"𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭."

You and Nine look at the monitor of Sonic being scanned in the Void.

“I’ll stop you eventually Nine!” He yelled and jumped off.

You grab Nine’s shoulder, he noticeably relaxes under your touch, “It’s cute how he thinks he can stop everyone and get everything under his control. He can’t run, he can’t hide. Let’s show him the reality of this world.”

Sonic hops onto a rock and kicks it towards Alpha Grim Birdie, but it breaks the rock easily. Sonic lands on another rock and starts running.

The Alpha hits Sonic and he falls. Out of control, he slides through one rock and bumps into another. He lands on a third rock. The Alpha Grim Birdie attacks him with its claws, causing Sonic to yelp and jump off. The rock breaks in half. Sonic flails in mid-air.

"Need...solid... ground! Woah-oh-oh!"

Sonic gets caught by the bird's wing. The Alpha Grim Birdie twists multiple times and throws Sonic off, crashing into more rocks. As soon as he lands on a rock, the robot attacks again; Sonic jumps off and lands on another rock, with the bird shooting at him. He peels out along the rock, and disappears as he reaches the rock's edge, spinning behind the Alpha. He spin attacks and hits it.

"You want to play rough? Fine by me." Sonic said.

The Alpha Grim Birdie attacks Sonic again. Sonic jumps on a rock at the last moment.

"Eat rock, you hunk of junk!" Sonic shouted.

He kicks the rock and hits the bird's head. It squawks and breaks free of the rock.

On the scanner, a large crack is revealed cutting half of its vision.

You and Nine watch it all unfold patiently.

The two regular Grim Birdies swoop past it and go after Sonic. They both get a hit on him, crashing into a rock. He dodges a bullet and falls and lands on another rock. He watches two Grim Birdies go after him, then peels around in a circle creating a tornado. The two birds swerve to dodge flying rocks, but one of them hits the Alpha Grim. Sonic stops peeling, removing the tornado. The birds land on the rock. The birds looking around couldn’t find him.

You smirked looking down on Nine, “You know where he went. Let’s?”

Nine’s half lidded eyes met yours, a smirk folding on his lips.

In New Yoke

"Everything is collapsing. This is terrible." Sonic said, terrified at seeing what had become of New Yoke, No Place and Boscage Maze.

"Is it?"

Suddenly, a projector of Nine appears in the sky.

"That seems odd coming from you. As far as I can tell, you only care about your own home." Nine faces off.

You whispered in his ear, “Doesn't it feel wonderful to see the place that once caused you pain, now destroyed? Words are not enough to describe how you feel inside.” You chuckled next to him darkly, a burning fire inside your heart.

Nine smiled to himself.

"Nine, we were supposed to fix this together. Are you doing this?" Sonic couldn't believe it.

"No. This disruption was inevitable once the Chaos Council opened these portals. I'm just taking what I need to keep my world safe. And now I just need the finishing touch." Nine said without a care.

"Then you're going to have to catch me.”

Sonic runs down the building.

You only smirked at that.

Sonic runs along the road, dodging vehicles in the opposite direction.

"Don't you realize the power I have in my fingertips? You can't run away from me." Nine said, following the hedgehog through his projector with a smirk.

A loud whirring sound is heard. Sonic stops in the middle of the road. The world rotates 90 degrees, sliding Sonic to one side and causing him to crash land on the wall.

"Oh, no. What's happening? Agh!" The cat yelled. He hangs on to a lamp post.

Nine’s eyes widened. You noticed the wild thoughts racing in his mind. You gently held his hand causing his attention to turn to you. You gave a smile, no emotion in your eyes.

“This is a battlefield now. If Sonic refuses to understand. We have to show him how serious we are. And if we have to sacrifice people to achieve it, we will. In war, people get hurt, Nine. Are you ready to make that sacrifice? Or should I?”

Nine’s features harden, “I already started didn’t I? No point in stopping. And I finish what I start.” He glared towards Sonic causing you to smile.

"Agh!" The cat loses his grip and falls, but Sonic jumps across to save him.

"You good?" He asked the cat with worry.

He nods at him to show that he's okay.

"I know you're fast and brave enough to save them all. That's the hero you are." Nine stated with a knowing smirk, seeing them saving the denizens one by one.

