Notes: Hey guys! This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but it's mostly filler stuff. Sorry about that! I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I can't believe we got up to 65 favs. Thanks a ton!

"C-Commander Zlaze, look, I can explain-"

"Captain Zonic? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, now if you'd just-"

"How did this happen?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Zonic gasped, his quills flaring out in frustration. "You know about Mobius Prime's crumbling time stream, right? It's why I called in the total Zone lockdown yesterday?" he breathed, trying to think of a way to explain the situation to his commanding officer. She nodded, looking him up and down with disbelief. "I was affected by it somehow," he continued. "I just woke up like this, younger. I'm still me, I just look different," he said gently, holding his palms out to keep her calm..

Zlaze took a deep breath, leaning back against the wall to compose herself. She stared at Zonic the whole time, making him feel a little uncomfortable, though he tried not to show it. After a few moments, she finally asked, "Why are you soaking wet?"

"I fell into a lake," the hedgehog shrugged sheepishly.

"Um, Commander," Zespio spoke, stepping forward, "what did you need to talk to us about?"

The cat exhaled, stepping away from the wall and running her fingers briskly through her lavender hair. "Actually, I needed to talk to you about Zonic," she said, her expression looking serious. "But since the Captain is here now, I might as well include him in the conversation, hmm?"

Zonic gulped. What did she have to say about him? It obviously wasn't his sudden teenager-ness, since she just found out. He really didn't like the tone she was using, so whatever it was she wanted to discuss, it wouldn't be good. "What is it, ma'am?" he asked, his voice coming out quieter than he intended.

"Well, let's just see here," the feline said, peering down at the clipboard in her hands. "You left your post, dumped your monitor shifts and responsibilities on these two here," she motioned to Zector and Zespio, "you went to the Prime Zone without backup while its timeline is crumbling, you failed to report in on the situation and keep us informed, and you let Scourge out of prison! All behind my back!" Zlaze shouted, eyes and temper fiery.

"Technically, the Warden cleared him for probation…" Zonic muttered quietly. "And I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I had to run every single thing I do by you first. I assumed after six years of being a Zone Cop, I could take control of a situation and make my own decisions."

"Your 'star officer' status does not permit you to make decisions concerning the safety of an entire Zone, nor does it allow you permission to talk back to your superiors."

"Just because you're my superior doesn't mean you always know what's right!" Zonic retorted. Man, he'd been wanting to say that forever.

"What did I just say about talking back, young man?" the Commander said, uttering the words 'young man' like they were poison. Zonic slumped his shoulders a little bit. He didn't like where this was going.

"I just look younger, that's all. The changes that took place were all physical ones, not mental ones," he said, on the defensive now.

"Really? Because the older Zonic wouldn't argue and talk back to a higher officer. He would take the blame and get the job done- the right way."

Zonic tensed up. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Normally, he'd have just accepted the blame for his numerous screw-ups, not resort to childish arguing. Had he really changed that much...?

He took a deep breath, the confidence previously swelling inside him having vanished. He found himself barely able to look the cat in the eye. "You're right. I would have just accepted the blame. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," she said. "However, given your current condition, I am being forced to declare you unfit for active duty."

"What?!" Zonic gasped, his stomach doing circles again. She couldn't do this! Did she have any idea how important it was that he STAY on active duty? He had a job to do!

"Commander, please, if I may?" Zector said, stepping forward so he was right behind Zonic. Honestly, the hedgehog had momentarily forgotten that he and Zespio were still in the room with them. "Zonic may be younger in appearance, true, but he was born twenty years ago. And while he certainly does not still have the manners of an adult-" Zonic narrowed his eyes at him- "he still has mind of one. I think taking the Captain off active duty would do more harm than good."

"Yeah, and besides," Zespio chimed in, "the kid joined the Zone Cops when he was only fourteen! Blue, how old are you now?"

"Um, thirteen," Zonic said somewhat sheepishly, rubbing his arm. He was covered in goose bumps, but whether it was from the cold water or the conversation, he couldn't be sure.

"Y'see, Chief? He's almost the same age! You can't take him off 'cause he's younger than he should be," the chameleon crossed his arms in satisfaction. He loved being able to stand up to his boss almost as much as Zonic did.

Commander Zlaze groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Fine," she eventually said, "I'll keep the Captain on active duty. But you must remember to report back to us what's going on! We can't tell everything from just watching the Prime Zone monitors. You're our only officer in the field here, and because of what just happened to you, I'm not exactly keen on sending in anyone else. So you'd better shape up, Hedgehog."

