Miles Nine Prower - Tumblr Posts

Nine is Tiny and It's All Sonic's Fault

Just a random prompt I thought up on the spot. Inspired by @heckinconfusedparade prompt response to someone's ask. This is an alternate universe where Sonic doesn't meet shadow, and Nine didn't have a plan that involved being captured.

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This was all Sonic's fault.

Nine remembers telling him not to touch anything. But he couldn't listen - he never listens! - and now Nine was only a few inches tall. To be fair though, Nine did forget to shut the machine down, but it's still Sonic's fault because the idiot messed with it.

If he hadn't poked and prodded around it earlier, it wouldn't have had the ability to work in the first place. The council limits the city's power to suit their own needs, and Nine simply converted it, and the power used for the trains into his lab and home. That's how everything worked.

It was supposed to be a simple stop point. Sonic recently saved Nine from his captivity by the council, and they escaped to his lab. Nine knew they wouldn't find them there, they hadn't for years.

They rested here for a day and a half before Nine got to work on building another invention, something to take down the council. Sonic zoomed around his lab, his hyperactivity too energetic to contain in the small place of his home.

It wasn't long before the blur explored his lab and discarded inventions. Nine didn't mind, as long as he didn't touch or break anything. Not to mention, he liked the company.

Then Sonic got to the shrink ray, a big hulking invention with a pointed tip. He had to touch it, he had to pull the trigger while it was pointed at Nine, who didn't realize what happened until it was too late. He felt energy pulsing around him for seconds before everything went dark and silent for a moment.

When he came to, he was only a few inches tall. Looking around, his workbench now a mountain, and everything much farther and bigger as well, he realized what happened. He forgot about that invention, he made it because some things took too much room, so making them smaller was easier. It was also because he wanted to defy physics, that was a reason too.

Now he had to get Sonic's attention as the blue blur called his name, looking for him. The urchin's footsteps caused slight tremors, his voice was louder and now hurt the fox's ears, and due to Nine's small size, his ears couldn't catch the fox's yells.

Sonic didn't know what he did yet. All he knew was that he pushed a flip of a cool invention, while it happened to be pointed at the young genius, and Nine just vanished. Confused at what just happened, and concerned for the young fox and his whereabouts, Sonic began to search. He called out his brother's counterpart's name and walked around the area Nine was, finding nothing worry began to tighten around his heart even more.

Nine meanwhile, climbed onto his table, using his metal tails, which thank chaos he had on him during this size, he'd be helpless again, making it easier. Now on the table, he looked around for ways to get the blue hedgehog's attention. He resorted to knocking things off, which proved more effective as those emerald eyes looked in his direction as the hero tilted his head in confusion. He stopped and waited for the speedster to close the distance, ignoring how his breath slightly quickened and shoulders quivered when Sonic's eyes landed on him, his tremoring footsteps walking towards his now small insignificant form.

He won't deny that he took several steps back until his back hit the wall as his friend leaned down to get a better look at this odd bug. As soon as he realized what happened, Sonic suddenly lurched back, making the kit flinch. He then rubbed his eyes and looked again, much closer, looming over the fox, much to Nine's discomfort and fear.

"N-Nine?"

The nerve for the guy to look surprised when it was his fault Nine was tiny. He made it clear to let him know that as he glared harshly up at the blue buffoon, the recipient averted his emerald eyes guiltily, his gloved hands rubbing his quills nervously.

"Whoops...heh....my bad...i-in my defense, you didn't tell me what that did."

"Doesn't matter whether I told you or not, you should've known not to touch anything in my lab."

It was his fault, so the hedgehog had to fix it the fox deemed. But how? Sonic didn't know anything about mechanics and the conversion of matter. Not to mention the urchin can mess it up, and he didn't want to think about any possibilities if that happened.

"Look, due to my unfortunate circumstances caused by you and your refusal to listen, I'm going to have to guide you on fixing this situation that you caused. But in order to do that, you're going to have to listen carefully."

Sonic smiled and gave a thumbs up, his usual meaningless words of optimism pouring out of his mouth, 'something blah blah we'll fix this', Nine didn't really listen, he was too busy fuming. After a half hour of trying, and failing, to get the blue blur to build a reversal switch on the shrink ray, he figured it'd be easier than having him build an entire one from scratch.

Nope, Sonic didn't know the first thing to listen, and because of that, it was late by the time they got anywhere. Unfortunately, that was when Sonic stupidly decided to take a break and try it again tomorrow, to Nine's annoyance and frustration.