Sonic runs along the building and catches another one. He jumps over the gaps, catching another denizen, and panting in exhaustion. Suddenly, the world rumbles and rotates again.

"Oh, not again." Sonic groaned.

Sonic slides down. The world rotates once again. Sonic dodges falling obstacles and catches another falling denizen. Sonic notices Big hanging onto another lamppost.

"Hang on. I'm coming." Sonic runs to save him, dodging more falling obstacles.

"You can't do this forever, Sonic. You're all alone now. Help me, and all of this stops." Nine said.

"No, that's not true. I can save–"

Sonic gets hit by an obstacle and slips up. Big loses grip and falls down.

"No!" Sonic yelled in panic.

Just then, Prim catches him and picks him up in front of Sonic. Birdie and Thorn pick up Sonic, while the rest of the denizens are picked up by Rusty's extended arms. Inside the Kraken, Black Rose pushes the levers forward. Two denizens lose grip on the pole. Mangey and Gnarly catch and save them and take them on board the Kraken.

"What was that about me being all alone?" Sonic asked.

"You'll never–”

Nine growls in fury when the bond is broken.

"The energy is still unstable.” he squeezes your hand for comfort.

“You’re doing a good job Nine. Keep going.”

He raised his other hand and activated his com, “Sonic's outside the Council's HQ perimeter. Go get him."

In the Void, three Grim Birdies caw and swoop toward the red gateway.

In New Yoke

Sonic hears a familiar mechanical caw.

"Oh, no." He said in distress.

The Grim Birdies fly through the tears in the sky. Nine's hologram reappears.

"I'm tired of waiting for you to accept your future, Sonic! Bring him to me alive." Nine ordered the Grim Birdies.

"Are those..." Rebel asked curiously.

"Angry metal death birds? Yep. Worst petting zoo attraction ever. These birds are after me. I need to move. I'll see you back at the Yoke in a jiffy." With those words, Sonic spins off the Kraken and along the edge of a building.

He jumps and spins onto the road, with the birds following him. The Kraken hovers towards Yoke HQ's deck. It lands and opens the door, letting all the denizens out. The Chaos Council views the action through their monitor.

"Fools. As if we'd ever offer shelter to the common rabble." Mr. Dr. Eggman glared.

"We barely have enough energy and reserves to save ourselves." Dr. Done-It said.

Dr. Babble speaks gibberish.

Mr.Dr. Eggman hums to himself, and slowly walks away.

He opened his com when he made sure no one was around.

“How is the plan going?”

Come another voice, “Pretty good. If you stop keep interrupting me!”

Mr.Dr. Eggman scoffed.

The other end sighed, “Don’t worry. I understand your worries doctor. But I always kept my words. I don’t lie. I won’t backstab. I’m not like anyone you know.”

“You better do as we spoke. No tricks.”

He heard the other end laugh, “No tricks. Just listen to me too and we’ll be okay.”

“Fine…. I’ll let those fools in…. And the rodent I suppose. For the power.”

“For the power…”

Back to Sonic, at the top of the jump, the Alpha Grim Birdie swoops in and grabs Sonic with its claws, causing him to yell. It flips and throws him down head-first in the middle of the road, finished off by the other two swooping Grim Birdies. He gets up, exhausted.

"I probably shouldn't have made them angry."

With the Grim Birdies after him once again, Sonic turns around and runs. The Alpha watches him run along the road. The two regulars open fire, firing bullets at Sonic. They scan Sonic as they all make a left turn. Sonic brakes to a halt. The robots swoop up to avoid the buildings before coming back down and landing on the road facing Sonic. Sonic jump-scares to an Alpha Grim Birdie landing behind him. He turns to it as they advance closer to him. The robots open fire. Sonic dodges and Spin Attacks the two regular robots, causing them to collide into separate buildings. Nine's projector appears while Sonic runs.

"You can run as fast as you want. It doesn't matter. I know where you're going. Grim Birdie Alpha, head for the Yoke." Nine ordered.

The Alpha Grim Birdie flies away.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else." Sonic yelled frustrated.

Sonic heads towards the Yoke, going after the Alpha. Sonic speeds up to the wall.

"Agh!"

The Alpha looks back at him. Sonic spin attacks the robot on its belly, they both crash on the deck. Sonic holds his arm and pants in exhaustion. The hologram of Nine appears.

