Robotnik's Eulogy

"I wanna give him the flowers!" Grounder pleaded, tugging on the upper half of a bouquet of daffodils in front of the bedroom door of Dr. Robotnik. "No way, I'm always the one who gives Dr. Robotnik flowers!" Scratch retorted, tugging on the lower half.

"Wait a second, I got an idea!" Scratch said. Grabbing the top of the bouquet, Scratch plucked every pedal in one pull, and placing them over Grounder's drills. "You can give Dr. Robotnik the pedals, and I'll give him the stems! Kahaww!" Scratch said.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Grounder smiled. "...So, you go in first."

"No way, you go in first!" Scratch retaliated.

"Scratch! Grounder! Get in here!" A wheezing voice from the bedroom boomed. The duo wasted no time rushing into the room.

Sprawled on the bed, center of the room, was Dr. Ivo Robotnik, hooked up to an array of life support machines. The decrepit and elderly man just barely wheezing though the oxygen mask his face donned. "W-we got you some flowers, Dr. Robotnik!" Scratch said. "I got the pedals!" Grounder said delightedly.

"Listen you two," Robotnik wheezed and hacked, "I don't have... Much time..."

Scratch and Grounder frowned and faced one another, before looking back at their master. "Is there anything you need Dr. Robotnik?" Scratch asked.

"I could not obtain leadership over Mobius, but I do have... One last thing I need to do, before I... Go...". Dr. Robotnik slowly reached over to the mask, pulling it off his face ever so slightly. "YOU'RE FIRED!" he screamed as well as his dying lungs could manage, before putting the mask back on.

"F-Fired!?" the duo stuttered.

"That was the last thing... I had to do... Now leave me... I have, no regrets..." Dr. Robotnik said peacefully as he closed his eyes. The heart monitor was still beeping away as the oxygen machine continued to pump air, the only sounds left in the room. All the man had to do now, was sleep.

~~~

The two were sitting on the stoop of Robotnik's laboratory, their cheeks resting in their palms as they looked downward to the ground in silence. "50 years. 50 years of service, and that's how he thanks us? With his last breath no less?" Scratch lamented somberly. It wasn't as if he said it in disbelief, but more as if he simply couldn't process their master was gone from their lives.

"Oh, you know how Dr. Robotnik is... Was..." Grounder replied in an equally cold voice, "I don't think he'd rather go out any other way. That's our Robotnik..."

"He just could of at least... Let us be there for him when he passed, you know?" Scratch said. "Who would want to die alone like that?"

"Oh Scratch, you always were like that, you just never knew how Robotnik really felt. You never understood why he loved eggs so much, or why he's always yelling at his closest friends. That's just how he is." Grounder shed a tear.

A silent moment passed between the two. Scratch wasn't mad at Grounder for saying that, he was honestly right. Scratch loved Robotnik, even if he never understood just what was going though that man's mind. In fact, if you asked Scratch, he'd probably say he was the only sane man in the Super Sonic Search and Smash Squad. Well, him and Coconuts. Maybe not the smartest, for sure. That was Dr. Robotnik's title. But he sure felt like the most reasonable one there. I mean, for goodness sake, would it have killed Robotnik to just lay off the eggs a little?

But, of course, Scratch couldn't just let Grounder's comment fly. Even if he was right, Scratch still had to show he loved Robotnik, and just accepting an accusation of not knowing anything about someone you cared about wasn't something you did.

"Hey, I knew plenty about Robotnik! Don't say something so stupid, bolts-for-brains!"

Grounder smiled as he continued to look at the ground. "Heh, 'bolts-for-brains', Dr. Robotnik always called me that..."

"Well, to be fair, you did screw up all his plans. He even said we probably did more harm than good." Scratch said.

"But that fact that kept us around probably means he really did care about us, huh Scratch?"

"Yeah...", Scratch replied. "But I guess it still sucks how we couldn't help him."

The two spent another moment in silence together, before Grounder spoke up. "Maybe I wanted to screw up his plans. Maybe... Maybe I didn't want him to catch Sonic."

"What are you saying!? Do you have a screw loose?" Scratch questioned, mockingly pointing towards his head.

"Think about it, Scratch! What use would we have after we catch Sonic? That's the whole reason he made us!"

Scratch sat there for a moment, contemplating what Grounder had suggested. "...I guess... I guess you're right, Grounder."

"I liked the attention he gave us. Even if all he did was yell at us, I still loved it." Grounder sighed. "I mean, look at Coconuts. He was the most competent among us, and Dr. Robotnik gave him as much attention as he did his sewer system!" Scratch chuckled, he always did take delight in jokes about Robotnik's sewers.

The two sighed, continuing their pouting on the stoop.

"...So what do we do now?" Scratch asked.

"We got an eternity to blow, I guess. I dunno what we'll do." Grounder responded.

Off into the distance, a dust cloud could be seen. It caught the attention of the duo, and before they could even question what it was, an elderly Sonic rushed to greet them. "Hey guys, I heard about what happened to Dr. Robotnik, I'm sorry about your loss."

"Oh, hey Sonic," Scratch replied, still quite depressed. "Yeah, thanks. I guess we're not enemies anymore since Robotnik isn't around now..." Scratch sighed.

"Yeah..." Sonic replied, looking quite sad for the two. "But hey, if you ever want to live up the old times, I don't mind letting you two chase me around a little if you can keep up that is!"

"Thanks Sonic, we appreciate it." Grounder said.

"I just want you two to know..." Sonic began, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I am glad he's gone."