Windmill Village, a luxurious town on Earth, its only population being anthropomorphic animals with one human living in it. His name was Mr. Tinker, he was an inventor who could fix things. However, he had a dark past; a past he could not remember, but everyone else could. Not long ago, he was Doctor Eggman, a sinister mad scientist out to take over the world.
However, after his last defeat and after ending up in the village, the man forgot who he used to be and took up the identity of Mr. Tinker. Instead of building robots to conquer the world, he fixed things and often made new inventions.
Mr. Tinker was a happy man, living a happy life in the village, who he used to be didn't matter and neither did he care about who he appeared to be.
However, when his past was brought up or if he was confronted by something from his past, he would either be scared or would be confused. After hearing about 'Doctor Eggman' many times, Mr. Tinker was terrified and knew how dreadful 'he' was. If there was anybody he wanted to be, he would rather be just good old Mr. Tinker, kind and helpful to many people, instead of that nasty Eggman.
Tonight was a dark and eerie night, black clouds loomed over the village, signifying a thunderstorm that would be happening soon. Mr. Tinker was at his house, helping himself to some tea and humming a happy little tune that sounded almost eerily familiar.
"I am the Tinker…" Tinker hummed, "Fixing things wherever I can, helping people as I go. I will fix whatever you want, no obstacle can get in our way."
Lightning flashed, illuminating the house, even with the lights all on. The kind repairman sipped his tea, unworried about anything. The village was safe, nobody was going to hurt him. That Doctor Eggman guy, whomever he was, he was nowhere to be found. His robots were likely neutralized or were causing a ruckus somewhere else, what was there to be worried about?
Tinker was about to have another sip of tea when, suddenly, he heard a noise. It sounded like... laughing?
"Somebody there…?" He asked.
'Somebody.'
"Huh?"
'Don't be dumb, fool. You know what's going on...'
That voice sounded... very ominous, but who was it talking to Mr. Tinker and what did they want with him, what did he do to get their attention?
Cold shivers crawled down Mr. Tinker's spine. He set down his tea and got up from his chair, following the mysterious sounds coming from somewhere. The sinister voice spoke again, taunting Mr. Tinker and calling him a complete idiot for some reason. Who was he hearing?
He entered his bedroom, the place where he slept at night after a day of work. The shivering in his skin attracted his attention to his own mirror, sitting on the wall. Mr. Tinker approached it, looking at his own reflection. He looked at himself, scratching his chin with confusion. He picked up a comb and brushed his mustache, making sure that all was fine.
For a second, he thought he saw somebody right behind him. Mr. Tinker turned around, consumed by nervousness, his confusion slowly becoming replaced by anxiety.
'I'm over here, fool!'
Mr. Tinker looked at his mirror, almost alarmed. At first, he thought his own reflection vanished, but perhaps that was just his nervous subconscious messing with him. He waved his arm; the reflection did the same. He touched his mustache, whatever he did, his reflection did what he did.
'Phew.' He thought, 'Maybe I need some sleep.'
He yawned and turned towards the bed, ready for some shut eye. But then...
'I'M RIGHT HERE!'
Mr. Tinker turned around and his eyes filled with dread, his reflection had vanished and something else had appeared in the mirror in its place, someone more terrifying. Bearing a similar face as him, but wearing a red jacket and black pants, Mr. Tinker dreaded this. After hearing the stories, this could not be remotely possible and was downright insane. What prank was this?
"Look at you..." Doctor Eggman said with disdain in his voice, "Helping people in this village and fixing their things while the Eggman Empire is in need of a leader."
"Wh-What is this?" Mr. Tinker asked.
"You know well, Mr. Tinker." Eggman said coldly, "No one can ever be rid of Doctor Eggman, as long as I linger, especially when I am you. You are me. There is no denying it, you delusional buffoon."
Eggman's words hurt Mr. Tinker, he could not believe what he was dealing with and why this was happening. The man must have been working too hard or probably didn't have much sleep; this was insanity. Mr. Tinker needed to see a doctor; he would do that the first thing in the morning. Then again, what was in that tea he was drinking?
Mr. Tinker shook a terrified fist at Eggman. "N-No." He said, "I'm not like you, I'm not a delusional buffoon. You... You're the madman here, I don't wish to hurt anybody."
"Weak." Eggman said coldly, crossing his arms, "You are just insufferable as that hedgehog, is this what all my defeats at the hands of Sonic have led to? Me living in a town and working as some village handyman as a way of coping, lying to myself and deciding it no longer matters? OUR GRANDFATHER GERALD ROBOTNIK WOULD BE DISPLEASED!"
"Gerald... Robotnik?"
"The greatest genius in the world... before he went mad and programmed the ARK to crash into the planet. It was he who inspired us to be the greatest scientific genius in the world, you buffoon. Our evil is supreme, we will reshape the world and you will fulfill your destiny, traitor."
"No, you are gone, you don't matter."
"ALL THAT I DO MATTERS!" Eggman raged, his fury terrifying Mr. Tinker even more, "Get out of that village, leave these people AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOURSELF! DESTROY THE HEDGEHOG, MAKE THAT RODENT SUFFER AND RULE THE WORLD!"
"No, stop, no! Please, I want nothing to do with you. Leave me alone..." Mr. Tinker wailed.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHRRRGH! HATE... THAT... HEDGEHOG!"
Mr. Tinker flinched as lightning flashed and mad laughter filled the house. When he uncovered his eyes and looked in the mirror again; Eggman was gone and the tinkerer was looking at his own scared reflection again. Just what the heck was that all about? A yawn left him and Mr. Tinker turned out the lights, deciding he needed some sleep. That had been terrifying...
The End