Within The Grim, there was one thing Nine noted.

The quiet. His thoughts, all left at his own disposal. No other voice nagging in his ears, no grand conscience trying to coerce him off his path— Just himself, and near infinite power to change the world as he sees fit.

It felt almost fitting now to the fox, who was actively in the midst of thinking up just how he'd stop Sonic when he inevitably came for him. Of course, the blue blur would do everything he could in an attempt to keep Nine from finally having what he wants— A soft huff left the fox at the thought, his twin tails twitching in agitation for a moment.

Sonic. The grand hero, the supposed savior of everyone else— The someone who had supposedly been there for him in a different world. The biggest thorn in Nine's side ever since all this started. He'd have to go, one way or another. No matter what, Sonic would try to do what he thought was right, and stop Nine in hopes of fixing some world that was already gone.

And with that, why does any of this really matter? The future would belong to Nine now. His chance to finally be something more than a pawn, some puppet to be ridiculed by others. The chance to he more. It was almost intoxicating to think about that— That sense of finality at knowing he was finally the one who was in control of things from here on out.

However, he was pulled from his mess of thoughts at a very strange noise, one that made him squint his eyes and look around in an attempt to identify the source of the noise. There shouldn't be anyone here, no one besides him, so what could that noise have been—?