Mime was totally in his element. Riding around on his unicycle, juggling bowling pins, performing in front of a large crowd – this was what he loved doing, and the crowd loved to watch. However, they were all so absorbed in his act that they didn't notice the ominous storm clouds gathering above the fairgrounds. Not until the first lightning bolts came down.
KZAP! Everyone turned, startled by the thunder, and saw a collapsed tent catch fire.
KZAP! Their attention was now drawn to the electrified rollercoaster.
KZAP! BOOM! Several Tree Friends in the crowd were blasted back, deafened by the thunder, while a poor unfortunate group of generics were incinerated by the stray bolt. The scent of burning fur, cloth, and flesh drifted through the air.
KZAP! KZAP! KZAP! Mime struggled to get up from the pile of crates he had been knocked into. He groggily got up to his feet and stared horrified at what looked like the end of the world. Tents were collapsing and burning and Tree Friends were running around panicking, mouths wide open and screaming, while the ground trembled and more deadly bolts of destruction rained down from the skies. Everything was eerily silent and Mime realized he could feel blood trickling down from his ears.
He scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of Shifty or Nutty, but there was too much smoke and too many Tree Friends running around. Frantic, he ran into the crowd to search, but the only green things he could see were grass and stray balloons. The crowd began to press in on him, forcing him first in one direction, then another. Something hard and shiny struck him in the head, and though he turned to look, he could only see a glimpse of gold vanishing into the mass of Tree Friends. He tried to force his way out, but the crowd was too thick. They just kept pushing back, forcing him along, and closing in on him, squeezing him. Mime had never been claustrophobic, but he was beginning to understand what it was like.
The poor purple deer was finally freed by someone else's bad luck. The lightning had struck nearby and scattered enough of the crowd that he was able to crawl free and take deep breaths while resting against one of the few standing tents. Still gasping, he ducked inside and hoped it wouldn't be a fatal mistake.
The light inside was dim, illuminating only a few unmarked crates and carts, but Mime could just make out a faint, unmistakable laughter coming from inside one of them. He searched through several crates, finding only traces of colored sugar, before peering into a cotton candy machine. Inside was Nutty, his green fur colored all shades of the rainbow and rolling around laughing in the remains of a batch of cotton candy.
Mime yanked the crazy green squirrel out of the machine and began to gesture hysterically. He smiled and pretended to juggle, then raised his paws and brought them down in a zigzag path before miming an explosion. He then waved his arms in the air wildly and ran around the small tent, occasionally jumping in surprise, before cramming himself into a small space. Finally, he jumped back up and peered into the crates before pointing at Nutty.
Nutty just stared back at him with a blank smile throughout the entire performance. He picked off a few bits of cotton candy off his fur and ate them. Then he fell over laughing and clapping at Mime's antics.
Frustrated, Mime quietly stomped his foot and tried to act out his message again, but Nutty wasn't listening anymore. Mime tried poking him and pulling him around to get his attention, but the hyperactive squirrel was too obsessed with the remaining crates of sugar. Completely exasperated now, having had his performance ruined by lightning, getting crushed by a crowd, and now with Nutty not listening, Mime opened his mouth as though to scream. Then lightning struck the tent they were in, causing it to collapse in a flaming mess.
The striped tent lay in a fiery pile, just like several of the others around it. The biggest difference was that something could be seen struggling under the burning canvas. The lump shifted around several times before the canvas suddenly tore and a green arm reached out. A paw reached around and grabbed the edge, pulling and tearing the opening wider. Eventually, the hole was large enough for a green raccoon with a slightly crushed fedora to emerge from it.
Shifty crawled out and on to the grass, gasping for air and coughing from all the smoke. "L-Lifty…" he called out weakly. "L-Lifty!" He pawed desperately at the canvas, trying to find any sign of his brother. "Lifty! Answer me!" There was no response though, and no sign of anything else moving inside. His frantic searching caused his fedora to fall off of his head and something else to fall out of it on to the ground.
He picked it up, turning it over in his paws and wondering if it would be of any use, and recognized it as a prototype of one of the idol locators Sniffles had been developing that he swiped. If that crazy gold copycat cared about his brother so much, he would probably have protected him. He hoped. He flicked the switch and waited as the screen showed… nothing. Frowning, he tried flicking the switch a few more times, but still nothing happened. Stupid machine. It'd be just my luck if Sniffles didn't even finish it. Shaking with fury, he began slamming the device in a rage. "Work! C'mon, work! Work already! WORK!"
