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

Sorry for the late update guys! Blame exams, projects, reports, and did I mention exams? It won't happen again!

…Hopefully.

Being trapped in the bathroom while Amy threatened to tear his door down really made him think if the thing was trying to help him or hurt him.

Probably both, a 25-75 split.

Sonic was pressing his back hard against the door he locked behind him, gazing at the window across the bathroom in longing. If only he could jump out and save himself. He should've thought this out better. The bathroom – currently with only one way in and out – wasn't the best hiding spot.

"Sonic the hedgehog!" With every word the clearly upset pinkette on the other side shouted, a hard bang vibrated the door. "Get out here!"

Well, he wanted to live, so…

Sonic chuckled, needing his voice to come out strong. "How 'bout you calm down a little first, yeah Ames?"

There was a loud gasp. "Calm down? Calm down?!" Her volume increased, and Sonic seriously needed to use his brain more often. "I was calm until you gave me a stupid fruit!" He heard a deep breath, and she spoke softer. "I promise that I won't hurt you badly, okay Sonikku?"

Sonic doubted that.

Back in the living room, Tails was growing more and more concerned. Amy was a whirlwind when she got angry, and he was worried about the well-being of her brother…also, they needed Sonic to be conscious to get on with the show…

He glanced around to see if anyone was going to help. Knuckles was sitting beside him, smiling like this was the most entertaining thing ever. Metal Sonic hadn't moved a muscle – er, servo? – but he didn't expect anything more. Eggman was too busy avoiding Shadow's stare that promised a thousand deaths.

Tails got up and went to defuse the situation.

He walked down the connecting hall a bit before shuffling up to Amy's side. She didn't notice him, all of her attention focused on abusing the door and scaring the hero in the bathroom.

The kit silently swallowed and wished himself luck. "Hey Amy…" She didn't respond to him, her anger overshadowing all else. He tried again. "Amy!" No response to him. Tails twiddled his thumbs, thinking of a solution. He glanced back the way he came for a moment before a lightbulb went off in his head. "Amy…I think Metal might be judging your lady-ness again…"

That got her attention.

She whirled on him, Sonic momentarily forgotten. "What?!" Amy peered past Tails and puffed out her cheeks. She was a woman on a mission – what that mission was wasn't important – and Metal had no right to judge her because of this! "I'm a lady, and-!"

Tails held up innocent hands, meekly smiling at her. "I know that! You might want to save that argument for the robot out there."

Amy narrowed her eyes, her attention drifting from the kit to the bathroom door to the living room. She huffed, and her hammer disappeared in a puff of smoke. "I'll show him!" Amy held her head high as she moved around the fox. She kept her sharp gaze on Metal's head as she eventually made it back to her seat.

To her disdain, Metal's red eyes shifted in her direction. "That was neither polite nor sophisticated-"

"I am a perfect lady inside and out! Don't you ever doubt that, mister!"

"But you did not disagree-"

"What did I just say? Knuckles, back me up here!"

The echidna addressed was trying hard to not choke on his laughter, sounding like a cat coughing up a hairball.

Back with Tails, the kit was encouraging his brother to come out of his hiding place. "C'mon, Sonic!" he coaxed. "She's not out here anymore."

"…Are you sure?" Sonic tentatively asked from the other side. "Or did she bribe you with candy or something to try to get me out?"

Tails slowly blinked. "Sonic, I wouldn't sell you out for-"

"Tails, it's candy."

The kit sighed, not going to agree or refute those (possibly true) words. "She's gone, promise! She's too busy being mad at Metal right now."

The bathroom door cracked open, two emerald eyes searching around before landing on the kit. Sonic rose a curious brow. "Mad at Metal?"

Tails grinned. "I may have said that Metal was judging her femininity again."

Sonic laughed as he stepped out of his hiding place, more than a little relieved. He rustled the fox's bangs. "Thanks bud! I owe you one!" Tails playfully swatted his hand away. Sonic chuckled before uttering, "I'm switching seats with you, by the way."

"Wait, what?" Tails stuttered. Amy could possibly be still hostile and no thanks. "No?" When Sonic opened his mouth to argue, Tails added with a smirk, "You owe me that seat!" His brother definitely couldn't refute-

"Eh, I'll take a raincheck on that!"

Sonic dashed away, and Tails wondered how comfortable the floor was.

In the living room, Sonic plopped down beside Knuckles, who was finally calming himself down. The azure speedster rolled his eyes. "Glad you enjoyed that, Knux…"

Before Knuckles could say just how much that made his day, Amy called over to the blue hero. "Why don't you want to sit by me anymore, Sonic?" The question was innocent enough to keep Metal from questioning her again, but there were dangerous undertones that surely got her point across.

Sonic snickered uneasily, gesturing to Tails as the kit reentered the room. "Because Tails wanted to take my seat! Don't ask me why, but-" Sonic paused when his kid brother bypassed the couch completely, sitting on the ground with a respectable distance between him and the fuming Shadow. "…Guess he changed his mind?"

Amy smiled. "It's okay! I don't mind!" she sing-songed sweetly, too sweetly. Sonic shuddered.

"Should we plan your funeral now or later?" Knuckles snorted.

Eggman eyed the pink and blue hedgehogs. "Looks like you got the short end of the stick, cactus." He'd rather deal with a rabid Shadow than a wrathful female.

