Eggman Corporation/Sunblock Solution

**Eggman Corporation** (or **Sunblock Solution**) is the fortieth episode of Sonic X: Heroes Forever.

## Characters

* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Miles "Tails" Prower
* Rouge the Bat
* Amy Rose
* Cream the Rabbit
* Cheese the Chao
* Rotor Walrus
* Bunnie D'Coolette
* Antoine D'Coolette
* Sally Acorn
* Maria Robotnik
* Shadow the Hedgehog
* Sonia the Hedgehog
* Manic the Hedgehog
* Payback Fox
* Mighty the Armadillo
* Ray the Flying Squirrel
* Dulcy the Dragon
* Silver the Hedgehog (Indirectly mentioned)
* Blaze the Cat (Indirectly mentioned)
* Marine the Raccoon (Indirectly mentioned)
* NICOLE (Does not speak)
* Shard the Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Mina Mongoose (Does not speak)
* Vanilla the Rabbit
* Ruby the Bat
* Sir Charles Hedgehog
* Chocola the Chao
* Queen Aleena Hedgehog/Bernadette Hedgehog
* Jules Hedgehog
* Brandon Mutt
* Hope Kintobor
* Abraham Tower
* E-123 Omega
* Chaos (Mentioned)
* Christopher Thorndyke
* Chuck Thorndyke
* Mr. Tanaka
* Ella
* Scarlet Garcia
* President
* Christina Cooper
* Director of Central Intelligence (Does not speak)
* Topaz McCarther
* Officer Albright
* Jerome Wise
* Doctor Eggman
* Snively Robotnik
* Decoe
* Bocoe
* Bokkun
* Grounder
* Scratch
* E-64 Rubix (Mentioned)
* E-101 Beta (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-102 Gamma (Mentioned)
* E-103 Delta (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-104 Epsilon (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-105 Zeta (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-106 Eta (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-107 Theta (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-108 Iota (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-109 Kappa (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-110 Lambda (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-111 Mu (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-112 Nu (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-113 Xi (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-114 Omicron (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-115 Pi (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-116 Rho (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-117 Sigma (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-118 Tau (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-119 Upsilon (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-120 Phi (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-121 Chi (Indirectly mentioned)
* E-122 Psi (Indirectly mentioned)

## Plot

The episode begins on the Thorndyke yacht where the Thorndyke Mansion residents are preparing for a new year by hailing for the first sunshine of the year. Rotor notes this is the second new year they’ve spent on Earth and the first one they’ve spent together as last year they’ve spent the new year getting ready to fight Chaos. Tails also notes that the night that they arrived on Earth is the same day as Chris’ birthday. Ella compliments Mr. Tanaka on the idea of greeting the new year at the sunrise and Hope says that Topaz has been calmer since she’s been seeing Mr. Tanaka. Cream is worried that too much noise will scare the sun away and Hope asks Vanilla if she can give Cream a quick lesson, to which she agrees. Hope explains to Cream that while at the Space Colony ARK, they couldn’t see or hear what was happening at the Thorndyke Mansion as they were too far away. The sun is even further away, so it wouldn’t be bothered by the noisemakers, even then, it lacks basic emotions and can’t see or hear. Even if it had all those things and everyone on Earth was shouting at the same time, it still can’t hear because outer space lacks atmosphere. To demonstrate, she puts a cup on the table and gets on a chair a few feet away from Cream. She jumps down with a loud thump, causing the cup to move because of vibration. Now Cream understood what that all meant, Vanilla asked if Hope could continue to teach Cream. She wishes she could, but, Hope admits between her jobs with G.U.N., which mostly consists of keeping Omega in check in ways her fellow teammates cannot, she doesn’t have time. Amy is very surprised to learn that Hope had to stop Omega from blowing himself up 20 times in the past month alone and it’s revealed here that Omega is Gamma rebuilt and it may have been a mistake on Amy’s sentimental part to have that happen because his goal was to destroy all of the E-100-Series robots, himself included. The only upside is that Omega doesn’t need a Mobini to power him anymore. Chris stops the argument between hedgehog and Overlander, saying that they shouldn’t begin the new year by arguing and hands everyone noisemakers. Chris realizes that Sonic doesn’t have one and Tails points out that Sally is helping to teach Sonic how to swim again due to Maria healing Sonic’s legs so he can swim once more.

