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It was cold, and he felt weak.
If Nine learnt anything at all from being Sonic's friend, it was that in the end he always won no matter what.
And Sonic was loyal to the very end.
Its like he said,
'You always want to save everyone; friends, foes, even total strangers!'
He felt terrible for saying that.
Terrible for all of this.
"It was never.. Meant to go this far.."
Nine mumbled, standing up shakily.
Even after all of it; Sonic was still protecting him from the blasts of lasers and attacks that were aimed at him. Thank god he gave him those regulators..
"Guys, stop!"
Sonic shouted, almost defensively. The barrage of attacks stopped.
"You're still protecting him?"
Shadow asked, a bit of malice that was not directed at Sonic in his voice.
Nine knew who that malice was directed towards. And he knew he deserved it.
"Of course I am!"
Sonic said, emotion clear in his voice.
"..Why..?"
Nine asked quietly, standing up on his feet.
"Because you're my friend. And thats what friends do.. Not.. Go off and fight each other to the death..!"
He said, glancing at him with a little smile. Sonics intentions were clearly good, and pure, even after all that Nine had done, the hedgehog still had his best interests in mind..
"I.. I'm sorry,"
He mumbled almost meekly, shying away from everyone else who were still staring at the scene that was unraveling before them. Nine felt anxiety creep up, and his ears flattened a tiny bit.
"Hey, bud, it's over now anyways, right?"
Sonic went down to his level, Nine shyed away further, shaking his head as his ears flattened all the way and he felt himself tearing up.
Even during the fight, he had a creeping feeling of extreme guilt. A part of him was glad he lost, because otherwise he wasn't sure he'd be able to live with himself ever again.
But he pushed that feeling aside, just to continue..
Nine frankly hated his mind, in the worst situations, all he'd think about is stuff that made it worse.
He had no right to cry. He hurt his supposed friends and betrayed them for a bunch of metal and a stupid rock.
He had no right to even apologize to them, not for destroying their homes, or almost killing them, or attacking them, or ruining their lives..
None of it.
And just as per usual, his mind chose the worst thing to do now.
Reminisce.
On the times Sonic got him to cheer up.. The times he actually laughed with him.. Their adventures, the way he helped him, the way Sonic looked at him and appreciated him when he did..
Sonic never betrayed him.
Nine was helping Sonic out of his own volition, and his stupid brain twisted that into Sonic not caring about what he wanted.
But he did.
The one who was betraying everyone.. Was himself. Nine.
"I'm- .. I'm sorry,"
He repeated again.
"Hey.."
Sonic said.
The world felt like it was crashing down on him. He felt nauseous and scared and guilty, because he was.
"You're sorry? You completely destroyed all of our worlds!"
Someone said. He was half sure it was an egghead. He didn't care.
He felt so alienated at this moment, disconnected, gone. Like he didn't exist, or was watching from a third perspective..
No one commented on what.. Whoever that was, said. Because they all agreed.
Typical.
They were right to, of course. Nine knew that.. But.. This felt unfair. God, he was so self-centered..
"Bud."
Sonic said quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder gently.
"Relax.."
He said, crouching down a bit to try and get a look at his face. He was hiding himself away.
"I- I can't, Sonic. I ruined it."
He said, holding back tears as he choked his words out. He couldn't speak properly.
"You didn't ruin anything. You just got carried away, but we can fix this.. Together."
Sonic said comfortingly.
"Like I'll ever work with you guys again, nevermind that fox."
He was pretty sure that was Mr. Dr. Eggman..
He just choked out a sob.
"I can't- I can't do it, Sonic,"
He said, wiping his face.
"Sure you can.. You're so strong, Nine, you can do anything.."
The blue hedgehog encouraged, sort of rubbing his shoulder a bit.
"How am I supposed to face all of you- I can't, I just- I can't. I can’t do it anymore.”
He shyed away further. He needed somewhere to hide. He hated being watched like this.
His voice was quiet and meek, scared in a way. It was quivering.
"Hey.. I know you can."
Sonic came closer confidently.
wherever Nine would go, Sonic would always be right behind him..
"Please- Just- I can't- I don't deserve your forgiveness-"
He choked out.
"I can't do it. I was awful- Am awful-"
He stumbled over his words, hugging himself and keeping his head down.
"I hurt all of you. I destroyed your homes. I was so- I'm so selfish-!"
He cried.
The realization really struck everyone that this fox was just a kid. He was barely 9 years old.
He did all of this because he felt so alone and isolated, and when he got the help he needed, he didn't know how to process it. He was so used to living alone, untrusting of anyone. Scared.
That when someone trustworthy came and helped him, he started to doubt. And his mind twisted everything.
Most of the non-eggheads started to feel a bit bad.
"You- You just wanted to help.."
His voice was hoarse.
"And I hurt you."
His shoulders trembled.
Tears fell.
"You didn't hurt me. I'm just fine, Nine."
He reassured, tilting his head and trying to look at him.
"Hey.. Its okay. I get it.."
Sonic said, taking his brothers hand.
"You shouldn't be doing this. You should hate me. Why-"
He coughed,
"Why don't you hate me..?!"
He looked up at him finally, his eyes were glassy, tears falling off his face and onto the floor.
"I could never hate you, bud."
He said, sort of squeezing his hand a bit.
"Look at me. Its alright, I promise.. Look, I don't look angry, do I..?"
He asked, Nine hesitantly shook his head.
"Right.. And I'm not.. I was never angry.."
He smiled.
Nine sniffled and looked back down.
Everyone was looking at each other.
"We'll fix it. We always win."
Sonic reassured.
"Mhm."
Nine hummed quietly.
"Hey.. Cheer up, buddy.."
Sonic pet his head, Nine's ears raised slightly.
"How are we going to get our worlds back then..?”
Rebel Rouge asked.
“I don’t know yet. But we’ll do it.”
Sonic said with determination.
“I can make it happen.”
Nine said quietly, looking up.
“How should we know we can trust you now?”
Renegade Knuckles asked with suspicion.
“You can trust him.”
Sonic said.
“Now stop doubting him. He’s our friend.”
Renegade nodded a bit.
“Lets do this.”