My Arms are Blue!

by thekyuubivixen

Sonic and crew watch the television show Sonic Boom...and may or may not go crazy in the process. Rated T for language (ironic, isn't it?)

16. Chapter 16

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

I didn't update for the whole month of February, and I'm sorry! I tried to work on this as much as I could, but before I knew it, it was March. So…hope you enjoy this late chapter?

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"Create me an organic body, doctor." Metal ordered this as he settled on the couch beside Shadow, the cookie he had picked up earlier still in his hand. The robot already missed the taste of the great dessert, yearning for its sweetness again.

Knuckles – more than glad that the whole body switching thing was over (having the strength of a potato was aggravating) – grabbed the discarded cookie box and plopped down beside the robot. He was a bit sad that the box was almost empty. Amy had gone to town with these. "You might be asking for too much," he said, stuffing a cookie into his mouth.

Eggman huffed as Tails sat in the middle of him and Amy, taking the only spot left. "Might be? Is not being the most powerful robot ever-"

"Ever heard of Omega?"

Eggman ignored Shadow and continued, "-good enough for you?"

Metal crushed the cookie in his palm, and Tails dejectedly sighed. Sure, there were no uh…stains on the couch, but that didn't mean that crumbs were welcomed. "It would have been if you had included the capacity to taste. You could have easily made me like the Ultimate-"

The doctor threw his arms in the air in exasperation. "Well, I apologize for not thinking about mixing DNA of a pest and an alien that are so common around here together when I had gotten the idea to build you!"

"Apology not accepted."

Eggman needed to strangle something.

If Metal had noticed the doctor's sudden homicidal tendencies, he didn't mention it. "If your ancestor had done it, you could have as well."

Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms when one of his fingers began to subtly twitch. He brushed it off as nothing. "You'd still be nothing compared to me."

"I am not talking to you."

Eggman leaned forward, glaring. "Right, Metal. Sure! Let me just call up my dead grandfather and see if he's up for sharing his secrets."

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

"I'm back!" Sonic zipped back into the living room, done with his business in the bathroom. "What did I miss?"

Amy had been listening to the conversation, thinking that all grocery stores within the five-mile radius would be cleared out if Metal ever got his wish. "Metal wants Eggman to make him into a real boy!"

Sonic snorted in jest, emerald irises finding Metal. "Really? So you verbally admit that we are better than robots?" He snickered. "I never thought I'd see the day! I guess you can be wrong after all!"

Metal swiveled his focus onto the blue speedster. "Do not push me, copy. I can still gut you and wear your pelt."

"But you know what pain feels like, so you won't! And you'll spare me because we're friends!"

"We are not-"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Don't waste your breath. You could do anything from here on out, and Faker would still think you are his friend."

Metal stared at him. "…I cannot breathe, and therefore I never waste my breath."

"You know what meant, dammit."

Sonic wasn't going to argue that because yeah he was still friends with Shadow even after the time when the guy basically contemplated wiping out the entire human race. Both alone and with the help of an alien tentacle monster.

The blue hero then frowned when he turned his attention to Knuckles, who was eating the last cookie of the box and – more importantly – sitting in Sonic's seat. "C'mon, Knux! You know I was sittin' there!"

The echidna shrugged, throwing the box at Sonic's face only for the hedgie to skillfully dodge it. "You snooze, you lose."

"That doesn't apply when you have to go to the bathroom!" Sonic side-eyed Metal. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"Do not blame me for the good taste of caffeinated beverages."

Tails saw Knuckles thinking of a response to Sonic, and his mouth opened before he could stop it. "Move your feet, lose your seat?"

Sonic gaped. "Tails!"

Knuckles smirked, bobbing his head in the kit's direction. "What he said."

"You can have my seat, Sonic!" Amy offered excitedly, raising her hand. "Then I can sit on your lap, and-"

"You know what? The floor's just fine!" Sonic plopped down right where he had been standing, a cloud of confetti puffing up. "Look at all of this confetti and oh!" The hedgehog saw a green thing on the floor and picked it up. "A thawed pea! Remember that bag of peas I nearly choked on? Yeah, good times!" His laugh was a bit forced as he searched for the remote. "Can we get this thing rolling?"

Amy huffed, lowering her arm. She bet the other Sonic and Amy shared seats all the time.

"Before we do…" Eggman answered, ideas bouncing around in his mind. Metal's sudden desire to become living was interesting. He zeroed in on the blue robot. "Metal, if you let me reset your mission objective, then I will guarantee you a living body."

Oh no… was the collective thought around the room. Metal just threatened Sonic over friendship, so this might not end well.

"Whoa whoa!" Sonic held his hands out, glancing from Eggman to his robotic copy. Metal had just become bearable, and Sonic was a little concerned that food might take that away. This is the only time he wished food wasn't as amazing as it was. "You can't seriously believe him, Mets!"

Metal shook his head. He knew better than that. "I do not."

"Whew." Sonic slumped in relief.

Knuckles snorted. "And I thought that the leash would have to make a comeba-"

"I will kill my copy after you grant me life."

Sonic threw his arms up in exasperation. "Come on, Mets! Is food really that good?" Metal just gave him a look, and Sonic sighed. "Yeah, don't answer that."

Tails' ears drooped as he bit the inside of his cheek. "I thought it was too good to be true…"

Eggman folded his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Metal. "And you really think that I trust you to do that?"

Metal's opticals flashed, gaze level. "I could ask the same question, doctor."

"Wait…" Amy furrowed her brow. "Eggman, didn't you just say that there was no way you could give him a real-"

"I just thought of a way!" Eggman lied straight through his teeth. It was so blatant that he was surprised that he hadn't been struck by lightning for that one. "So be quiet, you pink nuisance!"

"There's no reason to be rude!" Amy glared at him before she looked over at Metal. "He's definitely lying, you know."

"I figured."

Sonic slowly clapped, making sure that his sarcasm was heard by all. "Great try there, Eggy. Thinking on the fly like that? I'm proud!"

Eggman wondered what it was like not having to fight headaches all the time.

"Shut up and play the blasted show before I ask the thing for us to switch bodies again."

Everyone quieted then – the risks of that being way too high – and Sonic grabbed the remote since he was closest to it. Shuddering at the thought of being a robot for a second time, he pressed play.

The scene started off in a forest, and there were sounds of a battle going on off-screen until a piece of a robot crashed onto the ground. It was white and resembled a tail.

Sonic chuckled. "Looks like Eggy's losing early in this one!"

Tails was relieved that the topic of Metal becoming real was dropped. Having – technically – two Sonic's running around would be exhausting…and just think of the damages. "Well, he did almost win last episode, so-"

"Almost?" Knuckles barked out a laugh. "He was halfway at best."

"Halfway? Where are you getting that from?" Amy argued. "The only reason Eggman lost was because he didn't want to lose the last bit of hair he has!"

Eggman had always hated that trait he got from his genetics. His grandfather could've been smart with a full head of hair but no…

Knuckles shook his head. "The only – did you not watch the last episode? Yeah, Eggman was controlling Sonic's body, but all he wanted were milkshakes! And yes, I know milkshakes are great, but still." Sonic and Amy but closed their mouths. "Eggman, what's the first thing you would do if-"

"Destroy every single one of you."

Shadow couldn't hold in a scoff. "You could try, doctor."

"See? That's the thing!" Knuckles went on, "Our Eggman would try while the other would rather frolic in some daisies."

