A Father's Debt (Bernadette Hedgehog TF/TG)

    Tears still in his eyes, the man walked away from the graveyard where his wife and son were. He couldn’t believe they were both gone. Torn away from him, before he had a chance to do anything for them… it was absolutely maddening. After all the plans they’d made… all the promises he’d made to them… all the things he said they were going to do. But all that was over now. The plans were ruined, the promises were broken… everything had completely fallen apart. All because of a single car ride.

    Everything had been perfect, too. It had been a beautiful day… the sun was shining, the sky was clear, the air was warm, and there was a genuine feeling of excitement in the air. Why wouldn’t there be? After all, the man was finally going to be spending some quality time with his family for the first time in months… possibly even years. His job paid well, well enough for him to support his family… but it also required him to do quite a bit of traveling. Every time he got back from one trip, he’d immediately have to leave for another, and it got to the point where he could never seem to spend any time with his family. So when he finally managed to get some time off during the summer, he knew what he had to do. He had to spend some quality time with his family… make up for all the time he had missed while he was away.

    He remembered his wife smiling at him as he sat down. His son, who was only ten, looking out the window in anticipation. A day at the boardwalk… just some quality time with his family. How it was meant to be. He pulled out of the driveway and hit the gas, eager to get to the beach. He was so excited! Maybe… a little too excited. As he pulled onto the highway, while discussing the plans for the day with his wife, he failed to notice the large bus behind them, speeding right towards them. The bus driver noticed, and he quickly slammed on his breaks… but it was too late. The bus immediately crashed into them, causing the car to careen off the highway and into the grass next to it, before it finally collided with a rather large tree. Fortunately, the man survived the impact. Unfortunately… his wife and son hadn’t.

    All these thoughts swam in his head as he left the graveyard, slowly and somberly walking back over to his house. “Ironic, isn’t it?” he muttered to himself. “I was so eager to spend time with them… and all I did was kill them. I wanted it so badly… and now it’s gone forever. All because I wanted it too badly.” He shook his head as he continued walking. “I was so stupid. All I wanted was to be with them… and I just killed them. I killed them both.”

    His head lowered, he opened the door to his house, stepping inside. All the lights were off, which was jarring to him. He would normally come home from his trips to a lit-up hallway, which he would follow until he got into the family room. There he would see his wife, reading a magazine, and his son, reading a comic book or playing a video game. They would look up, stop whatever they were doing, jump up, hug him, and ask him how his trip was. That was how it had always been… and how it was supposed to continue, too. But all that was over now. It would never happen again. He would be living alone from now on. Never able to make up for what happened to his family. Soon, he would be off traveling yet again… but it wasn’t like he needed the money anymore, since he didn’t have a family to support anymore. It would be purely for escape purposes from now on. He would probably sell this house once he got enough money, too. Staying here would eventually become to painful to bear.

    He walked around the house for a bit, trying to figure out what to do. He could try brushing up on his cooking skills… after all, he didn’t get that opportunity a lot thanks to his constant traveling. But he couldn’t eat… he wasn’t hungry. He walked into the family room, seeing his son’s gaming system still sprawled out on the floor and one of his wife’s magazines on the table. Would they ever be touched again? He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t into gaming or magazines, so he wouldn’t be using them anytime soon. Should he throw them away? Or should he keep them as a reminder of what he had lost? He honestly wasn’t sure. But as he stood there, pondering, his eyes fell upon something else on the ground: one of his son’s comic books.

    He picked it up, looking at the title. Sonic the Hedgehog, it read. He recalled that his son had been a rather big fan of this particular franchise. He was always playing video games involving the speedy blue hedgehog, and he was always talking about how “awesome” and “cool” the character was. He had even dressed up as Sonic for a couple of Halloweens. But the comic books were something that the man was less familiar with. He hadn’t even known about them prior to seeing this particular comic. But his interest was piqued… thus, he picked up the comic and began reading.

