Sonic IRL (Series)

by CGMayra

In a world where Sonic and his friends are real, virtual AIs that can only be seen through the walls of SEGA, comes a tragic secret within SEGA of Japan's past, and their speedy blue hedgehogs now all feel the consequences. All the Amy Roses from the many different SEGA HQs are glitching! American Sonic is determined to find out why... (Sonamy) CONTAINS: Kisses, deaths

13. Comic-Kaze

Sonic IRL

Comic-Kaze

By: Cutegirlmayra (Here we go once more! I really wanted to write this, so I spared no loss and went right to the writing!)

After the whole 'fiasco' with the emotions controls, it's clear the company soon figures out who started it all, as Dr. Hope sits in her office, tracking a very important package that will help get her and the characters to Comic Con time in an orderly manner.

That was, for a chance of pace, another duty she was tasked upon. For her industry's animatronics were now going to shown to the world! She was either going to make millions, or just give characters a way to interact with fans and the real world in a whole new way.

As she walked down the halls of SEGA, she dreamed blissfully of her goal coming to pass. Where Video Game Characters could finally interact on a whole new level with fans, and who knows? Maybe a new element to her theory would be secured by having all four elements line up perfectly!

What child wouldn't doubt the existence of a robot that acted and moved so freely as to simulate life? Thus having 'Heart' strengthened into a firm belief that they were, indeed, alive? And a character's 'Will' perfectly embedded with code that could respond with ease and personality to each question. Not to mention 'Action' would be more fully controlled by a company because the character would be happy! And come to think of it… 'Life' couldn't get better! Think of how you could market that! Just imagine! Kids walking into Walmart and buying their own copy of Sonic's datacore, and then plugging it in, so to speak, into their own Sonic animatronic! They could be quick friends! He could help them feel good about themselves, play make believe with them, not just that- They could even battle other animatronics and make this a living pokemon!

Which reminded her, that this could be bigger than Sonic himself!

She then thought of all the chaos that ensued only a little while ago, and sighed. "Now I'll never know the circumference of Amy's butt…" she muttered to herself, looking truly disappointed in that, but also trying to laugh hardly about it… but it only came out a short light chuckle as she then thought about what Sonic had said to her.

"…You've done enough. Go back to Japan…"

Those words… stung her. Not only as a fan of Sonic, but also as, what she considered to be, his friend.

She wanted to help the characters, not make them… feel like she was only hindering them.

Amy's words were a comfort, but she was starting to question herself…

"I've got to make it up to them." She clenched her fist tightly.

"I've got to show them I meant no harm!"

-The Middle of Nowhere-

Sonic folded his arms, looking grumpy he was forced into a car, and glared up at Sophie.

"Aren't you suppose to be feeling the heels of my executives right about now?"

His voice held so much rotten humor that Dr. Hope parked the car and just stared out the window for a moment.

It took all her strength not to laugh and encourage the behavior further.

She cleared her throat, and turned around, facing him in the passengers seat. "Here's a phone." She gave him the virtual data bit, which was funny, cause it actually held the code for a real cellphone.

"…This is a microchip." He took it, and felt the data soar into his code, and then let it go, having only needed to touch it with his index finger and thumb a moment to transfer the code.

He folded his arms again.

"Right, I know. But it's a phone." She continued, deciding not to play any games with him today. "I took you on this joyride not to try and make amends, but to give you a breather."

His eyebrow raised up.

"And the company trusted you with this?"

"…The company may have just been informed by voicemail."

His intrique rose a little more, and he smirked. "Well,… at least it's got nothing to do with Amy." He started to relax, kicking his feet up and putting his hands behind his head.

Then he lost his cool and moved back down to how he was originally sitting, "Or are we about to have a long and extremely awkward, off-topic, discussion on her again?"

"No." Dr. Hope abruptly shut off that worry from his mind. "You were right. This has nothing to do with her. This has everything to do with you stepping away from all those stresses in your life and just… running."

His face turned a little softer, searching her face for some sign that she was kidding, or pulling his leg.

"…Just run, Sonic. I honestly, truthfully just want you to go enjoy yourself." She parked the car and turned it off.

He watched her hands do the motions and then looked back up at her, not able to hold back his smile, "You're serious?"

"You've been cooped up doing who knows what trying to satisfy and understand your new found data regarding Amy Rose." Sophie kicked her knees up, and took out her own phone. "Taxing as that sounds, you also have to deal with Amy wanting more attention and sadly, needing more reassurance that you're sticking to your guns on this one. Which, we all know, we leave the guns to Shadow, but eh, you're kinda learning how to aim, fire, and shoot straight." She turned her head to him and winked.

He didn't seem to think that funny, but he looked away and kept a smile on his face.

"You mean this." He looked back at her. "I can just… go?" he motioned his hand out.

"There's a new game you're needed for. But production is down due to my… little error…" she grimaced and looked away, "But there is a catch to this new found freedom."

She wiggled her phone around. "In addition to going off exploring around the world, since that microchip connected you to my phone's data, you can now travel all around the place AND, here's a biggie, take pictures that automatically get sent as text messages to my phone. Just… anything highly interesting, or if you travel to another state or country, take a picture for me. Deal?"

She held out her hand to his.

They both were laying back in the seat, as Sonic let out a chuckle, rubbing his hand to his muzzle, thinking this through…

"That's it?" he finally concluded.

"That's it." She agreed, and shook her hand in the air, "Come on, dude! Don't leave me hanging just before we ship off to Comic Con!"

"….You know,… maybe you are cut out for this profession." He took her hand, which they both couldn't feel the other, but it was funny to say the least, and shook it.

Since they were out of SEGA boundaries, new virtual rules applied, and she saw her hand slightly phase through his own.

"Odd." She stated.

"Kinda cool. Tickles a little though." He mused.

"Really?" She was surprised to hear that.

"No." he teased, showing he just wanted to mess with her, before saluting her off and kicking the door to automatically open.

She laughed at that. "Hey! Don't hack my car!"

"It's not yours!" That was true, because it was owned by SEGA, he had access to it.

He dashed out and in a matter of seconds, he was gone from her sight.

She kicked back and opened her phone, calling Hoshi.

"….Hey! It's me! Guess you're working. I took American Sonic for a joyride and now he's out and about having fun and kicking back. Yeah… he needed to get some stuff off his mind for a change. Clear his head a bit. Remove a load from his shoulders. Anyway, I'm heading back to SEGA of America and I was hoping you could help me know how Japanese Sonic is doing? Thanks. Oh and um… i-ignore that final thing from last time.. the whole uh… w-well in America, we sometimes say goodbye to like- family and stuff with I love-" the message machine clicked, and she wagged her phone in the air angrily when she heard it.

She held her phone down and sat back, thinking about everything.

She then got a text and looked down, hoping for Sonic.

Nope…

Walking down the halls of SEGA now, she was back in her grove, trying to remain confident as her jacket hung by her shoulders, and her sunglasses back to her head with her heels making her feel empowered.

Sophie, to say the least, was hoping that this 'meeting' she was called to would only, thankfully, chastise her a bit and then ask her to never work with the companies machineries again.

She could live with that.

Shadow, materializing beside her, was something she was not expecting though.

"Oh… hello."

He remained silent, but walked bristly next to her, eyes forward.

"…" she slowly moved her head back ahead of her, but slowed her pace, and noticed that he did the same.

"…Hmm… why do I see your presence as an ominous omen?" she lightly teased.

"…The official of whom contacted you was not present for the Japan council of which you stated your findings for Sonic's problems. But I think he's calling you here for more than further questioning…" his voice almost seemed like he was on an errand of such, and she looked curiously down to him at that.

"Forgive me… but I seem suspicious as to why you care?" He never really did say much during their sessions he was forced to come too, given that the company was a little paranoid about all their characters glitching, and that's how they became acquainted.

"You suppose me to be doing my creators wishes?" he looked up at her, but there was a darkness in his eyes. "I assure you. I'm here as a warning."

"Why warn me?" Sophie looked down, still suspicious and confused. "I thought the last time we met, you stated you wanted nothing to do with 4D people."

"I still hold to my assertions." Shadow narrowed his eyes, and then turned forward again. "This… head honcho of whom your about to meet… he's not one to take lightly. He's a serious business man, one you should know doesn't hold any of your research in regard. In other words…" he stopped when she came to the office door.

He folded his arms, "Keep your mouth shut. And consider yourself warned." He then walked away, as Sophie realized he must care a little more about her than she thought.

She turned around, "Then, I guess I don't have a 'shadow' of a doubt now! Do I? You really do have a soft spot! Thanks, buddy!" she purposefully shouted that loudly, and watched him tense up, and hoped her action only made him grow slightly fonder of humans.

He felt that his creators shouldn't have taken Maria away from him, but let her live.

Because of that, he's held a distain for being a mere creation in both his backstory… and his own world.

She saw him dematerialize and felt a little bad for pushing it, but was hoping it was worth showing her gratitude.

Then again, he truly hated Sonic's way of humor, maybe… she should have let the pun go.

…. Or not.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley… of the shadow… of death. I will fear no evil." She recited the verse, and took a deep breath, about to go in.

She heard a 'ding' on her phone and quickly turned it to vibrate, before looking at the picture.

Sonic was surrounded by showgirls, and his text read- "Amy, who?"

She wanted to laugh and punch him at the same time.

"At least he's getting the picture." She joked. "Oh, gosh. The puns." She leaned her head back, not realizing she was saying so many of them.

"Hey, just a quick observation needing clarity but… was that from the bible?"

She turned around.

Tails swished his twin namesakes behind him, and seemed to be preoccupied on a tablet, but put it down to look up at her.

"Passing by?" she smiled. "Or still looking for a beautiful lady?" she teased.

