Disclaimer- I don't own the games or the show.
Holy crap this is a long one. Sorry for any mistakes! It was hastily edited.
Rouge arrived at the scene just as the last ambulance drove off.
She gracefully landed on the pavement of the parking lot, surveying the area. There were a few police cruisers parked in front of the supermarket, and some officers were talking to random citizens by the shattered front doors.
The bat hummed at the traces of blood she saw inside the store as she approached. She knew that this was a serious call, but a tiny part of her was happy about this. Not about the robbery and injuries per se, but about how she got pulled away from mountains of paperwork to take care of this problem.
She had half the mind to go wake Shadow up and have him suffer with her, but she knew that he had gone through the same hell the night before. So, she'd let it slide this time.
"Officers." Rouge greeted the cops with a curt wave, closing the distance.
All of them – there were four – shifted their attention to her, and one returned the greeting with a nod. She figured that it was the guy in charge. "Hello, agent Rouge."
"It's a pretty messy scene we have here." The bat put a hand on her hip, mentally going through the possible reasons why the police department couldn't handle this themselves. "Want to fill a girl in on what happened here?"
The officer adjusted his blue hat, glancing at the two citizens listening quietly. "According to eye witness accounts, it's safe to say that it was an Eggman attack."
Rouge rose a brow at that, a bit dubious. The doctor had been here? Without announcing it to the whole city? "Really? He only targeted the supermarket? Despite what he looks like, I doubt he'd go so far for some candy."
That arose muffled chuckles from the other officers. The one she was talking to remained formal. "I understand if the situation sounds strange. However, we were asking them questions-" He gestured to the bystanders, one male and one female. "-and they told us that a robot did this. The one that looks similar to Sonic."
Rouge blinked in surprise. Metal Sonic did this? And there were no casualties? That robot had been here without any kind of resistance, since there wasn't any sign of Blue or anyone else fighting that violent machine. Something weird was going on here.
"What exactly happened?" she asked, and the officer gestured for the by-standers to speak up.
The man, a brunette, had a comforting arm around the woman. "It happened so fast," he started. "We were checking out when the thing crashed through the front doors like it was nothing. It grabbed a few plastic bags from the check-out station next to ours before flying like a bat out of hell all around the store." The man paused before muttering, "No offense."
Rouge waved him off. "None taken, hon."
The woman picked up where he left off, a little more shaken than he was. "Then…Then by the time it was done, the manager and a few workers realized that none of it was going to be paid for. They tried to stop it, but…" She gazed in the direction the ambulances left.
Rouge didn't know what to make of this. Did Eggman actually rebuild that homicidal robot to go grocery shopping? Or was there some ulterior motive? There had to be, or the doctor had finally gone senile.
The agent glanced around at the mess again before addressing them, "Did you see the direction the robot went, by any chance?"
They both shook their heads. "We had ducked behind a counter," the man explained. "It could've gone anywhere. Sorry."
She couldn't blame them for that. "It's fine. You've been more than a help." Rouge refocused on the cops. "Have you gotten any other calls about the robot in other locations?"
All communicated a negative. "It's been silent," the talkative one responded. "Which is another anomaly."
"You're telling me…" Rouge crossed her arms, thinking. Metal Sonic was back, there had been a strange food-related robbery with injuries, and neither robot nor doctor was seen anywhere.
It was time to pay Shadow a visit, whether he liked it or not.
"Well, I'm definitely on this case, boys." Rouge sent them a grin. "Once I round up the crew, you won't have to worry about another attack." She spread her wings and took flight. "Keep people safe in the meantime, officers!"
"Of course!" was the response.
Rouge kept a sharp eye out as she flew in the direction of Shadow's apartment. It seemed peaceful in Station Square, not another incident in sight.
It wasn't long before she reached her stripe partner's front door. Rouge knocked on it, making sure to be loud enough to rouse the other from his work-induced coma.
She stopped and waited a while, ears perked. There was no movement on the other side.
Her lips twitched downwards as she tried again. "Shadow! You in there, sugar? I know you're getting your beauty sleep, but this is important!"
Still no response.
There was the possibility that Shadow was out somewhere, and she sighed at that thought. Of all the days to use his sleep-is-not-a-necessity trait, it had to be now. After scanning the city for the elusive hedgehog from the skies for a while, she skipped ahead to Plan B.
Which was why she was now standing at Sonic's front door.
Rouge knocked on it a few times, hoping that the blue speedster hadn't gone into hiding as well.
To her relief, the door eventually opened to reveal Amy…in her pajamas. Rouge gave her a once-over, wondering exactly what was happening inside of that home.
Amy brightened, eyes widening. "Rouge!" The pinkette still believed that this was too good to be true though. The bat was standing there, yes, but it could also be the work of the thing, and she had to reel herself back in. "Wait…are you-"
"Did you say Rouge?!"
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ran up behind Amy, gaining the attention of the surprised bat.
Sonic, still nurturing his bruising side and cursing the existence of a certain small fruit, rose a hand in greeting. "Heya Rouge! What brings ya here?"
"Never mind that!" Knuckles didn't know what to think about that bat showing up. On one hand, they all could potentially be saved, but on the other, it was Rouge. "Amy, can you get out?"
Rouge ignored how the echidna didn't acknowledge her presence this time. Instead, she focused on his words. "Get out? As in-"
"I can't!" Amy was trying her hardest to step through the open doorway, but an invisible wall was in her way. She pushed until her arms got tired. Ugh, she just wanted to change clothes. Was that too much to ask?! "It's a wall!"
"Really?" Tails squeezed in the space beside her, soon realizing that she was telling the truth. "But we're so close!"
Rouge didn't think it was possible, but she was even more lost to what was going on. Was she dreaming right now? She had drunk some questionable milk before going to bed last night… "So, all of you are trapped because of some kind of forcefield?"
"You'd think that!" Sonic ran a hand through his quills. "Long story short, we're all stuck here by some magical being that can control everything until we watch episodes of our doppelgangers in another dimension."
Rouge took a few moments to make sure she had heardthat right.
"I had questioned it before as well, agent." Metal added from his spot on the couch, the bat wondering how much of that milk she had drank. "Unfortunately, it is all true."
The culprit of the robbery was just sitting there. Metal Sonic wasn't attacking anyone, and he wasn't a pile of scraps either.
The only answer Rouge had was Eggman. "Uh huh, right. Blue, are you sure that the doctor didn't-"
"Completely sure!" Sonic jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "'Cause Eggy's stuck in here with us!"
"And slowly losing my sanity," the human mumbled loud enough for her to hear.
Rouge's head was spinning somewhat, and she figured that she should look harder for Shadow. "Well, I think that I should get a second opinion. Have any idea where Shadow is?"
All four Mobians pointed behind them.
