He gritted his teeth as he spun his organic white-tipped tails, feeling the drag of his mechanical ones more than usual. They were… sort of functional? They kept twitching and jerking of their own accord, but he could at least coil and recoil them at will. Whatever that horrific noise was, it had taken out all the other electronic devices in the visible vicinity and it had clearly messed with the programming in his tails. He needed to get them into his lab in the Grim as soon as possible. That was, assuming they could even find their way back to the Grim. They had no Paradox Prism, and no Prism energy since Nine had drained it all out of Sonic.

A trickle of shame, like ice, ran down Nine’s chest and dripped into the pit of his belly. He smashed a nearby window, in part to provide an escape route and in part to vent his feelings, and glanced over at Sonic. Time seemed to slow.

His friend was stood in the open doorway atop the rubble that used to be the cannon, his blue fur clearly visible through the dust could which had been kicked up from his attack. He had turned to look at the blonde human on the floor, concern evident on his face even from here. One of the uniformed humans outside was pointing a thin-barrelled gun right at Nine’s only friend in the multiverse. The uniformed human’s hand squeezed on the trigger and fired a slim silver dart. Nine coiled his legs against his body and used the wall to push himself forward, arms outstretched. He started to shout Sonic’s name, but only part of the sound was out when the dart embedded itself into his friend’s thigh. Sonic just had time to half-twist back round in surprise when an electric charge flickered over his fur and his body convulsed. As he started to fall, he performed one last miracle – his hands threw up towards the doorframe and the second dart, which Nine hadn’t even noticed, ploughed straight into his arm.

Sonic’s body was still in the split second it took Nine to land next to him. He’d meant to grab Sonic’s arm and use his mechanical tails to hoist him to the side of the doorframe out of sight of the humans outside, but now his extra tails were not responding at all. Two of them were lying limp on the floor, two were twitching and convulsing, and the last one was pointing threateningly at the blonde man. Nine was crouched in the open, weaponless but very much looking like a threat, and his friend was motionless on the ground.

Nine grabbed one of the darts with one hand and yanked it out. Careful to avoid the tip, he threw it back at the human who had fired it. At the same time, he groped for his friend’s wrist with his other hand. There! A pulse. So these morons were looking to take them both alive, then.

The calculations ran through Nine’s brain at megaspeed. His mechanical tails would be a hindrance in battle if he couldn’t get them under control, even if he could fight without them, which wasn’t a guarantee. The last time he had tried to fight back without his mechanical tails… yeesh. If he grabbed Sonic and tried to make a break for it, there was no doubt they wouldn’t get far. This shatterspace’s atmosphere considerably knocked his top speed down. His tails being a dead weight knocked it down further, and if he also had to carry Sonic… The inevitable conclusion was a vice on his heart. They wouldn’t both make it out of here. And if the humans were using nonlethal weapons, neither of them were in immediate danger if they stayed.

Nine was not a stranger to making tough decisions. He’d already sacrificed his best friend once to save the multiverse. He just wasn’t expecting to have to do it again so soon – and this time to save his own worthless skin.

The fox pressed his hands against the ground, spun his furry tails and pushed off against the ground. He flew straight through the window he’d smashed, his mechanical tails dragging behind him, and shot upwards. His tails hurt from rotating round as fast as they could go and his eyes stung from the wind and tears. He broke through the lower cloud layer, levelled himself out and, using the clouds as cover, shot off in a random direction. It didn’t matter where he ended up. All that mattered was what he was leaving behind.

And then the door had flown open, and he was on the ground seconds later, trying and failing to keep a bag's worth of Funyuns in his stomach. He didn't properly register the whir of noise in front of him as the hedgehog dropped down and compacted his frame for an iconic attack. He only vaguely recalled a blur of blue rush past him, followed by a harsh swirl of air and a racket of metal pieces clattering behind him.

He didn't witness the cannon-wielding operative fall backwards as their weapon was pulverized, nor did he get to see a third agent launch out of the SUV, despite the clear hitch of the door and pounding of her feet as she sprang into action to backup her fallen teammate. But with the fight knocked clean out of him, the blonde man finally <i>did</i> hear Sonic's words. As he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, the now pale-faced fellow lifted and turned his head back. '...Buddy?' If the concern hadn't sounded so genuine, the fellow would have been certain the alien was mocking him. Uncomfortable confusion began to replace his earlier anger.

