there some holes in it?" Amy asked as she looked down on her dress and shoes.

"No. I see no holes, Miss Amy. I think that you should keep wearing that outfit. It looks great on you!" Cream replied with a smile. "Chao!" Cheese replied with a happy smile. "See? Even Cheese likes the outfit!" Cream added.

"Hmm..." Amy mused for a bit. Cosmo then looked at Tails and Chris.

"5 bucks says that Knuckles is going to win this fight," Chris said with a grin as he looked at the fight and then back at Tails.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I bet 10 bucks that Sonic will win this fight. He usually wins these against Knuckles. Sure, those two do have ties in the past, but I did see Sonic winning some of them. So, I'm confident in this bet," Tails replied with a smile as he also looked at the fight and back at Chris.

"Huh. Really? But then again Knuckles is very strong...and by the looks of it, he's very ticked off right about now," Chris replied as he looked back at the fight. He was right on how furious Knuckles looked.

Knuckles then shouted in the distance, "THIS IS FOR FORCING ME TO JOIN YOU IN YOUR LITTLE PARTY WITH THE LOCALS! I WANTED TO BE ALONE!".

"BUT YOU WANTED TO COME! YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO!" Sonic shouted back too in the distance.

"I DID NOT! WE COULD BE IN SPACE RIGHT NOW AND FIND THE NEXT CHAOS EMERALD! BUT NOOOOO! YOU WANTED TO GOOF OFF AND STAY HERE FOR A PARTY!" Knuckles shouted back in anger.

"KNUCKLES! YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THAT YOU DON'T GET TO PARTY OFTEN IN THAT ISLAND OF YOURS!" Sonic shouted back while joking a little.

"I HAVE AN EMERALD TO GUARD! WHY WOULD I WANT TO HAVE A PARTY ANYWAY?!" Knuckles shouted back in fury.

"TO HAVE FUN AND TO FEEL SPECIAL!" Sonic shouted as he teased Knuckles.

"ARRRRGH! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT! GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" Knuckles shouted in anger as he then started punching furiously at Sonic while Sonic ran backwards from Knuckles.

Chris and Tails chuckled a little as they shook their heads. "(Sigh) They are going to end in a tie, aren't they?" Chris and Tails said in unison.

"Guys! Please! Listen to me! We need to stop them from fighting! It's the only way!" Cosmo exclaimed more loudly this time. Amy, Cream, Chris, and Tails stopped talking and looked at her in confusion.

"Huh? Oh, it's no big deal, Cosmo. I've seen them fight all the time, and they usually solve their differences that way," Tails replied with a calm smile on his face.

"It's true, Cosmo. Once they start fighting, there is no force in the world that could stop them from fighting. They're just fine, Cosmo," Chris agreed with a smile.

"Wha? But! But!" Cosmo replied in shock as she looked over at Amy and Cream.

"Relax, Cosmo. Sonic may call Knuckles a knucklehead, but he's a knucklehead too. So, it might take a while and plenty of bruises before they decided to give up," Amy replied casually with a smile.

"Amy's right, Cosmo. Boys will be boys after all. Teehee!" Cream replied as she smiled brightly. "Chao! Chao!" Cheese exclaimed happily as he too felt comfortable with this.

Cosmo walked back with wide eyes. She brooded as her fears came back. They...They don't care about what will happen to their friends if those two keep on fighting. Don't they understand that all this fighting might encourage them to...to...kill each other?

"Y-You guys...You guys don't understand. If this kind of fighting continues, then the game will-" Cosmo muttered as she then felt even more worried than before.

BOOM! CRASH! BOOM!

Cosmo flinched as she heard the ground being hit hard by Knuckles. Sonic was jumping while Knuckles tries to hit him but instead had hit the ground very hard. Cosmo exclaimed, "Oh! I can't take this anymore! If no one will stop them from fighting, then I will!".

She then bravely ran towards Sonic as he stood on the cliff. She then yelled, "Sonic! Stop! You need to listen to me!". She yelped as Knuckles came to try to punch Sonic, but Sonic dodged and Knuckles punched the cliff with his fist. Cosmo then got down to her knees as she covered her face with her arms. "Oh...there has got to be a better way to do this," Cosmo said weakly.

Amy saw that and said, "Cosmo! I don't think that it will be wise if you get too close to them! You might get accidently hurt by either of them!".

But if it will save them from fighting each other, then I would gladly get hurt as long as they don't murder each other! Cosmo thought as she quickly got up and ran towards them.

Knuckles is still punching Sonic rapidly, but Sonic had dodged each of them by moving left or right. Knuckles punched through a rock as he hoped he got Sonic, but Sonic jumped up and tried to stomp on him. Knuckles dodged out of the way and another BOOM! was heard from the fight.

As Chris and Tails watched this, Chris then said, "I really don't get why Cosmo would want to stop them from fighting. But I will admit that she is brave for doing so".

Tails stared at Cosmo trying to run after them before he commented, "Yeah...I wonder why too. Still, I do wonder sometimes how I would do to try to stop either of them from fighting. Knuckles especially. Hmm...". Chris turned to look at Tails, and he saw that Tails had a grin on his face. He can see that Tails is daydreaming about something.

"Ummm...Tails?" Chris said as he looked at Tails with a confused look.

"Hmmmm..." Tails mused with a happy grin on his face.

-Tails' Daydream-

"Alright! I'm leaving! And I'm going to take my emerald and give it to Dr. Eggman! You guys suck!" Knuckles exclaimed as he turned around to leave.

"Hold it right there, Knuckles! If you want to do that, then you are going to have to face me!" Tails exclaimed boldly. Knuckles turned around and was surprised that Tails was holding his Arm Cannon at him.

"Where did you get that weapon from?!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise.

"A wise fox never reveals his secrets! Now give us that Chaos Emerald back before I have to fight you!" Tails yelled as he aimed his weapon at Knuckles.

Knuckles gripped onto his emerald as he yelled, "Oh, please! I can easily win this fight against you! You're just a kid! You are no match for a strong fighter such as me!".

"Oh, yeah?! Well, can a kid do THIS?!" Tails exclaimed before he shot Knuckles in the chest. Knuckles yelped in pain as he was knocked down on his back. He grunted as he got back up and glared at Tails.

"Ohohoh! Cheap shot, you little pipsqueak!" Knuckles yelled in anger as he stood back up while gripping onto his Chaos Emerald tightly.

"Bring it on, Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed as he was ready to fly away. However, Sonic stood between Tails and Knuckles.

Sonic shouted, "TIME OUT! DON'T DO THIS!".

"SHUT IT, SONIC!" Tails and Knuckles shouted before they began their fight. Amy, Cream, Chris, and Cosmo had quickly run for cover as Tails and Knuckles began their fight.

"Out of my way, Sonic!" Knuckles yelled as he rammed Sonic away as he ran towards Tails. However, Tails flew up to the sky before Knuckles punched the rock that Tails was on. As Tails was flying, he fired some more out of his Arm Cannon and shot Knuckles repeatedly at his head, chest, and back. Knuckles grunted and yelped in pain as he felt these attacks. He tried dodge to avoid them, but Tails was fast as he flew over Knuckles and kept on shooting at him.

Tails stopped for a bit as he taunted, "Come on, Knuckles! I thought that I would get a tough fight from you! Step up your game, Knuckles! Or else I will beat you down to a pulp!".

Knuckles looked up at Tails and growled angrily at him. He then yelled back, "You won't be so smug if you had tried fighting me in close-combat! Face it, kid! You are no match for me if you do that!".

"Well then, let's test that theory, shall we?!" Tails exclaimed as he threw his Arm Cannon away and flew down at Knuckles. Knuckles thought he could easily take down Tails at this rate, but to his surprise, Tails was punching, kicking, and tail-swiping him at rapid speeds. Every time when Knuckles tried to dodge or block, Tails would quickly counter him with either a punch or a kick. Tails then flew back before he flew very fast at Knuckles to make his next attack. Knuckles then ran at him as he attempted to punch him, however, Tails was faster at attacking Knuckles first.

As Tails avoided Knuckles' fist, he swiped his tails and karate chopped at him as he screamed, "KARATE CHOP ACTION!". Knuckles was soon flying towards a rock and crashed very hard at it after that strong attack.

CRASH!

Knuckles then couldn't get up after that attack. Tails flew down and stared at Knuckles' body to see if he is going to get up soon. To his surprise, Knuckles didn't got up. Tails became a little worried as he exclaimed, "Oh no! Was I too hard on him?! Is he going to be okay?!".

Tails soon ran over towards Knuckles to see if he was okay. Once he stood over Knuckles, he then said, "Knuckles? Hey, Knuckles? Are you oka-ACK!".

Knuckles then suddenly grabbed Tails by the throat and moved him closer to his face. Knuckles then said darkly, "That. Was. Your. Biggest. Mistake. Of. Your. Life".

Tails growled as he quickly grabbed Knuckles' hand and freed himself before he yelled out, "No, it's not!".

He then kicked Knuckles at his face for a bit before stomped onto his crotch for the finishing blow. Knuckles squealed as he felt his crotched being stomped on very hard. He then released the blue Chaos Emerald before he grabbed his crotch to protect it from other blows to it. With all the bruises, blood, and possibly injured genitals, Knuckles finally gave up and laid there on the ground while holding his crotch.

Tails felt proud that he had beaten Knuckles. While feeling smug, he said, "Now that...was your biggest mistake of your life".

Knuckles muttered quietly, "S-Screw you...".

"Huh? What's that? You want me to take that emerald back from you? I'll gladly take it!" Tails replied with a teasing grin as he reached down and took the blue Chaos Emerald. He turned around and walked away while holding the emerald. As Tails went away, Knuckles muttered in defeat, "I-I'll never underestimate that fox ever again".

Sonic and Chris were shocked while the girls cheered for him in happiness. Sonic said in amazement, "Wow...I never knew that Tails had it in him. You learn something new every day, I guess".

Tails was smiling proudly as he held the Chaos Emerald in his hand. He had defeated Knuckles the Echidna, the strongest fighter in Mobius, and everyone was here to see it. He can only imagine how humiliated Knuckles was from that defeat.

Tails then stared at the emerald as he simply said, "Don't mess with the best!".

-End Of Tails' Daydream-

While in a daze, Tails muttered, "Don't mess with the best".

"Uhhhh...Tails? Hello? Tails? Tails! Wake up already!" Chris exclaimed as he shook Tails by his shoulder. Tails blinked, and he jolted a bit from his daydream. He looked right and left quickly before he looked at Chris.

"Oh! Uh...um! Y-Yes? Is there...ummm...something that you want, Chris?" Tails said while looking confused.

"Umm...nothing in particular but um...maybe you should focus on making your move on the game now since I got your attention now," Chris replied awkwardly as he held the board game near to Tails' face.

