Nine is convinced to take the couch, and it should be embarrassing how Tails layers him in blanket after fluffy blanket, muttering about Nine's coat being too thin for winter. However, Nine has never been cared for in his life, and though pride insists he shoves the kit away, it feels good to have someone care about him—to acknowledge he exists and is real.
Maybe that's why when Tails walks over to the light switch and glances back to say goodnight, Nine stares at him from his blanket cocoon, a request simmering on his tongue. He can't get the words out though, so his wish burns away as Tails flicks off the lights and goes to the door, cracking it open to let in some illumination from the hall.
Then he turns and heads right back to the couch, settling beside him. Nine's eyes widen as his counterpart smiles. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."
Nine's mouth wobbles, but he turns his face into the cushions because he's cried enough today. However, his expression doesn't go unnoticed and Tails frowns before reaching for his head. Nine tenses as Tails' fingers comb through his hair, but then he scritches his scalp right behind his ear, and Nine melts. Warm, safe, and more content than he's been since Sonic said he wasn't real, he quickly drifts away.
Nine wakes to a hand locking around his throat. He gags, eyes flying open. Shadow glares fire, his muzzle pulling back to bare his teeth as he snarls, "What did you do? Where are we!?"
Nine's head pounds, the alleyway twisting around him, so he doesn't comprehend Shadow's questions.
"Take us back," Shadow demands, quills bristling. "The Shatterverse is almost gone and everyone is—"
He stops. The hedgehog turns around. "Sonic?" he calls.
No one answers.
Shadow's face hardens and he whips back. "You…" Rage sparks in his irises. "You killed Sonic."
Nine chokes as his airflow cuts out, Shadow's hand clenching tight. He quickly calls his tails to defend himself. They don't move. What? Why aren't they moving?
Pain pricks his lungs and Nine wheezes, hands shooting up to Shadow's. His grip is iron. Terror bursts in Nine's chest and he kicks out, tugging. Shadow's fingers don't budge and he can't breathe.
His blue eyes shoot to the hedgehog's, pleading. Shadow's face remains cold. Nine's lungs scream and he claws at Shadow's thick glove, yet it doesn't budge. He can't breathe, he can't breathe, someone, help!
No one comes. And suddenly he's a toddler, crying and unable to stand on his scraped up legs. Help, please, help! No one on the motorized sidewalks looks up. No one's ears even twitch his way. It's like he doesn't exist. Like he doesn't matter. He could die and no one would care.
Nine's chest convulses, body jerking unnaturally, but his hands go slack and slide off Shadow's while darkness shimmers in the corners of his vision. Help…
Still no one, and he's going to die. Friendless, alone, and soon to be forgotten.
The gray sky caught between the alley walls blurs into a dark mass as his body goes limp.
"Nine!"
His eyes snap open and he inhales sharply, lurching up. Dim light streaks across his shirt while blankets tumble to the floor. Wait, blankets?
"Nine?"
His head snaps back. Tails is standing beside him in the darkness, looking him over fretfully. Nine soon remembers he's in Tails' living room. Shadow isn't here, that was just a nightmare, he's safe.
He sighs in relief, though his chest is still heaving and his heart punches his ribs. Tails waits for him to catch his breath, namesakes swishing anxiously. He must have cried out in his sleep and woken him.
Guilt slants down Nine's eyes. "Sorry," he rasps, mouth dry. "I had a nightmare."
Tails' brow wrinkles. "That's okay." He glances at the blanket on the floor before bending down, picking it up. Nine expects Tails to hand it over, so starts as his counterpart sits, the cushions bouncing slightly while he drapes the blanket across Nine's shoulders and then drags it over his.
"You know," Tails begins lightly. "I don't really tell people about my nightmares." He frowns, gaze falling. "Mostly because I don't want anyone to think I'm weak or to treat me like a kid."
He smiles a little and looks at Nine. "So I'm the last person who's going to judge you if you want to talk about yours."
Nine's breath hitches, but Tails' blue irises are patient… And he doesn't deserve it when he's been trying to kill Tails' best friend.