He tried to argue back, but Sonic was just as stubborn. He was firm in going to sleep and trying again later since 'they could try again when they had more energy'. Nine tried to make a compromise, Sonic can go to bed and he can fix it himself, but the hedgehog wasn't having it.

"You need to rest too, and you're not going to get anywhere if you're tired."

"I'm not tired!"

"Sure...if you aren't, then why did I see you yawn several times. I saw them, you didn't do a very good job at hiding them you know"

At Sonic's knowing grin, Nine merely glanced away and tried to cover up another yawn with his hand. He heard the hedgehog chuckle in amusement and felt his face flush in embarrassment.

Nine only huffed in response and ignored the concern, walking towards a wrench on the workbench (which he stayed on the entire time, he didn't want the hedgehog's hands on him).

"Well, that's not important right now, you can go to bed, but I'm going to fix the mistake you made since you can't figure out basic instructions."

At that, he heard and felt Sonic huff in frustration, before suddenly feeling something soft and firm wrap around him. He tipped in surprise and panic, before looking down and realizing it was the hedgehog's fingers. Sonic didn't pick him up, he just held him gently but firmly in place, but that didn't make it any less panic-inducing. He began to squirm and struggle, deeply uncomfortable and embarrassed about how easy it is.

"S-Sonic! Let me go!"

"Sorry, little buddy. But you need rest, we can work on it tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh sure, then we can get nowhere again because you don't know how to do simple mechanics!", Nine's voice was dripping with sarcasm and anger, but there was a slight tremor in his voice that went unnoticed.

"Hey, maybe if you didn't confuse me with your rants about the third space squared stuff then we might've gotten further, but we can try again tomorrow-"

"Forget it! I'll fix it since you don't help with anything!", anger took place now, not just the anger of recent events, but the anger he held onto and kept in a bottle, " You're the reason I'm small in the first place, did you forget that? We can't get anywhere because you have so much trouble listening, you can't follow basic instructions!"

"You're not making it any easier you know, with all your fancy words and your technobabble!"

"I'm not making it easier? Maybe I'm not, even though you are the one who doesn't understand basic science and how mechanics work, but you aren't helping at all! You never have, all you do is show up only to disappear without even saying goodbye, then you just come back like nothing happened! I went back for you, I went back to help you, but what happened? I got captured while you vanished to who knows where! You only cause trouble, you don't help, you never have!"

Sonic went silent, guilt taking over his features the more Nine spoke, and as the kit did, tears began to flow down the child's face. Tears of anger and abandonment, that he caused. After Nine was done the only thing hear was the pants and sniffles from the now broken-down fox.

For a while, nothing happened, until Nine jolted in surprise as the fingers holding him in place lifted him up, and pressed him against a wall of soft fur, a faint and fast throbbing buried within it. Sonic's fingers moved to gently pet the sobbing fox lovingly.

Nine froze, having not expected to be hugged with such care, to be comforted in such a genuine way. He listened to the calming heartbeat of his only friend. But the dam soon broke down completely, he grasped the peach fur and sobbed into it, relishing the gentle touch of the fingers rubbing his head.

As he did, Sonic finally spoke.

"I'm sorry Nine. I didn't know you'd-I didn't think that - I'm so sorry I made you feel that way, I should've never - if I knew I would never have left. But I won't do it again, I promise. I-", the hedgehog choked, "I'm so sorry. I want to help you Nine, from now on. I'll get you back to normal, I promise. I don't want you to feel abandoned or hurt. I will help you, I won't leave you alone again, I-I promise."

Sonic paused as he heard no response, and looking down he saw the tiny kitsune had fallen asleep, his tiny chest rising and lowering rhythmically. The urchin chuckled softly, giving the tiny child a light squeeze, holding his carefully and gently in his cupped hands, then moved to get to bed. After wandering about he found the kit's bed on the second floor accessible via a ladder. Getting there, he put the kit on the pillow, carefully putting the blankets over him, succeeding in not waking the child. He gently rubbed the kit's head with his finger once more, chuckling softly when the fox murmured softly and leaned into his caring touch.

He eventually found a couch and drifted off himself. The next morning, they eventually found a way to reverse the effects, and things went to normal after that, but the child was slightly more open and affectionate, just a bit. And Sonic made sure to care for the kit and keep him company.

They were both happy. Even if both of them knew it wouldn't last forever. Even if neither of them knew the true effects of the world around them, they were trapped in a painful cycle, one that might affect the universe itself.

But they were happy. And at that time, that was all that mattered.

