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

Poll results from most votes to least votes:

1. Tails' crush

2. Battle of the boy bands

3. Hedgehog day

4. Fire in a crowded workshop

5. The curse of the buddy buddy temple

6. Sole power

7. Blue with envy

8. Mayor knuckles

9. Two good to be true

10. Cabin fever

11. Bro-down showdown

12. Designated heroes

13. New year's retribution

14. Role models

15. Just a guy

Oh man, I can think of many ways to torture – I mean, entertain Sonic and co with that line up of episodes! Just to remind you guys, I will still go in chronological order (for example, this chapter is about Sole Power, not Tails' Crush), and Metal's and Shadow's episodes will be done as well!

Enjoy!

Amy giggled to herself in her seat, happily patting her dress. She owed Rouge one for helping her out. "I feel a thousand times better now!" She felt freer, and now she didn't have to worry about random strands of dried drool on her clothes.

Eggman was feeling the complete opposite. "I'm so glad that you feel that way, rodent. I wish that I could say the same, but I have some middle schooler's pants around my ankles."

Amy wasn't going to let Eggman bring her mood down. Every happy moment during this house arrest should be treasured. "You should be better off now, Eggman! I know we are because you finally have a shirt."

Knuckles, Shadow, and Tails nodded in agreement, the visual torture having been turned down a notch.

Eggman saw her point, but still. He had no pants.

Multiple pairs of eyes then swiveled to the robot re-entering the living room, his impromptu shower thankfully short. Tails was numb watching water puddles form under Metal's feet, ruining the already ruined carpet.

Metal paused in his stride, and his first words were, "I despise you, Ultimate Lifeform."

"The feeling's mutual," Shadow lowly drawled, hoping that Rouge came with the Chaos emerald before the caffeine left his system. Or before all of them went completely insane. Either one.

The robot glared before aiming for the last remaining chair. However, there was a blue blur and suddenly the seat was occupied with a smirking Sonic. "You're too slow, Mets! Step it up next time!"

If Metal hadn't completely done away with maiming his copy for purely existing, he would've tried to claw out the other's throat. Knowing what pain felt like really dampened his violent streak, unfortunately.

The robot sank down to the floor, uttering, "I despise all hedgehogs."

Amy gasped in surprise. "What about me?"

"Answer pending."

Knuckles crossed his arms, ready to get this show on the road. "Enough about the lack of pants and vindictive wet robots, let's just start the next episode alread-" His voice died out when static filled the air. The occupants' attention shifted to the television showing white noise. "Uh…"

The impinging sound echoed around until the screen went black. Before anyone could comment, the number seventeen popped into view, its blood red color contrasting the darkness around it. Then, the number burst into flames, pulsating red every second.

Tails slowly blinked. "…Is anyone else suddenly terrified? Or is it just me?"

"What…What does it mean?!" Amy began breathing heavier. She'd just been able to change clothes, and then this happens? "That we have seventeen years left to live? Months? Weeks? Days? Minutes? Seconds?!"

Knuckles had to stop her screeching then and there. "Considering that we're not dead already, I don't think it's seconds, Amy."

Amy released a relieved sigh. "So…minutes then?"

"I don't think that's the case either, Ames…" Sonic deduced. Hopefully it wasn't, because seventeen minutes trapped with a frenzied and desperate Amy was not the way he wanted to go. The hedgehog eyed the flames. "Maybe the thing will eventually explain it?"

As soon as those words were uttered, the numbers were then replaced by the name of the episode.

"Sole Power?" Tails tapped his chin, a little confused. "Is that like…the power of being alone? Or the power of the bottom of someone's foot?"

"Both sound ridiculous," Shadow grunted. "So, it could very well be either."

"Are we just going to forget about the flaming numbers, or what?" Knuckles asked, the event being too out-there to disregard.

Amy shook her head. "I didn't forget about it! But, we can't really do anything about it except hope that we won't die within the next seventeen minutes."

Eggman crossed that out as a possibility. "The thing has kept us here and made us go through too much to just kill us off like that." He didn't know if this was wishful thinking or not, but Sonic's demise had to be by his hands, not anyone else's.

"It could be how many times it plans to switch our bodies."

Sonic shuddered. "Why just why would you say that, Metal? You're giving it ideas!"

"…Cookies are exceptional, copy."

Amy played the episode as Sonic tried and failed to come up with a counterargument.

The scene began in the middle of a canyon. Sonic and Tails were sitting in the fox's yellow hovercraft. "What's so awesome that you had to bring me all the way out here?" the azure speedster asked his companion.

Knuckles perked up. This one already looked promising. "A Sonic and Tails episode? That's what I'm talking about."

"Isn't it a little early to be predicting the plot, Knuckles?" Tails asked. Literally anything could happen in eleven minutes, especially in that universe of surprises.

The echidna nodded. "Sure, but I want to live in the moment where nothing insane is happening." He breathed out a pleasant sigh. "It feels great."

Tails smiled excitedly at him. "Check it out." He looked at the dashboard of his vehicle. "Voice…activated…controls. Start engine." He enunciated the last two words so they would be recognized.

The hovercraft promptly started up and lifted up into the air.

Tails was glad that the show didn't start off with another explosion to the face. "That's pretty cool!" He'd tried voice-controlled stuff before, but the controls ended up a bit finicky. Hopefully things went better for his twin.

"I want this to go well…" Amy began. "…but that universe has a history of uh…"

"Being completely disastrous?" Knuckles provided.

"Yeah!"

"I have faith!" Tails replied positively.

Metal produced a scoff. "Famous last words."

Sonic was impressed. "Huh. Let me try! Give me a chocolate shake," he ordered. A compartment on the dashboard opened, and a mechanical arm held out a vanilla shake. Sonic wasn't impressed anymore as he took it. "Vanilla? I asked for chocolate. Fail."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a fail," Sonic pursed his lips. "But yeah, that's a pretty serious thing to mess up. At least it didn't give him strawberry." He stuck out his tongue in disgust.

