Hello! I'm sorry I was slow to update, but here's chapter 3. What would you say if I told you that there aren't seven Chaos Emeralds. There are eight. *braces for freak-out* Read on to find out if I'm just bluffing and if it's just another stupid irrelevant chapter name...
When Shadow and Honest were safe and sound inside Eggman's base again, Honest skipped behind him merrily as Shadow quietly went to give Doctor Eggman the Emerald.
Shadow peered out a window at the confines of space as he passed. The planet looked so beautiful from his perspective right now, hundreds of miles from its atmosphere. This time looking down on it was different from the many times he saw it while with Maria fifty years ago. Now he knew what it looked like while walking around on it. All the bleak, gray cities slowly dissolving into lush, green forests. It was great to see and experience all the things he said he would, but of course it would've been better with Maria. But he could share the experiences with Honest, couldn't he? Of course she was born there, but the planet was a big place and there was still so much to explore.
"That was awesome what you did back there!" Honest exclaimed, catching up to him.
"What? Hurting Rouge's feelings?" Shadow snapped.
Honest started to look hurt herself. "Oh, I thought that was a Shadow the Hedgehog 2 moment and, uh..."
Shadow sighed. "Sorry, but Rouge and I were partners."
"Alright, we won't talk about it ever again."
Eggman met them halfway, picking up speed as he saw the extra Emerald they had in their possession. "It took you long enough." He lurched forward to grab it.
He stopped abruptly when Shadow pulled it away.
"It took us a while because we didn't just simply walk in, take it, and leave; we were involved in a high-speed chase over rooftops and through winding alleyways. It was no simple task. In fact, if it wasn't for Honest's bravery, Rouge would be in a cave somewhere, stroking the Emerald. You're welcome," Shadow grumbled with authority.
"Oh, um, good job then... I guess?" Shadow stomped away.
"What's wrong with Shadow?" Eggman asked when he was well enough away so that he couldn't hear them.
"He's upset about making Rouge cry."
Eggman was quiet. Honest frowned. "All this time you thought Shadow was a villain like yourself, didn't you?"
"Y-Yeah," he forced out.
"Well he's not," Honest hissed. She ran after Shadow.
She found him sitting on the edge of her bunk, inspecting the two Emeralds in his lap. They glowed red and green when they were both close together.
Honest stuck her head through the door. "Shadow?"
Shadow closed his hands on the Emeralds and shut his eyes. Honest sat down beside him. She had to be careful about this.
"Shadow, I-" Honest was cut off when Shadow suddenly looked away. "I'll do the talking. I'm not a bad person."
Honest frowned. "But I thought you didn't like Rouge. And it wasn't your fault either. I mean, sure you didn't say that you forgave her, but-"
"Okay, so I make a lot of unconscionable decisions, but I still do have feelings. And although I try my best to hide them, it hurt me when I made Rouge cry." He sighed. "I don't know why you choose to stick around."
Honest gave him a stern look. "I'll tell you why. You said it yourself. You have feelings. Unlike Sonic, who's a faker, or Amy, who refuses to hide her feelings about Sonic."
Shadow smiled. He actually smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin: an honest-to-goodness, sweet smile. Honest smiled back. That was easier than she thought.
(Probably because the author didn't know how to write properly.)
The next morning Honest woke up a good two to three hours before the usual morning began and in turn had extra time to spare.
Careful not to disturb Shadow on his top bunk, Honest sat waiting for Shadow to wake up naturally.. When he did, Honest watched him while he put on his gloves and shoes and headed out the door, looking like a tired wreck much like usual. Honest then skipped out to join him and Eggman for breakfast.
Honest sat down at the table after grabbing a toaster pastry, which was apparently the only breakfast food Eggman had, and began to eat it. Shadow was sitting next to her with his arms crossed. "So," he said. "Sonic's birthday's coming up and he wants us to come to his party."
"That sounds like fun!" Honest said, smiling. Eggman finished his cereal and left as Shadow continued to talk to her.
