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The moment Nine was warped back, he was greeted with the powerless and empty city of New Yoke. Rebel and Knucks stared at the sight in awe and joy, seeing that the Council were finally gone and nothing was stopping them from taking back their world.
"So Rebel, wanna get started on tearing down these buildings?" Knucks asked.
"Sure, lets round up the rest of the resistance and get to work." Rebel said. The two walked off, leaving Nine on his own in the streets with Zephyr and Tempest.
"Zephyr, you coming?" she asked.
"I'll be with you in a moment." Zephyr said, staying behind.
Rebel nodded, heading off with Knucks.
Nine watched as they left, looking at his broken mechanical tails. "Welp, I'm going back to my lab-"
"Wait! Can I... Come with?" Zephyr asked.
"Why?"
"I mean, I know we kinda just met and we came out of no where but... Do you wanna hang out? Just for a bit?"
Nine stared at Zephyr, his semblance to Sonic almost undeniable. He sighed.
"Fine, but don't distract me."
"Gotcha!" Zephyr followed Nine back down underground.
"So... Uh, this is a cool place." Tempest commented.
"Wh- I thought you were still on the streets!"
"I'm not."
"Yeah, I know. But why'd you have to sneak up on us?!"
"Am I not allowed to visit someone?"
Zephyr stared at him. Tempest softly laughed.
"Yeah... Probably need a better excuse than that."
Nine typed in his keycode, the door opening to reveal his empty lab.
"I just need to repair my tails, and then I need proper energy and a brand new Shatterstorm to get to The Grim..." He said to himself, beginning to take some scrap metal and weld it together.
"So... You just engineer things?" Zephyr asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool, cool..." He paused, unsure of where to take the conversation.
Nine removed his belt, placing it on the table before removing the broken scraps on it.
"So, uh... You flew really well back there." Zephyr commented.
"Drastic situation." Nine mumbled.
"Did you train to do that?"
Nine's ears perked up, glancing to the side at Zephyr before continuing to work on his new mechanical tails.
"... Sonic always had his best friend able to fly. So why couldn't I?"
"Were you trying to make him happy?"
"... I missed him the moment we went our seperate ways. I was just... Selfish, I suppose."
"Nine, there isn't anything selfish with wanting a better life for yourself. But... I get why it'd might come across like that to others." Zephyr placed his hand on Nine's shoulder.
"You... Really think that?" Nine asked.
"Of course."
"Oh." he paused. He idly tapped his fingers along the table before turning back to Zephyr.
"And... Do you want anything from me after this?"
"Me? Pfft, nah. I'm totally cool."
"I could make you a new prosthetic leg."
"Oh, this ol' thing?" Zephyr glanced down at his metallic leg.
"If you want to, but you're not obligated to."
"Oh. Alright then."
"But no matter what you do, I'm sure it'll just make me happy enough to see you doing something you love and care about."
Nine watched Zephyr, noticing his sincerety in his tone and gaze.
"... Thank you, really. I... Appreciate it." Nine went back to work on his mechanical tails.
Zephyr watched him work from a distance, stepping back to give him some space.
"So, uh... What happened to your twin tails? They're cool, but... They look weak." he asked.
"I hope that the question wasn't insensitive, it's just that-" he tried to add before Nine cut him off.
"Zephyr, it's fine. I... Never really used my tails for anything. Always kept them hidden."
"Why?"
"Because people bullied me for them. Kept picking and prying at them, calling me 'Tails' as their little insult. So to see Sonic, the... Original, come in and claim as my friend while calling me that, it..."
"Triggered a negative response?"
"... Yeah."
"I get it, y'know? I was... Also bullied."
"You were?" Nine was surprised by Zephyr mentioning that. He didn't realize that he was a victim of bullying too.
"What for? I don't see anything that would get you bullied for."
"Turns out... Having odd traits about your appearance made people dislike you." Zephyr brushed back some of his blue quills, revealing some faint purple and green scarcely between clumps.
"You're quills were... Multicolored?" Nine asked.
"Yeah... Heterochromia got me bullied a lot in school, especially because whenever I got my quills trimmed purple and green stuck out like a sore thumb."
"I'm... Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, it's in the past. And although I prefer to keep it hidden now, at least I'm fine with showing it to those I trust."
"Yeah... But I'm not trying to show you my tails willingly."
"I know."
"Then why... Are you showing me your quills?"
"Because I trust you, Nine."
"Trust... Me? Why?"
"Because... You're my friend, Nine. And friends stick together, no matter what."
"I... Guess so. Thank you."
"That's what friends are for, right?"
Nine looked at Zephyr, a small smile creeping up on his face. "Yeah, friends... I like that."
"So... I'm gonna go help the resistance fix the world, bye!" Tempest ran out.
"I should go too. Unless, you wanna chat a bit more?" Zephyr offered.