Tails saw his point. "Yeah…the other Eggman has serious priority issues." The kit glanced over to the human in the room, tapping his chin in thought. "Don't think I'm weird or crazy for saying this, but…I think you'd actually win if you were in the other dimension."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," Eggman quickly said before any pest could twist it into something undesirable. "If only I could get over there…" he muttered to himself.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well yeah! I mean, if something as crazy at the luck balance of the universe exists over there, then anything impossible could happen!"

"Like me actually being a toaster?"

"Exactly! Sorry Mets, but don't set your hopes too high."

Eggman marched up to it, not looking too happy. Then, the hero gang was shown watching on, smug in their victory. The doctor scowled. "You may have defeated my Scorpionbot, but I've got one more trick up my sleeve!" He pressed a button on his wrist, and a large satellite rolled out into the open. It began to charge. "Just give it a sec," Eggman said, looking back at his device. "Needs to warm up."

"He…couldn't have charged it before revealing that it was there?"

"Let's not question him this once, Ames. Let's just soak in this satisfying intro."

Sonic spin-dashed the machine the second after. He planted a cocky smirk on his muzzle as he walked by Eggman. "Still waiting on that 'trick'."

Sonic smirked. "Gotta love awesome one-liners."

Knuckles nudged his back with his foot. "I bet you're jealous of him."

"Jealous? Why would I be…that's cold, Knux."

The human clenched his fists before slumping. He sighed as he dragged his feet over to his hovercraft. He boarded it and flew away without another word.

Eggman was glad that his twin was feeling how he had been feeling the whole time he'd been in this house.

"Guess that all of his loses finally caught up to him!" Sonic got comfortable on the floor, laying down and getting away from Knuckles' judgmental foot. "Maybe he'll give it up and just work at Meh Burger or something."

Amy shuddered at the sound of that place. "Hopefully not, for our sake!" She then frowned. "And my double better not act as his therapist again!"

Sonic stared after him for a moment and then asked, "Is it just me, or is Eggman not been bringing his A-game lately?"

"Maybe our A-game makes his A-game look like a Z-game! Oh, that's much worse if you understand the alphabet," Knuckles answered. After a second, confusion flashed across his face as he scratched his head. "Isn't It?"

Knuckles wished that Rouge was here – and he didn't think that often – because that…that was the definition of ridiculous. But then again, what did he expect? His double was illiterate…

Sonic threw a smirk over his shoulder. "No comment about that, Knux?"

"I have too many, and that's why I'm not saying anything."

Tails shrugged, properly replying to Sonic's question. "It does kinda feel like Eggman's just going through the motions." The azure speedster put a hand on his hip in thought.

"No no no!" Sonic jabbed a finger at the screen. "No, you stop it! Stop it right now! Don't you dare think! It's easy!"

"Speaking from experience, copy?"

"At least I have a brain, Metal!"

"My microchips are equivalent-"

"Who was whining about not being able to taste a few minutes ago?"

"…I do not whine, and that was uncalled for."

In the evil lair, Eggman was still hunched over and clearly depressed over his loss. He grumbled lowly to himself as he shuffled over to his couch. Collapsing onto it, the doctor picked up his remote and pressed the power button. Nothing happened.

"Another fine piece of Eggman technology…" He breathed out as he fiddled with the device until the television turned on.

"He really is out of it, huh?" Tails commented, not sure how to feel about this. "That's kinda sad…"

"That's not sad. What's sad is that Rouge isn't back yet with our escape route." Shadow grunted, glaring at the television as his foot unconsciously tapped against the floor. "What's also sad is that we're going through some kind of new-grade torture that I shouldn't be on the receiving end of."

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "You mean we, right?"

"Sure."

Eggman languidly flipped through the channels. His attention was soon caught by the image of a basketball stadium.

A white eagle popped up on Eggman's TV screen holding a basketball. "Are you born to soar like an eagle but just cannot get off of the ground?" The bird ran and dunked the ball.

"So he's like a motivational speaker? Yes!" Sonic couldn't be happier. He wouldn't have to see their doubles play therapist and probably think of another sleepover and that onesie would've made another appearance and just no. "Eggman can dump all of his problems on him!"

"We're still forced to hear it though," Knuckles grumbled. "And the last thing I want to listen to is an elderly man spouting his insecurities."

Eggman's mustache flared, severely affronted. "I am not elderly, rodent!"

"Tell that to your hair…oh wait."

"I have bad genes!"

"I was!" Eggman exclaimed before sinking into the cushions. "But I can't…"

The actor was now using a jetpack to fly through a mountain range. A feminine voice narrated, "You can soar like an eagle!"

Tails could make a fairly educated guess here. "I'm assuming that he's an eagle…?"

"There's no need to assume!" Amy played with the hem of her pajamas, and she wanted to hit herself for not telling Rouge to bring her a change of clothes. The agent would be back soon. Hopefully. "He practically said it like two times already."

Eggman leaned forward, expression brightening. "I can?"

A dojo was in the background now. "Were you born to soar like an eagle-

"Three times."

-but obstacles just get in your way?" The bird karate chopped a wooden board in half.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "What was he trying to prove there? That obstacles are as easy to get rid of as the terribly thin piece of fake-wood placed in front of you?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, that's probably what he's going for." He sent the echidna a small grin. "Motivational speakers tend to motivate, you know."

Knuckles saw Sonic give the kit a proud smile, and he inwardly groaned. He should separate those two more often. Maybe he should take Tails to a gym or something.

The doctor was subtly frowning. "I already answered that, and yes!"

The bird gestured to himself. "I'm Soar the Eagle-

Amy felt extremely validated.

-and I can show you how to be the best 'you' you can be! My amazing seminar will show you how to soar like an eagle!"

Knuckles groaned. "If he says that one more time…"

Eggman was completely enraptured in this commercial.

"Say Eggy…" Sonic glanced over at the doctor, and Eggman already felt exasperated before the other had really said anything. "You've been losin' a lot to us for the past few years, so…do you want to soar like an eagle?"

Knuckles snorted. "He'll barely get off the ground."

Eggman ignored the red menace, glaring at Sonic. "Do you want to get smooshed like an annoying little ant?"

Sonic tisked, shaking his head back and forth. "Such violence. Is this all your repressed aggression from your failures coming out?"

"I could easily use my files to locate a psychiatrist," Metal said.

Eggman growled. "If you send me a shrink, the next time you'll see them is in a robot's body!"

It was silent for a moment before Amy giggled. "You were right, Sonic! His losses are totally getting to him!"

The human swallowed a tortured shout as he ran his hands down his face.

Soar wasn't done yet. He pointed to a flashing phone on screen as he explained, "Call now to put me through your next corporate event, wedding, or sweet sixteen!"

"Okay…" Tails figured that Soar was naming random events now. "He might be a little desperate…"

Knuckles scoffed. "Only a little?"

Eggman's interest was through the roof.

There was a scene change, and Soar was standing on a stage, smiling. "Who's ready to soar like an eagle?"

Sonic was getting flashbacks of when he first met Silver, but at least now he wasn't getting tossed into a building every ten seconds.

Though, being stuck in a building with the broken record was almost as bad.

Eggman, the lone audience member in the room, waved his hand back and forth. "Ooo! Me! I am!" He excitedly clapped.

"Who would pay to see Eggman act like a kindergartener?" Knuckles asked.

Tails, Amy, and Sonic raised their hands.

Metal produced a huff. "The doctor already does."

"Not quite." Shadow raked his fingers through his quills, not noticing their subtle tremble. "Or else I would've been put him in a mental institution."

