Word Count: 1,855
Fandoms: Sonic Prime
Characters: Shadow, Sonic, Nine the Fox
Relationships: [gen/platonic] Sonic & Nine
Warnings: Implied character death
Author's Note: Crossposted from Ao3, original posting date 12 July 2023. This was written and posted before season 2 of Prime was released, and was speculation on how they would get the Chaos Emerald out of the abyss between the shatterspaces. Also, in case it isn't obvious, "Vortex" is what Nine named his plane.
Nine stands on the massive chunk of crystal they crashed landed on, arms crossed as he watches another Shatterspace implode in a violent burst of colour, one in the outer reaches of the void. The destruction is creeping closer and closer.
Behind him, Sonic paces, tugging at his quills with nervous energy. "It's my mess. I'm the one who needs to clean it up. I'll go down, I'll grab it, and-"
Shadow grabs his arm as he walks past, stopping him in his tracks. "-And what, Sonic? You can't escape that- that abyss, it isn't possible. You will die."
"We'll all die if no one gets that Emerald."
Shadow takes a deep breath. "I'll do it. Once I get the emerald, I can Chaos Control back."
"No. You just said that the emerald's too deep, that anything that goes down that far is coming back an empty husk. Listen, I can-"
Shadow grabs his arm. "I'm not letting-"
"It's my fault!" Sonic pushes him off, whirling around to face him. "It's my fault that we crashed, that we're here in the first place, that this-" he gestures to the crumbling Shatterspace- "is happening. Me. I- I should be the one who faces the consequences. No one else."
Shadow doesn't say anything, just stands there with his fists clenched.
Nine watches them from the edge of the crystal.
Here's the thing. Nine was never going to get to be happy. Nine was never going to be a part of this. It's all he's wanted, all he's needed, even if he refused to admit it for the longest time.
He thinks of The Grim, the home he started to carve out for himself. For Sonic.
Nine can't have any of that. He, quite literally, wasn't meant to have any of that.
He looks at Sonic, standing toe to toe with Shadow as they shout at each other.
Sonic had all of that. Sonic is about to lose all of that. Part of Nine thinks good, if I can't then why should anyone else, part of Nine wants to scream and rage and for everyone to hurt in the way he's hurting. Part of Nine wants to sit and watch this, all of this, the Shatterspaces and the void and the very universe, eat itself alive.
The other part of Nine is tired. The other part of Nine thinks about the Tails Sonic loves to gush about, about as long as I'm around you'll always have a wingman, about the feral fox kit and bright-eyed sailor that Sonic had held close as they all laughed. The other part of Nine thinks about the Paradox Prism and the vague feeling of not being whole he's had his entire life.
Nine… Nine was never going to be able to keep Sonic. Nine was never supposed to have any of this.
He knows what he has to do.
Nine trails his hand along the side of the Vortex as he walks towards the cockpit. Dust coats the entire plane, streaking on his gloves. It must be from The Grim - there's no dirt in this void between Shatterspaces, apart from what they've tracked in.
He wipes his hands on his shorts as the doors to the cockpit slide close behind him. With a click of a button, the locks hiss as they engage, and Nine slides into the pilot's seat. Without the Prism shard to power it, the Vortex is pathetically weak, unfit for battle, unfit for flying for any amount of time - but that's okay. It can get off the ground, and that's all he needs.
The engine sputters, roars to life.
"Well, I guess since you can't think of- NINE!"
Nine looks over his shoulder to see Shadow stumbling as Sonic pushes past him, eyes wide and horrified. He reaches out a hand as he sprints towards him. "Don't-!"
Nine slams the throttle, and Sonic's shouting is drowned out by the thrusters roaring to life. The Vortex shakes with the effort, and Nine clenches his teeth as he struggles with the controls.
The whole plane shudders as Sonic slams into it, curled up and quills flexed, but Nine built it to withstand travelling through interdimensional portals. It's going to take more than a hedgehog, even a desperate one, to crack it open.
Sonic dashes into it once, twice more, metal groaning and bending under his strikes, and Nine cringes at the abuse, but doesn't stop working to get off the ground. Sonic disappears in a blur of blue, a blur that's suddenly everywhere at once, and alarms start shrieking as he does his best to break through.
He stops directly above Nine, kneeling on the glass as he brings his fists down over and over. Nine looks up, looks him in the eye, and Sonic pauses, ears pinned and pupils blown wide. He says something, something Nine can't hear, and he forces himself to look away, focusing on the controls.
Sonic slams his fists against the glass again. His mouth opens and closes as he shouts, but Nine can't hear him over the engine, over the ringing in his ears. The Vortex jerks as it finally lifts off the ground, and Sonic wobbles but still doesn't fall, instead bringing another fist down even as he clings on. The glass cracks under his hands.
