SSP Ep. 6 Balloony-Charlie (2/2)

Meanwhile, back at Rouge’s apartment, she was in her nightgown and sitting on her couch watching the news on television.

Female reporter: …As of wind dying down this week, the weather for upcoming Spring is going to be as lovely as it was today. In recent news updates, Blue Top Circus has just arrived this morning and seems to be the main focus of the town with it’s circus themes and attractions. However things don’t seem to be all fun and games.

Rouge: …

Female reporter: A recent report from the police has just been issued about some children going missing after visiting this circus with their parents and grandparents. Witnesses claim the last time they saw the children is when they were talking with the three clowns who were a part of the show and were never seen around areas of the circus tent. Police are now bent on interrogating the ringleader of Blue Top circus tonight on this said incident.

Rouge turned off the TV. Still feeling a bit down in the dumps… Just then, there was some knocking at her door. She walked over to answer it and saw that it was Knuckles.

Knuckles: Oh, Rouge! How funny seeing YOU here all of a sudden!

Rouge: Cut to the chase. I’m busy.

Knuckles: Listen, I wanted to ask you a quick question about something. Cream said something to me about you being… afraid of clowns?

Rouge: !!!! N-No. I don’t know what you’re talking about. SHE probably doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Knuckles: Really? She seemed quite concerned about it and Amy too.

Rouge: Save it, Knuckle-head. I’ve had a stressful day today and I’m NOT in the mood to deal with your usual garbage. (Closes the door.)

Knuckles has a sleek grin on his face as he sets his plan into action to get back at Rouge. He takes out some white makeup paint and some other clown accessories.

Inside, Rouge sighs with anger. … … … Knuckles knocks on the door again.

Rouge: UGH… I thought I told you to back off! (She unlocks the door and opens it.) What part of that don’t you understand you moronic piece of-! !!!!!!!!!

Knuckles’ facial features were that of a clown as he tried to sound goofy to scare Rouge!

Knuckles: Hiya, Rougey! It’s me, Knucky the Clown! You wanna go make some balloon animals with me all the other kiddies??

She screams and slams the door shut!! Knuckles began laughing his head off.

Knuckles: Oh this is just PRICELESS! You think you’re the better treasure hunter than me, and yet you’re afraid of CLOWNS! (Laughs more.)

Inside, Rouge was in a fetal position with her back to the door as she felt so ashamed and broken while Knuckles continues laughing at her.

As he continues, Amy walks in and sees Knuckles having the time of his life.

Knuckles: How does it feel to be the one who picks on the other, huh, Bat-Girl?? Aw who am I kidding?? I knew this would be too easy to achieve!

Amy: (Approaches Knuckles.) What are you doing?

Knuckles: You should’ve seen the look on Rouge’s face! She was all like “Aaaaaugh!!!” and I was like “You wanna go make some balloon animals with me??” (He continues laughing.) Oh yeah! I got her BIG TIME! (He begins to walk away.) Who would’ve known that Rouge is afraid of CLOWNS! (He laughs more until he leaves.) I gotta… I gotta calm down!

Amy: (She walks up to Rouge’s door.) … … … Um… Rouge?

Rouge’s voice: Go away…

Amy: … Come on, Rouge. Tell me what’s wrong?

Rouge’s voice: There’s nothing wrong at all, alright? Just leave me alone.

Amy: Rouge… Knuckles kept saying you were afraid of… clowns. Can’t you at least tell me what’s going ON here? … Please?

Rouge’s voice: … … …

Amy: … Come on, Rouge. You can tell me. I promise I won’t laugh. Honest.

Inside, Rouge was still reluctant on telling… But she knew she had to share it eventually…

Outside the apartment building… Knuckles finally stopped laughing. However, he was still wearing the facial clown attire.

Knuckles: (Sighs…) Man, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do that! Knuckles one, Rouge zero! Maybe when I’m feeling down I should do this to cheer MYSELF up! Ha hah. Yeah, I’m funny that way.

Just then, some children who look like clowns walk in.

Boy 1: Look, everyone! Someone wants to be invited to Balloony-Charlies’ party!

Knuckle: Eh… Say what?

Girl 1: You’re perfect! You’re a clown just like all of us!

Knuckles: Now hold on a minute, squirts! I’m not in the mood to go to some party! And I’m not a clown! (The clown kids laugh.)

