You Know I Have An Idea Involving Nine Seeing His Whole Self. Perhaps In Some Sort Of Shard Somewhere

You know I have an idea involving nine seeing his whole self. Perhaps in some sort of shard somewhere and perhaps Nine seeing shards of Tails and Sonic being bothers and possibly seeing the event that led him to being by sonics side.

It makes me think that if he had an angry outburst it would be him shouting how without him he isn’t whole (The whole being the life he could have) but with him being whole he would not exist (Nine is a variant in time with years of angst and his own memories, least how the theory goes of them all being shards of the original selves) Nine would never remember and be erased and while he’ll be glad of not having his past anguish happened, it wouldn’t be him anymore. Unless he does something about it.

I’m probably making it more complicated and sorry about that. What are your thoughts on this?

Nine would be horrified.

All of that trauma, all of his efforts, all of his friendship with Sonic.

Just to be a shard of someone he could never become? There his 'whole self' was, fluffy, healthy, happy, the last being something Nine desperately wanted.

He... still wants it.

But was this his choice or what he was made to choose?

He didn't know anymore.

He remembers yelling at Sonic, yelling at him for something even the speedster himself didn't know, ignoring the knawing guilt and self-hatred when those emerald eyes filled with pain and sadness at his cutting remarks.

He stormed away after that, leaving the hedgehog to wallow in his misery. He wasn't a person, but with Sonic he felt like he was. A person worthy of being loved, worthy of kindness, worthy of care. But was that all a lie? Did the hedgehog only care for him because of what he was?

Did Sonic only love him because he was a part of Tails?

Did he even love him for HIM?

Or was it merely because Nine could find a way to fix the world with the shards because Nine would find a way to erase the shattered space like it was nothing? Because they thought Nine would willingly off himself just to be nothing more than a trait?

No.

He wasn't just a trait. He was his own person. And he's not going to go back to being one. He isn't going to just wallow in self-pity, he's going to do something about it.

This world, the shatterverse, the GRIM, they'd all just be erased just like that.

But Nine isn't going to just let that happen.

No.

He's going to do something about it, whether the others, whether SONIC likes it or not.

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!

Can we see your Tails Squad idea?

Yup!

Here you go!

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Nine didn't know what to say when he learned about the squad of all of his happier counterparts. He didn't even know it existed until now. Now he did, he found himself conflicted. He didn't know whether to hate it or what.

He didn't hate them, but he wasn't a big fan of the smaller, softer, fluffier versions of himself. They were happy, ignorant, in blissful peace, lucky them.

Some of them came up to him, asking him questions he could care less to answer. He gave clear hints that he didn't want to be interacted with. Didn't want to be approached by the joy and happiness he can't have. He knew they weren't trying to make him uncomfortable, that they'd never really go out of their way to hurt him.

Besides how can you tell someone that their existence causes you nothing but emotional agony. Seeing them get affection from their Sonics, seeing them be blissful and happy, seeing them not have a care in the world made Nine's heartache.

It hurt being reminded of what he can't have. They have Sonics, they have big brothers who take care of them, support them, and love them unconditionally. Things Nine never knew about until now. Even if some Tails' didn't have a Sonic of their own, they had someone, Nine never even had that.

They would come up to him, with wide, curious, innocent eyes and ask about his metal tails, calling him cool, looking at him with nothing but friendliness, and Nine would only feel more pain about the innocence and childhood he lost because of that horrid place of misery. He would only see the softer, weaker, innocent him looking back up at him.

He felt wrong, disgusted with himself for failing to hold onto that.

He didn't want to be here anymore. He wanted to leave. He didn't want to watch any more Tails or Sonics, or any more affection take place in front of him anymore. He was in pain. His fight-or-flight response was kicking in.

He needed to leave. Now. He needed to get away.

He left without saying goodbye, not wanting to stare into those eyes again.

A Deep In-Depth Analysis Of Nine 1/9: Warped Isolation Part One

I'm going to talk about my boi again! This time it's about the harsh effects of isolation, trauma, abuse, emotional neglect, and a desperate emotional attachment that leads to a toxic and harsh cycle. Hahaha...ha...?

Now, I'm going to split all of this up into nine topics split in parts, in separate posts. Just so I don't overwhelm you all with buckets of information, and to make sure I get my point across in each of them.

Sorry guys, I'm full of angsty thoughts that I'm going to drag you in!

Now let us begin with the unhealthy effects of isolation he shows, well part of in this post, that's why it's called part one:

Section One: "I Have no Friends!"

