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

Oh my gosh. When I say that I'm sorry, I am so sorry. I've been trying to work on this for the longest, but between finishing my last (stressful) semester of college and adjusting to life with a full-time job, time basically didn't exist for me. I finally got this done though! Here's proof that I'm not dead!

After so long, here's Fire in a Crowded Workshop!

"…Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Silver asked this around the cheesy goodness in his mouth, frozen in place once he realized that the eyes staring at him were filled with shock and awe. And maybe a bit of horror, he wasn't too sure.

He shallowly coughed after swallowing, clearing his throat as tingling heat spread from his mouth to his stomach. He fought through it though, because he had much worse in the past. He'd rather have this than nearly rotten fruit and meat any day.

It didn't matter that his tongue was on fire and crying out for help.

Silver coughed again, focusing on Amy. It was her outburst that surprised him, another nacho halfway up to his mouth. He waited for her – anyone, it was getting creepy now – to answer his question. They just stared, and his nachos were getting cold.

"Um…" Silver looked at them, they looked back, and he said, "I'm going to keep eating these, if that's okay?"

Tails was the first to recover, watching Silver calmly eat the tainted cheese and not burst into a ball of flame, yelling and crying and possibly making a mess all over the floor like Metal almost had. He glanced over to the table that used to hold the pepper, instantly understanding the situation once Amy had her outburst, before asking, "How…spicy is that cheese, Silver? On a scale of one to ten?"

"Huh?" Silver looked at Tails like he had grown one or two more heads before regarding his food. "I don't know, uh…" He lifted a cheese-coated chip and took a bite, hearing some of the others softly gasp as he did so. His instincts and their reactions were telling him to spit the nacho out, but his stomach was protesting otherwise. And usually, stomachs held priority. "Maybe like a seven?" He stifled a cough, throat stinging. "Or an eight? Why?"

Sonic couldn't believe this. Maybe…Maybe they were mistaking the situation. The pepper couldn't be in there. There was no way. Because of all people, Silver wouldn't be taking it so well. His reaction would be on par with Metal's, if not worse.

But, the doubt was still there and he needed an answer.

"So…" Sonic took his eye off the plate of potential nightmares before asking the other on-watchers, "Who wants to do the honors?"

Amy looked at him in confusion. "The honors of wha-" Then it dawned on her, and she would rather do anything else. "Oh."

"'Oh'?" Silver really didn't like this, whatever it was. "What are you talking about?" There was no answer. Everyone was looking at each other now, completely silent, and Silver's voice raised an octave as he rushed, "This isn't poison, right? Uh, if I die here, time would collapse or something. Probably." He didn't get this far in life just to die from nachos.

Finally, he got a response. "It's not poison-" Shadow started. At the sound of his voice, Silver had to remind himself that he was in the past and safe. Most likely. "-and we don't have to do anything. It's obvious that he got a milder salsa." Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms. "Do you honestly think he'd be able to tolerate anything more than a bell pepper?"

"I…am sitting right here," Silver said, insulted even though he didn't fully understand what was going on.

"You should test it out, copy." Just looking at the salsa was making Metal nauseous, and once again he hated how rebellious his body tended to be. "You seemingly have the better tolerance for it."

Sonic blanched. "Me? Just because I won doesn't mean anythin'!" Panicking a bit, he addressed Shadow, "Uh…Shads! You barely lost to me, right? Don't you want to redeem yourself-"

"Not at the moment."

Sonic hated his own mouth sometimes. Considering what it had been through already, it wouldn't come up with weird suggestions, but noo. "On second thought, we can give Silver the benefit of the doubt-"

"Oh no you don't, pincushion." Eggman was somewhat disappointed to see that the psychic annoyance wasn't crying on the floor yet, but having Sonic go for a round two would make up for it. Too bad he didn't have his video recorder. "You brought it up, so you go eat it. Or is spice the one thing your irritating tenacity can't overcome?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes at Eggman's cheeky grin. He had a choice to make. He could only save one thing: his rep or his tongue. Rep or tongue, rep or tongue, rep-

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Silver asked.

"Stalling," Shadow and Metal chorused.

Sonic huffed. "I am not – fine!" He hopped out of his chair and sped over to where Silver was sitting. He hoped that the pepper had simply disappeared as he tossed a cheese-covered nacho into his mouth before Silver could react. He chewed and was instantly relieved. "It's a little spicy, but nothing compared to what we ate!"

Knuckles gave him a dubious look. "Five, four-"

Sonic rose a brow. "Why are you countin' down? It would've kicked in already."

"Three-"

"I'm telling ya, the pepper isn't in – oh Chaos I was wrong."

Knuckles watched as Sonic fell to his knees, eyes wide in both horror and betrayal. "Kicked in faster than I thought." Sonic didn't respond, too busy clutching his throat and gurgling out a miserable whine. Once again, Knuckles was glad that he never consumed that damn thing.

Silver gasped in shock at the suffering speedster beside him. "Sonic! What's – Why are you…" He glanced over at the others and blinked at how they were still staring at him, not the blue hedgehog struggling to breathe. "Am…I the only one seeing this?

"Nope." Eggman smirked.

Silver expected that from him, but, "Are you not concerned? Amy? Tails?"

Tails perked up at the sound of his name, getting pulled out of his own confused head. "Huh? Oh! Um…" The rest of his words got drowned out by Sonic laying face-down on the floor and yelling. No words came out, just pain, but then a pint of vanilla ice cream stopped the onslaught. Tails managed a smile when Sonic shoved his face into the coolness without hesitation. "He'll…be fine!"

Silver eyed the magic ice cream and wasn't sure if he believed him or not.

"More importantly," Knuckles cut in, gaze lowering to the nachos still in his lap. "Do you eat a lot of spicy stuff in the future?" For some reason, Knuckles always thought that Silver had the heat tolerance of an ice cube, but that definitely wasn't the case. Either he got his taste buds burned off in the future, or…or something. The only hints that he'd eaten the pepper was the occasional cough and flushed cheeks.

As opposed to Sonic – who may or may not be drowning himself in ice cream.

"Spicy stuff?" Silver repeated, looking from Knuckles, to his food, to Sonic, and back to Knuckles. "He's acting like that because of the salsa? I mean, it's pretty spicy, but it's not that bad…"

Sonic made a strangled sound beside him.

"No…it's pretty bad," Amy opposed as Silver tasted a nacho again as if he hadn't eaten a handful already. "I don't know how, but you're eating the hottest pepper in the world, Silver!"

Silver choked when he accidentally inhaled a piece. "S-Seriously?" He coughed and more of the heat coated his mouth, understanding that this might be too much for people, but the hottest in the world?

He had eaten some questionable things during the war. Experimenting with herbs and spices laying around was all he did on missions, some meals ending better than others.

Tails nodded. "Yeah! Sonic, Shadow, Metal, and Knuckles had an eating competition with it earlier. It wasn't pretty."

"That was what you were talking about before?" Silver ate another nacho because he wasn't going to let them go to waste. He glanced at the writhing speedster who had curled into a fetal position. "And Sonic had won that? That's-"

His train of thought ground to a halt when he actually processed Tails' words. He said that Shadow, Knuckles, Sonic, and…

Silver froze, his wide eyes landing on the other blue hedgehog that looked vaguely familiar. It had been nagging him, but now he knew why and everything was just wrong. "You're – You're Metal Sonic?!"

From that reaction alone, Metal realized that he better enjoy his new body as long as he could. "That is what he just said. Do you have a problem with that, psychic?"

Silver didn't answer, mouth hung open in shock.

"I will take that as a yes."

Tails frowned because the disappointment in Metal's tone wasn't as hidden as he probably thought it was, and because the slightly wary look in Silver's eyes didn't bode too well. "So…does that mean that Metal is a robot in the future, Silver?"

Silence.

"…I'll take that as a yes too."

