Man, You Just Keep On Having Good Ideas! We Need To Have More Interactions Between Rusty And Nine.< --

“Man, you just keep on having good ideas! We need to have more interactions between Rusty and Nine.”  < -- Hello!  It’s me again, the really descriptive prompter who keeps asking you to post stuff on “An Archive Of Our Own.”  (You could probably call me “Mr. Archive Guy,” if you want!)

First, I want to say you did an outstanding job with “The Fox And The Robot.”  I loved all your descriptions of Rusty, and the deeper insight into Nine’s head as he was listening to her try and convince him to help her!  Very well done, a truly great read!  

Second: I’ve come up with another one.  In contrast to all my earlier prompts, which delved into some fairly dark territory, I mean for this next one to be much more lighthearted, with some heartwarming bits mixed in.   

I call this one “A Mangey Tale”

So here’s the setup: it’s Episode 6.  Nine has just gotten Sonic into his trans-dimensional spaceship, pulling him away from the battle currently underway between the evil Doctors and the Rebels in New Yoke City.  The ship is flying through Shatterspace, heading towards the Grim.  Nine turns around in midflight, and asks Sonic where he’s been this whole time.  

Now it’s ‘canon’ that in the process of Sonic detailing his adventures in the Boscage Maze, Nine was told about Mangey.  But then I got to thinking: what must that have been *LIKE* for Nine?  To learn all about a ‘variant’ of himself that’s almost completely feral?  

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So for starters: as soon as Nine gets Sonic to start talking about the Boscage Maze, he becomes TOTALLY invested in telling the story instead of urging Nine to turn the ship around so he can go help the rebels.  

Soon enough, Sonic gets to the part where he first meets the Scavengers.  He basically says, “I met a primitive, tribal version of Knu… er… Renegade Knucks, a primitive, tribal version of Rebel… there was even a primitive, tribal, version of you, Nine…”

And Nine says, “A primitive version of *me,* huh?”  

Then Nine momentarily closes his eyes, and he indulges in the “Imagine Spot” trope.  Although it lasts a quick second in real-time, we’re given a peek straight into Nine’s imagination, where he’s now envisioning an idealized (albeit in a primitive jungle setting) version of himself.

Here, he is basically Senki Ishigama from the manga/anime “Dr. Stone.” Which is to say: a super-scientist, who is also the leader of a primitive tribe.  “Chief Nine” is able to craft all sorts of amazing wonder technology using just twigs, flint, and some coconuts. And although these lunkheaded primitives he leads are decidedly undeserving of it, ‘Chief Nine” has nonetheless deigned to take pity on these slack-jawed jungle dwellers and guide them with his superior intellect and inventive genius.

In the “real world,” Nine opens his eyes and basically says, “This version of me was the chief of the knuckleheaded tribe, right?”  

And Sonic says, “Uh, no.  No he was NOT.”

This is where things start to really get silly.  Sonic’s story completely goes off-track as Nine asks question after question about Mangey… liking absolutely NONE of the answers that the blue hedgehog gives about his Boscage Maze variant.  

He’s appalled to hear that this variant of him walks around on all fours.   Disgusted that he barely talks and mostly communicates in doggish growls. Upset that Mangey attacked Sonic right after Sonic saved his life. Hates that his name IS “Mangey.”   On and on and on!  (You could potentially have a LOT of fun with this, Bluebunnyears!)

With an ever-growing sense of morbid fascination, Nine keeps asking Sonic questions about Mangey, desperate to find some “silver lining” about this jungle-version of him that he can take pride in.  In the end, it culminates in Nine crying out: 

“At least tell me he was HOUSETRAINED!”

And Sonic shrugs his shoulders.  “Well, the Scavengers didn’t exactly HAVE houses in that jungle they lived in…”  

Then Sonic asks Nine if he can finally get back to the story he was trying to tell instead of focusing just on Mangey. Nine (now completely disgusted to be even remotely associated with the jungle boy,) grumpily and sullenly mutters “Yes.”  

So Sonic does.

When Sonic gets to the part about how he showed Mangey how he was capable of flying, and describes the feral boy’s happy laughter as he helicoptered through the air for the very first time… it deeply touches Nine’s heart.  Inwardly, Nine wonders to himself whether Sonic has some kind of genetic predisposition to always do extra-nice things for two-tailed foxes.  

Then Sonic interrupts his own story, to comment, (along the lines of,) “You know, as far as Mangey goes, it really is a shame I didn’t have you along with me on this adventure, Nine.  You probably could’ve taught Mangey a lot!”

“Me?  Teach?”  Nine scoffs.  “I don’t have the patience to be a teacher for normal people, much less for Mangey the Monkey-Fox-Boy!”

“I think that probably just watching you in action might’ve been enough.”

Sonic reaches forward and pats Nine on the back as he says this.

“Seeing how brave and fearless you are when you fight might’ve inspired Mangey to develop more courage. Seeing how smart you are might’ve encouraged him to learn more.  Seeing how helpful you always are to me, how you’ve always got my back… maybe that might’ve gotten him to fight less with his own friends.  At least, I’d like to think so.”  

Hearing all this puts a very warm, fuzzy feeling in Nine’s heart.  He takes a hand off the steering wheel, reaches behind, and pats the hand Sonic’s placed on his shoulder.

“And, hey, I’m really sorry I got separated from you, Nine.  Especially for such a long time.”

“Not your fault, Sonic.”  Nine looks forward, in the direction of his destination: The Grim.  “Soon enough, separation will never be a problem for us again.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain in just a little bit.  Why don’t you finish your story first, Sonic?  You sounded like you were almost done.”

