Disclaimer- I don't own the games or the show.

Enjoy!

When Shadow finished with his gruesome chore, he threw the broom and dust pan in a random direction because he honestly didn't care and left the kitchen to rejoin the others.

All of the attention was on him, and to his extreme irritation, Metal Sonic was the first to speak up. "It is about time that you returned. The completion of my prime objective had been prolonged because of you."

A single twitch of an eye was Metal's only warning before his head was brutally ripped off his shoulders. Disturbed confetti became airborne again in Shadow's wake. The robot's body slumped over in a shower of sparks, and Shadow stared at the metallic skull in his hand with disdain.

Eggman rose a subtle brow. "I should be upset that you decapitated my robot with one move, but at this point, I feel the opposite." Now it went back to being only one Sonic making his life miserable.

Tails and Amy had yelped at the violent action. They didn't know what to think. On one hand, the potential danger wasn't a concern anymore; however, one wrong word and they could face Shadow's wrath. They wisely wouldn't speak until it was clear that the striped one had calmed down. If only Sonic had that sense of self-preservation…

"Aw Shads! Who am I gonna tag team with to embarrass Eggman now?" Sonic complained, throwing his hands in the air. A teasing grin grew on his muzzle. "But he was kinda right Shadow. Did you really think that you were gonna win that bet? I mean c'mon-" He was then knocked unconscious when Metal's head smashed against his.

That was the best thing Eggman's seen all day.

"Sonic!" Amy gasped, standing up from the couch. She sent the limp speedster a worried look before glaring at Shadow. Nevermind saving herself, he had hurt Sonic…again! She was so going to get Shadow back for this! When the striped 'hog returned her glare a thousand times over, she wilted a bit. She was so going to get him back…at a later date. She had to take a raincheck on this one.

Tails stood as well, but before either of them moved toward the knocked-out motor mouth, Knuckles said, "I got this." The echidna pushed himself up and approached the azure hedgie. The guardian smirked down at Sonic. He was about to get his revenge and help the other out. This was the perfect opportunity. The thing couldn't be mad at him.

The hard slap that came next was extremely satisfying.

Tails, who was sitting back down, winced like he was the one who had been hit. "Knuckles!" He whined, worried about his brother's steadily decreasing brain cell count. "Not you too!"

Knuckles shrugged as Sonic groaned in pain. "He had it coming."

"Oh man…" Sonic groused as he rubbed where Shadow had launched Metal. His words were somewhat slurred. "What hit me...twice?" He asked, touching where Knuckles had slapped him with his other hand, dazed. His brain eventually came back online, and he looked at Knuckles, then at Metal's severed head on the floor, and then at Shadow. Sonic's lips twitched downwards. "You guys are the worst friends! I need a refund!"

"We aren't friends." Shadow snarled from the depths of his dark soul before taking Knuckles' formerly occupied seat beside a suddenly anxious Tails.

Knuckles huffed as he plopped down by Sonic. "Somebody has to teach you to shut up."

"By slapping me when I'm unconscious?"

"The best lesson." The echidna ignored Sonic's indignant pout and picked up the remote Shadow left behind. He was about to press the button to play 'My fair Sticksy' – great. Another episode all about her – but he froze when Metal Sonic's head blinked out of existence and reappeared attached to his body lying on the ground.

Metal rebooted, his red opticals flashing, and he sat back up. He touched his neck – the collar was stubborn – before turning to a bewildered Shadow. "Be lucky that I am restrained, for now I have obtained a grudge against you, Ultimate Lifeform."

Shadow was done with everything. "My life is a sick joke."

"I guess the thing really wants him to watch, huh?" Sonic chuckled only to cringe when a dull pain throbbed. "Dang it Shadow, did you really-"

"Yes."

"If it can just put Metal back together like that…does it have actual healing abilities too?" Tails questioned, tapping his chin.

"Let's just assume that every question regarding it is yes," Eggman said with a sour look. His time without Metal had been too brief. He didn't get a chance to enjoy it properly.

Amy tilted her head. "What about 'Can it let us out right now?'"

"It can, but it won't." Knuckles grunted before letting the show play.

The scene started with meteors raining out of the sky, sending the villagers into a panic. Sonic and crew were standing by some steps, watching with mouths agape.

Tails, who was putting as much space between him and Shadow as possible – he almost had died once; he didn't want to go through that again – fought to keep his focus on the screen at not on his striped neighbor. "Meteor shower? That's uh…new. How in the world are they going to stop that?"

Amy, completely understanding why the kit was basically in her lap, drew a blank. "…By making a wish?"

Amy was the only one smiling. "Meteors are shooting stars. We shouldn't be running." She did a little dance. "We should be making wishes! I wish for a pony!"

All eyes found Rose, and the pinkette face-palmed. "Not that kind of wish!" People could be getting hurt, buildings could be getting destroyed, and she wanted a pony? Her other self had to learn how to prioritize. Peoples' safety, then a perfect romantic relationship with Sonic, and then a pony.

Sonic gave her a side-glance. "And I wish you'd take cover." He grabbed the pinkette's wrist and ran off, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks following after them.

Now under the shelter of a building, Amy frowned at Sonic with her arms crossed. "How come your wish came true?"

Sonic just smirked to himself.

Sonic furrowed his brow, inwardly hissing when that action sparked pain. Seriously, was it beat up Sonic day or something? "His came true because…I don't know…he didn't want to be flattened by a meteor and just moved?"

"The other Amy is weird." Knuckles observed, bouncing his knee up and down. "One day she's reasonable, another day she's as crazy as a singing juggler, and now…"

Amy couldn't help to agree. "Yeah! We can see that the other Sonic is inexperienced perfection, the other Tails is smart like the one here, the other Knuckles is dumb, and Sticks is a paranoid mess. The other me is all over the place!"

