(Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters, all credit goes to Sega. Please support the official release).
Chapter 5: Abduction and Rescue
Metal Sonic continued to monitor Shadow and Knuckles as they continued to enjoy their time at Twinkle Park, but not once did the black and red hedgehog ever leave his pregnant lover's side.
Everywhere Knuckles went, Shadow was right by his side like a loyal guard dog, he even accompanied him into the restroom a few times during their visit to the park.
Eggman watched the whole thing through Metal's eyes, growing frustrated which each passing minute. "Shadow is hovering around that fool constantly, like he's a literal shadow! If this keeps up, I won't ever get the opportunity to nab him!", he said.
Soon, evening approached and the park was closing. Shadow and Knuckles then began their slow walk home, "Metal, follow them! Don't let them out of your sight for one second!", Eggman shouted over the intercom.
The robotic hedgehog acknowledged his orders as he followed the pair, remaining out of sight so that he wouldn't be spotted. They followed them for some time until they stopped by Vanilla's house, Metal Sonic hid in the bushes as he listened in on their conversation.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Have a good night", said Shadow.
Knuckles smiled, "Thanks, goodnight. I love you", he said.
Shadow smiled as he kissed him, "I love you too", he said before he left. Knuckles then walked inside when Vanilla opened the door to let him in.
Eggman had been watching and listening the entire time, and now he was intrigued. "So...it seems that Shadow and that simpleton Knuckles are a couple, eh? That would mean that the spawn growing inside him is Shadow's...interesting.
"Imagine what children born between those two would be like, with Knuckles' strength and Shadow's speed and Chaos abilities...the possibilities are limitless. Just thinking about it makes me giddy!
"If I could take those spawn for myself, I could mold them into my own little Egg Force! Then, I can have them destroy Sonic and his meddlesome friends once and for all! After all, they'd never bring themselves to harm the children of their dear companions.
"Metal Sonic, wait until everyone in that house goes to bed. Then I want you to sneak in and take Knuckles, bring him to me. Make sure you don't hurt him in the process though, can't have him having a miscarriage now.
"In the meantime, I'll have Orbot and Cubot set a little room for our guest while I get everything all prepped up for a small operation", he said as he let out an evil laugh.
Metal Sonic acknowledged his new orders as he continued to lie in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Meanwhile inside, Knuckles had taken a bath and had dinner with Vanilla and Cream, then he sat down to watch television with them until around nine thirty.
That was when both he and Cream were beginning to get sleepy, "Oh, looks like it's somebody's bedtime. Cream, you run along and go get ready for bed. I'll come tuck you in and read you a story after I help Mr. Knuckles", said Vanilla.
Cream nodded as she gave Knuckles a goodnight hug before heading off to her room with Cheese. Vanilla then helped Knuckles over to his room and into bed, "That belly of yours sure is big, huh? Do you think you'll be ready to have the babies soon?", she said.
Knuckles shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know. According to Dr. Anderson, the gestation period moved by quickly because they're part alien, but they'll more than likely develop and grow like normal Mobian children when they're born", he said.
Vanilla nodded as she tucked the blanket around him, "Well I'll be looking forward to when it happens, and I'll also be here to show you how to take care of them. You'll need to know how to change diapers, after all", she said.
Knuckles let out a small laugh before saying goodnight to Vanilla as she left the room. He then made himself comfortable as he tried to go to sleep, completely unaware of the pair of glowing red eyes watching him through the window.
Once her was sure Vanilla and Cream were in bed, Metal Sonic slowly slid open the window to Knuckles' room. He then stuck his left arm in through the window, his hand retract and a clear gas began filtering into the room.
At first, Knuckles stirred at the hissing noise of the gas, he looked around the room half asleep while trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. But as soon as he breathed in the gas, he started feeling sleepy again and simply laid back down, drifting off.
Once he was rendered completely unconscious, Metal Sonic slid the window open further and climbed inside. He walked over to the bed and delicately picked Knuckles up into his arms, he then went back over to the window and climbed back outside.
Metal Sonic then walked a few feet away from the house before he suddenly took off into the air. Within ten minutes, he made it back to Eggman's base completely undetected.