So Sonic does.  Our story finishes with Sonic describing his nose touching the green Paradox Shard on Thorn Rose’s hammer. 

++++++

What do you think?

Hello Mr. Archive Guy! I absolutely love this prompt! We need some humor!

Sorry, it took so long, I had a lot of stuff I was busy with so it took me a while to answer requests.

Anyway, here you go, I hope this makes up for it <3

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The Shattership blasted at full speed into the vast space of the Shatterverse. The fox pilot listening to his rambling passenger that was a blue hedgehog. He listened as the hedgehog described his adventures in a jungle universe. There were all sorts of overgrown trees and plants, things Nine became curious about how that would've looked, having never even seen a normal tree or flower before.

Then Sonic told him about other variants.

"That's when I met a primitive, more tribal version of Knuckl-uh Knucks, Rou-Rebel, and there was even a tribal of you Nine!"

"A primal version of me, huh?"

"Yep, and let's just say you were rather...."

Whatever Sonic said next was blocked out due to Nine imagining what it must've been like to be in a primitive world. He was probably the only smart one there. He was the chief of the tribe. He made all sorts of weapons and crafts using just tree bark, flint, and coconuts. He can imagine himself leading a tribe of idiots who couldn't even start a fire on their own, however, he chose to take them under his wing out of pity for how pathetic they were.

He was brought out of his thoughts, cutting off Sonic's rambling with a question that dripped with daydream pride.

"So, I'm guessing this other me was the chief of this knuckleheaded tribe?"

Sonic paused and stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes at the question before he smiled in utter amusement.

"Uh...No, no he was NOT. Were you even listening?"

"I was busy thinking how this other me led those dunderheads through surviving with my superior intellect!", Nine's voice had a slight worry.

"Oh...Oh my gosh!", Nine turned when he heard snickers coming from the other, glaring at the chuckling urchin.

"What?"

That's when Sonic, who was trying not to break down in laughter, began to describe how this other him actually was. Nine was both disgusted and horrified as Sonic went on and on about his other variant. This version of him walked on all fours like a wild beast, spoke in doggish growls, and just acted like a wild animal. He was even more upset when he learned that this other him attacked the hedgehog after he saved him! There was more and more, and Nine found himself APPALLED by this other him. Mangey was named because of how mangey his fur was, he cowered in the face of a threat, WHIMPERED, he even ATE BARK.

"At least tell me he was HOUSETRAINED."

Sonic shrugged.

"Well, they didn't even really HAVE houses."

Nine groaned, slightly out of annoyance at this other him and embarrassment out of even knowing what this other him was like. He was disgusted to even be associated with a mangy animal.

"Hey, can I get back to telling you the story?"

"...Fine.", Nine sulked as Sonic began to continue his tale, cringing when the other him was mentioned. That's when Sonic reached the part of the story, where he showed Mangey how to fly, describing with fondness at the mangey fox's laughter. Something that deeply warmed the kitsune's heart at how Sonic was so unfathomably kind to foxes with two tails.

"You know Nine, it's a shame you weren't there with me. You could've taught Mangey a thing or two!"

"Me? Teach? I don't have the patience or the time to be a teacher for anyone, and I'd rather die than be one to Mangey the Monkey-Fox-Boy!"

"Aw, that's a shame, you two could be friends!"

"I highly doubt it. We're too entirely different people, I don't think it would've done anything if we were anyway."

"I think seeing you in battle would've been more than enough."

Nine slightly flinched when he felt warmth on his shoulder, before relaxing when realizing it was Sonic's hand.

"Seeing how brave and fearless you are when you fight could've inspired him, and maybe seeing what you can do with that big brain of yours maybe could've made him want to learn more on his own. Not to mention, you're always there when I need you, maybe that could've made him fight less with his friends. At least that's what I think."

Nine felt his chest become warm and fuzzy at that kind, proud words spoken by his only friend. He hesitated before moving his hand up to softly pat the hand on his shoulder.

"Nine, I-I'm sorry I got separated from you, especially for such a long time."

Sonic's voice was full of genuine regret for something he didn't mean to do. Nine felt a pit form at how unhappy the hedgehog was, and how much he was blaming himself for leaving when he was sucked into the shard without his control.

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault.", his eyes caught the bright purple portal of their soon-to-be home, "Soon enough, separation won't be a problem anymore."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain in a bit, for now, why don't you finish your story."

As the hedgehog concluded his tale, they entered the Grim. Their new home.

UUUHHH i dont know much about tumblr yet, and i dont know if this is how i ask something, or if u even take request still, but just wanna say that ur nine analysis are AMAZING, my brain doesnt think too much into some things so im very grateful for this kinds of analysis, since they help me understand characters better, especially nine, like at first i wanted to protect him with all my heart... Now its the same but the feeling is def way more stronger KJSKDJ

Anyway jjst wanted to ask if ur planning to do some fic related to thunderstoms, i just have a very soft spot for sonic comforting tails during a storm, and since we have seen so much nine angst, maybe..

Hello, @fann1details! I'm so glad you like my analysis of Nine! Of course, I still take requests. And I love analyses for the same reason, that's why I do it, to pick apart what I think the writers are trying to convey in this character or scene or whatnot so I'm glad it helps you too!

I have been planning a thunderstorm fic yes! Every Sonic and Tails, or in this case Nine, fan writer should have a thunderstorm fic of the two!

Here's one that I've been drafting out for a while, I hope you like it.