Rouge peered over their head to find a sulking Shadow sitting in the middle of a confetti covered floor with a collar around his neck.
Despite everything, she couldn't help but to grin. "Wow hon, I didn't think that you were into-"
"Rouge, if you're not here to help, then leave dammit."
She let out a single chuckle before tapping her chin, feeling expectant gazes on her. She had no choice to believe them, whether it was real or a dream. Might as well go with the flow. "Have you tried busting out?"
"We're not dumb, bat!" Knuckles huffed. "That's the first thing we tried!"
"Don't get you're dreads in a knot, Knuckie." She smirked at the embarrassed flush on his face and at the angered grumble before eying the nearest window. "Here goes nothing!" Rouge flew a small distance back and then rushed the pane. She kicked the glass as hard as she could, but nothing happened besides a dull pain in her ankle.
It was safe to say that she wasn't dreaming.
"Maybe…" Tails bite his lip, hating this idea, but they were kinda desperate here. "Maybe you can get us out from the inside?"
According to the bewildered looks he got, everyone else hated it too. "Are you crazy, Tails?" Sonic gestured to all of them. "She'll just be stuck here like us! Think of a better plan! I know you can do it!"
Tails disregarded the last two statements. "It might work though! I mean, Rouge is the only one who wasn't forced here! So maybe the thing can't control her as much?"
Rouge rose a brow. "Is the…thing, the 'magical being'?"
Knuckles frowned at her. "Don't say that like that! We're telling the truth, you know!"
She held up a hand. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you, sugar. It's just hard to swallow."
"I have an idea!" Amy pipped up. She glanced up at the ceiling. "Make Sonic fall over!" A second barely passed before Sonic faceplanted on the floor, groaning. Amy smiled at the bat. "See? No one touched him!"
Yeah, no one touched him, and Rouge was making the hard decision on whether she should potentially endanger herself. Cons: she would get stuck like the rest of them. Pros: she would get stuck like the rest of them, neglecting the rest of her paperwork.
…The decision was easier than she thought.
Rouge stepped closer to the opening. "A girl like me tasks risks every day, and this isn't any different." Actually, it was a lot different, but she could feel the oncoming carpal tunnel and that was a no-go.
The others backed from the door, giving her varying looks. Rouge examined the doorframe for a moment before crossing the threshold with little resistance. She was inside.
The door then slammed behind her.
Rouge whirled around, shocked, but she was more put off by how no one else reacted like she had. "The door-"
Knuckles crossed his arms. "That's pretty normal at this point."
"Try and leave again!" Tails suggested, wanting to test something.
Nevermind Eggman, if there was a chance of Rouge getting possessed, then she might need to finish that paperwork after all.
"Will anything…attack me if I try?" Rouge asked. If the thing they mentioned bruised her face, she was going to sue. It took money to be this high-maintenance.
"Uh…" Tails sent her a not-so-reassuring smile. "No?"
Wonderful. Bracing herself for anything, Rouge tentatively grabbed the door knob and twisted. The door swung opened easily, and nothing stopped her at all from walking outside the home again.
"It…" Knuckles pushed against the invisible shield that was still there for them. "It's teasing us!" He growled and punched the wall, inwardly wincing at the recoil. "This is torture!"
Rouge put a hand on her hip and shrugged. "So it has a twisted sense of humor? That doesn't exactly spell out tort-"
"You haven't been through what we have, experienced what we've experienced. I almost have a mental breakdown every fifteen minutes."
Rouge stared at the echidna, and she could tell he was dead serious. Sonic was also nodding behind him.
She had no idea what had been happening in there, but maybe she should end it before someone ended up in a straitjacket.
Rouge grinned as she sauntered back inside, the door again dramatically slamming behind her. "Try and stay sane until I save the day, hon." She focused on the same window she attacked on the other side and delivered another powerful kick.
Nothing.
Eggman buried his head in his hands on the couch. "I knew that it wouldn't work, and yet, I'm still disappointed."
Sonic went over and sunk into his seat. "Ugh, this blows."
"I know!" Amy whined and attempted to claim the spot in between Sonic and Metal, but the azure speedster had grabbed the kit's arm and yanked him unceremoniously on the couch. Amy huffed as she sat on the couch shared with Eggman before blinking. Was Sonic…scared of her now? Hopefully not. She'd hit him harder in the past. "We think we get a chance, but nope!"
Knuckles retook his seat between her and the sulking doctor. He grumbled, "But it is really surprising? Giving what we're dealing with?"
"Guess not…"
Rouge stared at all of them. "…That's it? You're giving up just like that?" Maybe they had already gone crazy.
"Trying any more would be a waste of time and effort, agent," Metal responded.
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, what he said!"
The bat narrowed her eyes at the robot. "Speaking of him, why isn't he in pieces yet, Blue?"
"Because he's good now!"
Rouge waited for someone, anyone, to argue that, but no one did. Even Shadow, who was glaring up at a huge TV hanging on the wall. It was a nice addition to the quaint home, but she digressed. "…Good?" She was already tired of being confused. "The only reason I came here was to get you to track Metal down. He robbed a supermarket and sent multiple people to the hospital."
Everyone, except her, shared a knowing look.
Now that was disconcerting.
Sonic chuckled uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, ya see, that was kinda our fault…"
"But you can't really blame us though!" Tails opposed. "We are out of food and starving, and Metal apparently could get us some food!"
"Attacking people was totally on him, though." Knuckles added flippantly.
Metal did the robot equivalent of a shrug. "They were in my way."
Sonic had a concerned frown on his muzzle. "Uh…no one died right?"
"No, and again…" Rouge emphasized. "Why is the robot still here?"
"Because if we destroy him, he may not come back and we'll be stuck in this hellhole forever." Shadow explained curtly, a frown marring his muzzle.
Rouge gave the striped hedgie a once-over, noticing how tired he was. "How long have you been in here?"
"Since this morning."
Rouge wondered if Shadow contributed to the torture because a tired Shadow wasn't a happy Shadow. "There's probably a bed somewhere in here you could use-"
"No I can't because if I sleep, the stupid show would pause and elongate our stay here even more."
Rouge pursed her lips. A stupid show…? She turned to Sonic. "Is this 'show' about what you said?"
"Us in an alternate reality?" Sonic finished before chirping. "Yep!"
"When will it be over?"
Amy answered, "Hopefully tonight!"
They had to spend another half a day together cooped up in this house? Rouge didn't mind her friends, but even she had a limit. Although, seeing what the show was about for a little while wouldn't hurt.
And then she would find a way to blow the roof off this place.
"Well, since I have a little down time…" Rouge went over to Shadow and sat down next to him. The floor was cushioned by the mysterious confetti. "I have to know what the thing is making you watch." She then pointed to the striped hedgehog's leash. "Why-"
"Don't ask."