Zonic breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said, a tinge of exasperation in his voice. It was times like this that he was really glad he was friends with Zector and Zespio. They always had his back, even if he did sort of dump all his Zone Cop duties on them while he was away. He was going to have to apologize for that later.

"Still, you're not off the hook, Zonic," the Commander said, placing her hands on her hips. The hedgehog groaned. Of course he would still be in trouble. "Once Mobius Prime is safe, I expect a highly detailed report of this whole thing. Highly detailed. And we need to have a talk about what to do with Scourge. I don't care if he's helping you or not, you can't simply bust someone out of prison whenever it suits you."

Zonic gulped. Scourge wasn't going to like that, not one bit. He'd been promised freedom if he behaved himself, but now it was looking like that might get taken away. But Zonic could tell that Zlaze was being dead serious about this, and wasn't about to change her mind. Arguing would probably just get him in even deeper trouble. He nodded reluctantly. "Y-yes ma'am..."

"Good," Zlaze said, feeling a bit triumphant. "I'll allow you to continue your work on Mobius Prime. Just don't die, alright? I don't want to have to fill out the paperwork. And the next time you try a stunt like this without running it by me first," she said, almost with a growl, as she leaned in close to Zonic, "I'll have your badge and make sure you're stuck on janitorial duty until you retire." She stood up straight and, with one final glare at the three of them, turned on her heels and left the room.

Zonic groaned as soon as she left. "That… could have gone better," he said bitterly. "Man, what am I gonna do? Sonic and I told Scourge that he'd be free to go if he behaved himself, and he's actually been... as well-behaved as he can be, I suppose."

"What'd you tell him that for?" Zespio scoffed. "That's a pretty stupid thing to promise."

"I know! I know," Zonic's eye twitched. "But it was the only way we could get him to come with us!"

"You know you'll get in massive trouble if you disobey a direct order like that," Zector said gruffly.

"Yeah... I just hope she'll listen to reason if Scourge actually turns out okay." The hedgehog frowned. He still didn't completely trust Scourge, but seeing him so vulnerable and afraid in Zone Jail had given him a new perspective. He figured that the guy at least deserved another chance. Maybe if he really showed signs of being a better person by the end of it all… He shook his head. It wouldn't do him any good to worry about that now. He would just have to talk to the Commander later. He looked down at the dented silver bracelet dangling from his wrist. His stabilizer was practically hanging on by a thread; no way it was going to work anymore. The extra spatial stabilizers were kept on a shelf above one of the monitors. Zonic reached up to grab one and grimaced. "Guys," he said lamely, "I can't reach."

Suppressing a snicker, Zespio reached his arm up and easily grabbed a stabilizer from the shelf. He handed the new device to the flustered hedgehog, while eyeing the hunk of junk around his wrist. "What'd you do to the stabilizer you had?" he asked with a chuckle. "Attach it to a fire cracker or somethin'?"

"No, I didn't attach it to a fire cracker," Zonic said in a mocking tone, sticking his tongue out. "Let's just say that these things need to be waterproof, and leave it at that."

"Yeah, speaking of waterproof," Zector added, an eyeridge raised, "your stabilizer isn't the only thing that got waterlogged." He looked down at the puddle around Zonic's feet, which had been steadily getting bigger over the past few minutes.

"Ah. Right," the hedgehog said, looking down at his sneakers. Between the fancy SOAP shoes and his longer quills, he must've brought more of the lake with him than he thought he did. He cringed, suddenly overly-aware of how his damp, baggy clothes were clinging uncomfortably to his body. "Maybe I'll stop back at the apartment and take a shower… see if I can find some clothes that fit, too," he sighed. Of course, the one Sonic to spontaneously become younger was the only one to wear pants.

The three stood quietly for a moment, each one trying to figure out how to say goodbye. The beginning of their impromptu meeting had been awkward enough, but now none of them knew how to end it.

"L-look, I should probably go," Zonic said after a while. "But… I just wanted to say thanks, guys. For putting up with all of my crap lately. Y'know, after I sort of dumped all my work on you, and then I didn't want to even tell you about this…" he pointed to his face sheepishly.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Zespio smiled. "You're helping Sonic Prime save the world. You're allowed to be a selfish ass every once in a while," he laughed.

