79

79 is the het ship between 7 and 9 from the 9 fandom.

9 (Short 2005)
7 was not an established character in the short, just to explain why 9 and 5 are numbered that way. At the end of the short, 9 holds a funeral for all of his fallen friends, including 7.

9 (Movie 2009)
9 first heard of 7's heroics when 1 tells him the story of how they managed to hide from the robot apocalypse and since then swore to listen to 1 as their leader and always stick together. However, 1's philosophy of anyone going missing automatically being dead and not worth looking for has 1 believe that 7 is dead, something that 9 has no business questioning at that time.

9 then meets the very much alive 7 for the first time when he and 5 set out to rescue the also declared dead 2 from the clutches of the Cat Beast, managing to distract it for long enough for the boys to save 2. However, when the group celebrates the death of the Cat Beast, 9 finds the talisman the beast stole from him, having noticed that the beast tried to put it in some kind of automaton. He puts the talisman into the machine out of morbid curiosity, with 2 having his soul sucked out when he frantically tried to pull it out again. With only 2's lifeless body remaining, 5 and 7 take a moment to mourn him before running for their own lives. Both 7 and especially 5 are furious at 9, with 7 sympathetically asking him what he was thinking. 9 apologizes, he had no idea what would happen, but him mentioning the talisman leads to 7 having an idea of where they could hide while the machine reactivates itself and resumes producing more machines.

She takes 5 and 9 to her hideout, where she introduces them to the twins 3 and 4. 3 and 4 then use their projectors to explain the backstory behind the Fabrication Machine, formerly known as BRAIN. Due to the meddlings of an evil Chancellor, the Scientist was framed for starting a war between man and machine, the Fabrication Machine will only create more machines of terror to wipe out all life on Earth for good. However, as 5 and 9 recognize the talisman's symbols in the twins' projections, 5 mentions that 6 keeps redrawing these symbols with his fingers. Realizing that they might need 6's help to figure out how to stop the Machine, 7 tries to stop 9 from going back to 1's church where 6 resides, believing 1 to be a freedom-restricting tyrant.

Nonetheless, 9 and 5 independently scout out and at least try to find one of 6's notes on the matter, but are soon discovered by 8 and brought back to 1. But just before 1 could punish them for disobeying him, a new creation of the Machine (the Winged Beast) attacks them, specifically targeting 1. 7 comes back just in time and they manage to defeat the Winged Beast together by crushing it between the bell's gears, but 1's church burns down from the resulting fire. Taking residence at 7's hideout, the group rests for a bit, making plans of how to get the talisman back. However, just as he was enjoying some alone time, 8 gets captured by another creation, the Seamstress. The creation once again targets 1, but when 9 manages to save 1 while 7 is fighting the Seamstress, 7 gets overwhelmed and captured instead. Buying into 1's belief that 9 is responsible for 7 and 8 getting captured, he wastes no time and leads the group back to the factory for another rescue mission. When 9 sneaks into the factory, he's too late and 8 is already getting his soul sucked out. 9 is even more determined to not let the same thing happen to 7 and manages to distract the Seamstress holding 7 hostage inside her body. Trapping the Seamstress with one of her own strings, 9 cuts her body open and catches 7, unravelling her.

9 and 7 barely make it out alive when 5 sets a trap to burn the factory down, with 1 insisting that they should be sacrificed for their own good. 7 pushes 9 aside when the flaming barrel trap tumbles down the path they're running out of, saving his life in turn. When it seems that the Fabrication Machine is destroyed along with the factory, the remaining group celebrates by listening to "Over the Rainbow" on vinyl, 7 takes the moment to sincerely thank 9. However, the moment doesn't last as 5 finds the Fabrication Machine having survived the fire and being hellbent for revenge. Sucking 5's soul out on the spot, the group flees the scene to a nearby bridge, hoping to let the Machine fall to its doom. However, when 6 notices 5's soul inside the Machine, he tells 9 that he and the others are still alive, their souls trapped inside. 9 then interrupts the attempt at destroying the Machine once more, getting 6's soul sucked out in the process. He repeats to 1 and 7 what 6 told him, there is a way to save the others, destroying the Machine would also destroy the talisman, dashing all hopes for the once they had already lost. However, 9 is disappointed when 7 agrees with 1 that the Machine should be destroyed regardless, returning to the room he woke up in to search for answers.

He finds a message from the Scientist who created the Machine, finding out that he regretted only giving it his intellect, leading to it turning on humanity due to its lack of a soul. He then hears that each of them is a part of the Scientist's soul sealed inside doll bodies and finally finds the key necessary to detach the talisman and stop the Machine. He wastes no time telling 1 and 7 of his discovery, with 7 believing him, but 3 and 4 still mindlessly following 1's orders to destroy the machine. Upon getting them back to safety, 9 explains his plan to steal the talisman away from the Machine, planning to sacrifice himself as a distraction, wanting to atone for getting the others killed. 7 is horrified and tries to talk him out of it, but 9 is steadfast. Only with 1 pushing him out of the way to sacrifice himself instead does 9 survive, allowing for 9 to take the talisman and suck the souls of the other five out, rendering the Machine lifeless. 7 praises 9 for defeating the Machine, but 9 tells her that he has one last task. He holds a funeral for the fallen ones, with 7 telling 9 that their souls are free now while taking his hand. When it starts to rain, 7 asks what comes next. 9 tells her that this world is theirs now, the only thing that matters is what they make of it.

Fanon
79 is the main ship of the 9 fandom. During the earlier days of the fandom, people were debating whether their bond was meant to be read as platonic or romantic, but some fans had been emailing Shane Acker and he supposedly confirmed that they are meant to be read as a couple.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION