A large, bald man sat in front of an immense device, as he placed the panel back on, sighing in satisfaction.

"There, now this device will help me destroy Sonic once and for all!" He cackled, as a red orb-shaped machine hovered onto the console.

"Are you sure about this? Ever since your disaster with the Deadly Six, you've been obsessing over this machine." It said, concern for the man's state oozing into the machine's voice.

"This… this will work." The man replied, sighing heavily. "I hope..."

The robot tilted its head.

"Why don't you take a vacation? Your vendetta against Sonic has been ravaging your health. You need some time to recuperate."

The man ignored the robot's suggestion as he tried to fire up the machine, only for the console to beep and explode, throwing smoke into the angry man's face.

"That does it! This thing has done nothing but crash and burn every time I start it! How am I supposed to destroy Sonic when I can't even get this stable enough to actually test?" He roared, kicking the machine in anger, before calming down, taking several deep breaths.

After several minutes of silence, he turned to the robot.

"A vacation, huh?"

The robot nodded.

"It's not like Sonic will go anywhere while you're gone. Plus, you might think of a better scheme while you're relaxing."

The man nodded, brightening. "Who knows, I might get a good idea for this!" he laughed, before standing up.

"But where will I go? Most places have outlawed me. And I don't want to create an incident while on vacation. Having to work when I'm relaxing? Yuck!"

The robot nodded.

"You could try a virtual sim."

The man shook his head.

"No, I need to get away from this level of technology for some time. Besides, I want to feel something more real than a hologram."

The robot shrugged in defeat.

"I can't think of another place you can go… Without conquering it, of course."

As the man rubbed his bald head in frustration, a strange voice echoed in the room.

"...divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant..."

The man turned suddenly.

"Did you hear that?"

The robot stared blankly.

"Hear what?"

The man shook his head.

"Nothing. Must have been the wind."

"I wish a servant from the bottom of my heart..."

"There it is again!" he shouted, looking around in anger.

"What is it? I haven't heard- wait!" the robot shouted suddenly, turning in all directions.

"We're picking up a disturbance in the local time-space continuum."

The man raised his eyebrows, his mustache bristling in shock.

"What level?"

"Chaos grade… possibly stronger. These readings are off the charts."

"Where?" He began, as a strange green glow shone in the workshop, casting dust and metal casings aside as it materialized next to the man.

He stared at it for several seconds, before turning to the robot.

"Orbot, get this thing analyzed."

The strawberry-blonde Louise nervously hunched herself down behind some of her fellow classmates.

Today was the sacred summoning day, where all nobles would summon their familiars. So far, almost everyone had. Most had mice, cats, or birds, but some, such as the braggart Guiche, had summoned impressive creatures.

Even Kirche, Louise's rival, had summoned a salamander.

Quiet Tabitha even managed to summon a dragon. How could she compete with that?

It wouldn't be a problem, except that every spell she's ever cast has ended in an explosion, usually destroying anything in range. She had hoped it was fire, except that there was no open flame. The earth wasn't moved, so she could rule that out. No water, either. As for air, well… no wind came from those explosions. It was as if the magic just erupted without form or control.

The girl was afraid that today's ritual would result in the same manner: an explosion. If she could only remain hidden long enough to be ignored...

"...Miss Valliere hasn't done it."

Damn it!

Louise stiffened, as everyone backed from her. This was the moment she was dreading: the summons. She swore she would summon the wisest, bravest, most beautiful familiar anyone had ever seen. But those were empty words; she had nothing. She was Zero, Louise the Zero.

"With all your boasting, you should be able to summon up something more impressive than this," Kirche mocked, stroking her salamander lovingly.

Louise set her teeth. The idea of Kirche mocking her steeled her resolve enough to fire back an angry "Well, of course!", before holding her wand in front of her.

"My servant, who exists somewhere in this vast universe!"

Yeah… That should be broad enough to find something.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant, heed my call!"