Knuckles went rigid at her words. "What? Why in the hell would you want to stay here? Go get us help!" She couldn't say here. If she saw the other him…oh no.
Rouge waved him off. "Calm down, Red. I'll do it after I watch an episode. You've lasted this long, right?" She smirked. "And plus, it's either stay here or see how that unattended Master Emerald beauty is doing."
Knuckles clenched his fists and pointedly looked away.
Sonic, seeing his window of opportunity of revenge, made a whipping noise with his mouth.
The echidna's cheeks were red with anger.
Eggman ignored the teasing going on and addressed the bat, "Rouge, if you could not make fun of me while you're here, I would appreciate it." It didn't hurt to bring it up.
Before she could respond, Metal said, "It is easier to degrade you than not, doctor."
"Huh." Rouge's lips twitched upwards. "I have to say, the robot has a point."
Eggman groaned and accepted his fate.
Metal pressed play on the remote, and Knuckles got a glimpse of the title: 'Unlucky Knuckles'. That accurately described his life right now.
The scene opened up in a grassy field with scattered rocks, trees, and bushes.
"Yeah! Who's gonna take it downtown?" Knuckles' cheery voice filled the air as he placed a golf ball on a green tee. The echidna straightened up and pointed to himself, grinning at Sonic who was beside him. "Knuckles, that's who! Gonna pour Sonic a hurt-tonic! And the pain is gonna be chronic!"
Knuckles heard Rouge's giggle, and he ran his hands down his face, feeling the second-hand embarrassment. Or was it first-hand? Because his twin didn't care.
Rouge leaned back on her palms, loving her decision to stay already. "Now that's a great first impression if I've ever seen one." She took in the sports tape, the disproportionate body, and the lack of shame. Steroids had to be involved somehow. "He's adorable."
"Adorable?!" Knuckles gaped. "He is not adorable! Just wait! He's as dumb as a rock, no one likes him, and-!"
Sonic rose a brow at the echidna, grinning. It was time to see if Knuckles could take what he had dished out. "Why are you gettin' so defensive, Knux? It was just an observation! Wha…are you getting jealous?"
The glare aimed his way was more flabbergasted then enraged. "Jealous?! I'm not-" Knuckles saw Sonic's sly expression, and something in him clicked. He borderline snarled. "I know what you're doing! Stop it!"
Rouge peered back at them amused. She didn't know the context of this, but that didn't mean that she couldn't jump in. "What is he doing, Knuckie? Care to explain?"
"Yeah, Knux," Sonic said innocently. "Wanna explain? 'Cause I have no idea."
"I hate the both of you."
Sonic deadpanned as he palmed a coin. "Okay, we get it." He flipped it in the air.
Before the hedgehog caught it again, Knuckles shouted, "Tails!" He shifted his attention to the fox standing by his other side. "Tails, you flip it." The red anthro held up a hand to hide his mouth from Sonic, whispering, "Not sure if I trust this guy…"
Tails frowned up at that. "I guess my twin should feel flattered?"
Shadow scoffed. "He shouldn't. They should ignore everything the echidna says."
Rouge peered over at the black hedgehog. "Isn't that too harsh, hon? Sure, he doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, but-"
"You'll see."
"You can't just leave her with that," Knuckles cut in, determined to get her to hate his double like they all did. "My twin can't read, makes meat hand puppets, irritates everyone he's friends with, and just isn't competent."
Rouge struggled to accept that as true, but then again, no one said otherwise. She hummed, a smirk growing once more. "So he's just an illiterate you, then."
Sonic, Tails, and Amy covered their mouths, hiding their mirth.
Metal glanced at the frozen echidna. "Do you require any aloe or burn cream, guardian?"
Yeah, homicidal tendencies aside, the bot wasn't that bad in Rouge's eyes.
Shadow shook his head in exasperation, and Eggman was just glad he wasn't the butt of the jokes yet.
Knuckles started to see red. He jabbed a finger in Rouge's direction. "I am nothing like him!" he spat like she had just danced on his ancestors' graves. "I can read, my friends tolerate me – Sonic, shut up – and I don't make meat hand puppets!"
She shrugged. "We don't know what you do on that island."
"She kinda does have a point, Knuck-"
"No, Tails! You stay on my side!"
Sonic groaned, exasperated, before tossing Tails the coin. The kit flipped it high, and Knuckles called out, "Heads!" Tails caught the coin and put it on his wrist, showing the others. Knuckles blinked before grumbling in anger, eying Sonic. "Lucky…"
"I always bet on tails!" Sonic chuckled before ruffling the kit's bangs, who was smiling too.
Sonic then threw the ball into the air before hitting it with his club. The ball flew over to a rock structure, sinking perfectly into the flagged hole. Apparently, there was a tunnel connecting the hole to the starting point, for it wasn't long before the ball popped up into the air and into Sonic's awaiting palm. His grin was smug as he glanced at the echidna.
"That was pretty impressive!" Amy commented.
"But isn't that cheating?" Tails asked after playfully pushing Sonic away. "I mean, he swung like in baseball when they're clearly playing golf."
Sonic scoffed. "Do you really think that Knuckles is gonna call him out for it?"
"Good point."
Knuckles frowned, clenching a fist. "Don't give me that look!" He then went over to the ball on the tee and swung at it, launching the sphere off the ground. The ball landed near the hole on the rock and was slowly rolling towards it, but a falling leaf blown by the wind veered it off course.
Almost everyone in the room felt the unfairness of that.
"I can already tell that he isn't going to take that well," Rouge predicted. "Especially if he has the same temper of the echidna we all know."
"Rouge, if you don't leave, I'll make you."
"Don't make threats if they end up empty, honey."
Knuckles scowled to himself, disregarding Sonic's split-face grin. He was going to punch it off one day.
Tails held up a finger. "One, nothing, Sonic!"
"Oh, come on!" Knuckles was clearly frustrated. "You saw the wind blew that, right?" He placed another ball on the tee and went for a second swing. The ball soared right for the hole before hitting a group of birds. "What?!" he yelled.
Amy cringed. "Okay, this is probably the first time I've ever empathized with him…"
Sonic smirked. "See? Even the universe says that Sonic the hedgehog always reigns supreme."
"Or he's just having really bad luck?" Tails suggested.
"Nah."
"You gotta factor in bird migration," Sonic informed with a smirk. "That's Gopherball 101."
Rouge smiled. "It's nice to know that you two aren't that different, Blue." If he had changed like Knuckles had, she wouldn't be able to be witty, for she'd be too busy laughing.
"Tails and his twin are kinda the same too!" Amy informed, leaning forward in her seat. She then frowned a bit. "But Knuckles' and my double are kinda eh…"
Rouge rose a brow. It had hard seeing the pinkette as anything else than a confident, outgoing, trustworthy friend who had stalker tendencies. "What's she like?"