Knuckles snorted. "Well, she surely isn't the crazed fangirl we all know."

Amy materialized her hammer. "What was that?"

The echidna had to learn to stop badmouthing her before he ended up like Sonic. "Nothing."

"Should I use my meteor defense system?" Sticks suggested.

Tails rose a brow. "You have a meteor defense system?"

Knuckles sighed. "Of course she does."

The badger confidently nodded. "I have defense systems for all sorts of junk!" She tapped levers that were suddenly nearby. "Wildfires, floods, people trying to read my thoughts…"

Sonic blinked. Wow. "Okay Knux, I take back what I said about her just being unique. She's flyin' circles over the cuckoo's nest."

The echidna nodded. "That's what I'm saying!"

Tails agreed, but he also thought that the badger was almost on to something. "UT could read her thoughts…"

"She threw that thing into the ocean though," Sonic responded. "And plus, she said people, not robots!"

Tails couldn't refute that. "Right…"

Sonic decided to ignore that last part. "Yeah, start with the meteor one!"

Sticks aimed at an incoming meteor before pulling a lever. Multiple large paddles were released, and they swatted the rocks, sending them away.

"That's not…how science works," Tails muttered to himself. Because of the velocity of the meteors, their heavy masses, and the gravitational pull, those 'defense mechanisms' should have been destroyed!

"This outcome is improbable." Metal examined the situation. "The chances of meteors being perfectly lined up to those immobile mechanisms were slim to none. The more possible outcome is the meteors crashing into the earth below, creating massive craters, and killing all who is in the vicinity with their rotting remains littered around."

Sonic favored not imagining his dead body. "Thanks for that imagery, Metal. Really appreciate it."

"I detect sarcasm."

The azure speedster rolled his eyes. "No…I just love picturing myself and all my friends as corpses in the middle of a ruined village."

"…There it is again."

"If only they had actually died." Shadow grumbled, tired of hearing those two go at it. Tired of being awake. Tired of being tired. "Then the show would be over and I could go home."

Amy frowned at him. Looked like Shadow needed to work on his priorities too.

"The 'people trying to read my thoughts' one is exactly the same, but with tinfoil trim." Sticks explained.

Tails was going to question it, but then he realized that he shouldn't have expected anything else.

Most of the group were lounging around Tails' house now.

Sticks strolled in through the front door, carrying a letter. She held it up. "Someone left this at my house."

Sonic paused sipping on his juice and said dryly, "Yeah, the mailman. It's a letter?"

"Letter, huh?" The badger sniffed the envelope. "I don't know. Paper folded over itself? What's it hiding? What's it hiding?"

Knuckles deadpanned. "Another piece of paper." Someone please help this girl.

Amy frowned at the screen. "Was that…her first time getting mail?"

"It has to be!" Sonic absently tapped his foot. "There's no other reason why she doesn't know how an envelope works!"

Amy went over and grabbed the letter from her. The pinkette opened it and gasped in surprise. "Sticks, you've been nominated for an Awardy Award!"

"They really need a better name for that thing," Tails muttered to himself.

"Ooo, lemme see!" Knuckles snatched the paper, donned reading glasses, and looked closely. "Oh wait. I can't read."

Knuckles sunk low in the couch, ignoring Sonic's chuckles. He threw his hands in the air. "Of course he can't read! Why would he? It's icing on top of the big stupid cake!" He was calling it. He was going to lose his mind before this marathon was over.

Eggman crossed his arms. "At least you're not destined to watch another version of you fail over and over again, rodent."

Knuckles rose a dubious brow. "Really? Yeah, the other doctor is stupid too, but at least he's a literate stupid!"

"…Touché."

Now Sonic had possession of the paper. "Gimme that." He then read off what it said. "'In honor of saving our village, the Mayor cordially invites you to the Awardies.' Huh." He smiled. "Conveniently, you can also bring your four closest pals."

Everyone looked at Sticks, excited, including Comedy Chimp, who showed up out of nowhere.

Sonic scrunched up his nose. "That bad comedian is there now? What, are they seriously friends with him?"

Tails shook his head. "How could they be friends with someone who tells those awful jokes all the time?"

"You're friends with faker." Shadow grunted.

Sonic bristled as he ego was knocked down another level. "I've taken enough hits already!"

"Yeah…" Tails seriously couldn't stop himself from saying, "We don't have enough aloe for those burns."

Sonic gasped at the kit, who was trying to hide his mirth. "You…would stoop so low…to betray your own family? I thought what we had was special!"

"Sorry Sonic! Your jokes aren't always…the best, that's all!"

The hero began to sulk, muttering about foxes and their terrible sense of humor.

Sonic looked at the odd-one-out. "Sorry, Comedy Chimp."

The ape sighed and left.

"Now where was I?" The speedster cleared his throat and continued, "'The Awardies will be at the Mayor's Mansion. You'll dine on-' Oh." Sonic was pleasantly surprised. "'-elegant food and mingle with elegant guests. After which the Awardy Award will be awarded to the winner. Which could be you!'"

"A fancy dinner at a mayor's mansion?" Amy pondered aloud. "That doesn't seem like an Eggman-y scheme…"

A spark of hope fluttered in the doctor's chest. "I would be immensely relieved if the other me isn't in this episode. I'm sick of seeing his failures."

"Your life is a failure, doctor." Metal glanced at him. "You should be used to it by now."

Eggman was seeing red. "I did not ask you Metal!" He then rubbed his temples, his headache coming back. What had his life become?

Sticks was dejected. "I…can't make it."

"What?" Amy questioned. "Why not?"