That's descriptive enough.

"I wish a servant from the very bottom of my heart. Answer my guidance and appear!" She finished, bringing her wand down, as she prayed that things wouldn't explode…

It didn't explode… or rather, not immediately. It took a full two seconds this time before the blast.

Louise lowered her wand dejectedly, and began to walk away, tears filling her eyes as she braced to be expelled from the academy.

"Louise..." Kirche began.

"Shut up!" She roared in response, now stomping away.

"Miss Valliere!" Colbert's voice cracked across the courtyard, the harsh tone making her stop in her tracks.

"Return to your familiar!"

Louise stiffened, astonished that her spell worked.

A small smile broke across her lips.

It worked. It really worked.

The man stood, as several robots surrounded the portal, taking readings from every possible angle.

The feedback from the robots was promising: the wormhole was indeed stable, so he could traverse without fear.

With the help from his robots, they had managed to analyze enough of the wormhole to be able to theoretically reconstruct the gateway if need be. Already, assembly lines were hard at work creating the necessary components.

But his readings had revealed something else: Whatever was holding it stable on the other side, was losing power fast. If they didn't act now, the portal would close.

Luckily, there was enough time to modify an SXSU-401 engine to attach to an Egg mobile. Unfortunately, the internal power generator wouldn't be enough to bring him back. However, the engine would allow him to keep a lifeline with his Empire, a communications network, so he could keep tabs on his bases from afar.

He jumped into the seat, nodded to Orbot, and gunned the engine, flying through the portal.

While he had considered taking precautions, the probes had returned basic atmospheric information, showing that this other place had a habitable atmosphere, but any attempt at recovering visual information had resulted in garbage.

Hence, he had to physically go to this new world.

Louise looked in shock, at the strange floating metal sphere. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. The sphere hummed as he just floated there.

She approached the strange object, trying to figure out where the mouth on it was, as a gruff voice cleared itself.

"Where am I?" It growled, causing the noble to jump back in shock, staring at the metallic… thing.

"Yes, you… with the strawberry hair. Do you understand me?"

Louise nodded, as everyone around her laughed.

"Leave it up to Louise the Zero to summon such a weird familiar."

"What is that thing?"

"I don't know which is worse: her summoning or her spells."

The object grunted as it dropped to the ground, causing the humming noise to stop.

A corpulent, bald man wearing a red and white military jacket emerged from the device, stretching to his full height, which towered even over Colbert.

What caught Louise's attention was his face. Radiating from a large peach-colored nose was a pair of mahogany whiskers, bristling about a good distance from his face, giving him an almost cat-like appearance, if his hair wasn't so thick on the sides.

In contrast, his head was completely hairless, catching the sun's rays light a piece of polished steel.

"Well, what is this place?" He demanded impatiently, as Louise began to realize the truth of the incident.

This was her familiar. Her wise, beautiful, divine, and powerful familiar.

And he looked like a giant egg with arms, legs, and a mustache.

Anger welled up as she turned to Colbert.

"Can I try the summon again?"

The teacher shook his head.

"The ritual is a sacred process that shapes a mage's entire life. To perform it again would be a blasphemy."

Louise growled, as the man began looking around.

"Ok, so this is some kind of old castle. Trees, greenery, birds, and cultists..." he muttered, writing information down in a notebook. "It's a lot to take in."

Colbert's face turned stern.

"Finish the ritual, or I will be forced to expel you."

Louise approached the man, her face sullen. She tapped on his stomach, which was surprisingly resistant to her prodding. She had expected it to jiggle like jelly.

"Hmm?" The man looked down at her, as she pulled his face close to hers.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a commoner like you," she whispered, her face darkening, "You better be thankful."

As the man stared, Louise drew her wand from her pocket, bringing it down upon the man's forehead, as she began to speak.

"Pentagon of the five elemental powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar."