When Eggman saw him enter with his prize, he was most pleased. "Excellent work, Metal Sonic! Well done! Now, it's late so why don't we tuck our expectant "mother" here into bed? After all, he's got a big day tomorrow and we have a lot of preparation to do", he said.
With that said, Eggman guided Metal Sonic over to a room in the base. When he opened the door, it was revealed to be a nursery style room. There was a round bed, some cribs, a diaper changing station, a dresser full of baby clothes and a chest filled with baby toys.
Metal Sonic laid Knuckles down on the bed and draped the blanket over him, then he and Eggman left the room.
"Orbot, Cubot! Come here!", Eggman shouted.
As if on cue, the two robots immediately arrived at the room.
"Yes, Boss? What do you need?", asked Orbot.
"Stay in this room and keep an eye on our guest, he may be pregnant and vulnerable but just make sure he doesn't try to escape. I still have lots to do for the procedure tomorrow, and I want to make sure he stays put!", said Eggman.
"You got it, Boss!", said Cubot.
He and Orbot entered the room just as the door closed behind them. Eggman then smirked devilishly, "Perfect, now to get everything ready", he said as he walked away
Inside the room, Knuckles slept peacefully while Orbot and Cubot watched over him.
"You know, he actually looks kinda cute all curled up in the blankets like that", said Cubot.
"Yes, I can't lie...a part of me almost feels bad for him, but knowing Eggman, he'll probably just have that part removed", said Orbot.
[Time Skip]
The next morning, Amy was peacefully sleeping in her house when suddenly, something round and blue crashed in through her bedroom door. She shot up awake with a startled scream, looking over to see Sonic collapsed against the far wall.
"Sonic? Is that you? What are you doing here?", she shouted.
Sonic quickly shook off his daze and looked at her, "Amy! Knuckles has gone missing!", he shouted.
"What?!", Amy exclaimed.
A few minutes later, the two of them raced over to Vanilla's house where all their other friends were gathered together.
"Everyone, split up and search all possible areas! Cover every base and leave no stone unturned! We have to find him quickly!", said Blaze as it seemed she had quickly taken charge of the situation.
"I'll check all over Angel Island, top to bottom", said Silver.
"We'll investigate Mystic Ruins", said Espio as Vector and Charmy nodded in agreement.
"I'll take the Tornado and search Sky Sanctuary, I'll radio you if I hide anything", said Tails.
"Alright, good luck to all of you", said Blaze.
As they all took off to complete their tasks, Sonic rushed over alongside Amy. "Blaze, I came as fast as I could as soon as Sonic told me. What's going on?", asked Amy.
"According to Vanilla, Knuckles has disappeared. She went to his room this morning to wake him up for breakfast but he wasn't there, she also found his blanket overturned and his window opened.
"We have reason to believe that he disappeared some time during the night, but we can't know for sure when or for long he's been gone. Everyone's split up to try and search for Knuckles.
"It's imperative that we find him because since his unborn children are of alien descent and have been gestating far quicker than any normal fetuses would, it means he could give birth at any time", said Blaze.
"He's not anywhere on Angel Island? Or maybe at Club Rouge? Did you check all possible places?", asked Sonic.
"Everyone's searching for him the best they can, I just hope we find him before nothing bad happens", said Blaze.
Just then, Shadow suddenly came running towards them with Rouge and Omega following close behind.
"I heard everything! Where's Knuckles? Where are my children? Where are they?!", Shadow shouted hysterically.
"Shads, I know you're having a panic attack right now and I get that. This is a very serious situation but you need to try and calm down, it won't do us or Knuckles any good if you're panicking and can't focus on finding him", said Sonic.
Shadow tried his hardest to calm himself down, but it wasn't easy. His pregnant lover had suddenly gone missing and all he could think about was whether or not he and their children were safe.
Shadow prayed to every entity he knew that Knuckles was alright and that his friends would find him before something happened.
[Time Skip]
Knuckles groaned as he slowly woke up, he felt a bit dizzy as his vision distorted. When it finally cleared up, the first thing he saw was Orbot and Cubot looking right at him.
"Did we wake you?", asked Cubot.
