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Alternate Lives
"Tangle, please stop playing with the Chaos Emerald." Whisper muttered to Tangle, rubbing her forehead.
Tangle and Whisper were currently camping out, a decision suggested by Tangle to get some team spirit back after the whole extreme gear fiasco. Whisper originally wasn't too keen on the idea, yet, Tangle somehow convinced her to do it anyway.
When they first left, Tails let them borrow a Chaos Emerald, saying it could be used for a generator, or in an extreme scenario, something to use to get Tails's and Sonic's attention. Whisper accepted it with that idea in mind. Tangle on the other hand…
"What? Come on~, It's not every day I get to hold one of these things!" Tangle said excitedly, tossing the emerald up and catching it. Whisper looked at Tangle with an inscrutable look.
"Tangle, Chaos Emeralds are dangerous." She stated quietly, trying to maybe speak some caution to her overeager friend.
Tangle just rolled her eyes, her grin still in place. "Oh come on Whis! It's not like we can even do anything with it! What, are you expecting me to slow down time or something? Pfft." She laughed, once again tossing the emerald into the air.
Whisper just sighed. She then decided to give Tangle her famous Disappointed in Tangle stare. Tangle's eyes widened. "Woah hey wait-" She started, before flinching at the tired glare that Whisper was giving her.
Tangle looked down, a tad embarrassed. "Ok, ok! I'll stop messing around with the emerald…" She said, holding her hands up. Then she grinned. "After one more time!" She excitedly yelled, throwing the Chaos Emerald straight up, the highest it's gone so far.
Whisper quietly groaned in frustration. Tangle was her friend, but she could be a bit much at times. Whisper looked up at the high flying emerald in concern, while Tangle looked ready to catch it one last time. Unfortunately, she accidently threw it at an angle, so she had to jump up and run to catch it.
Whisper was still following the Chaos Emerald's trajectory, so she was completely unprepared for Tangle to run right into her. Tangle and Whisper went sprawling, due to Tangle not paying any attention to where she was running. Whisper jumped up, a tad peeved at Tangle.
"Tangle! Pay attention!" She whisper-shouted. Tangle slowly got up, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Ha ha, sorry Whisper." She said, which just made Whisper shake her head, once again showing her disappointment. Tangle looked away in shame.
Tangle's eyes then widened. "Wait, the emerald!" She shouted, which caused Whisper to look over at the falling emerald, right as it hit the ground.
After it hit the ground, it started sparking, small colorful electrical surges appearing around the emerald. Tangle looked at the thing with wide eyes, and Whisper started to attempt to back away warily.
Suddenly, two emerald electric surges exploded outward, hitting both Tangle and Whisper. Whisper brought her guard up, trying to block it while Tangle just froze in shock.
Strangely, the surge didn't seem to do any damage to either of them, although it certainly made them both feel a bit weird.
As soon as it started, it stopped, dissipating harmlessly. Whisper looked at Tangle with a disgruntled expression. Tangle just shrugged her shoulders with a strained grin. "Heh heh, oops?" She tried.
The emerald then lifted off the ground, floating in the air. Then, another electrical surge exploded outward, blinding the two, causing both of them to attempt to shield their eyes.
While their eyes were covered, the duo heard two loud thumps, like something hitting the ground. Even more strangely, two voices could be heard, one loud and the other fairly quiet.
"OW! What the-!?" Voice one shouted in obvious confusion, sounding strangely familiar.
"Hrrk-!" The second voice grunted, the reaction strangely muted.
After a moment of blind confusion, Whisper and Tangle felt that they could see again, and slowly opened their eyes. Then Tangle gasped, while Whisper's eyes opened in shock.
Laying on the ground, with the Chaos Emerald quietly sitting in between, was…
Whisper and Tangle?
It looked like two nearly identical copies of Whisper and Tangle, although with some differences. The Tangle copy, unlike the original, was wearing a mask very similar to Whisper, although designed a bit differently, while wearing much darker colors then Tangle would ever wear. The Whisper clone looked pretty much the same as the original, although her eyes were wide open in confusion, and she had an entirely different weapon strapped to her back then Whisper's variable wispon.
The original Tangle looked at the original Whisper with wide eyes. Whisper looked back with just as much shock.