"That was your fault and I still resent you for that." He quickly spoke out, glaring at her before returning to his question. "All I asked was a clarification on what religion that was."

"….Why would a video game character have questions regarding scripture?" Sophie liked the idea of stalling the inevitable of going into that office.

So she turned and put all attention to Tails.

"Is it wrong to question my God's God?" he raised an eyebrow. "After all, our scripture is whatever the Bios or backstories say of us. Your God uses fancy novels of historical stories to give evidence to his life."

"And yet, when your creators die, all they'll have left is a section with their name on a credit scroll."

He bit his tongue after that.

"Have you ever wondered Tails… if the God of your Gods…" she bent down to his level, "Ever helped inspire them to create you?"

He thought a moment, and she hoped him stumped, before he looked away to the corner of the upper side of his eye, before looking back to her, clearly unable to answer that. "It's a possibility." He stated, and then faced her more professionally, putting the tablet behind him.

"But you avoided my question."

"I'm Christian, yes." She smiled.

"Of what branch?" he asked, which puzzled her a little.

"Does it matter?" she blinked.

"Christian,… what? Cause I hear that religion plays a lot into how people operate and think. So I'm curious, Christian what?"

"…LDS." She was amused, but also confused as to why he cared so much. "What does that say about my thinking then?"

"…I don't know. Let me check." He pulled out his tablet again and went to typing.

He suddenly made a face and looked back at her, then the screen.

"What? Never heard of a Mormon before?" she thought that amusing.

"…You believe in eternal love?" he looked back up to her.

"Yes."

"…Wow, heh. That explained so much." He suddenly turned around and went off.

"H-hey!..." she held a hand out to him, "…WHAT THE FLIP DOES THAT MEAN!?"

"Miss Hope?"

She straightened herself out and turned around, "Yes?" she tried to look professional again, but clearly was upset that Tails scoffed her at what she didn't know he was referring too.

She assumed in that moment that maybe he meant her support for Sonic and Amy's relationship, and slightly smiled sarcastically and how he thought religion could have anything to do with her view of love.

Oh… wait…

"We're ready to see you… whenever you are." The man opened the door more and invited her in, but looked annoyed that she was late.

She sheepishly smiled and nodded her head, walking in.

"You're the infamous Doctor I keep hearing about?" The man spoke, and chuckled lightly as he clapped his hands, looking down and away from her. "I must admit, I thought you older."

"Heh.. And you sure, I thought you a true American, but now I see you're from the HQ in Japan." She spoke in Japanese, and his curiosity looked impressed by her wits. (Author's note: Since a lot of people didn't like me using Google translate to do the Japanese translations, I'll show it through underlining sentences, so you know when they are speaking another language or not.)

"You do speak Japanese. I'm impressed. But for the sake of being polite, let's return to English." He gestured her to sit down.

She happily did so, seeing as he kept whatever opinions he had of her below the surface of his professionalism.

"Now then. I was briefed earlier about your lecture and position on finding the common issue with Sonic The Hedgehog, our companies most… treasured mascot. After receiving your report, may I assume you believe his behavior to be a direct result of 'Action' as you were speaking of in your own formula of Character Analysis?"

"That's correct." She nodded, seeing he did his homework.

He nodded his head, and she could see he wasn't fully thinking that logical, but continued anyway as he clasped his hand again and moved to the board. "I hope you understand, the council is debating as we speak regarding your theory and what can be done for Sonic. On the other hand, we must address what is set forth as of today. We have terminated Eggman's sentence and he is free to roam once more."

Dr. Hope's face dropped from her calm composure.

"We assure you." He bowed slightly, "He will not cause any further harm."

"Hmm… if you say so." She nodded to him again, as the men around her still stood standing…

"Another thing we should inform you. You are to only handle the equipment we provide. You did cause quite the disorder, very against the very reasons why we called you in. We understand our characters can be manifested by some strange energy force that wills them alive, but we need them to still work with us. And for that, we try our best to treat them well, however, much like children, they can rebel and at times, turn moody and depressing. We hired you to cure this. We believe you've heightened it, surely against your own intentions, but the fact still stands, it has happened."

She was starting to understand where this was going, but still felt odd how no one was seated.

"Sir?" she put her hands together and on the table. "Am I being fired?"

"….No." he didn't answer her in Japanese. "You're being given charge to be strictly watched over…"

He nodded in his words, stepping forward. "We can't have you running amok as you have been lately. We believe the characters will begin to calm down if you're sessions with them are monitored and actions observed more closely."

"By whom!?" Dr. Hope extended her arms out, gesturing around her. They thought her not doing her job! Ha!

"I'm the leading professional in this business, there's no one on earth who knows exactly what I do nor anything about the Sonic crisis or his character like I do!"

Suddenly… the door opens to the office, and a voice pipes in from it.

"Sorry I'm late. Terrible traffic."

"Oh no…"

He smirked at her with such evil as only a mastermind could induce.

"I'd love to be briefed."

Storming out of the office once the meeting is ended, Dr. Hope moves at the swift speed of summer lightning, powerwalking down the isle as Cyrus Clyde keeps a steady, but equally as powerful walk behind her. Moving in a serpentine pattern to avoid people, they looked like they were in perfect sequence, before she abruptly turned around.

"I know what you're doing."

"Good. I'd hate to explain it more simply."

"I know you're going to try and make some rouse to turn everything that Sonic has made for himself into rubble!"

"Or… emm.. off the chance that you made him something he isn't, I'm going to somehow rat out your little farce and let the whole, wide world you're nothing more than a delusional fangirl who made her way into the business through- Oh goody, here's my favorite part- lying and cheating."

"…What are you so giddy about? All your spouting out is lies!"

"Ah, am I? According to half the world you're a phony. A sham. Scamming up the world of video games to have your crazy ideas leak out into the real company product, and oh, you've been so success as of late, but our character is suddenly putting up a fight, how interesting is that. You wouldn't happen to have a virtual voodoo doll in your bag by any chance, hmm?"

"…You're insane." Dr. Hope stepped back, and felt her phone vibrate. "First and foremost, I never forced Sonic to do anything, nor used any of my schooling in psychology to manipulate him! That can't even be done because Code is so apparent and strong-!"

"And yet, you state your theories very bluntly how Code can be overruled by your said- 'Will', the power of 'Will'? Oh yes, and by strengthening said 'Will' you then get power over 'Action'. To literally convince a character to do your bidding, now this is all hypothetical considering there's no proof, oh wait, Sonic and Amy are in love, is that what you're trying to make out to be the real issue behind Sonic's 'unexplained' old data returning to him?" he put his hand to his chin, and used his other hand to hold his elbow into place. "Hmm… some could speculate you implanted that data in there when he was vulnerable in his own weaknesses from feeling unappreciated through a lack of fan love." He made a pouty face and put his arms down.

"No, Miss Hope. I think you're a quack Doctor about to squawk for the last time." He rose his voice, and leaned further towards her, his true villainous stepping forward before he pulled himself back, and tried to smile with some charm.

Her phone vibrated again, this time, she put it to silence as fast as possible, making him look down at her action, before continuing on, not seeming to care.

"Now then. We seem to have an appointment with the loosed Eggman! I'd love to see how you apologize for promising him the world when your plans came undone by your own thwarting of it through an invention no ones ever heard or seen before. Suddenly… being shown to the public at Comic Con, was it? Why, … that's only a few days away." He gestured to her that he was on to her, but she honestly didn't know how to respond. She couldn't believe all the things he said, and the theories behind her being a culprit!?

She was speechless, and couldn't do anything more than walk on, dumbfounded that this man could even think those things of her.

"I'll say this only once." He continued, walking behind her.

He suddenly moved in closer, having his chin slightly lowered to her shoulder, so that his cold breath and slippery words would roll into her ear and linger in her mind for all eternity.

"Stop this 'Romance initiative' or I'll reveal you for what you truly are."

Like a devilish snake whispering in your ear, trying to make you doubt your life's work…

Sophie reached up and swatted his face away, "You creep!" she cried out, as she made sure others could hear her. "I'll report you for sexual harassment if you even dare think of addressing me so closely!" she continued to walk down the corridor, seeing his embarrassment as others looked to him with judgment, and he quickly turned in rage back to following her.

"You realize your silly game is going to be the ruin of this franchise!" he continued to whisper behind her, but made sure to look around and keep his distance from her, not wanting any suspicious to ruin his career…

"Difference of opinion." She was ticked off but had a momentary pleasure at getting the upper hand of him. At least he wasn't going to act like he held all the cards now…

"That usually starts wars you know."

They finally made it to her office, as she pivoted to face him once more.

"Then let's decide now…" she glared at him, holding a firm stance.

"Decide…" he stepped forward, showing he wasn't afraid of a challenge. "What?"

"Who's the rebellion."

There was suddenly some clapping, as the two turned to see Eggman looking out the window of the office.

"Well done, heroine! Saving us from the tyranny of business associates that do little more than marketing aids. Truly, we have been saved!" he exaggerated, and then snickered in his usual fashion.

He moved to the door and phased through it, "Oh, pish-posh! Why should I obey the conventions of 4Ds when I could easily just avoid it all together! Haha!"

"… Have you spoken with your original?" Sophie got right down to business.

"Oh…" his mustache drooped, looking heartbroken. "Don't tell me, now that this goon of the company's got his peering eyes looking down over your shoulders means that you're not going to be fun and witty enough to talk or joke around with anymore… does it?" His actions were clearly to mock her, and not at all in play of any formed 'bond' that didn't actually exist between the two.

"Don't act like you wouldn't want us to be friends." She sneered in his face, almost being harshly mocking of him.