Knuckles let out a startled yelp as he backed away, nearly falling off the bed. He then looked around and saw that he wasn't in the room in Vanilla's house anymore, but inside an unfamiliar nursery.
"What's going on here? Where am I?", he shouted.
"You're in a specially made nursery room in Dr. Eggman's base, he had Metal Sonic bring you here last night", Orbot said nonchalantly.
That was when the buzzing of an intercom could be heard, followed by familiar maniacal laughter.
"Good morning, Knucklehead! Sleep well?"
Knuckles growled angrily, "Eggman, you filthy scum! What are you up to?! Why did you bring me here?!", he shouted.
Eggman laughed again, "Oh, I found your little secret and why you haven't been guarding the Master Emerald lately. Never would've guessed you were pregnant, but I suppose that's better for me. We can't fight and risk hurting my future apprentices now, can we?", he said.
At that moment, Knuckles' blood ran cold. "Future apprentices? What the heck are you talking about?", he asked in a shaky voice though he was afraid to hear the answer.
He couldn't see the grin that appeared on Eggman's face as he laughed, "Isn't obvious, Knuckles? I'm going to have you give birth to those spawn in your belly and then raise them for a year. Once they no longer need your care, I'll dispose of you and mold them into my evil little minions.
"Your friends would never be able to harm your children, leaving them to be destroyed by my apprentices. Then, once you're all out of the picture, I can build my glorious Eggman Empire and I will rule it alongside my four adopted children.
"Oh but don't worry, I'll take good care of them. If they're successful in eliminating Sonic and all his meddlesome friends, I'll reward them by giving each of them their own country to rule over.
"Anyway, I've got some minute preparations before the procedure this afternoon, so I'll leave you be. Ta-ta for now!", he said as the intercom went silent.
Knuckles then immediately sprang up from the bed, ran to the door and started punching it with his full strength. He punched it repeatedly but it didn't seem to budge, it didn't even look like he was doing much damage to it.
"Sorry, but that door is made of sturdy reenforced metal, you won't be able to break it down. Plus it's locked from the outside", said Orbot.
Knuckles breathed heavily as he gave up and slowly trudged his way back to the bed, trying to regain his stamina. "So, this is it... I'm going to lose my babies...?", he asked as his voice slowly began to break from the oncoming emotions.
"Yeah... sorry about that", Orbot said awkwardly.
"Hey, look on the bright side, you won't have to deal with your kids' rebellious teen phase in the future", said Cubot.
Suddenly, Knuckles burst into tears and threw himself into the plush pillows on the bed, sobbing his heart out.
"Was it something I said?", asked Cubot while Orbot rolled his eyes.
[Time Skip]
Sonic and his friends regrouped after having zero luck in locating Knuckles, Shadow was close to having a full on mental breakdown at this point.
"This doesn't make sense, Knuckles wouldn't just take off without telling any of us, especially not when he was pregnant! There has to be an explanation", said Tails.
As everyone was racking their brains, Silver suddenly gasped.
"What is it, Silv? Have you got any ideas?", asked Sonic.
"No, but I just thought of something. What if Knuckles didn't run away? What if he was kidnapped?!", said Silver.
Everyone gasped in shock, they hadn't realized it sooner but now it was beginning to make sense. Knuckles already knew how delicate and vulnerable his condition was, he wouldn't willfully put himself or his babies at risk.
The only explanation for his disappearance must've been that he was abducted.
"I have detected something!"
Everyone turned to Omega, who was staring intently at the ground by Knuckles' bedroom window. Sonic rushed over and saw what he was looking at, it was a footprint.
And it wasn't an ordinary footprint either. It was too perfectly oval shaped to be a human's shoe print, and the lack of any toe prints immediately told him that it wasn't made by a Mobian either.
"Guys...I think this might be Metal Sonic's footprint! I think he's the one who kidnapped Knuckles!", said Sonic.
"Which means he was taken by Eggman!", said Espio.
Just then, everyone was startled by a sudden loud and angry scream. They all looked to see that Shadow had gone from a panicked mess to a rage fueled beast.
"When I get my hands on that fat fool, I will make him endure a pain unimaginable!", he growled darkly under his breath.