The device beeped and then hummed to life. Shifty spotted a gold colored dot on the map where the amusement park should be and quickly zoomed in. The display showed that the idol was nearby to the east. He looked up to see a lone building standing unscathed, right about where the idol should be. With determination in his eyes, Shifty began marching in the direction of the idol and, hopefully, his brother.
The trek was mostly silent, save for the crackling of flames and occasional explosion. Shifty was puzzled. He hadn't seen the lightning coming down or the chaos that followed. He didn't know that most of the Tree Friends had either fled or were dead or where his two companions were. All he knew was that the idol had somehow reduced the lively fairgrounds to a burning ruin littered with charred corpses. He realized, perhaps too late, that he was probably in over his head and should have listened to Sniffles or stuck together with Mime and Nutty.
He paused just outside the building, wondering if this was the best thing to do. However, he remembered just why he was here. It wasn't about some stupid idol or curse. It was about his brother. Lifty. Steeling his courage, he pushed open the doors and walked in.
The first thing he saw was a green raccoon. "Lifty!" He ran forward towards the figure, but stopped when he noticed that it was also wearing a slightly crushed fedora just like his. Raising his left arm, he saw the figure raise its right arm. He stuck out his tongue and saw the raccoon do the same. "A reflection," he sighed.
"Shifty? Is that you?" The voice echoed all around him, making it impossible to pinpoint where it had come from.
"Lifty?" Shifty turned around, but saw only more reflections. He realized they were in a house of mirrors. "Where are you?"
The mirrors suddenly flashed gold and laughter began to echo through the building. "Ehehehehehehehehe! Ehehehehehehehehe! Ehehehehehehehehe!"
Shifty backed up and bumped into the cold surface of another mirror. He gulped in fear. "L-listen, you freaky raccoon wannabe! I don't care if you're some super powerful being who could probably g-grind us both into dust! I demand that you give me back my brother now!"
"Oh? And how do you plan to get him out? You can't even find your own way out."
Shifty's ears pricked up and he dashed towards where he heard the sound from, only to slam into a glass wall. "Ow." Rubbing his head, he got up and turned around, trying to find the source of the maniacal laughter, or at least a hint as to where his brother might be. Unfortunately, the mirror maze was designed to echo sound to every corner of the room, and the sheer number of reflections made the place seem endless. It didn't help that the gold raccoon was probably cheating by shifting the mirrors around.
The locator! Shifty pulled the device out of his hat, only to see that the display screen was cracked and nonfunctional. Grumbling, he fished out one of the baton like detectors Sniffles had given everyone and began waving it about. That didn't work very well either though; it beeped like crazy no matter what direction he pointed it at. Shifty looked at the mirror in front of him, and for a second, the gold sheen made it look like Gold Shifty was looking at him. Snarling, Shifty swung the baton at the reflection.
SMASH! The mirror cracked and shards of glass crashed to the floor. Shifty stared in shock at the empty frame, and then a wide grin broke out across his face. "Ehehehehehehehehe!"
"W-what are you doing?"
The only response was more smashing. Shifty was having too much fun gleefully shattering the mirrors, not even caring that his feet were starting to get cut up from all the sharp shards he was stepping on.
"S-stop it!"
Shifty didn't listen. He was probably going to accumulate several thousand years' worth of bad luck, but he didn't care. He had found a way through this maze and was going to see his brother.
"I SAID STOP!"
The building rumbled and Shifty was forced to take cover as chunks of the ceiling fell in and several mirrors exploded outward, showering everything with broken glass. Shifty dared to peek and was surprised to see he hadn't suffered anything worse than a few minor cuts. He looked up and saw Gold Shifty glaring at him. What drew his attention though was the mirror behind the gold raccoon which had another reflection in it, only this one wasn't wearing a hat.
"Lifty!"
"Shifty! You're okay!"
Shifty ran towards his brother but stopped when his gold doppelganger began angrily advancing towards him.
"Why you stupid little punk! I ought to smash you for everything you've done!"
He raised the baton he held defensively but noticed Lifty in the mirror shaking his head. He had his paws together and was motioning them like they were… talking? Lifty wanted him to talk to the idol?