Silver placed a hand against his forehead in disbelief, wondering if he had eaten one too many questionable herbs in the field. But this couldn't be a fever dream. It felt way too real.

"H-How?" he stuttered, looking Metal over in shock. "The last time I saw him, he was flying around attacking a city while being, you know, a robot!"

"The reason is connected to the random appearances of consumables and why you're here," Metal explained before narrowing his red eyes, and Silver honestly couldn't decide which version of him was more intimidating. "But disregard that for the moment. You said that I had been attacking a city? It better be for no other reason than finding food to eat. Or attempting to."

Silver wasn't going to even unpack that bag. He shook his head, glancing over at Eggman. The doctor wore a grin as he stroked his mustache, and Silver clenched his jaw. "No, you work for Eggman. You've destroyed cities and ruined people's lives because of him."

It was turn for Metal to be surprised, along with the rest of the room. Well, expect for Eggman. He cackled. "He's back as my robot servant, you say? What a surprise! And when I say surprise, I mean totally expected." Eggman's grin grew. "I always knew you'd come crawling back."

Metal would rather give up his sense of taste than follow the doctor's orders once more. "I would never return to you willingly. You must have somehow tampered with my hard drive after I reverted."

"Or you simply missed being at my beck and call like a good little robot."

"He is not done with his salsa, doctor."

Eggman stopped his boasting, but the smug aura radiating from him was near palpable.

Silver looked between them in confusion. "Wait, so you're not working for him now?"

Disgust flashed on Metal's face. "Of course not. He is dead to me at this point."

Wow.

Eggman's grin nearly split his face in half. "Keep telling yourself that, Metal."

They stared each other down, and Silver honestly wondered how in the world the future happened with them acting like this.

"So wait," Amy examined Silver's condition, concerned about the bruises and how thin he looked. "Are you like that because of Metal, Silver? Did he attack you?"

Silver sighed, eating another nacho and coughing. "Not…recently."

"I really don't like that answer."

Silver shallowly laughed. Everyone was listening when he said, "Well, I've fought him in the past, future, whatever. Not just him, though. And it's not just me fighting either. We're…at war."

Most of the room tensed at that, and even Sonic stopped devouring the ice cream to focus on him.

Amy furrowed her brow. "War? With who?"

"Who else?" Eggman was too happy about this. Hearing about his glorious future was more interesting than the show. He wished he had a bag of popcorn. "Do tell, rodent!"

"Who cares if we're at war?" Knuckles asked. Yeah, it was a bit surprising, but it sounded pretty tame compared to their other adventures. "We're probably winning anyway."

"I…don't think we're winning," Tails murmured, wringing his hands together. "Silver's condition isn't caused by something new. Something's been going on for a while." He regarded the psychic. "Right?"

Silver reluctantly nodded. "Eggman took over the world with his robots, basically."

Knuckles couldn't believe it. "We're talking about Eggman, here. The man whose plans never work out in the end. The man who can't even get his own robots to stay loyal to him."

"Exibit A," Metal said.

"For now," Eggman haughtily reminded.

Silver wanted to laugh at the absurdity of everything. "I know it sounds farfetched, but it happened. Maybe because it isn't just him. Along with Metal, Zavok, Chaos, Shadow, and a new guy called Infinite work with him too."

It was quiet as the information sunk in until:

Sonic lowered the pint of ice cream from his mouth, deadpanned at Shadow, and rasped, "Seriously?"

Shadow ignored him, instead glaring at Silver. "You're lying. There's no way in hell I would ever-"

"Apparently there issss," Eggman singsonged.

"Forget about the salsa, doctor. I will tear out your damn tongue myself if you don't shut up."

Eggman was happy to soak in his victory in silence.

Tails was feeling the opposite. "Metal and Shadow are bad enough, but Chaos is there too? How?"

"And Zavok-"

"Who cares about him?!" Knuckles bared out, interrupting Amy. "How in the hell did Eggman get Chaos? He's tucked safely in the Master Emerald! There's no way!"

Eggman didn't say anything, but his expression practically screamed 'There's definitely a way'.

Sonic shook his head, rubbing the moistness of his blood-shot eyes. His voice was still wrecked as his throat loudly protested every sound. "It d-d-doesn't make any s-sense." He ate another mouthful of ice cream before continuing, "I've b-beaten all of 'em in the past! S-So why-"

"That's where Infinite comes in." Just saying his name made Silver's mood drop even lower. "He manipulates reality somehow, and, well…he killed you. That's how everything started."

Sonic slowly blinked at him, voice even quieter than before, "Yeah…that'll do it."

"But you weren't really dead!" Silver quickly explained, if only to get rid of the utter devastation on Tails' and Amy's faces and the glee on Eggman's. "We only thought he was. Eggman had kidnapped him, but he recently escaped and found us, safe and sound." Well, that was a bit of a stretch, but they didn't need to hear the gritty details.

Amy and Tails sighed out in relief while Eggman cursed his future self's ineptitude. How hard was it to kill one annoying rat?

"I was actually about to meet up with him and everyone else to decide what to do next, but then I was…transported here."

Amy tapped her chin. "So, things are looking up, right? With Sonic back?"

Silver rubbed the back of his neck. "Kinda? The world's still pretty messed up, and it's gonna take a lot to push back Eggman's forces and-"

"Y-You won't h-have to do anything at all," Sonic said with a twitchy smile covered with a vanilla mess. "All I h-have to do is be c-c-careful of this Infinite d-dude now, and everything w-will be fine."

Silver stared at him. "That's…huh."

"He has a point!" Tails agreed. "We know about this now, so we can keep an eye on Eggman to prevent any of it happening!"

"And I'm not going to let the Master Emerald out of my sight," Knuckles added, glaring at the doctor.

Eggman waved him off. "You've said that in the past too, and how many times have I grabbed that precious gem of yours?"

Knuckles crossed his arms, grumbling, "No one asked you."

Eggman's smile stayed on his face, not letting this new revelation get to him. He wasn't going to let this win slip out of his grasp. It's been way too long since the last one. "Are you sure about this little plan, rodents? This is time we're talking about. Predictions aren't set in stone. Who's to say that all of your preemptive actions won't cause the end of days, hm?"

"I say that it wouldn't," Shadow nearly snapped. "I'll refuse whatever ridiculous offer you give me. You could say that you could bring Maria back from the dead, and I still wouldn't-"

"Yes, you would."

Shadow didn't agree or refute that claim. "Doing so is impossible, so my point still stands."

"That goes for me as well, minus the Maria statement." Metal glared, eyes glowing, and Eggman wondered if he could get out of the way if he decided to shoot those laser eyes of his. "I will not allow that."

Eggman simply hummed, obviously not believing a word they were saying, before focusing on Silver. He leaned in his seat, eager. "So, tell me about this Infinite fellow, cactus. I'd like to know about my future lackeys."

"Yeah, I'm not going that." Silver shoveled more nachos into his mouth, his stomach begging for more. Sonic stared in awe at him while his own body was screaming in pain and torture. After swallowing and coughing a bit, Silver asked, "Why would I ever help you out after all of the things you did?"

"It was worth a shot," Eggman said with a shrug, the rejection not bothering him in the slightest. "I'll find out soon enough. What's the timeline for all of this anyway? I need to prepare myself for victory."

"Again, why would I ever help you?!"

"Because you're the least annoying hedgehog I know!"

Amy was a bit insulted, but she figured that it was fair.

Silver narrowed his eyes. "I could toss you through a window with a twitch of a finger."

"Please do," Metal encouraged. "My respect for you would increase as a result."

Despite the threats, Eggman remained on cloud nine, giggling as he imagined his future empire.