"Well, you know… I'm slammed this week!" Sticks opened a datebook. "'Tuesday: Rummage through garbage. Wednesday: Rummage through garbage. Thursday: Get tetanus shot. Friday: Rummage through garbage.'" She shut the book. "I'm booked solid!"

"Ew." Amy fanned her nose, just thinking of the smell was making her queasy. "How can she – and they – stand the smell?"

"I'm sure she takes showers…" Tails guessed. "Hopefully. And she has to like the odor if she's doing it nearly every day."

"This is the honor of a lifetime!" Amy tried to convince her.

Tails decided to help Rose out. "You might even win a shiny trophy! You love shiny things…"

Sticks clasped her hands together. "I do love shiny things…" She then shook her head vehemently. "But no. No! Nuh-uh! Nah!"

Sonic snickered. "So…she has a bit of Rouge in her too, huh?"

Tails joined him. "Sure does!"

The hero suddenly stopped laughing to throw the kit a weak glare and to stick his tongue out at him. Sonic then pointedly looked away.

Tails inwardly sighed. Wasn't he supposed to be the little brother here?

Amy understood what was happening here. "Sticks…are you afraid to go?"

"Afraid? No! Of course not! No way. Nuh-uh. Nope." She was suddenly bashful. "…A little."

Amy's voice was comforting. "Sticks, there's nothing to fear."

"Look at me! I'm a feral badger!" Sticks gestured to herself. "I'll embarrass myself!"

"Aw, I feel bad for her!" Amy commented. "She's nervous!"

"She even called herself feral…" Knuckles mumbled. "How far away does she live from the village? It can't be that far."

"It doesn't matter how far it is!" Amy argued. "She still lives in a jungle, which is the complete opposite of a fancy-smancy gathering!" She calmed down some. "Sticks is gonna need a lot of work…"

"Who cares what people think?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah! Everyone at these parties is a windbag anyway." Knuckles turned to Sonic and acquired a snobbish tone. "What a robust mustache you have, Colonel Grumpkin."

Sonic mimicked his voice, bowing. "Why thank you, Madame Stinkbottom." They both laughed at their joke.

"They have a point…" Sonic wondered aloud. "But they could have delivered that a different way because that was bad. What accents were those anyway?"

"Who knows?" Knuckles muttered distastefully.

The blue blur gestured at the TV. "My jokes can't be worse than that, can they?"

There was silence, and Sonic knew he just needed to stop asking.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine." Amy put her hands on her hips, radiating confidence. "I'll teach you to be a lady."

"A…lady? That's the thing that holds garbage, right?" Sticks guessed.

"No." The pinkette corrected. "A lady is a polite, sophisticated member of society, and you can be that!" She put up a finger. "Lesson one: Don't discuss garbage."

"A lady defines as a polite, sophisticated member of society?" Metal peered back at Amy. "Then you cannot possibly be one, so are you a male?"

Tails caught Amy's arm before she jumped out of her seat and pounded the robot into the floor with her hammer. "Calm down Amy! Whatever you do to Metal won't be permanent!" The pinkette still looked downright scary, futilely jerking her wrist. "If you don't sit down, you'll be proving him right!"

That did it. Amy took a deep breath and audibly exhaled before taking her seat. "I am a lady." She snapped at the mech. "Don't forget it!"

"But the stated definition of a lady is-"

"I am ignoring you!"

Sticks deadpanned. "I'm out."

"Come on!" Amy encouraged. "You can do this!"

The badger eventually caved, sighing. "Okay… I'll try."

Amy cheered. "Great! A proper lady requires an escort for the gala."

Comedy Chimp suddenly reappeared at the doorway with a hopeful grin. Everyone silently stared at him. The grin faded away. "Why do I even bother with you guys?" He left again.

"…He's totally desperate, isn't he?" Sonic questioned, and the room agreed with him.

Amy then turned to Sonic, and the blue hedgehog flatly denied. "No."

"Please?" Sticks pleaded. "I don't wanna embarrass myself in front of fancy folk!"

"Eh…" Sonic gave in. "Fine. But I'm not wearing pants!"

Eggman growled, glancing down at his boxer shorts. "I wish that I was wearing pants."

Sonic snorted. "We all do Eggy, so don't think you're the only one sufferin' here."

"Forget about the pants!" Amy all but yelled, glaring at the show. "Did the other me just suggest that Sticks and Sonic be partners!? Why couldn't she ask Knuckles to? Or Tails! That would've been so cute!" Before the fox could argue, she continued, "Why would she let Sticks get close like that? Sonic is her man!"

"Maybe it's because she's good friends with Sticks and she trusts her?" Sonic brought up in a small voice, not wanting to set the girl off. He wasn't agreeing with what the pinkette was saying – no one belonged to anybody. He was a free spirit, dang it – but a heated Amy wasn't a fun Amy to be around.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him and hummed, reining herself back in and smothering her judgement. For now.

The badger ran over and hugged him – a particular pinkette restrained a growl building up in her throat – "Thank you! Thank you!" She chirped excitedly, while Sonic seemed to be missing that level of energy.

Amy was ready to get started. "If you want to be a lady, you'll have to train hard. You up for it?"

"Yes!" Sticks faced her. "I only have one question." She held out a snail. "Can I take this snail with me?"

"What?" Tails asked.

Knuckles rubbed his forehead. "I'm seriously giving up on her."

The two girls were now in Amy's home.

"When meeting someone new, start with a compliment," Amy said. "Try saying something nice about their perfume."

Sticks began sniffing the other all over, not noticing how uncomfortable Amy was. "You don't stink," the badger declared when she was done.

Amy hesitantly smiled.

Sonic allowed a small smirk. "To be fair…she did what Amy said."

Knuckles was doubtful. "I think that was more of a stated fact."

Metal decided speak up. "Compliment: a polite expression of praise and admiration."