"I would've checked myself in," Eggman muttered lowly.

Soar didn't seem put-off by this. "Well then my mustachioed friend! For the next thirty-eight hours, I'm going to show you how to make today the best day of your life! Until tomorrow comes, at which point, that will be the best day of your life!"

"He's…not wrong." Tails wondered how many gigs Soar actually managed to get.

Eggman hastily nodded, smiling widely.

The human was on the stage now, and Soar pointed to him, yelling, "Are you going to accept failure?"

"No!"

"I mean, it doesn't matter if he accepts it or not, it's gonna happen," Sonic pointed out.

"Are you going to let obstacles get in your way?"

"No!"

"Are you going to push yourself to the limit?"

"No!" Eggman blinked, rethinking his response. "Wait, I mean yes?"

Tails snickered. "That was a Freudian slip if I've ever heard one."

Amy joined in. "It's like his body knows that he's going to give up before he does!"

"Never second guess yourself!" Soar advised. "'No' is the correct answer because you're pushing past the limit! So, what are you gonna do?"

"Technically, it is impossible to exceed beyond 100%."

"I push past my limit constantly!" Sonic opposed Metal. "I mean, people get better at what they do all the time! Well, except for a few exceptions."

"It's obvious that you're talking about me, rodent! There's no point in being subtle!"

"Well, if bein' subtle makes you basically admit that you'll never get better, then I'm all for it!"

"I never admitted anything!"

"You didn't argue against it though!"

Metal nodded at the human. "You did fail to argue."

"And you're a failure of a robot!"

"That is relative."

Knuckles decided to hop into the conversation. "Eggman, if Metal is a failure of a robot, doesn't that make you a failure of a creator?"

Eggman had one for the echidna this time. "Well, do the times that I've stolen the Master Emerald make you a failure of a guardian?" he asked haughtily.

Knuckles gaped like a fish before shouting out, "No! No it doesn't!"

"I rest my case then!"

Knuckles crossed his arms and grumbled something that sounded like 'you still suck'.

"Soar like an eagle!" Eggman said, sounding like he just had an epiphany.

Amy softly gasped. "Oh no…it's spreading!"

"Thank you everybody! You're all cleared for take-off!" Soar chuckled before leaning closer to Eggman and lowering his voice. "Who has my check?"

Sonic chuckled. "Figures!"

"I wonder if he's anything like Barker?" Tails threw out there. "Like, he only does this to steal people's money or something?"

"Nah, not everyone in the village is evil, bud." Sonic paused. "Hopefully."

"It's like calling the Chaotix evil," Knuckles grunted.

"Well, Charmy did destroy one of my ray guns the other day…" Tails trailed off.

"You know better than to leave stuff out around him."

A while later, Eggman was admiring a table filled with Soar the Eagle merchandise. "What to buy?" He pondered. "It's all so uplifting…"

Eggman picked up a hat, and Soar slid over. "It's all great! You should buy all of it! But if you really want the ultimate 'Soar the Eagle experience', might I interest you in the 'Stratosphere Package'? Which includes my services as your personal, live-in guru?"

"He's asking for a sleepover with Eggman?" Sonic snickered. "I hope he likes feathers as a midnight snack."

"It's a deal!" Eggman answered immediately, holding out a hand. "Shake!"

Disgust etched into Soar's features. "Don't touch me."

Tails blinked. "Oh."

"It's not surprising! All Eggmen stink-"

"Not this again, you idiotic cactus!"

It was the next day, and the human/bird duo were in the main room. Eggman was standing in front of a mirror. Soar was beside him, tone authoritative. "Look at yourself in the mirror. What do you see? WHAT DO YOU SEE?!"

"Motivational speaker? More like a motivational yeller!" Amy giggled, but she paused when she didn't get a reaction from anyone else. "Hey come on, it was funny!"

Knuckles had to help her before she strayed too far. "I know you have this weird admiration for Sonic, Amy, but stay away from his genre of jokes."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Knuckles disregarded the affronted speedster on the floor. "Just stay away."

"That wasn't even my genre of joke though!" Sonic continued. "I didn't even think that one was funny!"

"Hey!"

"I mean, uh…I breathed a little harder out of my nose?"

Amy pouted; however, she knew to listen to Knuckles. Silence and pity laughs after jokes were the worst. She couldn't fall to Sonic's level.

Eggman was a bit startled. "Uh…A frightened man and a scary bird?"

Soar shook his head in disappointment. "We've got some work to do…"

"Just take the money and run." Shadow suggested, his leg bouncing up and down. "Nothing he's paying you would be worth it."

The two were then at Meh Burger, talking in front of the register.

Amy inwardly shuddered. "Why there of all places?" There had to be all kinds of health codes being violated. It couldn't be that hard to shut it down!

"It's not easy to pull off those big-time evil victories! That's why we need to get some small successes under your belt!" Soar raised a fist. "To rebuild your confidence!"

Dave approached them, holding out a bag of food. "That'll be $7.95."

Knuckles frowned. "Ugh, he's back?"

"Maybe it won't be for long?" Tails said with hope in his tone. He didn't know how that universe would handle a second Doomsday when the first was near catastrophic.

"Now!" Soar shouted.

Eggman snatched the bag and ran off.

"Hey!" Dave hit the counter, upset. "Get back here!"

That was probably the first time Eggman had been proud of his double in a long while.

Soar and Eggman were flying over the village now, the bird with a jetpack and the doctor using his hovercraft.

The bird grinned at him. "No one will believe that you're evil if you don't believe you're evil! Show yourself how evil you can be!"

"So…" Amy tilted her head at the screen. "Soar's just fine in getting Eggman – who is an evil scientist that most likely will take over the village he lives in – back on his feet just for a few bucks?"

"It's better than our doubles doing it," Knuckles uttered. "For free."

Eggman searched below them for targets and smirked. There were two kids – a monkey and a walrus – walking with treats in their hands. Eggman aimed and fired a laser at the walrus' lollipop. The monkey pointed and laughed.

Until his ice cream was instantly melted. His friend laughed as well.

"A lollipop and an ice cream cone?" Sonic narrowed his eyes. "He's sunk to a new low…"

Elsewhere, the hero crew were gazing at a large yarn ball.

Knuckles breathed out in awe, the rest of them equally as impressed. "Wow, Amy…you weren't kidding! That's one big ball of twine!"

Knuckles would've called his twin out on that, but all of the heroes were enraptured. "…It's yarn. They're acting like they haven't seen better things in the past."

"Maybe they haven't?" Sonic folded his arms on the ground and propped his chin on them. "It's not everyday that you take on a water monster!"

"Or a lizard monster." Shadow added.

"Or a time monster!" Tails chirped.

"That's true." Knuckles partially ceded. "But…it's yarn."

Soar and Eggman were nearby, the latter holding a device with a red button on it. The human was unsure. "I'm not sure this'll work…"

"I'm not sure this'll work," Soar repeated in a mocking tone. Then his words turned harsh. "Well, if I wasn't a germaphobe, I'd slap you! Now, do as I say and show the world your greatness!"

"Here's to hoping that Soar won't turn evil!" Because in Amy's eyes, the bird surely had the drive, attitude, and…volume to pose a bit of a threat.

Eggman's nervousness disappeared as he jabbed the button. A mountain a distance away exploded, rocks breaking apart to resemble Eggman's face. The rocks tumbled down the steep hill right for the ball of twine. Villagers yelled as they ran away. Thinking on his feet, Sonic grabbed some yarn and wrapped it around two trees. The twine stopped the threatening boulders.

