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Eggman walked back and forth in front of a digital whiteboard, pen in hand. He was going through his new evil plan — something involving using evil robot vaccuum cleaners to brainwash the islanders — while Orbot, Cubot and Stone listened as they sat on chairs, with Stone being the only one taking notes.
"And after I send the mind control waves through gusts of wind, we'll get to the second phase of the plan," Eggman said, underlining the words world domination on the board, "Now, what's essential for world domination?"
Cubot raised his hand with excitement. "Packing a lunchbox!"
"Eh... Not exactly what I was thinking of," Eggman said, "any other ideas?"
Orbot heard Stone whisper under his breath. "Kissing your henchman."
The robots had been watching their boss and his new henchman dance around their feelings for almost a month now with no progress. They would catch Eggman sending loving gazes towards Stone whenever the other man wasn't looking, only to look away when the other man turned his attention back to him. Stone, on the other hand, was much better at hiding, but they had caught him kissing a picture of Eggman more than once.
It was a mystery why Stone was interested in their boss out of all people, but Orbot knew better than to get involved in their drama. If time and previous henchmen had taught them anything, was that an upset henchman could mean disassembled robots. So Orbot decided to pretend he didn't hear anything and give Eggman his own answer. "Lasers?" he said hesitantly.
"Let's think a little higher," Eggman told Orbot, and then turned to the other human, "Stone, did you say anything?"
Stone widened his eyes, moving on his chair. "Uhh... an evil robot army?"
"Exactly!" He said, and turned his back to them to scribble on his whiteboard, "it's common knowledge that evil robot armys are essential to world domination plans. Orbot, Cubot, you should know better at this point, maybe try to learn one thing or another from the new henchman we have here." He then paused and turned around. "You know what, I've got an idea!" He walked closer to the robots and stared them in their faces. "What if I put you under Stone's supervision? Then maybe you'll get to learn something from experience."
"What do you mean?" Cubot asked.
"What do you think it means?!" Eggman said, leaning away from them. "You will work under him and follow his orders as if he is your boss. It's not that hard to understand!"
"Sorry to point out, sir," Orbot said, hesitantly, "but Stone has been with us for less than a month."
"Yes, and I trust Stone with the job! He has proven himself to be a competent villain that day at the Meh Burger!" Eggman paused for a second and closed his eyes, smiling, as if he were reminiscing about something. He then snapped out of it and continued. "And I'm sure he is going to find an use for you. Of course, you are still going to be my robots, but think of him as your new supervisor. A miniboss, if you wish." He handwaved.
Orbot and Cubot exchanged a worried glance.
"Here it is" Stone said, with a smile on his face, "my baby, my greatest creation, my own coffee shop acquired through not-so-legal means!"
Stone stood in front of the Mean Bean, with Orbot and Cubot beside him. Since he got hired by the doctor, it became increasingly hard to focus on the shop — Eggman would call Stone at random times for all kinds of unpredictable tasks — so the new decision ended up coming in perfect time. He knew that the robots used to brew coffee for Eggman every morning before they got replaced by Stone — "probably the first time human labor replaced technology," Eggman said, back when he announced Stone would do it — it should be an easy task for them, all things considered.
"I remember now!" Cubot said, "this place used to be a clothes shop ran by that sweet old squirrel lady! I guess she didn't sell much... The people in this island don't wear many clothes."
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Mrs. Smiles since the shop closed," Orbot said, "I wondered what happened to her."
"She got sent on a nice trip to a far away island!" Stone said, pushing them inside the shop, "With no way back. Now let's work! You have a lot of things to learn today! I'm already opening the shop later than usual..."
They got inside and Stone walked to the counter as the robots followed him, looking around with curiosity. "Now, I don't expect you to turn into five star baristas overnight," Stone said, "but I'm gonna teach you enough to do this job decently. Orbot, I'm assigning you to take the costumer's orders. Do you have experience with customer service?"
"I've worked at a restaurant in the past," Orbot said, proudly, "and I'm also screamed at by the doctor everyday without fail. I can handle any kind of costumer."
"Perfect!" Stone said, and turned to the other robot. "Cubot, I'll leave you with the coffee. Can you operate a coffee machine?"
"Well, I am a machine," Cubot said, "so, I guess?"
"That should be enough," Stone said, nodding. "I'm gonna guide you through this first day to help you get the hang of it. I've already opened the shop, so the costumers should start showing up anytime now!"
As if they could hear the man, the doors opened as someone walked in. "Here comes the first one!" Stone said, smiling, "it's...," the smile vanished from his face, "...Knuckles."
The echdina has a smile on his face as he looked around. "Wow, I'm really in the mood for some coffee right now!"