"Had enough?" Sonic asked as the other robots surrounded Sonic.

"Poor Sonic. So brave. So powerless. Bring him to me!" Nine smirked.

The Grim Birdies walk closer and threaten Sonic with their lasers.

"Hey, bird brains. Get off my lawn!" Dr. Done-It said, coming in and loading up his cane weapon.

"Huh?"

Sonic looks up to see the Chaos Council coming to help.

Dr. Babble, Mr. Dr. Eggman and Dr. Deep appear in their mech suits. Dr. Done-It starts firing tennis balls at the birds. Sonic crouches as they all receive a hit. Dr. Babble babbles as the Chaos Council minus Dr. Done-It initiates a fight with the Grim Birdies. Dr. Babble grabs an approaching Grim Birdie with his arm and slams it to the ground. Another Grim Birdie tries to steal the sword off Dr. Deep with its beak. Dr. Done-It appears next to Sonic, jump-scaring him.

"This is where you thank us, you miserable rodent." Dr. Done-It said as he started firing again.

"You're helping me?" Sonic questioned.

This made Dr. Deep hold up Sonic and threaten him with his sword.

"Helping?! More like ‘Using’!" He corrected Sonic and then let him go.

"We need your energy."

"For what?!" Sonic asked in shock.

"We'll talk later. Plus, if we don't stop this crazy fox..."

Cuts to a building being shattered into purple crystals.

"New Yoke City and us won't be around for much longer." Dr. Deep finished.

Dr. Babble grabs an approaching Grim Birdie, and throws it across the deck. The Alpha pummels Mr. Dr. Eggman with its claws and knocks him to the ground. Mr. Dr. Eggman fires a bullet from its chest to force the bird up in the air, crashing into the window beside Dr. Don't, sliding down.

"Huh. Cool." Dr. Don't smiled.

Nine's hologram returns. Dr. Babble babbles in protest.

"You're only drawing things out. There's nothing you can do to stop me." Nine declared.

The Grim Birdies caw.

"Oh, really?" Mr. Dr. Eggman questioned.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eggmen, let's go bash some birds." Sonic said.

"Behind me, hedgehog. I'm the leader here!"

Mr. Dr. Eggman pushes Sonic aside.

"Au contraire, Mr. Doctor. I clearly lead this multitude." Dr. Deep corrected him.

"Alright, let's speed this up, Eggmen. We have some belligerent bird bots to bash." Sonic said in annoyance.

The Chaos Council advances forward and starts battling. Dr. Deep tosses shurikens at a Grim Birdie, which dodges. It caws and flies towards him.

"Hold still, you confounded cockatoo!" Dr. Deep growled.

Sonic jumps onto another Grim Birdie and holds it on its bill. Dr. Deep throws more shurikens which explodes the robot - with Sonic jumping off at the last moment. "And now for another." Dr. Deep said, pointing his sword to Sonic's nose.

"We're on the same side right now. Remember?" Sonic said in panic.

"Old habits." Dr. Deep said, retracting his sword and flying off.

Mr. Dr. Eggman grabs another one and tosses it down towards Sonic, who spin attacks it back towards him. He punches the robot up in the air. Dr. Babble babbles and punches the robot back down. It hits the ground, breaking its wings. Dr. Babble pins it to the ground and focuses on the Alpha Grim Birdie, staring at Dr. Done-It.

"Age before baby." Dr. Done-It said, loading his weapon.

The Alpha delivers a mechanical squawk which frightens him off his seat. It jumps onto Dr. Babble and drops him. He screams. Sonic spin attacks the robot and knocks it off. Dr. Babble, Dr. Done-It and Mr. Dr. Eggman shoot at it, along with Dr. Deep. The Alpha robot falls.

"That one was mine! I saw my shot hit it first!" Dr. Done-It scolded.

"Oh, please! With your eyes, you couldn't hit the ground if it weren't for gravity." Mr. Dr. Eggman scolded back.

The Alpha Grim Birdie gets back up. It retreats back towards the Void.

Nine groans in frustration as his hologram appears. It starts flickering.

"No. Not yet! Not again!" Nine said with worry as his hologram disappeared.

"Come back, coward. We are not done." Mr. Dr Eggman called.

"It looked like he didn't want to go. I think his powers are on the fritz." Sonic said.