"You think that now." Sonic was happy enough to focus on Eggman. He managed a smirk. "But I think you'll be singing a different tune when Shads is set free."

"Exactly, so hurry up and play the damn show," Shadow hissed at the tense doctor while actually addressing Metal, who had the remote.

Observing all of this, Metal realized that enemies were superfluous if allies were equally as destructive. For example, Amy struck fear in the heart of his annoying copy more than he ever could. Maybe he should've requested her help when his main objective had been still in play…

It was too late now however. He pressed the play button.

The scene started out with Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks running in the valley of a large canyon.

"Welp." Knuckles sighed out. "Good feeling's gone." He knew that it wouldn't last long, but the first second of the episode? Really?

In contrast, Amy was glad for her twin's appearance. "Maybe she and the other Sonic will have a real date to show that their love means more than a tinyfruit."

She said all of that with a calm smile, and Sonic wished that she had yelled it at him. He'd be less terrified. She was going to get her revenge somehow, he knew. He wouldn't be so on edge if he wasn't stuck in the house with her.

Dates were his least favorite fruit, now.

Amy shouted to the echidna, "Knuckles, flank left!"

Knuckles frowned. "I don't take orders from you! You flank left!"

"Why do we have to have this discussion every single time?" Amy asked, exasperated.

"It's reassuring that his friends are fed up with him too." Knuckles grumbled, hoping that his twin would go away like in the last episode, preferably forever. And he'd be happier if his double took Sticks with him also.

Tails wrapped his namesakes around himself to get more comfortable. He was smart to avoid the couch. Shadow wasn't angry at him, so he was moderately safe. "Well, from what we've seen, it doesn't take much to annoy Amy…"

Knuckles resisted the urge to ask, 'Which one?' because he'd rather not have a hammer hurled his way.

There was then a loud crash to the side, and the trio paused to see a huge octopus robot emerge from the canyon wall. "Behold!" Eggman was inside manning the machine, grinning arrogantly. "The awesome power of Octopus Bot!"

"Yeah…I get the feeling that he's exaggerating," Sonic commented absently. He was watching the TV, but most of his other senses were waiting for Amy to pounce. However, all she did was noncommittally hum at his words.

Eggman rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his bare – he wasn't ever going to get his regular clothes, was he? – chest, desiring for someone to put his twin in a coma or something so they wouldn't have to endure him again. "You have a feeling, pincushion? It's a fact that he is exaggerating."

"That is accurate," Metal cut in. "Because the doctor knows this from experience."

Eggman pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. Between Metal whittling down his psyche and Shadow potentially wearing down his life expectancy, he didn't know if he was going to make it out of this house.

The robot menacingly raised its tentacles while Sonic ran out of the formed hole. He sprinted to the front of the mech and shook one of its large appendages. "Nice to meet you," he greeted cordially before quickly running around two of the tentacles, tangling them.

As Eggman struggled to loosen them, Amy swiftly approached with her hammer at the ready. She easily dodged jabbing tentacles before taking a swing at one, causing it to fly off in sparks.

Amy leaned forward in her seat, beaming. "Nice! Show him who's boss!"

"It's not hard," Knuckles jeered. "They do it every episode!"

Beside him, Metal added, "You would think that he would be intelligent enough to pursue a different career path. For example, a-"

"Corpse." Shadow suggested, giving Eggman a dangerous look, fingering his collar.

Metal glanced at the striped hedgehog. "That is not an occupation, but I will take it nonetheless."

No one commented on their morbid words, knowing better to question a formally-homicidal robot and a currently-homicidal Shadow.

Eggman counted to twenty to calm his nerves.

Eggman blinked in surprise for a moment and then growled. He opted to chase after Sticks, who outran the attacking tentacles by hopping up the canyon wall. When she backflipped over the robot, the octopus stabbed its head with its own appendage. Eggman eventually managed to pull it out.

Sonic was the man's next target, but no hits landed because of how the hedgehog nimbly ran circles around him.

Sonic gave a pleased smile, proud of his twin, though it was true that fighting that Eggman would be easier than opening a jar of pickles.

"You know, this would be easier if you'd all stop moving around," Eggman complained.

Funny, Amy could say the same thing about getting Sonic to realize his true feelings for her. Though, that mission was on pause for now. It was resume after proper revenge has been served.

She innocently waved at Sonic when he glimpsed at her.

Yeah, tough love was in order.

Sonic continued to duck and dodge. "Sorry, I can't hear you." He slid to a stop, and he still managed to avoid getting attacked. "Too busy running circles around your Squid Bot!"

"It's not a squid, it's an octopus!" Eggman heatedly argued. "Can't you tell by the size of the tentacles in relation to the head?"

"It's…" Tails furrowed his brow, recounting to make sure he wasn't the one wrong here. "It's neither because the robot has ten legs. You guys see that, right? Ten legs?"

"My twin's IQ has dropped to the level of that red imbecile's…I can't say that I'm surprised."

Knuckles shook his head at the human. "Not yet. You can't say that until he forgets how to count to three."

"And uses cooked birds as puppets," Tails piped up.

The echidna groaned, the memory resurfacing. "That too."

"Sonic!" Tails was talking into his headset, flying overhead in his plane. "My laser-guided Unbolterizer is ready to go! I've got a clean shot at Spider Bot!"

It wasn't a question whether Eggman was irritated or not. "It's an octopus! An octopus!"