Stone turned to Orbot. "Listen, take his order while I teach Cubot how to operate the coffee machine, okay?" Stone said, and then added, "try to not fry your circuits with that guy."
He left and Orbot wondered what Stone meant by that. Knuckles reached the counter right after.
"Can I take your order, Mr. Echidna?" Orbot asked.
"Do you have grapes?" Knuckles asked.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have grapes. And I'm pretty sure they aren't sold in coffee shops."
"What a bummer! What about a meh burger, then?"
"These are only sold at Meh Burger, sir, and this is not a Meh Burger. This is a Mean Bean."
"Oh," Knuckles exclaimed, looking around, "I thought they were all the same thing."
"Do you have something else in mind?" Orbot said, handing him the menu. "Maybe this could help you choose!"
"Let me see," Knuckles took the menu in his hands, "I'd like a... uh..."
While Knuckles took an ungodly amount of time to voice his order, Stone was losing his mind with Cubot.
"Now, press the green button," Stone said, and the robot pressed a button. "The green button! Not the red!" Stone shouted in exhasperation. "What about this is so hard to you?!"
"It's too much information!" Cubot said.
"I've taught you two buttons!! Two!!!" Stone ran a hand through his hair, looking around. This made him notice the line forming behind Knuckles. Stone grabbed Cubot and put him beside Orbot. "Nevermind, you serve the costumers! Orbot, you make the coffee!"
"But I'm in the middle of-" Orbot couldn't finish the sentence before Stone grabbed him and switched him with his brother.
"...One cappuccino!" Knuckles finally said.
"What?" Cubot said, caught by surprise.
The whole situation was a mess. Cubot was too slow to take the orders and, while Orbot seemed significantly smarter, Stone had no time to actually show him how to run the coffee machine or teach him about different types of coffee.
Stone took a sip of Orbot's coffee and almost gagged. "It tastes like dirty water, what did you put in this?!"
"I don't have tastebuds to know how a latte should taste like," Orbot said, "I only know how to make the doctor's morning coffee, so I generated a custom recipe based on the coffee I brew for him."
"Don't do that, do what I told you!"
"If you prefer, I can generate a new recipe using information on the eggnet."
"Just follow the instructions, okay?" Stone said.
"Understood, following instructions to generate a new latte recipe."
"No! I mean my instructions! Orbot, cancel all previous tasks and-" He looked to the side, seeing Cubot swarmed by costumers. "Nevermind, take the orders! Cubot is too slow and there is a rhino treatening to break a table if we don't bring him his frappucchino."
"I want my frappucchino!" The rhino screamed from afar.
He grabbed Orbot and put him in front of the line of costumers, Cubot was thrown next to the coffee machine. As if things couldn't get worse, Stone got a call on his wrist communicator. "STONE," Eggman screamed, "WHERE ARE ORBOT AND CUBOT?!"
"Sorry, sir, they are helping me with something-"
"THEN BRING THEM BACK RIGHT NOW! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" His voice lowered to a quieter tone, "I need them to vacuum the living room. The robot vacuum turned evil and there is dust everywhere."
"Understood, sir! They will be there in a few minutes."
"They better be!" Eggman hung up the call.
Stone turned around and saw that Orbot was paralized next to the counter, seemingly still cancelling all tasks, while Cubot had half an arm under a stream of piping hot water — that was starting to pool on the floor — not doing anything to stop it or save himself from it.
"No, no, no, NO!" He ran after the robots, grabbing them both. "The doctor will kill me if you get damaged!" He messed with Orbot's buttons to try to cancel its tasks himself.
"He won't, he damages us all the time," Cubot said.
Orbot shook his head and looked at Stone, snapping out of his paralysis. "Sorry, miniboss, but I'm afraid I wasn't programmed to do this. We were not coded to make anything but the doctor's morning coffee."
"My wires melt with the heat," Cubot added, putting his hand back under the boiling water.
"Alright, this is not going to work," Stone said, exhasperated, pulling Cubot away from the water.
"You aren't going to disassemble me, are you?" Cubot asked.
"No...?" Stone raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"
"Dave did it to me when the boss hired him as his assistant."
A passive agressive smile showed up on Stone's face. "Oh, he hired Dave?"
"Cubot, could you not overshare?" Orbot said, worried.
"No, I'm fine," Stone said, twitching, "I'm fine! It's fine that he had that... useless rodent from that fast food dumpster they call a restaurant as an assistant. I'm fine, you don't need to worry about it."
"We didn't say anything," Orbot pointed out.
"I'M FINE!" Stone snapped at them. He then composed himself and turned around. "Let's go. I need to find someone else for the shop, and the doctor needs both of you."
The robots exchanged another worried glance — now more worried about Stone's sanity than anything else — and followed him again.
