HipsterSonic Presents:
Hanging in the Balance
Prologue: Stalemate
"You're one hundred percent sure that there is no door anywhere?" Robotnik sighed, mentally exhausted from fighting with himself. His small, beady eyes were sore from staring at the white world around him, and his brain hurt from trying to think of ways to avoid becoming the person seated in front of him.
"For the last time, yes, I am certain there are no doors around here," Eggman shook his head disdainfully. It was hard to believe he had been such a fool not that long ago…surely he had been smarter than this!
"If I were you…which I am, I wouldn't patronize me," Robotnik warned. "Any moment you could blip out of existence assuming I ever find a way out of this limbo and change the future."
Eggman bit his lip. So maybe he wasn't that stupid after all.
"I wouldn't get too cocky, Robotnik," he growled at himself. "I'm the future you, and I can read all your thoughts." The younger him widened his eyes behind his blue glasses.
"But…how? That's impossible!"
"I simply have to remember," Eggman smirked, "I was once you, after all." His devious grin suddenly faded. "Hey! I am not that fat."
His younger counterpart chuckled and turned away. "You know… I think I will become a teacher once I get out of this place," he said after a while. "I do enjoy telling people what to do…"
"Ah, but you would change the whole future with that decision," Eggman warned himself with a disapproving glace. "Fighting Sonic is your destiny, our destiny. You should just embrace it."
"I might change your future, but what if your future wasn't meant to be? Maybe it was your future's destiny for it to be replaced by the real destiny, mine." Robotnik looked at his shoes. "And besides…what if I don't want fighting Sonic to be my destiny anymore," he murmured. "We never win anyway."
Eggman slowly bowed his head, having recalled the new memories that were forming each minute. "I see your logic; you make an impeccable argument."
"So then you approve of our new and inevitable future?" Robotnik saw Eggman close his eyes. The older villain looked defeated.
"You should most definitely pursue what we have always aspired to be…but what will become of myself? Will I die?"
There was silence for a short and long time before Robotnik spoke.
"There is no saying as to what will happen to you…although I'm astounded that this whole ordeal hasn't disrupted the space-time continuum."
"Then I will remain here assuming that you ever find a way out," Eggman stated. "I can follow the alternate future through my memories; they will surely keep me entertained. Come now, we have to find your way home."
The two continued their search, but they no longer fought. After what could have been seconds, days, months, or years, Robotnik sat down with a thump.
"It's no use," he sighed, resigned. "We're trapped here for all eternity."
Eggman sat down next to himself and closed his eyes.
"Do you remember that day…that day in spring when our allergies weren't so bad?" He murmured.
The doctor watched his own eyes slowly light up. "And we felt so free…like we could do anything!"
"It was after that big storm, wasn't it? When all the pollen had been blown away."
"And mother couldn't stop smiling because I was so happy."
"I would never forget that day," they said together as they looked at each other. Suddenly something turned within both of them as they remembered the feeling of freedom. What a beautiful feeling that was!
Their stomachs suddenly froze as they turned over a disturbing thought in their minds. Eggman's face became deathly pale as he turned to face his counterpart.
"I loved that feeling so much…" Robotnik whispered.
"How could I ever have been so stupid-" Eggman continued in a hushed voice.
"-to try to take that away from everyone else!" they finished. There was a presumably long silence after that.
"All those years we thought that that hedgehog was a fool for stopping us."
"He will always be a fool, just maybe not for that reason," corrected Eggman.
"It must be lovely to feel a breeze against your skin all the time. He must feel as free as the wind the way he runs." Robotnik turned to face his future self. "I will do everything in my power to right my past…and future wrongs if I ever get out of here. I will no longer try to take over the world." He grinned smugly. "I'll just take over the next generation's minds instead!"
As the younger genius was plotting his future, he caught sight of Eggman's eyes widen. He began to look around the white space as though he had lost something while giggling to himself.
"Do you feel that…there's a breeze blowing!" he called. "Help me find the source, it could be the way-" The doctor was cut off mid-sentence. Robotnik quickly whipped around, wondering what was wrong. He rushed to his future self's side.
There was a sky-blue diamond in the ground about the size of a rug. It had a few clouds in it. A small breeze and the sound of the wind rustling in the trees was a sight for sore eyes and skin. Sunlight filtered in through the dimensional hole.
Eggman nodded solemnly toward his younger self. "Go. I'm afraid I will not be able to assist you."
Robotnik knit his thick eyebrows together. "If you say so, Eggman. It has been…interesting meeting you." He paused. "But…I don't know where this portal will take me. Only goodness knows where I might end up!"
Eggman frowned. "It appears that that is the only way out, unless you want to keep searching for another way that might not exist. Besides, we don't know how long this portal will stay open for."
Robotnik sighed and glanced at his future self. "I will do my best to pursue our dreams. Who could have guessed that my childhood aspirations were the ones I wanted all this time?"
"One more thing," Eggman continued quietly. "Please make sure you don't adopt the name Eggman in the future…it is most degrading."
His younger self smirked, "yes, I was wondering about that."
With one last salute to Eggman, the young scientist hopped through the portal and disappeared.
"Hello? Mobius University? Yes… this is Ivo Robotnik. No, I'm not here to try to get a grant this time. I was just wondering if you had any positions open in the math or science departments."
The doctor paused, waiting expectantly for an answer.
"You do? That's fantastic!"