The second Tangle slowly struggled up, muttering quiet things under her breath, none of which sounded good. The Whisper clone very quickly got over her confusion, quickly jumping up with excitable energy.
When both the copies of Tangle and Whisper were up, they were finally able to see the original Tangle and Whisper, and they too froze in shock. The Tangle clone in particular stared at the original Whisper with paralyzed shock.
Then the Tangle copy looked down and saw the Chaos Emerald, and stooped down to pick it up. She held it up to her mask, which was slightly skewed to reveal her face, studying the emerald. She then seemed to drop it in disgust, with a light scoff. She glanced at the original Whisper, then the original Tangle, and sighed angrily.
"Of course. Of course! freaking- I had other things I needed to be doing today…" She muttered harshly, looking like she wanted to kick something.
The copy Whisper was still staring straight at the originals, her face slowly morphing from shock to something excited, stars appearing in her eyes. "HI~! Hi strangers! Err, I mean, me? Wait, are you actually me or am I going crazy? Ha! Who cares, nice to meet you!" She said very quickly, causing the original Tangle to blink in confusion.
"Uh-, I mean hi!" Original Tangle said, with a nervous laugh. She then turned to Whisper, who was staring at the copy Tangle. "Um Whisper, what the heck is happening right now?" She asked.
Whisper looked like she was about to answer, before the copy Tangle gruffly interrupted. "Don't you get it, dingus? Someone screwed around with a Chaos Emerald and caused some kind of Chaos Control, sending us both here. Well, me, at least. I have no idea who she is." Copy Tangle said, before hooking her thumb to the very excitable copy Whisper. "Now we're both stuck here, probably in some kind of alternate dimension or whatever. Tch, what a waste of my time." She muttered angrily.
Tangle briefly looked stunned, before her eyes narrowed angrily. "Hey! What's your-" She started angrily, before the original Whisper put a calming hand on her shoulder. Tangle paused, before breathing out slowly. She then looked back at copy Tangle with narrowed eyes. "Rude." She quietly muttered.
Copy Tangle just scoffed. Copy Whisper looked at the group in awe, before running over to the original Whisper and grabbing her hand, shaking it vigorously. "Wow- I mean, wow! So you're some kind of alternate version of me? That's so cool!" The copy Whisper started spouting, speaking quickly and excitably.
Original Whisper started looking very uncomfortable, so Tangle decided to tag herself in to save Whisper, grabbing the copy's hand. "Hiya! Name's Tangle, pleasure to meet ya!" She said cheerfully, causing the copy of Whisper's smile to widen even further.
"Hi Tangle! Wow, I don't think I've ever met your version in my world! Wow, wow, wow! I can already tell we're gonna be buddies!" She said cheerfully, her happy energy infecting Tangle.
Original Whisper slowly walked up to copy Tangle. "Do you… know who I am?" Whisper asked. The copy Tangle looked at her with a critical eye. "What, you mean, do I know, like, my world's variant of you?" She asked gruffly. Whisper nodded slowly.
Copy Tangle once again scoffed, although she averted eye contact. "Yeah, I di-, I mean do. Although I never knew a version of you that… weirdly cheerful." She said, looking at the other Whisper strangely. "Not that I would want to know someone that sickeningly cheerful." She muttered disdainfully, now glaring at the copy Whisper who was speaking rapidly to Tangle.
Whisper felt her anger slowly rise. Apparently, the emerald called an absolute jerk version of Tangle. She slowly walked away, trying not to let her anger get the better of her. She walked back to the excited conversion Tangle and copy Whisper.
The copy Tangle looked over at the three with a critical eye, before sighing and sitting on a log, angrily grinding her tail against the dirt.
Whisper walked in between the cheerful version of her and Tangle, breaking up the conversation. The both of them looked at her with confusion.
"Ok. Um, me, Can you explain what you were doing before being teleported here?" Whisper asked, trying to figure out what to do.
Copy Whisper brightened. She paused however, and looked at Whisper strangely. "Hey, why are you whispering?" She asked the original.
Tangle blinked, before her eyes widened. That's right! This other Whisper spoke completely normally! In fact, she was actually pretty loud. Original Whisper looked at the copy with a closed off look. "That's just what I'm like." She said vaguely. Tangle gave her a side eye.
Second Whisper seemed to accept that answer, shrugging her shoulders and filing that answer under weird alternate dimension shenanigans. She then brightened up again.
