Reaching Dr. Eggman's formidible island fortress posed a bit of a challenge for the remaining trio seeing as the Tornado was currently defunct. They had taken a boat to get there but spent the better half of an hour trying to get Sonic to stay calm while at sea. Even when covered head to toe in pool floaties he couldn't stop shaking throughout the whole trip, much to Knuckles and Amy's amusement.
Eventually they made it to Eggman's front door. Amy walked up and rang the doorbell where a camera and large computer screen folded down and activated its display to reveal Eggman in all his evil glory.
"Well, if it isn't my good friend, Amy Rose," said Eggman. "I thought our session of Fuzzy Puppies was scheduled for Saturday."
"It still is, but that's not why we're here," replied Amy.
"We?" Eggman's camera zoomed out where he finally noticed Knuckles and Sonic standing beside her, the latter of which was wearing an embarrassing number of pool floaties. "Well, if it isn't my arch nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend Nickles the Echidna. What do you want? You do realize we've accomplished our climatic battle quota for the day?"
Sonic groaned and swallowed his pride. He reached into his scarf and pulled out his wallet where he presented a punch card with the Eggman Industries logo stamped on it. "Egghead, we've come to you seeking your help on a very delicate matter. As per the universal policy on protagonist and antagonist relations I'm cashing in my rewards points to call in for a temporary team up for the duration of this dire situation."
"Oh, boy! A hero, villain team up. Hadn't had one of those in a while. Guess that means I gotta postpone the shrink ray plan until next week. You'll all remain normal sized... for now," Eggman concluded ominously.
"It means a lot to us, Tails especially, that you're lending a hand to your mortal enemies, Dr. Eggman," said Amy.
"What's so special about Tails?"
"Sticks is trying to, what did she say again? Ride his majestic stallion?" said Knuckles.
"Oh, no way!" exclaimed Eggman as he broke out in hearty laughter. "Don't tell me that twin tailed shrimp dropped in on your feral friend and now he's got to deal with her FRS. That's hilarious!"
"That is precisely what has happened," said Sonic.
"That poor little schmuck. He's in the deep end of the pool now. And here I was thinking Dave would be the poor sod to be on the receiving end of her feral nonsense. He certainly deserves it for all the times he's messed up my order."
"Honestly things would be so much easier to deal with if it had been Dave," commented Amy.
"No arguments here," said Knuckles.
"Ditto," said Sonic.
"Say, why don't you come inside and we'll formulate a plan together. I'll make those tiny pizza bagels everyones so crazy over," suggested Eggman.
"Ooh-ho! It'll be like a sleepover!" Amy exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, joy," Sonic deadpanned.
"Dibs on the sofa," said Knuckles.
By the time Sticks was done with the cherishing of the mate, Tails felt like a new fox. His muscles were no longer sore and he was as limber as a rope of red licorice. Rejuvenated was an understatement, he felt as if he could take on Eggman and his badnik army all by himself and still have some energy leftover to toil in the workshop.
He laid on his back on Sticks's bed, smiling in contentment. His mood of internal terror and outward distress were all but forgotten as he lost himself to the unreasonable levels of comfort he was experiencing. In fact, he was enjoying his moment of peace so much that he didn't even register Sticks cuddling beside him.
Speaking of the badger, she was lost in her own little world. With her brain out of whack all she could think about was her time with Tails. She remained close to him, making sure there weren't any gaps in between their embrace.
"Ah... I could stay like this forever," mumbled Tails.
"Then why don't you?" asked Sticks, snuggling up against Tails.
"Because I... I..." Tails racked at his brain to come up with an answer. It was on the tip of his tongue but with how relaxed he was it was difficult to remember why he was so worried earlier. "Because, uh... Because..." Eventually it came to him like a bolt of lightning and he quickly sat up, his face contorted in worry. "Because I can't settle down!"
He leapt off the bed and backed away from Sticks, his senses back on full alert. Sticks on the other hand watched the fox's sudden epiphany with quiet amusement, her dreamy expression locking amorous eyes with his trepidatious own.
"Are you gonna try and run again?" She asked seductively. "I could chase you around and tie you back up again. You seem to really like being tied up like a double agent that's been captured by an enemy government. Maybe you'd want to be interrogated by me for being a spy that infiltrated my heart?"
"That's not true!" Tails blushed profusely. "I-I mean... Hey! Why don't we move on to step four of the mating ritual."
"I'd thought you'd never ask," Stick smirked as she hopped to her feet and readied herself for a pounce. She then lunged straight at Tails and together they were joined in a wild dance where the poor boy was being swung around like a rag doll around her burrow. "Step four is the dance of the badger. A traditional dance meant to gauge the compatibility of the couple. It also doubles as a dance to ward off ghosts and telemarketers."
"I! Think! I! Liked! Step! Three! Better!" yelled Tails.
"You should be thankful step three made you limber enough to endure this!" shouted Sticks. "One wrong move and you could end up a pretzel!"
"Sonic! Help!" Tails cried as Sticks picked up the rhythm.
