Chapter One

The cobalt hedgehog growled in frustration, glaring down at the faintly glowing purple-blue rings around his wrists. Inhibitors. The damn cursed things felt very odd, to say the least. It was as if they were sucking the very life out of his veins slowly, yet not killing him either; they were the perfect balance to make him feel drained yet full of energy at the same time. It was filling him with a strange, unsettling sense of unease. He felt chained yet free, content yet miserable, panicked but… calm - all at once! It was confusing to him, and when he was confused, he got irritated.

So here he was, sitting at the cliff edge, legs dangling over the side, ears folded back, blue quills bristling, emerald eyes narrowed, sharp teeth bared in a snarl, irate. He didn't need these stupid things. He was completely fine, for Chaos sake! So, he lost his cool – so what? It wouldn't happen again, he would make sure of that.

Alas, they didn't trust him. They probably never would again. That's why he had these, because they didn't think that he could control himself anymore. It was once. Once! It's funny how quick they are to flip the script though, isn't it? Shadow tried to destroy Mobius several times, granted he was confused and under the influence of Eggman, but that still shouldn't be excused so easily! Surprisingly, though, it was: G.U.N. appointed him as one of their lead agents and the rest of his friends accepted and forgave him so quickly. But Chaos forbid, he screws up once and his friends can't even discuss this stuff with him properly? Nah, of course not! Instead, they sit him down for five minutes and force him to wear some stupid rings that make his frazzled mind think that death is actually a preferable alternative. Did they just not care…? Not care about how he felt about all this?

He lowered his gloved hands from his face, disgust and betrayal evident on his features. He was alone, so he begrudgingly let his cheerful façade slip, otherwise he really wouldn't have. He wouldn't have let it slide ordinarily, but he just felt so… so… so furious!

"Good thing these Inhibitors are keeping me from letting out anger like I would normally do!" he huffed sarcastically to no one at all.

He was referring to the fact that he used to release built up Chaos Energy, mostly the Negative kind, when he let his emotions stack up for too long. This happens fairly regularly due to him masking his emotions behind a smile for the benefit of his friends. A lot of good that did him, seeing as how he'd spent all this time protecting his friends, keeping them from worrying, and they can't even be courteous enough to return the stinking favour! Now, these Inhibitors were just making him crack under the pressure of his own emotions.

He picked up a stone by his side and, with an aggravated scream, threw it over the cliff-side, watching it splash into the lake bellow. He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. After a few moments of sitting there, he opened one of his eyes, glancing back at the lake. Trying to compose himself once more, he took a deep breath and focused on the large expanse of shimmering water sitting at the bottom of the cliff. The sun glittered on the surface of the water, sparkling and dancing along with the soft waves. The water was extremely clear and blue. He breathed in the cool summer air; the scent of various flowers filled his nose with their pleasant aromas. The smell of the grass was a welcoming change to the city's musk too. He missed this.

Now that he was calmer, he took better look at his surroundings. The tall trees behind him shielded him mostly from the summer's sun, dappling his soft fur with tiny splodges of sunlight. The cerulean sky was clear aside from the white, puffy clouds on the horizon and the breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees. He listened to the birds' melodic tunes and took in the sights all around him. A smile crept up onto his face.

For a moment, he completely forgot about his Inhibitors, that is until his mood drastically changed… again. It seemed that, because these things kept his Chaos Energy levels in check, they also fucked with his emotions too – now he was having mood swings like a moody teenage girl… great…

He'd barely had these for two hours… and he already despised them.