the secrets in their melodies?

Nine met the human male’s intense gaze with a hard, unblinking stare of his own, eyes narrowed and eyebrows lowered. It killed Nine that he even had to ask to borrow the tools he needed. If there was one thing that life had taught him, it was that the only person he could rely on was himself.

A memory resurfaced: a solid image of a pink portal glowing in a dim cave. Nine knew this memory. Shame curdled in his stomach and he tried to push it away, but the details sprang back as clearly as if it had just happened. It was like he could feel the multi-coloured glow of the shards over his shoulder as he held them aloft with his mechanical tails, and could see the electricity rippling through the portal. He remembered turning and seeing the only friend he’d ever had on the floor, coughing, his blue fur ever vibrant through the dust and dim light.

‘We can make this work, Nine,’ Sonic had said, ‘Trust me.’

‘Trust you?’ Nine had sneered back, layering the emphasis onto the second word. He had turned back to the portal. ‘The only person I can trust is myself.’

He had stepped through the portal, and back then it had taken him home to the Grim – but now it was like the present world slid back into place. Nine’s knees wobbled and he adjusted his stance to counter it, hoping the humans hadn’t noticed. The darkness at the corners of his eyes seemed to have crept in a little more. He needed those tools now and then he needed to get out of here, find somewhere safe to crash, and come up with a plan to save Sonic.

Then the bigger human spoke, and Nine’s full attention was redirected straight back to him.

“Anomaly?” He snarled, feeling heat rising inside. Before he could say anything else, he was thrown back in time again.

This time he was a little, two-tailed fox, before he’d made his mechanical tails. He was minding his own business but not minding his surroundings, and didn’t even notice the bushes rustling as he strolled past. The two larger, darker-furred foxes which leapt out and grabbed his extra tail seemed to come from nowhere. Nine – Miles, as he’d been called back then - had managed to pull himself free and ran back in the direction he’d come. He could hear their thundering feet behind him, hear the words they were shouting…

The house and the driveway and the two humans came hurtling back with such force that Nine dropped down onto one knee. Gritting his teeth, he spread his hands on either side and pushed himself back onto his feet. What was with these flashbacks? Maybe it was a side-effect of travelling between shatterspaces without any prism energy. Or maybe it was because his body really, really wanted to turn itself off and on again.

“I’ll make do,” he snapped when the human suggested his tools weren’t up to standard (which they probably weren’t). His head was throbbing after the last flashback and he reached up to hold it with one gloved hand. Fortunately, the humans were too busy arguing between themselves to pay him much attention. The smaller one had come to stand by his side and was insisting on helping him, much like Sonic would have done. Nine’s expression softened slightly as he glanced sideways at her. It hardened again when he looked back up at the taller human, who had left his threat dangling. “Pretty sure I lost them. If I can just fix my tails, I’ll bet out of your hair.”

Nine took a step forward, swayed a little, then found his balance again. He couldn’t stop now. Not when he was so close.