The echidna nodded. "Okay…so Sonic, get this." He cleared his throat. "'Sonic, you do a great job in protecting Station Square.' That's a compliment." He then forced his voice to be level and toneless. "'Sonic, you don't run slow.' That's not a compliment. It's a statement."

The azure speedster's lopsided grin grew. "But aren't all compliments just statements with a little admiration sprinkled on top?"

"No! They aren't-" Knuckles paused when the realization hit him.

Tails snickered louder than normal, and he figured that Sonic had stopped the cold shoulder treatment when the blue hero joined with him. Sonic just needed a bit of an ego boost, that's all. "He's got you there, Knuckles."

The guardian rolled his eyes, over this. "Whatever. Compliment or not, Sticks isn't good at it."

They were now outside the house. Sonic had joined them.

Sticks was holding onto the blue blur's arm, preparing themselves to practice an elegant entrance.

Amy may or may not be frothing at the mouth.

Amy was standing to the side, watching. She held up a stopwatch. "And…go!" She began the timer.

Sonic and Sticks shared a brief look before strolling forward. When a cardboard cutout of a 'fancy' person popped up, Sticks gestured to Sonic. "This is my male consort." The standee didn't respond, staring blankly. The badger put up her fists. "And if you don't like him, I'll knock you out!"

Amy shook her head in disappointment. "No, Sticks. Ladies don't fight."

"Oh yes they do!" The pinkette strongly opposed, radiating a dangerous aura that got Tails thinking that he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. "They do fight! Especially the girl hanging off her boyfriend!" She threw Metal a pointed look. "In a polite and sophisticated manor, of course!"

Metal shook his head. "I still believe that you aren't-"

"I am a lady!" Amy roared before facing Sonic, giving him a twitchy smile. "Right, Sonikku?" She asked too sweetly.

The speedster gave a hesitant thumbs up. "D-Definitely Ames. No doubt about it!"

Now Amy felt validated. If her one and only agreed with her, then she didn't have to listen to anyone else's opinion!

Eggman blinked in shock before leaning closer to his archrival and whispering, "Forget about me. She's the real evil in your life."

Only when Amy had looked away from him did Sonic respond. "She's actually a great friend when she's not so…intense."

The females were now sitting on the pinkette's soft couch. They were both holding tea cups.

"When in doubt, pinkies out," Amy recited, raising said finger as she took a sip.

Sticks extended her pinky, and the hedgehog nodded proudly. However, then Sticks started lapping up the tea like a dog.

Even though he felt bad, Tails couldn't help his chuckles. "The other Amy's trying so hard, and yet…"

"Sonic will never choose her if she drinks out of a cup like that," Amy said smugly.

Tails was confused. "Weren't you defending her earlier?"

"She and I have a complicated relationship."

The scene changed to Tails' home. Knuckles was playing a piano peacefully, Tails was in charge of the drums, and Amy was directing Sticks and Sonic through a dance.

Tails and Knuckles shared a confused look, for neither of them had touched those instruments once in their entire lives.

"One, two, step. One, two, turn." Amy gestured with her hands, the dancing duo following her steps perfectly. "One, two, step. One, two, dip."

Sonic fully expected Amy to angrily point out that the other him dancing with Sticks was against everything she stood for or something, but the pinkette was momentarily relaxed, raising at brow at him. "Sonic? Can you dance like that?"

Breakdance. Yes. Whatever that fancy crap was. No. "Uh…N-"

He didn't get chance to fully answer before the pinkette giggled. "Really? Then I could teach you later! It's easy enough!" She saw the window of opportunity to bond with Sonic and she jumped right through it. Wait a minute, if she waited later…as in after they escaped later, then he would just run away. That wouldn't do… "How about I teach you something now? Pausing the show for five minutes won't hurt-"

"Think again." Knuckles grunted.

"That isn't a good idea, Amy…" Tails nudged her.

Eggman just glared at her while Metal's opticals flashed. "Pause the video, and you will meet your end."

"Pause the video, and you won't have usable legs to dance on." Shadow threatened.

Despite the fact that Metal and Shadow had pushed it too far, Sonic appreciated their inputs. "Yeah! What they said!"

Since she liked having a pair of legs to stand on, Amy backed off. She didn't feel bad though. While Sonic said no to dancing now, he didn't say that they couldn't do it at all! Yay for young love!

Sticks, staring up at Sonic, asked, "Why is the music controlling us? I'm not your puppet, music master." She struggled in the hero's grip. "I'm not your puppet!" She freaked out, causing them both to launch into and knock down the fancy backdrop.

Sonic groaned. "Yeah, I think she's ready."

More than glad that Amy had dropped the idea of keeping them in here even longer, Knuckles scoffed at the screen. "I actually want to see how this goes. It can't end well."

"Someone's gonna end up with a snail in their shirt," Sonic added.

The sun had set, and many people were now entering the Mayor's Mansion for the award ceremony.

Inside the large building, Sonic and Sticks were waiting to be introduced at the top of a staircase. The badger was in an elegant black dress, and the hedgehog was wearing a brown cardigan.

Even though he wasn't wearing pants – the evilest of clothes – the thought of wearing a shirt made Sonic cringe. It wasn't very aerodynamic, and the prospect of sweat accumulating underneath made Sonic want to take a shower.

Unsurprisingly, Amy was thinking the complete opposite, going through ways she could possibly persuade Sonic to dress up sometime.

Amy, standing at the bottom of the stairs, spread her arms out wide and mimicked the fancy tone of the other guests. "It's my pleasure to introduce the Lady Sticks, and her escort, Sir Sonic of Hedgehog."

"Her dress is to die for!" The pinkette commented on the other Amy's dress. Maybe if she wore something showier – definitely not the pajamas she had been dumped in here in – then she would catch Sonic's eye? She should ask. "Hey Sonic, would I be more attractive to you if I wore that dress?"

