13 Guilt Trippin'

Penny smirked as she rode on her hoverboards alongside Sonic and Tails. The three friends have decided to have a hoverboard race in the forest, so here they were, competing on who was the fastest racer. She laughed with excitement as she zoomed between Sonic and Tails, each one going through the original route of the forest. Sonic even did a loop-de-loop, though Penny just figured he was trying to show off for her.

"You may be faster on foot, but I invented these things!" Tails smirked, leaving Penny's side and zooming over Sonic.

"HEY!" Penny called, and soon the human girl flipped over Tails and Sonic and flew ahead, stunning them. Sonic smirked. "Not bad," he said. "My turn!" He did a twist in the air, but he wasn't looking where he was going. The blue hedgehog let out a grunt as he smashed into a tree and fell to the ground.

"SONIC!!" Penny yelped, hopping off her hoverboard and running up to the fallen hedgehog.

"I-I'm okay," Sonic groaned as Penny helped him up.

Tails flew over, his eyes wide. "Wow!" He gasped. "That was the coolest thing I 've ever seen!"

"Really?" Sonic asked.

"You look cool even when you make a complete fool of yourself!" Tails smirked.

Sonic chuckled and went to get his hoverboard when a voice stopped him.

"All right, load them up! Hurry up and nobody gets hurt!"

Penny looked up, frowning to see some types of goons robbing a poor village. Sonic frowned. "Whoa! We've gotta stop those jerks!" He said, zooming off.

Tails and Penny followed behind him.

"What's going on here?!" Sonic asked, frowning at the scene laid in front of them. The leader glanced at them, smiling. Though for some reason, that smile made Penny feel really uncomfortable.

"Oh, these delightful young men were just ransacking our poor village and taking all of our possessions!" The leader said, tossing a bag of coins in the robber's sack.

"They probably need it more than we do," A female said. "Being bandits living off the land and all."

"Yeah, so back off, blue guy!" One of the bandits sneered. "This is what we do!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sonic smirked. "Well, this is what WE do!"

And at that, the speedy blue hedgehog dashed towards the three bandits, tripping them in a back-to-back pile. Tails and Penny grabbed the vines from above and they both tossed them to Sonic. Sonic tied them up, and then tied them to a catapult.

The bandit grunted, glaring at Sonic. "This isn't over."

The catapult snapped, sending the trio flying through the air. "I SPOKE TOO SOON!!!!" The guy screamed.

The leader of the village smiled. "Thank you, strange travelers. You've saved us Gogobas from the scourge of the Weasel Bandits, and scattered our belongings carelessly in the dirt!" He motioned his hand at the ground, where the villager's belongings laid there.

Penny grumbled, crossing her arms. She was completely disliking them already.

"Sorry," Tails said, looking down sheepishly. "I'll help pick them up," The fox was about to pick up an object when a female Gogoba stopped him. "Oh, no," she said sweetly. "We don't want to trouble you. I'll do it myself." She leaned forward. "It probably won't cause my chronic back pain to flare up too much," She leaned forward a bit more, wincing to the pain coming from her back. The female Gogoba yelped in pain, her spine cracking.

Penny winced, looking at Sonic and Tails.

"Oh, don't worry about her," the Gogoba leader said. "She'll pass out from the pain soon! And in the meantime, the rest of us will throw our valid heroes a victory feast!"

As he said that, the Gogobas pulled up a table full of fruits and vegetables. Penny's stomach growled in hunger, but why did she feel so strange?

Noticing her nervousness, Sonic smiled awkwardly at the villagers. "Thanks, but, we really gotta..."

"Oh, it's okay." The leader smiled. "We know how busy you are. But in a few months, this will turn into compost. And we'll be able to grow new food to eat!"

Sonic sighed. "Well, I guess we could stay for a quick bite..."