Amy gasped like he had insulted all of her ancestors. "You don't like strawberry?! Who are you?! It's like I don't even know you anymore!"

Sonic help up placating hands. "Whoa, calm down, Ames! Strawberry is okay, but it's like…just get a smoothie! Don't ruin a milkshake with fruits."

Amy glared at him. "I'm still unhappy because strawberry milkshakes are the best! Have you even tried it before?"

"I have! It's just that I like chocolate bet-"

"You're not allowed to have an opinion!"

The mechanical arm reappeared with a cup of chocolate. It poured the liquid all over the hedgehog's head, making the hero gasp.

"Out of all of the things to go wrong, that isn't so bad," Knuckles commented, grinning at chocolate-covered speedster. Amy agreed with him, needing that visual after the mind-boggling conversation she just had.

Surprise flashed on Tails' face until he meekly smiled. "Still working out the kinks…" He pointed in a general direction. "Uh, there's a towel back at the workshop."

Somewhat annoyed, Sonic placed the vanilla shake down and hopped out of the hovercraft before sprinting away. Tails then cried out in pain when a sudden loud noise impinged his ears. He covered them until the vehicle seemed to lose control, flying all over the place.

"So I was right?" Tails reluctantly asked, feeling bad for his twin. "This one is about the power of Sonic's feet?"

"I guess?" Sonic frowned to himself. "Though, isn't it just a sonic boom? People shouldn't be surprised about it!"

"Yeah, shouldn't." Knuckles spoke up. "But who knows at this point."

"Perhaps it is surprising for them." Metal stared at the screen from his position on the ground. "From what I have seen, my copy's copy does not run as fast as my copy."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I have a name, Mets."

"Irrelevant."

Sonic moved on, knowing that he would be arguing with a slightly damp brick wall. "Anyway, Metal has a point!" Sonic tapped his chin, a grin growing on his muzzle. "Yeah, my twin is fast, but he isn't my fast."

"Or my fast," Metal and Shadow echoed at once, giving each heated looks.

Sonic waved them off. "Yeah yeah, or as fast as the second-rate speedsters." The glares set on him rivaled the heat of the sun. "But seriously, maybe he reached a new milestone in this one! Way to go, other me!"

"And my double can't even take over with that slow hedgehog protecting it…" Eggman shook his head in disappointment.

"Now you have even more things to empathize with your twin with," Metal said without missing a beat.

Eggman's mustache flared. "Metal, I swear one day I will melt you down into a cupcake tray!"

After a moment of thought, Amy said, "Hey, it's better than a toaster."

Metal's opticals flashed. "I am sure there are many reasons a toaster is better-"

"Cupcakes are on par with cookies."

"I retract my previous statement."

Sonic ran through the village, and the loud noise he produced caused the villagers to cover their ears in pain. Sonic paid no attention to them as he sprinted in the direction of Tails' workshop. Once inside, the loud sound stopped when he did.

The azure speedster wiped the chocolate with a towel and rushed back out of the building, the noise echoing once more.

"Yeah, you might be right, Sonic." Knuckles commented, still basking in his non-insanity happiness. The discovery of a sonic boom paled in comparison to, let's say…huge mustaches on the heroes due to the consumption of evil cookies. "Your double's living up to his name now."

Sonic nodded. "Yep! Now let's see how long it'll take before he realizes that he might be permanently destroying everyone's eardrums."

Tails was then shown flying uncontrollably in his hovercraft through a canyon. "Um, voice control? I don't mean to be bossy, but…don't crash!" He tried and failed to gain control, and his eyes grew huge at the giant molten hole coming up. "Uh oh…"

Tails knew all about preserving his amazing creations, but if he was in danger of falling in a pit filled with bubbling red hot lava, yeah…it was bye-bye hovercraft.

To the kit's luck, his vehicle screeched to a halt right before tipping into the active volcano. Tails sighed out in relief. The peace didn't las long however, because Sonic was running through the canyon again, and the harmful noise reached the poor fox.

Amy squinted at the screen, doubts entering her head. "Is it just me…or is he not going fast enough to make a sonic boom? Like, I'm no scientist, but when Sonic produces one, he shoots off like a rocket!"

"Faster than a rocket, but I get what you're sayin', Ames." Sonic tapped his chin, regarding his double. "And it's true, that's barely a jog!"

"So it's a mystery…" Tails muttered, his brain already trying to come up with answers for the noise.

Tails gasped in shock, covering his ears, and his vehicle beeped before flying right off the cliff. Sonic's expression morphed into surprise seeing this, and Tails screamed for his life as he plummeted to his doom.

Knuckles furrowed his brow, still hanging in his happy place. "And he hasn't bailed out yet because…?"

Tails shrugged. "Maybe panic caused his concentration to scatter?"

"You mean common sense."

"…It can be interchangeable, yeah."

Sonic sprinted down the ramp of the hole, circling the falling fox until pushing off the rock and spin dashing the hovercraft. The hit launched the vehicle back onto solid ground, and Sonic landed beside it.

The hedgehog smirked at the kit. "I guess voice-activated rocket thrusters are a bad idea when you're screaming."

Shadow scoffed. "So, Rose is forbidden from owning any voice-activated machines."

Amy puffed out her cheeks and glared at him. "Rude!"

"I know."

Tails took off his seatbelt, throwing the other a flat look. "I wouldn't have been screaming if you weren't making that horrible noise!"

Sonic's brow furrowed in confusion. "What noise? I didn't hear any noise."

Tails tapped his chin. "Wait a minute…" He jumped out of the hovercraft, approaching the speedster. "I bet because you're faster than the speed of sound, you don't hear it."

Tails tilted his head in slight confusion. "But he isn't faster than sound all the time! He should still hear it while running at his speed."

