(Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic Boom or any of the characters, all credit goes to the original creators at Cartoon Network. Please support the official release).
~Unlikely Parenthood~
One sunny afternoon on Seaside Island, Team Sonic were exploring a undiscovered cave that they came across one day while trekking through the jungle. Since Amy was an archaeology buff, she wanted to explore the cave and see what it had to offer.
Everyone stood in the cave while their glowing gear illuminated the darkness.
"Okay everyone, I think we should split up to cover more ground and see what this cave has to offer. Who knows what we'll find!", said Amy.
"I'll go with Sticks and make sure she doesn't break anything, there could be priceless and irreplaceable artifacts in here", said Tails which earned him a glare from the feral badger.
"Then I'll explore this main area of the cave and see what I'll find", said Amy.
"Me and Knux will go down this tunnel and see what we can find", said Sonic.
"Sweet! I'll bet there's gold!", said Knuckles as he excited ran down the tunnel with Sonic.
Everyone else proceeded with their tasks, heading into other parts of the cave. As Sonic and Knuckles walked down the tunnel, they began noticing a change in the atmosphere. The air suddenly grew colder and the floor made squelching sounds as they stepped.
They both looked down and realized that the floor was covered with a thick film of purple slime.
"Ew, gross! Why's the floor all slimy?", asked Sonic in disgust.
"Maybe there's some slugs in here or something", said Knuckles.
As Sonic was about to bend down and see just how much slime he got all over his shoes, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eyes. He looked up and saw something at the end of the tunnel, it was a large oval shaped object that was dark pink and purple.
It was covered with slime, there were veins all over its exterior and it looked like it was pulsating.
"Ugh, gross! What the heck is that supposed to be? A giant skinless grape?", he asked as he recoiled in disgust.
"I don't know...wanna see me throw rocks at it?", said Knuckles as he pulled out a bunch of rocks from seemingly no where and started throwing them.
They all struck the slime oval shaped object with varying degrees of force.
"Knux, what are you doing?! Stop before that thing blows up or something--"
Sonic was cut off when the object started shaking and twitching, then the top part of it peeled open like a banana and something started crawling out of it. The thing in question looked like a large dark pink and purple starfish with pulsating veins.
Suddenly, without warning, the starfish creature leapt into the air towards Sonic, who was too stunned to react. It planted itself onto his face and firmly latched onto his head with its arms. Sonic finally reacted by letting out a muffled scream as he tried to rip the creature off of his face.
It refused to come off because as it turned out, it also possessed a long, tail like appendage that it used to wrap around Sonic's neck. It didn't choke him or cut off his airway, but it wrapped itself around his throat tight enough so that he couldn't pull it off.
"Hang on, buddy! I'll get it off!", shouted Knuckles as he delivered a swift punch to the creature. The force sent Sonic flying backwards into the cave wall, where he was not only coated in slime but also hit the back of his head, knocking him senseless.
As Sonic laid on the ground, half dazed and his vision completely shrouded in darkness, he felt something touch his face. Something pried his mouth open whilst a long object slowly forced its way into his mouth and down his throat.
Sonic let out another muffled scream as he once again tried to remove the creature from his face, but then his frantic movements suddenly slowed down. His hands released their hold on the creature and fell to his sides, and then Sonic laid completely still and quiet, his only movement was his slow rhythmic breathing.
Knuckles began internally panicking as he gently lifted Sonic's limp body off the ground and ran back to the main area of the cave. "Guys! Guys, come quick! We've got an emergency here!", he shouted.
"Knuckles, what's going on?", Amy called out as she, Tails and Sticks came running over. When they saw what was in his arms, they all stopped and gasped in shock.
"Me and Sonic were exploring the tunnel, but then we saw it was all slimy...then we found this round thing at the end of the tunnel. And I thought it would be fun to throw rocks at but then it opened up and this starfish thing jump out and grabbed Sonic's face! He tried to pull it off but then he stopped moving... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!", Knuckles babbled as tears welled up in his eyes.
He was thoroughly convinced that something was now wrong with Sonic and that it was all his fault, and he was feeling very remorseful for it.
Tails approached him, "It's okay, Knuckles. You didn't know what would happen, but now we've got a bigger problem to deal with. We need to get Sonic back to my workshop so I can run some tests and figure out what this thing is", he said.
Everyone was in agreement as they all ran out of the cave as fast as possible.
[Time Skip]
Back in Tails' workshop, Sonic laid on a table while his friends surrounded him. Tails stood near his computer, looking at the data on screen as he analyze the creature with a transducer probe.