Chris heads to the yacht’s pool, the hedgehog and squirrelmunk in question are doing just that, with the latter in her bathing suit and the former in water wings. Sonic is overjoyed at being able to swim again, but, notes that he’s been away from it for years and had to relearn how, which Sally is more than happy to help with. They dry off and Chris asks Sonic a question he’s been meaning to, but, never felt it was appropriate: why do Mobians wear gloves while swimming. Sonic admits he doesn’t have a good answer because he never thought about why, chalking it up to mere comfort, and Sally admits she doesn’t normally wear gloves, but, respects Mobians that do. The two Mobians decide to join their friends and family to greet the New Year, as they have a proper chance to relax this year.

Meanwhile, Topaz is also waiting for the sunrise while chatting with Rouge over the phone. Rouge comments she’d rather spend the new year in a cave, which doesn’t sound appealing to Topaz, but, Rouge replies that bats love the dark. She also says she’s going to spend the new year with her mother and it’s been too long since she was able to do that. Ruby comes in with cookies, much to Rouge’s delight, and she calls over Shadow to try some. He doesn’t really know if he’s a sweets person, but, Ruby insists he doesn’t know unless he tries. Shadow nods and takes a cookie and Rouge realizes that she hasn’t seen Shadow eat before. He points out that, yes, he can eat, but, it’s more of a luxury than a necessity for him, as the food he eats turns into energy immediately. He notes that he does like the cookies and can taste sugar, vanilla extract, chocolate, and cinnamon and Ruby tells him it’s her recipe.

Back at the yacht, the sun starts to rise over the horizon and everyone pulls their noisemakers at the same time. Suddenly the Egg Moon moves in front of it, blocking it completely and creating an eclipse, which everyone realizes is artificial because there Sir Charles notes there wasn’t one schedule until April 8th that year, which is day 98 in Mobius calendars. Sonic asks if anyone else suspects Eggman’s behind this trick, and everyone raises their hands except for Maria, who is doubtful that her cousin has the evil within him to do all the underhanded things he does. Manic tries to tell Maria that Eggman’s been way too quiet since Vanilla started living with them, though Sonic notes that Eggman did attack him, Sally, Antoine, and Bunnie with the cube robot, though Sally and the D’Coolettes shrug this off as if Sonic had a dream about it. Sonia realizes that Eggman’s got some bogus story to go along with this evil scheme, to which Hope has no doubt. She quickly calls Abraham Tower and explains things to him and he permits Team Dark to investigate the matter. Hope calls up the rest of the members of Team Dark, which are Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Topaz, and Payback (Maria was with Hope already) and informs them of what’s happened. Omega quickly gets the security camera footage of what was going on at the president’s office.

The footage shows Eggman invading the office by using sleeping gas on the other people and getting inside as well as getting rid of computerized security and him being surrounded. He tells the president and Christina that the Egg Moon was in a solar storm and caused it to block the sun. The president doesn’t buy it, as a solar storm would affect the entire solar system, disabling satellites and terrestrial grids, but, they were left intact. He also asks why the Egg Moon has a control system to start with and Eggman tells him that metals can be heavier than the rocks the moon’s made of. The president however, notes that no gravity would make everything weightless and it wouldn’t be an issue and when Eggman is surprised he knows things about space, the president was once a satellite technician for NASA. One fact remains, though, and that is plants will die without sunlight. The president gives Eggman one chance and they address the planet with Eggman being kept tabs on by a firing squad and if he steps out of line, he’ll be properly punished.

Rouge meanwhile notes that while the president has a point and working with Eggman is never easy, but, life in the dark sounds like paradise for bats. Ruby and Shadow both point out that the sun is needed to photosynthesize plants so they can produce oxygen for Mobians, Overlanders, animals, Mobinis, and humans alike to breath as well as absorb carbon dioxide and without sunlight, the gems Rouge loves so much can’t shine. Rouge realizes that she was being caught up in her own world and feels it’s best for the sun to return.

