BURSTS OF SPEED
MOBIUS 17: LIFE OF A DUPLICATE

Mammoth Mogul, immortal Chaos sorcerer…all around bad guy. Right now he was at the mercy of Sonic and Tails. Mammoth Mogul saw how they reclaimed something that Mogul had taken. Right now they stood between the mammoth and the prize…a green sphere holding another Tails?

The Tails fighting Mogul looked sad. "So…it is true. I'm not the real thing. I'm a copy."

Mogul just chuckled. "Yes…and a really convincing one. The same memories and personality as the real one. You're a good bit of crafting if I say so myself. I have outdone myself. Using the real Tails' power to rejuvenate me, while you have been my eyes and ears outside and you didn't even know it!"

"And you think that is funny?" Sonic asked, not liking how Mogul spoke about the Tails Replica.

"It is…you continued to treat him as the genuine article. He even thought he was so. But in the end, whatever he thought, whatever he felt, whatever he could, it was never his own. And once you best me…or if I stay from Tails too long, I will no longer be able to keep the replica going. So even if you save the real article, the copy will fade, forever forgotten. After all, he was just a stand-in." Mogul said as he then let out a soft, sadistic laugh.

"I guess it's true. Now the real me is back…I'll be left forgotten!" Tails Replica said.

"No!" Sonic muttered. "Maybe if he was just a copy…His feelings, his hopes, they were still real. He was as much alive as the real Tails. I will save them both. Because I have decided…because I am not willing to sacrifice others." Sonic noted. "I will find a way to save both!"

Mogul shook his head as he let out his soft evil chuckle again. "Young foolish mortal. Even you are not fast enough. And you are even stupider then I anticipated, you show concern for a carbon copy of your own best friend. And yet you still call his feelings 'real'? Your sentimental nature is a bore. If I stuck to sentiments like you I would not have been able to tolerate immortality."

"You disgust me Mogul. You may have lived for a long time. But you have not found anything worthwhile to live for. All that time on your side and you learned nothing." Sonic said as he took a battle stance.

"Don't hold back. After all, it's not like the replica will fade away if I'm taken down. Oh wait…yes it is…" Mogul continued to mock. Sonic growled in frustration. Mogul laughed. "Oh, how predictable you are. No matter how many times you think you can bring me down, I won't stay down. I can wait you out. I will always have another plan or scheme, but you…you will always remember the ones you can't save!" Mogul started to laugh as all of a sudden he was rushed by a yellow blur and whacked hard. He staggered back. "What?"

The Tails Replica had turned on his own creator. "Sonic may care about what's going to happen to me, but I don't. I realize now that there is no saving me. I wasn't supposed to be. But for the time I left, I'll put it to good use. Not an unknowing spy for you, but a hero, of my own choice!"

"Tails…" Sonic asked surprise.

"That's not my name…Not really." The Tails Replica said. "But I had a great life, as long as it lasted. I was a Freedom Fighter and I was part of a family. So in the end, there is not much to regret. So please, don't try to stop me!"

"You dare to turn against your creator, replica? You dare?" Mogul said angrily. He raised his cane, the tip glowing, and so did the Black Emerald in his chest.

"I dare. You may have brought me into being, but it doesn't mean I have to obey you! This puppet is cutting the strings!" The Replica said as he rushed Mogul and tried to cut him with his tails. Mogul blocked with his cane before punching the replica in the gut. But as the wind was knocked out of him, the replica grabbed the fist and then tossed Mogul over his shoulder and into the wall.

Mogul recovered as he waved his cane, as several green fireballs appeared in front of him and they shot at the Replica, whom flew out of the way of them. He then shot at Mogul like a living projectile, knocking him in the wall again and leaving a bigger imprint. The replica then started pounding him with his arms, feet and tails ferociously. "Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Mogul said as he glowed and let out an energy wave from his body that knocked the replica back.