Containing an evil vacuum cleaner was an easy task for Eggman. It was nothing but an expected side effect of using his evil plan's prototype to clean the house. At least he knew now that it would need a few more adjustments — for the cleaning function, the brainwashing function worked perfectly — before getting put for sale.
The hard part was actually cleaning the mess, and Eggman wouldn't touch that task with a ten foot pole. So he waited for his robots to show up and do their job, and Orbot and Cubot showed up exactly five minutes and twenty seconds after called, ready for work and with vague smell of coffee. Almost perfect. There was one thing missing, though:
"Where is Stone?" Eggman asked, a while after they started cleaning.
"He is looking for a new employee for his coffee shop, sir," Orbot said.
Eggman hummed in response, not bothering with an actual reply, and turned his attention to the computer screen in front of him. Stone did mention having issues balancing his work time before, and if finding someone else to work at the shop meant that his handsome henchman would have more time to spend with him, than so be it.
Knowing that his evil vacuum cleaning plan would have to sit on the backburner for a while — and that his new henchman was out of sight — Eggman decided to focus instead on his new passion project, the greatest thing he had ever planned:
‧₊˚ ⋅ A robot ‧₊˚ ⋅
Sure, almost all of his projects were robots, but this one was special! Well, more special than the previous special robots. It would be something never seen, with a power he had never dared to use before. And It was pratically ready, he only needed one important piece for it to work.
Eggman let out an evil laugh at the thought, marveling at his own genius. Cubot's voice chimed in from the back: "Is this your next plan, boss?"
"No, it's a future plan," he said, not bothering to look at the robot, "My most ambitious project! A robot powered by the strongest energy source in the world! A power not even those rodents dare use against me!"
"Nuclear energy, sir?" Orbot chimed in.
"No, the power of love!" Eggman said, showing them a screen with the diagram of a heart shaped robot. He pointed at a pink dot on the screen. "The robot's core is fed by the power of... well, rocket fuel, but the robot will be controlled by me and my boyfriend at the top, and you know nothing can defeat true love!"
"But, sir," Orbot said, "I believe your plan is missing a small detail... you don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
Eggman's smile faded. "Yes, I don't have one, thanks for reminding me, Orbot. But I'll get to it soon. I already have someone in mind, and this mustache has never failed me." He ran a hand over it. "First I'll conquer his heart, then the island and then the world!" Eggman let out an evil laugh, for flavor.
"The boss is in love!" Cubot exclaimed, and then started floating in circles around him, "He is in love!"
"Stop!" Eggman said, trying to move away from the robot, "I'm gonna trip on you!"
"His cold withered heart has been finally melted!" Orbot said, rotating along with Cubot.
"Who is the man in his heart? Who made our boss feel the touch of love?"
"The man is Stone! It's Stone, okay?! Stop running in circles!" He saw his face reflected on a dark screen. It was deep red from blushing. Eggman turned around to hide it, pretending to focus back on his project. "Don't tell him I said this! I want to conquer his heart without robots getting on the way."
Cubot stopped circling him. "But boss, Stone already likes you!"
Eggman scoffed, "Really? And what do robots like you understand about love?!"
"Well... he draws hearts in your coffee every morning..."
"That's just his latte art, he likes romantic stuff," Eggman said.
"And... and he is always talking to us about you!"
"It's natural when you work for the great Doctor Eggman. Who wouldn't talk about me?"
"And he carries a picture of you in a locket that he kisses when you aren't looking!"
"WHAT?!" Eggman couldn't see it, but he knew that his face had gotten redder.
"And he asked us if you were single the first time we met," Orbot added.
"REALLY?!"
They nodded in response.
A smile took over his face. This changed everything. This changed all of his plans. Stone liked him back. He liked him. He and Stone could date and live their evil romance together! And he could finally put his new project into action. If only he knew that earlier! He could have done it already!
He could have done it already.
Eggman smile changed into a frown. "And why didn't you tell me this before?!"
"You didn't ask...?" Orbot said, hesitantly.
"How can you keep such important information from me?! Do you want me do die alone?!" He turned off the screen. "You clean the living room! I'm going after my man!"
He marched towards the garage to get on his Eggmobile.
Stone was in a peculiar situation.
He was being held hostage by Sticks, if he could even call it that. She had him tied loosely to a palm tree and was trying to do an interrogation, threatening him with a long stick she likely found laying on the ground. There was a helmet on her head made from a coconut and a broken radio antenna. Stone had no idea what was the object's function.
It wasn't like it was easy for someone to corner him, but he had been so worried about his job that he didn't notice the badger's trap laying in front of his coffee shop, under a pile of leaves. Though it was a good thing that she caught him and not the new hire. It would have been a headache to explain.
