Wolf Hybrid Robert going to the doctor for an ultrasound after a positive pregnancy test. Congrats! It's a litter! (Quadruplets) Thankfully, the different colored fur/hair makes them easy to tell apart.
Robert... is not having a good time.
The pregnancy tests had been shocking enough. He'd done multiple of differing brands just to rule out false positives.
The ultrasound had left him speechless.
There was more than one blob on the sonogram. There were multiple.
When he'd been a teen, his father had warned him of such a possibility; that those with hybrid genetics were more likely to have multiple births. Robbie Robertson had ended his mortifying "facts of life" lecture with the relief that Robert had been born a rare singleton.
Robert had expressed such little hybrid traits throughout his life, that he assumed he'd been in the clear.
Then a few weeks ago, his nails had replaced themselves with wolfish claws.
The pregnancy tests had been the last resort after thorough rounds of medical, magical, and scientific speculation.
Apparently hormonal changes, like those brought on by pregnancy, can cause a sudden redevelopment of non-human traits in those with hybrid genes hiding in their DNA.
In the Robert's case; a Wolf.
His body was changing on him in two different ways, and he wasn't sure how to feel about either.
He tells his partner the (debatably) good news. They seem happy enough at the prospect of a baby or two, but not so understanding of Robert's other physiological changes.
The day Robert's ears began taking on a lupine shape, his partner had become concerningly quiet.
Robert soon returned to their shared apartment empty of everything except his fat little dog.
A note left on the counter read; "This isn't how I imagined things going."
Attempts to call, text, or email his partner was met with resounding silence. It was as if they had erased themselves from Robert's life.
If Robert's mental health was already on a tight precipice after his partner's disappearance, then Shroud's notorious escape from prison had been the jumping-off point.
If he'd been a better state of mind, he would have seen the Steel Works for the ambush it was. But all he could think about was making sure his father's killer could not pose a threat to his future children.
When the Mecha Man suit exploded, a different part of Robert's instincts took over when the rational mind fell asleep.
The doctors and nurses tending to him and his babies throughout the coma recorded concerning physical changes. Increased body hair growth, replacement of adult teeth with sharper new ones, and the development of a long bushy tail, to name the most obvious.
These changes were not limited to Robert himself - the pups in his womb were too, changing to fit their parent.
By the time Robert Robertson finally reawakened; he resembled less the Mech Hero and more a great Dire Wolf of old.
Soon after this awakening; Robert promptly escaped the hospital into the rolling hills of lower Los Angeles.
A capture warrant was immediately put out to all hero agencies in the state regarding a loose giant wolf.
Meanwhile, at SDN Torrance; the Z-Team, working overtime to make up for scaring off yet another dispatcher, were assigned to the very case.
And who better to find a giant fiercesome beast than another?
Sonar had been glad to stretch his wings against the night breeze. It wasn't often that the task specifically called for him to transform into his Megabat form - but the tracking of a feral wolf-hybrid suited his skill set well.
He could certainly smell a doggy scent around the foothills, but his echolocation was broken by all the shrubs and low-lying plant life.
So, ignoring a blaring alarm in the back of his primal brain, Sonar touched down to get his bearings.
Within seconds, he was pinned to the ground by a massive dark-red wolf.
He was about to fight back, claw and bite and screech his way free, when he caught sight of the dire wolf's stomach.
Large, and hanging with pronounced teats.
"Ohhh..." his rational brain surmised. Pregnancy hormones have to be a bitch for a hybrid with emotion-based transformations.
Thinking quick, less the wolf see him as a threat (or worse, a meal), the Megabat turns his head to expose his neck. Visibly submitting to the wolf's power over him.
The dire wolf stops growling, looking down at the giant bat with curious dark eyes. They ease a paw off of Sonar's chest, but keep poised over him for sudden movement.
With great mental energy; Sonar begins reverting back to his hybrid form. The Megabat shrinking down to a mostly-naked 5'9ft manbat.
The dire wolf watches this transformation with apt fascination. With a deep breath, they seem to meditate to attempt their own transformation.
Their body settles on a sickly, scarred man with red-brown hair. The ears and the tail remain, as does the visibly pregnant stomach.
Sonar is left speechless by the sight.
The wolf-hybrid is speechless also, though for differing reasons. He sniffs the nervous bat's neck before curling against him, the feral part of his mind taking the reins.
The manbat's hand shakes as he reaches for his earpiece;
Sonar: "Found the wolfman."
Sonar: "Not... in the traditional sense. He's calm now, but obviously still in feral-mode. Something def spooked him."
Chase: "Can you move him?"
Sonar, flustered-sounding: "UH... well, he's kinda... asleep on me. And I don't wanna move him in case I jostle the pups."
Chase, voice serious: "The what?"
Sonar: "The pups. Guy's clearly pregnant. I can hear the little heartbeats and everything."
Chase, after deep inhale: "Mal, portal in and help Batboner carry his new friend back to base. Blazer is gonna want to see this."
When Robert's rational mind finally comes to, it's in the medical ward of SDN Torrance. As he tries to wipe the exhaustion from his eyes, he realises that he's clinging to a furry pillow. Pressing his swollen tummy against the warm grey fluff.
Well, not a so much a "pillow", as a blushing bat-hybrid man. Thankfully both of them dressed in medical gowns. The manbat seems quite happy to continue being used as a body pillow for the time being, purring loudly like a pleased cat.
Robert didn't think he could be more mortified until a man he recognises by scent as Trackstar bursts through the door at his awakening - demanding to know how Robert found himself in such a precarious situation.
Robert can only reply with a flat joke to deflect his past six months of trauma.
"Congrats. It's puppies."
The manbat only purrs louder.
There was a bit of media cover-up involved to make sure "Mecha Man turns into a big wolf after a coma" doesn't get out. Thankfully no one outside the medical professionals and the folks at SDN Torrance know what happened.
The manbat he's been clinging to like a security blanket is apparently an ex-villain-turned-hero named Sonar, and that Robert had essentially taken him hostage as a tired dog would.
Speaking of dogs; Beef is quickly tracked down to the very same hospital Robert had been staying at during his coma. Turns out the staff had allowed SDN a search warrant of Robert's (Mecha Man's) property in case of foul play or opportunistic villains. Beef had spent most of the past three-going-on-four months at Robert's bedside, his melancholy only broken up by the care of the adoring nurses. The chunky chihuahua mix is too overjoyed to see his owner again that he doesn't even seem to notice Robert's new canine features.
Chase is joyful in his own, mildly disappointed and worried, way. Vowing to "cut his [Robert's partner's] dick off and feed it to Beef!" for leaving his adoptive bro alone and pregnant.
Robert thinks bitterly of his past partner. There was a brief blip of activity on his phone the days after the explosion - then radio silence once more. Robert thinks it's for the best.
The Mech Suit is pushed to the back of Robert's mind for now. To be repaired only if for a worst case scenario. He has to prepare for at least 3 or 4 little lives to enter his own.
Being a dispatcher isn't as exciting as field work, but it's certainly a lot safer and more social than stalking the streets alone.
The fact that the very Z-Team that Robert directs contains the funny, surprisingly-gentle manbat that helped bring him down from his feral episode is a nice bonus.
As is the bat-hybrid's adoptive pup that clings to Robert like he's his own mother. That's a very adorable bonus. (The superstitions passed down from his grandmother reasons that "five is better than four" after all...)
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