In the jungles of Seaside Island, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks are running scared from an unknown threat. Whatever it is, it has to be quite formidable for these seasoned heroes to be fleeing from it. Tails and Amy are captured by the threat, and only Knuckles and Sticks are left. The two walk on a high pathway, when suddenly they're confronted by the threat: Sonic. The hedgehog knocks Knux off the path, leaving only Sticks to fight him off, but she doesn't last long, as Sonic throws her off, too. So what would drive him to pick off his friends? ...A game of Jungle Predator, of which Sonic has just won. Yeah, that's right— this is all a game and his friends have not died horribly at the hands of their own leader. In fact, everyone except Sticks joins Sonic back on the pathway, perfectly fine. The badger, meanwhile, calls to the others, as she's found a strange cave below. Amy is reluctant to trust her, believing it to be the oldest trick in the Jungle Predator book (and she and Sonic get into a brief discussion over the Jungle Predator movie adapted from the book and about how companies should make something original instead of rehashing the same tired franchises over and over again, the latter of which plunges them all into an uncomfortable silence), but they ultimately decide to join Sticks below. Meanwhile, in his lair, Eggman is happy his Spy Bot was there to record the whole thing, because there's almost nothing good on TV.
Back at the cave, Team Sonic is unable to explore because it's too dark inside, but Tails was prepared for this, activating the team's new Luminous Suits which, as the name implies, illuminates everyone's clothes (except Sticks', of course) so they can see. Instantly, the team can see writing on the walls which Amy believes is from the time of the Ancients, adding that they want them to go further into the cave (though it's only because they also placed an arrow on a rock). Sure enough, the team finds a large metallic hand sticking out of some rubble which, upon removal of the rubble, is revealed to belong to a mech suit that resembles Sonic. Complimenting the Ancients for having "swag", Sonic quickly jumps in. Tails tries to convince him to stop for a second and have him run some tests, but apparently believing that breaking the mech suit in is test enough, Sonic runs back to the cave mouth with the others following, only to be denied exit by a force-field. Eggman makes his presence known, gloating that they were all too distracted to notice they were being spied on and his trap was being set up. To make matters worse, Tails can't get a signal underground and is thus unable to bring the force-field down. While Eggman jokes about the team's no-doubt inevitable suffocation from lack of oxygen, Sonic is unwilling to accept this and punches the force-field down with the mech suit. While surprised at this, Eggman goes with plan B: sic his Mega Bot on the heroes.
Mega Bot makes the first move, firing a missile at Sonic, but the missile explodes harmlessly against a shield protecting the mech suit. Beginning to take a liking to the suit, Sonic activates its foot-mounted wheels to skate circles around Mega Bot, then jumps up, knocks the robot off its treads with a few punches, and finally finishes it off with a laser blast from one of the mech suit's hands in such a display that even Eggman has to admit he's impressed. But the hedgehog isn't finished yet; he snatches Eggman out of the Eggmobile, slams him against a nearby boulder and, as the doctor screams for help and Sonic's eyes begin to match the suit's sinister red glow, charges up a laser on the mech suit's free hand, aimed directly at him. You read that right— in an uncharacteristic move, Sonic's not looking to simply defeat or otherwise humiliate Eggman this time, but outright wipe him from the face of the planet. Sonic's friends are well aware he isn't usually this blood-thirsty, and Amy asks what's gotten into him and tells him to stop. This snaps Sonic out of his murderous trance, and he lets Eggman go before jumping out of the mech suit, saying he has no clue what came over him. A frightened Eggman runs back to the Eggmobile and leaves, saying he has a newfound need to do his laundry because of the incident. Too much information, Egghead.
