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

Episode ten! Prepare yourselves for Super Saiyan Knuckles!

"Y'know Metal, if you weren't tryin' to kill me all the time, we could've been the best of buds," Sonic said around the mush of chocolate chip cookie in his mouth as he exited the kitchen. He had a mound of cookies in his palm. He waved one of them at the robot as he reclaimed his spot between Tails and Eggman. "Like seriously. You saved us here, Mets."

The look Metal gave him wasn't friendly. "I told you to never call me that, and becoming a friend of yours would be a downgrade. Staying loyal – I use that term loosely – to the doctor is a better situation, which is saying a lot."

Even though Eggman refused to jump into the conversation to defend himself – he knew it was futile – his extreme discontent was felt by all in the room.

"Being my friend isn't that bad!" Sonic argued as he ate another cookie. He turned to the others with a smile. "Right?"

"Right!" Tails chirped before addressing Metal. "If you ever get over your homicidal tendencies, being buddies is fun! There's many adventures, you get to win against Eggman-" he ignored the heat coming from the doctor. "-and while his jokes are a little bad at times-"

"Hey!"

"-the good overshadows the bad!" Tails finished with a snicker, avoiding Sonic trying to put him in a headlock.

Amy giggled. "And he's not bad to look at either!"

Metal deadpanned at her. "He very existence drives me to puncture his heart."

The pinkette grimaced before commenting, "Maybe you should be friends with Shadow instead, you two have uh…similar interests…"

While Shadow didn't want anything to do with this topic of conversation, he was willing to say, "He does have something going for him. He's the perfect punching bag."

"You will be the perfect rotting corpse once I'm done with you, Ultimate Lifeform."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "That just proves that you two are perfect for each other." Metal glared at him, and Shadow had to disagree. The only thing perfect for him was the sweet embrace of sleep.

"Who knows what'll happen if those two ever became friends." Sonic chuckled. "But I'm here with open arms Metal if you want to reconsider!"

"How do you not get that I hate you, copy?"

"You don't hate me, you're programmed to hate me. There's a difference!"

"Really? Explain."

"Uh…"

"Exactly."

"Can we stop with all this inane back and forth and get on with the show already?" Eggman nearly growled out, tired of all this talking. He thought that even the annoying rodents wouldn't waste time like this, but apparently he had put too much faith in them.

Glad for the change in subject, Sonic glanced at the doctor and jeered, "C'mon Eggy! Lighten up! Metal just brought us all food and food brightens everyone's day!"

Knuckles' lips twitched upwards. "I would've thought that you'd be the happiest out of all of us, Eggman."

A vein pulsed in the human's forehead. "What's that supposed to mean you insolent little-!" Eggman cut himself off midsentence, for he was sure that he was going to pop a blood vessel if he continued.

"That was a little mean Knuckles…" Amy admonished before grinning. "But you're not wrong."

Eggman blocked her out to maintain his sanity.

"So what's this one called…'Dude, where's my Eggman'?" Tails furrowed his brow. "Eggman goes missing in this one, I'm guessing?"

"Good!" Sonic and Eggman echoed each other.

Knuckles knew by the end of this, Eggman was going to show up somehow, but, "If one of the heroes go searching for him, I swear I'm going to jump in that TV and knock some sense into them." He pressed play on the remote he had, hoping that the Sonic crew weren't the ones being stupid.

The scene began in Eggman's lair, with Orbot and Cubot sprawled out in the middle of the floor. They were deactivated until Orbot blinked his eyes open. He sat up along with a now aware Cubot.

Eggman groaned into his hand. "Please don't tell me that this episode is going to be about them…"

Amy shrugged. "If they are, then the title makes sense! They would be the only ones to go looking for the other Eggman." This might be a repeat of last episode, where the heroes didn't do anything…questionable.

"Hopefully they somehow get obliterated." Metal commented, wanting those flawed machines gone permanently.

"What happened last night?" the red robot asked as he struggled to maintain his balance. "My head is spinning…"

Cubot opposed, "That's not spinning. This is!" His head spun in place before he groaned. "Oh, that was a mistake. I hope whatever we did yesterday didn't involve a heavy meal."

"A heavy…" Sonic didn't understand. "They're robots! They can't eat anything!"

"Maybe Cubot's talking about oil? That's the only thing I can think of," Tails said, tapping his chin.

Eggman snorted. "I sure didn't provide them with any oil or otherwise. If my twin does, he cares too much about them."

"Cares too much?" Knuckles recalled many instances where the other doctor did the complete opposite. "He borderline hates them, so I doubt it."

"Which brings up exactly why they would choose to go searching for him…" Tails brought up.

Amy had the answer. "They're probably like wild baby ducks! They imprint on their mom after they hatch! It's the cutest little thing! Eggman is like their mom!" The doctor nearly gagged at that, not desiring to be a motherly figure to anything.

"There is no imprinting process." Metal couldn't imagine following Eggman around like a lost puppy. "Those robots are simply inadequate and idiotic. If the doctor ever disappears, I would not care in the slightest."

Eggman expected that – no, was glad that Metal felt like that. "It goes both ways, Metal. If you go up in a puff of smoke-" anywhere except in this house, "-I wouldn't care either."

"Yes you would." Metal retorted. "Because I'm your only means of taking out my copy."

Eggman's mustache flared. "I have plenty of other ways to kill him that you don't know about!"

"Highly improbable."

"I will make sure to end him without you, Metal!"

Sonic rose a hand. "Uh, I'm right here."

He was ignored.

Eggman hastily got out of his seat, expression determined. "I'll show you, robot!" He marched over to where Metal was leashed and loomed over him.

