By an external metric, Miles left the Death Egg with Amy merely seconds after he entered it with Reason. The lander accelerated to unreasonable speeds as it travelled further from the centre of the time dilation, to land gently on Little Planet at a hundred times the minimum safe speed to do so.

From an internal metric, it took an eternity. Living every second as, before, and after it happened so many times over. Walking in front, behind and beside himself, watching Amy's face as he talked, eyes wide with wonder at his tale of highly sanitised heroics, laughing, or scowling, as he joked and teased. His view growing longer, deeper all the time. More time, more depth, more precision.

"What is this place?" Amy looked around, hand over her mouth. "Is this Stardust Speedway?"

"A Stardust Speedway that will never be." Miles rubbed the back of his head. "A Speedway Sonic never saved."

"But-"
"But he does. Yes. And when he does, this all looks so beautiful." Miles stared out across the sceneries with a wistful smile, taking Amy's hand as he walked over to where a timepost would be. He wasn't sure what his future self was thinking as he led them there. Probably wondering why he was going, but Miles went regardless, snagging rings on the way. "The future is actually one of the safest places to be right now, but I won't make you walk through it. It's a miserable place."

"Is... this where you're from originally?"

"What?" Miles snapped around to look at her, though less surprised by knowing she'd ask the question.

"You called me Amy, before." She smiled faintly as she walked. "Back when you-... when you were hurt. I never told you that name."

Miles grimaced. Had he? Rookie time traveller mistake right there.

"So it's true then. You're a time traveller, come back to the past to save your ruined future from Robotnik." Amy swooned onto him. "So cool!"

"Close enough." Miles grunted, half dragging her as she clung to his arm.

"I knew it! So what happens to me in the future? How far in the future are you from? Do we meet in the future? Am I a leader of the future resistance to save Little Planet? Did you come back to change the future because I died tragically saving you from Robotnik?"

"... You know what? Fine." Miles rolled his eyes. "You grow up into an amazing person. You never give up trying to do the right thing, even when you're scared, and you always try to follow your dreams, no matter what."

"Wow. Really?!" Amy squealed with glee. "I'm going to be so cool."

Miles snorted. "You'll get plenty of chances to show Sonic your feminine willies as well."

"Hm." Amy didn't take the bait, her face serious. "And what about you?"

Miles pressed his hand against the timepost, sparkling energy crackling up and into his body. And for the first time he understood the process. How crude Eggman's methods were.

"Me?" He stepped. Corroded pipes glittered like new once more. Robotnik had intended the entire speedway to play the fanfare of his victory as he oppressed the people of Little Planet. "I make that happen."

Miles stepped again, and vines intermingled with golden pipes, in the process of becoming, not quite either thing, before the pipes never were.

He tutted. Too far. Or not far enough?

"Wha- You didn't have to run that time?" Amy stared around her open-mouthed.

"I couldn't move fast enough to use it anyway." Miles stretched out his free hand and stepped one last time.

The Meka Terisu appeared beneath his fingers. A moment later, scratch marks faded from its paint, its propeller became never broken. Amy gasped in surprise.

"How are you doing all this?"

"I dunno." Miles rubbed the back of his head. "Time Control?" Bullets fell from his fingers, pinging off the half-metal floor unheeded. "Wait. 'Chrono Control' sounds cooler. I can explain the maths to you if you like. But they'd probably give you a stroke."

Amy stuck her tongue out at him, hopping up into the mecha's open hatch without waiting for an invitation.

Miles sighed, wiping blood from his own ear in advance. He'd expected a bit more excitement on her part. She was meeting Sonic soon, after all. Miles zipped over to snatch another few rings before following her on board. Not long to go.

Climbing up into the mech after her, Miles prepared for the end he knew was coming.

He'd already seen it, after all.

"Here we are."

The pair emerged from the Meka Teirusu onto a seemingly unimportant patch of grass, dotted with mechanised trees and spiky grasses laced with metal.

Amy wordlessly slipped out of the access hatch. She'd been quiet the whole trip, staring out the window with a troubled expression.

It was always hard to meet your heroes, Miles mused as he followed her out of the mech.

"This is it?" Amy peered around the distorted terrain, so different from before.

"This is it." Miles grinned, snagging rings as he walked a lap around the clearing. That made it fifty-one now. "Welcome to the Present. There's a nominal chance that Sonic will miss you by running through another time period, but if not, this is where you'll meet Sonic for the very first time. Don't worry, I'll drop you off in Collision Chaos before you know it. You definitely meet him there."

Miles sighed, staring out to the place he'd once been able to see Amy's village, down at the bottom of the waterfall. Now there wasn't even a trace. Mechanisation had claimed its ruins completely. As they always had, as they always would.

"You did a good job." Miles patted the side of the Meka Teirusu with a smile. "I'm sorry to have to leave you, but you need to go home now."

With the tap of his wrist the giant pudgy fox mech turned away, trundling off towards that waterfall on autopilot.

"Wait, you were talking to the robot?" Amy stared at him in disbelief.

"Obviously?"

"What about me?" Amy huffed.

"Did you want me to pat you too?" Miles tilted his head to the side. "I could install an autopilot module I sup-" He ducked a spiky ball of grass she kicked at him.

"You are such a jerk. You have no idea how heroes are supposed to treat a lady." She glared at him, arms folded.

"Not really a hero. Told you before." Miles stared off at the shrinking form of the Meka Teirusu. "But if it helps, you did great too, some great sidekicking in there, take it from me. If I were a hero I'd want a sidekick like you around on a full time basis."

"So... is this really it?" Amy stood beside him, grinding the toe of her shoe in the dirt. "Is this... goodbye?"

"This is where we never meet again, you never try to find me... and you forget you ever saw me."

"How could I ever forget you?" Amy grinned, lightly rapping her knuckles into his shoulder. "You're the meanest, lamest, most annoying fox I've ever met. And…" Her face fell. "I wish you didn't have to go."

"I do though." Miles stared at himself in the distance, a sinking feeling in his heart. "I already left."

"Heh. You're so weird." Amy leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "No matter what anyone else says, Prower, you're my hero. And you always will be. Remember that."

"One of us has to." Miles closed his eyes. When he reopened them, his eyes glowed with a swirling kaleidoscope of colour even as the orange bled from his fur. Streaks of black fur danced across white as his body entered into a Chronos state, had always been in a Chronos state, would always be in a Chronos state.

Amy gave a brief squeak of surprise as he laid his hand against her cheek. Against all of her cheek. Forever and always. Her eyes turned dull.

"The tarot told you that you needed to be here." Miles gently pushed her off of him, leading her by the hand to where she would be waiting. "Your family is safe. When everything is over, you can find them hiding in a cave under the waterfall near your village."

He'd made it for them himself, after all. Miles sighed. His discontent stretching across infinity.
"And when you choose to leave Little Planet, that will be the last time you see them. The next time Little Planet returns everyone you ever knew will have died. I'm sorry."

Amy didn't reply, she couldn't.

"But they will live long, happy lives. And they will be so proud of you." Miles squeezed her hand one last time before he turned away, motes of time energy tumbling from his fur. "I'll make sure of it."

Miles let go, twin tails twirling around in endless spirals, and stepped into everywhen.

Amy Rose blinked, confused and alone among the trees.

"Huh? I was…" She shook her head. "Right! The cards. I wonder if I'll get to meet Sonic today?" She hopped around excitedly, glancing this way and that, hoping to see her hero at last.

There were few memories that time couldn't erase, in the end.