Later, Sonic meets back up with the rest of the team, still piloting the mech suit. When questioned why this is, Sonic, in another turn from his usual self, says it works better than any of Tails' inventions, offending the fox. As the day goes on, he continues to use the suit, shoving his way through a line at Meh Burger, flirting with bandicoot twins Perci and Staci as an annoyed Amy looks on, and abruptly ending a game of volleyball by stomping on the ball instead of tossing it back. Needless to say, something is definitely amiss with Sonic, so the rest of the team decides to return to the cave where his mech suit was found to see if there's anything that can tell them what's up. Amy tells the others not to feel bad if they don't find anything in the cave because they don't have her archaeology skills, but is annoyed when everyone else near-instantly finds something, most importantly Tails, who found the mech suit's schematics. The four return to Sonic and Tails explains the whole thing: the mech suit has a symbiont relationship with its pilot, which has been causing Sonic's change in behavior. But the mech suit's influence isn't letting the Blue Blur have it; he angrily states his disbelief that the four call themselves his friends because he thinks they want the suit for themselves and uses its flight capabilities to storm off and "find someone who appreciates [him]".
And it just so happens that that search leads Sonic directly to Eggman's lair. Knocking at the door (and then punching a hole through it when he doesn't get a response immediately), he offers a partnership with the evil scientist; after imagining how such a partnership would unfold, Eggman happily agrees. Soon, Eggman's in the Village Center, threatening Mayor Fink that if he doesn't get a ransom, he'll destroy the Unnamed Village. However, the Mayor isn't fazed by the threat, certain Sonic will be arriving any moment to stop him. Fortunately, he's right— no, wait, make that "unfortunately", because as soon as he arrives, Sonic agrees with Eggman's demands (while upstaging him in the process). He intimidates the Mayor with a purposefully near-miss laser blast, coldly adding that if the ransom isn't delivered within 24 hours, they will destroy everything. The good hedgehog turned bad tops it all off with an evil laugh before leaving, with Eggman at his heels.
Back at Eggman's lair, Eggman is impressed, both with Sonic's methods of intimidation and the power of his mech suit, but quickly excuses himself, Orbot, and Cubot. The three enter another room, but Sonic has his suspicions. In the other room, Eggman reveals he wants the mech suit and all of its power for himself. Bad idea, says Cubot, because Sonic followed them and heard the whole thing. Once again, Sonic is furious over learning that someone else wants his suit, and like last time, he refuses to give it up. Eggman attempts to convince him otherwise, but Sonic isn't fooled and moves to attack, effectively dissolving their short-lived partnership. Seeing no other choice if he wishes to continue being among the living, Eggman makes a break for it, using his lair's pneumatic tubes to escape to the roof and get in the Eggmobile, but Sonic tails him to Seaside Island with raging determination. The two enter the Unnamed Village, where a frightened Eggman attempts to shake the angry hedgehog with all his effort. However, Sonic blows up the Eggmobile in midair with a well-aimed laser blast, sending the doctor plummeting to the ground outside the Mayor's mansion. Singed and thoroughly humiliated, Eggman survives the attack (somehow) and simply lies there with a pained look on his face; he'll think twice before he messes with a mech suit-clad Sonic in the future.
Having settled his grievances with Eggman, Sonic turns to the nearby Mayor Fink and tells him he's gonna destroy the Village right here and now because he remembered the Mayor never repealed the chili dog tax; bad move, seeing as it's Sonic's favorite food. But before the destruction can commence, Sonic is confronted by his friends, who have just now decided his reign of terror must end before it begins. Knuckles doesn't want them to hurt their friend, but quickly changes his mind once he finds himself embedded in a building by a solid punch from the mech suit. The four attack Sonic one by one... and get their butts handed to them on a silver platter because none of their attacks can get through the mech suit's shield. As Knuckles distracts Sonic by continuing to attack without success, Tails, Amy, and Sticks discuss what to do next behind a bench. Tails brings up the mech suit's schematics again, saying that the mech suit's shield is impenetrable from all sides and that there's no chance they can touch Sonic while it's up. Sticks pretty much sees the writing on the wall and begins to leave for her doomsday bunker, but Tails brings up that power is diverted from the shields to power the lasers when a full blast is charged, lowering them. Amy adds that this is the time for the fox to get in and remove the symbiont chip powering the mech suit's symbiosis functions, thus bringing Sonic back to normal.
