A couple weeks had passed by since the big battle between Bloonic Doctor Eggman and the doctor's subsequent taking into custody and life was going on as normal, the rest of Sonic's friends had heard about what had happened and were both surprised and thrilled with Bloonic's very heroic bravery.
Even his friends at school, including the teachers, were all amazed to hear about what had happened. In the days after people at school had heard of the battle, Bloonic was swarmed by countless students, asking him so many questions about how he got so lucky enough to beat Eggman.
The next thing Bloonic knew, the mainstream media soon heard about it, and before he knew it, the hedgehog vampire hybrid was a hot topic on the news and often ambushed by photographers and news reporters trying to talk with him and ask countless questions in regards to himself and his family.
One day, while on a field trip in Station Square with his friends from school, someone close by spotted Bloonic and alerted the local mainstream media. Just as the hybrid hero and his friends were passing by Town Hall just downtown, photographers arrived and began flashing pictures of Bloonic.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" He protested, holding up his hands, "Calm down, one at a time. I'm just trying to... Can't you see I'm on a field trip with..." Bloonic had to jog to keep up with his school friends and their teacher all while photographers kept flashing pictures of him just as reporters arrived on the scene.
"This Violet Ann Marcy of Station Square news reporting downtown." A purple haired female news reporter said, looking into the camera, "We have just found junior hero Bloonic the Hedgehog in our city with a group of school students."
An annoyed Bloonic rolled his eyes as he tried everything to keep the mainstream media off his back, asking his friends for help. He was trying to talk with one of his science partners and ask for some assistance when, to his frustration, one of the news reporters pulled Bloonic aside and shoved the news microphone in his face.
"Excuse me, Mr. Bloonic the Hedgehog." Violet Ann asked, "I have some stuff to ask you, how does it feel to be a hero on Sonic the Hedgehog's level and can you tell us who your parents are?"
Oh boy. "Well," Bloonic replied, "Sonic just happens to be my pop and, get this, my mama is an alien vampire from another planet and her name is Vampirella. Because of that, you're probably figuring it out now but I'll tell you anyway, I'm not just a hedgehog. I'm a hedgehog-alien vampire hybrid."
Reporters and photographers gasped with complete and utter shock, they'd figured that Sonic was the man who sired Bloonic but never did they ever in a million years expect to learn that the woman who was his mama was a vampire by the name of Vampirella from outer space.
"Hey, Bloonic!" Todd yelled, "Come on! Quit chatting up with the paparazzi!" As the mainstream media reeled in confusion, talking in shock about Bloonic's revelation, the purple hedgehog caught back up with his school group and they soon managed to get away from the mainstream media for the rest of the field trip.
When he got home later in the afternoon, the young hero found his parents watching the news on TV as it discussed, well, him. Sonic was face palming and Vampirella was rolling her eyes as they listened to the newscasters questioning Bloonic's half-vampire status and, of course, the bond between his parents.
"Ugh," Sonic groaned, "Jeeze, I can't believe the mainstream media would say absurd things about us. What have they got against vampires other than the fact some of them are bad and drink blood from people? They freaking think I'm a bloodsucking freak because I tied the knot with V."
Vampirella clicked the remote and turned off the TV, putting her arm around Sonic and they comforted each other, trying to assure one another that what was on the news wasn't too major and nobody was coming after them. At that point, the two looked up to see their son in the room, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, hey son." Sonic said with a chuckle, "Didn't notice you there. How was your school field trip other than the fact you ran into the paparazzi and pretty much told them that you were half vampire?"
"I was fine, my friends and I had fun." Bloonic replied, sitting down and hugging his parents, "I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous when it comes to dealing with the media, especially when I just became popular and famous."
"Eh, its not too bad." Sonic remarked, "You'll get used to it, as long as you can ignore the fact that there are some outlets who often bash me, completely dismissing that my friends and I have saved the world countless times."
"I've had a bit of a history with running into the mainstream media and being on the news a few times during my stay on Earth." Vampirella said, "For the most part, I've been slightly unknown, mostly hidden in plain sight, almost in the shadows."