The blue bot followed his movement with his gaze. "What are you-" He didn't get to finish, for the human bent down and pressed a well-hidden button on the underside of his chin. Eggman then whispered a series of numbers the others couldn't hear.

Metal's eyes flashed brighter for a moment. Eggman smirked before saying louder, "Objectives list."

The bot's next words were immediate. "One main objective: Destroy Sonic the hedgehog."

"Erase objective: Destroy Sonic the hedgehog."

"Objective erased."

With a satisfied huff, Eggman straightened back up and returned to his seat. Shocked eyes belonging to the Mobians switched from a stock-still Metal to the doctor.

"What was that?" Sonic asked, flabbergasted. "What did you do, Eggy?"

Eggman crossed his arms. "Wasn't it clear, cactus? I erased his objective. I'll show him that I can defeat you on my own!" He didn't need that sassy robot's help with anything. Once they got out of here, he would pull off the biggest plan that would bring Sonic to his knees.

…once he thought of one, that is.

The heroes shared a look. Amy hesitantly smiled. "Well, this is good! You don't have to worry about Metal attacking you anymore, Sonic!"

"Yeah that's great and all, but…" The blue blur was staring at the robot, who still wasn't moving. Concern settled in his gut. He really didn't feel like having another panic attack right now. "Why is he still like that?"

Shadow felt his anger growing. "Doctor, if you had somehow doomed us, I'll make sure that you'll be the first one to go."

"Calm down," Eggman demanded. "It takes a minute for him to reboot." He was glad that he was completely sure of this, because he knew Shadow wasn't all bark and no bite.

"I hope you're right…" Tails whimpered, a seed of worry blossoming despite the man's words.

However, it was for naught since Metal's eyes flashed a second time. Then he was animated again, glancing over to a smug Eggman. "I cannot believe you took away my sole reason for being just to prove a point."

Eggman gave a noncommittal grunt.

Knuckles rose a brow at this turn of events. "So it's true? Are you not going to try to strangle Sonic at the first chance you get?"

Metal glanced at him before focusing on the speedster in question. "No. I do not favor him because he is still my inferior copy, but I do not have the desire to gut him like usual."

Sonic blinked before smiling. "That's a relief! Now-" His breath hitched when the collar and leash disappeared from around Metal's neck. "Please tell me you aren't lying."

Metal felt around his neck. "I do not have the capacity to lie."

"Whose side are you on now? Ours or Eggman's?" Tails inquired.

"Neither. The doctor hadn't changed from being the failure that he is, and the rest of you are not worthy of my addition."

While Eggman glared poison at the bot, Sonic read between the lines and smirked. "So…if we somehow become worthy, you'll help us fight Eggy?"

Metal didn't answer immediately, and that was when Eggman realized that he had just made a big mistake. Damn his overpowering pride. The human hopped up again and reached out for the robot.

He didn't get far, for Metal caught his wrist in a vice grip after standing. "You must be a fool to think that I will let you manipulate my data again."

Eggman swallowed, mind whirling. "I'm not going to manipulate anything! I'm just going to return you to your original settings so that you'll have some purpose in life…or whatever robots have!"

"That is not necessary. I am intelligent enough to figure that out on my own, not with someone manipulating me." Metal pushed him away, causing him to stagger. "Sit down, doctor."

Eggman did so, wondering exactly why he had to be so impulsive. He had been taunted by a robot he had made himself. He just needed to stop making mechs with personalities period. That was his problem.

Sonic laughed at the whole exchange. "Good job, McNosehair! You just got rid of the only ally you had!" He grinned at Metal, who was getting comfortable on the ground again. "So do you wanna be friends now, Metal? Enemy of my enemy is my friend type of deal?"

"No. I still hate you."

"Aw." Sonic slumped.

Knuckles eyed the robot, wondering if this was all just an act, that he was going to lunge at any random moment. Well, the thing didn't think that he would attack…so maybe they were good?

He assumed so and resumed the show.

"I'll check my memory array." Orbot stood still for a moment, lights in his mouth brightening up. After a minute, he uttered, "Curious. Last night's memory file appears to have been erased. Check yours."

Cubot nodded before attempting to load it. However, he froze once he encountered in error. Orbot got closer to him and closed the yellow one's eyes, seemingly restarting his friend. "Where was I?" Cubot questioned.

"The list of their flaws constantly grows," Metal commented.

Amy was focused on him rather than the show. "Wait a minute…Metal, if you're kinda neutral now, then you and Shadow really are alike!"

"Can you stop with his friend thing?" Shadow growled. "I hate him and he hates-"

"Actually, now that I have no desire to kill my copy or anyone associated, I acknowledge your status as the Ultimate Lifeform."

Shadow blinked before scoffing. "It's about time someone has."

"Whoa whoa!" Sonic waved his arms around. He narrowed his eyes at the bot. "You'll bury the hatchet with Shadow rather than the guy who wants you to become his friend?"

"Yes."

Sonic groaned. "Why do I even try?"

"Story of my life," Eggman muttered.

"Perhaps Dr. Eggman knows something about this." Orbot suggested before cuffing his mouth and calling out, "Dr. Eggman! Sir?" When they received no response, the duo drifted into another room. "That's odd," the red bot pondered aloud. "Usually by this time he's telling us how inadequate we are. It appears as though he's completely vanished."

Tails, who didn't know exactly what to make of this Metal situation, pushed that to the back of his mind and mused about the priorities of those two helper bots. "They even know that Eggman mistreats them, and still…"

"Maybe whenever Metal shows up, he'll teach them some common sense," Knuckles provided.

Metal looked at him and said, "I would rather him tear them apart, but either would be accepted."

