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Chapter Text

Agent Stone was speeding as fast as he could towards Dr. Eggman's position - Sonic and his team had made it to him. 

Stone was assigned to take care of the outer ranks and stragglers, as Eggman wanted all his robot forces on the front line with him.

Eggman had trusted Stone enough with taking care of the outliers, which Stone did.  

But not fast enough. 

While Stone was able to take out all the stragglers by himself, it seemed to have left an unexpected opening for Sonic and his team to get close to Eggman.  

Stone races on his bike, going as fast as he possibly can towards Eggman's location, he could see the ship Eggman was on appearing in the distance. 

Too late.

As the ship appears on the horizon, Stone watches in horror as it all suddenly just vanishes.

It wasn't an explosion, it wasn't the ship being shot backward at the speed of light, no. It was as if it suddenly vanished entirely right before his eyes. Like it was no longer on this plane of existence.

Frantically, Stone opened his communicator and tried to reach Doctor Eggman, only to see that the connection had been severed - the communicator didn’t pick up a signal from Eggman at all. 

Fear and pooled in the pit of Stone's stomach. Behind his dark purple sunglasses, his eyes became frantic. He continued on his bike to where Eggman's location was , in hopes the Doctor was alive somewhere in the wreckage, and not gone from the world entirely. 

Stone held back tears that were threatening to fly by as he raced towards Eggman's “location.” 

If Eggman was gone.. Stone wasn’t sure what he would do.

Ever since Agent Stone got fired and banished from the human society from a particularly immoral and evil stunt he made as a G.U.N. agent, he had gone to the island where Eggman was.

Stone had always been an admirer of Doctor Robotnik - now Eggmans - work. Regardless of G.U.N. 's distaste in Doctor Eggman, they still used some of his technology when he was the lead weapons scientist at G.U.N.. 

Stone was always so fascinated by his work when he got to use them on the field or see them in action. He had looked up and read every file on Doctor Robotnik that he could get his hands on. Then he hacked the rest of the system for the ones he couldn’t as easily get his hands on.

Stone learned everything there was to know about Robotnik's inventions, and not to mention his reputation.

So, if you were to ask Agent Stone if he got himself banished from G.U.N. on purpose so that he could go and work alongside Eggman, then he’d give you a wink, and put an index finger to his lips that were forming a cheeky smirk, making a “shushing” gesture. After all, Stone didn’t want to look too desperate to work for Eggman, even if his loyalty to him was absolute regardless. 

If Stone knew anything about all he read up on about Doctor Robotnik and his reputation, then Stone knew that running into Eggman's arms and desperately asking to be let in wouldn’t make the cut, not for a long shot.

Agent Stone had worked tirelessly for years under Doctor Eggman, meticulously proving time and time again that not only was he loyal, but also efficient and could execute any task that Eggman gave him perfectly. 

Some other things Stone learned from his own research and from working under Eggman, was that Agent Stone was no doubt infatuated with the man. 

Agent Stone had been when he first started reading Robotnik's files, and as Stone started to work under Eggman, his infatuation towards him grew to even more dangerous levels.

But, Agent Stone was smart, and popular to the contrary, he wasn’t greedy.

Well, he wasn’t as greedy as Doctor Eggman was. 

Agent Stone was greedy, after all he did cause the result of numerous unnecessary casualties so that he could have enough rapport and reason for Eggman to let him work under him, but Stone knew everything there was to know about the man he was in love with.

And one thing Stone knew for absolute certainty, was that Agent Stone's feelings would never be reciprocated. 

In all fairness, Agent Stone had expected that. He never expected anything in return for his own affections, going so far as to not state them out at the very least. 

Stone wasn’t going to hide his affection and undying loyalty to Eggman, and it was most likely that Eggman recognized it - and would therefore take advantage of that.

Stone knew Eggman would use his own affection towards the Doctor to make him do any task Eggman needed, Stone knew he was being manipulated and taken advantage of.

But, was it really manipulation if Stone knew this was going to happen and let it happen anyway? Letting Eggman think he was “manipulating” Stone, when in reality Stone would have it no other way?

Was it really taking advantage of, when Stone would do anything Eggman said, no questions asked, regardless? 

It didn’t matter to Stone. 

All Stone cared about was serving his Doctor, and helping him achieve his dream of world domination, anything else that might come out of that would just be icing on the cake.

Stone knew what he was signing up for, he knew what he was getting into the first time he witnessed one of Robotnik's old inventions.

Stone knew what he wanted and what to expect the moment he read Robotnik's files. 

In short, Doctor Eggman was a freak, but so was Agent Stone.

And Agent Stone was content at serving alongside Doctor Eggman.

No, he was more than content, he was elated, happy even, to be serving Doctor Eggman.

Agent Stone had been an agent all his life, after all. All his life, Agent Stone was given and followed orders, never once being the one to give orders, or make a decision for himself. 

This way of life was ingrained into him, he didn’t know anything else.

Which is why he was more than happy to serve and follow Eggman's orders.

Here was a man that Stone believed in, that Stone worshiped like a god. Watching as evil genius unfolded and bent the world to his whim, forcing it to make his dreams a reality, Stone wanted to see that just as much as Eggman did.

. . . 

Once Stone finally got to the crash site, the dread he felt dropped ten fold into despair.

There was no Eggman in sight. Not only that, there was nothing in sight.

The ship Eggman was on, his robot army, and the Doctor himself were nowhere to be seen. They really did seem to have just vanished into thin air.

Agent Stone wasn’t dumb, he knew it was futile to act desperate and search amongst the non-existent wreckage for any sign of the doctor. Instead, his emotions went straight to despair.

Agent Stone got off his bike and sat on the ground next to it.

He did not cry, crying was a sign of weakness, and Doctor Eggman hated any signs of weakness. 

Agent Stone hadn't cried for years before he met Eggman, hadn't found a reason to.

But just in case, Agent Stone got a surgery done using one of Eggman's medical robots to remove his tear ducts. 

Stone did make sure to add small robotic technology installed in his eyes to help keep his eyes moist like the tear ducts were intended for, but he removed the ability for them to overflow and shed tears , so to speak.

So no, Agent Stone didn’t cry, as he sat there staring at the open air of where his doctor should have been.

But damn, did Agent Stone feel like crying.

He was at a loss. The only purpose Stone ever found in his life was to serve Eggman, but now that he was gone, Stone was left without a purpose. 

For a long while, Stone just sat there, eyes staring out into nothingness, as he wallowed in despair internally.

Then, suddenly, a realization hit Agent Stone.

There is no body.

All that Agent Stone knew was that one second Doctor Eggman was here on this plane of existence, and in the next he disappeared without a trace.

While Stone was at a loss for what that meant or what happened, there was one resolution: Eggman's body was nowhere to be found.

If Stone knew anything about superhero movies, it was that no one was ever dead unless you were shown their dead corpse.

Stone didn't see a… unconscious Doctor Eggman lying around anywhere, which meant one thing.

Doctor Eggman is missing.

Suddenly, Stone shot up from where he was sitting. He threw one leg over his bike, turned it on, and left the area, speeding back the way he came.

Stone was going to one of their hidden laboratories, the one Stone had been staking out during his last orders from Eggman to handle the stragglers.

Stone drove with more fervour towards the lab then he did when driving towards Eggman's last recorded location.

Because now, instead of being filled with dread, Stone was filled with something more powerful.

Determination.

Chapter Text

Stone had one of his own badniks the Doctor Eggman had given to him after earning enough trust. 

He got it after a very particular mission Eggman sent him on that was extremely challenging and would challenge Stone’s abilities, skills and loyalty. No one Eggman has sent on this mission came back to him just as loyal, or came back to him at all.

Stone was the first (and so far only) person to ever pass and still be loyal to Doctor Eggman. This mission was very rarely handed out, and has only ever been given to a handful of people. You need to earn pretty high brownie points with the doctor to even be considered. 

Since Stone not only was given the mission, but passed with flying colors and still pledged his undying loyalty to Eggman, Stone got rewarded with his very own badnik that was under his (Stones) control.

Naturally, Eggman could easily take control over it and make it turn against Stone in an instant… but for the most part it was to be used and listened to by Stone.

This was a very high honor, and Stone proved himself to be trustworthy enough to have one. The badnik would prove useful and allow Stone to be given even more grueling missions that the badnik would help him be able to achieve. 

Stone was extremely proud of himself and was over the moon at this event. In honor of his elation, he decided to - for once - get a little sentimental, and name his badnik. Following his own name, Stone decided to name the badnik Pebble . 

Eggman, obviously, refuses to call it such a ridiculous name. If he was ever to address the badnik, he would either call it Stones badnik (but more drawn out like “the badnik I, the great Doctor Eggman, so generously donated to Stone to make him a little less of a worthless imbecil.” ) Or he would address it by its call number, which he did with all his machines (in front of other people, that is. Doctor Eggman gave his beloved machines pet names behind closed doors when it was just them and their creator). 

Now that Eggman had gone missing, all of Eggman's followers, for the most part, disembarked and went off on their own. Stone stopped them from stealing all of Eggman's tech and stayed for a little while at their last intact base, along with Cubot and Orbot. However, Stone didn't like the idea of sitting around and waiting. They never found a body, and Stone would be damned to believe his beloved Eggman was dead. He was either going to find Eggman's dead body and then burn the world to the ground, or he was going to find Eggman, alive and re-elevate him to his former glory and continue on with their next plan of attack on conquering the world. 

And thus, using his beloved badnik, Pebble, Stone set out on his search for Doctor Eggman. 

. . .

Having his own badnik really came in handy for Stone. He used Pebble to hack into every possible camera device in the world and scrape through all the data starting the day Eggman went missing. This did take some time, so Stone made sure to spend if not sitting on his ass.

He continued to train and hone himself, making sure his skills stayed sharp as ever. 

Using Eggman's other monitoring tools that were still intact, Stone kept a very close eye on his enemies, his ex-colleagues, and basically anyone Eggman's monitors reached. 

Stone watched Sonic and his friends slowly rebuild everything Eggman worked so hard on building for his dream world. Stone seethed as he watched, but knew that he couldn't take action, not yet. Stone needed to find the doctor first. Once he found the doctor, then Eggman would come up with some genius new idea to crush those stupid insects once and for all. 

After a few weeks of Pebble scanning and scraping through all the data it could get its hands on (which was insanely fast, only the best for one of Doctor Eggman's inventions), Pebble finally found a lead. 

Somewhere, miles and miles away from Stone's location, there was a small, remote village. Some sightings and local reports seem to have mentioned the sight of a non-mobian humanoid man. Considering the trajectory of Eggman's fall and the overall location of the war that took place, it was safe to assume they were in a location that was 99.8% mobian populated area - with the exception of Agent Stone and Doctor Eggman, of course.

This lead was most certainly Eggman, and Stone immediately got ready for whatever he was going to come across and made headway to the coordinates Pebble had found. 

Stone would save, resurrect, kill and die for Eggman, and as he raced on his motor bike towards the supposed location of his beloved doctor, stone was determined to do whatever it took to get Eggman back. 

At least, that's what Stone initially believed.

. . . 

It's hard to be ready for everything and save your beloved doctor, when it was the doctor himself that was the problem.

