He looked out over the battlefield, his way-too-large helmet slipping over his eyes once again. "Careful, he's somewhere nearby, I know it!" The three hedgehog siblings heard a low growl and spun around. The girl screamed and hid behind the brother who wasn't wearing a helmet. The other one immediately whipped out his gun and shot at the creature.

As the water hit Iltinis, he pretended to reel around before finally falling over, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth for added affect. "We got him!" Cheered Aaron, scrambling towards the downed hedgewolf. Iris looked worried.

"Daddy..... dead?" She asked. This question was answered when they were close enough, Iltinis suddenly sprang up and grabbed them all, squeezing gently. They didn't notice this, seeing as they were all too busy screaming with panic. "I can't breathe!" cried Iris. Iltinis immediately put them down and crouched to look at Iris properly, concern on his face.

"I'm sorry, are you okay Iris?"

"Get him!" yelled Noah, rushing towards Iltinis and grabbing hold of one of his legs tightly. Aaron approved of this plan and jumped onto Iltinis's back, while Iltinis laughed and tried to carefully shake Aaron off, Iris even got enough courage to venture a punch. Iltinis pretended to gasp, and he fell backwards. Luckily, Aaron was so small that Iltinis didn't crush him.

Of course, they'd discovered that their kids had a good amount of endurance. This had been discovered when Eggman had tried to kidnap the kids to throw them a surprise birthday party (of course, no one else knew about this). Iltinis had transformed immediately and raced off, he'd grabbed the kids and held them close to himself, with much more pressure than when they played "alligator".

The kids had squirmed and screamed, thinking it was a game, and when Tails checked them later (with Iltinis and Amy anxiously standing nearby), he found that they wouldn't even get bruises. The door shut as Noah jumped onto Iltinis's stomach. The air left the hedgewolf in a whoosh. "You hurt Daddy!" cried Iris almost hysterically.

"Oh come on! You punched him!"

"Only a little one," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at Aaron.

"I'm home!" Called Amy.

"Mommy!" Iltinis ambled into the kitchen (with a very fake limp) with the kids riding on his back. He flopped onto the floor as they leapt off and ran over to Amy to throw their arms around her waist. Amy patted their heads.

"How did your war go? Did you save the damsel in distress and beat her terrible guardian?"

"Yeah, Iris is a good general," Noah then wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to do the damsel part next time though."

"It was all icky and girly!" Added Aaron. Iris stuck out her tongue again.

"If you don't do the damsel, I won't be a general."

"But you're the only one who's good at being a general!" Iris ignored this and turned back to Amy.

"I punched Daddy, will you see if he's okay?" she asked. Amy smiled and nodded. So while Iltinis sat at the table, a hedgehog again, Amy checked him for "wounds", while the children looked on anxiously. Even though they loved playing "war" with their dad (even though it involved a horrifying amount of damsel saving), they didn't want him to get hurt. After all... when they accidentally broke one of Uncle Shadow's vases (by knocking it onto his head), they'd been in a huge amount of trouble.

Amy finally got some ointment and rubbed it into where Iris had punched him. "You're going to have a bruise there," she said solemnly.

"Oh no!" Iris burst out crying. Iltinis grinned and put her on his lap.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have expected anything less from you, you're a strong little girl!"

"Yeah, and a good general," said Aaron, not wanting them to forget that part.

Shadow groaned, his chest was hurting, as if something was trying to pull him in opposite directions. It had started last month, and happened at the most unexpected times. And other times, he would lose control of his body momentarily, which had resulted in some very narrow escapes from near fatal (for a mortal) accidents. This had made him decide not to run until this stopped.

But when he almost fell from the top of the stairs and broke his neck, he made an equally important decision to go to Tails's house and find out what the heck was wrong. No matter how much laughter would be delivered thanks to Sonic, he had to do this... after all, even though he was immortal, injuries like that hurt like hell and kept him out of battle for a good long while. Plus, his pride had been injured enough recently.

Shadow exited his house, one of his legs jerking sideways and causing him to crash to the ground. Once again, he was glad that his house was in an isolated area. As he got up, another scratch added to that thing called his pride, he decided a motorcycle would be too risky, the same (sadly) for Chaos Control. Yes the car was risky as well, but there was less chance of near fatal injuries if something happened.

He was in the city when the biggest pull yet occurred and he passed out, one of his arms moving just enough for the steering wheel to turn, making the car crash into a tree.

Rouge was on her way with the car to meet Knuckles (who had successfully retrieved groceries from the store without running into.... problems), when she saw a car crash ahead. No one else was around, which was strange..... when she got closer, she realized that the car was Shadow's, and that he was slumped in the front seat with two people beside him, blinking in a dazed fashion.

