Xander took them to a small hut in the middle of the forest. Wasn't much, but it surely was something. There, he served them a tray of chopped fruits.
"Here. Munch on these."
"Thank you so much," Starla smiled.
As the others munched on the fruits, Crusher took a few sips from a blood packet, so his thirst wouldn't get out of control again.
"Hmm, blood packets?" Xander wondered. "Is this your first night? I've only noticed children vampires drink… blood packets,"
"It just started today," Crusher told him. "The king said I was a... hybrid, and yesterday was my 18th birthday. Could that have something to do with this?"
"Perhaps," Xander spoke. "What other special abilities did you realize you have?"
"Well... I sleep during the day, wake up more energized at night, I can go way faster than I used to, no reflection can be seen of me, and... that's it, I think."
"Nothing… special?" Xander questioned. "Even when you went to see the King?"
"Well, we saw when Crusher was lifted into the air, devil wings appeared on his back," Gabby said. "It was really freaky."
"Wings?" Xander's eyes widened. "Them… you're no ordinary vampire,"
"W-What does that make him then?" Blaze asked.
Xander didn't answer. Instead, he closed his eyes before neon green wings burst out from his back. Then he spoke;
"You are a half of a high-supreme being, and the only high-supreme being… is the Vampire King himself,"
"Wait... t-the only way that Crusher could be half a supreme-being is..." Blaze let out a gasp.
"I'M SON OF THE VAMPIRE KING?!" Crusher blurt out.
"It seems that way, but... why would the king treat Crusher the way he did?" Stripes said.
"Yeah! King not do own son that way!" Zeg said.
"I think I know," Xander sighed and lowered his wings. "Years ago, I'm sure you've heard that everyone rebelled against the Vampire King?"
"Sure. We were told that by the villagers," Blaze nodded. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, years ago, the reason why they rebelled is because the Vampire King kidnapped a maiden," Xander explained. "Though rumors had it that they had fallen in love and had gotten a child that could reunite monster and human kind, the villagers didn't believe it and rebelled, killing the maiden and burning the first palace,"
"Wait... they... they killed my mom...?" Crusher gasped, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "And my dad blames me for all of this...?"
"I don't know if that's why he locked you out," Xander admitted. "Though I was one of the first he celebrated with on his wedding, his reasons nowadays… they longer between bitter memories and anger for the mortals,"
"So... he hates me bottom line...?" Crusher choked.
"Like I said, I am not sure," Xander shrugged. "But also perhaps you looked exactly like Bluebell,"
"Bluebell…?"
"Your mother,"
"Crusher, I am so sorry..." Blaze whispered, putting a tire around the blue truck.
Crusher began to sob with a hiss. Xander sighed.
"Perhaps a flight around the area can calm you down while it sinks in," he suggested.
"Wait... he can fly too?" Pickle asked. "How?"
"A bat, he can turn into a bat," Xander spoke.
"I can? C-Can you show me?" Crusher sniffled.
"Of course," Xander grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. "Would you like the easy way or the slow way?"
Crusher gulped nervously. "Uh... the easy way?"
"You're not gonna hurt him are you?" Starla narrowed her eyes.
"No… unless he tells himself to really fly," Xander chuckled and got up. "Come, follow me,"
"Uh... okay..."
"We'll go with you," Blaze said.
Xander nodded and allowed them to follow as they exited the hut. They soon made it to a cliff.
"So... how do I do this? Without plummeting to my death?"
"Yes, basically," Xander nodded, laughing at their shocked faces. "Don't be so scared. Young vampires are usually thrown off cliffs higher than this to start flying,"
"Well... okay..." Crusher gulped and looked down the cliff, eyes widening in fear.
"Be careful, Crusher," Blaze warned.
"Do you need me to throw you or you can jump?" Xander questioned.
"I can jump. Okay... I can fly, I can fly... here goes..."
With a deep breath, he leapt off the cliff.
"Oh... I can't watch!" Blaze exclaimed, covering his eyes.
Crusher felt himself shift his body, again and again but ended up falling and screaming.
"HEEEEELP!!"
"Oh dear, he's falling," Xander spoke, monotone as he shrugged.
"We have to save him!" Pickle screeched.
"What for, dears? How will he learn if you save him?" Xander questioned.
"I guess that's true... but I don't wanna watch!"
"And relax he's already dead, you can't die twice," Xander laughed.
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, Crusher!!" Pickle wailed, hugging Blaze for comfort.
"He's a vampire, dears, vampires are technically dead," Xander shrugged.
"Should we... go down there...?" Stripes asked.
"Nah, he'll be fine-"
"ACK!"
Crusher yelled as he crashed onto some trees.
"He's okay!" Zeg sighed in relief.
"Help!"
"Fly back up to us, child, we don't have all night," Xander crossed his tires.