Chapter Text

The remote village was actually quite a ways from Stone's current location, but no matter. Stone would move mountains and burn villages down for his doctor, traveling a few 100 miles was nothing to Stone. 

According to Stones badnik, Pebble, there didn't seem to be any signs of distress coming from the village. Nor any familiar technological signs that would come with Eggman's badniks. 

This concerned Stone slightly, why would Eggman willingly stay in the village and not take advantage of it? Eggman was by no means a subtle man, so there surely would've been more obvious signs of his presence being there. Even if Eggman was trying to “hide” from Sonic (which, how dare you suggest such a thing), that wouldn't be in character with him either. Even if he was rambunctious and got the attention of Sonic first, Eggman would've been elated to have another chance at defeating Sonic, along with some easy civilian casualties along the way. 

Not to mention, Eggman had made no attempt to contact Stone or his labs, not even letting Stone know he was alive or asking for assistance. 

While Stone could understand Eggman not reaching out to him specifically, it was strange for the doctor not to reach out at all to his allies to get him back to his labs. 

With these concerns, Stone heavily questioned if this truly was a lead to Eggman. Could there really have been another human that inhabited this island? It was highly unlikely, the only reason Eggman and Stone were on this island at all was because they got banished to it. The island was not easy to get to, and not easy to leave. While it would be child's play for Eggman to leave, humanity already failed him, and why not start by using and taking over the mobians before the rest of the world. And Stone? Well, Stone was happy wherever Eggman was, and if that meant he was the only other human stuck on this island of mobians, so be it.

Beside the fact that it seemed their located humanoid had been active (as in moving around and such), Stone started to fear the worst. 

. . . 

Unlike Eggman, Stone was much more stealthy and dexterous than Eggman was. Preferring to slip into the shadows and silently take down his enemies one by one.

As Stone approached the village, he ditched his bike and hid it amongst some shrubbery a few miles from the village. 

Then he sent in Pebble, activating its cloaking device to have it scope out the layout of the village.

In a few minutes, Pebble returned with a map of the entrances and buildings, Stone quickly studied and memorized it all, and started to plan his next course of action. 

It seemed there was a warehouse in the outskirts of the village. If Eggman was here, then he most likely would be trying to build something, and this warehouse seemed like the most ideal place to do so. 

And if Eggman wasn't here… then Stone would neutralize whoever was and use the warehouse as a makeshift base as he continued his search. 

Luckily, Stone was also a genius himself, and assumed correctly that the warehouse would be a good place to start. 

Stone snuck around the entire village, going the longest route possible. Using bushes and trees to hide himself, and keeping a close eye on any movement around him. Stone kept his gun on him concealed, but his hand was ready to grab it at a moment's notice. 

Stone had switched Pebble into cloaking mode once more and had it follow him silently, scanning Stones blind spots, ready to alert him at the first sign of trouble.

Once Stone reached a good vantage point, looking towards the warehouse, he waited. Watching to see any signs of residency or movement in general.

Luckily, Stone didn't have to wait long. 

A young mobian came walking up to the warehouse, carrying what seemed to be like a broken bicycle. The young mobian looked nervous, but not necessarily afraid, more so of just a kid having to go talk to someone they don't know. 

The young mobian knocks on the door, and stands there while they wait for an answer.

Only a few seconds passed before the door creaked open, it was almost creepy in a way that was somewhat reminiscent of Eggman. Stone felt a glimmer of hope in his stomach at the action. 

Then, suddenly, the door opened fully to reveal… Eggman! Stone makes an audible gasp when he recognizes the man. Luckily, neither the mobian or the man in the doorway heard or noticed Stone, for he was far enough away and perfectly concealed. Stone continues to watch, waiting to see what unfolds, being fully aware of Eggman's hatred for mobians.

No, wait… something is different. Stone thinks. 

As Stone takes a closer look, he realizes Eggman is not wearing his signature red outfit. His goggles are still on his head, sunglasses perfectly placed, and his bushy mustache was still attached, though a little more groomed than it normally was.

Instead of his signature red, Eggman is wearing a pair of green overalls and a pink sleeved shirt. 

Stones eyebrows furrow in confusion. This man was clearly a human, had the same mustache, glasses, goggles and overall body shape as Eggman, and not to mention this man was also bald. For all intents and purposes, this had to be Eggman, but the clothes he was wearing were different, and…. 

Stone tunes back into the situation that was playing out between Eggman(?) and the young mobian. Rather than Eggman lashing out at them or doing whatever Eggman would normally do, Stone realizes Eggman(?) is shining a big, kind smile at the young mobian, and has taken the broken bicycle into his own hands. The two seemed to be chatting, and the young mobians nervous energy from before seemed to be completely gone, replaced with a more comfortable energy. As if the mobian was feeling... safe around Eggman. 

Suddenly, the two go inside the warehouse, and therefore out of Stone's sight.

Stone jumps into action quickly, making sure Pebble was still in cloaking mode, he sends it to air in a small opened window on the side of the warehouse, having it broadcast what it sees through its lens to Stone's gloves. 

Stone didn't wear the same kind of gloves Eggman did, his were more geared towards being used for his motorbike and close combat. But, the gloves were graciously designed by Eggman himself, and had a few little tricks embedded within it. Such as a digital display monitor that was linked to Stone's personal badnik, so that he could get any information that Pebble had. 

As Stone sends Pebble in, he opens up his digital display and sees the badniks point of view pop up on his screen. 

Luckily, Pebble was one of Eggman's newer designs, so it also had the capability of picking up audio. 

So as not to draw attention to himself, Stone detached earbuds from the back of his gloves that could connect to the live feed. He pops one earbud into his right ear, but doesn't put an earbud into his left ear, making sure that he is still well aware of his surroundings as he watches the live feed. 

Stone tunes into the feed, and sees Eggman at a workbench, having placed the bicycle on it, and has started to tinker with it. The young mobian was sitting off to the side on a wooden box, their feet dangling idly as they watched Eggman fix up the bicycle.

Through the audio, Stone picks up Eggman humming to himself some random tune as he works on the bicycle, while the young mobian doesn't say anything and  just watches and waits.

After a few minutes, Eggman seems to have completed his work and holds it up, exclaiming, 

“Huzzah! Good as new!” 

Yep, that sounded exactly like Eggman's voice alright, which means this has to be him.

But why was he helping this mobian? That was very much not an Eggman thing to do; Stone was extremely puzzled.

Back to the live feed, Stone watches as Eggman hands the bicycle to the young mobian, who was now gleaming with excitement at the sight of their bike being fixed. The mobian takes their bike and looks it over, seemingly satisfied with the work. Then they look back up to Eggman and say, 

“Thank you so much, Mr. Tinker! You’re always a big help to everyone here in the village.”

“Oh, it was no trouble at all, young one! I just love to tinker, and fix things. Please come by again if you need something else fixed!” Eggman, no, Mr. Tinker responds, giving the young mobian a small, kind smile. 

“Of course, sir!” the young mobian replies, and walks out of Mr. Tinker's workshop, walking their bike alongside them.

As the door to the workshop closes, Stone is about to tune out of the feed, when suddenly, Eggman's back straightens. Stone kept his eyes on the feed, curious what he was about to do next.

Suddenly, Egg- Mr. Tinker's head snaps towards the window that Pebble was hiding in, as if he could see Stone through the feed. Mr. Tinker didn’t seem to display any sort of emotion, but was staring at the opening where Pebble was with a piercing gaze. It really did feel like he was able to see Pebble in the window.

Stone double checked that Pebble was indeed still cloaked, which left no reason for Mr. Tinker to be able to see it. 

Then, just as suddenly, Mr. Tinker turns his head and gives a slight shrug. His expression turns back to a peaceful and content expression, and goes back to his work bench, starting to tinker with some other project that was on the table.

After watching for a few more moments, it seemed that Mr. Tinker was engrossed in his work, so Stone finally tuned out of live feed and called back Pebble.

Stones' thoughts were all over the place. He wanted nothing more than to run in and bring Eggman back to his labs so they could continue their work, but it seemed as if he couldn't care less about that. 

Calmly fixing some random mobians bicycle and going back to some random project that didn't look deadly at all. Not to mention it seemed he started to call himself Mr. Tinker.  

Stone had no idea what to do with this information. He decided the best course of action at the moment was to go back to the lab and collect his thoughts in order to plan the next course of action.

Stone desperately wanted Eggman back, so that he could see his dreams of world domination come to fruition, but something about Mr. Tinker's face, as he sat there working…. It made Stone's stomach churn uncomfortably. 

Seeing Eggman's face smiling so easily and kindly , seeing him be at peace as he worked… 

Stone, in all his years of research and servitude to Doctor Eggman, had never once seen those types of expressions on Eggman's face.

It brought out a feeling deep down in Stone that felt almost like longing.

Stone quickly removed the feeling, re-focusing on his next steps.

Regardless of what Stone feels about the situation, or what he has seen so far of this new Mr. Tinker , one thing was for certain. 

Stone needed more information. 

Chapter Text

Back at the lab, Stone was deep in thought, pondering all the events of the previous day. 

Stone had gone to the remote village where he had a lead on a spotting of a human man.

Stone had gone to the village, and indeed found a man who looked exactly like Doctor Eggman, only… 

He didn’t act like Doctor Eggman at all. 

The doppelgänger looked like Eggman, but had called himself “Mr. Tinker.”

He had willingly helped a young mobian with fixing their broken bicycle.

He seemed to be willingly living in a remote, mobian village, in a warehouse that severely lacked any of Eggman's old tools or technologies his labs normally held. 

He didn’t seem to be plotting any villainous schemes, and all the villagers did not seem to fear him, and perhaps, almost seemed to trust him.

Lastly, not once did Stone see the man give his signature evil smile, or his scowl, glare, his rage, nothing.

Instead, Stone had seen his face show warmth and kindness, a sense of peace , and, perhaps, something almost akin to… happiness.

Happiness.

Happiness?

Doctor Eggman was a lot of things, and he had often shown a sense of joy in his accomplishments, a pride when he got to see his inventions work as he intended them to. 

A maniacal smile as he planned his next evil scheme, but happiness?

Happiness had been a foreign emotion to Stone for most of his life, he wasn't even sure what truly constituted one to be happy.

Stone loved Eggman, and he loved working for him. He liked to watch Eggman's genius unfold, seeing the most impressive inventions known to man come to life. Stone eagerly and intently listened to every lecture and rant Eggman would go on about his plans, his inventions, whatever it might be.

All of these were considered positive emotions, true, and you could say Stone was happy to work for Eggman and stand by his side.

But the expression of happiness he saw on Eggman, currently Mr. Tinkers , face was a form of happiness completely unknown to Stone.

It wasn't riddled with stress, or rage. His eyes weren't deep in thought, scheming his next evil plan. He wasn't maniacally laughing, or had a dangerous glint in his eyes. 

All of these things that Stone came to love in him were all missing. Replaced with a level of contentness and peace that Stone had never once seen, or even considered Doctor Eggman having.

It was uncanny, it was unnatural to see him that way. 

And yet, Stone hesitated. 

He hesitated on the idea of trying to remind Eggman of his old ways.

