Hey,
So... this is a complete re-write of These Inhibitors' Flaws. I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. I honestly got stuck with updating the old version, so I thought why not re-write it? This version will have some of the same story beats as the original, but I've added a whole lot more to it now, starting with: the actual reason why Sonic gets the inhibitors in the first place! I always meant to show it in the original, but never really got around to it.
I hope those of you who used to read the old one enjoy this updated version if you're still around. And no fear; I will not be taking down the original, but it is no longer being updated. This story is also being cross-posted on Wattpad (under RosyShySpirit) and Archive of Our Own (under FortuneSpirit) as I attempt to get back into more consistent writing. Please enjoy, and as always I look forward to reading your comments!
(And no, I am not dead. I swear. Just really bad at updating!)
~Fortune
Prologue
Wide green eyes stared into the void. Sonic was confused, but something about this felt… familiar. He turned his head, hoping to see something, anything, around him, but all he saw was darkness. If he could not see his own hands right in front of him, he would have thought his eyes were closed.
He took a shaky step forward. For some reason he felt off. It's not that he was sick, he just felt disoriented. And tired. Ok, maybe just a little nauseous. It was hard to catch your bearings when you couldn't really see anything. For all he knew, he could be upside down in this weird place. It did feel like he was spinning actually, now that he thought about it… He hoped that was just his imagination.
What had he been doing? Where had he been before this darkness? He could not remember.
He felt a pulse of something. He knew it, this energy, but his clouded mind could not quite grasp what it was. It was Chaos, he knew that much. With no other direction, he sought to seek out that strange energy.
His footsteps echoed when he began walking. It sounded like stepping on hollow glass. No. Crystal. It sounded high-pitched, more musical even, like crystal. He furrowed his brow. How was it that he could see nothing, but hear the sound of a non-existent floor? Then he had to correct himself; if he was walking on something, a floor must exist, he just couldn't see it.
He growled in annoyance. The sound reverberated back to him with the same wavering echo his steps had. It sounded wrong. Really, really wrong. He didn't like it. Flattening his ears, he pressed onwards.
The closer Sonic got to the source of this energy, the more off he felt. Now he was really starting to feel nauseous.
Suddenly, a tingling sensation ran down his spine, making his quills bristle. He spun around on his heel with a stuttering breath. There was no one behind him, but he swore he felt eyes watching him.
"H-hello?" he called out into the darkness, wincing at the quaver in his voice.
He shook himself out and cleared his throat. He tried to ignore the way his voice bounced back at him and started again.
"Who's there?"
Good. This time his voice was clearer.
Something cold grazed his shoulder and he spun around again, fur on end. Again, he saw no one. He shivered. Sonic realised he could now see his breaths puff out in front of him. He couldn't help the way his breathing picked up at the sudden change.
Something, or someone, was fucking with him.
"Show yourself!" he hissed.
A sound akin to the wind whistling through tree branches started around him. The sound got steadily louder and doubled up on itself. It took a moment for him to realise it was not the wind, but whispers. He couldn't understand what they were saying, it was all too garbled. The whispers circled him. He swivelled around, trying to find the source. His quills were raised and he felt his hands unconsciously curl into fists at his sides.
And then, as fast as it started, everything went silent again.
Every muscle in his body tensed. His eyes darted around. The silence was somehow quieter than it had been before. How was that even possible? He took a few steps back.
Then something wrapped around his ankle and yanked it out from under him. He yelped, landing on his back. His hands came up to shield himself, but from what he didn't know. He snapped open his eyes and saw two, glowing white eyes staring at him. He froze, breath caught in his throat.
"Dark," Sonic whispered.
Those white eyes narrowed. "Hello, Maurice."
He swallowed thickly, hands still raised in front of him. Dark's voice was low and sounded calm, but Sonic knew better than to trust that voice. It had been years since he'd last seen Dark. His black-furred refection floated above him on his stomach, hands propping up his head as if he was leaning on something. What should have been peach fur on his chest, arms and muzzle were paler, more of a light beige. Dark's quills curved upwards, like his Super form. Because Dark was a super form, but he wasn't Super.
Now he knew why this place was familiar. It was the Voidspace. And if he was here, that meant…
"Wh-what did you do?"
A small smirk broke out of Dark's face. It looked wrong.
"You summoned me. Do you not recall?" Dark chuckled.
He gasped. "What? N-no, I wouldn't have done that!"
"Oh, but you did," Dark sang. "You let me in, Maurice. You slipped."