Boy 2: You’re really funny! Just like Balloony-Charlie!

Knuckles: Balloony-Charlie? Who the heck is… Wait… (Touches his red rubber nose.) Oh no! I forgot to take all this off!

Girl 2: (She and another kid grabbed his arms.) You can’t take it off! That’s against the rules!

Girl 3: Balloony-Charlie will be mad at you if you take it all off!

Knuckles: H-hey, let go of me! Cut it out!

Boy 2: Come on, everyone! Let’s bring him to Balloony-Charlie! The party’s starting tonight!

All the kids cheer as they begin to leave with the two kids dragging Knuckles away.

Knuckles: Hey, I said let me GO!! Jeez, how can a bunch of little kids have tough grips?! Gah!! Let me go already!!

Back inside Rouge’s apartment, she was still leaning against the front door with Amy outside it…

Rouge: Amy… Do you promise not laugh at me?

Amy’s voice: Of course, Rouge.

Rouge: … … … (Sighs…) What Cream and Knuckles said is… sort of true. … No wait, it KIND OF is true. … Ugh! Alright! It’s TOTALLY true! I’m afraid of those stupid clowns!

Outside, Amy seemed a bit concerned for Rouge…

Amy: … … …

Rouge’s voice: I… I’ve been so afraid of them ever since I was little. I just couldn’t stand the sight of those freaks of nature with their goofy-laughing hijinks and their clownish attire… I just couldn’t stand the sight of them period.

Amy started feeling bad for Rouge even more…

Rouge’s voice: When I was eight years old, I went to this birthday party and there was this horrifying clown juggling and laughing like a maniac… It freaked me out so much and… when I saw that freaky clown and Cream juggling… … I just lost it.

Rouge’s voice: I thought I threw away this crazy fear a long time ago. … But I guess it’s come back to haunt me again. (Scoffs.)

Amy: … … … We didn’t know it would freak you out like this. I’m sorry that we dragged you to that circus which freaked you out so much…

Rouge’s voice: It’s fine. … … …

Amy: Is there… anything I can do for you?

Rouge’s voice: No, just… just give my space for the night.

Amy: … (She leaves.)

Back inside, Rouge still feels down and out of place with this fear of her’s…

Outside, Amy walks out of the apartment building and ends up meeting Cream and Cheese. Cream was holding a small white box.

Cream: Oh, Ms. Amy! Is Rouge home?

Amy: Yeah… I guess you were right about her, Cream. She said she… really is afraid of clowns.

Cream: Oh…

Cheese: Chao chao…

Cream: Well, I’m glad to hear she’s home. My mom and I made some cupcakes for Rouge to cheer her up.

Amy: Aw, that’s sweet of you, Cream. … But I dunno if she has the stomach for it.

Cream: Well, why don’t we go and see? Maybe she’s feeling better by now.

Just then, Amy’s watch starts beeping. She presses it and Lilian’s face appears on screen.

Amy: Amy Rose. What’s up?

Lilian: (On screen.) Amy, we have a big problem!

Cream: (Walks up to Amy’s watch.) What is it, Ms. Lilian?

Lilian: (On screen.) It has something to do with the Pink Craze.

Cream and Amy: The Pink Craze??

Cheese: Chao chao chao??

In Lilian’s lab, she was inputting some commands on her computer with some location on a GPS map screen.

Lilian: Yep. Apparently the computer instantly picked it up the moment I turned on the GPS system. It should’ve located the Pink Craze in a nanosecond before, but now it seems to only locate it when it’s active on something.

Amy’s voice: But how? Aren’t our watches and your computer supposed to pick up their signals?

Lilian: Past tense speaking, yeah. It looks like we have another misleading issue on hunting it down. But that’s not the point. The Pink Craze is active. And I need you and the others to stop it.

Amy’s voice: Yeah… Rouge is kind of trying to recover from this incident today. So she won’t be able to help us.

Lilian: Girls, this mission requires ALL of you to vouch in!

Cream’s voice: But Ms. Lilian, Rouge is still upset about today.

Lilian: No buts! I need you to find Rouge and get to that signal location when I send you the coordinates! And I don’t care if you have to DRAG Rouge across the floor! You can’t do this alone without her! Do I make myself clear?