While Stone may not understand it personally, seeing the man he loved without the sleepless bags under his eyes, without the tenseness in his shoulders… It made Stone's heart ache.

This was Eggman, it had to be him. 

Stone knew that Eggman would want him to “save” him and bring him back to the labs so that he could continue his work. Stone wanted to please Eggman, and he knew that's what he would want, even if his current self seemed less than interested in controlling the world.

Stone came to a decision.

He would go and talk to Mr. Tinker . See what the man knew, any tell tale signs that would signal to Stone that this was indeed Eggman. 

It seemed that Eggman had lost his sense of self and became this Mr. Tinker.

It almost seemed as if he didn’t remember being Doctor Eggman, but there was only one way to know for certain.

. . . 

The next day, Stone found himself back in the bush he had hidden in a few days prior, staring at the warehouse where Mr. Tinker resided. 

Stone waited for a little while, seeing if there was any movement or mobians that were to approach the warehouse.

Stone sent Pebble to do a quick scan of the inside of the warehouse, sure enough finding Mr. Tinker sitting at a table working on something.

Stone needed to find an excuse for him to go up to the man, to test his theory. 

If this truly was Doctor Eggman, and if Eggman still had his memories, then he most likely would recognize Stone immediately and start reprimanding him. 

If this man wasn’t Doctor Eggman, then it might seem a bit suspicious for the only other human around for hundreds of miles to come to his door for “no apparent reason.” 

If this was Doctor Eggman, but simply had lost his memories of being Doctor Eggman, then his instincts might kick in at recognizing one of his inventions. Perhaps that might even kick start his memories and bring Doctor Eggman back.

Stone called Pebble back and told it to stay put in the bush where Stone stashed his bike. He set it to stay on high alert and be ready for voice activation.

Normally, Stone used his gloves to control the badnik, but seeing that he only had three different technologies Eggman made on him, he decided the best course of action was to break his gloves.

Not severely, just perhaps opening a panel and cutting a wire, an easy fix without severely damaging the entire thing. 

But, considering it would be Stones gloves that he was breaking, he would lose his remote control connection to Pebble, so he would need to make sure it could still respond to him without his gloves. 

Changing Pebbles protocol to only accept voice activation from Stone alone, and ensuring the badniks audio range was far enough to reach where Stone would be in the warehouse, Stone was ready. 

He opened up a small panel on his gloves, and took out his pocket knife he kept strapped across his chest. He quickly cut a wire clean in half, and watched as the dim glow of lights on his glove quickly diminished. Putting his knife back, Stone stood up, removing himself from the cover he was in, and started walking towards the warehouse.

Luckily, it seemed no one was around to witness Stone, so he walked up to the front door.

Stone hesitated, but then steeled himself, this is for the Doctor, Stone reminded himself, and knocked on the door. 

The door creaked open, similar to what Stone had seen before, then suddenly burst open to reveal Mr. Tinker. 

“Oh! A- another human? Certainly don’t see many of us around these parts,” Mr. Tinker chuckles, “How can I help you?”

Stone stared up at the man, eyes squinted and analyzing. It didn't seem that Mr. Tinker recognized him.

“Uh- yes. Hello, I am Agent Stone, and you’re.. Mr. Tinker, correct?”

Mr. Tinker beams at the recognition of Stone knowing his name. 

“Yes, that's me! Mr. Tinker, happy to fix and build whatever your heart desires! I’m flattered that you've heard of me.” Mr. Tinker says, giving Stone a warm smile. 

Stone falters slightly at the smile. Sure, Stone had seen Eggman smile all the time, Eggman had even smiled at Stone before. But this smile was different. It was genuine, and brought a warmthness Stone had never felt before. 

Stone felt his cheeks warm slightly, unable to fight the curiosity gnawing at him. 

“Yes, word is spreading about your amazing skills at Tinkering, haha. Uhm…” Stone trails off, he desperately wanted to know if Mr. Tinker truly doesn't remember him. 

Stone wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, the dread of the man he spent worshiping most of his life, the man that Stone had killed for multiple times, suddenly no longer recognizing him? Stone wasn't sure if he could take that. 

But at this point, he might as well ask. At the very least, it will help Stone understand the situation Doctor Eggman seemed to be in. 

Stone looks back up at Mr. Tinker, who had quirked an eyebrow up at him, clearly waiting for Stone to finish his thought.

Strange, he's waiting for me to continue.

Stone musters up the courage and says, 

“You- do you recognize me? I, uh, well I used to work for you…” Stone says sheepishly, looking down at his feet again, dreading the response that would come next. 

“Oh! Well unfortunately I don’t recognize you… I’m sure I would remember a handsome face like yours! Perhaps you have got me confused with someone else?”

Stone's face shot up to look back at Eggman, his face heating up immensely. 

Did… did he just say handsome? Stone thought, astonished and at loss for words.

Stone's head started to ring with Eggman's voice, the words “a handsome face like yours” bouncing around his skull. 

It was rather rare for Eggman to ever give out compliments, if he ever did it equated more to “Good job at not failing your mission, Stone.” 

But calling him handsome ? That was a whole different level of compliment that Stone had never experienced before, and most definitely not from Doctor Eggman.

I must be wrong, there's no way this could be Doctor Eggman. Stone thought to himself. 

As Stone's thoughts continued to spiral further and further, Mr. Tinker startled Stone from his thoughts. 

“Uh, hellooo~, Earth to Agent Stone?” 

Suddenly, Stone's eyes dilate back into the real world, seeing a white gloved hand waving in front of his eyes.

Stone startles at the sudden closeness, Mr. Tinker notices Stone coming back to reality and moves his hand back, Stone looks back up at Mr. Tinker.

“Phew, thought I lost you there! Now I'm not sure who you've confused me with, but I'm glad to help you with whatever you need.”

“I- uh, um. No, sorry, my- my apologies. You just look like a doctor I used to work with…”

“Oh, I see! Well I may be good at tinkering, but I’m afraid I don't know much about medicine, so-”

“Oh, no no, he wasn't a medical doctor. Uh- actually I could still use your help,” Stone says, regaining his composure, 

"I seem to have broken my control gloves, and I was wondering if you could fix them?”

“Of course I can! Please, come in, come in!” Mr. Tinker says and gestured for Stone to walk inside.

Stone hesitates for a brief second, then walks past Mr. Tinker and into the workshop.

Chapter Text

Stone felt a bit nervous as he entered the workshop, hearing the soft *click* of the door being closed behind him. 

He didn’t lock it. Stone noted, as there was no following click after the first.

I wonder if the door even has a lock. Stone thinks for a moment, deciding to double check later.

If there wasn’t a lock, Stone would make sure to install one for Mr. Tinker. 

Eggman imposter or not, Stone’s top priority was to keep Doctor Eggman safe. And if this was some alien that possessed the Doctor's body, then Stone was going to make sure the body stayed intact at least.

As Stone looks around the warehouse, all his nervousness from before eases a bit.

For the lack of resources and being so far away from home, the warehouse looked about as close to the Doctors labs as it could.

Tools lined the walls, all organized neatly by size and type, even down to color if applicable. 

There were many different work benches around, each seemingly designated for specific jobs.

There was a bench that seemed to have a bandsaw and other tools that would suggest wood working, which was… new.

It’s not that the Doctor didn’t work with wood, he had at earlier stages or when he was making prototypes, but normally Eggman worked with metals.

Looking just a little further around, however, Stone was able to see that the wood working bench was an outlier. 

The rest of the lab consisted of sanders and grinders, laser cutting tools and even a small forge. 

Different metal parts and scraps were all a scattered but organized mess on the other side of the lab. 

On the middle work table, seemingly the main one Egg- Mr. Tinker used; had a partially assembled robot on it.

Interestingly, it seemed to slightly resemble some of Doctor Eggman's very first badnik designs. Seeing that filled Stone with a little bit of hope that his Doctor was still in there, somewhere.

Home sweet home…away from home. Stone sighs to himself.

With all the stress of the past few months without the Doctor and the aftermath of the war, Stone hadn’t found a moment to relax. 

But being in the warehouse, it was the closest thing to normalcy Stone had felt since before Eggman disappeared. 

If it was under different circumstances, Stone might have even felt content being in the warehouse, willing to spend the rest of his time serving there.

But alas, Stone had a job to do and a puzzle to solve.

First things first, see what Mr. Tinker knows.

“So, Agent Stone, was it? Is it alright if I call you Stone?” Mr. Tinker asks.

Stone inhales sharply at the question. 

It didn’t really mean anything, Doctor Eggman had called Agent Stone just “Stone” all the time, for simplicity's sake. Similar to how he would call Doctor Eggman just "Doctor."

But hearing Eggman's voice call him “Stone” again threatened to open the flood gates of so many repressed emotions.

Stone steeled himself, pushing the feelings back down. Reminding himself that “Stone” was his name , and there was nothing more to it than that.

Besides, Stone technically wasn’t an agent anymore. He had gotten fired from being an agent years ago.

But, he had been an agent longer than he had worked with Doctor Eggman, so at this point “Agent” might as well be part of Stone's name.

…Which is probably why Stone's heart fluttered a little at hearing just “Stone.” It was more akin to if Stone called Doctor Eggman just Eggman, which would most definitely get Stone killed on the spot. 

Stone shakes his head, scattering the thoughts away. He comes back to reality to see Mr. Tinker giving him an inquisitive look, waiting for Stone’s response,

“Uh, yes. Yes, Stone is fine.”

“Well then, Stone ,” Mr. Tinker says, and Stone has to hold his breath. 

The way he said his name was exactly how Doctor Eggman sounded when he was being mischievous. 

Whenever Eggman came up with a new invention, or even better, when he created a new weapon for Stone and wanted him to test it, that was how Doctor Eggman would say his name.

A low and mischievous tone, drawing out the “o”. 

Stone could feel his face start to flush, and he fights himself internally to get it to go away. 

This isn't  the Doctor, Stone! You can’t just act like this when he doesn’t even know what he's saying. Get yourself together!

Luckily, Stone is able to tune in just in time to catch the last part of what Mr. Tinker was saying, 

“-could help with?” 

Help with? 

Oh, right!

Stone remembers the whole reason he was even here in the first place. 

Stone quickly retrieves his broken gloves from his pocket and offers them to Mr. Tinker, saying,

“I was wondering if you would be able to take a look at my gloves? There is some machinery within them that seems to have stopped working.”

Mr. Tinker beams at hearing Stone's question, seemingly jumping right into action, excited to get to tinkering . 

“Absolutely, I can take a look! Let's see here,” Mr. Tinker says, taking Stone's gloves and examining them. 

Mr. Tinker leads Stone to his main work table and sets the gloves down. He gets out a screw driver and a magnifying glass that is hooked up to a moveable arm.

Mr. Tinker bends over and starts examining the gloves. Quickly finding and unscrewing the panel where Stone had tampered with.

Within a few minutes, it seemed Mr. Tinker had found the source of the problem, as he let out a pondering “hmmm”. 

“I believe I have found your problem,” Mr. Tinker says to Stone, not looking up from the gloves. 

“Oh! Well, that's great news, Doc-I mean, Mr. Tinker, sir. What’s the problem?”

