Sonic the Hedgehog's current animated series, Sonic Boom, ventured into bizarre territory for about three seconds during an episode that aired in the U.S. this week. A brief live-action moment in the otherwise computer-animated cartoon is either a just a pretty good gag... or a shocking reveal about the strange nature of the Cartoon Network show.

Here's the setup: In the Sonic Boom episode "Just A Guy," Sonic makes a dismissive comment about Mike the Ox, calling him "just a guy" in a conversation with Knuckles and implying that the ox isn't worthy of being included in the core team in a battle against Dr. Eggman. Sonic ultimately apologizes to Mike, and pledges to include him in a future battle. Mike quickly begins to annoy Sonic, leading the neckerchiefed hedgehog to find solace in his "happy place." And then to find a happy place within that happy place.

What follows is a multi-layered, Inception-like reveal that shows what's really going on with Sonic Boom and the reality in which it takes place.