Hello everybody! Here's the new chapter and the chapter that will show what happened after the last one. I just couldn't help but to put some small amount of action into this story as well with a small bit of mystery. Just who was it that shot at Sonic and Shadow? Which one of them were meant to be the intended bullet's target? Or was it that they just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and almost ended up taking the bullet for some unforeseen person? So many possibilities, only one of them can be right. And for those of you wondering, this mysterious shooting is going to become a part of a plot while helping to supplement the plot.
Now that we got all of the mysterious and ominous stuff out of the way, you can all go ahead and start reading this new chapter. I hope that you all enjoy the aftermath of what could've been a rather abrupt end to this story. Please don't forget to leave a review after you're done reading. Until the next update everybody!
Chapter 9: Of Accusations and Misinterpretations
How the hell did I manage to get myself into this mess? Sonic thought as his arms were still being held behind his back by another hedgehog that had blackish purple fur on him and a strange aura to accompany the unusual coloring. It had been a few minutes since the shooting incident that had almost claimed either his or Shadow's life were it not for his quick thinking, and this was the thanks he got for acting all heroic. A crowd of crewmembers had formed around him with some trying to keep the nosey passengers who had heard the gunshot and spread the word at bay to prevent any unnecessary panic and the spread of unfounded rumors. There was even a big fat balding man with a thick moustache and a woman who looked a lot like a bat standing just beyond the boundaries posted by members of the crew. The cobalt hedgehog assumed that they were people Shadow knew since he was talking with both of them with an annoyed look written all over his face.
"I'm telling you father, I'm as fine as I could possibly be," he heard the ebon furred hedgehog assure the man for the tenth time since they first appeared at the scene. "The bullet barely managed to miss me by a few mere inches and instead struck and became stuck on the railing. You can see for yourself there if you don't believe me."
"I don't care Shadow!" the man who was the hedgehog's father responded with worry clearly laced through his voice as his moustache twitched in what seemed to be irritation a bit. "This is exactly the reason why I had enlisted the help of a bodyguard prior to boarding this ship. I wanted to make sure that nothing like this would happen to you. Could you believe all the heartache and trouble you'll cause me if you were to be mortally wounded by an assassin who's still hiding out on this ship as we speak?"
"Please try to calm down, Dr. Robotnik," he saw the bat say as she placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "The important thing to think about now is that everything ended up as well as it could have been. Why, if Mephiles hadn't come to Shadow's aid when he did, who would've known what this blue poor excuse of a hedgehog might've done to him with the gun still his hands?
"I'm amazed how he still had the gall to stay here with the gun in his hand and not run off into hiding," she added as she turned to look at Sonic and shot him that reflected full disgust and complete abhorrence at the fact he was still in front of her eyes. "He must've known that trying to hide from us for a whole month on this ship would be a futile effort and decided to give up before the real hunt started."
"For the last time Rouge, Sonic is not the person who tried to shoot me earlier!" Shadow explained to the woman with a very aggravated sigh escaping his lips. "We were both sitting on the bench right over there listening to the propellers hitting the water a few minutes before deciding to walk over to the railing for no particular reason. It was less than a minute later after that when he pushed me to the ground and narrowly prevented either of us from getting a bullet in our backs."
"And why were you even talking to this Sonic character in the first place?" Dr. Robotnik asked as he shot said hedgehog a glare that reeked of suspicions. "Judging by the way he looks, I'd say that he's nothing but a simple third class passenger trying to find a better style of living on Mobius. I'm pretty sure that you have more important things to commit to than to strike up a senseless conversation with those of his kind."
"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm some kind of homeless animal on the street that's meant to be ignored!" the cobalt hedgehog growled out angrily as he tried to free himself from the restraints of the other man's hands. Unfortunately, this only caused him to feel more pressure be added to his already numbing wrists.
"I suggest that you hold still before anything worse than this befalls you," the man whispered into his ear quietly and full of threatening energy. "You do best to remember the situation you got yourself in. I can't guarantee your safety beyond this apprehension should you do anything that might pose a threat to any of our lives here."
"Is that supposed to be your definition of a threat?" the teen countered defiantly as he shot the man a cocky smirk that could have irritated even the coolest and calmest of people. "Funny, it sounded more like an attempt to score some points in the trust department with the people around us."
