ARAAT4: Origins

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A Rose And A Thorn 4: Origins

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Froggy: Well, to tell the truth there’s not much further to go now.

Harley: Finally that big thing we’ve been talking about that you really should have guessed ages ago? It happens in this chapter!!!

Froggy: And seriously, you really should have guessed...

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Chapter Nineteen: Congratulations!

Mirage opened her eyes carefully. The back of her eyeballs were itchy. The insiders of her elbows were hot. She felt that numb, dead, slow feeling when your body is doped up on painkillers. The air was cool, if stuffy. The bed sheets were clean and white. She didn't feel pain. But she did feel sick. And she felt wrong. That would happen, of course. A direct result of having your ass kicked. The situation warranted a statement, "Argh," she tried. It didn't work.

Sitting beside her bed was the familiar form of a dark blue echidna, his eyes closed and his arm in a splint. It was hard to tell if he was sleeping or just deep in thought.

"Argh," Mirage tried again. She wondered how long she'd been unconscious. A few hours? A week? What had she missed? She started to get out of the bed and screamed as the painkillers reached their limit. Her back felt as if somebody had beaten it with a piece of sheet metal, and that wasn't too far from the truth.

Midnight's eyes snapped open and the echidna partially fell out of his chair, spinning around to face the hedgecat, one hand over his rapidly beating heart. "Mirage? Are you alright?"

"I feel awful," Mirage lay down again, "That is definitely one life down..."

The echidna sighed and slumped into his chair. "It’s a good thing you have eight more of 'em,” he joked dryly, wishing he could be so lucky, "And if you're feeling anything at all, that's a good sign."

"How are you?" Mirage asked, "And Shadow? And Sonic? And did they really bring down the Gizoid?" She looked drained from the questions, and lay her head back, waiting.

Taking a deep breath, Midnight answered her questions, "Asides from a broken arm, I'm alright. Shadow got beat up real bad and is in surgery right now. Sonic... he should be on Earth by now. No one has noticed that he's gone yet. The Gizoid was taken down and locked up. I think they threw away the key."

Mirage sighed in relief, "What about me?" she asked him, "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of days,” he told her, and his voice trembled, "The Gizoid gave you a really bad concussion. The doctors… the doctors said you might not wake up."

Mirage gave this some thought. Should she feel relieved to be alive? "I feel awful," she repeated, "And I feel sick too. Gods, that thing really... took it out of me."

"You survived it, though. You surpassed it,” he said, giving her a smile and reaching over to hold her hand, "All that training paid off."

"But it still broke out and killed many people..." Mirage sighed, "I was fighting it with Shadow and it just went out of control... I could not stop it..."

"I know, but it’s over now, and you're still here. That's all that matters,” he said softly, giving her hand a squeeze.

Mirage sighed and let it go, closing her eyes. A doctor approached the bed, and her ears twitched, "If it is bad news, tell it to the coroner, because I am too tired to care anymore," she told the doctor, without opening her eyes.

"Um, actually, it's not bad news," the doctor spoke up, sounding nervous.

"Well, that is a change," Mirage said wearily.

"It, um, depends on your point of view, actually," the doctor was looking at her very hard, "You see, we're not entirely sure how this happened, but... Project: Mirage, you're pregnant."

Midnight blinked slowly, his mind trying to grasp what the doctor had just said. It had to be a mistake. "I don't think I heard that right,” he said, "Could you repeat that?"

"I said that Project: Mirage is pregnant," the doctor repeated, "And it's an egg."

Blinking again, far more rapidly, the echidna sucked in a deep breath, his gloved hands clinching the bed sheets tightly, “That... that's impossible, isn't it?"

"Tell it to the ultrasound scans," the doctor told him. He held up a screen printout, and the image clearly showed a round, egg-shaped object nestled in Mirage's womb.

Midnight looked down at the ground, running his fingers through his dreadlocks, a dizzying array of emotions and thoughts running through his troubled mind.

Mirage lay there quietly, "Um... just how, exactly did this happen?" she asked the doctor.

"The usual way, I expect," the doctor said, "Now, who is the father?"

There was no point in hiding it. All they would have to do was run a genetic test to figure out the truth, "I suppose I am," Midnight said, raising his head and looking into the human's eyes, "Which explains the egg, right?"

"Well, echidnas are monotremes," the doctor pointed out.

"But I am not,” said Mirage, “How did this happen?" she asked him, "Midnight is an echidna and I am a ... a genetically mutated freak! How could we... I mean... DAMN!"