"W-what I've done?" he retorted shakily. "What about what you've done?"
That was enough to make him pause. "What about what I've done?"
"You say that you've only been doing what's best for Lifty. Whatever he wants. But look at what you've done now. You've kidnapped him, held him here against his will, killed several innocent Tree Friends, and pretty much burned the amusement park to the ground! Is this really what's best for him?"
"Yes! I'm keeping him safe and out of your paws! I've been watching you for months. You do nothing but cause him pain all the time. I can be a better brother to him than you could ever dream!"
"I admit I've made mistakes, but we all do. He forgave me for it. He wanted to come back to me and was still willing to be a brother to you as well, though I don't know why he'd be so crazy as to suggest that. Didn't you say he could have whatever he wants?"
"He doesn't know what he wants!" The building shook again and more pieces of the ceiling fell down. "He has Stockholm syndrome from living with your abuse all the time. He needs to see that you are the problem. I can replace you. He can finally be happy."
"You can't replace me. Lifty and I share a bond of flesh and blood. You're just some flashy knockoff. You could never replace me." Shifty's voice had taken on a more pitying tone. "You care about him a lot. More than you seem to care about killing us. More than you care about the other idols."
"Of course I do! I'm the only sane one of the bunch. All they take joy in is killing. They don't know what it's like to live, or to die. With this life I have, I'm happy, and Lifty's happy! Are you going to take that away from us?"
"Is he really happy?" Shifty pointed to Lifty who was curled up in the mirror in fright. "Are you really better than the other idols?" He gestured to the wreckage of the house of mirrors.
"I am! I-I…." He looked over at everything Shifty had pointed out and then slumped over, looking defeated. "I'm such an idiot. I've been causing wanton destruction just like the other idols and tried to justify myself by claiming I'm helping you all. In truth, I probably screwed things up for you all even worse. I'm… I'm sorry," he whispered. "You probably hate me now."
The mirror Lifty was trapped in cracked, and then the green raccoon fell out of it. He walked over to the gold copy of his twin and awkwardly patted him on the back. "Hey Shift, it's okay. Um, I know you killed everyone and possibly psychologically traumatized a few, but that's normal for a Tree Friend. Just, not on such a large scale. Let's just call this… a few years' worth of destruction in one day."
Golden Shifty looked up surprised. "After everything I did? You're still willing to forgive me?"
"Hey, what're brothers for?" He wrapped him up in a warm embrace. "C'mon Shifty, group hug."
"Oh… alright. Just as long as he doesn't try to rip out any vital organs."
"Wow," he sniffed. "You two are just… so much better than I could believe. I'd love to be a Tree Friend and to have you two as brothers. And I'll do whatever it takes to help you get rid of the other idols once and for all."
Oh, you shouldn't have done that.
The three of them jerked up and looked around for the source of the voice. It was then that they heard a familiar tune.
"Hm-hmhmHMMM!" A familiar blue and red shape appeared floating above one of the holes in the ceiling. "Aha! I knew you were up to no good!" There was something strange about his voice though; it sounded like two people speaking in unison.
"W-wait, Splendid, this is just a big misunderstanding-"
"Oh, I don't need your excuses. I know what I'm seeing: traitors. I've heard all about the idols and how Sniffles has been gathering the Tree Friends to destroy them. And now I can see you've defected to the other side." Without even giving them a chance to defend themselves, he fired a pair of golden lasers from his eyes.
The three raccoons stared in horror. Lifty was the first to react and shoved his twin and his copy out of the way, taking the blast himself. "AAAARRRGH!"
"Lifty! No!" They cried out.
When the eyebeams had dimmed enough, they could see Lifty's charred and lifeless body resting at the bottom of a small crater.
Shifty fell to the ground shocked. He had been so close. He had won back his brother, calmed down and befriended an idol, and had been planning to continue together to finish their quest. Now his brother was dead. Killed by that stupid flying squirrel. Tears filled his eyes and he barely noticed his double scream in rage and leap up to attack the "hero". It took a while longer for him to notice that his hat was buzzing, indicating an incoming message.
"H-hello?" he choked out.
"Shifty!" It was Sniffles. "Thank goodness! I've been trying to reach your group for ages. I got really worried when we lost contact with the zoo team. What's going on?"
"H-he's dead."
"What?"