Back to the girls…

Amy and Cream: … … … Yes, Ms. Lilian…

Lilian: (On screen.) Good. I’m sending your coordinates to your watches. Get into uniform, and I’ll deliver the vaccine as soon as possible.

Amy and Cream: Yes, ma’am. (The call ends.)

Amy: Well, you heard the boss. That Pink Craze is probably doing something awful to Station Square again. (Their watches beep as they press some buttons to reveal a map system which had a pink signal releasing.)

Cream: But what about Rouge? Ms. Lilian said she needs her to help us!

Amy: I don’t know… she’s still trying to cope with this childhood fear… And we can’t force her to come with us if she doesn’t want to…

Cream: …

Amy: … … … Cream, let me hold that box for you until we clear this mission. We’ll give Rouge a break and handle this on our own.

Cream: O… Ok.

Amy: Come on. Lilian will meet up with us as soon as we get moving. (They both run off to follow the signal of the Pink Craze on their watches.)

Later on, Amy and Cream were in their uniforms and were closer to the signal.

Amy: (Checking her watch.) According to the map, we’ll be approaching the signal of the Pink Craze right about… Now. (They look up to see…) The Blue Top Circus tent??

Cream: Maybe the Pink Craze is hurting the poor animals inside!

Amy: Or maybe it’s infected someone inside. Only one way to find out. (But just as they begin to walk forward, a small bunch of children run in dressed as clowns!)

They were cheering loud and wild near Cream, Cheese and Amy both scaring them and confusing them!

Boys: You finally came today!

Girls: The Clownsketeers will be very happy to see you!

Cream and Amy: Clownsketeers??

Amy: What are you talking about??

Girl 1: The little bunny rabbit wanted to come to Balloony-Charlies’ big party tonight! And we’re glad you could finally come!

Boy 1: Where’s Ms. Bat?? Isn’t SHE supposed to be here?

Girl 2: You don’t think she’s late, do you? Late clowns make us feel sad!

Amy: Stop! First of all, WHY are you dressed like clowns in the first place?? Don’t you know your parents might be wondering where you are by now??

Then, out from the entrance of the circus tent, were the three clowns!

Balloony-Charlie: (Laughs.) Hey, kids! You’re not following the rules in order to be part of our party!

Wetty-Betty: You have to dress like a clown in order to be invited!

Amy: ??? (She looks at her watch and it seems to be pinpointing the clowns!) Wait a second… Those clowns are infected with the Pink Craze!

Cream: What?? (Just then, the children grabbed Amy, Cream, and Cheese!)

Amy: Ahh!! Let go of us!

Hypno-Larry: No can do, little girl! We have to do one last thing in order for you to join our wonderful clown party! You have to not only smile, never frown, and dress like us, but you hafta THINK like us!

Cream: What’s he talking about??

Hypno-Larry: (Laughs goofy-like as he approaches Amy, Cream, and Cheese cowering in fear…)

Later, it was night at Rouge’s apartment. While Rouge was putting some eyeliner on in her room, her house phone rang loudly inside.

Rouge: (Sighs…)

Rouge leaves her room and approaches her phone and picks it up.

Rouge: Rouge speaking.

Vanilla’s voice: Rouge?? Rouge, thank goodness your home!

Rouge: Vanilla? What’s going on?

Vanilla’s voice: I sent my daughter to bring you cupcakes to make you feel better, and she hasn’t come back! I tried calling Amy but she wouldn’t answer her phone! I’m glad I was able to call you! Did you see both of them?

Rouge: Well… (All of a sudden, her watch on her dresser starts beeping.) … Excuse me for a sec. (She puts the phone down and walks to her watch to answer it.) Y’ello.

Lilian: (On screen.) Rouge! Finally! Where’s Amy and Cream?

Rouge: Well… I can tell you they aren’t with me.

Lilian: Wait, you’re not WITH them-? Where ARE you?!

Rouge: I’m… in my apartment?

Lilian: What-?! I-?! … UGH, never mind! Amy and Cream were supposed to bring you into the mission and they walked out on that!

Rouge: What mission?

Lilian: It’s another Pink Craze attack. I tried to contact the two but they didn’t answer their watches.

Rouge: What a coincidence. Cream’s mother’s on the phone wondering where they are as well.