Nine turns away, shamefaced. "I…" He exhales. "I'm not a good person." He shakes his head. "I don't deserve your kindness."
Sympathy creases Tails' expression. "Nine—"
"I tried to kill Sonic."
Tails jolts, jaw dropping, yet Nine rushes out, "After what he said, me and Sonic got into a fight." His voice tightens, eyes squeezing close. "I threatened his friends, hunted him down, tore apart my own world just to make him hurt."
He bows his head. "And now here I am running away from my problems when I should be fixing them. Does that sound like a good person to you?"
He glares at his counterpart and maybe he wants Tails to tell him he's bad, to get upset and push him away. Maybe he wants an excuse to leave and do what he must to Sonic Prime.
However, Tails stares steadily at him and says, "It sounds like Sonic hurt you."
Nine's eyes widen.
"And you lashed out." Tails' voice softens. "Because it's easier to be angry than deal with the pain of a friend's betrayal."
Nine's fingers claw into the couch and he gazes at Tails disbelievingly. Then he's letting go, reaching for the kit. His counterpart leans in before Nine can second guess what he's doing and he catches Tails in a hug. His twin moves to hug him back, but Nine isn't quite ready for a full embrace so tightens his hold, forcing Tails' arms down.
Yet Tails doesn't tense up and Nine's heart clenches because Tails is trusting him. Even knowing what he's done, even perhaps suspecting he has something to do with the murder attempts on Sonic Prime, he trusts him.
"I'm sorry," Nine whispers, though Tails can't know he's referencing the attempted murder. "I didn't want to hurt anybody." His face falls. "I just wanted it to stop hurting."
Tails sighs and settles his chin on Nine's shoulder. "Whatever you've done, we can fix it together."
A lump bobs in Nine's throat, trapping his words. So he squeezes Tails until it must hurt and nods against him. Together, Tails wants them to stay together, and together, they'll remain.
Always.
Nine doesn't fall back to sleep, but feigns it until Tails' breathing slows and he snores slightly. Still, he waits another ten minutes before slipping free of his blanket and silently dropping onto the floor.
He turns to the fox tucked in the sofa corner under an orange sheet. His face cools and he slips out his yellow device, aiming at his counterpart.
"Thank you, Tails."
He pulls the trigger. Blue light beams over the sleeping kit, scanning him down to a microscopic level.
The light retracts and a hologram projects over his device, displaying a yellow thermal image of Tails with data around him. Perfect.
Nine smirks. It's just what he needs to kill Sonic Prime, and he couldn't have realized it without Tails.
He clicks his belt button and his mechanical tails drop to the ground, lifting him. Chuckling cruelly, he turns to the doorway and heads out.
Time to get to work.
Step one is masking himself in his electronic distortion field. Then he's outside, his hood flapping in the chilly breeze while he flies into the night sky. He stops once Tails' workshop is a hazy dot below and raises his device.
Twisting a knob, hitting four buttons, and finally aiming ahead, he fires. Green energy beams out, its light swirling into a spherical mass. The beam retracts and a silver drone hovers where it had been, pulsing with waves of dazzling Prism power. It doesn't look like much, but it's emitting ten times the energy as Nine has used since arriving in this world. Tails' sensor array will undoubtedly notice it, and blinded by its massive power, it will no longer detect whenever he uses Prism power.
Nine pumps his fist in victory and spins back, gliding down. He swoops in front of the workshop and hovers by the doorstep, quickly stuffing away his device. Then he stares ahead, scowling determinedly. This is it. Time to create the one invention no Sonic could ever hope to beat.
Nine closes his eyes, brow furrowing as he concentrates. His mechanical tails open up around him and their tips glow green as he summons the Prism power, building it inside them. Schematics form in his head, lines and angles curving between calculations. Sweat beads down his face, his heart pounds, and the power in his tails hums. Come on, make my dream a reality.
Green power shoots out of his tails and Nine grits his teeth. He can't mess this up, this has to work. The power pulls back and Nine inhales raggedly, eyes snapping open.
