Notes: Not much to say this week, I need to upload this quick so I can get back to writing my English essay (see how much I love you guys?). Thanks to anyone who faved, followed, or reviewed the story this week! It really means a lot.

Sonic woke up the next morning shivering. He instinctively dove under his sheets, pulling them up over his head, and curled up as best he could with his bandaged up chest. 'Man, why is it so cold? It's practically the end of June!' he thought in frustration. He rubbed his hands over his arms rapidly, trying to warm himself up. He could feel the goosebumps crawling over his skin as he did so. He was going to have to get up and turn on the heat so that everyone in the house wouldn't freeze. He reluctantly crawled out of bed, quickly found a pair of gloves lying on the floor, and shoved them onto his cold hands. He went out into the hall and fiddled around with the thermostat, turning the temperature up. It had already been set at 68 degrees, so why was it so cold?

It would take a little while for the heat to kick in, so for the moment, Sonic was still chilly. He went back into his bedroom and grabbed a blanket off the foot of his bed. Wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, he felt a little bit better.

He thought he heard some hushed, yet excited conversation coming from inside Tails' bedroom. 'I wonder what Lil' Blue and Lil' T are so happy about?'

He knocked on the door to their bedroom, which was promptly answered by his younger self. "What's going on in here?" the elder asked, poking his head inside the room with a grin.

"Did you look out a window this morning?"

"Um... No?"

"Then come look!" Lil' T said, grabbing the older hedgehog's hand and dragging him towards the window. What Sonic saw made his jaw drop.

"No way... It's... It's…"

"It's snowing!" the young fox squealed with excitement. Indeed, the air outside was filled with swirling bits of white. The trees, not having shed their leaves, were just huge masses of snow supported by tree trunks. It must have been snowing for quite some time, as the snow on the ground looked to be at least six inches deep already, maybe more.

"Well, that explains why it's so cold," Sonic said quietly. His breath condensed on the glass of the window, fogging it up.

"Isn't it cool?" Lil' T said, pressing his hands up against the window and looking outward at the winter wonderland.

Sonic wasn't quite sure how to respond. The responsible older-brother part of him was saying no, that those tree branches wouldn't be able to hold the weight of all that snow for long, they wouldn't be able to clear away any of the snow because Tails didn't keep any shovels around the workshop, that there wasn't much food in the house to begin with, and now there were four mouths that needed feeding and no way to get to the grocery store.

The thrill-seeking part of him, on the other hand, was saying that this was awesome! What better way to relax after a day of Emerald hunting than to go sledding and snowboarding and to curl up by the fire with a hot drink in your hand? He could do without the cold, of course, but the snow definitely had its perks, too.

"Cool or not, I think this confirms that the flow of time is getting seriously messed up," he said.

"Oh, absolutely," his younger self agreed. "As much as I enjoy a good snow day from time to time, this is pretty bad. I mean, it's the middle of summer! It should not be snowing."

"It's like... It's almost like the universe thinks its winter or something. That's why it's suddenly freezing outside."

"Mmm. I can't help but feel like this is somehow our fault," the adolescent hedgehog said, scratching the back of his neck. "Like, by us being here, in the wrong time period, the flow of time is getting all out of whack."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I doubt all of this is your fault. And if it is, so what? You didn't mean to launch Mystic Ruins into the second Ice Age or anything."

"Even if Tails and I didn't mean for this to happen, it still happened because of us," the twelve-year-old said, looking down at the ground. "And now WindyValley is frozen still, it's snowing outside, you're hurt, and-"

"Look," the older Sonic said, placing a hand on the younger's shoulder. His shoulder. "We're going to fix this. I promise, we're going to get you guys back to your own time period, and I bet all this will go back to normal. Actually, no. I guarantee it. Everything will be okay."

"Man, I hope so," the kid sighed.

Tails, who hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, hopped over to the smaller hedgehog. "Hey, can we go sledding later?"

"Sure, pal. But we have to help out older me and the other Tails first, okay? We still have more Chaos Emeralds to find, after all." he said, patting the child on the back.

"Right!" Lil' T said enthusiastically. He nodded and went back to looking out the window. Mystic Ruins was filled with big hills to go sledding on, at it looked like the lake had frozen over. Maybe he could convince the Sonics to go ice skating with him? After all, it wasn't water. Well, at least, it wasn't liquid water. He entertained himself with the mental image of his brother- past and future versions- slipping and sliding around on the ice.

"I'm going to go see if my Tails is awake yet. Do you know what time it is?" the older Sonic asked.

"Not sure. Early, though," replied his younger self.