"Just…forget about Eggman for a second." Tails hopped into the conversation, throwing the gleeful doctor a wary glance. "Going back a bit, you said that you were going to meet up with everyone before you got warped here. How are we in the future? You don't look the best, so I wanted to ask…"

Silver understood the concern. "They're all in the same condition as me, more or less, but everyone's relatively okay. Even Sonic."

A sound of relief came from the blue hero, tongue too busy preventing itself from bursting into flame to form words.

Tails smiled. "That's reassuring!" Even though they were going to prevent that future from happening, it was nice to know that no one was in serious condition.

"Definitely!" Amy's eyes shone with curiosity. "Speaking of them and this whole war, what are they doing to fight back? It sounds like the usual 'smash robots' plan isn't doing so well." For the first time.

Silver quietly laughed. "With so many scattered around, we can't really put a dent in the numbers." He completely ignored Eggman's pleased presence as he said this. "And having Shadow, Metal, Chaos, and Zavok to deal with doesn't really help things."

Nevermind hopping dimensions to smack the stupidity out of the alternates, Shadow wanted to jump ahead to find his future self and have a…heated discussion with him.

Metal was wondering if he should deal with Eggman as soon as they left the home. Painlessly, of course.

"But that's gonna change soon, I think," Silver continued. "Knuckles called all of us together for a meeting now that Sonic's back so we could talk about new tactics." At Knuckles' slightly puzzled expression, Silver sent him a small grin. "Oh yeah, we're part of a bigger group called the Resistance, and you're the Commander, believe it not."

"I don't." Knuckles couldn't imagine doing that. He had one thing to look after, and that was the Master Emerald, not a whole army. His blood pressure would be sky high. "I don't know if you realize this, but I don't exactly like people."

Tails nodded. "It took a long time for him to warm up to Sonic, Amy, and me."

"Especially Sonic."

Tails chuckled while Sonic playfully rolled his eyes. The kit tapped his chin. "But I mean, if anyone had to do it, you would make a good fit. You're headstrong and confident enough!"

"Funny way of saying stubborn," Amy giggled behind her hand.

Knuckles whirled on her. "Hey!"

Silver smiled, this laid-back atmosphere being a good change of pace. "It's pretty stressful, but you're pretty good at it! We all help you out and divide up the jobs. Tails is in charge of the technical stuff and machines, Amy is the lead strategist-" Those two looked at each other, proud of their future selves. "-and I'm second-in-command, I guess. No one really gave me the title, but Knuckles and I brainstorm a lot of stuff and bounce things off each other."

Knuckles still couldn't fully accept it. "Wow, things must've really gone to hell if you and I are the ones leading."

Silver chose not to take that as an insult.

"Wait, so they are definitely looking for you now, right?" Amy asked.

Silver furrowed his brow. "Uh…I don't know? If the future's changed, then they won't be, unless everyone keeps their memories, then yeah-"

Shadow gave him a level stare. "Shouldn't you know everything about time travel by now?"

"I don't know anything about time, I just travel through it," Silver muttered around the last of his nachos. He then blinked when a tall glass of milk popped into existence on the floor beside him. He had already eaten the nachos, and Sonic was enjoying the ice cream, but, "Uh…this stuff is safe to drink, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It can't be any worse than what you've already eaten." Amy dismissed his worry, and Silver tentatively took a sip. "The reason I asked if anyone was looking for you is that you might not be able to go back right away."

That was a bit concerning. "Why?"

Amy twirled one of her bubblegum quills, vaguely gesturing to the room. "Well, like Metal said before, it involves the randomly appearing food and why we're all stuck in here."

"Wait, stuck? Like you can't leave?" Silver asked, looking over to the front door. It wasn't barred or anything, and neither were the windows.

Shadow clicked his tongue in agitation. "Did you think we were all hanging out together for shits and giggles?"

It was obvious that Shadow wasn't looking for a 'yes', so Silver instead said, "I didn't really think about it. Too busy recovering from the spontaneous time travel, you know?"

"…I'll let that excuse slide."

After taking another sip of milk, his mouth thanking him, Silver turned to Amy. "How are you all stuck here? Isn't this Sonic's house?"

Sonic made a sound of assent, now laying on his side as he endured the pain.

"It'll go away soon, hang in there!" Amy encouraged Sonic, and a broken groan was his response. She refocused on Silver, "It's going to sound crazy, but we're trapped in here by a magical being." Before Silver could even begin to process that, she continued, "There's some kind of invisible barrier keeping us from going outside. But, it's nice enough to create food for us and turn Metal into a real boy, so I guess it's not all bad."

Silver couldn't doubt her words because they sounded too impossible to be a lie. "And…you're all okay with this?"

"It's not like we have a choice," Knuckles grunted. He would've been long gone if they had. "We're stuck until we finish the stupid episodes it wants to show us."

"Episodes of…"

"Ourselves in an alternate dimension."

"Oh."

"It's as bad as it sounds."

"Not really!" Tails defended their other selves. "Watching them can get be pretty entertaining!" Knuckles, Metal, and Shadow gave him pointed looks. "Y'know, sometimes."

Amy sat back in her chair. "It probably brought you here, Silver, so you can watch too! Though I have no idea why…"

"Yeah, because if you were in the other dimension, you would've been here from the start," Tails mused. "Maybe it's to give you a break from what you've been going through?"

Worst break ever, Knuckles thought before shrugging. "Who knows? Mittens was brought here just to annoy us."

"I think it was for us to meet him, Knuckles," Tails refuted.

"Didn't mean that he didn't annoy me."

Metal scoffed. "You are simply bothered that he and Rouge got along so-"

"Aaaaaaaaa I don't want to hear it."

Despite being mostly clueless, Silver quietly chuckled. The subtle blush on Knuckles' face told everything. "Who's Mittens?"

"Knuckles' other dimension self," Amy answered.

"Ah." Silver thought for a moment before saying, "You know, in the future, you and Rouge are really close, Knuckles. It's probably just because she's the intelligence, but sometimes I wonder-"

"Y-You shut up too!" Knuckles frantically barked.

Amy giggled before perking up. "Wait!" Beside Silver, Sonic stiffened, curling up in a tighter ball. "What about me and Sonic? I know he'd been kidnapped in all, but what about before that? We have to be dating, right? Right?"

Silver instantly regretted bringing the subject up, now being pinned down by her crazed gaze. "Er, no-"

"You wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"No!" Silver repeated, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her hammer. "You two are just friends, I think."

Amy narrowed her eyes before huffing. "That doesn't mean anything! The future is gonna change anyway, so anything could happen!"

"There's no stopping my world domination-"

"Hush, Eggman. No one's talking to you."

Again, Eggman wasn't bothered by the rejection. The future was looking bright for him, and he refused to see it any other way.

Silver glanced over to the large television on the wall, recalling what was said earlier. "So, if I watch an episode of the show, uh…it will take me back to the future?"

"Probably," Metal said.

That was good enough. "I guess I don't have a choice either, huh?" He stiffened in surprise when a plastic chair appeared in the middle of the room, most likely for him. He had so many questions, but he asked none of them as he floated over and plopped down into it. "How long have you've been in here?"

"Since this morning," Shadow curtly responded.

"Yikes." Silver glanced around the room, noticing its rough condition. He could only imagine what went on in here.

Tails looked over at Sonic, who was still suffering on the floor. "Hey Sonic, do you want to return to your seat, or are you good down there?"

Sonic gave him a weak thumbs up.

"If you say so…" Tails then read the words on the TV when they flashed on the screen. "'Fire in a Crowded Workshop'? Is it going to be a Tails episode?"

Oh how Knuckles wished, but, "Don't get ahead of yourself. We thought 'Bro-down Showdown' was going to be a Sonic and Tails episode, and look what happened."

Silver raised a brow. "What happened?"

"We got a Sonic and Mittens one, who is dumb as a pile of rocks, by the way."

"Too much credit," Shadow uttered.

Silver furrowed his brow. He hadn't met the guy, but they were treating him kinda harsh. "Is he really that bad, though?"

