shatterdriven | Seasons Inbox

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.

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