My Demons

Chapter 1

Sonic walked inside Amy’s hut, the blue hedgehogs’ shoulders slumped and dark circles underneath his eyes, looking a lot less like himself and more like he had been through a lot of stress. Which was the case.

“You’re late.” Amy said, eyes narrowed like a mother seeing her kid got an F in class.

“Yeah, whatever.” Sonic yawned, walking over to the couch and sitting down on it, ignoring the concerned glances from Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks.

“Okay, Sonic, I know you’re going through a lot from how the villagers reacted to you calling a guy “just a guy”, but we know that you didn’t mean to be offensive, right?” Amy asked, both hands laid on her lap while she sat with perfect posture.

“Of course not. Then when I let the guy join us in that battle with Eggman and he got injured, they still got mad!” Sonic blurted, his stress increasing. “I mean, what is it going to take for me to please these people?”

“Okay.” Amy replied, putting her hand up. “I get you’re a little frustrated...”

“Frustrated? Oh, I am beyond that at this point! I can’t even go into the village without them thinking I’m Eggman!” Sonic replied, grabbing handfuls of his quills.

“But do you really think exploding about it will help? Yes, you’re stressed out because you, alongside us, protected them and they may be a little ungrateful at times.” Amy replied.

“A lot.” Sonic corrected, earning Amy to narrow her eyes.

“What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t let what they say bother you so much. One day they’ll see how much you care and will forget why they were mad in this first place.” Amy told him.

“She’s got a point. Most of them think I’m a total whack job, but I don’t hear them.” Sticks implied.

“Well, you have been right before, I can’t deny that.” Amy replied to the brown badger, then glancing back over at Sonic. “However, my point is that this situation isn’t permanent. Nothing lasts forever.” she reassured him.

Sonic only gritted his teeth. “You clearly don’t understand at all!”

“Maybe we would if you just take a deep breath and-”

“No!” Sonic snapped, standing up, having the others freeze in shock. “All of your positive talks and whatever else you call them aren’t going to put out every single fire! You guys are more respected than I am, and if those villagers want to push me away like this, then so be it!”

“What are you saying?” Tails asked.

“I’m saying that I quit.” Sonic answered boldly, the others’ jaws dropping.

“And what do you think that would prove? It’s only been almost a year since the villagers started their baloney, so what if they’re bringing that event up again now?” Amy interjected, standing up from her chair and putting her hands on her hips. “You’re usually not someone to give up so easily.”

“Then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think!” Sonic hissed coldly, his eyes flashing red momentarily.

This earned visible fear in Amy’s expression as she backed up, the pink hedgehogs’ ears lowering while Sonic held his glare, his quills ruffling due to the intense emotions rushing through him like wildfire and his hands balling into fists, the blue hedgehog almost ready to explode.

“Sonic...” Tails spoke up, the blue hedgehog glancing over at him. “You have to be joking, right?” he asked fearfully.

Sonic didn’t answer, instead he walked out of Amy’s hut, leaving behind his shocked friends.

“He’s serious.” Sticks sighed.

*        *        *

“Those guys have no clue what I’m going through.” Sonic grumbled to himself, pacing around in his shack. “Honestly, what’s wrong with me that the villagers choose to pick on me anyways? I’ve protected them as much as the others have. I’m not the bad guy here.” He huffed.

Sonic then stopped pacing and sighed, crossing his arms in thought. A low chuckle sounding that of Sonic’s voice then went off, the blue hedgehog’s ear flicking as he glanced over, a trail of fog leading out of his shack. Raising a brow in confusion, Sonic followed the fog trail, it leading him to a familiar location, the blue hedgehog soon halting as he spotted the cave where he and the others had found the Ancients’ mech suit.

“This is certainly getting weird.” Sonic muttered to himself and walked into the cave, the chuckling still going.

Sonic glanced around himself, ears swiveling as he listened for any footsteps of whoever was chuckling, only to halt in his tracks as the chuckling stopped abruptly. ‘This has to be either some kind of prank or my imagination.’ Sonic thought.

“It’s neither.” The voice spoke from behind Sonic.

Sonic turned around, eyes widening as he could see what looked like himself except for the duplicate having navy blue fur and red eyes, the Sonic double smirking at him.

“And who might you be?” Sonic asked in confusion.

“Oh, come now. Would you really forget who made you stronger when you had that mech suit?” the hedgehog chuckled.

“Tails did say something about me being possessed, but he destroyed the chip.” Sonic replied.

“Which was a stupid move if you ask me. All that know-it-all fox did was release me from my prison, so while being set free, I ended up taking the form of a darker version of you.” The hedgehog explained. “You’ve been holding back since that day too. That is, until those villagers brought up that day of you letting Mike get injured, and made you help them even after you declared early retirement. You honestly thought that by them begging you to come back would’ve taught them a lesson? Even an infant could have tried harder in being more appreciative.” He said, stepping towards Sonic.

Sonic crossed his arms. “If you’re actually my darker side, then why now call me here?” He asked suspiciously.

“Believe me, I’ve tried, and you only heard me now because you’re at your breaking point again.” The hedgehog replied, now circling Sonic. “Face it, Sonic, those former friends of yours have no clue what you’re going through, and the pesky villagers could care less about what their nasty words do to you mentally. Not to mention Eggman and Shadow adding salt to the wound, like that stunt he pulled on dooming the entire universe, and Eggman using Metal Sonic to frame you. Haven’t you ever wished you never held back from really teaching them not to mess with you?” He questioned.

Sonic stayed silent and thought about it. The hedgehog wasn’t wrong. Eggman, Shadow, and Metal Sonic had been putting Sonic through some insane battles. The villagers being ungrateful despite his efforts, and Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks had no idea of the stress Sonic is under to this very day, his mind becoming a hazy red, the navy-blue hedgehog smirking, sensing his anger rising.

“You have a choice now. Put up with everyone’s baloney and keep pretending it’s not effecting you that much, or show them what they’re turning you into, and never have to worry about anyone or anything ever again.” The hedgehog said as he stood in front of Sonic.

“I’ll teach them a lesson they won’t forget.” Sonic replied with a cold tone.

The navy-blue hedgehog smirked before turning into a puff of smoke and flying directly into Sonic’s chest, the blue hedgehog wincing a bit as he felt a small sting in his heart, but the pain soon faded as fast as it came. Sonic stood straight and his eyes turned from green to red, his fur and quills turning only a slightly darker shade of blue, the now dark blue hedgehog smirking.