"She's a singing and juggling clown who also dabbles in psychiatry."
The bat, for once, was speechless.
Sonic snickered. "The clown part isn't really true."
Rouge eventually found her words. "Like, the whole clown part or-"
"She's sung and juggled multiple times," Amy said, puffing her cheeks. "Just be lucky that you haven't witnessed it!"
Rouge didn't know what to do with that information, so instead, she regarded Shadow, "What about you, sugar? What's your double like?"
The striped hedgehog's mood darkened at the reminder that his other self still hadn't made an appearance. "I wouldn't know."
Rouge furrowed her brow. "You've been here since this morning, and you haven't seen him yet?" Honesty, she was surprised that the hedgehog had retained his composure for this long. Well, Shadow had a leash restraining him, so she might've missed something.
Shadow glowered. "No, but when I do, I hope he and all of the other idiots in that dimension die a horrible death. It's their fault I'm here suffering."
Rouge glanced behind at the blue robot, determining that the other was reaching dangerous levels of drowsiness. "Did you manage to steal any coffee, by any chance?"
Metal focused on her. "No. My databases had informed me that the caffeinated drink is not necessary for consumption."
Tails furrowed his brow. "Neither are cookies, and you still got them…"
"More organic beings enjoy cookies than coffee. Also, the Ultimate Lifeform had torn me apart on multiple occasions. He does not deserve coffee."
Shadow's growl was feral. "You damned glorified toaster! If I wasn't collared right now-"
Metal interrupted him, facing Eggman. "Doctor, this is the only time I appreciate your previous actions. You should question his identity more often."
"If he does, I'll tear his throat out."
Well, Rouge solved the leash mystery. She sent the doctor a look before standing up and walking up to him. The human was staring at her with a confused frown. "What are you-"
A sharp slap filled the air, and Rouge didn't mind the subtle sting in her palm. She peered over her shoulder at an observing Shadow. "That good, sugar?"
Shadow eyed her and then the gaping human with a handprint on his cheek before smirking. "Do it again."
Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles all flinched at the loud smack, reminding themselves to never get on her bad side.
"How about now?" Rouge asked, disregarding Eggman who was trying and failing to disappear into the couch cushions.
Shadow rather wished she had done it with a baseball bat or something similar, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "I feel marginally better." When Rouge returned to his side, the collar around his neck poofed away. He heard Eggman intake a sharp breath as he felt around his throat.
Rouge grinned, not expecting that. "You're welcome, hon."
Shadow glanced at the nervous Eggman before silently shifting his gaze to the TV. He wasn't going to do anything. He was going to pull a Rose and let the human's paranoia eat him alive. Then he'd get his full revenge on both Eggman and Metal when they were set free.
A perfect plan, really.
Eggman hated his own mouth. It did him more harm than good. His cheeks aflame with pain, he threw a question at the yellow kit, "Ice?"
Tails simply pointed to the kitchen, almost feeling sorry for him.
Knuckles growled and swung at another ball. This time, it landed behind the hole. The echidna tried again and again, missing completely and breaking the flag pole at one point, until tiring himself out.
Sonic scoffed. "Okay, at that point, he's just proving that my double's better than him! Just like how it is here, huh Knux?"
Knuckles narrowed his eyes as Eggman returned to his seat, cradling his head in the two ice packs he made. "Really? Want to swim laps around Angel Island, then?"
"That doesn't count, and you know it."
"That's totally unfair!" Knuckles panted out.
Sonic was now relaxing in a beach chair, enjoying some juice in a coconut. Tails was by him. The fox shrugged at the echidna's exclamation. "Maybe you need to work on your swing."
Knuckles was appalled. "You kidding me?! It has nothing to do with my swing! It has everything to do with luck!"
"More like luck influenced half of his swings." Amy cocked her head. "Did he forget already how he swung like a crazy person a minute ago?"
Rouge snorted. "Knuckles here always forgets facts to prove a point. It's nothing new, Pinky."
When the echidna groaned in despair, Amy patted him on the back sympathetically. "Sorry! I honestly didn't mean to set that up for her," she said while keeping any form of amusement out of her tone. It was hard.
Sonic and Tails simply stared at him, amused.
The echidna grumbled before taking another shot at the hole. The ball stopped midair when it got close, dropping to the grassy ground.
"That is not possible," Metal stated the obvious.
"Something weird is kinda going on…" Tails pondered aloud.
Sonic hummed to himself. "This might sound a little crazy, but what if they had a thing too that was controlling them? 'Cause a ball freezing midair like that isn't normal."
Tails shook his head. "It can't be because they have free will."
"Oh yeah, you're right."
Knuckles threw a tantrum and hurled his club in a random direction. It landed cleanly in the hole. He screamed.
Deep down within Knuckles – and he meant deep like emotional poems deep – he might feel a bit bad for his twin, because that was-
"Aw." Rouge cooed. "He needs a hug."
And the feeling's gone.
Later, Knuckles was stomping around in a garden as Amy and Sticks watched on.
Rouge stared at the brown badger, wondering if she got all her clothes from the middle of a jungle. "Who's she?"
"Irrelevant," Shadow muttered.
"She's Sticks!" Sonic actually answered her question. "She's apparently part of their group. And it's funny, because she's the perfect mix of Knux, Shads, and Charmy!"
The bat thought about that for a minute while the echidna and striped hedgie gave Blue death stares. "So she's often paranoid, prone to attack, and hyperactive?"
Sonic smiled. "Nailed it on the head!"
Knuckles and Shadow was glaring at her now.
"Knuckles," Amy started. "I see you're upset, but-"
The echidna stopped in front of the pinkette, pointing at her. "Don't bother trying to get me to talk about my feelings."
Ah, Rouge thought. She does dabble in psychiatry.
"Actually, I was gonna try to get you to stop killing my grass," she said, glancing down at the trampled blades.
Knuckles ignored her, ranting, "Sonic the Luck Monkey beat me in Gopherball by getting totally lucky!"
Sonic blinked. "Luck Monkey? That's-"
"What I'm calling you from now on," Eggman interjected, readjusting the packs and sighing at the sensation.
"But-"
"Shut it, monkey."
Metal had to step in. "You should stay quiet as well, rodent," he said to the human, remembering Eggman's own definition of the word.
Eggman gnashed his teeth. "Says the toaster."
Metal's eyes flashed, but he stayed quiet.
Amy tilted her head. "I thought you didn't want to talk about your feelings?"
"I don't!" Knuckles opposed loudly. "I just wanna yell!"
Knuckles completely ignored Rouge's playful gaze.
The hedgehog softened her voice as she stepped closer to him. "We all get into a slump now and then…"
He frowned. "I'm not in a slump."
A lopsided grin grew on her muzzle. "Oh really? How many times have you lost to Sonic this week?"
