Loose Ends

A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfic

Part I: Morals and Morality

"Sonic?"

"Urrff." Sonic wound his body into a tighter ball and snuggled deeper under the covers. He didn't want to be awake. Two days after the tumultuous events of his illness and recovery, he still felt under the weather, even though he was eating six times a day! Well, it wasn't as if he was really eating a full meal, but still. That was definitely a lot of food.

"Sonic? Are you awake?"

Sonic's eyes shot open in the darkness, only to stare into the round bug eye of a small floating robot. "I'm dreaming, right?" As he yawned, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. The emerald orbs glowed brightly when he opened them again. The camera had adjusted position slightly, making a soft whooshing noise.

"If this were a dream, you wouldn't be tired, rodent." The evil doctor chuckled. Sonic tugged at his socks, unwillingly leaving the comfort of his covers to sit up on his bed, shivering with the chill of the early hours of the morning.

"Ah, so it is you? You haven't used one of those Spy Eyes in ages!"

"Beginning to wake up, I see? No, no, I haven't had use for them."

"It's a little creepy how you knew where my bedroom was, but…" Sonic stretched and fished around for his sneakers at the foot of his bed. He slipped his feet into them—not in a hurry, mind you—and walked to the bathroom. The doctor's machine hesitated at the entrance, but when Sonic reached for the toothbrush sitting comfortably in a cup nearby the sink, he felt safe enough to pursue. Sonic ran the toothbrush under the tap water as he spoke. "…it looks like you wanna talk. Go ahead."

"Actually, I came to invite to my base."

Sonic tapped his foot noisily as he scrubbed his teeth with the brush. He spat in the sink and ran the brush under the water again. "I'm not coming in chains, if that's what you mean. I know you set me free way back when1, but still. We're enemies, Robuttnik. And I mean that." He sounded as if he really did mean it, too. Even if, right after he said it, he was gargling with water from a paper cup. He spat the water into the sink and turned to look pointedly at the thing. Water was dripping down his lip. "I don't care if you haven't attacked in as many days. We're not friends, and I can't say I trust you. I'm not the best liar." He wiped his mouth with a nearby towel while Eggman spoke.

"You underestimate me, hedgehog."

"Please. I've been fighting you since I was little."

"I'll erase the data I've collected about where to find your bedroom." Eggman answered quite seriously. "I'm not playing with you, rodent. This is strictly on the up and up."

"Hmmm." Sonic took a long drink from another paper cup, crumpled it, and discarded it into the trash before pulling himself up onto the edge of the sink. "Okay, Eggman. I'll play along. But, if it gets rough, I'll trash anything I can aim at. Got it?" His green eyes glared, so fierce that even Eggman trembled!

"Y-yes, of course." The doctor shivered.

"Okay!" Sonic stretched out once again, this time to release all tension from his muscles and work out any kinks he may have had from sleep. "Lead the way, metal breath!"

Eggman's Latest Base

Approximately 2:45 AM

"Can I take your coat, sir?" A maid bot asked at the door as she admitted Sonic and the outdated Spy Eye.

"No thanks. I'll wear it." Sonic responded. He wasn't wearing any coat, naturally, but the one he couldn't take off.

"Very well. Right this way, please." The maid bot, with its primitive single wheel (not at all meant or prepared for battle, Sonic thought), scuttled on down one of the many brooding, dark hallways made of gray steel. The tunnels held a nasty draft, and once or twice, Sonic sneezed. His teeth were chattering in his head, and the fact that it was about twenty degrees cooler in the morning helped him even less.

"How do you stand this?" Sonic demanded of the flying spy-bot, but the outdated models said nothing. Perhaps Eggman had turned off the communicator. Maybe this had allowed the thing to go faster. He could jog at a fairly accurate pace behind it, though running slow made him more exhausted than running fast, at times.

Finally, the maid-bot made a sharp turn and entered into a room emitting heated air. Sonic delighted at both this, and the soothing smells of long burned out incense candles. He didn't know Eggman had ever had any interest whatsoever in scented candles. Not even Amy, who, a romantic at heart, had dragged him to more than one candlelight dinner (a few times by choice, and the rest by force), had ever used scented candles!

The doctor himself was sitting on a black velvet lounge chair, facing the doorway. The room was more spacious than it looked, but Sonic still felt claustrophobic. Maybe it was the lack of lighting? The room was pretty dark.

"Can we get some lights?" Sonic wondered lightly. He was still shivering violently, though the room was warm. His vibrating vision was making him dizzy.

"Certainly," Eggman raised a gloved hand (he was wearing a black fur coat, which made him look foreign), and the lights flicked on. They tinted the room orange-ish, because they weren't blinding like bathroom or stage lights. Somehow, the fact they weren't blinding made Sonic more secure. As full lighting became available (and Sonic let out a sigh of relief to find that he was not in an enclosed space—the room itself had numerous exits and was mainly empty--), Sonic saw a red cushion chair, perhaps meant for him. Sonic didn't wait to be invited to sit, and noted there was a table between him and Eggman as he settled into the chair.