Multiple pairs of mocking eyes fell on Knuckles, and the echidna rolled his own. "Shut up."

"But…it's yarn, Knuckles."

"Tails, don't make me slap you."

Now that they were out of danger, Amy allowed a smile to grow on her muzzle. "Eggman's been a lot more creative lately." She turned to Knuckles. "Don't you think?"

"She's happy about that?" Amy couldn't figure out why. Creative was dangerous especially for someone who wanted to enslave them all. "I seriously want to get a chance to have a conversation with her."

"Don't we all," Knuckles lowly added.

Knuckles was grinning. "I try not to."

Sonic couldn't hold in his laugh. "Okay Knux, say what you want about him, but he's hilarious!"

Knuckles didn't respond to the hedgie, hoping that no one had caught the single traitorous chuckle that escaped him. It hadn't been funny; it had been unexpected. There was a difference.

Eggman was back in his base, dancing in the middle of the floor. "Eggman's got his groove back!"

Soar wasn't as enthused.

Eggman wasn't at all. Why did he have to dance?

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he warned. "After all, we are only on step six of my thirty-one step system!"

Eggman whirled around to face him. "You're brining me down, bro." He stepped closer to the other. "You're like a wall that I need to break through!"

Eggman pinched the bridge of his nose while Sonic's obnoxious laughter filled the air. The doctor let out a steady breath, wondering if he should thank Soar for getting his twin out of that pathetic stage, or if he should curse him for introducing the word 'bro' in his vocabulary.

"Eggy, if your twin ever decides to hang ten, I'm losin' it."

Eggman inwardly shuddered at the mental image of surfer shirts and horrible accents Sonic gave him. Cursing it was.

Soar held up a hand. "Okay, obviously, you picked up a few things from my system. But you really have to listen to me!"

"No ho ho!" Eggman opposed, narrowing his eyes. "You listen to me! You're fired! I'll be the best 'me' I can be all on my own, thank you very much!" Eggman shooed the bird off as he strolled away.

"Soar's just trying to help!" Amy frowned up at the screen. "I bet Eggman's going to regret that in less than five minutes!"

Soar scowled. "If you think high self-esteem, confidence, and inner-peace are things that can be achieved without outside help, you sir are sadly mistaken!" The bird donned his jetpack and flew off.

"…But they can be achieved without outside help." Tails suddenly felt a bit of concern for the eagle. "Does anyone else think that something's off with Soar?"

"Yeah, like he's the one who needs the motivational speaker," Knuckles said before groaning. "If that's the plot of a future episode I swear."

"Doesn't matter," Shadow replied. "We won't be here to see it." Rouge would find a way out, and it would be over.

A couple minutes later, Eggman entered a room where Orbot and Cubot were reading a comic book.

The doctor had some pep in his step, his tone dripping with confidence. "Alright! I'm ready for take-off!" He then cupped his chin in thought. "But, where to begin? Should I build a transforming robot or a hypnotizing robot? Or an exploding robot? Or maybe I should develop an elaborate, convoluted, multi-step plot to destroy Sonic and all?"

Amy shook her head, disappointed. "Not even five minutes!"

Sonic shifted his attention to Eggman. "Is that the same thought processes that you go through when finding a way to lose to us?"

"No!" Eggman immediately responded, a little more heated than usual because there were similarities between his and his twin's thoughts. However, his were surer and were not caused by a severe self-esteem drop…most of the time.

Cubot floated in front of him. "Those all sound good boss!" he said as encouragement.

"You know that your life is terrible when you need those abominations to boost your mood," Metal commented.

Eggman pushed him out of the way. "I…can't decide. I'll think about it over lunch! But, what to eat?" He mused. "A sandwich? Noodles? Oatmeal? If only I had some guidance…" All of the confidence had leaked out of him by this point.

Serves him right, Amy grinned.

"Can one of those pests find him and slap him a few good times?" Eggman grumbled.

"Wait, so does that mean that Soar picked out his food?" Tails questioned. "This guy really needs some help."

"Why don't you ask that charming, feathered fellow?" Orbot helpfully suggested. "He seems to be guiding you quite nicely."

Eggman scoffed. "I let him go. He was holding me back!"

"Obviously." Sonic's sarcasm was palpable.

He ambled off, muttering, "Well, I'm gonna nap. But where? My bed or the couch?"

Cubot and Orbot shared a look.

"Do you have a problem, Ultimate Lifeform?"

Shadow turned his head toward Metal, a brow twitching upwards at the red gaze staring at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Your leg is violently vibrating."

Shadow's brow creased. "The hell are you-" His words got caught in his throat when he realized that Metal was telling the truth. His leg was bouncing up and down until he willed it to stop. And it did…only for his other leg to start moving. Shadow quietly growled before slamming his hands down on both knees. Though his eyes subtly widened when he felt that his fingers were trembling.

"Uh…" Sonic sat up from his laying position on the floor, eying his rival. "You okay there, Shads?"

Shadow scowled as all attention fell on him. He crossed his arms tightly against his body and glared at his traitorous legs that resumed their shaking. "I'm perfectly fine, F-Faker." Shadow's mood plummeted at his stutter, believing that his whole body was against him now.

Knuckles watched Shadow try and fail to control his trembling limbs. "That looks anything but fine. You went from being drowsy to acting like Charmy experiencing a sugar ru-" The echidna paused, eyes widening in realization. "Wow."

"I'm the U-Ultimate Lifeform." Shadow snarled. "I don't act like a ch-child who had eaten too many brownies. My DNA should p-prevent that k-kind of-" He abruptly stood up and jabbed a shaking finger in a surprised pinkette's direction. "T-This is your fault! You h-had to eat the whole damn b-box!"

"I didn't eat the whole box!" Amy hastily defended herself. "I left a little for Metal!"

Shadow clenched his trembling fists. "You s-still filled me up with unnecessary sugar with the c-cookies and the d-damn soda and I c-can feel it coursing th-through my v-veins and-" Shadow gripped his ears and pulled. "-agghhhhhh!"

Tails saw Shadow slowly unhinge, the other starting to pace back and forth in front of the couch and raking both of his hands harshly through his quills. "I…don't know whether to laugh or be terrified."

Amy felt a little guilty, but it wasn't entirely her fault. "If you hadn't been so sleepy, then I wouldn't have to eat so much sugar to keep me up!"

Shadow whipped his head towards her, his left eye twitching, and she almost regretted speaking up. "Y-You're blaming me for s-staying up all night d-doing m-mandatory paperwork and b-being forced here to watch some d-damn show?!" Shadow gestured to himself, baring his teeth. "Yeah, I'm the o-one to blame h-here!"

While Amy gaped like a fish, Sonic had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. "This is gold," he whispered to himself, wishing that he was recording this because he knew that it would never happen again.

Unfortunately, Shadow had heard. The striped hedgie glared at him, a growl rumbling in his chest. "F-Faker…for once in y-your life, shut the fu-"

"Whoa, Shads!" Sonic really couldn't take the other seriously when his voice cracked every two seconds. "Language! Don't want the kids repeating that, do ya?"

Shadow gritted his teeth. "S-Screw you."

"That's better! Great censorship!"

Shadow dug his fingers in his quills again and resumed his pacing.

Metal wondered how much sugar it actually took to reach that level of insanity. If he ever got a real body, he would avoid that level at all costs. "You could have stopped her from eating the cookies. You knew of her consuming them."

Shadow roared before leaping to behead the robot, itching to do something with his rebellious muscles.

