Chapter Text
Who knew Green Hill looked so nice at night?
Everything just seemed so...quiet.
Sonic raced down the hills, the air rushing past him. He was out longer than he thought, as the moon was already rising. Just as Sonic was about to run back home, because Shadow would kill him if he came back late again-
squeak...squeak
Sonic's ears perked.
Towards his right.
There rested a small, worn box was tucked away in a hidden alcove. Carefully, he approached it, as the squeaks grew louder.
In that box were two tiny hoglets, bundled up. One seemed to share the looks of Sonic, with cyan highlights streaked against his quills, while the other shared Shadow's looks, with the exception of purple highlights. Next to them lay a certificate--a birth certificate?
It read:
---
PROJECTS
CHAOS
(ver. 12)
Sex: M
DNA Samples: Blend of Sonic The Hedgehog and Project Shadow
Foundational Basis: Mother Wisp
Date of Birth: 8/12
Abilities: Chaos Energy (possible), Hyper-Go-On Energy (possible)
Status: Failed Project
Reason: Abilities have failed to develop around three months of age, as well as failing to share the behavioral characteristics of his predecessor, Sonic The Hedgehog.
TENEBROS
(ver. 9)
Sex: F
DNA Samples: Blend of Sonic The Hedgehog and Project Shadow
Foundational Basis: Black Doom
Date of Birth: 8/12
Abilities: Chaos Energy (possible)
Status: Failed Project
Reason: Abilities have failed to develop around three months of age, as well as failing to share the behavioral characteristics of her predecessor, Project Shadow.
---
Putting the certificate down, Sonic attempted to reach out for Chaos, but he curled up, hissing dangerously. His sister curled up, following suit.
Not wanting to get bitten (biting kinda hurts), Sonic merely picked up the box. Now what? He thought.
Maybe Shadow would know what to do!
---
When Sonic burst through the door, he had to dodge to avoid the wooden spoon that was thrown at him.
By a very annoyed Shadow.
"You said you would be back by eleven," Shadow glared, his voice low.
"Easy Shads," Sonic threw his free hand up in surrender. "I said I'd be back later."
"You always say that, S--" Shadow caught a glance of the hoglets, yawning and nestling in the box. Weirdly enough, Shadow's face softened. There were a few moments of silence, before he asked, "...Where did you find them?"
"They were just...in a box somewhere. With this." Sonic handed the certificate to Shadow.
As the black-and-red hedgehog flipped through the pages, his expression went from his neutral expression, to shock(?), and supposed anger. His rage only sparked when he saw the label on the top of the paper:
Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.)
The memories of his time as an experiment...the memories of his time on the ARK...all seemed to rush back to him at that moment. A fierce protectiveness for them seemed to take over. If Sonic hadn't found those little ones, who knows what would've happened to them? Was there something they've already gone through? What if--
"Shadow," Sonic nudged him on the shoulder, already placing the box on the coffee table. "Ar-"
"..." Shadow hesitated, brushing a hand through his quills. "What if they've been through so much? I could only imagine..."
A faint wail came from one of the hoglets, stirring in its sleep. Without any hesitation, Shadow walked over to the box, and gently rubbed the hoglet's head, lulling it back to sleep.
Sonic's eyes widened in surprise, clearly thrown off. "Woah. Uh, not to be rude or anything, but I've never seen you this soft. What happened to you?"
Shadow blinked. "...What? You've never seen me this soft?"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, dude. Not even when we were havi-"
"Don't say that in front of them." Shadow gestured towards the newborns, proving Sonic's earlier point.
As the two took another glance at the newborn hedgehogs (they finally stopped curling up) sniffing the air around them, the only thing that came in their head was what the hell they would do once the little ones woke up.