The speedster refused to meet her gaze. "Sonic the hedgehog isn't here right now. Please leave a message after the beep."

She puffed out her cheeks. "Sonic! I asked you a quest-"

"Beep."

Sonic held out his arm, and Sticks took it with a nervous smile. They descended the stairs with confidence.

"Go ahead," Amy whispered to her once they reached the bottom. "You can do it. Start with a compliment."

Sticks steeled herself before approaching a mustached ox in a top hat. She sniffed him, gaining his attention. "Such an elegant scent." The badger continued to sniff with the occasional snort. The ox looked highly uncomfortable and disturbed. Amy was severely concerned.

"She should be…" Tails tapped his chin, a pensive expression on his face. "I wonder if Sticks has gotten any restraining orders?"

"If she doesn't, she'll be getting some tonight." Knuckles drawled.

On the other side of the room, Knuckles and Sonic approached the serving table. "Finally, some chow!" The speedster exclaimed before eying the options. He wasn't too impressed. "Asparagus crustini? Hempseed quiche? Goat cheese with red ridicio spread?"

"I know uh…some of those words?" Sonic scratched his head. Food that hard to pronounce couldn't be good.

Knuckles scoffed. "The hoity-toity stiffs love these tiny nibbles."

There was then a sneeze and a yell. The boys whipped their heads in that direction only to see Sticks covering her mouth in guilt and the beaver with a bow tie covered in juice. Amy was facepalming.

Most of the room laughed.

Knuckles wouldn't mind seeing that beaver on-screen if it meant that he was being sneezed on. "Serves him right for being so annoying."

"Why is seeing that semiaquatic rodent doused with a fruity beverage so entertaining?" Metal questioned, lost.

"It's because of the first episode Metal." Sonic waved him off. "You had to be there."

"He was just irritating as he corrected peoples' grammar." Tails provided.

Metal cocked his head. "There is nothing wrong in urging someone to better their erratic and erred speak patterns."

"Yes there is." Knuckles pointed at the television. "Especially if you do it all the time and if you are that beaver specifically."

"Uh oh." Sonic sighed. "Gotta go."

After he ran off, Knuckles took a bite of the appetizers and immediately spat it back out in disgust. "Ugh… More like goat cheese and red crudicio spread."

"Ugh." Knuckles unintentionally mimicked his double, his good mood dissipated.

There was laughter behind him. The echidna turned around to find two noblemen chuckling. One was an undefinable rodent with a monocle, and the other was a beaver with a sailor hat.

"My dear chap, what a marvelously comical witticism." The rodent complimented.

"They really don't get out much if they thought that was funny," Amy said while twirling a quill.

"Uh…" Knuckles was clueless. "Red crudicio spread?"

The two men laugh again.

Knuckles wanted this to end. "They're just hyping him up now! He needs to stop, not to keep going!"

"Sir," the monocled rodent began, "you have the audacity to say what we're all thinking."

"You simply must join us." The beaver suggested.

Knuckles approached them with an incredulous expression. "Me? Okay! Red crudicio spread!" He repeated with a smirk, causing the other two to laugh once more. The echidna joined in with them this time.

The guardian held his head in his hands, and Sonic sympathetically patted his shoulder. He would get revenge for the slap later – it was the perfect moment since he wasn't looking – because Knuckles was going through a really tough time.

The focus was now on Sticks, who was in the process of complimenting a walrus. "Now you seem prepared for winter!" She rubbed the woman's stomach. "That's one healthy layer of blubber."

Amy gasped. "She didn't just say that…!"

Tails sighed. "She did."

The lady was instantly offended. "Well, I never!" She angrily walked off.

"Sticks!" Sonic chastised.

"What?" She shrugged. "It was a compliment! It's not like I said she wasn't prepared for winter!"

"She just should forget about going back out in public," Amy uttered, embarrassed for her. "She's too far gone."

The dinging of a glass filled the air, gaining the attention of everyone.

It was the Mayor. He had a broad smile on his face. "Welcome to the Awardy Awards, where we award an Awardy Award for award-winning service! Tonight, one of you nominees will be awarded your very own Awardy Award!" The crowd threw him unimpressed looks. The Mayor frowned. "That's it. I'm firing my speech writer." He then stormed off.

"He should get an award for the most alliterations used in a single speech…" Tails murmured.

Sonic snickered. "It has to be illegal to say 'award' that many times."

The screen cut back to Knuckles.

"Check out that ridiculous hat." He gestured to the nearby wall, where a hat with antlers was mounted.

"That, sir, is the official hat of the Jackalope Lodge, of which I am president," the beaver informed. Knuckles looked eminently worried. The beaver thought for a bit before saying, "But upon closer inspection, it does look asinine!" He and the echidna chuckled and fist-bumped.

Knuckles slid his hands down his face. "What exactly is going on anymore?"

"It looks like you're making friends!" Amy chirped positively, no matter how strange the process was. "The other you is going much better than Sticks, by the way."

"I see that." The echidna grumbled. It didn't change the fact that the Knuckles in the TV was somehow providing entertainment for the rich duo. He wanted this episode to be over soon, and he had a feeling in his gut that he would be saying that a lot over these nine hours.

Sticks was anxiously sitting at a table with a few other people. Sonic and Amy were observing her from afar. She glanced uncertainly at the silverware. The badger picked up a fork. "What is this?"

A green turtle answered her. "It's your pre-salad, post-soup, mid-appetizer, post-post-cocktail tertiary thimble fork."

Sonic had a sneaking suspicion that those words meant absolutely nothing. "That's not a real thing. That can't be a real thing. Tails, is that a real thing?"