"No, Shads!" Sonic called out. "Don't take Metal's head off! We'll be stuck!"

The striped hedgehog's fingers were an inch away from the bot's throat. The digits – along with the rest of Shadow's body – were trembling. Shadow glowered at the blue mech before shouting out and deciding to get rid of his sudden aggression another way.

With a yell, he gripped the bottom of the couch and flipped it.

Knuckles shouted in shock before landing hard on his back. "I didn't even do anything!" he groaned as he rolled over onto his knees, rubbing the abused area.

Eggman took in the vibrating hedgehog, the overturned couch, and the fluttering confetti. "This is actually happening." This wasn't some fever dream.

"Um…Shadow?" Tails began, hoping to stop any more destruction of his property. "To get rid of all your excess energy, maybe you should busy yourself with something? Like-" Before Tails could finish, Shadow had become a blur, circling the displaced sofa. A wind picked up that fluttered the confetti and made fur whip around crazily.

Knuckles grumbled as he stepped closer to the standing Metal, trying not to get hit with the force of a runaway train.

The next second, Shadow stopped in the middle of the floor. His quills were in disarray, and his eyes were wild. "It's n-not working!"

Amy waved the confetti out of her face, more than glad that the sugar hadn't kicked in like this when she had been in control of Shadow's body. Who knew of the embarrassing things she could've done. "Is there another way can you get rid of a lot of energy like…all at once?"

Shadow blinked before peering down at his inhibitor rings.

Knuckles quickly made the connection, and his gut dropped. "Oh no…"

Shadow focused on all of them. "T-Take cover."

"C'mon, Shads!" Sonic hopped to his feet. "You can't-"

"Did I s-stutter?"

"Technically-"

"Go!"

Tails hastily stood up and shook his hands in front of him as one-by-one, the golden rings fell to the floor. "No no no! Stop! This-This is our house! You can't blow it up! It'll be nothing but debris!"

"Yeah!" Sonic agreed. "Nothing but…" He trailed off, a thought popping into his mind. "Nothing but escapable debris!"

Knuckles, Amy, and Eggman instantly perked up at that, and Tails slowly blinked. The kit suddenly was airborne, his namesakes whirling behind him. "Everyone to Sonic's room! It's the farthest place away from the blast zone!"

There was a scramble to leave the leaving room, and Eggman swore that he'd never been this happy while running in his life.

Sonic led the way to his room, and he dove for the farthest corner. He tucked himself in it with Tails plopping down on one side of him, Amy taking occupancy on the other.

Amy giggled to herself as she huddled up to the blue hedgehog; it was a borderline cuddle and Sonic muttered, "Why are you like this," under his breath.

Knuckles was beside Tails. Eggman was going to sit to the echidna's right, but Knuckles held up a hand. "Wait a minute, Eggman! You sit in front of us four and Metal, you sit in front of him."

"Why in the world-" Eggman scowled once he understood. "I will not be a human shield!"

"You're not! Metal's the shield and you're the back-up."

Metal looked between the seething human and the sitting echidna. "I do not wish to be dismantled."

Knuckles rolled his eyes at him. "We all know that you'll come back." Because it wouldn't be completely on purpose. "And Eggman, you won't be hurt…as badly."

Before Eggman could oppose, a booming explosion rattled the entire home. The thundering noise made everyone – except for Metal, who believing that being a robot was better for these types of situations – cover their ears and close their eyes.

When it was over, they all blinked their eyes open expecting collapsed walls and the glorious heat of natural sunlight; however, all they saw was Sonic's untouched bedroom.

Knuckles clenched his fingers and glared up at the ceiling. "Really?!"

"Shadow's blasts can level a whole city block!" Amy's voice was close to a whine. "This place should be completely destroyed!"

Tails was conflicted. One on hand, his house was still intact, but on the other, they were still trapped. "Maybe…the living room's ruined?"

The group shared a look before running out. They sprinted down a perfectly structured hallway and reentered the living room. There was a collective gasp as their wide eyes took in the destruction.

There was thick dust and smoke lingering in the air, most of the confetti was either burnt or disintegrated, the couches were nothing more than scattered pieces of charred cushion, and the carpet was equally as dark and patchy.

Though, interestingly – and depressingly – enough, the television remained untouched along with the sturdiest walls ever invented.

After the surprised gazes examined the complete mess, all eyes snapped to the figure laying prone in the middle of the floor. Shadow was sleeping on his back, his mouth partially open. His inhibitor rings were scattered around the room, forgotten about.

Tails figured that this was worse than having his whole house totaled. "Our…Our…"

Sonic raked his fingers through his quills. "Well, there goes that idea…"

Amy coughed, breathing in too much of the contaminated air. "At least it was worth the try?"

"Was it?" Tails' voice had risen an octave. "Look at this mess! It'll take forever to clean it up!"

"It won't if we all help!" Amy managed a smile.

Eggman snorted at that, and Metal's eyes flashed. "I am not a vacuum cleaner."

"Forget about the mess!" Knuckles shouted as he stomped over to the pristine TV, getting his shoes dirty. He wildly gestured to the appliance. "It still looks band new! The thing is messing with us!"

"Surely it cannot be surprising at this point," Metal commented before glancing over to the kitchen area. "I will see if any of the food sustained damage." He swiftly left the room.

Sonic let out a sigh as approached the dead-to-the-world Shadow. "At least the sugar's out of his syst-"

The blue speedster was cut off when knocks echoed around the ruined room. Heads whirled in the direction of the front door just in time to see it fall from its hinges, collapsing to the floor.

Rouge was standing in the doorway, eyes wide with her mouth gaping open as some of the dust floated outside. There was a large cup of coffee in her right hand. Her gaze darted around the room until she focused on Shadow and finally on the standing group. "I brought coffee," she said breathily as she stepped into the home. "And also: what happened here?!"

It was then that Metal strolled back into living room. "No food was harmed."

Knuckles ignored him as he crossed his arms. "Shadow got a sugar high from the cookies Amy ate, so he blasted to get rid of the feeling. So yeah, I don't think he needs the coffee anymore."

Rouge could believe it and couldn't believe it at the same time. She hadn't been gone for that long, and how was the place still standing? "He needs this more now than ever, hon. He's beyond crashed, and if you want him awake sometime this week, caffeine is a necessity. Hold this." Beside Knuckles, Rouge pushed the cup gently against his chest, and the echidna hesitantly grabbed it before she let it go.

Rouge then searched for the discarded inhibitor rings and collected them. "I was going to ask GUN to help getting you all out, but-" She vaguely gestured to the intact home. "I don't think they could do anything better than a Chaos Blast."

Sonic managed to find a little humor in this despite…everything. "It was more like a Sugar Blast." He chuckled as she reattached the rings on Shadow's limp wrists and ankles. "Because he didn't have a Chaos emerald-"

Tails loudly gasped at that. "A Chaos emerald! That could be what we need to get out of here!" He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought about that earlier.

Amy wanted to get excited, but, "We can't be sure that it will work, Tails! Shadow just exploded, and we're still trapped here!"

"We still have to try!" Tails pushed. "The thing can't be powerful enough to mess with the power of the emeralds, right?"

No one had an answer.

"…I'm assuming that all of you agree with me."

Of course Eggman didn't agree with the kit, but what other choice did he have? "There's a Chaos emerald fifty miles south-east of here in a cave," he reluctantly muttered. He had been planning on retrieving the gem himself, but no, fate apparently had other plans for him.