"Wonderful!" The leader smiled, leaning on his crutch, his yellow eyes gleaming with happiness. He walked away, leaving Tails, Sonic, and Penny to enjoy the meal. However, as they bit into the vegetables and fruit, they noticed that the Gogobas were...watching them?

Penny frowned. "Uh, aren't you guys going to eat too?" She asked.

"Oh, no," the leader smiled. "We'd much rather watch you enjoy your food!"

"That's the only nourishment we need." Another female Gogoba said.

Their stomachs growled.

"That was a growl of joy," the female Gogoba said.

"These Gogobas are so nice," Tails whispered to Sonic and Penny.

"Yeah," Sonic hummed, looking down at the fruit in his hand. "So why do I feel so terrible?"

"I've been feeling that same thing!" Penny's eyes went wide. "Could they be guilt-tripping us?"

"We've gotta get out of here." Tails said.

Sonic grabbed Penny's hand and stood up as more Gogobas came in with more food in their arms. "Uh," Sonic said awkwardly. "That was really delicious, we loved it, LOVED it, but, we should probably get going...."

However, they were stopped by the leader. "Of course, of course." He smirked. "Why would you want to stay with us after we made you this incredible meal?"

"No!" Tails gasped. "We DO want to stay! It's just that..."

"Wonderful!" The Gogoba leader said, walking through them. "Allow us to prepare your commendations."

Soon, the Gogobas placed the three friends in the bed, Penny in between Tails and Sonic. The leader smiled. "Fetch our new friends the finest, softest blankets in the village!"

Penny smiled awkwardly as the villagers placed the blanket over her and her friends. Tails smiled. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all!"

"The children in the nursery can huddle together for warmth."

Sonic groaned, pulling the blanket to his chest.

Soon, Penny was sound asleep, but Sonic and Tails had stayed up, preparing a plan to escape. Sonic carefully bumped Tails' arm. "Hey, the Gogobas are finally gone! Let's sneak out of here!"

Picking up a sleeping Penny in his arms, he and Tails crept out of the village. However, once again they were stopped by the Gogoba leader. Sonic stumbled in shock, and Penny muttered something in her sleep, shifting in his hold.

"Can we get you something?" The leader asked.

"Whoa, where did you come from?" Sonic asked nervously. "We thought everyone was asleep."

"How can we sleep, when we've got guests to take care of?" The leader smiled.

"Actually, it's "guests of whom to take care." A beaver corrected, popping out of nowhere.

The leader cleared his throat, correcting his sentence. "We can't sleep....of whom."

"We'd really should be on our way," Tails said.

"Go, go." The leader smiled, waving his hand. "We'll be fine!"

"Until the next inventible bandit attack," A female Gogoba said.

"It's okay." The leader added. "Just promise someday, you'll come back and visit!"

"The smoking crater where our village used to be," the female Gogoba added.

Sonic looked at Penny, who was still sleeping soundly in his arms and then at Tails. The two boys shrugged. They walked off.

"WAIT!"

Sonic and Tails turned back to the male Gogoba.

"I've got some tomatoes and some really nice pastrami. I'll pack ya sandwiches!" The Gogoba ran off.

"Tails, these guys are nuts!" Sonic said, looking at his friend.

"We've got to get out of here!" Tails said in agreement.

"But how?" Sonic looked down at the sleeping Penny still in his arms. "We're stuck here as long as there's a threat from those bandits!"

"That's it!" Tails said. "If we can create a defense system for the village, the Gogobas will be safe, and we can leave!"

"Yeah, but what if I'm right and they're just nuts?"

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Tails said, his eyes showing determination.

.........................................................................................

When Penny woke up, Sonic and Tails told her the plan, and she eagerly agreed to help. The human girl helped Sonic and Tails build the Gogobas their own defense system.

Sonic smiled. "Gogoba village, allow us to present your new stately art defense system!"

"You no longer need us to protect you, and the best part is, it's totally full proof!" Tails said.

