Chapter 17: Fight for Control

Dracula opened his eyes and laughed evilly.

"Finally," he said. "I have claimed Shadow's body! He will never harm me now."

Within his mind, another consciousness formed: Shadow. He groaned and looked around, wondering where he was. Then he remembered: Dracula had taken over his body! Shadow immediately realized what had happened and where he was, he had become nothing more than another consciousness within Sonic's mind. He sighed. Now that he was a split personality, he could switch control with the evil vampire, which was good. Shadow smirked to himself, then decided to try and take control.

Meanwhile, Dracula was on his way back to the castle. He stopped and groaned in pain, holding his head, as Shadow took control.

"Alright! I'm back in control!" Shadow whispered to himself, then he stiffened as the emotionless voice of Tails spoke from behind him.

"Master Dracula? Are you okay?"

Shadow looked at them and smirked, then nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." Shadow thought for a second, then looked into Tails' eyes as his eyes became swirls. "Tails, I give you back your free will." He repeated this action with Blaze and Silver as well.

The three vampires groaned and looked around in confusion.

"What happened to us?" Blaze asked. "Where is Sonic?"

Shadow was about to answer when a bolt of pain shot through his head. He groaned in pain, holding his head. The vampire could feel Dracula fighting to regain control, and eventually won.

Tails and the others looked at him in shock. "Shadow?" An evil smirk formed on Dracula's face as he laughed quietly.

"Shadow is gone," Dracula said. "I have taken over his body, and as a result, he has become a split personality. Now instead of hypnotizing all of you again..." He bit them on the neck. The groaned in pain and fell to the ground, unconscious. "This bite shall bind you all to me, and you will follow my orders without question."

Tails struggled to fight off the effects of the bite, but they overwhelmed him. He is last words before he passed into complete unconsciousness were: "S...Sonic...Wh...Why...?"

Dracula looked at them and laughed then picked them up and ran back to the castle. He looked at Blaze and smirked. Soon, she would be his bride. But that would have to wait until the following night, the sun was rising.

The vampires returned to the castle and slept in their coffins to wait until night.

The moon full moon rose, shedding its cold light upon everything even as the vampires arose. They rose from their coffins and looked around. Dracula grinned he saw Blaze. The purple cat, and the others, were standing motionless, their eyes completely devoid of emotion. Dracula grinned; now, he could make Blaze his bride. The evil vampire sneered and walked towards her, ready to bite the cat again. Dracula bared his fangs, and sank them into Blaze's neck.

Blaze groaned and fell unconscious once again. She groaned in pain and began to transform into a vampire bride. When the transformation finished, Dracula looked upon her beauty. She looked stunning. suddenly, a massive headache pounded in his head and he fell to the floor.

GET OUT OF MY BODY! Shadow screamed in rage within his and Dracula's shared mind.

Dracula fought his other split personality but then Shadow took control.

You've had your fun...but your stay is officially over! Shadow snarled.

Dracula yelled in pain as Shadow once again took control of his own body. He panted and stood up, groaning in pain. The first thing his eyes beheld was the sight of Blaze, lying on the ground. Shadow growled and picked Blaze up, looking at her. He knew what had happened: Blaze had become Dracula's bride. He looked around at the others. They were not hypnotized, but were following Dracula's orders.

He cleared his throat, then hesitantly spoke. "I want you all to answer to your own will, not my...Sonic's orders." None of them reacted, and Shadow quickly realized what was wrong, they would only respond to the name: Dracula.

He sighed, then repeated what he'd said, but said Dracula instead of Sonic. They nodded and Shadow sighed in relief. He knew that Dracula would regain control eventually, though. He sighed, about to tell them what would eventually happen, but Silver's gasp of shock interrupted him. He turned, annoyed to see him staring at Blaze.

"Blaze? What happened to you?" Silver asked.

The cat was about to speak when Shadow cleared his throat.

"Blaze, I'm sorry, but that will have to wait. I...have some bad news." The others instantly snapped to attention and stared at him and Shadow, for once, wished he could disappear, to get away from those stares in any way possible.

"What is it Shadow?" Tails whispered.

Shadow took a deep breath and stopped the shivering he hadn't realized he'd been doing. "Its...about Sonic..." Shadow went on to explain in detail what had happened while they'd been under Dracula's control, and when he got to the part about his possession, he hesitated, but forged ahead, know that there was no turning back now.

When he finally finished, one could hear a feather drop.

"So...you're Dracula's split personality now?" Blaze asked.

Shadow nodded. "Yes." He said sadly. He hesitated again. "And Blaze...about what happened to you...I was too late to stop him...Sonic made you his bride."

Blaze gasped.

Shadow looked completely miserable. "I'm sorry..."

Blaze sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know..." Shadow sighed in near defeat.

Tails thought about it. If Shadow was now Sonic's split personality, maybe he could fight off Sonic's control.

"Shads, maybe you can fight off Sonic's control." Tails looked at him hopefully. Shadow sighed. "I'll be able to for now, but I can already feel him clawing at me, fighting to take back control."

The vampire groaned in pain and clutched his head, his eyes turning from red to no pupils and back again as he tried to fight off Dracula. He managed to stave him off for the moment, and straitened back up. "See? I'm already beginning to lose to him."

The other vampires sighed and nodded. If shadow was fighting Dracula's control, then they knew that they would lose also. They had to do something before Dracula took control of Shadow forever.