“It seems someone has tampered with this and cut a wire cleanly in half.” Mr. Tinker says.

Mr. Tinker then looks up from the gloves and turns his attention to Stone. 

He gives Stone an inquisitive look, not necessarily pointedly, as if accusing Stone, but definitely questioning the signs of foul play.

“Did you lend these gloves to anyone? This type of problem would only be caused by someone intentionally cutting the wire.” Mr. Tinker questions.

This response is curious to Stone. 

This response can be interpreted one of two ways.

The first is that, like the Doctor, Mr. Tinker takes pride in his work and does not like it when someone breaks his things. Stone can’t say how the Doctor would react to other people's things being broken, as Stone had only ever seen the Doctor work with his own creations.

The issue with the first option is that Mr. Tinker would have to know, or have some strong feeling towards the gloves to know that he did, in fact, make them. 

However, that would require Mr. Tinker to be Doctor Eggman, and considering Mr. Tinker hasn’t suddenly lashed out at Stone, who was just standing there, made Stone question that reasoning.

Mr. Tinker was just sitting on his stool, patiently waiting for Stone to respond.

Patient. Now that's definitely something Doctor Eggman was not.

The second option as to how to interpret Mr. Tinker's response was even more unreasonable than the first. 

It would suggest Mr. Tinker cared that someone broke Stones gloves. Why would he care about that?

The Doctor only ever cared about himself, so to see him care about someone else's possessions was rather odd. 

Granted, it seemed Mr. Tinker cared enough to fix other people's broken things, but Stone had originally assumed that was just because he was bored.

Unfortunately, the results of this test were inconclusive. Stone would need more information.

“Ah, perhaps? I did leave them on my bike as I went into a store. Perhaps someone tampered with them while I was away?” Stone lied easily.

“Hmm, yes, perhaps. You should be more careful with your equipment, Stone. Wouldn’t want your stuff breaking again.”

“I guess you’re right, but if people were more careful of their stuff then you'd be out of a job.” Stone banters,

“Oh, no no. I don’t charge for my services, I just like to tinker with things! And besides,” Mr. Tinker beams at Stone with the most friendly smile he had ever seen on the man's face.

If Stone wasn’t already head over heels for Eggman , then the smile may have looked uncanny.

But instead, Stone melts a little at seeing the smile, all logic going out the window and knowing he’ll agree to whatever the man says next.

“I could always use the company! Feel free to stop by whenever you need something fixed, or just to visit. I’m not very good but I can make coffee.”

Mr. Tinker says, looking a little sheepish at the coffee comment and gestures with his eyes to a corner table off to the side.

The table contained an old coffee maker that, surprisingly, didn’t seem to work.

“Yes, sir...” Stone says on autopilot, only after saying it did he comprehend what he said.

“..I mean Tinker! Mr. Tinker, sir. Sorry, you just…” Stone looks at Mr. Tinkers face, imagining the friendly grin being replaced by the mischievous, maniacly grin of Doctor Eggman. 

Stone grimaces, embarrassed of his auto pilot response,

“You just really look like the Doctor I used to work with.”

Mr. Tinker seemed a little surprised at the “Yes, sir” , but his face softened back to a kind smile at Stone's apology.

“It’s quite alright, Stone. I look forward to seeing you again! I’ll have to make you my special latte.”

Stone stares at Mr. Tinker, who was beaming back at him. 

What a weird day. Stone thinks.

There was so much to process from this whole interaction, and right now, Stone just wanted to get out of there, and think. He worried if he stayed any longer, that he would forget the whole reason he was here. 

No matter how nice it was to hear the kind words from Mr. Tinker, or see that glorious, adorable smile, Stone had to stay strong.

Stone was evil, Doctor Eggman's evil “henchman” no less. He fell in love with the idea of Doctor Robotnik all those years ago, and fell even harder when he met and started working for Doctor Eggman. Stone was loyal to the Doctor, following and serving him was the only purpose Stone had in life. And no matter how nice it was to feel as if Stone's feelings were somewhat reciprocated, one thing was certain.

This man was Mr. Tinker, not Doctor Eggman. 

Stone looks up and gives Mr. Tinker a responding nod, turns around and leaves the warehouse.

Pushing the last bit of desire and disappointment down, Stone steels himself.

If Mr. Tinker was, in fact, Doctor Eggman, then Stone would make sure to bring his memories back.

No matter what it takes.

Chapter Text

Stone does his best to keep a neutral face as he tries Mr. Tinker's “special latte.”

The “latte”, if you could call it that, tasted more like dirty dishwater than actual coffee.

Stone was also pretty sure that the milk Mr. Tinker used had gone bad. 

Stone glances up at Mr. Tinker, who was smiling at Stone, waiting excitedly to hear Stone's opinion.

Either Stone was a better actor than he thought or Mr. Tinker was oblivious, because Stone was pretty sure it was written on his face that this latte was, dare he say, atrocious. 

Besides, Stone should know what a good latte tastes like, mind you.

After all, Stone had been making his signature latte with steamed Austrian goat milk for the Doctor as long as Stone has worked with him, which is a long time .

Granted, Stone never told Doctor Eggman the recipe for his signature latte, but the Doctor also never asked for the recipe either…

Stone secretly hoped that was on purpose to keep Stone around. 

In reality, the only reason Doctor Eggman kept Stone around was actually for his latte making skills. Everything else about Stone could easily be replaced by the Doctor's robots.

Regardless, Stone always tried his best to please the Doctor with every task he was assigned, which most certainly included making the best damned coffee the Doctor had ever tasted in his life. 

“Sooooo? How is it?” Mr. Tinker inquires, an expectant smile gracing his face.

Stone tries his best to not grimace in response as he says,

“Its… not…bad-”

“You hate it, don't you?” 

Stone looks startled, and stares into Mr. Tinker's eyes.

Whether he was Doctor Eggman or not, one thing was certain, they had the same damned  eyes that Stone always melted to… one way or another. 

Normally, it was the Doctor's eyes that were filled with something mischievous and cynical that Stone just couldn't resist. 

Now, however, Mr. Tinker's eyes were more akin to puppy dog eyes… yet they still had the same effect as if they were Doctor Eggman's eyes. 

I wonder how Doctor Eggman would look with an expression like that… Stones intrusive thoughts say,

No, don't have such inappropriate thoughts about your boss! Now is not the time.

Stone shakes his head sheepishly at Mr. Tinker, responding 

“Yeah… it could be better… um”

Stone awkwardly shifts his feet as he stands next to the looming figure of Mr. Tinker/Doctor Eggman. 

“Drats, I've been trying to make the perfect latte for some time now. I've yet to concoct anything that I myself have found pleasuring to the taste buds yet,” 

Mr. Tinker says, furrows his brows, seemingly becoming lost in his own thoughts as he mulls over his past attempts of coffee making.

“Hmm, I think… I could probably help with that?” Stone offers up,

Mr. Tinker’s eyes light up excitedly as he turns to look at Stone.

Stone tries to hide a blush from creeping on his face.

“You could? I'd love the help, I’ve… never had anyone assist me before actually. This could be fun!”

. . .

In just under 5 minutes, Stone is able to whip up his specialty latte he used to always make for the Doctor. 

Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), Mr. Tinker had a small container of Austrian goat milk in a small mini fridge he kept under the table where they made the coffee.

“It was a free sample at the market!” is the excuse Mr. Tinker gave for however the hell he even got it.

Pushing that puzzle piece aside, Stone hands Mr. Tinker a steaming hot cup of his signature latte, topped with a simple Eggman logo design for the latte art.

Stone was very skilled at his latte making art, and would often make very complex ones for the Doctor in hopes to please him.

Although, Doctor Eggman never once commented on Stone's latte art (not even when Stone was bold enough to draw his own face next to Eggman's with hearts around it.)

So, Stone wasn't sure if Mr. Tinker would even notice or recognize the latte art of Doctor Eggman’s logo.

But, Stone figured it was worth a shot.

Mr. Tinker accepts the cup from Stone, graciously lifting the drink up to his mouth.

Right before drinking the latte, however, Mr. Tinker makes a small gasping noise.

“Oh! Oh my, did you make this art, Stone?”

Mr. Tinker asks, pointing at the drink where Stones latte art was and looking at Stones curiously. 

“Yes! I often like to add a little latte foam art when I make this drink,” Stone says, beaming a little at the fact Mr. Tinker noticed his art. 

“Well, it is very well done! I like this design, though I feel like I've seen it somewhere before…”

Stone perks up at that,

“The logo is...my Doctor's logo…the same one you look so much like.”

Stone says, sounding almost hopeful.

Mr. Tinker's eyes soften a little, his look turning to one of pitty,

“I really am sorry, but I am not your Doctor. Has he gone missing?”

Stone tries to hide the disappointment from his face,

“Yes…I’ve- I’ve been looking for him for some time now…”

Stone replies, looking defeated.

“Hmm I see… well, perhaps I can help you look for him?”

Stone smiles softly at the offer but shakes his head,

“No. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to help. He vanished without a trace and I can't seem to find him anywhere. You were my only lead…”

“I see… Well, I hope something pops up in your search!” Mr. Tinker responds in kind.

He sits down on a stool and gingerly takes a sip of the latte.

“Oh my! This is the best latte I've ever had!” Mr. Tinker exclaims, beaming at Stone.

“Thank you, Stone.” he says, sounding so genuinely thankful as he takes another sip.

”Of- of course, Mr. Tinker. It was my pleasure.”

Stone responds with a soft smile, his face turning to a look of melancholy as he sits down on another empty stool near the table.

They both sit together in comfortable silence as Mr. Tinker continues to nurse his latte.

As they sit there, Stone gets lost in his own thoughts. 

Stone stares aimlessly at the coffee machine, the world around him blending out of existence as he starts to organize his thoughts.

Based on the evidence Stone has gathered so far, it was hard to believe Mr. Tinker is just an Eggman look alike. 

So far, Stone has found that;

• Mr Tinker could work, fix and create machines just like Mr Eggman.
• For the most part he still sounded and acted like Doctor Eggman, albeit without his villainous charm.
• He seems to have the same taste in lattes as Doctor Eggman.
• He was able to easily find and fix the “problem” with Stones gloves
• Mr. Tinker even had what seemed to be a personal project of his that was nearly identical to one of Doctor Eggman's original motobug bots.

In fact, the design was so old that it was near impossible for an old model to be lying around somewhere for Mr. Tinker to have stumbled upon. 

• Lastly he looked exactly like Doctor Eggman, minus his normal red and black outfit.

“Uhm, Mr. Tinker, sir?” Stone asks hesitantly, but gains confidence with each word.

“Hmm?” Mr. Tinker responds, seemingly engrossed in his coffee and semi lost in his own thoughts. 

“Where did you get the inspiration for your robot on the table there?”

Stone asks, pointing to the main workbench with a half assembled motobug. 

“Oh! That's something new I'm working on. I'm not really sure what it does, but it came to me in a dream and I just had to bring it to life!” 

“Ah I see” Stone says, looking from Mr. Tinker and back to the table,

“Do you… do you have a name for it?” Stone asks, not really sure what answer he is expecting.