"Okay... I'm coming!"
Crusher took a deep breath and attempted to climb and fly up. After a while, he managed to hold his form as a bat.
"Crusher! You did it!" Blaze smiled.
"Thank... goodness... that's over!" Crusher sighed, flopping on the ground.
"What were you afraid of? Dying?" Xander teased.
"Hey, gimmie a break! It's my first time!'
"Well, thank goodness you're okay. I guess you'll have to spend time training," AJ told him.
"Aw man…" Crusher sighed. "Guess I have to…"
"Now what do we do?"
"You mortals can rest, I need to train Crusher," Xander said.
"Well... okay..."
As the group retired for the night, they failed to see a pair of eyes watching Xander and Crusher from afar. A pair of blood red eyes…
X
In the morning…
"I wonder how Crusher did last night," Blaze yawned.
"Tired him out, most likely," Pickle observed as he turned to see Crusher sleeping on the ceiling, upside down.
"Whoa... I wonder if he can teach me to do stunts upside down!" Darington grinned.
"Aaaand this is why I worry over you," Blaze nervously chuckled.
"Where's Xander?" Starla wondered.
"Maybe making breakfast?" Zeg licked his lips. "Zeg hungry!"
"Let's go and find out."
They headed out to find the hut empty. Only a tray of food was set down on the table, with a note that said -I will return- beside it.
"Well, I guess we have breakfast," Pickle sighed.
"Hey, while Crusher is sleeping, you guys wanna explore the woods?" Watts asked.
"Sure,"
"Yeah!"
"I'm game,"
"We better leave Crusher and Xander a note."
Blaze quickly wrote down a note telling where they'd be going then after eating, they headed out to explore the woods. The woods was dark and full of strange noises, even in the morning. The group drove, a little self-conscious as they felt pairs of eyes watch them from faraway.
"Does it feel like... someone is watching us?" Darington gulped.
"Yeah…" Blaze nodded slowly. "Stay close, everyone,"
They huddled up together and continued to drive. As they did, a scream echoed through the air, causing Quizon to jump and cower behind the monster machines.
"What was that?!"
"I don't know... let's check it out, but circle up-- AJ, Gabby and Quizon in the middle!"
AJ, Gabby and Quizon obliged before they all ran towards a field. There, they found a snowy white and icy blue unicorn with crystal blue eyes, injured and bleeding as huge living gargoyles with sharp fangs surrounded her.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Watts shouted.
The gargoyles snarled at them before two of them flew over, landing to tower over the group as it snarled.
"Watts, you get them with your electric shock!" Blaze ordered. "Starla, Stripes tie them up! Pickle, use your magic wand! The rest of you protect AJ, Gabby and Quizon!"
Watts nodded and activated her tires as Starla tossed her rope to Stripes. Pickle twirled his wand around and drove forward as Darington and Zeg stayed behind to keep Gabby, AJ and Quizon safe. The gargoyles roared out before pouncing to attack. Stripes struck one down and Starla tied it up. Watts shocked the other and Pickle tied it up with a rope.
"Keep going, team! That's it!"
While the battle went on, the unicorn filly became increasingly frightened, and she limped off into the bushes when no one was paying attention to hide.
She didn't need to be captured again.
Not by a bunch of strange trucks.
The other gargoyles came after, but the group fought them off as hard as they could. One the gargoyles snarled and grabbed Pickle, flicking his wand from his tires.
"My wand!"
"Hang on, Pickle!"
The gargoyle who had him snarled and threatened a claw at Pickle.
"AHH!! HEELP!!"
"Pickle!" Blaze gasped.
"Let him go, you meanie!" Starla yelled.
The gargoyle laughed in their faces but before it could do anything, a screech from nearby made it jump, letting go of Pickle. They all turned to see Xander above them, wings out and glowing as his eyes were savage green.
"Leave them be, monstrous creature!"
"Xander! You're here!" AJ gasped. "Can you help us get rid of these things?"
Xander nodded and flapped his wings once, twice and thrice, blowing the gargoyles off his property. He then sighed and flew down towards the group.
"Are you all okay? What happened here?"
"We were rescuing a unicorn filly from those gargoyles, but the gargoyles got the upper tire."
"What unicorn filly?"
"Huh? That's weird... she was here a second ago!" Darington said.
Xander looked around, eyes flashing. The bushes parted, and there revealed the unicorn filly.
"Ah... there she is."
"Whoa... how did you do that?" Pickle asked.
"I control these woods, feel every danger on sight," Xander shrugged. "That is why exist, after all,"
"Wow..."
The unicorn, despite the pain she was in, quickly tried to hide again.
She couldn't be captured again.
She WOULDN'T be captured again.
"Hey, hey, easy little unicorn," Pickle drove up to her slowly.
"S-Stay away from me!" the unicorn snorted. "You won't keep me as a slave! I'm not gonna bend on my knees for you!"