"So wait…Dr. E ain't here? I can do whatever I want?" Cubot sounded hopeful. He held his arms up and glanced around. "I'm gonna kick over that garbage can!" He went over to the nearest one, but no matter hard he tried, he couldn't kick it over for he didn't have any legs or feet.

Orbot slowly floated over before toppling the garbage can with the gentlest of pushes.

Cubot blinked before raising a triumphant fist. "That'll teach you to mess with me, doc!"

It was so ridiculous that Amy almost laughed. "They need serious help…"

"That whole universe does," Shadow sighed out.

Orbot didn't acknowledge the other's victory tell. "We need to figure out what happened to us last night and find Dr. Eggman." He tapped his chin in thought. "But, where to start?"

"Ugh. What do you two bolt-bags want?"

Orbot and Cubot were now standing on Sonic's porch, in front of the blue hedgehog himself and Knuckles. Sonic looked and sounded exasperated, arms crossed.

Knuckles knew that the absence of his double wouldn't last very long. "Prepare yourselves for something stupid…"

"I do every time the echidna appears on screen," Metal said. "At least my copy's copy seems to hate those flawed models, like he should."

Sonic was tapping his foot on the ground softly, lips pursed in thought. Then he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. "Alright, Metal. Give me one reason why you don't wanna be buds."

Metal would've rolled his eyes if he could. "I already told you-"

Sonic actually did roll his. "One besides the fact that you're my copy or whatever."

Metal wondered if Sonic wanted him to attack him. "You are my inferior in every way-"

"What if I prove that I'm not?"

The bot didn't know what to think of Sonic's mischievous smile. "There is no way that you can."

Sonic cocked his head. "Really? How about…a wrestling match!"

Before Metal could answer, Sonic launched himself at the mech. They both crashed to the floor with flailing limbs. It was when Sonic tried to pin the robot to the floor that Metal understood what was happening. He started to fight back, resisting.

"You are mistaken if you think you are going to win, copy."

"Nah, I'm totally gonna win this!"

They rolled back and forth on the floor, misplacing confetti and causing a scene.

Eggman watched apathetically as they fought – he didn't care if they got hurt – while Amy gasped, watching and ready to jump in if things got too rough for her Sonic. Tails was just shocked speechless, hoping that Sonic didn't push Metal too far, and Knuckles wondered if something was seriously mentally wrong with Sonic.

Shadow snatched the remote from Knuckles and played the show. It actually resumed – he thought it wouldn't – so it went on over Sonic and Metal's competition.

Cubot was the one to answer. "Oh, my own talk show, long blond hair-" He pointed to his mechanical mouth. "-taste buds."

Orbot stopped him before he could go on. "But that's not why we're here." He faced the heroes. "We seemed to misplace Dr. Eggman. Did you and him perchance battle yesterday?"

Knuckles smirked. "Oh we battled alright! I remember it like it was yesterday."

"It was yesterday," Sonic said, rolling his eyes.

The echidna furrowed his brow. "What was?"

Knuckles felt like he was about to have a brain aneurism because he just couldn't comprehend. "Why in the hell does he get dumber every episode?"

"Like…he can't be doing that on purpose, right?" Amy asked over Sonic hissing after Metal pinned his shoulder down. He wiggled free a second after however. Amy was keeping an eye on both them and the episode. "Because that's not…natural stupid, that's advanced stupid."

Tails talked above a series of annoyed beeps from Metal. "I want to say that he's acting, but deep down, I know the other Knuckles is really like that. For some reason."

Knuckles gestured at the screen. "He's even oblivious to the other Sonic's irritation with him! Just what?!"

A flashback started. Eggman was laughing evilly, standing behind a line of his robots. "I've got you now!" The ladybug-like bots revved their engines.

Sonic was basically trembling in his shoes. "Oh no…" He backed up a couple steps, almost bumping into a confident-looking Knuckles. "I guess that we have no other choice but to give up!"

Sonic paused in his current activity to glance up at the TV, wishing that he hadn't heard what he did. "What in the world is happening?" Why did his twin look like he had been told to swim several laps around a pool?

However, no one answered before Metal pushed the speedster off him.

Shadow paid the wrestlers no mind. "So the idiot echidna is telling this from 'his' point-of-view then."

"What gave it away?" Knuckles was exasperated. "The way Sonic is trembling, or how the airhead looks like he owns everything in the frame?"

The hedgehog threw his hands up and was about to flee, but then everything froze and greyed out.

Present-Sonic didn't look amused. "Wait. That's not how it-"

Present-Knuckles leaned into the frame and shushed him.

Amy and Tails shared a look, both feeling sorry for the other Sonic and wondering exactly how this was going to end. Unpredictably, most likely.

The scene unpaused itself, regaining its color. Sonic ran off in a hurry only to slam right into a tree, causing him to stagger.

Shadow stifled an amused snort.

Knuckles groaned before addressing Eggman in a more regal voice. "I'll handle this!" He rushed the robots as they charged him, effortlessly punching and kicking them out of the way. The echidna slid to a stop in front of Eggman and staring him down.

The human was uneasy. Eggman flinched in fear when Knuckles stepped closer to him. When the echidna did it again, the man cried out in distress and landed weak punches to the hero's torso.

Knuckles had to admit, seeing Eggman like that was satisfying even though he knew none of this happened.

Eggman just wished that when all this was over, he could forget this splotch of torture of his life. That was all he wanted.

"Three…two…one!" Sonic counted down as he held Metal's arms behind the bot's back, straddling the mech to trap him. The hero laughed loudly. "I win, Metal! Now you gotta admit that I'm better than you in something!"