"Now tell me," Sticks exclaimed, pointing the stick at him, "how do you plan on getting inside my mind to extract the information? Mind control? Satellites? I'll let you know I have protection against them!" She poked a finger on her helmet.
"For the last time, Sticks," Stone said, rolling his eyes, "I'm not a government agent anymore. I left that job to follow my dreams. And I don't want your information, whatever it is."
She narrowed her eyes. "Then why do you still call yourself Agent Stone?"
"It's part of the evil name! My boss is Doctor Eggman, I'm Agent Stone. You need a title to be taken seriously as a villain these days!" She crossed her eyes, seeming to ponder about what he said. Stone continued: "I'm the doctor's agent now. But if it gives you some peace of mind, government agents don't like me."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "They don't like that I left them to become a supervillain."
She widened her eyes and pointed at him. "They brainwashed you to work for them and got angry when you freed yourself from their evil brainwaves!"
"Not really, I-"
"No need to say anything, I understand it now." She freed him. "Sorry for taking your time." She got closer to him and whispered. "I'm going to reajust my bunker's systems. They protect me from the aliens the government keeps frozen in their base. You know what I'm talking about."
"I- Huh... Yeah, I know!" He lied. "The aliens they keep frozen! Happens all the time!"
She nodded. "I would love to talk to you more about them some other time, but my bunker waits for me!" She jumped to a nearby bush and disappeared between the leavage.
"What just happened?" Stone asked himself, cleaning him suit with his hands, "oh well, the day can't get weirder than this."
He turned around to leave and, as soon as he took his first step forward, something dove down from the sky and snatched him like a hawk. He barely had a second to react before recognizing it was the eggmobile.
"Doctor?!" Stone exclaimed, letting himself get thrown inside the vehicle. "What's going on?"
"Patience, Stone," Eggman said, not looking at Stone, as he drove the Eggmobile up, "You'll know when we get there."
Stone assumed this was another evil plan and adjusted himself inside of the vehicle, only to realize he was sitting on the doctor's lap. He looked at Eggman, who glanced at him with an embarrassed face.
Stone tried to explain himself. "Sorry doctor, there is nowhere else to-"
"I know!" Eggman interrupted him, looking away to focus on driving. His face was a shade of pink. "The eggmobile wasn't planned for more than one rider, just hang in there until we get to our destination."
Stone struggled to find a place to put his arms. One of his arms had been laying over the doctor's shoulders the whole time and he wasn't sure if that was appropriate. Putting them in front of his body would made his shoulder hit the doctor's chest, and every other position he could think of meant that he could end up elbowing the doctor on the process. He ended up leaving his arm as it was, on the doctor's shoulders.
It means nothing, Stone, He calmed himself down, It's just an arm.
For a split second, Stone wondered if he should wrap his other arm around the doctor's chest — for balance, he lied to himself — but shot down the thought as soon as it emerged.
However, Stone must have taken the right decision by not moving, because they got to their destination with no complaints from the doctor. The Eggmobile landed near a cliff by the sea, a bit isolated from the village and the fortress. Stone jumped off the vehicle and looked around, stretching his body. It was sunset. Stone took note of how nice the view from the sea was from there, but decided it would be wiser to focus the doctor's evil plan instead.
Evil plan that Stone still knew nothing about. There was nothing about this place in the evil vaccuum cleaner plan and there didn't seem to be any robot nearby, so maybe missiles? He knew the doctor had some hidden in the island. Seemed a bit extreme for a regular plan, though.
Eggman had not said anything since they landed, which was very uncharacteristic of him. He usually bragged about his newest idea whenever he got the chance, but this time he was just standing there, staring at the sea. Stone didn't know if he should be worried about his behavior, so he decided to approach him.
"Doctor...?" Stone said, hesitantly.
"Look at this sunset, Stone" Eggman with his gaze fixed on the horizon.
"It's beautiful, sir," Stone said, following his gaze. He wondered where the doctor was trying to get at. The atmosphere was strange, almost romantic.
Was he...?
"Someday the sun will belong to the Eggman empire." Eggman continued.
Ah.
This was about world domination.
"Of course, si-"
"And the ocean will belong to me as well. And this island, and the village, and those rocks over there... I'd like for everything to be mine." He looked straight at Stone. "Everything."
Stone felt himself blush under that gaze. "Of- Of course!"
"Stone, you are a valuable henchman and a... decent... person," Eggman hesitated over his choice of words, "I've been thinking about it lately, and I've decided to offer you a promotion."
"A promotion, sir?"
"Yes, a promotion to boyfriend!" He ran a hand on his mustache. "What do you think, Stone? Would you go on a date with the great doctor Eggman?"
