always to new horizons; (Meinville Cedar Creek Lake)

Nine was scowling as he scanned the map, frustrated by its limited search functionality. Being blasted by a highly concentrated stream of dry cream-yellow powder hit him in the chest, knocking him out of the chair. He spluttered and instinctively inhaled, then coughed continuously as white vapour from the pressurised gas clouded the room. A deep voice shrieked something barely intelligible.

Time seemed to slow for a second. Nine glanced up in time to see the gleaming metallic cylinder emerge through the fog, hurtling towards him. There was a blue flash and then Sonic was stood over him, holding the canister. The fog dissipated, revealing the layer of cream-yellow powder covering everything between them and a red-faced, blonde-haired man opposite.

Time restarted, and now Nine was really scowling. Still coughing, he used his mechanical tails to lift himself to eye level with the man, thumping two more tails into the ground and cracking the wooden floorboards for good measure. Yellow powder dripped from his fur and dusted his robotic limbs. A wordless, guttural cry came from somewhere deep in his chest and the human man took a step back.

“Woah there!” Sonic, still in between the two of them, dumped the empty canister on the ground and held a gloved hand out behind him. “I got this, buddy.” Nine’s lip curled, but he held himself back as Sonic took a step towards the man with both hands out. “Hey! Seems like we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Sonic, this is Nine. What’s your name?”

Nine lowered himself onto his two organic feet, throwing the man a distasteful look as he did.

“We should go, Sonic.” He dusted his jacket off, frowning at the yellow powder which stubbornly stuck on. “We don’t want to be anywhere we’re not wanted.”