Lilian: Well tell her that YOU are going to get them back! I need to get over to the signal of the Pink Craze being active. Your watch should be able to pinpoint the location I sent over to you. Now step on it!

Rouge: I hear ya, I hear ya. I’ll get them back. (She presses one of the PRD watch buttons to end the call and walks back to the phone with Vanilla still on the line.) Listen, Vanilla, I’m gonna hafta cut this short. I’ll get your daughter and Amy lickity-split.

Vanilla’s voice: Oh thank you, Rouge. Please make sure my baby’s ok…

Rouge: Will do. (She hangs up and sighs.) Why do I always get stuck with the dirty work? (She puts her watch on her wrist.) Well, a little action would get my mind off this stress. What have I got to lose? (She presses the gold button on the watch to activate her uniform.)

Meanwhile in the nighttime park, Rouge follows the signal on her watch leading her to the Blue Top Circus tent.

Rouge: UGH… Honestly, why am I going back to this place? (She walks inside the tent only for it to be covered in darkness.) I dunno why Lilian put a flashlight in my watch. I’m a BAT. I practically LIVE in the dark.

She makes her way around the tent until she ends up in what looks like the center of the circus ring.

Rouge: … … … (Presses a button on her watch.) This is Rouge the Bat to Amy Rose. Come in, Amy Rose. (There was no response.) … … … This is Rouge the Bat. Come in, Amy Rose. (There was still no response.) Darn… Why isn’t she answering??

All of a sudden, large spotlights suddenly turned on! Rouge covered her eyes in the bright blinding light until she got a glimpse of the entire empty circus arena…

Rouge: This is… awkward. Amy! Cream, Cheese, I know you’re here! Where are you?

All of a sudden, Rouge heard Balloony-Charlie’s laugh as well as Hypno-Larry’s and Wetty Betty’s too… Rouge became uneasy as she heard their laughter…

Charlie’s voice: It looks like we have a party pooper here, guys!

Betty’s voice: Be good, Ms. Bat! Or we’re not going to invite you to our party!

Larry’s voice: Oh don’t be rude, guys! She just doesn’t know how we clowns get along with each other!

Charlie’s voice: You’re right! Let’s have our friends bring them over to us! Oh children! We have a brand new friend waiting to play with us!

Then from the darkness, the same children dressed as clowns walk in and start trying to get to Rouge! Rouge freaks out at the sight of the children dressed as from her childhood fear…

Boy 1: Play with us, Ms. Bat!

Boy 2: You’re going to miss our party!

Girl 1: It won’t be fun without you!

Girl 2: Let’s have fun, Ms. Bat!

Rouge: No… No! S-s-stay away from me!

Girl 3: Don’t be scared! We clowns can make you very happy! If you wanna stay at our party, you need to dress like us too!

Rouge: But you’re not supposed to be clowns! You’re supposed to be… normal… little kids or something!

Boy 2: We love being clowns! We live like clowns!

Girl 3: We ARE clowns!

Rouge started breathing harder and harder as the clown children crept closer and closer to her.

Girl 3: Join us, Ms. Bat! Be a clown like all of us!

The kids: (Chanting) Be a clown! Be a clown!

As they kept chanting and chanting, they creep closer and close as Rouge kept backing away.

Rouge: S-Stay away from me! I-I don’t wanna hurt ANY of you! P-please, don’t do this! S-Stop!

???: HI, Rouge…

Rouge was petrified with fear as she recognized that voice. She turns around and is in great disbelief and shock to see her friends Amy, Cream, and Cheese all dressed like clowns themselves…

Amy: Why are you so sad?

Cream: Join our fun clown party, Rouge.

Amy and Cream: It won’t be the same without you…

Cheese: Chao chao…

Rouge: !!!!! This is… madness!! (She runs off into an entrance leading to more darkness.)

She hid from the chanting children and tried to regain herself.

Rouge: What… What’s going ON here? Amy, Cream, and Cheese are… clowns too?? … Wait a minute… There was some news report I saw on TV about some children missing around this circus tent… Could those kids dressed as clowns be the missing children? … It seems logical, but… why are they pretending to be clowns? And why are Amy and Cream caught in their little charade?

She felt an eerie presence behind her as she was growing afraid and helpless…

Charlie’s voice: Hey, little girl… You’re not following the rules…

Larry’s voice: You’ve been a very naughty girl, haven’t you?