Sonic tapped his chin. "Nah, it's more like a…tentopus." He slowly blinked and muttered to himself, "Is that even an animal…?"

Tails stifled a chuckle behind his hand. "Well, for one, no that isn't a real animal, and-"

"You used the wrong prefix for the numerical value ten." Metal lectured sharply. "You are starting to sound like the echidna's twin, copy."

Okay, Sonic had to admit that actually hurt a bit, and Amy's giggles weren't making it any better.

Sonic responded with his communicator. "Tails, have you even tested it yet?"

"Don't worry!" The kit reassured. "It'll work!"

Well now it wasn't. "Famous last words," Knuckles said. The other Tails was his favorite character, but he knew how this show worked by now. What could go wrong, would go wrong.

Tails' confidence wasn't shaken. "Have faith, Knuckles!"

Tails locked onto the robot and fired a yellow beam. The laser missed the bot and bounced crazily around the canyon until it hit one of the mech's detached limbs. The tentacle exploded, and flying debris loosened rocks held high on the cliff face, causing them to fall.

The kit bit the inside of his cheek. "That's not good."

Tails was in shock. "That's not good."

Tails felt the amused gazes on his back as he coughed to cover his embarrassment.

"It's nothin' major though!" Sonic waved off the situation. "It's just measly rocks!"

Knuckles scoffed. "For us maybe."

"Don't be so down, Knuckles!" Amy lightly chastised before addressing the blue speedster. "We gotta put at least some faith in their ability, right Sonic?"

She purposefully made her tone sugar sweet, mentally patting herself on the back when Sonic eyed her.

The azure hedgie took a deep breath. "Ames, if you're gonna do something, just do it already."

She innocently cocked her head. "What are you talking about? I would never do anything to you!"

Even Eggman knew that she was lying.

"C'mon!" Sonic threw his hands in the air. "I can't focus on the show if I'm constantly waiting for you to get me back!" Also, his high levels of anticipation couldn't be healthy. "Hit me! Right now! Get it over with!"

There was a glint in her eyes before she simply replied, "Nope."

Sonic sulked.

Knuckles inwardly cackled.

Sticks was closest to the crashing rocks. She dodged them with a yell before jumping on a larger one, running on it and trying to keep her balance. "Whoa!" She panted. "I should have taken that log-rolling class."

Amy forgot her master plan for a moment to send Sticks a confused look. "Log rolling?"

"Given her appearance, it is not that farfetched," Metal said.

Knuckles was punching and kicking the smaller rocks coming his way. "Keep 'em coming!" He laughed. "I could do this all day!" He was about to punch a larger bolder, but it easily ran him over, flattening him into the dirt. "…I could use a breather."

Knuckles was about to clap, but then a sobering thought came to him. "There goes his last IQ points."

Tails fought to see the positives. "Or maybe, by some miracle, he remembers that he isn't supposed to be as dumb as the rock that ran him over…?"

"You're reaching, Tails."

Tails dived down, aiming at Octopus Bot, but the mech smacked the aircraft away, sending it spiraling.

Eggman laughed triumphally. "How the tide has turned. That's a nautical reference, cause it's a squid…I-I mean, octopus!" He growled, angered by his mistake. "Great! Now you've got me doing it!"

Eggman just wanted the heroes to defeat his double to get him off-screen. Every second was torture, and he doubt that he was going to be saved anytime soon.

Sonic snickered, keeping Amy in his peripheral. "He's confused about his own robot. That's a new low!"

Shadow had to correct him on this. He glanced over his shoulder. "Pink onesie." The image was still burned in his mind.

"…Right. Nevermind."

Sonic jumped on the back of the mech and opened a panel. He yanked out a bunch of wires, making the robot short-circuit. Eggman lost control, and the robot crashed into the ground. Ink formed a puddle under it.

Amy eyed the dark goo warily. "Gross!"

The pinkette shook her head. "No, gross is reserved only for Meh Burgers." Her nose automatically scrunched in distaste at the thought of those.

Eggman's hovercraft disconnected from the head of the mech. The doctor glared at the heroes. "Next time, study your cephalopods before we do battle!" He yelled before retreating to the skies.

Tails, having landed his plane, walked up to his friends. "Guys, I don't know what happened!"

Not happy, Amy put her hands on her hips. "I'll tell you what happened. Your laser almost turned us into robo-fish-food!"

Knuckles frowned, not appreciating the girl's attitude. "…No it didn't. It almost turned Sticks and my twin into robo-fish-food. And they could have easily gotten out of the way."

"And why is she that mad anyway?" Amy questioned, wondering about her other self. "They still won and no one got hurt!"

"If you can't figure it out, then we definitely can't find an answer, Ames," Sonic uttered, trying to put himself back on her good side.

He knew he failed when she responded with a bright, yet anxiety inducing, grin.

"Yeah!" Knuckles piped up. "And not the delicious flaky kind!"

The echidna explosively sighed.

Tails slumped. "I'm sorry… It malfunctioned!"

"There's a difference between malfunctioning and simply missing…" Tails mumbled, wanting to defend his twin somehow.

"Maybe it didn't malfunction. Maybe…" Sticks jabbed a finger in the kit's direction. "This isn't even Tails! What if he's one of those sleeper agents? A mole, pretending to be a fox. A fox mole!" She ran up to the kid and tried to take off a mask he clearly wasn't wearing.