"Ah! That's right! I forgot! Umm...thanks, Chris. I guess that I needed to be reminded of that," Tails replied sheepishly as he grabbed the board game from Chris.

"You're welcome, Tails. By the way, what was it you were dreaming about? You had been like that for a few minutes," Chris replied with a smile.

"Uh! Um...nothing. Just forget that you saw that," Tails replied quickly with an embarrassed look on his face. He decided to focus on the game now as a way to divert his attention from Chris. He opened the board game and pressed the red button to take his turn. Chris saw that Tails wanted to be left alone. So, he focused on Sonic's and Knuckles' fight instead.

As the roulette wheel kept on spinning, it soon stopped just as quickly as it started. It landed on a certain number.

"Wow! I got a seven! That is probably my best roll yet!" Tails exclaimed happily as he watched his orange spaceship move towards space 12.

KACHING!

Once the spaceship had landed at that space, another card popped out of the slot. Tails took it out and began to read it.

"'Keep on hopping away, my prey. But you will soon choke with a frog in your throat'...Okay, that one was just weird...and disturbing. I can't even begin to imagine what the event will be with that riddle," Tails read before he spoke out loud in confusion and in worry.

"Hmmm...I agree, Tails. I don't have a clue to what that could be," Chris replied as he scratched his head in thought.

"Well, I suppose that we should have to wait then if we want our answer," Tails replied as he placed the board game down at the side of the rock.

"Good idea!" Chris exclaimed with a smile. Tails smiled back at Chris before he turned to look at the fight again.

Meanwhile, as the fight went on, Dr. Eggman was busy trying to sneak his way towards the blue Chaos Emerald undetected. Dr. Eggman was in his thoughts at the time. Wow! I can't believe that they already have a Chaos Emerald with them! It's too bad what will happen to them after I...take it!

He then slowly turned away and crawled down on the sandy ground. He could see the blue Chaos Emerald still on top of the rock. As he crawled carefully, he thought. Ha! And those metal dolts thought that this would fail somehow! Well, I showed them! This is why they are not the Master of the Eggman Empire! I am!

But before he could reach the emerald, Bokkun then said out loud in a sing-song tone, "Oh, Dr. Eggman!".

Aw crud! Not now! Must! Get! To! Emerald! Before! Failure! Arrives! Dr. Eggman thought in a panic as he crawled faster towards the emerald. However, Bokkun quickly flew over him and landed in front of him. Dr. Eggman yelped a bit before he went jolted backwards and fell on his bottom. He felt very surprised by Bokkun's sudden appearance. Just how did get here so quickly?! Dr. Eggman thought as he looked surprised.

"I've got great news, Doctor! The repairs in your ship are finished! We can leave at any time now!" Bokkun exclaimed happily. He then held up a banana towards him as he then said, "It's also snack time, Doctor! I'm glad that you are taking steps to a heathier diet! By eating these bananas every time you want a snack, you will certainly get healthier in no time! So, here you go!".

Dr. Eggman quickly sat up and covered Bokkun's mouth as he replied in a harsh whisper, "Oh, that's just peachy! But if you don't shut up now, then I'll get caught red-handed! Just stay quiet! Got it?!".

Bokkun nodded. Dr. Eggman let go of his mouth to allow him to speak. "Oops. I'm sorry, Doctor. I'll leave now. I'll let Decoe and Bocue know where you are now. We'll help you out if things backfire somehow," Bokkun replied in a quieter tone. He then flew back up and out of anyone's sight.

Dr. Eggman replied, "It will not backfire! Just stop listening to those two idiots!".

"No promises, Doctor! Hehehehe!" Bokkun replied with a giggle.

Meanwhile, Rouge stared up at the sky where Bokkun was flying away. She smirked after she put down her pink spy camera. "That was almost too easy. Now, I know where the Doctor is at. Might as well go see what the Doctor is up to now," Rouge said with a smirk.

Dr. Eggman soon kept on crawling in the ground again, except now having a banana in his pocket. He is saving that banana after he had successfully stolen the Chaos Emerald. He then quietly spoke to himself, "Ooooh, I can feel that emerald now. I'm almost at my first Chaos Emerald, and once I get that, I'm one step closer to my galactical empire! Who knew that going into space would make me desire galactical domination besides world domination? Ha! I guess I now have to expand upon my empire if I want to feel accomplished in my goal. But that's okay, I...live...for...my...dreams...".

He then yelped in surprise as he saw Amy now standing in front of the emerald. She smiled while holding her hammer. She replied calmly, "Does your dreams involve a cute, pink girl such as me kicking your butt? Because that is what I'll do if you are trying to steal the Chaos Emerald from us!".

"N-No! I was not trying to steal the emerald! I was uh! Um! Sightseeing! Yeah! I was sightseeing! I'm still on vacation you knooooooh!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in shock before he moved away from Amy as she swung her hammer at him. She hit the ground very hard with her hammer. Dr. Eggman kept on crawling backwards to gain some distance from her.

He then pulled his banana out of his pocket and pointed it at her. "Stay away from me, girlie! Don't you dare make me use this!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he pointed his banana at her.

"What? Are going to try to make her eat that banana? Because that is honestly the least diabolical threat you had ever told someone, Dr. Eggman," Tails replied as he, Chris, Cream, and Cosmo surrounded Dr. Eggman. Tails had the board game with him. He was carrying it under his left arm.

"Make her eat that..." ...Ack! What is wrong with you, Chris?! Does becoming eighteen suddenly make you think dirty thoughts?! Because I would never ever think that way if I was still twelve like my body is! Well, I guess I sure know what it means to becoming an adult now. It's all about losing your innocence. Sigh. Goodbye young, innocent, Chris. And hello perverted, old me. Chris thought as he shook his head. He then focused back at Dr. Eggman again after that little realization.

"Just...Just how?! How did you find me?!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed while he pointed his banana at each of them as a pathetic, self-defense tactic.

"How can we not find you? We all saw that small flying robot coming down from the sky and talking loudly. You had to be an idiot not to see that," Tails replied with an unamused look on his face.

"I agree with Tails here. But more importantly, why are you here, Dr. Eggman? I thought that you were still back at our home planet," Cream replied as she looked serious now.

Dr. Eggman gulped as he stared at the accusing eyes of Sonic's friends. He slowly dropped the banana down and grabbed his head in a nervous gesture. "Umm...uhh...would you believe me if I say that I came here...as a vacation spot?" Dr. Eggman replied with a nervous smile.

While Dr. Eggman was being confronted with Sonic's friends, Sonic and Knuckles were still fighting. Sonic and Knuckles ran towards each other and soon locked their hands together as they wrestled each other. Knuckles was more focused in this fight than Sonic is at this point since he is running very fast as he tried to push Sonic down to the ground. However, even when Sonic wasn't completely using his full strength, he was still able to hold Knuckles down.

Knuckles then thought. Grrr! He is not even giving it his all in this fight! Will he ever take me seriously?!

Oh, good grief. How long is this knucklehead going to keep this up? I'm starting to get bored here. If only there was something else to do in the meantime. I wonder if that old Egghead will show himself already and finally drop this whole vacation act already. Sonic pondered with a frown. He looked slightly to his right and then smiled broadly to see what he found.

He then turned his head to the right as he said, "So, Knuckles? About Eggman being on this whole vacation thing...can you really say that he's still on that? Because if that's the case, why is he here with us now?".

"Eh? What the-?" Knuckles replied in confusion as he stopped running and looked in Sonic's direction. They can see Tails, Amy, Chris, Cream, and Cosmo surrounding Dr. Eggman before the rock where the Chaos Emerald was at. Knuckles then felt shocked that Dr. Eggman was here. He growled as he let go of Sonic's hands and marched over there. Sonic smiled and shook his head. About time that knucklehead had woken up from this bad nightmare. Because it is time for him to face reality for what it really is. Sonic thought with a grin.

"Eggman! Just what are you doing here?! I thought that you'd be busy fixing your ship since it was as you said, 'had been broken'!" Knuckles exclaimed angrily as he walked up to Dr. Eggman and stood next to him. Dr. Eggman yelped a bit once he saw Knuckles.

As he sweated, he tried to come up with an answer. Okay! Okay! You are literally in the red zone now! Now think! What should I...Oh yeah! Dr. Eggman thought quickly. He then replied, "Oh, um, y-yeah, it still is...It's just that...I was sightseeing when I …...umm...Oh! When I decided that I wanted to go on a little picnic as my next activity on my lovely vacation! See, here?! It's a banana!".

Knuckles growled even more as he replied, "I know what a cruddy banana is! Are you mocking me?!".

"Ummmm...do you want it? You sound hungry. Did you know that you get more moody when you're hungry? It's a proven fact!" Dr. Eggman replied with a nervous smile as he peeled off the banana. Knuckles didn't reply back. He still growled at him as he felt angry...and sadly...hungry thanks to Dr. Eggman pointing it out.

"Oh? No? You don't want it. Very well then. I guess I'll just take this banana..." Dr. Eggman replied before he paused as he turned to look at the banana as he finished with, "...AND EAT IT!". He then proceeded to eat the banana for proof that he was just here for a "picnic".

"Dr. Eggman! Everyone, besides Knuckles, knows that you aren't here on a picnic nor on a vacation no less!" Amy exclaimed with a frown.

"What would do you mean everyone besides me?!" Knuckles yelled out at Amy. Amy glared at him before she turned back at Dr. Eggman and elaborated, "You just wanted to mess with Knuckles so that he and Sonic would fight about it. With them fighting each other, they would be too distracted to notice that their Chaos Emerald was stolen right under their noses! Isn't that right, Dr. Eggman?! It seems that your vacation was over much earlier than that if you had decided to gather the Chaos Emeralds right now!". She slammed her hammer down again for emphasis in her point.

"What?! No! It's...It's not what it-!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in shock before Knuckles cut in.

"Is she right, Dr. Eggman?! Did you really ended your vacation long before you got here?! To this planet?!" Knuckles yelled as he glared at Dr. Eggman.

"N-No way! She's lying! I am still on vacation!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he shook his head "no" while waving his hands at Knuckles.

"No, you are not! You want that Chaos Emerald, and I'm going to stop you from doing that! So...I'm going to take this hammer...AND SWING IT ON YOU!" Amy exclaimed before she lifted up her hammer to swing it down on Dr. Eggman.

"Amy! No! That's too crazy!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise. He quickly grabbed Dr. Eggman and jumped out of the way before Amy swung the hammer down onto the ground. Knuckles then landed on a rock nearby to place Dr. Eggman down. Amy then looked at Knuckles and Dr. Eggman on her right side. She frowned as she thought. What is he? Eggman's dog?! Can't he just let that mad doctor get what's coming to him?! Besides, if he gets unconscious due to my hammer attack, at least it will stop him from getting the Chaos Emerald! Sheesh! From someone who claims to be so tough, he really is being soft right about now!

