In The Observation Room

Mimic was having a really bad day.

First, he stupidly follows the Diamond Cutters and ends up getting beat up by them, Which I deserved, gets hit with a strange laser that also messed up Tangle, Which might not have been that bad a thing for me, and now everything seemed to be going wrong. Tangle just joined Dr. Eggman, of her own free will! And Whisper was now on the floor, seemingly catatonic with anguish.

You know exactly why she's like that, you monster. Mimic thought, grimacing. Yes he did. Because of him. When Mimic woke up after getting hit with that laser, he was initially confused. Why was Whisper pointing her wispon at him? Why did the group seem so wary of him? Then all his memories started coming back. All the evil, vile things he did with not an ounce of pity. Since then, he's felt nothing but sick whenever he looks back on his memories. Pretending to be a comrade only so he could get a chance to stab Whisper in the back. Helping Starline just to get off Eggman's hitlist, inadvertently helping him get the resources to experiment on two helpless islanders. Trying to kill Tangle and Whisper because Eggman ordered him to.

And of course, The Tragedy. Mimic groaned in self loathing. The death of the original Diamond Cutters. All his fault. Mimic in his current form considers all the original team as his friends. No his family. But the real Mimic didn't. Sold them all out to save his own pathetic skin, getting them all but Whisper brutally beaten to death. Mimic couldn't hate someone more than he currently hated himself. Although, with that clearly targeted show Eggman put on, he's currently a very close second. Mimic thought angrily.

Mimic knew exactly why Eggman put on that show. To crush Whisper's spirit. And the way he did it? By making Tangle, probably Whisper's first true friend since the original Diamond Cutters, to do the exact same thing Mimic did. Betray her friends, and by making her say that they weren't her friends at all. The original Mimic might've called it a stroke of brilliance, but all the current Mimic felt was utter disdain for Eggman at that moment.

Suddenly, A loud robotic voice broke through the blaring alarms. SELF DESTRUCT ACTIVATED. EVACUATE THE BASE WITHIN 5 MINUTES OR BE DESTROYED.

Mimic's eyes widened in shock. He quickly turned to Sonic and Lanolin, trying to break them out of their own respective shock. Mimic could say what he would about his old version, but he did have something in common with his current self. Professionals stay alive. Mimic had no time to fall into shock like the rest of the group did, so he was able to bring most of them back to their senses. Most, except Whisper.

All the wisps, including Blue, left their canister to try to get her to move, to do something. But she refused to do anything but sit there, eyes wide open with tears pouring out. Mimic didn't want to bother her, Gaia only knew how much worse he would make the problem, but when he turned over to Sonic or Lanolin, he realized something.

Lanolin had been a bit slower than the rest of the group when they were rushing through the rooms to get to Tangle. Mimic dismissed it, he didn't have time to think about it. But now he could see clearly.

Lanolin was limping.

Sonic was supporting her so she could escape with the rest of them, but that meant neither of them were currently in condition to help Whisper. Mimic looked at Whisper again, knowing that he was probably going to regret what he was about to do. He rushed over to Whisper, intent on bringing her out of the base if he had to outright carry her. Before he could get close though, the wisps blocked him from reaching her, all with varying expressions of anger.

"Guys, I know you don't trust me, but If I don't do something now she's going to die in here!" Mimic said panicked. The wisps didn't even move an inch, although their faces started to betray the fear they felt at the idea of Whisper's death. "Please! Cyan, Pink, Orange, Green, Blue! I'm begging you, let me help her!" Mimic said, tears starting to pool up at the corners of his eyes.

That seemed to finally do the trick, as the wisps reluctantly let him through, although very obviously keeping an eye on him. Mimic rushed over to grab Whisper's catatonic state, which seemed to finally elicit a response from her, although it was one he more or less expected.

"NO, LET ME GO! STOP IT!" Whisper started to shout in blind panic and hate, trying to struggle out of his grip.

"I HATE YOU! JUST LET ME GO! JUST LET ME DIE HERE!" Mimic flinched at the words. He knew he deserved all of the hate, but Whisper didn't deserve to die. Not like this.