“Hmmm, the name that comes to mind is motobug! Get it? Cause it's a robot bug that moves around!” Mr. Tinker laughs at that, the same sounding laugh that Doctor Eggman had…

“Ah…thats- thats a great name, sir!” 

“Why thank you, Stone! And please, no need for formality. Mr. Tinker is just fine.” Mr. Tinker says, giving Stone a kind smile.

“Oh... yes. Of course.”

. . . 

Stone leaves shortly after that, retreating back to the secret lab to collect his thoughts.

Stone was almost certain Mr. Tinker was a Doctor Eggman, but to be sure, Stone wanted to monitor what the man did alone on a daily basis. 

Surely this must be some kind of test. 

Sure, it was strange that he seemed to have no memories of being Doctor Eggman and didn't recognize Stone. But maybe it was an act?

A new test to challenge Stone's loyalty?

If it was a test, this was the strangest one yet.

But for some reason, Stone had a feeling this wasn't a test created by the great Doctor Eggman.

Doctor Eggman was, to put simply, an egotistical maniac. 

He loved nothing more than to make everything about him.

Which is why it was strange that he would pretend not to be Doctor Eggman. 

Even if it was a test, Stone felt that this test wasn't Eggman's style. It didn't make any sense.

Perhaps… this was a test made by someone else? But from whom? And why?

Stone was just one of Eggman's henchmen. Other than standing out as the only other human on this island, there was nothing special about him.

And what purpose was this test even for?

Stone couldn't wrap his head around it. 

It seemed like all paths led to Mr. Tinker being Doctor Eggman, who seemed to have lost his memories of being the genius he was.

The idea that the great Doctor Eggman forgetting who he was and everything he stood for saddened Stone greatly. 

Stone hoped that wasn't the case, but it seemed like the only viable option at the moment.

But, Stone couldn't leave any stone (ha!) unturned. 

He decided for the next few weeks or so, he would keep a close eye on Mr. Tinker and the entire village. In hopes to find something more sinister going on that wasn't just an Eggman with no memories…

Luckily, Stone had access to tools, resources and a list of Doctor Eggman's latest inventions, including his “spy bot”.

Pulling up the schematics and activating Pebble for assistance, Stone got to work.

Chapter Text

For the next few weeks, Stone had sent and stationed a dozen spy bots all around the small village and Mr. Tinker's warehouse.

The first few days were relatively uneventful - which was fine.

The plan for the first week was to gauge Mr. Tinker's schedule. If Stone knew anything about Doctor Eggman, it was that he always had a plan. 

He would have plans for if his backup plans failed.

Doctor Eggman, while chaotic in nature, was relatively organized, all things considered.

Considering Mr. Tinker's warehouse was relatively organized the same way Eggman's labs were, Stone could easily conclude that (assuming Mr. Tinker was, in fact, Doctor Eggman) Mr. Tinker would have some form of a consistent schedule throughout the week. 

Stone had logged that Mr. Tinker ate, slept and took care of himself relatively normally of what would be expected of a man in his 50s-60s.

Other than the normal human maintenance, it seemed Mr. Tinker went to the town square everyday at 2pm-4pm.

Apparently, there was a market in the town square that was open everyday from 9am - 5pm. 

What Mr. Tinker did at the market every day varied. 

Some days, he would shop for things like tools, resources and food. Other days he would talk to the locals and relax at a local cafe. And the rest of the days he would set up his own booth where he would fix whatever people brought to him that was broken.

True to his word, he didn't charge for fixing peoples things, but customers seemed to give him tips nonetheless that Mr. Tinker would accept in kind. 

The behavior of that was a little odd to Stone. 

Although thinking about it more, Eggman never seemed to actually care about money or wealth. He cared about power , and would use forceful means to get it. 

Money was too slow, tedious, a waste of resources. 

Why bother using money to buy something when he could just steal it or make it himself?

That was how Eggman seemed to operate where money was concerned. 

With that question being answered, Stone went back to observing. 

Whenever Mr. Tinker wasn't at the market or maintaining himself, he was in the warehouse working. 

Night and day, he would either be fixing someone else's broken item, or creating new inventions. 

Stone watched in awe as the motobug slowly came to life, so reminiscent of back when he first discovered the Doctor. 

By the end of the second week was when things started to get a little more interesting. 

Instead of working inside his warehouse like he normally does, Mr. Tinker was now out back behind his warehouse. 

He had set up scaffolding and tarps in a square perimeter, and seemed to be working on something in secret inside the perimeter.

This piqued not only Stones' interest, but the rest of the village as well. 

Many mobians, young and old, came and peered curiously at the tarps. Wondering what was inside. 

From the outside, you could hear maniacal laughter coming from Mr. Tinker as he worked, the sound of his laugh was so reminiscent of Doctor Eggman that Stone had to resist the urge to run inside and see for himself.

But, Stone kept his emotions under control and stayed strong. 

Stone sent a few of his spy bots to hover over and look into the tarped off perimeter.

To say Stone was slightly disappointed to not see one of Eggman's magnificent death machines was an understatement. 

For a second, Stone let himself believe that Eggman was coming back to himself and building some device that would wipe out the entire village. 

However, when Stone got his spy bot to inspect inside the tarps, Stone was appalled to see… roller coasters.

Mr. Tinker was building roller coasters. 

And not just any roller coasters, they were unusually small and seemed to be too safe for comfort. 

No, these were children roller coasters. 

Stone closed out the live feed from the spy bot and let his head fall to the table, sighing in defeat.

Pebble gave a quiet beep noise at the Stone, almost like it was asking if Stone was okay. 

Stone sighs again, lifts his head off the table, then decidedly turns in for the night. He had enough spying for one day. 

. . . 

The next few days, Stone reluctantly watches as Mr. Tinker continues to build the children's sized theme park. 

While Stone did get some joy in seeing the man who might be Doctor Eggman work, his normal enthusiasm was lacking towards the work in question being built.

Stone first came to discover Doctor Robotnik when he had to use some of his weaponry he made for GUN. 

The weapons were unlike anything Stone had ever seen, and so unnecessarily deadly - he loved it. 

From that day forward, he started looking into everything Doctor Robotnik, which eventually led him to where he was now. 

Towards the end of the third week, it seemed like there might still be some hope left after all. 

Mr. Tinker was building what appeared to be the main entrance. As Stone watched Mr. Tinker put up what appeared to be a large sign at the main entrance, he couldn't help himself from audibly gasping. 

There, in the middle of the park, with red paint and white lights blinking brilliantly, written in bold, black ink, were the words:

Eggman Land

Now this was something worth seeing with his own eyes, Stone thought. 

. . . 

The next morning, Stone gets up and makes sure to arrive at Mr. Tinkers warehouse before 2pm, when he normally heads to the market. 

When Stone arrives, he hears the tell-tale sounds of Mr. Tinker working in his secret little area behind his warehouse. 

Stone strolls over to what is seemingly the entrance to the square perimeter, whistling aimlessly as he does so. 

As intended, the noise of work seems to stop as Stone approaches the entrance of the tarp, still continuing his whistle. 

Stone hears rustling and then suddenly Mr. Tinker pops out from behind the tarp. 

The man was a sight for sore eyes (Stones eyes, at least). 

Mr. Tinker's face was covered in grease, his mustache was more mused than usual, and his goggles he normally kept on his head he was now wearing over his eyes. 

A man clearly caught in the midst of work.

A man who couldn't be more handsome to Stone. 

Stone has to catch his breath and regain his composure, slowly registering that Mr. Tinker had spoken to him, and then trying to comprehend what he even said . 

“Stone! Is that you? Oh I missed you!” Stone finally comprehends the words Mr. Tinker said, but before he could respond, he suddenly felt large, strong arms wrapping around him and lifting him off his feet. 

Mr. Tinker was hugging Stone and lifting him into the air, squeezing tightly, but not uncomfortably so. 

While Stone's complexion was of a more coffee color, the blush that suddenly appeared on his face made it unmistakably clear how flushed his face was. 

In the air, with Mr. Tinker still hugging Stone tightly, he continues on saying, “I was worried you'd never visit me again, it's been weeks, Stone!”

Stone is unable to speak at this point. With Mr. Tinker looking the way he does, and now hugging Stone so tightly in a warm embrace, acting so happy to see him, saying he missed him.  

It was too much for Stone.

Stone felt like he was melting from how hot his face was getting, he was beyond flustered and at a loss for words. 

“Stone? Oh! Oh dear, did I squeeze you too hard? Here let me put you down so you can breathe properly.”

Mr. Tinker gingerly sets Stone on the ground, only letting go fully when he was sure that Stone was firmly planted on his feet. 

Stone did pant a little, and may have seemed out of breath, but it was not from a lack of air. 

Stone just stood there, hyperventilating slightly, channeling all his military training to calm down and compose himself. 

After what felt like hours but was more so a few minutes, Stone was able to compose himself and pulled him up to his full height. 

If Stone was a weaker man, he would've melted into a puddle from the look Mr. Tinker was giving him. 

Stone had never seen Doctor Eggman with a look of concern this genuine.

Mr Tinker was looking at Stone with such a worried look in his eyes you'd think Stone was dying. 

“I- I’m fine…” Stone says, collecting himself and reverting to his military training of being stoic and unwavering, though leaving room for his emotions to shine through. 

He didn't want to look cold and detached to Mr Tinker. (Though why that was, Stone would have to address later.)

“Sorry that I hadn't visited in so long, I was… busy. But I came to see what you're up to!” Stone said.

Mr. Tinker's worried expression clears away, being replaced with a wide grin and a gleam in his eye, 

“Well well well, have I got the project to show you then, Stone!” 

Mr. Tinker takes Stone’s hand and half leads half drags Stone through the tarp entrance.

Stone recollects briefly how, in all his observing over the past three weeks, that Mr. Tinker hadn’t brought anyone else to see his unfinished work yet. 

Pushing the thought aside, Stone is brought through the tarp and sees an impressive expanse of half built roller coaster rides. 

All of them seemed to be unfinished, but many of them were impressive, with loop-de-loops, and zig zags. Some that seemed like they could go 100 miles per hour, and some that seemed much slower and kinder, most likely meant for babies. 

Stone had worked with Doctor Eggman for a long time, he knew almost every plan the Doctor had (of which he would willingly share that is). Stone had read every schematic he could get his hands on without breaching Doctor Eggman's privacy. 

Although Stone used to be a secret agent that worked for G.U.N., and had stolen many files to learn about Doctor Robotnik, Stone refused to breach any form of privacy Doctor Eggman had. 

Call it loyalty, call it love, or perhaps obsession, whatever have you. For some reason, Stone could never get himself to look into things Doctor Eggman clearly didn’t want him to. 

Yes, to be fair, Stone did look into the secret tarp to see what was going on. 

But that was for the Doctor's own sake! And besides, if you want to get pedantic, technically it was Mr. Tinker, who currently was not Doctor Eggman. At least, not in the sense of having an active memory of being said Doctor. 

Regardless, Stone knew all of Doctor Eggman's plans of world domination. 

Doctor Eggman wanted power. He wanted to rule over the world. 

But, most importantly, 

He wanted to build a theme park. 