As Knuckles laid Dr. Eggman down, Dr. Eggman replied, "Oh, thank goodness you're here, Knuckles! See what I mean?! How can I go back to living a normal life when people like Amy over there accuse me for doing something evil?! I really am on a vacation here! I just wanted to go back home and enjoy myself for some alone time like playing golf or go go-karting! Sounds like fun!".

"Oh for the love of-! Knuckles! Listen to me! Eggman is just using this whole vacation excuse to trick you into giving him the Chaos Emerald! He is not on vacation right now! And if he was, he would want to get back to plotting his schemes for conquering the world! He values his goals for conquering the world more so than anything else! Including permanent retirement!" Amy exclaimed in frustration. Knuckles looked back and forth at Dr. Eggman and Amy. Which person does he trust more? His long-time acquaintance? Or his bitter enemy in which he relates more closely with than any of his acquaintances? …...And the answer may not surprise you.

"But Amy...he's old," Knuckles replied calmly as he looked at Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman got slightly up to turn to look at Amy as he added, "Yes! I'm old!".

"You're in your mid-40's, Dr. Eggman!" Amy yelled back as she face-palmed herself.

Dr. Eggman then replied, "...You don't know that".

"Arrrgh! Really, Eggman?! You can't lie your way about that one! Besides, Dr. Wily would to speak to you on that topic, Dr. Eggman! He's old, and yet he still wants to conquer the world! You are no different than him!" Amy exclaimed in frustration.

"But he is from a different universe than ours! That point is irrelevant!" Dr. Eggman yelled back with a frown.

"Anyways! Think about it some more, Knuckles! Dr. Eggman will always go after the Chaos Emeralds, and he will use any excuse to get them! He even used the ones involving himself wanting to go home! The lie he told was the same one he told you in the past! 'Please give me the Chaos Emerald so that I can go home'! That's what he sounds like, Knuckles! He's tacking on this vacation concept on top of going home so that he will make it sound more sincere to you!" Amy exclaimed as she tried to convince Knuckles that Dr. Eggman had lied to him again.

"But he seems more sincere to me now than he was back then. He didn't conduct any evil acts for over six months back at our home planet. If he went for this long, then maybe he is telling us the truth that he did quit!" Knuckles argued back while Dr. Eggman was nodding his head in agreement to Knuckles as he tried to look innocent.

"Yes! Yes! You can't make any counterarguments to that! I hadn't done anything wrong for over six months!" Dr. Eggman added. Knuckles jumped from the rock to stand in front of Amy. Sonic heard that and sighed. He had a sweat drop on his head as he said, "So, this is why Knuckles had believed him this time. Unbelievable". He then sped towards the gang.

Cream walked towards Knuckles and tried to help out Amy here. "You don't get it, do you, Mr. Knuckles?" Cream replied with a frown on her face.

"Get what?" Knuckles asked in annoyance.

"Get that Dr. Eggman isn't the type of person who can change their ways. I'm sorry to say this Mr. Knuckles, but Dr. Eggman isn't going to change no matter how sincere he says or acts. He doesn't care for anyone, so, he isn't going to change for anyone. He doesn't care about us, and he doesn't care about you, Mr. Knuckles. I'm sorry," Cream replied with a sad look on her face.

Knuckles had his eyes widened for a second as he heard that before he replied, "But I believe that anyone can change. If they can fight off their temptations and start thinking about others, then those people deserve a second chance. I don't care how many cruel acts people had done to me or to others. If they are serious about changing their ways, then we should at least give them a chance to redeem themselves and let them live their peaceful lives!".

Cosmo and Sonic stared at the group while listening to Knuckles say that. While the gang was fighting, Rouge snuck behind some rocks to hide herself from them. She then thought. As long as they keep on distracting themselves for a little longer, then I'll snatch that Chaos Emerald before they had noticed it had vanished!

Cosmo was watching the fight unfold before her. She was rather touched by what Knuckles had said. Does he...really believe that anyone can change? No matter how hurtful they are to you? Cosmo pondered with wide eyes.

Sonic took a deep sigh as he thought. I...I can't blame you for wanting others to change, Knuckles. But reality isn't like that. There will always be some people who are even more stubborn than you, Knuckles. So stubborn that they refused to change even when they are beaten or caught. They are the type of people who will only apologize if someone had forced them to. And Eggman is no different.

"That sounds nice and all, but I will still not let Eggman get that Chaos Emerald!" Amy exclaimed as she felt irritated at Knuckles' stubbornness.

"No! Just give him a chance!" Knuckles argued back as he raised his fists at Amy.

Amy raised her hammer up as she exclaimed, "And I'll give you a chance to move before I pound your red butt!".

"Well, fine! If you want it that way then-!" Knuckles exclaimed before Sonic sped up in front of Amy to protect her with one arm. Cosmo flinched in shock as she saw that.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Knuckles...you should not hurt a lady. Yes, even the ones who wield hammers in their hands," Sonic replied with a grin while protecting Amy. Amy did her best to not let her heart melt as she stayed serious. Oooooh! Sonic sees me as a lady! What a chivalrous gentleman! You are so lucky Sonic that this is a serious moment or else I would've flung myself over to you after saying that! Amy pondered while trying to have a straight mouth on her face.

Knuckles growled as he said, "Does that mean you will fight me instead?".

"Yes! I'll try anything to convince you that we are right! And if fighting you will get into that thick skull of yours...then fight I must!" Sonic exclaimed as he felt ready to duel Knuckles again. Cosmo gasped in horror as she heard this. She then ran towards the two of them.

No! I must stop them before they kill each other! If they fight, then it's only moments before the game grinds to a halt thanks to one of them killing the other! Cosmo thought in panic as she ran.

Once she reached them, she begged, "Please! Stop fighting! What you are doing is a terrible, horrible mistake!". Knuckles and Sonic growled at each other while looking angry with the other. She continued, "Listen! There are dangerous consequences if two players fight each other! If you guys don't stop then-!".

"Sorry, Cosmo, but I am going through with this fight!" Knuckles exclaimed as he cut Cosmo off. Cosmo then fell down to her knees again.

Sonic added as he said, "He's right, Cosmo! We are going to settle this argument with a fight just to see who is in the right here! Just stay away, Cosmo! We don't want you to get hurt!".

N-N-Nooo...They...They are going to kill each other. And I can't stop them! I...I...What should I do?! Cosmo thought with wide terrified eyes. She did the only thing a girl like her could do at a time like this...and that is to scream and cry.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Cosmo screamed as her eyes are filled up with tears. Knuckles and Sonic immediately backed away and stared at Cosmo in shock after they heard that scream. Tails, Amy, Chris, Cream...and even Dr. Eggman all turned their heads to stare at the crying girl on the ground.

Boy, that girl sure got the lungs for that! Dr. Eggman thought with confusion as he suddenly felt uncomfortable now.

Cosmo had her hands in her eyes as she begged more loudly, "Sonic! Knuckles! No! Don't fight! I beg of you! Don't fight! I...I...(Sob Sob)….".

Sonic and Knuckles soon relaxed their bodies as they stood more straight while looking at Cosmo. They both had sad looks on them as they replied to Cosmo.

"Cosmo...calm down. It's just a little argument. It's no big deal," Sonic replied gently as he tried to console her.

"Y-Yeah. Fights like this will happen time to time. It's normal," Knuckles replied as he spoke in a calmer tone than normal.

"N-No! You don't understand!...(Sob Sob sob)…..You mustn't fight each other! No matter what the circumstances are!... (Sob Sob)…...If you do, the game will stop! The game will come grinding to a halt if you fight!" Cosmo yelled loudly while crying.

"...! What?!" Sonic and Knuckles yelled in shock. They looked at each other since they couldn't believe what they are hearing. The others also looked shocked.

"Th-Th-The game will stop?!" Cream exclaimed in shock as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"I-It will stop if we fight each other?!" Tails exclaimed as well in shock.

Sonic and Knuckles looked back at Cosmo with even more depressed faces. Sonic replied with a sad tone, "What do you mean it will stop? It's...It's just an argument".

"Not unless that argument or fight will escalate into killing each other!" Cosmo yelled back with an upset look on her face.

Sonic and Knuckles gasped as they looked at each other again with shocked expressions on their faces. They both said at the same time, "Killing each other?!".

"That's right! You mustn't kill each other in this game! (Sob Sob Sob)…...If you do, the game will stop! It won't take another player's move if it recognizes that one of the players is gone permanently!...(Sniff)...Once the game recognizes that a player is gone, it will just reset back to start, and the Metarex will come and kill the remaining players as a punishment for breaking the rules!" Cosmo explained as she cried. She hoped that this explanation will convince them to stop fighting.

Sonic and Knuckles turned to look at Cosmo with some guilt in their eyes. They hadn't thought that Cosmo would've felt so worried for them. Did their fighting scare her so much that she thought they would've killed each other at some point?

"Cosmo...we really didn't mean to-" Knuckles said slowly before Cosmo cut him off.

"You have to believe me! (Sob Sob)…...I've seen so many players kill each other because of how much they had argued with each other! (Sob Sob Sob)…...They had killed each other in those arguments and fights! They cussed at each other! Used hateful comments! They've hurt their feelings with their cruel words! And in the end, they had fought physically, resulting in countless murders! (Sob Sob)…..I don't want either of you or any of you to kill each other in this game! Please!...Work together! It's the only way that we can keep this game going and lift up the curse!" Cosmo yelled as she cried some more. When she finished, she just bawled and bent herself down onto the ground.

Sonic and Knuckles finally understood why Cosmo wanted to stop them from fighting. They could tell that their fighting had only brought up painful memories in the past. They can only fathom how horrific those fights are if it had only resulted in death. They both gulped and looked down in shame as they felt very guilty now for scaring her. They awkwardly rubbed their necks as they gently consoled to her.

"You're...You're wrong, Cosmo. It's not going to happen to us," Sonic started while having sad eyes.

"But it will! It always happens to players who play this board game!" Cosmo yelled as she shooked her head.

"No! Really! It won't happen!...We're...We're not that mad at each other. We won't...kill each other," Sonic replied quickly before he slowed down. Cosmo looked back up at them with tears in her eyes.

"Are you...(Sniff)….telling the truth? You won't kill each other? You won't try to murder each other?" Cosmo asked with despairation in her tone.

Sonic shook his head as he replied, "Yes, it's the truth, Cosmo. We won't kill each other. I promise". Cosmo waited for either of them to continue. So, Sonic decided to speak some more.

