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"I have followed you for many a year Dr Eon, I believe you are a crook plotting something and not one second of my life should be spent ignoring your plot for our demise!"

Dr Eon doesn't do much more than sigh, a long posh nasally sigh, "Hero, do you honestly think that I would be plotting something in Horton Kirby? The most we've got here is a chalk river and a pub. And stop calling me 'Dr Eon' my name is Alexander." With that he kept walking towards his house, a quant cottage with a freshly cut lawn. Seemingly laser cut, considering the robots sweeping across it de-snailing the place.

The hero marched on with a valour and glory "Then why do you have your robots with you? Why would a civilian have need for them?"

"Why would *anyone* want an army of robots to do their bidding? Because life is hard and I am balding! How about you come in for a spot of tea and we talk further about this?" Alexander unlocked his door and trudged through, dusting off his shoes and wiping his brow as he placed them by the doormat. He dropped his bag off by the pantry and started filling the kettle, a robot offered to help but he politely declined.

The hero valiantly dodged the invasive death bots and swept in just as Dr Eon forgets to shut it *foolish move* he bound over the bristled pressure plate and charged into the lair. He continued to dodge the robots' gazes as he leapt past the cold lab desk and into Dr Eon's planning room.

"Yeah just sit there on the second seat, no not the table, stop messing with my coas- never mind. Do you prefer herbal or Tetley?"

"I will not fall for your poison traps!"

"...Ok, well I'm making Tetley so don't expect anything else if you change your mind." About five minutes pass as Alexander set to the kitchen, grabbing a couple custard creams for himself as he prepared a steaming cup. Eventually he entered his dining room and sits down near where the hero was investigating.

The hero waited for hours as he investigated the ominous vases, staring into their intricate scriptures of zig zags and birds. "A secret code..." he looked into the eyes of some robots as they prepare to fire rounds into him while his back is turned, but his gaze wards them off.

"Look, I don’t know if you can hear me through your rose tinted glasses, but I am about 75 now, if this were any other scheme it would be pointless to prevent anyway. I have about 20 years left of my life that I can see myself getting through, even without the numerous beat downs. I gave up after the death ray, you wouldn’t let me stay in London so I moved to Kent. You were about 25 when you started your hero thing, I was 50. I just want a peaceful death." Alexander took off his expensive rounded sunglasses revealing his tired eyes.

The hero braved through Dr Eons monologue as he tried to find the sinister lever leading to his newest weapon.

"Look, Mike, yes I know your name is Mike, I just don't care anymore. You have a good thing going, don't wait another 20 years to see my old bones to rest while the city goes unprotected."

Mike turned to the old man in his overused black trench coat, he seemed to be where Dr Eon sat, but he wasn't Dr Eon anymore. "But you wanted to rule the world, you said you would stop at nothing!"

"This is nothing, I stopped at the first place I've never heard of."

Mike looked at Alexander, Alexander didn't seem to bothered that he had been following him, in fact he was more than happy to let him into his house, the robots offered him some cookies but he ignored them. Mike felt bad. "I'll leave now, sorry to bother you."

"You didn't bother me, you just crossed off something on my to do list." Alexander smiled.

"I suppose you did the same for me too." With that, Mike exited the cottage, content, yet somehow saddened at the same time.

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Submitted by Complete_Regret7372 on Thu, Sep 01, 2022 to /r/WritingPrompts/

The prompt

A reformed villain is living a peaceful life in a village far from the city they used to torment. After grabbing supplies from the local market, they take the quiet route back home, stopping halfway along the path. Without turning around, they ask "How long do you plan to follow me for, hero?"