Writing Prompt: Nine's finally had enough of getting bullied by the other foxes for his two tails. He builds his seven other robotic tails. Then he teaches his bullies a bitter lesson.

Oh, thank you for the ask! And good prompt too! I've always imagined how Nine dealed with his bullies, and I have a few ideas, I just haven't had a reason to write them until now!

I hope you like it! If y'all have anything you want to ask (could be requests for stories, questions about things you want to know, or theories you want to share,) go ahead and do so, I don't bite!

Anyway, onto the story!

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That was it.

He was done being nice. They hurt him, mocked him, and beat him for far too long. He had tried everything. He tried ignoring it and he ended up with bruises, he tried to be nice to them, but all he got were mocking words, he tried avoiding them, and the beatings and taunting were only harsher.

Nobody helped him. Nobody ever did. When they noticed they'd ignore what was happening, or they'd join in. He couldn't trust anyone to help, people only cared about themselves.

Why shouldn't he follow that rule?

He was making something, something that would end all of it. The mocking, the scorning, the jeers, the beatings, it all would end when he was finished. He was almost done, they were almost complete.

The invention that would change everything. No more bullies, no more abuse, no more jeers or disgusted looks, all of it would stop when these were finished.

Looking back, inventing used to be fun, for a short while. He remembers wagging his tails when he had an idea for something new, something revolutionary.

Now it was a necessity, something that he needed, that he didn't find fun, but needed and serious. He missed those simple wags of happiness, now he didn't wag them at all.

There's nothing to be happy about anymore.

He smirked, not with joy or excitement, but satisfaction and smugness, sadistic and revenge-driven thoughts ran through his head.

They were done.

He was ready.

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The cries of several foxes and other animals were music to Miles's sadistic ears.

It wasn't a pretty sight, some had deep bruises, some sprained, and some were bleeding.

But not Miles.

For the first time, he was completely unscathed. No bruises other than the ones already there, and no new scratches. He was fine.

Miles felt himself slightly getting giddy at the power he now holds over them. There they were, sobbing, begging for mercy, looking at him with fear and pain that he relished.

They should fear him. That's what they get for never trying to love him.

Nobody did.

He wasn't interested in taking control of the city, though he could do it easily if he so tried. But the smallest bit of power left him with a twisted sense of joy.

The tears on his previous abuser's faces were diamonds and riches to him. He hit jackpot at that moment.

Now they knew to leave him alone, now he won't ever get hurt again.

They called him things he wasn't surprised about, wasn't anything he never heard before.

'Monster', 'beast', 'freak', and more he's heard before.

Maybe he was a monster for doing this, but he didn't care. If being a monster kept everyone away from him, then so be it.

Hmm..

If he was a monster then he should change his name. Miles made him feel like he had an identity. Like he was human. He wasn't treated like he was, so maybe he never was. So he needs something new.

He looked at his new tails. He didn't have two anymore. He used irony harshly against them, beating them with the very things they outcasted him for. He grinned. He had seven more.

He had nine now.

Nine.

What a perfect name for a monster...

Do you have any ideas on the Tails Squad?

I love the Tails Squad!!! The idea of all of those adorable fluffy foxes scurrying around together and going on adventures with each other is enough to make my heart melt. The fact that it exists makes me very happy! Thank you to whoever invented it!!! Thank you @heckinconfusedparade, @nights-nonsensical-ramblings, and any other creator for providing such adorable sceneries with them! It's the most wonderful thing on earth. It raised crops, cured every disease, and it made my year! I LOOOOOVE IT <3

The only thing that bothers me is that Nine (Sonic Prime) is in it as well. Don't get me wrong, Nine deserves hugs and snuggles (definitely by Sonic because he'd rip my face off if I tried, he's not as cuddly as the other Tails), but it just doesn't really make sense with his character and arc so far.

Nine is a loner, he avoids everyone to protect himself, and it's a firm coping mechanism (and as a person with trauma, a coping mechanism is NOT easy to break apart). Then he meets Sonic, he's given warmth and care and he latches onto Sonic, but nobody else. I noticed that Nine doesn't even seem to try to make friends or bond with the others because, in his mind, Sonic is the only friend he wants and needs. I also think Nine doesn't really like himself that much.

He isn't really prideful, more of a smug genius. Not an 'im better than you' but more an 'i look down on you to protect myself by seeing myself as superior to seem in control'. Not to mention he doesn't try to justify himself being bullied when he was telling Sonic his backstory, he says he 'wasn't paying attention to his surroundings', not I didn't know, or 'it wasn't my fault', he still blames himself.