"Look, Knuckles and I had always fought each other for quite a long time that I've lost track of how much we had actually fought each other. Yes, we argue, get mad or upset at each other, perhaps teasing the other, and obviously hurt each other with either words or by physical attacks. But we would never desire in our hearts for the other to be dead. Even though we might have thought of wanting to kill each other just because we are that ticked off of the other so much, we would never go through with it because we care for each other. Right, Knuckles?" Sonic replied with a gentle look on his face before he turned to look at Knuckles. Knuckles looked back at Sonic and sighed.

Knuckles then added, "H-He's right, Cosmo. I'm...I'm not even that mad at him...no matter how easy he was able to tick me off today".

Cosmo gasped as she asked, "Is...Is that true...Knuckles?".

Knuckles looked back at her and nodded. With a sad look, he replied, "Yes. Honest, Cosmo. I would...I would never kill Sonic. I may think of him as an idiot...and so does he about me...but no matter how fed up I am with his antics or his stupidity, it would never make me want to kill him. Yes, I will gladly fight him, but my fights with him will never ever escalate to actually murdering him. Yeah, I am hot-headed sometimes-".

"Heh! 'Sometimes'?" Sonic interrupted with a slightly playful grin.

Knuckles looked back at Sonic as he replied, "Don't start". Sonic shrugged before he nodded to Knuckles to continue on. Knuckles nodded back before he turned back to Cosmo to continue his speech.

"...but my anger at Sonic wouldn't make me go beyond just fighting him into killing him. I am more in control of my anger than you think. It's not in me to kill someone just because that person had upset me deeply. It's just not in my moral code to do that. And yes, I...I..." Knuckles continued before he stopped to look at Sonic as he finishes, "...I do care for him too".

"Aww, you do care for me, buddy," Sonic replied with a grin.

Knuckles then looked smug as he added, "Yeah...only sometimes". Sonic then frowned after that comment. Knuckles snickered as he saw how disappointed Sonic looks now. Cosmo then smiled with relief on her face.

She then said, "(Sniff)….Then does that mean...you guys will stop fighting?".

Knuckles and Sonic looked at Cosmo and then at themselves for a moment. They soon smiled as they decided to have a truce on this...just for Cosmo's sake. Sonic then said to Cosmo, "Yeah, we'll stop fighting for now. But only for you, Cosmo".

He then extended his hand at Knuckles for a handshake to form a truce with him. Knuckles smiled as he gladly took Sonic's hand and shook it. He then said to Cosmo, "See, Cosmo? We won't fight each other, and we won't kill each other. We can get along...".

He stopped as he looked at Sonic. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Sonic had the same teasing expression that he himself has right now. With playful grins, Sonic and Knuckles said together, "...Sometimes". They soon let go of each other and looked at Cosmo with smiles on their faces.

Cosmo was beyond relieved that her friends had stopped fighting and had now made a truce with each other. She then wiped her eyes to get rid of the tears. She had a huge smile on as she replied, "Oh, thank goodness you guys had made up! If you guys hadn't then I would've-".

Suddenly, the ground had started shaking and rumbling under Cosmo and the rest of the gang. Cosmo started to panic as she looked around to see what's going on. Sonic and Knuckles frowned as they prepared themselves for any threat that might harm them or their friends. Meanwhile, the others were either confused or worried at what's going on too. And Dr. Eggman was just relieved that all that mushy stuff from Sonic and his friends had stopped.

Thank goodness that's over! I thought that I was going to throw up over all that mushiness! This is why I hate being in uncomfortable situations such as these! Either it goes into an even more uncomfortable situation or it all turns mushy in the end! It's sickening to me! Anyways, just who is giving this place an earthquake?! It better not be those two idiots! Because I swear if those two show up and ruin my chances into getting the emerald, then I'll just- Dr. Eggman thought before he saw a giant hand scooping up Cosmo and held her up in the air with its hand. The giant was a tall robot...and it was one of Dr. Eggman's creations...and Decoe and Bocue were piloting it in the robot's head.

Decoe then cheerfully replied, "Hi, Dr. Eggman! Look what we found!".

Becoe also replied cheerfully, "Yeah! Since you took so long to get the Chaos Emerald, we thought it would be easier to take a hostage and coerce Sonic and his friends to give up the emerald in exchange for this girl's life! A brilliant plan wouldn't you say? Decoe and I here had come up with it ourselves! Aren't you impressed, Doctor?!".

"SCRAP THEM INTO OBLIVION!" Dr. Eggman screamed in anger in the distance. He was standing up now and looked very ticked off now.

"Huh? Are you ordering us to kill Sonic and his friends now? I got to say Doctor that is a little extreme even for-" Decoe replied in slight confusion before Dr. Eggman cut him off.

"I was referring to you two idiots! Just why?! Why did you two doofuses came here anyway?! I thought that you guys were still at the ship!" Dr. Eggman yelled loudly.

"We were! But now since we had finished fixing your ship, we got nothing else to do! So, we decided to come help you get the Chaos Emerald since we knew that your plan into-" Decoe answered before Dr. Eggman screamed to try to shut Decoe up into revealing his plan to Sonic and the others.

"NO! …..NO! NO! NO! YOU WILL NOT SPEAK ANOTHER WORD ABOUT THAT!" Dr. Eggman screamed in anger.

Sonic and the others were quite surprised by that sudden outburst from Dr. Eggman. Sonic then smirked as he yelled up at Decoe and Bocue. He had an idea.

"Hey, Decoe! Bocue! What was that last part?! I didn't hear you over that obnoxious screaming!" Sonic yelled with a devious grin on his face.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT ANSWER HIM!" Dr. Eggman screamed in anger as he glared at Sonic. He knows what that mischievous hedgehog is doing, and he hates him for it. But that is nothing new.

"WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Sonic screamed back as he pretended to scratch in his ear in order to hear better. Sonic then winked to Tails to send him the message. Tails then smiled as he then screamed too.

"YEAH! WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU'RE SO HIGH UP! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU FROM HERE! SPEAK LOUDER!" Tails screamed with his hands over his mouth.

"Well, gee, I never thought that we were that high up. Maybe we should at least speak louder then!" Decoe replied as he looked at Bocue.

"I agree! At least Sonic and Tails are more nicer to us! Perhaps we should-" Bocue replied before Dr. Eggman screamed again.

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?! I SAID DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD ABOUT THAT! THEY CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE!" Dr. Eggman screamed in protest as he felt even more angry.

"WHAT?! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, DR. EGGMAN! SPEAK UP!" Sonic and Tails screamed as they teased him. Dr. Eggman growled in anger as he can see that Sonic and Tails are screwing with him now.

Chris soon saw what Sonic and Tails were doing. So, he quickly nudged both Amy and Cream and whispered the plan to them. Amy and Cream nodded and smiled at him as they understood the plan.

All three of them then screamed, "WHAT WAS THAT, GUYS?! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU FROM HERE! PLEASE SPEAK UP FOR US! WE WANT TO KNOW TOO!".

Sonic and Tails smiled as they saw that their friends had caught on to what they are doing. So, they continued on screaming together.

"JUST SPEAK LOUDER! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU! WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!" Sonic and Tails screamed with smiles on their faces.

"NO! DON'T DARE LISTEN TO THEM! NO! NO! NO! DON'T LET THEM TELL YOU WHAT TO DO! I'M THE BOSS AROUND HERE, AND YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!" Dr. Eggman screamed in fury. He hates all of them now for doing this.

Decoe and Bocue just looked at Sonic and his friends before looking at their Master. They looked back at forth at them as they all continued screaming.

"WHAT?! PLEASE SPEAK UP! YOU'RE TOO QUIET!" Sonic and his friends screamed.

"NO! DON'T SAY IT! DON'T DO IT!" Dr. Eggman screamed as he jumped up and down in anger.

Sonic and his friends started to copy Dr. Eggman as they jumped up and down. They continued to scream in unison.

"OH, COME ON! TELL US! TELL US! PLEASE SAY IT!" Sonic and his friends screamed while jumping up and down.

"DON'T SAY IT! I COMMAND YOU!" Dr. Eggman screamed.

Sonic and his friends then chanted, "SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT!".

Dr. Eggman just screamed, "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!".

Decoe and Bocue then had sweat drops on their heads as they now feel pressure from both sides. "Ooooh, this is too stressful! I don't know which person I should obey!" Decoe exclaimed as he felt nervous.

"My circuits are overloading with too many commands! I don't know how to process them! What should we do?!" Bocue exclaimed as he also looked nervous.

"I don't know!" Decoe replied with a sad look.

While everyone was screaming, Cosmo was just confused. What are they doing? I mean I can hear those strange robots just fine. Did...Did Sonic and the others suddenly lost their hearing? Cosmo thought in confusion.

Meanwhile, Rouge was just covering her ears. The screaming was too much for her. Grrrr. I would like to get the emerald and leave, but if those idiots keep on screaming for a few more seconds, then I think I'm going to lose it! Just why are they thinking screaming like that?! Don't they know that screaming can make others lose their hearing?!

Meanwhile, Knuckles was just staring at his acquaintances with such confusion on his face. He can hear them chant, "SAY IT!" again and again. He has no idea why Sonic and the others had started screaming. He frowned as he pondered. What are they doing? I can hear those idiotic robots just fine. They should better shut up soon because I'm starting to feel annoyed at what they are doing right now!

Decoe and Bocue couldn't take it anymore as they finally shouted together, "WE WERE ABOUT TO SAY DR. EGGMAN'S PLAN INTO TRICKING KNUCKLES SO THAT DR. EGGMAN CAN SCREW WITH SONIC FOR A LITTLE BIT AS A WAY TO GET REVENGE ON HIM!".

Dr. Eggman face-palmed as he shouted, "YOU IDIOTS!".

"WE'RE SORRY, DOCTOR!" Decoe and Bocue shouted back. Knuckles then felt alarmed as once he heard that confession. He then grew angry as he turned to look at Dr. Eggman with a furious expression on his face.

"Eggman! You tricked me again?!" Knuckles yelled in fury. Dr. Eggman frowned as he realized he got caught red-handed. Decoe and Bocue knew that their Master needs a way out. So, they used the robot's other hand to put it down in front of him to offer him a lift. Dr. Eggman then sulked as he crawled onto the robot's hand.

Bocue replied, "We did warn you that this plan would fail again. But did you listen? No. You just thought that you could get lucky this time!".

As Dr. Eggman seated himself on top of the hand, he then replied back, "Well, could you blame me?! Gambler's fallacy says that if it didn't happen the first two times, then it will happen the third time! And I was sure that Knuckles would get tricked into giving me the Chaos Emerald again! It had happened befo-ULP!". He then quickly placed his hands over his mouth as he realized that he said too much.

"YOU KNEW THAT I WOULD GET TRICKED AGAIN?!" Knuckles shouted in anger. He then clenched his fists and closed his eyes as he was seething in anger. He then muttered darkly, "Oh, you are so dead, Eggman".