"No!" Tails and Amy chorused.

"Yes," Knuckles, Metal, and Shadow opposed.

Sonic made an ambiguous noise on the floor.

"Just watch it yourself!" Amy pointed a remote at the screen. "You'll see!"

The scene started off at Tails' workshop, which had black smoke pouring out of it. Tails ran into the building, confused, only to see Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and a purple bandicoot covered in ash staring back at him with wide eyes.

Silver didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that. "That's…That's Mittens?"

Knuckles nodded. "Uh huh."

"But – wow."

"We think steroids might be involved. He said he hadn't taken any, but look at him."

"Maybe he…skipped leg day a lot?"

"I forgot how optimistic you are. Shadow, tell him about being optimistic."

"Don't be."

"Listen to him."

Silver wondered how this experience had affected all of them mentally.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Ignore them, Silver. Don't catch their pessimism." She turned her attention to the show. "But anyway, that girl seems familiar. Have we seen her before?"

Tails squinted. "I think so…the Justin Beaver episode, maybe?"

The room shuddered as a whole.

Silver didn't want to know.

"What happened here?!" Tails exclaimed.

Sonic crossed his arms, calmer than he should've been. "Can you be more specific?" A charred wooden plank fell behind him. That seemed to push Sonic in the right direction. "Oh, the mess! Funny story. It all began at Meh Burger…"

"I bet it's going to be Mittens' fault, whatever happened," Knuckles said before retracting his statement. "You know what? No, I change it to Sonic. He's been sinking down to Mittens' level lately."

Tails cradled his chin. "It makes sense. Mittens is most likely a red herring, and Sonic – all versions of him – are prone to making things blow up. On purpose or otherwise."

Both Sonic and Eggman could attest to that.

In the past now, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy were eating lunch at a table. Sonic swallowed a bite of his burger and hummed, "Adequate burgers today."

Silver patted his stomach even though it was nearly full. "A burger sounds great right now. Haven't had one in forever."

"Don't talk about food while Meh Burger is on the screen," Amy advised with a wince.

"Why?"

"Just watch."

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, you can barely taste the shredded newspaper."

Amy's gut churned. "See?"

Silver pursed his lips, thinking. "…Yeah, I'd still it eat. Plenty of fiber. Got to get your nutrients somehow during the apocalypse."

Amy stared blankly at him. "You guys really had it rough, huh?"

"To put it lightly."

In contrast, Amy groaned as she glared at her burger. "Ugh!" She took the bun off, revealing a large glob of mayo. "I said no mayonnaise!" She stood out of her chair and flipped the table with an enraged yell, pulling out her hammer to smash another one. Innocent bystanders fleed in fear.

Amy couldn't be mad. "I don't blame her. It was drowned in the stuff."

"Still totally edible, though."

"Silver, I'm going to need you to get your standards back up after we fix the future."

"Oh, come on." Back to the present, the ash-covered Amy was frowning. "I don't act like that!"

Tails looked pensive and Knuckles simply shrugged.

Sonic cleared his throat. "Hey, who's telling this story?"

Metal narrowed his eyes. "So, this story is fabricated by him. It is not completely truthful."

"Seems like it…" Tails tilted his head. "Then it's probably going to be Sonic's fault, especially if he spins the story in his favor."

He tapped his chin. "So, where was I? Oh, yeah. We were so embarrassed by Amy's uncouth behavior that we left Meh Burger."

Knuckles grinned. "Yeesh. Sounds like their relationship is getting a little rocky. Wonder what their couple's quarrel was about?"

Silver's eyes went wide. "Relationship? Sonic and Amy in that world are together?"

"Yes!"

"M-Maybe…" Sonic mended Amy's declaration, managing to crawl over to his abandoned chair and slink into it, ice cream tucked in his arm. He wiped his tear-stained cheeks, sniffing. "No proof."

"But you're saying no!" Amy sighed, smiling over at Silver. "He's learned a lot since we've been stuck in here. He had said no for the longest, but then he broadened his horizons and saw that love is in the air! It's only a matter of time before he follows in his twin's footsteps!"

Silver stared at her before looking over to Sonic. He was shaking his head quickly, mouth buried again in the ice cream.

Silver returned to Amy and gave a hesitant smile. "Yeah…I bet so…"

She had mellowed out in the future, and he was never more appreciative of it than now.

In the past again, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy were walking, the pinkette still scowling at her experience at the restaurant.

Then, Sonic spotted someone in the distance. "Oh?" It was the bandicoot. She was sitting on a rock, cradling an injured arm. Propped up on another rock was a wrecked bike, it broken in two.

Tails flinched. "That must've hurt…"

"How did she do that in the first place?" Metal asked. "She snapped the bicycle in two. She was not going on a leisurely ride."

"Maybe Eggman is involved somehow? He hasn't shown up yet."

Eggman glared at the kit, his happiness momentarily forgotten. "Don't say his name. You might summon him if you do."

"You don't like your double either, Eggman?" Silver honestly didn't see that coming.

"Do you like losing brain cells?"

Silence.

"There's your answer."

Sonic sped over to her with a smile. "Everything okay, Miss?"

She blinked up at him, awed. "Are you-?"

The speedster put a hand on his hip, smirking. "Yep, I'm Sonic the hedgehog, fastest hero in the world, purveyor of justice, righter of wrongs, eater of chili dogs."

Sonic groaned, seeing where this was going and really hoped he was wrong. He didn't need a repeat of Comedy Chimp in a dress.

Knuckles shared his thoughts. "Is this another relationship episode? Please don't let it be."

"Did you not see the way she was acting?" The only thing keeping Shadow's sanity in check was the promise of freedom soon. "Get ready for another trainwreck."

Tails saw Silver's confusion and provided, "Let's just say that the other dimension doesn't handle romance well."

Silver lowered his voice so a certain pinkette couldn't hear. "Like, Amy caliber, or-?"

"Much worse."

"Oh no."

The bandicoot squealed before turning around, getting a hold of herself. "Calm down, Perci. It's just all your dreams coming true!" Perci glanced back at Sonic, somewhat calmer now. "I'm so sorry…"

Sonic was radiating smugness. "Don't worry. I'm used to it." His smirk widened. "Just breathe slowly and tell Uncle Sonic what happened."

Sonic flinched like he'd been slapped.

Silver was starting to see what Tails meant. "This story has to be biased, right? There's no way he'd actually say that."

"There's a way," Knuckles muttered. He was sure this wasn't true word-for-word, but he wouldn't be surprised if the hero said something similar.

Amy was torn between swooning and telling that bandicoot to step away from her twin's man.

Amy wasn't amused. "Clearly, she fell off her bike and hurt her arm."

"Oh, Amy." Sonic grinned as he held his hands up innocently. "Don't be jealous because I'm paying attention to another."

Amy's jaw dropped. "Oh no he didn't!"

Sonic wanted to disappear. The secondhand embarrassment was too much. "Th-This is just getting worse."

Amy growled.

Sonic stepped beside Perci, whispering, "Don't mind her. She kinda has a thing for me."

"Who wouldn't?" Perci slyly responded.

Sonic liked what he was hearing. "Exactly."

Sonic wondered if he could pull a Shadow and sleep through an episode.

Again, Amy was torn. But this time, it was between swooning – again – and, "Wow. Is he seriously that full of himself? Like, I appreciate when a guy has some confidence, but he's right in front of his girlfriend!"

Knuckles rubbed his temples. "I'm going to be sick."

"I…" Silver was not used to this. "Are you sure that this is an actual alternate dimension?"

"It would hurt l-less if it wasn't," Sonic said around the spoon he just now decided to use.

"Now, let's see what we can do about that bicycle." He pointed over to Knuckles. "Knuckles, bring it over here." The echidna nodded before promptly picking up a large rock. Sonic deadpanned. "That's a boulder. I said bicycle." His expression relaxed a bit. "But I'm not angry because I know that you're a simpleton."

