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

Enjoy Double Doomsday!

Startled shouts filled the air when a loud explosion impinged unexpecting ears. Shocked eyes watched through the rising smoke as Metal Sonic's headless body slumped to the ground with a thud, confetti puffing up around it.

Over the initial shock, Shadow schooled his expression as he waved the smoke out of his face. "Don't act so surprised. The robot will be back soon enough." Unfortunately. Having one Sonic around was exhausting enough, although…Metal was a good punching bag.

Sonic rolled his eyes after recovering from his near heart attack. "Well excuse us Shads! Not everyone could be as calm as you when an explosion goes off in their living room!"

"Learn then."

Tails coughed when he accidently inhaled some of the fumes. "He really…didn't like tying with Sonic, did he?"

"I would've said that he won if I knew that this was going to happen!" Amy exclaimed. That bot was more of a drama queen than she was!

"That'd be lyin' Ames." Sonic grinned at her. "He definitely didn't win that. A tie is the lowest I'll go." The blue blur's attention drifted to Metal's body on the ground and then to the TV, the smoke clearing more each second. Might as well check out the next episode until Metal came back. "Double Doomsday? Now that sounds action packed!"

Knuckles rubbed his eyes, the fumes agitating them. "Hopefully it's not about that badger again…" Two episodes about her was more than enough. The last episode was a breath of fresh air. There were no paranoid screams.

Sonic nudged the echidna. "You gotta get used to her, Knux! She's gonna be around longer than that rash you had last month."

The guardian gawked at him. "How did you-"

"Did you really think that I didn't notice you using a fork as a backscratcher?"

Tails and Amy snickered at that. Knuckles just wanted to go back to Angel Island, where Sonic's mouth wasn't.

There was a lapse of silence for a moment. Eggman creased his brow at Metal's torso, which was continuing to be headless. "Why…isn't he repaired already?"

"Dunno…" A bubble of worry formed in Sonic's stomach. He glanced at the ceiling. "Maybe the thing's slackin' off…?" Emerald orbs dropped to his just as confused rival. "Shads, can you play the episode?"

Shadow attempted to, mashing the play button like his life depended on it. "No," he gritted out after the fifteenth press. "Why in the hell isn't he coming back?"

"Oh no…" Amy gasped, covering her mouth. "Did we…make it mad somehow? Is it not going to help Metal?" Not that she cared about the robot per se – he had called out her femininity and she would not stand for that – but that meant that they couldn't watch the show. If they couldn't watch, they couldn't leave.

"Who cares about that bucket of bolts!" Eggman stood up, and – faster than any of them had seen him move – ran over to the front door. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled it with all of his might. It wasn't budging. "The screen's frozen and we're trapped!" This was not one of the ways the thought that he was going to die!

Shadow marched over to him, just as frantic. "Move over!" Eggman barely got out of the way before the hedgehog gripped the knob with two hands, planted one foot on the wall, and yanked with all he had. Nothing. He swore that the door was laughing at him. Frustrated, he punched the wood only to receive sore knuckles. "Dammit!"

"It didn't work the last time, but we have no other choice!" Knuckles hopped up and ran to a window. A flurry of fists hit the plane of glass, vibrating but not shattering it. He stared down at his throbbing hands, accepting his fate. He would never get to tell the Master Emerald goodbye.

Tails' mind was whirling like a tornado high on sugar. The heroes couldn't lose like this! There had to be a way! When he focused on Knuckles, a lightbulb went off in his head. They've tried the sides, but they never tried down! "Knuckles!" The echidna peered back at him. "Try to dig out!" His floor would be ruined, but he'd be sad about that after they were freed.

"Great idea Tails!" Sonic's pulse was racing again. He couldn't live out his last days in here! Everything was so close and crowded and he couldn't run! "Knux, get to work!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Determined amethysts drifted to the floor. He clenched his fists before roaring a war cry. The sound of his hand meeting the unforgiving hardwood was near painful. Knuckles bit his lip as he cradled his arm. "Nope." His voice was a tad lighter than normal. "Didn't work."

"We can't give up!" Amy materialized her hammer and went to work on the ground. It wasn't giving at all, but she didn't stop, the floor vibrating under everyone's feet.

Sonic was breathing a little faster. He dropped down on his knees beside the metallic torso. "Metal!" He grasped the shoulders and shook the body back and forth. "Come back to us, bud! Can't get through this without ya!" No response of the head-reappearing caliber. Sonic shook it harder as Amy stopped her assault. "C'mon! You wanna beat me up, right? Well, you can't do that if you're dead!" Nothing. "Chaos Metal, I'll let you get a free hit in if you just-"

"Shut up, Faker!" Shadow yelled, highly agitated and tired and suddenly fond of open spaces. "Can't you see that it's not working?"

"What other choice do we have?!"

Eggman forced himself to think of a plan. He refused to spend the night with the rodents, let alone forever. "Fox!" Tails rose a panicked brow at him. "Do you have any tools?" He had a small chance of doing something to Metal so he was at least somewhat sentient again.

The kit perked up. "Yeah! They're in the garage!" He spun his tails and rocketed toward the garage door, which was located in the kitchen. When he tried to open it, it didn't budge like the one in the front. "It won't open!" He called back before returning to the living room.