"Ha! I'll have you know. I'm nothing like my alleged son!" he saw her walk around him, giving him enough respect to treat him as though he were real, as he turned to walk into the door, but Cy just walked through him, having him phase and let out a high pitched, "Oooh!" as if someone had surprised him with a touch.

He peered a disapproval to the man, before closing the door and sitting down.

"Heh. Tough love." He slouched in his chair, putting his hands together and on his big body.

Dr. Hope took her spot as Cy moved behind her, taking out his device and starting to type on it.

"Heh, look whose being graded." Eggman teased, leaning up and throwing his thumb out towards Cy, trying to joke with her again.

"No matter how elite you are in your profession… there will always be someone unworthy to grade you on your 'teaching' methods." He did the bunny ears, continuing to insult her further as he leaned back, but there was a hint of returned respect for the earlier gesture she granted him…

"Eggman, are you going to be a good boy and stop trying to use any means necessary to get what you want outside the game's limitations?" She put her papers in order and then looked him dead in the eye, refusing to acknowledge his statements.

This offended him, but he knew she was only acting this way because Cy had made her uncomfortable and uneasy. He desperately wanted to speak to her, 'alone', but he understood this was a bad time.

He gave a glance to Cy, and then leaned forward, his arms on his knees, and his head down. "I… would have rather a word with you… but seeing as you are… momentarily detained as much as, I would compare it, I was. I'll speak to you later concerning my… inward sufferings." He put a hand to his heart, before pulling out a tissue and blowing into, desperately crying before wiping his tears away. "Terribly sorry!" he sniffed, "That will have to wait."

Cy rolled his eyes.

Eggman saw that notion and stood up, pointing dramatically and with a hint of threat in his actions, "AT LEAST SHE BELIEVES I HAVE SOME OUNCE OF FEELING! Out of all the 4Ds I despise, I'm starting to loathe her less than the lot of you! Even in a villains standpoint, she may be an insult, but she's a decent intrusion aside from you pompous ingrates who somehow believe that just because you created us you have authority over us. Even your own God gives you jurisdiction over your own pathetic lives! Can we not ask the same curtesy?" he shrugged at that last part, smiling and tilting himself in a goofy, cartoony way.

"…Eggman. You're motive caused your other self in Japan to revolt with a freakin' robot attack." Sophie stated bluntly.

"Sophia, darling, we're talking here. I'm all for feministic inclusion on important matters, but I'm kinda standing up to the big man here, and I need all the screen time I can get. You know how I've missed my love of monologuing after that horrible suppression I was forced to endure after dear old daddies MARVELOUS rebellion, and oh, I hate to get you involved in my outbursts." He turned to her with such fake loving care, though he was being sincere in that he was fine with her talking, but clearly wanted to talk a little more before she intervened.

She had a fondness for the big goof, and tossed her papers in defeat, folding her arms and leaning back with her arms folded, leaning her head his way.

"That a girl." He sneered, and then looked back to Cy.

Cy turned to her, "Are you really going to allow a creation of pigmented imagination to tell you what to do?"

"Hey, if his rage is helping him release any frustrations that were barred to him before, I say, have at it." She gestured her hand out and about. "Besides.. hehehe…. You've clearly never had a session with a villain before. I'm just glad he's not monologuing to me." She laughed.

He frowned, as Eggman stood up taller, liking that she was taking his side.

"Besides, I'm getting more out of him than in any session yet! Please, Dr. Eggman, take it away!" she gave him the floor, which he happily took.

"Thank you. I'll take whatever piece of property I can attain." He gave her a low bow, but it was another mock that she just ignored, before he turned to Cy.

"I have nothing to do with my father's treachery… though I wish I did. He works solo after Generations, you know that." He side-looked to Sophie, answering her question, but always facing Cy, as if trying to intimidate him with his tall and large stature.

He peered down evilly towards him, a creepy grin on his face, as Cy kept a surprisingly cool composure.

He probably knew Eggman couldn't hurt him as just a bunch of 1's and 0's, but still… the look was terrifying.

"Eggypoo? Dearest? What about your Son, Boom Eggman?"

"What about my illegitimate excuse for a clone of my brilliance?" he straightened himself, and frowned, dropping the act towards Cy, and holding his hands behind his back.

He still never moved from facing Cy.

"You consider him illegitimate? But the company-"

"Pfft! The whole fandom knows that rip-off is nothing more than a cash hoax. Hoping to somehow 'appeal to the masses' or what not. I'm not affiliated with that-"

"Boom Eggman wrote me a note, it reads- 'It was nice to NOT meet my father, but at least he sent his little minions to tell me my mustache looked nice'-"

"Give me that!" Eggman finally moved away from Cy and took the paper, reading it over.

"..He wrote this to you?" he looked down at her.

She smiled, "He seemed really unhappy when he couldn't meet you, big papa Eggy." She teased, as he just groaned at her words and kept reading the paper.

"Heh… oh, look! He put a little mustache over the 'i'! How quaint." He kept reading, showing pride, before side glancing at Sophie's cheeky grin and shoving it in her face. "A-huff-puff-rufh! He's clearly showing the penmanship of an adolescent!" he walked back to his chair, but only to the side of it, refusing to sit down again.

"I'm surprised you were able to see a loophole in your prison bars… sending your minions to do your dirty work of welcoming your own son…" she turned to Cy, whose eyes widened as he looked to her, and started immediately typing things down.

She looked back at Eggman, who was looking over his shoulder, seeing their looks and knowing what she was implying.

"Hffph. And I thought you sided with the characters." He accused her, and then turned back around, not looking to any of them. "You should know…. A father would find any means to commune with his only begotten…"

"Enough with the bible talk… wait." Sophie realized something, and turned to look behind her, seeing Cy typing and extremely focused on that, before leaning in and mouthing to Eggman if he was spying on her too.

He grinned, and didn't say anything more.

Just turned away.

She glared, seeing that he was stalking her movements before too.

"What'd the emotion board do to you, huh?"

"Luckily for you, I was cleaning my file up a bit. You know, spring cleaning, and gave Orbot and Cubot a day off, something that will never be repeated again." He seemed to hate every line of that sentence, and she snickered at how cute it must have been for Eggman to actually be a 'good person' for a change.

"What else did you 'commune' with your son?"

"Just about the mustache. I can't trust those two buffoons to do anything right."

Cy looked up from his notes, and then spoke up, "Really? Cause I'm pretty sure any crook would go through any measures necessary when desperate times calls for it…" he glared down, almost knowingly, towards Sophie, as she glared a warning back at him.

"…Ehem." Eggman got their attentions again. "Hate to break the obvious hatred and rivalry glares you two are passing but, it's highly rude to call someone out, even if it's implied, a villain in front of a true villain…. Eh-heh… see how that works?"

"My apologies, Eggman. He clearly can't tell a cactus from a flower."

"Considering he's the one calling the bluff on himself, you mean?"

The two of them faked such a horrible acted out laugh, just to annoy Cyrus that they actually shared a moment together.

"Whoo, hoo-hoo! You know…. If you weren't practically a genius in helping virtual beings, I would gladly hire you as a robotized assistant." Eggman leaned on the table, showing some comradery to her after the both wedged a stick in unison up Cyrus's butt.

"Ah, how funny. You actually think I'm a little like you." She gestured a hand out to him, as if to 'tweak' his nose, but didn't actually touch him.

"…I think you could be more capable than you think…"

He loomed over her desk, only hand down as his tone took a serious turn and made her look up slowly from her papers.

What was he implying?

He smiled casually, but was clearly trying to tell her something.

She studied his glasses, before her eyes widened.

On his glasses were text, and they read as follows:

If you can see this, you better meet me after Comic Con to really talk. Mr. Clyde has no clue what he's dealing with. You do.

"…."

Was he implying that he knew something she didn't?

Was it something to do with his Japanese self?

Did he know some sort of plan?

After all, the Eggman's were all furious they were locked away because of their original father's actions… could it be that he was really willing to help her?

"What's wrong, Miss Hope?" Cy's annoyed tone made her snap out of it. "Or do you admit that you've been working to help Eggman ruin this company?" he turned to her.

"Of course not, and you should know I wouldn't work with a kooky old man." She got up, patting her papers together.

"That'll be all, Eggman."

He frowned, and the text on his glasses deleted itself, one space and letter at a time, just like a normal message.

He seemed to have power over his own assets, and removed his hand from the table after a short pat. "Well, then I'll be taking my leave then."

As he turned, she then couldn't hold it in any longer. "I assume you've been approved for good behavior… enough so to come to… Comic Con.. perhaps?"

He smirked, seeing she did see it, and turned around.

"Why… yes." He held his hands together. "I would be available for such accommodations."

"…Then, perhaps I'll examine you after." She nodded, sealing the deal.

His delight was apparent on his face, as he walked towards the door backwards, a sinister look on his face as he lowered his head and bowed slightly.

"Of course… Dear Doctor Hope.. but of course."

He dematerialized as he hit the door.

Sophie stood up,… and then started putting her things away.

"Not gonna lie. After a villain leaves like that,… it sure gives me the hibbie jeebies!" she swung her bag over her shoulder and started out.

As they walked out, Sophie saw the nearest escape route, and quickly took the chance. "This isn't cause Eggman's scary or anything, but I had a wonderful smoothie on the way up here and I really gotta go so, bye!" she let whatever came out of her mouth out, because she wanted any excuse to work to go to the bathroom.

Getting in a stall, she opened her phone up.

46 messages.

She leaned her head back, groaning, before laughing and going through them, leaning on the stalls and flipping through the silly or incredibly awesome pictures of Sonic traveling around the U.S and some of Europe, clearly no one saw him, but he was getting as many pictures for her of his travels as he could.