Knuckles began to count on his fingers before he realized what he was doing. He clenched his fists. "I told you, I don't want to talk about this!"
Sonic bust out laughing. "So, it's safe to say that this episode is just gonna be about him, and I'm loving it so far!"
Rouge rose a brow at the grumbling echidna. "Is your double why you almost have a mental breakdown every fifteen minutes?"
"The sole reason."
"How? It's like getting mad at a frustrated puppy."
"One I'd like to kick."
Beside him, Amy gasped. "Knuckles? You'd kick a puppy?!"
Tails shook his head. "That's a low blow…"
Knuckles wished that Rouge never shown her face.
"Maybe…" Sticks decided to speak up, sitting down on a nearby bench. "There is a disturbance in the luck balance of the universe!"
"That can happen?" Knuckles asked before pouting, "Stupid universe…"
Rouge's smug grin dropped a bit at that. What exactly was that badger on, and yeah, the echidna was on the dumber side of the spectrum, but he really believed that? "…Wow."
Knuckles pounced at this opportunity. "Yeah! See! He isn't adorable!"
Sonic linked his hands behind his head. "You're still hooked on that, Knux?" The smirk was heard in his voice. "Calm down a little, yeah?"
Instead of scowling like he thought Knuckles would do, the echidna mirrored his smirk. "I'll calm down as soon as you follow in your twin's footsteps and admit your feelings to Amy here."
Sonic suddenly had the strong urge to curl up into a tight ball.
The pinkette perked up. "Yeah! The other Sonic's already done it! And do it for real this time! No fake dates!"
Sonic paid close attention to her hands, hoping that a hammer didn't pop up. "Amy, I-I don't-"
Rouge figured that she'd save him because why not. "What did Knuckie mean by 'follow in your twin's footsteps'?" Sonic's appreciation was palpable as well as Knuckles' disappointment. "Are the other Sonic and Amy a thing?"
"Yes!" Amy chirped while Sonic shook his head frantically. "They go on real dates and everything! Unlike Sonic, who thinks that giving out small fruits is okay!"
Rouge met the azure hero's gaze again.
Before she said anything, he admitted, "Yeah, I learned that was a mistake."
"Never underestimate a woman's wrath, Blue."
Eggman could vouch for that.
Sticks stood back up, explaining, "What you need to do is burn through the rest of this losing streak by bringing yourself as much bad luck as you can as fast as you can to speed up shifting the luck balance of the universe back the way it was before this all happened."
The single thought of What? was shared by all in the room.
Knuckles and Amy shared a silent look.
Sticks nodded. "Yeah, that's right. You heard me."
"Shift the luck balance of the universe?" Amy repeated dubiously. "Really?"
"I am so there," Knuckles uttered confidently.
Knuckles rubbed his temples. "Of course…" he mumbled under his breath. Why wouldn't he be?
"Where did she even get that from?" Tails couldn't wrap his head around that nonsense. "Believing in luck is one thing, but the luck balance of the universe?"
"Maybe we blamed the wrong person about being on questionable drugs," Shadow said, crossing his arms.
The scene changed to the red anthro standing in a canyon. He was looking up a rock wall. "I can't believe I've never thought of this before!" Knuckles promptly punched the stone in front of him, causing a large rock above to fall and crush him.
Tails slowly blinked. "…What?" That's his answer to the situation?
"Why can't he just step under a ladder?" Amy proposed.
Rouge nodded, figuring that the double was the one who needed a leash. And supervision at all times. "Or break a mirror?"
"Or paint Blaze black and tell her to walk in front of him?" Multiple pairs of confused eyes landed on Sonic. He shrugged. "I'm just throwing out ideas that he would think of."
Next, Knuckles approached the edge of a deep crater. "When the luck balance of the universe shifts against you, just get it all over with as quickly as possible to shift it back!" He spread his arms out and threw himself in the gaping hole.
"But that's not bad luck…he's just hurting himself!" Tails exclaimed, biting his lip worriedly.
"Well, not badly…somehow." Knuckles observed, seeing how his twin basically brushed that heavy rock off like it was no problem. He should at least have a concussion.
"Are his acquaintances not cognizant of this?" Metal questioned. "Or do they not care?"
"Could be either, honestly," Knuckles lowly uttered.
"It's like one of those things when you hear it, you're like 'Duh! It's so obvious!'" He crashed into the ground, creating a shallow hole himself.
He clumsily climbed out of it and made his way to a convenient cannon. Knuckles climbed into it and aimed himself upwards. "Plus, it plays to my strengths of taking horrible-" He was shot out of the cannon, leaving a smoke trail in the sky. "-painful-" Knuckles slammed into a tree, startling Amy and Tails who were having a picnic. "-brutal punishment…"
If the rest of the episode was this, Shadow honestly wouldn't mind.
The echidna slid off the plant and plummeted to the ground. The impact loosened a beehive above his head. It fell and broke against him, releasing the angry bees. He tried to swat them away. "Ah! I can almost feel my luck changing already!"
"Sticks wants to kill him," Tails said bluntly, his eyes wide. "That's the only explanation!"
Sonic barely stifled a chuckle. "Wouldn't put it past her!" Though his other friends wouldn't allow that, right?
Amy was a little more upset. "So he's getting attacked by bees, and the other me and Tails aren't doing anything?"
"Bees do sting, Pinky." Rouge reminded. "They're a hassle to deal with, and unlike in this dimension, that Knuckles can take a bit of pain, so he's good."
Knuckles scowled. "Did you have to-"
"Yep."
Now Sonic was shown reading a book in a chair near his shack. It wasn't long until he noticed Knuckles approaching. He threw the book away, sitting up. "Oh man, Knuckles. You okay?"
The echidna walked up with bruises and bandages littering his body.
Tails winced. "Man, those bees were mad."
"Am I okay? Are you okay, you mean?" Knuckles flicked Sonic's nose. "Or are you too nervous about the Gopherball beatdown heading your-" Knuckles doubled over as he coughed, wincing at the pain. His wheezes were shallow until the attack ended. His voice was strained. "Give me a minute! It's hard to trash talk with a punctured lung…"
"Okay, jokes aside, someone needs to put him on house arrest, or somethin'." Sonic absently tapped his foot on the ground, thinking that it was a matter of time before he got seriously hurt. "Hopefully my twin will talk to him and say that Sticks is the last person you should get advice from."
Sonic gave him a once-over, concerned. "Looks to me like you're not in much condition to play anything."
"There's a reason that he and Tails are the best ones on the show," Knuckles commented.
Rouge realized that she forgot to ask about a specific character. "Speaking of them…" She shifted her attention to the silent human nursing his rosy cheeks. "What's your twin like, doctor? I'm sure he's shown up by now."
Eggman's tone was unamused, hating that the bat had such a good arm. "He's horrible, and I don't need to go into detail because I'm certain he'll show his terrible face later."