Silver frowned. "That was rude."

"But accurate," most of the room finished.

"Sometimes!" Tails tagged on.

"Thank you, Mr. Sonic." Knuckles smiled and threw the bolder away.

Knuckles snorted. "If it wasn't set in stone that this is a made-up story, it sure is now."

Amy approached Perci, examining her. "Oh my, Perci, you've been injured. I know what to do about that." She suddenly grew serious, tone sharpening, while Perci looked on in confusion. "Lecture you on bicycle safety. First, never ride a bike-"

"So, he pictures that Amy as intense and overbearing?" Silver was starting to question if they were seriously a couple. "Is she usually like that?"

"Not to that degree," Shadow answered.

Amy wanted to say that her twin wasn't like that at all, but that was a blatant lie. She agreed with Shadow. This time.

"-Amy!" Sonic interrupted her, shaking his head. "What Perci really needs is a splint for her arm."

Perci's eyes were half-lidded, a captivated glint in them. "Wow…you sure know how to take charge of every situation."

Sonic winked.

Amy fanned herself while frowning, "He's seriously out of control! It's all going to his head!"

Metal glimpsed at her. "You can either be enamored or enraged. You cannot be both."

"Says who?"

"And…voila!" Amy finished putting Perci's arm in a mechanical sling made from gears from the bike. It didn't look practical at all.

Tails was highly concerned. "That looks like a torture device."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Knuckles huffed. "She's competition."

Sonic shook his head in disappointment while Knuckles walked up to him and said, "I couldn't find a bicycle, but maybe one of us could ride this to get one." He held up the two pieces of bicycle before accidentally dropping them into a mud puddle, splashing Perci. Her scarf was now stained.

Knuckles looked on guiltily. "Sorry about your scarf! I should've known I'd mess it up. I always do when I'm not under Sonic's direct supervision…"

Silver raised a brow. "And Sonic thinks of Mittens like that? How are they all still friends?"

Sonic managed to grin. "You did t-try to kill me on a couple occasions, and we're still friends."

"Well, uh – that doesn't-"

"S-Soundin' real articulate there."

"Shut up. It's different."

Sonic didn't argue, bending down to inspect the bike. "Hmm…as a man I could fix this with my bare hands; however, it would be quicker with the proper tools." He stood back up. "To Tails' workshop!"

Shadow sighed in frustration. "If this goes on the entire episode, I'm going to have to punch something."

Metal nodded over to the side. "The doctor is right there."

"I know."

Eggman was happy dreaming of his empire, but he had to get out of here in one piece first. "I'd rather you not do that."

Shadow hummed, and Eggman didn't appreciate the ambiguity of it.

They all walked off. Perci was holding onto Sonic's arm at the front while Knuckles was lugging the broken bike in the rear. The group had to pause in their stride when Sticks came out of nowhere and ran up to them.

"Ooo!" Silver leaned forward a bit. He's never seen her before. "Who's she?"

"Sticks!" Tails was happy to give the introduction, doing so before Knuckles could insert his negativity. "She's part of the team too! She's…a little wild, but she's got a lot of spunk."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "'Spunk'. Yeah, alright."

Silver stifled a chuckle. "She's that bad too? I'm starting to get the feeling that it's you and not them."

"Famous last words," the echidna grumbled.

Her expression was wild. "Hey, watch out for that robot! I bet she's a spy! Broadcasting our secrets to her mechanical overlords! You know, the ones that make the microwaves blink twelve o'clock, even though you just set it yesterday!" She then ran away, screaming.

"That." Knuckles pointed to the screen, looking at Silver's bewildered face. "Is not an exaggeration whatsoever. She really acts like that."

Silver turned toward everyone else.

They all murmured in agreement.

Sonic glanced at Perci. "Don't pay attention to her. She's actually very nice."

At the workshop, Sonic didn't hesitate in flinging the door open. "Tails?" he called, only to get no answer. Sonic completely entered the building and leaned on a workbench. "I guess he isn't here. No matter! I'll heroically repair this bike with only my bare hands! And a welding laser."

Tails tensed. "Never give Sonic a welding laser." Only bad things happened afterwards.

Sonic waved him off, the burn finally beginning to taper off. If only a little bit. "It w-wasn't that bad, Tails."

"I had to rebuild the garage after that fire."

"At least it wasn't the whole house!"

He picked said tool up. "Amy, you tend to poor Perci's injury."

Amy straightened and enthusiastically nodded.

"Whipped." Amy shook her head in disappointment.

"Knuckles." Sonic flipped his hand in a shooing motion. "You clean the scarf that you carelessly ruined."

While the speedster got to working on the bike, Amy covered Perci's arm with a heating pad, and Knuckles took the scarf across the room. He stopped, looking from a clothing wire, to a hand dryer, a clothes dryer, and then a kiln.

Knuckles grinned. "Tails' industrial strength lab kiln seems like the perfect place to dry a frilly delicate scarf." He placed the cloth inside and turned the heater on.

"Yep, the perfect place." Knuckles' voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Not a clothesline or even a regular drier."

"That is too much commonsense for him in the real world, guardian," Metal mentioned. "There is no chance for intelligence in this story."

Amy, still by Perci, was frowning at the remote to the heating pad she held in her hand. "This heating pad isn't enough. Knuckles, get Perci a pillow."

"You're not the boss of me!" He retorted, facing her. "Sonic is!"

"This is just sad." Eggman shook his head. "Even my ego isn't as huge as his."

Sonic could see that. "It comes close, though. It comes close."

Amy snapped back, "But I'm bossy and overbearing and I need everyone to do what I say to compensate for my own insecurities!"

Silver couldn't believe that the other Amy and Knuckles were hearing the other Sonic say this stuff. And let him get away with it.

Knuckles hurled a pillow he had grabbed at Amy, and she caught it. Her frown deepened. "Don't throw it at me! Hand it to me nicely!" she ordered, launching it back.

Knuckles aimed for her face this time, hitting his target, only for the pillow hit him square in the nose also. Amy ducked the next throw, Perci's face taking the brunt of the attack.

"She's lucky that it was just a pillow," Amy said.

Sonic pushed up his welding mask. "Kids! Behave yourselves! This is why we can't have nice things!"

"He thinks that he's the adult?" Knuckles barked out a laugh. "Seriously? That position belongs to…" He was going to say Tails, but the last few episodes made him question that. "They're literally a group of preschoolers."

Metal hummed. "I would not say that. Elementary at worst."

A second after that, he paused, nose twitching. It didn't take long for thick smoke to fill the air, fire spreading along the floor from an unknown source.

Amy and Knuckles didn't care about it, continuing to fight over the pillow.

"I know this isn't real, but come on." Silver was itching for them to put it out. "It's fire."

Shadow grunted. "It shows that the other Sonic thinks he's more important than their health."

Sonic wouldn't take it that far. "That's pushin' it, Shads. He's j-just a little more selfish than most. Nothing really wrong with that."

"You would know."

"Ouch," Silver whispered. "I felt that one."

Taking charge, Sonic sped around with a bucket of water, dousing as many flames as he could until all of it was put out.

"So, I stepped into action, Sonic Style, and put out the fire," the Sonic in the present said, his story finished. He crossed his arms. "Which must've been caused by Knuckles putting the scarf in the kiln."

Sonic wanted to believe his twin, but, "Eh…there's some room for error there." Despite what he said earlier, him and welding lasers did make a pretty bad combo.

Knuckles glared. "That's not what happened! I'll tell you the real story…"

Knuckles braced himself. "Oh boy. Here we go."

Amy was almost excited to hear this. "What's the chance that Knuckles' story will be the true one?"

"In the negatives."