Unfortunately for Sonic and Nine, the agents didn't have that problem. The man who'd initially hauled the door open was employing a tried and true weapon that had bagged them more than a few anomalies from Laissez. He'd waited only for Sonic to turn his head, recognizing a very slim window of opportunity against an impossibly fast foe, before pulling the trigger. From the mouth of what looked like a miniature riffle, a dart flew forth, traveling straight for the blue-quilled shoulder of the hedgehog...

A second dart was flying less than a second later from the female agent, this one also aimed at Sonic. But rather than waiting to see if either dart had hit its target, she was aiming up and firing a second shot right after the first, this one angled in through the open door, and sailing in Nine's direction...

(the electro-darts pack a two-part punch if they hit! if the needle lands, it unloads a potent, fast-acting tranquilizer. it also offers a brief, powerful electric shock designed to stun the nervous system; this second feature is also triggered if the dart is picked up within thirty seconds of firing. totally up to you if it hits either of them, and how they might be affected if so ^^)

The blue hedgehog lowered his hands an inch, hopeful that he could talk them out of trouble and into a new friendship. Even Eggmen-types had to have friends, right? Unfortunately, whether the Eggman-person really would have caved and made friends was something Sonic and Nine would come to disagree over in the far future, since they never had a chance to find out. The front door flung open and a cannon wheeled into the doorframe. Nine started to yell something, but couldn’t finish the word before the air seemed to ripple toward them and a humming noise blasted from the barrel. The Eggman-type sank to the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning. Nine yelped and grabbed his own head with both hands, grinding his teeth, his mechanical tails twitching.

Sonic shivered, feeling like his bones were vibrating. He rolled himself into a ball, spun on the spot for a second and then launched himself at the cannon. It cracked on impact under his first spindash and splintered into pieces on the second. Sonic bounced to a stop on top of the rubble in the open doorway, clearly visible from both sides, and gave himself a little shake to get rid of the weird feeling the cannon noise had given him.

“Sonic!” Nine’s voice barked from behind him. Sonic glanced over his shoulder at his friend, who was up in the air and as far away from the door as possible, his organic tails spinning swiftly. “Get away from there!”

Unfortunately for Nine, turning had reminded Sonic about the Eggman-type. The latter was curled on the floor, retching. Sonic regarded him with concern while Nine smashed a back window with one of his still-twitching mechanical tails.

“Hey buddy,” Sonic called over to the man, “you okay?”

A blur of movement happened somewhere within the cloud, faster than his eyes could properly process. And then, as the air began to clear, he saw the blue one standing in the middle of it all, fire extinguisher in hand. There was little time to consider how that was possible before his attention shot back to the orange-furred alien, with its face twisted in a look that made it abundantly clear that, yes, it was very pissed off. The harsh cry it gave next, coupled with the way the shiny wooden floorboards cracked beneath the press of two mechanical tails, was enough to force the man into a subconscious step back.

The next surprise came from the blue one again, who'd dropped the canister in order to raise his hands, first to placate the the tailed monster, and then the man himself. The blonde-haired fellow took another step back, distrust and disbelief painted in kind across his features, "Hey! Don't you move any closer, either of you." Despite Sonic's attempt to bridge the gap between them, the man had no interest in stepping across it, and now darted a renewed look of suspicion towards Nine, once fox had grounded himself. Leaving the hedgehog's questions unanswered, he focused on the hybrid, "Damn right we don't want you here. Why the hell are you here, anyway?" His body language remained tense, wishing to fight, but being far too cautious of their potential strength now.

Where the man found himself in an uncomfortable deadlock and woefully unprepared to fight these aliens, the agents outside had no such problem. The SUV had found a parking spot outside, and already two of the four operatives were closing in on the building, while the other pair remained in the vehicle. With practiced coordination, one officer flung the main door open, while the other leveled what looked like a small cannon through the now opened entrance. Instead of bullets though, there was merely a faint, thrum of noise from the absurdly long barrel that flared outward like a trumpet at its muzzle. The blonde-haired man caught between them and the aliens immediately doubled over on the ground as a wave of crippling nausea hit him, while the computer that Nine had just been using went instantly dark. On the ground, the layer of yellowed foam and dust seemed to dance and ripple as intense pulses of electro-magnetic energy surged through them and the air around.

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.”