"He's having it in Windy Hill he says. But you see, he's kind of going to have it a day early. Tails is going to host a surprise birthday party in the same spot he had picked out."
"Then it will be double the fun!" Honest exclaimed, giggling.
Shadow smiled worriedly. He didn't exactly like parties; he was only going because Honest wouldn't want to miss out on it.
"And he's now 17, right?" Honest asked.
"Yeah," Shadow said, sighing. Sonic was 17 now. He thought about Sonic in 20 years, 40 years, 60 years...
"Whatcha sighing about?" Honest asked, concerned.
"Oh! Um, I was-"
"Thinking about the future, huh?"
Shadow raised an eyebrow. "I saw that look in your eyes. Those proud-parent Shadow eyes. Well, not proud-parent, more like time-is-passing by eyes."
Shadow coughed and lowered his head. "You saw right through me."
Honest laughed and hugged him tight. She then pulled away. "Were you thinking about me?"
"What? I mean, of course I was. Not Sonic or anybody..." Shadow began to trail off.
Honest narrowed her eyes. He could've just said, "Of course I wasn't! Why would I ever think of you, you idiot?" She went back to eating her breakfast.
Later Shadow and Honest were laying on Honest's bed, talking.
"So, uh," Shadow was saying. "What are we going to do when the Doctor finds out there are eight Chaos emeralds?"
Honest froze. "Oh, um-"
"'Cause think about it: He's gonna find out about the emerald being fake eventually and then he'll attack me."
"Your house will be waiting for us," Honest pointed out.
"I left it to the Rats"
"What?!" Honest rolled over on top of him and held down his arms.
"Woah, there," he said with wide eyes. "Don't get hasty. It might not even happen."
Honest ignored his baffled expression and spat in his face, "Don't you ever plan? What of our retreat? Where will we go?"
"Hey," he said, grabbing hold of her arms. "We'll crash with a friend. No biggie."
Honest ripped away from him and said, "Okay, okay. Just- don't pick someone I won't get along with." ? ﾝﾑﾖ? ﾝﾑﾒ ? ﾝﾑﾜ? ﾝﾑﾖ?...
Shadow climbed up to his bunk. Honest walked past him to climb into hers. She looked up at the underside of his bed and, although he couldn't see her, raised an eyebrow and said, "I was surprised you didn't punch me."
"I try to tolerate you as much I can," he said in a "brush off" manor.
"Honest smiled contently and pulled the covers up to her chin. "Get to sleep," Shadow pointed out, "because the Doctor might send us on a wild goose chase for the Emerald again in the morning."
"I guess so," Honest said wishfully.
The next morning Shadow was nowhere to be found. Honest put breakfast on hold as she went to look for him. She found him looking down at the planet from a window in the long hallway connecting the living quarters and the hangar where Eggman kept his ships and other flying doohickeys.
"Shadow?" He turned around to see Honest firmly attached to his arm.
"Oh, it's just you," He said, his eyes foggy as if he was remembering something.
"You thought I was Maria, didn't you?" Honest asked, seemingly reading his mind.
"No. Of course not," he said, getting angry and turning back around.
"But you did that with Amy," Honest reminded him.
"When did that happen?" he said, not looking back at her yet.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to remember that I suppose," Honest said, grinning.
"You weren't even there. You saw that in SA2, didn't you? You're a sad, little obsessed fan-girl, Honest."
Honest giggled. "Yeah, I know," she said and smiled. (This is totally normal for this story as you'll soon know...[Future Honest: Yes, I can vouch for Past Honest on this])
Shadow turned around and started towards the kitchen area, holding Honest's hand. "I'm hungry, aren't you? I'll make some pancakes for us."
Honest and Eggman were sitting at the bar while Shadow blissfully whistled "All Hail Shadow!" while expertly pouring pancake batter into the pan.
"Shadow sure seems to be in a good mood this morning," Eggman said. He was reading the "Station Square Monthly" and sipping out of a blue coffee mug with the words "#1 Doctor" and a picture of a screwdriver on the side.