The scene cut to Knuckles steering a ship, dressed in a blue sailor outfit. "It had been days since I've laid me eyes on the elusive white whale-"

Sonic chuckled. "That didn't last long, did it?"

Present-Tails was not impressed. "Knuckles, we're talking about what happened to my workshop."

"I'm gettin' there!" Knuckles reassured before continuing, "So, the white whale had just trashed Meh Burger…"

"Wait." Amy held up a hand. "I'm the white whale?"

"Shush!" Knuckles quieted her, not answering the question.

Amy's feelings were hurt. "I get it if he was calling Eggman that, but my twin?" Eggman didn't bother responding. "What is this, a giant roast session? Or did they all have some huge fight beforehand that led to this?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, they are being kinda harsh with this one."

"I don't know…" Silver understood their concern, but the smile on his face was hard to get rid of. "It's a little funny if you think about it."

Amy puffed out her cheeks. "Funny? How is it funny?!"

Silver held up his hands innocently. "I mean, if you separate yourself from them, you can kinda see it. Picture a whale trashing Meh Burger!"

She did, and she had to admit, it was a nice sight. The whale body slammed the restaurant with no mercy. "Alright, you win this time."

"We were heading back home when we came across Perci." Knuckles smirked. "As usual, Sonic made a fool of himself…"

Sonic rose a brow. "They basically think the same about each other?"

Knuckles scoffed. "Why am I not surprised?"

The flashback began with Sonic stepping in front of Perci. He awkwardly greeted her, bowing. "Hi! I'm Sonic the hedgehog!"

"Never heard of ya."

Silver laughed behind his hand. "Now that's a pride stomper right there."

Amy almost got insulted that Perci didn't know who Sonic was, but then she remembered that it was Mittens' story. "Hold on, so he thinks that no one knows who Sonic is?"

"I want to say no, that he can't be that delusional, but we are." Knuckles motioned to the screen.

Perci's attention snapped to Knuckles, who was still wearing the sailor hat. Wind dramatically swept his dreads backwards. Perci smiled. "But who's your friend?"

"If anything, his imagination is amazing," Silver said with a smile.

"I'm just a humble echidna," Knuckles gestured to himself, and Perci pushed Sonic out of the way to get closer to him. "Which is why I won't brag about my boyish charm, unimaginable strength, and the ability to think real good. Y'know, smartness wise."

Perci simply smiled.

Amy blinked in disbelief. "Yeah, I wouldn't have a response to that either."

Over by the bike, Sonic was struggling to pick it up. He strained until Knuckles walked over and lifted both him and the bicycle.

"Wow!" Perci gushed. "Muscles and brain smartness."

"Oh Chaos, not her too."

"It's spreading, Knux. Luckily we didn't catch his brain smartness while he was here."

"I know." Knuckles grinned while Sonic tumbled to the ground below. The echidna disregarded him, instead calling, "Medic! Splint up this pretty lady's arm."

Amy saluted him. "I know that I can live up to expectations, Captain Knuckles." She then went over to Perci and started to wrap her leg.

Amy felt a chill run down her spine. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Knuckles chuckled. "Oh Amy…you've forgotten what an arm is." He flexed his left bicep. "This is an arm."

"Wow…" Perci breathed, both her and Amy being impressed. "You are the whole package."

Amy was going to have a stroke. "D-Don't tell me that Mittens has a crush on my twin too!"

Silver chuckled at her reaction. "Or it could be that he likes impressing girls in general."

"I know, but it feels…icky."

"Same, but times a hundred," Knuckles drawled, wanting his double to stop talking.

"And here's the gift wrapping." Knuckles began to flex both of his arms to show off, causing the girls to pleasantly sigh. Sonic attempted do the same as well with his nonexistent muscles only to accidentally knock the bike over into a mud puddle. Once again, Perci's scarf got stained.

Metal was the one to chuckle this time. "At least my copy's copy let the echidna keep his strength. Here, the hedgehog is both stupid and weak. The psychic is right. This is amusing."

"I wonder if you're still gonna be laughing when you as a toaster shows up."

Metal's smile disapated. "You had to bring that up, copy."

"Of course!"

Sonic loudly gasped, and Knuckles got in his face. "Sonic, you clumsy oaf! Perpetual second banana! Look what you've done!"

Silver laughed, hard.

Everyone watched him devolve into uncontrolled snickers, Knuckles eventually saying, "That one really got you, didn't it?"

Silver didn't know if it was because he'd been so wound up for so long, but he really couldn't control himself. A tear fell and he wiped it away. "H-He said perpetual second banana! That's probably the best insult-" He couldn't finish his statement, holding his head in his hands as he laughed.

"I cannot…disagree with him," Metal spoke up, snickers spilling from his mouth as well. He wasn't sure if he was laughing because of the echidna or because of how Silver was basically cackling. It didn't help that he was still getting used to emotions and his body in general.

Tails and Amy soon joined in as well, and Sonic couldn't hold it in either. The insult was so stupid, and laughter was way too contagious.

Knuckles, Shadow, and Eggman looked at them like they've all gone crazy. Honestly, they could have.

"I'm sorry," Silver hiccuped those words as he calmed down, sides hurting. "Perpetual-" More laughter escaped his throat, and the others followed suit. He wrapped an arm around his stomach, shaking his head. "Perpetual second banana… I'm gonna use that someday. I don't know how, but it's definitely being used."

Metal struggled to regain his composure, not having laughed this much ever. He wiped the wetness from his eyes. "Curse you for making me laugh so hard at that dimwitted echidna."

"S-Sorry!" Silver apologized once more with a wide smile. "Like, he seriously could've said any other fruit, and I wouldn't have-" He burst into laughter yet again, and Metal lost himself.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy managed to pull themselves together. The pinkette fanned her flushed face. "Oh boy, now that was a laugh." She giggled at the two hedgehogs just losing it. "It's got them really tickled."

"I'm sure it's been a while since Silver's heard a good joke, and Metal is still learnin' the ins and outs of emotions." Sonic grinned. "So, obviously that'll get 'em."

"But it wasn't funny," Knuckles groused.

Tails smiled. "That's why they're laughing so hard."

It went on for a few more seconds until Shadow got tired of it. "You both sound like dying cats. Stop."

Silver took deep breaths to end his bout of laughter. "Oh my stomach." A couple more chuckles escaped him before he exhaled heavily, coming down from the high. "Sorry, sorry, I'm good." He took another deep breath, addressing the former bot, "What about you, Metal?" Someone who laughed with him over something like that couldn't be evil; any doubts he had were gone.

Metal was leaning back in his chair, hand over his forehand. He was panting with a grin spanning his muzzle. After a moment, he said, "I am…good as well. Give me a few seconds."

Eggman shook his head in displeasure. "My once prized robot is reduced to this. No matter though, because things will right themselves in the end."

Metal waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, not able to be upset while he recovered.

Knuckles picked up the bicycle pieces before holding out a hand for Perci to take. "Come, my lady. We must go to casa de Tails to repair your bicicleta before Sonic does any further damage."

Perci took Knuckles' arm, and they walked off. Amy glared in jealousy as she followed while Sonic nasally whined, "Come on, guys, wait for me!"

Silver covered his mouth to prevent another laugh attack. Metal had to bite his tongue to do so.

Like before, Sticks ran up to them. "Hey! Be careful of that alien! She'll abduct our livestock, phone home from our houses, and turn us all into pie people! It's a cookbook! A cookbook!" She ran off screaming.

"Don't pay attention to her," Knuckles reassured Perci. "She's actually very nice."

Sonic appreciated the consistency. "At least they all think she's nice. Pretty sure Amy's gonna do the same thing too."

"She better!" Amy didn't care if her twin was in a bad mood, she shouldn't paint Sticks in a bad light especially if she had nothing to do with anything.

In the workshop, Sonic was busy welding the bike until he burnt his own finger. He screamed and blew on the digit to ease the pain.