Sonic loudly groaned. Why was this happening? Metal's couldn't take the tie, so he… The speedster chewed the inside of his cheek. He had an idea, but it was going to tear him up inside. It was going to hurt so much. "Metal…that competition…y-you…" It felt like he was going to throw up. This was just so unnatural. "You…w-w-w… You won! You were quicker on the draw, your jokes were funnier, and Eggman probably hates you more right now!"

"Actually, I despise you both the same."

Sonic ignored the man. "So please come back! My – gah!" The hero hastily leaned back when Metal's head popped right back on his shoulders. His opticals flashed back on.

Then they narrowed. "Why are you so close to me?"

The room collectively sighed in relief. Sonic would've hugged the bot if the threat of being impaled wasn't there. "No reason!" The hero exclaimed, wondering if Metal had actually heard all that he said.

Metal stared at him before seeing all the eyes on him. He didn't have a clue to what was going on, but he dismissed it. He had to set something straight. "That tie meant nothing. I am still better than you in every way, copy."

This is the first and last time that I don't mind those words. "Whatever you say, Metal!" he chirped before returning to the couch, Tails sitting beside him and Amy on the other side of the kid. Tails didn't even mind that much. There was space between him and Shadow and that's all that mattered.

The robot watched as Shadow, Knuckles, and Eggman claimed the other sofa, looking…off. His artificial curiosity won out. "What happened while I was offline?"

"Panic." Knuckles grunted, still nursing his hand.

"Fear," Eggman provided.

"Desperation." Shadow palmed the forgotten remote. "Don't blow up again, or I'll kill you."

"As if I will let you."

The striped hedgie bit his lip to keep from retorting crisply. They've wasted too much time already. He started the show.

The scene began with the sun shining over an outdoor restaurant. Sonic and Amy were waiting in line at the cashier's counter to order.

What happened just moments before instantly left Amy's mind when her brain mentally screamed date. "Oh my gosh! They're on a dinner date!" She squealed. "So perfect!"

Tails tapped his chin, his blood pressure having returned to normal. No one should be that scared in their lifetime. "At a burger joint though…? There have to be better places right?"

"The place isn't the issue, Tails!" Sonic quietly hissed. "It shouldn't be happening at all!"

Tails just smiled at him. "It's going to be happening often, it seems like. Wouldn't it be better to get used to it?"

Sonic took a deep breath. The last five minutes had been too much. He needed to lay down.

"Man, I am starving!" Sonic rubbed a hand on his stomach. "Next exit: MunchyTown, population: us."

Knuckles cringed, from the words he just heard and the fact that dammit that floor was hard. It hadn't been one of the kit's brighter ideas. "I keep saying that my double needs to shut up…but Sonic, yours does too."

And he needs to get a stern talking to, Sonic mentally grumbled.

The person in front of them had gotten their food, so Sonic was about to step up to the cashier. However, Eggman instantly slid in, cutting the line.

The doctor had his hands on his hips. "Hey, no cutsies! I was here first!"

"No way, Egghead!" Sonic argued, Amy frowning beside him. "We've been waiting!"

"Um…" The blue-furred, bucktooth worker cleared his throat. "I believe the barrel-chested gentleman with the luxuriant mustache was first."

"What?" Amy growled. "Our doubles were clearly there first! What is he trying to do? Sabotage their date?!" Her hammer materialized again. "I'll pound him into next week!"

Tails gave her a worried glance. "Um…you can't hit him, Amy…"

The pinkette was frowning at the screen, her hammer poofing away. "Luckily for him…"

"What?" Sonic asked, astonished. "Are you serious?!"

Amy patted him on the shoulder, voice gentle. "Sonic, let's not make a scene." The blue blur reluctantly calmed down.

"Ooo…" Knuckles' bad mood was gone now, replaced with a more mocking one. Sonic already knew what was coming, for he was sinking dejectedly into his seat like he had just burnt his last chili dog. "Must be a strong bond Sonic if she can calm you down like that."

"Of course it is!" Amy singsonged. "Like them, when we get together, our minds will be in synch and…" She sighed contently, staring off into space. "It'll be a dream come true!"

"More like night terror…" Sonic muttered, shivering at the thought of her smothering him.

"What was that?" Her tone was sharp.

"Nothing! I sneezed."

Eggman's smile was wide. "That's how we do it! Score one for Eggman!" Music began to play out of nowhere, and the doctor did a victory dance. Sonic and Amy were unenthused. Eggman stroked his hairy upper lip. "Just gotta flash the 'stache!"

Eggman wondered if someone could ever un-see something.

Sonic snorted, ignoring his doom for a moment. "When's the last time you've seen those dance moves, Eggy? Fifty years ago?"

Knuckles scoffed. "More like seventy-five."

"The accurate number is sixty-seven years ago," Metal corrected.

Eggman's mustache flared. "I am not that old!"

Sonic pursed his lips. "Really? So that's not a grey hair I see?"

The man quickly covered his plume of hair before glaring at the blue menace. "I'm not in the mood for your games, cactus!"

"Who said that I'm playing?"

The doctor's eyes widened marginally behind his glasses. He turned toward Knuckles and Shadow. "I don't have grey hair on my mustache." Shadow didn't pay him any attention – no shock there – and the echidna just threw him an amused look. That didn't help him at all! He needed to know if he needed to buy hair die after this!

A moment later, the pair of hedgehogs were sitting at a table, impatiently waiting for their food. Sonic glanced off to the side to reveal that Eggman was enjoying a burger, a side of fries, and a cold drink.

