(Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters, all credit goes to Sega. Please support the official release).

Chapter 4: Government Tensions

"No way! It's not happening, forget it!"

Shadow was over at Sonic and Tails' home one morning, and he was currently having an argument with the two because it came to everyone's attention that Knuckles had not yet seen an obstetrician once since the start of his pregnancy.

Tails brought up a good point that because the unborn babies were of alien descent, no regular doctor would be any to comment on the pregnancy. So he suggested that Shadow take Knuckles to G.U.N. HQ and have one of their scientists look over him.

But Shadow flat out refused for obvious reasons, and now he was caught in this argument with Sonic and Tails.

"But Shads, you know darn well that no ordinary doctor can help you out. Not when the babies have alien DNA in them. A G.U.N. scientist is your best bet, you need them!", said Sonic.

"What you need is to get what I'm saying through your thick skull! I put up with those idiots enough for work because its pays a lot and money is important when raising children. But if you think for even a second that I'm letting my pregnant lover anywhere near them, you're stupider than I thought!", shouted Shadow.

Tails then slowly approached him, trying to mediate the situation. "Shadow, please. We know you and G.U.N. don't have the best history because of all you've been through in the past, but please try to understand. Sonic is right, alien children is far outside the wheelhouse of any normal doctors.

"The scientists at G.U.N. know all about this stuff, so they could examine Knuckles and see if everything is progressing well. Think about Knuckles' sake and the babies, what if there are complications and you couldn't do anything about it because you didn't let the right people examine him?", he said.

Shadow sighed deeply as he realized something he was trying so hard to deny: Tails was right. If any complications occured during the pregnancy, no regular doctor would be able to do anything about it. The scientists at G.U.N. had been studying the remains of the Black Arms after their failed invasion, so know they had rudimentary knowledge on their anatomy.

They were the best choice and Shadow hated that. After everything he went through because of G.U.N., the last thing he wanted was to potentially put Knuckles and their children in danger by basically giving G.U.N. a free lab rat to experiment on.

"Look, Shadow. I'll tag along too if it makes you feel any better, Knuckles is one of my best friends and I want to make sure he's safe and healthy just as much as you do. I promise I'll help you protect him if G.U.N. tries anything funny", said Sonic.

Shadow sighed again, that didn't sound like too bad of an idea and as much as Sonic irritated him, he knew he could trust the blue hedgehog to keep his word.

"Alright, I will take him to G.U.N. You'll come with us and help keep an eye out, but I won't take responsibility for anything I do to those miserable cretins if they lay one finger on my beloved", said Shadow.

[Time Skip]

The next day, Shadow brought Knuckles to G.U.N. HQ. Sonic had gotten there first since he ran while Shadow opted to use Chaos Control for fear that running would hurt Knuckles and the babies.

Knuckles looked up at the large metallic building with an expression of fear and apprehension, he knew all about the part G.U.N. played in everything bad that happened to Shadow, he didn't trust that they wouldn't hesitate to take him away and experiment on him.

He felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, "It's okay, love. I'll be right by your side the entire time, I won't leave you alone for a nanosecond", said Shadow.

"That goes double for me too, Knux! I'll keep you and your babies safe", said Sonic.

Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief and followed them inside the building. Shadow immediately confronted the G.U.N. commander and explained the situation to him, which peaked his interest.

"You never told us you had the ability to lay eggs", he said.

"That's because I didn't think it was imperative for you to know, especially since they wouldn't hatch if not laid inside another beings body", said Shadow.

The commander then looked over at Knuckles, who was standing very close to Sonic. The blue hedgehog had an arm draped over his friend's shoulder, giving the commander a small glare.

"So...that echidna is pregnant with your spawn--"

"That echidna has a damn name, you will do well to remember it! And those "spawn" are my children! And if anything happens to them, I swear..."

"Calm down, Shadow. I wouldn't do such a thing, what do you take me for? A monster?"

"As the man who commanded the soldier who didn't hesitate to shoot and kill a twelve year old child...yes, I do! And no, I'm not gonna let that go! I lost my best friend because of you people, now I have a love partner and our love has created children!

"He means the world to me, he is the greatest source of happiness in my life and I am not about to let anyone or anything jeopardize that happiness. So I will make this crystal clear: you make one slipup, one mistake, give me one reason to think you might hurt Knuckles or my babies, and I will personally drag you down to Hell and I will watch with joy as you burn!"