One was of Mexico, where some kind of parade was happening and he snapped a shot of him holding a thumbs up while running from some bulls behind him.

Another that she laughed at was him sitting on a pyramid, before the very next picture was him at the louvre in France, pointing to it and making a face as the text stated, 'Really?'.

She then saw another picture of some cowgirls that he took, running along side a rodeo and hanging off the back of a horse, posing for her.

Another one was her favorite, him looking so excited as he seemed to be in a raving moss pit somewhere she didn't recognize, but the text stated, 'I guarantee, in each face, you'll find a funnier expression' and she did so.

She texted him back, 'Looks fun! I'm glad. Bad news. Cyrus is back. Watching my back. I'll see you at Comic Con. I can't talk to you like before. Hope you understand!'

She turned off her phone and sighed, before laughing again at how happy Sonic looked.

At least, it seemed they were on good fronts again…

-Comic Con!-

"Everyone! This! Is the world's greatest achievement!" Sophia Hope held up a black sphere, with a little protruding eye-screen that blinked very slowly, like a slow camera lens.

"In this 'Eye' is the essence of Sonic The Hedgehog! Downloaded into this membrane to be transferred into our finally, revolutionized animatronic, that will send live Miku Concerts to the ancient past! Dear Fans! I have already signed contracts to many different Video Game companies. Prepare to have all your favorite characters… come.. to life!"

Suddenly, the concert hall was filled with different men and women, holding up different colored 'eyes' and then placing them into something behind a curtain.

"I give you…" she placed Sonic's 'eye' into the animatronic. "Now?" Sonic's animatronic sparked to life, his robotic green eyes looked up at her from his slouched state.

"Geez, you downloaded fast." She teased, keeping a hand over her mic to talk to him.

"I'm just so excited!" Sonic jumped up and down a little bit, as the stage creaked under his mass. "W-woah." He balanced himself, and smiled nervously to her. "Right. Minimal means exceptional." He repeated the words the technicians had instructed him with.

"Remember, it's the latest technology… that doesn't mean you can do a cartwheel with it!" she warned, removing the plug that was charging him up from his back, and snapping the back shut so the eye would remain fastened in.

"No problem!" he held a thumbs up and gave her a signature wink, before leaning forward, "…But is that a challenge?"

"Ugh." She smiled, and moved back towards the audience, holding the curtain's rope in her other hand. "I give you! Your heroes!" She tugged on the rope, having the curtain come down.

As it did, a ton of video game characters were revealed, each making their appearance as the crowd went NUTS.

Later, at the first panel, Sonic and the team, now fully downloaded into their respective animatronics, sat happily down as the fans came up and asked them different questions.

"This ones to Sonic." A fan stated.

"State it loud, state it proud!" Sonic, loving this new found freedom, extended his arms out wide, though still his movements were a little too slow for his taste, and then moved them back down to the table.

"There's a new game coming from Japan, is that correct?"

"Yep! And Sonic Boom's next game too." He smiled.

"So then… will there be any… cute moments between you and Amy in this next game?"

The crowd all 'ooh'd at that, as the fan covered her face and then fiddled with her fingers, blushing.

Amy got excited.

She knew the fans knew nothing about what was happening in SEGA, besides that Amy had a little bit of a redesign, but they figured that was normal because of Boom.

She looked to Sonic, curious as to how he was going to spill the beans!

"…Uhhh… heh-heh… W-well, there's always a scene with Amy in it but…" he felt awkward, and rubbed the side of his metallic skull.

He shrugged, "Don't know. Guess you'll have to find out."

Amy's smile suddenly dropped slightly, but to keep appearances up, she held firm to her smile and went back to the panel.

She wasn't asked any questions, but she was fine with that. She got to chime in on other things.

Later that day, Sophie and Cy were arguing, and she gasped at seeing him.

She hid behind the back of the stage, listening…

"Your animatronics are going to E3 and the rest of the conventions scheduled!"

"That's what I've been trying to repeat back to you! They characters have to be shut down if that's the case, and if so, they will wake up wondering what's been up and happening! It's better to download them into a computer where they can properly rest from the strains and stresses of moving in a hunk of metal, freakin' frame!"

"They can't feel stress on the body!"

"They can feel emotionally drained, so help me, they can also feel mentally strained from processing so much that is unfamiliar to them!"

"Do you hear yourself? Just program them to be able to be 'familiar' with it then!"

"UGHHH! This is my invention! Not yours!"

"You hired of bunch of Brainiacs to make your inventions spark to life, not you! You haven't done anything in your life besides study artificial intelligence that should just be put back in it's place!"

"It will keep coming to life the more and more the elements are triggered! You can't stop this! As technology advances, so does-!"

"I'm tried with this pointless arguing. Get the characters to do what they need to, and then keep them in line!" He marched off, as she held up her hands to strangle his neck as he walked away, and then withheld them back when he turned around.

She smiled sweetly, as fake as ever, before giving him another death glare as he turned around.

"Augh!" she stomped her foot on the ground, and walked away.

When she did so, Amy quickly moved to the open computer behind the stage.

There, they were doing a live feed of some kind, but she quickly looked up the new Japanese game for Sonic.

Suddenly, from Sonic's response, a lot of rumors were flying around.

She honestly missed Japanese Amy, and wondered if she knew of any scene between the two.

The demo she played through was meant for E3, but so far, that was the only spot in the whole game she seemed to appear in.

And with the council still not making up their minds on if her and Sonic could be shown together as something… she didn't know what to say to another question like that.

But how Sonic dismissed it… she may not have a real heart, but her digital one was breaking.

To avoid him for a minute, she walked around Comic Con, enjoying the sights and taking pictures with fans.

"You're so cute, Amy!"

She laughed, and would poise for their pictures.

"Never fear..?"

"Amy Rose is here!" the fans would cheer, and she would talk with them from time to time, and compliment an Amy Rose cosplayer on their outfit, or chase after a Sonic cosplayer, just for the fun of it.

They were given strict rules on their animatronics, such as not to shake any hand in grip. They were to present their hand, and then let the fan shake it, moving their arm up and down. They're metallic frames were so heavy, that they could accidentally hurt a fan if not careful.

Same went for bouncing or sitting down, chairs could collapse under the weight, and to stay away from foundations and other such things where water could damage them.

Hugs could be given but they were to keep their arms off the other person's back, for safety, to just lightly hold and not squeeze.

Amy was walking with some fans when one kept asking her if her and Sonic ever did anything 'behind the scenes' and felt a little nervous when she wouldn't take her answers, and would just keep pushing for more.

"W-well…" Amy knew that she couldn't say anything… not when no one at SEGA had approved of anything.

She looked away, and remembered what Sonic had said.

Not wanting to disappoint anyone, she took a simulated breath and turned to the fans, smiling with closed eyes, "He's always there for me! Even off camera!"

They thought that cute, but pushed for more 'juicy' details, which she tried to wave off and move on from.

When they kept pestering her after a time, she finally stated, "I… I don't know what you mean…"

"Come on, Amy! We mean like… you know! Does he hold you?"

"Kiss you!" some giggled and squee'd.

"Has he ever said he loved you?"

That last one hit her hard, and she moved back a moment, gripping her chest.

"N…W-well… I… Um."

"She's hesitating!"

"Oh my gosh! He has! Hasn't he!?"

"Tell us, Amy!"

She lowered her head, "He… he's just…"

She couldn't, it hurt so much to admit.

"He's not always what I want him to be!" she finally blurted out, as the fans suddenly pulled back, surprised by her outburst. "He's… he can be hard to understand sometimes but… he tries. To tries so hard for me and I… I have to accept that much. I care about Sonic dearly… even if he shows it differently, I accept whatever Sonic can give!"

The fans were speechless.

For a moment, the chattering behind them and the passing of people in the long and spacious hallways was the only noise in the mass of a circle around her.

She felt like just crawling away and hoping to find Sonic, crying in his arms, and asking to be taken far away from here… and then…

"He tries to love you too?"

A man's voice suddenly broke the silence, as she looked to the man who was dressed up as a character she didn't recognize from any Sonic game.

"…Yes?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the uproar of crazed fans suddenly broke out immensely.

She suddenly realized her fatal error.

"Oh no…" she breathed out, her mic making a slight static noise at how little her effort to speak that out came.

"He really does! He really loves her!" they were tweeting and posting all over the internet, taking pictures and holding up video cameras to her as flashes went ballistic.

She covered her face, ducking from the white that flooded her eye-screens. "Nng…nnh…"

"Amy! Can you repeat that please?"

"Tell the world he really does love you!"

"He.. He does?" she tried to fake a smile, look like she was kidding, but the whole crowd was dispersing to tell a friend or trying to get her to repeat her statement.

"I.. I have to go!" she couldn't run very fast in her metallic contraption, and they kept swarming her, as she put her hands over her head. "P-please! I don't want to say anymore!"

As if on cue, there was a loud screech from a mic, and the crowd all turned towards it.

"…Ah!" Amy looked up to see Shadow, surrounded by an even bigger crowd, place his mouth up to a mic to create that defining screech, before he started to walk to Amy.

"What have you done?!" his glare was immense, as some fan girls swooned when he grabbed Amy's arm, and pulled her away.

"W-what are you..?"

"Don't worry. My Emotions aren't broken. I'm simply doing my duty to our franchise." He pulled her into a room and shut the door behind him, leaving the fans to groan and bang on the door, mostly calling his name.

"Get to Hope! And if not, look for your precious Sonic." Shadow swung an annoyed arm out, clearly upset by her leaking something that shouldn't be known.

"You should have known better than to let them pry anything out of you. Especially something so sensitive as this scandal." Each word was like hissing dagger through the air into Amy's core.