Inside the cabin, a door on the opposite end of the main floor began to slowly ease open. Next to a large steel refrigerator in a kitchenette, and beyond a cluster of five small tables and their accompany oak-backed chairs, the door continued to ease out from its closed position until the face of one very surprised man was able to peek past it. If only he hadn't heard the words of Nine, this facility worker might have believed these were park visitors stopping in to buy a camping spot, or ask a few questions on the various trails in the area. But with a mind already primed for alien conflicts, it didn't take much to set him on a course of cautious action.

Once he'd visual confirmed that he was in the presence of aliens, the man stepped fully out from the door. With fire extinguisher in hand - the only useful item he could find in the supply closet - he rushed boldly for Nine, unleashing the entire canister in the mechanoid's direction in an attempt to confuse and disorient his target. "You're mine! RaahhH!" Whether or not that worked, the man's next action, taken with a vocal grunt of effort, was to the throw the heavy metal cylinder at Nine...

“This is taking sooo long,” he complained, thumping his feet against the ground in an exaggerated manner and slapping his hands against his cheeks. “How much farther is it? Do we have to walk the whole way?”

Nine lifted himself up onto his mechanical tails so he could see over the gently waving rows of corn. The way he squinted and lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sun did not fill Sonic with confidence that they were anywhere near their destination.

“Not far,” Nine said, which was probably a flat out lie.

“Ugh.”

Sonic kicked the dirt to vent his feelings while Nine lowered himself back onto his actual legs. They walked side by side in silence for what was probably only a few seconds but felt like a million years. At least it was nice to be with Nine again. Sonic glanced over his shoulder to check if anyone was following, but couldn’t see anything past the corn rows. He peeked sideways at his friend instead. Nine was walking with purpose, a slight frown creasing his yellow forehead, his blue eyes focused on the path forward.

“So uh,” Sonic scratched his head, unsure if questions were welcome. “What happened after I left? Did everyone…?”

Nine kept looking ahead. “They returned to their shatterspaces. We could probably run for a while as long as we take it slow and conserve energy.”

Sonic kind of wanted to follow up on the answer to that question, but he wasn’t about to turn down the chance to run for a bit. He kicked into a low gear and cruised forward, calming instantly as the wind rushed against his face. He could hear Nine’s tails whirring just behind him. Briefly, he debated continuing the conversation but ultimately decided against it; it felt like the kind of thing best discussed face to face.

They broke out of the field of corn swiftly (although for Sonic it still felt like it took forever) and rolled to a stop on tarmac. A couple of brightly coloured vehicles sat idle in front of a long, mahogany-brown building bearing the name Cedar Creek Visitors Center. Thank the stars it was in a language they understood. Nine had already scuttled up to the building and elevated himself onto his mechanical tails to take a peek through the windows. He gestured Sonic forward. Sonic tried the door, which was unlocked; it opened into a cozy lobby with a crackling fireplace and the kind of plush red sofas you could sink into. Nine made a beeline for the shiny oak desk sporting a desktop computer.

“Keep a look out,” he hissed, leaping up onto the rotating chair. He glanced at the screen and smirked. “Pft. Pathetic encryption attempt.”

While Nine tapped at the keys, Sonic wandered around, taking in everything from the cacti in cute little animal-shaped pots on the windowsill to posters on the walls detailing local flora. This place wasn’t so bad. Amy would love it. He tried a door near the fireplace, which was locked, and then wandered back past the desk through an archway. A couple of doors on the other side were marked with bathroom symbols, and there was a double staircase heading up.

“We’re on the outskirts of a place called ‘Meinville’,” Nine said. Sonic turned his back to the staircase to look up at him. “Okay… weather reports… humidity…”

Sonic pointed at one of the wall-mounted posters. “It says there are 42 different types of ferns.”

Nine ignored him. “I searched Meinville and I’m getting a load of news articles which describe this place as a human-only city, hostile to non-humans.” He glanced up, his frown deepening. “We could be in trouble.”

“A city of Eggmans?” Sonic shuddered. “Sounds terrible. Is it Eggmans or Eggmen?”

Nine ignored that too. “What we need is to get away from this city and regroup somewhere safer, preferably with WiFi. I’m pulling up maps now.”

From the perspective of the couple rushing to the scene, the woman's fall coincided with the blue blur and the strange, mechanoid fox rushing past her. "Hey!" The man shouted aggressively and kicked it into high gear, making a short-lived attempt to catch up to the anomalies that had attacked the lady. After only a few yards however, it had become abundantly clear that he was no match for the aliens' speed, and he'd instead doubled back to his partner who'd stopped to assist the fallen dog walker. Beyond them, the jogger was already on the phone and making contact with the authorities as he neared the scene.