"Hmm, wow. The creature is made of biomass and pure electromagnetic energy, but cooled and solidified in a process both fascinating and completely gross", he said.
Sticks looked at the creature with apprehension as she poked it with her finger, "I bet it's some sort of alien creature that's feasting on Sonic's life force!", she said.
"Actually, Sticks, you're wrong. Doing some calculations, this creature is in fact native to this planet. My guess is its kind existed during the time of the Ancients, and it must've been kept in a form of suspended animation all this time.
"As for what it's doing to Sonic, I'm not sure what it's doing but his vitals look perfectly normal so I can guarantee its not feeding on his life force", said Tails.
Amy looked at Sonic's limp body with concern, "Is he gonna be okay, Tails? He's been still and unresponsive for a while now", she said.
Tails nodded, "Yes, he's alright. He's just unconscious, but I bet he'll wake up after I remove that thing from his face", he said.
Tails then pulled out a laser and aimed it right that the center of the creature's back, then he fired the laser. The starfish creature writhed for a moment before it completely detached from Sonic's face and fell to the floor, where it then shriveled up like a raisin.
Everyone looked at Sonic, who was still unconscious but after a few seconds, he let out a cough before he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room in confusion, "Ugh...where am I?", he asked.
"You're back in my workshop, Sonic. We brought you back here so I could get that thing off your face. I don't know what it was, but it's dead now so you don't have to worry about it anymore", said Tails.
Sonic looked down at the shriveled up creature on the floor, "Phew. Thanks for that, Tails. Aside from having a headache and a slight nasty taste in my mouth, I feel great!", he said.
"I'm glad you're okay too, Sonic. I was so afraid I hurt you or something", Knuckles said apologetically.
"Well...as long as that thing was no alien, I'm satisfied", said Sticks.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I could use a stiff shake at Meh Burger to take my mind off what just happened", said Amy.
Sonic licked his lips, "Mmm, sounds good. But you know what I really feel like?", he said.
Half an hour later, Team Sonic was at Meh Burger and everyone had expressions of confusion and shock upon seeing the unrecognizable mess Sonic was consuming.
"Sonic...what are you eating?", asked Amy.
"Well, I woke up super hungry after that whole ordeal. And I got this sudden craving for a bowl of ice cream, jalapeños, dill pickles,
strawberries, salmon and lard", explained Sonic.
"Yuck! Strawberries?!", Knuckles protested.
That was when a bizarre look of concern came over Sonic's face, "Why are you guys all staring at me like that? Is there another thing on my face? Or no, wait...do I look fat to you?!", he asked.
Tails waved his hands defensively, "No, no. It just seems uh...unhealthy", he said.
Suddenly, Sonic started to tear up. "I know, ever since I was kid, I've always been on the chubby side...but I prefer to think I'm jolly! Not like you should be talking, you two tailed freak! But we are what we are, and that's fine with me", he said.
Everyone was put off because in the span of ten seconds, Sonic went from being sad to happy to angry to happy again. He then stood up to leave and that was when the others noticed that his stomach was glowing and slightly bulging.
"Does anyone know what just happened or did I space out for a couple of minutes?", asked Knuckles.
"We need to get back to my workshop...", muttered Tails.
[Time Skip]
A few minutes later, back in Tails' workshop, he quickly analyzed Sonic to figure what was going on and he gasped at his findings.
"It's just what I thought: the strange appetite, the mood swings, the glowing bulges. Sonic, I don't know
how to say this, so I'll whisper it to Knuckles and he'll blurt it out in utter disbelief", said Tails.
He then whispered into Knuckles' ear, "Sonic is pregnant?!", he shouted in disbelief.
"WHAT?!", shouted Sonic, Amy and Sticks.
"Well, sort of. It's a living combination
of biomass and electromagnetic energy growing inside your stomach, placed there by the creature that was on your face. Good news is it's not parasitic, it's actually feeding off the nutrients from the food you ate while in turn providing you with the necessary nutrition, as well as keeping your stamina up.
"The creature is living in a perfect symbiotic relationship with you, so we at least don't have to worry about it potentially killing you. It's perfectly harmless", explained Tails.
"But how the heck am I gonna raise a strange baby Ancient creature? I don't even have a job, the mayor doesn't pay us for hero work!", Sonic complained.
"Can you guys give me a moment? I need some time to think", said Tails as he walked away.
"Huh, so this is where babies come from? Well then, since it's not an alien, I fully support its growth and eventually birth!", Sticks said enthusiastically.
"I'm just glad it's going to kill Sonic, that's the most important thing", said Amy.