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Thunderstorms are the worst.

Those loud cracks of thunder made Nine flinch, reminding him of how sensitive his ears were. While he was lucky to be in his base and not outside to see the lightning, which made him shudder due to how electricity was used against him during his time in the council. He, with Sonic's help, managed to escape the tyrants and was now on the run.

Now they were merely hiding out in Nine's lab, which the fox knew they wouldn't find them there. The hedgehog was currently upstairs, cooking chili, the spicy but pleasant scent lingered around the base. Nine found it a nice gesture, and one greatly appreciated. Lately, all he ate was whatever he could find, like protein bars, and juice, and if he got lucky some pieces of ham or sausage he managed to steal.

Of course, they had to go to a store to get the cans of chili. Only, the thunderstorm had started long before that. He tried to hide his flinching as best as he could and tried to suppress his shudders when a bolt of lightning shot through the sky. Sonic didn't need to know his weaknesses.

But still even after he didn't show a sign of fear and they had the chili, the blue blur still glanced at him with some kind of worry. Nine figured it wasn't that Sonic thought he was weak in storms, he was much too nice for that, but perhaps the other him, 'Tails', dealt with...problems from thunderstorms.

He managed to hide it, being lucky that when he failed, the hedgehog wasn't looking. They finally made it to the lab, and the hedgehog went ahead and worked on something to eat. Nine greatly appreciated the gesture, and he resumed working on a random invention.

He paused as he realized he was missing a part, he moved over to where the spare bolts and screws were kept, using his metal tails to reach the top of the shelf, only that was when the biggest clap of thunder decided to strike.

When it happened Nine found himself yelping in fear, flinching, falling over due to the sudden movements, instinctively making his metal tails hold onto something and grab the shelf, causing it to fall on him with a loud crash.

Nine groaned, feeling the bruises the impact of the metal holder left.

"Nine!", he heard the voice of his companion yell as they ran down to see what that sudden yell and crash was, finding the urchin two feet away from the mess, "You ok? What happened?"

The Kitsune looked over at the blue blur, finding nothing but concern and panic in his gaze. Not being able to resist, he fired a snarky comment in response, grunting in between due to being under a heavy object.

"What do you think happened?... Ugh...Yeah, I'm fine."

The hedgehog paused in embarrassment at the stupid question, instead looking over the kit as they dug themselves out of the rubble of metal. Gloved hands reached out and gently squeezed the fox's arms before the owner snatched them away.

"I said I was fine, I just fell, panicked, and grabbed the shelf. Now I'm going to have to fix it."

"How'd you fall?"

"Slipped", Nine lied, not wanting the blue urchin to know of his pathetic startle due to some force of nature. Sonic seemed to be studying his expression, seeming to look for deceit, but the fox kept his face steady, and the hedgehog relaxed, relief flooding his gaze.

"Well, I'm glad nothing was broken. Anyway, the food's ready-"

He was cut off by another loud clap of thunder and a yelp of fear from the kit. The fox covered his mouth, but it was too late. The hedgehog looked at him with sympathy in his gaze, a small smile forming.

"Aw, buddy."

Nine stayed quiet, sending the urchin a glare. He wrapped his arms around himself as he turned his back to the sympathetic hero. He closed his eyes waiting for the mocking laughter but it never came. Instead, he felt a hand gently rubbing his head, finding the other in front of him, still looking at him with kindness.

Then the spikey speedster spoke, telling him it was alright to be scared, stating that everyone was scared of something. Nine huffed not believing him until the hedgehog told him about his fear of water, surprising the fox.

Sonic spoke that he couldn't even get knee-deep in water without squirming, and the kit found himself relaxing, then the spikey mobian suddenly speed off bringing back two bowls of chili to eat. They spoke, providing each other comfort, forgetting all about the storm outside, eating spicy delicious chili.

For the first time, Nine felt at home.

I don’t know whether to call this a “writing prompt,” because it’s such a DETAILED idea, that it’s more like a summarized story in its own right.  I would honestly be HONORED if you would flesh this ‘summary’ out into a full short story with your beautiful prose, but if it’s ‘just too much,’ then I understand… it’d also be cool just hearing your thoughts about this idea of mine!

I call it: “Nine’s Happiest Ending.”

Basically, it draws from two theories that’ve been going around. First: that Sonic’s going to rely on Nine to recombine the pieces of the Paradox Prism. Second: that all the different “alternate versions” of Sonic’s friends, (example: Mangey, Nine, Sails,) represent ‘shattered fragments’ of each’s friend’s personalities, and once the Paradox Prism is recombined, the alternates will also be recombined into their original ‘Prime’ selves (and effectively die.)

On with the story!  

&&&&

The Chaos Council has been defeated.  Sonic brings the last Paradox Shard to Nine in Nine’s lab, then sits in a chair as Nine gets busy combining all the Paradox Shards.  As he works, Nine notices that Sonic seems a bit depressed and guilty-looking.  When he questions Sonic about this, the hedgehog admits that he’s feeling morally conflicted about having all the different “alternates” of his friends (and their worlds) effectively DIE, so that he can get his “original” world and “original” friends back.  To Sonic’s surprise, Nine calmly assures him that it’s all okay, that recombining the Paradox Prism is the best possible choice.  He even hugs Sonic reassuringly as he says this.  Sonic is deeply touched, and says that Nine is one awesome little guy as he hugs him back.