Accurate, Tails and Sonic both thought.

Behind him, Knuckles was washing the scarf in a bucket with Perci at his side. The echidna chastised, "Sonic! Can't you do anything right?" He then smiled at the bandicoot, holding up the cloth. "Your scarf will look brand new. But it will never look as lovely as its owner."

Perci blushed.

Amy couldn't believe she was saying this. "Say what you want, but Mittens kinda does know how to flirt. Better than Sonic, I think."

Tails looked at her. "Which one?"

She didn't answer.

Sonic knew that she wanted a reaction from him, so he kept his mouth shut.

Knuckles placed the scarf in the kiln as Amy grew frustrated with the heating pad. She was holding the remote, but it wasn't responding. "How does this heating pad work?" She growled in frustration and tossed it on a pile of newspapers behind her.

Shadow tapped a finger on the arm of his chair when the pieces clicked together in his mind. "They're all at fault, aren't they." They're all blaming each other, but they all also had means to start a fire. Those three were idiots, and Shadow really, really wanted this to end.

Knuckles shrugged a shoulder. "That wouldn't surprise me. Either that, or-" He glanced over at Eggman, but didn't say the name. "-you know."

Eggman was keeping his fingers crossed. They've made it this far without him.

Knuckles was now holding a pillow for Perci to take. "A pillow for my maiden fare?"

Amy snatched the pillow away. "Hey, I'm the medic! I'll give her the pillow!"

"I want to give her the pillow so I can be more like my hero, Knuckles!" Sonic interjected with a whine, going over and fighting Amy for the item. Smoke and fire eventually spread, and, terrified, Sonic jumped into Amy's arms.

"This is absolute gold," Silver said, laughter in his tone. "I should've been here earlier."

Knuckles eyed him. "You say that now, but you hadn't been here to endure worst ones."

"That's what I'm upset about!"

Knuckles about to respond, but he let it be. Silver obviously has been through some stuff. His sense of humor was most likely screwed, so Knuckles wasn't going to question it.

Knuckles put out the flickering flames by breathing out chilled air and grinned when Perci hugged him.

Tails gaped. "Since when could he do that?!"

Knuckles thought he'd seen everything, but no. "He can't. This is nothing but a story, remember?"

In the present, Knuckles finished his tale, "And so I put out the fire using my ice breath. It probably started when Amy threw the heating pad on those old newspapers. She's not very brain smart."

"That's not how it went at all," Amy argued, gesturing to herself. "I'll tell you what really happened."

Amy couldn't wait for this. "This has to be what really happened!"

"We all agreed the service at Meh Burger was terrible, so we left. That's when we ran into Perci." She frowned. "With her little damsel in distress act."

Sonic snickered. "Still think so, Ames?"

The pinkette deflated. "…Guess we have to wait for Perci's."

Into another flashback, Perci was sitting on the rock, helplessly waving her scarf in the air. "I seem to have fallen from my bicycle and injure my little ole arm. If only there were some heroic gentlemen to rescue poor little me…"

"And there goes all of her credibility."

"She had lost it with that damsel in distress statement, guardian."

"I still had a little hope."

Sonic and Knuckles were suddenly in front of her with large smiles on their faces. They both giggled, Sonic commenting, "You're pretty," and Knuckles nodded in agreement.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I understand why she thinks like this, but still, why? She's stressing herself out for no reason!"

"Don't ask us." Knuckles wasn't going to open that can of worms. "If you don't know, there's no chance that we do."

Perci placed a hand on her forehead. "Would one of you handsome young men kindly retrieve my bicycle?"

The boys wasted no time in doing so while Amy shook her head in disappointment. Sonic and Knuckles fought over the bike until it slipped out of their hands, it splashing into the mud puddle. Perci blinked in surprise when her scarf was ruined.

Present-Amy was narrating in a voiceover. "Even with my friends under the spell of a wicked siren, I selflessly administered medical care to the foul temptress."

"She…really feels threatened by her," Silver commented. "Wow."

Sonic chuckled. "And get this, Silv, Amy was voted the most selfless in the village."

"That…either says a lot about her, or about the village."

"I say both."

Amy approached Perci with a bandage. "Oh, you poor sweet thing! Allow me to tend to your wounds!" She made her a sling to support her arm. Amy smiled. "Now, let's see to your bicycle. I know where to get it fixed…"

The group walked on, and Sticks stopped them. "Watch out for that government agent! It starts with jury duty and zoning ordinances! And before you know it, boom! Our tax dollars are benefiting others, and not us!"

Eggman hated to admit that she actually had a point.

This time, Amy gestured to Perci and placated Sticks, "Don't pay attention to her. She's actually very nice."

Sticks ran away screaming anyway.

Silver made a weird sound in the back of his throat, swallowing a laugh trying to force its way out.

Metal gave him a pointed yet knowing look, mouth twitching. "Don't you start again."

"Don't worry! I'm not." He took a steadying breath. "I'm not." If she screamed again, he might be in trouble, though.

In the workshop, Amy told Perci, "Sweetie, you rest here. I'll get a heating pad to make you more comfortable. Knuckles."

Knuckles furrowed his brow. "Wait, does she hate her or like her?"

"Hate in disguise of like," Amy easily answered, getting confused stares. "Girls are kinda complicated."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Sonic muttered to himself.

Amy held out the dirty scarf. "Would you please clean the scarf?" He took it without arguments, and she turned to Sonic. "And Sonic-" The speedster stood at attention. "-maybe…it'll be best to just wait for Tails."

"No way! I can totally fix this!" He darted over to Perci, pointing at her. "Watch this, babe."

Sonic winced, resisting the urge to curl up again. "That felt like a punch to the gut."

Amy felt that too. "I'm apologizing on her behalf because she didn't have to make Sonic like that."

Sonic went over to the bike, donning the welding mask and groaning when he hit himself in the nose.

Perci sighed for show. "My poor little arm is achin' so. If only I had a cushion on which to rest it," she said, glancing between Knuckles and Sonic.

The boys abandoned their posts in favor of fighting over a pillow.

"Let me give it to her!" Sonic grunted.

"She wants me to give it to her!" Knuckles retorted as flames spread.

"I don't think she wants either of you to give it to her."

Silver choked on his spit. "Wait, what-"

"Nope!" Sonic interrupted before Tails could even think about questioning Shadow's words. "Pretend he didn't say anything."

Seeing the fire, they dropped the pillow and yelled in shock.

Amy was quick to grab the fire extinguisher, and the white foam subdued the fire before it could cause massive damage.

Present-Amy continued, "As the only mature one in the room, I extinguished the fire which started because Sonic forgot to turn off his welding laser."

Amy wasn't a fan of her twin targeting the other Sonic. "You're right, Shadow. They all did it, and they're all going to feel guilty. Tails should make them clean up."

"I think they should leave Mittens out of it." Sonic brought up. "Or they might have a bigger mess on their hands."

"Yeah, that's true. And they need to hide the welding laser from your twin, too."

Sonic clenched his fists. "You're makin' that up!"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "You were reckless with the tools!"

"He put the scarf in the kiln!"

Knuckles stepped forward and shouted, "I can't help being attractive! It's a blessing and a curse!"

Metal covered his mouth to muffle a snort.

He felt Silver's teasing stare on him. "Don't you start."

"Your concern is not needed. I can control myself."

"Sure."

Metal threw Silver a dull glare, and Amy whispered to Tails, "That's a friendship I didn't expect."

The kit nodded. "Yeah, but did you see anything that happened today coming?"

"Touché."

"Enough!" Perci glared at all of them, crossing her arms. "You'd think with three stories, one of you would get it right! Now, let me tell you how it really happened…"

Knuckles was hesitant. "The question is if we can trust her."

"Over the rest of them?" Shadow asked. "Without a doubt."