Let's start with what his life started out like in New Yolk. It's already established that Nine has always been alone in this corrupt and overpowering city. Tails' parents are unknown in the canon, and their whereabouts are unknown. So it can be assumed that Nine's parents are the same. I think they didn't include Tails' parents because they aren't important to the game's lore or Tails' character, not as much as Sonic is.

Nine's situation is slightly more different but no less the same. While Tail's parents weren't ever mentioned or seen due to how Sonic influences the character, Nine's parents aren't mentioned to show just why Tails needed Sonic to rely on and confide in. But due to this being a world where Sonic doesn't exist, and a world where Eggman succeeds, Nine's lack of a guardian to take care of him made his world views extremely warped.

While Tails had Sonic to protect him and teach him right from wrong, Nine had nobody and learned to protect himself due to nobody showing any care for him, and as a result, doesn't have a clear idea of what's right and what's wrong. All he knows is pain, misery, and survival in this horrid place.

'Do whatever it takes to survive, doesn't matter what happens to anyone else, caring for anything other than yourself is a guarantee to be hurt, to be in pain.'

That's his mindset from what we've seen him so far. Nine only looks out for himself, he has no friends or companions and lives in isolation. It's not just out of his dislike for people, it's a firm coping mechanism.

Many studies involving isolation state that isolation can be good, however, there are deep signs that isolation is becoming unhealthy. When the isolation starts to lead to cutting yourself off from others or not interacting with anyone, it can lead to a deep toll on your mental health.

Unchecked isolation can lead to more anxiety when suddenly in contact with others, it can also lead to very aggressive behavior and higher risks of depression (which Nine doesn't have...yet.).

Now I know you guys are wondering what I'm talking about when I put that Nine has social anxiety. "He's a sassy, 'emo', mean, confident Tails", but he's actually so much more. Notice how frazzled Nine is when Sonic turns him around after breaking into his lab. I also want you to pay attention to Sonic here as well. He's excited to see what he thinks is Tails, only to be concerned and confused when he sees Nine's bad reaction. I also find it interesting how Nine's left-hand goes near his tail.

Then we get a close-up of Nine, his eyes are wide and he's breathing quickly, for a split second Nine's terrified, most likely scared and startled at another person, he also has the wrench raised as well to defend himself, which really helps with explaining the trauma I'll get to later.

Then it quickly turns into anger, not only enraged at this new intruder but also quite defensive at this new possible threat.

At first, Nine only intimidates Sonic to leave, going on walls and making himself loom over this new intruder, then he kicks him into some barrels, and tries to stab him with his tail. Some of you might be saying that Nine wanted to kill Sonic, but he only stabbed the sides of his head (and even then it would've only grazed Sonic's cheek) and legs, not his chest. They are warning attacks.

Then Sonic fights back and his attacks become more lethal, more deadly because the threat is beginning to fight back and continues to stay. Nine could've just thrown him out on the subway and returned to his lab, but he followed, wanting to make sure the threat was gone. Which makes me even more scared to know what he did to his bullies.

Things eventually lead to Nine being saved by Sonic from an oncoming train. Notice how it was because of his own metal tails he was stuck in that situation, and this stranger saved him. This leads to our next section.

Section Two: "No One Has Friends Here!"

Now we begin our next part, Where Sonic has just saved Nine from an oncoming train. Nine of course is shocked and surprised, confused about why this blue hedgehog would save him. This is another way the city has affected Nine, in a way where he was expected to help himself.

This is a moment that most likely resonates with Nine, as well as the rest of his interactions with Sonic. At this point though, Nine still holds some distrust but doesn't attack anymore. As he stands he firmly rebuts Sonic's attempts to get close to him.

To Sonic, this is a chance to get through to who he thinks is Tails, to Nine this is merely a standstill. As he states that 'fabricated stories won't keep him from fighting back', calling Sonic an intruder. That's when Sonic pleads with him to stop, obviously hurt. I find it interesting that we don't see Nine's face as he does, when I watch that scene, you can clearly tell that Nine is reacting, but you can't see his face for some reason.

Then the backstories come. To Sonic, this is still tails, so he still says 'you', he explains that Nine was 'a happy little fox' doing 'brainy little fox things'. The bullies picked on tails, he came by, and Tails was saved and became Sonic's sidekick.

To Nine, this is a deeply personal experience, so he's shocked and confused about how this guy knows that. The way he says it, he was a 'kid minding his own business but not minding his surroundings', then some 'creeps' picked on him and beat him until he did something about it.

Sonics is light and simple, but it also shows that Sonic saw it, but he doesn't know how it feels, and he doesn't understand how it could've affected Tails and in turn affected Nine. Nine's is deep and harsh, Nine knows how it felt, and it affected him badly, but we'll get to that later.