Shadow glared daggers at the G.U.N. commander, who would've been dead on the floor if looks could kill. He couldn't deny that he was intimidated by Shadow's threat, he knew he wouldn't hesitate to actually kill the commander.

Reputation be damned, Shadow would do anything if it meant protecting the people he loved, even if that meant having to become the bad guy himself.

The commander breathed a heavy sigh, "Alright. We'll get one of the examination rooms ready for you and let the scientists know", he said.

"Scientist! Singular! I don't trust any of those quacks, so I want only one of them in the examination room! Preferably female because my lover isn't all too comfortable having a male doctor looking over his anatomy", demanded Shadow.

The commander didn't even try to argue back as he proceeded to brief his scientists about the situation via the PA system.

[Time Skip]

A few minutes later, Sonic was standing like a vigil directly outside the examination room door. He promised Shadow he'd make sure Knuckles was safe, so he wasn't taking any chances.

He was determined to not let a single G.U.N. agent or scientist get past him and enter the room.

Meanwhile inside, Knuckles sat on an examination bed wearing a blue hospital gown. Shadow stood as close to him as possible, determined to be present for each task of the examination and to make sure the doctor didn't pull any funny business.

Soon, a human female doctor entered the room. She was accompanied by two other scientists who simply brought in the medical equipment before quickly leaving.

"Hello there, I'm Dr. Anderson. I'll be examining you today. Can I have your name, please", she said.

She seemed rather nice and polite, so Knuckles felt less afraid and like he could trust her. Shadow, on the other hand, was keeping his guard up the entire time. One wrong move and he wasn't going to hesitate putting this woman's head through a wall.

"Knuckles the Echidna, ma'am", said Knuckles.

Dr. Anderson looked at some files with slight concern, "You don't have much in your medical records, in fact you're missing several vaccinations. We can do them after the examination, if you want", she said.

"I will watch as you administer the vaccines, just to make sure none of them are sedatives", said Shadow.

Dr. Anderson nodded in understanding as she began the examination. She took Knuckles' temperature, pulse and blood pressure, then she weighed him and measured his height.

"Okay...temperature is 84 fahrenheit, blood pressure is 117/81, and pulse is 91 bpm. Height is 3'2" and weight is 146 pounds. So far, everything looks normal. Now, let's move on", said Dr. Anderson.

She then took out a stethoscope and listened for Knuckles' heartbeat and his lungs as he breathed. She then examined his throat, ears and eyes. She then laid him down and lifted up his gown, prodding around his chest and abdominal area.

"Have you experienced any chest pain? Bloating? Any form of discomfort", she asked.

"No, my back hurts sometimes but I think that's just the weight of my huge belly dragging me down", said Knuckles.

"Understandable. I'm just checking for any abnormalities such as lumps because they could be a sign of disease. So far, you're completely clear", said Dr. Anderson.

She then moved down south and examined Knuckles' reproductive organs, checking for any abnormalities. She also gave him a prostate exam, which Knuckles fought really hard not to get aroused by it since Shadow was the only one to ever put his finger in there.

Speaking of Shadow, he watched the entire examination in utter silence. So far, Dr. Anderson didn't try any shady stuff and was performing the examination with the same level of professionalism as any doctor, but that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down.

Once all the basic tests were done, Dr. Anderson picked up a tube of clear gel. "Alright, now we're gonna do a sonogram and see how the babies are doing. I'll need to put some of this gel on your belly, I must warn you that it's a little cold", she said.

She opened the tube and squirted some of the gel onto Knuckles' stomach, he felt flinched and hissed at the icy cold feeling of the gel on his skin and fur. Dr. Anderson then picked up a transducer probe and began to run it across the surface of his belly.

"Ah, there we are. Take a look", she said.

Both Knuckles and Shadow looked at the monitor and saw a fuzzy black and white image of the inside of Knuckles' womb. As Dr. Anderson moved the probe around, they saw four small silhouettes clustered together.

"One, two, three, four. Four beautiful little babies, all with strong heartbeats. Also seems like they have a bit more space to move around unlike most quadruplets. All in all, everything is perfectly fine", she said.

Knuckles felt himself want to cry as he gazed upon the image on screen, "Shadow, that's them. Our children, look at them. They're so small, like little beans", he said as tears of joy began to fall from his eyes.

Shadow smiled as he held his lover's hand, "Yes, those are our babies. I cannot wait to meet them", he said.