"Lifty. H-he's dead."
There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry Shifty. I really am. But this is more important right now. You have to tell me what's going on."
Shifty dully looked up to see a molten pile of gold crash down beside him and Splendid now aiming his eyes at him. "Splendid's about to kill me."
"What!? Splendid! Stop!"
Fortunately, Splendid's super hearing picked up the message from the hat. "Ah, Sniffles, one of my biggest fans! What's the problem? I'm just finally getting rid of a little problem that's been bothering us all for ages."
"No! Splendid, they're helping us!"
"But I saw them fraternizing with the enemy!"
"We convinced this idol to join our side." He looked over at the melted mess again. "I think he's dead now too."
Splendid prepared his eyebeams but was cut off by someone else shouting through the communicator.
"WHAT!? Has that blue super idiot ruined everything AGAIN?"
Shifty winced and took off his hat to avoid being deafened by Pop's roars.
"I'm just here to save the day," Splendid said confused.
"NO! You are NOT saving the day! You have NEVER saved the day! In fact, you only make things so much WORSE that we'd need a full team of REAL heroes just to SALVAGE the day! Who needs villains when we've got SPLENDID!?"
"Hey hey, no need to be so harsh. I'm sure everyone else here would disagree with you, am I right?"
There was the sound of Pop wrestling with someone over the communicator before Sniffles finally spoke up. "Um, I'm a really really big fan of you and everything Splendid but… Pop's right. You haven't been much of a help lately. I hate to admit this but I think Splendont's been doing a better job than you.
There was a shocked gasp from Splendid and someone else on the communicator. "Y-you can't be serious?"
"I'm sorry Splendid. No hard feelings?"
Splendid simply huffed and flew off, scattering things in his wake.
"I'll leave you alone to grieve for a while, Shifty. Meet us at the dock when you're ready."
Shifty just sat there, staring blankly at the ruins of the house of mirrors and the remains of his brothers. He retrieved Lifty's body from the crater and was approaching Gold Shifty's body when a wet coughing sound came from it.
In a flash, Shifty was by his side. "Hello? Hello? Are you alive? Please tell me you're alive?" He stared down at the gold slag which didn't resemble him or a raccoon at all anymore.
The voice from the mess was tinny and gurgled, like it was coming from underwater through a bad radio. "Heh… heh…. I guess… this is pain… and death. It seems… fitting that… I should die… at least once."
"Don't talk like that; I'm sure you'll be fine." Neither of them believed that.
"I'm sorry…. I wasted so much time… we could have been… something greater…. I was serious… about helping you though…. Tell Toothy… to look under the elm… in a circle of maples…. He'll find… something useful…." The voice was fading away now. "I'm sorry… things had to end… this way…."
"Nononononononono!" Shifty tried shaking the pile of metal but had to yank his paws back due to the heat. He gave up on trying to hold back his tears and just sat there sobbing.
He was still like that when a very charred looking Mime tiredly made his way over.
Shifty tried to quickly clear his eyes. "W-where's Nutty?"
Mime just shook his head solemnly.
"Oh. Sniffles isn't going to like that." He bit his lip, trying to decide whether to call Sniffles or Toothy first. He tapped his hat gently to activate the communicator. "Sniffles? There's something you need to know…."
Author's Note: Well, that's the end of the twins' arc. Please don't hate me for it; it made me sad too. I realize that I could probably edit the story so that everyone survives and not affect the search arcs as much, as the part of me that loves such things wants, but that would kind of mess up a later part of the story.
JaMaL HaDeS: Yeah, winter can really suck sometimes. And thank you for the early anniversary wish!
DJ Kamza: True that. I guess changing my pen name isn't such a major change after all.
gamergir8: I'll try to!
sotnosen93: Wow, all in one day? Glad to see I've got another dedicated reader following along! I hope you'll stick around to the end!
Guest: Wish granted!
On a happier note, happy anniversary everyone! It has now officially been one year sine I started writing this. I originally planned to have it done on this exact day, but given how I lost six months and how much is left in my notes... yeah, not happening. I'm glad to have readers who have stuck around since the early days, even if you've never reviewed and I don't know your names. You all motivate me to keep going. The next arc will be at the zoo, and it takes place at the same time as this arc. I'll have to review From A to Zoo first, and I'll hopefully have the first chapter up soon. As always, read and review!