While Sonic was running back to Knothole, he ran into Shadow again.
"Sonic, I've changed my mind about being in a good mood." said Shadow.
"Aw, boo-hoo, Shadow!" taunted Sonic.
"Listen, Faker, you're gonna pay for this insolence!"
"Ah, cut the baloney! I got more important things to do right now!" Sonic continued running, but Shadow blocked his path.
"You're not going anywhere!" said Shadow. "No one gets in my way and gets away with it!'
"Well, maybe ya shouldn't be so clumsy!" retorted Sonic. "I think your brain's still a bit scrambled from bein' locked up so long."
"Oh, and you know what else? No one – and I mean NO ONE – makes fun of Super Changin' Muscle Rangers! Do you understand, Faker!?"
"Well, I made fun of it anyways! What are ya gonna do about it? Oh, and speaking of…"
"I challenge you to a fight! We're going to settle this once and for all!"
"Sorry, I ain't got time for this. I gotta go!" Sonic attempted to run away, but no matter where he tried to go, Shadow always blocked him.
"Shadow, I'm sorry, man!" exclaimed Sonic. "I promise I'll be more careful next time. We solid now?"
"Not good enough! I'm not leaving until I get payback!"
"Fine! Payback THIS!" Sonic landed a brutal right hook on Shadow's cheek. Shadow certainly felt that blow, but he kept his footing. Now, the fight was really on. Shadow tackled Sonic to the ground and started punching him in the face. However, Sonic threw him off and flipped himself back up. Turning to face Shadow, he charged at him and tried a jump kick. Shadow dodged the kick, though, and retaliated with a Spin Dash.
"WHOA!" exclaimed Sonic, who jumped out of the way. Afterwards, he retaliated with a karate chop, striking Shadow over the head. Nevertheless, Shadow shook it off, picked Sonic up and threw him towards a tree. While the Blue Blur got a nasty bruise and cracked the tree a bit, the tree still stood. So, he ran towards Shadow, only to get kicked in the gut. Luckily, Sonic didn't regurgitate the chili dogs he'd eaten earlier, but he sure came close.
While Sonic was still reeling from the kick, Shadow pulled out a Chaos Emerald and said, "Chaos…" However, before he could finish, Sonic recovered, performed a roundhouse kick and knocked the Emerald out of Shadow's hand. Enraged, Shadow ignored Sonic and went for the green gem that he'd been holding. Sonic ran after the Emerald too, hoping to prevent Shadow from pulling any clever tricks. Both hedgehogs tackled each other to the ground, struggling with each other.
"Shadow…drop it!" pleaded Sonic.
"No," retorted Shadow. "I won't stop…until you've paid…for your insolence!"
"But Shadow…I gotta tell you…about…the Muscle Rangers!"
Shadow's hand inched ever closer to the Chaos Emerald.
"Yes…" said Shadow. "You wish…to say sorry."
"No…that ain't it!"
"Then…what?"
"They've…been…kidnapped!"
Just as Shadow could almost touch his Emerald, he exclaimed "WHAT!?" and ceased his struggle. Both the hedgehogs got to their feet.
"It's true, man" said Sonic.
"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! NOBODY kidnaps Walt Zacharias and gets away with it! Who could have done such a heinous thing!?"
"If ya ask me, Robuttnik's gotta be the one behind this whole thing. However, I don't think…"
Shadow picked up his Chaos Emerald and interrupted with: "Thank you, Sonic. That's all I need!"
"Shadow, wait…"
"CHAOS CONTROL!" In an instant, Shadow was gone.
"Gee, ya think that patience would be in their vocabularies!" said Sonic. Rather than going with Rouge & Shadow, he went back to Knothole.
When Ol' Blue arrived, Knothole seemed empty.
"Uh-oh, where'd everyone go?" wondered Sonic.
Luckily, the village was not completely empty. Flicky, a small blue bird, was still here.
"Yo Flicks, where is everybody?" asked Sonic.
"They went to the meeting house," replied Flicky.
"Gravy! Catch ya later!"
Inside the meeting house, Sally, Tails, Knuckles, Bunnie, Amy, Antoine, Rotor and a couple of other villagers were discussing…actually, you can guess what they were discussing, so we'll get to the point: Sonic burst into the meeting house all of a sudden.
"Guys! Guys!" exclaimed Sonic. "I got somethin' to tell ya!"
"What is it, Sonic?" asked Tails.
"Is something wrong?" asked Sally. "What happened to you?"
"Never mind that," replied Sonic, "I'm here about the Super Changin' Muscle Rangers!"
"Sonic, I didn't know you cared about that show! Hee hee!" replied Sally.
"No Sal, that ain't it!"
"Oh Sonic, of course it is! We knew you would get over your little phase!
"Yeah, welcome to the club, Sonic!" said Rotor.
"Guys, quit yankin' my legs!" ordered Sonic. "They got kidnapped! This is serious business!"
"WHAT!?" exclaimed the group.
"When the heck did this happen?" asked Tails.
"Why am I always the past one to be knowing about these things?" wondered Antoine.
"Dang it, Sonic, you'd better not be giving away the plot of the next episode!" said Knuckles.
"No man," said Sonic, "I mean, the actors who played them got kidnapped!"
Everyone cried "WHAT!?" again.
"Well, I guess you really do care!" said Sally.
"Sal, Tails, everyone, listen to me!" pleaded Sonic. "This ain't about what TV shows we like or don't like! This is about doin' the right thing! Now, we started this outfit because we wanted to save the world from bein' taken over by Robuttnik, right? Well, sometimes, bein' a hero means we gotta help people even if we don't got the same opinions as them! It's about listening to our hearts, ya dig?"
