Work Text:
Tangle sighed, kicking a piece of rubble as she walked through the darkened corridors of the abandoned base. “Go check out Starline’s old base, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.” She turned to Whisper. “When did Vector and Espio say the ‘fun’ part starts?”
Whisper was silent as usual. She had her Variable Wispon aimed ahead while Cyan floated above them to illuminate the path forwards. She pointed to a door ahead that had been knocked off its hinges.
Tangle peek into the small room. “Wow, that electro-chick sure did a number on this place.” Her tail tapped on one of the flickering ceiling lights “Gotta hand it to her, she really had a good sense of aesthetic.”
Whisper slowly stepped into the room, using her Wispon in Green Mode to push some rubble off a desk. Underneath was a mostly intact keyboard. *this looks promising, help me turn it on.*
Tangle obliged, using the light from Cyan to find the power source for the computer. “Aha!” She turned to the electric Wisp, bowing humorously towards the mechanism. “A charge, if you please,” Cyan chirped, mimicking Tangle’s bow before hopped into the system, causing a glass screen on the wall to light up. It displaying Starline’s emblem, and the keyboard in front of Whisper lit up as well.
Whisper started tapping away at the keyboard, searching for anything worthwhile. *hmm. tangle, come take a look at this.* The screen displayed a list of documents and video files with strange names, all with the prefix “OR-P2”. She opened the first video file.
Dr. Starline’s appeared onscreen. “Phase One of Operation Remaster has been a resounding success! I’ve collected the genetic material of not just Sonic, but many of his allies as well. Some were easier to obtain than others, and I would have liked to get some from his more powerful allies such as Shadow or Knuckles, but what I have so far should be sufficient.” He cracked his knuckles, grinning to the camera. “Now the fun part begins.”
Whisper opened the following file, which contained a list of material he had gathered, where they were stored, and who they had come from. Tangle read off the list. “Sonic, Tails, Amy, Mighty, Ray, Sticks, Iggy, Silver, Jet, Cassidy, Fang…” She trailed off as she saw the last name on the list. “Tangle.”
*it appears most of it is stored in this base somewhere. all except for sonic and tails.*
Tangle was distracted thinking of how Starline had gotten her genetic material. She had a sudden image of Starline dressed as Santa Clause, sneaking in through her chimney like the Grinch. She shook her head, banishing the thought. “Play the next file.”
Dr. Starline appeared again, this time slightly more unkempt, like he hadn’t slept in a while. “As it turns out, Cloning living organisms is much harder than it seems.” He sighed. “Professor Gerald made it look so easy. So many variables have to be just right, or else…” he shuddered. “I’m going to have nightmares about this for weeks. This is why I like robots! They don’t explode into a gory mess if you make an error in their programming.” He hit the table with his head. “I need a break.”
*he was cloning. is that what surge and kit are? clones of sonic and tails?*
“If they are, they don’t quite look it. Don’t think Sonic was ever green. Wait, didn’t he fight a green copy of himself one time?”
*i think that’s different. he was sonic from another dimension, right?*
“Maybe. I’ll ask him later.”
Whisper played the next video log. “Progress is slow, but good. I’ve made numerous semi-successful clones, though they all have their… defects. And all of them didn’t last long. There are a few in development that look somewhat promising but I may need to consider… alternative methods. Perhaps if I can crack Ectobiology…” An explosion from offscreen cut him off. He cursed under his breath, and the video ended.
The next file displayed a list of failed clones, some of the less messy ones had pictures attached. Tangle wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or unsettled by the fact that none of the images showed her face. The failed clones certainty didn’t look pretty, some were misshapen, some were missing limbs or eyes, and some had extra appendages growing where they really shouldn’t.
Starline appeared once again as the next video played. “I have no choice but to scrap this idea and start fresh. The cloning method is too flawed. I’ve only had a few stable test results, and they all pale in comparison to the real deals. However, I may have a solution in mind. It should be a lot simpler than the cloning method, though it will certainly take more time. I’ll take Sonic & Tail’s genetic material with me, but I’ll leave the rest here for now. If I can pull this off, I can replicate it with others at a later date. This is Dr. Starline, ending recording.”
The final file contained a list of the few stable clones. They were contained in stasis pods deeper in the facility. Several of them were displayed as deceased, only two were still marked with a green Healthy. Tangle looked at Whisper. “If there’s any clones still alive, we should save them, right? We can’t just let them die here alone. And it’s not like Starline will miss them very much.”