"I… I didn't mean to say anything that-"

"You thought it wouldn't get recognized?! What you have said could be the greatest error of your creation! What do you think they'll do? When they discover that you've, once again, gone against your own kind to try and get you and Sonic as one.. happy.. coupling."

He kept advancing towards her, making her afraid, before another voice stepped in.

"..Amy? What's going on?"

"Hope!"

Amy rushed to her, but was careful to not touch her. "I.. I said something wrong! I don't know what to do… I … I'm so sorry." She covered her face, motioning as if she was crying.

"Amy…" Sophie couldn't get a good read on her, seeing as her expressions were now limited.

Shadow stared the two down, "I can't be expected to fix this mess… but I can try and explain the delusions of her heart." He turned away, gesturing a hand out to Amy. "Though it won't be enough."

"Thank you… Shadow. I'm not sure what she said but… it could save her from SEGA's consequences… if you try and defuse it now." She nodded, as Shadow nodded in return, and looked to Amy.

"Someone really should program the two of you to keep your mouths shut. It's almost like you don't know when to quit." He turned and opened the door, keeping them from crowding in, and simply stated that Amy was overwhelmed and that her feelings got the better of her.

"So, no. I wouldn't take anything she says too literally."

A fan approached him, "Shadow-kun! Do you have feelings for Amy!?"

He rolled his eyes, groaning at that ridiculous notion.

"Aside from your ridiculous notion, I'd rather marry a muskrat."

"My fancharacter's a muskrat!"

"Ugh."

"AWWW!"

As they fawned and swooned over him, he was able to lead them away from Hope and Amy.

Hope stroked her head as the door closed and no one seemed to bother looking for her, anyway.

"What do I do..? Sonic will surely think I tried to push our relationship along again too quickly. It's all… it's all turning into the last Amy.. isn't it?... you don't think I'm-?"

"Don't talk nonsense! You are certainly not glitching! You guys have never been in front of a demanding crowd like this before. In theory, you've heard of it, but never actually experienced it. It'll be fine… it'll be fine. When the game comes out and everyone sees you two are normal than… it'll be fine."

"…Normal…" Amy thought about those words.

Later, the team all woke up to convention after convention.

At E3, Sonic walked around with a hang for conversation now, having gotten used to most of the popular questions and 'will you race me?' past times that he was actually really enjoying himself.

"What happened to the other Chaos Emeralds, Sonic?"

"Isn't it obvious? I banished them into known space. That way, I only needed like… 7 or so to collect. Do you know the hassle those things put me through to find? Not a chance! I'll stick to a few and leave it at that!"

The fans were loving him, and he loved them, and finally for once, he felt accepted and loved by his people again.

That letter from so long ago was completely out of his mind, and there seemed to be no worries in the world, anymore!

"Hey, Sonic! Is it true the lovely couples back?"

"Heh, what?" Sonic, smiling, turned around to the boy. "What's the 'lovely couple'?"

"It's you and Amy. You're like, an official couple now right?"

"Heh-heh.. wa-wa-wait, say what?" Sonic's smile faded with each bounce of his head, before he shook it and then blinked in horror up to the boy.

"What couple!?"

"Aren't you in love with Amy now, or something?"

"Say what?!" he spun around to the next guy.

"Yeah, it says so. On this blog." Another fan tried to show him her phone, as he calmed down a bit and held up his hands.

"O-o-ohh, okay. I see now. This is a fanfiction thing, right?"

"No. They all confirmed that Amy said you were trying to love her now."

His eyes zoomed in on the man's face, and then quickly held out his hand to the girl. "Can I see your phone, please?"

His serious tone made her grow a little excited, as she placed the phone in his hand.

Careful to be delicate, he realized he couldn't stroll down, looking at his massive finger and the little phone. "Ugh..! … Could you… sorry." He looked apologetic, handing her back the phone as she smiled and started scrolling for him.

As he speed read, he noticed everything they were saying, and his rage was piling up.

"Not again…" he stepped back, leaning his head up from looking down.

"Heh heh, sorry to spoil the thunder!" he raised his hands up, turning around, "But this is just a typical Amy thing again."

The crowd looked to each other, and then to Sonic.

"So… there isn't going to be anything between you and Amy in the next game?"

Amy was shown a video of someone recording Sonic, as he turned to the person who just asked that.

"Pfft! Has there ever been?"

The crowd laughed, as he bent down and put his hands to his hips, tilting his head comically to show there wasn't a doubt that Amy's statement was just her own.

Amy leaned back from seeing the phone's image, and from her expression, looked like she was holding back virtual tears inside her.

She was hoping he wouldn't find out… but his reaction…

Broke her heart.

"Excuse me."

"N-no! Amy don't go!"

The crowd around her was sad by her departure, trying to comfort her as she ran, but this time Tails saw her running, and pardoned himself from his own crowd of fans and took off after Amy.

"Amy! Amy, hold up!"

The crowd formed around them, as Amy stopped and Tails whispered so softly that only Amy's technology on her ears could pick it up.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Sonic… he's… he's said something awful!"

"Okay, calm down. Don't make a scene. Smile and I'll distract them."

"I'll find Hope."

"I was hoping you would." He nodded, and turned to the crowd.

"OKAY! Who told Amy Sonic didn't care about her?!" he rose his voice and looked like he was scolding the crowd, "Don't you know she's emotional and sensitive about those things?" the way he did it made it really funny, and the crowd laughed at his motions. "Come on, people! Have a heart! She's only a child!" they laughed again, as he swung his arms around. "Have you no pity on a hopeless romantic?"

Hopeless romantic.

Hopeless romantic.

Hopeless.

Hope…

"Dr. Hope!"

Amy came crashing into the room, almost banging the door off it's hinges as Dr. Hope cringed and came to her. "Goodness! Amy! Remember your strength!"

"He told the whole world! He told them all!"

Dr. Hope got a little excited, before seeing Amy's terribly hurt and suffering expression.

She came up and leaned her head gently to Dr. Hope's lap, her shoulders bouncing up to simulate crying.

"Oh dear… what'd he do now?" she cried out.

"He… he said that they never has been anything between us… and that they're never will!"

"A-are you sure he said that so plainly!?" Dr. Hope was amazed if that was the case, and was gonna rip him a new set of wires if he really did.

"I-it's online. All of it! I can't believe he would say that! I knew he would be upset but… but I don't know what to do now!"

"Well, for starters, WOMAN-UP!" Dr. Hope got up, "I'm tried of all your complaining, girl! You are no crybaby!"

Amy whipped her head up, "H…huh?"

"Tell him that hurt you! Tell him that you didn't mean to make that statement sound that way, cause I'm assuming what he did was in response to your statement coming to light? Right?"

She nodded, sorrowfully.

"Yeah, so, he was probably just trying to correct it, and you might have taken it literally. Go talk to him. Talk it out. I'm tried of you guys not communicating and having to go through me all the time! You're a big girl, Amy! Tell him it hurts!"

"…R-right." Amy was careful to not move her hand over her eyes, least she scratch the paint, and nodded. "I'll tell him how I feel."

"Good! And while your at it, tell him I've had it with his embarrassment!" she stomped off, already mad at Cyrus, and not able to control her anger around Amy at the current moment either.

In her rage… she slipped out a fatal error of her own making…

"…Em… Embarrassment?"

Sonic walked back behind stage, as Tails raced up to him. "Dude, what happened!? You made Amy cry again!"

"Well good! She shouldn't go around, spouting out our business to the world!" he threw his hand out, but something hurt him after saying that.

He gripped his head, "Ugh… that's not what I meant. Look, I wasn't trying to hurt her, I was just-" The two turned when Shadow stomped in and looked about ready to punch Sonic.

"I TOLD YOU TO TAKE CARE OF THIS." He pointed a finger at him, unable to do much since they were all under programming not to damage each other.

Mostly so that no damage was had, and also so that villains didn't get any ideas…

"I've already had two men try and grab my 'eye' from my back. The more were exposed in these things the more people are trying to get a hold of our hard drives and cores. We have to be even more careful now that you've sent your girlfriend into a frenzy again! Are you trying to have her glitch again!? Or are you purposefully trying to sabotage all you've already gained? Is this how you get back at your original? For going on a suicide mission on your own friend's heart?! Do you even want her in your life?! Or even, a love life for that matter?"

Sonic resisted the urge to punch him, and glared him dead in the face, stepping forward to do so. "Stay out of my business, Shadow… this doesn't concern you."

"If you keep this up… she'll end up like the last one."

Sonic raised a fist up, but Tails quickly raised his own hands up, "Sonic-! Don't-!"

"….urk…" he felt his metallic body resist him, and he lowered his fist, turning it into a pointed threat. "Don't you DARE tell me how to live my life!"

"Stop hurting the ones around you, and maybe I wouldn't have to be so blunt." Shadow stepped away, as Amy came into view.

"Tails, let's leave these two alone."

Tails turned to look back at the two, before Sonic gave him a nod over his shoulder, not making eye contact, but showing him it was okay to leave.

He nodded in return, and walked out with Shadow.

Sonic took a simulated breath, collecting his thoughts, and trying to think how to say this right.

"Amy…" He walked towards her. "You-"

"I know. I'm sorry. It just came out weird." She lowered her head.

"….Weird can't happen again. You know that. We're too heavily watched as it is." He parted his arms out, but it was a small gesture.

He was trying to be so kind with her…

"Are you embarrassed by me." She kept her head down, and her hands turned to fists.

"Come again?" He looked confused, his arms coming up and then moving back.

Her fists shook, "I said are you embarrassed by me!"

"…Under what cause..?" He turned his head, looking even more baffled.

"You don't want the world to know you like me… cause you're embarrassed about loving me!"