The man's brow furrowed as she dropped her wand to the side, returning it to her pocket, and pulled the man's face close to hers once again.

"Wh… What is this?" he demanded, and, before he could do anything, she kissed him on the lips.

To everyone's surprise, he pushed her away, brushing his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What kind of crazy place did I wind up? Really, do you kiss everyone that shows up here?" he growled, as he stopped suddenly, letting out a roar of pain, gripping his left hand.

"That's the contract of the familiar." Louise said sullenly, detached from the man's pain. "It will be finished soon."

The man roared one last time, before falling over, unconscious.

When the man came to, he found himself laying down, staring at a drywall ceiling, the wooden beams jutting out. To his right was another wall, and a break that looked like some kind of door. To his left, a four-poster bed. He groaned trying to sit up, the straw irritating his skin.

Then he saw her.

She sat in a chair, glaring at him, her pale pink eyes burrowing through him, as if she was looking at a piece of trash.

Her demeanor made his blood boil, almost like a certain hedgehog's.

"I've thought about it long enough to give me an ulcer, but I've given up. It looks like I'll be having you as my familiar."

The man's brow furrowed.

"A familiar… you mean, a servant?"

Louise nodded, the disgust never leaving her face.

"Is this how you treat tourists?"

The girl glared at him, before standing up from the chair. "What are you talking about. I summoned you here. I completed the contract, and therefore you're my servant."

The man grunted, annoyed, as he walked over to the window, looking out.

"Where's my Egg Mobile?" He growled.

Louise cocked her head in confusion.

"Egg… Mo...bile?" she asked, the words unfamiliar to her lips.

The man waved his hand. "The vessel I was in. I need it."

The noble snapped her fingers in recognition, before pointing to the side of her dresser, where it sat on its side.

"The mages had to team together to lift it up here. Even a dragon could barely move that thing."

"If you guys had asked, I could have left the antigrav system on. That would have made it easier to have moved. I hope you didn't scratch it," the man said, rummaging through it, before hitting a button, as it hummed to life, righting itself before shutting off again.

"Good, all systems are intact." he muttered, as he pulled out a modest suitcase.

"It seems pretty late," he commented, as he stifled a yawn. He turned around to see Louise removing her clothes.

The man choked on his own yawn, as he turned away.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm undressing. I want you to wash and iron these." she replied, tossing the uniform against his back.

This was his breaking point. He couldn't stand the way this girl was acting.

"Listen here, Louise. I have traveled a long way for a relaxing vacation. I didn't come here to play servant! Especially not to some spoiled brat like yourself!" He roared, ready to walk out the door, only to see Louise sitting there, staring blankly.

"So, you're just going to leave?" She asked, her voice monotone.

"I'm seriously thinking about it." The man replied angrily.

Louise didn't raise her voice, but the man could feel her anger seething underneath her skin.

"Figures. First I can't cast any spells, I summon the stupidest familiar, now he is going to leave. That's all I am, a failure." She punched her pillow in frustration.

"Woah, woah, woah, now hang on. Why are you such a failure?" The main demanded, waving his arms, trying to make her slow down.

Louise rolled over onto her bed.

"I'll tell you in the morning..." she mumbled, her eyes already closing. "Can you get the light?"

The man frowned, extinguishing the lantern's flame, before pulling out a blanket, turning his Egg Mobile's seat into a makeshift bed.

After several minutes of silence, Louise spoke up.

"Hey..."

"Hmm?" The man grunted.

"What's your name?"

Again, the room fell silent, before the man replied.

"Eggman. Dr. Eggman."

"Dr. Eggman..." Louise mused, letting out a small yawn. "What a strange name for a strange familiar..."

A/N: Hey all, I had this as an idea floating around, so I figured I'd try it out. Besides, what kind of antics can abound when Louise meets someone with even worse traits than her. Eggman's childish behavior and ego should conflict quite well with Louise's personality. Let me know what you think!