Swoops cheered as he flew across the clouds, heading to the dark sky of Transylvania.Crusher had been silent the entire trip, and had been holding onto the bag of blood packets Stripes had packed, in case his thirst got out of control.

Was this vampire thing really a curse?

Why did he have it?

What other monstrous powers would come with it?

Would he end up killing his friends and... only family one day?

"Crush, you okay?" Pickle asked.

"I... I can't help but wonder what other powers this curse is giving me... and I wonder if I'll hurt all of you with them..."

"I'm sure you would never do that... not on purpose, anyway," Pickle assured him with a smile.

"How are you sure?"

"I trust you, Crusher," Pickle hugged him. "I trust that you'd never hurt us,"

"Well... okay..." Crusher sighed.

"HERE WE ARE!!" Swoops announced. "Transylvania castle!"

The group gasped to see a tall hill nearby. Just at the top of the hill stood a dark castle full of gargoyles and bats flying around.

"Whoa... it sure is creepy..." Darington shuddered.

"And so dark," Blaze observed.

"Ooh, I like it," Crusher's eyes gleamed gold.

"I think Crusher's vampire instincts are kicking in again..." AJ whispered. "We'd better hurry."

They landed on the nearby ground with a thud. Swoops smiled as they hopped off.

"Be careful, guys! There's been rumors that there's a vampire living in that castle,"

"Thanks, Swoops," Blaze smiled. "We'll be careful."

"Come on, guys. Let's hurry." Stripes urged.

The group hurried off towards the castle. From the castle, a vampire truck was upside down from the ceiling as he watched the group hurry to him through his open window.

"Hmm... visitors..." He jumped down and stared at the newcomers. "Without invitation? How rude..."

The others reached the door, and AJ and Gaby stayed toward the back of the group while Blaze nervously banged on the door.

"H-Hello? Is there anyone home? We need to speak to the Vampire King, right away!"

The door creaked open, much to their surprise.

"Uh... I just realized-- what if this Vampire King isn't friendly and tries to take our blood?" Gabby gulped.

"Here-- spray a little of this garlic spray on yourselves," Stripes said, giving a spray bottle to AJ. "Not too much though-- we don't want Crusher throwing up on us."

"Got it."

"O~kay, I'm moving far just in case tho," Crusher gagged, moving beside Pickle's other side.

After they sprayed a teeny bit of the garlic spray on themselves, the group entered the castle, with Blaze and Crusher leading.

"Hello? Mr. uh... Vampire King? We don't mean to cause any trouble here-- we need some help!"

Their voices echoed through the hall as they drove through. No pictures were around, only paintings of blood-related things like blood wines, blood meat and etc.

"Okay... he really likes blood..." Quizon gulped and moved closer to Watts' side.

"Well, looks like no one's home," Darington chuckled nervously. "Let's find Crusher someone less creepy to help, guys, let's go!"

"Darry, I know you're scared, but there's no one else to help," Blaze sighed. "Only... the vampire king,"

"I know... you're right..."

"Hello? Mr. Vampire King?" Crusher called out. "Is anyone home?"

"Who are you to trespass my palace?!" a voice boomed from the ceiling.

"W-W-We don't mean to trespass, sire," Blaze said respectfully, but a little shaken. "You see... one of my closest friends has become a vampire all of a sudden, and w-we were h-hoping you could... help us f-figure it out."

The Vampire King jumped down from the ceiling, a snarl through his mouth. "Impossible. There is no such thing as a 'sudden' vampire."

"W-Well, I wasn't like that before yesterday, sir," Crusher said. "So... maybe you could tell us how I ended up like this?"

"Hmm..." the Vampire King drove forward, blood red eyes narrowing at him as he sniffed. "You don't smell all vampire..."

"So, he's part truck too?" Watts asked.

"A hybrid... of course..." The Vampire King narrowed his eyes. "What is your name, child?"

"Uh... Crusher, sir." Crusher gulped.

The Vampire King moved closer, eyes gleaming red and gold repeatedly. "Hmm... you look... familiar..."

"Y-You're not gonna h-h-h-hurt him... are you?" Quizon asked.

"I'd murder mortals." the Vampire King smirked at him. "Hybrids... that is a rare sight..." He held a tire to the dark blue truck. "I need to check something. Give me your tire."

"Um... okay..."

Crusher shakily held out his tire. The Vampire King grabbed it with a tight grip. His eyes gleamed white, prompting Crusher's to glow white as well before he started to hover off the ground.

"Whoa... whoaoaoa!!"

"CRUSHER!!" PIckle gasped before trying to drive to Crusher, but Stripes stopped him.

"No, Pickle, don't! If the Vampire King knows what he's doing, we have to trust him!"

"Well... fine..."

