Chapter 50: Talk to You Later
Well, guess I'm going to have to figure out some way to make sure I win, Shadow thought as he sat up in his bed. I know how I could do it, if I can just get in touch with Dave before the race. Figure if I can get one of the Emeralds back from him, I can hide it along the race course, fall behind Sonic, freeze time with Chaos Control, and get the jump on him before everything starts flowing again. I doubt if he'd ever know what happened. For the sixth time, Shadow lay back again, staring up at the ceiling; he'd been in bed since he'd gotten home, and he had not slept at all. After he stared for several seconds, he rolled over on his side, leaned over the side of the bed, reached one arm up under it, and extracted a sheet of paper: the Missing Person poster that he'd found on the street. Salia's face stared out at his, and he read over the text, not taking any of it in.
"Where are you?" he wondered aloud. "Who IS your 'employer'? Whoever it is, he'd better hope I don't find him... This poster has got to be a couple years old. You're not doing this shit of your own free will. Something's not right here, god damn it, and I'm going to find out what it is, one way or another." Sighing, he leaned over and slid the poster back under the bed. "Somehow, I'm starting to think I'm being played. But, that's fine. Got a little idea of my own." He turned and looked out the window at the morning sky; the sun had not appeared over the horizon, but the sky was beginning to light up.
Now, let's see here, he thought. I'm probably being played, as I said. ...And I need to stop talking to myself. But anyway, this is what I do. When this whole thing's over, I go in, acting like I don't think anything's up. I snoop around, I found out what the hell's going on... If I'm lucky, I'll be able to leave quietly, and no one will look twice at me. But that's a big if. If there's a hitch in the plan... I'll think of something when I get there. I'll have all the Emeralds right there nearby, so getting my hands on one and using Chaos Control should be easy as anything. I could teleport out, or just wreak havoc, if need be. Laughing to himself, he closed his eyes and made yet another attempt to sleep. At last, after nearly a half hour of tossing and turning, he dozed off.
He could feel it. That feeling in his spine. That subtle yet unsettling feeling. That feeling that he was being watched. Not just watched; someone was staring. Shadow knew what was up, even without opening his eyes.
"You ever hear of breaking and entering?" he asked.
"Is it still B&E if nothing gets broken?" Dave's voice replied, amused.
"How long you been standing there?" Shadow asked.
"Ten minutes, maybe," Dave said. "You're real cute when you're asleep, you know."
"Yeah, whatever," Shadow said. "Seriously, stop just coming in whenever you feel like it."
"Well that spoils the fun," Dave said. "But fine, I'll knock first from now on."
"I'm assuming, of course, that you'll wait until I say so before you come in," Shadow said.
"Yeah, yeah," Dave said. "Don't feel much like getting up, huh?"
"Not really," Shadow said. "I'm listening, though."
"I just came by to check and see if you got anything for me," Dave said. "How goes the scavenger hunt?"
"Got a little hitch in the plan," Shadow said. "One of my friends got his hands on one of the Emeralds. We're having a little contest tomorrow, and the Emerald is the prize."
"Damn it," Dave said. "They're onto you."
"Now look, Dave," Shadow said, "I need you to help me on this. Can you get me one of the other Emeralds before three tomorrow?"
"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Dave said.
"I can't really see why I'm not even allowed to tell my friends anything," Shadow said. "I understand your whole security concern, but really, I doubt any of them would try to steal anything. I trust them."
"Well, you can trust them all you want," Dave said. "It's my employer who calls the shots."
"Who IS your employer, anyway?" Shadow asked. "It's awkward just calling him your employer all the time. Names are easier to use, you know."
"That's getting into the realm of things I'm not permitted to say," Dave said, his voice suddenly more firm than before.
"Somehow, I expected you to say that," Shadow said. "How's Salia doing?"
"Fine," Dave said, grinning, even though he knew that Shadow couldn't see it. "Got a little thing for her now, do you?"
"You could say that," Shadow said, half-grinning. "Is that so wrong?"
"No," Dave said. "I'll tell her you were asking about her, how's that?"
"Fine with me," Shadow said.
"Well, I better get out of here," Dave said. "See if I can't get one of the Emeralds back for you. But, win or lose, it may be a while before I or anyone else contacts you again."
"Want a cup of coffee or something before you go?" Shadow asked.
"No, thank you," Dave said. "I had one on the way here."
"Okay," Shadow said. "See you."
"Later," Dave said, turning around. As he reached for the doorknob, Shadow opened his eyes and sat up.
"I still say this whole thing makes me feel like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be doing," he said. "The meeting in secret backs up that feeling, you know?"
"I know what you mean," Dave said unconvincingly. He opened the door and left Shadow to his thoughts.
What were you REALLY thinking, Dave? was Shadow's only thought.
Yes indeed, what WAS he really thinking? Anybody wanna take a guess? No? Ah, don't worry, just like any other story I can think of, you'll find out. and this concludes the big 3-in-1 chapter.
Oh, and another thing. Shadow's part of the big chapter occurred at the same time as Sonic's, in case you didn't guess. The next chapter starts at about the same time. I normally don't do this, but just one time, I'm going to tell you something about the next one: If you like fight scenes, I think you're gonna love it, heh heh heh.
THIS got added at the very last minute: Wow, 50 chapters already... Most stories don't get that long, do they?