"Thanks, all of you, for helping with Sticks' yard sale." Amy smiled as she watched Penny, Sonic, and the others place different items on the table. "We all know she's a packrat, but together we can beat it! Right, Sticks?"
"I don't think I..."
"Right!" Amy interrupted her.
"Amy?" Sonic asked. "Don't you think you're being a little too...take-charge?"
"I'm only doing what anyone would do for a friend who's pathetic and hopeless!" Amy smiled.
"Hey, hey!" Sticks snapped.
Penny frowned at Amy. "Amy, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Let the yard sale begin!" Amy said, blowing through a whistle.
"Not to take charge at all," Sonic grumbled.
Penny sighed, feeling a bit bad for Sticks. She looked at Amy. "Say what you want. But I will NOT force Sticks to do something she doesn't want to do. I won't be part of it." The human girl smiled apologetically at Sticks, who gave a small smile back.
"How much for this stick with a beehive?" A beaver asked, walking over and pointing to the beehive.
"I can't sell that!" Sticks snapped. "My great aunt gave it to me!"
"Well then, how much for this cow skull?"
"NO!" Sticks snapped. "That's where I keep my stick beehive!"
"How about this wad of moss?"
"I can't sell that!" Sticks held it up. "If you hold it sideways under a full moon, it looks like Amy. With two noses. And a beard!"
Penny raised her eyebrows. It did look like Amy...pretty funny.
Amy pushed Sticks away. "Five bucks for all of them!" She smiled.
Soon, the beaver walked off with Sticks' belongings. Sticks growled in annoyance. Amy smiled at her. "Just breathe."
Sticks crossed her arms.
Tails smiled as he picked up an object. "Look, Knuckles!" He smiled. "A sugite crystal cluster! Perfect to build a hyperactive Exo Magnifier! Don't you think?!"
"Um, what came after, "Look, Knuckles?'" Knuckles asked.
Tails frowned, blinking at Knuckles.
Eggman walked ver to a table, eyeing a Comic book. He tried making an attempt to steal it, but...
"HEY!"
Eggman jumped, turning around to see Sonic glaring at him. "What are you doing there?"
"I was going to buy this?" Eggman stuttered, showing Sonic the comic.
"Ten bucks." Sonic held out his hand.
"TEN BUCKS?!" Eggman snapped. "Highway robbery!" He placed the book back, and the two walked away. Making sure Sonic was gone, Eggman walked back to the book and snuck int into his coat.
"AHEM!"
Eggman glanced down at Sonic. "Two bucks?"
"You guys," Amy told Tails and Knuckles. "Could you move this couch to the other side of the yard?"
"You got it," Knuckles said.
Eggman was about to take off with the book again, but once again Sonic stopped him in his steps. "And not a penny more!"
The two turned around to see Knuckles pulling the couch, and Tails allowing himself to be dragged.
"How much for this tump helmet?" A female hippopotamus asked.
Amy smiled. "Four bucks! Right, Sticks?"
Sticks was about to protest, but Amy stuffed her mouth with an item and accepted the lady's change.
"What luck!" Tails said. "This rock will make a perfect focusing lens for my Hyper Exo magnifier! All I need is a refracting chamber and an influx reflector! Right, Knuckles?"
"Do you use big words just to make me feel, uh, what's that word that means not smart?"
"Obtuse?" Penny said, walking over. Knuckles smiled at her. "Yeah, see? That' what I'm talking about!"
Tails and Penny just shook their heads.
Later...
"When this is all over, you'll feel so much better." Amy smiled at Sticks. "Now, how much should we charge for that old surfboard I found?"
Sticks' eyes widened. "Wait. The old surfboard made of the hardest wood in the forest, blocking the granite border with the evil skull on it?!"
"Yeah. So?" Amy asked.
"What's happening?" Penny walked over to Sticks and Amy. Sticks looked so panicked. The female badger ran inside her home and up to the granite border. "This is the cave of the evil Froglodytes!" Sticks said. "That surfboard was there to keep it SHUT!" Sticks screamed as the door pushed back, and a bunch of frogs ran out the door, yelling at them.
"Oh," Amy said nervously. "Whoops."
Sticks glared at her.
"SONIC!" Penny screamed, And in an instant, Sonic was there, along with Knuckles and Tails. "What's going on?" Sonic asked.
"Amy took down the surfboard which was the only thing protecting us from the horde of Froglodytes invading the very bowels of the world!" Sticks explained.
"My bad," Amy said.
"Now you're talking!" Sonic smirked.
Amy glared at him.
"About the invading horde, I mean," Sonic said. "Not about the part of you screwing up."
Penny grunted as she helped Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks hold the frogs back. Knuckles smirked. "Whatever you got for the surfboard, Amy, it was totally worth it."
"Oh!" Sticks said, her eyes wide with fright. "Here's the only thing between a horde of evil monsters. I'll JUST SELL THAT FOR THREE BUCKS!" She hissed at Amy.
"Because a clean home is a happy home." Knuckles smirked.
"Okay, I get it!" Amy snapped.
