EMERALD FOREST

Disclaimer:

I don't own any characters in this story

[CHAPTER 6: SONIC & SHADOW]

Shadow looked at his watch. 'I'd better be going now,' he said.

'Bye Shad,' said Rouge.

'Catch you later!' said Knuckles.

'Bye,' said Shadow.

Rouge sat down where Shadow was.

'Can I look at the ring?' asked Knuckles.

'Sure,' said Rouge. She took it off and carefully handed it to Knuckles.

He examined it, then gave it back. 'That *does* look expensive. Who do you think might've given it to you?'

'I think you might've given it to me,' said Rouge, smiling seductively.

'I couldn't afford it,' said Knuckles. 'What made you think I bought it?'

'Well, you *are* my boyfriend, and the ring is red...'

Knuckles laughed. 'Who said we were a couple?' He leaned over and hugged her. 'It seems I have competition...'

They both smiled.

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Shadow opened the door and walked into his house, hearing the familiar twinkly sort of sound. *He's still playing the PS,* he thought.

He walked through the lounge room, where Sonic was playing Pacman World, into his bedroom.

*How could I get Rouge to notice me?* he wondered. He was about to lie down on his bed when the doorbell rang. 'I'll get it,' he shouted, standing back up.

He walked to the door, and opened it to find Amy. 'Hey Shad, where's Sonikku?'

'He's in the lounge room,' Shadow replied.

'Dammit!' Sonic whispered. 'Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?' He looked around to see if he could hide, but Amy walked in.

'Hey Sonikku!' she said happily.

'Uh, hi,' said Sonic. He paused the game.

'Do you want to hang out with me?' she asked. *I need to get him alone, so I can ask him again.*

'Sorry, I can't,' said Sonic.

'Why not?'

'Because uh, me and Shad were going to go.check out my apartment building.'

'What do you mean?'

'To see if anything's happened,' he said.

'Oh. I see. Well, goodbye.' Amy turned around, and left.

'She looked a little down in the dumps,' said Shadow.

'Come check out the apartment building with me,' said Sonic.

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The skateboard's wheels rolling along the gravel was the only thing to be heard in the silence, as Tails practised his ollie.

'I wonder where Sonic is,' Tails said to himself. The skateboard rolled up the ramp, and Tails heard a familiar voice.

'How come you're always running away from Amy?' Shadow asked.

'Because,' said Sonic.

'Sonic!' said Tails. He turned, and forgot he was on the skateboard. He landed on his back, but soon stood up again. 'Shadow! What are you guys doing?'

'We're going to check out my apartment building,' said Sonic.

'Cool,' said Tails. 'Can I come?'

'Sorry, Shad's already coming,' said Sonic.

'Since when have you and Shad been friends?' Tails asked.

'Since I decided to go check out why I'm not allowed in my apartment,' said Sonic.

'Amy wanted to hang out with him,' Shadow explained.

'Oh, I see,' said Tails. 'What's in the backpacks?'

'It's a secret,' said Sonic.

'A big secret,' said Shadow.

'Cool,' said Tails. 'Hey look, Amy's coming.'

'Well, gotta go!' Sonic and Shadow ran off until they were out of sight.

'Hey Tails!' said Amy, who was in a happy mood. 'Have you seen Sonic or Shadow?'

'Uh, no, sorry,' said Tails.

'Oh well, I'll hang around you instead,' said Amy. *Sonic's bound to come around and hang with Tails during the day.*

'So, what's up?' asked Tails.

'Nothing much,' said Amy. 'There isn't really anything interesting that's happened lately. You?'

'I'm trying to do an ollie,' said Tails.

'Cool, I guess,' said Amy.

Tails picked up his board and started skating again. 'Can you do any tricks apart from an ollie?' Amy asked.

'I'm still working on the ollie,' said Tails. He stood on the board, and as it rolled he pressed down on the tail, and suddenly the board went up in the air.

'Whoa!' said Tails. 'Did you see that?'

'Yeah, that was cool,' said Amy.

'I hope I can do it again,' said Tails.

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'Hey look, there's no one guarding the front door into the lobby,' said Sonic.

'I get the feeling we won't be able to break into the place that easily,' said Shadow. 'Why are we doing this again?'

'To get some stuff I left in there,' Sonic replied. 'And there might be a clue in there as to what's going on.'

'Okay,' said Shadow. They walked up to the front door and Sonic tried opening it.

'It won't open,' he said. 'It's locked.'

'Is there any other way of getting in?' Shadow asked.

'There's a door through the back but that's for the people who work there,' said Sonic.

'Let's go then.'

Shadow looked around to check if anyone was watching while Sonic went around to the side of the building. 'Shadow!' he said quietly. 'There's a wooden fence-thingy and it's got a lock on it. We can't get to the back!'

'Let me see,' said Shadow. He walked around and noticed what could be called a wooden fence which ran from the side of the building to the fence that separated it from the house next door. There was a gate in this wooden fence that was locked, and happened to be taller than Shadow and Sonic.

'There's gotta be a way to get past it somehow,' said Sonic.

Shadow produced a brown emerald out of his backpack, and tossed it in the air a few times.

Sonic laughed. 'Knux mustn't be a very good guardian.' He stood back, expecting Shadow to use Chaos Control. Instead, Shadow threw it at the fence, and as it spun it began to shine.

*BOOM!*

'Neat trick,' said Sonic, as he looked at the remains of the fence. 'Where's the emerald?'

Shadow walked over to the emerald, which was lying in a pile of shattered wood. 'Here it is.'

'How'd you do that?'

'I...don't know to be honest...' said Shadow. 'I just hoped that the emerald would knock the fence over. Seeing as it's heavy and all.'

'Now we know what happens when you throw them,' said Sonic. They walked around to the back to find the door open. 'That's strange. Even when this place was up and running that door was always kept shut.'

'We still going in?' Shadow asked.

'Of course,' said Sonic. 'But I think we'd better take our guns out first.'

'Guns?'

'I packed some in the backpacks,' said Sonic. He pulled his pistol out, and so did Shadow.

'Wow, this is cool. I never knew you had this stuff.'

'With an enemy like Robotnik, it's better to be safe than dead.'

'The saying's better safe than sorry, Sonic.'

'Whatever.'

Shadow checked out his weapon while Sonic walked through the open door and into the laundry. 'The laundry room is empty,' said Sonic. 'It shows they had time to get everything out.'

'Okay,' said Shadow. 'Do I just stand here and cover for you?'

'No, you're coming in with me.'

'Just exactly why do we have guns, anyway?' Shadow asked.

'I have a feeling that guard was guarding something secret,' said Sonic.

'No duh.'

'Which means it's gotta be special,' he continued, as he looked around the laundry room for anything different.

'And special things are protected,' Shadow finished.

'Yes,' said Sonic. 'Like the emeralds.'

Shadow entered the building, and Sonic opened the door. He left the laundry room and entered the hall. Straight ahead of him was a clear-glass door into the lobby, which had all its curtains pulled back. To his left were several apartment rooms and the stairs to the next floor, and to his right were the building's kitchens and dining rooms and janitor's closets. 'Looks clear,' said Sonic, as Shadow entered the hall.

'Which way do we go?' Shadow asked.

'This way,' said Sonic, pointing toward the apartments and the stairs. Sonic led the way, with Shadow covering for him, walking backwards with his gun pointed in front of him, until they made it to the stairs.

'Where's your apartment?' Shadow asked.

'Third floor,' said Sonic. 'Not including this one.'

'Okay,' said Shadow. They began to climb the stairs, listening and looking for any signs of movement.

Suddenly a gun was fired, and the sound of glass shattering was heard.