Sonic stands over Knuckles' grace on Angel Island surrounded by familiar faces. The funeral for the echidna warrior was just finishing and they were going to go to Aldcliffe City for a repass to a restaurant Knuckles loved going to.

Tails gently takes Sonic's hand, Sonic squeezes it promptly, Tails can see the tears streaming down his face so he hands him a napkin so he can wipe his face.

"He always enjoyed watching over the Master Emerald with his pals... Now I guess he's gonna be guarding it forever, I guess"

Tails messages his back as Sonic sniffles trying to hold back his tears. As everyone stands there Nine looks on at Tails, he wonders how he's able to do it, to lie so well, to hurt others and not feel a thing.

To him, it's fascinating... And a little concerning at the same time.

Once they bury Knuckles, everyone except for Tikal and Rouge leave, those two having a closer connection to Knuckles then anyone else as of recient.

"This sucks" Sonic sobs.

"I know..." Tails responds, still keeping him company, "Death is a part of all our lives though, we'll all experience it sometime or another"

Sonic looks down at the dirt, "He left us too soon though... And we still don't know who killed him or Amy"

"What do you think we should do?" Tails asks.

"For the first time, I don't know actually... I feel so powerless, like I'm slowly loosing parts of myself I never knew were so vital to me" Sonic explains.

"You'll think of something Sonic, you always do" Tails says, covertly pecking his face.

"Thanks Tails" Sonic says hugging him tightly.

"Anything for you" Tails responds, hugging him back.

As Tails hugs Sonic he sees Nine looking over at them and then turning away to go to the ship. Tails frowns when he sees Nine look at him the way he just did, as if he was truly that evil.

---

Aldcliffe City

"How do you do it?"

Tails looks up from his phone and sees Nine looking down at him, visibly disturbed.

"Do what?" Tails asks, thrown off by the question.

"Lie like that to him" Nine responds.

Tails rubs his face and stands up from his seat, at this point the gang is at a restaurant Knuckles loved to go to for the repass, Sonic is talking to Rouge and Tikal at another table so he can't hear Nine and Tails' conversation.

Tails sighs and looks Nine in the eyes.

"Believe it or not... I really don't like doing this, all this killing. It feels barbaric" Tails responds.

"Then why do you do it when you know it will hurt other people around you. It's selfish"

"Sometimes there are things, secrets that you don't want other people to know. If these secrets or private things get out you're fucked, so you do what you must to keep anyone from telling them. And if that means killing someone, then it's an option"

Tails puts his phone down on the table and stands infront of Nine.

"If we didn't take care of Knuckles, he would have outed us both... And I still have to figure out how I'm going to handle Cream and anyone else if they get too close" Tails says.

"Tails, at this point the best way to relieve all this pressure is to just come out. If you do that you won't have to worry so much anymore-" Nine suggests.

Tails looks at Nine as if he's lost his mind.

"Have you seen the amount of hate groups there are out there! If they find out me and Sonic are a thing, I'm dead. Especially with the position I'm in, I've literally designed and helped construct almost all of these city's across the planet! Everyone knows who I am, who we are. I have no room for any screw ups especially" Tails responds, crossing his arms.

Nine bites his lip and sighs.

"Almost everyday I'm reading on the internet, about these crazy homophobic Mobians who go around killing anyone who doesn't like the opposite gender, it's insane! And even before I got this society this far, it was still taboo to try and marry another guy or have a same sex relationship. That's why I can't let anyone find out about this secret... Not even them"

"Why kill them though-" Nine asks, sort of glaring at him.

"It's the simplest solution. Ensures no one does something or says something stupid, believe me even technology can't solve the problem of someone exposing your secrets. Once it's out of the box, it can't go back in"

Nine nods, starting to understand Tails' situation, why he does what he does, how he feels about doing it. But he still has one last question for him...

"You don't really seem to feel guilty about it, and I can tell you enjoy it. How are you so good at this, this act, all the carefully crafted lies and stories. How long have you been doing it for?"

Tails stays silent for a moment and he sits on the table, "You know how I told everyone the village I grew up in burned down..."

"Y-Yeah?"

"...I burned it down" Tails says, his eyes like an empty void.