[Time Skip]
Back in Eggman's base, Knuckles laid miserably on the bed in the nursery, the only noise he could hear was the ticking of a clock on the wall.
And it gave him anxiety because he knew that at any moment, Eggman was going to come and rob him of his children.
Just then, the door to the room opened. Metal Sonic entered the room holding a syringe with a green liquid inside, upon seeing it, Knuckles became terrified.
"No! No! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!", he shouted in fear.
Metal Sonic ignored him as he zipped over and injected the liquid into the terrified echidna. Knuckles yelped in pain, but he then began to feel strange. His mind became very hazy, his vision blurred and he barely had the strength to keep himself upright.
"Wha...what did...you do...to me?", he slurred.
"I think Metal just injected him with that weird drug the boss cooked up, huh?", said Cubot.
"Oh yeah, definitely. With that stuff, Knuckles will barely even remember where he is, let alone have the strength to resist or escape. It's like when they use laughing gas at the dentist", said Orbot.
And they were both right. Despite the overwhelming fear, Knuckles was now too woozy and lethargic to move or do anything, his whole body felt like it was made of lead. Metal Sonic then lifted him into his arms and carried him out of the room.
He walked down a long corridor until he came upon another room, it looked like an operating room but the walls were painted to look like a ward in a children's hospital, probably to give off the illusion that everything was fine.
Just then, Eggman entered the room but he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by a robot that Knuckles had never seen before. It was a tall and rotund robot dressed in a pink nurse's uniform, it had six long arms and a big yellow happy face in place of a standard robot face.
"What...is...that...?", Knuckles asked deliriously.
"Oh this? Well Knuckles, say hello to my Midwife Bot! It took me twenty four hours to build her but it was worth it, she's programmed with all the necessary child care knowledge that many nurses and midwives in any hospital would have.
"As for why she's here, well that's simple. She's going to help you give birth, and then she'll assist you in the basic child care needs afterwards such as nursing, changing diapers, etc.
"Don't worry, she's programmed to be very gentle. She won't hurt you or the babies. Well then, I'll just leave her to it. Oh, and don't even think about trying to escape or resist.
"Even if you're weren't going to be exhausted after childbirth, the serum Metal Sonic injected into you is meant to keep you lethargic and sleepy for the time being. You'll be too weak to do much of anything", said Eggman.
He then left the room, Metal Sonic following him after depositing Knuckles onto the hospital bed in the center of the room. Once they were gone, the Midwife Bot immediately activated.
"Hello there, let's us get ready to deliver those precious miracles of nature!", it said. The robot spoke in an almost realistic female voice that sounded nice and soothing, almost like a real nurse.
The drug in Knuckles' system was beginning to make him hallucinate and soon, he started seeing an actual human nurse in place of the robot. He smiled crookedly like a drunken man.
"Hel..lo, are you my...nurse? Are you...gonna...deliver my babies?", he asked in a slurred voice. His tongue felt heavy and he could barely enunciate a single word.
The Midwife Bot gave him a gentle pat on the head before it began to strip him of all his clothing, leaving him naked on the bed. The bed had restraints but since Knuckles could barely think let alone move, it didn't need to use them.
The Midwife Bot then attached a heart monitor to his arm before picking up a syringe, it knelt down and inserted it into the echidna's vagina, injecting a strange fluid. Knuckles barely felt the prick of the needle, he only registered a small pinch.
"ow...I think a mosquito...bit me...", he whined deliriously.
What Knuckles had been too intoxicated to realize was that the Midwife Bot had injected him with a chemical compound to induce labor. Within twenty minutes, Knuckles started groaning in pain but it wasn't as bad as how it was for most pregnant people experiencing childbirth.
Because of the drug in his system, most of the pain was numbed and so Knuckles only felt a slight uncomfortable tugging sensation in his lower extremities. As if on instinct, he began pushing.
The Midwife Bot looked down to see a small black furry bump coming out of his birth canal, meaning the first child was about to be born. "Here comes the first baby, get ready", it said. Knuckles kept pushing until finally a soft cry could be heard.