Zector nodded, a toothy grin on his face. "What are friends for?" he said, placing a large hand on Zonic's skinny shoulder. "Now get outta here, before someone else decides to come barging in."

Zonic nodded. "Okay. Thanks, you guys," he said, catching their contagious smiles. He nodded once before 'porting away, leaving his two friends in the HQ.

He reappeared a split second later, just inside his apartment. He quickly slipped off his SOAP shoes, which were still pretty wet and gross, and left them to dry. He looked around. Oddly enough, he wasn't used to being here during the day. The hedgehog almost never took a day off, and was always working whenever he could. It was a little disorienting, but he quickly got over it.

The apartment was messier than it was when he left it a few days prior. Probably because he hadn't been there to make sure his roommates cleaned up after themselves. The small, but usually spotless apartment now had plastic snack bags littering the tables, dirty dishes piled in the sink, and the TV remote was nowhere to be seen. Oddly enough, as opposed to the chameleon's Prime-self, Zespio was usually the one making messes, and Zector was surprisingly the more orderly of the pair. Still, CDs from the croc's music collection were everywhere. Zonic sighed. Maybe it was his inner teenager talking, but he was not in the mood for cleaning up their messes. Instead, he tromped over to the bathroom, struggling to rip off his clothes as he went. The wet cloth was sticking like glue to his body- or maybe it was the pond gunk that had made its way into his fur that was making him feel sticky. Either way, it made him feel disgusting. He managed to tear off his t-shirt by the time he got to the bathroom, and his pants and socks followed shortly after. He placed the new spatial stabilizer on the sink, and reached into the shower and turned the knob. Cold water started pouring down from the showerhead, but it didn't take long to warm up. He stepped inside the hot spray, instantly feeling a whole lot better. It was amazing what a shower could do for a guy.

While he did feel relieved that he told Zector and Zespio about his condition, he couldn't help but think about what the Chameleon had said. 'What if I do keep getting younger…? I know Sonic said not to worry, but… it is a serious possibility,' he thought, running the water through his long quills. 'Or what if I get older instead? Wake up tomorrow and I'm old and gray? I think that would be worse than being younger, actually,' he shuddered. 'I've already been thirteen, so hopefully this body'll be easier to get used to. Don't think I'll ever get used to this haircut, though. Honestly, what was I thinking back then?' He wrestled with the mess of quills, which was quickly getting heavier as more water got into them. The clean water was forcing out the murky pond water, which did make him feel better and more refreshed. He supposed all he could do now was make himself as comfortable as he could while he was stuck in his thirteen-year-old body. The faster he adjusted to the change, the better it would be for everyone. He just hoped he wouldn't change again, unless he was aging back to normal.

He leaned against the cool tiled wall of the shower and started scrubbing the gunk out of his quills and fur. 'And to think, I only came here to grab a stabilizer and then go right back. But no, I end up getting my ear yelled off by the Commander. She was right though… am I really still myself? I mean, I still have all my memories and stuff, but do I still act the same?' He supposed he had been talking back to Zlaze, something he wouldn't normally do. Not to mention how nervous he'd been lately about what people thought about him… but that was a natural response, right? He just woke up that morning seven years younger than usual, after all. Of course he wouldn't act like himself, right?

He pulled his hands away from his head and looked at them as he washed the soap off. It was weird, since he didn't immediately recognize them as his own hands. They were so small and soft, so unlike what they were normally. He had forgotten that he used to be a kid. There was a point in his life where he'd never held a gun, where he'd never handcuffed anyone. This was the body he had before he became a Zone Cop, before he lost his speed. He was a completely different person back then. It was natural for some of his old personality and mannerisms to bleed through. That was the only explanation he could come up with, anyway.

Once he was sufficiently warm and clean, he shut off the water and grabbed a towel. He dried off his face, pressing his features into the softness of the towel. As far as he knew, there wasn't anything he could do about his sudden adolescence, so he was just going to have to deal. He had a job to do, anyway. Stopping the Time Eater was priority number one, and he couldn't get distracted from that. Speaking of which, he needed to get back to Mobius Prime. He told Sonic that he'd be right back, after all.

'I'll just go through my clothes and see if I have anything small enough to fit me, and then I'll go back home,' he thought, wringing out his quills. He froze. 'Wait. Not home. This is home, No Zone is home. Why did I just think that?' He walked out of the bathroom, still a bit damp, and headed towards his bedroom. He shook his head. 'Whatever. It was just a slip, I just used the wrong word. Doesn't matter.' He stepped into his room, closing the door behind him.