"Is everything just slower in that universe?" Sonic asked, "Because I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was a thing."

Sonic put a hand on his hip. "I'll prove it wasn't me!" He wagged a finger. "When I start running and nothing happens, you are going to feel so dumb." Sonic began running, and Tails instantly screamed with the sound attacked his eardrums. The hedgie skid to a halt and crossed his arms. "Now…that's just circumstantial evidence."

"That is like saying the doctor is a failure because he loses all the time is circumstantial evidence." Metal started, "It is direct evidence, or in other words, a fact."

Eggman deadpanned at the robot. "Even though I have nothing to do with this, you still manage to rope me in."

"It is expected at this point."

The scene switched to the workshop. Tails was holding a reflex hammer, and Sonic was sitting on a table.

"Sonic," the kit began. "I'm gonna run a few tests to figure out what's wrong with you." Tails tapped Sonic's knee with the hammer, and a montage started while music played.

Disregarding the upbeat tunes for a moment, Tails didn't know why his twin was handling the situation like this. "Nothing would be wrong with Sonic himself… No one produces a sound while moving-"

"You sure, lil bro? Eggy jiggles."

Tails stifled a chuckle at the human's affronted glare, continuing on like Sonic hadn't spoken. "-so the answer wouldn't be Sonic's body."

"What could it be, then?" Amy questioned.

"Well, the name of the episode's a huge clue." Knuckles grunted. "'Sole power' is gonna either refer to the bottom of Sonic's feet, or the bottom of his shoes. I'm betting on the latter."

Tails nodded at him, that being the conclusion he'd mentally reached, and Metal commented, "I wonder how long it will take the other fox to realize this."

"Hopefully by the end of this montage!" Tails answered with a smile.

Tails waited for Sonic's leg to react. Then, the kit was standing while Sonic was running circles around him. It wasn't long before Tails was protecting his ears from the pain. Next, Sonic was pedaling on an exercise bike, and even that movement caused the unbearable sound. Sonic was then shown dancing; Tails closed his eyes.

Knuckles smirked. "I don't blame him. He's about as bad as you, huh S-"

"Knux, if you don't want me to declare a breakdancing battle right now, I'd advise you to hush."

The echidna wisely kept quiet – not because he knew he was going to lose. He didn't want to get dirty on the destroyed carpet. Yeah, that was it – ignoring the cheeky grin Sonic threw at him.

Amy slumped in disappointment; a dance-off would've been a great distraction…and photo op.

Lastly, the fox was using a stethoscope to listen to Sonic's chest. The hedgehog's leg suddenly kicked Tails away. Tails peeled himself off the floor and rubbed his head as the montage ended.

Tails inwardly winced. He'd never been kicked by Sonic before, but those legs could dent metal. Both the robot and the material.

Now Tails was standing, rubbing his chin. "I just can't figure out what's wrong with you."

Amy blinked at those words. "Uh. Tails, I think you overestimate your twin…"

Tails wasn't too worried, and neither was Knuckles. "But we all know that he's going to be the one to figure it out eventually," the echidna pointed out. He had faith in that fox in the upside-down dimension.

He frowned in thought. "Until we get to the bottom of this, you better not run."

Sonic flinched as if slapped. He couldn't believe that he was hearing those words. "He does know that he's talkin' to a variant of Sonic the hedgehog, right?" Tails might as well tell him to not eat chili dogs or breathe while he's at it.

"…Yeah, this isn't going to end well," Knuckles sighed out.

Sonic nodded. "Alright, no problem." He sprinted out of the workshop, making Tails cry out.

"Or begin well."

Sonic reappeared in the doorway, looking apologetic. "Sorry, old habit," he said before slamming the door.

Later on in the day, Sonic's shack was shown, and the blue hedgehog was walking toward Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks positioned around a volleyball net.

Knuckles didn't let disappointment course through him just yet; nothing too crazy had happened and maybe, just maybe his twin wouldn't say anything terrible.

His hopes weren't set too high.

Amy eyed him and frowned. "Sonic, you were supposed to bring the volleyball!"

"Oh, sorry," Sonic apologized. "I'll just zip home and get it!" He positioned himself to take off, and his friends covered their ears to brace for the pain. Sonic relaxed his stance. "And by zip, I mean walk slowly and deliberately."

Eggman frowned at the screen as he watched. Why hadn't he thought of this? Somehow making every step Sonic took cause agony was a great plan! The doctor had no doubt that his double was behind this in some way, and Eggman hated that the below-par evil genius managed to think of this before he had.

And what made him mad as the fact that if he tried out one of these schemes, the heroes would know exactly what he was doing.

Blasted spoilers.

Sonic took his time in walking away. With each heavy step, Sonic seemed to sweat and grow more bored. A map appeared on the screen, showing the long and exhausting trek Sonic had to complete to retrieve the ball.

"Ugh, this is what average people do?" Sonic complained, stifling a yawn. "This is nuts!"

Sonic chuckled even though he felt bad. "I'm so glad that I'm not him right now!" A game of volleyball wouldn't be worth going less than twenty miles per hour. "There's no wind whipping through your hair, or adrenaline running through your veins! I can't imagine doing that willingly!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's a total nightmare."

"I'm glad you agree, Knux!"

He finally reached the volleyball. Sonic bent down and picked it up before turning around. In reality, he'd only moved a couple of feet away from his waiting friends.

"Did he have to be that dramatic?" Amy deadpanned. "Is walking that terrible?" It was better than getting all sweaty for no reason after running! And don't get her started on potentially messed up quills.

Sonic began to walk back, but then crab bots appeared on the trees behind the team.

"It was only a matter of time…" Eggman muttered, though he was – reluctantly – curious to how this was going to go. He knew that the plan was going to fail because it always did, but the how was always idiotically unique. He'd rather learn from his double's failures than his own.

Those were less personal and frustrating.