"Why, you arrogant little hedgehog!" he hissed out angrily as he further tightened his grip on the other's wrists, causing him to now hiss in pain at the pressure now painfully building up and creating the feeling that the vessels in his hands were going to burst. "You just wait until we formally charge you with attempted murder. You'll soon wish that you never talked back to me with such cheek."
"Stop this at once Mephiles!" Shadow shouted out angrily as he stomped towards the man and placed his hands tightly on one of the man's arms in an attempt to make him lessen his grip. "Not only are you hurting the wrong person; you're also apprehending the very person who managed to save my life. If I have told you all once before, then I've told you all a thousand times; Sonic never once tried to shoot me, much less try to lay a single finger on me, during the entire time I was talking with him. The only time he ever did so was when he threw me to the ground, in a valiant way if I might add, for the sake of safety."
"If I may be blunt sir, how can you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the innocent party here?" Mephiles questioned as his voice regained that mysterious calmness the black hedgehog had grown to associate with him through their short meeting at dinner without lessening his grip on Sonic's poor wrists. "For all you know, this rogue could have set you up for this friendly scene so as that you could become an easy target for the gunman. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in cahoots with the assailant until the last minute where he had a change of heart in wanting you dead."
"And what exactly does that have to do with you seeing a gun in his hand when you all first got here? I already said that we were both not thinking very clearly for the few seconds after the shot, and he just picked it up without thinking. I saw it for myself, and I was barely in a stable enough mind to try warning him not to do so. If you're saying that is not the case, then you are calling me a liar. I do hope that isn't what you're insinuating."
"That's not what I am trying to allude to here. What I'm trying to say is that you should not go about trusting everybody on board this ship that you happen to strike up a seemingly harmless and peaceful conversation with. That's not how you would conduct your business on land when you're out walking down the street to the market, so there should be no exception to that rule on this ship when walking for a stroll above decks."
"Do you mind if I give you all my two cents on this crazy situation?" Sonic asked without trying to use a voice that would further aggravate Mephiles and cause him to further tighten his already terribly painful grip on his wrists. "Perhaps my side of this story will help you piece the real truth together when paired with Shadow's explanation. That and you never really gave me the chance to explain myself once during this whole thing."
"I'm starting to believe that it'll all go faster if we simply give you the chance to explain yourself," Dr. Robotnik responded with a weary sigh. "That and I suppose you do deserve the chance to reiterate your side of the story. I don't believe I need to tell you what would happen should you be caught lying to us, do I? My mood is already foul enough because of all this."
"Clear as crystal sir," the cobalt hedgehog responded as he thought he felt his wrists being lessened in pressure slightly. Either that, or they were now dead in terms of blood flow and he was just imagining it. "Shadow kind of forgot to say something to you guys about the few minutes before the whole shooting thing happened. It's true that we just met for a few minutes here under the thought of wanting to find somewhere to relax, but I was already here for a few minutes before he even came to this spot. So for the sake of this argument, where did he come from before stopping here on this part of the ship?"
"Well, I would assume that he came here right after leaving the diner hall," Rouge stated as she tried to recall the events leading up to before this entire incident. It was also clear through her facial expressions that she did not believe a word he was saying. "But he left dinner service forty-five minutes from now, and I think this shooting happened ten minutes ago. From what you both say happened, I can't help but wonder what happened for that unaccounted time. You could have easily figured out he was going to be coming here by tailing him and finding a way to cut him off in the process."
"How about I explain that part for you all?" Shadow suggested with a sigh as he valiantly came to Sonic's aid. "I have a feeling that this will help clear up any and all suspicions you have about Sonic. For the past thirty or so minutes before I came here, I was busy talking with another hedgehog called Silver. He should be somewhere inside the ship if you want to talk to him and have him ascertain that I was indeed with him during that space of time. I'm sure that you remember who he is father. He's the one who's right now scheduled to be engaged with Blaze when they both turn eighteen."
"Ah, he's the boy from the academy who you befriended and wanted to invite over for our family Christmas dinner a couple of years ago, wasn't he?" the doctor questioned as he clearly remembered the name mentioned. Even the bat had some reaction, although it was most likely to the name Blaze since it was the same name as the company she considered her rival and possibly enemy. "You never did tell me why he couldn't come over. I would have so liked to have gotten to know him better."