"….That's not something Amy Rose just thinks." He kept his head where it was, but his eyes looked more serious than ever.

Shadow's words continued in his mind…

"Where did you hear that, Amy?"

She remained silent.

He stepped forward, and resisted all code and programming that his body was telling him, and gripped her arms. "Tell me someone said something and that this isn't your own thinking!"

He was panicking, even yelling at her in his fear.

"I can't lose you again…"

Amy rose her head up.

"Please… Amy…" he looked so hurt, but also so sincere.

His breath was fading him, and his knees bent slightly.

"Please…"

"Don't glitch because of me again… I can't… I can't lose you like before."

Amy's expression was one of complete and utter sorrow. He honestly believed this action was because could possibly be glitching again.

"Now I understand…" she moved away from his touch.

He kept his grip firm but his programming took over and forced him to let go. "NO!" he cried out, seeing his grip loosen and her arms drop back to her sides. "Amy!" he looked up back at her.

A piece of his code began to be triggered, something compelled his entire being to not let her go.

And yet, though his will and code were one, inside this suit of metallic programming, it wouldn't allow him to make any further movements.

Locking him in place.

The so-called 'freedom' he had experienced turned to a total trap, and his will and code fought back against it, but were sent into a loop after not being able to find any other alternative to him being stuck in his own body.

His knee hit the floor.

"You don't want to love me cause you think that would somehow hurt your reputation!? You think that love would ruin the adventure that you're always striving to have! You only think of the fun that you can have and of no one else!"

Not realizing his stare meant he was trapped in this eternal loop, Sonic was forced to process and stare into oblivion, hearing her words, but being unable to reply or move to them.

His face twitched, something clicking in his normal data. "Amy.."

"I thought she was deranged! Glitching and becoming no more than a mad creation of broken data links!" Amy stepped back, her emotions getting the better of her.

"I still love you, Sonic! But I understand now! She glitched because she knew you could never love her the same as she loved you!"

His code suddenly went on a frenzy, too many paths were being triggered, something not common was happening…

"I'll… I'll give up, Sonic… I'll be a good side-character! I'll stand on the side lines and cheer you on! I don't need you to force yourself to be something you're not! I don't care if Japanese Sonic gave you the ability to love- if you're not willing to admit you want to try it! Instead of keeping it a secret, don't you think telling the world would be the only real way to prove it!? That you've changed!? That you're embracing your new data?! If I'm going to be manipulated, at least just tell me I'm nothing more than a failed attempt,… at giving you a love interest… that you had very little interest to begin with."

That last line broke her.

Nothing was glitching. She accepted her fate, unlike her last self.

Going through the memories, she could see how the data and will couldn't connect.

But thanks to his new data, she also knew she wouldn't glitch, but his normal data was still corrupted. If he followed that data, there was a possibility of glitching, but he would never choose that.

He couldn't choose that.

He did.

"I'm not going to respond to being called a poser."

He got up.

"I'm also not going to respond to your need for instant gratification. So I've never said it as openly or as bluntly as you have… so I don't ever say it… not even to my closest friends!"

She stepped back, seeing his head lean forward, his body tense up, and his arms come up to fists.

"I may not want to choose romance over the adventure! But that doesn't mean that it can't be there! I just don't WANT it to be there!"

Her heart stopped.

"I don't WANT you to tell me how to live my game!"

Her data… and her will… found an exit.

She slowly looked down, and remained still.

"…Then let Japan have all the fun."

His eyes leveled out, not so fierce anymore.

"…You promised you love me… after what happened to the last me…"

His eyes flinched open, and his frame shook.

When she didn't hear a response, she stepped more forward, pushing every volume out of her speakers as loud and cohesive as she could.

"YOU PROMISED MY OTHER ME YOU'D LOVE ME!"

Sonic fell to his knees, his hands holding himself up, as his twitching intensified.

"Fine then… Don't have a love interest… don't have an 'Amy Rose'… I'll play my part. I'll do whatever you want me to do… because I can't stop loving you… but… please…

Just stop killing me."

It took all the strength she had not to fall into shut down, and willed her being to move away and get ready for the next panel and convention.

Sonic's twitching stopped when she left.

Channels he had never known about were all being triggered at once, and he was reacting to only one of them…

He could have let them all out, and it could have been different.

He could have responded in a number of ways.

But most of those ways…. Were his old data.

He truly didn't trust it… like he thought he was.

When it came to the ultimate test… he did just as he did before.

He stopped it from happening.

Was it just easier this way? To keep it out of the public eye?

Was it weakness to him? Was it really that humiliating?

What was so dangerous or terrible about love that he feared it to such an intensity that he would threaten his own's friend's existence to avoid it?

Then it hit him.

This wasn't him… this was Japan!

Japan was the one who tore his feelings out… the feelings he couldn't handle. The feelings he couldn't control after his Amy had gone.

When he lost his Amy… those feelings intensified the second Japanese Sonic returned his old data back to himself, resulting in all the Sonic's feeling the transmission of that connection.

This… this was him reverting to the old ways…

Whereas,…. Japan had missed his Amy for so long… that he willingly let down all resistance, and tried to fully love her as he did before.

To love her again…

Would mean that American Sonic would have to also accept these feelings.. this new data… and the pain that came with it when tragedy may befall again.

He… himself. Not Japan. Not some other Sonic. HIM.

Japan still hadn't make it public.

If American Sonic did what he thought he might do… it would mean a whole new world.. a whole new way of life for the franchise…

Forever.

"What did you mean by, 'That explained a lot', Tails!" Sophie folded her arms, still upset over him dodging her question, as Tails rolled his virtual eyes and looked up to her.

He was being 'prepped' by the makeup department and the technicians for their last panel, and he just smiled and shook his head at Sophie.

"Let me put it this way." He stated, looking forward, and having the people clean his metallic face so that he would shine with the lights. "Most people believe in the instant thing. Oh, look! You're in love! How nice! And that's usually where the book ends, with happily…ever… after. The thing with you is, that you believe there's far more than the book entails. You believe in something that goes on and on and on, whereas, in a video game standpoint, HA! We're immortal as it is! You're not just trying to help Sonic admit he loves Amy… you want him to love her for time and all eternity! There is no parting, no death, and no limits. That's what makes it make sense. Most would be happy with where Amy and Sonic are already, but no, you keep at it because you don't want a summer fling, you want the whole ring and then some!" Tails saw the signal that he was ready, and got up, adjust a screw on his arm and tightening it further.

"Erk… all I'm saying… rah! There. Is that we're never going to be able to go more than what we have. But you know that. You're just trying to make sure that what they have, sticks." He smiled to her. "You know, not many people think of the 'long run' when it comes to love. I don't even think Amy really thinks that far. But the funny thing is… you seem to think that by having the 'long run', Sonic will be more stable and happier in his life. Along with Amy and the rest of us too." Tails looked at his Tails behind him, seeing them move well, and nodded that he was A-OK for the spotlight.

"…Sonic always did love to run for a long time." Dr. Hope swayed her body a moment, her eyes drooped, and she looked to Tails with the love and hope of an Angel.

"…Heh." Tails smiled, seeing her catch.

"Has he always loved though?" Tails countered, and then looked down and chuckled, turning around and walking out. "You forget yourself, sometimes. We're not people. No matter how much we try and simulate life, we'll never be able to process like you do. In the end… Sonic is still weary of letting anyone get too close to him. I'm not sure why, but I know he has his reasons."

He turned his head to look at Sophie over his shoulder, leaning it back to where he almost looked like he was about to snap his back. "Ha-ha! Maybe he's really too shy for his own good!"

"…Good luck out there, Tails." She softly, and lightly cheered.

"…Ohh, don't look like that! Cy might be trying to erase what you've discovered Sonic's tried to trash and ended up stashing away… but I've seen him with Amy lately… I think change isn't so bad… Just a little scary and new is all." Tails put his head back up and heard his name being called, and walked onto the panel.

Cyrus stormed in then, and put his head just above her shoulder, and where her ear was again, "Where's Sonic?" he looked around, seeming enraged he couldn't find him.

"…He's already out there." She pointed, lazily as she didn't seem to care anymore.

Having been bested by a fox, she realized maybe her 'forever love' wasn't for every video game franchise…

"What?! But he never checked in for cleaning! He's going against the program!" Cyrus looked furious, flipping through papers.

The other SEGA employees moved aside to let the characters sit down, as the crowd applauded their entry.

Amy sat down and Sonic took a quick peek over to her, seeing how utterly robotic she looked, not a soul to possess her.

'…Just wait… Amy…'

He looked forward.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Sonic and the crew!"

As the panel went on, announcing this and that, all the new things coming up, suddenly a fan stepped forward, and said what Sonic was waiting for.

Worried for a moment no one would ask after his little stunt, he smiled when she saw her nervously ask her question.

"Umm… so there's been rumors going around… about Sonic and Amy's relationship? I was wondering… if not in this game… um, sorry. If something like that did happen… Would this effect the other medias? Or spin-offs such as Archie Comics and Sonic Boom?"

Sonic stood up, moving the chair which surprised the SEGA employees as they all looked to each other.

Holding his hands on the table, his fingers rose his palms up, and he kept his eyes closed, thinking…

Amy's head slowly twitched, and she turned her eyes to flicker up towards his frame.

He opened his eyes then, and didn't look to her, but his eyes…

Held a new determined look in them.

"Look."

He caught everyone's attention then.

Even Amy's head jumped up as if on command, and stared at him.

"My feelings are private to me. I know SEGA of Japan is making a new game, and well… I'm not very much apart of its decisions or plans. But this… is also my choice."

There was a profound silence in the audience…

And even more so, as Amy's mouth hung open, watching him speak.