"Cool. Catch ya later," Sonic said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. He couldn't believe it. It was actually snowing in June. While the fun-loving dare devil in him loved the idea of just goofing off and playing in the snow all day, the grown-up in him realized that this much snow this suddenly was going to cause some problems- not just for the residents of the workshop, but for the other people living in Mystic Ruins as well.

It rarely snowed in the mountainous region; after all, a short ride in a mine car through one of the mountains, and you were in a tropical jungle. The train line to Station Square would likely be closed, shutting a lot of people out from the resources in the city. There were some shops in the Ruins, of course, but most of the groceries were delivered there from the city. Sonic wondered if it was snowing in other places, too. What about Windy Valley? Would the people outside there, suspended in their summer clothes, freeze to death? Or was it unaffected due to the clocks being stopped there? Maybe Tails' computer could tell him what was going on elsewhere.

'Man, I really wish I didn't hurt myself yesterday,' he groaned inwardly. 'Normally, I could clear snow with a quick spin-dash. But now, I don't know if I can curl in enough to pull it off.' He rubbed his chest where he got slashed. The scar was still giving off heat, even though the Chaos Emerald had healed it up more than twelve hours ago. Shouldn't it have cooled off by now?

Sonic decided to ignore his mysterious injury for the time being, instead choosing to focus on the strange weather. He went down the stairs, lifting up the blanket that was draped over him so that he wouldn't accidentally trip on it. He reached the ground floor of the workshop and shuddered. It was even colder down here. He pulled his blanket up closer to his face, wrapping himself more tightly in the fabric. He could deal with the cold when he was running or snowboarding or something, but otherwise, he wasn't a huge fan of it.

The hedgehog found Tails sitting at the kitchen table, typing away on his handheld, the Miles Electric, and drinking something warm. Was that coffee? Since when did Tails drink coffee?

"Morning," Sonic said, sitting across from his friend. Tails took a sip of his drink and looked up.

"Oh, hey. You're up early," he said.

"I was cold," the speedster shrugged. "What about you? You're usually not awake at-" he glanced at the clock, "-seven in the morning. Wow, seven? Yeesh."

"Haha, yeah, it's pretty early for us. I heard one of the palm trees on the side of the runway break, so that woke me up," Tails explained. "When I saw all the snow, I couldn't just go back to bed. So I started doing more research."

"Research on what?"

"Well, first of all, why and where it was snowing. None of the weather stations can tell why it's so cold out all of a sudden, so this snow is most definitely not natural. It looks like this storm has been confined to just Mystic Ruins and Station Square. I checked the satellites, WindyValley is still as warm as it was a few days ago. The people there will be okay."

"Phew! I was worried about that," Sonic said, exhaling in relief.

"I thought you would be. Anyways, I haven't heard anything about people's power going out here in the Ruins, but we'll have to wait and see. There are sections of Station Square that are without power, though. Fallen trees took down the power lines."

"Wow, that stinks. We have a backup generator, right?"

"We have several. We should be fine."

"Excellent. Anything else you were able to dig up?"

"Actually, I was researching the whole 'Time Eater' thing, and scanning a bunch of satellite feeds for a trace of its energy signature. I got hits here, WindyValley, and more recently, Station Square. So, while the Time Eater itself isn't around, its influence still is. And it looks like its spreading."

"What do you mean, its influence?"

"I mean, time is getting screwed up in certain areas. And the number of places affected by this is growing. It's almost like... Like there's a rip in the time stream or something, and its getting deeper."

"A rip in the time stream?" Sonic said slowly. "That sounds serious."

"No kidding. I think it started when Eggman first unleashed that monster at your party the other day. The very act of ripping everyone out of the timeline caused a small tear. Even after we defeated the Time Eater and all came home, that tear was steadily growing. It might even be why our younger selves' portal closed before they could reach it. Time around the portal was flowing faster for a little bit, causing it to close faster than it would have normally."

"So..." said the younger Sonic, who suddenly appeared at the door to the living room. "Everything that's happening isn't specifically because me and Tails are here?" He had a somewhat nervous look on his face. "Sorry, I couldn't help eavesdropping."

"Eh, don't be. It's not like we're sharing secrets in here or anything," the older hedgehog said. He pulled out a chair for his younger self.

"To answer your question, no," Tails said, taking a swig of his coffee. "This isn't your fault. I can't believe you thought it was."

"Well, when you're stranded in the future and time is falling apart all around you, yeah, those thoughts start to go through your head," he said with a small, but relieved smile. He sat down next to his older self. "Glad to know this mess isn't our fault, though."

"See? What did I just tell you? Not your fault." The twenty-year-old smiled triumphantly and rustled the short fur on his younger self's head.