"She is clinically insane." Metal observed.

Eggman glanced over at him. "I'm sure that if you were living, you would be too, Metal."

"Absolutely," half of the room agreed.

"Ow!" Tails whined. "Quit it!"

Sonic hurriedly came up and pushed Sticks away.

"About time…" Sonic and Tails echoed each other.

"Hey, leave him alone! He just-"

"No, Sonic." Tails sadly cut him off. "They're right! Well, except for Sticks and that whole 'fox mole' thing. I put all of you in danger. I need to go…" He turned and jogged back to his plane.

Sonic held out a hand. "Tails, wait!" The kit ignored him and took off, leaving the others. The azure speedster then talked into his communicator. "Tails? You okay, buddy? Tails?"

The fox removed his headset, expression growing determined. "I'm not coming back until I fix my Unbolterizer."

Amy felt her heart crumbling. "His friends are the worst! What in the heck is wrong with them?"

"Sonic had his back, but I guess that wasn't enough…" Tails trailed off, feeling sorry for his double. Sticks was a wild card, but at least Amy and Knuckles shouldn't have been so harsh to him.

Yeah, those three were tied at the bottom of Knuckles' 'favorite character' list. The other Amy had been up in the air, but now she was just as terrible as the other two. "He's just a kid! They didn't have to treat him like dirt."

"Hey Tails." The kit on the floor peered back at a smiling Sonic. "You don't have to worry about us treating you like that! We're your friends through thick and thin!"

"Speak for yourself." Eggman grunted.

"I am impartial," Metal said.

Tails ignored them, returning the smile. "You don't have to remind me! I already know you guys are the best friends ever!" Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy brightened up a bit at that. Then, Tails turned to his floor neighbor. "Even you, Shadow!" Shadow may a little…out there, but Tails considered him a friend too.

Shadow stared at him for a second before focusing back on the television. "I have a reputation to uphold," he lowly whispered, "and you're not helping, kit."

Tails couldn't hold in his snicker.

Sonic watched the plane disappear before turning to the rest of the group. "Hey guys, do easy on Tails. So he made a mistake! I mean, haven't you ever-"

"Exactly!" Sonic backed his double up. "They're actin' like they haven't done anything bad ever!"

"Yep, everyone makes mistakes in their lives! Don't you agree Sonic?"

Sonic nodded at Amy's ambiguous question. "Yeah, mistakes that should be forgiven! Right?"

The pinkette purposefully didn't answer him, and Sonic inwardly groaned.

Before he could finish, the sound of a horn caught their attentions. A colorful truck sped towards the crew and stopped right before it ran them over.

The driver door opened, and Barker revealed himself. "Oh, sorry if I scared you folks! Please…accept my humble apologies!"

Tails furrowed his brow. "Barker? He's back?" To be honest, he didn't think the other would ever show up again.

Knuckles tilted his head. "And Eggman's hovercraft is nowhere to be found. Told you he sold it."

Eggman was glad the dog was back, because it could possibly mean that Barker was the main villain in this episode. That way, he would get a break from his insufferable twin…until the next one.

Sonic glared at him. "You almost made us roadkill, pal!"

"Oh, a thousand pardons! Allow me to introduce myself." Barker removed his top hand and bowed. "T.W. Barker." He straightened up and put it back on. "Entrepreneur, owner and ringmaster of T.W. Barker's Circus of Wonders!" He gestured to his decorated truck.

Amy couldn't believe this. "He owns…a circus?"

"Well, his top hat really gives him the look for it," Tails replied.

Knuckles tilted his head, smiling in excitement. "A circus, huh? Like, with clowns?"

"And elephants?" Amy asked.

"And art made from corn husks?" Sticks added unsurely. "I have no idea what a circus is."

"…who makes art out of cornhusks?"

"She does, copy. Use context clues."

Barker sighed. "Alas, I have none of those. For you see, my performers ate some bad sushi in the last town and have fallen gravely ill. All I have are my two stunt bears."

Two depressed bears – one brown and one grey – roller skated into view, clad in colorful suits.

Knuckles knew exactly where this was going. "It's pretty convenient that he ran into the heroes when he needs people to perform."

Amy pursed her lips. "I mean, if the ringmaster was anyone but Barker, I'd say it'll be fun being in a circus!"

Knuckles begged to differ. "Being told what to do all day and possibly whipped by a crazy man? No thanks."

"…You're no fun at parties."

Amy looked just as sad. "So, how will you put on a show?"

Barker shook his head. "I won't be able to. The children will be ever so disappointed!"

The pinkette gasped. "Not the children!"

Eggman wished that winning against those rodents was as easy as mentioning some charity or some group of slightly disappointed people.

"It's obvious that he's up to nothing good, though!" Sonic gestured at the screen. "Are they seriously about to go along with it?"

Tails was afraid that they were. "The answer's in her expression, Sonic…"

"Yes, the children!" The dog echoed somberly. "If only I could find some kind-hearted souls to help me keep the magic of the circus alive!"

Amy clasped her hands together. "Mr. Barker, you're in luck! We'd be proud to volunteer in your circus!" Beside her, Knuckles and Sticks nodded.

Sonic wasn't buying it. "Speak for yourself, Amy. What makes you think that I'd want to perform like some kind of trained animal?" He glanced over at the bears. "No offense." They dismissively shrugged.