Back at the Thorndyke yacht, Chuck was angry that Eggman would weave a tale of lies that absolutely no one had bought and Chris is still baffled he was frightened by Eggman. Maria still thinks there’s a slight chance her cousin would be truthful, but, no one agrees with her. Hope then realizes that, as a Variable-Type, Aleena can change into an Elemental-Type with the affinity for Sun.

Meanwhile, Eggman is at a press conference with a bunch of interviewers asking how long it will take to fix the Egg Moon’s orbit, to which he replies he hasn’t been able to. He also says he’ll get some artificial sunlight as a temporary solution and he needs Earth’s cooperation. The interviewers realize they don’t have a choice.

A rocket is being launched with Snively, Grounder, Scratch, Bocoe, and Decoe all observing. Bokkun flies in with a message from Eggman, saying he’s proud of them, much to Scratch’s bewilderment. Eggman then also adds that if the robots fail, he’ll take them apart and sell their pieces on the internet and Snively will be put into the chocolate pudding chair. The whole group feels uneasy about the situation, but, Grounder assures they won’t fail. Snively isn’t so sure. The rocket lifts off and dissembles close to the sun, getting out a panel as it absorbs some light and sends it down to earth via a satellite dish-like device and converts the light into energy.

A week later, Scarlet is reporting that the sunlight hasn’t returned to Earth at all and that Eggman is working on a new project to fix the problem. Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe show off the Sunshine Balls on the TV, saying even the darkest places can be illuminated and they can have a free delivery and installation for half price if they can call within twenty minutes. The robots need to pay for oil, which is why they can’t do installation for free. As the commercial is going on, Chuck still isn’t buy the excuses Eggman’s making and Hope turns the TV off. Maria still thinks her cousin wants to help everyone, but, no one else believes it. Hope then has an idea, to buy a Sunshine Ball so she can reverse engineer it to see what’s wrong with it. Sir Charles gives her a voice altering device at her request so she can call Scratch for a Sunshine Ball.

Scratch and Grounder fall for it and install it there, but, not before they fall to pieces and Mighty tosses them far away. Ray carries Hope up to the roof and Amy admires the Sunshine Ball, admitting it looks pretty. Suddenly, she gets hypnotized into thinking Eggman should run for president and she almost attacks Manic with her hammer. Hope quickly undoes the Sunshine Ball and Amy is shocked she almost attacked her boyfriend with her hammer because of being brainwashed. Poor Maria is torn inside that her cousin would do something this horrendous and Sally assures it’s not her fault as Eggman has grown into a darker and maniacal being. After Ray carries Hope down, she requests to use Chuck’s lab and she realizes that the Sunshine Balls are using Hypnovision, which Sonic notes that Eggman has used previously, and it can only be broken by Eggman insulting them or them witnessing him causing a disaster of epic proportions. Hope admits this is more advanced and Eggman insulting people won’t snap them out of it. She also explains that the Mirror Towers are what make the Sunshine Balls work, so, Sonic suggests they should take them out. Hope tells them she’s already contacted Tower, who will do his part to take care of things.

At the presidential office, Abraham is telling the president and Christina what Hope told him. The president grants G.U.N. permission to dismantle the Mirror Towers and it’s also revealed the Egg Moon was moved deliberately, proving Eggman was lying. The president tells Abe that action will be taken to move the Egg Moon, but, Abe admits it will be difficult as there’s a lot of brainwashed citizens. If they remove the Mirror Towers, Eggman’s influence will drop.

Meanwhile, the hedgehog triplets, Sally, and Dulcy are trying to find the Mirror Towers, when they run into Shadow. He explains that Omega’s on the other side of the country and Rouge, Topaz, and Payback are trying to locate the Egg Moon controller. Seeing the group are on the same page with how the Mirror Towers work and Hope’s informed Team Dark already, Shadow joins Dulcy, Sally, and the other hedgehogs.

Egg Pawns spring out near the towers and Dulcy sends Sally and the four hedgehogs to deal with the Towers while she deals with the robots. She hides and she does well for a bit until her belly growls. Quickly, she reaches into her pouch and gets out some chocolate covered peppers, which allows her to use a plasma beam on the robots until they burn to a crisp. Sonic and Sally take down one of the towers and, for once, Sally’s the one who makes Sonic blush with a compliment.