"Don't ask me! I know a lot of stuff, but the specifics about the usages of particular utensils is a lesson I skipped over." Curious sapphires drifted to the robot sitting on the floor. "Metal, is that a real thing?"

"No. It is not. It is a regular fork."

Sonic pursed his lips. "What kind of party makes up a name for a plain-ol' fork?"

"The kind that needs to hurry up and end." Knuckles chimed in.

A distant yell and bumping was heard.

Eggman was pushing his way through the crowd. "Excuse me, pardon me. Pardon me, excuse me. Evil genius coming through." He pushed the sitting turtle over and took the seat next to Sticks. "Move it, shellboy."

The doctor released a low groan, scowling. "It was foolish to think that he would be left out. Why couldn't he just let them have their terribly boring party alone?"

"Because he's Eggman." Sonic didn't feel the need to explain more.

The human scowled deeper and cursed his omnipresent dedication.

"Eggman?" Sonic shouted from his table. "How did you-"

"Get nominated?" The doctor interjected. "Let's just say, I have a loyal base of…supporters."

There was a flashback to where a robot was stuffing the ballot with votes for Eggman, who was on top of the machine. "Finally, a use for my ballot stuffing robot!"

Metal crossed his arms, a finger tapping his metallic bicep. "That machine is a waste of materials, brain power, and time. He could have easily achieved the same goal by himself. The robot needs to be destroyed."

"With how things usually go…" Eggman sighed. "Your wish will come true."

Back to the present, Eggman was giving Sticks a suspicious look. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"He doesn't know her? But he's seen Sticks before!" Tails fiddled with one of his namesakes.

Knuckles shrugged. "She probably isn't around all the time, and he doesn't care enough to remember." He cracked a couple of his fingers. "And plus, we don't know how much time passes between these episodes."

Sticks recalled Amy telling her to always start with a compliment. She tentatively said, "You have…healthy hindquarters!"

Amy winced in revulsion, along with most of the others. Maybe she didn't have to worry about Sticks falling for Sonic…

"Why thank you!" Eggman relishing in his achievement. "I actually just started taking spin classes."

"Exercise?" Sonic barked out a laugh. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Sticks held and slurped out of her bowl. She paused however when she saw Amy facepalming. Sticks stuck out a pinky.

Eggman gestured to her. "See that, Shelly? That's how a lady drinks out of a bowl." The doctor copied the badger's actions.

I hate this with every fiber of my being, Eggman thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The Mayor announced from a wooden podium, holding up an envelope. "We're ready to announce this year's winner!" He opened it and read the paper. "And the Awardy goes to…"

The audience watching waited for the name, but it never came. On closer inspection, the video had paused itself. Knuckles jammed the play button over and over again in frustration until it mentally clicked. Amethyst orbs shifted over to the striped hedgehog beside Tails, who had drifted off.

"Tails." Knuckles grunted, and when the kit looked at him, he jabbed his chin over at Shadow. He saw the fox's muscles lock up. "Gotta do your job again."

"My job?" Tails loudly whispered. "When was that established?!" He'd rather not try to wake Shadow again. He didn't want a broken nose…or anything broken, really. "It's someone else's turn!"

Before they could fight over who wasn't going to prod the bear, an item appeared in the air and dropped right into Metal's lap. It was an air horn. The blue mech picked it up and examined the noise maker. "It will be sufficient enough to rouse him." Since he believed that Shadow sleeping was the reason why his objective was being prolonged yet again.

"Sufficient enough? It'll blow out his ear drums!" Amy harshly rasped.

"And ours too!" Tails didn't like this one bit.

Sonic grinned as he plugged his ears with his fingers. "Better prepare yourself then guys!" This was the perfect revenge for his bruised head. Oh he couldn't wait to see this.

The others hesitantly followed his lead before Metal got as close as he could to Shadow – he was about a meter or two away still – and blew the insanely loud horn.

Shadow let out a mixture between a yelp and a scream before instinctively trying to get away from the noise. Limbs flailing, all he managed to do was send himself over the arm of the couch, crumpling to the floor. A puff of confetti had floated into the air upon landing.

Sonic was the only one laughing as the rest waited in anticipation for Shadow to stand up, for his position had hidden him from sight.

"…Shadow?" Tails tentatively called out when there was no movement. He threw a worried glance over his shoulder before lowering his slightly throbbing ears and cautiously crawling over to the side of the sofa. Gulping, the kit peered over the arm of the furniture, glancing down.

Shadow was staring right at him on his back, feet in the air, with his arms splayed out to the side. Instead of glaring so hard that Tails would instantly catch fire, those scarlets were unreadable. And that was terrifying.

"Sorry!" Tails squeaked before spouting out. "We couldn't watch because you fell asleep again, and the thing gave Metal an air horn! Please don't punch my face!"

Shadow didn't say anything at first. He was wondering exactly how he ended up on the floor. He was sleeping, then there was an unnecessarily loud sound – his ears were still ringing dammit – and then he was upside down. The loud sound…

"Who."

The question was more like a demand, and Tails didn't hesitate. "Metal Sonic! He did it!"

So much rage was boiling under his skin, but at this point, showing it was a waste of energy. Shadow leaned his legs to the side and used the couch to help himself stand up. He didn't look anywhere but at Metal, who was standing as well with the air horn in his hand.

Unlike earlier, Shadow slowly strolled over there, gaze unwavering.

Metal fully faced him, not intimidated. "It is more beneficial for you to be awake. Do not interrupt the file aga-"

Before he got to finish, Shadow had grabbed hold of the robot's wrist that was holding the noise maker and yanked hard. The whole metallic arm was torn from its torso, exposing many wires. Shadow kicked Metal's chest, and he crashed to the ground. Blazing scarlets then snapped over to Sonic, who had been chuckling ever since he had been rudely awakened.