The robot struggled but couldn't get free. "This is not a valid win. You surprised me-"

Sonic scoffed. "Since when did you ever care about fighting fair? I win, you bucket of bolts!" Metal produced a growl, but didn't otherwise respond. Sonic smirked in victory before getting off the robot and returning to his seat, massaging his slightly sore muscles. He'd let this loss settle in for Metal. Let it marinate.

The blue replica didn't even look at Sonic as he sat up, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Tails peered at Sonic. "Did you really have to do that? You seriously could've gotten hurt!"

"But did I?" The speedster winked.

The kit shook his head in mirth.

Knuckles was frowning at him. "Now, you've made me mad." He gutturally yelled, his hanging quills curling slightly at the ends. The echidna then took off into the sky.

Knuckles stared. "…What?"

Everyone else was asking themselves the same thing.

When he got high enough, red crackling energy surrounded him, and Knuckles fired a red-hot blast at Eggman. The human escaped injury by producing an umbrella out of nowhere and using it as a shield.

"Excuse me for a sec." Knuckles got up without further warning.

Amy blinked after him. "Where are you going?"

The echidna's stomps shook the floor as he left the living room. "To the bathroom."

"Don't break anything!" Tails called, because he was the only one who cared about his breakables.

"No promises."

He disappeared, and about ten seconds later a loud shout filled with rage and anger and every negative emotion out there impinged the ears of those listening.

Shadow nodded. "True emotion."

It lasted a few seconds until it abruptly cut off. Knuckles reappeared and collapsed in his seat between Shadow and Amy. His expression was blank.

Sonic was kinda worried. They were only ten episodes in. "You alright, Knux?"

"Just fine," the echidna's voice cracked, a little hoarse.

Even though he was unhurt, Eggman cried out in anguish.

Knuckles touched down only for Amy and Sticks to run over. "What a dreamboat!" Amy sighed as the girls hugged him.

Amy inched away from Knuckles, shuddering to herself. Wait, if this what the other Knuckles thought happened, did he have…a thing for…?

Amy crashed that train of thought, refusing to dwell on it any longer.

Knuckles remained expressionless.

Sonic, over his run-in with a tree, clasped his hands together. His voice was full of admiration. "I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

Tails ran on screen. "Knuckles, you've been elected governor!"

"The rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper, doesn't it?" Sonic didn't like his other self reduced to a weakling, even if it was made up. It was so wrong on many levels.

Said echidna was hugging the girls back. "All in a day's work!" He grinned, teeth sparkling, before letting Sticks and Amy go and blasting off into space.

Knuckles inhaled sharply but didn't do anything else.

Out of the flashback, Knuckles was pleased while Sonic was the complete opposite, groaning in irritation.

"He's an annoyance to that pincushion." Eggman commented. "That means the echidna is on par with the Gogobas. I'm not trying to pry into the rodents' business, but why do they work with him again?"

Amy dug deep in her mind. "Maybe he's like Sticks? His more favorable traits haven't been revealed yet…?"

The robots didn't know what to make of what was just told to them.

"You're not alone there." Tails sympathized.

"That's all very nice…" Orbot started, "…but I believe that we were inquiring as to the whereabouts of Dr. Eggman."

"Yeah, after we as a team-" Sonic shot Knuckles a look. "-defeated Eggman, he retreated towards the marketplace."

"Yeah! My twin's not a coward!" Sonic nodded, having his double's back. "Maybe in facing an ocean or a waterpark but definitely not now!"

Orbot rose a hand in appreciation. "Many thanks." The pair of mechs wandered off, the duo of mammals watching as they left.

Once they were out of sight, Knuckles spoke up. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have to write my acceptance speech!" Concern overtook his features as he focused on an unimpressed Sonic. "What rhymes with governor?"

Knuckles' whole body tensed up.

Amy cringed. "I feel embarrassed for him since I doubt he feels it at all."

"He just needs to stop," Shadow added. This whole thing needed to stop.

Cubot and Orbot were in the village now, surrounded by mingling people.

Knuckles released an explosive sigh and ran a hand down his face. He slumped in his seat, having kept all his emotions in check when his other self was on the screen. If he had his emotions take control, he would've surely broken something, no doubt.

But his twin had made it so hard.

Sonic threw his voice at him. "…You sure you're okay?"

Knuckles waved him off. "Yeah yeah…I'm good. For now." If his twin showed up again, he might not be.

"Keep your optical sensors peeled, Cubot." Orbot advised as he searched around. "There as to be a clue around here somewhere."

"Hey, you two!" Started by the harsh address, the robots turned to see an ox standing by some produce. They approached him as he glared. "You got a lot of nerve coming around here after what Eggman pulled last night."

"Here we go…" Eggman muttered to himself. Who knew what nonsense his other self had been up to. He didn't want to know, but it wasn't exactly his choice, was it? He was doomed to suffer.

Orbot gasped. "Dr. Eggman was here?"

"He was," the ox affirmed. "And he tried to make me the victim of his most evil scheme to date!"

There was another flashback. Eggman was talking to the ox, holding out a burnt and unusable umbrella. "I'd like to return this umbrella."

"Wait…" Amy was confused. "So Eggman actually had an umbrella that got burnt to a crisp? Did Knuckles really-"

Tails shook his head. "I highly doubt it. Something else most likely happened to cause that burn."

"Most likely?" Knuckles repeated in disbelief. "Something else had to cause that burn, Tails. He can't fire blasts from his hands."

Tails snickered. "Well, we don't know for sure…"

"Don't do that. Just…don't."

The store owner frowned. "You can't expect a refund for that. It's broken!"

"What are you talking about?" Eggman argued. "It works fine! See." He lowered and raised the skeleton hood of the umbrella a couple times before one of the charred arms broke off.