Midnight was thinking the same thing. It shouldn't have been possible. Normally, hybrids weren’t even fertile. And Mirage wasn’t even partly an echidna. But apparently he was wrong, and now Mirage was pregnant with his child. That brought a far more chilling thought to mind: What were they going to do to the child?

"When will it be… laid?" Mirage asked the doctor.

"We’re not sure,” said the doctor, “It’s growing at an abnormally high rate. From the looks of it... about a week," the doctor finished, "And then it will need to be incubated. We're not sure for how long; it's not like you're an echidna too."

“A WEEK?!” Midnight shouted, “That’s impossible!” He knew next to nothing about pregnant women, but seriously, how could it possibly be growing that fast? They’d only had sex for the first time a few weeks ago, and that didn’t mean that she’d become pregnant then either. Sure there were animals who gestated fast, but Mirage was too big to be one of them. It should be five or six months at least. Nothing should grow that fast… at least, nothing from Earth…

“Sorry.”

Scratching his head, Midnight worriedly and awkwardly asked, "Do you think it will really come out as a child, or... scrambled?"

"I have no idea," the doctor told them, "That's all up to the scientists. Here they come." Three scientists walked into the small room.

Midnight stood up and slowly faced the scientists, his manner and expression passive, neutral. They didn't seem very interested in him, but converged on the incapacitated Mirage, who looked suddenly worried, "What do you want?" she asked, clutching her middle, "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry, Project: Mirage," said the first scientist, who had the GUN emblem emblazoned on his jacket, "You and your egg will be just fine. You'll just be bedridden for about a week. Of course we have no idea-"

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Mirage shouted.

Midnight's calm was broken, noticeably flinching at the feline's shriek, glancing back and forth nervously between her and the scientists.

"Well, you're partially Hedgehog, partially Feline, and partially... something else," the young Professor told her, "The something else is probably what made it possible for you to breed with somebody of another species. And your egg will be fine, we'll make sure it gets an excellent upbringing."

"You'll what?" the echidna asked, glaring daggers at the scientist which had spoken.

"We'll take care of the egg and the baby, and you two can concentrate on your training," the Professor replied, "You are the sire of the egg, I presume?"

"It is my egg!" Mirage could be heard wailing in the background, "I want to keep it!"

Grinding his teeth together and clinching his fists, Midnight forced himself to not leap on the scientist and pound him to a bloody pulp. He had to stay calm. "Yes, I am the father,” he spoke slowly and carefully, "Although I appreciate your concern for our well-being, I assure you that we would have no trouble raising the baby."

"No, Project: Midnight," the Professor told him, "You don't meet the criteria for a suitable father. You're far too unpredictable. And Project: Mirage has been classified as insane by seven standardised sanity tests."

Now that pissed him off. Thinking of the several hundred ways he could end the human's life within a matter of seconds using the variety of items within reach, he calmly replied, "Regardless, the child is ours to raise as we please, not yours."

"Tell it to somebody who cares," the Professor told him, "Either way, Project: Mirage is going to be bedridden for about a week now. You can get back to your training."

"My training is complete, and I'm an experiment that you finished with and let go. I'm staying here beside her,” he replied, not budging an inch.

"Then don't get in our way," the Professor told him, "And you might just live to see our egg hatch."

"Are you threatening me, human?" he growled ever-so-quietly, "Tell me... what do you know about the echidnas and their history?"

"The echidnas destroyed themselves with their lust for power," the Professor commented.

"The echidnas were destroyed by nature itself, a God of Destruction,” Midnight corrected him, ignoring the comment about the child, "It took that to wipe them out, because nothing else could. They were a vicious, warlike people who swept across the land like a red tide, conquering all who opposed them. They had no equal, their sheer ruthlessness making them more than a match for any enemy nation."

"Yes, but there's one of you, and about 300 of us," the Professor replied, "Don't get stressed, Project: Midnight, you're not helping Project Mirage."

Midnight continued to ignore him, "I'm telling you this now so that you'll be well aware of the kind of horror that will be unleashed should you decided to take my child away from me."

"It's not your child," the Professor turned to look at Mirage, "GUN paid for your creation, and the creation of Project Mirage. Therefore this offspring, however unplanned, belongs to GUN. You can think of Project: Mirage as an... incubator."

Mirage's eyes grew wide with fear, "No!" she shouted again, "It is MY egg! Not yours!"

"I think I'd prefer to think of her as the woman I love,” he said dryly, glaring into the human's eyes, "It’s obvious that I haven't convinced you of the risks. Very well. That's your choice. I'm going to make your death an exceptionally slow one."