The human was chewing loudly. "Mmm, now that's good!" He met Sonic's gaze, tone smug. "How's yours over there? Oh right…Yours isn't ready yet!" Sonic scowled before turning away. Eggman chuckled evilly. "Should have been faster, Sonic!"

That was the worst insult Sonic's ever heard. He gestured wildly at the television. "Is he just going to sit there and take that!? I would've knocked over his food, at least! If anyone's slow, it's Egghead!"

"Even if Sonic didn't, I would've!" Amy chimed in, heated. True love always had gotten her fired up. "No one insults my husband and gets away from it!"

"Husband?" Sonic forcefully laughed, feeling a little twitchy. "Good joke Ames!"

She looked at him oddly. "But I wasn't-"

"You should take that on the road!"

"But-"

Sonic continued laughing, the sound growing strained with each passing second.

The cashier then approached the heroes' table with a tray. "Okay, here we are. Two double burgers with extra pickles." He placed the tray down rather roughly, the bun of one of the burgers sliding off.

Sonic peered closer at the pickle slices littered everywhere before huffing. "I said no pickles."

"That guy is a complete jerk!" Tails observed after giving Sonic a concerned look, wondering why the cashier was acting like that.

Knuckles agreed. "Seriously. What's his problem?"

"I would've given that Faker a jar of pickles," Shadow simply said.

Tails wrung his fingers together. "But that's because you're you, Shadow." The striped hedgie couldn't argue that. "We don't know why the cashier's acting like that though…"

Over at his own table, Eggman was laughing loudly. "This is the best day ever!" He was about to take another bite of his burger when someone coughed beside him. The doctor rose a brow at the cashier.

"I'm Dave." He introduced himself. "Big fan of yours, sir. I've studied all of your attacks!" Dave began to list them off. "The Bee Bot gambit, the lair gambit, the gambit gambit!"

"An admirer of evil schemes?" Eggman hummed. "If he was a fan of me, it would be fine, but since he's a fan of the other me, something has to be wrong with him."

"Obviously." Metal twirled the rope attached to him around his finger. "Has he not seen the other's idiotic failures?"

"Probably not." Knuckles crossed his arms, the pain in his hand slowly fading. "Most of his day is spent brushing his giant teeth."

Eggman nodded. "Ah yes. That one was doubly risky! I like the cut of your jib. How'd you like to be my unpaid intern?"

"It'd be an honor to work for you without pay," Dave gushed.

"Did I mention that I like you, jib-cut-wise?"

"The heck is a jib?"

"Don't look at me, pincushion. I don't have a clue."

Eggman and Dave were now in the doctor's lair walking around.

"Wow!" the intern exclaimed. "I'm really here! Where do I start?"

Eggman thought for a moment. "Even though you're only an intern, there's an important job that I can't trust Orbot and Cubot to do." He suddenly had a mop in his hand. "Mop the bathroom."

"Mop the bathroom?" Dave repeated incredulously before grabbing the mop. "Wow! Back at Meh Burger-"

"Meh Burger?" Knuckles repeated with a frown. "That sounds the opposite of good. Why would people even go there?"

"Maybe the food is actually good though," Tails said. "I mean, the other Sonic and Amy apparently don't mind it."

The guardian leaned his head back on the cushion. Those two must have really low standards. And that was coming from him, an echidna who didn't mind eating the occasional cricket as a snack.

"-I have to be a manager to do that!" After saluting the doctor, Dave ran toward the bathroom with Orbot and Cubot off to the side, watching.

"What…is wrong with him?" Amy didn't know what to think. Interrupting their date, giving Sonic pickles, and know racing to clean another man's smelly filth? Hopefully this guy wasn't around for long, like that beaver.

Tails tilted his head. "I mean, Dave has been working at a fast food place. So he's gotta be used to dirty bathrooms."

Sonic couldn't wrap his head around this, back to normal now that that scene was over. "But why Eggman? He could've looked up to my double, or Tails', anyone's!"

"Not mine." Knuckles corrected.

Sonic fixed his words. "Alright, not Knuckles'…and not Sticks either. If Dave did, he would've been downright insane in the membrane."

"You two could learn a thing or two from this kid." Eggman told the robots. The red and yellow mechs just looked unsurely at each other.

"Don't." Eggman deadpanned. They were already bad enough; they didn't need that kid to rub off on them.

While Dave was taking out the trash, the helper bots observed with narrowed eyes.

"This intern worries my circuits." Orbot commented, facing his robotic friend. "I fear that his enthusiasm for the most menial tasks causes us to appear inferior by comparison."

"Yeah!" Cubot agreed. "And he's making us look bad too! He does more sucking up than my cousin Susan. And she's a vacuum!"

"How…does that work?"

"It does not," Metal answered Tails. "Robots do not have blood, so they cannot have similar genes."

Sonic threw an arm around the kit's shoulders. "Tails and I aren't related, but we're bros! What are you tryin' to say?"

"I am saying that robots do not have blood. Are you difficult of hearing like the doctor?"

Both Sonic and Eggman indignantly huffed.

Dave, hiding around a corner, heard all of this and didn't look too happy. He stomped off.

"And…there goes the plot for this one." Knuckles sighed. He already wanted it over so Dave could leave.

A little while later, Orbot was searching around for his friend. "Cubot? Cubot?" He glanced up and down hallways. "Cubot, where have you gone?" He picked a direction, eventually coming across a partially opened door. The robot ducked under it. "Cubot?" He called, peering through the darkness. "Are you there?"

