Shadow was huddled by 3 raging infants as he sat on the carpeted floor. The look on his face was far from amused.

"Now that you're finally here, I have some me time," said the orange hedgehog. She bent down in front of Shadow and the babies and made a kissy face. "Bye bye. Mummy will see you again soon." Then she gave Shadow a dry look before turning to leave.

"H-how long will you be gone?" Shadow asked as he attempted to get up, but one of the babies had latched onto his waist, and the other two onto his arms.

"A few hours," she said, then slammed the door behind her.

"Damn," Shadow cursed, then looked down at the three terrors. He gasped in pain as one of them latched onto his chest fur, pulling at each individual strand of fur. Luckily, this meant that one of his arms were free, so he pried the child off of him. He held it at arm's length, and the small creature dangled in his grip. The hedgehog shivered as he caught it's gaze. He knew what it felt to receive one his death glares. It was strangely so much more effective coming from the eyes from an infant. Shadow gently set it down on the thick carpet.

"Alright… ummm… Junior," Shadow said. "Junior 2, 3." He couldn't even remember their names. "How about I tell you a story- GAH!" One of them had found themselves to Shadow's tail, and was tugging at it fiercely. "I've been shot, frozen, and experimented on, and here I am yelping at some pathetic babies…" he sighed. "How low I've fallen."

He looked at the clock, and felt frustrated by how slow the time passed.

6 Months Later

"He didn't even know their names. The idiot," the orange hedgehog said in disgust. Sonic listened intently. "The others have told me about your little visits. You're a better person than he is."

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.

"Stop. You'll make me blush," he said.

"I'm so jealous of the lucky girl that has a child with you when you're older," the woman said. "Even if you are a deadbeat, then you'd at least visit more than Shadow ever does."

"Alright," Sonic said and put his hands out. "Enough about me." He looked down at the triplets, playing around with one another. "So, Shadow couldn't remember their names. Let's see if I can do a better job."

Sonic forgot the names the second after they were said. He couldn't blame Shadow for forgetting, somewhat.

"Nice," Sonic said. "So uh… what was he like around them?"

"An idiot," she said. "He even acted scared. I mean, they're only babies. I thought he was meant to be some kind of 'ultimate lifeform'." Sonic cringed at the air quoting.

"He is the ultimate lifeform. He's just… an awful dad," Sonic said, smiling awkwardly. He felt uncomfortable at the look the orange hedgehog was giving him. Sonic's mouth twitched into a nervous smile and he looked to the door. "So uh…"

"If you're bored, you can go," she said boredly. "You're not their dad. You've no obligation to be here. But, if you do see Shadow… kick him in the emeralds for me." She cracked a smile.

"Alright, so that's ten kicks in the crotch, and five punches to the face in total," Sonic said in thought. "Got it."

"I'm not the only one who thought of that? Shame," the woman said, not sounding all that bothered. In fact, she looked a little delighted at the numbers. Shadow was owed a lot of beatings. "And tell him to get his ass down here. And learn their names!"

"Of course," Sonic said and slowly got up from the armchair and shifted towards the door. "Bye!" He rushed out.

He sighed as he walked out of the apartment building.

"Why do I even bother with this?" he asked himself, then got out a list from his quills and pointed to the next name on the list. "Alright. They're not too far away."

…

6 Months Earlier

"This is awful," Shadow said as he walked out of the apartment block of his triplets. He wiped some baby sick from his shoulder, looking the other way in disgust. "The ultimate lifeform should be wiping the blood of his victims from himself, not the… vomit from his infant child." He turned the corner, glad to be out of the sight of that building. He was glad he had a whole week before he had to go back. He looked upwards in thought. "Damn, two hours with Junior next." Which Junior, though? Shadow knew what he meant. He knew where to go, just not the names of the people he was seeing.

He looked out to the sun setting in the distance, casting shadows over the city.

"Faker… I wonder if you still wait for me by the tree…" he said solemnly. "I owe you those rings." He sulked on his way to his next destination.

But before he could reach it, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He looked down, noticing a very small hole in his chest. Green blood began pouring from it. The hedgehog tried to breath in in shock, but instead of oxygen, he got pain. He choked outward before collapsing to his knees. A million thoughts went through his head as he collapsed forward.

What just happened? I was shot. Who shot me? Was it on purpose? Was it an accident? No, it was too precise. It was planned. Sniper. But not in the head. They know they can't kill me. Someone wants to capture me. Who? Eggman? No. He doesn't operate like this. Snipers. Armed soldiers. GUN. Of course. They captured me fifty years ago, why wouldn't they want me now? Do they know about my children? Only if Rouge told them. Would she tell? No, she's more loyal than that. Unless they tortured her for information. But why would they go that far to go on a far fetched assumption that I might have children. That's dumb. Idiotic. No. Rouge didn't tell them. They don't know about my children. Unless one of those women reported. But I wouldn't be around to help them look after their child if I was arrested. And it would put their own child at risk. Damn. They're all at risk. Why couldn't I be infertile like the Professor said- DAMN! This is going to hurt.

Thump. His face impacted the ground. The hedgehog lay still, beginning to feel numb all over. His vision slowly blurred more and more, so he closed his eyes. He heard footsteps echoing, so he forced himself to open his eyes again. He struggled to tip his head slightly, to look up at his hunter. GUN uniform. Shadow sighed and let himself relax again. He was right, and he was screwed.