Sonic threw his hands in the air in relief. "Yes! The voice of reason!"

"Yes, yes, I understand. The training is quite rigorous. I-I-" Barker held up a finger. "It's okay if you're not capable!"

"Oh great." Knuckles let out a disappointed drawl. "That Sonic's going to give in because I know this one would too."

Sonic slumped before giving him a pointed look. "Would not!"

The echidna looked at him right in the eyes. "So you're telling me that if I said that you weren't capable of…I don't know…mowing your entire lawn in under a minute, you wouldn't prove me wrong?"

The hero hesitated.

"My point."

"…I could totally do it, you know."

Metal shook his head. "It is impossible, for-"

"This is an A-B conversation, so C your way out of it, Mets."

"Resulting to elementary phrases, I see."

Sonic simply glared at the bot – no he was not pouting.

Sonic ran tight circles around a surprised Barker before coming to a stop in front of his friends. He was smirking. "'Capable' is my middle name!"

Knuckles blinked. "I thought your middle name was 'The'?"

Disregarding that question, Tails looked around at the group with a thoughtful frown on his muzzle. He had never thought about this before, but- "Does anyone here have a middle name?"

Knuckles shrugged his shoulders. "You, Amy, and Eggman are the only ones here with proper last names, so you're the one to ask."

The kit could follow that logic. "I don't…Amy?"

She communicated a negative, leaning forward in her seat. "Nope! But if I had one, it would probably be like…daisy or lily or something like that!" Amy turned toward the human. "What about you, Eggman?"

Sonic allowed a grin to grow. "I bet it's something embarrassing stupid like omelet."

Eggman growled. "I don't have a middle name!"

Knuckles snorted. "He has one, but he's just embarrassed to say it out loud. Is it scrambled?"

"Sunny-side?" Amy guessed.

"Hard boiled?" Tails chirped.

Eggman started to count to thirty.

Metal gave him once-over. "Rotten."

"Cracked," Shadow borderline hissed.

Thirty wasn't high enough.

Sonic paid him to mind. The hedgehog addressed the dog. "Look, I just hope your circus can keep up with me. I'm in."

"Wonderful!" Barker cheered. He then pulled out a remote from his back pocket. After pressing a red button, the third car of his truck opened up and unfolded a circus tent behind the truck. Barker beamed at the heroes. "I'm delighted to have all of you!"

"Oh, wait." Sonic suddenly remembered. "There's one more."

"Don't bring Tails into this!" Amy cried out, wanting him to stay away from the shady dog.

"He's going to save the day. I'm calling it right now." Knuckles predicted. It would make sense for the only one not there to swoop in like a knight in shining armor. Even after most of his friends yelled at him for no reason.

The hedgie activated his communicator. "Tails, come in. We're joining the circus!" There was no response, to Sonic's bewilderment. He tried again. "Tails? Tails?"

The fox was in his workshop, tinkering with his tools. He was working on his invention. After twisting a bolt, he nodded. "That should do it!" He aimed the Unbolterizer at an alarm clock and shot a yellow beam. The laser bounced off the clock and out of an open window.

In the evil lair, Eggman was relaxing on his sofa with his TV remote in his hand. The yellow beam struck the device, and it exploded into pieces. Eggman groaned. "Oh, come on! Stupid piece of junk!"

Chuckles bounced around the room, and even Eggman enjoyed his double's misfortune.

"Should've hit his head." Shadow groused, wondering what would happen if the laser hit something living. He doubted the kid would build something so dangerous, but there was still a chance.

Tails bit his lip. "Shadow, I don't think anyone here would want to see uh…Eggman's brain everywhere."

"You'd be surprised."

"…How tired are you?" He noticed that the other's sense of morality has decreased as time went on.

"Very."

Tails sighed in disappointment before getting back to work.

Back with the other heroes, they were in the circus tent while Barker spoke. "Welcome to the circus! Where your unique abilities will be put on display for the children of the world!" He put a hand on the azure hedgie's shoulder. "Sonic, there's only one creature fast enough to master…"

Barker trailed off as he walked up to a purple tarp covering something big. He yanked the covering off, revealing a spherical cage.

"That is nothing but a glorified hamster wheel," Metal commented.

"Doesn't matter," Knuckles said. "Sonic would still go crazy with it. Right, Sonic?"

"No!"

Heck yeah he would.

"The Sphere of Fear!" Barker announced, gesturing to it. "A circulous cage with no beginning or end, allowing you to reach unparalleled speeds, all without leaving the center ring!"

"This doesn't add up though…" Amy pondered aloud. "Only Sonic is fast enough, but Barker couldn't have known that he was going to run into Sonic in the first place!"

"He had to know." Tails responded to her. "Because Barker wouldn't drive his huge truck in the middle of a canyon for no reason."

Amy crossed her arms. "I don't like him."

Knuckles wanted to boost his mood, so he asked with a smirk. "Who do you hate more right now, Barker or Sonic?"

She simply smiled. "Isn't it obvious?"

Knuckles barked out a laugh at Sonic's wary expression.

Mood officially boosted.

Sonic grinned. "Wicked!" He entered the sphere and spin dashed all around the inside.

Barker then approached Knuckles, who was punching a sandbag. "You, my muscular friend, are formidable with your fists." He leaned closer. "But, have you ever thought about using your head?"