After revealing that Nine firmly states that 'nobody has friends here', and this quote holds so much meaning. Nine doesn't seem to just be stating it to Sonic or to explain things, he's also stating it to himself. It's clear when he states that that's why he hides down there, to avoid everyone, even Sonic.

He doesn't say it in a sassy way, or an angry way, the tone in his voice is rather melancholy, and his face is sad. He isn't happy in isolation. That tone, that simple line, told so much about Nine.

Sure, he's safe when he's isolated, but that doesn't mean he enjoys it or finds it fun. He sits as he does this, in a fucking fetal position not to mention, which hammers in his deep desire for love and care.

Then, as Sonic thinks, Nine's face changes from cold and hardened to rather meek and scared. Then he asked, with hesitance, "So...what else did we do?"

He states 'we', not because he immediately believes Sonic and his whole "I'm from another world thing", but because not only does this person know he was bullied, but they state they saved him and became friends.

Friends. Something he clearly wants no matter how much he denies it. He lives in isolation to protect himself, to protect his mental state, then comes this person who tells him that he was capable of being happy of being loved.

Notice how Nine treats Sonic from now on after Sonic tells him what they did. He isn't as cold with him as he was before, he's slightly more open with the hedgehog, and it's understandable, Sonic was the first person to treat him with a sliver of kindness. And Nine finds he likes it.

Sonic tells him how he and Tails beat Eggman multiple times, and Nine stands up, clearly amazed and joyful at the thought of beating what was to him, a horrible dictator who brought him nothing but misery.

As Sonic walks towards him continuing, Nine still takes some steps back, cautious. Then Sonic touches his should and:

He's surprised, and after he processes it, a little smile makes its way onto his face! D'aww...

Then Sonic tells him that when they stick together they never lose, which visibly touches Nine.

After that, Sonic's shoes smolder, and as Nine points this out, Sonic whines and pouts, leading Nine to state he hates whiners more than people. He pulls out a gun, and Sonic panics, only for Nine to calmly tell him to stay still, smiling at the hedgehog as it scans him.

The lighting is all wonky so you can't really see it here, but it is there. They head back to Nine's lab, and Nine works on making something to regulate the energy within Sonic. Sonic, after glancing around, compliments Nine's tails, stating that he's amazing.

This surprises Nine, before he simply says 'sure', not knowing how to respond to that. When he's finished he goes on to explain how the doodads work, and puts them on Sonic, being surprisingly mindful of his tails, not actively hurting Sonic, and makes sure they don't poke him.

They're both surprised to see Sonic's shoes and gloves change, Nine pondering how that's possible as Sonic zips around in his usual bubbly excitement. After that, Sonic races out of his lab, wanting to test them out, with Nine for a split second panics and goes after him, explaining it's not safe.

I'm surprised that Nine went after Sonic instead of just going 'welp that was weird now that that weirdo went I can go back to what I was doing', he goes 'oh shit...I gotta protect this guy', and goes after him. Some of you might say that he went because Sonic has all this weird energy and he wants to test it, but I disagree because if it was, Nine wouldn't have cared to make the gadgets that regulate it.

Welp, that was a long post, HOWEVER, this is just part ONE of the isolation exploration effects on this broken fox kid's mind and just a fraction of the overall exploration analysis in all, part two will most likely come tomorrow. See y'all then!

Hi! I've been reading your Nine-related stuff and they're really good! (And i also liked the borrower fic!). Here's my writing prompt/ suggestion: in the case we don't get a flashback next ""season"" (though i hope we do). What about your take on Nine's time during those weeks without Sonic? Like making the shattedrive, discovering the grim, etc?

Hello! One angsty Nine fic coming right up!

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It had been weeks since he last saw the blue hedgehog.

In those weeks a lot of things happened. The rebellion was in full effect, the people involved saw their chance and took it. Now there was a battle overhead. A desperate and hopeful chance at creating a revolution.

But that wasn't Nine's main concern.

The machine he was working on currently was his top priority. It was a ship, perhaps a plane like Sonic said another version of him had.

He was about finished, all he needed to do was put the shard in and he'd be good to go. He'd find Sonic and get out of here. Then they'd find a new home to live together.

To have the things Sonic said they had.

Green grass, blue skies, beaches, palm trees, Chili dogs, all of it. They didn't need anyone or anything else. They'd be happy together no matter what in this new world.

That was all they needed.

He climbed in, the red shard glowing in front of him, ready to travel. After a split second of hesitance, he pushed the button, eyes widening at a light shot from the ship becoming a deep portal to who knows where.

