Honest reached out with a finger and jabbed Scourge's cheek rather harshly, causing his eyes to fly open and his fear to be displayed there in their glossy, blue surfaces. Honest's serious expression only amplified his fear.

"Wh-What do you want now?" he whispered.

Shadow, as far as Scourge knew, was still sleeping soundly somewhere behind his head. It wasn't any darker or brighter than when they had fallen asleep, as Scourge knew was the usual here, and it was about the same temperature. However, Honest's plan seemed to work because there was now a noticeable warmth where they were touching. When he spoke, though, a noticeable cloud of steam was emitted.

"You didn't answer my question," Honest asked, her determined expression inches from Scourge's bewildered one. "Why did you betray Infinite, your best friend?" When Scourge opened his mouth but no words came out, Honest continued speaking. "Back in the day, like, before it happened, I saw it coming." Scourge furrowed his brows, obviously confused. Of course he was. "I never understood it, but I saw it plain as day, so I couldn't just ignore it."

Scourge was thinking about Fiona, so Honest guessed that might've been what happened- Fiona forced him into it. Still, Honest wanted to explain what was going on to him. She hoped that by sharing some of her thoughts with him, that might encourage him to reveal something about himself. Something interesting. Perhaps Honest's desire to know more about the green king's situation was born purely out of curiosity, but she wanted to know for sure.

"I thought that with time, the answer would jump out at me, but instead, well," Honest shrugged her shoulders which were now peeking out from under Scourge's jacket. "Here we are, two years later, in the thick of it, still without answers. At first, I thought it was because he was involved with the Play, but that wasn't it. You would be saving Sonic, and I knew that couldn't be right. So, would you tell me?" She smiled a cat smile.

"The Phantom Ruby was my key to everything, Honest," Scourge explained. "Taking back the Castle, securing it, even protecting myself from Rosy for a time, uh-" Scourge remembered something and he looked away. "That reminds me…"

"Uh-oh," Honest said, her eyes becoming dark slate voids.

"...I sort of used the Ruby's power to brainwash Rosy into staying to help clean. It was just supposed to be for a few days, but… well… Fiona has her now." Honest face-palmed, er, face-chested, as she planted her face down on Scourge's chest.

"I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed," Honest told him, her voice muffled. She then lifted her head back up and began speaking quietly again without obstruction. "You didn't need to do that. Rosy loves cleaning. I doubt she would turn down an offer like that. A whole castle? She would be having the time of her life cleaning up in that place."

"I know," Scourge said, sighing. "She did accept, at first, but that didn't last long when she saw the throne room." Honest tilted her head to one side. "One look at that big chair and she was back in 'Scourgey Smashy Mode' almost instantly." He looked shamefully to the side. "I had no choice."

Honest offered a sympathetic smile. "It's okay, we can save her, too. But back to betraying Infinite. Why'd you do it?"

Scourge wasn't getting out of this, but he didn't seem particularly worried. "One of the nights Infinite spent with us at the Castle, Fiona put a plan to action that she had apparently been planning for weeks." He scratched the top of his head with one hand. "She had mentioned possibly getting her hands on a Phantom Ruby prototype, I just had no idea she would actually get one. Before I knew it, after Infinite had gone to bed, she came running back to our room with the Phantom Ruby. She said she had swapped a prototype with the one Infinite had in his chest while he was sleeping." Honest was listening to him intently, her arms folded in the space between their heads and her chin resting atop them. "The next day, Infinite already had plans to head back to the Master Emerald to recharge, so Fiona had me-" Honest's smile grew and Scourge rolled his eyes. "Not her… Give an anonymous tip to No Zone police to send Zone cops to the Master Emerald shrine. There, I said it." His expression grew even more annoyed, after he had said that. "But it was a white lie, Honest. Why does it matter who was the one to send the letter? I just wanted to keep my friendship with Infinite."

"Just so you could use him again later on?" Honest asked. She didn't sound mad, so what was her purpose for saying that? "You're saving Infinite's friendship for a rainy day, so you can throw it away then."

