"Daddy, why did you bring us here?"
An adult male hedgehog smirks as he looks down at two little hedgehoglets, who were walking beside him, curious about the surroundings.
The little hedgehoglets, named Marianne and Riley, both turn to an adult female, who was their mother, Yami, as she begins talking.
"We're here to train you both. It's very likely that both of you were born with powers similiar to ours..."
The little male hedgehoglet, named Riley, puts a finger to his chin, confused.
"But what kwinda powers dwo we hwave?"
Yami smiles as the adult male, named Shadow, kneels down beside Riley and places a hand onto his shoulder.
"That's what we're going to find out, son..."
Riley smiles and nods as he watches Shadow walk off to the top of a cliff-like edge. Yami, Riley and his older sister Marianne all look around, noticing that they were all inside a small cave which was on the side of a large mountain.
Marianne curiously walks over to Shadow's position and peeks over the edge.
"Whoa! That's a long way down..."
Shadow, who had noticed Marianne next to him, gently pushes her back away from the edge.
"Be careful, Mari. Stay with your mother, okay?"
Marianne steps back and goes over to Yami.
"Sorry, daddy..."
"It's alright. Now, I want you to watch what I do and try to copy, okay?"
Yami smiles as she sits on the ground, leading the two hedgehoglets down with her. Marianne giggles excitedly as she sits down beside Yami. Riley sits in Yami's lap and sucks his thumb as she holds him close to her.
Shadow takes his Chaos Emerald and holds it up into the air, allowing it to glow a bright purple hue. Marianne and Riley both stare up at the emerald in amazement and soon watch as Shadow raises it above his head.
"Chaos... Control!"
The hedgehoglets gasp as a bright light appears. They use their hands to shield their eyes. Once the bright light had disappeared, Marianne and Riley both gaze up, watching as a portal slowly begins to form next to Shadow.
"Whoa!"
"Cwool!"
Shadow looks back at the portal before turning back to the hedgehoglets.
"That's what happens whenever you induce a Chaos Control. The portal allows you to travel back to the past or into the future."
Riley squeals and claps his hands, excitedly as Mari smiles widely as the portal soon disappears. Yami giggles and holds the hedgehoglets close, kissing their heads.
"Cwan we dwo that twoo, papa?"
Shadow chuckles softly as he kneels down in front of the hedgehoglets. He hands the Chaos Emerald to Mari and watches as both her and Riley stand up.
"Yes. You two can practice doing it if you want... just don't enter the portal, okay? It could be dangerous."
"Owk papa!"
"Ok daddy, we won't!"
Shadow chuckles once again as the two hedgehoglets run off to the bottom of the cave, where the ground was more elevated. Yami stands up next to Shadow and leans her head against Shadow's shoulder.
"They're growing up so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that they were both learning how to walk..."
Shadow smirks a bit as he crosses his arms, watching as Riley follows behind Marianne.
"Indeed."
--------------------
"Ok, I'll try and do it first, okay?"
Riley nods as he watches Mari.
"Owk!"
Marianne holds the Emerald above her head and closes her eyes.
"Chaos... Control!"
Shadow, Yami and Riley watch in surprise as a large portal appears. Marianne jumps up and down, excitedly.
"I did it!"
Shadow and Yami both walk over, clapping their hands.
"Good job, sweetie!"
"You did very well, Mari. Remember this skill, it may come in handy when you're older..."
"I will, daddy!"
Shadow smirks a bit as he gently pets Mari's head. He turns back to Riley and overhears him say 'Chaos Control'. Him, Yami and Mari all watch but soon make confused expressions as nothing happens.
Riley looks around and soon lifts the Chaos Emerald above his head again.
"Chwaos... Cwontrol!"
The mobians look around and once again give confused expressions as nothing appears. Riley lowers his ears and turns to Shadow, who had walked over to him.
"Me sowwy, papa... me dwon't know why it dwidn't work."
Shadow kneels down beside Riley and places a hand on his shoulder as Riley hands the Emerald back to him.
"It's okay, son. I think you may be a bit too young for that... we'll try some other powers, okay?"
Riley smiles a bit as he follows Shadow back to Yami and Mari.
"Owk papa..."
Shadow smiles a bit as he walks beside him.
"Ok, the next power I'm going to teach you is a bit more dangerous but if you use it correctly then all will be okay."
Mari and Riley nod as they watch Shadow.
The black-furred hedgehog twists the wrists of his inhibator rings, making sure that they were secure. He then jumps into the air and holds his hands out. He looks over to a distant rock and swiftly sweeps his hands to the side.
"Chaos... Spear!"
Mari and Riley both watch in amazement as flashes of white light shoot out of Shadow's hands, hitting the distant rock. A few seconds later, the rock explodes into lots of pieces.
"Thwat was awesome!"