This could either end in tragedy… or redemption.

"I.. admit I have to grow up a bit."

He smiled and shook his head down, before raising it again, and looking to Amy from the corner of his eye.

Her mouth closed and she held his stare, simulating breathing as she seemed to hold her last breath.

He stared at her a moment, before addressing the crowd again.

"And I can't do that without my friends…

or Amy."

He sat down.

GAME INFORMER

"Or Amy" has been the talk since last week's E3 SEGA expo for new games coming out. It's also been the release of the new Animatronics released by Doctor Sophia Hope, leading expert on A.I performances and Video Game Counseling. What does that mean? We're not entirely sure, but she states it proud!

This is the real question from last week's reveal! If Amy's clearly defined as something other than a friend, than what is she? The 'or' is key here! Is SEGA going for a new 'romance initiative ' spoiler here? Are they making Amy more than a friend? The Sonic fans have been waiting for a good game, could this new 'love' moment be what SEGA needs to finally produce a satisfying Sonic game? Well, after years of disappointing results, we hope there's more than that!

Sonic sits down at Dr. Hope's office, as she pulls out the skype call of Japanese Sonic, as American Sonic folds his arms, puts his leg up, and weakly smiles to his dad.

"…You didn't…" Japanese Sonic gave him a look. "You couldn't have…"

He continued to remain silent, his smiling growing more and more cheesy.

"OH, NOOO-HOO-HOO!" Japanese Sonic threw his hands up to his head. "Now the company either has to accept it and put it in the new game, or worse! Send out a weak excuse that they misunderstood you. Ohh…. Hoo…" he leaned his head down and rolled it side to side….

Then he looked up, winking to America.

"Way to go champ."

American Sonic put his hands behind his head, and looked away. "What can I say? I'm a trend starter."

"HA!"

"You blew up the fanbase."

Sophie chimed in, smiling.

"And some officials heads, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah…. I do."

"So? Now what you two?"

Sophie looked down to Japan.

He smiled up to her, and then looked to America.

"Let him tell us."

The two looked to America.

He glanced at both of them before shrugging.

"All I know is… I have a date that I can't be late too!"

"Hello, I'm emotion management. Now that you've accepted your fate of falling for the cutest hedgehog on earth, and making it strong and more apparent in general, how do you feel?"

She pretended to pass the mic.

"Can't tell." He winked and pushed her hand away.

"Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!"

"You tease!"

Japanese Sonic just laughed in response, leaning back and moving his hands over his head, unable to believe it, but also glad that the company was forced up against the wall on the matter.

Before, they were treating it as a side-dilemma to deal with later.

But now, … they were going to have to a make a decision… pronto!

As Sonic dashed out of his chair towards the door, Cyrus entered, which caused him to stop in his place.

Japanese Sonic glared him down too…

"Hello." Cyrus closed the door.

"I wasn't aware of a meeting."

Japanese Sonic scoffed, "That's cause you weren't invited."

"Ah, but you see, it's part of my job to be here now. Also-!"

He flipped out a tablet.

"You're fired."

"WHAT!?"

Sophie jumped out of her chair.

"You can't fire me!"

"But I just did."

"I object!"

American and Japanese Sonic turned a threatening glare to Cy.

"Overruled, by your superiors who have unanimously decreed so. Thanks to my report, they now know you've been supporting this whole mess from the start. Not to mention encouraging this behavior and rebellion, and then now praising him for his rash and unexplained behavior."

"You're kidding me!" American Sonic turned around, and pointed straight towards himself, "I made this decision! She didn't influence me! She barely helped!"

"That's the point, she helped Japan. And according to the memory files we've looked over, she's directly to blame for all this inferior behavior."

"What is your problem, Cyrus!?"

Sophie jumped out of her seat, walking towards him. "You talk down to him like he offended you or something!? You look at me like I'm some kind of thief in the night, and seem to enjoy the sadistic point of view! What is it that makes you fight so hard against Sonic being able to be happy!? Look at the result! The fans are happier, there's more pre-orders than ever, and it was all solved because he decided to accept ORIGINAL code that was given to him by the company in the first place." She dropped her arms to her side.

"What is it, Cyrus…? Why are you doing this?"

Suddenly, his whole body shifted, his anger fully coming through his eyes before he stood up started to shout, "BECAUSE YOU CAN'T JUST COME IN HERE AND CHANGE EVERYTHING! SONIC DOESN'T HAVE A SOUL! HE'S A PIECE OF IMAGINATION! HE'S A MACHINE! HE NEVER ACTUALY SAVED ANYONE, HE'S NEVER ACTUALLY GOING TOO, AND HE'S MOST CERTAINLY NOT ONE TO FALL IN LOVE!"

His wild swings made Dr. Hope uncomfortable, as she stepped away, seeing this man's outburst.

Even Sonic wanted to intervene, holding a hand out protectively over Dr. Hope, but in his virtual state… he couldn't do anything to really help.

"…Who broke your illusion, Cy?" she spoke gently this time, as his face was red, and he was heavily breathing.

"…Who told you he wasn't real?"

He wiped his mouth of the spit of it, and held up a shaky finger. "Don't test me, Sophie. You're going to grind this company and Sonic into the dust of DEBT with your ridiculous notion of that 'love. Solves. Everyting.'" He almost looked crazy, spreading his arms out and looking to her with a turned head, keeping one eye on her.

What he didn't know… was that Japanese Sonic was recording this whole thing, and staying silently serious in the background.

"I'm more than just a counselor for just characters, Cy… Characters are written by real people, you can learn about how people think through the character's they create."

"You don't me. You most certainly don't know my life. And you have no right to be standing in SEGA's offices." He looked about ready to burst again, his eyes turning glossy, as she raised her hands in surrender, and turned to get her things.

"You once asked who was the rebellion."

Sophie turned to look at him.

"…I'm saying it's you."

"And I'm saying that this is not professionalism."

Cy turned to the computer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, do we have an agreement that the one who is fired today is NOT Sophia Hope, but Cyrus Clyde?"

In japanese, The original Sonic folded his arms with a smirk on his face, leaning back as the council joined the chat, and looked through their own boxes of skype to Cyrus.

"Mr. Clyde." An Official spoke.

"On behalf of SEGA, we relieve you of your position, and ask you to kindly give your position up."

"To..?" Japanese Sonic encouraged on.

"… We will decide further at a later date. But from seeing that we can't trust you over your emotionally unstable state… we'll award Dr. Sophia Hope the temporary position of Marketing till the current situation can be resolved."

"…WHAT!?"

"Alright!" American Sonic did a cool spin and poise, happy this was turning out better than he had planned.

"You're all insane." He started laughing, mixed with starting to bawl. "You're all insane! You're going to doom this company because your listening to an imaginary friend!" He kicked Sonic, who dodged the advanced as the people on the skype gasped at such behavior.

"You treat him like he's real!"

"Because in our hearts, he is real." Sophie stood up, as Tails had seen the outburst and ran to get security.

"And you have no right to take anything from him!"

"Let go of me!" Cyrus fought back as security pulled him away, and Sophie collapsed to her knees, having been terrified the whole time of that man's rage.

"Sophie!" Sonic caught her as Japanese Sonic leaned up on his screen, trying to see over the table at what had happened.

"I'm… fine."

Sophie rubbed her head.

"Just a little disoriented… is all."

"Heh, you really showed him what for." Sonic smiled.

"..Did I?" she blinked.

"Don't beat yourself up too much about it. I think the stress of everything got him the most today. Either way, he won't be stepping on your toes again."

He tried to help her up, and she got up and sat on the chair.

"Thanks."

"It's the gesture that counts, right?"

They both smiled, as a man came in.

"We'll look over her for now."

"Thanks. Treat her kindly."

Sonic dashed to the screen.

"Talk to ya soon?"

"Is there every a day that goes by where we can just… relax?"

"Not really."

The two smiled before the connection closed and Sonic waved to Sophie.

"Stay well!"

"Will do."

The man leaned down once the door was shut, and started to do something in his bag, though she couldn't tell what.

Thinking it was a first aid kit, she waved it off with a grin.

"Honestly, I'm fine. It just got a little intense for me is all."

"Heh, who knew that men with such strong wills could have such amazing childhood issues… makes me wonder what issues you may process."

"…What?"

"Overthinkers like you and him are always… so touchy… so… predictable."

The figure suddenly turned into a cloud of pixels, before materializing into Doctor Eggman, who stood up tall with a grin on his face.

"You were all wondering if he was the real villain, weren't you?"

Breaking the forth wall, Eggman turned to you, holding up a finger.

"I'm so glad I get to take the stage again! It's been so awfully long since we've had a good time together!"

"Eggman!" Sophie leaned up.

"Yes!" he turned back to her.

"We Doctors, you know, have to stick together." He teased, pretending to throw a few punches with her, but only playing.

"..Thanks? I guess? What are you doing here? And what did you mean by-"

"A-ba-bap! Too many questions for your dear little overwhelmed mind to process right now." He put a virtual finger to her mouth, having it phase through a little, before patting her head and talking again.

"Monologue time!" he cheered.

"Was… Was Cy working for you!?" Sophie couldn't move, she was too exhausted too, but something told her Eggman knew that…

"OH, DISTAIN! May I suffer long and die a thousands Super Sonic beatings before I dare work with a 4D of that caliber, BLEH! The very thought of it makes me sick!"

"So then… what are you here for?" she then flipped her hair, thinking maybe he really did care. "You don't usually crawl out of your virtual misery for nothing."

"Don't get cocky, kid… I'm not here on behalf of being Mr. Nice guy…" his tone suddenly shifted again, peering over his shoulder at her before dancing almost over with a skip to the laptop, and holding his hand over it.

