But Not What You Think - Tumblr Posts
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!
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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.
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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.
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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."