Shadow chuckles a bit as he removes his inhibitor rings. He kneels down and hands them both to Riley.
"Here, son... why don't you try this power?"
Riley puts the rings onto his gloves, despite them being way too big and wags his tail happily as he stands up.
"Owk papa! Me dwo it thwis twime!"
Shadow smirks a bit as he crosses his arms and nods his head. Yami and Mari both watch as Riley jumps into the air. He notices another rock in the distance and sweeps his hands like Shadow did.
"Chwaos... Spwear!"
Riley looks over to the rock but soon lowers his ears once again as nothing happens. Yami and Shadow both look to each other with sympathetic expressions as Mari puts a finger to her chin.
"Why isn't it working for Riley, daddy?"
Shadow closes his eyes and lowers his head.
"I'm not sure... perhaps he is too young for that power too. Why don't you give it a try, Mari?"
Mari nods as Riley sadly hands the inhibitor rings to her.
Riley, Shadow and Yami all watch as Mari performs the power perfectly, destroying the rock with a Chaos Spear.
"Well done, sweetheart!"
"Very good, Mari. You are learning quickly..."
Mari giggles happily as Yami kisses her muzzle.
-------------------
Riley, who was now jealous of his sister's fast learning abilities, kneels down to the ground and covers his eyes with his hands, bursting into tears.
Shadow and Yami gasp as they both hear Riley crying. Shadow runs over to Riley and kneels down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Riley... what's wrong, son?"
Riley uncovers his eyes and sniffs, rubbing his nose with a finger.
"I-it... it's nwot fwair! How cwome Mwari gwets all of the powers and me dwon't?!"
"Learning how to use your powers takes a lot of time... though Marianne is older than you so she may have a slightly better advantage. You may end up having different powers when you're older..."
Riley sniffs once again and moves forward, nuzzling his head into Shadow's chest fur. He holds onto him as he continues to sob. Shadow closes his eyes as he holds Riley close to him, cuddling him.
"It's alright, Riley... you'll learn your power one day. I didn't learn my powers until I was Mari's age..."
"W-Weally?"
"Yes."
-------------------
"Riley? Are you okay?"
Shadow and Riley both look up as Yami and Mari kneel down beside him. Shadow holds Riley closer as he continues to nuzzle into Shadow's chest fur.
"He's upset because he hasn't been able to perform the powers..."
Yami lowers her ears as she gently kisses Riley's muzzle.
"It's alright, sweetie... you'll learn your own power eventually. It might even be something that me, your daddy and your sister don't have."
"W-weally?"
"Yeah, it could be a really special one!"
Riley smiles a bit as he wipes away some of his tears with his hand.
"Fanks mama..."
Yami smiles and gets up as she ruffles Riley's hair before walking back over to Mari with Shadow and Riley following behind.
--------------------
After a few more hours of training, Riley watches as Mari continues to use Chaos Spear and Chaos Control, progressively getting better at using them.
"Good job, sweetheart!"
"You're doing very well, Mari."
Riley growls as he soon begins to feel jealous of Mari's abilities. He feels the anger burning up inside of him as he attempts a Chaos Control, only to have nothing happen once again. He continues to feel more angry as he watches his parents praising Mari instead of him.
Shadow, who had noticed Riley getting angry, turns back to him and gasps as he begins to turn red. Riley was in a crawling position on the ground, his spines pinned back and a furious expression on his face. He was about to speak when Shadow runs over to him, holding his hand out.
"Riley, stop it, now!!"
Riley looks over to Shadow and shakes his head, feeling too angry to stop. He closes his eyes and clenches his fists as he feels the anger become too much for his body to take.
"Chwaos... BLWAST!!"
Shadow, who was shocked that Riley even knew how to perform a Chaos Blast, reacts quickly and runs over to Yami and Mari, covering them as an explosive red-coloured shockwave is released from Riley's body. It hits Shadow, Yami and Mari before disappearing into a patch of smoke.
Riley, who had used up a lot of energy, soon collapses to the ground and closes his eyes. Shadow looks down at Yami and Mari, making sure that they were okay. He lowers his head and closes his eyes, shaking his head as he realises that they had gone unconcious from the blast.
He gently places a hand onto the females' muzzles.
"Yami... Mari..."
Riley, who was still somewhat concious, groans and slowly raises his head, watching as Shadow runs over to him. He attempts to stand up but soon falls back down, lowering his ears.
Shadow kneels down beside Riley and gently helps him to his feet.
"Riley, are you alright?"
Riley groans once again and was about to respond when he suddenly notices Yami and Mari's bodies on the ground. He stumbles as he attempts to run over to them. Once he gets back off the ground, he runs over and yells out their names in a distressed tone before kneeling down beside them and shaking their bodies, attempting to wake them up.
"Mama!! Mari!! Wake up, pwease!!"