In one of its pairs of arms, the Midwife Bot held a tiny baby echidna with black fur with red markings. "It's a girl!", it said. It quickly cut the umbilical cord and cleaned off the baby echidna, wrapping her up in a little blanket and laying her next to Knuckles' head.
He looked at his newborn daughter with half opened eyes, his mind a foggy mess due to the drug but he still smiled when he saw her. "Hey there...cutie! I think I'm...gonna name you...Tikal, ya like that?", he babbled.
The baby stopped crying and looked up at her "mother", she had Shadow's piercing red eyes. Soon, Knuckles felt the uncomfortable tugging sensation again and started pushing. The second baby came out, it was a tiny hedgehog with pure red fur and black markings on its eyes.
"Looks like we have another girl here", said the Midwife Bot.
"I'll call her...Emeralda...hope the...Master Emerald doesn't...get jealous...", said Knuckles as he laughed like he was high on nitrous oxide.
After cleaning up the second baby and placing her next to Knuckles, the Midwife Bot went back to work as soon as the third baby began to come out. Knuckles didn't even any pain or discomfort this time, it felt more like squeezing toothpaste from a tube at this point.
The third child was another tiny echidna with orange fur with black markings. "It's a boy!", said the Midwife Bot.
"Hello...little...Chaos...come to... mommy", Knuckles slurred.
The Midwife Bot repeated the same task as before, cutting the umbilical cord and cleaning up the newborn before giving him to his "mother". Finally, the final baby was born. It was another tiny hedgehog that look like an exact duplicate of Shadow, it had his black and red fur, white chest fur and red eyes.
"And another boy", said the Midwife Bot as it cleaned up the last baby and gave him to Knuckles. Then it wiped away all the blood and amniotic fluid from his crotch before disconnecting him from the heart monitor and wheeling him back over to the nursery room.
"And...my little...Terios, hi buddy...oof, I'm so hungry. Is...it...breakfast time...yet?", Knuckles said once again slurring his words.
The Midwife Bot brought him to the nursery before picking him up and setting him down on the bed, then it left and returned with a wheeled metal pole with what looked like a large I.V. bag hanging from the top. The bag was filled with a strange light brown, almost beige substance.
"Say...what's that...?", asked Knuckles in his intoxicated stupor.
"A special nutrient mixture Dr. Eggman created. It was made by combining oat milk, oatmeal, whole grains and prenatal vitamin supplements. He wishes to have you consume this mixture daily in order to provide nutrient enriched breast milk for your offspring", said the Midwife Bot.
Knuckles didn't understand half the words it said, all he heard was food and he immediately got excited.
"Mmm...oatmeal...gimme, I'm hungry!", he whined as he weakly flailed his arms about. The Midwife Bot first attached another heart monitor to his arm before attaching a feeding tube to the bag of the nutrient mixture.
It then placed the other end of the tube into Knuckles' mouth, who then immediately started sucking on it. The mixture traveled down the tube and into his mouth, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Knuckles. The mixture was thick and creamy, and it had a sweet taste to it.
Knuckles drank the mixture down until the bag was completely emptied of both the mixture and air, the Midwife Bot removed it from the pole and attached another bag to it. Knuckles eagerly consumed this new batch until he was full, his belly slightly protruding.
He laid down with a satisfied sigh as the Midwife Bot cleaned up, then it picked up one of his babies and pressed them against his chest. The little one sniffed around before locating a nipple and immediately began suckling it.
"Aww...ain't that cute...?", Knuckles slurred. He then let out a soft yawn and then promptly fell asleep, leaving the Midwife Bot to do the job of holding his newborn babies to his chest so they could drink the milk, but since it had six arms, that wasn't an issue.
Soon, Eggman came into the room. "How did it go? Was our little patient cooperative?", he asked.
"The delivery was successful, all four infants were born without any defects or complications. The subject has consumed both units of the nutrient mixture and is now producing breast milk", said the Midwife Bot.
Eggman looked upon the sleeping Knuckles and gave an evil smile, "That's right, you'll do all the grunt work so I won't have to. All I'll have to focus on is raising these four to become evil geniuses like me", he said.
Suddenly the alarm started blaring at full volume, Knuckles was out cold so it didn't bother him but all four babies began crying hysterically.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!", said an automated voice on the overhead speakers.