It took Stone a few seconds to really understand what the doctor had just said. He stood there in shock, trying to gather the words to reply.
Eggman blushed, looking nervous at the lack of response. "Okay, maybe I was too straightforward... Let's try again! Uh, Stone, would you-"
"Yes!" Stone exclaimed, smiling, "yes, doctor! YES!"
"Really?!" The doctor looked like he was about to cry of happiness. He then noticed this and changed his expression to his usual villanous one. "I mean- Perfect! We are having our first date tomorrow! An evil date! Let's show these villagers the power of our love!"
"Magnificent, doctor!"
They shared an evil laugh under the sunset, and then a loving gaze.
"Wait, what about your job?" Eggman said, interrupting the moment, "I know you are busy with the shop, I'd hate to for it to close because of us."
"Don't worry about it, I've already found someone for it."
It was Tails' tornado maintenance day, and the fox was laying under the plane, surrounded by a bunch of tools while he did delicate work on the wheels. Sonic sat nearby, watching his little brother work and passing him the occasional tool that laid too far for the fox to reach.
"Everything okay over there, Tails?" Sonic asked.
"I'm okay!" Tails exclaimed, and then slid from under the machine to reveal a head of dishevelled fur half covered by goggles. "Uh, are you going outside anytime soon? Could you grab me an iced tea from the Mean Bean if you do? I'm a bit thirsty."
"I do want to stretch my legs," Sonic said, getting up and stretching a bit. His legs had been on the verge of falling asleep from sitting still for so long. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a second!" Sonic winked and left running.
It took a literal second for Sonic to get to the shop. It was mostly empty, so he headed straight to the counter. "I would like a..." His eyes widened in shock when he saw the person in front of him. "SHADOW?!"
"In the flesh... and quills," Shadow said.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Sonic's eyes hovered to Shadow's apron, which he didn't remember the other hedgehog ever wearing.
"What do you think? I'm working here, you idiot!" Shadow said in disdain, "and you are lucky I was advised to not pick fights during my shift. I would end you in the spot."
"Oh, really?" Sonic gave him a smug smile, "no fighting, then? Can I just do anything I-"
Shadow hit the counter with one hand. "Don't try me!" He glared in warning, "I'm working now, but one day I'm gonna defeat you in my own terms."
"Wow, Shadow the barista," Sonic said, surprised, "never thought I would see this. Is Stone paying you well or...?"
"I'm getting paid in a generous amount of delicious coffee beans," Shadow said, "now are you going to order something or just waste my time?"
"Uh, yeah..." Sonic decided it was better to not question his wage. "One medium sized iced tea, please."
After that shocking encounter, Sonic ran the way back to Tails' home. The last time he used his full speed to head back, Tails noted that he had spilled a bit of his drink. Sonic was sure the fox was wrong — he was a skilled runner and would never spill anything — however, he didn't want to upset Tails, so he decided to go slower this time.
He counted the usual stuff on the path to Tails' house to distract himself: Sonic passed by exactly twenty three palmtrees, five houses, motobugs exploding their surroundings, two more houses, a big rock-
Sonic stopped to a halt. Motobugs were not supposed to be part of the landscape, much less exploding the landscape. He backtracked to see Eggman and Stone commanding the army of bug shaped robots from the eggmobile. Sonic rolled his eyes and headed to Tails' house.
Tails was still working on the same position when Sonic came back. "Here." Sonic handed him the tea while tails got from under the plane.
"Thank you!" Tails smiled.
"I gotta go, The egghead and his henchboyfriend are attacking the island again."
Tails lifted his goggles, a worried look on his face. "Want me to join?"
"Nah, it's only some motobugs. I'll be finished in ten minutes max."
Tails smiled again. "Alright, say hi to Stone for me!"
Sonic paused. "You are friends now?"
"It's a sidekick thing," Tails clarified, "we started a club in the island. Here, look at my badge!" He showed him a badge with Sidekick Club written on it.
"That's... nice," Sonic said, feeling a tinge of jealously, "Uh... I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Good luck!" He heard Tails shout as he left.
Sonic arrived back to the clearing his enemies were exploding, noticing that the grass now had a heart shaped scorch mark with Eggman + Stone written inside it.
"Romantic," Sonic said, sarcastically, and looked up at the eggmobile. He noticed that Eggman had his right arm wrapped around Stone's hip while Stone sat on Eggman's lap, twirling the older man's mustache with one finger while looking at him with heart eyes.
"I see you got together!" Sonic said, "Congratulations, I guess."
"Thank you, but you are interrupting our date," Eggman said, "Could you please give us some privacy while we take over the island?"