Betty’s voice: Be good, or we’re going to have to tell your parents…

Rouge turns around and turned on her flashlight on her watch. And to her horror, the Clownsketeers were eyeing at her with horrifying smiles as their eyes were wide revealing their pupils to be shades of dark pink hues…

Rouge ran from the three clowns. She ran for life, not knowing where she was going through the dark tent-like hallways. Each one was similar to the last and it felt like she was going around in circles. She stopped to catch her breath…

Rouge: This… this isn’t happening… This isn’t happening… Omigosh I can’t believe it I’m freaking out over some stupid clowns!! … … … Ok calm down, Rouge. They’re just clowns… There’s nothing to be afraid of… You are surpassingly so much stronger than a bunch of white faced circus freaks. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Some hands move in from the darkness and grab Rouge’s shoulders!!

Rouge: AAAAUUGH!!!! (She grabs the arms and flails them above her head and onto the ground!! THUD!!)

It turned out to be Knuckles! He wasn’t wearing his clown attire this time.

Knuckles: OW!! Jeez!

Rouge: ?!?!?! Knuckles?! (He gets up and dusts himself off.) Of all the times I have to run into you, why does it have to be NOW?!

Knuckles: SSH! Be quiet! I’m trying to get these bozos outta here and I don’t need you to attract attention! (Rouge looks behind him to see the Ringleader, the couple of trapeze men and animal trainers)

Rouge: So what are you doing here anyway?

Knuckles: Kind of a funny story. These strange clown kids suddenly grabbed me and pulled me to this nuthouse. I managed to escape from them, but… I kind got lost. I found these guys tied up and they gave me the dirt on what’s going on.

Ringleader: (To Rouge) You’ve gotta help us! My Clownsketeer troupe has gone off the FRITZ! They’re kidnapping a bunch of children and making them their clowny playthings! Everything was going as planned when we were setting things up this morning. My clown workers were just fine until after our morning act! They were taking children in while Hypno-Larry was hypnotizing them into thinking they were clowns themselves! Then they turned against me and my workers!

Rouge: So they mistook YOU for one, huh Knuckles?

Knuckles: HMPH.

Rouge: But… how were they infected with the Pink Craze?

Knuckles: How could it do something like THAT?

Rouge: We can’t answer that question. First we need to get our friends out of here. I need to figure out how to de-hypnotize all those kids. (Her watch starts beeping. She answers it.) Lilian. It turns out these psycho clowns are the ones being taken over by the Craze.

Lilian: (On screen.) Really??

Rouge: Yep. I found Knuckles here and it turns out these clowns are hypnotizing children into being like them. Amy, Cream, and Cheese were captured as well.

Lilian: (On screen.) I see. What are you gonna do?

Rouge: Well… I guess I could… try and save those kids first…

Lilian: (On screen.) Are you sure? Aren’t you still scared of those clowns?

Rouge: … … …

Lilian: (On screen.) Rouge, I know clowns freak you out, but Amy and the others need you now more than ever. You need to stand up to your fears and show them that you aren’t afraid.

Rouge: …

Lilian: (On screen.) Everyone’s afraid of something. You seem to remind me of my daughter. She’s actually afraid of skeletons. But she knew she had to conquer her fear eventually. You probably have to do the same for your friends.

Rouge: … Well… No promises, but I’ll try… That still leads me into a dead end however. I don’t know how to snap everyone out of their hypnosis state.

Lilian: (On screen.) You still have your Flash Memory Emitter? Maybe that would snap them back to reality with a touch of that button.

Rouge: I’ll give it a shot. Hope it’ll be worth it. (The call ends.)

Ringleader: What was all that?

Rouge: Sorry, sir. It’s classified. Which you probably won’t remember any time soon.

Knuckles: So, you got a plan?

Rouge: Well, it’s risky. I’ll try and use my Memory Emitter to knock them out of their hypno state. Afterwards, you escort all the children outside while I take on those Clownsketeers.

Knuckles: You sure you can handle this?

Rouge: O… Of course I can.

Knuckles: You hesitated there for a second.

Rouge: Oh shut up. Let’s just get our friends back.

Back in the center of the circus arena, all the clown children were confused as to where Rouge was.

Boy: Where’s Ms. Bat?? She’s going to be late for our party!