"Switching the subject," Sonic held up a hand and looked at Bloonic, "Your birthday's coming up soon, you're gonna be twelve years old this year. Can't you believe it, twelve years since you were born."
"Is there anything you want to do on your birthday?" Vampirella asked.
"Um, I dunno." Bloonic shrugged, "We've mostly chilled on my birthday every year, often hung out with friends, watched movies and gone out a few times. I, uh, haven't figured it out yet. No idea, but I do look forward to having a real good time every year ever since I was old enough to fully appreciate and enjoy anything."
"Its alright, buddy. We'll figure it out before your 12th birthday." The hybrid heard his old man say in a reassuring voice.
"We always do, you always get what you want." Vampirella nodded.
The family ate dinner an hour later with Vampirella serving steak and hot dogs, afterwards, they spent some time playing a board game or two and watching an action movie until it was Bloonic's bedtime. Sonic tucked his son into his comfortable red and black bed, saying good night and leaving the room.
As Bloonic fell asleep, he held his stuffed teddy bear close to him, a Chao sleeping close by. Despite the warmth and comfort protecting him physically, it didn't stop nightmares from invading the hybrid hero's mind, nightmares of being alone and abandoned by his family and an evil overlord enslaving the universe.
Despite his parents' assurances they would never leave him, Bloonic still had terrible dreams where Sonic and Vampirella weren't there for him and had left him while he was alone somewhere, helpless and surrounded by vicious monsters, closing in on him and attempting to eat him while he begged for help.
That dream was a very uncomfortable dream, one which rarely happened. The one dream that seemed to be the worst of all, it freaked him out to think about it but Bloonic had a strong feeling the nightmare of the evil overlord conquering and ruling over everything was a vision of events to come.
The villain was terrifying and intimidating; Pale-skinned, eyes gleaming orange-red, hands skeletally thin, bald and wearing a dark-red suit with a cape, weilding a dark staff. Whenever the mystery villain spoke, he seemed to have a crisp British accent like all of those movie villains Bloonic had seen.
Everytime he had those awful dreams, he woke up, face filled with terror and tears and crying into his pillow, holding his stuffed teddy tightly close. When Bloonic awoke in the morning, he was just as scared as ever. He not only held his bear for comfort, he hugged his pet Chao whom he named Chowme.
"Chao chao?" Chowme asked.
"I'll be fine," Bloonic croaked, wiping some tears from his eyes and shaking off the terror from the nightmare of the evil overlord which had just gotten worse. He got out of bed and joined his parents for breakfast, sitting down to eat some chili dogs. "So, any ideas for your birthday?" Sonic asked as he ate a chili dog.
"Uh, one comes to mind." Bloonic replied, "I'd love to meet some relatives I haven't met yet, I was thinking about getting the chance to meet my grandparents and some aunts and uncles I never met before."
Vampirella seemed to shudder nervously, "Er, Bloonic dear. If you're looking for a chance to meet my family, its... not gonna work out well. They're long gone and, besides, my pop was a bit of a power crazy maniac in the end, always wanting power and my uncle was a bizzare man anyway."
"No no. I wasn't talking about relatives on your side of the family, mum. I was talking about relatives on my pop's side of the family."
Sonic chuckled, "So you want to meet Grandma Elena, Uncle Manik and Auntie Sonya, eh? Ok, son. I'll see what I can do."
"Can you tell me something I don't know about you?" Bloonic asked.
"Of course, Bloon. I'm a prince from the planet of Mobius, my mama's the queen. I gave up the throne so I could go have some adventures around the universe, which eventually lead to me coming here. Because your mum's an alien princess, that makes me and her kindred spirits since we have a bit in common."
"I didn't know you were royalty." The young hybrid remarked.
"Well, I did." Vampirella said, "When I was observing him from afar and when we first met, I knew I was looking at somebody who was almost like me; Someone who was royalty who ran away from their home planet."