"This is so cool. Sonic, when the creature is old enough, can I take it on a high stakes adventure of epic proportions?", said Knuckles.
"Only if you're both back before dark", Sonic said steadfastly.
"Aw man! You're already talking like a parent!", Knuckles complained.
[Time Skip]
The next day, Knuckles was with Sonic at Meh Burger. He was providing the blue hedgehog all manner of weird and unusual things to eat that Meh Burger was somehow able to make for him to satisfy his cravings.
"Chili pancake? Clam and chocolate burrito? Cheesy pork brownie?", Knuckles said as he handed each weird dish to Sonic. The blue hedgehog devoured every single one with no complaints, stopping to lick the plates after each dish. When Sonic finished, he let out a satisfied belch as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his protruding belly.
Suddenly, Tails arrived at the scene. "Good news, Sonic. I know how to solve this without harming either you or the creature. Why are you nodding no?", he said. He took notice of how Sonic was suddenly against the idea.
"I thought about it, Tails. This creature isn't hurting me, right? It's perfectly harmless, which means it innocent. There's no reason to do anything about it, so I'm going to let this pseudo-pregnacy play out and take of the creature when it's born", said Sonic.
"What?!", Tails shouted in disbelief.
Knuckles jumped up from his seat, "Yes! I'm going to be an uncle! Is there an Ancient Creature Uncle's Day?", he said.
A little while later, Tails reluctantly made his way over to Dr. Eggman's base, believing that he could at the very least be the voice of reason in this unusual situation.
"Hey, Eggman. Sorry to bother you when you're not terrorizing out very way of life, but I need to talk to you. It's about Sonic--"
"Oh, what a coincidence! Sonic is here right now, we just agreed to sign a temporary truce stating that I won't attack until after the creature gestating within him matures and sets off on its own.
"I may be an evil genius but not even I would willingly fight someone who is pregnant and caring for an infant, even if that someone is my enemy and the infant is a strange otherworldly creature from the time of the Ancients", Eggman said cutting Tails off.
Sonic then appeared at the front door, his belly far more distended now than before. "Oh hey, Tails. What's up?", he said casually.
"Sonic, this is insane. You need to come to the workshop for tests immediately", Tails demanded.
Then, Orbot and Cubot appeared holding all sorts of baby paraphernalia.
"Oh hello, Tails! Isn't this exciting? It's always beautiful when a child is born into the world!", said Orbot.
"Even if it's not so much a kid as it is a warm concoction of flesh and energy", said Cubot.
Everyone laughed but Tails nervously giggled as he grabbed Sonic and dragged him back to his workshop.
Meanwhile in the same cave where this whole incident first occurred, a large shadowy mass looked over the remains of the oval shaped object and sniffed the area, letting out a soft growl.
[Time Skip]
Back in Tails' workshop, Sonic sat on a bench eating a bag of seaweed ana fava bean flavored chips while Tails did more analysis.
"Uh, Tails, does that little spark there mean it's a boy creature?", asked Knuckles.
Tails shoved him away from the computer screen, "I don't know! Sonic, aren't you worried? This thing might be harmless now, but we don't really know how it develops! It could feed off your insides or electrocute you, or grow until it splits you in half!", he said.
"Yeah...Ames did say kids can be quite a handful", Sonic said as he gently rubbed his watermelon shaped belly.
Tails rolled his eyes as he looked down at his Miles Electric to analyze the data, "Hmm, this magnascope should be linking with the creature's energy, but there's a lot of interference", he said.
Suddenly, Sonic got all up in his face. "Is that another fat joke, fox brat!? Because if so, it's pretty funny...and very hurtful", he said as he cycles through mood swings again. Then, Sonic heard the ticking of a clock.
"Hey, does anybody have the time?", he asked.
Knuckles looked at his communicator, "Uh...it's almost nine o'clock right now, why?", he said.
"Then I've gotta get going, the girls are throwing me a baby shower at Amy's place. See you guys later", said Sonic as he left the workshop.
[Time Skip]
Over at Amy's house, Sonic was having a fun time being pampered her, Sticks, Zoey, Percy and Stacy.
"Oh, a jumper with six legs! Huh, is that cute or what?", Sonic said as he held up his baby shower gift while the girls exclaimed.
"We also got the 20-leg expansion pack in case it's born with more", said Amy.
"If it's a legless ball of energy and biomass, I saved the receipt", said Percy.
Sonic smiled, "Oh, thanks, girls. I should have been implanted with an Ancient creature growth a long time ago", he said.