Once there was no response, Riley begins to sob uncontrollably and covers his eyes with his hands as tears pour down his muzzle. Shadow approaches Riley and kneels down beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
Riley gasps and looks up as Shadow was next to him. He lowers his ears and tries to hold back his tears as Shadow pulls him into an embrace.
"I-It's all my fwault, papa!! Me don't know what hwappened!! Me fwelt so angwy!! Me dwidn't mwean to kwill them!!"
Shadow lowers his ears and sighs a bit, holding Riley close to his chest.
"Shh... try to stay calm."
Riley nuzzles into Shadow's chest fur as he continues to attempt to hold back his tears.
"B-bwut they're dwead!!"
"No, Riley... they're not dead. They're still alive but they've gone unconcious. I can bring them around..."
Riley sniffs and holds onto Shadow as he feels his body shake all over. Shadow holds Riley closer as he takes the Chaos Emerald and whispers, holding the Emerald over Yami and Mari's bodies.
"Chaos Memory..."
A small blue aura appears around Yami and Mari's heads before disappearing. Riley, who was watching the event, looks up at Shadow as he wipes his eyes with his hand.
"P-papa... w-what was that?"
"Chaos Memory. It allows whoever the aura is on to forget any negative memories. Your mother and sister won't remember what happened just now..."
Riley sniffs again as he holds onto Shadow's leg.
"T-thwank wou, papa. Bwut will mama and Mwari be owk?"
"Don't worry, they will be fine. Watch this..."
Riley watches curiously as Shadow holds the Chaos Emerald above Yami before whispering.
"Chaos Heal..."
Riley gasps as he notices Yami begin to move around. She groans a bit before opening her eyes and slowly sitting up.
"W-what on Mobius just happened?"
Shadow smiles a bit.
"You fell asleep, honey... that's all."
Yami smiles a bit as she notices Riley run over to her and give her a big hug.
"Goodness! You wanted a cuddle that badly, sweetie?"
Riley sniffs and sobs a bit as he nuzzles into Yami's chest.
"I'm sowwy, mama! Me dwidn't mwean to!"
Yami gives Riley a confused expression as she holds him close.
"What do you mean, sweetie?"
Shadow smiles a bit as he kneels down, placing a hand on Yami's back.
"Don't worry, honey. It was a bit of a misunderstanding..."
Yami smiles, still a bit confused but continues to cuddle Riley before pulling away. Riley wipes away some of his tears before looking back to Mari and Shadow.
"Would you care to do the honours, Riley?"
Riley nervously crawls over to Mari as Shadow hands him the Chaos Emerald. Yami watches as Riley holds the Emerald over Mari's head. He lowers his ears as he whispers to Shadow.
"Me cwan't dwo it, papa."
Shadow places a hand on Riley's shoulder as he whispers back.
"Yes you can. I'm sure the Emerald will help you this time..."
Riley begins to shiver nervously but soon calms down as he feels Shadow's hand on his shoulder.
"Chwaos... Hweal."
Riley smiles as he watches the same blue aura appear over Mari's head. Mari groans a bit and slowly sits up.
"What hwappened?"
Shadow smiles a bit as he helps her up from the ground.
"You and your mother fell asleep."
Mari makes a confused expression and smiles as Riley hugs her legs.
"Me swo glad you're okay, Mwari!"
Mari giggles a bit and hugs back before walking over to Yami.
Riley stands up and smiles up at Shadow.
"Papa... did me... weally dwo it?"
"Yes. You performed a perfect Chaos Heal..."
Riley wags his tail and hugs Shadow's leg as he feels a few tears dribble down his muzzle. He soon begins to recall what had happened before and holds onto Shadow, feeling himself begin to cry once again.
Shadow, who notices Riley's tears, holds him closer as he thinks to himself.
"I can't let him remember this. No-one deserves to remember something like that..."
Shadow gently takes the Emerald from Riley and holds it above his head.
"Chaos Memory..."
After a brief period of time, Riley opens his tear-filled eyes and looks up at Shadow.
"Papa... why me crying?"
"It's alright. You hurt yourself a bit but you're all fixed up now..."
Riley looks down at his body before looking up at Shadow and smiling.
"Fanks papa..."
Shadow smiles down at Riley as he watches him walk over to a nearby part of the cave. Riley kneels down beside a flower which was drooping slightly. He looks down at his hands and soon holds them out to the flower.
"What was it again? Oh yweah... Chwaos Hweal."
Riley watches in amazement as a blue glowing aura appears around the flower and the flower begins to grow upright again. Shadow, who was kneeling down behind him, gently places a hand on Riley's shoulder.
"See Riley, your mother was right... you have your own special power. You even did it without the Chaos Emerald too... I'm proud of you."
Riley smiles back at Shadow as he hugs his leg.
"Thwanks papa."