Sticks, despite being disappointed that she hasn't gotten a chance to use that bunker, attracts Sonic's attention as he finally gets Knuckles off him; the hedgehog is now completely done with his friends' interference and charges up for a full blast. With perfect timing, Amy flings Tails into the suit's now-exposed cockpit, Tails ignoring Sonic's insults to remove the symbiont chip. Sonic comes back to his senses completely dazed with no memory of anything that happened while the suit had him in its grasp; Tails tells him an abridged version of the whole story, then tosses the symbiont chip on the ground for Amy to destroy with her hammer. Sonic exits the mech suit, saying he prefers his own two feet anyway; he's still keeping the thing if he ever needs it later on, though. As they exit the scene, Amy asks if he remembers anything at all— specifically, Sonic flirting with Perci and Staci earlier, as she's still not over that. With a grin, Sonic says he definitely remembers that, but upon receiving Amy's angry gaze in response, he nervously backpedals and says it's because he dislikes the twins; Amy smiles in satisfaction.
Smooth, Sonic. That's good news for your odds of going the rest of the day without a hammer-related concussion. This day's been bad enough for you.
This episode contains examples of:
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Sonic gradually turns more destructive as the mech suit takes over his mind, leading to him almost killing Eggman upon its first use, swearing he'll destroy the entire Village if he and Eggman don't get paid a ransom, and attacking his friends when they confront him.
- Bring My Brown Pants: A scared Eggman, having come close to dying at the hands of a mech suit-influenced Sonic, quickly gets out of dodge, saying he needs to do his laundry now. It's not hard to imagine why.
- By "No", I Mean "Yes":Mech suit-controlled Sonic: You [Mayor Fink] have twenty-four hours, or else I...
Eggman: He means "we"...
Mech suit-controlled Sonic: ...destroy everything. - Face–Monster Turn: Because of the mech suit altering his way of thinking, Sonic decides to ditch his friends, believing they just want to take the suit, and join up with Eggman, the two threatening to destroy the Village should they not get a ransom from Mayor Fink. Even after the partnership dissolves because he learns Eggman wanted the suit for himself, Sonic still wishes to destroy the village. Fortunately, his friends remove and destroy the symbiont chip causing his change in behavior, reverting him to his normal self.
- Fighting Your Friend: When the mech suit-controlled Sonic begins to get really out of control and decides to wreck the village, his friends arrive, having no other choice but to fight their own leader to save the day and going on the attack... then failing miserably because of the mech suit's shield, forcing them to alter their plans.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Lampshaded in the Bring My Brown Pants example above, then played straight when Eggman excuses himself because he "left his excuse generator on."
- Mind-Control Eyes: Whenever he's under the mech suit's influence (which is a good chunk of the episode), Sonic's pupils and irises turn red and glow slightly, so you know it's bad news.
- Not Himself: Sonic's friends quickly realize something's wrong with the hedgehog when he comes close to offing Eggman— something he'd otherwise never do— after he dons the mech suit. Their suspicions are later heightened when Sonic begins to act and speak without inhibition and become more aggressive over time, eventually finding out it's because of the mech suit's symbiont chip causing it to slowly take over its pilot.
- Reboot Snark: When Sticks finds something in a cave, later revealed to be a mech suit created by the Ancients, Amy refuses to fall for it, saying it's the oldest trick in The Jungle Predator Book. Sonic then tells Amy "I've been meaning to read that book. How is it?", to which Amy tells him "Not as bad as the movie. Studios should stop recycling the same tired old properties and make something original for once!" Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all stare at her upon hearing this. This episode was broadcast in 2017, a year after Disney had released a live-action remake of The Jungle Book.