"How? If he's managed to complete the Prism, he should have nearly unlimited power." Dr. Deep wondered.

"He still needs something. Me." Sonic said.

In The Grim

The dome fluctuates; purple cracks appear in the sky while Nine is charging in frustration.

"No. Not again!"

Nine configuring the Paradox Prism. The dome continues fluctuating. Nine rises up above the tower and looks at the fluctuating dome. He landed on the platform with a growl.

You walked next to him, “Maybe it’s too charged up? Maybe we used too much. Can’t we let it cool down?”

“Let it cool down?!?” Nine growled in frustration turning to you, “Do you even know how this thing works, Y/n?! Tch, yeah, let’s let it cool down.” He rolled his eyes sarcastically, shooing you off.

You sighed, “Sorry. You are the expert after all. What can I know, right?”

Nine opens his lips to respond back but nothing comes out. He glanced at you. Your eyes told everything. He wasn’t an expert. Who would be with how unstable that prism is?

His ears dropped when you turned your back and walked off.

He raised his hand towards you, “I… Wait.”

He cleared his throat when you stopped. “Sorry. Please continue. I should start listening to you already… You… have pretty good answers to everything. I… I should have… I should have listened from the start. I’m sorry.”

You sighed and turned to him, “It’s alright. Thank you also.” You two smiled at each other.

You knew how hard to smile in this situation you two were in. So you savored it and appreciated it. You walked up to him and held his hands.

“We will make this right. We’ll find a way together.”

He repeated as if savoring every bit of what you said, letting it sink in, “Together.” He tightened his hold over you.

“Isn't it a great feeling to ruin the lives of people who once caused you pain?”

He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, his tense shoulders finally relaxed. His smile widens with your words. Finally, after all these years, someone understands him thoroughly. His features turned into something playful, “So… What will our next move be, ma’am?”

You smirked, “Oh, you’re going to like this, Mr. Prower.”

Nine let out a coughed air in shock, he quickly bit his lip to not let out any noise. He was indeed not expecting you to use his real name like that. He let out a nervous laugh. He wasn’t sure he would be able to talk straight but he hoped he would when he parted his lips, “Oh, I’m sure I will.”

“I want you to listen carefully.” Nine nodded at your words and somehow found himself holding his breath when you leaned towards him. He tried so hard to focus on your words breathing hot in his ear. Get yourself together Nine! You guys are on a mission! But why is it just so hard to focus when it's about you? He cried in his head.

“You will charge the Paradox Prism. We will activate the dome's energy beam. Then I want you to create light ning in New Yoke and strike Yoke. This will force them to defend themselves. We will create a false sense of security that they are safe...” Nine smirked with that and continued listening to the plan.

In New Yoke City

Rebel and Prim fly outside the building. They look up at Nine's projection.

"You're only delaying the inevitable! Nothing will stop me from getting Sonic back." Nine said, his voice echoing.

Two more Grim Birdies fly down. The two bats speak on their Regulator.

"We need that shield up. Now!" Prim and Rebel said in unison.

Sonic continues running; the sphere is surrounded by electricity.

"Faster! Faster!" Dr. Done-it ordered.

Sonic groans as he continues running with all his might. The meter starts rising. Nine closes his eyes and looks down at the Yoke. Two Grim Birdie continue diving, while the two bats watch them. Inside, the ball flashes, with the meter rising close to full power. In the Shatterdrive, another ball flashes and grows. More Birdie robots dive down. Rebel and Prim fly upwards. Around the Yoke, the walls of the shield start to rise, passing through Prim and Rebel. Nine delivers more lightning bolts to attack the Yoke, but they hit the completed shield instead. The Grim Birdies bump into the shield and explode, causing the two bats to flinch and brace themselves. Nine growls frustratedly and fires more bolts at the shield, to no avail. Inside, the Council and the rest of Sonic's gang watch.

Nine continues yelling frustratedly as his lightning bolts fail to penetrate the shield. His hologram disappears.

In The Grim

Nine chuckled with a smile.

"Well played, Sonic. You might be safe for now... but not everybody is." Nine smirked darkly.

You were looking through his screens showing No Place. You had a dark grin plastered on your lips. You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself, your shoulders silently shaking with your laugh. You took a deep breath.

“This is going to be so much fun!”