Sonic frowned. "I should have suspected you were up to something when I saw Shadow working at the Mean Bean!" He then added, "Also, Stone, Tails said hi."
"Oh, say hi back to Tails for me!" Stone said.
Eggman looked at Stone in surprise. "You hired Shadow?!" He exclaimed.
Stone shrugged. "He seemed eager to accept the job so I hired him. No many people accept being paid in coffee beans. Anything wrong with him?"
"Not really — besides his attempts to kill me, but — It's just that it's very hard to convince my uncle to do anything willingly. He has some trust issues, and I guess the fame got to his head a bit..."
Stone nodded. "I didn't know you were related. Yeah, he seemed a little closed off, but-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's backtrack a bit," Sonic chimed in, "uncle?! Shadow The Hedgehog is your uncle?!"
"Yeah, Shadow is my uncle-cousin from my father's side," Eggman answered.
"How?!"
"Sonic!" Stone scolded him, "you can't just ask how two people are related!"
"It's fine, I get asked this all the time," Eggman said, handwaving, "My grandfather was a scientist and a bit of an eccentric man when he was alive. He did some freaky stuff with aliens back then and shadow was born from that."
"Don't go into details," Sonic said, regretting the question, "but why didn't you tell me you were related? I've known you for years!"
"Well, Shadow never liked being called uncle, so I don't do it. Last time I tried he kicked me on the ribs. It still hurts sometimes..." He said, rubbing the right side of his body while Stone looked with worry, "I guess it makes him feel old."
"Makes sense." Sonic nodded, "but never mind that! I came here to stop you!"
"You came here to ruin my date?!" Eggman said, making the motobugs turn at Sonic with the press of a button. "Are you homophobic, Sonic?!"
"What?! No!" He said, kicking a motobug to send it flying against a tree. "But do you need to destroy the island while you go on your date?! Doesn't sound very romantic to me."
"Sounds romantic to me!" Stone said.
"See, Sonic?! Stone thinks it's romantic!" Eggman said, smiling, "and now that I have the power of love by my side, nothing is going to stop me from taking over the world!"
Eggman pressed a button. More robots were summoned, and Sonic found himself surrounded by a swarm of bee bots that joined the motobugs. He looked around, feeling himself trapped. That was supposed to be an easy fight.
Eggman continued monologing. "First I'm taking over the island to build my Eggman Empire resort in it. Then, I'll take over the world and, as proof of my love, I'm gonna give Stone the second most important royal title when I become emperor!" He exclaimed, making Stone blush. And then added: "I'll be the first, of course, and there will only be two, but that's beside the point."
"You just started dating!" Sonic exclaimed while hitting two motobugs at once, "don't you think you are going too fast?!"
"Says the 'gotta go fast' guy." Eggman shot a laser from the eggmobile that Sonic dodged at the last second.
"I'm being serious!" Sonic said, crouched away from the lazer beam. "Remember when that guy you met online hacked your fortress? And when Dave betrayed you to take over the world? And- and when your robots striked?"
"Guy you met online?" Stone asked, narrowing his eyes at Eggman.
"I- I'll explain later, it's not what you think!" Eggman told Stone. He then turned his head to Sonic, face red as a tomato. "Sonic, what are you doing?! You are making things worse!"
"You gave Orbot and Cubot to Stone," Sonic said, "come on!"
"I did not give them to him! He is their supervisor!"
Stone raised an eyebrow at Sonic. "And how do you know about the robots?"
"Cubot," Sonic said.
"Of course..." Eggman said, sighing, "I should reprogram those robots."
"I'm just saying it wouldn't be the first time you get betrayed!" Sonic exclaimed.
Eggman frowned. "I wasn't betrayed, I don't get fooled like that! And why do you care so much? Are you, perhaps... Are you worried about me?"
Sonic widened his eyes. "What?! No! It's just that-"
"I understand now." Eggman interrupted him. "I showed up with a boyfriend all of a sudden, it must have been a shock to you. Listen, Sonic, I know I have Stone now, but nothing is going to change between us. I'm still your enemy! And maybe one day you'll start seeing Stone as your enemy too."
"It's okay, Sonic." Stone joined Eggman. "We are not going to force this on you. You can take your time."
"STOP MAKING THIS AWKWARD!" Sonic exclaimed so loudly his voice cracked. "I don't care about that! My only worry is that I always have to clean up the mess after you get betrayed!"
Eggman gazed down, looking sad for some reason. "Of course you don't care," He said. And then Stone put a hand over his shoulder and started consoling him, "It's okay, doctor, we just have to give him some time. He is a teenager."