The fox's ears fluttered slightly down in a small sense of fear, before shooting back up, his face hardening in determination. Moving the ship forward into the portal the fox uttered lines filled with firm determination.

"Hold on Sonic, I'm coming."

The machine moved through the portal, and when it got to the other end, the fox gasped at the space surrounding him. It was so...empty. There weren't any stars or other planets, just nothing but wide space and several shards moving about.

He felt uncomfortable with the sheer vastness he was now put in. There was nothing surrounding him, there was nobody he could see. He was alone.

For a moment there was a pit beginning to form, but the fox brushed it off and moved his ship forward, determined to find his only friend.

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The Shatterpod slowly landed in a vast empty world of deep blue skies filled with stars and an orange-cracked ground with grey crystals shooting out, reaching for the sky they can never reach. He hadn't found Sonic, but he found it. The perfect world to start anew. A place for him and Sonic to live forever.

It was empty, devoid of any organic life, which was good. That meant there was nobody around to hurt or bother them. They could live the life Sonic told him about.

They'd be safe.

This was home.

This wasn't the first Shatterspace he discovered. There had been others. One filled with plant life, one he explored never seeing so many trees or flowers to be there in his grasp, he only read about them in books. However, he discovered he wasn't the only one there. There were other people, he hadn't seen them, but he heard their yells and cries reminiscent of cavemen, so he left immediately, deciding this was too primal to be home.

The next world he came across was filled with nothing but water, the world having been drowned in clean salt water. He found nothing there, no people, no islands. He determined it was too drowning. It wasn't home either.

Then he came across the last one, which he called 'The Grim', mainly because of its grim atmosphere that he found he enjoyed. It was perfect, no cavemen, no seas, just home.

Unfortunately, he needed to find Sonic first before he did anything, this had been for both of them after all.

He hadn't found the hedgehog in any of the worlds he traveled to, so that was the only thing he needed to achieve.

But he'd find him.

He'd bring Sonic home.

"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!"

Hello again! This is the guy who provided the prompt for "Best Friends Forever," (thank you SO MUCH again, not only for writing that out, but for posting it onto An Archive Of Our Own! I really do feel honored!) As luck would have it, I *do* have another idea I'd love to share with you. I'm afraid it's... fairly lengthy. (Sorry!) Yet I think it's a really solid story, all in all, and I think you would have fun fleshing it out. (Again: if this story is "too much," no worries, I understand. It'd be enough just to hear your thoughts about my idea!)

My idea boils down to this: Rusty Rose 'opens up' to Nine inside Nine's prison cell, and asks him questions about Amy and Sonic. It takes place after Episode 8 of Sonic Prime.

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The Chaos Council is currently keeping Nine held in a prison cell.  When our story starts, Nine is sitting on his prison bed, not doing anything in particular while thinking intently about a lot of things.  Suddenly, unexpectedly… he sees his prison door start to open.  Rusty Rose is about to enter his cell.  Before she can completely open the door, Nine makes a valiant attempt to push past her and escape.  Nine ALMOST succeeds too… he makes it as far as the middle of the cellblock corridor before Rusty stretches out one of her extendable cyborg arms, grabs Nine, and tosses him right back into his cell.  He rebounds against the cell’s back wall and lands on the floor.  Rusty steps in and shuts the cell door behind her.   

As he picks himself back up, Nine comments something along the lines of “What I wouldn’t give to have my gun back now.” 

Rusty responds that his gun would do him no good anyway; the Chaos Council has upgraded her and she is now ‘hackproof.’  

Nine then asks, in a sullen, moody way, how things went for her in that new universe the Doctors sent her too.

Rusty answers that “It could have gone better.”

Nine starts to ask if she succeeded in getting the Paradox Shard that the Doctors sent her to fetch… but midway through his question, Rusty interrupts him with one of her own:

“Who is Amy?”

At first, Nine’s genuinely confused.  He tells Rusty that he has no idea who she’s talking about.  He turns his gaze away from her, facing the wall.  

Only to be suddenly startled to hear SONIC’S voice:

*“And Amy is…!”*

Nine’s wide-eyed attention snaps back in Rusty’s direction. For one brief moment, he’s SURE that Sonic somehow teleported himself into this cell with him…

…Only to realize, the next second later, that what he’s actually hearing is an old recording of Sonic’s voice coming from Amy’s robotic chest.

*“Well, Amy’s the sweetest friend you could ask for.”*

Rusty then asks if Sonic ever told Nine who ‘Amy’ is, since the two of them are friends.