The replica got up but then Mogul charged at him, tusks forward and pinned him into a wall in return. Mogul raised his cane, as all of a sudden he was knocked on his ass as something bowled him over. Sonic uncurled from his spin dash as he helped the Tails Replica get up. "Maybe it's true. I cannot save both. But no way I let them fight alone. You are still part of the family."

"You're not just taking pity on me? Or try to ease my final moments?" The Replica asked.

"Maybe…but I still mean everything I say. Now, want to kick the butt of this old fossil, little bro?" Sonic asked.

"Lead the way, big bro!" the Replica said.

Mogul got up again as he now looked ticked. "Insolent children! Have you not learned to respect your elders?" He said as he slammed his cane into the ground and a trial of green lightning across the room, the two heroes shooting off in opposite directions and then kicking off the wall, curling up and homing attacking Mogul, knocking him back.

Sonic moved in, but Mogul was ready as he snatched him out of his run and smacked him into the ground before planting his foot on his chest. The Tails replica tried flew in but Mogul blocked with his cane. But in his distracted state, Sonic vibrated quickly to heat up Mogul's foot, whom roared in pain as he stumbled back. The Replica slashed with his namesakes, and a part of Mogul's tusk was cut off, as Mogul roared in pain more. Sonic spin-dashed Mogul's chest, whom was knocked back. He then saw the Black Emerald on his chest was cracked. "No…" he rushed at the real Tails, but Sonic and the Tails replica blocked his path. He was cut off from the only power source he could draw the power to heal his emerald.

"You lose, Mogul!" Sonic said.

"I may lose this battle…But you'll still lose one brother…Until we meet again, Hedgehog!" Mogul said as he slammed his cane into the ground and disappeared in a green puff of smoke, living to fight another day.

The Tails replica then found himself looking paler as tiny particles, as grains of sand in the wind. "I guess this is it then…" he let out a sad smile. "But I made most of it. I guess it's time you get to spend time with your real brother again."

"You were my real brother too…" Sonic said. "It's not fair. You never asked for this…you are innocent and you cease to be because of it."

"Nothing is fair in love and war it seems. Just promise to treasure the other me…the real Tails I mean. Keep fighting on. Keep fighting…for a world no sacrifices have to be made." He became transparent as more particles separated from his body.

"I promise." Sonic said. He hugged the Replica as tears flew from his eyes. "Goodbye little buddy."

"Goodbye Sonic. Don't cry. I was glad…to feel alive." With that he faded, the last particles flying off in the wind as he was gone.

Sonic screamed out to the heavens. "Mogul, if you hear this…I will find you, and I will make you wish you had gone extinct! You think you are so smart…But you'll feel so stupid when I catch up and make you pay! I am not afraid of you!" He screamed in sorrow and anger. After he cooled down he dropped to his knees and turned to the sphere holding the real Tails. He got up, popped the bubble he was in and caught him in his arms.

Tails slowly stirred awake. "Urgh…Sonic? What happened? Where am I?"

"Let's just say you were taken away for a long nap by Mogul. But I found you again." Sonic answered.

"Sonic…you look sad, what is going on?" Tails asked.

"I went to hell and back to find you…But I had some help, from a new friend. Unfortunately he didn't make it." Sonic noted.

"Oh…Sonic, I'm so sorry…" Tails said, a look of regret on his face.

"He was oddly content. He was a real hero, he sacrificed himself for us. I think you two would have hit it off rather well…Like family or something." Sonic said. He was not lying.

"He deserves a memorial. We should get him one as we go back home…how long was I gone?" Tails asked.

"Too long buddy. Now, let's go home. There is a lot that has happened since you vanished. You'd like to hear all about it." Sonic said. He would fulfill his promise to the other Tails. He'd treasure his time with the original Tails. But the replica…for a moment he thought he saw his buddy die, but the replica was also a real Mobian, more than Mogul ever was. And he would make sure he wasn't forgotten.