Doctor Eggman's dream was to create the world's best and most dangerous theme park in the world! The roller coasters would move so fast, and give such terrible whiplash that it would take a miracle to survive it. 

And, what did Doctor Eggman plan to name this theme park?

Eggman Land.

Granted, the current theme park Stone was presented with wasn’t nearly what the great Doctor Eggman had in mind, it was hard to exclude the fact the name Mr. Tinker came up with, and the existence for a theme park at all, weren’t the works of the mind of Doctor Eggman. 

But, Stone wasn’t able to stay by Eggman's side as long as he had, or be dubbed the second best henchmen over the past 10 years by skipping over small details.

“Its… magnificent , Mr. Tinker! It’s- it's truly extraordinary!” Stone says, not needing to pretend the awe in his voice. 

While it wasn’t the theme park Doctor Eggman had promised, Eggmans work, no matter what it was - or what version of him made it - never ceased to amaze Stone. 

Stone loved everything about Eggman, and that most certainly didn’t stop at his work. 

Stone was too busy looking around and admiring it all to notice the small blush that creeped up on Mr. Tinkers face from Stones unabashed compliment.

“W- Why.. Thank you, Stone! Hearing your praise really warms my heart!” Mr. Tinker exclaims. 

Stone doesn’t need to look over at the man to see his ear to ear smile. 

“I’m curious, Mr. Tinker, what inspired you to build all this?” Stone asks, not needing to hide his curiosity either,

“Well, I’m so glad you asked, Stone!” Mr. Tinker says,

“You see, there are many young mobians here in this village. And being remote as this village is, there isn’t much for the kids to do around here. So I thought it would be a neat idea to build them a little theme park! You know, I had always wanted to build a theme park, though I’m not entirely sure why…” Mr. Tinker trails off. 

“Well, it is truly amazing, Mr. Tinker. I’m sure the children will be over the moon to have this.” Stone responds sincerely. 

“I do have another question though…” Stone asks, 

“Hmm? And what is that, my dear Stone?” Mr. Tinker says, turning to look at Stone. Seemingly unaware of the term of endearment he used for Stone. 

Stone blushes at the my dear, but trudges on anyway,

“U-um.. I was- I was wondering where you came up with the name? Eggman Land?” Stone asks, eyeing Mr. Tinker. 

If Stone recalled correctly, he never actually mentioned the name Eggman to Mr. Tinker. He only ever mentioned the word doctor …

“Oh, that silly name? I think the name came to me in a dream too, I just thought it was a funny name the kids might like!”

“Ah, I see… Well, I like the name!” 

“Why thank you, Stone.” Mr. Tinker says, beaming a kind, genuine smile at Stone.

Chapter Text

Stone retreated back to the secret lab soon after his conversation about the theme park name with Mr. Tinker. He had a lot to think about.

Stone was positively certain that Mr. Tinker was indeed Doctor Eggman, who most likely had lost his memories. 

With his lost memories, he had no memory of Sonic the Hedgehog and his band of miscreant rodents he calls friends, no memory of all his inventions, no memory of the war or his plan on world domination… no memory of Stone.

His brilliant mind was still there, but with his memories gone… he was a shell of the man he once was. 

Stone loved Doctor Eggman dearly, and he was undoubtedly grateful he had not died in his defeat against Sonic. 

But… with Doctor Eggman as Mr. Tinker now… it almost was as if Doctor Eggman did die.

Granted, it was nice to spend time with him, make a latte for him like old times sake and still enjoying it as much as he had as the Doctor. 

Watching him fix and build things was always a joy to Stone as well. 

But…

The spark was gone. 

His villanous charm that made Doctor Eggman who he was was gone.

Regardless of Stones soft smile, warm demeanor and casual pleasentry when interacting with strangers, Stone was still a villain. 

He got kicked out of the military for using every one of Doctor Robotniks inventions to kill everyone in sight. 

Stone got banished to the island, just as Doctor Robotnik, now Doctor Eggman had. 

And Stone joined Doctor Eggman's team and helped him fight against Sonic in hopes of world domination. 

Stone was a villain, he was Doctor Eggmans evil henchman, his right hand man. He did all the dirty work so Eggman didn’t have to get his hands dirty. 

Half the weapons Eggman ever made were for Stone to use on their enemies. 

For all intents and purposes, Stone was not a good guy. 

But, Mr. Tinker was.

And while Mr. Tinker has the body and mind of Doctor Eggman, he was missing the spark that Stone loved most. 

As much as Stone enjoyed the appreciation, the compliments, how Mr. Tinker acted genuinely nice to Stone… it was wonderful.

But it wasn’t the man Stone fell in love with. 

Now, Stone faced a hard decision on what to do next.

So far, all of Stone's attempts to jog Mr. Tinkers memory of who he once was have failed. 

Granted, Stone had yet to try more… forceful measures. But he didn't have it in him to harm Eggman in any capacity, regardless of what memories he did or didn't currently have. 

Now, don't be mistaken, Stone has delt his fair bit of torture, he is by no means opposed to it. 

But, torturing an enemy was one thing, and torturing the only reason you had for living were entirely different. 

Stone couldn't do it.

He would never do it.

Stone was conflicted, though. 

If using forceful measures did bring Eggmans memories back, then would Eggman forgive Stone for the the measures he took?

Well, Eggman isn't really the forgiving type, the question was more so would Eggman want Stone to go to any lengths to give him his memories back? 

However, at the same time, Mr. Tinker seemed… at peace, as he was currently. 

He was living a simple life, not fueled by his constant rage and hatred. Not constantly stress eating, no more sleepless nights, working days on end on his next project. 

In all honesty, Mr. Tinker was probably the most healthy and…. happy Doctor Eggman has been…probably ever.

It felt almost wrong to take that away from him without it being Eggman/Mr. Tinker’s choice.

As far as Stone could tell, it didn't seem Mr. Tinker had any interest in committing any acts of evil. The mobians he once hated and wished to conquer he now willing helped fix and build toys for.

So the question was:

Should Stone try to bring back Eggmans memories, leaving his life as Mr. Tinker behind, and assume that's what the Doctor wanted?

Or, should Stone leave Mr. Tinker be, and let him live the rest of his life in peace, and experience actual happiness? 

While Stone couldn't say that's what Eggman would want, it's most definitely what Mr. Tinker would want. 

And currently, he was Mr. Tinker. 

Interestingly enough, philosophers have been debating this topic ever since the first bout of amnesia was discovered. 

And, those philosophers (as with most philosophy) have no conclusion on what the right answer was. 

Which meant, the decision was up to Stone.

Stone, a man who has only ever followed orders from others his whole life. 

Who, when given the opportunity to finally take life into his own hands, decides to willingly throw himself at Eggman and work under him as his assistant. 

It's not that Stone was an indecisive person. If there was something to be decided on, Stone normally would easily be able to take action and make a quick decision. 

But, this decision was arguably the biggest decision Stone would ever have to make. 

Regardless of his decision, either his life or Eggmans life would be changed forever. 

It wasn't right of Stone to make that decision.

So, Stone wouldn't. 

While he is Mr. Tinker, it's his memories Stone would be changing. It should be up to him if he wants to re-claim the mantle as the world's greatest villain. 

Naturally, Stone hoped he would choose to become Eggman once again. However, deep down he knew what the answer would be, and Stone, due to his own morals, would have no choice but accept Mr. Tinkers decision. Whatever it might be. 

But, if this was to be the last time Stone ever interacted with Mr. Tinker, he decided he would let himself be greedy, just this once. 

Surely Eggman wouldn't mind his loyal sycophant taking advantage of a situation.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days after Mr. Tinker showed Stone his work-in-progress theme park, and once again, it seems the man was nowhere to be found.

Whenever he left, it was like he vanished completely. 

Granted he hadn’t been gone nearly as long as the previous time, where it had been nearly 3 weeks since Mr. Tinker had seen him!

At the time, Mr. Tinker worried he may have said or did something wrong to upset Stone, though he has no idea what that might’ve been. 

He had been so ecstatic when Stone returned and was curious to see his new project, he had hoped that it would’ve impressed Stone enough to stay longer.

But, alas, it had been a few days, though not a week yet, since that happened. 

Mr. Tinker wasn’t a desperate man by any means, but for some reason that he couldn’t quite place or understand, he wanted Stone to stay. 

Sure, it was nice interacting and making things for the mobians in the village, and theoretically Mr. Tinker wasn’t alone in that aspect. 

But… Mr. Tinker couldn’t remember the last time he saw another human. And while Stone was albeit a bit strange, and seemed to have a hidden dark side to him, Mr. Tinker found that all the more interesting. 

He wanted to get to know Stone better. 

Luckily, it seems that he might have a chance to.

Walking out his door at 2pm as usual, Mr. Tinker stumbles upon a letter sitting at his door step, seemingly addressed to him. 

He picks up the letter and sees in dark red ink, with loops and swirls, spelling out his name:

Mr. Tinker

It seems that Mr. Tinker had a date. 

. . . 

For the past few days, Stone had been planning something special for Mr. Tinker. 

Stone knew that this would be more so selfish on his part, but he wanted to at least make it a good time for Mr. Tinker as well. 

In all honesty, Stone had no idea how the night would go, but he knew what he wanted the end result to be, and was committed to it. 

His mind was set. 

And so, Stone got to work on making the best date possible for him and Mr. Tinker.

. . .

Stone had found a cute clearing in the woods behind Mr. Tinkers warehouse. There was an opening in the trees that left a great view of the sky above. 

Stone made sure to prepare his specialty lattes, along with making food that he knew Doctor Eggman liked, such as burritos, deviled eggs, egg muffins, fried chicken and other delicacies. 

Stone made sure to bring one of his own personal crocheted blankets to be the picnic blanket they would use. 

It was a blanket Stone had crocheted for the Doctor during the first few years under his employment. The blanket had been put in storage shortly after Stone gifted it to the Doctor, never to be used other than collecting dust. 

Stone figured now would be as good a time as any to use it. 

In Stone’s invitation to Mr. Tinker, he had planned their little picnic date to be at 7pm. Leaving Mr. Tinker a few hours to get ready, and Stone some headroom to make sure everything was set up perfectly the way he wanted it. 

. . . 

Eventually, the awaited day and time had come, and Mr. Tinker, wearing his usual attire plus a bright red bowtie, had a hidden bouquet of flowers he had bought from the market earlier that day. 

It was nice of Stone to work around Mr. Tinker's schedule! 

Mr. Tinker blushed a little at the fact that Stone had paid close enough attention to him to learn what his schedule was. 

As Mr. Tinker walked towards the clearing, his eyes were first drawn to the beautiful red, white and black crocheted blanket laid neatly on the ground. 

There were cute candles and flower petals scattered on the outskirts of the blanket. 

On the blanket itself was a thermos, and 2 full cups of what was most assuredly Stones specialty latte. Along with plates of a variety of foods that all seemed to be favorites of Mr. Tinkers!

Mr. Tinker's blush was returning again with full force at the thoughtfulness of it all.

And then, his eyes panned upward and stopped to look at Stone, who was standing at the edge of the picnic blanket. 

If Mr. Tinker's blush was pink before, it was definitely a dark red now. 

