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Some part of him knew, deep down, this was always how things were going to end. A genius like him didn't have to look too deep to figure out where this rivalry, this mutual greed for battle, would end.
He just.. thought they had a little more time, was all.
And lying here, in a wreckage of his own creation, with the very rodent he built his entire adult life trying to kill, it was all becoming a bit too real.
This was truly the pinnacle, the climax of their story, wiltering down into a small crescendo. An epilogue.
It was over.
Dr. Robotnik stares blankly up ahead. He couldn’t see much; blood covered one of his eyes, and the other was clouded. He supposed it could be worse, considering he and the blue rodent’s current predicament.
Either way, it was the insufferable hedgehog who broke the silence.
A wet cough, and a pained, but still cocky voice. “Well, Egghead..” There was silence for a moment, and then a deep breath from beside him. “I gotta admit, I expected things to be..” Dr. Robotnik could almost see the way Sonic would have been gesturing with his arms. “Bigger, y’know?”
The hedgehog ended his sentence with a wheeze, Dr. Robotnik could hear the way his breath rattled. He may be in bad condition, but it sounded like the hedgehog was far worse.
“I hate to admit I agree,” The doctor chided, one hand resting over his stomach where a particularly large wound weeped. A few stray rocks fell from above them, falling into the deep crater they lay in. The sun was mocking them with its beautiful, bright and warm rays. He hated the way it shined down on him.
“Out of all the things we got ourselves into, it would seem.. improbable such a..” Dr. Robotnik paused to take a break, “menial excursion would be the end to our legacy.”
Sonic chuckled at that, Dr. Robotnik could already see that smug grin on his face. He didn’t need to turn his head to verify it. “No kidding! Hahahk— acck..” The hedgehog’s laughter was cut off by a pained groan, and a deep cough.
For a moment longer they laid in silence, the only noise being both of their labored breathing as they fought to hold on, a last bid to see who could outpace the other.
Eventually, Dr. Robotnik heard a sigh. He blinked, irritation bubbling in his throat. “Spit it out already, rodent.” The doctor hissed.
Sonic was uncharacteristically quiet. For a moment, Dr. Robotnik wondered if he had finally succumbed to his injuries, turning his head with strained effort to gaze at the smaller body beside him for the first time since they’d crashed into the Earth.
The hedgehog looked terrible. Robotnik could locate the source of his wet breathing, a sharp piece of metal was lodged in the hedgehog’s chest on the right side. The rest of him didn’t fare much better. His legs, similarly to Robotnik’s own, were definitely broken, and his right arm was a mangled mess.
“Egghead?” Sonic asked. Robotnik would have snapped, but the tone in Sonic’s voice made him pause.
Maybe it was the blood loss getting to him, but the hedgehog sounded.. vulnerable. Shaky.
“.. What is it? And you better not waste my remaining time with any of your quips.”
Sonic’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Before Robotnik could snap at him again, he spoke.
“Do you.. remember back then?” His voice was soft, reminiscent. “Back when we first.. met?” A small smile graced Sonic’s features, eyes half-lidding. Robotnik stayed quiet as he let the hedgehog continue, out of his own curiosity as to what he had to say, or something else, he didn’t know.
“It was.. it was kinda fun back then.” The blue rodent coughed again, some blood splattering against his muzzle from the force, but he still continued. “It was just you, and me.. and Tails eventually.”
The hedgehog’s eyes closed for a brief moment. “Back then you were..” he inhaled sharply, “you were different.”
Sonic’s head turned to look at him now, and Robotnik pretended not to see that look in his eyes. “Yeah, you did bad things, and.. you hurt people, but..” he trailed off, “.. it was different. You.. kinda seemed to care about me, and Tails, and even.. Amy..” his voice became softer at the end, eyes closing. “I remember that winter.. me ‘n Tails didn’t have anything to eat, so you took us in ‘n made us dinner.. told us ‘I’m only going to fight you at your strongest, to prove I'm superior,’”
There was another wet cackle, and a cough. “.. we saw right through it.”
Sonic turned his head back over, staring up at the sky. “.. you really cared back then, at least.. in your own way.” Dr. Robotnik knew what he would say next, and he mentally prepared himself for it. He, too, looked to the sky.
“.. so what changed?”
Dr. Robotnik let out a heavy sigh, and had he still had them on, he would’ve fiddled with his goggles. “Nothing changed, Hedgehog.” The doctor muttered, his voice as disregarding as he could make it. “I simply found new, and better ways to expand the Eggman Empire.”
Sonic was quiet, so he continued. “Had I known you would grow to be such a thorn in my side, I would have never taken the time to offer you and your fox brother my hospitality.” He huffed, indignant. “It was a miscalculation on my part, giving care to my enemies in order to foster a higher sense of pride in my abilities when I’d defeat you at your strongest.”
Robotnik pinched the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps you saw it as nurturing due to your young age, I cannot blame you. That, unlike many things, was never your fault, Sonic.”
The hedgehog is quiet for a long moment. Robotnik turns his head, expecting to see a quiet, still body beside him, but what he sees instead is Sonic, staring at the sky, deep emerald eyes shimmering.
Damn if he does, damned if he doesn’t, Robotnik supposes, as the sight unexpectedly sends a pang throughout his body.
He forgets how young the hedgehog is at times. He’s barely an adult now, yet already at the end of his road.
“But,” Robotnik hums, closing his eyes. Oh, how he hated to admit this. “I do admit.. I did care for you, in some way.” He turns his gaze away, unable to look at Sonic as he says his next part. “Perhaps I wished for you to see things my way eventually, and join the Eggman Empire. You were.. are, a fascinating creature. It would be foolish of me to deny I was intrigued.”
Sonic sniffed, a weak laugh bubbling from his throat. His voice now was hoarse. “Y’know.. I think I felt the same way.” Sonic turned to look at Robotnik. “I was always.. waiting, hoping eventually you’d go back to how you were in the beginning. I think when you became Mr. Tinker, that hope got reignited, and then..” he trails off.
“Well.. look where we are now.”
A large, gloved hand reaches out to wrap around a smaller one. Sonic tenses slightly as he feels Robotnik take his hand, eyes moving back to the human. He’s looking at the sky. Robotnik doesn’t say anything for a good few seconds.
Sonic breaks the silence again.
“.. I’m glad I’m not dying alone,” a sorrowful laugh escapes him, and once he starts, he’s unable to stop. His laughter slowly morphs into gentle sobs.
Robotnik tightens his grip on the hedgehog’s hand, and pulls him closer, until he’s resting beside him, head laid upon his chest.
After a few seconds, Sonic’s cries die down, as does his movement entirely. He’s still breathing, that much Robotnik can tell, but for how long, he doesn’t know.
Voices ring out above them, and he can faintly see two shapes appear over the horizon. Blue and Yellow.
He smiles as he recognizes the two, enemies bonded together to search for their missing family.
“Me too, hedgehog,” he sighs quietly, knowing that the blue blur could no longer hear him. He closes his own eyes, and lets himself slip.
“Me too.”