Zonic's bedroom was small- Zector and Zespio shared a room, so naturally he got the one with less square footage. Zector was a light sleeper, as light as they come, and he couldn't stand Zonic's snoring habit. Plus, the croc and the chameleon had bunked together in the past, so they didn't mind sharing a room. That left Zonic, miraculously, with a room of his own. His bedroom contained little but the necessities. A bed pressed against one wall, a chest of drawers to hold his clothes and some other items, a wall-mounted bookshelf, and a desk with a computer with plenty of space to work. The only decorations in the room were a few photographs of his family and Zails, and a massive Chao in Space poster that dominated the wall above his desk. The movie was his personal favorite, and had seen it enough times to have the whole thing memorized. Zonic didn't have a whole lot of hobbies and interests, but that movie was something he could talk about for hours.

Ignoring the poster, he went straight for the chest of drawers, ripping it open and rummaging through the bottom drawer. He immediately went for the clothes at the bottom and in the back, as the smallest ones had most likely been pushed back there. After a few minutes of pulling out clothes, holding them up to himself, and then tossing them aside, Zonic came across a pair of jeans that could fit him if he rolled them up a little bit, as well as an old white t-shirt that was about his size.

Just before he was about to close the drawer, something inside it caught Zonic's eye. It was a jacket. It was red and black, with a high yellow collar, and had the old Zone Cops insignia on it. This was the jacket he'd gotten when he'd become a field officer when he was fifteen. He'd only worn it a handful of times before he grew out of it. He pulled it out of the drawer and slipped it on over the t-shirt. It fit surprisingly well, and would keep him nice and warm to boot. He thanked his lucky stars that he never had the patience to go through his wardrobe and chuck his old clothes, or else he'd be getting tripped up and tangled constantly in his adult-sized clothing.

Deciding he had spent enough time in No Zone, the hedgehog slipped his new spatial stabilizer onto his wrist and clicked it on. A small LED light on it shone green, showing that it was on and operational. He grabbed the SOAP shoes that were by the front door, strapped on his belt, doing it up tight, and set its coordinates for Tails' workshop on Mobius Prime. He took one final look around the apartment, making sure he didn't leave anything important behind, before porting back to the Prime Zone.

Zonic teleported in at what appeared to be the exciting climax to an intense three-man video game tournament. Sonic, Scourge, and the young Tails were all playing some sort of fighting game, and they were going all out. They all sucked at it, but they all sucked around the same amount, so it was still a fair fight. They were shouting like they were watching the Superbowl, and the room erupted into a cacophony of noises when one of the on-screen characters died.

Once they noticed Zonic had joined them, Sonic grabbed a fourth controller so he could participate and asked him how he was holding up. The Zone Cop explained his encounter with Zector, Zespio, and Zlaze (though he left out the bit about Zlaze disapproving of Scourge's freedom) as he took up the controller and selected a character.

It felt weird playing video games when there was just so much to worry about. Zonic was worried that he would keep getting younger. Sonic was worried about his past-self and Tails, though he kept telling himself that they were fine, and that the communicator just wasn't working again. Scourge was worried, though he didn't let it show, about what he'd seen in the mirrors at Twinkle Park the day before. With everything that had happened so far that day, it should have been the least of his worries, but it kept cropping up in his mind inexplicably. But there they all were, playing video games like old friends, like the world wasn't in danger.

It didn't last long though. Tails quickly got bored of the fighting game and wanted to drag Scourge off to do something else. Sonic wanted to go on a short run while there was still light out. Zonic needed to practice with his laser pistol, to get used to the feel of it again. So the group broke off again, each person eager to find out the locations of the next Emeralds but glad for the short breather the universe had given them.

ooo

Scourge found himself in the never-ending hallway again. His shoes were padding gently across the hardwood, and he looked for anything- anything that could be used as a landmark. Everything in this place looked the same as the last time he had the dream. Same red wallpaper, same "ambient" lighting, like the kind that you pay extra for at restaurants. He hated this dream. When he didn't have it the night before, he assumed he had seen the last of it. Apparently he hadn't dreamed because of his concussion, but since he was healed up for the most part now, it seemed like the weird dream returned. He sighed and continued walking down the hallway, since standing in place wouldn't do him any good.