But Sonic is unaware that Nine has a special little gizmo hidden in his back pocket.  It’s programmed so that when the Paradox Prism is recombined, and Nine and all his fellow alternates “resynchronize” back into in the fox called Tails… it’ll be in a manner of NINE’S OWN DESIGN.  

The final shard is put into place.  There’s a brilliant flash of light… and then Sonic is back in Green Hills will Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Big, Shadow, and Tails!  They’re all so happy!  

Except that Tails doesn’t QUITE seem 100% like his usual self, for some reason.  For example, he seems to be almost flatly ‘going through the motions’ of friendship with all his friends… except for Sonic, (with whom it’s completely heartfelt.)  At one point, Sonic catches sight of Tails staring and touching his two tails as if marveling at their fluffiness.  And a few times, it almost seems like the little fox flinches at the sound of his own name.  

But Sonic doesn’t give it THAT much thought!  

Later that day, Tails goes up to Sonic, and convinces him to spend the whole rest of day together… just the two of them, no one else!  Sonic and Tails go all over Green Hills.  Tails is DELIGHTED by all the blue skies, beaches, and palm trees!  Then they go to Tails’ workshop, and fly around a bit in the Tornado and eat chili dogs for dinner and spend the rest of the day blissfully goofing off together, until Sonic falls asleep…

…The next morning, Sonic wakes up.  To his shock, he finds that his fox friend has been working all through the night, constructing seven spidery mechanical tails for himself, which he then attaches to his body.  As he turns around and faces the thunderstruck hedgehog, Nine happily thanks Sonic for everything.  His life is finally happy and complete.

&&&&& 

What do you think?

This is AMAZING!!!!

Such a wonderfully thought-out prompt, of course, I'll write this out! Thank you for spending time to write out all of this! Must've taken a long time, so I'm honored you came to me about this idea!

Alright onto the story, I hope you like it!

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The rebellion was won. The Chaos Council have been defeated, now put in prison for their dictatorial crimes. With Nine's help infiltrating the base and helping in taking it down from the inside, and the Rebel's firm determination, the war was finally won. They were finally free.

But that was a part of their victories, the biggest one being the Shard, the LAST Shard they need to fix the world in Nine's hands. However, Nine noticed that Sonic didn't really treat it as a victory.

It came at a cost of course. In order to restore the world, the Shatterverse will have to disappear, and everyone who resided in it. They'd fade and become nothing but mere traits, it's a rather complex way to die, Nine mused. Nine and some other variants accepted it and others took it understandably. Anger, denial at their own identity, tears at their true existence.

It didn't matter if they didn't accept it, it was going to happen anyway. Nine moved to grab another shard to attach it to the others when he paused.

Sonic had been surprisingly silent. He was usually running around, exploring his lab with wide shimmering eyes of excitement, or prodding Nine on what he was making and keeping Nine company. Nine didn't mind it, he liked not being alone anymore. So he found himself confused when he realized this.

He turned over to look at the hedgehog, who was sitting on a red stool against the wall, looking at the ground with a conflicted look in his eyes.

His ears were drooped.

Placing the shard down Nine turned to the urchin once more.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm?"

Sonic looked up, probably having been startled by his thoughts. He looked surprised at the question, before glancing at the ground once more.

"N-nothing it's just...", Sonic sighed as he glanced up at the metal kitsune once more, "Is this the only thing we can do? In order to restore the world the Shatterspace will have to stop existing? A-all of you will stop existing...I mean, I want to go home but..."

"Sonic.", Nine spoke calmly as he placed a hand on his only friend's shoulder, the hedgehog looked up at him with surprised, yet fragile, eyes.

"It's ok."

"No, it's not! You all should be able to live too, and the rest of the Shatterspace. Just all of it will be gone, all of you will be gone when we combine them-"

Sonic was cut off as a certain bundle of fluff, one that would have never done this, wrapped their arms firmly around him a genuine embrace.

"This is the best option. They won't just be gone. They'll still be there, just faintly. I'll be there, right by your side. I promise everything will be ok. This is the best option, we'll be ok. You'll be ok. I promise."

Sonic was stunned into silence for a moment, he didn't expect to be hugged by Nine of all people. The fox was usually so closed off. It didn't last long as he wrapped his arms around the fox to reciprocate the reassuring affection.

He chuckled softly.

"You are one awesome little guy, you know that?"

Nine snorted with amusement. Of course, now he knew that but Sonic was the one who gave him the idea of a new home. He made the gadget beforehand, one that'll give him full control of how they combine once more, a Tails in his own design.

He'll keep his promise.

He gave the hedgehog a light squeeze before pulling back. Smiling softly at the symbol of hope in his eyes, he smiled back.

"I know."

He walked back to the Prism, Sonic following behind. He lifted the shard, the final piece they needed. He turned to Sonic and held out his hand.

"Ready?"

Sonic nodded, taking his hand, his was firm and warm. Nine unconsciously squeezed lightly in response to the feeling.

And with that, the final piece was put into place. Everything was beginning to restore, the Shatterspaces combining to bring back the world they split from, every variant combining into the person they once were.

Nine could feel it. He couldn't see, hear, or think, but he could feel it. Sonic was gone, he couldn't find his hand anymore, nononopleasedontleavemealoneagain, He could feel himself becoming one, he could feel his body combining and squashing together with the other Tails. His thoughts, he didn't have any before-, were combining into theirs, no longer becoming his own. He was condensing, mashing, his limbs and brain combining with the others, and hecould'ntbreathhecouldn'tmovewherewashepleaseworkplease-

It stopped. He could feel his thoughts returning, he wasn't being mashed anymore, he could move, he could breathe, he could think. He was in control. He found himself laughing giddy with joy.