"Okay, game time. First we're going to play diaper-baby-around-its-tail!", said Zoey as she pulled out a baby doll with a plastic dinosaur tail stapled to the back of it.
"We don't know your baby will even have a tail, but it can't hurt to practice", said Stacy.
Just then, Tails burst into the living room through the front door. "Sonic, I've got the magnascope to link with the creature with no harm to it or you", he said.
Sonic shrugged him off as Percy proceeded to give him a massage on his shoulders, "Um, thanks, Tails, but I'm in mid-shower", he said.
"Sonic, you could be in danger, and the last thing you need is to be fawned over by a bunch of girls", Tails complained.
"Who wants clotted cream with their scones?"
Tails quickly turned around to see Knuckles walking out of Amy's kitchen, he was wearing a pink apron and carrying a tray of freshly baked scones. He then exchanged awkward glances with Tails.
"Uh...this is much more masculine than it looks. Don't you judge me!", said Knuckles.
"Um...Tails, no offense but just because you're smart it doesn't mean you're an authority on babies. Just saying", Zoey said politely.
"What the...this ain't about babies! This is about keeping my best friend from becoming a smoldering pile of ash!", Tails said indignantly.
There was an awkward silence before Sticks stood up and proceeded to drag Tails outside, "Tails... I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not an alien so there's nothing to worry about. You girls carry on without me, I'm gonna help Tails cool down", she said as she left the house with Tails.
Sonic then turned to the girls, "Don't be mad at Tails, ladies. I'm sure he's just jealous because I'm getting all the attention, he just needs to take a breather and he'll be fine. Anyways, what other games do you have?", he said.
Suddenly, the lights in Amy's house began to flicker on and off. "Hey, what's up with the lights? I thought I paid my electric bill this month", said Amy. Just then, the lights went completely out.
"Hey, Sticks! Wait up for me!", shouted Knuckles as he ran out of the house to catch up to her and Tails.
Outside in the village square, the townsfolk were running around and screaming in panic as a large creature stomped through the village. It was about nine feet tall and had a long slender body, it was covered in fluffy whitish grey fur except for its head and front paws which were dark grey.
It had a rabbit like head, snout and ears but had eyes like a goat and a pair of tusks jutting out from its upper jaw. Finally, in the center of its chest, it had what looked like a glowing blue crystal embedded in its skin.
As it stomped around, Tails had looked up from his sulking just in time to see the creature running around and scaring the villagers. Knuckles and Sticks had just caught up to him and noticed the creature as well while Tails looked down at his Miles Electric, which was now beeping like crazy.
"Holy cow! It's made of the same energy as the thing inside Sonic", said Tails.
"So then...it was an alien all along?!", Sticks shouted. She was met with a glare from Tails, making her sheepishly laugh.
"No! The Ancient monsters have come to punish us for invading their sacred caverns!", shouted Knuckles in panic.
That was when Tails took another look at the creature, it wasn't attacking any of the villagers. Rather it was sniffing around the ground and turning over shop stalls and vehicles, almost like it was trying to find something.
"No...no, it's looking for something. Unless I miss my guess, that's the mom of the creature in Sonic, come to claim her baby", said Tails.
"Uh oh...", Knuckles and Sticks said in unison.
"We've got to stop this thing from going to Amy's house, or who knows what it'll do to Sonic!", shouted Tails.
The three of them stood in its path, but then the crystal on the creature's chest began flashing a bright light. It turned around and ran in the opposite direction, "Hey where's it going? Did we scare it off?", asked Knuckles.
"No...no, it's headed for Amy's house! We've got to stop it! Both of you, head over there to buy me some time, I'm getting the Tornado!", said Tails. He ran towards his workshop while the other two headed for Amy's house.
The creature beat them to it as it tore open a hole in the roof, the girls inside screamed in horror at the sight of the monster. Then, the creature looked inside and scanned the room until it spotted Sonic, his belly glowing just like the crystal on its chest.
It reached its long neck inside and grabbed Sonic by the scruff of his neck, gently pulling him out and carrying him away. Amy grabbed her hammer and rushed out of the house, but she was too late.
The creature was gone, with Sonic in tow.
"Where'd it go?", asked Knuckles.
"How did it run off so fast?", asked Sticks.
Just then, everyone's communicators beeped. It was Tails calling them.
"Guys, I managed to pinpoint the creature's location! It too Sonic back to the cave where all this started, we have to hurry or else Sonic could be in grave danger!", he said.
Nodding, everyone rushed over to the cave as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, the creature had laid Sonic down on a nest made of giant leaves and moss. It was very soft and comfortable. Then, it curled its long body around Sonic, letting him lie down on its back like a pillow.