The ox clearly wasn't swayed.

Eggman pointed at him. "But you have a thirty day return policy! This is ridiculous!"

Eggman exhaled long and hard, his hatred and loathing building up inside him. Why couldn't his twin just walk away? Why didn't he just avoid this stupid confrontation altogether? Oh right. Because he was mentally incapable of processing common sense.

The human growled as he focused on a pyramid of sauce cans beside him. He kicked the base of it, but to his surprise, the whole thing didn't fall down.

Sonic was sure that wasn't how the world worked. "How…?"

"Maybe glue?" Tails guessed. "In random places?"

After staring at the structure defying the laws of physics in confusion, Eggman threw his umbrella to the ground and stomped off. "You just lost a customer, pal!"

The flashback ended. The ox put his hands on his hips. "After he ran out, I called the police."

Orbot and Cubot went to find a police officer. It wasn't hard, for they spotted one drinking out of a cup nearby.

"But that particular officer might not know where Eggman is!" Amy brought up. There surely was more than a handful of cops in the village right?

"It doesn't hurt to try, Ames." Sonic placated.

Orbot addressed the cop, which happened to be a beaver. "Officer-"

The beaver did a spit take. "Hey! Don't sneak up on a guy! It's not nice," he said as he took another sip of his cup.

Amy scrunched up his nose. "Gross!"

"What kind of cop is he?" Knuckles frowned. He had been scared way too easily.

"The kind that would be taken out quickly," Shadow provided.

Sonic rose a brow. "Speakin' from experience, Shads?"

"Possibly."

The bots were contrite. "I do apologize, but have you seen our missing employer? He's a loud stocky fellow with an evil laugh and uh…" Orbot created an imaginary mustache with his hands. "You know."

After doing another spit take – Amy wished that someone would just slap the cup out of the guy's hands – the cop frowned. "Oh no, that guy. He's a dangerous criminal. We caught him last night." The frown then curled into a soft smile. "The streets are much safer with him off the…um…streets." He took yet another sip.

Tails blinked. "Wow…they actually arrested Eggman? That's…"

"Surprising." Eggman finished for him. "Given that everyone in that universe is inept."

Metal spoke for the first time since his humiliating loss. He didn't seem as tense. "Like y-"

"Don't you dare!"

"You make it too easy, doctor."

Eggman fumed, glaring at his creation. Then a lightbulb went off in his mind. Now that his head was clear of any clouding pride, maybe he could catch the robot off guard and restore his previous settings, and remove any sass while he was at it. He had to wait for an opening though…

"Thanks!" Cubot exclaimed.

The cop spat out his drink for a third time. "You're welcome."

"Is there a disorder where a man always spits out his drink for no reason? I think he has that." Amy groused, pondering if he had even drunk anything.

The robots quickly left the officer.

Once they were far enough away, Orbot turned to his mechanical friend. "We need to raise bail money to get the boss out of jail." He paused for a moment before continuing confidently, "And I know just how to do it."

There was a hard cut into Orbot terribly playing a ukulele in the middle of the street with Cubot beside him 'playing' the drums, if one could even call it that. The horrible music wasn't enough though. Cubot was singing a love song, voice pitchy and bland.

Shadow's ears flattened against his head. "Kill me now."

Knuckles winced. "Someone stop them."

A crowd had gathered around them, looking on in pity. Tails, who was watching as well, cringed at their performance. "Yeesh…" He palmed a few coins and placed them in an open jar beside the mechs.

"No!" Tails exclaimed. "That'll only encourage them!"

The robots stopped playing and glanced at each other, sighing in defeat.

Well, that was until Orbot came up with another plan. "I've…got a better idea."

Tails sighed in relief. He didn't know how much more his ears could take.

They were suddenly in Amy's house, sitting on her sofa. The pinkette was there as well, sharing the couch with them, curiosity etched into her features.

Amy felt conflicted. "It's great that I get to see my twin again, but did she really have to let them in? She should be with Sonic anyway, not them!"

Sonic winced. "It's not so bad that she's havin' a good chat with them! They could talk for as long as they want and I wouldn't be mad!"

Knuckles threw the speedster a smirk. "Sonic, no matter how hard you deny it, there's something going on between your and Amy's twins."

Sonic covered his ears like a child while Amy beamed.

Orbot didn't waste any time, resuming an off-screen conversation. "So, with your donation, we can finally build that oil bath for the old robot's home."

"That's why she let them in." Tails started. "Because they mentioned some made-up charity… She's a real bleeding-heart, isn't she?"

"That's normally okay, but seriously?" Amy frowned, not happy with this. "It's so obvious that they're lying! And why in the world would she care about robots anyway?"

"She is unintelligent just like that echidna," Metal observed.

Amy immediately defended her twin. "Hey, only I can talk bad about her! And she hasn't reached that level yet, no way!"

"No one can reach that level." Knuckles sighed.

Amy perked up. "Of course!" She hopped off the couch and headed for a basket sitting on a shelf. Behind her back, the robots high-fived each other. When Amy turned around, she had a small red bag in her hand. "I've been collecting for a charity myself." She grabbed a picture and made her way back over to the sofa. "Operation Toasty Beak."

The bots grabbed the picture when she held it out, being shown a penguin bundled up in a thick sweater. "We provide sweaters for baby penguins," Amy explained.

Tails saw one major thing wrong with this. "But…that's…penguins don't…"

Sonic patted the kit's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, bud. We all know that it doesn't any sense."

Orbot's nonexistent heart went out to them. "They must be so cold in the frozen tundra…"

Amy slumped a bit. "They are…and we have all these sweaters for them." She gestured to the side, showing multiple pink sweaters folded neatly in an open box. "But we can't afford the jet fuel to deliver the sweaters…" She gave them a pitiful smile.