As he went along, he couldn't help but feel like something was off. The whole dream itself was always off-putting, but this was a little different. He felt like he was being followed, watched from all directions. He could hear a sound like water dripping from a leaky faucet, but there was nothing of the sort for as far as the eye could see. Scourge frowned, and started to walk a little faster. He didn't like this.

He peered up and down the hallway, looking for any sort of change. He noticed nothing different for a few minutes. Then, he saw a door on the left wall of the corridor in the distance. It was so far away it was almost out of sight, and it wasn't a strange size or color, but he noticed it all the same. He felt drawn to it. Especially because it was the only door he'd ever seen in this place.

He rushed over to the door, the run itself feeling like an eternity. He looked up at it. It wasn't any special sort of door. But what was it doing there? And what was behind it? He put his ear against the door and heard nothing but the dripping noise, which was so faint that he sincerely doubted its source was behind the doorway. He reached tentatively towards the knob and wrapped his fingers around it. He opened the door slowly and peeked inside. It was too dark to see anything, but there was a bright light far in the distance. Scourge stepped inside and the door closed behind him before he could do anything. He spun around, but the door was gone, replaced by metal bars reaching from the floor to the ceiling. "What?" he gasped.

The darkness had suddenly lifted, revealing a gray, concrete and metal room. It was small, and the bars only made up one wall. 'Oh no. No, not here-!' Scourge looked down, and his fears were confirmed. He was standing there in his orange, patched up jumpsuit instead of his leather jacket. His fingers reached for his neck and found that an inhibitor collar was securely fastened around his throat. His eyes went wide. He liked this dream a lot better when it was just a spooky hallway.

"Hey, Snot," he heard a voice from behind him. Scourge felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. "You're up early. You excited to get your beatin' out of the way?" The hedgehog turned around, obscenities flying through his mind.

"Smalls," he gasped, his voice couldn't be happening. He was supposed to be free from this guy, he was supposed to be safe. He never gave Smalls permission to haunt him in his sleep!

The giant cat hopped off the top bunk of the bed, the metal frame springing back into place once the massive weight had been lifted off of it. He cracked his knuckles and stepped closer, as Scourge backed into the corner and shrank into himself, trying to make himself a smaller target. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up…!" he muttered, pinching himself in the arm so hard he felt like he was going to bruise.

"What're you goin' on about?" Smalls asked, his sharp teeth gleaming in the fluorescent light. "You need a wake-up call? Well, don't you worry, big man. I got one right here!" He swung his meaty fist towards Scourge's face. By some miracle, the hedgehog ducked just in time, and scrambled in between Smalls' treetrunk legs to safety. "Oh no you don't!" Smalls turned around and grabbed him by the ankle, yanking him down to the hard floor. Scourge landed with an oof, his cellmate then picking him up by the back of his shirt and hurling him towards the metal bars. He hit them straight-on, and he hit them hard. He landed on his wrist as he fell to the ground, twisting it, and he could feel a slight trickle of blood coming from his nose. Smalls kicked him in the back, slamming him into the bars again, over and over. He tried curling up into a ball to protect himself, but he wasn't given enough time in between kicks to even try and move. What sort of dream was this? He was in pain, something that was supposed to be impossible. This wasn't normal.

He crashed into the steel bars again and again, the loud clanging ringing out through the seemingly empty cellblock. Someone must have heard something by now. Where were the guards? Did they even exist in this nightmare world? Sure, the prison guards in Zone Jail never exactly stuck up for him, but at least they made the other inmates wait until recess to beat the living daylights out of him.

He heard Smalls laugh darkly as someone approached. "What the heck's going on in here?" said a voice, presumably a guard's from his tone. Scourge couldn't see, he had blood from his broken nose splattered in his eyes. "Scourge? Dude, can you hear me? Scourge! Wake up!"

"What?" Scourge opened his eyes. He was back in the Workshop. In Tails' room, in the bunk bed. Smalls was no where to be seen. He glanced down at himself quickly. No orange jumpsuit, no blood, no bruises, nothing broken. He was still shaking from the nightmare, and covered in sweat.

He looked up. Sonic was standing next to the bed, looking surprised and… concerned? "Scourge, are you okay?" he asked quietly. "You were yelling in your sleep, I heard it up on the roof. What happened?"

"It's nothing," Scourge breathed, trying to compose himself. "Don't worry about it, just leave me alone."