Orbot activated his eye flashlights, scanning the small room. Then, oil dropped from the ceiling and splattered on his head. Startled, Orbot wiped it off. "My word…" He shifted his attention up to see a trap door with the black substance oozing from it.

Orbot pulled the rope attached to it, and Cubot – in pieces – tumbled out and crashed to the ground. The red bot shouted in horror.

"That terrible excuse for a robot will be repaired within five minutes, and he knows that," Metal uttered. "There is no reason for that disgrace to feel horrified."

The rest of the room shared a knowing look, suddenly sympathetic for the red bot. They've gone through the same, and it had not been pretty.

Spontaneous terror wasn't good for anybody.

In another part of the lair, Dave was cleaning a shelf with a sponge. Eggman was laying contently on a couch. "I could build a robot to do this, but there's something about unpaid labor that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside."

"You did eat a Meh burger." Amy scrunched her nose up, wondering what exactly was in those patties. "That's probably your stomach yelling at you."

Tails' own belly churned when a thought occurred to him. "Is that why he asked Dave to mop the bathroom?"

Knuckles gagged along with many others. "Thank you Tails, for that imagery."

Dave was now scrubbing under a table. He continued to do so before spotting something of interest. The intern stood from his squatting position, staring in awe at a complicated machine with wheels, red lights, and a parted claw-like structure pointing skywards.

The light blue rodent gestured to it. "What's this?"

Eggman humbly waved him off. "Oh, just my old doomsday device."

Tails replayed those words in his mind. "Just a doomsday device? Doomsday, as in…destroy the world doomsday?!"

Eggman face-palmed. "He can't rule over a world if there's no world to rule!" He didn't think that his twin would be the one to cause it!

"And he's so nonchalant about it." Knuckles frowned. "Like the end of days isn't in the same room as him."

"The other us have to get there quick!" Sonic scratched under his nose. "Or else-"

"Or else the whole dimension will be wiped out and we'll be able to leave. Which is fine by me." Multiple pairs of eyes stared at Shadow, and he shrugged. "I'm tired as hell."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "But that doesn't mean that you can just kill-"

"Yes it does."

Dave circled it, gaping. "It's magnificent! I bet it could destroy a hundred worlds!"

The doctor forced a chuckle. "Maybe not a hundred…" He sat up on his sofa. "But if I connected that power supply…one definitely."

"One is more than enough," Shadow muttered to himself.

Orbot then ran into the room with the parts of Cubot in his hold. "Dr. Eggman! Sir!" The man focused on him. "It's Cubot! He's been…disassembled!"

"Bah, I don't have time for you two." Eggman grumbled and gestured to the intern. "Can't you see that I'm enjoying some quality time with my protégé?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and regarded Dave. "So where were we…ah yes. You were praising me." Eggman glared at Orbot. "You were leaving."

Orbot slumped, anger in his eyes, before turning and exiting the room.

Metal cocked his head. "He cannot be upset at that kind of treatment. They deserve to be dismantled."

Sonic rose a brow. "What if Dave got to you, huh? Would you want me to leave you outta commission?"

"That situation is illogical. Dave does not exist here, I would defeat him if he targeted me, and you would rather celebrate your victory – which will never happen – than reboot me."

"You got me there." Sonic chuckled, trying to forget his earlier freak out episode. "But you get my point though!"

"No. I do not."

The hero just threw his arms up in exasperation.

The scene changed to Tails' workshop.

"Here it is!" The yellow kit held up a small device, turning a crank on the side. "The reverse polarizer! It takes any force and reverses it." He explained before flushing a toilet, Sonic stepping up beside him to watch.

Sonic let out a relieved breath. The other Amy wasn't there.

Tails was gawking at the invention. "That's so cool! My twin is thinking of things that have never crossed my mind before!"

Amy was confused about the use of it. "But what would you even use it for?"

Knuckles gestured at the screen. "Toilets, for one thing…"

The water was flowing in the counterclockwise direction, but when Tails activated his invention, the water flowed clockwise and rose out of the bowl. It splashed back down after a few seconds.

Sonic held up a plunger. "Guess we won't be needing this anymore." He threw it somewhere behind him.

"Uh…" Sonic creased his brow. "Yes you do! Water went all over the place! If you actually use it to unclog the toilet then-"

"-shit is going to go everywhere." Shadow pointed out. "Literally."

There was a knock on the door, and the brothers whirled around to see a worried Orbot with a plunger on his head.

The robot waved when the two ran towards him. "Hello! Odd request. Could I trouble you to reassemble my dismantled cohort?" He pointed to a deactivated Cubot on the floor.

Knuckles scoffed. "Please don't tell me they're going to fix that robot up."

"Looks that way," Tails uttered, mind still stuck on that wonderful piece of machinery. Yeah, he had no idea what he'd use it for, but it would be a great collector's item!

"But why?"

"Because everyone in that dimension has the IQ of a walnut." Eggman groused. The medicine he had taken earlier was protecting him from the headaches, but he knew that one more bout of stupidity would send it forward.

Back in Eggman's lair, Dave was vacuuming.

"I wonder if that's Cubot's cousin." Amy pondered out loud.

Eggman, seeing his work ethic, praised him. "Good job! The next thing I need you to do is to clean up the robo-litter box." Said item was filled with litter, nuts, and bolts with robotic flies hovering around it.