So I don't think Nine loves himself. If he did he wouldn't have blamed himself for being bullied, he wouldn't have clung onto Sonic, and he would've been content to live by himself and left Sonic behind if he loved himself but he doesn't. So seeing these soft, nice, cuddly foxes he would see a smaller weaker version of himself. He wouldn't hate them specifically, just who they remind him of, which happens to be someone he loathes.

Himself.

He wouldn't be mean, he'd just be indifferent to them, polite but distant. Not considering them enemies, but not friends or allies either. If they don't get in his way they're not going to be attacked by him.

Self-loathing isn't something you can just take down easily, especially if you've had it for years due to other people calling you names and abusing you so much that you hide away, hide the things you were bullied for, and constantly blame yourself for what happened. With how far Nine is into it, I don't think he can be saved from the pit of hatred and pain.

It's horribly too late for that.

Some of you might be saying he could bond over being bullied because the other Tails were bullied too, and I'm sad to say it doesn't really work that way. People with trauma don't immediately become besties and form close bonds, most of the time, they're either animistic towards each other or avoid and keep their distance from each other to avoid being reminded of their own pain, and Nine would definitely do the latter firmly from his behavior so far.

Another thing is that the others have a Sonic of their own. Nine would not hate them, but he'd have a deeply repressed jealousy over them having the life he has dreamed of. Again, he wouldn't really hate them over this, he'd just merely have a painful pang of jealousy whenever that Tails and their Sonic would come up and embrace each other with such love and care, the things he was void of in his life.

I can see him bonding with the other Sonics, but it's only because Sonic himself is a coping mechanism for Nine and was the first one to give him affection. The other Sonic's are no different, so he latches onto them, but still keeps his distance due to them having their Tails right beside them. So hugs or head pats aren't accepted by Nine because it doesn't feel right to him, he doesn't deserve it, because he's not their Tails.

It would hurt every time seeing others given affection or he was offered affection that he can't have more than briefly, but he'd repress and hide it to not bother the others, or not to seem weak.

I actually have a prompt written out on how I think Nine would really react to the Tails Squad, if y'all want to see it, let me know and I'll post it!

But other than that, I have so, SO much love for the Tails Squad, but I can't see Nine being buddy-buddy with them. It's more of a neutral alignment, not enemies but not friends either.

Thanks for the ask!!!

Hi! Just wanted to know your opinion on something, do you think Nine planned to be captured from the start, as in, he made that plan while in the grim? Im asking because the scene where he's (supposedly) trying to go back to the grim always breaks my heart. The way he says "one more portal and am home free" and then the "no no no!" just. Ouch. And like yeah i guess one could make the argument he was pretending for the council, but he talked as if talking to himself, and i wouldn't be surprised if the council didn't even hear him. It's possible his plan was made last minute, but idk. what do you think?

I think it's possible he planned that. I think that when Sonic left he had time to think about it (because if Sonic being gone in another world for a day was weeks in another world, I think him being gone for a second would've been at least half an hour). And yes, it broke my heart as well, poor baby.

But I think Nine thought out getting captured as a backup plan if all else failed? Like he had a plan if he was captured, just in case. With how crafty and smart Nine is I wouldn't be surprised, he's always a step ahead of everyone else.

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.

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

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."

Can we see your Tails Squad idea?

Yup!

Here you go!

===============================================

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.

Ah the cost of main prime tails...

Yes, if Nine wants his goals to be achieved Tails is going to have to fade from existence. But if Sonic wants his goals to be achieved Tails is needed...

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!

==========================================

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.

Yeah that was great. I mistyped that ask a bit. I was wondering how nine would be as an older sibling to a sonic.

Oh! Good idea! I'm sorry I misunderstood!

Here you go! This is a time when Sonic didn't talk yet btw.

================================================

Nine didn't know what to say to this random child that broke into his lab. The hedgehog looked to be about 5 or at least 7 by the short stature. The initial reaction was to attack the kid and scare them out of his lab, but when the kid didn't budge and even fought back, it led to an entire chase from pod to pod in the subway.

Things led to him being saved by the kid, much to his surprise. The kid didn't seem to talk at all, using gestures and pointing to get his point across. Somehow, Nine understood everything. The urchin somehow knew he was bullied, only gesturing that they came by to save him, but that's not what he remembered.

Nobody helped him, those who passed by would ignore his cries for help or merely sneer in disgust at his extra limb. He had to rely on himself to make it stop. He helped himself, that's how it is here. Nobody has friends.