    Mere minutes later, he was lying on the couch reading the comic book, completely engrossed in the story playing out in front of him. The characters were interesting, the story was gripping and engaging, and even though he didn’t quite understand everything that was happening, since he hadn’t read any of the previous volumes, he was genuinely interested in what was happening. But one thing that truly spoke to him was the dynamic between Sonic and his family. Who know that Sonic even had a family? But he did here, and the relationship was… interesting. His mother, Bernadette, was a hedgehog like he was, but his father, Jules, was a… robot. It was interesting, watching them interact with each other… getting along, despite the obvious differences between them. A family like that… that was what the man wanted.

    But as the thought entered his mind, he felt his fists clench around the book. He wanted a family like that… but he would never get it. No, not even that… he’d had a family like that. He’d had a loving wife, an excellent son… but they were both gone now. Even though he always relished the thought of spending time with them, he never really appreciated how much they meant to him… until now. But it was too late. And seeing this family this way, seeing them happily interact with each other… it just made him more and more upset. Finally, unable to control himself any longer, he closed the book and threw it against the wall in front of him. It slammed into the concrete before falling to the floor and lying there once again.

    He sighed, laying his head down on the couch. He was upset… but there was nothing he could do about it now. All he could do was sleep, and figure out what to do with himself tomorrow. He closed his eyes, and just a few seconds later, he was out.
“Hey… wake up, please.”

    “Huh?” The man’s eyes fluttered for a bit before fully opening. Who was talking to him? The voice was deep and masculine, but it also had a slight buzz to it, making it sound almost… robotic. “Who said that?” yelled the man, sitting up on the couch. “How did you get into my- Gah!”

    The figure in front of the man nearly made him pass out again. It’s body appeared to be entirely made of metal, blue plates covering its body, feet, and upper arms, while its hands, upper arms, and lower arms were covered with gray metal. Three large spine-like protrusions stuck out from the back of its head, and its face was distinctly animal-like, featuring large pointed ears atop its head and a long, pointed nose that looked a bit like part of a muzzle. In place of its eyes was a black visor, complete with two glowing red dots. It was a figure that the man knew all too well… after all, he’d just been reading about him. “You’re… Jules? Jules Hedgehog?” he gasped, still in shock.

    Jules lowered his head. “Yes… that is my name,” he said. “But that isn’t important right now.” He looked back up, the red dots serving as his eyes glowing brightly. “I’m sorry about this. But it is what I must do.”

    “Sorry about what?” The man was becoming nervous now. What the hell was going on? He looked around, quickly realizing that nothing around him even looked familiar. He wasn’t even in his own house anymore. “Where the hell am I, anyway?”

    “You’re in my house,” said Jules. “But that isn’t important, either.” He sighed, a long, deep, metallic sigh. “It’s about my wife. Bernie.”

    “Bernie? You mean… Bernadette?” Now the man was becoming intrigued. Hey, it wasn’t like any of this was actually real… it was just a dream. It had to be. There was no way any of this was actually possible… right? “What about her?”

    “Well…” Jules lowered his head once again. “There was… there was a recent attack. On our house. Eggman sent one of his robots after us… hoping to destroy us once and for all. My family and I… we fought against it, and we managed to destroy it, but Bernie was… was…” He shook his head sadly. “She was killed.”

    “Oh…” The man nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He was sympathetic, of course; after all, he had just lost his own wife, so he knew exactly what Jules was going through. “What about your son, Sonic? Is… is he okay?”

    “Sonic is fine… except for the fact that he just lost his mother!” The harshness of Jules’s tone startled the man. “She was exactly what he needed… smart, nurturing, caring… how can I match up to her? How can I be the parent that my son needs?” The glow from his red eyes seemed to intensify. “That’s why I need your help.”

    “My… my help?” The man’s eyes narrowed. “But how could I hel-” As he spoke, his eyes fell upon his hand… and the words died in his mouth. Covering his hand was a comically large white glove, the kind that Sonic and many of the other characters in the series wore. Looking down at himself revealed something even more shocking… he was wearing a purple dress. It was fairly short, too, as it just barely reached down to his legs. His shoes seemed to have changed as well, as he was now wearing large purple boots. “What… the hell?” he said. “Why… why am I dressed like this?”