"So, what was I doing before being transported here? Simple! I was on my way to ask Smithy to fix up my mask, which had ended up cracked after a mission just the other day!" She said cheerfully.
Whisper froze.
She quickly turned away from the other Whisper, who was happily rambling to Tangle. She tried to quietly calm her breathing, and tried to lessen her shock. It wasn't working.
Smithy?
Her Smithy's still alive?
Once she brought a semblance of calm to her expression, she slowly turned back to the other Whisper, who was still rambling to Tangle, who had started to develop stars in her eyes. Apparently, the other Whisper was going on a tangent about what the mission was.
"-And then Slinger came in with his two wispons blazing, saving Smithy from a badnik that was about to get the drop on him, and I was in the back, blasting away any super badniks that tried to approach the outpost and- oh man it was great!" The other Whisper said, waving her arms around wildly.
Then she stopped, an embarrassed expression filtering on her face. "Of course, after all that I was almost snuck up on by a camouflaged badnik. If it wasn't for Mimic warning me I probably would've been toast! Still though, it got a pretty decent hit off my mask…" She said, a self-deprecating grin on her face. "Mimic hasn't let me forget it yet, the jerk." She said, with a smile clearly showing she was joking.
Whisper once again froze, and this time Tangle also tensed up.
Mimic.
Tangle almost blurted out "Mimic!?" but Whisper quickly covered her mouth. Other Whisper looked at the action confused.
Original Whisper looked at the copy with a strange look. "Your Mimic… What's he like?" She asked quietly, more so than usual.
Tangle gave a quick glance over to the Original Whisper, but wasn't able to make eye contact, due to Whisper staring so intensely at other Whisper.
Other Whisper's face brightened once again. "Oh Mimic? He's awesome! His whole shapeshifting thing is so cool! And he's an amazing infiltrator! The guy has probably saved my life a couple times too!" She started excitedly, before she got a reminiscent look on her excited face.
"Ooooh! There was this one time where we were attempting to take down this base, right? But little did we know, it was a trap! Crazy right!? Eggman tried to use these Shadow android things to overwhelm Slinger, Clair, and Smithy and-… and…" She slowly petered out, for once her excited look slowly cooled down to something a bit morose. "It… It was actually really scary." She admitted quietly. "For a moment, I really looked like they would…" She paused, not wanting to finish the thought.
She then brightened once again. "But then, out of nowhere the doors in the room are burst open! And in came Mimic and Blue, holding this large cannon! They start blasting the androids away, giving the rest of the group the ability to escape!" She finished, her arms open wide.
She then paused, a slightly concerned look coming over her features. "Mimic acted a little weird for a bit after that though. Sometimes I would catch him looking pretty down… other times I would catch him muttering stuff like 'why did I want to do that' or 'they're my friends, my friends!' and stuff like that. I think the close call with the other three really affected him. He was probably blaming himself for not being there before it went bad…" She said sadly. "Honestly, it affected me too. Made me wish I was on the ground during the operation instead of hiding in the back, like Mimic suggested." She admitted.
She then waved the sad thoughts away. "Anyway, that's all in the past! Since then the group has been better than ever! And I swear I owe my life to the guy ten times over!" She finished. She then gained an embarrassed look. "Oh uh, I probably rambled quite a bit, huh? Yeah, It's a problem that I'm working on and-, nope, shutting up now." Other Whisper said, making a zipping her lips motion.
Original Whisper and Tangle were looking at each other with pure disbelief. Tangle then put on a brave face, before turning back to other Whisper. "Sounds like a great dude! Oh uh, hey, mind giving us a moment? We need to talk privately for a moment. Maybe you can try to speak to the other one?' She said quickly, practically dragging original Whisper away from the other Whisper.
Tangle quickly dragged Whisper behind a tree, letting Whisper lean against her.
Whisper looked like she was about to fall apart. You wouldn't know it just from her outward appearance, but Tangle had known Whisper for quite a while, and she could tell when something was getting to Whisper.
"Hey, hey, everything ok?" Tangle quietly asked, knowing full well it wasn't.
Whisper was silent for what felt like forever, before she started to mumble. "M-Mimic never betrayed her team. Mimic never got the Diamond Cutters killed, her family is still together, she-" Whisper paused, looking down into the dirt. "She's still happy…" She finished quietly.
