Eggman groaned as he woke up to a rhythmic beep, beep, beep… Everything hurt, from top to bottom. A nurse, who was standing over him making notes, suddenly realised that her patient was awake.

"Hello Mr. Robotnik, how are you feeling?"

That's Doctor Robotnik to you, Miss, Eggman wanted to say. However, it came out like this;

"Mfff ugh aghh is."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sir. I'll get you a glass of water." She walked out of the room momentarily, then came back with a glass of water. Eggman greedily gulped it down. As he did, he became more aware of a dull pain in his limbs, and of tight fabric enclosing it. He looked at himself, and saw many bandages wrapped around his limbs and torso. He raised a hand to his head and felt a bandage there, and plasters on his face.

"You've had a very rough time with your nemesis, Robotnik," the nurse commented, as she watched her patient take his injuries in.

"That rat," Eggman spat out.

"Well, you were destroying the city. And attempting to get everyone to worship you. By the way, I hope you're happy to hear that over a hundred people have lost their lives thanks to you, and countless more were injured." The nurse's tone took a darker tone, as she resisted slapping the already injured man.

"I… didn't anticipate casualties… but it was simply… collateral damage."

"Collateral damage? Is that what a hundred lives mean to you?" Eggman was silent for a minute, trying to think of an appropriate response to satisfy the nurse.

"We're not here to discuss the moral complications of my deviousness." The nurse gave an indignant huff.

"Right. So how do you feel then, Robotnik? Or would you rather be called Eggman? Or even Emperor?" She was mocking him, he knew.

"I feel like there's a dull fire throughout my whole body."

"Do you want to hear about how much damage Sonic and his boyfriend did to you?" Eggman's eyes widened.

"Boyfriend?!"

"Oh come on, even you commented on that exchange between those two."

"I did… but… I mean… it's not natural."

"Sheesh, you really are old news. Gay rights is a thing, you know." Eggman didn't answer. Well, he didn't want to answer.

I mean… Sonic… and Shadow? How? When…?

"Anyway, you've suffered several lacerations - we've had to pull lots of spines out of you – a deeper wound in your stomach as you landed on a glass shard – you're lucky you didn't bleed out – and the glass shard managed to rupture your spleen and liver, so we're now waiting for donors on that. You also have a concussion," the nurse explained, taking great pleasure in explaining his injuries.

"So basically… I could die."

"Yep. I'll check on you later, I have other patients to attend to." The nurse took her leave.

"I could… die." Eggman laid back onto his back, and he stared up at the white ceiling, observing the peeling paint. And what had he achieved? In the 20-odd years of battling Sonic, he still hadn't killed him. All of his inventions had failed him, and if he tried to get the help of something more organic, it turned against him. Sonic didn't seem to try anymore.

Is this now… my death bed?

His greatest failure was his latest machine. Sure, he did a lot of damage, but in turn he had received a lot of damage. Unfortunately, buildings could be replaced, unlike human lives.

Maybe I am getting old.

Eggman twisted his head so he could see out the window. He saw it was sunny outside, and in the distance he could just see that clean-up had already started.

Life goes on like I wasn't ever there. What would happen if I… died? Nobody would care. Sonic and his friends would probably settle down… even though I don't know how Sonic could settle down, since he's on the go all the time…

Is this… depression?

His last thought surprised even himself. For so many years, he had the thrill of creating robots, battling Sonic, taking chaos emeralds… having adventures. In a way, he was happy. But now, the reality of his actions hit him.

No one would care.

A rush of wind startled the scientist out of his thoughts. He sat up again to see the source of the wind – none other than Sonic the hedgehog.

"Hey, eggy. Glad to see you're awake."

"What do you want, you rat? Have you come to gloat?"

"Hey, you should be thanking me. I was the one who got a medic to help ya." Eggman stared at his enemy with disbelief. "Anyway, I just came to see how you're doing."

"Haven't you heard? I'm virtually on my deathbed."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about the spleen. And the liver. But it's not the end of the world! You're still alive… for now. But in the long run, you'll probably find a way. You always do." To emphasis the inner incredulity that the hedgehog felt, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm afraid this might be the end of the road, hedgehog."

"Aw, come on. Don't die just yet! Whatever it is, if you're stealing chaos emeralds, rescuing long lost Space ARK projects, or even destroying a city…" At that, the hedgehog grimaced. He had also heard of the lost lives. "You gotta admit, we have great adventures!"

"Tell me this, hedgehog. What's the point if, in the long run, neither of us win? I will never conquer the world. You will never get rid of me. What's the point of it?"

"Damn. Don't tell me you're having regrets. It's a little late for that." The cockiness in his words ground against Eggman, and he scowled in turn. "It doesn't matter what it is you're trying to accomplish. Because, think about it, if you accomplish it, then what? You move on to greater things? No, it's not the accomplishment itself. It's the journey that makes it worthwhile. If we all got what we want with a snap of our fingers, we'd never really appreciate it. And if you ever won, how would you feel? Sure, there'd be a momentary 'Yes! I actually killed Sonic the hedgehog!' but then what? You'd build your empire? And when that's all done, you'd have nothing left to do. And if you died, I would be so bored, you know that Eggy?"

"I… have never really thought about that."

"Of course you haven't, Mr I-SO-have-an-IQ-of-300," Sonic taunted. "So don't conk out just yet, Egghead. I'd still like to scramble you a few more times." And with that, Sonic raced off back where he came from.

"Hey! Wait!" Eggman called. A split second later, Sonic returned.

"Yessssss…?" Sonic asked, bored already.

"You and Shadow… is there really… ugh, something going on, if you know what I mean?" Eggman was disgusted at himself for asking the question, however he was curious. Sonic's eyes widened at the unexpected, possible invasive question.

"I, well, um… we're still working it out," Sonic replied, embarrassed. He started rubbing the back of his neck. Eggman laughed a little, then smiled.

"Whatever your relationship turns out to be… just don't break his heart, okay? He's still sore about Maria… for him, that incident only happened a few years ago." Sonic was slightly taken aback by his words, and even Eggman was surprised with what he said. Sonic seemed to recover, however, as he gave a trademark grin and thumbs up.

"Thanks. Don't worry, I think this is gonna be great. See you next time, Baldy McNosehair!" Sonic raced off again, this time not to return.

"Hey! That's not fair, you rat!" Sonic's laughter echoed off the hospital walls. "Oh well…" Eggman looked at his bedside table, which had a few items that Eggman had in his pockets – a few dirty tissues, a pair of earphones, and a phone. He grabbed his phone and dialled the number of his home base.

"Orbot, Cubot? Please send some robots to break me out of the Central City hospital… also, prepare the bio laboratory... I have a couple of organs to make."