Sonic rolled to the side and got to his knees. Dark turned to look at him but made no move to get closer. There was still a smirk on his face. He seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. Dark was very good at confusing him. It was often his tactic to cloud Sonic's memory, so he couldn't remember what was happening when Dark took control.
"Don't call me that," Sonic snapped, but the bite was drowned out by the tremble in his voice.
Dark's smirk only grew, but he said nothing.
Sonic got to his feet and faced Dark, ears folded back. He tried his best to look commanding. He had to remember that, while Dark was extremely powerful, he was the one in control here. This was his body, not Dark's.
"Give me back control, Dark. This isn't funny."
Dark tilted his head and lowered to his feet. A spark of purple-blue light flashed around his body for a moment and Sonic felt himself flinch. He had to reach out into the Voidspace. He had to reach another super form.
He took a deep breath and tried to let the tension fall from his shoulders. His fear only fuelled Dark. Worrying would help nothing. If he took away Dark's power over him, it would allow another super form to overpower Dark so that he could regain control. He just had to lower his heart rate and attain a calmer state, then he could reach out to Hyper.
He rose his chin and fixed Dark with a glare. He felt for Hyper's distinct energy. It took a lot of concentration to call out to a super form, and Hyper was usually the hardest to reach. He couldn't actually access his power without the Super Emeralds, and Sonic wasn't so sure he'd ever be able to use them again. But he had to reach Hyper now. He was the only super form he had that could incapacitate Dark.
Dark must have known what he was trying. The purple-blue flicker returned. Dark lunged at him and Sonic dashed to the side to avoid him. He broke out into a run, hoping to put some distance between himself and Dark until he could get Hyper to respond. He reached out with his own energy as he heard Dark screech behind him, the horrible sound echoing back, distorted. He couldn't let that distract him. He had to remain calm.
Sonic felt his energy brush up against a calmer energy right before Dark slammed into him from behind. He cried out as he hit the floor of the Voidspace, feeling claws sink into his back. At the speed they were both going, the two slid far. Sonic took the brunt of the impact, but he managed to throw Dark off him. Sonic coughed; the air had been knocked out of him. He rolled onto his back so he could suck more oxygen into his lungs. Or, whatever the equivalent was in Voidspace. As he understood it, this place was in his mind. It had always been a part of him.
Sonic heard Dark growling. He shivered and tried to get to his knees. He looked up in time to see a blur of white crash into Dark mere inches from his face. His wide eyes followed the two hedgehogs as they tumbled over one another. Hyper ended up on top of Dark. He turned to Sonic, bright white fur glistening with specks of rainbow coloured light.
"Are you ok?" Hyper called, red eyes flickering with the same iridescent rainbow hues as his fur.
Sonic, still rather winded, nodded back with a grateful smile. He hadn't properly seen Hyper in forever either. He'd missed him.
Dark attempted to throw Hyper off, but now the other super form was here, Sonic found it easier to relax. That gave Dark less to feed off and Hyper more power.
Sonic watched Dark kick Hyper away, but the white hedgehog didn't go far. He immediately doubled back and punched the darker form in the cheek. While Dark was briefly stunned, Hyper gathered energy around himself, a shifting rainbow glow enveloped him. He shot the energy towards Dark, who managed to recover quick enough to counter with a shield of dark purple energy. Sonic tried to fight his worry as he continued to observe the fight. He needed to believe that Hyper could do this.
"Come on Hyper…"
Dark lunged at Hyper. The lighter form grabbed Dark by the wrist as he narrowly avoided his swipe. Dark hissed as the other used his energy to burn him. Yanking his hand back, Dark swung around and kicked Hyper, knocking his feet from under him. Then, the darker form took to the air. He began gathering purple energy around his fists. Hyper got back to his feet and shook himself. His eyes were narrowed.
Sonic sat back and folded his legs as Hyper shot after Dark. If he could reach a proper calm state of mind, Hyper should be able to end this. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, blocking out the sounds of his super forms battling it out. He tried to pretend he didn't hear Hyper yelp. Sonic relaxed all his muscles and counted his breaths. Inhale for two. Hold for one. Exhale for four. After a few moments, he cracked open an eye to see how Hyper was doing.
It looked like Hyper had indeed turned the fight. He was standing on Dark's chest, who was growling. There was a trail of red from Dark's lips to his chin. Hyper had actually drawn blood. Dark didn't seem happy about it and he was breathing hard – he had to yield. Hyper was still glowing with multi-coloured light. The two were staring at each other in a silent glaring battle.