"Pretty cool," Bloonic commented, "Despite the differences."
"Except my home planet is fine and so are my relatives." Sonic expressed, "I didn't have any of the issues that Vampirella had with her home." He smiled at Bloonic, "Ya wanna meet Elena, Uncle Manik and Aunt Sonya, Ok then. I'll make a phone call before your birthday and bring 'em over to town."
"Thanks pops." The young hybrid soon finished his meal and had his drink before happily hugging his old man and then hugged Vampirella, the warmth of their embrace once more assuring Bloonic that he would never be abandoned...
One night, with the day of his birthday looming in just thirty six hours, the hybrid hero was walking the streets of Central City alone after visiting a friend, heading for home. Thankfully the mainstream media wasn't on the prowl and trying to do any news stories about him tonight.
However, Bloonic's instincts warned him that he was being followed by a group of figures in the shadows, a group of masked men wearing dark outfits. What were these men up to, it didn't matter. As long as he kept walking and tried to keep his distance from those guys, he would survive.
Just then, another group of masked figures emerged from an alley way in front of Bloonic and he found himself surrounded and unsure of what to do. Trying to fight his way out would be tough, but reasoning with these guys was probably going to be a lot harder.
"I don't know who you jerks are and I don't know what you want." He growled, getting into a defensive stance, "But you're not getting anything from me. Don't try anything, because I have a set of skills I have obtained over a very long time."
The thugs chuckled, was this kid attempting to be intimidating and dark? If so, this was a very poor performance. A big man stepped forward, staring into Bloonic's eyes. "Really?" The thug leader demanded, "You think you can scare us, kid?"
"If you leave me alone now," The hybrid said, clenching his fists tighter and trying to restrain himself, "That will be the end of it. If you don't back down, it will not end well because I'm not afraid of biting your asses and making you bleed."
"Oooh! I'm so scared." A street thug said, drawing a bat.
Bloonic hissed and bared his fangs in a menacing manner, sending chills down the backs of every single thug that was surrounding him. One thug drew a knife, "Looks like we got a bloodsucker. Yo kid, me and the boys are veteran vampire hunters. Why do ya think we're surrounding you, we know who you are."
"Alright, you asked for it." Deciding that enough was enough, the junior hero launched himself in the air and knocked out a thug with a kick to the back before biting his neck and drinking some blood, causing the thug to scream in agony. The others moved in to attack but Bloonic was too fast for them.
'This is nothing like dealing with Bully Billy's gang at school.' The hedgehog vampire noted as he fought against the creepy mooks, whailing on them and biting while clawing and drawing some blood here and there. More thugs raced in, attempting to get the drop but they were taken out in the blink of an eye.
Soon he found himself surrounded, Bloonic was ready to keep fighting, but then he got back up; A hooded figure leaped in and started karate kicking thugs left and right, beating them up while drawing a sword and decapitated a goon, spilling some blood on the street. The thugs ran, terrified of what was occuring.
Taking a look at the hooded figure, Bloonic recognized who it was just as the figure took his hand and, in seconds, he was back at the house. Vampirella let go of her son's arm and dropped down her hood, putting her weapons away. "You ok, Bloonic?" She asked, "That was something rather awkward and scary?"
"I'll be fine." Bloonic replied, hugging his mum, "Thanks for the assist, I thought I could handle all of those street thugs even though they were tough customers. Nothing like Bully Billy and his goons at the school, especially when they were somewhat of a joke next to those crazy customers we just dealt with."
"How did that last encounter with Bully Billy go?"
"Last time I encountered him, he made the mistake of calling me a freak and I completely blew a gasket and super clobbered him, I gave him a bloody nose and so many aches, he... he and his pals basically stopped antagonizing me."
Vampirella looked surprised, especially when she'd heard about her son's previous fights with Bully Billy. To judge from what he was saying, she pieced together about how what might have been the final battle went down.