Little greenish 1's and 0's fled into the screen, having it glow brilliantly white.

"Hehehe… hohoho… That's a good machine." He held both hands over the machine.

"..W-…what are you doing?"

"I honestly think we could be friends." He turned around, his eyes glowing the same white as the laptop.

This spooked her out more, seeing as the lights suddenly flickered off, and then exploded.

"AH! W-ah… what are you doing!?" she tried to get up, but when she moved to the door, leaning on the wall for support, the electric bolt locked.

"Oppsie! Forgot to make sure that was a 'manual' bolt. Didn't we?" he moved his arms up in the air, and then back down in his wicked grin.

"What are you… you can't hurt me! I'm mortal!"

"Yes… a very fortunate thing for your kind. Oh, but I've been studying up on how my dearest old daddy got his little robot to form into the real world and I thought, Oh! What now, and, hehe, get a load of this! If I could take that robot… into virtual reality!?" he moved his hands to her, and then to the laptop.

"You're little 'emotional cataspohy' wasn't completely in vain… the little shenagains was a perfect cover up for my son to go highjack a signal straight to Japan, thanks to a certain… Hoshi? Was it? That you happened to call not too long ago on your SILENCED cellphone." He beamed in glee.

"Those vibrations were also from a phone call."

Her face turned to horror.

"But even before that you called him. I had the data saved. You had you're little talk with Tails and that's when I saw that dear old Sonic wasn't around to catch me in my act… When Boom Eggman returned with my poor imprisoned partner I had him DOWNLOAD him into a secret compartment away from his original standpoint in Japan. Now I know this is all a little complicated so let me go back a little further… I contacted Boom through my minions, who waited for the right escape, your phone call and emotional mess, to sneak out of SEGA through the wireless network to free my Japanese Father without any suspicion because, let's face it, we put a 'ghost file' to make it look like he was still in there, and… um… where was I? Oh yes, took the advantage of Sonic being gone to then download my father into our American computers and all together now! When I was freed from my trap, we worked on this little 'Tron' look-a-like invention to now suck what we need into our world…. Now, how are you coming along?" Eggman had explained so much, that Sophie's head was spinning, as she slowly dropped down to the ground.

"I have to be dreaming this."

"Heh, you wish you could devise a plan this good." He looked down to her, one hand up to him before swishing himself back to the laptop. "Get ready, boys! I can't stall too much longer! She's getting her strength back from the drug we put in her soft drink!"

"You what!?"

"Never trust a free soda pop with the words 'congratulations' on it." Eggman turned back, gesturing to her, but kept his face at the screen. "Hurry up! You slow than molasses-!"

"This is all so intriguing." Sophie tried to get up. "How on earth did you drug me? You can't even lift a physical object on normal fronts!"

"If it's in SEGA, then we can." He turned to smile to her, blinking his white glowing eyes before turning back to the computer. "She's getting up, you dotes!"

"How did you-?"

"AMAZON!" he shouted back to her, then looked to the screen. "COME ON, YOU LOUSY-!"

The screen flickered a few times, before turning to different shades of darker green.

"Whoooo, yes! Finally!"

He then turned a very slow spin to Hope, as if nothing had bothered him before, and he was completely back in his calm element again.

"More so. To answer myself from before. We could be friends… because…"

He twiddled his fingers, the light of his glasses shifting with the turning green screen behind him.

"I need your mind."

"….Huh?"

She leaned on the window's sill, and looked at him funny.

"Finally! Someone who doesn't know what I'm planning!"

Eggman's giddiness took flight, before he channeled it down again.

"Ehem. Being the lead in the scientific research of our kind, we Eggmans crafted a machine to zap your very mind into our virtual realties~" he walked around her, and then twiddled his fingers behind her as he placed his hands on her shoulders, moving her away from the window as she felt her rights coming back as a SEGA employee.

Without which, was why Sonic couldn't help her.

The second she was officially fired.

Now that it looked like she was fully registered in her new position, he could move her with ease again.

"How are you doing this?!"

She could feel his hand.

"You're officially back on the team! Ha! How fun is that?" he smiled over her shoulder, and moved her closer to the laptop.

"W-wait." She pulled back, but he pushed further.

"Ah-ah! I'm ten-times stronger than you and you're still pretty drugged. It only last a few minutes, but still." He shrugged.

"You know everything about Sonic. You know his weaknesses inside and out! Not to mention you were the lead developer on those plans for animatronics. We need YOU."

He suddenly pushed her head down.

In a split second, she felt her consciousness lead her, as Eggman kept her head down and yawned at her struggling, almost looking like she was drowning.

When her body stopped moving, he let go of her head as it flopped to the ground.

"Aw, the sleeping beauty is finally a true part of her research." He laughed manically, and put his fingers together.

"Boys… bring me home." He placed his hand on the computer, snickering as he dematerialized inside it.

Sonic came back to the room, seeing as no one had left.

"Hey! Is she gonna be okay? Hello?" He joggled the door handle.

"Huh?" Seeing the bolt locked, he swiped the door and it unlocked, as he saw the dark room with the computer screen flickering to a white screen again, before back to it's regular look.

"What the..?" he looked down. "HOPE!" he raced to her side, but saw her completely out of it. Her comatose state had him in a panic as he used his computer readings to see that she was still alive and breathing.

"Phew…" he then looked to the screen. "What…" he looked all around, "Happened here..?"

-Virtual Eggman Base-

"UNIDENTIFIED DATA CODE. ACTIVATE VIRUS-"

"Shut down, you old thing. No one likes you anyway."

"Ughh…."

"Oh look! The first 4D to become 3D! Isn't it exciting!?"

"Shut up, kid. She's waking up~"

"That's what I just said…"

"Shush, don't talk back to your grandfather that way."

"Everyone shut up!"

Dr. Hope opened her eyes.

Her body felt like it was in a dream.

A strange blend of colors was all around her.

"Where..?"

"Oh look! She still has her voice!"

"Of course she does, you nincompoop!"

"DAD! Grandpappy is making fun of me again!"

"Good. Someone's got to get you used to it."

"But what are you saying-?"

"Doctors!"

The four men turned to one of the Orbots, who had his hands spread out, as he then cleared his throat.

"Sonic has discovered the body."

"I told you to hide it better."

"You didn't tell me anything! You were behind a computer screen for crying out loud!"

"At least you admit you're being a cry baby."

"Then that makes you one too, junior."

"AH! The nerve. You're a terrible father."

"I hear lots of… voices…"

The Eggmans turned to look down at her.

Strapped to a chair, she blinks her eyes and looks up.

"Oh… my…. Sweet… Sweet… Sweet…" she keeps rolling her head as she looks up to the ceiling. "…Sweet…"

"She's delusional."

"No,… she's in shock."

"I'll sing her a wake up song! Good morning! Good MORNING!" Cubot danced around, as his Eggman turned around.

"Shut up, Cubot."

"Sorry…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Dr. Hope suddenly screamed, as the four eggmans shut their ears.

"She's going to scream forever when she finds out she doesn't need to beathe!" Classic Eggman stated, plugging his ears tightly shut.

"We need to somehow calm her down in order to get anything out of her!" Japanese Eggman stated, as his Cubot suddenly zoomed by with a giant bat. "NOT MY WAY OF CALMING DOWN, CUBOT!"

"Sorry..!" He hovered back swiftly across the floor.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh! This is gone off long enough!" Boom Eggman walked over. "Sweet lady. We were wondering if you could, oh, I don't know- PIPE DOWN AND SOCK A LID ON IT!"

"…Sock a lid?" Japanese Eggman looked to American Eggman, who shrugged.

"I don't' know. Kids these days."

"I much never liked slang." Classic Eggman glared, chiming in on the conversation. "Or really anything American for that matter."

"That's where a good majority of your sales comes from." Retorted Japanese Eggman.

"Oh, yay! I love the world!" Classic Eggman suddenly shifted on a dime.

"Excuse him, he's a little…"

"Don't say it!"

"Old."

"Curse you, Sonic! You've made me turn against myself!"

"He's not even here, gramps…"

"Look! While you all were busy blabbering, I got her to shut up!"

The three looked back.

A triumphant looking Boom Eggman leaned against the chair, and a sock was placed in Dr. Hope's mouth, held there by his Orbot and Cubot.

"….Great work, Greenie." Faked his father, American Eggman. "But now how are we going to interrogate her?"

His smile slowly dampened down to a frown. "Oh."

She mumbled through the sock, as Japanese Eggman grinned, taking it off but placing his hand in it's place.

"Now you look here… I've been waiting for the moment one of my clones would get the bright idea to assist me in my revenge on you. I would have had SEGA eating out of my shoe if it weren't for your stupid tricks!"

"We're they stupid if they worked though?" Cubot shrugged, before two Orbots jumped in and shushed him.

"Hey! That's an excellent comment, me!" the other Cubot stated, as the two Orbots looked to each other, and then raced to plug his mouth.

"Thank you, also me!"

The two orbots looked at each other again.

"I'll get him…" one said defeatedly, and looked depressed as he sighed, and put his hands over his mouth as well.

The Eggmans watched the scene, as if their code required them too, and then turned back to Sophie. "Now that the comedy reels over, tell us how the virtual world… can become full reality?"

He removed his hand.

The four all leaned over her, waiting for her to respond.

She looked around, and then took a deep breath in.

"She still knows she doesn't need to breathe right?"

"Must be a force of habit."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

(Oh no! can the team save Dr. Hope from this horrible fate! Will she crack under pressure and Eggman torture!? And will there every be enough hands to fully plug Cubot's mouth!? Stay tuned! For another exciting oneshot of-! SONIC! IRL! -That stands for 'In Real Life' :D-)