"Has she been taking lessons from the Gogobas or something?" Knuckles asked, because while he didn't know if that charity was legit, he was starting to believe it was. "Because she's good."

Amy shook her head. "Hopefully not! I don't want her anywhere near those guys!"

Sonic chuckled. "Well – ah!" He yelled out in alarm when Metal suddenly rushed him from the floor. The hedgehog stood up on the couch only to be tackled behind it. Amy and Tails called his name in shock when he crashed against the ground. "Metal, what in the world are you-"

"I am initiating a rematch." The robot fought to pin his arms down.

Sonic blinked before smirking. "You're on!"

So another wrestling match commenced.

"Why am I not surprised…" Knuckles muttered.

"As long as the show keeps playing, I don't care." Shadow grunted.

Eggman glanced behind the couch, watching as the two blue duelers rumbled, ending up in the middle of the floor again. This was his chance! When one was pinning the other down, Eggman would make his move to give Metal his main objective back. Surely nothing would go wrong.

Cubot's tone was heavy. "Those poor little fluff balls…"

The pinkette looked at the red bag. "I was saving this money for that." She focused on the mechs. "But your cause seems important too." Amy handed over the money. "Here you go!"

Cubot reluctantly took it, sharing a guilty look with Orbot.

"I can't believe that she is about to give up the money." Amy puffed out her cheeks, ignoring the controlled violence going on in front of them. "Penguins need warmth more than robots need oil!"

Tails held up a finger. "Actually…"

The robots glanced back down at the cozy penguin and wailed in distress.

Amy was thrown aback, not knowing what was going on.

"We can't do it!" Cubot cried out, giving her back the money. "You keep the money! And take ours too!" He offered the change in the jar they got from their street performance. Then they left, still sobbing. "Penguin sweaters!" Cubot yelled out to the world.

Yeah, Eggman should really stop making robots with personality.

Back in the village, the pair of mechs – over their penguin sadness – were standing by Eggman's hovercraft with a dog in a top hat examining it.

"I don't think that we should sell the Egg-Mobile," Cubot said to his friend. "The boss isn't going to like it…"

"Metal, how long do we have left?" Eggman's voice was strained, for this episode was wearing him thin.

The robot didn't pause in yanking his arm out of Sonic's grip as he glanced at the screen. "Five minutes and four seconds."

In other words, far too long.

The dog gave them his full attention. "Ah, I see what's going on here. You're trying to con me. Well, you're not gonna pull one over on T. W. Barker." He tipped his hat. "No siree!"

"The way he automatically jumps to the conclusion of robots conning him is suspicious…" Tails mumbled.

"Barker as a whole is suspicious!" Amy huffed. "He looks so shady!"

Orbot waved his hands in a negative. "Oh no! We're not trying-"

Barker patted the hovercraft. "So, how about I take her out for a test drive? If I like the way she runs, you've got yourselves a sale. Just name the price."

Cubot, overjoyed, whispered to Orbot, "He said that we can name the price! This guy must be a real sucker!"

They faced the buyer again. "Mr. Barker," the red bot started. "We have a-" He paused, for the dog had hopped into the mobile and flew away. "-deal…" Barker tipped his hat again before disappearing beyond the trees.

The kit played with one of his tails. "They're not going to see that hovercraft again, are they?"

"Nope." Amy emphasized the 'p'.

The duo waited multiple hours for the dog to return, standing still as the sun set and eventually rose again.

"That would not have been me." Knuckles scoffed. "I would've left the moment Barker hopped into that thing."

"That's it!" Cubot exploded, startling the other. "We tried doing things your way, now we're gonna to things my way!"

In the next scene, nothing but a stone wall filled the screen. A second passed before an explosion blew a hole into the wall. Orbot and Cubot shielded their faces from any debris, the latter putting away his blaster.

Shadow appreciated the switch to a more violent approach.

Eggman scowled at the two still wrestling when a foot came close to kicking him. "Hurry up and finish, you irritants!" So he could get at Metal and make things right again.

Sonic used his weight to hold Metal down. "This fast enough for ya, Eggy?" He grinned as he counted down. "Three…two…!" Sonic paused when Eggman hastily sprung up and reached for the pinned Metal. The blue blur's confusion slacked his grip on the bot, and Metal flipped their positions while slapping Eggman like he was punishing a child.

Eggman flinched at the pain, holding his wrist close to his body. Metal pointed at him. "I said sit, doctor."

The human did so, wanting to go to the past and smack the idea of Metal out of his younger self's head.

Sonic laughed until the robot bent his leg in such a way that had him crying uncle.

"Three. Two. One. You are still inferior." Metal let him go after a moment.

"No fair!" Sonic disregarded the dull pain in his leg. "Eggman interfered and-"

"Since when have I ever cared about fighting fair?" Metal used his words against him, and Sonic had no choice but to accept it.

The speedster wasn't too down though. They had to break this tie somehow. A mental lightbulb lit up and he held his hand out with a wide smirk.

Metal glanced down at his hand before meeting his gaze. "What are you doing?"

"Proposing a tie breaker!" Sonic chirped. "It's a type of wrestling…thumb wrestling! You've heard of that, right?"

Metal nodded. "Of course. The game involved thumbs and skill." The robot positioned their hands together. "I will win."

"In your dreams!" There was a determined glint in Sonic's eyes. "One, two, three…go!"

Those watching the two go at it all thought about how strange the two looked, so focused on moving their thumbs.

As the smoke cleared, Cubot waved a hand. "Boss! Over here!"