"Guys!" Sonic dropped the ball and pointed. "Robot attack at six o'clock!"

Knuckles was concerned. "I can't do six o'clock. I have tickets to the opera!" He paused. "No wait, that's someone else…"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes a bit, struggling to stay in his happy place. Maybe if he stayed positive more like Tails – he was impressed the kit managed to after all that happened – then his blood pressure wouldn't spike every time his twin spoke.

He forced himself to shrug. "It's not the worst thing he's said." Wow, that took more out of him than he thought.

Metal's gaze cut to him. "You sound constipated."

Tails was more worried. "More like hurt…"

"Only mentally."

"Behind you!" Sonic shouted to clarify.

The robots dropped down and started to attack the heroes, the anthros dodging their attacks. When a crab got too close to Amy, Sonic ran over to her. Amy clenched her teeth, hands over her ears. He immediately stopped when she sent him a glare.

After destroying the crab bot with her hammer, Amy said pointedly, "Sonic, we got this!"

Sonic blinked at her before sitting in a nearby beach chair, dejected.

Sonic saw Knuckles open his mouth, mischief in those violet eyes of his, and Sonic had to stop him then and there. "No, Knux. Keep your crazy shipping comments to yourself!"

"They're not crazy if they're true," Knuckles snorted.

"He's got a point!" Amy chirped with a smile.

"Of course you'd agree with him…" Sonic mumbled to himself.

Amy ran away to keep fighting, and now Knuckles was shown trying to throw punches at one of the enemies.

"Way to go, Knux!" Sonic encouraged from where he sat. "A left, then a right, then another left!"

Knuckles looked back at him, confused. "Wait, which one am I on?"

Knuckles exhaled deeply, chanting, "Happy place, happy place, happy place…"

The others in the room sent him slightly concerned looks.

He ignored them, easing the stiffness in his shoulders. The echidna cleared his throat. "He was…distracted by the battle, so what the other Sonic said could've been a little confusing."

"…Are you sick?" Sonic asked, seeing how the other was struggling. He hid a grin. "Tails, see if he's sick."

Tails, actually concerned, went over and placed his hand against Knuckles' forehead. "You're not warm…" The kit locked gazes with the guardian as he pulled away. "Do you feel nauseous? Is the room spinning? How many tails to you see?"

"I'm not sick," Knuckles placated, folding his arms across his chest. "And I see two-"

Tails gasped in shock. "Two? There's only one of me!"

"What? Wait, I thought you meant-"

"Is the thing doing something to you? Or was it something you ate?"

"Was it the cookies?" Sonic added to Tails' questions. Before Knuckles could tell them that he was perfectly healthy, the azure hedgie nodded. "I bet it was the cookies! Shadow!" He whipped his head in the stripe one's direction. "You ate some too! Do you feel sick?"

Shadow barely spared him a glance. "I'm sick of existing in this damn house."

"I'll take that as a yes!"

Knuckles deadpanned at Sonic, seeing the mirth in his expression. His confusion was replaced with mild annoyance. "You're enjoying this way too much. Amy, get your boyfriend."

Amy breathily sighed. "Oh how I wish I could…"

Sonic was glad she couldn't.

Knuckles focused on Tails. "I'm not sick, seriously. I just figured that if I get angry every time my twin says something stupid, I'd be laying in a casket within an hour."

The fox relaxed. "That's it? Okay!" Tails cracked a smile as he returned to his seat. "But warn me next time you pull a one-eighty like that! I thought something was really wrong."

Knuckles leaned back in his chair. "Oh, there is. Multiple things. But just not with me."

Knuckles proceeded to get punched multiple times in the face by the robot, collapsing to the ground. The echidna rubbed his head. "How come he gets it and I don't?"

"Because it can follow simple commands," Eggman started before sending Metal a sharp look. "Unlike some other creations."

"I have learned the ways of food and pain, doctor. I am a changed robot."

To the side, Sticks was hiding in some bushes from the two bots searching for her.

"Sticks!" Sonic called her. "Your best move here is a spin attack!"

The badger stood up, blowing her cover. "That's your move, not mine!" Multiple crab bots spotted her, and she slumped. "Uh oh…"

Sonic was suddenly embarrassed and guilty.

Tails didn't like where this was going. "Uh oh, he's backseat fighting."

"They'd be better off letting him fight!" Sonic shook his head in disappointment. "Keeping Sonic the hedgehog from fighting Eggman leads to nothing good."

"Having you fight never leads to anything good."

"It's all relative, Eggy."

In the meantime, Amy destroyed one of the mech with a swing of her hammer. Behind her, another crab bot powered up a laser. The pinkette dodged its blasts, Sonic cheering from the sidelines.

"Yeah! Give them a taste of your secret triple backflip move!" Sonic excitedly advised.

Amy attempted to use said move, but the crab bot plucked her out of the air as she flipped, slamming her to the ground. She was clearly unhappy. "It's not a secret if you tell everyone!"

"To be fair, she was the one to decide to backflip." Knuckles pointed out.

"They listen to each other too much!" Amy smiled a little too broadly. "It's like instinct for them to follow the other's advice! That's so adorable!" She sighed happily before nodding. "But yeah, backflipping was a bad call."

Again, Sonic looked a bit guilty.

"This ends now!" Sticks yelled with finality.

There was a cut, and now Sonic was tied to a coconut tree, the volleyball net wrapped around him.

"She's earned my respect," Shadow said, wishing that Sonic was tied up away from him more often. "The only thing that's missing is a cloth around his mouth."

"Shads, we're friends, not mortal enemies."

"Says you."

"Hey!" he complained. "I thought you were talking about them!" Attacks were heard going off, and Sonic deadpanned. "Oh sure, act like you can do this without-" Amy crushed a crab bot with her weapon. Sonic sighed. "…me."

Sonic scoffed. "Of course they can! They're just regular old crab bots! Even Cream could take them out with no sweat!" He snickered. "I like the other me, but man, check out that guy's ego!"