"Yeah, but that pink really suits him." Yes, Shadow was wearing a pink apron with hearts on it, too. (XD) Maybe he was just trying to keep his mind off what happened on the ARK and instead on the matters presently on hand. But Honest had to hand it to him; pink sure looked good on him, especially since it was only a lighter shade of the red stripes on his spikes and limbs.
When Shadow, Eggman, and Honest finally got to eating their pancakes, Honest asked him, "Why the apron?"
Shadow, unchanged, answered simply, "I just didn't wish to get pancake crumbs on me while I was cooking." Of course he would give an excuse.
Honest look over at Eggman on her right. "Doctor?" When he had turned to face her, Honest spoke. "Did you locate any more of the Chaos emeralds?" she inquired. When it took a while for him to reply, she added, "There are still four more left to find."
Honest turned to Shadow when he tapped her arm. "What I- she meant to say was five. We have five more Emeralds left to find." He winked at her.
"Oh, yes!" Honest exclaimed, turning back around. "I must have miscounted. Sorry." She grinned cheekily.
Eggman put a hand to his chin and Honest began to sweat. "Alright then." Honest's smile began to slowly shrink to something a bit more normal.
"No, there really isn't anywhere left to check. Maybe with Big... If so I'm sure I could send a fly-bot to his location to scout him out... So no, no new news on that..." Eggman said, deep in thought.
"Well," Honest sighed, turning to Shadow. "What will we do while we wait?"
"Not so fast," Doctor Eggman said. "While I have you here you might as well pay for me letting you stay here while you hunt for my Emeralds."
Shadow looked over at him. "Oh, really? What would you have us do?"
"Why, polish my robots, of course! What else would a mad scientist have someone do for him?"
Shadow stood up and went to get cleaning supplies. "Oh, and you have to do it while wearing girly aprons. There's a lavender apron for Honest where you found that pink one. I kept them for just such an occasion."
When Honest and Shadow met up in the dark recesses of Eggman's carefully organized robot warehouses to begin polishing them, Honest firmly tied her apron and did a twirl. "How do I look?"
"Just lovely," Shadow said, being sarcastic of course. "Now pick up a sponge, dip it in the polish, and get to work."
Honest picked a sponge and dipped it in the Ben's Robotics-Safe Polish, then "got to work" as Shadow had said, starting on the Moto Bug, nearest to her.
Eventually the warm, moist air carrying the stench of grease, oil, and Ben's Robotics-Safe Polish became just too much and Honest went to find Shadow. They kind of got separated after a while of cleaning old robots.
Honest found Shadow sitting next to a robot, asleep with a spray bottle in his hand and smudges on his apron. Honest knelt beside him and poked his arm. "Hello, Shadow?"
Shadow's eyes flew open and he was instantly filled with dread. "Uh, Honest! Just, just resting my eyes!"
Honest giggled.
Shadow grimaced and stood up, brushing off his pink apron and crossing his arms across his chest.
He opened one eye, looking confused. "What did you see?"
"N-Nothing!" Honest stuttered.
"That's what I thought," he said, turning to return to Eggman.
Honest followed after worriedly. Oops.
When they returned to the doctor, he was busily observing the many monitors hanging about the room, in pursuit of the last four or five emeralds left to find. "We cleaned all your robots, sir," Honest said. Shadow looked at her and rolled his eyes. We all knew what he was thinking... faker.
"Good, good, good," he said quickly. He looked back at the two mobians. "Hang those aprons back up and put the cleaning supplies back in the cabinet under the sink."
Shadow handed Honest his cleaning supplies and removed the apron from around her neck. Shadow hung up the aprons and Honest bent down to put the sponges and spray bottles away. She sprung up, spun around, and smiled. "Let's go play board games!"
And that's what they did.
If you loved this chapter, go ahead and vote! Haha! And there really aren't eight Emeralds! No need for flaming, see? Shout out to SallyAcorn11 for being my first of (hopefully) many followers! (I believe I was talking about Wattpad followers)