✎𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.❞

You watch Sonic slowly circle you and Tails, hands connected behind his back like a certain going to scold his sons any second. Jeez.

"Soooo, what're we gonna do?" You finally asked.

It was a nice morning and definitely too early for you to be awake. The sun, only now placing its first rays on the ground.

You and Tails yawn at regular intervals, you couldn't get enough sleep while he simply didn't sleep until 4 am, messing with who knows what in his workshop. You grumbled at Sonic while Tails' head kept falling on your shoulder.

Sonic stops in front of you, "You need to sleep less, and you..." He pointed at Tails who abruptly shot upright, "You gotta sleep more."

Tails rubs his eyes, "Great... Can we go now?" he muttered groggily, leaning against his palm, ready to fall asleep any minute.

He kneels over his little bro, with a sweet tone, "Dude, Let me say this in a language you can understand."

Sonic somewhat harshly rubbed his head, waking him up once more. "No! Forget about sleeping until I finish with you two."

"Can't we do this another time?" He huffed, not in the mood to listen to his protective big brother's speech.

He only got another rough head rub. You casually watch him drop down on his back, laying with a dramatic groan.

You glance at Sonic, "Anyway... Why did you drag us here? The cool morning air doesn't really wake us up."

Sonic smirked, rubbing under his nose smugly. How is he so energetic all the time?

"I know but this will..."

"I brought you two here becaaaause..."

He paused to make it more dramatic while you and Tails glance at each other unamused, "I want to see how much you two have improved since the beginning and if you two prove yourself to me now that you can catch up to my speed..." He chuckled to himself, "Then I'll leave you both alone. But if you don't until my coffee is finishedddd... Then we'll do the same things in the morning for the rest of your lives until you guys can keep up." He spoke casually, pointing at his warm coffee thermos in hand, mentioning that you'll try to get it from his hands.

"And I 'm not talking about flying, Tails. You're already good at that..." He quickly specified.

Your eyes widen while Tails quickly straighten up, displeased.

"I told you this would wake you two up." He grinned, proud of himself.

He raises his forefinger, "Now... I'm explaining the rules. You two will work as a team unless I say otherwise. And the second rule is... there is no rule... Unless Sonic says so!!"

You and Tails stare at him.

"Let's see how fast you guys can be... But, first, you two need a warm-up." He tapped his chin thinking, "So, how about this? You both run around the hill until one of you catches the other. Like a tag! No rules! I don't care what you do, you're on your own." He sipped his coffee solemnly, "Oh, and NO flying."

Tails frowned, "But you just said there are no rules."

"Are you questioning my authority Tails?"

Before Tails can open his mouth and say something- with the mood of just waking up that you two will regret later, you harshly nudge his side.

"Sssshhhhii-" He groaned, holding his side.

"Wait, you want us to fight with each other?" You turned to Sonic awaiting clarifications.

Tails' eyes widened as he, too, processed the hedgehog's words.

Sonic sat down on his red chair leaning on it like it was a sunny afternoon.

"I mean, it's only a warm-up. To wake you both up and get you ready for the real deal. To Sonic." He points to himself with a smirk.

You grimaced your face, "Don't talk like that..."

"Fine, we'll do it. I want to end this as soon as possible. I want my warm and soft bed's embrace..." Tails grumbles getting up along with you.

You look at them unsure. You never had to fight with Tails... at least, intentionally.

You both train with Sonic from time to time, or just you and Sonic in general. You saw him fight and even manage to brush Sonic's arm once. Not to mention he can catch up to him easily in the air, and knowing he could nearly do the same on the ground.

You swallowed because you knew this won't be like the tag game. Tired or not, he. is. fast.

I mean you're proud that he can kick ass without anyone's help now, but not yours, please.

𝛥𝑓𝜏𝜀𝑟 𝑆𝜎𝜋𝜄𝑐 𝐷𝜄𝑠𝑠𝛼𝜌𝜀𝛼𝑟𝜕

You couldn't remember what happened after that. Maybe you passed out or maybe you were just in so much pain you ignored everything happening around you.

Nonetheless, you had awoken and immediately knew you were in Nine's place, laying on a rickety bed, calmer than before.

You also notice the shard's presence never left you.

Maybe it was hunting you down now?

You were scared. What if you touch it? What would happen? Would you disappear like Sonic too? Is he alright?

Your hands began shaking. Something feels missing. Like a puzzle, nothing seems to be in place and that's causing you some serious nausea.

The unbearable silence sliced through with Nine's rough voice, "If you puke, I swear--"

"Just keep it away from me..." You cut him off with a nervous whisper, keeping your gaze to your feet.

Nine glanced at you. He hid the shard somewhere safe, away from any danger- away from you, and making your mind ease.

Your hyperfixation slowly calms down, leaving it to stray thoughts and... some lack of feeling.

You force your vocal cords to work, "Do you think... Do you think Sonic is okay?" You take a sharp shaky breath.

His erect ears twitched, if he hadn't had a good sense of hearing he wouldn't have heard your whisper from where he stood, "I can't be sure. Unless we find him..."