Sonic went over and placed a supportive hand on the human's arm. He grinned. "I know telling us that hurt you very much deep down inside, but I want to say thank-"

"Don't touch me."

Rouge scrunched up her nose when she heard the location of the beautiful gem. Despite the reputation of her species, she didn't like caves very much. She couldn't fly like she wanted, and all the dirt and dust were bad for her pores.

But she was collecting one of the rare and gorgeous Chaos emeralds.

"I'm guessing that I'll be the one to go get it?" Rouge put a hand on her hip. If someone had told her before today that she'd be fetching a Chaos emerald to try to free her friends from a trap put together by some questionably malevolent magical force, she would have asked them what kind of medication they were on. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Rouge!" Tails chirped.

"I want to have hope, but it's all gone by this point," Knuckles sighed out.

Rouge winked at him. "I'm the best treasure hunter out there, sugar. So don't worry about me not getting it." Knuckles threw her a glare. "And about this plan actually working, we'll just have to see."

"It's going to work!" Amy surely nodded. "I believe in the emeralds!"

Rouge smiled at her. "Usually, I do too, but…" She glanced at her surroundings and figured that she should get going before something else impossible happened. "Well, I'll leave all of you here to deal with…this." Rouge stepped in the direction of the exit of the home, waving back at them. "Hopefully I'll be back soo-"

"Wait!" Amy held out a hand, and the bat paused in her stride with a risen brow. "Before you get the emerald, can you get me a change of clothes from my apartment? It's locked, but I'm sure you'll find a way in!"

Rouge grinned. "You know it." She could work wonders with a bobby pin.

Eggman wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away. "While you're fetching clothes, can you please find me a shirt and some pants?"

Rouge eyed the human and figured that it was for the best. "Alright, a change of clothes for Pinky and a shirt and pants size humongous for the doctor."

Eggman's mustache flared. "I am not-!"

She didn't let him finish. "I'll see all of you in a bit!" Rouge continued her stroll toward the non-functional door. "And don't forget to find a way to get Shadow to drink that coffee!"

When she left, Knuckles gazed down at the cup in his hand. "He'll definitely drown if we give this to him in that state."

Metal approached Shadow's side and nudged the hedgehog with his foot. Shadow didn't budge. "The act of drowning would surely stimulate the brain and rouse him."

"But he could still die."

"There is a small chance, yes. As there is a small chance that you could have explosive diarrhea at this very moment."

Knuckles stared at Metal for a second before forcing the cup into Tails' hands. "You do it, Tails. He didn't hurt you when you woke him up the last time."

Tails 'eeped'. "But…But he really didn't like it, though! Sonic…?"

He tried to hand the cup over, but the azure speedster backed up a step with his hands raised. "No can do, bud! You totally got this! I believe in you!"

"Of course you do! Because you don't want to do it!"

"Guilty as charged!" Sonic admitted like it was nothing.

Tails exhaled heavily and clenched the cup tighter as he made his way over to the sleeping hedgehog. Squatting down, he hoped that these weren't his – or Shadow's – last moments as he positioned the cup over the other's open mouth. Tails steadied his grip before tilting with cup and letting some of its contents pour out, but not much.

Shadow didn't drown like Knuckles had said; he simply swallowed the coffee. One scarlet eye slowly peeled open like it was weighed down by tons. "What," Shadow rasped quietly. It was barely even a question, more like an accusatory statement.

"Um…got you some coffee!" Tails wiggled the cup around. "Rouge brought it so you could stay awake. And uh…you didn't destroy the house by the way."

Shadow's dull stare drifted to the cup before muttering under his breath, "Damn." He lethargically reached up to grab the container, but his arm fell back down before he got halfway. Shadow was asleep again before his hand hit the floor.

Metal looked down at the softly snoring hedgehog. "…Does sleeping feel as good as consuming food?"

"Yeah, they're pretty equal," Sonic answered while pondering a plan on how to keep Shadow awake so they could watch-

The scene changed, and now a sandy beach faded into view. Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy were around what looked like a sculpture of Tails sitting in his plane.

Amy snapped her attention to the TV. "What?! It's playing even though Shadow's asleep!"

"Is…the thing giving us some mercy?" Tails questioned, standing from his squatting position.

"Either that…" Knuckles blinked in shock when a handful of plastic folding chairs appeared in the middle of the floor. His wide eyes narrowed. "…Or buttering us up for something. Making us lower our defenses!"

"Let's not question it!" Sonic hopped onto the nearest chair and got as comfortable as he could. "It's givin' us new seats-" Tails pouted as he sat in one of the poor sofa-substitutes, leaving the coffee by Shadow. "-and it's letting Shads sleep a bit! Maybe it's feeling guilty?"

"That's what I hope!" Amy gingerly sat on the plastic, wishing that the couches hadn't been disintegrated.

"It's about time," Eggman muttered as he settled down. After all the insanity they had gone through, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It might bite.

Knuckles carefully took a seat, expecting spikes to pop up out of nowhere. When he didn't get impaled upon sitting, the echidna thought just maybe he could enjoy the small miracles. "Did anyone find the remote?"

A resting Metal held up the device. "It had materialized in my hand."

"…Of course it did."

Sonic dusted his hands off after finishing the back of the sandy model. "You know, we haven't seen Eggman in a while."

Sonic nodded. "Which is a good thing…most of the time."

Tails examined the living room once again, mentally reliving the days when it wasn't a furniture graveyard. He wondered if Shadow was going to help pay for this.

Knuckles glanced over at the blue hedgehog, forming a ball of sand in his hands. Amy was standing beside him with a shovel and a bucket of water. The echidna rose a brow. "That's a good thing, right?"

"First sensible thing he's said this episode," Knuckles stated.

Sonic quickly approached him, a slight frown on his muzzle. "I think he's up to something. I'm gonna check up on him!" He ran off, creating a large gust of wind that blew Amy's and Knuckles' quills all over the place and got rid of the sand that was apparently covering Tails and his plane. The kit coughed and smiled at the remaining duo.

"That uh…what?" Amy felt betrayed. "So they were cheating! And to think that I was impressed with their sandcastle-building skills!"

Tails wrapped his namesakes around him, dusting off any debris they had collected. "I'm more worried that they basically buried my double…"

"But your twin isn't worried!" Sonic placated. "It's all good!"

At the evil lair, Sonic crashed through one of the main doors. "Ah hah! Caught you just as you were-" All of the fight left the hero's system only to be replaced with confusion at the sight of Eggman lounging on his couch in his pink onesie.

There was a collective tortured groan that filled the room.

"Just why?!" Amy cried out. "Can someone please burn it?"

"I would if I could." Eggman imagined flinging that cursed fabric in a red-hot bonfire. And then blowing it up. And throwing any remains into the ocean.

There was an almost empty pizza box and a bowl of nachos by the doctor. "-lounging in your pajamas?" Sonic finished, blinking in surprise.

Amy's nose scrunched up in disgust. "How is he not repulsed by that? Eggman's like a human garbage disposal!"

"He might be used to it," Knuckles responded, feeling bad for the blue hedgehog if this was actually a common sight.

Eggman waved him off. "Just leave me alone to wallow in my filth and self-pity." The human took a chip and dipped it in the cheese stain on his pajamas. He ate it shamelessly.

Sonic flinched back in disgust. "Ugh dude, gross!"

"There it is!" Sonic pointed out, glad that his twin wasn't used to this kind of trauma.