As this absurd scene unfolded in front ot Sonic, Knuckles walked in, smiling and holding a cup of lemonade from the meh burger. "Hey Sonic, what's going on?" He said, oblivious to the scene in front of him. Instead, he noticed the drawing on the grass under his feet. "Uh? The grass is burned. Did you notice this? It's like an upside down M with a hat?" Sonic sighed and turned him around to face the shape in the right direction. "Oh, it's a heart!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Dude, it's so cool, they drew a heart!"
"What I mean is," Sonic continued, turning to the villains, "we don't even know this guy's motivation!" He pointed at Stone.
"You wanna know my motivation?" Stone said, frowning, "Sure. I'll explain it to you. An year ago, I was on a trip around the world. It was a way for me to find myself after leaving my government job. I knew I wanted to work with something involving evil, or maybe coffee, but I had no clear goal. That was until I visited Seaside island."
"That's here!" Knuckles exclaimed.
Stone looked like he took psychic damage from Knuckles comment, but continued the story. "I visited all the tourist spots. I went to the beach, I took a hike in the forest... I even took the guided tour of the doctor's fortress!"
"I didn't know it was a tourist spot," Knuckles said.
"It's big and impressive enough to attract tourists," Eggman said, shrugging, "and I can charge for pictures."
"Before I left the island I decided to visit the Meh burger to taste one of their famous meals. I was hungry and everybody I met recommended it, so I expected it to be a nice meal to finish my trip. But their costumer service was terrible." Stone trembled in anger as he talked. "And when I tasted the burger, I got hit by the most mediocre taste ever made on this planet! Then I tried to get rid of the taste with the drink, but it was so bland it offended my tastebuds! So I decided to make it my goal to DESTROY THE MEH BURGER!" Stone punched the eggmobile. "To make a bigger, better food shop to take over the island with my coffee! And specially destroy Dave, that horrible intern who took half an hour to prepare the mediocre order that ruined MY LIFE!"
Stone panted in anger while stared at the animals in front of them, who stood there in shock until Sonic broke the silence.
"THIS...?!" Sonic exclaimed, trying not to laugh. "THIS IS YOUR VILLAIN BACKSTORY?!"
"Stone," Eggman said, removing his hands from the control panel to hold both of Stone's hands. "I'm supportive of you destroying that place, but... haven't you thought of, you know, higher goals? You are such a great villain, I don't want to see you wasting potental on... this."
"I just want my coffee shop to grow bigger than their shop. Besides, I'm happy just helping you take over the world." Stone said, looking at Eggman with huge eyes.
Eggman blushed. "If- If that's the case..." He turned to look at Sonic. "LET'S DESTROY THAT HEDGEHOG AND THE MEH BURGER TOGETHER!" Eggman exclaimed.
"What?!" Sonic exclaimed.
"And Knuckles too!" Stone added.
"AND KNUCKLES TOO!" Eggman added.
"AND ME TOO!" Knuckles exclaimed, punching up in the air. He then stopped. "Wait, that's not good, is it?"
The ground trembled as something started rising from it. Sonic and knuckles barely had time to jump before rose from exactly where the grass had been burned in a heart shape. Soon, a heart shaped pink robot with legs and arms stood in front of them, with the eggmobile on top of it, working like it's head.
"Meet my newest invention, HEARTBOT!" Eggman exclaimed, opening his arms, "Powered by the power of love! And rocket fuel."
"This is not how the power of love works!" Sonic exclaimed.
Sonic didn't have time to protest. The middle of the robot started blinking a smaller, also heart shaped, hot pink light and suddenly launched a lazer from it, almost hitting the hedgehog. Sonic jumped to the side and positioned himself to strike back.
The battle was difficult. It turned out it was harder to dodge the attacks of two people at the same time, even when they were controlling the same robot.
"I'll help you!" Knuckles said, running towards Sonic.
"Allow me to deal with him," Stone said, moving a switch.
A fist moved towards Knuckles, grabbing him.
"Then I'll deal with the other one," Eggman said.
The robot's other fist extended, approaching Sonic with alarming speed. It was about to hit him when something hit it away with a loud bang. He looked at it, seeing Amy standing nearby with her hammer in hand.
"Amy!" Knuckles exclaimed with a smile, noticing her from the other fist.
"You are fighting a giant pink heart and you didn't call me?!" Amy exclaimed.
"We kinda didn't have the opportunity to call you," Sonic said, "Sorry."
"Well, don't worry about it," Amy said, twirling her hammer. "Now that I'm here, I'm gonna destroy that heart with the power of love!"
"No, I have the power of love," Eggman said, "I said it before you did, you can't claim it anymore. Choose something else, like the power of friendship, or kindness, or whatever!"
"That's not fair, I've always been the heart!" Amy said, and then noticed the man sitting on Eggman's lap. "Oh, hi Stone! Wait, are you together? Is this a date?"
