Chapter 8: Return

"TANGLE!" Miles shouted as his wife grunted in pain.

"You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?!" Tangle said.

She then proceeded to tear Metal Sonic's arm off of his body, before striking him with her tail with all her might, sending the robot flying into the wall.

"Don't mess with my family…" Tangle said before the pain finally got the better of her, and she fell to her knees.

"Tangle!" Miles said as he helped her lay on her back.

"Heh, you come to save me, and I end up saving you… funny how things work out, huh?" Tangle said with a laugh.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, we'll get you back and get you some help." Miles said.

"It's quite a ways to the nearest town though… we might not…" Sally said, but didn't finish.

"Besides… we have the whole changing history thing to worry about too…" Sonic said.

"… I have an idea." Miles suddenly said. He then did something no-one expected, and reached for the armband on Tangle's arm.

"Knuckles and Silver should be waiting for us back in our time… if we send her back, they should be able to patch her up just fine." Miles explained.

"Heh, guess I'm not going to be able to see my younger self." Tangle said.

"I didn't see her either, so I am pretty sure you don't exist here." Miles said.

"Oh, what…?" Tangle said disappointingly, which caused Miles to laugh. "Whatever… just get Skye and come home… ok?"

"You got it… see you soon." Miles said before he took the armband off.

And just like that, Tangle was gone.

Back with Knuckles and Silver, Miles' timeline

"…"

"…"

"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING AFTER THEM!" Knuckles suddenly shouted as he went to grab a spare armband.

"Dude, it hasn't even been a day, just give them some time!" Silver said.

"You saw what happened before they left! What if they need our help?" Knuckles asked.

"Just give them some time! If twenty-four hours pass and they aren't back, then we go after them." Silver said.

"Time we waste is time that could have them killed! I am done waiting! It's time for act-"

Then, the machine began to glow. Particles of light started to fly out and began to form together on the ground. When the light faded, Tangle took it's place.

"Hey guys… got any bandages on ya?" Tangle asked.

"… Ok, what happened?" Knuckles asked.

"It's a long story…"

Back with Miles and the others

"Alright, let's go." Miles said as he began to leave.

"Right, all Freedom Fighters! Move out!" Sally called out, as everyone began to retreat.

Meanwhile, Eggman was finally waking up from Tangle's punch. When he gathered his bearings, he saw that Tangle was gone. He then saw that all his prisoners had been freed. Next, was the badly damaged Metal Sonic… and finally, he saw that over half of his army was wiped out.

"…"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Eggman screamed as the punched his computer.

Deciding that he couldn't spare any time, he got straight to work.

His first task was to get Metal Sonic up and running again.

"When you wake up, I am going to give you a VERY important order…

Kill that foolish fox, no matter what happens!"

During the walk back, Sally noticed how tense Miles was.

"Are you alright?" Sally asked.

"I will be when I get back to my time." Miles said.

"I know you're worried about her, but she'll be fine." Sally said. "If your Knuckles and Silver are half as reliable as ours, then they will patch her up no problem."

"… I know…" Miles said. "I just… can't help it when it comes to my family."

Sally smiled at this. "You really aren't that different from our Tails then."

"Really? How so?" Miles asked.

"Even before we found his parents, Tails was always so willing to help us fight Robotnik." Sally started. "Even though he too young, he was always hoping that he could help us one day, cause we were family to him."

"Heh… just like how I felt about Sonic for so long." Miles said.

"I am sure he would be really proud of what you did here today." Sally said.

"I am, actually!" Sonic said. "Seriously dude! How did you do that?!"

"It was an illusion actually." Miles said, earning a look from everyone else. "The illusion is so realistic, that it pretty much is real."

"Ok… does this have to do with that Phantom Ruby thing you mentioned before?" Sally asked.

"The Phantom Ruby is what gave me this power." Miles explained. "Let's just say a capsule filled with it's energy kinda… blew up in my face."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, woke up a few days later, and I've been able to do stuff like that ever since." Miles said. "It really tires me out if I use it too much though, which is why I needed the emerald."

"Dude, I really wish we could see what you can do with all seven emeralds… but…" Sonic said.

"You need them, I know." Miles said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sonic said.

"If you want a good mental picture, just imagine what your Tails can do if he was super, then add on the ability to create anything that his mind can come up with." Miles explained.

"Oh… well then." Sonic said. "Considering his super form is a lot stronger than mine… that is actually really nuts."

"Wait, what?!" Miles asked.

"Yeah, his uncle said as much." Sonic said.

"Wow… go me I guess." Miles said.

"… Wow, you really are upset, I woulda thought you'd be a bit more… hyped up by that info." Sonic said.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be, it just shows that you found someone truly special to you." Sally said. "You'll be home with her soon, ok?"

"Right… thank you."

After walking for a while, the group finally returned to New Mobotropolis.

