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Agent Stone is not a sane man, per se. Agent Stone, for one, works for the Government. Some could say that’s enough to make someone insane. But working for the lunatic robotics engineer, Doctor Robotnik, takes his insanity a step further.
A man with 5 phds, an IQ off the charts, and an ego larger than any world leader, which is truly a feat.
But working for Doctor Robotnik isn’t all that makes him so mad. Plenty of agents have been assigned to work for the doctor. What makes Stone crazy is that he’s the only one who stayed. Moreover, he is absolutely psychotic for falling in love with the man. His collegues have made that extremely clear. A man like Stone, however, will not be affected by rumours or insignificant opinions of others. Hence why he is currently perched behind a bush under the window of Doctor Robotnik’s living room.
As I said – psychotic.
Some think he got like this after so long working for the doctor. That his evil nature and utterly unbearable ego had influence their fellow agent and drove him to madness. They don’t know that Agent Stone has always been like this. Not only that, but he is most certainly more evil and more unhinged than the doctor could ever be.
Stone adjusts his goggles to zoom in on the doctor’s monitor screen. Goggles that Robotnik made for him, utterly clueless as to what Stone is using them for. He isn’t surprised to see a report for Commander Walters open on the screen. Stone wrote it for him today and Robotnik reviews it at 7pm before sending it off.
At 7:30pm on a Tuesday Robotnik finishes reviewing the report and leaves the house for a walk to the mechanics store. He leaves to get extra parts for any personal projects he’s working on. Stone loves Tuesdays. When Robotnik leaves he has a chance to slip into his house and ensure everything is in order. He makes sure taps and lights are turned off, tidys rooms and takes out trash.
Stone watches Robotnik leave at exactly 7:30, waiting until he’s a block away to slink up to the door with a lockpick. When he gets in he immediately notices his coat left in a pile on the floor. He tuts with a smile and picks it up to hang on the hook in the front hallway. Continuing down the hall, he picks up the odd wrench or piece of scrap metal left lying around.
“Oh, Ivo,” Stone murmurs to himself with a small smile as he picks up another scrap piece of metal.
His boss tends to be so caught up in his mechanical endeavours that he doesn’t notice the invisible helping hand. Stone finds it endearing. The smartest man in the world and he doesn’t even realise all the out of hours help Stone offers.
The light clicking of a distinctive pair of boots outside rips the smile off Stone’s face, freezing him in place.
He’s back. Why is he back? He doesn’t get back until 8:30!
Stone drops the metal with a loud clang and ducks into the room at the end of the hall, closing the door behind him softly. He hears the front door open, the doctor’s footsteps sounding hesitant. Stone holds his breath when he hears the signature low hum of the badnik’s lazers charging up.
Still holding his breath, Stone creeps backwards and glances around the room he’s in. His eyes widen. The doctor’s bedroom.
Stone has never dared to come in here, deciding it crossed too many boundaries. Though at this point, there aren’t many boundaries left to break.
The bed, he decides, he’ll hide under the bed. He lays down and rolls underneath the bed, focusing on Robotnik’s footsteps. Still slow, but gradually getting louder. When he hears the door handle rattle slightly he takes one last deep breath, holding onto it with incredible will power.
The door opens and the light of the hallway floods in, casting Robotnik’s shadow across the walls.
“Scan this room,” he orders his badniks.
A few beeps and whirrs and Stone can see their red lights sweeping the room. Closets, drawers, clothes basket. The red lights disappear and the badniks return to Robotnik’s side. A loud sigh drawls from his mouth.
“Do I have to tell you to check under the bed?”
Stone’s breath hitches. How is he going to get out of this?
The badniks beep again and float down to the side of the bed, starting at the foot of the bed, furthest from Stone.
Okay, a plan is what Stone needs. What will keep him hidden without drawing the attention of the doctor? He wracks his brain for ways to cover up his heartbeat and his heat signature but gets stuck on heat signature. There’s just not enough time.
A loud beep alerts Robotnik off a finding.
Before Stone can attempt to duck out of the way, a badnik has grasped his bicep with its claw and yanked him out from under the bed, holding him in the air for Robotnik to see.
“Stone?” Robotnik’s eyebrows raise at the sight.
He stares at his assistant and Stone stares back sheepishly. Robotnik seems to be dwelling on the situation.
“You know I expected you to be an assassin or government spy. But oddly, your presence does not surprise me,” he hums.
Taking a few swift steps, he stops in front of Stone, looking him dead on.
“What are you doing here, Stone?” He asks, resting his hand under Stone’s chin and tilting his head up to get a better look at him. “Wanted to find dirt on me? Get me fired? Take my position? Or are you truely just a freaky sychophant who can’t stand being away from my side?”
He looks quite pleased with himself, a smug grin resting on his face.
“My apologies, sir, I–”
Robotinik slams a hand over Stone’s mouth.
“Don’t–” he hisses. “Talk to me.”
Stone swallows the lump in his throat and nods. Usually Stone enjoys Robotniks rage induced outbursts. The close proximity and odd intimacy of his actions excites him. However, this time he can tell Robotnik isn’t playing around.
“In a moment the badnik will let you go,” he starts, eyes narrowing on Stone’s pathetically sorrow expression. “You will keep your mouth shut and you will leave my home. You will not come back here, unless you have a death wish. Is that understood agent?”
Stone nods stiffly.
“Good.” The badnik drops Stone to the floor onto his hands and knees. “Now get out of my fucking sight.”
Stone nods and hurries out of the room and to the front door.
“Oh, and Stone?” Robotnik calls out.
Stone turns to see Robotnik leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway. He nods shakily.
“We have an early start at the lab tomorrow morning. 4am. Don’t be late.”