Eggman inwardly scoffed at that, though his next words were cautious. "That's the same as asking if Shadow ever thought about forgetting about his sporadic homicidal tendencies and-"

"Never going to happen, doctor."

"I figured."

In the next shot, Knuckles was being fired out of a cannon. He hit his high target with his head before falling to the ground below. The echidna sat up, somewhat cross-eyed. "Using my head! I get it!" He held up a finger, and the target promptly smacked him in the head, causing him to fall over.

Knuckles actually applauded this time.

Amy was giddy she regarded Barker. "Oh! Me! What am I gonna be? An acrobat? A lion tamer? A magician performing illusions the likes of nobody has ever seen?"

"Hopefully she won't be a singing juggler." Sonic snickered before quickly cutting it off, realizing what he said. He really didn't need to add more fuel to the fire. Amy rolled her eyes good naturally, but he saw right through her. He was tired of being on edge. "Ames, why are you waiting so long to-"

"To do what?" she lightly asked. "Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden, Sonic?"

Ooo, she was good.

"You'll be a sad clown." Barker placed a large purple hat on the girl's head.

"Sad clown?!" Amy repeated, offended. "I see what's going on here. You're giving me the lame job because I'm a girl!"

"Nah, he probably heard her announcing to everyone that she was a crazy pizza man who also juggles and sings."

Metal looked at Knuckles. He couldn't have processed that right. "You cannot be-"

"I'm dead serious."

The robot knew that he had missed a few episodes before he was imprisoned here; however, he didn't mind.

Sticks appeared in front of them performing backflips. She stuck the landing in the center of the ring and saluted the ringmaster. "I'm ready for my trapeze act, boss!"

Amy lowly growled.

"She should've seen that coming," Amy huffed. Though, it was unfair that Sticks had the amazing act.

It was night now, and Tails was still in his workshop. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "I didn't use a counter-weight to compensate for changes in velocity! Plus…" He reached inside the Unbolterizer and pulled out a wiggling fish. "This was inside." He threw it away.

Tails slowly blinked. "Well, there's your problem…" Despite the weird fish appearance, he was glad that his twin fixed his invention. Now he could prove to the others that he wasn't worthless. Though, he shouldn't have to in the first place…

Back at the circus tent, an audience cheered as Barker introduced his show. "Welcome to T.W. Barker's Circus of Wonders! Tonight, we bring you feats of strength, speed, and agility! The likes of which you have never seen before! Unless you've been to any other circuses. Enjoy!"

"Don't people see the heroes in action often enough though?" Sonic scratched his cheek. "It shouldn't come to a surprise to them!"

"Everyone is dumb in this dimension, Faker," Shadow reminded. "We've been over this."

The crowd applauded. The first act was Knuckles being fired out of a cannon, hitting his head on the target above. The villagers cheered, and then Sticks flipped through the air using a trapeze, landing on a platform. Amy on the ground dressed like a clown, walking backwards and juggling bowling pins. After taking a couple of steps, she tripped, causing some pins to hit her on her head. The audience laughed at her.

She focused on them, annoyed. "It's not funny, it's sad! You're supposed to sympathize with the sad clown!" Another pin landed on her, and the laugher grew.

Amy frowned up. "I kinda feel bad for her…"

"Just think of it as revenge for my twin," Tails placated.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Tails! Because I was feeling bad for feeling bad too."

Barker announced the next act. "Behold, the Sphere of Fear!"

The crowd cheered as Sonic waved his hand inside of the cage. After a second, he spin-dashed along the inside, to the amazement of the spectators.

Tails was currently in his plane now. "One final test…" He was flying near Eggman's base, locking onto it.

In the lair, Eggman was fixing his remote with a screwdriver. When he was done, he hopped back on his couch and turned on his TV. "Sweet! Just in time for Dancing with the Robots!" A yellow beam then struck the remote a second time, making it fall apart. He was visually distressed. "No! It's the season finale!"

Sonic chortled. "That never gets old!"

"It already has," Eggman grumbled. "I've seen his face far too many times this episode."

"You must hate looking in a mirror then," both Sonic and Metal said at the same time. They focused on each other. Sonic smirked and the robot produced a scoff.

Eggman had reached a minute now.

Back at the tent, Sonic was stretching in the spherical cage, and Knuckles had a big lump on his head. "What time does the show start?" he asked, eyes spinning and unfocused.

Amy, still in her clown get-up, praised, "Great job, everybody!"

"That was a blast!" Sonic agreed, looking at Barker. "We should do it again sometime!"

"Yes, you should!" A smirk grew on the dog's muzzle. "And you will!" He suddenly slammed the door to the cage shut, locking it.

"And…there it is!" Knuckles announced. "I knew it was getting close to the reveal." And this meant that the episode was close to being over, hopefully.

Sonic wasn't worried in the slightest. "He's nowhere near a threat! My twin should be able to bust right through that!"

The echidna wasn't so enthusiastic. "Keyword: should."

Sonic was less than happy. "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"Well, you see, my performers aren't exactly sick, they escaped!" He explained with a cocky grin. "So when I heard about your crew, I set up this brilliant trap!" Sonic banged on the door with his fist, and Barker laughed. "And you marks walked right into it!"

"But he can't make them perform." Tails reasoned. "So he still won't have a functioning circus."

Metal rotated the remote in his hand. "I doubt he thought his plans through. He is no better than the doctor."

Eggman was going to pretend the robot was talking about the show's Eggman and mentally moved on.