Amy: We can’t have our party without Ms. Bat! What ever shall we do?

Cream: Let’s call her so we can bring her out!

Amy: (Turns to the children.) Alright everyone! Let’s all call Ms. Bat out so she doesn’t miss our party! Everyone ready??

Amy and everyone: Ms. Baaaat!!

Amy: Hm. I don’t see her anywhere! Let’s speak louder!

Amy and everyone: Ms. Baaaaaaat!!! (High up on the trapeze pole, Rouge was on top waiting.)

Cream: We still can’t find her! Let’s all shout one last time!

Amy and everyone: MS. BAAAAAT!!!

Rouge: Up HERE! (They all look up to see Rouge!) Miss me?

Amy: There you are!

Cream: We didn’t like it when you ran off! You worried us!

Rouge: Listen up, everyone! You’re not meant to be a clown! And I think it’s about time I help you get your minds straight. (Holds out her FME.)

Amy: What’s that?

Rouge: Oh just a little surprise you clowny folks enjoy. Once I activate it, you’ll be in for the time of your lives.

Cream: Will it pop out special streamers and balloons?

Rouge: You’ll see soon enough. (But when she was about to press it, it slips out of her hand!) Wah-!! (It then falls straight towards the group of clown kids!!) No!!

Amy: (Picks it up.) Wow, this sure looks marvelous! It must be a present!

Rouge: (Lands onto the ground.) Give it back!

Amy: But it’s supposed to be a present!

Rouge: Well you’re wrong on that, sister! It’s mine!

Amy: You have to learn to share, Ms. Bat!

Rouge: I don’t CARE about-! Ugh… Stop calling me Ms. Bat… And give me back my Memory Emitter!

Amy: Uh uh uh! You didn’t say “please!”

Rouge: You are really pissing me off, Amy Rose! Give it back right now or I’ll-!

Amy: Amy… Rose? … Why does that name sound… so familiar…

Rouge: Huh… Guess there’s still some meaning left in them. (Just then, one of the clown children took the FME from Amy.) Hey! Give that back, kid!

The children started flailing it all around making it hard for Rouge to obtain. It bounced around back and forth until it landed on the ground while at the same time, the button was pressed! FLASH!!! A powerful flash of light blinded the entire area!

As soon as the light faded out, Rouge rubbed her eyes from the light until she could see again…

Rouge: Whoa… So THAT’S what it feels like to be hit by… ??? (She saw that all the children were zoned out while some of them were scared…)

All the children were snapped out of their clown hypnosis state. As for Amy, Cream, and Cheese…

Amy: R…Rouge? W…What happened?

Cream: Ooh… My head hurts so much…

Cheese: Chao chao chao…

Rouge: Girls!! (She hugs them.) I’m so thankful you’re ok! You will not believe how much trouble I went through just to-! (She saw Knuckles, smirking.) Uh… (She lets go of them.) Hey… Glad to see you’re ok.

Amy: Rouge, what’s going on? The last thing I remember is those children grabbing us and… Hypno-Larry had his watch out…

Knuckles: (Walks in.) Hey, ladies! Sorry for barging in like this. It’s good to see you’re not acting like creepy clowns anymore.

Cream: Creepy clowns? (She, Amy, and Cheese look at each other and were quite surprised.) YIP!!

Rouge: Yeah, a bit of a predicament, isn’t it?

Boy 1: What’s going on here??

Girl 1: I’m scared! I want my mom and dad!

Boy 2: I wanna go home!

Knuckles: Alright, kids! Calm down! You’re good ol’ uncle Knuckles is gonna make sure that everything will be ok.

Rouge: Alright. You take them outside to safety and we’ll take those clowns on.

Knuckles: Are you sure you can still handle them?

Rouge: No harm in trying.

Knuckles: … Alright. Have fun with that. Ok, kids! Just follow me outside! Everything’s gonna be just dandy! (All the kids follow Knuckles until they leave the area.)

Amy and Cream remove their clown costumes and wipe the makeup off their faces.

Amy: Rouge… We’re sorry about everything. We didn’t know you had this fear of clowns.

Rouge: (Cream was wiping Cheese’s face to clean the makeup off.) It’s fine. I should’ve told you sooner. But you would’ve laughed at me like what Knuckles did. I’ll let Lilian know that you’re back to normal.