The Professor just shook his head, "Then leave. Plan your acts of violence. I'll call the soldiers and you'll be put into solitary confinement - or stasis."

"They won't find me. Not until I'm right on top of them. You just started a war,” he spoke darkly, stepping past the scientist and the exit, "I'll be back for you, Mirage. And our child."

~~~

One Week Later…

As usual, Midnight was in the ARK's gym facility, trying to hone his skills, clear his mind. He was failing at both horribly. He hadn't been allowed near Mirage for a week. He had been under constant surveillance, the troops worried about him ‘snapping’. Oh, he'd snap alright if they dared to take his child away from him. It was his breaking point, the injustice he could no longer tolerate.

"Ahem," a young voice coughed nervously from the door. He turned to see the doctor from the medical ward. The young man looked out of breath, "Project: Midnight?"

"Yes, what is it?" the echidna said, clearly annoyed as he turned to face the young human.

"Ahem... it's regarding Project: Mirage..." the young man watched Midnight's expression change, "She's been in labour for six hours now... I... I thought you should know..."

"She's what? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" a shocked Midnight asked him. As soon as the question left him, he shook his head and stepped past the scientist. "It doesn't matter. She needs me there!"

"The scientists... they won't let you in," the doctor followed him, "They threw me out. There are guards at the door-"

Midnight froze in his tracks and whirled around to face the man again, his eyes wide, "The scientists threw the doctors out? Are they completely nuts?!" Turning again, Midnight took off running down the corridor towards the medical area.

The doctor tried to keep up. But he didn't have a chance. When Midnight reached the medical ward, he found that the door was shut and a guard stood on either side of it. The room was soundproofed - he couldn't hear a thing from inside. Upon seeing Midnight, the two guards blocked the door with their guns.

"Let me through!" he demanded, "That's my mate in there! She needs me!"

"We have orders to let nobody through," one guard told Midnight simply.

"Damn you and your orders!" the echidna shouted, "You have no right to keep me from her! You have no right to treat us both like slaves! I'm sick and tired of your arrogant assumptions of superiority!"

"We have orders," the soldier repeated. They weren't going to move.

Bellowing in rage, the echidna leapt forward, not at the troops themselves, but their weapons. Grabbing onto the rifles, he forced them to point at the soldiers, rather than him, and began to put his training to good use, raining punches and kicks down onto them, finding weak spots and places unprotected by body armour.

Within a couple of minutes, the soldiers were down. The doctor finally caught up with Midnight, breathing hard, and looked at the two unconscious men, "Oh, this is not going to go down well," he said.

"No, it’s not,” rumbled the echidna. He had gone past the point of no return. Picking up one of the soldier's rifles, he stepped back and gestured for the doctor to do the same. Aiming the weapon at the door, Midnight opened fire.

The young doctor crouched down, holding his hands over his ears, not touching the other rifle, his eyes tightly shut. Like many doctors, he was a pacifist, and wanted nothing to do with the weapons on the floor.

Midnight discovered, much to his frustration, that the door seemed bullet-proof as well as soundproof, "Gah!" he cried out, tossing the empty rifle to the floor. Whirling back towards the cowering doctor, he demanded, "How do I open this door?"

"You use a keycard?" the doctor suggested. He pulled a keycard from his pocket and swiped it. The door slid open easily.

Grumbling, embarrassed that he didn't think of that, Midnight picked up the other rifle and stormed inside, sweeping his aim over the scientists inside, "Get back! Step away from her!" he commanded them threateningly.

Mirage was lying in the middle of the small circle if scientists, and she was wailing loudly. Midnight could smell blood. The Professor stood up angrily, not even looking at Midnight, "Doctor, what do you think you're doing, bringing an animal into a medical area?"

That pushed Midnight's already enraged mind another fatal inch into the fires of anger, "It seems that you're not taking me seriously,” he growled, "I said..." Aiming carefully at the scientist, Midnight pulled the trigger, sending a rifle bullet through a white coat's arm, "GET BACK!!" The man screamed and fell to the floor.

"I'm not having this!" the Professor shouted, “Where are the guards?! Guards!"

"They're taking a nap. If you don't want to do the same, permanently, you'll shut up. Doctor, lock the door," Sweeping the weapon over the standing scientists, he rumbled, "If you want to see a true animal, I suggest you take a close look into the mirror," His eyes drifted over to Mirage's form, and he asked softer, "Are you alright, Mirage?"