It worked.

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Sonic opened his eyes to lush green grass. Not overgrown like in the Boscage Maze but soft, and short, and right. He sat up quickly, looking around. When he took in the scenery, his eyes shimmered with joy, and a huge smile found its way on his face.

He was finally home.

Getting up quickly, he sped off in search of his friends. Speeding past, he nearly knocked a certain cat over.

"Big! Froggy! You're here, you're really here!"

He gave the feline a heartfelt hug, the cat was confused but not one to turn down a hug and carefully hugged back, not to prick his hand on the hedgehog's quills. After a split second, Sonic let go and ran off once more.

"Gotta go, I've got to see the rest of our friends!"

The purple cat confused waved at the already-gone blue blur. Sonic ran, enjoying the fresh familiar breeze of the wind ruffling through his quills, the soft smell of water and grass meeting his nose. He ran, and ran, looking everywhere for them. The chirps and chatter of flickies met his ears.

That's when he saw them, crowded around the familiar palm tree by the beach. Amy, with her usual red dress, pink quills, and flicky, Knuckles with his usual white mittens, red spines, and usual hard-headed expression, Rouge with her usual outfit of purple, white fur, and sultry gaze, and...

Tails, with the usual baby blues, the orange fluffy fur, and child-like wonder.

He missed them so much.

"Gang!"

They didn't even have time to react before the overjoyed urchin pulled them into a group hug. All of them let out exclaims of surprise, but Sonic pays them no mind. He missed them so much. Eventually, he lets them go.

"I missed you all so much! You're all you again!"

The others, other than Tails who gazed at him with an unclear expression, looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the oddly more chipper-than-usual hedgehog. Knuckles spoke.

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? I-wait don't you all remember the whole being shattered and..."

He trailed off when it didn't look like it was ringing any bells. He smiled and waved a hand.

"You know what, never mind. I'm just happy to see you all.", all of them raised their eyebrows, but he simply continued to beam. They soon relaxed and the usual chatter soon formed. Knuckles and Rouge with their usual banter and Amy being sweet and passionate as usual, and Sonic was being Sonic.

But the blue hedgehog noticed that his little buddy was surprisingly quiet. Tails was gazing around the beach with childlike wonder, he felt the sturdiness of the tree trunk beside him and picked up sand letting it slip through his fingers in curiosity.

When the others talked to the fox, those baby blues seemed to dim with boredom, and the kitsune's voice was rather flat and factual, but when Sonic spoke or acknowledged him, the kits eyes seemed to shine more, and his voice was filled with joy. When his name was spoken, it looked like the child flinched, and Sonic even caught him feeling his Tails, almost mesmerized by them.

He found it odd like something wasn't right. But he brushed that feeling off, maybe the fox remembered what happened and he missed being whole again. He decided he'd ask the fox later, knowing it'd just raise some eyebrows from the others. After hanging out the others went off, having things they needed to do, leaving the hedgehog and fox, who didn't seem to have anything going on.

The hedgehog turned to the kitsune, who brightened up in his presence.

"So, how're you doing little buddy?"

The kit seemed to pause in surprise at the affectionate term, but blissful joy soon took its place.

"I'm doing ok. I'm glad you're ok too, still running around and all."

Sonic paused at the odd comment, before chalking it up to some kind of light ribbing. He smiled and switched between stretching and running in place.

"Yep! You know me, gotta get those laps in!", he stopped and turned to his best friend beaming, "So how 'bout you? Got any new inventions?"

Tails paused, and then glanced at the ground, feeling his tails again. It seemed like they weren't something he was used to.

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, I got a ton of inventions! But, I'm not really working on anything right now, and I don't really have anything to do.", the fox glanced over at him expectantly.

Luckily Sonic caught on.

"Well...I don't seem to have anything to do either, so....You wanna go get some Chili Dogs?"

Tails seemed to be confused with the idea of Chili Dogs like he never heard about them before. He snapped out of it soon though, and nodded, smiling gently, his eyes shimmering with euphoria. That was what happened the rest of the day. Just two best friends hanging out. Sonic noticed that Tails seemed more interested in the surroundings and nature of Green Hills and actually seemed confused about what a flicky was. Sonic found it odd, but when he asked about it, Tails simply told him he was fine, that he was just so happy to be hanging out with him.

Then Sonic asked if he remembered, if he was him, and the fox's response was...odd. The kit seemed to tense up at the question before they turned to Sonic with a smile, a somewhat reassuring smile trying to pass off as a joking one, asking what Sonic was talking about, that he was the Tails he's always known, maybe even better.

Sonic didn't think much of it, he was just happy to be hanging out with his little bro. When they got to the fox's workshop, it didn't seem like a place that was familiar to the owner, which again pushed Sonic to ask if the kit was alright, the response is that he was tired. Glancing outside, the hedgehog noticed how dark it was now.

Agreeing to turn in for the night, the two went to bed in Tails' home, Tails was on the bed, even though the fox offered it to Sonic, who turned him down for the couch. When Sonic closed his eyes, he was in slumberland immediately.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sonic woke to the typical chirping of flickies. He sat up yawning and stretching, beginning to mumble good morning to his roommate before realizing the bed was empty. The hedgehog scratched his head in confusion, before frowning with both concern and annoyance on remembering the fox's habits.

He sighed and dashed out of the house and to the workshop. The door was closed, but he could hear the child tinkering away, most likely having worked all night. He knocked on the door.