"A-are you sure? It sounded like-"

"Leave me alone." The green one angrily pointed to the open window at the opposite end of the room, and Sonic got the hint. He quickly left and closed the door window behind him without saying another word.

Scourge drew a shaky breath as he pulled the blankets, which he had tossed aside in his sleep, up around him. 'What the fuck was that?' he thought, frightened. He hadn't just been having another nightmare. None of his nightmares had taken place in Zone Jail before, and none of them made him yell before. But he knew one thing was for sure. He couldn't go back to that place. Not again. Smalls would never let him hear the end of it. How he almost was free, how he almost got out of being beaten senseless, day in and day out. He'd get a month's worth of pummelings in an afternoon if he was sent back. And then, he'd get blamed for starting the fight, and get thrown into solitary confinement. That was usually how it ended up going.

He would need to play his cards straight from here on out, or he was as good as dead.

"...Scourge?" The hedgehog's eyes widened as he looked over the side of the bed. Lil' T was looking up at his bunk, worried. The child was so quiet it was a wonder that Scourge had heard him in the first place.

"What do you want?" he hissed, and the fox kit shrunk into himself, making himself smaller. Scourge's heart panged. That was him, just a moment ago. The scared kid on the bottom bunk. He rephrased the question, softening his voice just a little bit. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," Tails said. "You were kicking around a lot and shivering, and you looked really scared."

Scourge rubbed a hand over his bare arm. He still had goosebumps. "It was just a bad dream, that's all," he muttered, turning away from the edge of the bed. "Don't worry about it, go back to sleep."

"Oh," the kit whispered, and slid back into his bed. A few moments passed before he stuck his head out again. "You wanna talk about it?"

"What?"

"Do you wanna talk about it? 'Cause whenever I have a bad dream, I tell Sonic about it and- and it makes me feel better."

"No, I don't want to talk about it. Go to bed." Scourge flopped back down under the covers, his head on the pillow facing the wall.

"Okay… G'night…" Lil' T said, laying his head back down on his pillow. The hedgehog sighed and pulled his blankets up to his shoulders. His fingers brushed against his neck. No inhibitor collar. He closed his eyes shut tight.

"It was about… some place I never want to go back to," he said quietly. Even without turning his head, he knew Tails heard him. He didn't say anything after that, but he didn't have to. The fox was smart enough to know not to pry further. So he simply said goodnight to Scourge again and fell asleep.

Sleep didn't come as easily for the ex-con, however. His mind was numb, but at the same time racing. He wanted to fall asleep, but he didn't want to risk having another dream like that one. 'No more opening doors. Ever,' he thought. He had been hoping for some sort of change to the static hallway, but that was not the sort of change he wanted. From now on he would be completely content with the never-ending hall with the creepy figure at the end of it, calling his birthname and bleeding out of its forehead.

He shivered just thinking about it. He used to have good dreams. Dreams of ruling the world, of people bowing to him. Dreams about lounging in a pool of strawberries and cream, surrounded by supermodels. Why couldn't he have those dreams? Why did he have to get stuck with the homicidal kitty cat?

He stared at the wall until the sun came up. He hadn't moved once in those five hours. Some part of the back of his brain told him that if he made any sudden moves, Smalls would see him lying in the top bunk, and then he'd really get it. He knew Smalls wasn't in the room, of course. But he was just so used to the cat being there, smacking him around constantly. He felt paralyzed.

Once the morning light filtered in through the window and dimly lit the room, Scourge felt relieved. He hadn't moved a single finger all night long, terrified of what might be lurking in the dark waiting to get him. The sunlight brought a sense of security, a feeling that he truly was alone in the room, aside from the young Tails sleeping in the bottom bunk. The green hedgehog allowed himself to relax a little bit. He wasn't afraid of the dark, by any means. He usually prefered it. But that dream had freaked him out to a degree that he wasn't used to.