-----

The raised voices of the four humans fell into silence for Sonic and Nine as they left that chaos behind to find brief respite in one of the many patches of woodland that wove through the expansive park and the areas around it. Here, they were far enough away that they couldn't hear the conversation the jogger was having with the police, or know that UECH had now been alerted and were prepping several deployment teams. In this moment at least, hidden from the locals by a wall of leaves and branches, Sonic and Nine could catch their breath and be safe.

In order to find the source of the smoke though, they'd have to leave this temporary shelter.

If they made a short journey through the woods to the east, they'd find a sizeable field to cross before reaching a long, two story building with fresh brown siding and a steep, black-slated rooftop. A small parking lot in front of the building had a single truck parked in its back corner, and if they rounded the front of the building, a sign plastered above the entrance designated this building as the 'Cedar Creek Visitors Center'.

A look through the front windows wouldn't immediately reveal anyone inside, though the edge of a large fireplace could just be seen in what looked like a central lobby area. It was from this fireplace, and its attached chimney, that the smoke Nine had spotted was escaping from.

Time seemed to slow down. He barely heard Sonic’s chattering in the background, or the woman screeching at her pet. The dog locked eyes with him. Nine drew himself up as tall as he could get on his mechanical tails, elevating two more tails still higher.

Footsteps thundered as the other humans drew closer. The dog’s leash was wrenched from the woman’s grip and it lurched forward, teeth first. Nine moved sideways, crablike on his tails, and reached out with one of his mechanical tails as the dog leapt past. There was a flash of metal as Nine jabbed the point of his tail towards the pulsing jugular in the dog’s neck. The collie hit the ground behind him and whipped around, its teeth pulled back in a snarl, blood blossoming on its neck. Not enough blood for the jugular. Nine had missed.

“Woah!” Sonic zipped between the two of them, holding one hand out to Nine and one to the dog in a placating gesture. “Let’s not – hey!”

The dog rushed forward, this time at Sonic. Nine’s heart flipped and he started forward, but Sonic had it in hand. He curled into a ball and spun at the dog, knocking it back so that it rolled between the trees. Knowing Sonic, he wouldn’t have hit it with enough force to hurt it badly. Nine kept his eyes on the treeline, but his ears pointed back, his attention split between the threats.

Sonic glanced behind Nine at the approaching humans, apparently thinking the same thing.

“We should get outta here,” he decided. “Can you keep up?”

Nine shot him a derisive look and snorted. Sonic grinned lopsidedly and bent forward. He took off, blasting past the humans in a blue blur with Nine flying a short distance behind him, his furry tails whirring. They didn’t go far before Nine’s lungs started to feel like they were being squeezed in a vice, and his tails felt like they were rotating in a vat of custard. He pushed through the burn, determined not to fall behind – but it looked like Sonic was slowing down too. The movement of his legs was visible instead of the usual blue-red distortion.

“What’s – wrong – ?” He shouted over his shoulder to Nine, wheezing slightly.

Nine frowned. They hadn’t had this problem in the other shatterspaces, but most likely –

“At – mos – ” He started, but quickly expended what little air was in his lungs. He landed, coughing, and Sonic skidded to a halt in front of him. They’d blasted into the clearing of some kind of woodland, where the humans couldn’t be seen or heard. “Atmos – pher – ic changes,” Nine stuttered out after a moment. “In this – world.”

Sonic scratched his head again. “Maybe we should try and find our friends? Like, this world’s Amy, Knucks, you…?”

Nine grimaced. “I’m not sure this is that kind of shatterspace,” he suggested diplomatically. The last thing he needed was more of Sonic’s other friends. “What we need is access to a computer so I can find out more about this world.”

Sonic glanced around, like he half-expected a computer to pop up in the middle of the woods.

“I guess we’re not gonna find one here,” he said, winning the day’s award for stating the obvious. “Should we try and go back…?”

Nine pointed upwards. In the blue circle rimmed by the canopy, a plume of grey-black smoke was visible to their left. “Let’s try there.”

