Sonic: C O U N T E R P A R T

Chapter 2

"Very well." Eggman shrugged and flashed his best evil grin. "My my, what a strong and persistent little one you are, Amy. My name is Doctor Eggman. If you want to follow me and offer me protection, I'd have to hire you as my apprentice under the Eggman empire. Usually, this would take a lot of steps and paperwork, but because of the lack of time, I guess I could take you under my wing. But you must always follow ONE specific rule."

"Yes sir—" Amy nodded quickly, but Eggman stopped her.

"Call me Doctor, Rose." Eggman sneered. "If you are going to be working with me as my underling, you will refer to me none other as Doctor Eggman, or supreme ruler. Whatever you'd prefer of those two is okay."

"Yes, Doctor." Amy hopped up and down excitedly. "I won't let you down, Doctor!"

"The one rule is that you should not double-cross me under any circumstances! There is a record of creatures like you who constantly like to spoil my plans. How can I know If you can be trusted?"

Amy didn't know how to respond. What exactly did the doctor mean by 'creatures like her'? "Don't worry mister— I mean, Doctor! My cards lead me to meet you, therefore I will devote myself to serving under your empire for as long as I live! I will prove myself to you! I'll do anything!"

"I like your spunk and spirit, Rose." Eggman smiled.

"T-Thankyou, Doctor." Amy blushed and looked to the ground shyly.

"Very well. I suppose you could prove yourself by doing some cleaning in my home."

"I'd be honored to! Cleaning is my specialty! I can also cook, well, I'm still learning, but I promise I'll get better at it eventually! I'll work hard and show you just how well I can be to serve a better purpose under you, Doctor!"

"Yeah yeah." Eggman hopped in his convertible and tapped on the side of it. He was getting annoyed at all her kissing up and sappy words. "Get on. We have a lot of work to do. You have an entire lair to clean and I have to finish my latest scheme! That blue pest won't know what hit him once I've gotten my hands on those time stones to expand my control of Little Planet!"

"Blue pest?"

"Oh, just some blue menace that has been ruining my life the past few months. He's nothing to worry your pink quills over."

"Is he dangerous? A bully?" Amy frowned.

"He's not dangerous, he's just annoying. He does carry some bully traits though. He and his friends are always destroying my machines for no reason or calling me names!"

"Hmph! How rude of him!" Amy spat. She didn't like the sound of this guy. Eggman seemed like a generous and caring person, who would go out of their way to destroy the man who saved her?

"Tell me about it!"

"Why don't we go after him and show him up!" Amy clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth. "I can't stand bullies!"

"Not yet my dear, not yet. You aren't ready at all to face him. Allow a true master like myself to show you how a pro handles it."

~

"Ah! Here we are!" Eggman typed in a passcode, and the large metal door opened. The ground rumbled so Amy grabbed onto the hem of Eggman's redshirt to steady herself. The big red logo painted over the door split in two as the entrance formed its width. Eggman proudly strode in with Amy close behind. "Mi casa es tu casa! Not in a literal sense though, since you'll be working for me." The Doctor clapped his hands twice, and the lights began to turn on in an orderly fashion the further they walked into the hidden building.

Each light revealed many types of robots on either side of the pathway. The designs of each bot made Amy's heart sting, but she decided to ignore the feeling. The machines just looked too creepy. "What are all these robots for anyway, Doctor?"

"To expand my empire of course!" Eggman snorted.

"To expand... your empire?" Amy placed her index finger under her lip. She was confused. When she had met Eggman earlier, she thought he was of royalty, but now it seemed as if he wanted to make his imaginary place to rule. She didn't find anything wrong with it of course, as Eggman wasn't bullying anyone.

"Imagine! A world full of robots to unify all creatures, and everyone following ONE order and living in harmony!"

"Everyone doing exactly the same thing?" Amy bit her lip and scratched her head. "Wouldnt that be boring?"

"Nonsense! In fact, the very reason why there is so much fighting in the world is because everyone acts on their opinions, their faulty emotions!"

"I... I guess you're right." Amy was hesitant at first, but Eggman had made a good point.

"Of course I'm right! I'm never wrong!" Eggman growled and balled his fists. He sauntered over to a large computer screen in an open room. "But my plans are always ruined by that off-the-wall hedgehog! Days of my hard labor in building these bots were destroyed and wasted all because that little devil doesn't agree with my attempts to help make the world a better place!" He pulled up an image of his archnemesis.

"He's irrelevant now. Don't worry about him. Bullies like him don't know any better until karma strikes them back!" Amy tapped Eggman's arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"What? What are you talking about? I am karma! I will make that Sonic pay for his misdeeds! Do you think it's easy to let him roam around our world, destroying my hard work for the fun of it?"

"O-oh." Amy lowered her head ashamed when the Doctor yelled at her. "I a-apologize!"

"This is why you will need training from me. If you want to work for me and help me, you're going to have to work hard!"

"Yes, Doctor! I'll do anything!" Amy saluted him. Eggman flashed a fake smile.

"Great! Here's your first job!" Eggman typed rapidly on the keyboard. The floor in front of them opened up, and a platform was elevated to their level. The platform blended in with the rest of the flooring in the room, and it revealed an entire laboratory. On the counters were boxes and piles of metal and other building materials. Screws and bolts were messily spilled on the floor.

Stacks of blueprints were tossed about everywhere.

"I want you to clean this place up for me. Don't touch those, just dust them lightly." He pointed to two tall robots. One had grappling hooks for hands and the other had a gun attached to its arm. "Organize all my tools while I work on my next plan."

"This is going to take me..." Amy frowned and started to complain but closed her mouth when Eggman took a dangerous step toward her.

"What was that, Rose?"

"N-nothing!" She smiled at him and began tidying up the place, despite knowing it would take her a long time to handle everything by herself.

"I thought so." Eggman rubbed his mustache conceitedly and walked back over to his computer. His next scheme was finding the time stones and conquering Little Planet.