Tangle pulled Whisper's face to look at hers, just to show the incredulous look Tangle had. "'She's still happy?' Whisper, you may not feel it, but you're pretty happy now, even if you don't show it." She started, her face breaking out into a smile. "Maybe her life's been easier than yours, that's true, but don't stew on it. She's literally a personification of a 'what if' you stopped asking yourself months ago. Don't let yourself fall into that again!" She said, lightly tapping Whisper's shoulder. "Just be happy for her." She finished, pointing over to the happy and bubbly Whisper that the original Whisper wished she could still be.
Whisper sighed. Tangle was right. So what if a different Mimic made a better choice? Her Mimic still didn't. Getting angry or jealous wasn't fair to anyone, especially the alternate Whisper.
Whisper looked over to the other Whisper, who was staring at the variable wispon with stars in her eyes. Whisper gave a slight smile. She misses being that cheerful, even if she knows she could never go back. She turned back to Tangle, giving her a smile.
And yet, being like this is probably what led me to Tangle. I wouldn't give that up for the world. She thought. She remembered how the other Whisper mentioned that she never met Tangle, which made sense. Whisper would never have had any reason to get involved with Tangle or Neo Metal Sonic if she wasn't so hellbent on destroying Eggman's bases, and it wasn't like the Diamond Cutters would have any reason to go to Spiral Hill.
Whisper looked back at Tangle, wearing a small smile. "Thank you. I'm ok now." She said quietly. Tangle became even more cheerful, her smile widening.
Then her smile changed to something mischievous. "So, is that what you were like? Always knew you were a big ol' softy on the inside." She asked cheekily. Whisper turned away to hide her blush.
Before she could say anything, the alternate Whisper called out to the two. "Hey other me! Is this your wispon!? It's completely different then mine! What wisp does it use? It's so cool!" She asked excitedly, waving to the duo.
Tangle laughed, walking over to the other Whisper. Original Whisper also walked over, considering what she should say.
She also realized that it wasn't just Mimic's betrayal that was different. Before the betrayal, Whisper actually happened upon the wispon while Smithy was still working on it. It wasn't a secret or anything, but it was more of a 'you didn't ask' kind of scenario that kept that knowledge from the others. Apparently, that never happened with the other Whisper. Honestly, in her world maybe Smithy never came up with the idea in the first place.
Then Whisper remembered that she had an alternate that asked her a question regarding her wispon. Whisper was never the bragging type, but literally impressing yourself…
Well.
As Tangle says, might as well have some fun with it.
Whisper grabbed her variable wispon, showing a slight smirk to her more naive counterpart. She held it up to the other Whisper, before powering it on. While she couldn't use it as a weapon while her wisps weren't imbued, she could give the alternate Whisper a small lightshow with the residual wisp energy.
The variable lit up with cyan light at the end, before glowing dark blue. Then the blue glow faded and pink spikes shot up on the wispon, before retracting and the wispon softly glowed with a slight green glow, before finishing off with a small puff of orange flame.
"Sorry, did you ask what wisp? I prefer to have a bit more variety." Whisper boasted quietly.
She knew she really shouldn't, but seeing the utterly awed look on her counterpart's face filled her with a small amount of smug pride.
That look reminds me of me when I first met…
Whisper shook that thought away, no reason to kill the mood with a sad memory.
"Wha- how- I- You- OH MY GAIA THAT'S AWESOME!" The alternate Whisper shouted, running over to inspect the wispon still in Whisper's hand.
"You- It- wow! This wispon uses five different wisps!?" She asked excitedly. Whisper felt a bit more smug pride worm into her, despite trying not to show it.
"No, It doesn't take five wisps. It uses all of them." She said, just a slight hint of smugness in her tone.
Whisper didn't actually know whether or not it could take any kind of wisp, although she did know that it could use more than just the five she was familiar with. It was just that some specific wisps were too hard to find to test the wispon with. It was designed for every kind of wisp, so it was safe to assume though.
Even Tangle looked surprised at the knowledge that it could use any kind of wisp. Whisper never told her that before! But her surprise was absolutely nothing next to shock and pure amazement the alternate Whisper had looking at the wispon.