Nine sticks with the same claim he made to the Chaos Council (during Episode 8), telling Rusty that Sonic abandoned him when he needed him most, and they’re no longer friends.

Rusty counters that Nine has no reason NOT to tell her about Amy… if Sonic really ISN’T his friend. 

Then Nine asks Rusty why does this ‘Amy’ even matter to her?

At this point, it’s almost as if Rusty’s cold emotionless thaws by half a degree.  It’s almost as if Rusty has decided to somewhat “open up” to Nine, ever-so-slightly.

She tells Nine a bit about the alternate universe she visited; that it is a world of vast oceans, full of pirates.  She tells him that she encountered Sonic there, and that he had somehow become the captain of a crew of pirates.  

(Upon hearing Sonic’s name, especially, Nine listens with rapt attention, though he doesn’t allow his face to betray any emotion.)

Rusty also discusses ‘Black Rose,’ and actually broadcasts a VIDEO of Black Rose onto the wall of the cell , (like a movie projector,) from her robot eye, so Nine can see the pink pirate hedgehog for himself.  She confesses that seeing Black Rose had… effected her.

Nine asks ‘What kind of effect?’

Rusty has difficulty finding the proper words, but she says that initially, when the blue hedgehog kept calling her ‘Amy,’ she dismissed it as a simple case of mistaken identity.  But the more times she encountered him, the more it felt like Sonic was capable of seeing… a different side of Rusty.  More than meets the eye.  A part that Rusty herself wasn’t aware of… an ‘untapped potential,’ of sorts.

Especially after seeing Black Rose, Rusty’s starting to wonder whether ‘Amy’ may be the key to a greater understanding about herself.  She then asks if Sonic’s ever had this same effect on Nine? Has Sonic ever called Nine by a different name?

Rusty’s words are resonating a bit inside Nine’s mind, though he says nothing to the cyborg.

Trying to provoke more of a reaction out of Nine, Rusty also brings up the subject of Sails; another two-tailed fox who looks just like Nine that was part of Sonic’s pirate crew.  She shows Nine videos of Sails fighting Rusty and her fellow robots alongside the other pirates (who resemble Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knucks) and also flying down to save Sonic from drowning while saying, “Don’t worry, I got ye!”

Upon seeing Sails, something Sonic said to Nine when they first met echoes in the fox’s mind: Sonic insisting that the two of them were “best friends.”

In a would-be "offhanded" way, Nine asks Rusty whether Sonic appeared to have a closer, friendlier relationship with the two-tailed fox pirate than with the other pirates.  Rusty raises an eyebrow, but answers that, as far as she could discern, Sonic seemed to treat everyone in his pirate crew with an equal degree of friendliness… Sails included.  

Inwardly, this answer relieves Nine greatly.  Sonic is naturally friendly to almost everyone, after all… but more importantly, it doesn’t sound as though Sails has ‘replaced’ Nine as ‘Sonic’s best friend.’  Out loud, Nine simply says, “I see.”

Then Nine asks, “Let’s suppose, hypothetically, I *did* know about Amy.  What do you plan to do to her?”

“Meet her.” Rusty answers.

“And then what?”

“I will determine my next course of action after I’ve met her."

Nine considers his feelings and options.  For a moment, it almost seems as though he’ll say something that would help Rusty Rose.  But in the end, he chooses to coldly tell her that he has no obligation to help her at all.  

Electricity crackles visibly on Rusty’s metallic hands.  Nine tenses up, prepared to get electrocuted again, prepared to be tortured for information about Amy.  Instead, Rusty just abruptly storms out of Nine’s cell.

Alone again, Nine goes over and looks at himself in a reflective surface of his cell, (perhaps a well-polished wall, perhaps the water in his toilet bowl.)  He thinks more about Sonic, and for some reason, without even thinking about what he’s doing or why, finds himself repeating Sails’ words: “Don’t worry, I got ye!”

Then Nine flops onto his prison bed, rolling his eyes at himself.  

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What do you think of this idea?

P.S. - If you do end up liking it enough to flesh it out into a proper story, I'd appreciate it so much if you could also post it on "An Archive Of Our Own!"

Man, you just keep on having good ideas! We need to have more interactions between Rusty and Nine.

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It was a while in captivity, week after week, having to sleep on a horrible excuse of a bed, which was really just a barely soft surface without any blanket or pillow, only to be waked up rudely by the metal dolts controlled by the amateurs keeping him in captivity.

His (weeks...months...?) time in captivity went in one long boring dull cycle. He was woken up, fed what he assumed was breakfast, then dragged to the Council to be mocked and threatened before being taken to some kind of workshop, and forced to work on transports that'll help the dolts conquer the Shatterverse, then given a poor dinner, no he didn't have lunch, and taken back to his cell to sleep. It was a long drawled out cycle that made him bored and annoyed.