To his surprise, he began to think about what the hedgehog told him, blue skies, sunny beaches...? He asked the kid what else they did, he didn't want to believe it, but if there was a chance.

He needed to hear more.

The hedgehog went on and on about how they'd eat Chili Dogs, would fight Mister Dr. Eggman together, and more...

It was like a dream, his own dream was being brought up again by this stranger. Then his eyes caught sight of the burning-up sneakers, pointing it out to the kid who groaned and sat down pouting with his arms crossed. Nine smirked in amusement.

"The only thing I hate more than people in my space is whiners.", he pulled out a device and pointed it at the kid, who in turn panicked with his hands raised in alarm as if to say 'I thought we were making progress!'

Nine rolled his eyes.

"Relax."

The scanners managed to pick up levels of high energy sources, an energy that could make the sneakers explode but if Nine put together a...

"Follow me!", Nine crawled on with his metal appendages, having a small smile directed to the kid, who in turn followed beside him quickly to his lab.

While Nine worked the kid looked around his lab with curious eyes, poking and prodding all of the inventions and stuff scattered about the lab. Nine would occasionally glance over to the kid with slight amusement. The hedgehog was so wide-eyed and amazed by the inventions he made.

Nine guessed they were to outsiders, to him they were just simple needs he had to make. He didn't invent out of fun anyway, there was no fun in this place of misery. He felt slightly pleased that the kid liked his creative outlets.

He paused in his work when he felt a tap on his arm. He turned to see the urchin peering up at him with wide eyes shimmering with friendliness and a confident smile.

"What?"

The kid pointed at his metal tails and smiled holding a thumbs up.

'I like the tails.'

Nine's eyes widened slightly in surprise, before he turned back to his work, trying to give off an air of indifference.

"Yeah, sure."

He was finished with the devices and put them on the child, to both of their surprise, it actually accepted the devices instead of rejecting them. Nine stroked his chin, trying to figure out just how it did that, only to be snapped out of his thoughts when the kid suddenly pointed outside with a cheeky smile, running off before Nine could say anything.

"No wait, you dummy, it's not safe!", he called out to the already-gone blur, chasing after him. He followed the kid out of the safety of the subway, and into the city. He didn't care for the kid, he just didn't want to deal with the kid getting hurt or the council finding him out.

Yeah, he didn't care about the kid at all. Totally.

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!

"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.

++++++++++++++++++++

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.  

+++++++++

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.

==============================================

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.

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.

Writing prompt: Nine arrives late to save Sonic (whichever time) and the council succeeds in destroying him. Nine is enraged (and devastated) and is determined to take them down, no matter the cost.

Hello @howcouldtheyletmebeanadult! Thank you for the prompt! This is one I've always thought about too! How this emotionally unstable fox would react to seeing the only light in his life go in front of him. I've had a few ideas!

I hope you like it!

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He was too late.

There Sonic was in his arms, bleeding out, the light in his eyes slowly fading. The hedgehog had a deep wound, one that Nine desperately tried to cover so no more blood would get out, coating his gloves and mechanical tails with the red essence, but he didn't care.

All that mattered was getting Sonic help.

The fox was begging and telling Sonic to hold on, cursing when he couldn't find anything that could help them. His efforts were in vain as he watched in horror as the light left those emerald eyes.

"NO! Nonononono...come on Sonic, you're gonna be fine, open your eyes, please!"

His holding of the urchin changed to shaking the hedgehog's shoulder in desperation, praying that the light won't go out. But there was no response, and the kitsune's heart crashed into his stomach.

Tears began to spill, and he sobbed into the bloody chest of what once was his only friend. He was alone once more.

If he had just been faster.

His thoughts were cut off by the cruel, mocking laughter of the heartless Council. They all could care less about what they just did, they mocked the child, telling him that his precious hero is gone and that it was his fault.

They expected it to break the child, they expected the child to sob and wail that it wasn't his fault, and they expected the child to launch at them in anger.

But what they didn't expect was the child to let out a chilling banshee wail, and lunge for the most vulnerable: the baby.

No robots were able to stop him. The baby's wails and shrieks of pain and horror were like music to the 8-year-old's ears. Nine's innocence was now gone.

Next was the teen, who tried with useless tech to get the mad fox away from him, to no avail as he too was mercilessly ripped apart. The fox's integrity going down the drain.

Nine began to chuckle, this was hilarious. How these five were feared when they only relied on their robots. How humorous!