"Hey, Metal. Do you-"

"Absolutely not. Mention it again, and I will gut you, echidna."

"It was an innocent question," Knuckles grumbled under his breath.

Dave stared at it dispassionately. "Um, actually, Dr. Eggman…" He coughed. "Now that you consider me your protégé, I was kinda hoping to get a little evil experience? Like concoct a scheme together…maybe I could, pitch some ideas?"

Tails didn't understand. "Why is he so desperate? Why does he even want to be evil?"

Sonic snorted. "He's probably mad at everyone who has normal sized teeth."

Eggman put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Listen Dave…you're a terrible kid, and that's great!" His tone was soft yet patronizing. "But you have to start at the bottom of the evil ladder and work your way up."

Dave gestured to himself. "But I've spent the last year and a half in the fast food industry."

"I'll give him that one." Eggman stroked his 'stach that was lush and definitely not greying.

Eggman didn't care. "Let's give it…a few more weeks, huh?"

"A few more weeks?" Rage filtered into his voice. "A few more weeks?! I can't sit around indefinitely! What do you think I am? A Meh burger?" – Amy winced at that – Dave ran past Eggman into the hallway. Eggman chased after him until the rodent locked himself inside a room.

The doctor gritted his teeth. "You come out this instant!"

"No!" Dave opposed, voice muffled. "I'll show you! I'm going to be an evil genius no matter what you say!" The sound of activated tools went off behind the door, and Eggman got closer to it to listen better.

"David…" Eggman drew out the name like a parent would. "What's going on in there?"

Sonic snickered. "Eggy, if you ever talk like that, my respect for you will go down the drain."

Eggman growled at him. "As if I would even stoopso low to-" He paused when something occurred to him. "You don't respect me at all, rodent!"

"Exactly. It would be in the negatives."

"Similarly like his chances of ever winning a battle."

Eggman threw Metal an ugly look. "You just had to say that, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"Nothing!"

The human growled. "You stop that right now, young man! That is my doomsday device!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have locked the power supply in here then…and maybe I shouldn't put the power supply in my pants!"

"You're not wearing any pants!" Eggman yelled.

"…Then what are these pockets?"

Tails had a worried frown on his muzzle. "He…might need to get that checked out by a doctor."

Amy nodded. "Immediately."

Eggman somewhat grimaced before the tools started up again. His eye twitched. "That better not be what I think it is!"

"Depends on whether you think it's a doomsday device…that I just activated!"

Eggman blinked. "Actually, I thought it was my panini press." He clenched his fists. "But this is worse!" He then ran off.

"His panini…" The doctor slumped in his seat, holding his head in his hands. "Every episode just gets worse!" He could only take so much!

Shadow didn't feel bad for him. At least Eggman was here for a reason. Shadow swore if his double didn't even exist, if he was just here for the thing's entertainment, then he was going to go off on anything and everything. After getting some rest, of course.

Back with Tails and Sonic, the kit was finishing up putting Cubot back together. After flipping a switch, the yellow bot's eyes flashed and he was back online.

Cubot quickly sat up, shaking off Tails' hands. "Watch where you're grabbing there, bozo!"

Tails puffed his cheeks. "He didn't even say thank you!"

"Hazaa!" Orbot cheered. "He's fixed!" His excitement dulled a little. "Cubot…Tell us what happened to you!"

The yellow mech answered immediately. "It's Dave! He dismantled me! And I liked being mantled…"

Eggman just shook his head in disbelief.

In the evil lair, Eggman was busy working on something. "Activated my doomsday device, huh?" he muttered to himself. "I'll show you!"

The camera panned out, and it was revealed that he was working on a panini press. He picked up the cooked panini and bit into it.

Sonic licked his lips. "That actually looks good. Not gonna lie."

Knuckles patted his stomach. "That makes me kinda hungry. Isn't it almost lunch time?"

"You can get whatever you need after this damn thing is over." Shadow nearly growled, ignoring how hungry he was. He should have eaten those eggs instead of dumping them on the floor.

Eggman then focused on a second doomsday device that he had built. The doctor went over and activated a timer, counting down from thirty minutes.

The device hummed to life, and a blue sphere of energy floated above the invention.

Amy bit her lip in concern. "Oh no…"

Miles away, an alarm was going off in Tails' workshop.

The kit sprinted over to the laptop making that sound and opened it. A map of Eggman's base popped up with two pulsating red dots onscreen.

"Whoa…" Tails studied what was shown. "I'm reading two weird energy signatures from Eggman's lair."

"What are they?" Sonic inquired, peering over the fox's shoulder.

Knuckles hummed to himself. He believed that it was safe to say that neither he or Sticks were going to be in this one. That fact alone made this episode one of the better ones in his opinion.

"Judging from how powerful and unstable they are…" Tails locked eyes with the speedster. "I'd say it can only be some kind of doomsday device. Two of them!"

"That's a huge jump." Tails played with his namesakes. "They could've been anything! A doomsday device – let alone two of them – would be the last thing on my mind."

"What would you have said it was, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Two microwaves on the fritz."

The scene switched again to Eggman. The human was standing by his activated invention, facing the open hallway. He cupped his mouth and shouted, "I'll have you know that I just set off my doomsday device, and it's going to destroy the world even bigger than that one!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a loud crash behind him. Sonic had broken down a sizeable chunk of wall, strolling inside.