Metal spoke up. "You just insulted your own face, doc-"
"I'm fully aware, Metal." Eggman's frown was deep until he regarded Rouge again, expression almost pleading. "Rouge, if you help me restart Met-"
She shooed him off. "Leave me out of whatever ridiculous plan you're thinking of, doctor. It probably won't work anyway."
Eggman fumed.
Knuckles barked out a laugh. "Ha! You only think I'm not in much condition to…" He paused to think. "…whatever you said!" Knuckles crossed his arms. "But, in fact, I finally tipped the luck balance of the universe back in my favor!"
"But how does he know that?" Amy questioned. "He hasn't done anything that turned out good for him!"
"His mind is an enigma not even he understands."
"Is that a new vocabulary word, Knux? Good job!"
"Sonic, don't be surprised if I end up strangling you."
He began to stroll away. "Your lucky streak is over, Sonic! Brace yourself, my friend, 'cause there's nothing but sunny skies ahead for this-" He was interrupted by a refrigerator crushing him.
The door of the fridge opened to show a dazed echidna.
Both Tails and Amy flinched like they had been hit, and Rouge wondered exactly how hard the echidna's head was to go through a refrigerator like that.
The scene changed to show Eggman's lair.
Eggman was highly upset that his words had rung true. He had the sliver of hope that he wouldn't show up, but it's stupid to do that at this point.
Inside the base, Eggman was walking with a glowing vest on. "Even with a mind as powerful as mine, it's important to keep the reflexes honed." He turned to the robots he was talking to, holding a pair of laser guns. Orbot was wearing a Sonic mask while Cubot was wearing a Tails one.
Sonic and Tails glanced at each other. "Yeah, because that's not weird at all," the former uttered.
"That's why you robots will serve as my opponents in this training exercise." He tossed his helper bots the rays and shouted, "On your marks, get set…"
Eggman ran forward while shooting before saying, "Go!"
"Not seeing many differences," Rouge hummed.
"There are plenty of differences!" Eggman argued. "You just haven't encountered them yet!"
Shadow glanced at him before telling Rouge, "They're the exact same."
She smiled. "Yeah, I figured."
Eggman wanted to hurl his ice packs, but he realized that he needed them and that Shadow was a lit fuse.
He and his machines fired at each other, and the doctor soon ended up trapped in a corner by a couch. He ducked behind it and shot randomly, not hitting anything. The robots stopped attacking, looking at each other in confusion.
"Can't even hit still targets!" Sonic sent a grin the human's way. "You gotta feel some kind of empathy, yeah?"
Eggman threw his ice pack, and it missed the hedgehog's head by an inch.
Sonic palmed and tossed it up and down. "Glad you proved my point! And you're not gettin' this back, by the way."
The doctor grumbled angrily to himself.
Eggman then stood back up, and all of the guns were instantly aimed at him.
He floundered in frustration before exclaiming, "Ow! Someone's stepping on my mustache!"
The bots searched for the culprit until Orbot spoke up. "Wait…No one's stepping on your-"
Using this distraction, Eggman ran past the robots, dodging their lasers.
Metal desired to incinerate every single one of those idiotic tin cans. "They are nothing but a waste of space."
Sonic snickered. "Careful Metal, you might be a waste of space too."
"If I am actually a toaster, then I will still be more useful than those failures. My toast would be perfection."
Rouge opened her mouth to ask, but then she figured that it was an inside joke she wouldn't be able to get. So instead, she pondered aloud, "I wonder if I'll eventually show up." If she did, then the TV better capture all of her curves perfectly.
Tails tapped his chin. "I don't think so…You can leave willingly, and you weren't teleported here like the others were."
Knuckles, Eggman, Shadow, and Amy all muttered, "Lucky…"
However, he didn't get far for he tripped over his own feet, crashing to the floor. Upon impact, his ray shot a laser in the machines' direction, hitting all of them.
Orbot pushed up his mask. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a shift in the luck balance of the universe.
Sitting up, Eggman hummed to himself, grinning evilly.
Tails shook his head in exasperation. "Oh boy…"
Eggman desperately wanted to hurl his other ice pack at his twin hard enough to knock some sense into him.
Back with Knuckles, he was standing in the middle of a meteor shower at that same crater as before.
"It seems like the world itself wants to get rid of all the idiots." Shadow pointed out. "This is the second violent shower we've seen."
The echidna was walking along the bottom of the crater, hands held high. "Come on, meteors! Take your best shot!"
"Please do," Knuckles encouraged.
Amy nudged him. "I'd rather not see a dead body, thank you!"
"I used to think that too."
Tails, Sonic, and Amy were standing up by the edge. The pinkette pointed to Knuckles, addressing Sonic, "We've got to do something! He's going to hurt himself!"
"Go down there yourself and drag him outta there!" Amy yelled like her twin could hear her. She'd been through much scarier things than meteors! That onesie was terrifying.
"What do you suggest we do?" Sonic asked, coming up with blanks.
"You could lose to him on purpose," Tails suggested.
Sonic scoffed. "Pfft. As if!"
There was a pregnant pause. "What else you got?"
Sonic was glad he and his double were on the same wavelength.
Sonic looked at the two for other options; they didn't have any. The speedster sighed. "I'll talk some sense into him. Leave it to me."
Sonic dropped down and jogged to Knuckles' side. "Knux, you're wasting your time with this luck stuff. I've been beating you lately entirely due to skill."
"As always!"
Knuckles could think of multiple occasions when that wasn't true, but he knew that bringing them up was nothing but a waste of breath. Sonic wasn't going to change anytime soon.
"Luck!" Knuckles argued.
"Skill!"
"Luck!"
"Skill." Sonic walked away a bit. "Like the way I beat you in this argument just now."
Rouge's lips curled at that. "Ooo…I like the sass there."
"I know! Isn't it dreamy?"
"I wouldn't go that far, Pinky."
Knuckles wasn't going to give up, glaring. "You didn't win yet because I'm still saying the word 'luck'!" He shouted. "Luuuuuccccckkkk!"
He then was slammed by a plummeting meteor.
Amy facepalmed.
Sonic leaned against the rock. "Can we discuss this somewhere else?"
"Are those things made out of Styrofoam or something? Like seriously?" Tails was pulling at his whiskers. It wasn't like he wanted the other Knuckles to get hurt, but did physics take a vacation? Or did it abandon that dimension entirely?
In the evil base, Eggman was sitting at his desk, talking to his helper robots. "Sonic and his friends always defeat me by the slimmest of margins-
Rouge couldn't hold in her laugh. "Somehow, I doubt that, given how he and this Eggman are one in the same."
Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, they both love to exaggerate even though they both lose every fight. Weird how they do that, huh?"