Next was the old man, frail and weak, blood splattered everywhere. Nine was chuckling by now. They don't stand a chance, and neither did the fox's sympathy.

The last two were both outraged, in shock, and horrified by the display of anguish before their eyes. they couldn't move as five became four.

Then three.

The fox turned.

Then two.

Deeps sobs and screams were drowned out by the cackling vulpine, who by now lost all sense of sanity.

Then one.

...

Then none at all.

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

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.

I’d like to ask if I can give a writing prompt?

Its a sequel to the story of where Nine has replaced Tails in his Prime universe. I don’t know if you are already working on one but I have an idea with a few little prompts.

1). Sonic is unable to really speak after a shock like that being unable to express anything as his heads a mess.

2). Nine goes on about what they can do together and today, showing what he has already invented on the table. - it can be what you want it to be he invents maybe something fun or it could be a weapon he shows off like a kid showing off a drawing to a dad or brother.

3). Sonic collects himself for only a little and shakes himself a little to reality. “Saying thats great buddy I-I need to just go for a run toooo clear my head”

4). Nine is sad of course but he thinks he’s got all the time in the world to hang out and he can enjoy his isolation for a little while longer and the more serene surroundings and fresh air. He’ll say something like “ok later bro” or “alright but lets catch up I want to know everything else about this world” with a lot of pep like the old tails.

5). Sonic immediately makes a break for it to an isolated location and gets all he’s feeling out in a kind cry scream that sags out at the end and he tries to collect himself after trying to keep himself together.

6). Back to Nine he’s happily sitting in his metal tails made chair when Amy drops in wondering why sonic left. How Nine acts towards her is up to you.

I hope that it wasn’t too long or irritating

Of course, it's ok! I'm sorry it took a while to see this answered, I've been going through some stuff and my mind has been in a fog. However, I don't plan on writing a sequel or a continuation to that fic, I wanted to leave what happens next to you readers, and it seems from what you've written it worked!

I'm very happy you liked that fic, and even more glad it left what happens next in your mind. Another thing is that I didn't originally come up with the fic, as it was a prompt request I merely fleshed out. So I can't really claim ownership of it.

So I can't expand on that fic due to those two reasons, but I can respond if you want to what you think would happen next.

And don't ever worry about a prompt being too long or irritating, send whatever prompt you have no matter how long it is. The only catch is that it'll take a longer time to write, but other than that, there's nothing wrong with any request.

Yes, I can see Sonic being shocked, mainly because the person in front of him is technically his brother, so he wouldn't know how to go about it. I slightly disagree with Sonic being angry or furious, he'd be more shocked and conflicted than anything, and while he will be horrified and against what Nine did, he wouldn't really yell or scream or antagonize Nine. Due to Sonic's interactions with Nine and knowledge of Nine's past and his probable emotional maturity, he wouldn't understand, but he could never truly hate or yell at Nine. A concerned scolding or a disappointed stare is probably the worst that'll happen.

And yeah, Nine is too happy and blissful to notice Sonic's shock and horror, just happy to be with Sonic and in a world he dreamed of. And he'd probably show off a gun or something that'll help Sonic with Eggman, very reminiscent of a child showing a parent their drawing. Nine is still a kid after all. A broken, emotionally exhausted, and traumatized kid, but a kid nonetheless.

Yeah, I can see Sonic understanding not just the situation, but he takes note of Nine's fragilely joyful state, so he's careful, not wanting Nine to be upset or angry, so he'd just make up an excuse to go out for a run.

Nine would be disappointed, but he'd never force Sonic to do anything, as seen when he allows Sonic to go back and help the rebels despite clearly wanting Sonic to stay. Not to mention now nothing can separate them, and they have all the time in the world in this paradise of a world. And I can see him retaining the pep and cheerfulness of the original Tails, now that he doesn't have anything to worry or be pained about. He is still a Tails after all.

And Sonic would be heartbroken and horrified at what Nine did, reducing his baby bro into nothing but a mere trait, what Nine was. I don't think he'd scream, not really, he'd most likely just shut down and focus on his swarming thoughts silently as various flickies wonder what's wrong.