Penny didn't say anything through that whole time. Her eyes were wide with fear as she struggled to help her friends keep the frogs away.
"I could use a little help here!" Sonic called out to them. "That is if you guys are done teasing Amy, who by the way, totally deserves it!"
Penny yelped as she felt someone grab her arm. A second later, Sticks shrieked. The two girls screamed as the frogs pulled them through the door.
"PENNY! STICKS!" Sonic yelled, reaching out to them.
The door closed behind them.
"The Froglodykes took them!" Tails cried.
"What do we do?!" Amy asked.
"Hah!" Knuckles laughed. "Blame you?"
"After that!"
"We go in and rescue them!" Sonic said. Who knows what they were doing to Penny. Sticks, especially.
"I wish my Hyperactive Exo Magnifier was finished!" Tails said.
"Look, I'm sure you'll find the part you need." Sonic smiled. "We've got a whole junkyard of stuff here!" He motioned his hands around Sticks' house.
Soon, after gathering a few things they needed, Sonic smirked. "Time to take IN the trash!"
"What's that mean?" Knuckles asked.
"Shh!" Sonic hissed at Knuckles. "It's a dramatic moment."
........................................................................
Penny whimpered through her gag as she watched the frog leader make his speech. "Oh Great Frogymongous, accept these humble sacrifices!" He turned towards the two girls, and Penny began struggling as he studied her and Sticks. "Really humble. Scrawny, actually."
Penny glared at him.
He turned to Sticks. "We've been stuck down here for so long, we'll take anything! Have you anything to say before you're sacrificed, oh wretched soul?" The frog took the cloth off her mouth, and immediately, Sticks bit him.
Penny smirked as she struggled in her bonds again. Good job, Sticks. She watched as Sticks freed herself and grabbed the frog's arm, twisting it behind his back. "You've got a lot of nerve for someone who lives in my basement!"
"Yes, two of you, and, oh let's see, one, two, a bazillion of us?"
"Uh, sir, Abvya's homesick." Someone called from the front row.
"A bazillion minus one of us." The leader sighed. "What chance do you think you have?"
A coconut smacked into the leader's head.
"Hey, I know that coconut!" Sticks smiled.
"Give us back our friends!" Sonic snapped.
Penny's eyes widened as the frogs started throwing their spheres at them. "COUCH!" Sonic yelled. Knuckles threw the couch down at the frogs.
"I knew this stuff will come in handy!" Amy smiled.
"No you didn't," Sonic said. "Let's get 'em!"
Sonic zoomed over to the frogs, knocking them down. He made it over to Penny, untied her, and the two shared a hug. Hearing yells, Sonic stood protectively in front of the human girl, spin-dashing them away from her.
"Taste my Hyperactive Exo Magnifier!" Tails smirked, pressing a button to his new invention. He fired, freezing a frog in its place.
"It WORKS!" Tails cried in excitement. "IT ACTUALLY WORKS!"
The machine exploded in his hands, and Tails' ears drooped.
"You look tired!" Knuckles smirked, throwing a couch down at them. "HAVE A SEAT!" He laughed. "I crack myself up."
Sonic zoomed over to Sticks, holding a club he stole from the frogs. "Need this?"
"Thanks!" Sticks smiled.
Once Sticks smacked the leader to the ground, Sonic picked Penny in his arms. "Come on." He said. "Let's blow this frog-leg stand!"
Once everyone was out, Sonic closed the door, blocking it with Penny's help. "Now to block this door forever!"
Amy pushed a shelf in front of the boulder. "Designer shelving." She explained. "Sturdy, and good functionary."
........................................................................
"I don't know about you guys." Sticks smiled. "But I need a trip to the volcano."
"Really?" Amy said excitedly. "Great!"
They walked off.
"Thanks, Sonic." Penny smiled once Amy and Sticks left.
"No prob," Sonic smirked, giving her a thumbs up. "Anything for a friend." Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, Sonic frowned. "Hold on a minute."
"AHEM!" He grumbled at Eggman. Eggman turned around, sighing. "3.75?" He asked.
"It's a fair bet," Penny said, walking up to them. "Better than ten."
Sonic sighed and held out his hand. "Fine."
Eggman walked off. Taking a seat by a tree, he took the comic...
... but a coconut exploded, ripping the new comic in half.
Later...
"Sonic, you don't think the Frogodytes will come back, do you?" Penny asked worriedly.
"Nah, I think they're blocked off for good," Sonic said reassuringly. "And if they do, I'll make sure they don't take you again."
Penny smiled.
"And I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Sonic added. "I think they'll be fine!"
"If you say so," Penny said. She glanced at Sonic. "You know what? Let's go get a Meh Burger. All of the excitement from today is making me hungry!"
"You're on it," Sonic said. The two walked off together.
............................................................................................
"My brethren!" The Frogodyte leader said. "We are trapped."
The audience let out a dramatic gasp.
"Oh, but this old furniture totally brightens up the place! Move that coffee table over here! It really ties the cave together!" The leader said.
"Uh, sir, Abvya's homesick!" Someone called from the first row.
Next Chapter: Green With Envy