Meanwhile, Jerome is looking at a Sunshine Ball with other brainwashed citizens, but, even while everyone is brainwashed, they still don’t think Eggman is their king. Everyone sans Jerome snaps out of his brainwashed state and leave him to his nonsense about “Sonic overthrowing the overlord Eggman”. When a citizen insults Eggman, Jerome attacks and Officer Albright takes note of this.

Down at the Thorndyke Mansion, Aleena is using her powers to make a sun the size of a basketball. Ella is glad they learned about Eggman’s schemes when they did and feels terrible everyone had to suffer for so long and Jules comments that she’s very kind. Officer Albright arrives with Jerome and asks for Hope to check him over. She realizes that his hygiene neglect, drinking, and his already low IQ would make it take longer for his hypnosis to wear off and it would take a much shorter amount of time for someone sharp minded to have their hypnosis wear off. There is also the fact that whoever is forcing those who are brainwashed to adore the person in question has to insult them to snap out of it, but, as the hypnosis is so advanced, that won’t work. Hope explains that Eggman is using the Sunshine Balls to brainwash the world into worshipping him, but, her friends are already hard at work to stop things.

At Eggman’s base, Bokkun’s answering a bunch of calls and Snively raises concerns that the humans may figure out that the Egg Moon is moving around to keep the production of the Sunshine Balls going. Eggman explains he put in Hypnovision in the first place, so that the humans will be too brainwashed into liking him to care and there will be no end to demands in the Sunshine Balls. He’s also purchased all the non-solar electrical plants to tear them down to make room for the Mirror Towers, which are being set up around the globe, and there will be more as the Freedom Fighters knock them down. When Eggman mentions he’s bested Hope, Snively is very uncomfortable with that claim as Decoe and Bocoe enter with a sign of what Eggman would want for a potential TV show: Eggman X: Eternal Dictators. Unfortunately, before this could get anywhere, the episode ends and Eggman is cut off mid-sentence.

## Differences between this and the real episode

* Hope completely dispels Cream’s fears of scaring away the sun.
* Sonic is nowhere to be found in the beginning of the real episode, while in this story, Sally is teaching Sonic to swim again, as he’s gotten that ability back thanks to Maria.
* Rouge and Topaz argue about caves being dull and that Rouge doesn’t have a good social life in the real episode, plus, she’s in the president’s office. In this story, Rouge just comments that bats like the dark and she’s hanging out with Ruby and Shadow in their apartment the three live in together.
* The scene with Rouge is expanded to showcase Rouge and Ruby’s family relationship and they get Shadow to try one of Ruby’s cookies. We also learn a bit about Shadow and how eating is a luxury for him and not a necessity.
* Absolutely no one buys into Eggman’s lies. Maria is somewhat hopeful, but, is *crushed* when she finds out the truth and Jerome is being stupid. This completely changes the second half of the episode.
* There is no countdown for the rocket launch.
* We find out Topaz’s last name is McCarther. We never find this out in the TV show.
* Knuckles, Helen, Jessie, Doug, and the Mayor of Station Square are all dropped from this take on the episode.
* Helen’s family were also the ones to buy the Sunshine Ball in the original episode and Decoe and Bocoe install it, noting it felt nice to do something good. In this episode, Hope uses a disguised voice to get one and Grounder and Scratch are tossed away by Mighty after installing it.
* The original episode ended with Eggman addressing the audience and saying that he’ll beat Sonic. This episode ends with Brandon Mutt cutting in and saying that Eggman’s plans will be foiled next episode like always and Eggman getting cut off mid-sentence.

## Trivia

* Sonic references the crossover, but, as previously stated, only very few remember it. Sally only vaguely remembers it and Antoine and Bunnie just shrug it off.
* Brandon Mutt tells everyone that there’s been a time-skip and certain things happened offscreen: Sonic being able to swim again thanks to Maria, Omega’s supposed “out of nowhere” appearance, the group finding out they arrived on Earth on Chris’ birthday, and everyone has been aged up by one year except for Team Dimension.

* There is a very telling fourth-wall break at the end, with Eggman’s TV show title and him talking to Brandon Mutt, the latter of whom is offscreen.