"Hi, Amy!" Stone greeted her, "yes, we are on a date!"
"Our first date!" Eggman added, holding Stone's hands and gazing at him lovingly.
"I KNEW IT!" Amy jumped a little. "I knew you would get together! You are so cute!"
"They really do fit each other." Knuckles nodded from the fist.
"Hello!" Sonic waved, "Are we ignoring the giant lazer shooting robot standing right in front of us?"
"Oh, yes, the island domination plan," Eggman said, recomposing himself, "I almost forgot."
They rest of the fight was the stuff Eggman was used to see. Sonic ran around and tried to jump at the robot to hit it with his quills. Knuckes managed to free itself from the fist, breaking it, and went on to destroy motobugs on his way. Amy attacked the feet of the robot with her hammer, in an attempt to stop its movements, and managed to dent it. All of that was going to cost Eggman some money on robot maintenance, but it was a small issue compared to the victory he was sure was inevitable. Nothing could stop him now that he had the ultimate power.
"Give up!" Eggman exclaimed, "You can't win against the power of love!"
"No, Eggman, I have the power of love," Amy exclaimed, "and a GIANT HAMMER!"
She grabbed her hammer and ran towards the robot. Eggman grunted in frustration — it was his turn to have the power of love, not hers — and typed commands on the robot to send a few lasers in her direction. That was when he noticed Stone staring at him.
"What?" Eggman looked at him, confused.
Stone's huge eyes looked like marbles. "Doctor, you look magnificent under the light of the destruction."
"Y- Yeah, that's how I usually look," he said, running a hand on his mustache to feign confidence.
Stone's eyes got bigger, somehow. "Can I kiss you, sir?"
Something landed behind them with a loud jump, making the robot sway a bit. "Eggman!" Sonic interrupted them, "it's time to stop this! I'm gonna-"
"MOVE, HEDGEHOG!" Eggman pushed Sonic off the robot with one hand. "You are interrupting my moment!"
Eggman plunged at Stone to place a kiss on his lips. As soon as they touched, the world around him moved, as if the planet had been taken out of its orbit — or a hammer had just hit the robot's core very hard — and Eggman felt an explosion of feelings that made him feel like he was floating.
In reality, the robot had just exploded and sent them flying.
Robot parts and smoke flew everywhere. Eggman fell booty first on the ground, feeling his body slightly burned and his head still dizzy from the explosion. "So this is the power of love..." he said, falling back on the grass, "explosive!"
Sonic and his friends left one by one, talking between themselves about their victory. For this once, Eggman didn't care he got defeated. No, he didn't lose. He won.
He and Stone laid next to each other on the scorched grass with smiles on their faces.
Orbot and Cubot organized one of the offices inside the fortress, supervised by Stone, who seemed to be busy with his own workload in the same room.
"Orbot! Cubot!" Stone called them, partially surrounded by darkness, with a terrifiying smile on his face that made the robots shake.
"Yes...?" Orbot asked, hesitantly.
Stone's face brightened. "Could you help me sort these documents?" He showed them a pile of paper. "I need them arranged by date."
They walked towards Stone to follow his orders, grabbing some papers from the pile. That should be an easy task for their inner scanners.
"Orbot," Cubot whispered to Orbot, as he looked through the files, "Orbot!"
"Yes, Cubot?" he whispered back.
"Look at this," he whispered, showing him a tablet. There was a paused video on the screen. "It's Mrs. Smiles the Squirrel. She has a vlog."
Cubot started the video. The old lady was on a boat, holding a lemonade on one hand and wearing sunglasses. "Welcome to day 30 of my trip to a far away island with no way back! Today we are stopping by Green Hill Zone to explore the famous loops that make up its landscape. And if you like the thrill of loops, you are going to like coffee! If you use the code MrsSmilesTrip at the Mean Bean Coffee Café website this month, you can get up to 50% off on..."
Orbot stopped paying attention as she trailed off on her advertisement. "Huh, I guess she is really on a trip," he said, surprised.
"Isn't Stone nice?" Cubot said, and then got closer to Orbot. "I don't think he is going to disassemble us."
"Yeah, he is not bad. I guess he just has a peculiar taste in men."
"I can hear you whisper, you know?" Stone said, startling the robots, "You are right behind me."
"Sorry, miniboss!" They both exclaimed in unison.
"And I saw you hide that broken stapler inside the drawer. Don't do that."
They lowered their heads. "Sorry, miniboss."
Stone placed another pile of paper on the table and smiled. "And you get double the paperwork for that comment about my taste in men!"
A flock of birds outside the fortress was sent flying as the robots screamed.
"His birds!" Stone exclaimed.