The Vampire King soon let go, and Crusher subconsciously began to float up. Suddenly, black and red devil wings appeared on his back, causing everyone to gasp.

"W-What's happening?" AJ stammered.

The Vampire King hissed, glaring at Crusher. "It's... you,"

"Him? W-What do you mean?" Starla asked.

The Vampire King didn't answer. Instead, he flew up and grabbed Crusher before throwing him down to the ground. Crusher groaned as his wings vanished the moment he hit the ground.

"Crusher!" Blaze and Pickle ran to his side and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I... I think so..." Crusher groaned.

"What was all that for?!" Pickle demanded. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"All of you, LEAVE!!" the Vampire King roared out. "NOW!"

"W-Why? W-We didn't do anything!" Quizon whimpered.

"NOW!!"

He threw open the door and released the bats, causing the group to yelp as the bats chased them towards the door. As soon as they were out, they slammed shut, locking the group out.

"Well, good night to you too," Darington huffed.

"What was that all about?" Blaze wondered.

"Crusher... w-what exactly happened back there?" AJ asked him.

"I... I don't know..." Crusher hissed. "He just... threw me down. I... I don't know why..."

"Don't worry," Blaze tried to smile. "We'll figure this out."

"B-But where do we stay...?" Quizon asked. "D-Do we go back...?"

"I don't know..." Blaze said. "Looks like we'll have to find some shelter for the night."

"But where? If everyone else in Transylvania is like that guy, we won't be able to stay anywhere!" Starla huffed.

"Maybe we can stay at the villages there," Crusher suggested.

"Good thinking! Let's go see."

They drove off, heading down to the villages. The villages looked local and old school, with the trucks using not much technology as they went on with their lives.

"Um... excuse me," Blaze called out. "We're looking for a place to stay for the night. Could any of you lend us some beds and some food?"

Some villagers glanced at them, cautiously murmuring. One truck drove forward.

"Um, hello," he greeted. "If you wanna stay here, you can go to the village inn,"

"Oh, thank you!" Crusher grinned. "You have NO idea what we just went through up at the castle. A good night's sleep may be just what we need."

"You came... from the castle?!" the villagers gasped.

"We just wanted to ask the king a question or two, but... he kinda kicked us out for no reason."

"The Vampire King is dangerous!" One other truck cried.

"Rumor has it that villagers before had rebelled against him and destroyed his first castle," a third truck spoke. "Since then, he was isolated and merciless,"

"Well, he's merciless for sure," Crusher sighed.

"What kinds of questions did you want to ask him?" the first truck spoke.

"Oh, you know," Pickle said casually, "why Crusher is suddenly a vampire, and--"

"Pickle!!" Blaze shushed him wide eyed.

"Oops..."

"VAMPIRE!!!!!"

The villagers all screamed and ran for their lives at the mention.

"Oh... sorry, guys..." Pickle sighed sadly. "I didn't mean to get them all worked up..."

"I-It's okay, Pickle," Crusher told him reassuringly. "I guess we'll have to find somewhere else to stay."

"But where? Everyone in the village must know by now!" Quizon said. "No one will let us stay..."

"Maybe someone in the forest may help us?" Gabby suggested.

"Might as well go check and ask..." Crusher sighed. "Gosh, I hate being like this-- everyone is either scared of me or hates me..."

"It's not your fault, Crusher," said Blaze, wrapping a tire around him. "Don't worry-- maybe someone will be willing to help us, despite what's going on."

"Come on," Stripes said.

The gang quickly headed off for the forest, with Crusher looking back reluctantly at the villagers, saying sorry for what he did.

At the edge of the woods, Stripes stepped forward. "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

"Hello."

The group turned to see a hooded truck appear out of nowhere.

"W-Who are you?" Quizon asked.

"I am Xander, being of the forest of Transylvania," the truck spoke. "What brings you to my forest, newcomers?"

"W-We need somewhere to stay for the night. See, the people in the town are afraid of me cause I've been turned into a vampire somehow, and we wanted to ask the king how it happened, but he hates me for some reason and forced us to leave. Y-You're not gonna... make us move on are you?" Crusher asked.

"Not at all." Xander smiled and shook his head. "For I am a strange being as well. Come, I will take you all to my hut,"

"Thank you," Blaze smiled. "I'm Blaze, by the way, and these are my friends-- AJ, Gabby, Watts, Zeg, Darington, Starla, Stripes, Pickle, Quizon and Crusher."

"Um... Mr. Xander? What kind of strange being are you exactly?" Quizon asked. "If you don't mind my asking."

"A guardian of the forest, a shapeshifter, a monster, in the words of locals," Xander replied.

"Wow..."

"So... do you think you can help us figure out why Crusher is a vampire?" Watts asked.

"Certainly, but come, you look famished," Xander observed.

"Totally starving!" Darington nodded.