The other Whisper's excitement was then replaced with a comical pout. "Aw man… Why are you so much cooler than I am? First you just exude this quiet badass aura, and now you're telling me you're a one wolf army? Why can't I be this cool?" The alternate Whisper whined.
Whisper giggled slightly, even as she was secretly thinking that the alternate Whisper actually had it better.
Suddenly, the alternate Whisper went and sat down on a log, with a weary look on her face. "Hey uh, not that this isn't nice and all… But how am I gonna get home?" She asked. Original Whisper and Tangle looked at each other concerned.
"Ummmmmmmm. We're not actually sure…" Tangle said quietly, rubbing the back of her head. Alternate Whisper looked down sadly. "So am I… Stuck here?" She asked quietly.
Tangle waved her hands quickly. "No no! You're not stuck here. Maybe we're not smart enough to send you home, but we do know someone who probably is." she said, a small smile appearing on her face. "Besides, I think Tails would be super excited about you!"
Whisper glanced over at the other Tangle, who was darkly staring at the mask she was originally wearing, now in her hands. Whisper then muttered quietly, "Maybe she could help… She seemed to know what caused this in the first place…"
Original Tangle looked at the alternate Tangle and groaned. "Ugh, not her. I don't know what her problem is, but she's a jerk!" She said. Whisper just winced. "Yes, she is. But do we have a choice?" She asked Tangle. Tangle looked over at the alternate Whisper who was starting to look a bit sad, and sighed. "No."
Tangle then turned to the alternate Whisper. "Hey uh, we're gonna try and figure this out, alright? But in the meantime, think you can just sit here?" She asked, not wanting to get the happy bubbly Whisper to interact with Tangle's jerk counterpart.
The alternate Whisper just nodded her head, looking glum. Tangle and Whisper glanced at each other, before walking over to the copy Tangle.
Alternate Tangle looked up and saw the two approaching her, causing her to scowl. "What do you two want?" She asked rudely.
Tangle immediately got mad. "Hey! I don't know what your problem is, but-" She started, before Whisper once again put a hand on Tangle's shoulder. Tangle just sighed, calming herself down.
"Look, we're not exactly thrilled to be talking with you either, but we need your help." She muttered. Alternate Tangle just raised her eyebrow. "With what?" She asked rudely.
Tangle once again sighed to calm herself down. "Look, you seemed to know how you two got here, so do you know a way you two could go back to your own worlds?" She asked, her patience fraying. It was like dealing with Mimic!
The alternate Tangle tilted her head condescendingly. "And I should help you because…?" She started. Tangle could feel her eye start to twitch. Whisper just looked at the alternate with an inscrutable look. "Don't you want to go home?" She asked.
The alternate Tangle just sighed overdramatically. "Go home? Yeah right. Nothin's waiting for me over there, so I don't care whether I stay or not." She said, a slight smirk appearing on her face.
"Look here you-" Tangle started, before getting interrupted by Whisper. "What do you mean by nothing is waiting for you?" She asked quietly. Tangle looked at her surprised, before looking back at alternate Tangle with a curious expression.
"Hey, that's right. What are you talking about?" Tangle asked, her anger subdued.
Alternate Tangle looked back at her mask. "What do you think?" She muttered, not quite as rude as before. Tangle just looked confused. "What about your friends? What about Jewel?" She asked. Whisper quietly cut in. "What about your Whisper?" She asked.
Alternate Tangle just looked away angrily. "Tch, none of your business." She said angrily. A slightly morose look appeared on the original Tangle's face. "Isn't it? I mean, you're me, right?" She asked.
"Come on, surely it can't be that bad, right? Are you fighting with your friends or something?" Tangle started, completely ignoring Whisper's concerned look. "Tangle-" Whisper started, but Tangle once again ignored her.
"Look, no version of me wouldn't be there for their friends, right? So-" Tangle continued, before she heard something crack.
Alternate Tangle turned back to the original Tangle with pure rage. "'Wouldn't be there for their friends!?' I have no friends! NOTHING! I couldn't be there for my friends! They're all gone!" She yelled at original Tangle. Tangle backed away, startled. However, her look of fear slowly morphed into sadness when she saw that alternate Tangle had tears in her eyes.
Whisper went into a defensive stance. It wasn't required though, as alternate Tangle just sat back down on the log, glaring at her mask. What concerned Whisper was that the alternate Tangle also had tears in her eyes.
