Eggman jolted up with a start, sweating and panting out of mental and emotional exhaustion. He was shivering too, but the doctor wasn't thinking about the state he was in. He had other things on his mind, more important things. "That dream, no, that experience…What's wrong with me? How could I act so stupidly…" Every moment he spent repeated itself over and over in his head refusing to come out. As much as he hated the idea of this experience sticking in his head until he dies, he knew that it would be best that way. He yanked the blanket off himself and moved to put his feet on the floor. That's when he noticed that something wet was on his forehead. He reached up and pealed a wet thing off his forehead. His whole face softened as he stares at the wet washcloth sitting in the palm of his hand, immediately knowing who put it there. He smiled at the washcloth and set it down beside him before looking down at his bare feet. He wiggled them, chuckling lightheartedly at his childlike action. He looked to the right of him, to the door from his private quarters. He wondered if he should leave the room to walk around, but he quickly decided against it. "They would burst a circuit if they came in and found me gone…" he never thought about the feelings of his robots, those three especially, or at least not normally. He sighed; having a change of heart is so hard. He knew that having a change of heart meant that a lot of things would need to change but, "How do I start?" he looked towards his drawer, and that's when he noticed the card. It was very colorful, and his signature logo was drawn fairly well and the lettering was quite professional, though, he couldn't say much about the coloring. He opened the card and immediately tears burned his eyes.
Doctor Eggman, we hope you get well really soon. We miss you around, so please don't die.
With high hopes of your recovery,
Bocoe, Decoe, and Bokkun
Eggman was working so hard not to cry, he has never been so touched in his whole entire life, or if had it had been a long time ago. Those three have been the most real to him out of all of his robots and now he can't deny that he DOES have feelings for them. "Probably the reason why I keep them around." He mumbled. Regret immediately filled his heart. What if he actually dies next time, what would happen to them? "They would most likely have nowhere to go, unless someone takes them in, but who would take in three of MY robots, no one with since." he mused. "At least when I die I'll go somewhere, but, they won't be able to. They will just run on, living on any energy they can find, until there is no power… and they rust, and permanently shut down." It was the law of life and nothing he could do could change that… It's highly depressing. "DOCTOR YOUR ALIVE!" he smiled slightly "Speaking of the three…" he thought gently as he turned to face the three robots. "Hello you three." The genius greeted softly. The three beamed up at their creator in pure happiness. Bokkun's yellow robotic eyes were watering in pure relief; the wait for the doctor to wake up was a long, painful one, one that none of the three would never want to repeat ever again. It was a miracle that they survive it the hardship of it. "Eggman," Bokkun whispered faintly, the egg-shaped man barely heard it, but he did, and he faintly smiled "We thought you were dying. I-we were so scared, of what would of happened if you never woke up…WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE US!" The young robot screamed. And, to Eggman's surprise and to Decoe and Bocoe's horror; he immediately burst into harsh sobs and slammed into the man's chest, crying into the man's pajama shirt. The two were going to apologize to their master, but before they could, Eggman did the most unreal thing the two (or anyone for that matter) has ever seen. He gently embraced the robot, rubbing his back in a gentle circular motion until his wails were calmed into gentle sobs. "Why would you leave us when you know that we can't live without you?" Bokkun whispered hoarsely. Then the craziest thing happened "I'm sorry, you three." The whole room was silent out of pure shock and the young robot jerked his head up his face completely dumbstruck. "What did you say?" He was just realizing where was and was looking down worriedly. The man smirked "You heard me." Eggman changed his position so he could secure the small robot in his hold on his lap. "Decoe, how long was I unconscious?" the gold robot gave a highly sad look "A week, sir .With a terribly high fever." Eggman nodded a smile gently "Thank you." He said, earning a shocked look from the gold robot. "Bocoe," Eggman stated with a serious face, causing the robot to look worried "were you responsible for the artwork and penmanship of my card?" The silver robot nodded meekly, nervousness obvious in his face. "He did a nice job with card." Decoe stated shyly. "No he did a super job! It was so good; I was honored to color it." Bokkun stated. The man gave the silver robot a sort of proud look, a look no robot has ever seen. "I agree, you have quite a talent Bocoe. I'm very impressed." No one had ever seen a robot look so happy and so shocked before. "Th-Thank you, doctor." Was all he could say. No one knew when or why the robots were sitting on either side of the doctor on his bed, but Eggman welcomed this with a smile that said it was fine to do so. For a while, the four just sat in silence, not really wanting to say anything. But Eggman knew he needed to say something. "I've done some thinking," the three robots looked at him curiously, but not very surprised, the doctor always finds a way to think "Really?" Decoe and Bocoe said together "About what?" Bokkun asked. The man closed his eyes, sighed, and smiled. "I decided… that I'm going to quit the bad guy business. It's just not worth the hassle." The three could only stare at their creator. It wasn't a secret to any of the three that they too lost the interest in helping their master in world domination. But, they were robots, Eggman's robot's at that, their whole purpose of even being created was to serve their master in any way they can, help him take over the world, and defeat Sonic, whichever came first. So if he stopped being a bad guy, then most of their purpose has gone away. "Umm, doctor? What's gonna happen then, now that you're a retired villain?" Bocoe asked. Eggman shrugged "Have a house somewhere .Maybe in Green Hill zone in the woods somewhere it's surely peaceful enough. And it most likely will stay that way, especially with me out of the way…" The robots just nodded. "Doctor, what about your, robots?" Decoe asked worriedly. Eggman scoffed "What about them? Most of them were destroyed by Sonic, the rest are just as useless as the plans I used to attempt to concur the world with." The doctor was about to continue on with his complaining, but then he saw the three's sad, kicked puppy dog faces and decided not to. Then he smiled "Of course, there are a few exceptions…" the robots gave him a hopeful look "And I'm taking them with me." They were silent but it was obvious that they knew what pacific robots Eggman was talking about. The man gave the three a gentle smirk and a raised eyebrow "And those exceptions need to start packing, we need to leave before Sonic gets suspicious." That got the three going. With a quick goodbye, the three left in a rush to their own quarters. The doctor just chuckled as the three robots left the room. He let out a sad sigh. They won't be alone now, for the time being at least. "They're so full of life; you could mistake them as children." He thought to himself. He felt a tear threaten to fall "To bad they can't be HIS children…" he mumbled to himself. They would of loved heaven. It was the most beautiful, most lovely place he had and will ever see. It was a shame he couldn't have spent more time there instead of that…other place. But of course he was only there to get emotional healed from his other experience. His mind quickly wandered to his three robots, on accident of course. And because of his wandering mind, an idea sparked in his head. The idea was crazy, his favorite type of idea. It wasn't a bad idea, if it worked; he wouldn't have to worry about the three not going anywhere if they 'die'. But then a thought popped up in his head and worry shone in his eyes. "But, what would happen if I failed?" Now, usually when he had that question he would usually say 'you're a scientist, an inventor, not every experiment will work,' but he never had any idea that decided the fate of any one he cared about before. The thought is honestly frightening to say the least. "No, I can't do it. So much is on the line whether I fail or not…" the man stubbornly mumbled to himself. He sighed and stood up. That all in itself took some work, since he hadn't been moving for a week. But Eggman has a strong spirit it didn't take too much work. Soon he was walking around, and gathering his belongings and packing them up, except the few items he needs for present times, like his comforter and toothbrush. He quickly felt exhaustion drown him and went back to bed, hoping for a peaceful sleep, thinking of the crazy idea that still haunted him.