Nine would be indifferent to Amy like he was to the others. She'd come in to find him sitting on a makeshift chair he used his tails to make. He'd tell her Sonic went for a run, mentioning Sonic's habit of 'running around everywhere'. Amy would then ask what he was doing which Nine would be short and blunt, explaining what he was building, not having the same shine in his eyes as when he was explaining it to Sonic and his voice being rather flat and bored. Amy would notice this and ask if he's ok, to which Nine would simply tell her he was fine, getting annoyed when Amy asks if he's sure. He then snarks back at her in annoyance, which would take her aback, then Nine would catch himself and apologize, stating that he has a lot going on in his head about inventions he needs to finish and work on and just needs some time alone, asking Amy to leave him alone to work. Amy would still be concerned but would comply, leaving the fox to tinker with his work as he fantasized about all of the things he could do now that he managed to follow Sonic back to Green Hill, his tails wagged behind him in excitement and joy.

Why New Yolk Is NOT Nine's World And How We Were Wrong About Nine

Ok, I'm back!!!

I'm feeling a little better and I want my mind off some things so here I am! And my first order of business is to address a certain belief that I've been tired of seeing around here.

There's a belief that New Yolk is Nine's world or centered around Nine, but I strongly disagree. Nine's world ISN'T New Yolk, nor is it about or centered around Nine, not in the way you think.

The Grim is Nine's world.

My reasoning?

First, let's look at the color scheme.

New Yolk has very strong themes of red and shaded hues, the only lights being from electronics. Red is the most prominent theme, which is Eggman's main color, and there is no other color to be found, showing it's only his dream and his idea of a perfect world, and nobody finds this world to be paradise, not to mention they are actively fighting back.

Now let's look at the Grim.

It is a very different color scheme. Instead of harsh, strong hues of shades and red, it has a soft lighting of blue and orange. Orange is Tail's main color, but it's not all there is. In fact, there's only one shade of deep orange sandy desserts that seemingly goes on forever, but the blue above has multiple shades; dark blue, baby blue, turquoise, sky blue, and midnight blue at the top, dotted with multiple white stars. There are small silver crystals, seven present on the screen, which I think it's obvious what that represents.

This is Nine's world because it fits his ideals of a perfect world. One where it's just him and Sonic, and the Grim reflects that extremely well, having no buildings, no plants, no water, just nothing but the two of them, together.

Stating that New Yolk is Nine's world because there are machines and he lives there and is centered around him because he's the most we see from and in New York is completely overlooking his entire character in general.

Nine deviates from the other variants due to his views on the world he resides in and his goals. While Thorn, Dread, and the Egg Council all strive to protect or are relatively happy in their respective worlds, Nine could care less about New Yolk when given the chance, not to mention he was nothing but miserable there.

Thorn, Dread, and the Council all want something within or based around their worlds, Nine goes out to find a new one, traveling the Shatterverse to find a new home.

While the others wanted something unnecessary or unimportant, Thorn wanted to protect a jungle that didn't need to be protected, Dread wanted the shard out of greed, and the Council wants power and control, Nine wants something understandable: A home.

Some people say it's Nine's world because he gets to use his mechanical skills better, but did he want that or use those skills for fun or sport? No. He used it for survival against the harsh dystopian world he lived in.

Now let's go onto the next topic, the belief that New Yolk is centered around Nine.

And I very strongly disagree.

New Yolk is not centered around or mainly focused on Tails. Now hear me out, he may be the most we've seen screentime in New Yolk but that doesn't mean he's the focus of it.

I have multiple explanations for this. My first one is that each main Shattered focus is the main conflict of their world, AND has the results of their own actions affecting others and the world.

The Egg Council built a dystopian world where they are in control, Thorn has a Jungle that she thrives to protect, and Dread is the captain of a loyal crew. But New Yolk is a dystopian world where only the Council are happy, everyone else is jaded, miserable, and depressed, Thorn was fiercely protective of the jungle, but in her extreme ways, lost her friends, brandishing herself as a monster, and Dread a captain who never cared for his crewmates, making his old ones his enemies, and merely using his new ones, all for a shard.

The Grim hasn't affected anyone, yet. I think they're saving that exclusively for SONIC AND NINE.

Another thing is that each main focus in the Shatterspace of their originals' main ideals is the main conflict. New Yolk is Eggman, Boscage Maze is Amy, and No Place is Knuckles. It's clear Nine is going to be the main conflict in the Grim, which we have yet to see alongside Rouge's world.

Not to mention, the other variants loved or seemed fine with their worlds, but Nine hated his. AND what the other variants want is attainable and they can find peace and redemption without the unnecessary things they want, but because of what NINE wants, he CAN'T and what he wants is what he CANT TRULY HAVE. And before you might mention how if Nine is a shard of Tails then he'll still attain it, but no, not really. That's still Tails, Nine is dead, nothing but a trait once more no matter how you look at it.