Barker pointed at Knuckles. The two stunt bears grabbed him from behind before tossing the echidna into a nearby cage. A war cry emitted from Sticks as she charged Barker. However, he simply dodged her and caused her to run into the cage next to Knuckles.

He locked her in also. "Too late, my feral friend!"

Shadow wasn't impressed. "They deserve to be caged if it was that easy to capture them."

Sonic was pulling hard on the door, kicking it too when it didn't budge.

Barker smiled at him. "But here's the real prize. It's not easy to catch lightning in a bottle, so I had to special order this bottle from a mutual friend of ours!"

A TV appeared on screen with Eggman standing in front of the Sphere of Fear. "The Sphere of Fear, from Eggman industries, is unbendable, unbreakable, unmeltable. And it's all yours for just six easy payments!" He held up a finger. "Plus shipping and handling." He leaned closer to the camera and put a hand next to his mouth, whispering. "That's how we get you."

"Huh." Amy squinted her eyes. "It is true that the camera puts on ten pounds."

"That's true…" Tails pursed his lips. "But I think it's more surprising that Eggman knows more about scamming consumers than taking down his enemies."

"Eggy knows nothing about winning battles," Sonic teased, feeling the heat of a certain human's glare. "So I'm not shocked." He turned to Metal. "Got anything to add, partner-in-crime?"

Metal's opticals flashed. "Do not call me that, but yes. I am sure that a Chao could replace the doctor and do a better job."

"Kill 'em with kindness!" Sonic reached over Knuckles to set up a high five. "Gimme some!" Metal didn't move. "C'mon, you can't leave me hangin'!"

"I can, and I will, copy."

Sonic sighed and settled back into the cushions. Couldn't blame a guy for trying.

Barker snickered until a voice shouted out, "You forgot one thing, Barker!" Amy was scowling at him. "Me!"

The ringmaster rose a brow. "Did I? Oh sweet, compassionate Amy Rose, think of the children!"

Her expression softened. "The children…" She then snapped out of it. "Wait! That's not gonna work on me this time!" Then, it was revealed that Amy had been stuck in a cage this whole time. She blinked. "So, is this a regional tour, or…"

Amy couldn't wrap her mind around it. "Wha – How?! That doesn't make any sense!"

Tails floundered for an explanation. "Selective blindness?"

"You're too nice for your own good, Tails," Shadow muttered. Only a complete idiot couldn't figure out that they were already trapped. No need to sugarcoat it especially since he's tired, angry, and collared.

Barker pulled out a remote control. "Oh, and in case you manage to escape, I ordered some of these as well!" He pressed a button, and five Motobugs surrounded the caged heroes.

Eggman propped his chin in his open palm, exhaling harshly. "Out of all of the robots…" Barker had to pick the ones that break apart after one hit. His expectations weren't high for this, but he couldn't help but to be disappointed.

Now the scene switched to Sonic's shack. Tails had landed his plane in front of it and was now entering the small home. "Guys, I fixed the Unbolterizer! It actually works now!" He looked around and realized that no one was there. "Where is everyone?"

In the tent, Sonic was trying and failing to find a way out of his round cage. Tails' voice then came over the communicator. "Sonic, you there? Sonic?"

Relieved, the blue hedge stood still and replied, "Tails! Man, am I glad to hear from you! That circus creep captured us! We need your help, buddy!"

Tails nodded. "Ten-four, blue leader! Help is on the way!"

"Wait, but…Tails doesn't know anything about Barker!" Amy pointed out, brow furrowed in confusion. "He knew about a circus, but nothing else! He shouldn't even know where the circus is!"

Now that, Tails couldn't begin to explain.

Sonic was focused on something else. "Tails, why don't you ever call me cool names like 'blue leader'?"

The kit gave him a lost look. "Because you're not a leader…?"

Sonic felt like that was a personal attack. "What do you mean? I'm the leader of Team Sonic!"

"Try again," Knuckles deadpanned.

The speedster whirled on him. "What? It's named after me!"

"You named it after yourself." Knuckled taunted, jabbing him in his chest. "With Tails being the brains and me the brawn, you're more like deadweight, Sonic."

Instead of being offended, Sonic teasingly grinned. "Deadweight, huh? Like this?" The hedgehog ragdolled against the echidna, his full body weight thrown over the guardian.

Knuckles struggled to push him off, but Sonic was like a parasite, holding on and not letting go. "Sonic, I'm going to hurt you if you don't-!"

"But I'm a deadweight, remember?"

The echidna growled before pushing harder. Instead of fighting it, Sonic rolled with the shove…literally. He used his body weight to make Knuckles uncontrollably lean forward before crashing to the floor with a yell. Proud of his agility, Sonic managed to cushion his landing with the guardian under him.

While Knuckles regained his bearings, Sonic glanced at Tails and bobbed his head toward the couch. The kit didn't waste any time in making himself comfortable on the sofa.

Sonic smirked at Knuckles, dodging the incoming punch. He hopped to his feet and settled between Tails and Metal. He laughed victoriously at how lost Knuckled seemed. "Not too bad for a deadweight, huh?"

The red Mobian scowled as he pushed himself off the floor, planning on throwing hands. "You-!"

"Save it for later, echidna." Shadow's command was sharp and laced with impatience. "The show is paused."