Orbot came up to the hedgehog and whispered, "I'm afraid Dr. Eggman has been acting quite particular since firing that Soar fellow."

"So…he's not planning something huge and diabolical?" Sonic asked.

"How come Eggman doesn't just rehire Soar?" Tails questioned. "I mean, he obviously knows that he's in a slump. Using yourself as a plate is basically rock bottom!"

Orbot shook his head. "Quite the contrary! The only thing he's planning is marathoning through Season four of Hedgehog Abby."

"No, scratch what I said earlier. That's rock bottom."

"You're absolutely right, Tails!" Amy agreed. "Hedgehog Abby isn't even a good show!"

Eggman was into the drama on TV, even going so far to say, "Oh no he didn't!" like the characters could hear him.

Sonic shrugged.

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, not his problem!"

In his own shack now, Sonic was peacefully relaxing in his hammock with his hands behind his head. He pleasantly sighed. "This is the life. No Eggman, no worries!" Sonic stretched before slumping and laying on his stomach. "Ugh, I'm so bored!"

"A bored Sonic?" Knuckles started, "Yeah, something's getting destroyed and/or burned down."

"Hey!" Sonic frowned. "When's the last time I've burned something down?"

"Last week. You tried out a treadmill at the Station Square gym."

"It's not my fault it couldn't handle my speed!"

Sonic then ran full-speed to Tails' workshop. The kit was sitting on his plane, reading over some blueprints.

"Hey Tails!" the blue hero greeted upon entry. "Need any help?"

Tails shook his head, seeing this going south. "I already feel bad for him."

"Aw Tails, I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Sorry Sonic, but yes."

"Not really." Tails folded the blue paper up. "Just cleaning some sand out of the gaskets."

"Oh." Sonic quickly climbed into the pilot seat to get closer to the fox. He smirked when Tails looked at him. "So, you wanna race?"

If Tails had a dollar for every time he had heard that question, he'd be able to replace the stuff in his living room and then some.

Tails palmed the blueprints that were sitting on the windshield, looking a bit apologetic. "Sorry Sonic. I'm kinda busy here."

"Aw, come on!" Sonic threw an arm around the fox's shoulder to pointed at the exit of the shop. "I'll race you to the end of the island!" He sprinted away the next second, the wind he produced causing all of the prints Tails had to take flight.

Sonic gestured at the screen. "I'm better than that, right?"

Different variations of 'no' were his responses. Amy only looked somewhat apologetic. "You do like to run a lot. From me mostly."

Sonic couldn't argue that.

Tails flailed his arms to try to recapture them. "Hey! My papers!"

Sonic was back to the workshop in no time. "I win!" He noticed the mess, strolling into the place. "Woah! Way to make a mess while I was gone."

He paused in his stride when he saw Tails gripping armfuls of paper. The kit growled at him.

Knuckles laughed aloud. "That's definitely not the first time it's happened."

Tails was speechless. His double just growled at his brother. Sure, the other Sonic kinda deserved it, but wow.

"Okay, so it's obvious that he's worse than I am!" Sonic tried to defend himself. "Tails has never growled at me!"

"Yet," the kit mocked, snickering at him. Sonic simply stuck out his tongue.

There was a cut, and now Knuckles was on the screen. He was by a tree, lifting a wooden birdhouse to hang on a nail embedded in the bark. "Steady…" he muttered to himself as he carefully rose the craft. "Steady…"

"Aw, he made that by himself?" Amy leaned forward, smiling. "I have to admit, I can see where Rouge's coming from! It's kinda sweet!"

"Don't listen to her," Knuckles hastily advised. "She's a bad influence."

Sonic suddenly appeared. "Hey, Knux!"

Knuckles cried out in shock and accidently threw his birdhouse into the air. They both watched as it crashed down to the ground, breaking into pieces. Knuckles slumped in disappointment, sadness etching into his features.

Amy gasped. "I feel so bad for him!"

"I would have felt sympathy if I was alive," Metal uttered.

For once, Knuckles could empathize with his double. One of the reasons he stayed on Angel island was to get away from bored!Sonic.

Sonic was sheepish. "…I wonder what Amy's doing?" He ran off.

Sonic tisked. "Now that's just dirty!"

"Like the kitchen when you decided to test how much our blender could hold?"

"That was forever ago, Tails!"

"I still find blended pickles in random places!"

In the pinkette's house, Amy was standing in front of an easel, a brush in her hand.

Sonic was beside her, taking a look at what she was doing. "Whatcha painting?"

Amy smiled at him. "A picture to commemorate the anniversary of the first time I painted a picture." The image was herself painting a picture of a vase of colorful flowers.

"That's going to be ruined in less than four minutes," Eggman predicted.

"No it's not!" Amy hoped. "He should be more careful around his girlfriend!"

"They're not…" Sonic trailed off, figuring that it was pointless. He wouldn't be able to change Amy's mind until the show itself did. And it was going to…eventually.

Sonic's head whipped to the side when he heard a loud noise outside. "Eggman!" He zipped over to the nearest window, inadvertently knocking over Amy's paint.

Amy slumped in disappointment.

Sonic stuck his head out to search before looking down. It was a large stick on the ground. "Oh…" Sonic said as he walked back over to the pinkette, who was picking of her spilled cans. "It was just a tree branch…"

"So when that Sonic is bored, he basically turns into Sticks."

"Seems like it," Sonic said to Knuckles. Sure, the blue hero would be a bit destructive when there was absolutely nothing to do, but at least he wasn't a paranoid mess.

Amy wasn't too happy. "Sonic! Please be careful!" She held up a small tube of blue paint. "This is 100% organic, fair-trade paint! It's very expensive and very green!"

Sonic shifted his attention to the painting. "…It looks more like pink to me."

Amy sighed. "It's funny and sad at the same time."

Both hedgehogs tensed when there was another noise coming from outside. "What was that?" He ran to another window, knocking Amy's palette out of her hands. "I know that's Eggman! He's out there, watching, lurking!" He bolted to a third window, pushing curtains out of the way. "Watching some more!" He went to another one. "Then lurking!" Another. "Then breaking for lunch!" And yet another. "Then lurking more!"

Sonic slowly blinked. "He's just drivin' himself crazy!"

Knuckles frowned. "Someone just needs to knock him out."

Amy was cleaning up Sonic's mess when he ran too close past her, causing her to crash into her painting and fall to the ground. Amy glared while Sonic searched around the place.

"Called it," Eggman grunted. It had barely been two minutes.

The next scene change showed Sticks' burrow. Most of the hero crew were inside.

Tails was pacing, clearly upset and angry. "Every since Eggman got depressed, Sonic has been making me nuts!"

Knuckles chuckled. "If Tails ever gets mad at you, you're doing something very wrong."

"It's weird seeing him so worked up." Tails cocked his head at the TV. "They have to get Eggman back on his feet, pronto."

Knuckles was leaning back in his seat, not happy about this development either. "He hasn't cooked for me. He's just been driving me crazy!"

Just when Knuckles was starting to maybe tolerate him, he had to erase all of the progress.

Amy had a thoughtful expression on her face, Sticks silently watching her. The pinkette then spoke up. "If we want to get Sonic out of our hair, we need Eggman back in the game! I never thought I would say this, but…" She stood up, determined. "We have to re-motivate Eggman!"

"Turning off his soap opera should be sufficient," Metal suggested.

"Or taking away his nachos." Sonic grinned. "He'd get angry then."

In the base, Eggman was still watching TV, absently scratching his stomach through his stained onesie.

"There should be a law about how much of a disappointment a person could be."