Stone had dressed down from the biking gear he seemed to normally wear.

He was now wearing an all black suit that was crisply ironed and fit him perfectly.

His hair and beard were trimmed and styled as usual, and Mr. Tinker swore he could pick up a hint of a sandalwood scent coming off of Stone. 

Stone looked gorgeous. 

And, unless Mr. Tinker's eyes were playing tricks on him (which they may very well have! Stone's looks could blind anyone), he swore Stone had a small blush creeping on his face as well as the two made eye contact. 

“Hello, Mr. Tinker, I trust you’ve been having a pleasant evening so far?” Stone asks in a quiet but warm voice, giving a small smile at Mr. Tinker. 

“I- uh, ye-Yes! Yes, my evening has been rather splendid! But with this date it's about to get even better!” Mr. Tinker is able to stammer out as a response. 

Stone chuckles at that, using his hand to cover his mouth as he does so. 

Then, without saying anything, Stone gestures with his hand for him and Mr. Tinker to take a seat on the blanket.

Mr. Tinker obliges and together he and Stone sit side by side on the blanket. 

Now sitting, Mr. Tinker says,

“Oh! I almost forgot. Here, my dear Stone. A gift… for you” Mr. Tinker says, blushing a little as a tinge of nervousness creeps into his voice. 

Stone turns to look at Mr. Tinker and sees the bouquet of flowers he was offering. 

Stone lets out a quiet gasp and gently reaches out and grabs the bouquets. 

Stone holds the bouquets as if it was glass that would break, staring intently at them. Almost as if he was memorizing every petal of every flower.

Slowly, he brings the bouquet up to his nose and gives a generous sniff, closing his eyes as he does so. 

Stone lets out a satisfying sigh, and smiles brightly down at the bouquet he was gifted.

Then, he turns his head back to face Mr. Tinker, 

“Thank you, Mr. Tinker. They are lovely.” Stone says, an easy and warm smile gracing his face as he addresses the man. 

“I’m glad you like them,” Mr. Tinker says in an almost whisper, his breath taken by Stone's genuine reaction of receiving the bouquet. 

It's as if he had never been given flowers before… Mr. Tinker thought. 

For a few minutes, both of them just sit there in comfortable silence, staring up into the sky and admiring the stars. 

It was lucky that the forecast called for clear skies this night. 

After a few minutes, Mr. Tinker hears some shuffling and turns to look at Stone.

Stone was placing the bouquet of flowers ever so gently down on his discarded bikers jacket that Mr. Tinker only just realized was there. 

Did he ride his motorcycle here? But I didn't see his bike?

After setting the bouquet down, Stone turns back and picks up one of the mugs with his signature latte. He turns to Mr. Tinker and offers it up to him,

“Here you go, Mr. Tinker. I’m sure you're thirsty. This is my signature latte, I remember you liked it once or twice before.”

“Oh! Yes, I guess I am a bit parched, thank you so kindly, Stone!” Mr. Tinker says, and gingerly takes the mug and brings it to his lips. 

He takes a big swig and lets out a pleased sigh, relishing in the sweet taste of the latte. 

Mr. Tinker hears another sip and looks to see Stone drinking from the other mug as well. 

For a few minutes, they both sit there in comfortable silence, drinking their lattes and eating the food Stone had brought. 

Even though they didn’t say much, it felt to Mr. Tinker that he and Stone had done this a million times before. 

Something about it all felt so… familiar to him. 

From the latte being the best thing he ever tasted, all the foods being favorites of his, even the blanket; its colors and texture bringing an odd familiarity that Mr. Tinker couldn't quite place. 

And then there was Stone. 

A human person Mr. Tinker had just met… and yet somehow felt like he’d known forever.

But in reality… Mr. Tinker hardly knew anything about Stone.

So why did it feel like he has known this man for years?

“So, Mr. Tinker?”

“Hmm!?” Mr. Tinker startles, not even realizing he got lost in his own thoughts. 

Stone chuckles at him getting startled, and Mr. Tinker tries to hide his blush of embarrassment. 

“Haha, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just wondering something?”

“Oh, of course. What is it, Stone?”

“Well…” Stone looks down, almost as if he was unsure if he should continue. 

But then he takes a breath, and looks back up to Mr. Tinker and continues. 

“Have you… have you ever heard of a man named Doctor Robotnik?”

Doctor Robotnik, Mr. Tinker thought. 

That name felt like it rang a bell, but he couldn't find anything in his memory to match it with. 

He shook his head. 

“Hm, well, what about Doctor Eggman, perhaps?”

Ah .

That name Mr. Tinker did recognize. 

Though, he didn’t know much more than the name. 

Mr. Tinker nods,

“Yes.. I have heard of that name. Some of the townsfolk called me that when I first arrived here. But, when they mentioned the name, it sounded like they were… scared of it. But I’m afraid I don’t know much more than that.” Mr. Tinker says, looking sheepishly at Stone and shrugging. 

“Hmm, that’s okay, Mr. Tinker. Doctor Eggman was… the doctor I worked for previously. The one I… lost.” Stone says, turning away and looking down at his lap. His eyes went away into a distant place. 

Mr. Tinker frowns at that, and awkwardly reaches an arm out and wraps it around Stones shoulders. 

Stone startles slightly at the sudden contact, but doesn’t pull away.

“I’m sorry that you lost him, he… he must have meant a lot to you…” 

Mr. Tinker wasn’t really sure what else to say. He never had to comfort someone like this before, but he wanted to help Stone feel better, to let Stone know that he was there for him. 

Stone gives a sad smile and nods slightly. 

They turn their heads back up, going back to their stargazing.

This time, with Mr. Tinker's arm wrapped around Stone's shoulders, as Stone snuggled closer into him. 

Mr. Tinker would say he was a relatively happy person. 

He got to tinker and work on his little projects, he got to fix other peoples things and build toys for the kids. Seeing the joy in their eyes as he fixed or made them something always gave Mr. Tinker a warm fuzziness that was what he assumed happiness was. 

But, now, sitting with Stone snuggled next to him. As the both enjoy each other's company and star gazing, Mr. Tinker thinks he finally found what real happiness was. 

He felt so content sitting there with Stone, and he would have been happy to stay there forever. 

But alas, the night does not last forever. 

“Mr. Tinker?”

“Hmm?” Mr. Tinker responds, not startled this time. 

“What… What would you say if I told you that you were Doctor Eggman? But had just lost your memories of being him?”

Stone asks, turning his head to look at Mr. Tinker's eyes inquisitively, patiently waiting for an answer. 

Mr. Tinker looks down at Stone and furrows his brows. Then he turns his head to stare off into the woods aimless and considers the question. 

Mr. Tinker didn't know what kind of relationship Stone had with this Doctor Eggman. Sure, it seems that the doctor had been an important person to Stone, but in what way? And how did things end? What happened for Stone to lose him?

Besides, whatever relationship dynamic they might've had, if Mr. Tinker was indeed Doctor Eggman, he didn't know anything else about the guy. So it was hard to determine what exactly his opinion was on the whole matter. 

“I’m… not sure, I guess. I don’t know much about the man. Would you care to tell me a little about him?” Mr. Tinker asks, looking back down at Stone with a kind smile. 

Stone falters as he looks at Mr. Tinker's kind smile. He seems to hesitate for a moment, but then finally opens up. 

“Doctor Eggman is… was, perhaps I should say, the most genius man in the world. Anything he put his mind to he was able to make a reality. But he… haha, he was a bit of a loose cannon you could say?” Stone says, laughing slightly. When Mr. Tinker waits for Stone to continue, Stone coughs and says, 

“He was magnificent. He was an evil genius, and he wanted to rule over this world and make everyone bow to him and his robots…” Stone says, trailing off, bracing for however Mr. Tinker would respond. 

When Stone finally has the courage to look at Mr. Tinker's face, he is greeted with a shocked expression. For some reason, Stone took that as a sign to keep going. 

“Um.. you know that war , that just happened? With Sonic the Hedgehog, you know that blue mobian, and the robots?” 

Mr. Tinker continues to look at Stone with a startled expression, and slowly nods his head. 

Stone coughs, “Um, well… Doctor Eggman sort of… started that… war…” Stone says in a quieter voice, as he stares daggers into the ground as if it personally offended him. 

Stone decided that he had said enough and should wait for Mr. Tinker to respond. 

As the silence stretched on for what felt like hours (but more like a few minutes), Stone started to reconsider his actions.

It did seem like Mr. Tinker was of good intentions now. So how would a good natured person react to being compared to someone so… opposite of them? 

How would Stone feel if someone compared him to Sonic ? 

Eugh… 

Stone shakes the thought away, deciding he wouldn’t like that very much. 

“I… can’t say I like the idea of… being that person. He… doesn’t sound all that nice …”

Mr. Tinker finally responds, in a careful tone. Clearly trying not to say something that might upset Stone. 

If Stone was staring daggers into the ground, it was long swords by this point. 

Maybe this was a bad idea… Stone thought. 

“But…” 

Stone finally looks up to Mr. Tinker, who seemed to be thinking hard about his next choice of words. 

“I guess I can understand why you liked him for his genius?” Mr. Tinker says, and gives Stone a small smile. 

“Why… bring him up exactly? Stone… you know that I am not your doctor. But-”

Suddenly Stone feels his hands being firmly, but not harshly, grabbed by Mr. Tinker's much larger hands. 

Mr. Tinker turns Stone to face him squarely, holding their hands between each other, 

“But… I could be your…tinker? I guess? That sounds silly but, Stone,” Mr. Tinker grips Stone's hands harder. Still not enough to hurt, but enough to transfer the urgency Mr. Tinker seems to be feeling. 

“I… I want to get to know you better, Stone. I don't know what it is, but there is something so familiar about you, and…”

Mr. Tinker looks away for a moment, then takes a deep breath and turns back to Stone,

“And I love your lattes, and I want to see your smile more often…”

Stone stares back into Mr. Tinker's intense and serious gaze, slightly shocked and taken aback. 

Mr. Tinker seemed serious with his words. 

Stone sighs to himself, and smiles. 

“Mr. Tinker, do you… like it here? Like in this village? Making toys and fixing things? Are you… happy here?”

There it was, the idea of happiness again. 

For all intents and purposes, Mr. Tinker was happy here. He most certainly didn’t think he'd be happy as this Doctor Eggman fellow. 

But…

Selfishly, Mr. Tinker thought,

I'm happy if you’re here with me.

But as quickly as that thought came, Mr. Tinker shook it away. 

It wasn't fair to think about those things. He couldn't decide for Stone whether he stayed here with him or not. 

No matter how much he wanted him to. 

So, instead, Mr. Tinker told a half truth. 

He nodded. 

“Yes, I love living in this quaint village and helping the villagers! It gives me much joy and peace.” Mr. Tinker says. 

Stone smiles at him softly, with that same adoring smile Mr. Tinker wanted to see every day. 

But alas.

“I'm glad…” Stone whispers, staring intently back into Mr. Tinker's eyes. His look turned into something more akin to determination. 

“I’m glad you found the happiness and peace you deserve…”

And, for some reason that Stone would never explain, and that Mr. Tinker would never be able to decipher;

Stone releases his held hands with Mr. Tinker and reaches them up, cupping either side of Mr. Tinker's face. 