Most importantly, what Nine wants is to be WITH Sonic, while the other variants didn't care about the hedgehog, either attacking him or using him in the end. Unlike them, Nine cares immensely for Sonic after getting firmly attatched, and even after he got captured he STILL SHOWS CARE FOR HIS WELLBEING.

Now I know some of you are stating that Nine is the main relationship focus of New York, and I can't agree with that, but that doesn't mean Sonic's relationship is centered around Nine in JUST New Yolk. My thought?

Nine and Sonic's relationship is anywhere. Not just in New York, it's in the Grim too, and in the void. It's EVERYWHERE.

People forget that Nine is the ONLY varient who figured out how to use the crystals, and it was presumably to FIND SONIC. Unlike Rusty who went under the Councils orders, Nine CHOOSE to do so. He choose to go into the great unknown to find his friend.

Another thing. Rebel said Sonic was gone for WEEKS, making her and Knucks believe that Sonic ditched them. But Nine did not react the same way, which on means one thing:

NINE NEVER GAVE UP ON SONIC.

He spent WEEKS building a mobile just to find Sonic, he spent WEEKS on his own with faith in the only person who gave him kindness, he showed nothing but undying loyalty and faith that Sonic was alive. Which denies another theory that Nine isn't loyal. Sure, not to the others, but to Sonic, it's rooted permanently.

WE WERE WRONG ABOUT WHAT NINE REPRESENTED.

Nine isn't Tails's need for emotional support. That's just one of the things that come with what he truly represents.

It's because of what he is that he's morally ambiguous.

Nine is TRAUMA, Nine is SELFISHNESS, Nine is PAIN, Nine is UNBREAKABLE LOYALTY, Nine is FAITH AND CARE, Nine is INDEPENDENT but EMOTIONALLY CO-DEPENDENT at the same time, Nine is AGONY but also SWEET EUPHORIA.

Nine is HELL but also PARADISE.

Nine is LOVE.

And What Takes Place Out of Love Lies Between GOOD And EVIL.

And the Grim, the creepily beautiful, the empty but still enough Grim, his TRUE WORLD, reflects this PERFECTLY.

I'm so glad you decided to do it! I'm even happier when you put that my comment gave you the motivation to do it! It's very pretty, like everything you come up with! Everything looks wonderful! The weird computer with no lettering, his toolbox, the table, the tic tacs, and the water looks good! And his HANDS, I have NO IDEA how you can draw hands so perfectly!

I was right about how funny and sad it would be! Another great drawing from you and I can't wait to see what else you come up with! <3

An idea I'm planning on drawing perhaps one day;

a picture containing recognizaby Nine's gloved hands, in one he holds a box of mint tic-tacs and in the other a glass of freezing cold water, with the caption over the top half of the image being "I just want to feel something man."

So, a lonely little creetcher living in a post apocalyptic world ruled and essentially destroyed by machines, with the name "Nine"

Why are people saying Nine isn't loyal or is devoid of any loyalty? This actually makes me kinda miffed, a little bit, but it's still there. I think this statement is completely overlooking Nine's character, just like the belief that New Yolk is Nine's world when it's clearly Eggman's.

This is the same fox that helped Sonic out despite the hedgehog getting him captured by the Council.

This is the same fox who protected and helped Sonic during the fight against the Council.

This is the same fox that didn't give up on Sonic when the hedgehog was sucked into the Shard.

This is the same fox that built an ENTIRE FUCKING SPACESHIP just so he could find Sonic.

The same fox immediately went back into his horrible home just to help Sonic when the hedgehog was in danger.

The same fox that offered Sonic a world WHERE IT WAS JUST THE TWO OF THEM.

The same fox came back to New Yolk for Sonic despite initially refusing to.

The same fox who, in quick but noticeable scenes, helped out the rebels because that's what SONIC wanted.

The same fox who despite being captured by the Council because of Sonic unintentionally abandoning him, saved Sonic from being killed by the Council, that got angry because the Council decided to hurt Sonic because he STILL CARES ABOUT SONIC.

He may not be loyal to the rebels, or the council, but he is firmly devoted to Sonic, even when he was kidnapped because of Sonic. So please stop saying that Nine is devoid of loyalty because while he isn't commited to anyone else besides Sonic, that doesn't mean he's a Tails without loyalty nor does he not care for anyone else in the show. Before he met Sonic yeah, but after, his loyalty and care to the hedgehog is unmeasurable and unbreakable.

I mean...

...He is still a Tails after all...