"Game over, Eggman! Shut off the doomsday devices!" the hero ordered.

Sonic pumped a fist. "Woo! Go me! Save the world!"

Eggman mockingly laughed at him. "Shut off? Who puts an off switch on a doomsday device?"

Sonic blinked before scratching his head. "You make a valid point."

Sonic lowered his hand and pouted. So much for a that plan. "So what if he does? Don't ever tell him that!"

The hedgehog turned on the communicator on his wrist and spoke into it. "Bad news. There's no off switch."

Tails looked unimpressed as he flew his plane. "Well, yeah. Who puts an off switch on a doomsday device?"

Eggman and Tails glanced at each other. The kid hesitantly smiled. "Great minds…think alike?"

"'Great' is pushing it," the human mumbled.

Sonic resisted rolling his eyes. "So what now?"

"This is a long shot, but it's our only chance." The kit glanced down at a radar in his dashboard. "If we increase the energy output of both devices and get them vibrating at opposite frequencies, then there's a small chance that they will cancel each other out."

Tails beamed. "That's a great plan! A negative and a positive will cancel out and be nothing!" He was so proud of his other self. He was way more reliable than the other twins.

Most of those words flew over Sonic's head. "Yeah…just for a second pretend that I'm not a science guy."

"It wasn't that hard to understand," Knuckles said.

"Totally!" Sonic concurred. "Energy and frequencies, pfft. So easy!"

Tails just gave his brother a knowing look.

Tails obliged. "Get Eggman to increase his device's power. I'll do the same with Dave."

Knuckles furrowed his brow. "Wait…did Eggman just hear all of their plan? He hadn't been standing that far away from Sonic."

"He should have." Sonic tapped his foot on the floor. "But given this show's track record…"

The kit flew closer to the evil lair, activating jet packs on his plane to allow him to hover right outside one of the windows.

Tails really needed to start taking notes.

Dave slid the opaque pane of glass over. "I'm sorry, we're closed." He then remembered where he was. "Oh wait, this isn't the drive-thru. What do you want?" he asked forcefully.

Tails jumped out of his seat, walked on the wing, and hopped unto the window ledge. He grinned. "I'm here to help!"

Dave frowned. "I don't need your help!"

"I guess not…" Tails began flippantly. "If you're okay with Eggman destroying the world bigger than you…"

"Oh wow…he's manipulative!" Amy giggled before addressing the kit. "I can never see you doing that, Tails! You're too innocent!"

The fox didn't know if that was an insult or not. "Thanks?"

"No way!" Dave pointed to the side. "Drive up to the next window and come in."

Over on Eggman's device, it showed that twenty minutes remained. The doctor was sitting by the machine wearing a party hat and a party horn in his mouth, waiting for it to go off.

Eggman gestured to the television. "That…all of that is just wrong."

"Welp! It shows that he didn't overhear the conversation." Sonic shrugged. "Somehow. Which is weird, because they weren't even whisperin'."

"This show is a gift that keeps giving…" Knuckles sighed.

"At least it means that the other Eggman will be easy to take down!" Amy wanted to stay positive even though it was very hard to. "You know, if the heroes don't mess up too badly!"

Knuckles scoffed. "That's a tall order for them."

"Well, the other Tails is pretty smart!"

The echidna eyed her. "Do I need to remind you of the sleepover?"

Amy blinked. "Yeah…nevermind."

"Eggman!" Said human blew the horn in surprise before turning to see Sonic run in with Orbot and Cubot in toe. "Dave supercharged his machine with thousand bolt batteries!"

The horn fell out of the doctor's mouth. "High voltage batteries, huh?" He made a fist. "I'll show him!" He tore off his party hat before jogging over to a side door. After putting in a code, it slid open to reveal rather empty shelves.

Eggman wasn't even surprised. 'Not properly stocked' was just another thing he had to add to the long list of things wrong with his other self.

A montage started, beginning with Tails watching as Dave worked on his machine. Then, Sonic was shown pedaling on a stationary bike, a cord attached to the exercise machine. As the hedgehog went faster, more charge was pumped into the cord…which led to a measly fan. It helped keep Eggman cool as he studied his invention.

Sonic couldn't believe this. "If you're using me for my awesome abilities, put it to good use! That fan doesn't even look like it's cooling him down at all!"

Metal glanced at him. "Are you sure that it is the fan's fault? Maybe you are not as good as you think you are."

Sonic narrowed his eyes at him. "Do you want to go at this again, Metal? Because-"

"No, Sonic!" Tails gripped his arm, eyes wide. "We can't let that happen again!"

The hero sucked in his breath, the urge to defend himself dying down. His ego had made him forget temporarily that having Metal's head explode a second time was probably a death sentence.

He mended his words. "Nevermind. I should be appreciative that he's using my speed for somethin', y'know?"

Metal drummed his fingers on the floor. "You are acting more strange than normal."

"You're just imaginin' stuff, Mets!"

"Do not ever call me that again."

Sonic gave the rest of the room a thumbs up when the robot turned away.

Tails had attached a jumper cable to Dave's doomsday device. He spun around only to see the intern connect it to a toy alligator. The fox facepalmed until he realized that the toy was connected to two electrical generators. Dave chuckled to himself.

Sonic was running in place on a piece of carpet. After a moment, he stepped off and placed a hand on the conductive part of Eggman's machine. His quills stood on end as static electricity transferred from him to the device.

