Walking behind Rouge, Shock thought over what she had said. Eggman had lied to him? The echidna clenched his fists. He despised the idea that he had been used. He had led a solitary life and after a chance meeting, he becomes someone's tool.
Rouge's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Hey isn't that one of Eggman's mechs?"
Shock blinked and saw her gazing over at the Motobug he had ridden on.
"Oh, uh... yeah," said Shock, "It took me here."
"Really? Neat! How do you drive it?"
"I don't. I just sit on its back and... tell it where to go."
"Mind if I ride it to Sonic's? It's quite a distance and my feet'll be killing me by the time we get there."
"Why don't you just fly?" he asked, glancing at her wings.
She gave a small shrug, "I fly pretty fast and I don't know if you or your metal friend here could keep up."
"Well, I... guess it might be useful to bring along."
Rouge grinned and took off with her wings, then landed in a cross-legged sitting position on the Motobug's back.
"Why don't you join me up here?" asked Rouge, patting a space beside her, "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I think we'll manage."
Shock blushed, "I'll... I'll walk."
"Alright, but remember – there's a space here."
"Y-Yeah..." said Shock, then cleared his throat, "Follow me," he commanded the bug-like robot.
There was a small bang from the Motobug's exhaust pipes as its engines started up.
"Alright," he said, addressing Rouge, "Which way do we go?"
The bat pointed in the direction they had been heading, "Somewhere over there. Once we get closer, I'll be able to remember exactly where to go."
He nodded and began walking in the direction she had pointed, the Motobug's single tyre rolled over the grass as it followed him as instructed.
"This is a pretty smooth ride," commented Rouge. Shock had to agree – it was.
.
The journey was more or less silent. Rouge tried to get Shock to talk and open up, but the barrier he had kept up almost his whole life remained as solid and impenetrable as ever.
Hmmm... this echidna's quite a challenge... she thought, Not that I'm complaining, though – I like a challenge...
"So," began Rouge, "What's the deal with your fur? Why's it grey?"
"...According to Eggman, it's something to do with my cells; they're mutated. That's why I'm the colour I am."
"Oh, I see. Well, at least they didn't make your fur pink, huh?" she chuckled.
"Yeah," he replied, not even a hint of a smile on his face.
"Oh, come on. It was a joke."
"Yeah, I know. Funny," he said, still wearing the stoic mask.
"...You don't smile much, do ya?"
"Well, give me something to smile about."
"What about my incredibly funny joke?"
Shock simply sighed and shook his head.
Rouge laughed at his response, "You're cute."
"Are we nearly there?" he asked, hoping to shift the focus away from himself.
Still grinning at him, she nodded, "Mm-hm... almost, yeah."
Good... he thought.
.
With directions from Rouge, the two soon stood at bottom of the stairs that lead to the plateau below Tails' workshop.
"I'm not sure about this..." muttered Shock, half to himself.
"Trust me. He'll understand once it's explained."
"Alright, if you say so..."
The two went up the stairs, Rouge leading with Shock staying a few steps behind. At the top, the bat saw Sonic sitting with his back against a red biplane, apparently asleep.
"So-nic!" she called.
The blue hedgehog's eyes opened slowly. He blinked a few times and stretched before his gaze fell on her.
"Oh hey, Rouge," he said, getting up stiffly, using the plane as leverage, "What are you doing here? It's not every day we get a visit from you."
"Hey there," she responded, raising a hand in greeting, "I got someone here who wants to talk."
She looked down the steps at the grey echidna who was still slightly anxious about meeting the cobalt hedgehog again. She cocked her head in beckoning.
Here goes...
Climbing the last few steps, Shock turned his head to face the hedgehog. For a short moment, Sonic thought it was Knuckles, knowing the bat's liking for him. Then he realised the fur was grey and instantly remembered the last encounter.
"You!" he cried, glowering at the echidna, and getting into a fighting stance, "Rouge, what's going on?"