Whisper nodded. *i found a trigger to open a door to the rest of the facility. it appears that surge never bothered to make sure the whole base was destroyed, she never got past the hidden passageways.*
Whisper pressed a button, and a section of wall paneling opened to reveal a hallway. Whisper snapped her fingers, and Cyan jumped out of the computer, leaving the monitor with no power once again. The hidden hallway was still lit up, indicating the deeper facility had a separate power grid. Whisper raised her Wispon and Tangle balled her tail into a fist. They headed inside the facility, and were soon greeted by security drones, guns trained on the duo.
A few minutes of fighting later, Tangle and Whisper were inside the clone stasis room, scrap metal lining the halls behind them. The round, opaque glass tubes filled the sides of the room, leaving room for someone to walk in between. Small screens next to the stasis pods displayed the status of each resident. Most were red “DECEASED”, a few were yellow “DEATH UPON REMOVAL”, and two displayed a green “HEALTHY”. Tangle walked over to the first healthy clone, then looked over at Whisper. She pressed a button, and the door opened, revealing…
“Sonic?” Tangle asked skeptically. Sure enough, the tube contained a slightly mis-proportioned replica of Sonic. It stirred awake, opening it’s eyes to reveal they were divided in two, unlike the joined mono-eye Sonic had. It yawned, revealing two rows of strangely human teeth. As soon as it saw them, it bolted out the door to freedom. It wasn’t quite as fast as the original, but it was gone before the duo could register what happened.
*what… was that thing?*
“And why did it have human teeth?” Tangle looked over to the other pod. “I guess we should… open the other one, right?” She shuddered.
Whisper nodded. She waited till Tangle was standing next to her, then pressed the button. The pod opened, revealing a small figure obscured by steam. As it cleared, Tangle spotted a familiar face. It was the same face she saw every time she looked in the mirror.
Whisper gasped. *it’s… it looks just like…*
Tangle finished her thought. “Me. It’s me… just smaller.”
The tiny lemur’s eyes fluttered open. “where…” She saw the two standing in front of her, then her eyes began to close again. She slumped against the side of the tube.
Tangle’s shock wore off, and she scooped up the now unconscious clone in her arms. Luckily, she still felt a pulse. “What do we do with her?”
*i’m… not sure. i guess maybe we… take her home?*
“Right. She can’t stay here.” As if on cue, the lights dimmed. The yellow lights on the other displays began slowly switching to red. “This place is losing power.”
*before we go, i want to check the power room. if this area is on a separate grid, there’s a chance…*
“I’ll carry her. You lead the way.”
Blue popped out of Whisper’s Wispon, chirping something to her. She nodded, allowing Blue to lead them through the corridors to the power room. And just as Whisper feared, in the centre of the room, a small tube in the middle glowed a deep purple. Whisper rushed to the control panel opening the tube to reveal a tired Purple Wisp. Tangle winced. She’d only seen a few Nega-Wisps during the Eggman War, and the thought of draining the friendly creatures dry of their natural energy always sent shivers down her spine. Whisper pulled a small vial from her coat pocket, touching it to the drained Wisp. The Wisp gladly allowed itself to be absorbed into the vial, allowing it to rest from it’s former life as a living battery.
*poor little guy. i’ll ask tails if he can restore them to normal, in the mean time i’ll let them rest.*
Without the Wisp to provide power, the lights started to flicker out. “Let’s get outta here. And here’s hoping we don’t run into that Sonic clone again.” She shuddered just thinking about it.
--------------------
A few hours later, Tangle and Whisper were home, still carrying the mini-Tangle with them. She was still out like a light, now resting on Tangle’s bed while the two tried to figure out what next.
*i guess we’ll have to take care of her ourselves.*
Tangle scratched her chin, deep in thought. “Y’know… if she’s a clone of me… that makes her my daughter, right?”
Whisper raised an eyebrow. *i mean… i guess you can look at it that way. where are you going with this?*
Tangle grinned. “If you’re my girlfriend… then that makes her your daughter too, right?”
Whisper blushed. *i don’t think that’s how it works.*
Tangle put an arm around her girlfriend’s arm. “Looks like we’re parents now, Whis. What should we name our kid.”
Whisper was to busy blushing to speak. So Tangle started listing off names.
“How about… Second Tangle? Tangle the Second. Tangle but More. Another Tangle. Tangle the Clone. Clone the Tangle! Two-angle. Tangle II! Toongle! Tangle: The Second Coming!”
Whisper shook her head. *we can… workshop a name later.*
“Alright. I still think Tangle II has some merit…”
The other resident of their house, Jewel, chose that moment to open the door. “Oh hey you two, when did you get he… WHY THE HELL ARE THERE TWO TANGLES.”
Tangle smiled. “Hey Jewel! This is Tangle II. She’s our daughter.”
Jewel stared at the grinning lemur and her blushing girlfriend. “Yep. I’m not dealing with this today.” She shut the door, and made herself some tea.