Smiling deviously, Sonic suddenly hopped up and ran into the adjacent kitchen. They didn't have any carpet in the living room, but there was a rug in the kitchen that would do just fine.

"Sonic!" Amy called from the other room. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for a…little snack!" Sonic went to stand over the mat and snickered to himself. He mirrored what he saw on the TV, running in place and rubbing his feet against the rug. He didn't particularly feel anything as he did so, except that his quills were rising off his back.

Heh. Time for some fun.

With a grin planted on his muzzle. Sonic returned to the living room, and the grin widened when the others stiffened.

"I should've known." Shadow snarled. "Faker, I swear if you touch me, it will be the last thing you'll ever do."

"I'm family!" Tails chuckled warily. "You wouldn't hurt family, right?"

"You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" Amy hastily asked before glaring at Metal. "Don't you dare say anything!"

The robot heeded her, but still inwardly questioned her lady-ness. "Touch me copy, and you will die where you stand." Sonic didn't plan on using his newfound 'power' on the bot anyway. The last thing they needed was for him to short out.

Eggman just watched Sonic, more than ready to flee as soon as possible. The rodent was more dangerous now than he ever had been.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at him. "Do it, I dare you."

Sonic smirked. He knew that those words were supposed to be a threat, but he saw them as an invitation.

He approached the couch the echidna was on with deliberate slowness, observing as all of the 'tough' guys involuntarily tensed up. Tails and Amy sighed in relief.

Sonic held his finger – a dangerous weapon – and pointed to the trio in turn with his words. "Eenie." Shadow. "Meenie." Eggman. "Miney." Knuckles. "Mo." Shadow again.

The striped hedgie bristled his quills while Knuckles relaxed. "Faker, do it and I'll-"

It was then that Sonic shot his hand out and tapped the echidna's knee. Knuckles gasped loudly as static electricity attacked his nerves. Oh sugar honey iced tea! he mentally shouted since his mouth wasn't cooperative at the moment.

Though, his revenge came a second later when his leg involuntarily shot up and kicked Sonic where a male should never be kicked.

Sonic let out a high-pitched squeal before dropping to his knees, cupping the abused area. His side then crashed against the floor with a thud. Pitiful whimpers escaped him as he curled into himself.

Amy winced and she wasn't the one hit. "That has to hurt…"

"That what he gets!" Knuckles said as the twinge in his knee dissipated. He put his foot back on the ground. Granted, he wasn't going to retaliate that intensely, but Sonic had brought it on himself. "Bet you were shocked, huh?"

Sonic whined lowly. "That…was supposed to be…my line…" he wheezed out.

"It was your idiotic idea, rodent. Remember that." Eggman reminded him, extremely amused. He'd rather watch a replay of that than the show.

Shadow wished he had a camera.

Metal produced a huff. "Get off the floor, flawed copy."

Sonic exhaled shakily. "…G-Give me an hour."

After that, Sonic just stood by as Eggman checked over the powerful weapon. The doctor sighed contently and leaned back. "Oh look at the time! Anyone else hungry?"

Sonic put up his hands. "No, don't stop working. I'll make you lunch." He sprinted away and was back in a second with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Sonic still hadn't moved off the ground, and Tails called to him. "Sonic…are you okay?"

His only answer was an incomprehensible gurgle.

Tails figured that was a 'no'.

Eggman was clearly not happy with it. "What is this? Haven't you made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before?" He pointed to the food item. "You gotta put the peanut butter on both pieces of bread. Otherwise, the jelly makes it soggy."

"Isn't that common knowledge though?" Amy questioned, feeling sorry for her future bf but more concerned about the proper construction of pb and j's. This was a pressing matter.

"Again, he is showing his inadequacies." Metal shook his head in disappointment. "I do not consume food, and yet I knew that peanut butter should be on both slices."

Sonic nodded. "Right. Sure. Of course." He ran off and was back instantly with a fixed sandwich.

Eggman examined it before stating, "And you remembered to cut it into triangles, right?"

"One sec." Sonic sighed before leaving for a third time.

When he came back, Eggman tisked. "The crusts. Do I even have to say it?"

Tails didn't want to agree with him, but… "I would've been mad about the crusts too."

Amy nodded. "Again, common knowledge!"

"This is the only time that I would agree with my other self." Eggman admitted, disregarding the suffering hedgehog at his feet.

Sonic loudly groaned.

With Dave and Tails, their doomsday device had a red sphere of energy in the middle.

"Alright," the yellow anthro began, talking in his communicator. "Dave's device is good to go. How's everything over there?"

"Again!" Knuckles pointed at the screen. "Dave is right there! How is he not hearing that?"

"Selective deafness?" Tails suggested, really grasping at straws here.

Sonic was holding up his wrist. "Eh…It's coming along." He glanced over at Eggman, who was grubbing on his sandwich.

"Oh yeah." The doctor liked his fingers. "That's the stuff!" He then walked over to the machine, looking at a glowing panel. The device was only at half power…until Eggman hit it one good time. The bar filled up all the way. He gave the hero a thumbs up.

"That's probably the first time that has ever worked." Eggman wished that fixing his inventions and robots were that easy. He would've punched Metal Sonic ages ago.

"I hope this works…" Tails said nervously as the timer counted down to zero.

Both of the devices spun, shooting their energy spheres through the ceiling and into the sky. They settled there and released waves of energy that disintegrated anything nearby.

