Nine gradually drifts out of his daze. His blue irises gleam in the glow of a television, pupils contracting as they come into focus. He's on a couch, the lights are off, and his legs are warm. He looks down.

A fluffy blue blanket is spread across his lap. Yet a stronger heat radiates beside him. He turns.

Tails blinks tiredly at the muted television. Nine isn't surprised when his counterpart asks without looking, "Back with us now?"

Nine bites the inside of his cheek. His mouth opens but closes. He debates what to say. After a moment, he looks at the blanket.

"Why…are you being so nice to me?"

Tails faces him and sympathy draws down his eyes. "Everyone deserves a little kindness."

His gentle voice chimes with sincerity and Nine scoffs, though it's weak.

"I haven't believed that for years."

Tails smiles a bit and shrugs. "You don't have to. We're different people."

Nine stiffens. His eyes widen, shock reverberating through his core.

"We're…different?"

Tails frowns, hearing something in his tone, and looks to Nine worriedly.

"Of course," he says like it's obvious, and it should be, shouldn't it? Just a glance shows they're not the same and yet—

"Like the real Tails would."

Nine's hands clench. However, he sucks in a deep breath and calms. Tails notices, but Nine puts on a look of indifference and crosses his arms.

"I should go."

Disappointment falls over Tails' face, though he nods. "If you want, but are you sure?"

Nine's mouth draws to a line. He has a mission to complete. So wordlessly, he lifts the blanket and gets up. Tails swiftly does the same and trails him to the lit hallway.

He's assuming his counterpart wants to wish him farewell, so waits at the door. And maybe he wants to say something too, maybe thank the kit for helping him through his panic attack. However, he stops short as Tails pulls something from behind him.

A dark gray wristband with a bulky circular screen is offered up. "Here." Tails bites the corner of his mouth, tails swishing nervously. "It's a communicator, in case you want me for something or just want to talk, I'll answer anytime."

Nine accepts it, noting the fresh paint staining Tails' gloves and the comm's shiny metal. This wasn't just an extra comm Tails had lying around, he'd made it recently…for him. A gift? He's never received a gift.

A lump wells up in his throat and Nine fights to keep his expression cool as he nods. "I…probably won't use it."

Tails' face crinkles like he's going to laugh as if he knows something Nine doesn't. "Just in case."

Nine nods and turns before Tails can notice his eyes glinting. He grabs the knob, pulls open the door, and steps out. The cold hits him like a wall, but Nine ignores it and spins his flesh tails. He shoots up, Tails' gaze following him into the cloudy sky, though even as the cold air burns his throat, Nine's heart is warm.

Nine pulls his hood lower while snowflakes drift around him. He's crouched on the cliff edge behind Tails' workshop, an electronic distortion field masking his comm's GPS signal and hiding him from any security cameras.

A sonic boom echoes distantly. Nine watches the blue streak emerge from frozen hilltops, snow flying beside Sonic as he speeds past snow-dusted palm trees. He's almost in the trap, just a little further…

In a blink, a yellow wall springs before the blue streak. Nine swiftly raises his device and opens up a hologram, watching the feed from a camera set above the trap. Sonic stands in the video, gawking at the yellow forcefield boxing him in.

Electricity sparks around the containment and Sonic's eyes widen as the forcefield starts shrinking. If he touches the walls, he'll be shocked to death, the ground is layered with metal so he can't dig out, and if he does nothing, he'll be crushed to death. This is one trap Sonic won't be walking away from.

Nine frowns, guilt tugging at his heart while Sonic starts running in circles, perhaps trying to generate a tornado to escape. It will do him no good, the field is too strong, and he's got maybe ten seconds left. Nine…eight…seven…

Sonic stills in the middle of the forcefield, chest heaving and eyes scanning the forcefield frantically with only a few inches of space in each direction.

Five…four…three…

"Sonic!"

Nine jumps as an orange fox-shaped drone drops before the forcefield. Its blue eyes fire a green beam and it hits the forcefield.

"No," Nine hisses as the forcefield flickers before winking to nothing.

Nine punches the ground, his teeth grinding while Sonic smiles appreciatively at the fox-shaped drone. It looks like Tails had his invention keeping an eye on Sonic. Nine hadn't expected that, he should have expected that.

He growls and shuts down the hologram. This isn't over, not by a long shot.

Nine glares at the blue blur in the distance. He'll kill Sonic Prime one way or another.

He just hopes the Shatterverse can last long enough for him to get the deed done and fix his mistake.

Nine returns to Tails' workshop after Sonic leaves it, a mechanical blue band on his arm that must be the portal shield. So much for sabotaging that device. Ugh… Though, perhaps he can at least use Tails to find out where the hedgehog is heading.

Nine is thinking of how to ask about Sonic's whereabouts without raising suspicions when he grabs the front door and the knob doesn't budge. He quickly types 1-9-9-2 on the keypad and the door pops open. He steps inside the dark workshop and oh, no one's home.

Sighing at his now delayed plan, he heads to the bathroom. He takes a thorough bath, washing away any scent or other evidence of where he's been. He even cleans the tub to erase traces he'd left behind. However, he can't find a laundry room and won't risk using his Shard power when Tails likely has a detection system for its power.

So he hangs his clothes to dry on the shower rod and walks out with only his shoes, spare gloves, and mechanical tails. The lights are on downstairs, the scent of spices and meat wafting up to the second floor. Ah, Tails had gone out for food.

Nine goes down and walks over to the kitchen, stopping just outside. He's going to ask if Tails at least has a dryer, but the question dies on his tongue. Two paper bags swing in Tails' hold while he sets a cardboard drink holder on the table against the wall. Two bags…two meals…he'd expected Nine to return and got food for him.

