shatterdriven | Seasons Inbox

Are you free tomorrow?

Probably not. What did you need?

It won't take long. Sonic and I need a referee for a race. And you are an unbiased party who would be able to observe us properly.

A race?

That certainly wouldn't take long.

Alright. When and where?

Tomorrow. Center of Nightwake. It is an ideal starting place. And has an airship dock above where you can observe the race from.

Alright. I can spare some time to do that before I do any training.

Yo bud, are you back yet?

I'd say that I'm surprised you noticed, but that would be a lie. What do you need?

I just got Shadow settled in at home, wanted to check on you next.

He told mew what happened. Not in any great detail, but I get the basic idea.

That the entire Shatterverse is gone? I'm a little surprised he knows.

I've been trying to narrow down the cause. Not because it will fix anything, because it won't.

The entire Shatterverse? He just said his world was gone, since both of you vanished at the same time I figure all of this is connected.

We did also arrive at the same time from the same moment, so it makes sense.

He would have been in Green Hill when it happened. And it went first. I was across the Shatterverse in the Grim.

Wait, if he was in Green Hill, that would mean that Paradox thing was fixed, right? And it sounds like fixing it didn't erase the Shatterverse?

I can't say. It nearly killed Sonic and it wasn't long after I did that everything was destroyed. But it didn't in the immediate, no.

Did you happen to see it coming? The thing that destroyed everything?

No. I caught the tremors from Green Hill Just before the gate shattered again. The others followed one at a time, same as the original decay. So I saw the rest, but not the cause.

This doesn't make any sense. Like, I've encountered world ending threats before, but there was at least something there to physically fight against. This sounds like it just happened.

It definitely didn't just happen. I've got some theories already, but that's all they are. Theories.

Gotta start somewhere, I guess.

Are you doing okay?

I was back to square one already, except I need some painkillers and a good ice pack. I'll be fine after that.

I can bring some stuff by if you need it. Where are you right now?

You can definitely do that faster than I can get back. I'm at home. Extra strength please.

You got it, I'll be there in a few minutes.

[He has to actually hit a shop to pick things up, but in maybe 10, 15 minutes, there's a knock on Nine's door]

[Nine answers right away, stepping aside to let him in. He's already holding a water bottle and holds out his hand for the painkillers.]

A little faster than I expected.

My name is literally Sonic.

[How are you surprised dude, come on. Sonic steps into the room and digs into the bag he brought with him, , grabbing the bottle of pain killers and popping it open before dropping a couple of the pills into Nine's hand.]

I picked you up an ice pack too, but since it's not iced yet, I brought ours from home for you to borrow in the meantime.

[And bam, he also produces the cold icepack rom the bag.]

I know, and I also usually can clock your movement most of the time.

[He pops the pills, downs the water, then takes the ice pack and presses it to the spot behind the white fur of his right cheek.]

But...I'm glad you were that fast. Thanks.

Edited 2024-03-11 03:49 (UTC)

Guess I'm just full of surprises.

[It's meant to be a joke, naturally, but it lacks that usual Sonic style light heartedness.]

What'd you do to your face? Fight or somethin'?

Surprisingly, yeah.

[The quip lacks any bite, not drained or tired. The harsh edge is just gone.]

I got blindsided by a full-force punch from an echidna wearing brass knuckles. Pretty sure you know a version of him.

[And you KNOW how hard he punches bare-fisted.]

[Sonic winces. Ooooff yeah that's rough]

Back home his name's Knuckles. Fitting, I know. You're lucky you still have a jaw.

[Speaking from experience, of course. Sonic takes a moment to go put the new ice pack he'd brought into the freezer to start getting cold, and then joins Nine again.]

I know. Sonic called him Knuckles the first time we met him. And I know, so I definitely wasn't letting him get in a second punch. Not for lack of effort on his part.

[He drops onto the couch.]

You probably have other questions. You're being very unlike Sonic right now.

[Why yes, that is concern.]

[in the interest of not standing around in the doorway, Sonic makes his way over to the couch and takes a seat as well. He's leaned forward, elbows on his knees with his fingers laced in front of his chin as he stares contemplatively off into space for a moment.]

...I have loads of questions, I guess, but it sounds like you're still forming theories so I don't know how much good it would do to start asking. Mostly I'm just worried about you guys. Shadow's taking it real hard, he thinks it's his fault.

Questions can possibly help with theorizing.