She was crying.
Original Tangle slowly breathed in, steeling herself. She then went over to sit next to the alternate Tangle. Whisper got the idea and moved to the opposite side, resulting in them both sitting next to the alternate Tangle.
"Ok, listen. You've… got a hurt. Just like Whisper, can you tell us what's eating you up inside? I promise, we won't judge. I… I won't say anything, and Whisper… Well, I think she knows what you're going through…" Tangle said quietly, trying the same tactic she had with Whisper, all those months ago.
Whisper just nodded along, placing her hand on alternate Tangle's shoulder. "Trust us." She said quietly.
Alternate Tangle just glared into her mask more, before she sighed, breaking her angry facade. "Fine…" She muttered.
"I don't know what your world is like… Maybe everything I'm talking about will have actually happened for both of you. But…" She paused, looking like she was recounting a painful memory.
I… I used to be like you." Alternate Tangle said, giving a quick side eye to original Tangle. "I was just like you. I used to be so happy, a local hero of Spiral Hill. I got to meet Sonic, Blaze, Tails, and… and Whisper…" She froze, clearing her throat.
"Then… Then we had to take on Neo Metal Sonic. It was hard, but we got through it. After that, I went home. Went back to my boring life in Spiral Hill. Had Jewel right beside me, encouraging me to go out and have adventures, like Sonic. I… didn't want to go alone, so I just waited for an opportunity. And lo and behold, one arrived. In the form of Whisper chasing down a monster who could shapeshift, named Mimic." She said, stopping for a breath.
Whisper and original Tangle looked at each other concerned. This story was sounding very familiar. So what happened?
"I somehow convinced Whisper to let me join, despite her not wanting me to. Now? Gaia, now I wish she was more firm…" She muttered, once again causing the duo to look at her, worried.
"Mimic then told us to come to a designated area, a warehouse. It was obviously a trap, but we didn't have a choice. But something we weren't aware of was that he was watching us while we were talking in Jewel's museum. And when we left… He… He kidnapped Jewel…" She said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
Tangle and Whisper looked at eachother shocked. That didn't happen with them!
"I don't know how he was so fast, but he brought Jewel to the warehouse ahead of time. Stuffed her into a cage, and decided to use it to taunt us… me. Use it to taunt me. I became angry, and sloppy. He got the drop on me, slashing my back and kicking me into a safe. The pain and claustrophobia distracted me too much, and I wasn't able to get out. So that left Whisper alone to deal with that bastard. She probably could have done it, too, if Jewel wasn't there as a prisoner. I don't know what exactly happened, but I could hear the yelling outside of the safe…" She said, remembering the whole ordeal.
Tangle laid on her back, groaning. She was stuck inside a small box! She had to get out! But she could barely even move! Damn Mimic!
Tangle listened carefully, only to hear the sounds of a fight outside.
"HAHAHAHAHA! See Whisper!? This is where friendship gets you! You're so focused on this pathetic beetle that you can't even properly defend yourself! Why? Why not just leave her? She isn't even your friend! She's just the pathetic buddy of that lemur that's surely bleeding out in that safe right now!" Mimic's voice rang out, laughing cruelly.
"SHUT UP! I'll make you pay, monster! You won't hurt anyone again!" Whisper shouted, her voice for once not quiet. Tangle felt horrible. She should have been out there, helping!
She needed to get up!
Mimic's voice once again rang out, smug and condescending. "Oh poor sad Whisper. There's nothing you can do… Just like in the past…" he said.
Suddenly, a voice that Tangle was unfamiliar with spoke out, which sounded like a male with a cocky attitude.
"Whisper! We needed you on the ground! Where were you? Why didn't you save us!?" The voice rang out, sounding angry.
Another voice appeared, one deep and loud. "That prototype I built was for everyone! But because of you, now only you are using it!? That's not fair! I poured my blood and tears into that prototype! You shouldn't have it! You were never supposed to have it! But you stole it from me, from us when you ran back to base like a coward!"