As Dr. Eggman was being lifted off the ground, he then replied sheepishly while scratching his head, "Look, Knuckles. Don't take this personally. But even I couldn't resist the temptation to do so".

Sonic grinned as he replied, "I have to agree on Eggman here. It is way too fun to mess with you, Knucklehead!".

"Sonic! Now is not the time to rub it in!" Knuckles exclaimed as he glared at Dr. Eggman in anger. The robot finally got Dr. Eggman to the top, and he went inside the robot to sit down at the command center with Decoe and Bocue. Dr. Eggman then typed onto the motherboard of the robot to take control of it. He then thought. Okay, I guess I will have to resort to Plan B then!

"Alright, Sonic! Listen up! I had tried screwing with you by tricking your friend into giving me the emerald as part as my revenge! But since you and your friends have to be sore losers about it, I'm going to force you into giving it to me with the price of the girl! Either you exchange the emerald for the girl or sacrifice her life for the emerald! Are you willing to pay the price, Sonic? Because you are going to pay up some hefty sums either way! Hahahahahahahaha!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed as he controlled the robot to hold Cosmo tighter in its hand.

"Don't try any funny stuff, Sonic!" Decoe added while the robot held Cosmo in front of the gang.

Bocue added, "Yeah, you can't even cheat to get her out of this one! Play it fair and square, Sonic!".

Sonic and the others frowned as they either prepared themselves for the fight or ready to defend themselves from the robot's attacks. Sonic knows that he can't risk Cosmo's life on this, but what can he do?

Cream then spoke out his thoughts, "We shouldn't give her up to Dr. Eggman. We shouldn't sacrifice her for the emerald. She's our friend! We need to save her somehow!". Cheese exclaimed in agreement, "Chao Chao!".

"Yeah...but how?" Sonic replied as he looked serious. Tails and Chris soon ran towards the group since they are so worried for Cosmo.

"Cosmo! Hang on! We're coming!" Tails exclaimed with worry as he ran. He still carried the board game under his arm as he ran.

Chris exclaimed, "Don't worry! We'll save you!".

They left the blue Chaos Emerald unguarded now as they ran towards the huge robot. Rouge then slowly snuck up behind the cliff. She can see the Chaos Emerald in her line of sight. She then said, "Well, it's about time that a distraction had been made. I might have to thank the Doctor this time for giving me the chance to get my first jewel".

Knuckles and the others were still confronting Dr. Eggman about this. "Dr. Eggman! If you try to kill her, then I'll-" Knuckles yelled as he glared at Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman cut him off by saying, "-You'll do what? Try to punch this huge robot down? I'm sorry, but the moment that you decide to attack me is the moment that I will crush her! You don't want that, do you? Now, be a good little boy and surrender the emerald to me so that I can spare her life!".

"Yeah! No punching your way out of this one! …..Err...I mean you can...but it won't work!" Bocue replied before being a bit sheepish in the end.

Knuckles growled as he slightly put his arms down as he realized that Dr. Eggman's right. Even he can't risk Cosmo's life for exchange of the emerald. He can only wish for a miracle to save them now. Tails and Chris showed up to join Sonic and the others. Cream soon spotted Tails carrying the board game with him and soon had an idea.

"I got it! Let's have Miss Amy play the board game so that we can get a miracle to happen!" Cream exclaimed happily.

"No! We are not playing that cruddy game!" Knuckles yelled out in frustration. I may wish for a miracle, but I did not literally mean play RNG in real life to get one! It would be completely ludicrous that a miracle will come thanks to that board game! I just hope that the others will agree with-Knuckles brooded with a frown.

"I'm in!" Amy exclaimed happily as she ran over to Tails to take the board game from him.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Sonic exclaimed with a grin. He is all for lucky events, and he doesn't care if this is an inappropriate time for a game turn. He is willing to literally throw the dice and get some good luck in this situation.

"Okay," Tails replied calmly as he looked at Amy.

Chris just shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Might as well try at this situation".

"OH, COME ON!" Knuckles shouted in frustration as he face-palmed himself at this.

Meanwhile, Rouge was ready to snatch the blue emerald since she was next to it. She then said, "Ah, at long last, my little baby is going home to me". She was confident that nothing can stop her now from getting the emerald. She was right except for one thing...

KACHING!

"Wow! I got an 8! I'm on space 16 now! Lucky me!" Amy exclaimed happily as she grabbed the white card from the card slot to read it.

"I can't believe that we are actually doing this," Knuckles muttered in annoyance as he had a sweat drop on his head.

"'Now, remember that frog that got caught in your throat? Why the frog is now out here right now and under your...coat'? …...Okay, am I just bad at riddles or are these just rhymes that don't make any sense?" Amy read the card before she spoke her thoughts out as she felt confused.

"Wait a minute! I had a similar card that has something to do with a frog too! Maybe they are connected somehow!" Tails exclaimed as he remembered what his card had said.

"Really? Hmm...I wonder what that frog is our cards keep mentioning about?" Amy replied as she looked thoughtful now.

As Tails and Amy thought on this, Dr. Eggman felt confused as he scratched his head as he looked at those two. "Just what are they blabbering about? What kind of a game are they playing anyway?" Dr. Eggman spoke out loud.

"I don't know, sir. But they seem more interesting in the game now rather than us, Doctor," Decoe replied as he looked back at Dr. Eggman.

"Grrr! Just squeeze the girl to remind them that I'm still here!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he felt irritated.

"Okay! Proceeding to squeeze the girl in 3...! Ack! What is going on now?!" Decoe replied before he can see the ground rumbling below him. Sonic and his friends felt the ground rumble again.

Even Rouge felt the ground rumbling below her, she was about to wonder what is going on until she saw the rock and the floor below her cracking. Rouge then quickly flew up as she notices that something large is coming up from the ground. The blue Chaos Emerald also flew up to the air as the huge thing got out from the ground. It was a giant robot frog.

Sonic and his friends turned around to see the giant robot frog behind them. Chris then replied, "Uhhh...Tails? Amy? I think that this is the frog that your cards keep on mentioning about".

"Ohh...so it's another poacher then? I...I guess it would make sense since frogs eats bugs as prey...Oh, geez! I don't want to be eaten like a bug!" Tails replied before he panicked a little. The robot frog was taunting Sonic and the gang by swishing its tongue around. At the end of the robot frog's tongue, there was a sharp, metal triangle blade. The frog soon caught the falling Chaos Emerald with its tongue and put it into its mouth.

Rouge was upset that the robot frog ate the Chaos Emerald. "Ugh! All that hard work, and my Chaos Emerald gets eaten up so easily! Just what kind of nonsense is this?! I've seen some strange things back in my home planet, but this is just ridiculous!" Rouge exclaimed in irritation before she flew away to safety. She decided to fly back to Dr. Eggman's ship since she lost her chance to steal the Chaos Emerald.

"Oh no! That Metarex poacher had just eaten the Chaos Emerald! Now how will we get it back?!" Amy exclaimed as she stared at the frog robot.

"I got it!" Cream exclaimed as she then grabbed the board game from Amy. Cream then exclaimed, "Maybe we can get lucky with my roll and get that Chaos Emerald out from it that way!".

"NO! No! No! No! Enough with using that board game as a means to get things done around here! Let's go fight that poacher ourselves and get the Chaos Emerald that way! Let's do things the old-fashioned way and do things more realistically!" Knuckles yelled as he felt completely frustrated.

…...

Everyone was silent as they all stared at Knuckles. Knuckles glared at them. Sonic and his friends had confused looks on their faces as they looked at Knuckles. Knuckles then replied, "What?".

Sonic then smiled as he pointed at Knuckles and said, "You're just mad that the board game had actually helped us!".

"How is this helping us?! That was an unlucky event!" Knuckles yelled back.

Sonic smirked as he replied, "I wouldn't say that. You do remember that Dr. Eggman here was just threatening us to hand over the emerald in order for an exchange to happen, right?".

"Yeah?" Knuckles replied while growling a little.

"And what will happen if we are unable to do that? Say...someone or something else taking our emerald from us for example?" Sonic asked while still grinning at Knuckles. Knuckles thought about it for a moment before a realization had hit him.

"...Then there will be no point into threatening Cosmo's life since...that person has the emerald now..." Knuckles muttered as he had an unamused look on his face.

"Yep! Now do you believe that our board game is the cause of all of this?!" Sonic exclaimed happily with a teasing grin.

"...(Sigh)…...Yes," Knuckles replied as he gave up.

"Great! Now let's use it to-" Sonic replied happily before knuckles cut him off.

"But that doesn't mean that board game can solve all of our problems here! We can't just abuse it just so that we can get lucky and have things go our way! We still have to face these problems ourselves! So, all of you should at least come up with a plan before I just go out there by myself and fight that stupid frog!" Knuckles yelled loudly as he glared at Sonic.

Sonic just chuckled as a response to that. Knuckles growled as yelled again, "Why are you laughing?! This is no time to be laughing!".

"Hahahaha! …..I'm going to be honest with you, Knuckles. For once, I was actually taking you seriously...but...Pffffhahahahaha! You then said, '...and fight that stupid frog'! Hahahahahaha! That just sounds so ridiculous in hindsight! Only you can say that and not laugh in the middle of it! Hahahaha!" Sonic replied while chuckling.

Knuckles then turned beet-red in embarrassment. He then growled in anger as he was being mocked again. That hedgehog will never truly respect me, will he? Knuckles thought in anger. Knuckles then yelled, "Be serious for one second!".

Before Sonic or the others replied, they all heard Dr. Eggman cry out, "No! That blasted frog got my emerald! Alright, boys! Commence Plan C! We are going to fight that frog ourselves and grab that emerald as a part of the spoils!".

"Right away, Doctor! Changing from Plan B to Plan C now!" Decoe replied as he and Bocue moved the robot from the sand and more onto the ground. As they quickly moved the robot, they had accidently dropped Cosmo from the robot's hand.

"Ack! Sorry!" Decoe exclaimed as he regretted dropping the girl.

Cosmo was screaming as she fell from the sky. Knuckles saw that and ran towards Cosmo. Sonic and the others were about to call to him, but he exclaimed back, "I got this! Leave it to me!". He then thought. Well, this isn't the first time that I've saved a girl like this.

He then jumped up and caught Cosmo in his arms. Once he got down, he then said, "I'm sorry, Cosmo. It's all my fault that I got you into this mess".

"T-That's okay! But what we need to do now is get that emerald back!" Cosmo replied as she pointed at the frog robot.

"Right!" Knuckles replied as he gently placed her down on her feet.

Dr. Eggman's robot was stomping toward the frog robot. The robot rammed into the frog robot and held onto it. Dr. Eggman yelled, "Drill Attack! Now!". Bocue and Decoe controlled the robot to hold onto the frog while a large drill come out and attack the robot's armor. However, to Dr. Eggman's surprise, the attack didn't make any damage to the frog robot.