[Nine watches him, raising an eyebrow.]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised he is. But if there's fault for what happened, it's with everyone. No exceptions. We all did things wrong, some of us more than others. But no one was blameless and it almost cost us everything.

[He half shrugs, needing time to get his questions in order before he just starts running his mouth about something he wasn't even there for. He absolutely plans to revisit this.]

That's almost word for word what I said to him. I just don't think he's in a place where he can make himself listen to reason yet. Like, wasn't the Sonic from his world that broke that rock to begin with?

[That's something the Sonic he knows doesn't do. Stop and think first. He can get clarity moments during, but not first.]

Yeah, because he wasn't listening. By his own admission.

[There's no malice when he says that either, just a tone of "yeah, that's our Sonic".]

[It's a new thing he's been trying out lately. So far it's working for him pretty well!]

Yeah, exactly. Shadow didn't even mention that once, he's just caught up in his own head. I kind of get why, but... Has he told you much about himself?

He probably got that out of his system when we first got here, and is focused on the fact he thought everything was fixed now.

[The attmpt is Nine approved.]

He told me why it was so important to him. I didn't understand and the time, because I never had anything to protect like that until recently. But I get it more now.

[hmm, sounds like SOMEONE'S experienced a little CHARACTER GROWTH recently.

Sonic leans back and crosses his arms, turning to face Nine properly rather than just stare off into space while they talk]

Why did not-Knuckles punch you in the head, anyway?

[Funny what an apology and the world nearly ending can do for healing pain. That isn't caused by fists that can punch metal.]

Something about me being a traitor, and him having waited a long time for it. So I don't actually know, since that means it wasn't because of me taking things too far.

He only got me because I was fighting Sonic and didn't see him coming.

Blindsided ya, huh? That's no fair. Sounds like things got pretty ugly for a bit, Shadow mentioned getting stuck in a hole with a bunch of metal me's?

That's one way to put it.

And yeah. Shadow made his intentions toward me pretty clear after I took the Paradox Prism back to the Grim after my argument with Sonic. It was the best way to keep him from getting his hands on me.

[Translation: Nine knew he was dead if Shadow got the drop on him and kept the Ultimate Lifeform far away.]

Strategically, that was a good call. I've seen Shadow on the warpath before, definitely lives up to whole Ultimate Lifeform thing.

Sounds like you guys came to an understanding in the end, though?

Yeah, and considering the rest of the Shatterverse was also on the warpath, I didn't need that.

[Nine deflates a little, some fatigue catching up to him.]

An agreement? Not really. It was more that Sonic finally acknowledged he hurt me, I acknowledged I took things too far, and if I couldn't fix everything we were all going to be deleted on the spot.

[That last part is moot now, but it was still a good motivator at the time.]

It's crazy the kinds of things that can be resolved when people just talk like adults.

[it's more a jab at his other self than anything. The somewhat sarcastic tone vanished quickly though. Speaking of talking like adults, this was a pretty serious conversation and Sonic should maybe act like one.]

How are you guys so sure that the shatterverse was destroyed, anyway?is it possible possible that everything just got, I dunno, sent somewhere else?

Oh he was talking a lot before that. He just wasn't listening. But...he was hurt too, he just chose to not hear instead of not wanting to.

[He considers the question for a long moment, sipping his water.]

There's no way to know for sure yet, but my surveillance showed the gates exploding the same way the had when the shatterverse was decaying because... [He trails off, clearly turning a few things over in his head.] ...the Chaos Council opened unnatural portals between New Yoke and both the No Place and Boscage Maze, then never closed them.

Anyway, there's no way to know unless one or both of us gets sent back again.

Oof, yeah. Listening is kind of the most important part.

[Something he's trying to get better about himself. It doesn't sound like he's as bad about it as this other Sonic? Or maybe he's just learning from that Sonic's mistakes.]

I don't like that you guys don't get to have any real answers for all this. It just... It isn't fair. It feels so immature to boil it down to that, but what else would you call it?

[Whatever the case, even if Nine isn't angry at his Sonic anymore...he still does appreciate it. Or maybe it just the soreness talking. Probably a bit of both.]

I think the word you're looking for is understatement. Not fair is an understatement...but none of it was fair. That any of it happened. Even if somehow everything isn't gone, Sonic went home to his other friends, I can't really finish the Grim anymore, and everyone else will have to say good-bye to the friends they made because without the power of the Paradox Prism interspace travel isn't possible for anyone.

There are bright sides for almost everyone if Shadow and I are wrong though. [Not that it matters much to him at the moment.] Except the council since they have no power and I blew up their mothership. [Bright sides.]