-Woah-

Her knuckles had gone white as she gripped her dog's leash and blinked in disbelief at the creature and it's clear utterance of an English word. At least, it sounded like a word? Oh yes, it was definitely speaking, even if she didn't entirely understand what it had referenced next. This woman wasn't much of a gamer after all, and in her panic, didn't even recognize the pair for who they were.

"Get back! Both of you!" Her voice was sharp in its mounting fear, and she would have stepped back further if not for the collie holding his ground at the opposite end of the leash. "Help! Someone, help! Roscoe, get back, heel! Heel, Roscoe!!"

The woman was now using her free hand to dig a phone from her pocket, whilst simultaneously trying unsuccessfully to pull the dog back and make space between her and the aliens. That left Sonic and his volley of questions unanswered, at least from the human. The collie was currently giving him an earful, with a dangerously widened gaze and a stiff, frantically waving tail. The dog's attention soon snapped to Nine, picking up on the fox's more guarded body language, including the pair of metallic tails now pointed in his direction.

As the woman began to sweat, and the leash began to slip from her distracted grasp, her frantic shouting had finally draw the attention of the jogger, as well as another pair of walkers further down the path. In a matter of moments, three more humans were running towards the scene.

“I don’t get it.” He frowned, putting his hands on his hips as he panned his gaze across the cedar trees which lined the burgundy lake. “I thought we fixed the Paradox Prism? How did we end up in another shatterspace?”

He glanced at his fox friend. If anyone would have answers as to what was going on, it was Tails/Nine. Unfortunately, Nine was being more Niney than Tailsy right now. He pursed his lips and turned away, apparently scanning up the beach for signs of a threat. Did he not know what was going on either? No – if Nine didn’t understand something, he’d react with openness and frustration, not by closing himself off and turning his back on the question. So did he know something… but didn’t want to say?

“Nine…?” Sonic began cautiously, in the same gentle voice he would use with a startled flickie.

He was interrupted by a volley of barks. Nine immediately elevated himself onto his mechanical tails and turned towards the trees where the sound was coming from with narrowed blue eyes.

“What’s that?” He demanded, his voice alive with suspicion. One of his mechanical tails twitched.

“Uhhh…” Sonic glanced up at the trees. “Sounds like Knuckles if you touch the Master Emerald. I’ll go check it out.”

He leaned forward, not hearing Nine’s cry to wait, before he barrelled up the gentle slope towards the treeline. Slowly. Like, way too slowly. Sonic couldn’t even remember the last time he’d moved this slowly. He tried to push faster, but it felt like his lungs were caught in a vice. He skidded to a halt a few metres from the dog walker, gasping for breath again and staring, dumbfounded, at the weird-looking person and her pet.

“Woah.” He got his breath back just as Nine came stumbling out into the open behind him, and scratched his head. “You look like Eggman.”

“Sonic!” Nine wheezed.

“Sorry,” Sonic acknowledged to the woman. “That’s like, the worst insult ever. Are you related to him though? Or the Chaos Council? Also where are we? This shatterspace is crazy. And way too wet for my liking.”

While Sonic talked, Nine’s breathing returned to normal but he kept two if his mechanical tails elevated above his head, pointed at the dog.

Across the opposite end of the lake, a lone figure jogged along a broad, pebbled path that wound through hills of neatly mowed grass and spaciously planted trees. Beyond this early-morning runner, the glint of metal could be seen as it caught the rays of the rising sun, highlighting the frame of a playground swing-set. There weren't any children out so earlier though, and the solo jogger hadn't seemed to notice the colorful pair at the opposite end of the lake. Perhaps too far away to see clearly, a pair of wireless earbuds would explain why this person hadn't heard a pair of bodies crashing into the water moments earlier.

But another pair of ears had.

A dog walker nearer to the beach where Sonic and Nine were catching their breath had come to a stop. They'd heard the splashes, but thanks to the dense swath of trees between them and the lake, didn't immediately spot the two new arrivals. Had some kids thrown some rocks into the water? Had someone fallen in? From where she stood listening, too curious to ignore it yet too reluctant to immediately investigate, the woman was positive she heard voices.

Woof! Woof!

The collie-mix she was walking had also been listening. And when the foreign scent of the fox and hedgehog finally made it to his nares, the dog began to bark and pull at the end of his leash.

It took longer than felt safe before he could gasp down some air. Immediately, Nine took a deep breath, ducked underwater and spun his tails, powering his way towards the bed of the lake as fast as he could.