Nine shivers and takes a shaky breath, he knew it was coming, he just hoped it wasn't true.

"That place bought me nothing but pain and misery. Everyday, the same villagers shunning me away, everyday the same people attacking and slurring me for my deformation, everyday the same people robbing my home and stealing my things... And every fucking day, the same kids coming to my place, beating me, and destroying my work, my machines, my soul. This went on for years and years, it was painful and unbearable and it almost drove me to suicide..."

Nine straightens the tie on his suit as he listens to the chilling story.

"...One day, I finally snapped. The bullies came one day, destroyed my work... So I killed them with a stick, bashing their heads in over and over and over and over and over. And when I was done with them, I got a bow and and a few arrows I had been practicing to use in secret and killed every last villager, the men, the woman, the other kids. And then I set the place on fire... I don't know why, but I just started laughing and laughing, couldn't stop either, even now I still find it funny. I guess it's because I'm that broken, that I take passion in what I do even if it hurts people"

Nine shudders, realising just how messed up Tails can be.

"Even after that, I found myself needing to kill out of necessity so no one would find out I was the one who burned the village down. That's why I'm so good at murder I guess, I can be one heartless asshole if I want to. But I've learned that I don't have to see everyone as an enemy, to fear them, or to plot on how to get rid of them..."

Tails gets up from off the table and embraces Nine who instinctively flinches.

"Because of Sonic, I want to change, move away from my past. Ensure a promising future. You're one of the people I don't have any desire to hurt Nine. You mean a lot to me, maybe just as much as Sonic"

Nine feels a slight bit of relief hearing that, but still his heart feels uncertain. Tails eventually let's go of Nine and steps back a bit.

"You do know what I'm going to ask you to do next right?"

Nine nods, "I won't tell anyone"

Tails sighs relieved that he still trusted him, "Thank you... We can continue this talk another time, just doing it now is messing with my head"

Tails sits back down at the table and puts his head down leaving Nine to think about everything Tails told him.

"...I'm gonna be honest, my childhood wasn't the most exciting either, as a matter of fact, I personally believe it was worse"

Tails looks up at Nine who's looking down at Tails with solemn eyes, the fox's look at eachother in silence until Nine continues speaking.

"I used to get picked on every day. Until I made these mechanical tails that is, first thing I did was kill the people who tormented me... After that I just decided it was best if I hide from everyone. Until I met Sonic, well the Sonic I knew, distancing myself from everyone around me was all I knew how to do. But I was able to open my heart, and kick this painful cycle, this lifestyle in the ass. I think you can do it too Tails... No, I know you can do it"

Tails nods slightly, "I don't know Nine... I really don't know"

"If you can build all these complicated weapons and stuff, you can find ways to keep your secret without taking anyone's life"

Tails sits up and looks into Nine's eyes. Though he believed it wouldn't work, he was willing to hear him out, to try and see it the way Nine saw it.

"...Fine, but I can't promise it'll be permanent" Tails responds as he stands up.

"Thank you" Nine says putting his hands on Tails' face.

The two hug eachother gently, Sonic looks back to check on Nine and Tails so when he sees them hugging it puts a smile on his face.

"Are you alright Sonic?" Rouge asks.

Sonic turns around and grins at Rouge nervously.

"Yeah, just looking over at Nine and Tails. They're like brothers so it's nice to see them hanging out" Sonic answers, scratching the back of his head.

"Who is Nine anyway?" Rouge asks, interested in the fox

"He's an alternate version of Tails, but where he comes from, I didn't exist. He kidnapped me because he thought Tails killed a version of me that he cared about... It's complicated" Sonic explains.

"Quite the odd one isn't he" Rouge responds.

"Yeah, he's like a less tolerant version of Tails but emo and has anger issues-"

Sonic is hit in the back of the head with a chair, throwing him forwards. He rubs his head and turns around. Nine is glaring and snarling at him like an aggressive dog, his way of telling Sonic to watch what he's saying about him, while Tails stands there shocked.

"To be fair you had that coming" Rouge responds.

"Shut up... Ow..." Sonic responds, rubbing his head.

