Aw, guys! You're making me blush here - m'so glad you all love this fic so much!

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Here is the first chapter of 2005 for you all to enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the Fount of Light, Raven, and other such things.

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Sometimes he could barely believe what was going on. Who could have guessed that all the destruction he caused would be so interesting? He was having so much FUN!

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And Raven, the Ultimate Life Form, loved having fun.

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Right he was playing the extremely fun little game called 'Pop goes the Hedgehog' with his littlest and only brother, Shadow. Not that Shadow knew they were playing this particular game…

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'But he'll soon learn,' Raven chuckled merrily to himself as he chased his brother around the corridors, 'Because when Shadow goes POP!, it means I win!'

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And if Raven remembered anything right, it was that winning, success, and other things like that were very important. The MOST important.

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…So why was he still worried about the other Shadow he'd seen?

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Even while he was running and flinging attacks and laughing, inside Raven was frowning and thinking hard. This battle was just a waste of time, totally pointless!

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'…Pointless because I'm going to grind Shadow into mincemeat pie!' Raven declared to himself, laughing out loud at the idea.

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…And…YET…

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A frown flickered over Raven's features, too fast for Shadow - if the black one had been facing the right way anyway - to see and take advantage of.

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Why was it that every time he had Shadow right where he could finally get rid of him - permanently! - Raven always got this strange urge to keep his brother around - and alive, even?

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'Last time, I only kept him around because wanted to try my little toy out,' he reminded himself as he channeled a wave of energy at Shadow.

Shadow barely managed to avoid the blast, and Raven thought he detected the delightful odor of scorched quills. Not that this blast would have actually killed Shadow…Raven had made certain that most of his attacks - since the Fount of Light stopped obeying him, anyway - had merely been light and fire.

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Raven smirked.

Shadow was such an idiot.

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Being older, Raven had the benefit of the Doctor's full regimen of training and testing. That was why he was taking his time and just playing around, saving his energy while Shadow used up all of his power with real attacks.

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None of which worked, one might add.

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"Why don't you just give up, Little Brother," Raven called out, "And save yourself the embarrassment of being crushed by me?"

"And why would I give up," Shadow shot back, "When I'm not the one scurrying around like a frightened mouse?"

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Shadow punctuated his remark with a Chaos Spear barrage, which Raven easily avoided with a series of nimble dodging and ducking. Shadow laughed and Raven's vision streaked itself with red when he realized that he'd just proven Shadow's insult true.

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Bad things happened to the people that made Raven angry.

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Instead of using a regular blast of Chaos Energy, Raven held his hands over his head and focused on his special attack.

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"I have a surprise for you, Shadow," Raven chuckled, "Why don't you try playing with this little bauble of mine? Behold my Chaos Blades!"

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The Chaos Blades, like Shadow's Chaos Spears, were a bright yellow color. But instead of being mere narrow bolts, the Chaos Blades were shaped sort of like boomerangs. One appeared in each of Raven's hands.

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Shadow hesitated. Raven grinned when he spotted actual fear in his brother's gaze. Sure, the other hid his feelings almost right away, but Raven knew it would take only a short battering by the Blades, before he'd see that fear in Shadow again.

'…I think I missed that look,' Raven thought to himself wistfully, the image coming to his mind being a young Shadow watching him with a haunted gaze.

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At the same time, the image made Raven feel uneasy for some reason, so he shoved it away and went back to the business at hand.

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"Here, I'll demonstrate what my little darlings can do," Raven added, turning towards the nearest target.

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They were at a large corridor junction: nearby were a pair of reinforced steel doors. Raven aimed carefully, before tossing one of the Chaos Blades at the doors with all the accuracy of a professional knife-thrower.

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There was a flash of white light when the Blade impacted, followed by the thunderous roar as the doors were consumed in the blast of energy. Soon, the smoke cleared, and all that was left of the doors was big smoldering hole in the wall that was all scorched around the edges.

For a second, Raven looked into the hole and was surprised to see some kind of huge room. It looked familiar, somehow, but Raven decided to check it out after he dealt with his pesky brother.

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Then, he would take care of those others that had dared oppose him…including the not-Shadow Shadow that he'd almost gotten before…and then, with the powers of the Fount of Light at his command, Raven would be utterly unstoppable! Oh, the things he would kill!

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Laughing, Raven flung his second Chaos Blade at Shadow.

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The Blade was dead on target…until Shadow flung himself through the steaming hole at the last second.

Raven growled and exerted his will on the Blade. It's flight path twisted around in midair and it sailed neatly back into his grasp. Another thing Shadow had never learned.

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Smirking, Raven followed his brother through the hole at a leisurely pace. He was going to enjoy teaching Shadow about these things the hard way, that he most certainly was!