He was rather dizzy and lightheaded due to how much they zapped him if he ever opened his mouth or even look at them in the wrong way. His fur and skin were badly burnt, making his neck and back constantly itch and feel as if they were on fire. He didn't really take that much care of his fur anyway. It was better than the food he was being served anyway, just disgusting tasteless slabs and slops of mush and other things he didn't want to know. What he did know was that it was disgusting, feeling like rocks or mucus going down his throat when he managed to get past chewing without gaging or spitting it out.

Due to how weak his body was, his metal tails were useless now. They were connected to his body. If they weren't so weak, he'd consider them a saving grace, because due to them being connected to his body and not just coming from his belt, removing them could've killed the kitsune, leaving them unable to use his machines to conquer. It was a painful and difficult process to attach them, but it was worth it.

Sitting on his prison bed, he began to do what he did most: think. He thought about a lot of things. Ways to get out of here, ways to leave without being detected, to grab the Shatterdrive, find Sonic and go home. Sure it wouldn't originally seem like home to Sonic, but maybe they could make it work.

Even if it didn't, he'd be fine. He was fine staying alone on the Grim if Sonic said no, it wasn't like he hadn't done it before.

Sonic. That's what, who, he mostly thought about during his time in the cell.

He always was deeply curious and envious of how dedicated Sonic is to getting home or helping others. He wasn't jealous that the hedgehog was capable, far from that, he was more jealous of how dedicated Sonic is to them.

The hedgehog was always so energetic and friendly, managing to get even him to open up. He wasn't like anyone Nine met before, he was lively and colorful while everyone in this city, including him, was always dull and grey. Instead of looking at his tails in disgust, Sonic looked at them with amazement and never minded them. Instead of beating him and giving him bruises, Sonic's touch was...different.

It was soft, the hedgehog never put pressure or ill intent in his hand, affectionate giving him high fives and carefully grabbing him by the scruff, it was very...gentle.

It was nice and he found he wanted more of it. He wanted to see the sparkle and brimming excitement in Sonic's caring gaze, he wanted more high fives, he wanted the warm feeling that pooled into his chest whenever the hedgehog cared for and supported him unconditionally.

He lapped for more, like a puppy dog.

And that disgusted him.

His ears suddenly perked up as he sat up on his "bed". There was a rhythmic clanging of metal coming closer and closer to his cell door. The rhythm was heavy but not slow like the other dolts that often came to his cell. He had just been sent back to his cell, so it didn't make sense for the council to fetch him when they'd rather be catching their "beauty"-sleep. Yeah sure.

This meant it was Rusty. The robot must've come back from her mission to conquer the Shatterverse for those dolts. But why was she coming to the cell door at this time? It didn't mean anything good, that's for sure. He got onto his feet, preparing himself for when she opened the door.

Clang-clang-clang...

She was almost here.

Clang-clang-clang...

She was just at the door.

Clang.

She stopped, right in front of the door. His heart pounded as he heard the soft clink of her metal fingers grasping the door to push it open. The door began to open, and the robot's cold glowing green eye peered in at the child, as empty as ever.

Before she could open it all the way, however, the fox made his move. He moved without his metal appendages, pushing Rusty and managing to catch her off guard as she fell, getting out and making a break for what he hoped was the way out.

He could hear the bot's calls for him to 'cease running', and his shoes pounded against the metal ground as he ran. He was about to turn a corner-

"Urk!"

-when the robot's arm grabbed him by the scruff, pulling him back to his cell, he could feel the fingers, the hard metal fingers dig into his skin, and he faintly wondered if he would bleed.

Before he could even blink he felt his back hit something hard as he landed on the floor. The robot merely stepped into the cell, closing the door behind her. The fox, on his knees, slowly pulled himself back up, his back machine from the impact, and his neck aching from the harsh whiplash.

Panting in pain, the kitsune spoke first.

"You know I expected the drones they wasted time on, not their lowly excuse of a tin can."

"Your escaping was futile. You are required to stay and assist the council in their rule."

"Unfortunately."

"Running will do you no good", the robot repeated itself, that was all it was capable of, "The Council will hear of your poor attempt."

"Oh, please, I'm so threatened. All they do is sit in their chairs and leave waste of metal like you to do all the work."

"Do not insult the Council."

"With how stupid they make themselves look, I don't need to."

"Then you must be a fool as well.", the robot's voice coldly snarked back. Nine scowled, raising himself on his nine tails, glaring nastily at the robot.