"You didn't allow me to have him over when I first suggested the idea to you," the ebon hedgehog responded with an aggravated sigh at how his father managed to slightly sidetrack them from the main argument at hand. "You said that we might have some family business to attend to and didn't want him to be around.
"Anyway, we're not talking about that right now. I only brought him up because he would be able to tell you that I was talking with him for about half an hour before coming here. It takes a couple of minutes to get here from where we were standing, and the route I took really makes it hard for anybody who wanted to tail me and kill me to play secret agent. Besides, there were also a good amount of people around me who would've seen Sonic following me if that was what he was really doing. And yes, some of the people I passed by were first class passengers like you and me."
"And they would've most likely told you about someone following you if they had really saw him," Mephiles finished off the explanation with a sort of thoughtfulness reflecting off of his words as he concentrated his blank stare at Sonic. "And I've been through the route you took to get here myself, so I know how open the area is. "As much as I hate to admit it, both of these boy's stories when put together make perfect sense. I highly doubt that Shadow would make up such a convincing story like this, especially after nearly being shot to death in such a fashion. With that said, I believe that I'm currently apprehending the wrong person here," he added as he finally let go of the blue hedgehog's wrists.
"Finally!" the teen exclaimed as he quickly moved away from the blackish purple furred hedgehog and rubbed his wrists tenderly in an attempt to get the blood flowing through them again. They now had dark red handprints on them and were borderline purple. "I thought that you were never going to be letting go of my hands anytime soon. I was starting to think that they would have to amputate my hands if they continued to lose their circulation."
"I'm sorry on behalf of my father and everyone else for the misunderstanding and inconvenience posed to you Sonic," Shadow apologized as he watched the other move even further to the back of the ship where they had been shot at earlier. It was almost as if he were a trapped animal trying to move as far away from its current threat as possible. "I hope that this does not put an irreparable rift between the two of us."
"Don't worry; I'm not the type of guy to keep a grudge against someone who really had nothing to do with the misunderstanding. And besides, I can kind of understand why your father and older sister would've thought I was the one who did it, being that I was here with a gun in my hand and all that good crap."
"How dare you talk about me like that?" Rouge exclaimed angrily as he glared daggers right through Sonic. "I am hardly Shadow's sister. I am his fiancée, you insolent little hedgehog. You do well to remember that next time."
"You're his fiancée?" Sonic exclaimed in surprised with bugged out eyes. The ebon hedgehog had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing out loud, but he could not stop the amused smile approaching his face. Thankfully, he was still facing the cobalt hedgehog so nobody else really saw that. "Uh, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding there madam. But I was sure that you were his older sister there."
"And don't you dare go calling me madam!" she added angrily as she began to stomp away angrily and disappeared through the crowd of people that had slowly started to now thin away. "I hope I don't have to see your sorry mug on this ship again for as long as I'm on here. This world would be a better place without people like you constantly defiling it."
"Miss Rouge, it's not safe to be travelling aboard this ship on your own," Mephiles called out to the bat as he began to chase after her. He then said to Dr. Robotnik as he passed by him, "I'll make sure that she gets to her quarters safely sir."
"I know you will Mephiles," the doctor responded with a nod as the dark colored hedgehog disappeared into the crowd a second later. He then directed his attention back to his son. "As for you Shadow, I want you to come back to our cabin. You've had enough excitement for one night."
"Just a moment father," the ebon hedgehog stated as he turned to face the man with a small scowl on his face. "What do you intend to do in an attempt to rectify the mistake of accusing Sonic for the attempted murder of me? We both already managed to show everybody that he wasn't the one who tried to kill me with the gun."
"Oh yes, I suppose apologies are in order." He then walked up to Sonic, who had soon stepped up a few steps before stopping when the man move, and extended a hand out towards him with something in it. "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I hope that you will accept this with my sincerest apologies."
"What is this?" the teen asked as he took the item in his hand and held it towards the light source that was nearby. He soon figured out that it was a single money note, although the amount stated on it was more than he had ever seen on one piece of paper. It was labeled as a one hundred dollar bill, a bill that he had never had the luxury of having his hands on until now. "Are you seriously giving me this as a form of an apology?"