However, on the astral plane… "Where am I? How am I still…" though physically he was no longer present, he didn't think he had a soul that could spiritually linger. "I am a copy, how can I have a spirit? How can I exist?" he wondered.

"Mortals never cease to amaze me." A warm, female voice said. In front of the Tails Replica, another person appeared. A beautiful female mobian fox with snow white fur, black hair and a red kimono. Nine tails were spread across her back, fanning out like peacock feathers.

"Who are you? Are you a kitsune, like me?" the Replica asked.

"That is just how you imagine me. I have no form that mortals can comprehend so they see me in the form that they most associate me with. But first time someone sees me as a kitsune." The Mobian woman replied.

"You're Aurora, aren't you? Herald of the Ancient Walkers!" The Tails replica realized.

She let out an amused giggle. "Very observant. You clearly inherited Tails' intelligence." She studied the replica for a bit. "I have seen replicas made before by those whom wanted to abuse them for nefarious ends or to fill a void left by a lost loved one, but this is the first time one had a soul. I guess that there is still a lot even I don't understand yet. But that makes life so wonderful. No matter how long you live, you still can get pleasantly surprised."

"Why am I here? Is it time for me to pass on? Beyond?" Replica Tails asked.

"That choice is up to you. There aren't many creatures of your…profile; You're an usual case. A pleasant one. And since you are in a category all your own…you can make choices no one else has been offered before." Aurora said.

"What do you mean?" the Replica asked.

"You can choose. If you feel like you've done enough, I can take you beyond. To Valhelsyium. The eternal peace and tranquility. Or…you can get a second chance at life. You can be anything you want. You can choose to keep your likeness, you can choose to become something else, in short there are endless possibilities for you, depending on whether you want to find your place in the world you can return to." Aurora said.

"Endless possibilities…My own place in the world…I had not considered any of that was possible. I never dreamt of it." The Tails Replica said a bit hopefully.

"For good people good things may end tragic, but at times good things happen. Like I said, life is full of surprises. Now, no need to rush things, you have all the time in the world now. You can spend a while thinking before you make a decicion." Aurora said as she conjured two things. A compass and a key. "These are products of the spiritual plain, and they lead you to whatever choice you make. The Key is to the gates of the afterlife, the compass is the tool to lead you back."

The replica looked at the compass. His mind was pretty much made up. "I can come back as anything?" he asked.

"You can be any type of Mobian, or overlander you like, or anything sapient on this world. You can pick everything from gender to color to powers you have. And you can choose where you start off…back at Knothole, or at a new place for a fresh start." Aurora confirmed.

The Replica took the compass. "I can still think on the outcome, but I'm sure I want to go back. I want to see how much more good I can do…not as another Tails, but as me."

Aurora smiled warmly. "And no matter what it is…It will be your choice. Not determined by Mogul, not because of Tails, but because of you." She said as she gently poked the replica in his chest. "Now, I still have a few other souls to guide to the beyond. But if you still feel unsure, I can spare a few moments to give you a push in the right direction. Now go on, live! Your second chance comes with a lifespan as well, but one you can treasure."

"Thanks, for everything!" The Tails replica said.

"No…I just explained things. Everything leading up to this…You earned it." She said as she faded from view.

The Tails replica opened the compass, from which a glow came…He would wake up somewhere on Mobius…a new form, a new name…a new beginning.

NOTES

A retelling on the revelation of Tails being replaced by Mogul's replica. Though teh Replica never got mentioned afterwards, as if he meant nothing anymore, despite the emotional goodbye between him and Sonic, I decided to change it...

Though I wanted to stop it after he faded away, I felt sorry for the character and gave him a second chance. But his second chance is going to be explored in more detail in a future entry.

Aurora in the comics said she appears different for everyone but in reality she was always an echidna. But the Aurora in this fanfic is really a shapeshifting deity.

Oh, and Mogul has a Black Emerald in his chest, not one of the chaos emeralds, since there weren't hundreds in this universe, just the standard seven.