The striped hedgie ripped the horn from limp fingers, plastered his ears against his head, aimed the irritating item at the oblivious hero, and let loose.

No one had expected it, and Shadow felt a bit better as they writhed in pain, covering their ears far too late.

"Humph." He slammed the arm to the ground before tearing the air horn in two and throwing the pieces at Metal's face. They harmlessly bounced right off. He went over to snatch the remote from a groaning Knuckles before returning to his seat, playing the show.

A drumroll sounded as the camera zoomed in on Sticks and Eggman. The Mayor opened his mouth. "Leroy the Turtle!"

"Yes!" The green reptile cheered. "Yahoo! Score one for Leroy!"

Eggman clearly wasn't happy. "Leroy the Turtle?! That award was mine!" He tapped his chin. "Something smells fishy here…"

"I have irritable bowl syndrome!" A fish in a tux admitted.

"WHAT?" Sonic loudly yelled out, lowering his hands. "WHAT DID IT SAY?"

"SOMETHING ABOUT BOWLS!" Tails shouted.

Amy looked at him funny. "BAWLS?!"

The kit cocked his head. "WHAT ABOUT A BOY?"

"A BOY WON?" Knuckles bellowed. "WHAT BOY?"

Eggman nodded, picking in his ears. "YES! LEROY DID WIN!"

"WHO?" Amy asked.

"LEROY THE TURTLE!"

Sonic furrowed his brow at the human beside him. "WHAT IN THE HECK IS A FURT?"

Amy gasped, covering her mouth. "SONIC! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE SUCH A FOUL MOUTH!"

"WHAT?"

Metal gave Shadow a level look after his arm had reattached itself. "This is your doing."

The hedgie plainly ignored him, not caring if the bot was right.

The doctor growled lowly. "If you won't give me the award, I'll take it!" Ballot Stuffer Bot suddenly appeared, and Eggman jumped on the back of it. "With my ballot stuffing robot! Stuffer Bot…" He pointed to the large group. "…stuff their ballots!"

The mech harmlessly shot papers everywhere.

"The doctor needs to consider a change in occupation. His creations are pathetic," Metal said, rotating his fixed shoulder.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, METAL?"

The robot didn't reply to his annoying copy. There was no point. The other wouldn't understand anyway.

"The is not quite as menacing as I hoped." Eggman deadpanned before ordering, "Minions, attack!"

A swarm of Bee Bots flew in through an open window. Everyone fled the scene except Team Sonic. Sonic spin dashed one of the metallic insects.

"Sticks, get 'em!" Sonic shouted, wanting her to help.

The badger was downtrodden. "A lady doesn't fight."

The ringing in his ears had gone down mostly, so now Sonic could use his inside voice. "Did I hear that right?" He then glimpsed at Shadow, more than glad that his rival had destroyed that weapon of mass destruction. It would have been terrible if it was still intact. Maybe…just maybe…he should control his laughter a little better.

"Uh, yeah," Knuckles uttered, his hearing back to normal as well. "And yes, Sticks is taking the other Amy's advice way too seriously."

Amy sighed in relief when her senses worked properly again. "Doesn't she see that the other Amy is about to fight? She's a lady!"

"So you say."

Amy was this close to ripping Metal's arm off again.

"That's how I know you." Eggman uttered before pressing a button attached to his wrist. An energy beam shot out, trapping Sonic and Amy in a glowing bubble. He did the same to Knuckles and Tails.

"Wow…" Tails rubbed the base of his ears. "Did they even try to dodge that?"

Another detail bothered Eggman. "If it was so easy trapping four of them, why didn't he do the same for the badger as well?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Because this whole episode had been about her, so it would make complete sense to make everyone else helpless to let her save the day." His sarcasm was palpable.

Eggman released a heavy sigh. Was the other him seriously a villain? Or was this some stupid game so that he wouldn't be bored all the time? The doctor was banking on the latter.

The kit punched the barrier to no avail. "Sticks! We could really use some help here!"

"No!" Sticks was fighting an internal war. "Must…remain…ladylike!"

Amy clicked her tongue and shook her head in disappointment.

The Ballot Stuffer Bot grew arms under Eggman's command and attempted to stab Sticks. She quickly dodged out of the way. The doctor incessantly blasted lasers at her, eventually cornering the badger.

She finally reached her limit. "That's it! I'm sick of being proper!" She yanked off her dress, revealing that her regular clothes were underneath. She crouched low, ready to fight. "It's time to get primal!"

"Woo?" Tails hesitantly cheered.

Sticks rushed forward, sidestepping more lasers. She grasped a nearby spoon, bent it in half, and threw it at Eggman like a boomerang. The doctor ducked under it, but the weapon came back around and hit him square in his wrist, freeing Tails and Knuckles.

The echidna ran up to the badger's side to help. Eggman aimed a laser at him, but the two noblemen tackled Knuckles out of the way just in time.

The beaver snickered. "Give us a pound, dear chap." He and a grinning Knuckles fist-bump again.

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "Yeah, it's great that they're so buddy-buddy, but he could've moved those under-used legs of his and dodged himself!"

"Aren't you overreacting a bit, Knux?" Sonic nudged him with an elbow, snickering. "It's been established that our other selves don't know how to use their legs under stress."

Sticks charged at Eggman, leapt up, and pressed the button on his wrist. Sonic and Amy were released. Sonic, having landed first, caught the pinkette. They smile at each other as the speedster set her down gently.

Sonic saw his life flash before his eyes.

Amy squealed like a maniac. She hopped out of her seat, jumping up and down, and clapping as if she had been the one caught. Actually…she could make that happen! Giggling to herself, she stepped onto the sofa, balancing so she wouldn't fall prematurely.

