Oh yay, the first actual chapter! I have no comments at the moment, so read! Oh yeah, disclaimer. I do not own Shadow, Rouge, or any related characters. I own Akumu, Yume, Ciel, and all OC's in later chapters.

The sky above was pitch black, storm clouds blocking out all starlight. A flash of white could be seen for a brief instant outside the National Geology Museum as the clocks throughout Central City struck midnight. On the side of the museum, a hedgehog with crimson stripes clung to the wall, shimmying over to the nearby window. The theif pulled out a knife, a special government knife that was able to cut through most substances, glass included. Cutting a hole large enough to crawl through, the theif beckoned to a bat, also a theif, also with blood red stripes. The thieves were twins Akumu and Yume, Master Thieves in-training.

"Security System?" asked Yume, a female white hedgehog. Like her mother, the legendary Rouge the Bat, she wore a one-piece spy suit, purple with a card style spade covering her chest. The suit ended a little below the knees, leaving an exposure of fur above her airshoes. They were her prize possesions, for her father had given them to her.

"I'm on it," answered her partner in crime, her brother Akumu. He was a black bat, with large red and black wings. He swiftly glided over to a security panel, entering an all-access code he had learned a few days prior to their mission. He gave his sister a thumbs up, all clear. The white hedgehog signaled back before juping from her windosill perch, landing softly on the floor below. Normally, it would have been decorated in an elaborately designed laser system. Thanks to her brother's hacking expertise, though, it was all clear for the nabbing.

She silently ran over to the case which held her prize, a beautiful purple Chaos Emerald. Yume always wondered why the government locked them up instead of giving the emeralds to her parents or their friends, who consistantly used the emeralds. The theif quickly shunned the question, pulling out her knife to cut the glass.

"And now, you're mine," she whispered, holding her prize. Suddenly, the room was filled with red lights, and sirens began to sound.

"Damn," she muttered, "They mush have placed a motion sensor in the case."

"Come on Yume, let's get out of here," Akumu said, grabbing his twin's hand. Nearby doors were flung open, as guards ran into the room. Metal walls closed over the windows, sealing their entrance.

"I don't suppose we'll be getting out that way," Yume muttered, turning her head towards the guards. "Sorry boys," she said flirtasiously, "but we don't have time to play with you. Maybe another time, all right?"

"Get them!" one of the guards cried, his red outfit contrasting against the other soldiar's blue ones. He must be the leader."

"I'm afraid not," Akumu replied, as Yume handed him the Chaos Emerald, for Akumu was the only one who had perfected his Chaos Magic. "Chaos Control!" The twins were inveloped in a green light, and then they were gone.

The security looked around, each of them with baffled looks on their faces. There had been no incidents with teleporting theives since Rouge the Bat's theiving spree a few years back, during which she had her husband stealing with her. That wasn't them, was it? The head guard walked up to the spot the twins had disappeared from. All that remained was a piece of paper, an outline of a black bat and a white hedgehog on the front. The words, "Nightmare Dream" was written in purple letters near the bottom. A calling card.

"Tomorrow, we are re-vamping the security system," The chief barked at his crew. "Make sure no reporters come here. I don't want anyone to know that theives are cropping up again."
The twins found themselves at home, a small house their parents had bought soon after the kids were born. The walls were painted a light purple in the living room, which was the room they had arrived in. There was a kitchen to the left, and a hallway leading to the bedrooms on the right, with a bathroom nearby. There were three bedrooms in the hallway. Akumu's was at the door at the right, Yume's was in the middle, and their mom had the one on the left. She used to share it with her husband, Shadow the Hedgehog, but he had been missing for two years. On the other side of the living room was the guest room, where their Uncle Ciel usually stayed. Ever since Shadow had disappeared, he had stayed with Rouge to help care for the kids, and also helped out at Club Rouge.

"We're home," Akumu called out. "Mom, where are you?"

"Hi kids," Rouge the Bat entered the room, having apparently just got back from the club. "Tough night out there tonight. How'd it go?" Rouge looked quite similar to how she often looked. Her makeup was a little smeared tonight, and she was in her usual attire for Club Rouge (her outfit from SA2B). Time hadn't seemed to have touched her at all during the past years, and she was quite proud of that. She was in her mid-thirties now, after all.

"Guess what Mom," Yume said excitedly. "We finished our first mission! Turns out the gem was a Chaos Emerald!" Akumu pulled it out, their mother eyeing it happily.

"Well then," Rouge exclaimed, "It seems all those lessons I gave you finally paid off. I must say, I'm impressed you found an emerald on your first try,"

"It was nothing," Yume boasted. "We were taught by the best, right?" Rouge laughed.

"Of course you were! I'm not known as the World's Greatest Theif for nothing!"

"Hey Mom, where's Ciel?" Akumu asked. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Good question, I was hoping you knew," Rouge shrugged. "That's one of the reasons I had a hard time tonight. Most of the staff was either on holiday, or they got that cold bug that's going around. For some reason, I couldn't find Ciel anywhere, so I had to deal with it alone. And then Nack showed up, and got in a fight with some guys, and it was just nasty."

"Crud," Akumu muttered. "I wonder what happened?"

"Probably nothing to worry about," Rouge answered. "You two should be getting to bed. It's past midnight, and I do not want to hear crabby children in the morning."

"But Mom, we're not kids anymore," Yume retorted. "We're thirteen! Teenagers!"

"Well, you're still my kids," Rouge replied, "And what I say to you goes. It's bedtime." Rouge gave the twins the do-it-or-else stare she had learned from her husband. It wasn't as good, but it still had the overall effect. The two kids walked off to bed, Akumu still holding his Chaos Emerald. Rouge let out a sigh as she watched them go.

"Teenagers," Rouge muttered. "My little kids are growing up. If only Shadow were here to see this."

And so it begins. Just to clarify it, Yume can use Chaos Magic, but she hasn't mastered it yet. For example, when she uses Chaos Control, she can't control where it goes yet. Also, Yume is as fast as Shadow, while Akumu can fly. For those of you who don't know, Akumu is japanese for Nightmare, and Yume is japanese for Dream. Anyway, see you all soon!