It had been a few hours since Sonic had left, but the others hadn't noticed his absence yet. He was rather quiet in the facility, more-so after he had shut himself in, even if only temporarily.
The young fox was buried up to his ears in work, the work that he had put on himself. He had been working probably since when Sonic had left for his little run around, but he didn't know that. Still, he was there, hunched over his desk with instrument in hand.
"You're going to ruin your back doing that, you know." Shadow said at the doorway.
"Wha- Sh-Shadow?!" The fox jumped then instinctively covered his workspace with his arms. "Wha- what are you doing here?"
"Wondering what you've been doing? I assume you're still worried about Sonic. That's why you're hunched over your desk here, right?"
"Ah, well, that's part of it."
"What are you talking about?" Shadow stood closer to him, a brow raised.
"I.... Ah whatever." He moved himself away from the table and presented what he was creating.
Laying on the table was a pair of shoes. Thick ones made of synthetics and foam, but instead of the traditional rubber soles, they were made out of metal and other high heat resistant material's. Underneath were many holes made to expel out energy.
"Are those.... Rocket shoes?" Shadow puzzled. His head tilted to one side.
"Yeah, I sort of wanted it to be a surprise, but..." the fox fiddled with his hands as he trailed off.
"Why did you make these?"
"Well, I don't know... with what's happening to Sonic, I figured we might need a little something extra for the long run." He scratched his head and nervously admitted. "Though, thinking about it, I might just be forcing work on myself so I don't have to keep worrying about him."
"Why do you think we'll need something like this in the future?"
"I don't know... call it a hunch?"
Shadow examined the shoes. Despite all the metal, it looked rather comfortable, even just a little bit. The design of them was really nice too. The beautiful red soles came in contrast with the black and white base. Wait...
"Are those... for me?" Shadow said.
"Uh, yeah! I know you're sort of accustomed to the shoes the facility gave you, but I thought that you... might wanted an extra pair?"
He looked back down at the shoes, examining the jets below that were painted gold to match his inhibitors. "Can I try them on?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah! I want to see if they fit!" He slid them off of the table and graciously held them out to the dark hedgehog in front. "I still need to do some tweaking, but they're basically in perfect working order!"
"... And they aren't going to explode on me? Are they?" Shadow said with suspicion.
"UGH! You blow up a fighter jet and then almost set off a nuclear bomb ONE TIME, and all of a sudden no one trust you or your work anymore!"
Shadow sighed and took them from the foxes hands. That was confirmation enough. To be fair, the fox hasn't blown something up in months, yet. He slid them over his feet, over the rings that kept him stable and alive. A perfect fit.
"Huh, not bad." He smirked.
"I also got these for you." Tails said and held out a pair of white gloves that were missing their fingers to him. Another gift for the hedgehog. "I know you don't wear any. But I thought that you'd like them as well."
The hedgehog took the gloves in his hands, they were pretty standard ones you could find anywhere. But still, they were a present, and a lovely one at that. A small smile curled up from his cheek. "Thank you, Tails."
The fox blinked. "Wow, Shadow. I... I've never seen you share such extreme gratitude over a gift before."
"Don't push it." Shadow said unamused by the fox's comment. He still slid on the gloves, over his inhibitors like he did with his shoes. They fit like a glove. Pun intended.
"Looking good!" Tails cheered.
"I suppose if I am going to be wearing these all the time, I'll need to place my rings over them."
"You be fine."
"I figured. But I haven't taken them off before. I'm not sure if I can."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Now give them to me!" He held out his hands, making a grabbing motion. "I still need to finish working on them."
Shadow chuckled. "Alright." He said and he slid off the shoes then grabbed his previous pair to slide them on. Tapping his feet afterwards to make sure they're snug.
"Uh, hello?" Silvers voice entered the room. He was peering nervously into the doorway.
"Oh, hey Silver! What's up?" Tails said.
"I was just seeing what you guys were up too. Things have been unusually mellow for a while."
"Why do you say that?" Shadow said as he adjusted his shoes.
"Yeah. Wouldn't you want it to be calm? Isn't that why you're here in the first place?" Tails said.
"Well, yes." Silver admitted. "But I just feel that whatever is happening isn't done yet. That if I go back to my time, the future would still be..." he trailed off with that last word, not wanting to say it.
"Your worry is understandable." Shadow nodded, then pressed a hand over his chin. "In all honesty, I have my own inquiries about all of this."
"What do you mean?" Tails said.
"The only two times Sonic had tried to kill us is when we or someone else is around. But these past few weeks where he has isolated himself, he hasn't once changed at all."
"Oh yeah! You're right!"
"That is rather odd." Silver said.