Amy: Um… Rouge?

Rouge: What? (She turns to see…) !!!!!

The Clownsketeers with two of the circus tigers growling at them!

Balloony-Charlie: Aw, Ms. Bat ruined our little party!

Wetty-Betty: You’ve been very naughty, children!

Hypno-Larry: And bad children need a time out!

Amy: Stay back if you know what’s good for you!

Balloony-Charlie: Ooh, you’re all acting very very naughty! And naughty children have to have a time out!

Wetty-Betty: Our kitty cats will keep you company in your time out! (The tigers growl at the group…)

Balloony-Charlie: (Laughs goofy-like.) Have fun kiddies! (Laughs more.)

The tigers rush forward to attack! Amy and Cream split up to have the tigers begin chasing them leaving Rouge to deal with the clowns!

Wetty-Betty: Oh look! The cats don’t wanna play with Ms. Bat!

Hypno-Larry: That’s ok! We can give Ms. Bat a fun time by ourselves! (They laugh as Rouge was trembling again…)

Rouge: (Gulps…) Aw crap…

Amy tried to fight back against the tiger with her hammer. She tried her best not to hit it but wear it off.

Amy: Back! Stay back! I’m warning you! (The tiger roars.) Don’t make me go smashy-smashy on you!

The other tiger was growling at Cream while she and Cheese cower in fear until…

Cream: (The tiger roars at her… And then she slaps it on the nose!) No! Bad kitty! Bad! (It moans and growls sadly.) No growling! Bad kitty-cat!

Back to Rouge, she was trying not to show her fear to those clowns.

Rouge: (To herself.) I’m not afraid of them… I’m not afraid of them… I’m not afraid of them.

Balloony-Charlie: Hey, Larry!

Hypno-Larry: What is it, Charlie?

Balloony-Charlie: How many bats does it take to get tied up? (He takes out some streamers and lashes them forward, tying Rouge up!!! She falls to the ground, tied up by the streamers, unable to break out.) Just one! Now we just need her to join our little party!

Wetty-Betty: She’s gonna make a beautiful clown! Why don’t we make her a clown princess?

Hypno-Larry: I have a better idea! We should make her into a clown QUEEN! (He takes out his watch!) Listen up, Ms. Bat! When you see my watch near your face, you’re gonna be crowned queen of the clowns! (Laughs as he approaches Rouge, trying to break free.)

Rouge felt like she lost as the clown was about to take her… But then, she felt the courage she needed in order to stop the Pink Craze from taking those clowns over. She reached for her Weapon Downloader strapped to her skirt and presses a button.

It melds onto her glove to form into sharp claws. She then cuts the streamers off and hovers in midair! She lands on the ground, ready to face her fears.

Rouge: Sorry, I’m not fit to be your queen.

Balloony-Charlie: Naughty naughty, Ms. Bat! You’re gonna need some extra time out! (He uses more streamers as a whip to attack Rouge, but she slashes it with her claw glove.)

Rouge: First warning, freaks. I’m gonna give your five minutes to put your streamers down and surrender. (Charlie throws another streamer and it wraps around Rouge’s wrist.) ???

Balloony-Charlie: Gotcha! (He laughs… Only to have Rouge pull him in!) Whoa!!!

Rouge punches the clown in the stomach, making him thud to the ground and drop some clowny props. Rouge finds a banana and picks it up.

Wetty-Betty: You’re being a bad girl, Ms. Bat! (She takes out a unicycle and rushes forward!)

Rouge finishes eating the banana and tosses it behind her back. Betty’s unicycle slips on the banana peel and sends Betty flying into a small haystack!

Hypno-Larry tries to attack Rouge with a rubber chicken! Rouge dodges each of his swings.

Rouge: Here’s a little joke for you, Hypno-Larry. (Dodges again.) What’s the difference between a chicken and a knuckle-sandwich? Can you guess?

Hypno-Larry: Oh I know! It’s-! (She punches him right in the face!) Oof!! (He falls to the ground.)

Rouge: Yeah, neither can I. (Just then, Charlie pops up behind her and wraps his arms around her!!) Augh!!! Let me go! Let me GO!!

Balloony-Charlie: You’re being a very VERY bad girl, Ms. Bat! And bad girls need to be punished!