"How is this possible?! How strong is that metal?!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in shock.

"This is certainly no regular robot, sir!" Decoe exclaimed.

"Maybe we should try a different attack to make a dent on that thing!" Bocue exclaimed as he pointed at the frog robot. As Dr. Eggman's robot lifted the drill hand back, the frog robot attacked back by using its tongue to swipe Dr. Eggman's robot out of the way. Dr. Eggman's robot was knocked back. It had fell to the ground by that attack.

Dr. Eggman, Decoe, and Bocue were all lying down at the wall of the robot's head. Dr. Eggman exclaimed, "How could a tongue be more mightier than a tall, giant robot?! That doesn't make any sense! And yet...And yet it happened! Why did that happen?!".

"Maybe the robot's tongue is actually made up of steel?" Decoe replied as he tried to figure that one out too.

"Well, we certainly can't hurt this thing. Maybe we should tag this one out and let Sonic and the others handle it! We can a make a getaway by doing that!" Bocue suggested as he looked at Dr. Eggman.

"And let Sonic make a mockery over me for the events that had already happened?! No way! We will keep fighting that robot, grab that Chaos Emerald, and leave this planet victoriously with some dignity left intact!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he wiggled in anger. Decoe and Bocue sighed as they got back to their seats and piloted the robot again. Dr. Eggman also got back at his seat and stared at the robot with irritation. To Dr. Eggman's surprise, the frog robot talked.

The frog robot moved its head as he said, "(Croak)….You should not have these emeralds. We need those things for our survival. (Croak) We need its energy to strengthen our bodies...and to live forever. (Croak)….You only wish to use them to take lives from others. You only bring pain and sadness to others".

Dr. Eggman yelled back, "Oh, as if you are saying that your motives for taking the emeralds is any less selfish than mine! You can't preach something and do something contradictory! I don't hear you saying I'm going to use the emeralds to give everyone kitties and puppies or something like that! I'm very sure that your motives are just as wicked as mine, and I'm going to be the one who uses them first! Decoe! Bocue! Let's...eat some frog legs tonight".

As he said that, the robot then pulled out a sword from the back and held it out in front of the frog robot. Decoe and Bocue controlled the robot to attack the frog robot with its sword. The robot soon tried to stab the frog with the sword, but the frog jumped very high to get out of its way. The frog counterattacked by using its tongue to wrap it onto the robot's arm that has a sword in it. Once the tongue had wrapped the arm fully, the frog robot soon landed on the other side.

Decoe and Bocue then controlled the robot to pull onto its tongue with the other hand. As the robot kept on pulling the tongue closer to it, the frog robot made another counterattack by electrocuting the other robot with its tongue. Dr. Eggman's robot was being electrocuted. Decoe and Bocue struggled to operate the robot, but they were soon electrified as well as Dr. Eggman.

The frog robot then replied, "Maybe you are right. (Croak)….We are just as selfish as you are. But...(Croak)…...We are all doing this because it is all part of a game. …..A game of life and death...(Croak)".

After the frog robot had said this, Dr. Eggman's robot had exploded. Dr. Eggman, Decoe, and Bocue were sent flying to the sky and were screaming along the way. "CURRRRRRRSSSSEEEESSSS!" Dr. Eggman screamed as he flew to the sky. They were gone soon after that.

The frog robot got its tongue back to its mouth as he replied, "(Croak) Now, it is time hunt down my next meal. Where are you players? (Croak) It is time to accept your fate and die. You are at the bottom of the food chain while we poachers are at the top. So, accept that fact and come to me".

"Well, why didn't you say so?!" Knuckles yelled as he then put on his Shovel Claws and ran towards the robot's back. He then jumped onto the back and then to the robot's face. He then tried to punch through the robot's eye. He punched the eye very fast, but the eye didn't make a dent or nothing.

The frog robot replied, "Well, aren't you a brave little prey. It's just too bad that I have to eat you". The robot then moved its head to the left to throw Knuckles off its body. Knuckles fell off from the robot and soon landed on his feet. Really?! Even my Shovel Claws can't do anything to these poachers?! I even hit it at the eye! And it didn't break or anything! Great! Now what?! Knuckles thought as he glared at the frog robot.

Sonic then went by in the air as he is in his Super Spinball move. He tried to hit the robot in the eye too. But he only bounced right off of it. He then fell down and landed on his feet too.

"I honestly thought that his eye was made of glass. I guess I was wrong then," Sonic said as looked at the frog robot.

"That makes two of us," Knuckles replied with a frown on his face.

The frog robot added, "And that makes two, dead prey".

The frog robot then attacked by stabbing the ground with its tongue. Sonic and Knuckles quickly jumped out of the way of the tongue's attack. They kept on jumping away while the robot kept on stabbing the ground with its tongue. The robot turned its head left to right to make multiple attacks onto the ground. There were multiple dust clouds forming as the robot kept on attacking different spots on the ground. Sonic's friends were watching Sonic and Knuckles fight the frog robot. Cosmo was in her thoughts as she watched.

I'm sure glad that those two had put aside their differences so that they can work together to fight this Metarex poacher. But...why did this have to happen? Any of this...why does this need to happen? To take countless lives...as a part of the game...it's so sickening to me.

Sonic and Knuckles both landed on different parts of the area. Sonic landed on top of a cliff while Knuckles landed on the ground. The robot frog then said, "You may fight me all you want, but I will kill you and take the Planet Egg with me. My kind needs all source of life in order to survive, and I will not let you players stop us!".

"Th-This is terrible! I should make my-my-my move n-now! Please magical board game! Help us!" Cream exclaimed as she then quickly opened the board game and pressed the red button. The roulette wheel started to spin as it takes Cream's turn. Amy looked over at Cream. She can see that Cream is desperate for something good to come out of the board game. If Amy was being honest with herself, she would also admit that she's desperate too.

Cosmo also spoke out her worries. "We need to stop this poacher now before he kills the planet's life! We must stop him from taking the Planet Egg! Do any of you guys have any ideas?" Cosmo said as she stared at the frog robot.

"We're working on it! Cream is thinking about using the board game to help us!" Amy exclaimed as she looked back at Cosmo.

"And Tails and I are thinking about going back to the Blue Typhoon and operate the Sonic Power Cannon in order to attack the robot! We are going to work fast and get there with no time to waste!" Chris exclaimed with a determined expression on his face.

"Yeah, let's get back there quick!" Tails exclaimed in agreement.

Cosmo nodded and smiled. But she then asked, "But how are you going to get there quickly? We would need a distraction to buy us some time. But what will we use?".

KACHING!

"Oh, neat! I got a 5! I'm at space 15!" Cream exclaimed with a bright smile. She then quickly took out the white card from the card slot and read it.

"'A lucky break from a fall. So, why don't you go have a ball?' …...Hmm? 'A lucky break'? Is that a good thing or not?" Cream read the card before she talked to Amy about it.

"Well, yeah. It usually is. By why did it mention a ball? I don't think that this is the time to have fun and play catch," Amy replied as she crossed her arms and had a thoughtful look on her face.

PING!

"Ah!" Cosmo yelped as a pale blue ball had suddenly appeared in her hands. Amy, Cream, Chris, and Tails all turned around and were surprised that Cosmo was now holding a ball in her hands. They were stunned as to why a ball had appeared out of nowhere and so out of the blue like that. It's almost as if...

They all soon turned their heads to look at the board game that Cream is holding in her hands. They all thought at the same time. It was that board game that gave us that ball. We should make use of it!

Amy, Cream, Chris, and Tails all had smiles on their faces as they all had the exact same idea. However, Cosmo was confused as she said, "Umm...Guys? Why are you guys smiling like that? Do you have an idea?".

"Yep! Not only that! But we got a distraction!" Chris exclaimed with a smile.

It was a few seconds later that the robot frog decided to change tactics as he turned around and hopped away. He decided that he can lower their guard by running away before making another counterattack. Sonic and Knuckles were confused by this action at first, but they both ran after it and stood in front of the robot.

"Oh! Are you trying to run away?! Well, we won't let you!" Knuckles yelled as he ran and stood in front of the robot with Sonic.

"Yeah, the only person who is allowed to run freely away is me! You are just going to fight us instead!" Sonic added as he stood a bit away from Knuckles.

The frog robot replied, "I never realized that you two wanted to die that badly. Do you want a quick and painless death instead? Because I can satisfy that need by crushing you with my spikes".

"Oh, yeah?! What spikes?! Because the only spikes that I'm seeing here is my blue, idiotic acquaintance's quills!" Knuckles yelled out as he challenged the robot with his fists.

Sonic quipped as he glared at Knuckles, "...Or the spikes on top of my red, gullible friend's hands!". Knuckles looked at Sonic and glared back at him.

The frog robot then spoke after producing six, large spikes under its head and belly, "These were the spikes that I was referring to, you meddlesome prey".

Knuckles and Sonic both looked back at the robot and gulped after seeing the huge spikes. They can tell that those spikes could definitely kill them in one hit. They both had sweat drops on their heads as they stared at the robot. The frog robot then jumped up high into the air as he said, "Say 'Night. Night' my prey".

"Run!" Sonic and Knuckles yelled as they quickly ran from the descending frog robot. The robot landed onto the ground and some dust came up from that huge landing. Luckly, the robot hadn't noticed that Sonic and Knuckles had ran away safely to the others.

"Okay! We only got a minute before that robot realizes that we're not under him anymore! Do any of you guys have an idea onto how to beat this robot?!" Knuckles yelled as he looked at the frog robot as he addresses to Cream, Cosmo, and Amy.

Amy replied with a smile, "We got you covered! Just watch!".

Knuckles was about to ask what before Chris then yelled out, "Hey, you poacher! Is this what you were looking for?! A small slice of life?!". Knuckles and the others turned to look at Chris who was standing on top of the ship while holding the pale blue ball in his hand.

Cosmo then said her line with some slight stuttering since she was nervous about this plan, "Uh, um...Th-Th-The P-Planet Egg! O-Oh no! Wh-What is he th-thinking?!". Sonic then turned to look at Cosmo in confusion. He knows that what Chris was holding was not the Planet Egg, however, he heard Cream "psst"ing a little and looked down at her. He can see Cream pointing at the board game and then at Chris' ball. He then put two and two together as he then smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. He then whispered to her, "Great work!".

He then can hear the frog robot reply to Chris, "Do you have any idea how precious that small life is? You are not fit to have that life. I shall take it from you because you lack understanding on how important that small life is!".

"Well, you are going to have a hard time taking it after I do this!" Chris exclaimed as he then released the rope from the ship's pole. The sails on the ship went down, and the ship started sailing as a result.

The frog robot replied, "How dare you try to take that precious life from me! You shall give it to me at once!".