Then, Orbot and Cubot came into the room frantically. "Boss! Sonic and his friends have broke into the base, and they're all pretty mad!", said Orbot.
Eggman snarled angrily before turning to the Midwife Bot, "Stay here and watch over him and the infants, don't let anyone enter this room!", he said before leaving.
When he entered the main area of his base, he saw Sonic battling Metal Sonic while his friends fought off every Badnik that stood in their path. Upon seeing the doctor, Shadow flew into a rage and ran towards him.
"Eggman, you bastard! Where is he?! Where is Knuckles?! What did you do to him?!", he shouted.
Eggman waved him off dismissively, "Oh he's fine, quit your bellyaching! I simply had him give birth to his children, all four of them. Four, though. I was surprised, wasn't expecting that but no matter.
"Four strong and healthy children, a pair of boys and a pair of girls, and soon after Knuckles takes care of all the hard parts of rearing children, I'm going to mold them into my evil apprentices and use them to destroy you all and take over the world!", he said as he laughed maniacally.
At that moment, Shadow's eyes went wide and his hearing began to fade out. It was almost like he was underwater or a bomb had exploded in his face. Everyone else in the room suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
"Hey, did it just get colder in here or is it just me?", asked Sonic.
Shadow's black and red fur had suddenly turned an intense and darker shade, his eyes had gone pure white and then, he spoke in a chilling tone.
"I'M GOING TO F*CKING KILL YOU!"
Everyone was taken aback, it appeared that Shadow began so enraged that he had changed into a Dark Form. Eggman was intimidated but tried not to let it show as he pushed a button on his wrist. A battle mech suddenly its way out from down the hall. Towering over everyone, the battle mech was equipped with spiked arms that ended in wicked claws, a full range of guns, and missile launchers.
"Ha! Let's see how you handle my latest, greatest creation! You don't stand a chance!", Eggman declared as he leapt into a cockpit at the top of the mech to pilot it.
Shadow didn't seem to acknowledge the mech or even cared, he suddenly zipped around the room and annihilated every Badnik in his path without harming Sonic and Co.
Then, Metal Sonic tried to intercept him, their fists interlocking. Shadow grunted as he was pushed back several feet.
"You were the one who plucked my beloved from his bed whilst he was sleeping...that was you're first mistake!"
He regarded Metal Sonic with coldness before he gripped him by the wrists. Shadow then tore Metal's arms right out of their sockets like it was nothing. Then, he kicked Metal in the chest. Metal Sonic tried to fire a Plasma Pulse from his chest only for a Chaos Spear to impale him to the ground.
Standing over the robotic hedgehog, Shadow glared at him with look of rage and hatred, "And you're second mistake...was thinking you'd get away with it!", he said darkly as he fed more energy into his Chaos Spear and carved Metal Sonic's chest open.
Metal Sonic's optics flashed then flickered and, finally, went dark. Shadow wasted no time in slicing off Metal's head. Holding up his metallic hedgehog's severed head, he locked eyes with Eggman, who could only gape at him as he crushed Metal's head between his hands. Throwing Metal's head aside as if it were nothing more than a crushed soda can, Shadow bared his fangs, relishing in the sight of the Doctor visibly shivering.
"You're next."
Eggman wasted no time in pushing buttons, firing all manner of rockets and missiles at the dark hedgehog.
"Everyone, take cover!", shouted Sonic as he and the others hid themselves to avoid getting blasted.
Shadow dodged every single projectile with ease, almost as if this was all just a game to him. He then Chaos Controlled directly in front of Eggman, hovering before him.
"You stole my lover from me, and forced him to birth our babies with the intent of turning them into your little puppets?! I will show you a Hell unlike anything ever witnessed by mortal eyes!", Shadow growled menacingly.
He then grabbed the front of the mech, near the cockpit and pealed it away like a piece of tape. Eggman finally began to realize that he may have made a big mistake. He frantically tried to pilot his Egg Mobile through the opening to escape, but only had a second to look up from the control panel before a dark blur tackled the front of the round craft, sending it crashing to the floor.
"You're not going anywhere, Ivo."