"Yes, yes, you were right all along," he smiled, swatting the other Sonic's hand away. "Still, that doesn't explain why I was able to do that whole light-speed dash trick yesterday."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" The older hedgehog said. "It doesn't explain the Blasteroids thing, either."

"The Blasteroids thing? Why, what's up with Blasteroids?"

"Tails and I weren't able to get passed the Level 10 boss when we were your age. We were stuck there for a while."

"Wow, really? How long did it take you?" the smaller hedgehog asked, suppressing a laugh.

Sonic crossed his arms and pouted. "None of your business! The point is, you and Lil' T are little walking paradoxes."

Tails sighed and scratched his head, glancing back down at his Miles Electric. "Sorry, I'm still working on figuring that part out. Paradoxes aren't even supposed to happen, so it's slow going trying to figure this out."

"Hey, don't worry about it, bro! Now we at least know why all this stuff is happening," the older Sonic said, leaning back in his chair. He cringed a little as his bruised ribs got pressed against the back of the wooden chair. He stood up and stretched his arms. "I think I'm gonna go check on my ultra-manly battle scars. I'll be right back." He stalked off towards the bathroom, running his hand through his quills.

There was a moment of silence in the kitchen after he left. The younger Sonic and the older Tails were similar in age, so conversation between them should have come easily. The little hedgehog twiddled his thumbs as Tails took a sip of coffee before turning back to his handheld.

"Since when do you drink coffee? Older-me doesn't drink coffee," Sonic noted. Tails shrugged.

"I dunno. Sometimes I'll stay up working later than I should, so I need to drink some every once in a while to keep myself up. After I woke up this morning, I started to do some serious thinking. Hence the coffee," he said, holding up the mug.

"Ah," the young hedgehog said. "Thinking about anything interesting?"

Tails set his mug and his Miles Electric down on the table and rested his head in one of his hands. "Mostly just the stuff I told the older-you about. You know, with the fabric of time having a rip in it, so to speak. Also, who would win in a fight, Eggman or Sharktopus."

Sonic laughed at that. He was just trying to picture Robotnik in one of his many machines, trying to fight a giant shark/octopus hybrid covered in spikes. "I'm not sure! I guess it would depend on what kind of robot the Doc was using to fight it," he reasoned. "Some of his easier-to-bust-up machines wouldn't stand a chance, but the robot he used during our fight in the Death Egg? That would kick Sharktopus' sorry behind." His roundish stomach suddenly growled. "Whoops. Uh, you guys got any cereal in this joint?"

"In the cabinet above the fridge. You know where the bowls and spoons are, right?"

"Yeah, I got it. You want any?" Sonic asked, pulling a chair up to the fridge so he could reach the boxes of cereal.

"No thanks, I'm good," Tails said politely. The young hedgehog rifled through the cabinet before pulling out a chocolaty, sugar-filled cereal. "Hey, where's little-me?" the fox asked.

Sonic climbed down from the chair, pushed it back where it belonged, and opened up the fridge door. "He's upstairs, went back to sleep. He doesn't like waking up early."

"Neither do you."

"Yeah, but I couldn't fall asleep again." The blue blur fetched himself a bowl and a spoon, and poured himself some cereal. He drenched it with milk until the chocolate-flavored flakes were floating in it, and then took a bite. "These are pretty good," he mumbled to himself. He turned the cereal box around and studied the back of it. There was just something about the backs of cereal boxes that always managed to grab people's attention.

The older Sonic sauntered back into the room at that point, new bandages wrapped around his torso. "Back," he said, reclaiming his seat at the table. He picked up the carton of milk that was next to his younger self and took a drink from it.

"Seriously, can you stop doing that? It's nasty," the adolescent asked, annoyed with his future-self's manners.

The older hedgehog wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and set the carton back down. "It's a force of habit. And like I said before, your germs are my germs, and Tails stopped caring a long time ago."

"It makes doing the dishes easier. Not as many glasses to clean," the fox explained.

"And that makes it automatically okay," the twelve-year-old raised an eyeridge as he took another bite of cereal.

"H-hey, those are my Chunky Puffs!" the other hedgehog said in surprise.

Mini-Sonic smirked. "Your Chunky Puffs are my Chunky Puffs," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Touché…" the older one grumbled.

Tails stood up and pushed in his chair. "I should get back downstairs. I need to check and see if the Emerald Radar's found anything yet."

"Just as long as it's not another four-armed monster like the one from yesterday," his brother joked. "Do you need me to clean the snow off the runway today, or can that wait until later?"

