FicWad

Aleena watched Sonic run around the living room in a blue flash.
Sonia picked up a heavy backpack that even Aleena struggled to carry and brought it to her. “Here ya go, Mama.”
Manic was happily playing with his makeshift drums (a bunch of pots and chopsticks).
Aleena did a double take at Sonic when he raced by her again.
Sonic’s spines were glowing bright blue.
“Sonic, come here, baby.” Aleena said.
Sonic ran over. His eyes were glowing that same strange light blue with what looked like electricity arcing off of his body. He didn’t seem to notice the odd effects.
Sonia tugged on Aleena’s dress. “Mama?”
Aleena looked at Sonia. “What do-”
Sonia’s amber eyes were glowing bright orange.
“That’s gotta be the Chaos radiation.” Aleena thought.
“Ma?” Manic asked as he walked over to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you three ready to go see Maria?” Aleena asked.
The triplets cheered.
Aleena took her children’s hands and walked them across the street where their babysitter, Maria Robotnik, lived with her grandfather Gerald and two adopted siblings Shadow and Knuckles.
While Aleena trusted Maria and (to a point) Gerald, she was a bit suspicious of the old man.
For one, it was his experiments on the Chaos Emeralds that caused the incident. Two, he was suspected of experimenting on Mobians and she had even begun to wonder about it herself when he adopted two orphans. Three, neither Aleena nor anyone she knew who worked at the lab knew anyone who could be the parents of the two children.
Aleena arrived at the house and knocked on the door.
Maria opened the door and smiled. “Hey, you-”
“Hi, Maria.” The triplets said, grinning.
Maria showed Aleena and the triplets inside.
“Shut up, Shadow.” Knuckles said, clenching his fists. “Maria said we can’t watch Terminator 2.”
Maria shook her head. “I hope Grandfather isn’t allowing him to watch that.” She said, “He’s too little to watch an R-rated movie.”
Shadow seethed. His eyes started glowing reddish-orange and reddish-orange electricity arced off his body. “You think you can make me shut up?” He asked. “Pathetic.”
Knuckles started glowing red. His eyes started glowing purple.
“Boys, calm down.” Maria said. “Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are here. Let them pick a video.”
“Animaniacs.” Manic said.
“Who said you get to pick?” Sonic asked.
“We’ll put it to a fair vote in a minute.” Maria replied.
“I shouldn’t be gone too long.” Aleena said. “I’ll pick them up as soon as the job interview is over. Uncle Chuck may pick them up if he gets out of work before I’m done.”
“Okay.” Maria replied. “I hope the interview goes well.”
“Thanks, Maria.” Aleena said. She hugged the triplets. “Bye, babies. Be good for Maria. I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
“Bye, love you too.” The triplets replied.
Aleena left the house. “I bet those boys were the test subjects.” She muttered under her breath.
Aleena made a mental note to call her uncle Chuck to make sure he could watch her triplets while she confronted Gerald later.
*
Aleena led her children out to Uncle Chuck.
Manic reached for Aleena. “Ma?” He asked. “Can we-”
“In a minute.” Aleena replied. “I’ll meet you at the house. Uncle Chuck will stay with you for a minute.”
“Come along, kiddos.” Uncle Chuck said, leading the triplets away.
“Come in, Aleena.” Gerald said. “I think I know what this is about.”
Aleena crossed her arms as Gerald showed Aleena inside. “I noticed Shadow and Knuckles' spines and eyes glow when their emotions go haywire.” She replied. “The Chaos emeralds react to brainwaves and/or body temperature changes tied to extreme emotional states. The radiation was suspected to cause the body to react like a living Chaos Emerald with intensity depending on the dosage.”
“They were exposed to the radiation, like your children were.” Gerald said, sitting down on the couch. “Except Shadow received a stronger dose. I noticed Sonic and Sonia have the same… uh… affliction.”
Aleena raised her eyebrow. “Yes, but they weren’t test subjects.”
Gerald nodded. “That wasn’t my doing.” He said. “I was against it as soon as I found out about it, Aleena.”
Aleena sat down across from Gerald. “Were you?”
“I spread the word around the lab as soon as I got word of it in the hopes of getting enough complaints about it.” Gerald replied. “I was against it, but I was overruled. Apparently, Ivo had a lot more clout with the higher-ups than I did.”
“I’m not surprised.” Aleena said. “So why did you adopt the boys?”
“To protect them from Ivo and monitor their health.” Gerald replied. “Besides, they grew on me. I have a state of the art security system and the boys are taking various martial arts and self defense classes to protect themselves from Ivo when I or Maria can’t. I don’t believe it was a secret that I had disowned my unethical grandson.”
Aleena nodded. “It wasn’t a secret. I believe you.”
“I suggest you make sure your kids take self defense classes.” Gerald replied. “I’ll install a security system tomorrow with Chuck’s help if you’d like. I don’t want to see them hurt.”
“Thank you, Gerald.” Aleena said, getting up. “I appreciate it.”
Gerald showed Aleena out.
Aleena walked across the street, satisfied with the answers she got. She was usually a good judge of character and had a habit of observing body language. She, like the other employees at the lab, knew well that Gerald didn’t get along well with Ivo.
She worked with Gerald for almost as long as she had known Brenden, she was certain she knew the man well.
“I suppose it would be a good idea to have the kids learn to defend themselves.” Aleena thought.