"Thanks." He added swiftly, thinking to show at least a bit of gratitude. Eggman was being oddly hospitable. "Last time I was here, I was in a soft cage. Now a soft chair? You going soft, Eggman?" He chuckled at his own joke, but Eggman seemed strangely far off, as his head was turned towards one of the many exits, his eyes trained on the many doors.

"Are you hungry, Sonic?" The doctor turned back toward him presently, ignoring Sonic if he had heard him.

"Wha--? Hungry? No way! Uhhh…" Sonic scratched between his magnificent quills. "Just a bit dizzy, thanks, I'm not really--"

"It won't be poisoned, you know." Eggman added. "To use your term, I've gone 'soft' for now."

"For now, huh?" Sonic chewed this over, wondering how long 'for now' would last, in Eggman terms. All the while, the mention of a possibly meal was making his mouth begin to water. Suddenly, he was pretty hungry. "Yeah, I guess I could go for something. What's on the menu?"

"Crickets!" Eggman responded brightly, before bursting into manical laughter at Sonic's horrified expression. "I'm only kidding." He said almost tenderly, snapping his fingers.

Another robot of unidentifiable make (Sonic thought it resembled a chicken) swooped in with a plate of chili dogs (roughly nine or ten, piled on the plate almost playfully) and a tall glass of root beer with lots of ice—the way he liked it. Another robot, lower to the ground and green in color (an advanced Burrowbot?) clumsily presented its master with a medium rare steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, and a cup of coffee. The mug had that signature 'Eggman' logo on the protruding side.

So, this is how Eggman got to be so fat! He had 24-hour room service!

Smelling the steak in combination with his favorite food caused Sonic's stomach to rumble a bit like the muted sound of two die rolling against skin. He was really hungry now…and he hoped this was not so obvious to the doctor, who was now munching on a touch bit if steak.

Sonic eyed the two robots suspiciously as they retreated into darkness. The upright chicken nastily kicked the other one, making the tank-like thing clank along the floor. The hedgehog scrunched up his face as he removed his gloves and set them by his tail, his one hand hovering over the top chili dog.

"Hey, weren't those…?"

"Scratch and Grounder?2" Eggman chuckled. "Yes, they are."

"Didn't they use to talk? Besides, I thought you gave up all that 'es es es es es es es es es es es es squad3' nonsense years ago."

Eggman shrugged. "I still needed servants, rodent. Taking out their voice boxes was the best thing I ever did!" He chuckled dryly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Uh huh." Sonic cautiously licked the end of the chili dog and then bit into it rapidly, chewing with gusto. They were still warm—which was important—and oddly delicious. No wonder that stupid squad could always lure him near their trap in days of old! Robotnik had an amazing recipe for chili dogs! "Soooooo…why'd you want me to come here, Eggman? I have food at home, y'know."

Eggman sighed. "I simply wanted to let you know that the small favor I did for you means nothing. I could decide to destroy the world tomorrow, and defeat you with my latest, strongest robot. I would feel no sympathy." He smiled in the way only a madman can smile. Sonic was unnerved, and he swallowed noisily.

"But…you changed! If only for a minute." Sonic responded, if not bitterly then with attitude of shock. "There is another side of you! I knew it!" He whooped in triumph and leapt forward, pointing at Doctor Eggman. "You do care!"

"Well, of course I care! Why else would I want to change you into a robot if I didn't care!" Eggman snapped. Sonic sank back into the chair, beginning to think that the chilidogs at the bottom were poisoned after all. After seeing him shaken, Eggman relaxed.

"I…I didn't want you to expire, I guess." The doctor admitted sheepishly after some minutes passed. "I…I would have never wanted that, I mean…you are my greatest foe, and I…ugh." He let loose a long, deep sigh. "I…I just never wanted to…"

"Stop." Sonic licked his fingers, and then pulled his gloves comfortably back on his hands. "I understand." He cautiously took a sip of root beer, wondering if he might explode if he did so. He didn't. "You've done me a few favors before, and I've pulled you out of the frying pan, too. You're just paying me back, I know. It doesn't change anything. It never does." He glanced up at Eggman, smiling haughtily but sentimentally. "You're learning a bit too much from me." He said, rising. "Sayonara, Eggman." He nodded, winking, before disappearing in a cloud of blue wind.

Eggman shielded himself from the blast and then rose. "Scratch! Grounder!" He ordered. The chicken and the glorified Burrowbot appeared before him. "Clean up this mess." He told them sternly before exiting the room and walking down the hall to his own bedroom.

He removed his cloak, revealing his green striped pajamas. Sighing, he climbed beneath the silvery gray sheets and pulled the storm cloud colored comforter around his form. He found some comfort in knowing Sonic would soon be doing the same.

He was about to drift off to sleep when another thought came to him. "Computer?"

The room around him beeped to acknowledge the command.

"Erase all data under 'Locations of Sonic the Hedgehog'."

"Yes, doctor." The computer droned, and then buzzed out.

Eggman fell asleep imagining he heard the faint whooshing of Sonic the Hedgehog outside his bedroom window.

Ah, so the sequel begins! Do you like it? Will you read it? Loyal fans of the series, do you have faith in the sequel?! Please review! Thanks!

1 When Eggman had captured him in You're Makin' Me.

2 The two annoying robots in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

3 The Super Secret Sonic Search and Smash Squad!