Everyone – even Tails and Amy – gave the blue hero an unimpressed look.

"Random question," Knuckles began. "Who's the best fighter in this room?"

"Me, duh!" Sonic barked out a laugh. "Seriously, Knux? I'm the blue blur, aka the fastest thing alive! No one in here could beat me if they tried because I'm…" Sonic's voice quieted as he realized what he was doing.

Shadow rose a brow. "Want to continue, Faker?"

"This is called entrapment, and it's illegal."

The team of heroes – except Sonic – were cheering in the middle of destroyed robots.

"Looks like someone else is sitting on the sidelines." Sonic whipped his head to the side at the new voice, finding Eggman sitting on a beach chair.

Amy furrowed her brow. "They really didn't notice him before now? He's kinda hard to miss."

"Eggman!" Sonic tried to break free, but the other's words sunk in. "Wait. What do you mean 'someone else'?"

"I didn't send out these crab bots." The doctor sat all the way up, expression gloomy. "Orbot and Cubot were dusting and accidentally hit a button in the lair."

"But…technically he did." Tails played with one of his namesakes. "He built Orbot and Cubot, so he indirectly sent the other robots."

"Not to agree with my double-" Because that was the last thing Eggman wanted to do. "-but you're basically saying that if a child robbed a bank, then their mother is at fault because she birthed them."

Tails opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking. "She should've kept a better eye on – yeah, I get what you're saying," he eventually ceded.

Sonic eyed him. "So…you weren't behind this?"

Eggman pulled his chair closer to the bound hedgehog. "Looks like you don't need to be a genius to be an evil genius anymore."

"Intelligence is never needed in that dimension to be evil, apparently," Eggman grumbled.

Metal glanced at him.

"Don't."

He laid down with a sigh. "Makes me feel kinda unneeded." Eggman pulled out a box of popcorn and began eating.

"Why does that even matter, though?" Amy fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I mean, if you defeat Sonic – not that you ever will – he's defeated! It doesn't matter if you do it on purpose or on accident!"

"It does matter." Shadow spoke up before Eggman got a chance to. "There's a bigger sense of accomplishment when you purposefully throw that punch, pull that trigger, or wrap your hands around their throat and watch your target's life drain away than if they just trip and fall off a cliff without any interference from you whatsoever."

Eggman nodded. "What he said."

"Uh huh…" Amy eyed the striped hedgehog, and her voice rose an octave. "I know that I sometimes argue with you without fear, Shadow, but deep down, you actually terrify me."

Shadow noncommittally grunted.

Sonic exhaled harshly. "I guess we have something in common…"

"You eat popcorn when you're depressed too?" Eggman asked as he chewed.

"He should be depression-eating salads, not popcorn…" Knuckles muttered.

Metal examined the bag on the screen and inquired, "Does popcorn taste like chips?"

"No, they taste like buttery miracles."

"That does not help, guardian."

"You asked, and I answered."

"Uh, no…" Sonic glanced over to his friends. Sticks was taking a picture of Amy, Knuckles, and Tails standing victorious in front of the downed bots.

"Okay, now they're just rubbin' it in," Sonic huffed.

Sonic refocused on the human. "You know, the whole sitting on the sidelines thing?"

Eggman held up his snack. "Here, have some popcorn. You'll feel better."

Sonic wiggled in the net but couldn't get free. Instead, he opened his mouth; Eggman tossed some popcorn into it.

Sonic liked popcorn as much as the next guy but accepting it from his arch-nemesis was pushing it a bit too far. "And they're suddenly buddies now?"

"Can't be too surprised," Knuckles said, remembering a cow and marshmallows. "Remember Cowbot?"

"Yeah, but that was more of Eggman desperately trying and failing to connect than my twin actually being friends with him!" Sonic guessed that being rendered immobile was lower than being fed popcorn by a mustached doctor…to his double. "Egghead, don't ever do what he's doin'."

Eggman glared at him. "Do I look like I share food, rodent?"

"You insulted yourself before I had a chance to." Metal's tone was surprisingly light. "That is slightly impressive."

Eggman had been referring to his selfish trait, not his rather…round shape, but arguing was a waste of time and energy.

"Okay," Eggman gestured to himself. "The doctor is in. Talk to me. Just because I'm your sworn enemy doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Knuckles frowned. "He's either taking too much medication, or not enough."

Sonic stared blankly at him until Sticks walked up. "Sonic! Eggman's not your friend. If you listen to him, you're gonna end up tied to something!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want that to happen." His sarcasm was palpable.

"I wonder if Sticks knows what she's saying sometimes…" Amy mused.

Knuckles scoffed. "She knows exactly what she's saying." Though, like with his twin, Sticks hadn't been that annoying yet. It could be because she'd gained brownie points when she tied the other Sonic up.

Tails approached him as well. "I don't think this is a good idea, Sonic."

Sonic glanced at the kit. "Well, you couldn't help me. I'm kinda out of options here!" He sighed and faced Eggman. "Whenever I run, there's…this weird noise."

"He's relying on Eggman now?" Sonic knew this situation could led to desperation, but when has asking Eggy for help ever went well? "What has the world come to?"

"Especially considering that there's an eighty percent chance that Eggman is behind this." Knuckles needed to know what went through their twins' minds when they made decisions.

Tails cocked his head at the echidna. "What's the other twenty percent?"

"Something impossible involving past meteor showers, the luck balance of the universe, and those Gogobas."

The doctor stroked his chin. "You know, that happens to Cubot when he gets into the motor oil. Let's go run some tests." He stood up and boarded his own hovercraft. He motioned for Sonic to follow him, but the speedster couldn't separate himself from the tree no matter how hard he tried.

In response to this, Eggman pressed a button on his wrist, shooting out lasers that vaporized the bottom and top half of the tree. Sonic was still tied to the middle section of it. The hero crew looked on in worry as Sonic hopped along to follow Eggman.