The water was murky, and the further down he went the more his spinning tails kicked up mud and debris. Nine squinted, furiously scanning the area. Visibiity was low. Why did he have to lose his gadget in the stupid Void? If he could just have run a sonar scan… Darting movements up ahead lifted his hopes briefly, which came crashing back down when a few fish zipped past him. There were no landmarks underwater to help tell how far he'd travelled or where he'd looked. His lungs burned.

Just as he thought he was going to have no choice but to go up again for air, a glimpse of white broke through the murk. Nine darted towards it and reached down, his heart rate picking up as his hand enclosed something solid and narrow, the distinct shape of a white glove emerging through the burgundy-black gloom.

Nine pointed his tails down and rocketed up as fast as he could, dragging the dead weight with him. He broke the surface, keeping his tails spinning below him to tread water, and pulled Sonic up by the wrist. His friend was out cold, and weighed way more than he should have. There was no way Nine would be able to fly them both out of there. He rearranged his hands so they were under Sonic's arms, trying to keep his friend's head above the water. What now? Nine twitched his mechanical tails experimentally, and was relieved to find they were now responding to his will again. He reached over with a few of them, and secured Sonic as best as he could. He kicked his back legs upwards, spun his tails again and propelled them both across the surface of the water, heading towards an orange-yellow beach edged with more cedar trees.

Nine's breath was coming hard by the time they reached the shallows. He dragged Sonic part way up the beach, wanting nothing more than to collapse next to him. The sight of his unconscious friend lent energy to his aching limbs, and he stumbled forward determinedly. After a Heimlich manoeuvre, Sonic dropped to his knees and started coughing, spitting out water. Nine fell to his knees beside him, relief flooding his body.

It was only now that he noticed that Sonic looked… different.

The difference was weird, and hard to explain. It was like someone had upscaled his friend for 4k HD cinema. His fur was more… detailed? Nine examined his own gloved hands and wet body, realising the same thing had happened to him.

"Nine?" Sonic's voice was a little raspy from the coughing, and somehow his green eyes had separated in his face. But his expression was the same as ever - a bit dopey, like he had no idea what was going on, but also alight with warmth, like he was happy to see his fox friend.

No one else had ever looked at Nine like that before.

He wasn't sure who moved towards the other first. They hugged, and Nine felt the corners of his eyes burning.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked, his voice sounding almost normal again. "What happened with the Void? Where are we? Why - " He pulled back, studying Nine, his expression baffled. "Why do you look like… that?"

Nine sniffed. "Our exterior appearances have obviously recalibrated to this shatterspace."

Sonic frowned. "Like how my kicks changed to fit each shatterspace?"

"Exactly." In spite of himself, of everything, Nine smiled. "There's hope for you yet, hedgehog."

Sonic got to his feet and helped Nine up. They stared out across the unassuming red-brown lake, silent.

It wasn't what Nine had intended. But whatever it was, wherever he was, at least he was here with his friend.

Nine yelled wordlessly as the Void spat him out, an expulsion of frustration. His mechanical tails twitched of their own accord.

He couldn't help it. He had been so powerless in the dark. His tablet had been wrenched from his belt almost immediately, leaving him spinning in the Void with no possible solution at his fingertips. His tails had tangled together so he couldn't even try to fly, but he'd had a feeling he wouldn't have been able to regardless. The force of the Void was like nothing he'd ever experienced before - not even the paradox prism. It whipped him around like a washing machine, ripping away any practical use of his senses.

And then it retreated around him, spitting him out as a child would a piece of broccoli.

He tried to orient himself, rolling in the air to face downwards. Below, a vast, flat surface the colour of wine stretched almost as far as the eye could see, rimmed at the corner of his vision by large, green cedars. A lake? Far below Nine, a cobalt speck contrasted with its rusty backdrop, heading straight towards the water.

"Sonic!" Nine yelled, a split second before his friend vanished beneath the claret surface with a tremendous splash.

Nine wrestled with the air, trying to point his head towards the ripples and untangle his tails. His mechanical tails still weren't responding properly, and his furry ones were buried amongst them. He managed to pry them apart but couldn't get them spinning fast enough to pull himself out of the dive, and splashed down a few seconds after the hedgehog.

The impact of the fall punched their air from his lungs, which refilled with icy water as soon as he tried to take a breath. Nine twisted around again, pointing his head uptowards the light, and spun his tails. He broke the surface coughing and spluttering, his heart thumping at a thousand miles per hour. He didn't have time for this! Sonic had not re-emerged at all - Nine needed to get down there now!

