Chapter 9
"…Skye?!" Tails asked the other two tailed fox.
Sure enough, Tails' son from another timeline was standing in front of him… though he seemed to be quite a bit older now.
"Hey other dad!" Skye said as he pulled Tails into a hug.
"W-what are you doing here?!" Tails asked.
"Well, after we left, my dad decided to kinda just scrap the whole time machine thing, since he decided that it was too dangerous." Skye explained. "Buuuut… I really wanted to try again to see Uncle Sonic… so I tried tinkering with it a bit…"
"Ok… so what happened?" Tails asked.
"Well… I got caught by dad, I was scared that he was gonna yell at me, and I kinda just… jumped through without changing any of the settings…" Skye explained. "Sooooo… I am gonna stick around here while he cools off a bit!"
"I see… but can't he just follow you here?" Tails asked.
"Nope, I took the last armband… well, I broke the other spare one we had in my panic… and then took the last one…" Skye explained. "Hehehe…"
"… You really are a trouble maker now, huh?" Tails asked.
"Nah, my dad says I just get a little too curious sometimes." Skye said.
"Well, it's good to see you again. You've grown a lot!" Tails said.
"It HAS been eight years!" Skye said.
"Yeah, same here. A lot has happened since you were here in case you can't tell." Tails said.
"I can't wait to hear about it! How's about we find Ms. Mina and Mr. Ash and we-" Skye started before he saw Tails wince at Ash's name. "Uh… you alright?"
"Sorry Skye… it's just that… well…" Tails said before taking a deep breath. "Ash died a couple of days after you left."
"W-what?" Skye asked. "What happened?"
"Well…"
And so, Tails went into detail about what had happened during the final battle with Eggman.
"I… see…" Skye said.
"I'm sorry." Tails said.
"Don't be, it's fine… I just didn't expect it." Skye said. "It's not like I knew him too well, but I remember him being a lot of fun back then, so I was hoping to see him again too."
"Mina's still around, if you want to see her." Tails said.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Skye said.
The two then hopped into the tornado, and Tails began to fly back to New Mobotropolis.
"So… your mom…" Tails said.
"Hey, I may have been young, but I do remember that you are not supposed to know who she is." Skye said.
"Oh no, I think I already figured it out." Tails said. "It's Tangle, right?"
"Uh…"
"Yeah, that confirms it." Tails said with a laugh. "Your stretchy tails gave it away."
"Great… we had one job…"
"Don't worry, I don't think me knowing is really gonna change anything anymore. I already-" Tails started before stopping himself.
"What was that?" Skye asked.
"D-don't worry about it… we'll talk about it later, ok?" Tails said.
"Fine, but I expect some answers before I leave." Skye responded.
"Deal."
When the two foxes landed, they were quickly greeted by Sonic.
"Hey Tails! There you are!" Sonic said as they landed. "Sal wanted me to take you to check out some weird energy reading and… wait… who?"
"Good to see you again Uncle Sonic." Skye said as he got off the plane.
"…Skye?" Sonic asked before he got a closer look. "Oh wow! It is you! What are you doing here?"
"Uh… I wanted to visit?" Skye lied.
Sonic looked unconvinced.
"He got caught tinkering with the time machine and jumped through in a panic." Tails explained.
"Ah, gotcha." Sonic said before making an accusing look at Skye.
"Hey, I was only doing it cause I wanted to see you again." Skye said.
"And there is nothing wrong with that." Sonic said. "But you really should ask your dad before doing stuff like that."
"…Right…" Skye said.
"Anyways, how long you staying for?" Sonic asked.
"Probably not too long. I don't want Mom and Dad to worry about me too much." Skye said.
"Ah, so Ta- I mean… your mom made it through that alright. That's good to know." Sonic said, being very careful not to say Tangle's name, which Tails noticed.
"Sonic, I know it's Tangle." Tails said.
"Wait, what?!" Sonic asked. "When did you figure that out?"
"When I saw Tangle's tail stretch out the other day." Tails explained.
"Oh… Uh… you wouldn't happen to uh…"
"Don't worry, I don't like Tangle that way… you should know that." Tails said.
"I know, I just wanted to make sure. You already know I am rooting for you and Mina." Sonic said.
"Wait, you like Ms. Mina?!" Skye asked.
"… I WAS gonna wait til later to explain that, but yeah." Tails said with a red face.
Skye smiled. "She's really nice."
"Yeah… she is." Tails said.
"Speaking of her though, let's go see her!" Skye said, a mischievous look on his face.
"You are NOT telling her!" Tails said.
"Oh come on!" Skye said.
"Just… let me do this on my own, ok?" Tails asked.
Skye may have still been young, but he could tell that this was important to his father.
"Alright, have it your way." Skye said.
"Also, try and not do the whole tail stretching thing? We don't want Tangle to figure everything out." Sonic said. "That could… complicate things."
"Right, gotcha." Skye said. "Guess I can stick with the flying."
"Oh, your dad finally taught you?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, I'm still not great at it, but I can get around." Skye explained. "He makes it look so easy…"
"He's just got a lot more experience than you. You probably spent a lot of time working on your stretchy tails first, right?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, my aim has improved a good bit at least." Skye said, laughing at how bad his aim was in the past.
"I'm sure Antoine will be happy to hear that!" Sonic said with a laugh.
"Anyways, let's get going. We should probably check in with Sally first though." Tails said.
"Right, let's go!"
End of Chapter 9
Just a couple of quick reunions. The rest of Skye's visit will be covered next time! See you then!