"Uh... what??" Pickle looked confused.
"We're not taking you as a slave, dear," Xander clarified.
"Then why did you attack those gargoyles? Didn't you try and kill them to take me?"
"We were helping you out," Blaze smiled. "because they look like they were going to kill you,"
"They... they came closer than that before..."
"Woah, really...?" Quizon came forward. "What's your name?"
"Yza..." the unicorn softly spoke.
"Yza, it looks like you're hurt," Xander said gently. "Will you come out so we can help you?"
"I don't know... will you whip me or beat me? Or keep me locked away with no food?"
"Definitely not," Xander shook his head. "I will take care of you for the while, I promise,"
"Well... okay..."
Yza slowly came out, looking pained. Xander smiled and took the little unicorn filly gently in his tires.
"Aww, she's so cute!" Gabby cooed.
"Now, let's see about this injury." Xander levitated the filly and hummed in thought.
"Does it look bad?" AJ asked.
"No, not so bad," Xander smiled. "Just a few scratches and whip markings, Easy healing,"
"Let's take her back to the hut then," Blaze suggested.
"But how would we get there? It's such a long way away!" Stripes cried.
Xander clapped his tires, and in an instant, they were whisked back to the hut.
"Whoa! That was quick!" Darington beamed.
"So... can you really heal me, sir? Y-You're not fibbing?" Yza asked.
"Of course I can," Xander set her down on the table. "but do tell me; where did you get these markings? Definitely not from the gargoyles. They scratch, not whip,"
"F-F-From... the Vampire King..."
Everyone stiffened at that. Xander's eyes widened.
"So... you are one of the young slaves he had captured..."
"Slaves?"
"What do you mean, Xander?" Blaze asked.
"Years ago, after the rebuilding of the castle, the Vampire King had taken in slaves to help keep the palace smoothly," Xander explained. "At day, they would work. At night... I do not know what he does to them... even if I do hear screams of pain and whipping at late hours,"
"Those foals and fillies are all the family I have," Yza explained. "We all look after each other like siblings, but no one else has ever treated us like that. So... I made an effort to escape and find help before nightfall when the gargoyles attacked me."
"That's awful!" Quizon gasped.
"I wanna go back and face the king and rescue my brothers and sister, but... I-I-I'm too scared..."
"You're not the only one," Stripes told her. "We went to the castle just yesterday to find help for our friend-- he's up on the ceiling, sleeping."
"W-What??" Yza glanced up and shrieked. "VAMPIRE!!"
"No no no no, it's okay," AJ told her. "He's a friendly one, we promise. He would never hurt anyone."
"He's nothing like the vampire king," Watts said.
"Y-You sure?"
"Positive," Pickle nodded. "He may be the Vampire King's half vampire son, but he would never be as evil as his dad is."
"He... He's what?!" Yza whimpered.
"Oops... I did it again..." Pickle smacked himself in the face.
"Yza, it's okay," Quizon assured her. "Crusher won't hurt you."
"Y-You're sure he won't?"
"Positive," Blaze said. "He should be waking up soon. Then you can meet him for yourself."
As if on cue, Crusher yawned and sleepily glanced down at the group.
"Oh... hey, guys. Whoa... is that a unicorn?"
"Yeah, this is Yza," Blaze nodded. "She was attacked by gargoyles, so we saved her,"
"Oh..." Crusher hopped off from the cieling with a grin, his fangs showing. "Nice to meet you, little unicorn,"
"Um... you too... I think..." Yza whimpered.
"What's wrong with her?" Crusher asked, noticing her fear of him. "Is it me and my stupid curse again...?"
"It's not your fault," Starla told him. "She and her friends have been held captive by that wicked king for a long time."
"Wait what??" Crusher's jaw dropped. "He kept children as slaves??"
"You don't know WHAT he's capable of," Yza shuddered.
"Well... what do we do, Xander? We can't let him keep terrorizing this place!"
"I am unsure of what to do," Xander admitted.
"What???"
"Look..." Xander sighed. "The Vampire King is an old friend of mine, but since the rebellion... he has never been himself. I do not know his weaknesses or anything anymore,"
"So... how can we find out?"
"We would need someone to sneak inside," Darington suggested.
"But... who?"
The others glanced at Crusher, who gulped.
"Wait... me?!"
"You're the only one who could shrink down and turn into a bat and fly inside," Stripes pointed out.
"And you're the sneakiest one of the group," Blaze nodded.
"Fine, fine... but I'm gonna need more practice with the whole transformation thing," Crusher pointed out.
"Go ahead. We'll stay here."
"Come, I'll lead you to the palace," Xander offered.
"Wait, what about-"
"We'll practice on the way," Xander sighed. "And as for the sun, I know a spell to keep you from melting in the sun,"
"Okay..."