    “I… am sorry,” replied Jules. “But it was the only way to get her back.” He nodded. “Any second now, it will begin.”

    “What?” cried the man. “What are you talking… about…” As the man looked down at himself, he realized with horror that more changes were taking place. Purple fur was starting to sprout on his legs… and it was beginning to spread as well. Within seconds, his legs were completely covered by it. “Wha… what are you doing to me?” cried the man. “What’s happening to me?”

    Jules shook his head. “It was the only way!” he cried. “The only way to get my wife back… to get my family back!” He turned away, his fists still clenched. “That sorcerer, Naugus… he said he could bring her back. He could get someone from another world, someone who was suffering… make them into my wife instead.” His fists were clenching even harder now. “I didn’t want to do it… I know how evil he is. I know that he must have some kind of ulterior motive… but at the same time, I couldn’t let my son continue to live without his mother. And… that’s why I did it.”

    The man continued looking down at himself, shocked. Already, he could feel himself shrinking… it felt like he was about a foot shorter than before. He started blinking, pinching himself… he even tried to slap himself. But no matter what he did, he wouldn’t wake up… which meant that this wasn’t a dream. It was real. He was really there, becoming a character that he had just learned about that night! He could feel his masculinity withering away, a pair of breasts growing in atop his chest. “This… this is impossible!” he, or rather she, cried, shaking her head.

    “I’m sorry… I really am,” said Jules. “But don’t worry about it too much.” He turned towards the front door of the house. “I’ll have to leave soon… I’ll need to talk with Naugus, see what kind of price he demands for something like this. I don’t know how Sonic will react to seeing you again… but I’m sure you’ll know how to deal with it.” He chuckled. “You always do.”

    “No!” cried the former man, jumping up. “You can’t do this to me!” As she did, she felt a sudden tugging at her spine. She turned around suddenly, seeing a short purple tail sticking out from the back of her dress. “Oh god…” As she looked at it, though, she suddenly felt another pulling sensation, this time in her face. She cautiously reached one of her hands up to touch it, feeling it stretch out slightly into a short muzzle. She felt her eyes enlarge, until they seemed to take up half her face. Her ear stretched and reshaped, crawling up to the top of her head and forming points. Her previously short hair exploded into large purple quills, with one large tuft of blonde hair remaining on her forehead. And the whole time, she kept feeling her eyes, her ears, her quills, unable to believe what was happening.

    Jules smiled… or seemed to, anyway, since it was difficult to tell with his robotic mouth. “At last… you’re back,” he said. “Good to see you again, Bernie.”

    “What…?” The former human tried to speak, but she found that she was barely able to even think. Something was happening to her brain… and the more she looked at Jules, the more powerful the feeling became. She began remembering things… how she and Jules met, how they often debated as children… their time spent together during the Great War… how they were both roboticized and enslaved by Dr. Robotnik, only to be rescued by Sonic… how she was eventually restored to her original flesh-and-blood form, even though Jules remained a Robian… it was all quickly coming back to her. She still remembered her old life, though… what had happened to her before she was transformed, including what had happened to her previous family. It was like she was two different people… two different people, sharpening the same body, the same mind. “Sonic…” She quickly snapped out of her trance, looking up at Jules. “Is Sonic okay?”

    Jules chuckled. “He’s fine. He’s still upstairs, asleep. You can wake him up if you want. Just remember, he’s not a kid anymore.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I have to leave now, okay? Just… try to be good to him in my absence. Just like you always have.” He looked at her one last time before turning away, walking out the front door.”

    Watching him go, Bernadette sighed. If he really was going off to see Naugus, it could be a while before he came back… and that was what made the situation so ironic. In her past, she had always left her family like that for her constant trips… and now she was the one being left behind. Left behind to care about her son. But even as she thought it, she smiled. It seemed that fate had given her another chance to be a parent… and maybe this time, she would to a better job.

    With that thought, she turned and began walking up the stairs to her son’s room. She was determined to get it right this time.