She pulled out her cell phone immediately as she parked the car. Knuckles would have to drop the groceries off at Cream's house.

Iltinis had finished putting the living room furniture back, and was making spaghetti (one of the few dishes he'd managed to master when the kids weren't asking him to play with him, or when he didn't have somewhere to go) when the phone rang. "Would you get that please?" Amy called, she was giving the kids baths.

"'Kay," he called. He stretched his arm, lifted the receiver, and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Iltinis?"

"Hi Rouge! How are you?"

"Never mind that, I need you here right now."

"What's wrong?"

"Shadow's been in a car crash."

"WHAT?! Where are you?" Iltinis was swiftly getting the spaghetti off the stove and preparing to rush out the door.

"Two blocks from your house, go right, hurry!" Iltinis hung up and dashed out of the kitchen.

"Amy, I'm going out!"

"Why?"

"Shadow's been in a car crash!"

"Oh my....!" He heard something fall to the floor, "Where should we meet you?"

"Tails's house."

"Alright, be careful!"

Iltinis discovered that the car doors were jammed, so he transformed and ripped the driver's side door off, then transformed back to hedgehog form and lifted Shadow. The other two who'd been in the vehicle stared blankly at him. "Is he going to be okay?" Asked the female one anxiously, still blinking as she tried to focus.

"I'm not sure, Rouge, I'm taking him to Tails's house." He turned and disappeared. Rouge looked at them.

"Who are you?"

"Introductions later," said the male, standing cautiously. When he almost fell down, Rouge sighed.

"Get in my car." Knuckles ran up not too long after that.

"What happened...?" He asked.

"I'll explain on the way." Knuckles climbed into the passenger seat, with a screeching of tires, Rouge's car did did a complete turn and they zoomed off.

'Dark Gaia?'

'Iltinis! How nice to hear from you, life at the Chaotix's is interesting, but very boring when Charmy is left alone.'

'You haven't found a new mouthpiece yet?'

'Nope, I like using Charmy. Espio and Vector don't seem to mind when I stop him from talking...'

'Nice, Shadow was just in a car crash, would you let the Chaotix know?'

'Of course! Where are you now?'

'On my way to Tails's."

Shadow felt groggy, and his arm was hurting a hell of a lot, but he felt in control of his body, unlike the last few months. He opened one of his eyes. "HE'S ALIVE!" A voice practically yelled in his ear. He winced.

"Hush Sentimento!"

"So that's her name? Sentimento?"

"Yeah. I'm Senzace. Nice to meet you." Then Charmy's voice came.

"Hey... she looks like an almost skeletal hedgehog."

"That's because I am an almost skeletal hedgehog," said the voice that had screamed in his ear, sounding confused.

"Sentimento, hush up."

"Sorry Senzace."

"Dark Gaia," said Shadow, sitting up with a groan.

"Yes?" Asked Dark Gaia cheerfully.

"This is your fault." Everyone looked at Charmy/Dark Gaia.

"What did you do?" Asked Iltinis, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing!" Said Dark Gaia, sounding confused.

"Oh yes you did. Remember when you tried to get into my head around five years ago?"

"Yeah...?"

"These two," he said, pointing to them. It was true, they did look almost skeletal. Their heights were normal though. Sentimento, the girl, was a hedgehog with long hair that went to her elbows, her visible eye (the other was hidden by hair) was icy blue. She had maroon fur, and hazelnut brown hair. She was wearing a black hoodie, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers with white skulls on them. She wore no gloves.

Senzace had hair that looked like he'd never brushed it. It had a windswept look, some of it practically looking cross-hatched. His hair was dark blue, his fur was pale green, and his eyes were orange. Some of his hair had been tamed enough to go into a braid, which went all the way down to his waist; it was hanging over his shoulder. His outfit consisted of plain black runners, a brown wrist cuff with a red star on it, and a brown vest. "What about them?" Asked Dark Gaia.

"They're the result of your energy!" Roared Shadow.

"Um..."

"Admit it already, you know it's true!"

"Alright alright, I confess. When I was trying to get you to allow me into your head, I was sneaking some of my energy into you. Happy?"

"No," snarled Shadow, about to leap towards Dark Gaia/Charmy.

"I wouldn't recommend that," said Iltinis, pushing him down. "Your arm is broken, yes it's healing fast, but damaging it more isn't advisable."

"You do like us right?" Sentimento asked anxiously.

"I have no idea," muttered Shadow.

"What are you anyway?" Asked Sonic curiously. "Iltinis is a hedgewolf."