"So, any idea where the other me might of taken Skye?" Miles asked.

"Probably the park." Sally said.

"Alright, let's head over there." Miles said as they made their way over to the park.

Once they were in eyesight, the younger Tails immediately noticed the large group.

"Oh hey! They're back!" Tails said as he went over to greet them.

"Hey little me, hope Skye was well behaved." Miles said.

"Well, he's a slippery one, that's for sure." Tails said. "But we managed to get the hang of it."

"We?" Sally asked.

"We helped out a bit." Ash said as he and Mina walked over with Skye.

And then Mina noticed Miles.

"Not gonna lie, when I was told that there was an older Tails around… I was expecting him to look a bit more… nerdy?" Mina said.

"Sorry to disappoint." Miles said with a laugh.

"Not disappointed, just surprised." Mina said. "Will say though, the lab coat really suits you."

"That's why I wear it a lot." Miles said. "Now… who…?"

"You don't know us?" Mina asked.

"Alternate timeline." Miles explained.

"Oh… I don't really get it, but I guess that means that things are different from where you are?" Ash asked.

"Pretty much."

"Well then, I'm Mina Mongoose, and this is my boyfriend, Ash." Mina introduced.

At this point, the noise began to wake Skye up from his nap. "Daddy? Where's mommy?"

Tails, Ash, and Mina all noticed the air suddenly becoming tense.

"She went back ahead of us." Miles explained. "Speaking of… we should probably get ready to head back too."

"Right…" Tails said.

Mina then suddenly pulled Skye into a hug.

"It was so nice meeting you Skye!" Mina said. "Your son is absolutely adorable by the way."

"Oh geez, you should of been there when our Amy met him!" Miles laughed out. "If we didn't stop her, she might of crushed him with a hug she thought he was so cute."

"I could see that." Sonic said.

"Miles… thank you so much for helping us with getting that information." Sally said. "For the first time in forever, it looks like the end of this war is in sight."

"It's not a problem, you were all so willing to help us, so it was the least I could do." Miles said. "And thank you Tails, Mina, Ash, for watching over my son."

"Oh please, watching over this cute little guy was a pleasure!" Mina said.

"Right… anyways, we should probably be going." Miles said.

"Right…" Sally said. "Is there any way that we will see you again?"

"Well… truth be told this whole adventure is making me reconsider this time travel thing." Miles admitted. "I'll probably keep the machine put together though, so I guess I can save the settings so we can take a trip here in the future."

"Please do! I want to see this cute little muffin again!" Mina said.

"We will see." Miles laughed out.

"Just one more thing before you go?" Sally asked as Nicole materialized.

"You want to take a picture, don't you?" Miles asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sally said. "To remember all of this."

Miles smiled at this. "Alright."

Everyone then got into position for the picture, with Tails and Miles standing next to each other, with Skye in the middle of everyone.

"And… there." Nicole said. She then managed to develop the picture right then and there.

"Huh… guess I didn't need to bring that camera." Miles mumbled to himself.

"Well, I guess this is it." Sonic said. "Take care of everyone on your end."

"You too Sonic." Miles said as the two shook hands. "Ready to go Skye?"

"Uh huh." Skye said. "Bye bye!"

"Bye bye!" Mina said.

Miles then took the spacial armband off of his son, who then disappeared.

And then, he took his own off.

"… Hey! Little me!" Miles suddenly said. He then tossed not only his, but the other two spacial armbands over to the younger Tails. "Some future tech for you to tinker with! Have fun with it!"

And with that, he was gone.

Tails looked down at the three armbands in his hands and smiled.

Sally then took a look at Tails, and had a thought.

'He… really does deserve to have an actual life.' Sally thought. 'He has had to deal with this war this entire time… he needs to be able to live normally for a change… but Eggman is preventing that…'

"Sally?" Nicole asked.

"…Nicole, call together all of our forces…

It's time we ended this."

Their Story continues, in Eight Years Later

And so, it comes to an end.

Yes, this is why I wanted to wait until this stories end to start posting Eight Years Later. The events of this story will be referenced a few times in that story, and is actually really important for that story at a certain point as well.

Now, I just want to mention that I that I want to take a bit of a break from posting stories. I have been writing these stories to try and update once a week for quite some time now, I think since back in July, and I just need to take some time to just recharge my batteries. You know, the new console generation is coming out so I want to enjoy that, I have a rather large backlog of games that I have been wanting to make a dent in… and I may or may not want to watch through Sonic X again in preparation for another story that I have been thinking of writing…

Really, I just think this is the perfect timing, considering the fact that both of my ongoing stories are done. That being said, the plan is to be back and ready to go either at the very beginning of December, or a bit sooner. Keep an eye on my profile, I'll probably update that when I decide on a return date.

Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this story, and I will see you… when I see you for the first chapter of Eight years later!