---

After the funeral, everyone went their separate ways for the day. When Sonic gets back to his room, he collapses on his bed and takes off his suit and tie, he opens his phone and the first thing he sees is a picture of him and Knuckles together at a watermelon patch, Knuckles is lifting up this big watermelon with a joyful grin on his face while Sonic and Tails run away in terror.

The hedgehog sighs and wipes the tear from his face, his mourning but also angry, angry that another one of his family was taken from him by this mystery killer. It strengthens his resolve to find whoever did it, he squeezes his phone tightly as the angry thoughts rush into his head.

Suddenly Tails comes sliding in which makes Sonic raise his head. The fox jumps high up into the air with a joyful grin on his face and lands on top of Sonic who drops his phone when Tails makes impact with him.

"Heh I was wondering when you'd show up" Sonic says with a laid back smirk.

Tails kisses his cheek and lays on his chest, "Emotional support is in the job description of being your boyfriend Sonic. I wanna make it my job to help you feel happy, alright?"

Sonic smiles and hugs a giggling Tails, "Thanks Tails. I don't know what I'd do without you"

"Neither would I... We'll get through this together, we can get through anything" Tails responds, laying his head on Sonic's chest.

"Yeah, I know... Wanna have a slumber party?" Sonic asks.

"I'd love to!" Tails responds.

---

Nightstar City

That night, Nine decided to go the Heartburn Lounge alone. He's sitting at the bar with a half empty cup of beer and he's scrolling on his phone when a familiar scent gets his attention, he turns to his right side and low and behold Winter is there looking down at him.

"What bring you here?" The arctic fox asks.

"...I just came to relax" Nine responds.

"Isn't that so-" Winter responds, pulling out one of the bar stools so he can sit with Nine.

"...I went a funeral" Nine responds.

Winter's smile disappears, "Oh... Sorry for your loss"

"Didn't really know the guy well" Nine responds.

The image of Tails stabbing Knuckles over and over replays in Nine's head and it makes him shiver a bit.

"He was more of an acquaintance..." Nine goes.

"I see. Hey you in the mood for that film?" Winter asks, playing with his gloves.

Nine looks up at him Winter and gives a smug smirk to him, Winter is dumbfounded by the look on Nine's face.

"I'll go, on one condition-"

"...No, please" Winter says when he realises what Nine wants.

"Yeah... Show me the tail" Nine says resting his head on his hand.

"Oh man..." Winter grumbles, he takes Nine by the arm and takes him to the back of the lounge.

There were private tables in the rooms behind the lounge, the walls painted a light shade of magenta with light being provided for the multiple neon hearts in each room, some doors are closed and Nine can hear faint laughter behind one of them.

Winter sits down on the couch in one of the rooms at the end of the hallway under a blue neon heart on the wall and lets his tail out from under his trousers. Nine grabs hold of it and squeezes it like a pillow.

"So what did you do today?" Nine asks, the cloud like tail muffling his voice.

"Work, nothing special. It's just phone calls and office shenanigans" Winter responds, he tells when he feels Nine touch a sensitive spot on his tail.

"Mmm, sounds great" Nine responds, stroking the tail like a cat.

"W-Why do you like my tail so much?" Winter asks.

"I don't tell anyone this but I really like soft things like pillows and clothes. My ex got me this pillow that I love to just squeeze when I'm stressed"

"So you have a secret soft side?" Winter asks confirming what he's saying.

"Yeah, I've only shown it to like five people though" Nine answers.

"Okay, that's rather interesting" Winter responds.

A bit more time passes as Nine hugs and smells Winter's tail, the arctic fox taps his foot on the floor and looks back at Nine who's enjoying himself.

"C-Can we go... It's starting in an hour and a half-"

"Sure" Nine says letting go of Winter's tail.

Winter stands up and folds his tails back into his trousers before sighing, he waits for Nine to step out and then follows behind him. The two travel on the subway to the cinema, while they ride, Nine looks out the window at the the cool coloured lights passing him and Winter by. When the train finally stops and opens up, Winter nudges Nine and he turns around.

"Views awesome but this is our stop" Winter says.

"Oh... Sorry whenever I'm hear I just-"

"-Feel like you belong. Yeah, Nightstar has its charms" Winter responds.