Shadow nodded again. "And if my hunch is correct, it most likely means that someone is doing this to him."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to doubt you, Shadow. But how would someone even be able to do this to him?"
"I'm unsure. But I think I have a hunch..."
"I think I know what that hunch is." Tails added with a grin. He and Shadow shared a nod, creating a confused Silver.
"Um... Are you going to fill me in on this?"
"I'm hoooooooome~"
Sonic's voice rang through the area and the three of them all looked at each other. They had no idea he had even left.
They entered the room next door and came near the giant hedgehog, running into Knuckles who had also just came back from his usual workout routine.
"Hey guys! What's up?" Sonic said with a smile.
"You were out again?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah, I uh... had a not so good dream. Just needed to get out and clear my head, y'know."
"Didn't we talk about you suddenly up and leaving before?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah, I know. But..."
Tails raised his arms up in the air. "Dude! Seriously! What if something happened while you were out?"
"Like blacking out and start trying to kill people? It's been like a month, and I've been out with my uncle and Amy all day and NOTHING has happened!"
"It COULD happen again, Sonic!" Shadow said. "Not everyone knows how to handle someone like you!" There was a pause of uncomfortable silence after that. Even from silver, who now was the most silent compared to the others since this whole argument.
" 'someone like me'?" Sonic repeated. "Like what? A 50 foot monster?"
"He didn't mean it like that, Sonic. You know that!" Tails said.
"Really? Cause you guys keep acting like I DON'T know things!" Sonic scoffed. "Honestly, you guys are even more not in the know. You guys have no idea why this is happening to me!"
"Hey! We're trying, alright!" Knuckles barked, a little bit aggressively.
" 'trying' is not enough here, knuckles! It's been a MONTH at this point!"
"And you know any better about this?" Shadow growled at him.
"Of course I don't! If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
"Which is why you need to stay cautious!"
"So what? I'm supposed to stay in my room and feel terrible about myself?! Is that what you want?"
"YES THATS EXACTLY IT!" Shadow boomed. His voice made the giant hedgehog recoil with disgusted shock as well as the other two beside him. "No matter what, people are going to view you as a THREAT, Sonic! You need to finally see that!" He spat out his words like venom, gums barred like a wild animal. "YOU ARE A DANGER TO EVERYONE AROUND YOU!"
The room was silent following Shadows statement, then Sonic began to chuckle, a light one that was used to bring out the disbelief from a person.
"Right." He exhaled. "I'm a danger." His quills raised in aggression as he stepped closer to them. "I'm just some BIG MONSTER that wrecks everything I come across, huh? THAT is all I am?!" He stomped a foot down when he was just a few small feet next to them.
His stomach squirmed when he saw his friends back up from him and brace themselves in case he tries anything. But there was nothing, he would never hurt his friends, no matter how angry he was at them right now.
He sneered and scoffed. "Whatever." And he stepped over them, walking out of the large room in the direction of the kitchen, his hands balled into fists and his quills still as stiff as before.
They all sighed when he left their view. Tails and knuckles gave Shadow a nasty disappointed look. Obviously about the words he had said to Sonic. Even if what he said was true to even the smallest degree, he had no right to say it, especially to him like that.
"Shadow—" Tails began. But shadow was already walking in the direction Sonic went.
"Wha—HEY! Where the hell are you going?!" Knuckles shouted as he followed him.
"As much as that big blue idiot is on my nerves. He needs to know about what we have found about him." Shadow huffed. He jerked back when Knuckles grabbed him and stopped him in his tracks.
"The dude is upset. I'm sure whatever you found can wait—"
"And what? Let him go and kill someone?!" Shadow barked. "That hedgehog can go to mach 1 in an instant, even at that size, and you want it to wait?!"
"Sh-Shadow, come on." Silver stuttered. "It can wait just a little bit."
"Like you have anything to contribute to this! You've been here for weeks and the only thing you've done is spew threats and eat our food! Especially that cake I was saving!"
"I said I was sorry..."
"Hey, lay off the kid, alright!" Knuckles said. "He's only doing what he's supposed to do!"
"And that is what, exactly?" Barred Shadow as he ripped his arm from the echidnas grasp. "He's done NOTHING since he came here!"
"Still, you don't need to be a jackass about it!"
Shadow scoffed. "Fine. Sorry." He said in a rude tone. Then he began walking the direction Sonic was in, only to be stopped by Knuckles again.
"Hey! That was a halfassed apology!"
"I said I was sorry! What more do you want from me?"
"Say it like you mean it!"
"What?"
"I don't want some bullshit condescending tone! I want you to say you are genuinely sorry!"
"I already said I was sorry and I meant it! I'm not going to say it again because you thought otherwise!"
"Dude!"
"knuckles, just drop it!" Tails said.
Shadow huffed. "Fine..."