Once again, another voice rang out, sounding like a female with a slight accent, quiet and mysterious, yet it still rang out all the same. "I always knew you would leave us to die… I scried and I scried over and over, but yet, in the future you disappeared. I always thought that maybe you just retired. Now I know, you were gone from the future because you wouldn't be there when it mattered. I'm so disappointed Whisper. Asking you to hang back was the worst mistake of my life. You should have died there with us…"
Tangle slowly got up, banging on the safe's door, tears in her eyes. "Stop! Stop saying these things to Whisper! That's not fair!" She yelled, trying to be heard. Despite her best efforts, no one seemed to hear her.
Whisper's voice rang out, and it froze Tangle. "Please… Please stop…" She said, tears evident in her tone.
Then another voice joined in, which tore at Tangle's heart. "Stop!? Stop what!? I joined you to help! I was here when you needed me! But now!? I'm DEAD! You got me KILLED! I had your back, so why didn't you have MINE!?" Tangle's own voice rang out.
"I ran in, trying to protect Jewel, my friend! I thought we were friends! So why didn't you help me!? I was just trying to be your hero, but then Mimic stabbed me in the back! Now I'm dead in a safe, because YOU WEREN'T THERE!" Tangle's voice shouted out.
The real Tangle tried yelling out. "That's not true! I'm still alive! Please Whisper, don't stop fighting!" But no one heard her. No one at all.
Then Tangle heard something else. The echoes of explosions. Bombs. Mimic had planted bombs.
Mimic's voice rang out one last time. "Ah, it seems our time together is at an end. Goodbye Whisper. It was fun, while it lasted." He said confidently.
"...The bombs exploded the warehouse… and everyone inside. I was safe because I was inside the heavy safe, but… um. The explosions loosened the safe's door allowing me to escape, but… Whisper… and Jewel… Were…" She stopped, tears silently gliding down the alternate Tangle's face.
The original Looked on with horror, tears also falling down her face. Whisper just looked away, saddened and disturbed.
"All I was able to find was a chip of Jewel's carapace and Whisper's mask, cracked apart and blackened by the explosion. Nothing else survived… no one else survived. I don't think even Whisper's wisps survived, or maybe they just didn't stick around. Either way, I failed. I lost everything in one night, all because I just couldn't take no for an answer. I went to Tails, asked him to repair the mask, albeit styled to better fit my face, and have been using it ever since. A stand in for Whisper, I guess. I have nothing left." She finished grimly, not making eye contact with anyone.
Tangle had covered her mouth with her hands at this point, silently crying while staring at the alternate Tangle.
"So now here we are. I'm not a local hero anymore. I'm not anything anymore, except for someone who's looking for revenge. If Whisper was the Guardian Angel, then I'm the Angel of Vengeance. I will find Mimic. And I will kill him." She finished darkly.
Tangle looked over at Whisper, not knowing what to say. It was no wonder she was so angry and rude. If Tangle experienced what her alternate did, she would be just as bad.
Whisper looked over at alternate Tangle, before sighing and taking off her mask. Alternate Tangle looked over at Whisper with a confused expression.
"Did… Your Whisper ever get the chance to tell why she was so affected by those voices?" Whisper asked quietly. Alternate Tangle just shook her head.
"I don't even know why she was so hellbent on capturing Mimic in the first place. I never found out…" She admitted quietly. Whisper just sighed, before bringing out a photo that original Tangle knew very well.
It was the picture of the original Diamond Cutters.
"The reason she was so affected by those voices was because those were her friends. The Diamond Cutters. My old friends…" She started, looking at the alternate Tangle.
She then explained about what happened to them, and what Mimic did.
The alternate Tangle looked at Whisper, slowly becoming sadder over the course of the story.
"...How are you so happy?" She eventually asked Whisper. Whisper leaned back, her eyes widened in surprise.
Happy?
Whisper was just complaining about not being happy anymore, but this Tangle couldn't believe how happy she was?
Tangle put her hand on alternate Tangle's shoulder. "Because she didn't give up. Yeah, she isn't exactly as cheerful as she used to be, but she was able to move on. Now you need to as well." She said quietly, a small smile on her face.
Alternate Tangle looked over Tangle, her face vulnerable. "But… But I don't want to just… forget them…" She said sadly.
Tangle looked at her, with a slight smile. "Forget them? You think they would want you being a jerk to everyone you meet? Want you hating everything because of them? Maybe your Whisper and Jewel are different, but no Jewel or Whisper of mine would want you to be this way. You're not forgetting them. You're just honoring their memory." She said.