The two step off the train just as the doors close and walk towards the exit as it rushes out of the station.

"Once upon a time, I hated this city... It just felt so cold at first" Winter says as he walks out of the station with Nine next to him.

"Wanna know something funny? I used to hate all this neon too. Where I came from it just felt like a symbol of oppression, but now I see the neon and glowing lights as a sign of a brighter future ahead... If that makes sense"

Winter nods and smiles, "I get what you're trying to say"

The two walk over an overpass with large steel streetlights providing light as the walk over a busy road towards the entertainment district with its talk colourful buildings and holograms displaying all sorts of exotic advertisements.

"So what movie are we going to see?" Nine asks as they walk under the white LED lights.

"A Bigger Dream, it's got some action don't worry" Winter responds.

"As long as it has my interest, I really don't care" Nine goes.

"Well then, that makes two of us... Come on we're almost there" Winter says, tugging Nine by the arm.

---

Tails comes into Sonic's room holding bags of junk food and closes the door behind him. Sonic's sitting on his bed covering himself with a bedsheet when he looks up at Tails who's smiling at him with silliness, his big fluffy tails wagging excitedly.

"We all set?" Tails asks.

"Yep, got a movie and everything. I still can't believe you managed to get a hold of these when we were on Earth" Sonic responds.

"I have my ways" Tails responds.

The fox boy gives him a bag of chips and cuddles up with Sonic under the bedsheet, Sonic kisses him briefly on the forehead.

"Yeah... You do"

Sonic plays the film on the television and they get comfortable. Throughout the film, Tails holds onto Sonic tightly. Sonic enjoying his company doesn't mind it at all, so he lets Tails rest on his side while they watch.

"Hey Tails?" Sonic says, still looking forward at the television.

The fox looks up at him and moans, "What's up?"

"When are you gonna propose to me?" Sonic asks with a smirk.

Tails' face turns red, his heartbeat like fireworks going off in the night.

"Uh...Um..."

Sonic chuckles, "I'm joking... Whenever you're ready alright?"

"Yeah... Okay, heh heh" Tails goes.

Sonic suddenly swings ontop of Tails and knocks the kitsune over on his back, Tails' face melts into a lovesick grin. Sonic takes off his gloves and starts stroking Tails' chest, his fluffy cloudlike chest fur. Tails moans squirms as Sonic kisses his cheek, he can feel his face turning into a sauna, red and relaxed.

"I always thought your chest fur was like feathers. Feels so much better than that" Sonic whispers in Tails' ear, the fox is aroused by Sonic's flirtatious behaviour.

"That feels good... Oh" Tails says as the hedgehog gently messages his chest with his hands.

The fox's body feels less tense, his heart like a warm cup of tea, smooth and sweet. Sonic's hands on his chest felt like medicine, the kind he never knew he needed.

"How do ya feel?" Sonic asks stroking his face with his left hand.

"...Good"

"I did a bit of research, turns out if you message a fox's chest it helps them calm down?" Sonic says, smiling like a smooth criminal.

"Source?" Tails asks, looking into his eyes.

"This neat website Silver showed me" Sonic responds, then he lays his head on Tails' chest and listens to his heartbeat.

Tails squeals and kicks his feet when Sonic lays down on his chest.

"Y-You're making me excited Sonic" Tails says through heavy breathing.

"That's a good thing too though" Sonic responds, eyes still closed as he focuses on the sounds from Tails' chest.

"...I love you" Tails moans.

"I know you do. But I love you even more" Sonic goes, then he kisses Tails square on his cloudlike chest.

"Gahhhh!" Tails shouts, excitement seizing control of the fox boy.

Sonic's head rises from his chest and he sees Tails breathing heavily, twitching and giggling, just the way he wants him to be. Tails looks up at Sonic and puts his hand on his face so he can kiss him on the lips.

"You're way too good at that" Tails says through heavy breathing.

"How good?" Sonic asks, touching noses with him.

"Enough to make my heart explode" Tails responds, he kisses Sonic passionately and goes back to touching noses with him.

"Guess I'm a murderer then" Sonic teases.