[ugh everything is a huge bummer, Sonic's not likely to ever meet any of these people that Nine and Shadow know, but even if everything wasn't just POOF unmade, its still kind of depressing to think about.

Nine's comment about blowing up the council's ship does give Sonic something to grin about, though.]

Heh. Sometimes breaking the bad guy's toys can be pretty cathartic. Sounds like it would have been a pretty big ship, how'd you blow it up?

I used my tails to channel prism energy into my body, then created a powerful laser through my hands. [He gestures with his hands, indicating that he did indeed fire a death laser from them.]

It's probably the only thing I don't regret since they were only playing along with the others so they could steal the completed Prism from me in the first place.

That is so metal. Nice goin', bro!

[They could use a little levity right now, Sonic holds a fist up for some fist bump action.]

[Nine looks at his fist, then to Sonic in confusion. This is the fox who only recently learned what a high five is, remember? Maybe you should teach him, Sonic.]

[It takes Sonic just a second to realize that Nine has no goddamn idea what he's doing. Sonic chuckles a bit, giving him a warm smile.]

Put your fist up, like this.

[he demonstrates!]

[Nine complies, a little uncertain, but he does as instructed. He thinks maybe he can guess where this is going, but decides not to ask since Sonic's demonstrating.]

[And Sonic bumps his fist into Nine's!]

Fist bump! It's like a high five, but with your fist.

Oh...that's different.

[Not bad different though.]

So do you not do high fives in your world?

Of course we do! We do both! ...Which makes it kind of awkward when one person goes in for a high five but the other person goes in for a fist bump at the same time, but it can be kinda funny.

I guess I could see that being a little funny.

Hey. I know the whole jetpack thing was a thing but I was hoping to ask for a couple more things.

I need a voice changer and some headphones that can like do noise cancelling on demand. Like with a slider so you can cancel no noise or all the noise. And the headphones gotta be big enough to cover like someone with three ears on each head.

Can you do that? I'll pay you.

None of that is undoable, the opposite actually. I'll just need to know the specifics of any voice-changing, and to see the person I'm making the headphones for to get the fitting right.

I know the voice I want. We can work on that. And no problem getting the fitting down. And it can still be a surprise. I got both covered. Can I come over now? You got any plans?

You're wasting no time, but sure. I'm not busy.

I'm working on my patience training but I'm so not good at it yet. Obviously.

Then what are you waiting for?

For you to send me a location marker.

It's the same address, MK.

[He sends a ping for his location anyway though.]

I...uh. Right. On my way!

[When MK arrives, Nine is in his workshop proper and just taking inventory of his stock. The door opens automatically for him, inviting him to just walk inside.]

[MK walks in with a smile and looks around.]

Whoooooa. You got that full lab set up goin' on. Nice, Nine. And I like the automatic door. Very cool touch.

If I'm going to continue to expand my business, I need to be able to work freely. So of course I went for a proper lab and workshop.

As for the door, it's convenient when I'm busy but expecting visitors.

[He looks up from his inventory.]

So, the earbuds will be the fastest. Let's start there.

Right. That all makes super sense. You need to see the ears. Okay.

[MK nods and sits down. He closes his eyes. In a puff of smoke, he transforms into the Six-Eared Macaque. Completely with the three ears on either side of his head.]

Okay. These are the ears I wanted the headphones for. He has super sensitive hearing so I want to make him like sound cancelling headphones he can adjust how good they are. Like a little to completely tune everything out.

Exactly how sensitive is extremely sensitive? I need some examples at least, if I'm going to attune them to his hearing.

[He pulls out some putty and breaks it into six pieces, placing each into an ear and pressing just enough to get mold to work off of.]

Like he can hear anything in the world. Like my heart beat across the literal world.

And touching them is super sensitive. So like the headphones really can't push or touch them. Like at all if possible.

[He stays as still as he can while Nine works on casting them.]

Hey. I got a bad guy phone and I need it hacked. Can you do that for me? Need to know where he's been or who he's been talking to.

Edited 2024-07-05 20:12 (UTC)

Hacking a phone's no problem. Not even worth charging for. When are you bringing it by?

Cool. Thank you. Can I come by today?

I'm not busy.

Be there soon.

[Soon enough MK is on the camera feed and knocking on the door.]

We will be renting out a club for a dance party as a belated birthday thing for me.
If you like, you're invited.
MK will be in attendance as well.
No presents are required nor expected.

Seasons Inbox

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