Who does he think he is! Silver growled as he stomped outside. The snow whipped up thanks to the wind, but it wasn't too terribly bad for a maned hedgehog. Accusing me of avoiding him! He's the one who avoided me! The forest was ideal if he was kicking himself out of his dad's house. Not my fault Vanity had to appear just as she moved in so I had to play "bodyguard!"

He stopped stomping when he found a fitting area to spend the night. A nice, slightly sheltered place to sleep. The young hedgehog growled a little when he curled up in the spot. Hate hate hate hate hate...

He is so stubborn! Ugh, I've got to wrestle with him every time I want to talk to him! Shadow grabbed his head, gritting his teeth. I certainly don't remember anything like that. There wasn't anything to kick lightly or throw without making a lot of noise. Err... I'm better than this, I'm better than this... With a sigh, he was finally calm. Oh, Silver... What went wrong with you?

"Shadow?" Mephiles peeked in the living room. "Where's Silver?"

"He ran off. Why's he so...?"

"Much like you?" he finished. "Well, you know the saying, don't you?" But- he's not all me, he's got Selene in him too! He's kind and...!

"He's got her in him too. He's..."

"Cutting himself off," the demon pondered. "Interesting. Selene was always the table with the short leg. You were the landmine. Makes Silver a bomb that only goes off when it's pushed." The wind was wailing outside; made moans loud enough that no windows needed to be open. "Oh… I'm afraid he'll get frost bite if he stays out for much longer. I'll watch Leaf, you go get him."

No use taking a scarf, Shadow noted, walking outside. Thirty seconds out the door and he was shivering. Not a good sign. Silver may be maned but it's not enough to make up for his light-colored fur. The ice in the air collided with his legs every time he took a step. Please, don't let Silver be upset..! The last thing I need is a-

A snow-covered body had his back to the dark hedgehog. Silver! "Silver?" The shape vibrated against the blurring landscape. Running over to it, he let out a heavy sigh, "Don't try and fight me-"

Something was wrong with him. His irises were the size of a pen nib. He started to growl, whimper and wince, spazzing a bit. And his shadow was unusually dark for the conditions he was under.

Someone is possessing him. From the looks of it, he was trying to put up a fight, but whoever was holding his strings wasn't letting him. When his son started gasping for breath, Shadow feared the worst. He raised his right arm across and above, and waited for the moment when the hedgehog's shadow, which had red eyes, was exposed-

"Chaos Spear!" With a shriek, Silver stopped moving for three seconds as the shadowy figure moved out of his shade. Its image cringed, and then faded away. If Silver was telling the truth...That might've been Vanity, trying to kill him. The growl in his throat turned into a "Silver?" as he shook the boy gently. Thankfully, the shivers returned and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"D-da-dad..." he teeth chattered. Based on the frost on his gloves and boots, it looked like forcing them to move would snap them off. "S-s-s-so...c-cc-cold..."

"I know. Don't move," he whispered, picking him up. Walking back into the house, the younger hedgehog sighed at the heat but his teeth kept hitting each other. Carrying him upstairs and into the master bath, Shadow set Silver down on the floor first, then started running the water in the bathtub.

"Wh-wh-what are y-y-you d-doing?"

"Curing your hypothermia." He tugged on one of the boots. They wouldn't budge. "Looks like your legs are frozen to the gold cuffs," he informed the shaking one. "Hang on." With just a little steamy water into each boot, they slipped off with minimal resistance, given the strong hedgehog was being cautious not to rip off the foot.

"Dad? I'm sorry."

"Huh? No, I should've started differently. Not your fault."

"No…I mean about not spending time with you… Someone else could've been watching her… I-It's just that it's-"

"Fun being around her, right?"

"Um, yeah. It's fun. And I was just worried that something might've happened to her..."

"I understand."

"How, though? You and mom kept your relationship a secret...didn't you?"

"You know, your mother and I haven't been girlfriend-and-boyfriend as long but that doesn't mean I wasn't protective when she was carrying you around."

"Really?"