Mimic transformed into Vector to get a stronger form and grip, as to keep Whisper from attacking him or just outright jumping out of his arms. The wisps all crowded around the two, expressions showing obvious sorrow at Whisper's anguish. He, along with Sonic who was holding Lanolin, started to run out of the base as fast as they could. All with Whisper's shouted cries ringing throughout the halls and rooms.

"NO, NO! PLEASE NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"

Mimic could only feel worse and worse the closer they got to the gate they came in through. Whisper's cries only grew more panicked and desperate the farther along they went.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! JUST LEAVE ME HERE, PLEASE! MIMIC PLEASE!"

Mimic could only flinch at the gut punch the last few screams gave him. She was so desperate, it was making Mimic feel sick with emotional pain. She wasn't in her right mind, and she shouldn't die here. But still, Mimic couldn't hate himself more then he did right now, and for once it wasn't because of his past self's actions.

"TANGLE! PLEASE!" Whisper screamed, reaching a hand out behind Mimic to grab something only her mind could see.

Mimic nearly froze with anguish and self hate. But he couldn't stop, for Whisper's sake. If he did, both Whisper and himself weren't going to make it out of this base alive. Only one of the two deserved that fate, and they both had to live to keep the one who didn't deserve to die alive.

After finally running out of the entrance they came in, Whisper nearly went limp in Mimic's arms, lightly punching what she could reach and crying silently. They seemed to have escaped not a moment too soon, as Mimic could start to hear explosions rocking through the base. After getting a safe distance away, the group turned to see the Egg base just collapse in on itself.

Mimic slowly set Whisper down on the grass, where she continued to try to attack him, although she seemed too weak to do more than light punches.

"I hate you… I hate you… Why couldn't you just…" Mimic could see Whisper quietly muttering, unable to properly speak through her tears, while weakly punching his leg.

Mimic just looked at her with pity, unable to articulate just how much he hated himself as well, before he saw a glint of light in the sky.

He turned to look up, only to spot Eggman in his Egg-Mobile flying above his base, a gleeful smile on his face. That's not what caught Mimic's attention however, as he could see Dark Tangle nearly hanging off the side, smiling gleefully while looking at the group. She seemed to do a mocking wave with a mocking smile, before Eggman and the rest of his very crowded Egg-Mobile flew away.

Mimic quickly looked down only to see that Whisper had clearly seen the whole exchange, her eyes wide open with silent tears, staring at the area Dark Tangle was just in. Whisper completely fell over on her side, falling limp like a puppet who just had their strings cut, her eyes as closed as she could get, more silent tears falling down her face.

Mimic just left her there for the wisps to comfort, knowing that anything he tried would most likely just make things worse. He slowly shapeshifted back into his normal form, (or atleast the form the laser gave him when he was 'changed') before heading near to Sonic.

To Mimic's muted surprise, Sonic only looked at him with pity. "Had a rough time, huh?" He said quietly, sounding like he actually cared about how Mimic felt.

"I'm not the one you should be asking that question to." Mimic said bluntly, trying to get out of small talk.

"But you're currently the only one I can really ask about." Sonic said, a tiny smile breaking through his lips.

Mimic once again looked at Sonic in surprise, this time not quite as muted. "Why do you care? I'm one of the bad guys, remember?" He said, glancing away.

Sonic took a moment to answer, "Because right now, I just saw that 'bad guy' carry one of my friends out of an exploding building. A friend who was clearly begging them to just leave her in there. Someone, who looks like they have some dark thoughts circulating through their head." Sonic said, a serious expression flitting through their face.

Mimic looked at him in full out shock this time, before looking at the currently burning Egg base, carefully avoiding eye contact.

"I just… A very big part of me is feeling like…" Mimic stalled, really not wanting to say what was in his head. He quickly glanced at Sonic, who was giving a 'go on' gesture, before once again looking at the Egg base.