"Hey bud, you in there?", he knew he was, it was just a habit.

"Yeah, come on in! There's something I want to show you actually!"

Sonic paused at the mention of a surprise, before letting excitement slightly take hold. He opened the workshop door to find the fox tinkering away on something, which was unfortunately covered from his view.

Sonic began to walk over to the fox.

"You know bud, as much as I'm touched that you made something awesome for me, you can't keep putting off your sleep to work on your inven...tions...", Sonic trailed off as he got to the kit, seeing just what he was working on.

Seeing his 'surprise'.

There were tails. metal tails, wrapped around the body of the kit, covering his namesake. No, covering his little brother's namesake. He felt his heartbeat increase as he began to realize who this really was.

Noticing his silence, the fox in question turned to him with crazily satisfied eyes, his smile was joyful, almost tender.

"I know you're more used to the two tails on him, but I couldn't really get used to it. Felt weird just leaving them out in the open, you know?"

Sonic couldn't form a sentence, shock taking over his body.

"N...ni...", was all he could utter.

The fox only smiled with glee and giddiness.

"Hi Sonic, I told you I'll be by your side didn't I?", his voice started out soft, then raised with bubbly excitement, "Besides, it'd be much better this way! I gotta admit I can see why you wanted to restore the shards so much, there's so much grass, trees, clean water - this place is paradise!"

Sonic didn't respond as Nine continued to ramble, he wanted to take a few steps back, to process what was happening, but he was frozen in place.

"-riends are kinda annoying but I can live with that, as long as they don't bother me I'm ok with them! Now nothing can get in our way!", the fox approached the urchin, and gently took his hands in his squeezing them softly, baby blues started into shocked emeralds with nothing but adoration and affection, with nothing but love, "We'll be together from now on no matter what. We'll go on adventures, beat Eggman, eat Chili Dogs, we can do everything we did before! Thank you Sonic, without you I would never have had anything to fight for. I wouldn't have found hope if I never met you, I would still be alone."

Nine smiled as he happily pulled the thunderstruck hedgehog into a loving embrace.

"Thank you Sonic, I'm so happy, I feel so complete. You gave me everything I ever wanted, and I'll give you inventions or gadgets that you need. We'll never be apart again.", tears of joy, of relief, of utter exhaustion began to spill from the broken fox's eyes,

"We'll be together forever."

A Deep In-Depth Analysis of Nine 1/9: Warped Isolation Part 2

Hello! Welcome to the second part of this analysis of my favorite character in the Sonic media! Now in the first part, we discussed Nine's home life, and how that home life pushed him into firm isolation. But now I want to talk about the effects that Sonic had on him that not only furthered his bad ideals but made Nine possibly realize something both beautiful and horrifying.

Let us begin, shall we?

Section Three: "Sonic?"

We left off with Sonic running off, Nine surprisingly chasing after him. As Sonic carelessly walks around New Yolk, Nine tells him firmly to stay quiet and out of sight. Only for Sonic to tell that when Nine remembers, not knowing Nine is just a variant yet, being sneaky and silent is not his forte.

What do ya know, they get captured. And as the baby flies off with them, they have a typical sibling argument of 'yes', 'no', and repeating. Then Nine asks in his usual snarky way if Sonic was sure they were friends. But we don't get Sonic's response, instead, it just goes to Rouge and Knucks.

Then Sonic wakes as if having been knocked out, which is interesting to me because we don't see what happened before, or what happened in between those two points. Sonic wakes up, first attempting to escape, only for Nine to solemnly state that he's wasting his breath. Then Sonic meets Rusty and the Council.

Some banter later, and the Council performs some tests. Interestingly Nine's behavior is to take note here. He's more concerned for the hedgehog, calling out his name in worry at first. Which makes me question what did Nine see after they were captured by the Council? What happened to Sonic to make him fall asleep in between.

During the tests, there was something that struck me as odd. Nine never saw Sonic run, not really, which has me question why he suddenly remarked that he has the same energy that powered the city.

His behavior toward the council here is interesting as well. Like he did in the last episode, Nine stays entirely neutral with them, not having a side to choose yet. But then comes the energy extractor scene. Sonic is forced to say his last words, remarking about all his friends. Saving a very special person for last.

As the energy extractor gets closer and closer, we get three separate shots of Nine and get more and more worried. Then Sonic speaks his actual last words:

"See ya, Buddy."

And Nine's face is visibly shaken.

I think this is where his wake-up was, where his cold splash of reality came. The realization that this hedgehog not only cared for him but was also his only hope of having a happy life was now about to be lost forever. That he can't lose this hedgehog or let him get killed. This was where his attachment came in tenfold.

Rebel manages to save Sonic, and Nine while everyone's distracted, moves to the computer, getting the cuffs off and freeing Sonic. Notice how he goes from not doing anything when Sonic is threatened, to being the most protective of the hedgehog.

When Sonic was being attacked by Rusty, there's an urgency that Nine understands, but he doesn't panic he keeps calm and stops the robot from annihilating the hedgehog. He disregards Rusty as a robot because to him it is. That's all she is and nothing more.

They defeat the robots and Sonic pulls them into a group hug, which they all pull away, disgusted and annoyed. They then plan to get the Shard and all go to receive it.

There's a fight scene, and all of them fight, yet Nine notices Sonic is in trouble first and immediately goes to help him, and only helps him other than himself in the battle. This I think shows Nine's emotional attachment becoming a protective instinct.