Sonic, Eggman, Dave, and Tails watched from their respective holes as the energies clashed and seemingly canceled each other out.

"What the what?" Dave gasped, shocked.

Tails celebrated. "Hey, sweet! We did it!"

"That…can't be it." Knuckles narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Things had gone too smoothly. "Metal, how long do we have left?"

"Around two minutes."

"Yeah. Something's about to go wrong."

Then, a very large purple sphere appeared in the sky.

Knuckles nodded to himself. "There it is."

"What the what?" Sonic cried out.

Satisfaction rolled off Eggman in waves. "Ah…that's more like it!"

A vortex formed over the evil lair, creating high winds. Sonic and Tails ran outside to get a better look, their fur whipping around.

"There must've been a small power discrepancy!" Tails assumed.

Sonic pulled out a lone battery and stared at it before tossing it away. "Let's not point fingers, the important thing is how are we gonna reverse it?!"

Amy giggled. "He's cute when he's all flustered!"

Knuckles smirked at her. "Careful Amy. You might get Sonic jealous."

She waved him off. "Sonic knows I'll never replace him! And plus, he's in too much pain to pay attention to us right now."

As if on cue, Sonic released a broken groan.

Tails' expression brightened. "That's it! My reverse polarizer!" He pulled it out of somewhere and started to mess with the nobs.

"He just conveniently brought it with him?" Alright, Amy knew the difference between luck and plot convenience – she'd seen a lot of rom coms – and that was plot convenience to the max.

"Better question: where did he get it from?" Tails asked, lips twitching downward. No one could give him a response.

The kit began his explanation. "If you can get close enough, you can reverse the gravitational pull and force it to close in on itself!" They paid no attention to a tree being sucked in.

Sonic looked doubtful. "But…?"

Tails looked at him. "But if you're too slow, you'll be pulled into the black hole forever and all existence will be erased."

"Too…slow…?" Sonic's strained voice filled the air. "Those are…fighting words…"

The downed hero gasped as he uncurled himself and carefully sat up. The pain was still very much there, but he had to move before Shadow decided to use him as a foot stool.

Sonic didn't risk standing up. He weakly glared a grinning echidna before crawling ever-so-gently back to his seat. Sonic slumped down into the cushion. "I'm gonna…so get you back…for that, Knux."

The guardian arched a brow. "And what exactly did I do? You came over here, shocked me, and I just reacted. If anything, we're even." Technically they were even. Knuckles would take being shocked to being in Sonic's shoes any day.

Sonic just knew that, from now on, he was going to be mindful of where a person's foot was before he pranked them.

Sonic scoffed, smirking. "Too slow? Ha!" He grabbed the reverse polarizer. "You forgot who you're talking to!" Sonic rocketed away, running up the side of the evil base until he got to the very top. A multitude of random objects were getting sucked into the blackhole overhead.

Not wasting time, the hero hopped from item to item until he got to the edge of the swirling hole. He activated the polarizer and threw it into the vortex of purple energy. Sonic tried to ground himself, but items kept hitting him in the face. From milk, to pie, to a surfboard. He nudged the wood out of his way and bounced from item to item, aiming downwards this time.

When the polarizer nullified the energy, there was a loud sound and a bright light before it disappeared.

"Now they did it!" Tails smiled, thankful that they didn't have to watch people get swallowed up by a growing void.

Shadow was almost disappointed.

Sonic fell right out of the sky and crashed into the ground, leaving a body-sized crater. Sonic shook off the impact as Tails peered down at him. "You still think a plunger would've worked just as well?" he asked with a smug grin. Sonic just smiled at him.

At the entrance of the base, Eggman was yanking one of Dave's ears. "You little twerp! Your interning days are through! You're fired!"

Eggman needed to never see his other self again. "You shouldn't have hired him in the first place. You didn't do a background check or anything!"

Dave frowned sheepishly before venturing, "But you are gonna give me a positive evaluation, right?"

"GET OUT!" Eggman shouted in his face, and the former intern ran away screaming. The doctor faced Orbot and Cubot. "And you two, I have an assignment for you."

Cubot high-fived his robotic friend. "We're back, baby!"

Eggman held up a mop and a bucket. "Mop up the bathroom."

"Jeez…" Sonic breathed out, thinking that he'd rather go without chili dogs for a month than go through this pain again. "What exactly happens in that bathroom…to have to be cleaned up so much?"

Amy stuck her tongue out in disgust. "It's the Meh burger! It must've really disagreed with Eggman."

The robots slumped.

Dave was back in the village, muttering to himself. "They'll pay for this… They're all gonna pay!" He laughed evilly before inquiring the customer in front of him, "Do you want fries with that?"

"So he's coming back later. Great." Knuckles complained, but then his mood lifted a bit. "But this one wasn't so bad, with dumb and dumber not in it."

"Stop talking bad about Sticks!" Amy frowned at him. "She's a good friend! That trait just hasn't…been shown yet!"

Knuckles doubted it will.

Eggman leaned against the arm of the couch. "The only thing I liked about the show is that it gave the cactus an idea that led to his suffering."

"That was a highlight for me too." Shadow jumped on that bandwagon.

"It was also entertaining for me." Metal chimed in.

Tails looked indecisive. "He did have it coming…"

Sonic wanted to trade his friends in. For real this time.

Talk about a low blow, huh?

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!