"If I didn't have to carry Whisper out, I think I might have just stayed in there as it was self-destructing." Mimic said quietly. "After everything the real me did? It would be the least I deserve. And besides, that way, Whisper wouldn't have the guilt of executing me like she so clearly wants to do every time she sees me." He finished grimly.

Mimic quietly counted to ten, before turning over to look at Sonic. He was expecting to see some form of shock, or maybe even an expression saying "wished you did". Instead, to his surprise, all he saw was… sympathy?

"Look bud. I get it. Currently, you're looking back on your mistakes and thinking that you deserve to suffer for them. But the fact is, you and the Mimic from your memories are a completely different person. Besides, we all do stuff we regret." He said, a small smile once again appearing on his face.

"But you didn't get people killed!" Mimic suddenly shouted. Why couldn't Sonic understand!?

"Haven't I?" He said bluntly.

Whatever Mimic was about to shout next was stilled. "What? But, you… You only save people. You're a hero. I… wasn't." Mimic said, once again quietly turning away.

"Maybe I am one. But let me tell you, I certainly didn't feel like one during the Metal Virus." Sonic said, his turn to stare into the burning wreckage. Mimic turned to him in surprise.

"...Why?" Mimic couldn't help asking.

"While the Virus was going on, I kept asking myself, 'Why didn't I just finish off Eggman? Why did I just let him go free in Windmill Village? Hell, why do I let him go free every time? If I didn't, none of this would have happened. You say I haven't gotten people killed? That's not true. By allowing Eggman to go free every time I beat him, that's just more chances for him to do something that's on my head." Sonic said, his tone a bit darker then what he usually uses.

"Think about it. Yes, you sold out your team to Eggman. You got them all killed. But maybe if I just got rid of Eggman sooner, during one of our first encounters, or maybe some other time before the war, you never would have gotten the chance. Those deaths may be on your conscience, but it was due to my beliefs that Eggman was alive to give you that deal. Their deaths are as much on me as you." Sonic said, his tone carefully neutral. "In fact, you should consider yourself lucky that you only have three destroyed lives on your conscience. I certainly know I hold much more than that."

Mimic could stare at him, stunned. He was right. But yet, Mimic couldn't bring himself to be mad at him for leaving Eggman alive. He could only ask one question.
"How do you deal with it?"

Sonic chuckled mirthlessly. "Honestly? I don't. I just seek out the next adventure to keep my mind occupied on other things. Selfish, I know, but it helps me cope. It helps me keep my ideals. And I refuse to think my morals are wrong. I have a lot of friends that I know wouldn't be there if I just went in with the intent to finish off problems before they got worse. Besides, the people around me always remind me never to regret my decisions, or at least don't let them define me." He said, before glancing over at Whisper, who was currently being helped up by Lanolin.

"At one of my lower points during the Virus, I was berating myself for not just finishing off Eggman before the Virus started. Tangle had just been infected, and she was there next to me, putting on a brave face knowing she didn't have much time. I was blaming myself for the whole thing. She told me that it wasn't my fault for the Virus. I didn't believe her. But she wouldn't let me keep myself down. She gave me and the remainder of the restoration enough time to escape from her village while she held back the zombots." Sonic said, looking pained by the memory. He once again looked at Whisper, who was slowly being trudged back to the van by Lanolin. "Whisper took it hard then too." Sonic finished quietly, remembering the cries of anguish when Whisper found out that Tangle wasn't coming back.

Mimic merely looked at Sonic sadly.

"Point is, you should remember your past mistakes, but don't let them define you. Keep moving forward. If not for your own sake, then for others. Something tells me Whisper will need someone to keep her up until we can fix Tangle. Maybe that person won't be you, but at least you can try, right?" Sonic said, stretching.

Before Mimic could say anything, Sonic started walking back to the van. Mimic looked back at the burning Egg base one last time, before turning to follow Sonic. He was right. If Mimic couldn't live for himself, then maybe he should live for someone else's sake. Even if he couldn't pull that off, he needed to stay around long enough to bring Tangle back to normal, no matter what.