Disregarding the curious, annoyed, and panicked eyes on her, the pinkette closed her own, spread her arms out to the side, and singsonged, "Catch me, Sonic!" She leaned back and hoped that the speedster didn't let her slam against the unforgiving floor below.

When arms securely cradled her to a warm chest, Amy giggled and pecked her savior on the cheek. "My hero! Now we can-" It was at this point when she opened her eyes and promptly gasped in horror. "Tails?!"

Said fox was extremely uncomfortable and resisted the strong urge to drop to the floor and scrape his cheek against the hardwood. "It's me…"

"Wha…Why did you catch me?" Amy was flabbergasted. This wasn't what she'd planned at all! "Where's Sonic?!"

Tails faced her in the speedster's direction. "On the couch, too busy imploding."

Sonic's attention hadn't drifted from the screen, currently looking like someone had been murdered right in front of him.

Amy huffed, wriggling in the kit's hold. Tails set her down, and she stomped over to Sonic. She thrusted a finger right in his face. "Sonic the hedgehog! How dare you let Tails crush my fantasy! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sonic blinked before slowly focusing on her. "Hit me with your hammer."

She didn't expect that. "What?"

"Hit me as hard as you can so I can hopefully get shot-term memory loss and forget what I just saw."

Amy deadpanned. "You should be lucky that I love you, or I would've done that anyway." She puffed out her cheeks and reclaimed her seat.

Knuckles barked out a laugh at how traumatized Sonic looked. "Aren't you overreacting a bit, Sonic? It's been established that the other you and Amy have to be a thing." The speedster shot him a curt glance, clearly showing that he was not amused, and the echidna chuckled again before noticing Tails leaning away from Amy, fighting a blush. "That was your first kiss, huh Tails?" The kit blanched. "How was it?"

"Knuckles!" Tails screeched embarrassingly, cheeks being set aflame. "It was gross!"

"Gross?!" The fox realized his grave mistake when Amy glared venom at him. "I am not gross! Take it back, right now!"

Tails held his hands up in surrender. "I-I'm sorry! I changed my mind! It wasn't gross!"

Amy narrowed her eyes before nodding. "You bet it wasn't." She then smiled, hugging the kid. "But nevermind all that! You are so adorable when your flustered! Your future girlfriend will be so lucky!"

Tails struggled to push her away, blush reaching his ears. "No way! Girls are icky!"

"What was that?!"

"I-I…That's not what I meant!"

Sonic then clenched his fists and approached the Ballot Bot. It shot a laser at him, but it didn't hit the fastest thing alive. Sonic went over and ran circles around the mech and Eggman, spinning them out.

Sticks hefted a large vase. "Eat garbage!" She hurled the decoration at the enemy. It hit the bot in the head, it collapsing with smoke rising from it.

"It is about time," Metal said while Knuckles entertained himself with the Tails-Amy bickering and with the zoned out Sonic.

Team Sonic all glare at Eggman.

"I'll be back!" The human promised. "And next time, I'll bring more ballots." He wheeled out of the room with his Bee Bots in toe. "More ballots!"

Eggman stressfully rubbed his temples again. "For everyone's sanity, please don't."

On the other couch, Amy decided to let Tails off the hook. He was young and inexperienced and couldn't appreciate a woman's affection. She would forget about what was said. This time.

The hiding citizens walked back out into the open.

Sticks addressed the green turtle. "Leroy, you may have won the Awardy, but I think we can all agree that, today, I was the real hero!"

Leroy's smile was arrogant. "Yes." He held up his prize. "But I won the award."

Sticks grabbed the trophy and began a game of tug-of-war. "Give me the shiny!"

Shadow – unfortunately – had to agree with what Sonic said earlier. Part of Rouge's personality was definitely in the badger. That thief would do anything to get her grabby hands on whatever jewel she wanted. Tug-of-war had been part of that 'anything'. Rouge was stronger than she looked.

Knuckles gave the monocled rodent a thumbs up. "Stay cool! And keep rockin' that bowtie." They connected fists and laughed the nth time that day.

The guardian wanted to punch something. Repeatedly.

Sticks eventually snatched the Awardy away from Leroy. Amy approached her. "Thanks again for saving our skin, Sticks. I guess…it isn't always proper to be proper."

"Just following the old instincts." The badger cuddled her trophy.

"Think you can teach me how to do that?" Amy asked.

Amy cringed. "This isn't going to end well…"

"Sure!"

Sticks pulled Amy into the nearest trashcan, and the pinkette promptly screamed.

"…Called it."

"The episode had ended, and I have yet to make an appearance." Metal complained.

Shadow shared his sentiments, wishing that he was anywhere else. Even Holoska. He would gladly take risking hypothermia over this.

"That sure was interesting though at the end there." Knuckles threw his neighbor a mocking grin. "Wasn't it, Sonic?"

The hero produced a noise that sounded like a deflating tire as he slid off the couch and slumped to the confetti littered ground. Gazing up at the ceiling, he spoke in an accent that hadn't been used since people dueled in armor and since toilets were flush-less. "End my pitiful existence! I hath seen too much!"

Knuckles kicked him. "Stop being a drama queen."

"I hath seen slain! I cannot go on!"

Eggman scoffed. "If only, rodent. If only…"

"But seriously though." Sonic dropped the act but still remained on the floor. "The other me has gone mental."

"Or…" Amy's eyes glistened. "He has finally accepted the love and all the happiness embracing his one and only brought-"

"Lalalalala!" Sonic hastily covered his ears. "I don't want to hear it!"

Tails frowned. "Amy…maybe you should calm down about-"

"Love can't be calmed down, Tails!"

Because he didn't want a face full of hammer, the fox didn't argue.

Ah…young love. Isn't it wonderful?

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!