Whisper just nodded. "You were my first friend I allowed myself to have since the Diamond Cutters. Don't be someone different from the first friend I made, please." She asked quietly. "You don't have to be the same, but don't be someone you aren't." She finished.
Alternate Tangle slowly breathed in and out. "I don't know If I can be… But I can try." She said quietly.
"You said you needed my help getting me and that other Whisper home?" she asked suddenly, obviously changing the subject. Whisper and original Tangle glanced at each other, but decided to let it go.
"Well. I'm no Tails, but I've been studying all I can, and training, to… Well. I needed to fill the gap that Whisper left somehow. Might as well make myself more useful. So, first I need to know, what the hell- I mean, what did you do to get us transported here in the first place?' She asked, trying to make her voice as neutral as possible.
Whisper sighed, before giving a look to Tangle. Tangle smiled embarrassed. "Um… Well… Uh…" She started.
Alternate Tangle gave her a blank look. "You were screwing around with it, weren't you? You can't fool me, I'm literally you." she said blankly.
"Ok, so I may have, um, thrown the Chaos Emerald in the air and missed it when it came back down…?" She said, blushing.
The alternate Tangle just sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Please Gaia, tell me I wasn't ever this dumb…" She mumbled, causing Tangle to give her an insulted look.
"Ok look. Luckily, this should be pretty simple. Just throw it back up and make sure it lands back near us. If that doesn't work, then we'll have to get Sonic or Shadow to Chaos Control us back home." She said. "Which is a hassle, but shouldn't take that long." She finished.
Tangle and Whisper exchanged glances, before walking over to the still fallen Chaos Emerald.
A couple of minutes later, they had managed to get both the Alternate Whisper and Tangle to stand next to each other, while the original Tangle got ready to throw it into the air like a fast ball.
Alternate Whisper looked back at original Whisper. "Hey so, just in case this works, It was nice meeting you two! I had a great time! And hey, I wouldn't mind coming back to this dimension at some point! You gotta show me how your wispon works if I do, alright!?" She said, waving excitedly.
Alternate Tangle looked out into the forest, not making eye contact with anybody. "Hey… I would just like to say thanks. I… I really think I needed this." She muttered quietly.
Whisper and Tangle just gave the two duplicates a smile, before Tangle tossed the Chaos Emerald in the air. This time, both Whisper and Tangle jumped backward, not planning to get caught in the blast radius this time.
The Chaos Emerald flew high, before rapidly coming back down and smashing against the dirt. Once again, it started to spark, before an explosion of electricity blew out, hitting both the alternate Tangle and Whisper.
A flash soon followed after, briefly blinking both Whisper and Tangle. After the flash disappeared and they could see again, they both saw that the alternates were gone. All that remained was the Chaos Emerald, sitting on the ground, no evidence it did anything abnormal at all.
Tangle looked at Whisper, before laughing in relief. Whisper cracked a small smile. Tangle quickly, but very gently picked up the Chaos Emerald, holding it off to the side.
"Well, that was interesting!" Tangle said cheerfully. Whisper glanced away. "Yeah. It was. Let's not do it again." She quietly uttered.
Tangle chuckled, making a shooing motion. "Don't worry, I think I've learned my lesson with playing around with Chaos Emeralds." She said.
Both of their mirthful expressions lessened somewhat. "I hope… The other Whisper is happy." Whisper said quietly. Tangle also looked a bit down. "Yeah. I hope the other Tangle finds her peace." She said, a trace of sorrow on her face.
Whisper looked back to Tangle. "You know, something tells me that this was good, for all of us." She said, a tiny smile breaking through her morose expression. Tangle also smiled. "Well, maybe not for the other Whisper. But it certainly put everything into perspective, huh?"
Whisper just nodded. "Hey Tangle? Let's go home." She said. Tangle just nodded cheerfully. "Yeah, I think I'm done with camping for the day, and possibly month." She said.
Whisper right then resolved to never look back, and to only look to the future.
Tangle resolved to go visit Jewel, give her a hug, and to cherish the things she had.
THE END.
Author's note:
I made this one-shot in like a day. So if it has problems, I apologize.
However, if you want to have a hand at making a better version of this story, I welcome you to try! (Just please credit me for the idea at least.)
Have a good one!