"Whoa, wait. You're not gonna eat me or anything like that? Not that I'm asking for you to...", he said.
{No, young hedgehog. You carry my offspring within you, I shall not harm you}
Sonic was taken aback by the enigmatic female voice he heard in his head, he looked at the creature square in the face. "Wait, did you just...talk into my mind? What are you?", he asked.
{My name is Uma, that child within you and I are the last of a species of ancient creatures called The Giltern. We lived in the time of the Ancients, but a mysterious disease destroyed the plants we feasted on for nourishment.
Without them, my species slowly died off. I refused to die as well, so I took shelter in this cave and laid a single egg. Then, I placed myself and the egg into a state of suspended animation. My hope was that one day, a living being would find this cave and become a host for my egg.
Then, my child and I can live on in this new world free from the blight that destroyed our only food source. You are that being, hedgehog. Your body has become the host for my offspring and soon, you shall give birth}
Sonic took in all this information with a look of wonder and awe, but then a realization hit him. "Um, wait a minute. I'm not a girl, so how am I supposed to give birth?", he said.
{My offspring has been gestating within your stomach for the past few days, it will come out the same way it went in}
As Sonic's eyes widened, he heard a familiar sound of airplane propellers whirring. The Tornado landed just outside the cave as Tails hopped out out; he ran towards the cave followed by Amy, Knuckles and Sticks.
"Guys?", Sonic asked confused.
"Sonic! Sonic, get away from that thing!", shouted Tails.
Sonic quickly realized what his friends were here to do and he knew he had to stop them before they made a huge mistake.
"Stop, guys! Don't hurt her. I know what she wants", he called out.
This caused the others to stop in their tracks, that was when Sonic suddenly started gagging. Purple slime dripped from his mouth as the bulge in his stomach moved up his esophagus; he nearly choked as more slime oozes from his mouth.
Then, without warning, a large slimy object suddenly exploded from Sonic's mouth. It landed on the ground with a wet squelching noise as Sonic finally stopped coughing up slime, the object on the ground was revealed to be a creature that looked like a miniature version of Uma.
She bent down to smell her offspring and gave a roar of excitement.
{It's a girl, which means she'll be able to produce more eggs when she reaches maturity, and they will grow within their own hosts! I am so happy!}
Sonic, slightly weakened, managed to smile as the newborn Giltern stood up on all fours of her legs and shook the slime off her body. "Hey there...girl. I'm gonna call you...Thalia...", he said weakly.
The little Giltern gave Sonic a lick on the cheek before walking out of the cave, Uma following and leaving with her. Tails approached Sonic, who looked dizzy and tired.
"Sonic, you just regurgitated something that was probably twice the width of your esophagus! Wasn't it painful?", he said.
"Tails...saying goodbye to your kids is always painful", said Sonic.
[Time Skip: One year later]
Team Sonic returned to the cave wearing party hats and holding gifts.
"Follow me, guys. This way", said Sonic.
They walked down a winding tunnel until they came upon another cavern with the walls coated in purple slime, in the center stood Uma and Thalia, the latter of whom had matured and was now as tall as her mother. Behind them were five newly laid eggs, and in front of them a cake made of mashup fruits and edible plants.
"Happy Birthday, Thalia!", everyone exclaimed.
The newly turned adult Giltern stepped forward to give her new friends an affectionate lick on the cheek, starting with the blue hedgehog who carried her in his body.
{We're happy to see you all again, I'd like to thank you. Thanks to you, my daughter has been thriving beautifully and she had laid five eggs. We are slowly working to rebuild our species. I would be grateful if you all would be their hosts so they can grow}
"Of course we'll be their hosts. In fact, I think Tails should be the one to go first since he was so enthusiastic about all this before", Sonic said sarcastically.
Everyone else nodded in agreement while Tails looked apprehensive, "I'm sorry...what?!", he said. Knuckles gave him a little shove into the closest egg, which shook and opened upon being touched. Another starfish creature emerged from the egg and started crawling towards Tails.
"Uh, no, really, it's okay. I'm good! Aah! Get away from me! Sonic!", Tails shouted.
"You guys want some cake?", asked Sonic.
"Sure", said Amy.
"Definitely", said Sticks.
"Yeah, a corner piece, please", said Knuckles.
The four of them blissfully enjoyed their pieces of cake with the two happy Gilterns, completely ignoring Tails who was screaming and running from the starfish creature, trying to keep it from attaching itself to his face.
[The End]