"Anyone could've stopped him!" Amy waved her hands in the air. What was with the heroes letting their friends go hang out with the enemy? First with Sticks and the Lightning Bolts, and now Sonic – stuck to a tree, she might add – with Eggman? "If Sonic gets defeated stuck to that very immobilizing trunk, it's going to be all their fault."

"And plus, what is that net made out of?" Tails began, confused to why Sonic wasn't free yet. "Zip ties?"

Within Eggman's evil lair, Sonic was running circles around the doctor who had on earmuffs. There was a device in his hand, measuring as Sonic emitted the loud noise.

"I see…" Eggman eventually mumbled, and Sonic skidded to a stop beside him. "A classic case of velocity-to-energy ratio incompatibly."

Eggman was right in assuming that his twin had something to do with this, because now the other was just spouting out nonsense. Nonsense too intelligent sounding to cause suspicion.

Sonic had a hunch, but he wasn't sure. "Tails, is that a real science thing?"

Tails shook his head. "Nope. It's not a real science thing."

Knuckles sighed. "If only the other Tails was there to tell him that."

Sonic frowned. "Well, why is it happening now?"

The doctor took off his ear muffs. "It comes with age." He gestured to himself. "Like wisdom…or nose hair."

"It's at that point where I would've cut and run, not caring about bursting eardrums along the way," Sonic commented, tisking.

"But not to worry." Eggman walked over to a compartment in a wall. "I have what you need right here."

Sonic tapped his shoe on the ground. "And it's real convenient that Eggy somehow has the solution to the problem."

"There is a hundred percent chance that my copy's copy will fall into a trap."

"It's kinda obvious now Mets, but thanks."

Eggman locked the small door with a key to reveal a pair of brightly colored shoes. "These shoes have power-absorbent insoles," he explained as Sonic walked up to the shoes and grabbed one of them. "They'll prevent the sound loop that's causing the noise. And best of all: they're machine washable."

Eggman had been interested until the last sentence.

Sonic smelled the inside of the shoe and gave it a suspicious look. "Well, how do I know this isn't another scheme of yours?"

"Anyone want to guess what the scheme is?" Knuckles asked the room, knowing already that the blue hedgehog was going to fall for whatever it was.

"…Permanent soggy socks?" Amy provided off the top of her head.

"That'll be terrible, but I don't think that's the case…" Tails stroked his chin. "Well, this episode is called 'Sole Power', Eggman mentioned something about power-absorbent insoles, and in the previous episode, it's been proved that Sonic could be used for energy, so…" Tails snapped his fingers, coming to a conclusion. "Sonic's going to be powering something of Eggman's while he runs. Probably a robot."

Knuckles nodded. "Sounds about right." That plan was short and quick enough to fit into an eleven minute episode.

"But, I don't know how the heroes are going to beat it though…" Tails resumed, pursing his lips.

"It's going to probably something my double hasn't accounted for," Eggman lowly chimed in. "Or messes up."

Sonic smirked at him. "You know this from experience, Baldy?"

"If I say yes, will you stop talking to me?"

"Nope!"

"What, you think I'm planning a secret blister attack?" Eggman asked incredulously. "If you don't want my help, you can always walk out of here." He snatched the shoe back.

Eggman rose a brow at that. The other threatened Sonic with walking? That was basically hook, line, and sinker. Anger then bubbled within the doctor. His twin had it easy in getting the rodents to fall for every one of his tricks, but it was a shame because the plans were always wasted. Brilliant ideas were just flushed down the drain with poor follow-through!

That dimension would've been conquered five times over if Eggman had been there. He was born in the wrong place.

Life wasn't fair.

Sonic pondered his situation for a moment, and then he was shown wearing the shoes. He shifted his weight around in them. "Okay…here goes nothing." Sonic sprinted around the lair before slowing down with a relieved smile. "Hey, there really was nothing! The noise is gone!" He jogged over to the human. "Thanks, Egghead!"

"Don't mention it…" Eggman smirked as Sonic ran off. "…buddy."

"Nevermind the ominous-but-not-really comment from Eggman." Amy scrunched her nose up at the clash of colors that was Sonic's appearance. "Those shoes are an eye sore! His red shoes were perfect, but the yellow is just hard on the eyes!"

Sonic perked up at that. A change in wardrobe might be in his near future. "Enough to keep you from chasing after m – I mean, looking at him?"

"I'm in love with your personality, Sonic. Your appearance is just a bonus!"

Sonic really didn't know how to respond to that.

Knuckles huffed in amusement. "You two need to get a room to work things out."

Sonic knew exactly how to respond to that.

"How about you save that room for you and Rouge instead, huh Knux?"

"What?! What does she have anything to do – I don't – What are you-"

"Yep. You're completely coherent right now."

Knuckles fought to regain his composure. "Sonic, you are the worst sometimes, I hope you know that."

Sonic smiled cheekily at him. "I learned from the best, Knucklehead!"

Back at the beach, Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Sticks were playing the volleyball until Sonic suddenly showed up. He played volleyball by himself while everyone else moved in slow motion.

"Yeah!" he shouted as he landed by a surprised Amy, catching the ball. Sonic spun the ball on his finger. "Sonic's back, baby!"

Amy groaned. "The more I look at those shoes, the worse they get!"

"There are approximately four minutes left in this episode." Metal informed. "The garish footwear should disappear soon enough."

Amy put her hands on her hips. "Don't refer to yourself in the third person. It's creepy."

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, Knuckles hates that."

Knuckles was fighting the hate for all of this twin's thought processes.

Tails held up a finger, smiling. "Wait, no noise! I guess Eggman figured it out."

"Yeah!" Sonic pointed at his new shoes. "Power-absorbent insoles!" He ran a bit around the group. "Eggman actually helped me!" A tremor then unexpectedly shook the ground, and the source of the shaking was a giant robot smacking down trees to get to the heroes. Sonic's happiness drained out of him. "Or…it was part of a trap."