Red optics flicker to life. Nine gapes past Alpha Grim Sonic as the second bot rises in the air. Red plating with gold accents on the muzzle and chest. Sharp-tipped ears and claws for hands. Two scarlet tails whirl in a blur behind the robotic kit—behind Grim Tails.
Nine's eyes sparkle and he circles his latest creation, examining it from every angle. Yet the robotic fox is flawless so Nine stops, exhaling, "You're perfect."
Grim Tails releases a chuffing sound, shoulders bouncing and red glowing where cheeks would be. Nine blinks as he realizes the bot is laughing—it's pleased by the compliment. However, this Grim copy required a more sophisticated processor to grant it Tails' genius intellect, so it makes sense it's more self-aware than the others.
Nine slows his flesh tails and drops onto the ground, waving towards his creations. "It's true, you two are better than any other copy I've made, and you know why? Because Sonic and Tails are unstoppable. Just like me and Sonic were unstoppable together."
Cruel amusement warps his face. "No matter the dimension, there's no greater duo than Sonic and Tails." A wild light gleams in his eyes. "And I think you should go remind Sonic Prime of that."
Grim Tails nods and reaches down, catching Grim Sonic's wrists. He lifts the hedgehog into the air, and together, they soar towards the gray clouds faintly luminescent from moonlight.
Nine's expression eases into a tender smile and he glances at the front door. To ensure his counterpart never suspects he killed Sonic Prime, there's just one last thing to take care of.
The sun rises in the horizon behind the gray winter fog. Tails sits crosslegged on his frosty rooftop, frowning at the Miles Electric in his hands. Nine is pretty sure he's analyzing the energy emitting from his decoy drone and he's already prepared to fake surprise at the anomaly as he lands on the roof beside him.
However, Nine is taken aback as Tails says, "Hey, about your Sonic…"
Nine's brow lifts while Tails looks up at the gray horizon. "Did he ever apologize?"
Nine blinks. That…wasn't the topic he expected. However, there's no harm in answering so he says, "No." He scowls. "I wouldn't believe him if he did anyway."
Tails is quiet for a moment. Then he says, "If he apologized sincerely, could you forgive him?"
Nine frowns. Why does Tails care? His frown deepens. Though it's a good question considering he almost forgave Sonic…but then…
"I was going to." Tails starts and looks back in surprise as Nine admits, "Maybe I…could…"
He trails off, eyes on the roof. It trembles slightly and Nine raises a brow. Tails stands up quickly, also eyeing the roof.
"What is that?" they ask in unison.
Yet neither can appreciate their twin moment as metal chinks and machinery whirs. They both spin around as the garage rises from the side of the workshop. Nine sends Tails a meaningful glance, but Tails shakes his head.
"None of my friends have the code to my back entrance."
Tails' face hardens and he lifts into the air, flying towards the garage. Nine balks at his boldness yet quickly glides after him. It could just be the garage door malfunctioning, yet if it isn't, he won't let Tails run into danger by himself.
They both land outside the garage, peering past the Tornado to the study room. Tails raises his tablet device, fingers posed over the screen, and Nine suddenly realizes his device must double as a weapon like Nine's does.
"Hello?" Tails calls, stepping into the workshop. "If someone's there, I suggest you introduce yourself before I activate my security system."
Nine whisks out his yellow device, trailing after him. His fur starts fluffing up, breathing quickening because something isn't right.
A strong gust brushes his back. Nine's ears straighten in alarm and he whirls around, weapon angled up.
"I wouldn't try that."
Ruby eyes burn into Nine's and the blood drains from his face. No.
Shadow glares outside the garage and Nine's heart plummets to his feet.
"We both know it won't save you."
Nine's legs shake, and the world tunnels in on Shadow, edges dark and blurry. So he can't do a thing as Shadow lunges with a growl, fist pulling back to punch.
Well, things are about to go down and I hope you all are excited for what's to come! Also, super thanks to you who left a nice review, and thanks to everyone who's following/favorited this story. Though if anyone wants to read this faster, check out refraction on Archive of Our Own under my penname MoonlitNightin as I always update there first.
Now, feel free to leave a review about what you think might happen next time or even talk about Sonic Prime Season 3 now that it's out.
Until next time, take care!