"Oh we're vampires," said Sentimento cheerfully. The triplets shrieked and hid behind Iltinis. I didn't describe them earlier did I? Iris has light purple fur, golden eyes, and she usually wears shorts and a muscle shirt (I like her taste).

Noah and Aaron are both dark blue like Iltinis. Noah has Amy's emerald green eyes, and Aaron's eyes are chocolatey brown. Noah wears boots like Amy's, but his are grey with a golden stripe. Aaron's shoes are like Sonic and Iltinis's, except for the fact that instead of red, his are black. "We're not bad vampires!" Said Senzace.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Senzace feeds on sensation. His name means sensation in Czech." Senzace sighed through his nose, then turned to Sentimento.

"Sentimento?"

"Yes Senzace?"

"You know how I told you when there were moments when you should let me explain things so that you don't possibly mess it up?"

"Yes."

"That was one of those moments."

"Sorry." He turned back to them.

"Yes, I'm a vampire that feeds on sensation, she feeds on emotions. But we don't need to bite a person or anything like that, just being around people is good. Of course, we can't feed off our own emotion, and if we're in a room and there's no exit, if it's completely sealed off from the world, then we'd be able to feed of our own emotions or sensations. It would kinda hurt though."

"My name means sensation in Italian!" Piped up Sentimento.

"Sentimento!"

"Sorry!"

"Anyway.... we're your siblings Iltinis." The hedgewolf stared at them. This was so impossible, and so.... weird. Even weirder than when Amy had to show him how to operate the shower (without breaking anything).

"And that makes your kids our nephews and niece!" Said Sentimento, delighted.

"Auntie Sentimento?" Said Noah incredulously.

"Yup!" Sentimento hugged them. "Oh what fun we'll have! We can go to shopping malls and have ice cream and....... Senzace?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think noodles taste like?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Dad says Iltinis is good at making them."

"'Dad'?" Echoed Iltinis, still in shock. Dark Gaia blushed with Charmy's face.

"Sorry, I like the idea of someone calling me dad!" Iltinis shook his head.

"Where are they staying?" Asked Tails.

"They could stay at the agency," said Vector. The look on Espio's face made Amy decide to invite them to stay with them.

"Oh could we?" Asked Sentimento, clapping her hands together.

"Of course," said Amy smiling uncertainly. She now had a very strange sister in law.

"Vegetables suck," said Sentimento, making a face.

"No they don't, they taste very good," said Senzace. The triplets giggled at these two adults acting like kids (technically they are kids, but whatever). They'd never thought they'd hear an adult agree with their view that vegetables were evil!

"That's it, you've been brainwashed."

"If I have, so have you. Why in the world won't you believe broccoli tastes nice?"

"Or asparagus," added Iltinis.

"I think that Sentimento just doesn't like green things."

"True, but I don't like other vegetables either. They're totally icky."

"Fine! Have it your way, but if you don't have vegetables you don't get cake."

"What's cake?" asked Sentimento and Senzace at the same time. There was silence for a moment, then the triplets started explaining, talking over each other and raising their voices to be heard, until eventually they were yelling.

"QUIET!" Yelled Iltinis. Silence descended like a hammer, you could have cut through it with a knife, honestly! "If you eat your vegetables, you'll find out," said Iltinis sweetly.

"Eeew! Daddy's acting like a girl!" Said Aaron. Amy laughed with Iltinis's new brother and sister.

Elsewhere.....

"Finally! Finally I'll be able to capture Knuckles! All the time it took will be worth it," said Finitevus, chuckling evilly. His new golden tooth did not (contrary to his belief) make him look cool, or more evil. It made him look like a vain idiot. Honestly. It must have been made for someone with buck teeth! But this did not concern him. He was going to be able to catch Knuckles, and once he had Knuckles as.....

This thought was interrupted by a low chuckle, Finitevus turned to look at his visitor. "Ah, puppet master. How good of you to come."

Woot! Sequel started. I hope the names I chose were good. ^_^ And I hope this chapter was good. O.o And I hope everyone was in character. Anyway, R&R, tell me what you think..... and who the hell is "puppet master"? I never heard about him in any of the Sonic comics, tv shows, or that movie that was made. And I'm relatively sure that there wasn't one in the games. *sits down to think about this*

Finitevus: While she thinks about this, I shall give the disclaimer. But first, I would like to say that I do not like that she is making me look like an idiot. -.- An evil idiot sure, but still an idiot.

Disclaimer: Who cares? She doesn't whack YOU with a baseball bat all the time.

Finitevus: Yes, but you deserve it. CrazyNutSquirrel owns Disclaimer, Iltinis, Noah, Iris, Aaron, Sentimento, Senzace, this story idea, and this disclaimer.

And thank you DgShadowChocolate for the title for the story! :D