Cont in next post

"What the heck is that?" Knuckles yelled from somewhere not too far behind Sonic.

It was unlike anything Green Hill had ever seen before. A huge, black tunnel was snaking down from the sky, emitting a strange blue light which kept sparking. Aquamarine lightning zipped around the edges. It looked a little like a tornado, but thicker and as black as night. As it approached the tops of the hills, bits of rock and grass broke off and swirled upwards to meet it, forming a ring of debris.

Unfortunately, it was something Sonic had seen before. His frown deepened.

"It looks like the Void." He said it half to himself, but his friends heard.

"What's the Void?" Amy shouted over the roaring darkness and a crack of lightning.

An image flashed through Sonic's mind of Shadow falling towards a black pit which was somehow inkier than the darkness of the rest of the gap between the shatterspaces. The green chaos emerald slipped from Shadow's gloved hand, vanishing into the Void - lost. Gone forever. Shadow would have gone too, if Sonic hadn't caught him.

He glanced back over his shoulder at his friends: Knuckles charging forward, a red streak; Amy right behind with her hammer at the ready; Rouge and Tails flying overhead, their faces grim. Tails caught his look.

"Sonic?" His voice held a warning note. "What are you thinking?"

There's nothing we can't do if we all stick together. Sonic had said that himself, right after they defeated Eggman the last time. His mind flashed through scenes - Nine's face contorting into a scowl as he pulled himself away from Sonic's touch; his friends appearing in the Grim in full battle gear; everyone working together to take down the alphas. There were times when he couldn't do it alone.

"Alright team!" He yelled back. "Don't get sucked up by that thing or it's game over. We need a plan to shut this thing down. Tails?"

Tails pulled one of his gadgets off his belt and started punching buttons. Amy hit away a piece of debris with her hammer that would have knocked him out of the sky while Rouge protectively flew in closer. Knuckles started hopping up a cliffside while Sonic zipped up vertically, pausing at the top to wait for the others to catch up. Blue lightning flashed above him, briefly illuminating his azure fur. He hopped from one foot to the other and ground his teeth. What was taking Tails so long? Lightning flashed once more, lighting up his fur again in a glow which seemed to last a little longer this time.

"Sonic!" Amy had taken up a defensive position further down the cliff side to protect Tails while he fiddled with his gadget. She waved her hammer at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Sonic glanced down at himself. The glow persisted, and now blue sparks were dancing across his body. He didn't have time to speculate. The blue sparks tugged at his fur, lifting him up into the air. "Woah!"

He spun his legs, but without solid footing couldn't get anywhere. Tails shouted something he couldn't hear. The last thing Sonic saw before he got sucked up into the Void was a red streak shooting across the grass as Knuckles raced towards him, too late.

Darkness closed around him. The Void seemed to retract with him, like a venus fly trap retreating once it had caught its prey. Blue lightning flashed, illuminating the debris spinning around him.

"Not again!" Sonic yelled as he and the Void vanished, leaving behind a peaceful Green Hill aglow under the warmth of a setting sun.

Nine paced by his computer, as far away from the others as he could get within the Citadel and trying as hard as he could not to listen to them.

"How will we know if he's made it?" Batten was asking in a hushed tone, like she was speaking at a funeral. Her words encapsulated the collective fear.

"He'll make it," muttered Knucks, with the kind of confidence Nine wished he could share.

It was agony. The corners of his eyes prickled but Nine shoved the feeling down, the way he'd done when those bigger foxes had bothered him for years when he was a kid. If Sonic didn't make it back to Green Hill in time - if his body couldn't hold together without the prism energy - it was Nine who had extracted that energy, it was Nine who let the shatterverse crumble -

Stop it, he chided himself. Sonic wouldn't let you think that way.

He couldn't stop the intrusive thoughts, but the reminder that his friend wouldn't begrudge him anything, no matter what, washed over him with a warmth he'd rarely experienced in his short life. It was like Sonic had given him permission to be okay - even if that permission was granted from beyond the grave.

It took an age for the Kraken to re-emerge from the darkness, navigating carefully around rocks and debris. Several people whooped and ran to the edge of the Citadel, eager for news. Nine edged forward, his pointed ears pricked, as the vessel pulled up alongside them.

