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

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

Tails hummed. "Well, he almost won in the last episode."

"Almost?" Knuckles snorted. "He was halfway at best."

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

Knuckles shook his head. "Even if that's true he still would've lost regardless." The echidna glanced at the doctor. "Eggman what would you do if-"

"Destroy every single one of you."

Shadow scoff. "You could try."

"But that's the thing!" Knuckles went on, "Our Eggman would try while the other would rather fool around."

Milla agree. "Yeah...from what I saw the other Eggman has serious priority issues."

Carol crossed her arms. "If the situation was in reverse, Eggman would win every single time."

"If only..." Eggman mumbled to himself.

Sonic wasn't buying it. "If something as crazy as the luck balance of the universe exists over there, then anything impossible could happen!"

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

"He...could've charged it before revealing it to them?" Torque asked.

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

Sonic smirked. "You need to work on your robots, Eggy."

"And you need to work on your swimming lessons, rodent."

"...That's cold."

"No be honest, Sonic. He isn't-"

"Don't encourage him, Tails."

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

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

Sonic was caught off guard. "Well...that was..."

"Unexpected." Even Knuckles was taken back at this.

Amy looked at Eggman. "Are you okay, Eggman?"

"Are you asking me or my twin."

"Both."

"...Why??"

"Because, after what we've seen I was just wondering...at home have you ever-"

"That's none of your business."

"But I was just-"

"This conversation is over."

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

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

Knuckles stayed silent.

Rouge threw a smirk over the echidna. "Nothing to say Knuckie?"

"..."

Sonic grinned. "He's probably still annoyed that his twin is still even more of a knucklehead then him."

Knuckles was imagining Sonic running on a hamster wheel.

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

"No no no!" Sonic pointed his finger at the screen. "Don't you dare!"

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

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

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

Milla ears dropped. "I kinda feel bad for him."

"Don't be." Spade grunted, glaring at the television.

"What's also sad is that we're going through some kind of new-grade torture." Shadow stated, already knowing what's gonna happen. And he didn't like it.

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

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

"Who's he?" Amy asked.

"That's Soar the Eagle. He's a motivational speaker." Lucy answered.

"A motivational speaker? Like... a therapist?"

"Something like that."

Sonic couldn't be happier. "Eggman can dump all of his problems on him!"

"We're still forced to hear it though," Knuckles grumbled.

Espio rubbed his head. "And the last thing I want to listen to is an elderly man spouting his lack of confidence."

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

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

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

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

A dojo was in the background now. "Were you born to soar like an eagle but obstacles just get in your way?" The bird karate chopped a wooden board in half.

Shadow scoffed. "What's he trying to prove? Those obstacles are as easy to get rid of."

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

The bird gestured to himself. "I'm Soar the Eagle and I can show you how to be the best 'you' you can be! My amazing seminar will show you how to soar like an eagle!"

Knuckles groaned. "Stop saying that..."

Eggman was completely enraptured in this commercial.

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

"No. I don't want to soar like an eagle."

"But you've been losin' to us for a long time. You sure you don't-"

"Yes. I'm sure, rodent."

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

Silver tilted his head. "He's naming random events."

Tails nodded. "He might be a little desperate..."

Blaze deadpanned. "A little?"

Eggman's interest was through the roof.

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

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

Eggman tried his best to ignore the laughter.

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

Eggman hastily nodded, smiling widely.

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

"No!"

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

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

"No!"

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

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

Tails snickered. "That was a slip of a tongue."

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

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

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

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

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

Eggman slapped his face. "Oh help me."

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

Sonic chuckled. "Figures!"

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

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

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

"HEY!" Charmy yelled "We're not evil!"

"Charmy...You basically get yourself in trouble."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do." Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Espio, Vector and Eggman said in unison

Charmy pouted. "You guys are mean."

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

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

"He's asking for a sleepover with Eggman?" Carol snickered.

Cory chuckled. "I hope he likes feathers as a midnight snack."

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

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

Tails blinked. "Oh."

"It's not surprising! Eggman does stink."

"Your breath sinks, you idiotic cactus!"

"...That's the best you've got."

"Prove me wrong then."

Sonic breathes on his hand and sniff. He flinched. "...Well played."

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

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

Sonic patted the pinkette on the back. "Leave the jokes to me, Ames."

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

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

"Just take the money and leave." Spade suggested.

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

Amy inwardly shuddered. "Out of all the places. There??"

Neera shook her head in disgust. "Their health codes are being violated. It can't be that hard to shut it down."

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

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

Shadow frowned. "Why is he here?"

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

"Now!" Soar shouted.

Eggman snatched the bag and ran off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Or a lizard monster." Shadow added.

"Or a time monster." Tails chirped.

"Or a god monster." Silver joined in.

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

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

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

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

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

"But...it's yarn, Knuckles."

"Sonic, I will slap you."

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

"She's happy about that?" Amy couldn't figure out why.

"Creative is good. However, it can be dangerous... especially for someone who wants to take over the world." Neera stated.

Knuckles was grinning. "I try not to."