Nine's heart shudders, the kit oddly moved as his counterpart turns with a greeting. Tails chokes, ears shooting straight up. His gaze rakes over Nine and he tenses, becoming very aware of his appearance—their appearance.

"Oh," Tails hastily averts his gaze, scratching his head bashfully. "Sorry, you just look—"

"Like you," Nine sighs, more resigned than angry because he sees it too as they stand across from each other. Aside from his belt, darker accessories, styled-up hair, and the extra strands on his ears, they're mirror images.

Yet Tails soon shakes off his surprise and gestures at the bags. "The first one's chicken nuggets and the other's a hamburger meal."

Nine's eyes widen. Tails is letting him pick, had thought to get two different meals in case Nine preferred one over the other and—suddenly Nine gets why Sonic prefers him. Dazedly, Nine grabs the hamburger bag because he's eaten nothing since breakfast and it's probably more filling. Yet, as he sits at the table, Tails grabbing the seat across from him, his thoughts orbit his newfound realization.

Tails is thoughtful while Nine is selfish—had to be selfish to survive on the streets of New Yoke where no one looked up even as a little toddler was dragged into an alleyway, screaming and wounded. However, according to Sonic, Tails hadn't lived a nice early life either, and yet his kindness remains. Maybe it's because he met Sonic, but even without the hedgehog's influence, something tells him his counterpart wouldn't be nearly as mean as himself.

Tails chatters idly about saving Sonic with a drone while pulling out his food box. He quickly stuffs some fries in his mouth…because Tails noticed Nine was suspicious of any offered food and cared enough to eat first, showing him it was safe. He'd even grabbed a muffin earlier just to show him it wasn't poisoned.

Nine's gaze drops to the floor and he morosely bites into his burger, unlike Tails who eats with a hum, his tails wagging. That's another thing. Tails is a happy, friendly fox whereas Nine is cold and blunt, if not outright mean. So is it really any wonder Sonic looked at Nine and almost immediately wished for Tails instead?

Tails gets up and Nine realizes there's nothing but crumpled wrappers on the table and his half-empty drink. He's eaten, but for some reason, it still feels like there's an emptiness gnawing inside him.

"So I'm guessing you washed your clothes, do you need my Ultra-Dryer? You just got to wave it over your stuff for a few seconds and they'll be completely dry."

Nine nods as Tails grabs their trash and dumps it in the garbage on his way into the hall. He follows the kit, ears sagging as an odd weight drags his heart to the floor. They're heading up the stairs and Nine again notices all the framed pictures of friends and—

Sonic with his arm ruffling a younger Tails' hair. Glass shatters, dull pain echoes over Nine's knuckles, and Tails whirls back. Nine blinks uncomprehendingly at the slanted picture, fractured glass blurring Sonic's image. He punched it?

"Is your hand okay?" Tails asks, staring fretfully at Nine's still raised fist.

Nine gapes at him. He damaged a beloved picture and Tails is asking whether Nine is okay…which he isn't. Nine isn't okay, hasn't been okay since…

Tails reappears with a handheld vacuum. He clicks it on and it roars as he crouches, running it over the step and sucking up the glass shards.

The machine clicks off and Tails stands, sending him a reassuring grin. Yet he pauses as Nine's strained eyes meet his.

"What you said earlier," Nine whispers harshly, bowing his head. "Did you mean it?"

Tails raises an eye. "Um, what specifically—"

"About us being different," Nine hisses, hands tight fists.

Tails' brow furrows, clearly perplexed at the mentioning of what must have been a throwaway comment yet it means everything to Nine.

"Well," Tails nods, "Of course." He frowns, growing serious. "Even if we look the same, it's like us being identical twins. We're just two different people who look alike."

Nine stares, eyes big and round. Then he laughs, but it's broken and dies quickly. Tails' face pinches as Nine says, "That's not…" His expression spasms between misery and rage. "That's not what Sonic said."

Tails gasps while Nine's teeth clench and he glares. "He said I'd see things like the real Tails."

Tails' mouth drops while Nine's eyes shimmer, anger crumbling into despair. "But I didn't ask to be this. I never asked to be Nine." The words strangle his voice. "He's the one who broke reality. He's the one who created my world," his fingers jab at himself, "He's the one who created me, shoved me into a dystopian city, and then—then when I finally think I have a friend for the first time in my life, he says I'm not real!"

His voice rings through the workshop and his heavy breathing is the only sound while his blood pumps fire through his veins. Suddenly, he notices he's on his metal tails, glaring down at his counterpart.

Yet Tails is staring, horrified, but not fearful, and Nine gasps as Tails' blue irises glint.

Softly though firmly, Tails says, "He had no right to say that."

Nine flinches, fur fluffing in his shock. However, Tails glares, his own hands curled in anger.

"You don't have to be me."

His fierce blue eyes meet his identical pair, and Nine's muzzle wobbles, his heart shuddering.

Tails smiles sadly. "I like Nine just the way he is."

Nine's heart breaks. His face screws up, and he heaves in a shuddering breath. Tails' expression falls and he looks down. Gently, he catches Nine's fists, his thumb peeling open his fingers. Then his hands slide in his and he looks up, eyes the gentlest blue.

"I'm so sorry, Nine," Tails emphasizes his name, accepting him for who he is, and though Nine's heart is in pieces, he feels them coming back together. So maybe the Shattervserse is doomed to fall apart, but Nine…

He might just have a chance.

Well, looks like I had one more chapter in me before the new season! I blame the hype train running me over after Season 3's first episode was posted 😅

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this story or even about S3 Ep1 if you've watched that. And until next time, take care!