"Alright, Tails. Here comes the hard part. Brace for the spine snapper side step shuffle!"
Sonic shuddered suddenly, drawing attention from Amy.
"Sonic? Is something wrong?" Amy asked.
"I feel a disturbance in the speed force. As though my best bud is being forced to dance to the whims of a madwoman," Sonic uttered in horror. "Eggman, hurry up with those pizza bagels. I need some munchies to calm my nerves."
"Hold your blue horses, they're coming," Eggman grumbled, setting a tray of piping hot pizza bagels onto his coffee table. Sonic and Knuckles were seated on the sofa beside Eggman as they watched the tray of snacks with watering mouths. Nearby on the couch Orbot was casually braiding Amy's quills to pass the time while Cubot was being used as a screen projector to display a cheesy action film.
"Your quills are so soft," commented Orbot.
"Thanks, I used a special herbal blend to keep it soft and pointy," replied Amy.
"Okay. Now that we're settled in," Sonic paused to pop a pizza bagel into his mouth. "How are we going to stop Sticks from sinking Tails's ironclad battleship? Blegh. All these euphemisms are starting to get to me."
"I dunno. I kinda like it. It keeps things pg while implying something much more mature so you can slip things past a younger audience and appeal to a periphery demographic at the same time," commented Cubot.
"Cubot's sequitur aside," Eggman began. "Just what do you have in mind about your nutbag friend and her unfortunate victim."
"We need to distract her long enough for the 'it' to wear off so she can return to her senses. And by her senses I mean her usual mental state of rampant paranoia and impulsiveness," said Amy.
"'It'? Is that what you all call feral reversion syndrome?" Eggman asked quizzically. "Not very imaginative."
"Hey, don't look at us. It's what Sticks calls it," said Knuckles.
"I guess the bar isn't set very high for creativity when you've lived in the wilderness your whole life."
"Regardless, we need to come up with a way to attract her attention and draw her away from Tails," said Amy. "Right now he's all she can think about."
"Yeah, if only we knew what thoughts consume Sticks every waking moment that we can exploit for our benefit. Hmm... Nope, nothing comes to mind," said Knuckles.
"Hold on, Knuckles. Your genius is showing."
"Where?!" Knuckles shouted in a panic, covering himself with his arms.
"There's only one thing in the whole wide world that Sticks can't ignore even for the briefest of moments."
"Free samples?" said Sonic.
"Weirdly shaped rocks that look like us?" said Knuckles.
"Pie?" suggested Eggman.
"A fulfilling life experience?" said Orbot.
"Oh! Is it free samples!" said Cubot.
"I already said that," said Sonic.
"No, it's none of those!" snapped Amy. "It's conspiracy theories! Sticks is a conspiracy nut!"
"Oh, right," Sonic blinked. "That was gonna be my next guess."
"Sure it was," Amy deadpanned. "But what we have to do is draw her out by pretending to be government agents or aliens or government agents pretending to be aliens. Sticks will come running without a moment of hesitation, then we can trap her."
"That plan is crazy enough to work," said Eggman.
"Crazy enough for Sticks, that's for sure," quipped Sonic.
"We should probably enact the plan tomorrow though. It's starting to get pretty late and we need our rest," suggested Amy. "Thankfully we've got some wiggle room. Sticks won't make a move on Tails until she completes her mating ritual."
"Ah, it warms my heart knowing one of my nemeses is suffering a fate worse than death. I should probably enjoy this moment while it lasts," said Eggman.
"We came to this guy for help?" Sonic looked over to Amy.
"Just roll with it, it's not all that bad," assured Amy.
"I can practically picture the look of abject terror frozen upon his face!" Eggman laughed maniacally.
Tails screamed with an abject look of terror frozen on his face as the dance of the badger kicked into high gear. Sticks was an aggressive dancer, passionate and full of fire. Her fingers were interlocked with Tails and he was left at the mercy of her whims as she sauntered back and forth, to and fro to the beat of her pounding heart. The dance itself had been short but the moves took a surprising level of dexterity to achieve.
When the dance was done she came to a complete stop, her heart pounding rapidly within her chest and her fur glistening with sweat. Tails was much the same only he was pretty sure his heart was racing faster. He was dangling limply a couple inches off the ground, a reminder that he was shorter than Sticks. Gently Sticks set him down on his feet where the poor fox began shaking like a branch in the wind.
"Phew, what a workout. Nothing like some aggressive dancing to get the blood pumping, wouldn't you say Tails?" said Sticks.
"W-whatever you say, S-Sticks," replied Tails, his whole body trembled uncontrollably. "D-do you think w-we can take a bit of a b-break? I d-dunno if my body can handle a-any more strenuous a-activities."
"Well, then. It's a good thing step five is all about taking it easy."
"I-it is?" A hopeful smile curled on Tails's lips. "Y-you know, I'm starting to s-sense a bit of a p-pattern here."
"Wow, you really are the smart one of the group," Sticks teased before extending a hand. "Come on, you'll like this one."