"My point still stands. I mean they left you and the other robots easy to hack. In fact, if I had my gun right now, you'd be serving me."

"Hacking is pointless. The Council has upgraded to a new system that renders me 'hack proof'", the bot continued unfazed by the threatening fox. The kitsune merely scoffed, and the two remained glaring coldly at each other.

"So based on how you're here, what did the Council keep you from actually being useful and send some other drones to do the job?"

"No, I was sent. But", she paused, "it could have gone better."

"Oh yeah? Did you run out of oil? Did your battery die on the way there?"

"Watch it fox", she snapped, in slight annoyance, "I run on a different power source, batteries and oil are not required to function."

"So? Did you get the shard or no-"

"Who is Amy?"

"Wha-?"

Confusion and surprise came across Nine's face. The robot, while her voice was still robotic, it had a questioning tone, her face having a slight show of curiosity. The fox's face then went back to neutral, a slight hint of disinterest in his tone.

"I don't know what glitch is going on in your circuit system, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Nine turned to lie on his cot, facing away from the robot, staring at the dull rusty metal wall. Only, his ears flicked up to a familiar voice, one that he longed to hear again, and the fox's eyes widened.

"And Amy is-"

He turned.

Only to be met by the cold red and green stare of the badnik. Her face was still expressionless, her mouth pulled in a straight line. The voice of his only friend was merely a saved recording coming from the bot's chest. As the recording continued, Rusty's voice being flat explaining how she was nothing but a tool of destruction, Nine's ears lowered in slight sadness at the truth and anger at himself for believing that foolish thought with slight hope.

The recording continued.

"Well, Amy's the sweetest friend you could ask for!"

The recording stopped, and silence was present once more before the bot spoke once more.

"Answer me fox", the voice of the robot was cold, but had no bite, the green eye of the robot dimmed ever so slightly, "Has the blue hedgehog told you who this 'Amy' is?"

"Why're you asking me about this?"

"You two are believed to be friends."

"Well, that information is incorrect. I already told the council, Sonic abandoned me when I needed him, I don't think that's friend material."

"Then you should have no problems telling me since you hold no truce to the hedgehog."

Nine scowled in annoyance.

"Why does knowing who 'Amy' is important to you anyway?"

Silence filled the cell as the fox awaited the bot's answer. Her face was still cold and empty, but her eye lights seemed to flicker, the emotion within untelling. The fox scoffed, moving the turn back to the wall before the robot speaking once more made him pause.

"During my mission of collecting the shard, I made some key observations. The world I encountered was unlike this one, it was full of nothing but vast amounts of a liquid substance combining the elements of hydrogen and oxygen, or in other words: water. In that world, the inhabitants were of the pirate kind.", she paused, looking to see if the fox was listening, which he was, just barely, "It was there I encountered the hedgehog once more."

Like a switch being flicked, the kit began to listen with more interest at the mention of the blue blur. His face remained neutral, keeping his emotions hidden from the girl bot.

"But I also encountered something else.", she paused, "Or rather someone else."

She turned, pausing for a moment, before a beam of light shot from her eye, casting a projection on the wall. There, in Rusty's point of view, the big pirate ship was observed, the inhabitants as well, only when it came to another pink hedgehog, only all organic, wearing a pirate getup and looking back with a telescope, the camera that served as Rusty's head and eyes jerked back, the dopple looking equally as shocked.

The recording paused with the pink hedgehog looking back in shock, her mouth open, having been paused in speaking.

"When I saw this...other me affected me."

Nine, now listening with more attention looked at Black Rose's still recorded form, and back to the robotized victim, then returned to the recorded Rose, speaking once more.

"What kind of effects?"

Even more silence as the girl struggled with words to describe her odd 'glitch'.

"Initially, when the hedgehog had called me 'Amy' I had originally dismissed it as a sense of mistaken identity.", Rusty settled on saying, continuing, "However, after I encountered him more I...feel like he was seeing a different side of me. Something with more potential, an untapped potential I have not been aware of until now."

Rusty paused before going on, her gaze moving to the still video, to the other her.

"After encountering this 'alternate me', I have been beginning to wonder if this 'Amy' could be a key of sorts to a better understanding of myself."

She moved her gaze to the nine-tailed fox sitting on his cot, who stayed silent, his gaze on the ground.

"Tell me fox, has the blue hedgehog ever done the same to you? Hasn't he called you something else? Wasn't it 'Tails'?"

Silence.

After a small flicker of her lights, Rusty then continued, trying to get some information from the fox. She found another person to talk about in a matter of seconds. The video switched over to something else, another two-tailed fox, one with a mechanical claw holding a pirate sword, also in a pirate getup. A frozen smile was on his face.