"That was the only time I'd ever be with her again, Silver. Of course I'd want to be around her for as long as possible and have as much fun as we could."

"Didn't…didn't think that would be the last time, huh?"

"Of course not. She didn't even see it coming."

"You…You do miss her, don't you?"

"Almost every day."

"She…She was happy…right?"

"She hasn't said otherwise."

"Would she…would she have been happy if she could stay with you?"

"Happier with the three of us, but yes, she would've."

"Teehee! Catch me, Daddy!" the young hedgehog challenged. But this one wasn't metallic green... She was a silver, slightly older hedgehog. Who? Where's the green one-

"Catch us, catch us!" her younger green sister egged, running further away.

Oh, there she is... Man, they look a lot like...Leaf. Come to think of it, the green one only came along after I met Leaf...I...I wonder... if this is our future...

"Keep up! Don't let Daddy get you!"

"I'm trying! Slow down!"

But...where's Leaf?

"Come on, it's not that hard," Silver encouraged. Leaf eyed the ice nervously. Ever since Mephisto started chasing after her, Vanity was less likely to appear. But the green hedgehog would not step on. And every time he tried to reason with her, the little hedgehog toddlers would reply, too.

"I'm a bit clumsy..." she hummed sadly. "I, uh, don't know if it's a good idea..."

"I promise that I'll catch you if you fall down."

"But, Daddy... It looks scary..." said the gray one.

"Yeah...um, scary." said her green sister, cowering behind.

"Are you sure?" the lime-green girl mewed. He nodded, "I'm certain."

"What if the ice breaks?"

"And we fall through a hole, and end up on the other side of the world?"

"But, Silver...You'll laugh at me," she grumbled. The male shook his head. "Not likely, and if I do, I'll probably fall down too."

"Then the only one who could save us would be your daddy, Daddy!"

"I don't wanna—Eee!"

The hedgehog took a hold of her hand and pulled her out into the middle of the ice. Her brilliant eyes bulged as they got closer to the center with a single glide. She clung to him tightly, causing him to lose his balance a little.

"You know, the more you cling, the more likely I am to fall down," he soothed. "Just stand up straight."

Shuddering, Leaf grabbed (with just one of her hand) his hand and straightened out, trying to stay calm. She even had to hold her breath to steady her nerves. But at last she was calm...

Then Silver slowly started to move, causing her to panic. "Wha-"

"Don't worry, just balance for now. You can even try to keep up with me," he smirked a little. It was a minute before the girl actually accepted his challenge, and skated alongside him, let go, and glided ahead for a moment. She wavered for a second, but before she could touch the ground, he was there, holding her up. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Not really," she giggled. "I haven't done this in awhile..."

"You caught on faster than I thought you would've," he smiled into her aquamarines. "You're a natural."

"Yep, and you're just a cheater who rips off from his dad's memories," she laughed playfully as her boyfriend helped her stand back up.

"Oh, think I'm the cheater, now?" Competitively, he dropped into the speed-skating stance. "I'll show you what natural talent is when I beat you to that end of the lake!"

She copied him gracefully. "May the faster hedgehog win!"

"Ready...?"

"Set...?"

"Go!"

Silver was too focused on getting to his goal. He sped over to the edge, slowing, then turning to a stop. "Heh, I-

"Leaf!"

She was being dragged into a more shaded area of the lake, where the surface of the ice was shattered and waiting. The green girl had been silenced unnaturally, but struggled. Wherever Vanity was, if she was there, she was not seen. Nevertheless, Silver swoosh-ed over to her side in a heartbeat, playing tug-of-war. "Don't let go!"

"Daddy!"

"Daddy! Help us!"

"Save us!"

The coyote didn't put up much of a fight; sending Silver and Leaf harshly backward and landing on the other side. The young silver hedgehog felt like his tail had snapped because he sat on it. Finally, Vanity made herself known.

"Strong little hedgehog, aren't you?" she growled. Then she moved her arm towards them, and Silver caught movement underneath the snow. Instinct told him Get in front of Leaf right now!