Tails looked through a window to the outside. "It's still storming out there, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon. I won't be able to take the Tornado out until the weather clears, so you can leave it. Anyhoo, I'll catch you guys later," the fox said, leaving the kitchen and heading towards the basement steps. The kid speedster went back to eating his cereal, while his adult counterpart sat there fidgeting. He wasn't particularly hungry. The heat had finally kicked in, so he wasn't cold anymore. He didn't want to go outside while it was so nasty out, especially when the snow was deep. He was stuck inside the house with nothing to do. Realizing this, he started to tap his foot rapidly, and he groaned in frustration. He could potentially use the Chaos Emerald they obtained yesterday to teleport somewhere that wasn't snowy. Yeah, that was an option… He mulled the idea over in his head. He had no idea where he would go, and he hated to use Chaos Control unless he needed to, but at least he had a way out of the house. His foot calmed down, and his cabin fever subsided slightly.

"Jeez, you're fidgety today," the younger hedgehog noticed.

"Yeah, well so are you! I see those fingers drumming and those feet shaking," the older retorted. Mini-Sonic looked down at his left hand to see that he was, in fact, drumming his fingers rapidly. He curled his hand into a fist to get himself to stop it.

"Am not."

"Yeah, right. You think I don't know cabin fever when I see it? Tell you what, you finish your breakfast, we'll go for a run. I'll Chaos Control us to someplace that's not freezing. Like... I don't know, Apotos maybe? Apotos is nice this time of year. They've got some great rooftops to run on there." the older hedgehog said, getting pumped up for the run. He couldn't help it; it felt like it had been ages since he just ran someplace for the pure fun of it.

"Isn't Apotos on the other side of the world?"

"So? It's fun, and it's warm, and I really want to run."

"Are you sure you're even up for a run?"

"Aw, come on. I just hurt my chest is all! As long as I don't breathe too hard or overexert myself, I'll be fine," said the older hedgehog. "Trust me, we'll have a great time." He got up from his seat and slapped his younger self on the back before heading into the living room. He lowered himself onto the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

Maybe he should give Knuckles a call? With the way things were going, he could use the extra hand finding all the Chaos Emeralds. The echidna had a knack for finding treasure, after all- it was as if he had an Emerald Radar built into his head. Angel Island wasn't even too far away, so the temperamental redhead could easily make the trip over. Sonic picked up the cordless phone that was on the end table next to the sofa and dialed Knuckles' number. While the guardian of the Master Emerald initially refused to carry a cell phone with him, Tails had convinced him to at least carry a wrist communicator like the one Sonic had. The phone rang a few times on the other end before Knuckles picked up.

"What do you want, Sonic?" he asked, clearly annoyed that the hedgehog had the audacity to call him.

"Yo, Knucklehead! Look, I'm gonna just cut to the chase here. Me and me and Tails and Tails need to find all the Chaos Emeralds. Think you can put your little floating island in park and lend a hand?" Sonic asked nonchalantly.

"Are you crazy?"

"Um, could you maybe elaborate...?"

"Sonic, it's snowing like crazy over mystic Ruins right now. How am I supposed to land Angel Island there?"

"Oh yeah... I thought this was too easy," Sonic said, embarrassed that he momentarily forgot such a huge factor. He had been thinking about the snow nearly all day. How did he manage to forget it?

"And don't ask if I can just leave Angel Island up in the sky unprotected, because it's not going to happen. If I find some other place to land, I'll let you know, okay? But until then, don't call me unless I can actually come." And with that, the moody echidna hung up. Sonic sighed. Well, Knux was out. Still, had other friends who could help.

He phoned Amy next, and while the pink hedgehog was enthralled that he called her, she wasn't able to help out, either; she was helping deliver supplies in Station Square to buildings that lost power, and she couldn't leave. Sonic tried calling Shadow and Rouge next, but they were stuck on a top-secret mission for G.U.N. Sonic even tried calling up the Chaotix, but they were snowed-in, and Charmy Bee had managed to come down with a cold.

The blue hedgehog slid the phone back into its stand, feeling somewhat defeated. It looked like they were on their own with this.

"You done yet?" Mini-Sonic said, leaning against the wall nearest the kitchen. "I've been waiting here for like, fifteen minutes."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"You really think finding the Emeralds will be this hard?" the twelve-year-old asked.

"Ah, I don't know. Maybe? I just wanted to be on the safe side for once, that's all," the older hedgehog said, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling. "Plus, who knows how much time we have before things start getting really screwed up around here? What if there are dinosaurs and robots and wizards all running around while the world falls apart?"

"Then we'll handle it," Little Blue said. "It's what we do, whether we like it or not. Now, come on. Didn't you want to go on that run?"