The two kiss and Tails laughs some more as Sonic plays around with his chest fur while kissing him, overloading the little fox with amounts of pleasure he couldn't dream of... Sonic's raw touch, the one thing he never wanted more of.

Me and you... Forever...

---

When Nine and Winter come out of the cinema, Nine jumps around excitedly evidently having enjoyed the film winter took him to see.

"That was awesome!" Nine shouts turning back to Winter who yawns as he comes out of the building along with the other cinema goers.

"I fell asleep towards the end. To be honest I've seen this film already, I just thought it was something you would have liked... I suppose I was correct" Winter says, he takes a sip of the soda he's drinking and belches quietly.

"I can't wait to tell Tails when I get back, he's gotta go see this" Nine says.

"Yep" Winter goes, still exhausted.

"Thanks Winter, I think I really needed this" Nine says giving him a hug.

"You're welcome..." Winter responds, returning his embrace.

Nine smirks and grabs Winter's hand, pulling the taller white fox down the street as he laughs like a happy child, Winter barely able to keep up with Nine almost trips as he pulls him into a dark alleyway and pushes him against the wall dropping the cup of soda Winter had on the floor. Nine wastes no time and passionately kisses Winter on the mouth, Winter caught by surprise reluctantly kisses him back, Nine pulls away and rests his head on Winters chest.

"Whoa... That was-" Winter starts, face redder than a strawberry.

"Sudden... I know, heh. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun since I came here" Nine says, closing his eyes.

"To be honest I can't either" Winter answers.

Nine goes back in for another kiss and moans as Winter wraps his arms around his waist.

"Your place... Now" Nine says.

"Wait so soo-"

Nine grabs Winter and the two run out of the alley back onto the sidewalk towards the subway so they could do the do back at Winter's place without the potential for prying eyes.

Much later that night, when their energy is spent and the night grows on longer they go to sleep. Winter wakes up and steps out of bed putting on a pair of boxers as he steps out of his room, he turns around and sees Nine fast asleep sprawled out on the bed drooling as he snores loudly, he takes a deep breath and turns so he can leave the room and go downstairs.

Winter turns on his television in the living room and there on screen is the mysterious shadow in the dark room.

"Report"

"Second time making contact, still doesn't suspect anything. He behaves like a kid, he's aggressive, nerds out a lot... But he could do"

"Very good... And don't forget your second objective, complete it as soon as possible"

"Understood" Winter responds.

"Good, report back the next time you make contact with this Nine" The shadow commands.

Winter nods and the television shuts off, he sighs and runs his hands through his hair. Two hands sneak up from behind him and wrap around Winter swiftly.

Winter jumps and turns around, it's Nine nuzzling his back and moaning, he breathes a sigh of relief.

"I was wondering where you went" Nine says.

"...I just needed some water. What woke you up?"

"You not being there in bed" Nine responds, a lazy grin on his face.

"I'm okay Nine don't worry about me" Winter says turning to kiss Nine on the lips.

"Come on, it's lonely back up there" Nine says, tugging him back upstairs to his room.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Winter says with a tired smile.

---

While Sonic sleeps like a child, Tails is up on his phone looking at a news article. Scrolling through it slowly, he gets a notification regarding a break in at a technology facility in Aldcliffe City that happened the day before and squints his eyes.

"What the hell..."

He taps on the notification icon and it takes him to the article. It details a break in at a factory within the city. He reads on and finds a blurry picture of the would be thief who was described to jump around like a buzzing bee, wearing a white trench coat and a mask with red glowing eyes.

"Killed 5 security guards by himself, stole a crate worth several million rings in machinery and components. What the fuck is this guy doing"

He gets up from the bed and gently kisses Sonic on the cheek before going to his workshop, wearing nothing but his sandels. The fox uploads the blurry images of the thief to his computer and runs them through a program that enhances the pictures. About 5 minutes later the images are finally cleaned up and when Tails sees who it is he drops his cup of water on the floor and his chest screams angrily.

"Looks like I'm going to need to have a chat with Nine's new lover" Tails says.

Displayed on the right side of the screen is a picture of Winter with the program highlighting him in a photo of him plunging a knife into a security officer, mask on his face and eyes glowing fiercely.

"So much for peace and quiet... Tch"