"Goodbye, friends!" Sonic smirked, walking off.

"Thanks for everything..." Penny began, but the sound of traps going off caused them to turn around, and the next thing they knew, the Gogobas were hanging upside down in the rope traps.

"Oh, come ON!" Sonic complained.

"Seriously?!" Penny and Tails both added, smacking her head in annoyance.

"I'm so sorry," the leader said. "I wish I had a better excuse, but it's hard to concentrate while all the blood is rushing to my head!"

"We'll just hang here till we go numb." Another female Gogoba said.

"And our bodies will reflect our emotional state!" Another one added.

..................................................................................

"We can totally fight Eggman or Bandits, but how do we fight guilt?" Tails asked.

"Good question." Penny hummed in agreement.

Sonic thought for a moment and then smiled. "With MORE guilt!" He smirked. "Follow my lead!" He zoomed off, towing Penny and Tails with him.

When they finally found the Gogoba leader, Sonic smiled. "Heya, Chief, it's been great and all, but, unfortunately, we have to go now,"

"But we haven't finished stitching our friendship quilt!" The leader protested, motioning his hand towards a female Gogoba stitching a quilt. Sad to say, it was a nice one... Penny was in the middle of Tails and Sonic, and they were all surrounded by the Gogobas.

The Gogoba leader smirked at Sonic.

Sonic frowned.

A lone tumbleweed swept past them.

"All right." Sonic cleared his throat. "Well, we could stay, but our plants back at home...without us there to water them, oh well, I suppose it's their own fault for being plants."

Another moment of silence.

The leader smiled. "No, you have to go." He said. "Far be it us to let the well being of our entire society hold you back from watering your precious houseplants."

"No, your well being is much more important," Penny smirked. Tails nodded. "Penny's right," he said. "We mean, if the plants need water so badly, they can walk to the kitchen and get it themselves!"

"Oh, no, we've just met!" The Gogoba leader protested. "But you've known your plants for a long time! Go to them! We'll be fine!"

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Sonic finally smiled. "But in all of that time, the plants have never given us anything!"

"Except oxygen," Penny pointed out.

"And nutrition!" Tails added.

After a few moments of glaring at the Gogoba leader, he finally sighed. "All right," he said. "You win. We can't keep you here. You should go."

"Seriously?!" Penny asked, hope shining in her brown eyes.

"Yeah, go, leave us." The Gogoba leader said. "Goodbye forever!"

Sonic smiled. Victory at last. "Hey, thanks for everything, chief" Sonic shook his hand, grabbed Penny's hand, and walked off. They didn't even turn around when the Gogoba leader called back, "Call to let us know you made it home okay! Otherwise, we'd just sit here and worry!"

......................................................................

"I thought we'd never get out of there!" Tails shook his head as the three friends walked into Sonic's shack.

"Well, at least we're finally back hoooooooooooo....." Sonic's eyes went wide.

The Gogoabs.

And they have literally allowed themselves in!

Sonic dropped his meh burger.

"WHAT?!" Penny growled. "Are. You. Doing. HERE."

"We had to let ourselves in." The Gogoba leader answered. "Since you don't have a door!"

"Or any cold beverages or snacks!" Another one said, and surrounding him were cans of opened food.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Sonic repeated what Penny said.

"We figured that if we were here, you can keep protecting us! And in exchange, we can water those house plants of yours." He looked around. "Where are those, by the way?"

Tails and Penny quickly held Sonic back from attacking the leader, who continued, "And that's not all we've done for you!"

"We opened all of your mail!"

"And we uncanned all of your food!"

"And we colored in all of your coloring books for you, miss!" A female Gogoba said, holding out a stack of coloring books which were now messily colored in, and the colored pencils were now dull and most of them were snapped and broken,

"WHAT?!" Penny yelped, now fuming with anger. "I JUST BOUGHT THOSE!!!"

Sonic held her back, but he was fuming as well.