"Nnnngh..." Mirage looked up at him through wide, somewhat frightened eyes, "I think... I am dying... again..." she hissed.

"Doctor, after you're done with that door, check on her,” he said. The echidna slowly moved closer, gesturing with his gun for the scientists to keep their distance, "It’s alright, Mirage. Everything's going to be fine. I'm here,” he breathed.

"Uh," the doctor walked over, "This may sound like a bad time to mention it, but... I've never supervised the birth of a hedgehog feline echidna alien hybrid before."

"Maybe so, but I'm sure you'd do better than these idiots,” Midnight assured the young man. He knew he could trust him for now, far more than he could say about the scientists.

"Well, I'll try..." the young man swallowed, aware of the rifle at his back. If he messed this one up, he was dog meat. He bent down to Mirage, "Project Mirage, how do you feel?" he asked her gently.

"Am I dead yet?" Mirage asked him.

"I'll take that as a 'not good'," The doctor pulled on some plastic gloves and looked up between Mirage's legs, "Six hours. Is that normal for an Ultimate or not?" he asked vaguely, "Spread your legs, Project Mirage," the feline did so, "Now, let’s see..."

Midnight stood nearby, pacing across the room like an impatient predator, weapon in hand and standing guard to insure that the doctor remained uninterrupted.

"Okay, I think I can see something in there," the doctor stood up, "She's severely dehydrated from sweating!" he snapped at the doctors, "Haven't any of you even thought of giving her fluids?"

"I'm sure they were far more concerned about the well-being of their new experiment,” Midnight said bitterly. Searching the area fast, he found and picked up a bag of fluids and an IV, handing them to the doctor.

The doctor snatched the IV and fluids from Midnight and began hooking them up to Mirage. This wasn't his job. He wasn't a midwife. He wasn't even a vet. He was a doctor and he was used to the aftermath of a messy birth, not the carrying out of it. Mirage wailed again as the scientists clustered in one corner, taking notes.

Snarling in anger, Midnight aimed at the scientists again and said, "Drop the notepads! This is no longer an experiment!"

"And you can drop the gun, Project: Midnight!" the doctor told him, "This is not a warzone! I'm trying to help this female and you're making the situation even more stressful - for all of us!"

"Midnight!" the echidna corrected him, "My name is Midnight! And you don't know the meaning of stress! Try being born a slave, an experiment, not even regarded as anything more than some product, and then you can lecture me about stress!"

"Project: Midnight," the doctor took a deep breath, "Either calm down, or leave. Now." With that, he turned back to Mirage, "Project: Mirage, count to ten, and then push," he told her.

Mirage counted to ten, and pushed. She started to cry all over again, "I hate this thing!" she wailed, "Why would not they give me the medicine?!"

"What medicine?" Midnight asked his suffering mate, standing closer to her. He ignored the doctor's demands; he was the one in a position of power for once, and he intended to use it.

"Painkillers. We can't give them to her because we don't know the correct dose," the doctor told him. Behind him, Mirage continued to wail.

Midnight cursed under his breath, helpless to relieve Mirage of her pain. All he could do was stand aside and hope things turned out alright. It wasn't an enemy he could fight and slay. Standing beside Mirage, he risked letting one hand leave the weapon to grip her own comfortingly.

Mirage snatched at his hand like a lifeline, squeezing it hard. The doctor stepped forward again, "Project: Mirage, I want you to take a deep breath, and then push to the count of ten, then repeat. Do you understand?" Mirage nodded, "Good."

"You're going to be fine,” Midnight assured her, "The pain will pass soon, and you will live past this. Trust me."

Mirage pushed hard, with a shriek, and relaxed, "I am going to DIE, I know it..." she whimpered.

"You're not going to die,” Midnight replied in a soothing voice, "You've already lived through this before, remember?"

"Argh," Mirage agreed, and pushed, "Why did it have to be an egg?!" she shouted, "Why did it have to be you?!"

"Sorry..." Midnight apologized sheepishly, looking away in what seemed to be embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it, Project: Midnight," the doctor told him, "Childbirth is a very stressful time, she doesn't mean it-"

“YES I FUCKING WELL DO!!" Mirage shrieked.

Midnight didn't respond to that. As the doctor looked over to see why, the echidna's eyes were wide open, and he was biting down on his tongue. The reason why was obvious for anyone who looked down at his hands: Mirage had, either on purpose or unintentionally, dug her claws into them. "I'm sure she means it,” he spoke in a strained voice.