"Looks like you were spot on, Tails!" Sonic praised the yellow kit, leaning over and high-fiving him.

"It didn't really take that much thought," Tails said with a chuckle. "It was pretty simple with all of the hints!"

Sonic rushed the huge robot, and static sparked all around the mech. The speedster spin dashed the enemy, but the bot blocked him with an arm shield. It then attempted to shoot Sonic with eye lasers; Sonic managed to dodge all of them, being pushed back to where his friends were.

"So…no team attacks?" Knuckles questioned. "They're just going to stand there while Sonic does all the work?"

"Maybe they're…uh…" Tails gave up. "I can't think of any excuses."

Eggman floated above in his hovercraft. "Sonic, I'd like you to meet Giant Robot. I didn't have time to name him because I was too busy planning this trap."

"At least name it something egg related!" Eggman puffed out air. "It's slightly degrading, but it's a simple process and it shows that you care at least a bit!"

"Aw, Eggy! You care about your pet robots?" Sonic mockingly cooed. "That's adorable."

"Do you want me to destroy every chili dog stand in existence, cactus?"

All playfulness left Sonic's face. "Adorable? Why would anyone say that about creating homicidal robots?" He glanced over to an unamused striped hedgehog. "Shadow, why'd you call Eggman adorable? That's out of character for you!"

Shadow wasn't going to waste the energy he didn't have to respond.

Sonic gritted his teeth and charged the robot again. However, the more he ran, the more Giant Robot glowed red. The bot blocked Sonic's attack again and struck a victory pose.

"My turn," Eggman announced just as the robot punched Sonic square on. The hedgehog was launched back until he was caught by Knuckles. Back on his feet, Sonic was joined by Amy as he attacked once more. Though, it didn't seem like the mech was affected.

Knuckles shook his head. "Yeah, let those two fight by themselves while the guy with the super strength stands on the side-lines and watches."

"He'll join in eventually!" Amy chirped. Preferably before her twin and the other Sonic got demolished.

"By then, there wouldn't even be a point because the robot would be too powered up!" Knuckles grumbled. "And they still haven't figured that out yet, by the way."

Tails held up a device and scanned the mech. His brow furrowed. "It doesn't have a power source…how is that even possible?!"

Eggman laughed as Sonic ran about his robot, dodging laser. "That's right, Sonic. Run. Run!"

Eggman resisted the urge to face-palm. Sure, he was guilty of giving away his plans, but couldn't his twin be a little less obvious? That was like screaming to the world 'Keep running to power up this robot!' He needed to learn the concept of inside voices.

Tails pondered Eggman's behavior before focusing on Sonic. The hedgehog circled the bot, and the kit's attention was brought to the new shoes that were subtly lighting up.

Realization sunk in. "Sonic!" Tails raised his hands. "Stop!" Sonic listened to him, glancing back at the kit. "Your shoes are powering the robot! The faster you move, the stronger it gets!" Sonic was dumbfounded, gazing down at his shoes.

"And Tails saves the day again!" Amy cheered.

"And he moves up on my favorite character list even though he was already first," Knuckles uttered, slowly clapping.

"Ooo, sneaky," Eggman snickered. "I wish I had thought of that. Oh wait, I did."

"Oh, well that's easy to fix," Sonic told Tails before sinking to the ground and pulling at his shoes. However, they stayed glued to his feet.

Tails hummed to himself. "Well, that's a twist…"

"He can never take off his shoes?" Amy grimaced in disgust. "His feet would be rancid within a week!"

Knuckles stared at her. "There's a violent robot that is steady growing more powerful, and you're worrying about the condition of Sonic's feet."

"Aren't you?"

Eggman raised a finger. "Oh, did I forget to mention? They don't come off!"

Sonic glared up at him. "We'll see about that, Eggy." He went up to the nearest coconut tree and kicked it. A coconut plummeted down and smacked into his forehead. "Ow!" he hissed, staring at the projectile and then the camera. "…I'm not saying it will be easy…"

"Oh no…" Knuckles sighed out, still processing what just happened. "Is he catching the stupid?"

"No!" Sonic argued, not wanting the other Knuckles to rub off on his twin too much. "It's just the stress getting to him! His speed is on the line, so he'd do anything to get it back." Sonic smiled, mentally patting himself on the back. "Yeah!"

Knuckles held onto Sonic's optimism with an iron grasp, having two tolerable characters was more enjoyable than having only one.

Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks were all busy fighting the huge robot.

"They decide to attack after the robot absorbed all of that power?" Shadow needed to know that his double wasn't anything like the ones on the screen. For the sake of his sanity. "Good call."

Their attacks did nothing, and all they could do was dodge. Sticks had thrown her boomerang but was harmlessly deflected.

She caught her weapon and asked, "If Sonic's not running, why does the robot still have power?"

"Because the shoes store the energy he generates!" Eggman enthusiastically answered. "You see-"

"Are we really gonna do the thing where you explain how you did it?" Amy questioned, annoyed.

Sonic scoffed. "She's wastin' her breath. He's gonna do it anyway."

Eggman muttered inaudibly to himself about taking pride in one's work.

Eggman went on like she hadn't spoken. "The hardest part was getting that sound to play whenever Sonic ran." He dug in the space of the hovercraft and pulled out a holoprojector. "I have actually prepared a brief presentation that explains the whole brilliant scheme."

Metal tilted his head at the screen. "The doctor had time to do that but did not have time to properly name his creation. That makes perfect sense."

"It's been proven that his priorities are skewed," Knuckles grunted, unfazed.

The device hovered away and began to project a hologram, but Amy smashed it before it could finish its job.

The whole room clapped.

Eggman angrily floated down to her, clenching a fist. "Do you know how long it took me to create that presentation? Here, I've prepared a brief presentation that explains it step-by-step."