You glance at him frowning, "What're you saying?"

He turned to face you, "What am I saying? To find him. Myself."

You swallowed, feeling your mouth dry, it hurt your throat.

"Alright... How do you plan to find him, then?"

He gave a side glance, turning away, his metal tails already working, "You'll probably figure it out in a few days."

You raise a brow. Why be so mysterious?

"If you had the mind to figure it out, at least." He mumbled.

You are deadpan, what the heck does this mean?

"Wait... Am I going to lose my mind?!"

He held the bridge of his nose, "Idiot.. You watch too many sci-fi movies."

"How did you know?"

"Figures..."

You sighed, pressing your chin into your palm.

You watch him work like you were watching some youtube videos. Weirdly enough you didn't feel bored or satisfied- you didn't feel anything at all.

Your mind was blank, your gaze was empty.

Is this normal? "Nine?"

He didn't answer.

You continue anyway, "...Something's worrying me... Like we're missing a thing... I don't know how to explain it pretty well since I don't get it. Like I don't feel, nothing is--"

He harshly glances at you, sarcasm leaking in his words, "Well, maybe that's a good thing. You can sit there and stare at the ceiling, without BOTHERING me. Isn't it amazing? So I can work. It would also be perfect if you cease talking!"

You fall on your back, sighing out your words. Correction, word. "Okay..."

He paused, a confused look on his face. He returned to his work anyway.

You two didn't talk after that. Not for a looong while.

You continue to lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling completely drained. You don't know how long you stayed there.

Seconds may have turned into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours into days. But you still laid, completely careless. You didn't understand why either. You just did; no tangible reason.

You didn't feel tired, or bored, nor how your arms ached from how long you stayed still like that.

It was really weird. But you didn't mind. If Nine was okay with you being like this, then it mustn't be something important.

You blinked when you saw his expressionless features in front of you, nearly double taking.

"What're you doing?" He asked as carefully as he could muster, his cold eyes staring down at you.

"Doing what you told me..." your voice hoarse from lack of water and talking for a long time.

"Laying. Staring. Not talking..."

Nine felt weirded out by this.

"Get up and sit on the chair, I have work to do with your gloves." He ordered.

He was going to try again? Why bother at all? You find yourself getting up, following him like a little kid who just lost their parents.

Maybe he does care after all. Does he really..?

Figuring that thinking too much hurts, you stop doing that, and just continue to follow the orders you were given while on autopilot.

"Lay your hands on the table." Nine mutters next to you.

You reach your hands and press their backs to the table's cool, slick metal.

You didn't mind the mess made on the table previously whatever Nine was working on.

You blinked and stared as his metal tails worked on your gloves.

You jolted in pain, hissing and jerking your hands back. He was lucky to draw his tails away, since they just shocked you with five hundred volts.

Nine hummed in thought.

"You don't have Electrokinesis?"

You shook your head, returning to stare at your gloves, "It's hard to explain... I can't control them, that's why he made me these gloves."

You paused, giving a deep sigh before giving him a full explanation. "My powers are all about detecting and combining energy with my body and using it as a life source, while at the same time giving me a power boost. I can detect and sense anything with energy even with my eyes closed. I don't sense the planet's magnetic field, however. I feel it as it slowly spins. To me it's alive like the people living in it or nature. Like how I can feel the energy flowing inside you. The odd thing is I can't feel mine though."

You stare at his wary eyes, "There are specific consequences, though. Even if they're only theoretical... I'm unable to control myself how much power I take in, it does that on its own. I'll either die from too much energy flowing through my body or I'll go mad with power, taking in more until my body becomes just... energy. It's a type of connection, like Sonic's bond with chaos emeralds or... In this case, the Paradox Prism shards."

"Sometimes my powers screw up on their own. It happened when Mobius split up once." You muttered.

He ignored all the weird things you just revealed and took up a question of his own. "How long have you had these powers?"

You paused, "Since I landed my first foot on Mobius, at least, that's our theory... This planet's... Is stranger than the one I'm from. It awoke something inside me. We found out months after meeting Sonic." You replied monotonously.

He hummed, "Curious... If you're reacting to Prism like this... Will you be able to detect other shards too?"

Falling in the sky, you saw a branch and quickly held on to it. Carefully landing one of the bigger branches, you look around, spotting unfamiliar things once again. You try to calm your breathing.

"What just happened?" You asked with a dumbfounded look to no one in particular.

You feel something unusual across your body. You look down to see your boots changed to some kind of leaf boots, you're also wearing makeshift clothes of leaves and twine. What shocked you is that you were no longer wearing your gloves- you're barehanded. You blinked, admiring your calloused hands, slowly opening and closing your fingers.

You traced each and every scar on your palms with your thumbs. This wasn't something new. Your whole body was covered in scratches and scars but it's been a while since you were able to examine them. The most obvious one was purpleness all over tipping all your fingers- nearly down to your palms, but not completely. It wasn't a bruise from a fight, this is what happened when you try to touch the master emerald...