"YOU BASTARD WHY DID YOU HAVE TO IMPREGNATE ME WITH YOUR DAMN SEED!!!" Mirage screamed again.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he strained, holding himself back from screaming as well, blood dripping from the deep wounds in his hand.

Mirage obviously wasn't noticing, "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE-" There was a wet, soft sound, and the doctor was holding a white egg, about the size and colour of an ostrich egg. No wonder it had hurt, "You..."

"You did it, Mirage,” the echidna said, smiling despite the pain he was feeling, "It’s over. You're going to be alright."

Mirage started to wail all over again, and held out her arms for the egg, "I want it, I want it..." she managed. The doctor was about to hand it over to her, when the door slid open smoothly to reveal the Commander, flanked by several soldiers.

Midnight immediately raised his weapon towards the soldiers, who did the same to him. He was outnumbered and outgunned. Sighing deeply, the breath escaping his lungs feeling like fire, he realized that he couldn't fight them back, not in his situation, and certainly not with Mirage right in the line of their fire, "I thought you locked the door,” he growled quietly at the doctor.

"I did," the doctor replied quietly, "But all officers have an over-ride card..."

"Hand over that egg," the Commander said calmly, "You don't want anything to get... broken. Do you?"

"It’s not yours,” Midnight growled defiantly, standing his ground for the moment, "Nor is it up for adoption. If you want a kid, look elsewhere. If you're that desperate for an omelette, I'm sure the kitchen would be willing to part with a few eggs."

Mirage started to wail loudly, hugging the egg to her body, "It is mine, it is mine!" she shouted. Despite the agony of giving birth and the tears she had wanted to cry, her face was clean of them.

"Fine. We'll do this the hard way," A tranquilliser dart was fired. It hit the doctor, who slumped to the floor, but happily. They fired again, at Midnight.

Midnight quickly reached down to rip the dart out of him, but as he tossed it away, he knew it was too late. He could feel his body become heavier, his arms unable to hold up the gun in his hands, and the echidna slumped to the floor, not unconscious, but unable to resist. "Bastards..." he mumbled.

“Hold him down. Get the egg from her,” the Commander ordered. Midnight felt heavy hands push him down to the floor, one foot on his back. He watched helplessly as one soldier easily held Mirage down. She was exhausted from laying and couldn’t possibly put up a fight. All she could do was struggle pitifully, and wail as a second soldier easily pulled the egg out of her grasp.

"No..." Midnight moaned pitifully, trying to resist. It was hopeless, though. He might as well have been trying to lift a mountain.

"We'll take the egg and incubate it," the Commander told the room, "The hatchling will be just fine." The soldiers and the scientists left the room, and Mirage continued to cry. It was Midnight and Mirage alone, unless you counted the tranquillised doctor.

"I'm sorry, Mirage. I'm sorry..." the echidna whispered, clawing weakly at the floor, "I failed you..."

"It is my baby..." Mirage whispered, "My baby..."

"I hate them,” Midnight spoke with all the strength he could pour into his voice. Which wasn't much. "I hate them. I hate them. I hate them,” he repeated softly, tears springing from his eyes and running down his muzzle.

Mirage just lay there, "I wish I had never come back..." she whispered, "I wish I had been happy with what I had..."

The blue echidna whimpered, beating one fist weakly against the cold floor. "Don't say that, Mirage,” he begged, "Please don't say that..."

Mirage wasn't listening - not to him, or anybody, "I wish... I wish... I wish I could have made a difference..." she sobbed to herself.

"You made a difference to me,” Midnight whispered, laying his head down on the steel floor, crying silently.

Mirage blinked, hearing this. She got out of the bed, stumbled thanks to her exhausted legs, and fell to the floor beside Midnight, "I know," she said quietly, taking his bloody hand in hers.

He squeezed back, his grip weak thanks to the drugs in his system. "I tried. I tried so hard..." he whimpered, "I'll get our child back. Somehow I'll do it..."

Mirage didn't have an answer for that. She was pretty sure that if he had, she'd have a child in the future, "You do that," she said. She stood up again, and fell back into the bed, sobbing bitterly.

Midnight curled his hand into a fist, blood mixing with tears, his hands shaking with all of the helpless fury he felt. Silently, he swore, no matter what the cost, he would get their child back. He would not fail Mirage again. Ever. The echidna tried to stand, but could only lift himself onto his knees, and so there he lay.

~~~

Harley: Mirage is pregnant! It’s Midnight’s baby! Midnight is an echidna! I’m waving it in your face and if you don’t get it right this time, you are officially an idiot!

Froggy: Harley, don’t insult our readers. Not everybody is as sadistic as you.