Finally, Dark huffed and disappeared.
Hyper ran over and kneeled next to Sonic. He gently grasped Sonic's shoulders.
"I managed to break Dark's connection, but doing so has left your body unconscious." Hyper's voice was urgent, but calm, like it had always been. "I'm not sure what is happening outside your body, so you must go back as soon as possible. We don't know what Dark may have done, or what danger had triggered you to unconsciously allow Dark to take control."
He knew he had to leave. Hyper was right; anything could be happening out there. Sonic wrapped his arms around Hyper.
"See you soon?" he mumbled, already knowing the answer.
Hyper only hugged back. "Stay safe."
When Sonic opened his eyes, he was lying on his back. He felt dazed. And he was looking at a scorched metal ceiling. There was a hole in the roof, and he could see the clear blue sky through it. He really hoped he hadn't done that.
He must have been in an Eggman base. So why had he lost his cool?
Then it hit him.
Eggman had a really big robot. It looked similar to the Death Egg Robot, but it was unpainted and the exterior had been a lot tougher than the original. There was also no head, the had Egg Mobile sat in its place. There was a Chaos Emerald inside, he'd felt it. It must have been what was protecting the robot, because he hadn't been able to even scratch it. Neither had Knuckles.
That's right. Knuckles had been here. And so had Tails.
And while Sonic had been trapped in its hand, Eggman had knocked Tails across the room.
And he hadn't got up afterwards.
Sonic sat bolt upright, quills bristling. His head felt heavy, but he fought through it. He had to make sure his friends were ok.
The first thing he saw was the arm of Eggman's robot. In front of him. On the floor. The other arm, with its clawed hand missing, was off to his left. The body and legs, which were still somehow together, were a lot further away. The Egg Mobile was nowhere to be seen. The whole body was scorched and blown apart, like it had exploded. Looking around, Sonic saw shrapnel everywhere.
So it had exploded.
Had Dark done that?
Sonic shifted and flinched when his hand brushed up against something. He whipped his head around and sighed when he realised it was just the Emerald. The red one. He scooped it up and, ignoring the familiar pulse of energy from the Emerald, glanced around again.
In horror, he realised that some of the scorch marks on the floor weren't scorch marks at all, but blood. Not a lot of blood, but blood none the less. Swallowing thickly, Sonic got to his feet. He swayed slightly, an aftereffect of Dark's control.
"Guys?" he called out.
Tails' face appeared first; thank Chaos, he was ok. He was hiding behind the arm to his left. His baby blue eyes were wide and he was trembling. Sonic immediately felt like he wanted to throw up. His brother was trembling because of him.
Knuckles wasn't far behind Tails. He was also behind the arm. When he emerged, he was glaring directly at him. He stomped over. He looked really pissed off. It didn't escape Sonic's attention that some parts of his fur were darker than others.
"You could have killed us, you idiot!" the red echidna snapped.
Sonic folded his ears back. "Knux, I-I… I'm sorry, I just…"
Tails ran between them, his fluffy yellow tails twitching nervously. Sonic noticed there was blood on the side of his brother's head, and something inside him began writhing in rage. He quelled it as best as he could, taking slow, subtle breaths through his nose.
"Knuckles, please. It's not like he did it on purpose," Tails said.
Knuckles' purple eyes never left Sonic's own. Tails grasped one of his namesakes.
"It's been a long time since it's happened…" the fox added quietly.
Sonic was the first to look away.
"Where'd Eggman go?" Sonic asked.
Knuckles looked like he was about to start yelling again, but Tails beat him to it, "He left. A while ago."
Sonic nodded. His head was still a little fuzzy and the action made him nauseous again. He made a mental note to avoid running for a few hours.
"Like we should have," Knuckles grumbled, heading for the door.
Sonic deflated a little more at that. Tails patted his arm to get his attention. The younger fox had stopped trembling, but Sonic could tell by the way he was hugging his tail that he was still a little uneasy.
"Don't listen to him, Sonic. He was just worried, that's all."
Sonic sighed. "I know…"
'So was I.'
Sonic passed Tails the Emerald. The fox put it in his backpack and ran after Knuckles, who had yet to reach the door. Sonic watched as the two exchanged words. He was too far away to hear what they were saying. Tails' ears lowered and the echidna walked on ahead of him.
Sonic narrowed his eyes.