"Very, Blue. It's a real mystery." Rouge peered at the doctor, who was glaring at the screen. "Want to explain why, doctor?"
Eggman growled. "Can't you just focus on the echidna and leave me alone?!"
"Oh don't worry, I'll get back to him in a bit."
Knuckles inwardly groaned.
-but with the luck balance of the universe shifted entirely in my favor, there's never been a better time to attack!"
Orbot and Cubot shared a confused look.
"So, let us attack this instant!" He emphasized, "With everything we got! Bring the Mega…"
Amy pursed her lips. "Was that supposed to be intimidating?"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, but we're so used to it meaning nothing that it doesn't faze us."
"That makes sense!"
Eggman wondered if excessive anger had negative effects on someone's health. Because if so, he might need to see a doctor after this.
There was another scene switch. Amy and Tails were running into Stick's burrow.
When they entered, Amy commanded, "Sticks, you gotta help us make Knuckles stop right away! He's gonna get hurt!"
The badger put down her banjo. "Not if he shifts the luck balance of the universe in time."
Tails threw his hands in the air. "She says it like she's talking about the weather!"
"In her insane mind, that kind of nonsense is as mundane as the weather," Knuckles huffed.
Tails tilted his head. "And what if he doesn't?"
Sticks tapped her chin as she approached. "I guess he'll probably be eaten by a carnivorous plant and slowly digested over a period of weeks or months."
Amy looked at her strangely. "Annnd we agree that's not good, right?"
Sticks shrugged. "I could think of worse, but I have confidence in him."
"So…she's a sociopath." Rouge concluded.
"She needs to be in a straitjacket at the bottom of a lake."
"Shadow, I'm getting you coffee when this episode is over."
"That would be appreciated."
Tails frowned, a little angered. "Confidence in a guy who believes your crazy theory?"
The badger growled. "Did you just call my theory crazy?!"
"Yes, yes he did!" Tails exclaimed while clapping, proud of his double.
At the crater, the shower was still going on.
Sonic was pulling Knuckles free from the meteor that landed on him. "So Knux, I was kinda hoping we could get you to stop this nonsense before an asteroid pulverizes you into baby food. Any suggestions?"
Knuckles looked at him. "Admit that luck is the only reason you've been beating me all this time."
Sonic rolled his eyes. He didn't know if that echidna was ignorant or in denial.
Sonic grinned. "How about we have a rematch right now? Skill vs Skill."
Knuckles smiled and nodded.
The duo was back in the clearing with the rock structure. They both had clubs, and Sonic gestured at the echidna. "Go ahead. Take your shot!"
Knuckles was about to swing at the ball on the tee, but then he paused. His brow furrowed. "Don't you feel the ground rumbling?"
Sonic scoffed. "Nice try, Lucky."
"Is he setting up to blame something random in case he misses?"
Knuckles shook his head at Amy. "No, he's too dumb for that. It's probably the Mega or whatever Eggman said."
The echidna swung anyway and ended up hitting Eggman's hovercraft as the doctor was passing by.
Sonic blinked. "Okay, that there was a little weird. I'll give you that."
"A little?" Knuckles yelled. "Are you kidding me?!"
"That is strange…" Tails admitted quietly. Not strange enough to get him to believe the 'luck balance of the universe' theory, because that was just insane.
"It could be a coincidence…?" Amy asked unsurely.
Metal shut that down. "The chances of it being a coincidence is 0.0001 percent."
"Well, there goes that."
At the village a distance away, Eggman began attacking, shooting destructive lasers. Sonic, seeing the smoke rising over the horizon, sprinted in that direction.
"Magnificent!" Eggman was laughing haughtily along with Orbot and Cubot. "The invasion is going swimmingly! And me, without my floaties on!" He laughed again, but realized that his robots weren't doing so as well. He muttered, "Note to self: need hipper-diabolical banter."
Eggman ran a hand down his face. "Why can't he just lay on his couch and do nothing for an episode?! Is that too much to ask?"
"Apparently, yeah," Sonic said cheekily.
Metal rotated the remote with his fingers. "At least those failures of his know when the doctor is embarrassing himself."
"Mets, is that a compliment I hear?"
"No, copy. I still want to eliminate them."
Sonic then appeared, sliding to a stop in front of the doctor. Amy, Tails, and Sticks soon joined him. "So Eggman, what makes you think this stunt will go any better than the last dozen or so you've pulled?" Sonic asked.
Eggman wasn't bothered. "The luck balance of the universe, that's what!"
Tails couldn't believe this. "What? You believe in that stuff too?"
I feel your pain, other me, Tails sadly thought.
Knuckles ran up behind the group of heroes. "Sorry I'm late! What can I do to-"
A random roof part fell from the sky and almost landed on the crew if they hadn't dived out of the way in time.
Rouge knew that the luck universe thing was ridiculous, but that was just as ridiculous. "That was-"
"There's gotta be another explanation!" Tails cut her off before she could say it. "A scientific one!"
"I'm unscathed!" Eggman announced cheerfully before dusting off his shoulder. "I'm a little schmitzy, but no matter. It's also laundry day!" He floated away with his robots following him, singing, "Today is my lucky day!"
Eggman wished that he could say the same for himself. But no, his face was hurting, his pride was hurting even more, and he was pretty sure his life was going to be taken by a particular striped hedgehog sooner or later.
He hoped to live long enough to take a soothing hot bath after this.
Knuckles groaned, holding his head. "You guys okay? Wow, that was nuts! I can't believe that!"
Sonic looked less than happy. "We had him cornered. What are you doing here?"
"Whoa…" Sonic furrowed his brow. "Well, that came out of nowhere…"
Knuckles was lost. "Helping?"
Sonic's gaze was a borderline glare. "You're not helping; you're just bad luck! I have an idea. Since you and your bad luck just hurt our side, why don't you just join Eggman and make it official."
"Sonic's a jerk!" Amy declared, not liking how hurt the echidna looked. Rouge was right; he was kinda like a lost puppy.
"Sort of like the one here, huh?" Knuckles snorted, sending the azure speedster a look. Sonic responded by sticking out his tongue.
Amy put her hands on her hips, glaring. "Don't call my Sonic a jerk!"
Knuckles slowly blinked at her. "Amy, he gave you a fruit instead of a real date."
The pinkette hesitated. "He just…has a twisted sense of humor, which I can fix!"
Rouge grinned at her, amused. "…You really have it bad, don't you Pinky?"
"I love him so much that it hurts."
Sonic wanted to say that she wasn't the only one hurting, but he kept that to himself to protect his health.
A flash of hurt crossed Knuckles' face. "Fine! If that's how you're going to be about it, I'm gonna work with someone who appreciates me!" He ran off in anger.
Amy reached out to him. "Knuckles, come back!"
Sonic stepped up beside her, smirking. "Hold up. Let's let this play out."