He yawned. He felt completely drained. He had dozed here and there throughout the night, but it was nothing substantial, and he hadn't been relaxed enough to fall into a deep slumber. He sat up slowly and stretched, feeling stiff from remaining in the same position for so long. 'I probably have another few hours before everyone else wakes up,' he thought sleepily. 'Maybe I can actually get some rest before someone comes in here to be my own personal alarm clock.' He flopped back down into the bed, his head burrowing into the cooler, untouched parts of the pillow. 'Just… no nightmares this time,' he hoped as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

ooo

It was around 9 o'clock the following morning, and Sonic was still snoozing on the workshop roof. The clear, warm weather had prompted him to sleep outside like he normally did; honestly, he felt much more comfortable sleeping on a roof or a tree branch than he did in a bed. The recently risen sun's rays were keeping him toasty and warm, even though he still shivered occasionally when the pain in his chest flared up. The aches, the fact that Tails and the younger Sonic still weren't back, and his earlier conversation with Zonic had kept the speedster up for most of the night. When he did finally manage to fall asleep, he twisted and turned, and woke up often. By the time morning had come around, he was not feeling particularly well-rested.

So when he heard a dull mechanical humming mixed in with the chirping birds of the Mystic Ruins, he was quick to wake up and question its source. The hedgehog rubbed his eyes, cursing the sun for being so bright. He looked to the sky, shielding his tired eyes with his hands, and looked for anything unusual. There was a dark speck in the sky, soaring amongst the clouds in the distance, and it looked to be getting closer. It took Sonic a few moments to recognize it , but when he did, he leapt to his feet immediately. It was a plane. His plane as a matter of fact, and that could only mean one thing.

"They're back," Sonic sighed with relief, a smile forming on his face. After what had felt like ages, his little bro and his younger-self were back from Metal Harbor. He had been starting to get really worried after almost two days with no contact, and was getting close to going to look for them himself. It looked like he wouldn't have to, now. Now he just hoped that neither of them had gotten hurt on their mission.

It took the Tornado a few minutes to approach the workshop and land on Tails' specially designed runway. As soon as it touched down, Sonic jumped down excitedly from the roof and ran over to the red biplane. "Tails! Sonic!" he shouted, waving as he approached. The smaller hedgehog sitting atop the wing waved back, looking tired and dirty but otherwise healthy. Tails appeared to look the same as he put the Tornado into park.

"Hey, older- woah, what the heck happened to you?" Mini-Sonic asked, eyeing his older-self's chest with concern. The older of the two blinked, initially confused, before he remembered that his scar had grown by a decent amount since these two had been gone. He could explain the scar later, though. There were more pressing issues at hand.

"What happened to me?" he asked, both eyeridges shooting up. "I should be asking that to you guys! Where were you, what happened? You both had me worried sick!"

"Sonic, what are you talking about?" Tails said, hopping out of the pilot's seat and landing on the ground. "I know the communicators weren't working again, but we were only gone for a day. It usually takes longer than that for you to get worried!"

"You were gone for two!" the hedgehog exclaimed.

"Dude, we left yesterday afternoon. What the hell are you talking about?" the younger Sonic sputtered.

"Wha... But you were... You left two days ago! This doesn't make any sense!" The elder stressfully placed a palm on his forehead and pushed his quills back. "Did you guys get stuck somewhere where time was being funky? Maybe time passed slower for you than it did for the rest of us?"

"Hmm," Tails hummed, a finger on his chin and his namesakes fidgeting. "It would make sense. Those monsters were messing with the time stream. Maybe they threw all of Metal Harbor out of whack? Because time definitely wasn't stopped there, but..."

"Right, maybe they just slowed the whole area down and we didn't notice," the dark-eyed hedgehog determined. He shuddered at the thought of those monsters, remembering how they slowed him down immensely. He hated being in their control like that. He sincerely hoped that he wouldn't run into any of the giant ones again any time soon.

The twenty-year-old sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Chaos, it's too early to be thinking hard about this stuff. I'm just glad you two are back." He grinned and walked up to Tails to hug him, before pulling back and slapping a hand over his nose. "Oh, jeez! You smell like a dump, dude!" he gagged.

"Don't remind me," Tails deadpanned. "For future reference, try not to get time monster goo all over you. Not a very attractive smell. I've been breathing through my mouth for the past twelve hours."

"Same," little Sonic said. "That reminds me, I totally called dibs on the shower. Gods, I can't wait to get this gunk out of my fur..." He raised an arm up to smell his pit, and quickly pulled his face away. "Oh, it's ungodly," he choked out, much to his older-self's amusement. "Here," he said, pulling the blue Chaos Emerald out of his quills and handing it over to him. "We got the Emerald. I wouldn't put it near your nose if I were you, though."

"Sweet," the taller hog said, taking the gem in his hand. "Five down, two to go. Now- go, go shower. Please," he said with a laugh.