Shadow, who was watching his father's form of an apology with a shocked look on his face, quickly caught on to the somewhat offended tone echoing in Sonic's words. He was sure that he had never seen that much money held in one bill in his life, but he was more than sure that he was not going to be paid to forget that this entire ordeal ever happened. His suspicions on this was confirmed when he brought the money back into the portly man's hand and promptly rejected it.
"You can keep your money sir," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a hint of defiance in his tone, earning him a sharp look from the man. "There are some things in this world that can't simply be solved by giving away money to others. This just so happens to be one of those moments for me. Besides, having this much money on me would only make me into a potential target with other third class passengers on board this ship. I would like to avoid as much trouble as I can after this charade I was forced in."
"Were you honestly being serious about this father?" Shadow questioned in a form agreement with Sonic as he saw the man pocket the money back into his pocket. "You know that this mistake takes more than just money in order to be adequately forgiven. You almost ruined his life by trying to condemn him as an assassin."
"To keep the record clear son, Mephiles was the one who made the original claim when I came here after him. I would naturally believe what he said since he was the one with the hedgehog in his hands. How was I supposed to have known all the facts beforehand?"
"Well, you could've asked both me and Sonic for our side of the story before jumping to conclusions. And would you please start referring him to his name instead of just 'hedgehog'? Anyway, how about we do this instead?" the ebon teen added as he turned his attention back to the other hedgehog. "Sonic, how would you like to join us for dinner sometime this week? I'm not sure if you might have anything important to attend to, but I would like for you to attend as my way of saying sorry for what my family put you through."
"Oh, you don't have to go through all that trouble Shadow," Sonic responded as he barely managed to cover up his smirk with a regular smile upon seeing the shocked look the portly man was exuding when he heard the suggestion made. "You don't have to apologize for your parents on this. And besides, I'm only a guy that you just met for a few minutes before this whole thing happened. I don't really think I'd make a good dinner guest, especially since we hardly know anything about each other beyond our social standing."
"He's exactly right son!" Dr. Robotnik quickly agreed, his voice clearly sounding like he wanted to dissuade his son away from his suggestion. "Just because we've determined that he wasn't the one who attempted to take your life doesn't mean that we should be able to go about haphazardly trusting him. As he said, we hardly know anything about him that would merit this as a suitable chance to invite him for dinner."
"Well, I'm sure then that we can use this opportunity as an excuse to learn of a few more things about him. Every person, no matter who they are, has an interesting story to impart that is solely theirs to tell. And besides, didn't you say at one point before we came on board that you would like to see my talking skills be put to practice in case I end up having to conduct a business deal aboard this ship?"
"That is what I said, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I was thinking that you and I could hold practice sessions so you would know what I would expect of you. However, if you are adamant on this decision of yours, then I suppose that I can do nothing but comply with your wishes. After all, you need to learn how to make your own decisions if you are to take over my company in Mobius in the near future."
"I'm glad that we found a way to agree on this father. Now Sonic," the teen stated as he fixed his gaze of the cobalt hedgehog once more, "will you accept my formal invitation for dinner sometime this week?"
"Well, I..." the cobalt hedgehog managed to stutter out before clamming up again because he was at a loss for words. He was not sure how to respond to such an offer being made to him. Even if it really was just an invitation to one of their dinner services sometime in the week, it was going to be dinner with a bunch of first class guys. He has only had dinner with one member of the first class for a good portion of his life, but that was a special case in and of itself. It was definitely nothing compared to this.
"Come on son, this is an offer that you made too sudden for the poor boy," the portly man stated as he began to move away from the two and back to wherever it is that he was planning on going to. "No one of such a stature would be able to make a decision on the fly as you are doing to him right now. Even I wouldn't be able to make such a key decision so quickly unless my life literally depended on it."
"I would gladly accept your generous invitation to dinner Shadow," Sonic answered after giving it a few seconds of thought. The man stopped in his tracks and quickly turned on his feet to look at the teen with slightly wide eyes. "Just tell me when it is you would like me to come and I'll be there."
"That's good to hear," Shadow responded with a smile and a nod of his head. He made it a point to ignore that piercing gaze he knew his father had lined up against his back and kept his eyes on the cobalt hedgehog. "How does two days from today at seven sounds? I hope that you won't be too busy then."
"It sounds like you got a pretty good idea planned out there," the teen answered with a similar smile on his face while trying to stifle down the laughter he felt coming on when he saw the man's facial expression. "I'm sure I'll have time then to come around. And if I don't, I'll find some way to work around it. And where is it that you would like for me to meet you? I don't really know where the place you have dinner is at."