Your biggest scar wasn't them. It was the one on your back; large cleft marks were present from the beginning of your neck down to your hips. It wasn't hurting you anymore, fortunately. You have a cool-ass hell scar on your back. But such things happen in war.

You timidly slid down from branch to branch until you landed on the wooden deck safely. More decks sit in old, bare trees with bright sunlight. You sighed. This place looks more peaceful, even if it was more barren.

You look around the area and down to the tree canopy, wondering where Sonic went.

As if your prayer was answered, you heard Sonic's scream. You quickly ran over to see him running away from a bat, an echidna, and a cat as he leaped through branches, dodging thrown spears. They looked like your friends, but the distance made it difficult to confirm.

"Shoot..." Something unusual happened again and now you wished you could talk to Chip.

You immediately chase after them to help out.

The bat chases Sonic with her spear as he avoids her. On a deck, the echidna and the cat throw more, your friend continuing to dodge and swing on the vine around the branch. He leaps to other branches and vines, screaming the whole way. He spun and landed on the deck with a stumble towards the edge. He keeps his balance and ducks another spear. He looks down and then faces his attackers.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait! I'm not the bad guy here. We're friends!"

Just as they're about to attack him, a yell catches their attention and they turn to see you swinging on a vine toward them. They immediately throw spears at you while you reverse them back with your powers, shocking them. Bending the laws of physics is your kinda thing.

Sonic's eyes lit up to see you.

"Y/N!!"

"Sonic! Howzit goin'? You alright?" You spoke with a grin, landing in front of him.

We sprint away from the attackers, "I'm fine! I think. And... and-- What are you wearing?" Sonic asked, looking at you up and down.

"Don't know! Happened with a Poof, like how we got here!" Even if I was just with Nine...

"Okay... But I noticed something."

"What is it?" You questioned.

He grinned, "You look really good in those."

You and Sonic landed on another deck and spun away before the attackers could act.

"No time for this, but thanks." You caught the spears again and threw them back to them, almost straight to their heads as they dodge them.

"But, really, they don't know who I am. Again! Which means we're not in New Yolk anymore, we're in a whole new place..."

Sonic looked at the attackers.

"...and they're all new characters and..." He trailed off.

"Yeah... I notice..." You muttered.

Sonic runs between the others as you catch up to him. We look around the place. You were happy to not be running in bare feet on the wooden floor.

"So this is another altered Green Hill. At least this one has plants."

"Yeah... the Boscage maze has super-sized plants that are suffocating the life out of this place. Thanks to The Monster." The bat explained sarcastically, still grasping the spear.

"Monster?" You questioned.

Sonic huffed, "Monsters, overgrown trees, changes of clothes, lost shards... Tricky situation."

"There's only one person who could help us to figure this out. We gotta find--"

You were cut off by a loud screech and a loud thud until you both heard yelling.

You and Sonic look up to see a fox glide overhead, flung across and nearly over the edge.

"Tails? Tails!"

Sonic sprints and grabs the falling fox by the base of his tails before he could go over the edge.

"Gotcha!"

You sighed in relief that he was fine. Though, seeing another version of Tails reminds you of Nine, confusing you. You feel something is odd about this whole 'transferring to another world all of a sudden' thing.

The bat, echidna, and cat stare at Sonic in awe at his speed while you are thinking off to the side.

"He's fast." the echidna remarked.

"Fast enough to occupy the monster while we grab what we need." the bat said with a determined smile.

You glance at them questioningly and turn to Sonic when he starts to talk happily.

"Am I glad to see you! The world is all..."

He starts babbling as he moves his fingers up and down on his lips before stopping himself.

"You gotta figure out what's going--"

He was cut off by the fox's growl and looks down as the fox glares up at him with his fangs bared, causing Sonic to yelp. The fox bit him on the arm, causing him to panic and push him back.

"Ow! You mangy, little--"

Sonic gets pinned down by the fox as the fox attempts to bite him again with a snarl. He struggles to push him back until you charge in and grab the fox by the scruff of his neck (like a kitten) and pull him away.

"Heyyy, Stop! He just saved your life!" You spoke, but couldn't help and reminisce about the whole life cycle thing. Foxes eat hedgehogs, but they are more often scavenged (eaten when dead already) than hunted. Foxes do not pose a serious threat to hedgehogs. In urban areas, the two species mostly live peacefully side by side.

Good to know that I guess.

The fox turns and is about to attack you when his eyes widen. His face lights up as he lets out a squeal and pounces on you, causing you to fall on your back with a grunt.

You glance at him in surprise as the fox starts to rub his head all over your cheeks, hugging you fondly.

"Heyyy" You chuckled, patting his head.

The fox looks pleased as his twin tails wag. He made a guttural sound in the back of his throat, like clicketing.

The bat helps Sonic up as he gives an unamused look at you, "Why is he cuddling you while he attacks me?"

You jokingly stick your tongue out, "This proves that Tails always loved me more than you!" You continue to caress his head while he purrs into the crook of your neck.

He places a hand to his chest, faking a broken tone, "That hurts, man."

Sonic turned to the bat when she