Nine hits another button. Electricity crackles, and Sonic cries out, falling backwards, smoke rising from his gloves. The force shield dies almost immediately, weak without the Prism shard to power it, but just powerful enough to buy him a few seconds.
By the time Sonic scrambles to his feet, the Vortex is diving off the edge of the crystal.
"Nine-! Shadow, get off, he's- I need to- NINE!"
"You can't, you can't, Sonic listen to me-"
"Let go, let me go!"
"I'm sorry."
It's about five seconds later when Nine realises he has no steering control. At all. Pulling at the yoke does absolutely nothing, the entire thing has jammed up, and a couple of flicked switches shows that the rudder is unresponsive.
The Vortex falls into a nosedive, spiralling down and down. The abyss is all encompassing. All he can see is black.
Finally, he feels something shift under his hands, and he lets out a sob as he wrenches at the yoke and it gives. His arms shake as he fights and pulls the Vortex out of the spin, blinking away tears as he straightens himself.
He's still being pulled down, of course he is, the abyss is a gnawing hole, sucking in everything in its reach. Nine couldn't escape from it, not now, not if he wanted to. He can feel the pull, even from inside the Vortex. He's caught in its tide.
He doesn't want to, he reminds himself. This is what he wanted. This is what Sonic needed. Sonic needs- Sonic needs his friends. Sonic needs to save his friends, to save his home.
There's a lot Nine can't do, can't be. But he can do this.
He pours more power into the thrusters, and he falls deeper into the abyss.
The Vortex's shaking gets more violent with each passing moment and with a jolt Nine realises that it might not be up for this, might not be strong enough to withstand the sheer force
He's starting to get cold, his hands starting to shake. it's getting harder to breathe, the air turning sharp in his lungs. Everything is starting to feel distant, stretched out to thin, and he swallows thickly as nausea sets in.
How did Shadow describe it? Decaying all life, ha. Soul sucking would be a phrase. Everything is fading at an alarming speed.
Any colour is long washed out, everything painted in monotone. Every second takes away more light, until the only thing he can see is the flashes of alarms from the control panel, split second intervals of light, and the vague dark shapes of debris from the Shatterspaces falling past him.
Time doesn't feel like it exists anymore, he could've been falling for hours or seconds or minutes. There hasn't been any sign of this Chaos Emerald. If it still even exists. If it hasn't been completely destroyed. He isn't even sure what it looks like, stupid, didn't even think to ask.
Where is it, god, please, don't let this be all for-
There. A flash of green, almost blinding in the pitch black.
The Chaos Emerald. It has to be.
The Vortex is still hurtling down, still gaining speed. There's no changing it's course. Nine's heart breaks a little, but this was bound to happen. With numb fingers, he unlocks the doors, slides them open. Away from the light of the control panel, he may as well have his eyes closed, save for the glow of the Emerald. He focus on it, never taking his eyes off it as he clumsily climbs out of the cockpit.
It's eerily quiet. No wind rushing past his ears, despite the velocity at which he's falling. With a deep breath, and jumps.
Momentum aided by his tails carries him across the abyss, closer and closer to his prize even as they both. Time stretches into an eternity, and he can feel himself panting, sweating has his tails start to stall, back aching. Just a little closer…
There.
The emerald burns in his hand, and he gasps as energy, unsettling and foreign, races through his veins. He didn't know it was possible to get more dizzy.
He twists, squints in the darkness. Above him, barely visible, a glimpse of purple among the nothingness.
He starts flying.
Time twists. He's cold to his core, numbness spreading up his arms and legs. The world is grey around the edges, his eyes burning as they stay locked on to that glimpse of light. The Emerald is clutched to his chest, the strange energy it emits the only thing letting him know it's still here.
He probably should have asked more about it, in hindsight. That Chaos Control thing sounds like it could've been important. It's too late now.
He blinks, and suddenly colour is creeping back into his vision, the sound of his breath rasping in his lungs overbearingly loud. He can see- he can see the Shatterspace, distant, but there.
Hope blooms in his chest. He's not going to make it. He never was. Even now, he can feel the strain as the abyss fights to drag him back down into its depths, feel the numbness creeping into his chest. But, with enough force-
Tightening his grip on the Emerald, he draws his hands back and, tails whirring, throws himself into a spin. He doesn't go anywhere, not with the abyss pulling him, but if he times this right…
At the height of his spin, he uncurls, channels all of his strength and throws the Emerald, as hard as he can, crying out when pain shoots up his arm and into his shoulder. The Emerald flies through space, hurtling towards the mouth of the abyss, a seering green against the black.
He hopes it's enough.
Nine stops fighting, and lets himself fall.