"Hmm, I suppose that you can meet with us within the main foyer just before the entrance to the first class dining hall," the man responded with a sense of stubbornness in his words and a kind of resigned sigh before turning around once again to leave the scene. "I would suggest though that you make sure you wear something that is dinner-appropriate when you come. Wear something that would make you at least externally look like a member of the first class. I have a feeling I'll dread what I'll see on you," he added in a slight whisper before finally making himself scarce from the area.
"I'm sorry for how my dad acted there," the ebon teen apologized with a sigh and a small shake of his head. "I haven't really been giving him the best of times since he decided to have the both of us and my...fiancée move to Mobius. Then again, he had it coming to him since he didn't really talk to me about it first."
"It's alright Shadow; I'm pretty much used to it," Sonic responded as he simply waved it off with a shrug. By this time, the group that had gathered along with the crewmembers had left the area once they saw that everything had calmed down and the main event had come to pass. "I've had a lot of that kind of treatment while living on Robotropolis from even the second class people. I may not really look it, but I've lived on the streets for a good second half of my whole life, and everybody tends to look down on those poorer than them. Yeah, I look pretty good and healthy for such a poor living style, but believe me when I say that there are others who aren't as lucky as me to at least find one meal to eat every day."
"Wow, it sounds like you led a hard teenage life and lived to tell the tale. I've heard a lot of stories about the homeless problem on the news back home, and I say that you are one of the lucky ones to be able to even get at least one meal every day. I've heard of times when some only find food once every week or so."
"Now I'm just taking a wild guess here, but I don't think you managed to survive this well on your own for all that time," the black furred teen continued on as he tried to change the subject he started before it began to become awkward. After all, it was a sensitive subject, and he was not about to go testing out how sensitive it was with Sonic. "I don't mean any offense when I say this, but you don't strike me as a hedgehog who can take care of himself well in a life-or-death situation."
"Geez, I think I know who not to bring along with me if I ever decide to go on a camping trip or anything like that," the cobalt teen stated teasingly at the others inquiry while seemingly not to be phased by the other's mention about his poorness situation back on land. "Yeah, I had a friend helping me out. He was basically the moneymaker while I tried to get what I could whenever he couldn't get any. I was kind of the scavenger looking and sometimes begging for edible food when there was no money. That was definitely the lowest moment of my life when I had to swallow my pride and start begging."
"Any person regardless of their social class would rather die before they start begging. That just shows you truly have a will to live with a spirit that refuses to give up. Anyway, what did he do to help with the money problem? I can't imagine him being able to do a lot about it if he's the same age as you."
"Well, the only way for someone like him at age fifteen at the time to get money was to do it illegally. Thankfully, he picked up gambling saying that it was the lesser of all the other illegal activity he could've been doing. And don't you dare say anything about us not supposed to make money like that. You probably never lived on the streets with hardly anything for a whole day. I myself might not like to rely on money a lot, but it's basically the only way to insure your survival."
"I never said that I disapproved of your friend's methods of earning money. I normally don't condone illegal activity such as drug dealing and prostitution, but I find gambling to be quite harmless. And just between you and me, I've done a little bit of gambling with a couple of my classmates from time to time in the past."
"My, you're just full of surprises, aren't you? I figure out that you have a rebellious side underneath your first class face; you didn't like to constantly work your butt off while you were at school; and now you tell me that you gambled a few times. What else is there about you that I have yet to figure out?"
"Whatever it is that you feel you need to know about me will have to wait for another time. After this little episode, I don't think my dad would want for me to stay here any longer than I have to, especially since he doesn't really trust you. Speaking of which, I still don't understand why she reacted so terribly about you. Then again, I think she did say something about hating criminals a lot, and she does stick with whatever idea she gets in her head regardless of what others say."
"Sounds like you got an interesting life all planned out and ready for you," Sonic stated with a teasing laugh when he saw Shadow's look of disgust along with his arms crossed in a rebellious fashion. "Oh well, I suppose even my parents wouldn't want me to be hanging around alone with a strange guy after nearly getting a nice bullet hole in me. Before you go though, is it okay if I asked you one more question?"