"Calm down, Big Blue. There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here."
"Misunderstanding?"
At that moment, Tails came out of his workshop.
"Oh hi, Rouge!" he said joyfully. Then he spotted the echidna and his eyes showed hostility mixed with slight fear at the memory of the electric outburst; he still had a burn mark on his chest where a bolt had hit him.
"What...?" started the fox.
"We all need to have a talk," said Rouge, her gaze sweeping over the three of them, "Shocky here isn't what you think he is. Hear him out."
The young fox's mouth twisted in doubt. His blue eyes flicked from Rouge to Shock and back.
"Well... alright," said Tails, "But out here. I'm not having him in my home."
"Fair enough," she said with a shrug.
I can understand that... thought Shock.
"Alright, I'm listening..." said Sonic, bringing his fist up to the side of his face, index finger extended, and rested his elbow on his opposite hand.
Rouge turned to the echidna and nodded. Shock was silent for a moment and averted his gaze as he thought.
Where do I begin?
He shook his head and decided to say whatever came to mind, hoping it would go okay.
"I... really, this is all because I was tricked by the Doctor. I met him after he crashed his ship in a forest quite a distance from here."
Shock continued telling them everything that had happened, needing prompting every so often from the hedgehog and fox about various subjects, such as the bracelet. Soon, he finished his story and awaited Sonic's and Tails' reactions.
"Alright. I see, now," said Sonic. He looked directly at Shock and nodded, giving him his usual grin, "Sounds like the honest truth. I believe ya."
Tails nodded, his feelings slightly influenced by Sonic, "Yeah, me too."
"Listen, sorry for giving ya a hard time."
"No, I'm sorry for causing all this trouble," apologised Shock, "It's my fault for believing him..."
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're not the first echidna to be tricked by that egghead."
Rouge smiled at the exchange, "Well, looks like you boys are going to get on fine. I guess I'll leave you to it."
"Thank you for helping me," said Shock.
She smiled, "No problem, hon."
Going into a hover, she winked at him, "Catch ya later," she said, then turned to Sonic and Tails, and waved, "Goodbye, boys."
"Nice seein' ya, Rouge!" replied Sonic, waving back.
The three watched her fly into the distance.
"It's a good thing you met Rouge, huh?" said Tails.
"Yeah," replied Shock, "If it wasn't for her, this meeting probably wouldn't have happened."
Sonic was grinning at him, "I think she's got a thing for ya, too."
Shock frowned and looked away, blushing, Right... whatever...
The hedgehog laughed, "You got some tough competition, though..."
"Can we... talk about something else, please?"
"Hmm... like Eggman?"
"Yeah," the echidna said, then sighed, "I still can't believe he tricked me. Now I know the truth."
"Let's go inside," suggested Tails, pointing his thumb at his workshop, "You hungry, Shock?"
"A little, I guess. But are you sure?"
"About you letting you in? Sure. If that bracelet does what Eggman says, everything should be fine. Oh...!"
"What is it?" asked Sonic.
"Does that have... hmmm... I wonder if Eggman planted some kind of tracking device or microphone on it...?"
Raising his arm, Shock cursed inwardly, He's right... I never thought of that...
"Come inside. We can check there."
.
During tests on the high-tech bracelet, they found nothing suspicious.
"Looks like it's clean," said Tails, nodding in satisfaction.
"Well, as clean as something from Eggman can get," added Sonic, holding his third chilli dog, "Now, I think it's time we use this opportunity to get back at him. Whaddya say?"
Shock and Tails nodded.
"I'm in. But... make it quick. I'm not supposed to be gone for too long. In fact, he's probably wondering where I am..." said Shock, looking over his shoulder.
"Heh. You could just say you were fighting me and Tails. He'd be glad to hear that, right?"
I suppose... thought Shock, nodding.
"Alright, then! Let's get to it!" exclaimed Sonic, clapping his hands together.