"Then you would've been in jail a long time ago, doctor."

"And you would've been rotting in there along with me, Metal!"

"I would actually rust, but I still understand and disagree with your statement."

Tails entered through a skylight, using a rope to safely enter the lair. Knuckles kicked down a set of doors, Amy and Sticks running in behind him.

Eggman sighed as they approached him. "The doorbell works too, you know…"

Sonic furrowed his brow. "He just…doesn't care at all anymore, huh?"

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest. "If that was the demeaner of someone who did care, I'd be way more concerned."

Amy jabbed a finger at the human. "We're here to take you down!"

Eggman slowly sat up and shooed the heroes away. "Move over! You're blocking the TV."

"It's nice to know that he has his priorities in order." Eggman pumped as much sarcasm as he could into his words. If any of the pests had charged into his base like that, it didn't matter what kind of day he was having, someone was going to pay for those destroyed doors.

The anthros all shared an uncertain look. Knuckles then glanced behind him and punted a small trash can. He weakly glared at Eggman and huffed. "Next time, it'll be full."

Amy shrugged. "At least he tried?"

"Yeah," Knuckles began after a second. "I'll give him that."

Away from the lair, Sonic yanked open the door to Sticks' burrow. "Anyone home?" He ran further inside, keeping the items in his arms balanced. "I brought board games!"

"Board games? Does he want to ruin his friendships even more?" Sonic knew that playing board games were a big risk. Especially the ones involving fake money.

He looked around until his wrist communicator beeped. It was Tails. "Sonic!" There was lots of noise going on in the background. "Big battle happening at Eggman's lair! You gotta hurry!"

Sonic didn't hesitate. "I'm on it!" He zoomed off, dumping the board games on the floor.

"The only big battle going on there is between Eggman and his food addiction."

"So big that it transcends dimensions!"

Eggman glared hard at the cheeky brother duo, wishing that Rouge would find the Chaos emerald so he could hurry and destroy them once and for all.

Back at Eggman's place, Tails and Sticks were making as much noise as possible.

Eggman was still on his couch. He turned up the volume, but it was drowned out by the ruckus. He frowned. "Can you keep it down? I'm trying to watch my stories."

Doors to the room slid open, and Sonic ran in. "Hey guys!"

Amy tapped her chin. "How many times have those same doors been replaced?"

Sonic pursed his lips in thought. "Better question is who keeps fixing them?"

Seeing him, Tails and Sticks dropped their noise makers. Tails wrapped his hands around his throat, falling to his knees and acting like he was in pain. "Argh! Eggman's doing this to us!" He groaned before falling flat on the floor, Sticks following him soon after.

Sonic chortled. "A plus acting, guys! Really!"

Knuckles smirked as a thought came to him. "Sticks hadn't said a word yet, and I appreciate that." They only needed one paranoid maniac per episode, and the other Sonic had filled that role.

"You gotta fight him, Sonic!" Knuckles was pretending as well, though his fall was more dramatic that the other pair's.

Sonic scratched his head, confused. "Uh…are you guys okay?"

Amy was laying out in front of him, distressed. "Stop Eggman before he destroys us!"

Sonic furrowed his brow and glimpsed at the doctor. "…He's not doing anything."

Eggman shushed him, fixated on his show.

Metal had seen Eggman coordinate better schemes. "That plan was highly unsatisfactory."

"I think they thought Eggman would be more…" Amy waved a hand, trying to find the right word. "…responsive."

The pieces eventually were put together. "Are you pretending that he's attacking you?" Sonic questioned, tone accusatory.

Eggman was pushing buttons on his remote. "Amy, cut it out."

"Being called out by Eggman?" Sonic had just witnessed the impossible. "Wow."

Amy gave up the act, getting back up to her feet. "Okay everyone, enough." She then explained to Sonic, "We were trying to motivate Eggman so you'd have someone to battle."

Eggman scoffed. "What a dumb idea."

"Hey!" Sonic approached the doctor with an affronted frown. "Lay off her, Egghead!"

Amy happily squealed. "He's sticking up for his girlfriend!"

"Yep, even though Eggman wasn't completely wrong." Knuckles threw a smirk Sonic's way. "If that's not true love, I don't know what is."

"Knux, if you wake up bald one day, don't be surprised."

"Sonic, if you wake up underwater one day, don't be surprised."

"…Touché."

"Thought so."

Eggman leaned forward, making a fist. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

Sonic got into his space. "Give you a stern look and say, 'Yeah, really'!"

The human snorted. "Oh really?"

"Yeah really!" Sonic snapped back.

"…Great comebacks all around?" Tails wanted to stay positive. It was hard.

Eggman quickly stood up. "Robots…" He pressed a series of buttons on his remote before pointing at Sonic. "Attack!"

A handful of bots darted out, aiming for the blue speedster. Sonic easily took care of them, smashing the mechs into pieces. Eggman growled at this while the rest of the hero crew looked on victoriously.

"So…all that, and Eggman just needed to call something dumb?" Knuckles sighed out.

Amy shook her head. "No, he needed to call my twin dumb! That made the difference!"

"You're right! All he had to insult the significant other to get a reaction."

Sonic was already done with this topic. "What's the next episode about?" he asked, disregarding the echidna's snickers.

The title of the next one popped up on the screen, and Metal read it aloud. "'How to Succeed in Evil Without Really Trying'. It sounds like the doctor will not be in this one."

"He's been in every episode." Eggman huffed indignantly. "Don't get my hopes up."

Tails' gaze drifted down to the striped hedgehog still blissfully asleep on the floor before focusing on the bot. "Can you play it? Or do we need to wake Shadow up again?"

Metal pressed play, and nothing happened.

Tails really didn't like that he was the dedicated wake-up person. "Can't we just let him sleep? Rouge will be back with the emerald, and then we can leave!"

"Tails…" Amy had a crease in her brow. "Don't we need him awake to teleport us out anyway?"

"I mean yeah, but we can wait to-"

"I'm going to honest with you, Tails." Knuckles met his gaze. "I don't think the emerald's going to work. Between materializing things, trapping us, and controlling the weather, the thing's got some serious power. Waiting for her is just going to waste time."

"But-"

Tails cut himself off when Metal hurled the remote right at Shadow's head. The room instantly quieted as the device bounced off of the hedgehog's forehead with a dull thud.

It clattered to the floor, and Metal said, "That argument was unnecessary."

"I'm pretty sure it was necessary," Tails squeaked when the black hedgie began to stir.

Shadow's eyes barely opened before he lifted a hand and rubbed the pained area. He looked a bit confused until his gaze shifted to the cup of coffee beside him. Still laying down, Shadow wearily grabbed it and positioned it over his mouth.

He tipped the cup only for the top to come off.

Warm coffee was poured onto his face and into his nose. Shadow instantly turned over onto his stomach, wheezing in a puddle of his beverage. He harshly coughed up coffee that went down the wrong pipe.

Tails opened and closed his mouth a few times before whispering to the others. "Did he…just waterboard himself?"

"Uh huh." Sonic was straining to keep his laughter in.

Metal nodded, the sound of Shadow clearing his lungs echoing around the place. "Drowning stimulated his brain, like I had said."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at the bot. "You win this time, Metal."

"As expected."

---

And that was Aim Low, ladies and gentlemen! The heroes learned many lessons in this one. That the house itself is pretty much indestructible, that even Shadow isn't immune to sugar, and that no one is happy with a bored Sonic around. Pretty enlightening if I do say so myself.

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!