"... Sure, I'd like that." Nine said.
"Great! I'm sure we're going to have lots of fun together, you and me!"
It had been weeks, with no sign of the Chaos Council's return. The resistance finally began to tear down buildings and restore their Green Hill, planting down more palm trees.
Rusty watched as her flicky flew out of her chestplate, seeing as Nine was just about done with fixing her energy source.
"And... Done. Now, you don't need a flicky to power you." he said.
"Thank you." she thanked, looking back at the resistance in the distance.
"I will get back to restoring home. Goodbye, Nine."
"Bye, Rusty."
Nine watched as Rusty headed off, with Zephyr zipping up beside the fox.
"Fixed your tails?"
"Yep."
"Cool."
"So... What do you wanna do?"
"Wanna fly?"
"Oh, flying? I don't know-" Zephyr stopped the moment he saw Nine pull out a pair of mechanical wings, using the same tech for his tails but constructing it to be more aerodynamic.
"Sure. Absolutely! Let's do this!"
"A-Are you sure about this? This looks... Pretty high." Zephyr commented, looking down from the highest building they were on.
"Relax, I tested them myself. Let's see how you do with them! If you feel unsafe just deploy the parachute."
"Got it."
The hedgehog breathed, looking forward. He stepped back, before running and leaping off. The wings maintained flight, letting him flap up and around.
Zephyr spun around, maintaining speed as he flew around in the sky. He cheered to himself, soaring above the clouds darkened by soot, seeing the real blue sky overhead.
"Woah..."
"Reaching up to new heights, huh Zephyr?" Nine said through the wings.
"What?! That's cool, bud. I didn't realize you put a communicator in these!" Zephyr said.
"It's cool, isn't it?"
"Heck yeah, it is! Now, time to let these fly!" Zephyr soared down, flying overhead the city.
He swerved around, flapping up and maintaining his momentum before swiftly landing. Nine hugged him happily before pulling back.
"That was incredible! I knew you could do it!" he cheered.
"Couldn't have done it without your handiwork, Nine!" Zephyr ruffled Nine's fur on his head.
"Haha, yeah!"
Two months, and no Chaos Council. Everyone was finishing up their deconstruction before Knucks uncovered a red crystal. He paused, carefully excavating it before pulling it out.
It was the red prism shard.
"Woah, how'd you find this?" Rebel asked.
"I don't know. It was just in the ground, and it-"
"Wait, can I please see that?" Nine asked.
"Why do you want this? To run off with it?" Rebel asked.
"No, I... Its important. I just need to take some of its energy, and then I'll implement it into my new Shatterstorm so I can get back home to the Grim."
"You're not staying here?"
"... Do you want me to?"
"We almost finished tearing down the Chaos Council's buildings and technology." Knucks said.
"Besides, wouldn't it be lonely back on your... Own world?"
"I worked hard to start over on a clean slate. I don't wanna give up on it." Nine said.
"Fair enough." Knucks held out the shard for Nine.
The fox placed his mechanical tails over it, beginning to draw on its energy before he stopped.
"That should be enough, thank you."
"You're welcome." Rebel said. Nine nodded, turning back and heading down underground.
"So... They're keeping the subway system?" Zephyr asked.
"I guess. It would be pretty hard to fill everything back in."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Nine walked up to the Shatterstorm, putting the prismatic energy into a container connected to the machine. Once his mechanical tails were fully drained of power, he noticed Zephyr observing him.
"You... Wanna come with me?" Nine asked.
"The resistance needs me, but... I don't wanna leave you behind." Zephyr said.
"Oh. Well, whatever you choose... Just know that there's a home for you in the Grim."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, I gotta get going. If you'd like to visit, just contact me."
"How?"
"With this?" Nine handed over a communication wristband to Sonic. He slipped it over his glove, it matching his own glove with it's sleek metal design and lime green circular center.
"Thanks. So we can communicate by different dimensions?"
"Yep, engineered it using the same tech I gave to Sonic."
"Sweet. So... I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah." Nine looked over at the Shatterstorm, then back at Zephyr.
He gave him one last hug as a goodbye. Zephyr held onto Nine, keeping him close. He knew this wouldn't be the end of them seeing each other, but at least they'd keep in touch no matter what.
"Well, I'll see you soon. Bye, Zephyr."
"Bye Nine. Good luck in the Grim."
"Good luck to you and restoring your world." Nine climbed into the Shatterstorm, closing it up before beginning to power it. It lifted up into the air before shooting out a portal.
The aircraft flew inside and out of sight.
Nine arrived back in the Grim, landing safely on the ground back at his lab. He headed back inside, making sure everything was still in working order.
He paused, seeing the purple shard still in the generator. It must've been a replacement since these shards are the core of every universe.
He gazed at it for a moment before turning to his communicator.
"Good news, Zephyr. We can visit more often than I was expecting."