"Go ahead and try! I dare you!" Chris exclaimed as the ship went farther away from the frog robot. The robot then started to hop after the ship.

"O-Oh, dear! He's crazy! C-Can't anyone st-stop him?!" Cosmo replied as she pretended to be shocked.

Amy replied calmly, "Don't worry, Cosmo. The Planet Egg won't fall into that poacher's hands...or um...feet...I guess".

"B-But he can be in d-danger! Can s-someone go out there and p-protect him?!" Cosmo replied nervously. Luckily, her nervousness for saying her lines were easy to confuse for actual nervousness of the situation. And it was that kind of stellar acting that made Knuckles believe that what was happening a dangerous one.

"Oh, that stupid kid! Does he have any idea what he's doing?!" Knuckles yelled out in irritation and in concern.

"Easy there, Knuckles. Maybe Chris can handle this one alone," Amy replied calmly as she looked back at him.

"Over my dead body!" Knuckles exclaimed before he ran after the frog robot and the ship.

Sonic then looked over at Amy and Cream with a smile as he replied, "Nice plan there, guys!".

"Teehee! It was nothing, Sonic! It was the perfect distraction for the robot!" Amy replied with a giggle.

"Yeah, it was thanks to this board game that gave us that ball," Cream replied happily as she held up that board game for emphasis. Cosmo then breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that she was done acting.

"Whew! Who knew that acting would be such hard work?!" Cosmo exclaimed as she held onto her chest. Sonic turned his head at Cosmo and smiled brightly at her.

"Wow, Cosmo, you were in on this plan too?" Sonic asked with a grin.

"Uh huh. Tails said that I should pretend that Chris had the Planet Egg and um, react to it. He said that it would convince that Metarex poacher that what Chris held was the real one and not a fake," Cosmo explained as she nodded her head.

Sonic smirked as he then looked at Knuckles as he was still running after the frog robot and the ship. "Well, Cosmo, it seems like your acting was almost too good since you not only tricked that Metarex poacher but even that red knucklehead himself! Although then again...he is easy to trick in the first place," Sonic replied with a playful smile.

"Sonic! That was terribly rude! You can't say that behind someone's back!" Cosmo exclaimed at Sonic as she glared at him.

Sonic flinched in shock by that outburst. He turned to look at Cosmo with a stunned expression on his face. "C-Cosmo...I...I'm sorry. I guess that was a little mean there," Sonic apologized with a sheepish look on his face.

"Well then...umm...please be nicer to him...okay?" Cosmo replied with a saddened look on her face.

"Ah...um...a-alright. I will then...So, you know what? Maybe I should go and try attacking the robot by using the Sonic Power Cannon. See you later, guys!" Sonic replied awkwardly before he quickly turns around and ran away. He then ran towards the Blue Typhoon.

Cosmo frowned as she replied, "I think that I had made the situation awkward for him. Was I wrong to correct him?".

Amy smiled sympathetically as she replied, "No, Cosmo. It's okay. You were just doing what you thought was right".

Cosmo turned around to look at her with sad eyes as she replied, "But...But what I did was out of character for me. Normally, I would just stay quiet and not speak up for fear that others would hate me or feel uncomfortable with me. I just don't want to confront people. It's...It's too stressful for me".

Cream frowned as she then walked over to her and held Cosmo's arm. Cream then replied, "It's okay, Cosmo. I hate confrontations just as much as you do. You are not alone here. But...I do think that you did the right thing and speak up what you truly thought instead of staying quiet. You did a good thing, Cosmo, and you don't have to feel guilty about it".

Cosmo gasped once she heard this. She stared at Cream's eyes for a while before she closed them as she thought. Showing others what you truly thought and feel. If only I can do that more often without any fear of being controlled, then I would've...(Sigh)…...Maybe I could've made some people's lives better...but all I do is fulfilling what I am...tasked to do as a..."guide".

She then opened her eyes and smiled sadly at Cream. She placed a hand on top of Cream's and stroked it. She then said, "Yes...You are right, Cream. I am glad that I did a good thing today. I'll be happy about it".

Cream beamed at Cosmo as she replied, "I'm happy about that too!".

Meanwhile, Tails had lifted up the Blue Typhoon off of the ground. Sonic was running towards the flying ship. He can see the ship in the distance and ran faster towards it. While this was happening, Chris was still keeping the frog robot's attention by waving his arms at him and taunting him.

"Come on! Come and get your life, you dorky amphibian! If you want this precious life, then you better work for it!" Chris exclaimed while waving the ball around. Man, it is kind of pathetic on how easy it was by tricking him to think that this was the real Planet Egg. You think that all those Metarex robots would know what a real Planet Egg looks like by now, but I guess I was wrong here. Anyways, he is getting closer to the intended target, and when he gets there, Tails will shoot Sonic out of the Sonic Power Cannon. I just hope that Sonic had caught onto what we were planning or else...umm...this is going to get hairy! Chris pondered as he stared at the frog robot as it hopped closer towards the moving ship. Once the Metarex robot got near to the intended target place, Chris then jumped down towards the rope trampoline and bounced up very high to the sky.

Amy, Cream, and Cosmo were surprised and happy that the distraction was successful as they watched Chris bounced off from the trampoline. Chris then yelled, "I'm taking this little life...AND WASTE IT!". He then threw the ball very far away in the sky.

"No! My life!" the frog robot cried out as he saw the ball going high into the sky.

At that same time, Sonic had already arrived at the Sonic Power Cannon. Tails then said over the speaker, "Sonic! I'm glad that you made here in time! I almost thought that you wouldn't catch on to our plan!".

Sonic replied as he ran towards the center of the cannon, "Relax, Tails! Unlike Knuckles, I catch on fast!".

"Yeah, yeah. Of coarse, you do. Anyways, let's aim this cannon towards that amphibious poacher! You ready, Sonic?" Tails replied over the speaker as pushed some buttons on his control pad.

As Sonic landed on the core of the cannon and laid on it in a cocky way, he exclaimed boldly, "I was born ready! Let's do this!".

"Alright! Aiming the cannon now!" Tails exclaimed as he focused his target onto the frog robot on the screen in front of him. As Tails does this, Sonic got up and did his Super Spinball move.

Meanwhile, Knuckles had finally caught up to the frog robot and the ship that Chris was still on. He was still running at the time. He spotted the pale ball in the sky and ran faster. He then thought. Okay, last chance repair Chris' mistake! It's time to set things right and save the day!

He then jumped onto the frog robot's back a few times to get to the top of him. Once he got to the top of the robot, he jumped up to catch the ball. He successfully caught it in his arm and exclaimed cockily, "Ha! I've stolen your life!".

"Not unless I stole yours first!" the frog robot exclaimed angrily before he attacked Knuckles with his tongue. Knuckles saw that the tongue was wrapping around him. Before he could react, the tongue had already snagged him in its wraps. The girls gasped in shock as they saw Knuckles being trapped by the poacher's tongue. Knuckles grunted as he realized that he was trapped in a snare that he can't break free out of. Kind of like how he was tricked today and couldn't break free without the help of his acquaintances.

Oh, great...so my card did come true...and I was careless enough to fall for it. I'm...I'm going to die this way, aren't I? By failing to notice warnings of a trap laid before me. …...Why is this karma for not listening to my acquaintances' advice? If I survive this, then I'm going to give my acqu-...Sigh...my friends some more respect than I already give them. Knuckles reflected while struggling to get out of the robot's tongue.

Speaking of friends, Sonic and Tails were already prepared to attack the frog robot. Sonic's spinball attack had strengthened thanks to the Master Emerald's power. He now has light-blue electricity surging through him as he kept on spinning. Tails was busy aiming at the robot.

"Hang on tight, Sonic! Because I...got him!" Tails exclaimed as he aimed the cursor over the jumping frog. Once he aimed it at the center, the screen then showed the "LOCKED-ON" sign on screen to show that the target had been locked-on.

"Ready! Fire!" Tails exclaimed over the speaker before he pushed the button to fire Sonic out of the cannon.

BOOM!

Sonic was then sent flying very fast in the air in his charged up spinball move. He was sent hurling towards the frog robot. The frog robot turned his head around and exclaimed before Sonic hit him.

"It's a trap!" the frog robot exclaimed in panic before Sonic hit him hard at the stomach.

KABOOM!

A large explosion was seen and heard as the frog robot poacher had beaten destroyed. Chris was happy as he exclaimed, "I knew that you can do it, Sonic!".

Knuckles was happy too as he was finally released from that trap. He fell down while holding onto the pale blue ball under his right arm. He then finally landed on his feet before he bent down on one knee as he realized that the fall was a bit hard. Amy, Cream, and Cosmo soon ran towards him to see if he was okay.

"Are you going to be okay, Knuckles? That was quite a fall you took," Cosmo said as she looked concerned for him.

"Yeah, did that hurt?" Cream asked too as she also felt concerned for him.

Knuckles slowly stood up straight as he replied, "No, I'm fine. I'll be alright. But still, what was Chris thinking when he was baiting that poacher with the Planet Egg?! Did he not know that the Metarex robot will go after him if he taunted him with it?!".

Cream replied happily with a smile, "But it's okay, Mr. Knuckles! That is not the Planet Egg!".

"Huh?! It's not?! Then what the heck is it?!" Knuckles exclaimed as he looked shocked while holding the supposed "Planet Egg" in his right hand. As a way to answer his question, the pale ball soon deflated immediately. Knuckles then turned his head to look at the ball deflating in his hand.

As he felt even more confused, he exclaimed, "H-How did that happen?! What was that thing anyway?!".

Amy answered him promptly, "It was a ball!".

"A...A ball?" Knuckles replied in a confused tone as he stared at the deflated ball in his hand.

Cream replied happily, "Yep! We had used that ball as bait to lure that poacher into our trap! While you and Sonic were busy fighting that robot, Amy, Tails, Chris, and I had come up with a plan to distract that poacher long enough so that Tails can fire Sonic out of the Sonic Power Cannon! By telling the poacher that we got the Planet Egg, we were able to make him chase after Chris! That was how we were able to defeat him!".

Knuckles stared at Cream as he then replied, "So, you are telling me that you had used this ball to trick that Metarex poacher into chasing Chris so that you can get Sonic to defeat him".

"Uh huh! That's correct!" Cream exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh, that sounds so great except for one thing...WHY DID I HAD TO BE TRICKED TOO?!" Knuckles replied calmly before he started shouting angrily.

Amy cheekily grinned at Knuckles as she replied, "You know, you didn't have to be tricked if you already knew what the real Planet Egg looks like. But, oh wait...you weren't even there with us when we had retrieved it. So, it was just up to your intuition to figure that out. Which...we can clearly see that you lack a lot of in".