However, the person who had escaped the wasn't Eggman. Instead, it was a purple walrus. The robots blinked in shock before sirens sounded in the background, coming closer. The trio promptly ran away.

"The police there are almost better than the ones in Station Square," Knuckles uttered before glancing over to Shadow. "No offense."

"None taken."

They eventually stopped fleeing, resting by a tree on the outskirts of the village. The walrus gave them an appreciative smile. "Thanks for the help, fellas. I always appreciate a good jailbreak." He then introduced himself. "Willy Walrus! Nice to meetcha!"

Amy hummed. "Despite being a prisoner, he's the best person we've met this episode! He's nice!

Knuckles agreed. "The best citizen of the village we've ever met. The definition of irony."

Cubot scratched his head. "We thought you was Eggman!"

Willy laughed. "Oh, I get mistaken for him all the time!"

"I somehow doubt that…" Tails was dubious.

"In fact, I was just talking to him about it last night. I was walking through the marketplace when…"

There was yet another flashback. It picked up from when Eggman was stomping away from the ox at the store. "You just lost a customer, pal!"

The human then rudely bumped into Willy, who was leisurely walking. "Whoa!" The walrus glanced back. "Who's this handsome fella!"

Eggman, flattered, turned around. "Oh you honey-dripper! I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to break into a helium warehouse," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

Eggman wasn't even going to ask.

"And the win is mine!" Sonic cheered loudly as he pinned Metal's thumb. He promptly threw an arm over the robot's shoulder. "So how are you takin' that loss, my newest pal?" A spark of panic formed in his gut, the memory of Metal's head exploding causing him to laugh uneasily. "You better take it well! 'Cause if you break down again, you're proving that you're weaker than me in another thing!"

Metal focused at his metallic hands. "I…I am fine."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." Metal met Sonic's gaze. "I do not feel…angry about losing. I have no need to be better than you."

Sonic didn't expect this coming. "You don't?"

"No. The only reason I felt the need to defeat you is because my main objective had been to destroy you."

"But…you did tackle me for that second round though."

"I had been confused. I did not have the drive to do so, but I needed to test it out. With my main objective gone, Eggman does not have a hold over me anymore. I do not care for him at all. I am my own being. I have full control of my own actions. I am free."

Sonic gave the other some space because wow that was a lot.

Knuckles leaned forward, slightly entertained by this. "Getting an epiphany after thumb wrestling…I bet this is the first time that happened."

Amy wiped away a tear before beginning to clap. Tails joined her, sniffing. Knuckles followed suit because why not. Shadow clapped once and Eggman was planning on building another robot to take out Metal in the future.

Sonic smiled as he patted the bot on the shoulder. "Look at you! We-"

"You are nothing more than an acquaintance," Metal interjected before sitting back on the ground.

Sonic pursed his lips and shrugged, plopping back down on the couch. "I'll take it!"

Willy smirked. "Well, you've bumped into the right walrus! Breaking and entering is my speciality."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Eggman asked, enthusiastic. "After you!"

There was then an explosion, the scene switching to the devious pair breaking into the helium warehouse. Eggman smugly blew the smoke off of his blaster.

"So he blasted a whole in the wall…for helium."

Sonic chuckled, nudging the exasperated doctor. "Maybe he's throwin' a party!"

"He wouldn't-" Eggman groaned. "What am I saying? He would."

Sonic then winked at Metal. "If he is, then you can somehow help him decorate with that confetti of yours!"

Metal's eyes flashed. "You are not funny, copy."

"I'm hilarious."

Willy walked in first with Eggman at his heels. The human examined the containers before leaning on some. "How do we know these are helium?"

"Uh, check the label?" Tails suggested. "Or remember that you're in a helium warehouse?"

After that question, his arm slipped and he knocked a container to the ground. It opened just a bit, and the gas inside began to leak out.

The walrus glanced at it before regarding Eggman with a shrug. "I'm not sure." His voice was multiple octaves higher than normal.

Eggman had a pensive look on his face, his voice also ridiculously high. "If only there were some way to tell…"

If Eggman rolled his eyes any harder, they would've fallen out of his head. "If only."

"There has to be something in the water that's making them stupid!" Amy exclaimed. "Even I know that helium makes your voice higher!"

Sirens broke up their conversation, and the pair ran off in different directions.

Back to the present, Willy finished his story. "And that's the last I saw of him. I spent the rest of the night in the joint. Breaking and entering is my speciality, but I'm not so good at exiting."

Knuckles mulled it over. "Makes sense."

Orbot and Cubot left the walrus, going back to the village and approaching the helium warehouse. The wall broken by Eggman hadn't been repaired. "Dr. Eggman?" Orbot called out as they entered. "Dr. Eggman!" The duo whipped their heads around, searching. "Are you in here?"

Sonic got comfortable against the couch cushion. "If they didn't see or hear that Eggy immediately after entering, then he's not in there. He's kinda hard to miss."

Eggman refused to respond to obvious bait.

"Here Eggy Eggy!" Cubot shouted before they got closer to the helium container that had been knocked down. The mechs examined the area some more until the yellow bot found something. "Look!" He had spotted Eggman's blaster, laying forgotten on the ground. Cubot picked it up. "It's his disintegrator ray!"

"Finally! A real clue!" Orbot cheered before pondering aloud, "Now all we have to do is follow the path of destruction and-" He cut himself off with a gasp. He picked up a clump of hair that looked like the doctor's mustache. "Dr. Eggman's mustache!" Orbot faced Cubot, solemn. "In his panic…he must have misfired his ray and…and…"

Somehow, both robots had tear ducts for moisture built up in their eyes. Cubot was highly distressed. "And all that's left of him is his glorious mustache!" Tears started to freely fall.