"Wait, are they holding hands?" Amy squealed, forgetting all about the other Knuckles and 'jerk' Sonic. "It looks like they're holding hands!"
"Ames, their hands are off the screen! You can't just-"
"I can and I will!"
Ignoring the lover's quarrel beside him, Knuckles thought that the on-screen's hedgehog's plan was smart. He had to admit though that hearing the hedgehog mad like that to a friend, even in pretend, was kinda off-putting. "He did that a little too well."
Tails agreed with him, saying, "We do know that he's a tiny bit meaner than our Sonic…"
In the village, Eggman was hovering over smoldering rubble, smirking down at the frightened villagers.
"Listen, village," the doctor started. "Your panicked screaming and fear-addled hysteria have so charmed and delighted me these past few moments that I wish to extend my appreciation by debuting for you my most extravagant ode to destruction yet. Behold…" The ground shook as he gestured to the side. "…the Mega!"
A huge and bulky mech with tank treads rolled up, its mechanical hands clenched into fists. Its single eye focused on the villagers.
"I call him that because he's seven percent bigger than my other robots," Eggman quickly explained.
Eggman rubbed his temples. "He didn't have to say that out loud…"
Rouge shrugged. "Well, you love shouting your plans to the world, so I'm not surprised that he doesn't know when to shut up too." She eyed the robot shown to them. "And you both like over-compensating, don't you?"
Knuckles snorted as the human froze.
Before the echidna could speak however, Rouge continued, "You can't say anything, Knuckie. There has to be a reason you're so protective of that large and beautiful gem of yours."
Knuckles sputtered. "But that's – that's not – you know-!" He ended up with his head in his hands, cursing the bat and everything she stood for.
Tails tilted his head in confusion. "Rouge, what are you implyi-"
"Just forget it, Tails!" Sonic interrupted him, not wanting to go through this again. "Let's just watch the show!"
The kit eventually did so, knowing that pushing would get him nowhere.
Shadow sent Rouge an exasperated yet entertained glance, and she patted herself on her back.
"Eggman!" The doctor and his lackeys glanced over to see Knuckles walking up. "I'm through with Sonic! I'm joining your side."
"Ah!" Amused, Eggman flew a circle around the echidna. "A defector has come to join the winning team. More good luck!"
"So…he's going to accept it, just like that?" Tails thought that the other Eggman was a bit…slower, but this was just wow. "Not worried about being double-crossed or anything?"
"Does anything he does surprise you at this point?" Eggman mumbled, not caring if the cub heard him or not. He unintentionally had the same thought as the echidna by him, wanting Rouge out.
The red anthro's attention was drawn to the robot. "Pretty cool robot." He got closer to it. "New?"
Eggman was quick to boast. "Yeah, nice right? Safe to say my best ever." He pushed a button on his wrist to send the bot into action, but instead, its head exploded. The observing villagers gasped.
"Good." Metal agreed with its early demise. "It was most likely inferior anyway."
"It's just so pathetic!" Sonic laughed out loud. "It didn't even do anything!"
The doctor stared for a moment before saying, "Though, it's basically a prototype." The large mech then reached into gaping hole in its torso and pulled out a bomb. Eggman continued, "Never really tested it in the field before, but the designs looked really sound."
The mech accidently activated the bomb, causing it to beep. Eggman didn't look fazed. "So, I figured with this string of good luck I've been having…" The bot replaced the bomb within itself. It rocketed into the air and exploded, raining parts around the village. Eggman chuckled happily. "Hey, now it's tested, and I don't have to clean up the mess." He grinned at the observers. "Good luck with that, suckers!" He and his helper bots fly off.
Sonic laughed even harder, Tails and Amy joining him. "He just accepts that his invention was terrible!" The fox observed breathily.
Metal would be doing the same if he wasn't a robot. "Your life would be much better, doctor, if you would just accept that you are a failure."
Probably, he thought but didn't say out loud. He had a reputation to uphold. Eggman glared. "When you do, maybe I will too."
Knuckles slumped, depressed. "Wow. My bad luck follows me wherever I go…"
The rest of the heroes approached. Sonic grinned at him. "Or, is it good luck? After all, our side won."
Knuckles frowned. "I was on the other side."
Sonic shook his head. "No you weren't. I sent you on a secret mission for us."
Sonic, getting his breathing under control, smiled. "My twin's playing him like a fiddle!"
"Well, he does have experience with dealing with that Knuckles!" Amy fought to control her giggles. That robot was hilariously pathetic.
The echidna was awed. "It was so secret…even I didn't know about it!"
"Yeah," Sticks affirmed with a smile. "You see, you switched sides and your bad luck overpowered Eggman's good luck, but you were really on our side. So by losing, you won."
Shadow harshly exhaled. "Someone please get her off the screen."
It took a minute for that to sink in, but Knuckles eventually gaped. "Wow…yeah!"
The room collectively rolled their eyes.
The crew were leaving the village now in good spirits.
"You know what I've been wondering, though?" Knuckles asked them.
Tails, more in the back of the group, responded, "Where crazy luck theories come from?"
"When the bad luck leaves me, where does it go?"
Tails was suddenly struck by a falling robot part. Everyone turned around worriedly.
Tails winced. "Poor guy…" He was always the victim even though he didn't do anything!
The kit was struggling to free himself. "There's a perfectly good…explanation for this…"
"Woo, episode's over." Knuckles voice was flat as he clapped once. He then gestured over to the front door. "Rouge. Out. Now."
"Well that's not very nice, hon." Rouge pouted. "Did you leave your manners back on that island?"
"You guessed it. Now go."
Rouge scoffed as she used her wings to stand up. She wiped off invisible dust. "Ignoring Mr. Rude over there, I should go and find a way to get you all out of here. And get Shadow some caffeine in his system." She glanced at the television. "I have to say, the show isn't that bad."
"Because this episode wasn't that bad!" Amy sat up a bit. "It was actually pretty tame compared to the others."
Tails shuddered at the memories. "You wouldn't be saying the same if you saw Guilt Tripping."
"Guilt Tripping?" Sonic scoffed. "Try Buster or the sleepover one! Those were horrible!"
Multiple sounds of agreeance echoed around the room.
Rouge grinned. "You'll have to give me a summery sometime." She began to walk over to the front door. "But in the meantime, hold tight until – ah!"
She cried out when a bright white light blinded her. Also, from the pained hisses around her, the others were faring as well as she was.
When the light faded, she blinked open her eyes and realized that something, no many things, were very wrong.
One…she wasn't standing up any more.
Two…she was suddenly sitting on a couch.
And three…she was human.
Rouge looked down at the ice pack in her meaty hands and screamed.
If you guys know what the next episode is about, then you know what's happening. And well, let's just say that Rouge isn't the only one affected ;)
It's late, but Happy 2018!
Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!