Flashback to Perci sitting on the rock, and Present-Perci was narrating. "I had a minor accident with my bicycle when-"

Sonic didn't believe it. "Where your bike is snapped in two? I wouldn't call that minor!"

Perci saw Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles approaching her. She blinked in surprise when Sonic sped over, shallowly bowing. "Hi, I'm Sonic the hedgehog! Hero extraordinaire."

Sonic nodded, liking that normal reaction. It was something he would do.

"You don't happen to have a wrench or some tools I can use to fix my bike?" she asked.

Knuckles was smiling a bit too widely. "No, but maybe I could interest you in some gift wrapping?" He flexed his muscles, and Sonic deadpanned at him.

Aaaand it was getting weird.

But then Sonic remembered how Mittens acted in 'Tails' Crush'. "I still think this is what happened."

"Me too." Tails played with one of namesakes. "For now. If things start getting strange-"

"If? You mean when," Knuckles said. "Because this is still our doubles we're talking about."

Perci was quick to decline. "That's okay."

Sonic scoffed. "Don't worry! I can fix your bike." He zipped over to the pieces.

Knuckles frowned and jogged after him. "No, I will!"

Amy wasn't impressed, addressing Perci, "You're just loving this, aren't you? Having men fight over you? A modern woman can take care of herself."

Knuckles sighed. "And there it is."

Amy pouted because she couldn't even say that this was too out-of-character. "She didn't ask for any of it, other me! They can communicate with other girls, it's okay!"

The echidna grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"You hear that, Sonic?"

"Wait, no-"

"I can take care of myself," Perci smoothly replied, unbothered. "But like I said, I don't have any tools and I hurt my arm."

Amy's frown didn't let up. "And I suppose you need me to bandage that up for you?"

"Nah, it's just a bruise."

Amy rolled her eyes before doing it anyway.

"I feel bad for Perci," Silver uttered. Normally when heroes showed up, they helped out without forcing themselves onto people or giving them attitude.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles' tug-of-war with the bike ended when it fell into the mud puddle.

Perci did her best to shield herself from the splash. "Look, I need to get moving. Do you know where I could find some tools?"

They had just begun their trek to Tails' workshop when Sticks appeared with a shrill call. Perci held up a hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

Sticks screamed and ran away.

Silver's laugh was loud and ugly as he doubled over. "That was it?" he howled. "Th-That's all she said?!"

Metal was trying hard to keep it under wraps, but his trembling shoulders were giving him away. "Apparently so."

"Oh my gosh. I can't-"

That's when he snorted, and Metal's laughs joined his.

There they go again, the rest of the room thought.

Perci wasn't fazed. "She seems nice."

Silver was crying again. "Nice! Sh-She seems – ahahahahaha!"

Metal cradled his face because his cheeks were beginning to hurt.

At the workshop, Perci was about to start welding her bike when Sonic stopped her. "Allow me!" He took the tool. "You sit back and relax while Sonic saves the day!"

"And it begins," Tails said, ignoring how Silver and Metal both strained for breath. "Huh, Eggman isn't going to show up at all in this one?"

"Shhhh!" Eggman's heated gaze fell on him. "It's not over yet!"

She didn't argue, going to her discarded headwear. "Okay, I'll just wash my scarf."

Knuckles snatched it out of her grip. "Please, the honor is all mine!" he softly stated before dipping the scarf into a water bucket.

"Well then I'll just…rest my arm."

Amy marched up to Perci. "Alright, alright! I'll get you a heating pad." She walked away, muttering under her breath, "Talk about a drama queen."

"You're the one to talk," Amy muttered with puffed cheeks.

After placing the scarf in the kiln, Knuckles grabbed a pillow. "Would you like a pillow?"

Sonic looked up, stopping his welding. "No, I'll give Perci a pillow!" He ran off and left the tool unsupervised.

Amy, hearing this, tossed the heating pad away. It landed on newspaper. "Oh, now the princess wants a pillow."

Knuckles was tired of this. "She's not even that special! Yeah, she's not ugly, but come on!"

"Not ugly, you say?"

"You are not continuing that thought, Sonic."

All three of them were fighting over it, tugging until the pillow began to rip and fire spread throughout the workshop.

"Hold it!" Present-Tails cut in, ending the flashback. "How did you guys get in there in the first place?"

Tails didn't expect this. "Uh oh."

"We just walked in," Perci answered.

"And there weren't lasers or cages or anything like that?"

"Nope," Sonic said. "Just a popping sound and some electrical buzzing."

Tails sighed. "I know what happened…" He pointed over to the door. "My new defense system must've short circuited. Which means I'm the one responsible for the fire."

Shadow was actually surprised. "Turns out I was wrong."

"And my disappointment of a double didn't show up!" Eggman grinned. "This wasn't such a bad episode after all!"

"Don't jinx yourself. The next one could be all about you."

"You can't let me have this, can you, rodent?"

"Have I ever?"

"But you will-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence."

Eggman wasn't brave enough to challenge that. He was confident, not stupid.

"Classic Tails. So irresponsible." Knuckles grinned at Amy and Sonic. "Guess we're off the hook!"

Amy shared his positivity, forgetting all about their arguments earlier. "Who's up for Meh Burger?"

Amy frowned. "Didn't they just…huh?" She waved her arms wildly around. "They left there like twenty minutes ago! Why are they going back?"

"For dessert?" Tails randomly threw out there.

"In that germ-ridden place?!"

"Or maybe they're going there only to hang out."

"In that germ-ridden place?!"

"…I don't know what else to say."

The trio filtered out, and Tails shrugged at a confused Perci.

Later, Tails was shown finishing up the welding job for Perci's bicycle. Perci, watching him, smirked as he worked. "I like a guy who's handy…"

Tails lifted his mask and blushed.

Tails held his head in his hands while Amy gasped. "No! No Tails, bad! You have Zooey!"

Silver, having calmed down, asked, "Who's Zooey?"

"His girlfriend!"

Silver look at Sonic for a second opinion. The speedster snickered and nodded. "Yeah, they're actually a thing."

The psychic whistled lowly. "Lucky him!"

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Knuckles interjected. "You weren't here during the process."

Tails rubbed the back of his neck, wincing. "Please don't bring that up."

Silver wanted to ask, but the embarrassed blush on the kit's face made him keep quiet about it. Instead, he changed the topic to something else on his mind. "It was cool seeing uh, Team Sonic, but what about you two?" He regarded Shadow and Metal. "Your doubles are there too, right?"

"Supposedly." Shadow breathed out, mentally counting how many episodes they had left. Fresh air was so close. "They're nowhere to be found, though."

"Oh, so that's what that toaster comment was about, huh Metal?" A subtle smile grew on Silver's face as he pictured the blue-colored appliance.

Metal saw this. "No. Get that thought out of your head. You are not allowed to imagine it."

"But it's funny."

Sonic snickered. "See? He gets it!"

Silver laughed to himself when Metal frowned, still awed that the former killing machine was showing emotions, before gazing around the room, eventually lingering on the television. "Is this...magical being supposed to send me back now?" It had been a good break, but he was itching to see how much the future changed.

"Maybe?" Amy pursed her lips. "The thing kinda does what it wants." Words appeared on the screen, them reading, 'It Wasn't Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog'. Amy couldn't even begin to comprehend that title. "There's your answer! Looks like you're saying with us for another one. It happened with Mittens too."

Silver didn't really mind. This was whole situation was bizarre, but it was fun. Sure, Eggman was here, but he wasn't exactly a threat. "That's fine!" He got comfortable in his chair. "I can wait a little before I go back. More of a chance to see Metal's toasting skills."

Sonic laughed, and Metal grumbled under his breath about nosy psychics.

Silver's just happy to be here, y'all.

Up next: we've got the appearance of Metal's double! Hopefully it won't take half a year again (fingers crossed)

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!