"…they really think that Eggman's dead." Knuckles took what he said earlier back. It was possible to reach his twin's level of stupidity.

"Someone needs to dismember them already."

Metal nodded to Shadow's statement. "Agreed."

Orbot wiped the dampness away with the 'stache. "Come on Cubot, let's go home…"

They sobbed leaving the warehouse and were downcast all the way back to the lair. The robots had an aura of sadness around them as they traversed the hallways of the base, but when they entered a particular room, horns were blown and confetti rained down, surprising the pair.

Eggman couldn't scrape his jaw off the ground. "He seriously threw a party. What in the world-?"

Sonic couldn't restrain his laughter. "I called it! The helium didn't go to waste!"

"But why?!"

Tails, while confused, was snickering. "It looks like your double likes Orbot and Cubot more than you do!"

Eggman held his head in his hands and released a defeated sigh.

In the room were decorations, colorful balloons, and robots wearing party hats. Eggman was standing in front of the crowd. He did a curt wave. "Surprise."

"Dr. Eggman!" Both robots chorused in delight.

They floated forward, jumped up, and hugged the human. Eggman grunted in displeasure. "Ugh, get off me!" He eventually managed to push them off.

"I wonder what the occasion is?" Amy questioned. "Is it the robots' birthday? Or…creation-day or something?"

Knuckles linked his hands behind his head. "We'll find out eventually."

"Can this just end?" Eggman nearly shouted.

"No. We have one minute and twenty-six seconds left."

"Thank you, Metal."

"I detect sarcasm, and I do not appreciate it."

"We thought you was toast!" Cubot cried out.

"What are you two clanking oil cans talking about?" Eggman was clearly confused.

Orbot answered. "You were gone this morning when we awoke!"

"Wait, but that's not true…didn't they wait overnight for uh…Barker to come back?" Tails checked his memory and yep, those bots definitely waited all night.

"They did," Knuckles concurred, "but I won't put it past them to forget."

"I went to get a breakfast burrito."

The noise Eggman made sounded like a strangled cat.

Orbot kept going. "We traced your footsteps all over town until we found your mustache in the helium warehouse!"

"That's just part of the pin-the-mustache-on-the-Eggman game I made for your party." The doctor gestured to a cardboard cutout of himself without the facial hair. One of the crab robots attempted to reach the cutout's face with the 'stache, but it only reached Eggman's midsection.

"You gotta admit, that was sorta adorable," Amy smiled before getting to her main point. "So, Eggman did throw this party for them? That's really out of character."

"Tell me about it…" the human grumbled.

Shadow propped his head up in his palm, wishing away any drowsiness. "Hopefully he gives them a flamethrower to the face for their present."

"Our…"

"…party?" Cubot finished Orbot's question.

"Yes! You said that it would improve morale if I threw a surprise party!" Eggman reminded them.

Tears welled up again in Orbot's eyes. "You went through all this trouble…for us?"

"Of course not!" Eggman sharply opposed. "I don't care about you nincompoops! I had you do all the work, and then I erased your memories to make sure it was still a surprise! So surprise!"

Eggman exhaled deeply, not expecting that. It didn't increase his respect for his twin, but his hatred of him didn't rise either. He was glad that his double actually didn't prepare this; he had some once of self-respect.

"And what a wonderful surprise it is!" Orbot gushed.

"Eh, hang on a sec…" Cubot cradled his head. "You erased our memories? You can do that?!"

Eggman scoffed. "Oh yeah, I do it all the time. It's real simple. You just press this little button right here…" He reached around pushed in the button on each of the two mechs' backs. The pair tensed up before slumping.

There was a flash of white, and then Orbot and Cubot were laying in the middle of the floor again, very similar to earlier.

"So they couldn't even enjoy the morale boosting party? That's a bummer." Sonic huffed. "I wanted to see Eggy pin the mustache on himself!"

Eggman glared. "You just wanted to see him embarrass himself."

"That too!"

They were deactivated until Orbot blinked his eyes open. He sat up along with a now aware Cubot.

"What happened last night?" the red robot asked as he struggled to maintain his balance. "My head is spinning…"

Cubot opposed, "That's not spinning. This is!" His head spun in place before groaning. "Oh, that was a mistake. I hope whatever we did yesterday didn't involve a heavy meal."

Eggman unexpectedly stomped into the room. "Hey, do you two have any idea where the Egg-Mobile is?"

"Long gone." Knuckles knew that Barker had sold the hovercraft to someone else at an insane price. He seemed the type.

The robots silently blinked multiple times before Cubot responded, "I got no idea, boss."

Eggman relaxed in his seat. "Finally!"

"Despite all the weird things that happened-" for example, the spitting guy and her twin's strange charity, "-this episode wasn't all that bad!" Amy chirped.

"We had to be watching a different episode then," the human mumbled.

"Amy's right. My twin was only on screen for a little while – though it would've been better if he hadn't been – and the real Sticks was nowhere to be found." Knuckles snorted. "That makes for a good enough episode."

Shadow strongly disagreed. "There are no 'good' episodes. They are all torture, some less torturous than others."

Sonic scratched his nose. "It probably gets better, guys!" He didn't know if he believed himself.

"It's good to be optimistic…" Tails' namesakes wrapped around him. "And the show aside, we got an ally in Metal!"

The robot produced a scoff. "Ally is a too strong of a word."

Eggman had to try one more time. "Metal, are you sure that-"

"Doctor, if you come near me again, you may or may not lose a finger."

"…dully noted."

Shadow smirked. The robot was growing on him.

What? Character development…kinda? Who woulda thought? Not Eggman for sure!

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!