Shadow kicked the Egg Mobile, sending it and its rider crashing through a pile of dismantled Badniks.
"AHHH!", Eggman yelled in pain and surprise.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile in the nursery, Eggman's startled yell woke Knuckles up from his drug induced slumber. He groaned and smacked his lips as he tried to make sense of his surroundings, "Ugh...I feel like I just got hit by a truck...", he groaned.
He looked to his side and saw the Midwife Bot standing over him, watching him. Despite the drug in his system still clouding his mind, he knew what was going on and had to get away.
So Knuckles slowly stood up from the bed, grabbing the metal pole that held the empty bags of nutrient mixture. The Midwife Bot saw this and tried to stop him, "Return to the bed at once! I was ordered by Dr. Eggman not to let you leave this room!", it commanded.
Knuckles ignored it as he swung the pole with all his strength at the robot. In one clean swipe, the Midwife Bot's head was knocked off and rolled across the floor. Knuckles dropped the pole as he took a minute to breathe, that one action took a lot out of him.
He then heard cooing coming from a nearby wheeled crib, he peered inside to see all four of his newborn children laying inside sleeping. Two echidnas and two hedgehogs, two boys and two girls.
"Its okay, kiddos. "Mommy's" gonna get you outta here and then we'll go find Daddy", he whispered. He then walked over to the changing station and grabbed four diapers and four onesies. Knuckles walked back over to the crib and proceeded to put the diapers and onesies on each baby.
He then walked over to the Midwife Bot and tore one of its arms off, using its hand to activate the security panel on the wall by the door.
Once he had been given access and the door opened, Knuckles grabbed the crib and started wheeling it down the hall.
[Time Skip]
Groaning, Eggman managed to crawl out of the wreckage of his Egg Mobile, his head bleeding. He gasped and fumbled for a laser gun in his suit as Shadow advanced, shrieking as a Chaos Spear from him knocked the gun right out of his hand.
"You know, Ivo? We may technically be family, but that doesn't give you the right to threaten my lover or my children!", Shadow growled. He then seized Eggman by his mustache, flinging him hard into a wall. The Doctor cried out as his face smashed into the wall, his glasses cracking.
He was suddenly flipped onto his back and a searing pain attacked his right thigh, Shadow had thrown a Chaos Spear at his leg.
Sonic and Co. watched in horror but didn't move from their hiding places, they were all terrified that in his rage, Shadow would suddenly turn on them.
Shadow then jumped onto the Doctor's stomach, making sure he stomped hard as he landed, breaking some of Eggman's ribs. He then pulled Eggman up so his face was level with his. Before the doctor could reply, Shadow gave him a headbutt that slammed his head back onto the floor. He snarled and proceeded to pummel Dr. Eggman with his fists, enumerating all his anger and hatred with every punch.
"NOW...YOU...DIE!", Shadow screamed.
Before he could deliver the final blow, a familiar voice could be heard.
"help...me..."
Shadow stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the voice, he turned to his left and couldn't believe what he saw. Sonic and Co. peered out of their hiding places and gasped when they saw Knuckles standing in entryway to the room.
He was gripping the side of a crib while breathing heavily. Shadow let go of the battered and bruised doctor and rushed over to his lover, engulfing him in a hug; Shadow's dark form faded and he returned to normal as tears fell down his face like a waterfall.
"Knuckles, you're alive! Thank Chaos, you're alive! I was so scared that I'd never see you again! I love you!", Shadow shouted.
Knuckles let out a soft laugh, "I thought you said I was strong, didn't you say not to sell myself short?", he said. He then passed out in Shadow's arms, before Shadow could ask if he was alright, the adrenaline that had been coursing through him finally wore off and he too lost consciousness.
Shadow's unconscious body collapsed onto the floor with Knuckles on top of him. Sonic and Co. finally came out of their hiding places as they rushed over to their friends.
"Shadow!"
"Knuckles!"
"We've gotta get both of them to a hospital!"
Espio walked over to the crib and peered inside, seeing that all four babies were now awake and looking around in confusion.
"It's alright, young ones. You're all safe, we promise to never let anything bad happen to you again", he whispered.
[To be concluded...]