"Next, we'll check all of your messages!" The Gogoba leader pressed a button on Sonic's voice messenger.

"GIMME THAT!" Sonic growled and listened to the messages.

It was Eggman.

"You have four messages."

"Hey, Sonic! It's Dr. Eggman. Just so you know, I'm planning to blow up the dam this Sunday. Hope to see you there! Not that you can stop me! Hahahaha!"

"Hey, I'm near the dam, just waiting for you now! It's going to blow up any second now! You don't want to miss it!"

"Oh, sorry, butt dial. Didn't mean to call you,

"All right, it was a trick! I was going to ambush you, you didn't have the decency to show up! That's really rude, Sonic."

The messages ended.

"Wow." The Gogoba leader said. "That guy can't take a hint!"

Hearing a whistle, Sonic zoomed out, only to see Dr. Eggman and his robots. Eggman smirked. "Well, well, look who it is! Mr. I-don't-have-time-to-show-up-to-Doctor-Eggman's-Ambush!"

"This is a really bad time, Egghead." Sonic groaned.

"No problem." Eggman nodded, walking off. "I'll come back later when you're ready..JUST KIDDING! ROBOTS! ATTACK!"

Sonic immediately started fighting the robots. The Gogobas hid behind Penny and Tails. Penny grumbled. "You GUYS! I'm usually the one hiding behind someone's back!"

"Excuse me!" Tails said. The Gogobas hid behind him, holding onto him. "Would you mind..." He broke free and smashed the upcoming bees.

"Oh, pardon me!" The Gogoba leader said. "I didn't mean to get in the way of your deranged evil rampage!"

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Sonic growled, pushing the leader away from danger.

"This isn't working!" Sonic said after a while. "We can't keep fighting around these Gogobas!"

"Maybe you guys should fight over them!" Penny suggested, motioning her hand to the hoverboards.

Sonic smiled. "Good idea! That's what I'm talking about!"

Penny watched alongside the Gogobas as Sonic and Tails fought them off, destroying the robots in a spin dash.

Eggman growled in annoyance. "You've GOTTA be kidding me!"

"I suppose it was your own fault." The Gogoba leader said. "For being in the way."

Eggman turned to him, scowling with anger. "Yeah, you know what? It WAS your fault! I usually win these things!"

"Hey!" Sonic snapped. "Are you trying to steal our new teammates?!"

"New teammates?" Eggman hummed.

"Yes!" Penny said, walking up with Tails next to her. "We couldn't have won this battle without the Gogobas!"

"And if they joined up with you, it'll be like you won this battle!" Sonic smirked. "You'd be unstoppable!"

"Yeah!" Eggman said. "I would, wouldn't I?"

"We wish to stay with our protector, Sonic!" The leader protested.

"Fine!" Sonic said. "Let poor Eggman suffer the humiliation of defeat after defeat even though you can help them!"

"Well...."

"Come on, Crowly! What's an evil genius have to do to get you to switch sides?!" Eggman growled.

"We pretty much bend the knee to the nearest tyrant who wants to enslave us." The Leader said.

Sonic, Penny, and Tails smirked at each other.

"Done and done," Eggman said. "Follow me. So long, losers!" Eggman laughed.

"Finally...." Penny grumbled once they were gone.

Sonic nodded. "You're telling me." He looked at her. "Sorry about your coloring books."

"Eh, it's okay," Penny said. "I could go out and buy new ones." She looked at the pictures. "Honestly, they did a pretty good job, too. I wonder how they're doing with Eggman..."

"I betcha they're annoying him pretty badly," Sonic smirked.

.......................................................................................

"Hey, do you have any unsalted butter?" The Gogoba leader asked, holding up a knife. "It's not a problem if you don't. I'll just have an allergic reaction that will make me smell like feet! But don't worry about it!"

Eggman growled in annoyance, slamming his head on the sofa. Boy did he make a mistake.