Honesty is the Best Policy {Comic Edition}

Chapter 73: The Biology of Broken Trust

"But before we can try to convince everyone that what I did was right, we need to get this big stripe-y obstacle out of the way first."

Honest stopped in the middle of the hallway and pointed at their target, wandering, unsuspecting, towards his third period class. Scourge and Dina were following her and paused when they saw where she was pointing.

After returning from Moebius, Honest immediately began leading a search party through the halls of the main building. She and Scourge both knew that Shadow had biology next, so it was just a matter of guessing which way he had decided to enter the building. It looked like Sonic's shadowy doppelgänger had entered through the back entrance to the math wing and crossed over. They encountered him just after he passed the intersection where the math and science hallways intersected the stretch of hall that contained the main office and Principal Mephiles's.

"Shadow the Hedgehog!" Honest called out. Said half-alien hedgy froze and looked over his shoulder. "We have some outstanding business to attend to you and I."

"No, we don't," Shadow claimed. He attempted to stomp off, but upon turning around, he found himself face-to-face with a mirror image of himself.

"Going somewhere, Shadow?" the personification of his nightmares asked. Shadow gritted his teeth and attempted to dash past him. However, as he did so, a bundle of five or so tentacles made of pure darkness emerged from the tile floor and encircled him within seconds. They stretched up to the ceiling on the other side and then, with little notice, pulled tight, rendering him completely immobile.

"Hey! Let me out of here. I'm gonna be late for class," Shadow claimed as he kicked and punched at the air.

The other students, who had been streaming down the hallways and in and out of classrooms all this time, once they saw the tentacles and heard the yelling, started fleeing in terror, and, eventually, the hallway became utterly deserted.

Honest quickly made her way down the hallway towards him while Scourge followed more slowly. Dina walked around the corner and came that way as well. When Honest approached their captive audience, Mephiles stepped out of her way and looked on with soulless eyes. Shadow glared down at her with fury burning in his eyes. "Get away from me."

"Shadow, you're being ridiculous!" Honest exclaimed. She pointed at him fiercely, her finger inches from his nose. "Use some sense for a second and realize that I saved your life, and you should be grateful."

Shadow flinched, surprised at how serious she was being. "I am grateful. I... You just handled it in a way that I wasn't expecting..." He then took a moment to look over the group that had gathered. His eyes widened in surprise and then promptly narrowed in contempt as he realized something. "Why did you form a group to come attack me? And why these people?"

"Scourge, Dina, and Mephi- well, Scourge and Dina forgave me for deleting Infinite," Honest answered, literally turning her nose up at him. "What you should have done if you were my real friend." Honest pretended to look hurt, pouting her lips.

Shadow studied her closely. "Uh-huh..." Scourge jumped when he realized Shadow was studying him as well. Still keeping his scarlet eyes trained on Scourge, Shadow said, "Of course Scourge of all people would have forgiven you. He's done this sort of thing before. I wouldn't expect anything less from him."

It was clear to Scourge that Shadow meant to insult him with that statement. It took every fiber of his being not to say something back. Honest, however, huffed loudly. "Think about how many GUN soldiers you've homing attacked, Shadow. Did their lives mean anything less to you?"

"Of course not, but-" Shadow cut himself off by wiggling fiercely. "You can let me go now, Mephiles. I'm not going anywhere." The tentacles had started to sag a bit, and when he wiggled, Mephiles let them fall to the floor.