"I'm not Fiona, Honest. I don't gain friends just to throw them like weapons at all my problems," Scourge told her. "It wasn't my idea to swap the Rubies and let Infinite take the fall. I benefited from having the Ruby, for a time yes, but the whole thing was Fiona's plan from the very beginning."

"So, you're saying it's not all your fault," Honest said with a cheeky grin.

"No, it was because I didn't try to stop her. Fiona's so… intimidating. You wouldn't understand." Scourge wanted to turn away, but it was physically impossible for him to do so while he was lying on his back like he was.

"Because you love her?"

"Y-Yes, I suppose so."

There was a bout of silence punctuated by Honest wrapping her arms around his torso. "I love you, too, but I will never hurt your friends without asking first."

"Thanks… I think."

The next morning, although it looked the same as when they had fallen asleep, Scourge was awoken by something jabbing him in his side. He strained to open his eyes, and once he did, he watched as Honest slid off of him, and the front door to the building was pushed open with some resistance. A blurry face stuck out of the doorway, their long ears swinging as they looked around.

"Who?" Scourge asked, feeling around for his glasses. Once he saw who it was, his eyes widened. "Oh! Honest!" He started shaking her.

"Who? What? Where?" She was squinting like there was a bright light shining in her face.

"This is the new inn! Infinite was telling me about this," Scourge told her, sounding excited. The figure in the door started backing up and disappearing back inside. "No, wait!" Scourge sprung up and grabbed the door.

"Hey, let go! I'm not letting any monsters in here! This is a monster-free area!" The little rabbit girl pulled on the door with all her might. Scourge just held it in place.

"If you keep pulling, you'll pull the knob off," Scourge told her, trying to be reasonable. However, this girl was not having it. With one more tug, the knob flew off and her with it. Scourge held the door open and turned around. "Go wake up Stripes, we're gonna see if these guys have any food." Honest finished rubbing her eyes and went to wake Shadow.

This girl, who was apparently the anti-Cream, was still sitting on the floor holding the doorknob. "Get up," Scourge told her. "Show us where your pantry is. Surely you have free breakfast here."

"G-Go to heck," she told him, not sounding very intimidating.

"Hey, watch your mouth. How old are you, five?" He started walking to where he thought the kitchens were.

"Other way," she said, throwing the knob down and standing up. Honest and Shadow came through the door. Scourge passed them and headed into the actual kitchen. Honest watched him leave while Shadow trained his still sleepy-looking red eyes on the rabbit girl in the middle of the room.

"Are you the anti-Cream?" the Ultimate Lifeform asked. The girl had an extreme look of disgust on her face that seemed permanent.

"My mama once showed me pictures of that girl Cream. We're nothing alike. I'm Scream," she replied, watching him and Honest with narrowed brown eyes of distrust.

"S-Scream?" Shadow echoed as if he were making sure that's what she said.

Scourge emerged from the room he had entered only seconds ago sporting a box of some kind. He fished around in it as he walked. "They've got some oatmeal here. It expired five years ago, but I don't really see how oatmeal can go bad. It's assorted flavors." Scourge stopped and pulled out a green packet. "This is cinnamon apple." He put that packet back in and pulled out an orange packet. "And there are a couple of peaches and cream."

"Ooh! I'll take those," Honest exclaimed, holding out her hand.

"Why didn't you let us in last night? We were screaming," Shadow asked, still talking to this "Scream".

"I thought you were the monster," she explained. "I've been hearing it every night here lately. Mama's been telling me to let it in, but I won't listen to her." Scream smiled as if disobeying her mother was funny.

"You hear it every night? So… there was something out there with us last night?" Scream didn't answer. She could hear something they couldn't.

Suddenly, the door behind Shadow squeaked as it was pushed open.

An overwhelming sense of deja vu washed over Shadow as he spun around to reveal the identity of Scream's "monster".

What was up with new characters getting the jump on Shadow lately?

"I'm your mon- Mons-"

When Shadow turned around and this person saw his face alongside the other people's faces behind him, she suddenly looked very unsure of herself.

"Monster...?"


I didn't realize how short this chapter was until I posted it here. It's uh, wow, really short. Huh. Anyway, I'm posting the next chapter in a few seconds, so this isn't all you have to read thankfully.