"Aye, he made it," Black Rose beamed, anticipating the unasked question weighing down the air. Several people cheered while others hugged. Nine felt a cube of ice he didn't realise he'd been carrying around in his chest melt a little. "The Kraken was losin' power, but Shadow got him the final way," Black Rose continued. "We saw him pass through the gate."

"I have repaired the Kraken," Rusty Rose announced in her montone voice from the control panel. Nine noticed Thorn Rose kneeling beside her giant Birdie, comforting her with uncommon gentleness. "We can now return you to your own shatterspaces."

People began to board, chattering excitedly. Nine twisted his hands together, watching them, wondering if he'd ever felt so alone.

"What about him?" Knux grunted, jerking his head back towards Nine while looking at Rebel. As if Nine was just a thing, to be discussed but not included. A problem to be solved.

Anger flared in the young fox. His ice cube refroze.

"Leave me," he said flatly, turning away from them. "I'm not returning to New Yoke."

They were a lot quicker to accept that than Sonic would have been. Without even a feigned word of protest, the people of the various shatterspaces boarded the craft. Rusty Rose jabbed a few buttons on her control panel and the Kraken lifted off, heading towards the glowing green Boscage Maze gate first. They dropped off the scavengers with hugs and waves, then whooshed over to the red New Yoke gate to return the rebels home. Finally, the Kraken soared through the blue No Place gate and vanished, leaving Nine alone in the shatterverse.

Alone. Completely alone. Like he'd wanted.

Nine stared at the twin palm trees where he'd hung a hammock for Sonic, watching it sway gently from side to side.

Alone. Sonic had asked them to leave him alone. Live out his life in peace.

He exhaled. Released his hands from fists and then reballed them again. Slowly, Nine walked to the edge of the Citadel which now represented the Grim in its entirety, a barren rock in space. Nothing else of this shatterspace remained. He looked down at the darkness of the Void, then glanced back over his shoulder. Other than the hammock, all he had left was his computer, the energy-extracting machine it connected to on one side, and the empty podium for the missing paradox prism on the other. Without the prism, Nine had no way of making anything else. No food. No water. No nothing.

He turned back to the darkness and looked across the field of debris to the glowing red New Yoke gate, its light pulsing with neon anger. Without meaning to, Nine's blue eyes shifted to the gleaming white light in the distance. Green Hill.

Sonic couldn't exist in the shatterspaces without the prism energy. But maybe Nine could exist in Green Hill?

He turned, lifting himself onto his mechanical tails, and darted, spiderlike, back to his computer. Nine tapped furiously at the keys, scanning the screen, searching for any sign of residual prism energy. A blue spark flickered briefly over the podium which had once held the paradox prism. There! A spark - a spark was all he needed.

Nine's fingers flew across the keyboard with a new energy, writing code, recalibrating his machines. He jumped up onto the podium and leaned across the computer, one of his mechanical tails hovering over the green button on the keyboard.

"I'm coming, Sonic," he muttered, eyes narrowed.

He hit the button.

Tails and Amy exchanged glances.

"…You've been acting different since the cave," Tails said slowly, squinting a little at his best friend. "Is something going on?"

Sonic inhaled, taking in the scene for a moment. Knuckles was watching from the rock he'd been working out on moments before; Amy stood beside Tails, a hand on her hip; Rouge stood by Big, who was sitting on the picnic blanket with Froggy in his hand. All of them were looking at him, awaiting his response. This was it. It was time to tell them.

"Okay, okay," he said quickly, bouncing a little between his heels and the tips of his toes. "The wiiiildest thing just happened. Right after the - "

A crash drew a collective gasp from the group, and Sonic spun around on the spot, still clutching his plate with its mountain of chilli dogs. A huge, vibrant blue light rippled out from behind the cliffs ringing the beach, bending over palm trees and ripping off coconuts. Sonic and his friends were thrown backwards onto the sand. The plate flipped up from Sonic's hands and the chilli dogs scattered, sending sauce flying. Sonic groaned as he got to his feet, and frowned skyward as a giant, looming shadow blotted out the sun. Around him, his friends picked themselves up and moved closer together, readying for a battle formation.

Sonic stared up at the ominous shadow for a split second and slapped his palm against his face.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me." His moment of ire didn't last long. He pumped his fist and shifted his leg back as he prepared to run, a lopsided grin forming on his face. "Okay, team. We gotta go fast!"

At the last word, he took off, leading the charge towards the blue light.