Dr. Anderson then removed the probe and wiped the gel off of Knuckles' belly, "Okay, now all that's left is those vaccinations. Wait right here while I go get the vaccines", she said as she left the room.

"You know, this wasn't as bad or as scary as I thought. I guess your threat against the commander really set everyone straight, huh?", said Knuckles.

"They all know I meant every word, and I do not hold back or hesitate. If push comes to shove, I'd destroy everyone in this place if it meant protecting you and our children", said Shadow.

Soon, Dr. Anderson came back to the room carrying a tray that held a few syringes. Each one was labeled for what vaccine they were for, but Shadow still watched intently as she administered each one. Knuckles flinched when he felt each needle pierce his skin, but other than that he took it very well.

Once Dr. Anderson was finished, she placed a bandaid on his upper arm. "There we go, all done. Your arm might be sore for a few days, but that'll go away on its own", she said. Shadow helped Knuckles stand up and change back into his clothes.

Then, he told him to wait outside with Sonic while he spoke to the doctor.

"So, how is his health? Him and the babies", said Shadow.

"They're all pretty healthy. Normal weight, blood pressure, temperature, pulse. His heart and lungs are working fine, there's nothing wrong with his vision or hearing. Your boyfriend is as healthy as a horse.

"Just makes sure he eats properly, gets plenty of sleep and daily exercise and if he complains about back pain, try massaging it for him. I wouldn't recommend giving him painkillers whilst pregnant", said Dr. Anderson.

With that, Shadow quietly left the room to join back up with Sonic and Knuckles. "Alright, we're done here. So let's go home, I'm sure Knuckles wants to relax after all the fuss today", he said.

Knuckles stifled a yawn with his hand, "Yeah, I could use a nap", he said.

"And I think it's my shift to guard the Master Emerald right now, so I need to head over to Angel Island", said Sonic.

Shadow nodded as they made their way out of the building and went back home.

[Time Skip]

[Dream Sequence]

Shadow found himself shrouded in darkness, he couldn't see anything. Just then, a bright light suddenly came on, nearly blinding him. When his eyes adjusted, he gasped at what he saw before him.

Knuckles was lying on an operating table, unconscious and naked. His wrists and ankles were restrained to the table, there was an oxygen mask on his face and he was hooked up to a heart monitor.

Then, a group of faceless people appeared around the table, all of them dressed in scrubs. They provided just enough room for Shadow to see everything as one of the picked up a scalpel.

"No! You leave him alone!", he screamed as he tried to lunge towards them but was hit by an invisible wall.

The figure took the scalpel and sliced open Knuckles' belly, going from just below his ribcage down to his groin. Then the figure placed the scalpel down and began reaching into his stomach.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!", shouted Shadow as he fired a Chaos Spear at the invisible wall but he saw that it did no damage, "Not even a scratch...no..."

Shadow then watched in horror as the faceless person pulled something out of Knuckles' stomach, it was small and covered in a mix of green alien blood and normal red Mobian blood. He could make out a head, small arms and legs with tiny hands and feet, quills and a little tail.

Shadow immediately felt sick when he realized what that thing the figure pulled out of Knuckles was...it was his own baby!

The figure placed the bloody infant in a glass box before shoving their hands back into Knuckles' stomach.

"No! Stop, please! Don't take my babies! Please, please no...no!", Shadow shouted as tears fell from his eyes. He watched as another infant was pulled out of his unconscious lover's body, then another and finally one last one making it four.

They closed up the wound on Knuckles' stomach but the one of the figures picked up a syringe and injected something into him. Shadow watched as the heart monitor spasmed for a few seconds before suddenly flat lining.

"NO! NO, KNUCKLES! YOU KILLED HIM, YOU KILLED THE ONLY MAN I EVER LOVED! DON'T TAKE MY BABIES, PLEASE! TAKE ME INSTEAD, I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! PLEASE, THEY'RE JUST CHILDREN, THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS!", Shadow screamed at the top of his lungs.

Slowly, the lights began to fade out until he was plunged into darkness again. As Shadow sat in the darkness and cried, he could've sworn he heard Maria's voice calling out his name.

"Shadow...Shadow...Shadow..."

[End of Dream Sequence]

"Shadow?"

Shadow gasped as he shot awake, he found himself laying in bed next to Knuckles, who was perfectly fine. He looked at his lover with wide panicked eyes as he panted.

"Shadow, are you okay? You were tossing and turning in your sleep, you were also mumbling things. I was worried about you", said Knuckles.