Then even more fighting later, Nine and Sonic manage to get to the shard. Nine goes ahead but Sonic hesitates, reflecting their ideals and views on others. Nine doesn't care for anything other than things they need, or in this case what Sonic needs, he doesn't stop for others and goes ahead, leaving them behind as long as they got what was needed.

Sonic, however, waits and stops, always willing to stop for others to help, it didn't matter that the thing he wanted, needed, was right there in front of him, others always come first. Only after an urging from Rouge and a gruff call from Nine does Sonic go ahead.

They get to the Shard and Sonic exclaims that it's too small before realizing what happened. Notice how while Sonic's clearly in distress, Nine doesn't try to comfort him, more concerned with more shards. This rather reflects on Nine's just birthing emotional attachment to Sonic is rather weak at the time and his attachment to Sonic is merely what he can have from it, not how it makes Sonic feel for now.

It's only when the Council attempts to break out that Nine still doesn't comfort him, but tells him to snap out of it, showing a rather mature understanding that they needed their heads straight.

That is until Sonic grabs the shard, and he begins to get pulled in. It's then that Nine shows concern, asking 'what's happening, to which Sonic merely responds by saying his name as he's pulled him.

As the hedgehog is Nine reaches out to try and keep the hedgehog from getting sucked in but it is too late. Nine calls his name, asking where he is in desperation ad concern. Then as his expression changes to one of sadness and melancholy, the screen moves away from him, reflecting how Nine is alone once more.

The screen turned black and only one word is said by Nine, a word said with confusion, worry, and sadness.

"...Sonic?"

I am going to continue from Nine's perspective as best I can but I wanted to mention this detail. While we do see what happens when Sonic is sucked into the shard, it's different with Nine. Instead of peaceful natural surroundings, or Dread cheering with joy, it's just darkness and silence the only word of Sonic's name being uttered, nothing more.

Back to Nine, he snaps out of his trance when he realizes that the Council is about to get in. Without skipping a beat he goes and uses something to grab the shard. He does not touch it unlike everyone else.

I have a theory that touching the shard puts that person's desires to the extreme, Thorn's desire to protect the jungle, Dread's obsessiveness for the Shard, and even Sonic's desire to go home, trying to send him there.

But I also have another idea that touching the shard can also be a test of that person's free will. Dread is a variant of Knuckles, the brave but naive echidna that was tricked by Eggman, Amy is the empathetic one, through Thorn is deeply affected by the shard to enhance the protective sense towards nature, snapping out of it when she sees what she did. Because Nine didn't touch the shard, he wasn't affected. Yet. But even if he does, I think it would either take a long time or he'd be able to manage it because he is a variant of Tail's, the brain and logical thinker of the group.

I'll probably elaborate on this theory later in a separate post.

Anyway, Nine grabs the shard and manages to sneak away unseen. It's when he's out of the vault that he sees the Rebels and Rusty, their eyes light up when they see him thinking he can help. There's no hesitance, Nine immediately glares at them, before leaving them behind, choosing isolation once more. But I think this could be an unconscious moment of self-destruction, leaving them behind and ruining his chances of other friendships.

Unhealthy isolation can lead to being self-destructive and pushing others away in a belief of it being 'self-preservation', of it being a warped form of something good, something safe. Nine is caught in two addictions; the addiction of isolation, believing he needs it to be safe, and to feel comfortable, and the growing addiction to his growing affection and love for Sonic.

We don't see what Nine did after he showed the shard yet. But he comes back when Sonic is caught in a fight with the rebels. This is where our next and (for now) last section begins.

Section Four: "It could be home."

Now we come to the last section until the second batch is released. We see Nine again when Sonic is in a battle between the Eggman's and the Rebels, Sonic was in trouble, and Nine came rather conveniently to his aid. When Sonic hops into his ship, Nine immediately leaves, leaving behind the rebels once more. Sonic originally protests, but Nine refuses, telling Sonic to tell him where he was first.

Sonic goes on to tell him his tale of the Boscage Maze, and Nine responds that confirms his theory that the shard is capable of so much more. He shows Sonic the shard, confirming that he did in fact leave the rebels for dead. Then he brings Sonic to the Grim.

This is a HUGE factor in Nine's character. First of all the scenery is one of a wasteland, with orange cracked grounds, grey crystals, and a wide endless blue sky with dozens of stars.

The Grim is just empty.

No people, no plants, no water, just beautiful emptiness. This is a huge factor in Nine's psyche if he made this world himself, but it could still be a huge insight into his mindset. It shows nothing but loneliness, a never-ending world of nothingness.

It's warped loneliness at its finest.

They land and get off the ship. Nine graciously welcome Sonic to 'their bright new future'. Not his, 'THEIR'. He's letting Sonic into his circle of isolation. But he isn't willing to break down his warped isolation.

Look at Nine here.

He's adorably excited for the first time we've seen him. Nine smiles in this scene more than he does in the first batch of the show. It's the first time he's genuinely smiling for more than two seconds. He is happy in this world, he's excited that he's going to have the world he oh, so wanted.

He describes it as possibly being home, the 'one Sonic lost', the 'one he never had'. This wording is very important, Nine is offering a new home for both of them. This indicates that Nine was at this for a while.

He still can't let go of the idea of isolation, offering a home that was isolated from everything else. He's asking Sonic to abandon his old home for this new one, which we all KNOW Sonic would never do. Sonic responds that it's not going anywhere, once again urging Nine to help out the rebels.

Nine's face changes from a mix of surprise and hurt to hardening frustration. He coldly rebuffs his disinterest in helping the city, but he doesn't force Sonic to stay. He allows Sonic to go back.