The shadowy snake's fangs sunk into the male's right arm. Quickly, as soon as he felt the pain, he sent a paralyzing wave through and the once whipping serpent went still enough for him to kick it off.

The teeth were still embedded in his limb when the shrieking bleeding blur spiraled into the snow. But he was down, clutching his skull. Sensitivity made the pain about fifteen times worse than it would've been. Poison! That's going to take forever to cough up! Curse you, Vanity! You and your death worshiping snake!

"Silver!" Leaf screamed as he tried not to fall to the ground. The attacker only laughed. "See what sort of bloodshed you've dealt out, Leaf? He wouldn't be in this much pain if you had let me kill you!"

He could feel his cells being slightly overpowered by the toxin, and his head felt like a colossal nail had been pounded into it, but he had to stop the venom somehow. Get up or the world dies with you! With a painful growl, the venin was forced back into the fangs and physically Silver wrenched them out, staining the surrounding area with black and red. The coyote seemed baffled at this sudden recover.

"Death has never failed me-"

"Until now!" The hedgehog flung one fang towards her, but she dismissed it, and the snake's carcass, instantly. She eyed the panting figure for a moment. His left arm was holding his crippled right, which dripped with blood in four different areas.

"My, aren't you one to display bravado. I thought that was diminished since the 21st century." The insult didn't reach Silver's ears. And even if it had, he said nothing. Mephiles had taught him well on the rule of "talk more, expose more" that manipulation was based on. Even though he wanted to scream, "You-evil-freaking-monster-I'll-kill-you-with-one-hand-tied-behind-my-back!"

This pushed her a little too far. "Very well, Silver, is it? Let's end this." Weakly, he put a bubble around Leaf, who stayed where she was as he balled up all of the dirty red snow. Can't let her…get my blood… Assuming Vanity had powers beyond his comprehension, that could possibly lead to shape-shifting or shadow manipulation. Either way, if she had just had a bit of his DNA, she'd know everything. My power, my family, my background… Manipulation steps on that kind of stuff!

He should've been watching Vanity. She had taken advantage of his precaution and forced him off the ground and dug some razors into his right cheek, sending him skidding across the ice surface. As he uneasily tried to get back up, he saw her sniff the plasma on her hands.

"Psychokinetic, of all things," she growled, unhappy to hear herself say it. "That's rather odd, considering the fact that the genes were bred out a very, very long time ago. And generations skipping each other makes no sense at all.

"So what could it be," she mused. Then she had it. "Aahh...It's from your father's side."

"Less talk more fight!" Words to live by, Silver grinned inside as he trapped Vanity inside the snow. "Leaf! Go now!" he barked. "Get to the house! Get Dad! Go!"

The green hedgehog leaped to her feet and broke into a run. She was out of his sight when the coyote freed herself from the powder bondage. When she realized the hedgehog was gone, she let out a growl. "Instinctive, aren't you, nuisance?"

His psychic strength seemed to be returning. I might be able to finish her off now! But... She's been pursuing Leaf for years...She...She won't listen to reason...

I can't kill someone!

"Shadow! Master!" Mephiles started calling from the front room. "She's ambushed them!"

"What?" he demanded clarification. As he entered, Leaf was near collapse, panting heavily, as the demon tried to get her to say more. "What's going on?"

"Silver..." she wheezed. Immediately the dark hedgehog widened his eyes. "What? Is it Vanity?"

"Must be!" Mephiles growled. "You must hurry, Shadow! Now!"

"Something the matter, hedgehog? You're awfully stunned for a fighter."

W-What do I do? If I go for it...I'll lose control...And up like...like Mephisto...

Vanity edged closer. "Heh, you're shivering. It has to be fear."

But...If I don't...She'll kill Leaf!

"So...I guess you're not much of a hero after all...-" She was suddenly pushed to the ground by some force. Silver then recognized a familiar voice.

"Silver! Run! Go, Now! You have to hurry!"

"DO WHAT SHE SAYS!" Shadow screamed, yanking him home.

Mom?