"Wow…Sonic, that was…profound!" exclaimed Sally.
"Yeah, that was totally sweet of you, Sonic!" said Amy.
"But wait…who kidnapped them?" asked Tails.
"Who do ya think?" replied Sonic.
"Sacre bleu!" exclaimed Antoine. "Allons-y!"
"Don't worry, Johnny!" exclaimed Amy. "I'll save you, my love!" Amy & Antoine charged for the door.
"No…wait a minute…" The two crazed Muscle Rangers fans ignored Sonic's advice and plowed him over. Tails & Sally rushed to his aid.
"Sonic, are you all right?" asked Tails.
"I'm feelin' sore, but other than that, I'm chill," said Sonic. After Sonic got to his feet, Rotor spoke up:
"Hold on, I've got something I've been working on for a while that might work! Here's what we do…"
Meanwhile, the stars of Super Changin' Muscle Rangers awoke in a strange place. They were all tied together with some force field.
"Well well, if it isn't the Super Changin' Muscle Rangers!" remarked Dr. Robotnik. "Welcome to my evil lair!"
"Just who do you think you are!?" snapped Johnny Austin.
"Why, I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, although you may also call me Dr. Eggman! I am the almighty ruler of the world!"
"Yo mama's the ruler of the world!" retorted Manny Taylor, the actor who played Walt Zacharias.
"SILENCE!" shouted Robotnik.
"What do you want with us!?" cried Amy Sutherland, the actress who played Amy Hartman.
"Do not worry, my dear," replied Robotnik, "I am a big fan of your television show! I mean no harm to you!"
"Yeah, well you've got an odd way of showing it!" retorted Oliver Davidson, the actor who played Frankie Thompson, the green Ranger.
"Yeah, if we weren't tied up right now, we'd kick your butt!" exclaimed Alicia Huynh, the actress who played Ashley Trang, the yellow Ranger.
"You? Kick my butt?" said Robotnik. "AHAHAHAHA! I would love to see you try, my dear!"
"Come on, just let us go!" begged Harry Cranston, the actor who played David Williams, the blue Ranger. "We've got an episode to film!"
"You're not going anywhere!" said Robotnik. "I've got my own plans for you! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
Meanwhile, Rouge joined Shadow near the city limits of Eggopolis.
"You didn't think you were going on this little rescue mission without me, did you?" said Rouge.
"Wait, how did you know I was going to rescue the Super Changin' Muscle Rangers?" asked Shadow.
"Well, duh! It's the most popular TV show right now! I figured that even you would be a fan!"
"Very well played, Bat Girl. Just focus on the mission, OK?"
"Got it. By the way, Shadow, since when do you own a TV…or even a house?"
"Look, he already asked that question, and if you have to ask, you're wasting your time! We've got a job to do, so just drop it!"
"Whatever you say, friend." (How do I put up with this guy, again? thought Rouge)
Suddenly, something – or rather, someone – was coming up on Shadow & Rouge. It was Amy (Rose, naturally), dragging Antoine along.
"So, you two have decided to go on this mission with us, too?" said Shadow. "Just don't screw up!"
"Don't mind him," said Rouge. "I'm just glad that you & I can finally agree on something, girl! Now, let's go!" The group went onwards to Eggopolis.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being observed by Grounder & Scratch.
"Intruders sighted!" said Grounder, who was using a binocular attachment to watch them.
"All right!" exclaimed Scratch. "We'll zap 'em good! Buh-HA ha-HAAAAA!"
"Yeah!" said Grounder
"Hey, did ya remember to set up the zap trap?"
"But I thought you were gonna set it up!"
"No, you had to set it up this time!"
"Aw, come on! I set up the trap the last time!"
"Well, set it up anyways, ya moron! Robotnik said he wanted us watching out for intruders!"
"No, you set it up!"
"No, you set it up!"
"You set it up!"
"You set it up!"
While Scratch & Grounder were squabbling, the four heroes passed by the spot where the trap was supposed to be.
"Aw great, now they got away!" exclaimed Grounder.
"Well this wouldn't have happened if ya hadn't forgotten to set the trap, poindexter!" retorted Scratch.
"But you were the one who was supposed to set it!"
"Ah, quit your whinin'! Let's just grab the thing and…wait, where did we put that thing, anyways?"
"See!? If you'd set it up, then ya wouldn't have lost it!"
"That's it, gimme the remote, buster!" Scratch attempted to grab the remote from Grounder, and a struggle ensued. In the struggle, Scratch accidentally pressed the button on the remote, causing the two of them to get zapped by their own trap.
"Nice job, birdbrain!" said Grounder.
"Aw, can it!" retorted Scratch.
Finally, Shadow & the others made it to Eggopolis.
"It's not far now," said Shadow. "Let's teach that stupid doctor a lesson!"
"Yeah!" shouted Amy.
Within seconds, they found themselves surrounded by SWATbots and a few other badniks.
"Intruder alert. Priority one!" said one of the SWATbots.
"You can't stop me!" said Shadow. "CHAOS CONTROL!" With time frozen, Shadow demolished all those badniks within seconds.
"Let's go!" The group kept going. Suddenly, Shadow was hit by a laser bolt and fell unconscious.
"NO!" cried Rouge, who rushed over to Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form was still alive; he'd merely been hit by a stun bolt. Seeing that her friend still had vital signs, Rouge was somewhat relieved. However, any sense of relief that she might have had was immediately dispelled when some more badniks surrounded them.
"Hold it!" ordered a Hoverbot pilot. "No false moves!" Seeing that they were surrounded, Rouge, Amy & Antoine gave up and were carted off to Robotnik's HQ.