Then he comes back when Sonic is once again in danger. He states that he's going home after this and never looking back, that whether he goes with Sonic is entirely up to the hedgehog.

Only for Nine to get captured by the Council. But it's heavily implied he planned this. What his plan is exactly, we don't know yet.

Alright! So this is what I've got on Nine's warped sense of isolation so far until season 2 comes out. I hope y'all enjoyed it, see you in another post! <3

Hi again!  This is the guy who wrote the prompt for “Nine’s Happiest Ending,” (and also the prompt for Nine beating up his bullies,) and I gotta say: INCREDIBLE!  You exceeded my wildest expectations!  It’s really something when a story can be so tenderly heartwarming yet so fundamentally chilling at the same time.  Some of the most impressive moments for me included:

Sonic agonizing over whether or not it was right to recombine all the Shatterspaces.

The bit where Nine was resynchronizing with his other variants… and at first, his gizmo seemed to not be working and he almost LOST himself, but suddenly it DID work and Nine came out on top.

The part at the end where Nine had gone practically CRAZED with joy and happiness to be living in Green Hills with Sonic, while Sonic was completely stupefied realizing who "Tails" really was now.

Every single time Nine and Sonic hugged in this story.  Nine doesn’t receive nor give enough hugs.

You went above-and-beyond in terms of fleshing my ideas out.  Truly amazing job!

But might I trouble you for one SMALL little extra favor?  Is there *ANY* possible chance you could post this story onto “An Archive Of Our Own” and/or “Fanfiction.net?”  I would REALLY love to be able to relocate this masterpiece of yours easily -- later in the future -- and I know that Sonic Prime fanfic enthusiasts who tend to favor the major fanfiction websites over places like Tumblr would get as BIG a kick out of this darkly heartwarming tale as I did!  

(And if you could also post the fic about Nine beating up his bullies, that’d be EXTRA-cool!)

Thank you! I'm glad I exceeded your expectations! I was worried I'd mess it up somehow or you wouldn't like It so I'm really glad, I'm also glad you liked the bullies one as well! <3

I wanted to add a lot to that scene, this decision doesn't align with Sonic's morals or beliefs but it's one that's needed if he wants to get home.

I hope you don't mind I added an extra scene there. I wanted to make it clear that merging with the other Tails or variants most likely won't be pleasant at all. I wanted to add a bit of suspense that Nine might become a mere trait once more to the hope spot where it actually works.

I figured Nine would be EXTREMELY (or in other words become mad with euphoria) happy to not only stay with Sonic forever but also now live in a world he always wanted. I wanted to make it heartwarming, but also chilling due to the fact that Tails is now gone.

I wanted to make the hugs count! <3

And thank you for giving me these ideas to flesh out! If you ever come up with more I'd be more than happy to write them out, your ideas are so interesting and I never would've thought of them!

I can do that. Might be a while to get them on fanfiction.net (due to how difficult the process is there), so they'll be on archive first! :)

Again, I'm so happy you liked my stories! If you have any more ideas you want me to write out, feel free to ask!

Here's a thought. What if Nine hot a sonic but I that sonic is about as old as tails would be when he was supposed to meet sonic in the main verse.

If you want a Sontails fic, I don't really do that, my apologies. I can do fluff with these two in place of that if you're ok with that!

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Sonic sighed as he watched the fox tirelessly work away. It was getting late, and while Sonic didn't want the metal kitsune to overwork himself, it seemed that Nine was as bad, if not worse than Tails with his sleeping schedule.

"Come on bud, you need to rest."

"I already told you hedgehog, I'm fine. If you want to whine about rest you can go upstairs and use my bed, now leave me alone to work."

Sonic huffed in frustration and annoyance. Yep. Just like Tails. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He walked up to the kit and turned him around.

"I'm serious Nine. Bed. Now."

Nine's eyes narrowed and he snarled.

"And I said I'm. Not. Tired."

Yeah, ok, he wasn't doing this right now.

"H-hey, what're you-put me down!"

"Sorry little buddy, but you need to go to bed."

Sonic felt the kit kick and struggle out of his arms, but the kicks weren't hard, and his struggles were getting weaker due to the fox's true exhaustion. He heard the child sigh and smirked, knowing he had won. The kit's metal tails were currently drooped over in response to the vulpine's defeat, having been too tired to work in the struggle.

He carefully climbed the ladder with his cargo in tow with one hand, the other having to make sure the fox didn't slip off. Once he got to the top, he made his way to the fox's bed, gently setting the fox down once he got there.

The kit in question merely grumbled and began to wrap himself under the covers, slowly becoming more and more tired. The hedgehog chuckled.

"What was that about 'not being tired'?"

"Mrph.", the response was a muffled grunt, but Sonic knew the fox was telling him to 'shut up' because he was right. Laying down on the floor next to the bed, the hedgehog began to doze off.

"Grck!" Before being rudely awakened by something being thrown at him. Opening his eyes he found that the fox had thrown an extra pillow and blanket to his surprise. He looked at the person in question, who grumbled something about a 'stupid hedgehog' and 'making me sleep' as they laid back down and buried themselves in the covers once more.

The 'stupid hedgehog' merely smiled softly at the gesture, laying his head on the pillow and wrapping the blanket over him. As he slowly began to doze off he murmured out thanks.

"Thanks a lot, bud, see ya in the morning."

Nine didn't reply, too busy hiding a small smile at the caring gestures the hedgehog made. His two tails wagged slightly and gently at the feeling of being loved.