Then, Stone kisses him.

It wasn't a deep kiss, and it didn’t last for more than a second, but a kiss it still was.

And while it was brief Mr. Tinker could feel all the harboring emotions Stone had within that action.

Stone pulls away, firmly holding his hands on either side of Mr. Tinker's face. 

This close up, Mr. Tinker is able to see that Stone's eyes appeared to be gleaming with water, and yet… was oddly not shedding any tears. 

But his facial expression might as well have. 

“I-Im,” Stone chokes, "I'm so glad you found happiness.” Stone says, giving a wet, genuine smile at Mr. Tinker. 

While the smile was supposed to convey a positive emotion, it instead seemed so sad. It was as if this was the answer Stone wanted , but also the last answer Stone wanted out of Mr. Tinker. 

At this point, Mr. Tinker was at a loss for words, and just tries his best to give a kind smile back in return. 

They stare into each other's eyes for an eternity of seconds, only then for Stone to suddenly lean forward… and wrap his arms around Mr. Tinker in an embrace.

Mr. Tinker quickly returns the embrace, and they hug each other. 

Mr. Tinker can't feel any tears dripping onto his back, but Stone was shaking as if he were crying, so he hugged him tighter. 

As they hugged, Stone whispered loud enough for Mr. Tinker to hear, 

“I- I love you. But… my first love was to the Doctor and…” Stone chokes back a tearless sob, “and my line of work is too dangerous… I’m sorry.”

Stone hugs Mr. Tinker even tighter, and Mr. Tinker can just barely make out Stone's last words to him. 

“Please, just forget me. And live a long, happy and peaceful life.”

And with that, Stone releases Mr. Tinker quickly and shoots up, turns, and runs quickly into the forest. Immediately disappearing into the darkness of the shadows.

Mr. Tinker strangely never heard the roar of a motorcycle engine. 

He looks down, and sees Stone's discarded biker jacket, with the forgotten bouquet Stone had so gently placed upon it. 

He didn’t make a move to follow after Stone.

. . .

If Stone had turned back to get one last look at Mr. Tinker, he may have crumbled entirely. 

Stone had never seen Eggman cry, ever . In fact, Stone didn't think he was capable of it. And Stone didn’t know what he would do if he ever saw his beloved doctor cry. 

But, luckily, Stone didn't look back.

Mr. Tinker, who was sitting where Stone had left him, tears quietly streaking down his face, as he stared distantly into the dark forest that Stone had vanished into.

Never to see each other again.

Chapter Text

To say that Stone didn’t notice Doctor Starline's sudden appearance and discovery of Mr. Tinker… would be a lie.

To say that Stone tried to stop Starline from bringing back Eggmans memories… would also be a lie.

It had been a few weeks since Stone’s last interaction with Mr. Tinker and frankly… Stone tries his best not to think about it. 

If you asked him, Stone would tell you it was but a distant memory. 

Which, perhaps, maybe it was. 

But… that wouldn’t be completely true. 

Those same memories Stone tried so hard to repress would end up keeping him awake at night.

Every night, actually.

That was the truth.

There were so many different outcomes Stone could have taken. 

He questioned why he did it. 

Why didn’t he try to bring Eggmans memories back?

Why didn’t he stay and live a peaceful life with Mr. Tinker?

Why did he run ?

Did the memories keep Mr. Tinker up at night, too?

There were so many things Stone could have done differently, so many possible outcomes. 

Did he make the right decision?

Stone wasn’t sure, anymore.

So, when Stone saw the sudden appearance of Doctor Starline , an Eggman fanboy that wanted to bring him back and work side by side with him… Stone decided to just watch how things played out. 

After all, whether Stone liked it or not, he made his decision to leave Mr. Tinker alone. 

And if Stone were to go back on his decision, then he would never have lasted by Eggman's side as long as he did.

Stone did not particularly… like Doctor Starline. 

He could easily see through Starline's façade, see where his true intentions lied.

See, the difference between Stone and Starline, was that Stone was loyal to the Doctor.

He saw who the Doctor truly was, and he devoted his life to him. 

For every strength and weakness, every flaw and charm, Stone loved and served Eggman no matter what. 

If Eggman said “kill for me” , Stone would kill. 

If Eggman said “die for me” , Stone would die. 

And if Eggman said “ live for me” , then Stone would do all that and more.

Starline on the other hand, only saw the surface level of Eggman.

He thought that Eggman would graciously take him under his wing due to Starline's vast knowledge on Doctor Eggman's brilliance. In their shared career path of doctor and villainy. 

Starline even sweetened the deal by finding his own gemstone to rally against the chaos crystals (which Eggman no longer found a use for, by the way) in hopes of winning him over. 

And, to give Starline credit, it will work. 

All of that will get him in Eggman's good graces.

But getting Eggman to give you a chance, versus getting Eggman to trust you, was an entirely different ordeal. 

At the soonest opportune moment, Eggman would betray Starline and steal his crystals for his own benefit, as long as Starline kept that arrogant nature of his around. 

Starline might consider himself a doctor , but he was by no means smart. 

Starline truly thought that he and Eggman could be equals . 

Ha! Stone thought, how naïve of him.

So, no. Stone did not do anything when Starline entered the ring.

And no, he did not do anything to stop Starline from bringing back Eggmans memories.

While it was Stone's decision to not bring back Eggman's memories, that wasn't necessarily what Stone wanted.

Stone wanted Eggman back. He wanted him back so desperately . 

Stone was just foolish enough to get swept away by his emotions, and to see the man he loved return some semblance of mutual feelings. 

And Stone let himself be selfish enough to bask in it for a short while. 

However, Stone was still firm on never wanting to harm the Doctor, no matter what memories he did or didn’t have.

So, in reality, Stone could find one thing he did like about Starline. 

Starline brought his Doctor back.

Stone watched Starline slowly bring Eggman's memories back, using Pebble and the spy bots he made to spy on them. 

He watched as Mr. Tinker was confronted with a battered and broken Metal Sonic, and saw the memories of Doctor Eggman flood back into him.

If Stone could, he would have shed a tear as he saw the life of Eggman come back.

As Stone watched Eggman restore his memories, he was struck by a sudden question.

Does Doctor Eggman still have Mr. Tinker's memories?

Stones' blood ran cold at the thought. 

What would the Doctor do if he remembered everything?

Stone had found him and didn’t try to bring back his memories.

Stone had… interacted with Mr. Tinker on numerous occasions. 

And Stone left him to be alone in the village.

Would the Doctor reprimand him?

Would the Doctor punish Stone for the things he did and didn’t do?

Would the Doctor still accept Stone to come back and work for him?

Stone’s blood had turned to ice at this point.

He wasn’t afraid of what would happen to him . He would gladly take any punishment or reprimand from Eggman.

But… Stone was afraid the Doctor wouldn’t take him back at all. 

If the Doctor were to kill Stone, that would be one thing. Stone would gladly die by Eggman's hand if he so chose.

But what would truly be tortuous, is if Eggman were to fire Stone.

Stone needed the Doctor. He could not live without him. 

He thought he could, knowing that the Doctor's body at least was safe and in tact as Mr. Tinker. He had planned to keep an eye on Mr. Tinker for the rest of his days. 

But, if Eggman cut Stone off entirely… Stone would spiral into the depths of despair. 

And Gaia knows what Stone would do if that happened. 

His fear is he’d go mad, lose himself, and possibly harm the Doctor. Or worse.

Stone couldn't have that. 

He needed Eggman to take him back in. 

It did occur briefly to Stone that his and Eggman's relationship could change in a good way.

Stone knew that Mr. Tinker at least liked him somewhat, and Stone did…. show his own affection as well.

If Stone was a lesser man, he may have allowed himself to fantasize of Doctor Eggman returning Stone's feelings once they reunited. 

. . .

For some reason, Stone decided to wait a while before rejoining Eggman and Starline, after Eggman had his memories restored. 

Call it old habits from his military and secret agent days, but Stone wanted to lie in wait. Gain all the information he would need before taking his next steps. 

After he regained his memories, Doctor Eggman had not attempted to contact Stone in any way. 

Even though all of Stone's devices were still active, and Doctor Eggman had access to all of them, Doctor Eggman would know that Stone is around and using his tech. 

Stone found this curious. It was rather odd that Eggman wouldn't try to reach out to him. 

Granted, it would be in the way of Eggman yelling at Stone to get back to work or return his stuff, but regardless. 

Stone hadn't heard a single thing from the man. 

Perhaps that's why Stone had the urge to wait. To see what Eggman was planning. Why didn't he call for Stone? 

. . . 

Sooner than Stone would have guessed, it seemed Eggman had returned to the old village where Mr. Tinker had resided, bringing along with him his new invention.

Stone watched in awe as all the villagers got turned into metal, brainless, zombies. 

Stone was truly rather excited to get back to working with Doctor Eggman and helping with his new plan. 

However, Stone had noticed something when Eggman had come to infect the townspeople. 

Eggman had spoken through a speaker phone to all the people of the village, thanking them for their hospitality for when he was Mr. Tinker.

That made Stone stop dead in his tracks.

Doctor Eggman knew this village. 

He knew the village as Mr. Tinker.

He remembered being Mr. Tinker. 

Perhaps that was why he had yet to call on Stone.

And yet… it still didn’t feel right. 

After watching Eggman take over the village with his new scheme, Stone decided it was time to rejoin him. 

A few days after the attack on the small village, Stone found and reconvened with Eggman (and Starline ) at their current base of operations. 

It wasn't particularly hard for Stone to find, as Pebble still seemed to have access to Doctor Eggman's current database and network. Which Stone was able to use to track them down. 

Stone wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when reconvening with Eggman. 

Obviously, there wouldn't be any fanfare or fireworks or anything, but Stone was somewhat expecting Eggman to make a big deal of it. 

But instead, when Stone walked into the base, he and Eggman locked eyes. 

And Eggman had simply said, 

“Stone! You’re late. I expected my latte days ago. Chop chop! So we can get to work.”

And then Eggman turned away, looking back at the schematics him and Starline were going over. 

The following days were as if Stone had never left. Nothing between Stone and Eggman's dynamic had changed at all. 

While Eggman did seem to have remembered everything from when he was Mr. Tinker, he never once mentioned Stone discovering him as Mr. Tinker. 

As far as anyone knew outwardly, Stone's first interaction with Eggman after his disappearance was when Stone tracked down Eggman and Starline's current base of operations. 

Which in turn, was now the truth.

. . . 

As with most of Stone's good memories, he learned to disassociate his time with Mr. Tinker. 

Stone allowed himself to cherish them, but not quite as memories. More so as… perhaps a fantasy. 

A good dream Stone had one night, of a time where things were different. 

But that was just fantasy. 

Doctor Eggman had no time for fantasy.  

They had their new metal virus to focus on and spread around the world!

Surely this time, Eggman's victory would be sweet and just.

And if Eggman's gaze ever lingered on Stone as he made his signature latte, then Stone never noticed.

And if Eggman's eyes ever shone with a hint of longing when he looked at Stone, then it was a good thing he wore sunglasses.