Knuckles glanced at the TV and saw that Shadow's words rung true. He sent a cheeky Sonic one more glare before sitting between Amy and Eggman. He whispered to his pink neighbor, "Hit him extra hard for me."

She giggled. "Will do!"

The kit ran back to his plane. The next scene showed him approaching the tent from the sky. "I've got eyes on the big top, Sonic!" he said into his headset before lowering a grappling hook from his plane. It snatched the tent's flag and pulled the whole thing away, revealing the trapped heroes.

They were all happy to see him. "Tails!" Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks cried out.

Shadow wouldn't blame the other Tails if he left them there. He would've done it easily.

"Get me out of this thing!" Sonic yelled.

Tails flew towards three Motobugs, dodging their incoming missiles. He then fired a yellow beam at the base of the Sphere of Fear, but it missed.

"Great!" Knuckles groaned. "That thing still doesn't work!"

"Like your brain," the echidna grunted disdainfully.

The laser bounced around, hitting a Motobug, Knuckles', Amy's, and Sticks' cages, and finally the base of the round cage. Everything that was targeted broke apart.

Tails smiled widely. He had been scared for a bit, but his double did it! And now he pondered how the other made one of those…

Sonic started running in the cage like he was in an oversized hamster ball. "Now this is wicked!"

Barker gestured to his lackeys. "Bears, Motobugs, attack!"

Sonic ran over the small robots with ease. Knuckles, who had gotten back into the cannon, fired himself at the grey stunt bear, pushing the enemy away.

"A bit of an overkill, but I'll take it!" Sonic chirped, getting into the action.

Amy was juggling with her left hand as she hammered the robots with her right.

Amy couldn't deny that she was a little impressed. Talk about coordination!

Using the trapeze, Sticks swung down and kicked the brown stunt bear right in the face, causing him to crash to the ground.

In the air, Tails looked over to see Barker trying to make an escape. "Sonic, he's getting away!" he yelled into his headset.

Sonic heard him. He aimed for the sprinting dog. When the time was right, he bursted out of the door of the cage. The opening turned and swallowed up Barker, trapping him inside as it slowed to a stop.

Barker was desperate. "Let me out of this infernal cage! I'm an entrepreneur!"

Knuckles frowned. "Two things. How did Sonic get out if the door's always been locked, and why can't Barker just open the unlocked door?"

"Who cares?" Sonic shrugged with a smile. "He's trapped in something he paid for himself! That's the definition of irony right there!"

"All that matters that that we're almost done with this episode." Eggman grumbled. One more down, too many more to go. He knew that he'd done many bad things in his life, but he honestly believed he didn't deserve this.

Tails landed the plane by Sonic. The speedster grinned. "That was some sweet flying, buddy!"

The kit jumped out of the aircraft as Sticks and Knuckles walked up to him. The echidna smiled. "Yeah, you did good!"

Sticks was sheepish. "Sorry for saying you were a double agent. I didn't realize that you were a…" She eyed him. "…triple agent!"

Amy, still being a clown, chirped. "Yeah, thanks Tails!"

"At least take off the rainbow wig!" Amy yelled at her other self.

Sonic nudged Tails. "Look at 'em sucking up."

The kit grinned. "I'm sure the other me doesn't mind."

"Well, I'm just happy I could help." Tails jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Now, let's get out of here!" Tails and the rest of the crew began to walk away, ignoring the plane for whatever reason.

"Uh…" Sonic began, questioning their actions. "The plane's right there?"

"Maybe they…" Tails trailed off. "I've got nothing." Again.

"What? No, no!" Barker shouted. "Wait!" He punched the cage to open it, but it was futile. "You can't leave me here! Come back!"

The scene switched to Eggman's lair, which showed Barker's struggles on TV. The human was fixing his remote again, and when it was working once more, he returned to his couch. "Finally, I can turn off this dreck!" He pressed a button, shutting off the screen.

Eggman released a long-winded sigh. "Those last five seconds were unnecessary." His double didn't need any more screen time.

"You can say that again," Knuckles said, folding his arms across his chest. "But at least-"

The echidna was abruptly cut off by loud knocking on the front door.

Every single head whipped in that direction.

Amy's eyes were wide. "Oh my gosh! Someone's at the door!"

Tails didn't know how to feel. "…But is it real? Or is the thing just messing with us?"

The knocks echoed again.

Shadow would've been at the door if he wasn't unfairly restrained. "Someone just get the damn door."

"I'll get it, I'll get it!" Sonic stood up, wondering who it was, if it was anyone at all. He wouldn't put it past the thing to raise their hopes just to crash them back down. But maybe-

He then found himself smashing into the nearby wall with a throbbing pain in his side. Sonic slumped to the floor in a confused daze, thinking that was the work of the thing, before seeing an oversized hammer laying at his feet.

"Don't worry about it, Sonic! I'll get it!"

…He wasn't even mad. He thought her revenge would be way worse. Like aiming for his head and/or legs worse.

Amy skipped over to the door and was about to pull it open when Knuckles asked behind her, "Wait…can we even open it? We couldn't before!"

"We're about to find out!" Amy grasped the doorknob and turned it. To her surprise, the door opened like some mysterious being hadn't been keeping them all hostage.

She gazed outside, and it was safe to say that they weren't being tricked.

…Unless the thing could make her hallucinate.

That would just be plain cruel.

Not as cruel as cliffhangers though, because those are completely inhumane.

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!