Shadow didn't say anything, he simply pulled Knuckles close to him and held him to his chest. Even though what happened was all just a nightmare, he needed to feel Knuckles close to him to reassure himself that he was still there.

"Shadow?", Knuckles asked in concern.

"It's alright, love. I just had a bad dream, nothing you need to worry about. I'll be okay", Shadow whispered.

Knuckles pulled away to look at him, "Are you sure? You know you can tell me about anything that's bothering you, right? I'm here for you" he said.

Shadow sighed before giving his lover a quick kiss on the lips, "I know, and I appreciate it but I really am fine. No need for you to worry too much about me, it should be the other way around. Now, go back to sleep.

"I promise to take you out for day of fun at Twinkle Park, and I want to get there early so we can be first in line on the attractions. So you'll need your rest", he said.

Knuckles felt like Shadow was hiding his true feelings but he decided not to press him about it any further. He laid back down and rolled over, slowly falling back asleep. Shadow sighed as he laid down and draped an arm around his pregnant lover's belly, rubbing it gently.

That was the worst dream I've ever had...I hadn't been that afraid of shaken up since I lost Maria, he thought.

[Time Skip]

One of the major tourist attractions in Station Square, Twinkle Park was a gargantuan theme park. The scenery looked like outer space, while the park itself was set near the massive Twinkle Park Castle, a stone castle with red roofs.

Other major attractions included the "Twinkle Coaster" and "Mirror House",

The former was said to be very popular, and the latter was a series of dark, tight corridors with mirrors instead of walls; these mirrors were unique in that certain parts of the floor, which will lead to a pit when stood on, were not reflected in them.

Aside from that, Twinkle Park had some occasional vegetation and a few water pools.

Shadow and Knuckles got up bright and early to head over to the theme park for a day of fun, which was exactly what Shadow needed to ease himself from that awful nightmare he had last night.

Of course, they couldn't get on any rollercoasters since Knuckles was pregnant but that didn't mean they still couldn't have fun. They went on a slow spinning carousel ride, took a ride on a small railroad they saw children riding and even went for a boat ride through the Tunnel of Love.

The two of them then stopped to have lunch and then went to play some games. Shadow won the water gun game, getting Knuckles a giant teddy bear as a prize. After that they decided to ride the Ferris Wheel.

Meanwhile, a certain mustached scientist was sulking in his base.

Eggman had tried for several weeks to steal the Master Emerald, only to be met with retaliation by not Knuckles, but by Sonic or any one of his other friends. Last time he tried, he almost got singed by Blaze's flames.

And every time he went to take it, he would question where Knuckles was and why he wasn't guarding the Master Emerald, to which he was met with no answer and a volley of attacks from his enemies.

Eggman was now deeply confused, he didn't know where Knuckles was or what he was doing. He was thinking he could simply tricked the naive echidna into handing the Master Emerald over but he wasn't even guarding it now.

"Where is he? Why isn't he on the island guarding that stupid rock? It's all he's good for, and yet he can't be bothered?!", he said.

Eggman then pushed a button, which summoned Metal Sonic to his side. "I want you to go out there and spy around, see if you spot that fool Knuckles. Don't let him see you though, got it?", he commanded.

Metal Sonic nodded as he flew off to complete his task, Eggman turned on his monitor which allowed him to see everything through Metal's eyes. The robotic hedgehog flew around for quite some time until he picked up a familiar energy signature.

He zeroed in on the location, which brought him to Twinkle Park, much to Eggman's growing confusion. "Twinkle Park? Why in the world would Knuckles go there?", he asked.

Metal Sonic flew around the park until he spotted his designated target, Knuckles sat in a car with Shadow at the top of the Ferris Wheel. It had stopped just at the top, allowing the couple to share a romantic moment between them.

From a safe distance, Metal Sonic watched them and transmitted the footage back to Eggman, who watched with intrigue. The things that held most of his attention was Knuckles' stomach, it was large and perfectly round like a watermelon.

As he continued to stare, an evil grin appeared on his face. "Oh, I see now. So this explains why he hasn't been guarding the Master Emerald lately, seems he's been preoccupied. Well then, this little revelation has given me a great idea...", he said as he then let out an evil laughed.

Eggman then pressed a button on his computer console and spoke into a small microphone, "Metal Sonic, wait for a moment when that moronic echidna is all alone and away from Shadow. Once he is, please extend him a personal invitation to our home", he said.

[To be continued...]