"Provided that it doesn't end up taking more than two minutes to answer, go ahead and ask away," Shadow responded with a small shrug of his shoulders as he seemed to acknowledge the joke made earlier about his terrible future life.
"Why do you sound more formal when people like your father are around and a little bit less so when it's just with me?" the blue hedgehog asked with his inquiring gaze set on the other. "Now that I think back on it, you had a kind of formal way of talking when we first met, but you kicked it up a notch when talking with your father and his hired goon. I thought that you were to always talk formally regardless of who you were talking you."
"Well, you can count on that as a part of my rebellious side that you so easily managed to read," the ebon hedgehog simply replied with a small smile that clearly indicated that he was not going to say anything more about it. "That answer should be able to suffice your curiosity on that question."
"Hey, don't you go leaving me on one of those stupidly cryptic answers that don't make any sense at all! It annoys the hell out of me when people do that. And that sure doesn't help take away whatever curiosity you say I have on this."
"I'm sorry Sonic, but you're just going to have to learn to live with it this time around," Shadow answered with a small chuckle at his apparent victory at the situation as he began to make his way back to his cabin where his dad was no doubt waiting for him to return safely without any further incident. "If you really want to get a better answer than that, then you'll have to talk to me about it the next time we meet in private. Mind you though, I won't go delving to you about private things like this in front of my dad or Rouge, so don't even think about asking when we're at dinner."
"As if I would ever ask something like that in front of a whole bunch of strangers," Sonic scoffed at the other suggesting that he might do something like that. "I might seem like a dense guy at times, but I know when it is I shouldn't be asking people certain things. Although I must admit I can sometimes be oblivious to things like that because I can't see past the awesomeness that can only be me," he added with a cocky smile that the other could not see since he continued to walk away from the other.
"Is that so?" the other questioned with a smile clearly heard in his words as he stopped in his tracks for a small moment without turning around. "If that's the case, then my ever brilliant coolness factor is telling me that you're giving me a cocky grin behind my back. And don't try to deny it; I can practically feel it bouncing right off my back."
"Whoa, you really got me good there," the blue teen responded with a shocked chuckle escaping his lips. The other also gave out a small chuckle before continuing on his way. "Hope that you're as fun as you are now when we meet again."
"And I hope you don't let that ever enjoyable attitude of yours get you in trouble with my dad's hired guard, Mephiles, again. I hope to see you in two days Sonic. Remember; meet us in the main foyer on A Deck at seven."
"I've already committed it all to memory. You just make sure to remember to come get me. I'll look like an idiot just standing there if you stand me up."
The other simply laughed at that comment before finally disappearing around the corner, his footsteps against the wooden floors of the deck slowly receding away into nothing and being swallowed up by the subtle sounds of the churning ocean. Sonic then turned around and leaned back against the railing once more, wanting to let the events that had unfolded that night to reply itself once more so as to piece together any of the important facts he did not have time to register properly during those fast paced minutes.
Boy, tonight sure was an interesting first night on this ship, he thought as he looked up at the sky and saw the stars shining brilliantly along with the full moon. I never would've thought that I'd get myself caught up in an attempted murder case in my entire life. Oh well, at least it wasn't all for nothing. I ended up making a new friend through it. And he ain't just any new friend; he's actually a first class guy the same age as me and who seems to have that very rare rebellious side boiling away inside him. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Knuckles's face when I tell him about tonight. He'd probably go off at me for getting myself caught up in some major trouble, but I'll shut him up when I tell him about Shadow.
And with a few more random thoughts running through his mind, the cobalt hedgehog continued with his stargazing for a couple more minutes. He soon grew tired of this leisure activity and decided to make his way back to his third class cabin where his red echidna buddy was surely waiting for him to come back.
Poor Sonic. Without even a chance to explain himself, he's already being pinned for the attempted murder of Shadow all because he was crazy enough to pick up the dropped gun. Thankfully for him, Shadow himself is willing to come to his defense despite only having known him for less than an hour.
As the title suggests, both of the teens have been accused of something at some point in the chapter; Sonic being of attempted murder and Shadow as a potential liar. And then Dr. Robotnik and Rouge end up misinterpreting Sonic himself, both of them already having painted a picture of him as some kind of street trash not worth their time talking to.
Oh well, I hope that you all ended up liking this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review before you go away. Until the next update everybody!