Knuckles growled as he replied, "Couldn't you just.. I don't know...LET ME KNOW BEFOREHAND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?!".

"We could, but ever since you had believed Dr. Eggman over your friends...I think that it is appropriate that you had to be tricked twice to learn your lesson," Amy replied with a mischievous grin.

Knuckles cringed as Amy had reminded him of being tricked today by Dr. Eggman. He frowned as he thought. Alright, I'll admit it...I kind of deserved that.

Knuckles took a deep sigh before he replied, "Alright, alright, I get it. No more listening to Dr. Eggman's lies. But there is just one last thing that I want to ask".

"Ask away!" Cream replied happily.

"JUST WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BALL?!" Knuckles shouted in frustration as he clenched his hands into fists.

Cream grinned happily as she held up the board game in front of him and answered simply, "The board game!".

Knuckles slapped his forehead with his other hand as he face-palmed himself. Oh, of coarse, how silly of me! Why use conventional means of getting what you need when you can use magical board games to solve all your problems?! I'm...I'm...I'm just tired...and hungry apparently. I need some food before I can be in a better mood for the rest of the day. Knuckles brooded while being sarcastic too.

"I...I give up. I'm feeling very hungry right now," Knuckles muttered in defeat.

Amy, Cream, and Cosmo all smiled as they said together, "Yeah! Let's eat! Let's make dinner!".

"Did someone say dinner?! Cause I'm in for some food!" Sonic exclaimed in the air. Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Cosmo all looked up and saw Sonic land on top of the ship along with Chris. Sonic gave Chris a thumbs up, and Chris gave a thumbs up back. They both exclaimed, "Heck yeah! Dinner time!".

-Meanwhile With Dr. Eggman-

"I told you that he is beginning to reuse his old schemes! When do you think that he will soon forget this failure?" Decoe said to Bocue while he had his arms behind his head.

"Probably tomorrow..." Bocue replied sadly as he had a look that says "I give up".

"If you two keep that up, then I might forget you two tomorrow! Fine! I'll try to come up with some more original schemes in the future! Just get off my case already!" Dr. Eggman yelled at Decoe and Bocue.

"Well, sorry, Doctor. But you plus originality doesn't mix very well. It would be better if you asked us for help from the very start! We would've gladly helped you, sir!" Decoe replied as he looked at Dr. Eggman.

"That's right! They say that three heads are better than one! We are very creative, Doctor! Probably much more creative than you!" Bocue added as he also stared at Dr. Eggman.

"Grrrr! Oh, will you two shut up already?! Don't make me try dismantling you again! You hear that?!" Dr. Eggman yelled in anger as he stood up from his seat.

"Sorry, sir!" Decoe and Bocue exclaimed loudly.

Meanwhile, Rouge and Bokkun were talking in Bokkun's room.

"Oh, don't be upset, sweetie. I'm not mad that you didn't get the emerald either. Maybe you'll get lucky next time. You have the potential to be a good little thief as long as you do as I say," Rouge said as she calmly convinces Bokkun to accept his new role as an assistant thief.

"But I don't want to be your little assistant! I'm Dr. Eggman's henchman! Not yours!" Bokkun exclaimed back while he was crossing his arms.

Rouge then pulled out the silver locket as replied with a teasing grin, "Oh? Well, does an Eggman henchman always keeps a locket around? I don't think so!".

Bokkun felt nervous again as a sweat drop formed on his head. He then sighed as he replied in defeat, "A-A-Anything for you...Master."

"Good," Rouge replied deviously. Bokkun then cried in agony as he now accepted the humiliating title as a thief's little assistant. This is the worst day of my life! Bokkun thought in despair as he kept on crying in defeat. Dr. Eggman's purple spaceship kept on flying further and further into space while Bokkun cries in despair.

-Meanwhile With Sonic And Friends; An Hour Later-

Sonic and his friends had all finished eating their meals on the ship that they were on the parade before. Apparently, they had eaten some leftovers from the large feat that the locals had thrown for Sonic and his friends earlier today. Knuckles had definitely started to regret on missing out on the feast this time because the food was so good that he had finished over half of the leftovers before anyone else. It was the best meal that he ever had...and it was just from leftovers for crying out loud! He can only imagine how heavenly the food was the first time when it was fully cooked and prepared at the feast around lunch time. Sigh. And the only reason why I had skipped out on that lunch in the first place was because...I wanted to separate myself from my friends. I...I just can't help it. I'm just so used to being alone that...I just don't feel compelled to stay with them. Do I really think of my friends as strangers? Am I just...distant from them? Hmmm...Well, I'm not sure if I will find an immediate answer to that one. But I do know what I need to do now...and that is to apologize to them. Knuckles brooded while he had his elbow on the table and propped himself up with his hand.

Knuckles then decided to tell everyone to get up to the deck of the ship in about ten minutes because he wanted to say something important to them. They did as he asked and got up to the deck with him in ten minutes. When they got to the deck, they stood in front of him while Knuckles knelt on his knees before them. They were surprised by this action and asked what he was doing.

He then answered them solemnly, "I just...wanted to apologize to you all. You kept on saying that I shouldn't trust Dr. Eggman, and yet I chose not to. I didn't heed to your advice, and I almost made us lose the first Chaos Emerald because of it. I'm...I'm sorry".

Sonic was just calm as he replied, "Don't beat up yourself too hard, buddy. It was your choice. You just chose to trust in the wrong person is all. Besides, we still got our emerald back in the end, right? So, it's all good! We forgive you!".

"But...But aren't you guys hurt that I had chosen Dr. Eggman over you guys? That I trust him more than you? That's not...That's not what a good friend does, right?" Knuckles replied with a guilty expression on his face.

"Well, I can see where you're getting at, Knuckles. However, you just wanted to do something kind at the time. So, we can't fault you on that part. Your heart was at the right place, Knuckles. But it was because of that kindness that Dr. Eggman was able to use you in the first place. He knows how much you want to help people no matter what they had done wrong in the past, and that was why Dr. Eggman wanted to trick you. So, we are not that upset that you believe him more than us. You had only sympathized with him and cared for his needs. There wasn't anything wrong with that," Chris replied with a smile.

Knuckles cringed a bit as he replied, "But...But still...I still shouldn't have been so tricked like that. I know that he's evil, but why...why do I still want to help him?".

"It's because you had hope that he can change for the better," Cosmo answered wisely. Knuckles then turned his head to look at Cosmo. He can see Cosmo smiling wide while having her hands together near her chest.

She then continued on by saying, "You said it yourself earlier when you were arguing with Amy and Cream. You had believed that everyone deserves a second chance after they had fully realized their mistakes and would want to change. If they truly felt guilty of their past actions, then they would really do want to live peacefully with others. Everyone wants peace someday, Knuckles. And I'm sure that even Dr. Eggman would want it too after suffering many years of defeat, pain, heartache, and sorrow. And just helping him may just open his eyes on how troublesome he is in disturbing someone else's peace. It may not happen now, but just little acts of kindness may one day open up his heart and accept the truth that he wants peace too. You did a good thing, Knuckles. You did what you thought was right".

Knuckles blinked his eyes as he heard Cosmo's wise speech. He felt moved by it. He then regained his hope by just listening to that. He can tell that none of his friends had really felt upset that he got tricked again. They seem to have accepted that part of him. He still wasn't sure if he could fully accept his acquaintances as his friends, but this right here is certainly pushing him towards the right direction. He then pondered solemnly. Still...would I ever have a real friend someday? A close friend who I can trust wholeheartedly? I may know Sonic and Tails for a long time, but I'm not that close with them. I'm not even close to Amy, Cream, or Chris. And Cosmo is just new here. She is probably the only person I can definitely say that she's a stranger to me. …...But that can change a little. I suppose that I should try getting closer to her by first dropping all my suspicions of her. I fully understand now that all she wants was to have the curse be lifted from the board game. Since she clearly wants peace thanks to her little speech she just said, there is absolutely no way that she has any part with those Metarex poachers. She wants this to be over with, and I can agree with that. I...I want this journey to be over too.

"Cosmo...thank you. And I agree with you. I want to have peace, and I want Dr. Eggman to have peace too," Knuckles replied gently. Cosmo looked over at him and smiled brightly at him. Knuckles soon stood up and smiled at her as he added, "Maybe we can both hope for having a peaceful future together".

He and Cosmo soon held each other's hands as they smiled at each other. Cosmo replied brightly, "Yes...Yes, we can. Let's us both pray for a good, happy future".

"Agreed," Knuckles added calmly. They stared at each other while holding their hands as they silently prayed in their hearts for that good future.

Unfortunately, Sonic had to interrupt that moment when he said, "That is all fine and dandy, but why don't you try praying for being more clever in the future, Knuckles? That would certainly save us all from the 'heartache' into dealing with you doing something stupid again!".

Knuckles immediately took his hands off of Cosmo as he exclaimed in irritation, "Will you just stop teasing me already?! I had it up to 'here' with you doing that to me all day today!".

"Oh, please! That bar should be much higher than that!" Sonic replied with a teasing grin.

"Sonic!" Knuckles yelled while Sonic's friends giggled at that.

"Also, Knuckles?" Sonic replied.

"What is it now?" Knuckles replied in exasperation. He can feel himself wanting to argue with him again.

"A little piece of advice. Whenever you get hungry again, just eat some food whenever you can. Because you get a lot stupider and moodier when you're hungry, Knuckles. Heheheh," Sonic replied with a chuckle and with a teasing grin. The others soon started to laugh now after hearing that joke, including Cosmo.

And that is my cue to punch him! Knuckles thought before he shouted, "OKAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU SMARTALEC?! COME HERE! YOU ARE SO SCREWED, SONIC! HEY! GET BACK HERE AND FACE ME!".

He and Sonic jumped out of the ship and ran throughout the sandy planet until they got tired and got back to the Blue Typhoon. It was quite a tiring day, but after some good deserved rest and some food, it was almost worth it coming to this planet. …...Well almost.

Aaaaaand I'm finally done! Whew! Over 29, 000 words! It's a new record for me! This might be the longest chapter I had ever written in any story I had ever done so far! You can see why I was a little late into posting this chapter! But, I hope that it's worth the little delay! Yeah, the chapters may long now since I'm covering each episode fully, but I'm sure you guys won't mind. Also, if I do get late again, you can at least understand why since these chapters are long to write and takes time to write them. So, be patient as usual and enjoy each chapter for all its worth! But anyways, hooray! Episode 56 is done! And now onto the next chapter!

P.S. Cartoon-Movie-Game-Comic-Fan, if you are reading this chapter, I just hope that you were pleasantly that I had added our little role-playing session into this story, even if it was for that daydream section. I had changed it slightly so that it's not a one-to-one recreation of it, but I got the main gist of what had actually happened in that session. I hope that you liked it! And I hope that you are having a good day!