The older Sonic smiled. "I knew you'd come around," he said. "Just let me grab my sneakers from upstairs and tell Tails where we're going, and we'll set out." He got up from the couch and climbed upstairs. Before heading into his own bedroom, he poked his head inside the one shared by the two young time travelers. Lil' T was still fast asleep, curled up under the blankets. The hedgehog couldn't help but grin at the sight. He closed the door and went into his own bedroom. He slipped his famous red sneakers onto his feet, doing the straps up tight. He bounced on the balls of his feet, feeling good. He grabbed a few rings for spending money, just in case they got hungry while they were there, and then went back downstairs. He walked through the living room and headed straight towards the basement steps. Descending the stairs quickly, the hedgehog stopped next to Tails' computer. "Hey, I'm going to take the Chaos Emerald for a bit of a joy ride. Me and Mini-Me are going to go to Apotos," he said.

"Are you sure you're good to run? You don't want your wound to open up and start bleeding again," Tails said, concerned for his friend's well-being. Sonic spun the fox's chair around boredly.

"Chillax, Tails! I'll be fine. It's not like I'll be alone if anything goes wrong, so you have no need to worry."

"Okay, okay, if you insist," the vulpine said, turning back towards his computer. "The search for the Emeralds is coming up dry so far, but I'll let you know if I come across anything, alright?"

"Sounds good, pal. Good luck!" Sonic said, turning and heading back up the stairs.

"You too!" Tails called after him. The speedster strolled back into the living room and picked up the Chaos Emerald that had been sitting on the coffee table. He tossed it lightly in his hand as he walked up to his past-self, who was now seated in an armchair.

"C'mon, let's skedaddle," the older hedgehog said, flashing the Emerald in front of the adolescent's face. He gripped his hand to help him out of the chair while he focused on the power of the gem in his hand. "Chaos Control!" he shouted. There was a bright flash of light, a slight feeling of disorientation as they teleported halfway around the globe, and then it was suddenly dark.

It took the two hedgehogs a few moments to adjust to the dim lighting. It was nighttime in Apotos, and the lights of the city could be seen in the distance. At the moment, the two Sonics were standing in the middle of a field, with nothing but bright stars overhead. The breeze that blew by was warm, and rustled the grass in waves. The fresh scents of the ocean wafted through their nostrils, filling them with the feeling of adventure.

"Wow... It's beautiful here," Mini-Sonic said in awe, looking around at the scenery.

"You think this is beautiful?" the older one said, stretching out his legs. "It's even nicer in the city. All the sights and smells and sounds and people... It's a rush, let me tell you."

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" the child said enthusiastically, taking off towards the white city. His older self smiled and boosted after him. Within seconds, they were running side-by-side, and trying to not bump into each other.

"Come on, follow the leader!" the taller hedgehog said, taking the lead. He ran up a tree and leapt off of one of the branches. He landed on another tree branch about fifteen feet away, and Little Sonic was close on his tail. He leapt from branch to branch, gripping with his hands and swinging from them when he didn't have enough height to land on them with his feet. This continued until they reached the city. Sonic jumped off the last tree branch and landed on a low, flat rooftop.

In Apotos, the buildings were all built extremely close together, so it made for an interesting run across the tops of buildings. Luckily, the roofs were all flat, making it harder to slip and fall off at high speeds. There were even some small loop-de-loops and platforms scattered about. For most people, it was just fascinating architecture. For Sonic the Hedgehog, it was an obstacle for him to have fun with.

The older hedgehog led the way through one of these loops, the end of which had a ramp that was perfect for jumping off of. He launched himself off it and landed in a narrow street lined with stands and vendors on one side, and a garden on the other. His younger self followed suit, and the two had some difficulty trying to get in front of one another without wrecking the city. There were a surprising amount of people around, for how late it was. Most of them were not terribly shocked to see a blue blur streak past them- it was the fact that there were two blurs which was the cause for excited yelps whenever the two hedgehogs ran by.

They kept this up for about an hour, laughing all the while. Sonic had forgotten how much he loved it in this place. It had friendly people, a great atmosphere (even though it was right next to the ocean) and the best ice cream around. But every time he had been in the city, he had some purpose- some reason to be there. Today, his only reason was fun.

Notes: SUDDENLY SNOWING. Also a loooot of talking. Do you know how many times I've tried re-writing this chapter and the dialogue in it to try and cut it? Ah well. The plot will thicken a little more next week. Tell me what you thought about this chapter in a review! Because I honestly don't know how I feel about it, haha. Okay, time to write that essay. See ya!