Nine sat up straighter at this.

"This is another one of the hedgehog's pirate crew. Name identification: Sails. He looks quite similar to you, this is another 'variant' of you in this world from my observations."

The video fast-forwarded before playing in the middle of a battle between Sonic and his crew fighting against Rusty and the other drones. There were other variants as well, a bat and echidna that must've been another variant of Rebel and Knucks. Then Sonic was suddenly off the ship falling to the sea before Sails' metal claw grabbed him, reassuring him with a call.

"Don't worry, I've got ye!"

Nine stayed silent, replaying the events in his mind. Another variant of himself? And Rebel and Knucks? This was...interesting. Sonic seemed to be on good terms with the pirates to be saved by one of them. Not just one of them, but a variant of himself. It also appears that Sonic seems to be on good terms with his variant as well. But did that mean...?

Was he best friends with Sonic like he was?

His voice was cold, but still full of curiosity and barely concealed wariness.

"Rusty Rose, answer, did Sonic have a particularly more friendly relationship with this other variant of me than the other pirates?"

In a spur of confusion, the hedgehog raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on the question, only answering with:

"As far as I could discern, the blue hedgehog showed an equal amount of friendliness to all aboard the ship."

Nine felt a wave of relief flood him, keeping his relief to himself. Ah, good. This variant of him didn't replace him as Sonic's best friend. Sonic was just naturally friendly to almost everyone other than the Chaos Council. After a long beat of silence, the kit spoke once more.

"I see.", he continued, "And what if I do know who this 'Amy' is, what do you plan to do to her?"

"Meet her.", was Rusty's simple response.

"And then what"

"I will determine my next course of action when I succeed."

Nine went quiet. A tense silence flooded the cell and waited for one of the inhabitants to speak. Nine began to think, he has heard about Amy, but it was just passing information, not anything specific to report. Besides what would he get in exchange if he does tell Rusty, she's too loyal to the Council of Amateurs to let him go that easily, and he won't get anything in return, not to mention, if he did know and did tell her, she might cross paths with Sonic again.

And he saw from experience what she'd do if she saw the hedgehog. He considered his options and once he picked one he spoke, eyes cold and spiteful, his voice cold and uncaring.

"You wasted your time robot, you have nothing you can do or give in exchange, you work for the council that made the hell hole I lived in. I have no intentions of helping you at all.", as he spoke the last sentence his voice was snarling and mocking, yet retained any yelling or shouting.

It was a firm harsh oath the fox intended to keep.

Rusty paused at the fox's words, her eyes narrowed and began to flicker rapidly. Her teeth clenched in anger, and a wave of deep anger slipped through her lips in a deep growl. Her hands began to cackle with electricity, and as they did Nine stood, his metal tails still limp and useless, his body, exhausted, swayed from side to side.

Nine tensed ready to feel volts of painful volts of energy travel throughout his body, leaving him panting and kneeling on the floor. He felt a slight pang of fear take hold of his heart, he didn't have any means to fight back, and he couldn't run due to both the cell door being closed and the deep exhaustion his body now suffered from.

The kitsune's eyes were wide as he took a slight step back, frozen. Rusty took a step towards him and Nine closed his eyes, ready as he'll ever be.

Clang-clunk-clang...!

Until her footsteps, angry and defeated walked to the door and slammed it behind her, leaving the fox behind to vent out her frustrations.

Nine sighed outwardly in relief, now that he was alone. He was sure he'd get the information tortured by electrocution out of him like it always was, not that he'd tell her if she did.

She didn't deserve any help from him.

He walked over to a water bowl, hating his meals being served in pet dishes due to it being where he drinks and eats from, like an animal. That's how those goons saw him, saw all of his kind, they were nothing but cattle and livestock to them. It was horribly dehumanizing and he hated it.

But he should be grateful that they didn't put a collar on him and gave him to the egg brat, and even that wasn't much.

As he picked the dish up to take a sip he caught sight of his reflection, his cold blue eyes, his white muzzle and small nose, his pointed ears with dark tips, the bags of exhaustion under his eyes...

What did...Sonic sees him as really? Were they really best friends? I mean from what he's seen he's a dime a dozen. No, he's not, he has way more mechanical prowess than Sails.

Sails. The other variant of him.

Without thinking he repeated the only words he heard his variant utter.

"Don't worry, I got ye."

He paused before sighing, and moving over to his bed, flopping into it with a sigh, and staring at the cold ceiling, he rolled his eyes before he turned over and fell into slumber.