Amy and Cream use their Flash Memory emitters on the tigers, making them dazed and confused. They turn to Rouge being grappled by the clown!!

Amy: Rouge!!

Cream: Oh no!!

Rouge tried to escape the grasp of the clown but his grip was just too strong! Rouge couldn’t stand the loud and booming laughter of Balloony-Charlie any longer! Just when it felt like it was all over however…
Charlie was struck on the head and fell to the ground with Rouge recovering. It turns out it was Knuckles who finished him off!

Knuckles: (Cracks his knuckles.) Need some help, ladies?

Rouge: (Sighs…) For once… I’m glad you stepped in, Knuckle-head. (Amy, Cream and Cheese hug Rouge as she felt secured once again.)

Sometime later, the clowns were tied up, unconscious. The Patrollers finished explaining everything to the Ringleader and Lilian.

Lilian: The Pink Craze was in their makeup?

Rouge: (Uses her watch to scan the clowns. Pink essence was all over their faces while scanning.) Seems that way.

Lilian: Ugh. (Takes out some vaccine in an injection needle.) If the Pink Craze is ON them, this medicine won’t be effective unless it’s INSIDE their bodies.

Cream: Does that mean they can’t be healed?

Rouge: … (She looks at the squirt flowers on the clowns and gets an idea. She plucks one off of them and injects it with the vaccine.) I have a possible theory to this. (She aims the flower squirter filled with vaccine at the clowns and sprays them with vaccine water all over their faces.)

The makeup turned into pink and steamed into nothing as the vaccine washes it away…

Rouge: Pink Craze eradicated. Mission complete.

Ringleader: You healed them!! Oh thank you! Thank you THANK YOU! I wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for all of you!

Rouge: All in a day’s work, sir. But I’m afraid it’ll have to be classified.

Ringleader: W-what do you mean?

Rouge: (Takes out her FME.) The Pink Craze is too dangerous for anyone to handle. For your safety, your memories are gonna be erased for classified reasons.

Ringleader: I don’t… understand.

Rouge: It’s best you don’t. (The clowns suddenly come to.) Smile. (Rouge presses the button and… FLASH!!!)

The next day in Lilian’s lab, on the computer was a news report.

Reporter: Police have investigated the Blue Top Circus tent late last night to interrogate the Ringleader on the missing children. They’ve reported that all the children were completely unharmed but have no memory whatsoever on how they got there. The Ringleader and his were given a warning from the police despite their ignorance. All the children have been returned to their homes safe and sound and as of now, Blue Top Circus is planning to leave Station Square by the end of the week.

Lilian turned off the computer and turns to Amy, Cream, Vanilla, Rouge, and Knuckles. Cheese for some reason, wasn’t anywhere.

Lilian: Another job well done, girls. And another lesson learned.

Rouge: Yeah. Everyone’s afraid of something, but you shouldn’t let it slow you down in doing the right thing.

Vanilla: Rouge, I’m very thankful for you saving my daughter from that horrible incident. (Cream hugs her mother.)

Rouge: All in a day’s work.

Lilian: Speaking of work, I’m gonna be heading to Dr. Blyner’s for the week. He’s gonna help me whip up something that’ll be helpful for your future patrolling missions.

Amy: We’ll be looking forward to that!

Knuckles: Hey uh… Rouge? Sorry for freaking you out yesterday.

Rouge: Don’t worry about it, knuckle-head. (Punches his shoulder.) After that little fiasco yesterday, I’m over it. Oh and… Thanks for butting in.

Knuckles: What?! I saved you and the girls from those freak-of-nature clowns! What more do you want?!

Cream: Maybe you should ask Rouge out on da-! (Amy covers her mouth again.) Hey-!! MMF! MFF MM MMF!!

Rouge: Well, all’s said is done. And personally, I’m glad it’s finally over. After all that crazy stuff with those clowns, I never wanna see another one again.

Cheese: (Pops out of nowhere, scaring Rouge!) CHAO!!

Rough: AAAAAUUGHH!!!! (She falls on the ground and Cheese laughs.) DAUGH!! CHEESE, YOU NO GOOD DIRTY LITTLE TROUBLE-MAKER!! (She gets up and tries grabbing Cheese, but he flies all around the room!) WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ANNOYING CLOWNY-!!

As she rambles and tries to catch Cheese, everyone laughs.