"Um, Sonic," Tails said, his voice lowered and his eyes glancing up towards the house, "is there another Sonic in the workshop right now?" Both Sonics' eyes went wide, and they looked up at the window the fox was inadvertently spying. A blue, teenaged hedgehog was peering through the window, but quickly ducked away when the two Sonics turned to look.

"Woah, what?" the younger one gasped, not having expected that. "Seriously, if there's another one of us around here I might just lose it," he groaned. There were already three blue hedgehogs living in the workshop, and he didn't think he could handle a fourth.

"It's not another me, calm down," the older incarnation sighed. "Some... crazy stuff kind of went down while you guys were away," he said. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it."

"Well," Tails rested his hands on his hips, "if that's not another Sonic, then who is it? Because he looked too young to be Zonic."

"Actually..." Sonic squeaked, forcing the word out of his mouth as he scratched the back of his neck. This was going to be fun to explain.

Both Tails' and the younger Sonic's jaws dropped. "By 'actually,' you mean..." mini-Sonic breathed.

"Yeah. That's Zonic. The crumbling time stream has not been kind to him," the elder sighed. "He's still the same old Zonic on the inside, but his body de-aged. He's... kind of sensitive about it. C'mon," he said, nodding his head towards the workshop and walking towards the door. "I mean, you know already, and I guess he knows that you know, so we might as well get this over with, right?" The two recent arrivals just looked at each other and shrugged. They followed the older speedster back into the house, questions flying through their heads. They stepped through the door, finding no one downstairs in the living room. "Hey guys!" Sonic called upstairs, "Tails and little me are back! They got the Emerald!"

A dull moaning could be heard coming from Tails' bedroom, which Sonic assumed was Scourge just waking up. Lil' T quickly came barreling out the door and flew down the stairs, a huge smile on his face.

"You're back! What took you so long!?" he cheered, hugging both his older self and his big brother at once, seemingly immune to their smell. As the three exchanged greetings, the door to the second bedroom upstairs gently opened a crack. Sonic looked up to the loft above to see Zonic peering out the door cautiously. The scarred hedgehog cracked a sympathetic smile and shrugged as if to say, 'might as well come down and say hi.' The door opened a little bit wider, this time enough to catch the others' attention. Zonic looked down at the floor as he emerged from the room. All eyes were on him as conversation grinded to a halt.

"Tada," he said weakly, daring to glance at the fox and younger hedgehog on the floor below. He held his arms lamely out to the side, as if to show off his younger body. "Sonic told you guys what happened?"

"Just that you randomly got younger," Mini-Sonic said uncomfortably. He was painfully aware of just how similar Zonic's voice sounded to his own.

"Yeah. Woke up yesterday and I was thirteen. Surprise," he said sheepishly. He cracked a small smile, and then dashed down the stairs lightning quick, shocking the newcomers. "It's not all bad, though."

"Woah!" Sonic and Tails jumped back, grins forming on both of their faces. "I didn't know you could run like that!" the fox exclaimed.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," the Zone Cop said, mysterious and over-dramatic. He suddenly made a face. "Ugh, Chaos, you guys-"

"Stink. We know," the youngest hedgehog facepalmed. "I'm taking a shower. Let's debrief everyone on everything afterwards, okay?" He yawned. He and Tails had been up all night flying back from Metal Harbor. While he did catch a little bit of shuteye, sleeping on the wing of a plane that was flying over open ocean made him uneasy, so he was pretty tired. What he really wanted to do after he took a shower was lie down for a nice, long nap. But of course, saving the world came first. He trudged upstairs, stretching as he did so, and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

'Debriefing sounds like a good idea,' his older self thought. 'With everything that's happened recently… Zonic turning into a kid and going back to No Zone, Scourge losing that bet! … and then he started screaming in the middle of the night. What was that all about?' he frowned, looking up at the bedroom door upstairs. 'I think we all need to have a talk.'

Notes: Finally, Tails and little Sonic are back! Only took them, what, five chapters? Yeesh. Oh well, the action is going to start kicking up again! Time to go get that sixth Chaos Emerald! I hope you guys liked this chapter. Chapter 20 will hopefully be coming real soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Remember to leave a review if you liked it! Thanks for reading :D

EDIT: Apparently I copy-pasted this chapter twice into fanfic's document editor! Whoopsie! Should be all fixed now. Thanks everyone for letting me know!