"Just stop talking!" Eggman groused, pulling his mustache.

Sonic kept spin attacking the robot, and the bot blocked him without fail.

"If you could only see yourself right now," Eggman boasted, smirking. "I took your greatest strength and made it into a weakness!"

Determined, Sonic went in for another attack only to be deflected. Upon landing on the sand, the speedster glanced down sadly at his feet while Eggman laughed. However, the sadness didn't last long. Sonic grinned to himself and started to run around Giant Robot, going faster and faster.

Tails gasped, leaning forward in his chair. "That's it! He's going to overload the robot!"

Knuckles was somewhat impressed. "Alright, he's redeeming himself now."

Sonic snorted. "I mean, it's not that it's hard to find holes in Eggy's plans and exploit 'em." He chuckled at the audible exhale coming from Eggman. "But yeah, because he did that, I'm willin' to forget him getting hit in the head by a coconut."

"Sonic, this is crazy!" Sticks yelled in alarm.

"No it isn't," Knuckles opposed. "It's stupid!"

Knuckles' mood plummeted. Having his double and Sticks speak separately was one thing, but together… "Happy place. Stay in your happy place."

Sticks turned on him. "Crazy!"

"Stupid!"

"Crazy!"

"Stupid!"

Knuckles made a strangled noise in the back of his throat; Tails patted him encouragingly on his back.

As the echidna and badger argued, Sonic amped up his speed, causing the robot to glow more intensely. Also, its limbs began to twitch prominently.

"Crazy!"

"Stupid!"

"No…" Tails shook his head and smiled. "It's brilliant!"

"Please tell me they're done…"

Tails nodded at the suffering echidna. "Looks like it! My double had another realization, so there's no point in arguing-" If that was even a valid argument. "-anymore!"

Sonic's speed steadily increased, and the robot seemingly couldn't handle all of the power pumped into it.

Eggman was fiddling with the device on his wrist. "Hey, wait. That's too much! Seriously! Slow down! It's overloading!"

Sonic chortled. "Telling a Sonic to slow down? Ha! What a funny joke!" He wiped away an imaginary tear. "What is he gonna say next? Ask the wind to not blow? Ask the sun to not shine?"

Amy pursed her lips in thought. "But…you do slow down, Sonic."

"Yeah, but not when asked."

Sonic did the complete opposite. He accelerated exponentially, causing Giant Robot's head to explode. The pieces rained down while the body went limp, falling to the ground.

Sonic stopped in front of the downed mech, his smirk wide. "Ah, now that we're done warming up, Sonic's gonna go for a run." He sprinted between the heroes and Eggman before disappearing into the trees.

"…Do you guys think it's creepy when he refers to himself in the third person?" Eggman asked the anthros.

"Yeah," they all chorused.

Tails didn't quite agree. "It's not creepy. It's more…abnormal."

Sonic rose a brow. "Abnormal? Sonic thinks it's pretty hilarious."

The kit grinned at him. "Really? Well, Tails believes-"

"And no more of that. Please and thank you." Eggman cut them off before it got out of hand.

For once, Knuckles and Shadow appreciated Eggman's existence.

"Aw man, but Amy wants to join in-"

"Stop," Metal demanded, and Amy puffed out her cheeks in irritation.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "We were tryin' to pump some fun into this fifty-two-episode long trip-" Shadow inwardly groaned at that reminder. "-but since you guys want to be buzzkills, then…" His words trailed off when static once again filled the air.

Everyone focused on the white noise on the screen until another flaming and pulsating number popped up.

"Sixteen?" Tails' eyes widened at the implication of that. "So the number went down after the episode! This means that we possibly have only sixteen more episodes to watch!"

Knuckles didn't want to raise his hopes too quickly. "But didn't Metal say that there were at least fifty-two?"

Metal nodded. "I would not lie about that."

"Maybe the thing's makin' this whole situation better for us!" Sonic chirped in excitement. Maybe they would all make it out of here without going completely crazy after all. "It's showing mercy!"

If Eggman was any less of an evil tyrant, he would've cried happy tears.

"Yes!" Amy did a little dance in her chair. "Our time here is basically cut in half! Maybe even shorter! I can't believe that this is hap-" She was then interrupted by chuckles, her mouth closing in shock. It wasn't what she was cut off by that surprised her, but who was producing the sound.

Shadow was laughing, and it was growing louder by the second.

Everybody was stunned as they watched Shadow lean back in his chair, covering his face with his hands with his mouth wide with laughter.

Tails didn't know how to feel about this. "I…I'm uncomfortable…"

"Yeah, it's just so unnatural to hear…" Amy whispered as if talking louder would cause something catastrophic.

"There are red flags going up in my mind," Knuckled cautiously muttered. "Has he finally lost it?"

Sonic eyed his rival. "He's just so happy and carefree and-" He grimaced before calling out, "You okay over there, Shads?" They needed to get him under control before the world imploded.

Shadow took his time in calming down. This news was the greatest thing he'd heard in months. Breathy chuckles were still escaping him when he answered, "I'm perfectly fine, Faker."

Everyone shared a look that said no, Shadow wasn't perfectly fine.

"He is delirious," Metal observed, and Eggman agreed. A hysterically laughing Shadow caused more mental alarms to go off than a scowling one.

Tails subtly nodded. "Yeah, the lack of sleep will do that, and the sudden surge of dopamine didn't help things either…"

Sonic frowned at the kit. "What's-"

"A happiness hormone."

"Oh." Yeah, that would explain Shadow's current state of mind.

"Should we just…continue?" Amy asked.

Knuckles couldn't think of a reason not to. "Maybe he'll return to normal as time goes on."

They all nodded to each other.

Shadow was too busy drowning in relief to even care about what they were saying.

He'd reunite with his bed soon enough.

Happy Shadow has everyone spooked.

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!