"Yo, whats goin' on? Its bedtime." Sonic had just come out of the bedroom, wearing a nightcap and pajamas, yawning. Vampirella told the blue hero about what had happened with Bloonic on the way home and what he'd just told her.
"Huh, that's somethin'." The blue hedgehog remarked, he put his arm on Bloonic's shoulder, "Well, you sure are quite the fighter and a brave boy. But ya gotta watch your back and also not lose your cool, what went down with you and Billy must've scared some folks and those crooks tonight, that was a close one."
"I guess it doesn't hurt to have some back up if things get tough and if I can't just do things alone if the going is super tough and I'm going up against enemies more stronger than other enemies." Bloonic said, "I'm glad I had a family member come in to aid me, had that not happened, those crooks would've got me."
"And it's a good thing that never happened, I can't imagine something real serious happening to you and, as long as you know how to defend yourself and people like me, your mama and our friends are around, you're in good hands. Now, lets get you into bed and get some shut eye, its your bedtime after all."
Bloonic went to bed and his parents tucked him in, thankfully he wasn't visited by those nasty nightmares again like the last few times he went to sleep. When he woke the next day, he softly hugged his teddy bear and gently scratched his pet Chao's head, which caused the yellow orb on Chowme's head to become a heart.
That afternoon, after lunch, he and his parents took a trip to the local carnival as an early birthday treat for him, especially when it was going to happen tommorow. The city fair was lively and full of fun excitement as people played with animals and went from one fun game to the next, going from roller coasters to the Ferris Wheel. If one thing struck Bloonic's fancy, it was the haunted house attraction.
As a matter of fact, Sonic was almost reluctant to go near the haunted house at first, especially since he'd been through countless haunted locations and had faced spooky ghosts several times before. But thanks to some persuasion from Bloonic and Vampirella, he agreed to join them in going through the Haunted House.
Just as they were passing the fortune teller's booth, someone called out in an Arabic accent. "Yoohoo, young man!" It was the fortune teller, a man in Islamic robes and a turban, his face covered save for his eyes. At first, Sonic thought the fortune teller was talking to him when he went up and said, "Sup?"
"I did not summon you." The Arabic fortune teller said, he pointed at Bloonic, "I was pointing at him." The young hybrid hero looked confused, what did the fortune teller want with him anyway? He nervously asked his mama why the fortune teller wanted him and why he was suddenly so important.
The next thing they knew, the man approached the 11¾ year old boy and put his hands on him. His eyes looked chilling, almost pale as if he had not been alive in a long time and just came back from the grave. "You're the hybrid the dark prophecy refers to." The fortune teller said, "The boy of fang and speed."
"What prophecy?" Bloonic got the chills.
"It is an ancient prophecy that foreshadows dark events to come. It goes back thousands of years, it is so terrifying, we don't speak much of it."
"Wh-Wh-What does the prophecy say?"
"Soon a great darkness will descend on all creation, the dark overlord will come to bring forth the apocolyptic devestation. Unless the hybrid stops the tyranical overlord to be, we will all fall, as it is written on the wall. Darkness is looming. The Shadow Weilder is coming and all light in the universe is soon fading."
Hearing this, Bloonic was half terrified and half confused, could the fortune teller somehow know of his nightmares and this dark lord, was he talking about the evil overlord that the hybrid had been seeing in his dreams, the evil overlord ruling over the universe and taking countless lives in the universe.
"Uh, yeeaaaaah," Sonic commented with uncertainty and scratching his head, "That does sound spooky as hel. But I wouldn't worry about that, especially since there's a chance the events in the prophecy might not unfold for a long time. Dunno who the evil overlord is and I don't wanna even find out."
The fortune teller walked away, apologizing for troubling the hedgehog-vampire family, leaving Sonic, Vampirella and Bloonic to finally enter the haunted house funhouse where they evaded fake ghosts and fought fake skeletons and just had a good time like most families always tried to do whenever they went somewhere.
However, what had been spoken of still had Bloonic and his family confused as to what the mysterious man had spoken of, whatever it was, it certainly was spooky...