Crusher nodded as Xander led him off. Pickle waved them off, wish them luck.
"Good luck!"
"I know we said we'd stay here," Watts said, "but I'm still pretty worried..."
"Same here," Blaze agreed with a nod.
"Maybe we can follow them in secret," Darington said.
"Good idea," Stripes gave a nod. "But how?"
"Hmm..." Quizon hopped on the nearby table. "Woah! Look at this!" He grabbed a packet. "Ish say in-bi-si-bal pawer,"
"It's invisible powder!" Stripes lit up, taking the packet.
"If we use this on ourselves, we'll magically become invisible!" Blaze smiled. "Good thinking, Quizon!"
"Can... Can I come?" Yza asked. "It's scary to be alone..."
"Of course," Gabby rubbed her silky soft fur. "You and all your friends deserve justice."
"Yay!" Yza beamed.
"Okay, Stripes, do your thing!"
Stripes raised the powder and it sprinkled all over them. In an instant, they turned invisible, only being able to see a glimpse of each other since they were all invisible.
"Whoa, it worked!" AJ gasped. "Okay, we all need to be careful-- since we're invisible, we could end up bumping into one another."
"Gah!" Starla bumped into Darington. "Yeah... so we've noticed,"
"Okay, everyone, keep tires and hands linked so we don't get seperated. Yza and Quizon, you hop in my cab." Blaze offered.
"Okay!" Yza and Quizon quickly found their way to Blaze.
"Okay, everyone, link on and let's go!"
They linked hands and tires before following after Crusher and Xander.
Meanwhile, Crusher was getting better on keeping his bat form as he flapped his wings.
"Heh-heh, hey! This flying is kinda fun!" Crusher grinned. "I can see why Blaze likes it so much!"
"You mean that red truck?" Xander frowned. "He does not seem special,"
"Well, he has Blazing Speed and the power to transform into a lot of different things," Crusher explained. "Everyone really-- wait... you really think I'm special?"
"You are a hybrid, son of the Vampire King," Xander gave a smile. "You are rare and special, and you always will,"
"Wow... I guess I never realized how special I really am," Crusher smiled at the thought.
"Yes... you are," Xander nodded. "Now to show your father that you truly are special,"
"W-What was my father like before I came along? And what about my mom?"
"Your father was a whiner, trying to become almighty when he sometimes trips on his own cape," Xander laughed at the memories. "Your mother was the one who helped him up on his tires and helped him to be the almighty vampire he was,"
"Wow... s-she sounds amazing..." Crusher sighed. "And did they... love me...?"
"Yes, they both did," Xander sighed. "On the day you were born, they threw a feast that lasted weeks for all the spirits and monsters. Your father wouldn't let anyone near you without being declared safe while your mother made sure that he did put you down to have some rest from holding you,"
"I... I wish I could have met Mom..." Crusher sniffled. "And I wish I knew why my father hated me..."
"Well... this way we can find out. Look, there's the castle."
Crusher glanced up to see the castle nearing their view. They headed to the front, and Xander landed first before knocking on the door.
"Your majesty?"
"GO AWAY!"
Xander sighed and knocked again. "Beejay, it's me, Xander,"
"..." There was silence for a moment. "What do you want?"
"I came to visit, dear friend," Xander spoke. "Come on, open the door,"
"Beejay?" Crusher whispered.
"His name," Xander chuckled. "He is not proud of it because it was ridiculous, but I bring it up whenever I can,"
"Ohh... gotcha."
"Get ready-- here he comes!"
As if on cue, the door swung open, and they yelped as they were pulled inside. Crusher landed with a hiss inside the palace, and he glanced up to see the Vampire King holding Xander by the chokehold.
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT USING THAT NAME?!"
"Good... Good to see you too, Beejay..." Xander choked.
"Uh..."
The Vampire King glanced down to see Crusher on the ground. He dropped Xander in an instant.
"Xander, why is HE here...?"
"I... uh..." Crusher began to feel himself get tensed up and nervous.
"Beejay, he is your child-"
"My child is DEAD!" the Vampire King snarled.
Xander sighed. "Stop being in-denial, please-"
"NO! SHUT UP!"
"W-Why would you think I'm dead...?" Crusher asked.
The Vampire King, or Beejay, huffed and disappeared, turning into a bat and flying off. Xander sighed.
"Forget it, Xander, it's hopeless..." Crusher sighed, trying his hardest to keep the tears from flowing down his cheeks. "My dad hates me cause he thinks I'm dead, my mom IS dead... I have no one else..."
"Don't." Xander's eyes gleamed red. "I am NOT giving up, and neither should you,"
"But... w-what can we do?"
"I'll talk to him. Talk until I'll be able to knock sense into him," Xander hissed. "Just... three days. Give it three days, Crusher,"
"Well... okay..."