Tangle vs. Whisper: Out of Control

Chapter 4: Confrontation

Crimson Canyon, located in the middle of a vast desert, was a zone with little life. Whisper was lucky enough to have arrived at the cave Tangle's captor mentioned sooner rather than later. She overlooked the precipice, taking a long sip from a water bottle, before slipping on her Diamond Cutter mask.

The mask's systems scanned the landscape before Whisper, and this time, she was able to see inside the cave. She detected two signs of life - presumably Tangle and her kidnapper.

Whisper allowed her longest-term partner, the Orange Rocket wisp, out of her Wispon, wanting someone to talk to.

"No traps... no Badniks... it's too easy," the wolf observed.

"Maybe they're counting on you to go crazy and mess something up..." the Wisp noted. "We know how you feel."

Whisper shook her head. It was true: she had a habit of going a little bit feral when those she cared about were in danger. She still wasn't sure exactly how her feelings for Tangle were. She was fairly certain she was in love, but after Claire and the Diamond Cutters, Whisper still felt like she couldn't love again. However, she was still determined to save Tangle, regardless of who this mission would pit her against.

"Let's save Tangle and get this over with," Whisper muttered, allowing Rocky to return to the Wispon. Activating the weapon's Hover mode, she leapt over the edge of the canyon, the energy propellor gently lowering her down to the ledge on the opposite side, where the cave, dug into the wall, awaited.

-

Whisper set foot into the cave, looking around to see if anyone was there. She jumped a little bit when she saw a long, fluffy tail.

"Tangle!," Whisper exclaimed as she rapidly moved towards what could only be the lemur.

Just when Tangle was clearly in Whisper's line of sight, facing away from her, the lemur stood up straight from her previously slouched position.

"I've been waiting for you, Whisper," the lemur uttered in a monotone voice, totally uncharacteristic of her. As soon as Tangle said those words, Whisper knew something was wrong.

"T-tangle..." the wolf cautiously uttered. "What happened? Who took you? What's wrong?"

Slowly, Tangle turned to face Whisper. The wolf gasped at the sight of the lemur's face, more specifically her eyes. The lemur's once-white sclera were now a pulsating lime green, and her normally purple eyes were a bright orange.

"Nothing is wrong," the lemur said calmly, "except for you."

"Tangle, no!," Whisper uttered in shock. "Something's very wrong with you!"

"But who's to blame?," Tangle replied. "If you had listened to what I had to say, this wouldn't have happened to me."

Whisper's mouth hung open, unable to properly react. Some... thing was making Tangle talk. It wasn't her. It couldn't be her!

"You broke my heart," Tangle lulled as her head tilted to one side. "Now I'm going to break your body!"

Before Whisper could react, Tangle leapt at her, crashing into her and pinning her to the ground. The wolf struggled beneath the lemur, but while Whisper was a trained soldier, Tangle had natural strength far greater than hers. With one hand, Tangle ripped off her former friend's mask, throwing it against the cave wall. She then pulled back a fist and swung it directly into Whisper's face. The wolf grunted in pain as the blow landed, unable to even properly react before Tangle landed a second punch.

Whisper, barely conscious, relaxed her muscles and moaned in pain as Tangle pulled back her fist again...

Suddenly, Tangle reared back and screamed at the top of her lungs, placing both hands on her head. She blinked, and her eyes returned to normal.

"Get out of my head!," the lemur screamed. "Whisper. WHISPER! I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID! I DON'T MEAN-"

Tangle collapsed to the floor. Whisper pulled herself up, in spite of her injuries, and crawled rapidly over to the lemur's prone body.

"Tangle," the wolf uttered under her breath, before screaming. "TANGLE!"

"Hmm," hummed a voice from deeper into the cave. "Seems the effects are wearing off. No matter, I'll just slime her again..."

"Who are you?," Whisper shouted in the direction of the voice. "What did you do to her?"

A sticky squelch marked each footstep of the figure as she emerged from the shadows. Whisper gasped at the sight of her in full. She was an anthropomorphic snail, with slimy dark-brown skin, a spiralling beige shell, and eyes with black sclera. Her lower body was all covered by the maroon-red dress she wore. However, her most clear feature were the antennae on her head, green with dark-brown spots and orange tips. They were swollen far beyond what snail feelers ought to be, as if a gigantic, juicy worm were inhabiting her head.

"Leuco the Snail," the mollusk boasted. "And as I said, I'm your worst nightmare."

Leuco walked over to the bodies of Tangle and Whisper. The wolf weakly reached out a hand to try and stop the snail, but Leuco scooped up Tangle and shook her, as if trying to get her to start up. The lemur's white eyes slowly slid open, but before she could react, the snail once again shoved her slimy hand into Tangle's mouth. As Tangle's screams, including a noise that sounded like Whisper's name, were muffled by the slime being forced into her body, Whisper reeled back in disgust. A minute passed before Tangle blinked and her eyes returned to the sinister shade of green.

"For those not educated," Leuco turned to Whisper, "ingesting my Hypno-Slime puts victims like her under my control."

"You're disgusting," Whisper gaped. "You're sick!"

"I've been called worse," the snail admitted as she stood Tangle up next to her. "I care not for my own physical and mental health. I just want you to suffer!"

"Why?," the wolf asked, exasperated.

"Get the Restoration to look up my name in Eggman intel," Leuco chuckled. "They'll figure it out."

Whisper's mind raced. Leuco had, at least at one point, either worked for or fought against Eggman. Could it be that the reason she was after Whisper had something to do with the Diamond Cutters? Could it be that -

"No," Whisper gawked. "No!"

"What should we do to her, master?," Tangle asked in that monotone voice.

"Leave her to drown in her sorrow at her inability to save you," Leuco boasted. "As for us, I think we'll go on a crime spree. The general public won't know you're being controlled, and once I grow bored of you, I'll have you thrown in the slammer, never to see Whisper again. We'll start - where else - back in Spiral Hill."

The snail grabbed the lemur around the shoulders with her long, slimy arm, and they stepped out of the cave.

"Farewell, Diamond Cutter," Leuco sarcastically quipped.

Tangle's tail stretched out to grab the other side of the canyon, and the two swung and climbed their way out, disappearing over the horizon.

Whisper stood up painfully, and grabbed her mask from the floor. It was a bit busted up, but still worked. Taking out her Restoration communicator, the wolf rung up Restoration HQ.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"This is Lanolin," a voice replied from the other side. "What are you calling for?"

"Get any Eggman intel the Restoration recovered," Whisper commanded, "and see if you can find anything on a woman named Leuco the Snail."

"We're on it," Lanolin affirmed.

"Okay, bye," Whisper dryly uttered, hanging up. She put on her mask and curled herself up. She had failed. Tangle was under Leuco's control, and was about to do who knows what horrible things against her will.

Suddenly, the five Wisps emerged from the Variable Wispon and gave Whisper a big hug.

"We'll get through this," affirmed the Pink Spikes Wisp. "We always have."

"Thank you," Whisper breathed, wiping away tears.