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

Knuckles didn't respond to the hedgehog. It wasn't funny; it was unexpected. There's a difference.

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

Soar wasn't as enthused.

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

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

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

Eggman pinched the bridge of his nose while Sonic's obnoxious laughter filled the air.

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

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

"He was just trying to help." Milla mumbled. She didn't understand why Eggman was being mean to the person who was helping.

Lilac crossed her arms. "He's going to regret that in less than five minutes!"

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

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

"Yeah, like he's the one who needs the motivational speaker," Knuckles said.

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

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

Espio shook his head, disappointed. "Not even five minutes."

Amy shifted her attention to Eggman. "Do you go through the same process when you-""

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

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

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

Serves him right, Carol grinned.

"Can someone slap him? Please?" Eggman grumbled.

"Wait, does that mean Soar picks out food for him?" Silver questioned.

Rouge shook her head. "This guy really needs some help."

"Serious help."

"Like you, Knux."

"Sonic, I'm warning you. I'm dead serious. I will slap you so hard that you won't be able to think clearly.

"Like your twin?"

*SLAP*

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

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

"Obviously." Spade rolled his eyes.

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

Cubot and Orbot shared a look.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amy felt betrayed. "Cheater! And to think that I was impressed with their sandcastle-building skills!"

"I'm more worried that they basically buried my double..."

"But your twin isn't worried!" Sonic patted the kit's head, and rubbed his face from Knuckles' slap. "It's all good!"

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

There was a collective tortured groan that filled the room.

"Just why?!" Amy cried out.

Neera faced away. "Can someone please burn it?"

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

"I need to burn my eyes." Gong said.

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

Carol's nose scrunched up in disgust. "How is he not disgusted by that?"

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

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

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

The audience agreed as they all shouted in disgust.

"That's nasty!"

"Disgusting!"

"I did not want to see that!"

"I'm about to throw up!"

"So sickening!"

"Why are we watching this?!"

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

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

"How come Eggman doesn't just rehire Soar?" Tails questioned. "I mean, he obviously knows that he's in a slump."

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

"That's rock bottom." Knuckles said.

Amy nodded. "I agree."

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

Sonic shrugged.

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, not his problem!"

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

"A bored Sonic?" Shadow barked out a laughed, "Yeah, something's getting destroyed and/or burned down."

"Hey!"

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

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

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

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

"Sorry Sonic, but yes."

Milla leaned forward. "Why would you say that?"

The kit sighed. "Trust me. You don't know Sonic like I do."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sonic couldn't argue that.

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

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

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

Milla let out a 'yelp' after hearing that.

Rouge flinched. "Oh wow."

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

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

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

"Yet."

"Shut up, Knuckles."

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

"Aw, he made that by himself?" Rouge leaned forward, smiling. "It's kinda sweet!"

Knuckles wished he was somewhere else.

Sonic suddenly appeared. "Hey, Knux!"

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

Lilac gave the blue blur a look. "Really, Sonic?"

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

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

"Really, Sonic? Just do your own thing." Sonic was about to open his mouth but Tails interrupted him. "Besides running."

"Maybe he can try relaxing for a bit."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amy slumped in disappointment.

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

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

"Okay I can be a bit destructive when there was absolutely nothing to do-"

Eggman scoffed. "A bit."

Sonic ignored him and continued. "-but I wouldn't be paranoid about it."

"So you say."

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

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

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

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

"So you admit that you're destructive but not paranoid?" Eggman points at the screen. "What do you call this."

"Shut up, Eggface."

"Exactly."

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

"Called it," Spade said.

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

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

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

"It's weird seeing him so worked up." Tails cocked his head at the TV.

"They have to get Eggman back on his feet, pronto." Amy declared.

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

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

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

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

Shadow really wanted to peel his eyes out.

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

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

Lilac furrowed her brow. "He just...really doesn't care at all anymore, huh?"

Carol folded her arms. "If that was the demeaner of someone who did care, I'd be way more concerned."

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

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

"It's nice to know that he has his priorities in order." Eggman pumped as much sarcasm as he could into his words.

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

Cory shrugged. "At least he tried?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eggman glared hard at the cheeky blue hedgehog, wishing he was somewhere else.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eggman shushed him, fixated on his show.

"That plan was highly unnecessary." Torque said.

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

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

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

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

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

Eggman scoffed. "What a dumb idea."

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

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

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

"Knux, if you wake up falling in love with Rouge and giving her the Master Emerald one day, don't be surprised."

"Sonic, if you wake up underwater, with Amy having to rescue you, you become girlfriend and boyfriend, and you give up speeding forever one day, don't be surprised."

"...Touché."

"Thought so."

"Hmm, I don't know which is worse. Sonic giving up speeding? Or Eggman giving up his evil scheme?"

"That will never happen." Sonic and Eggman looked at each other in shocked.

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

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

The human snorted. "Oh really?"

"Yeah really!" Sonic snapped back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The title of the next one popped up on the screen, and Lucy read it aloud. "'How to Succeed in Evil Without Really Trying'.

"It sounds like Eggman will not be in this one." Charmy said.

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

Theo pressed the button to the next episode.