The heavy clouds were covering the sky, hiding it from people's eyes for about month or even longer as far... Awaiting the time to start their sorrowful cry, but it was still too soon... Meantime, under them, a lonely figure was running, leaving a blur behind. He was passing the meadows in a speed that you could only dream about... Having only one thought in his mind… Get to his destination as fast as possible before being caught in the rain. Then he saw it and gave a sigh of relieve. He spotted the black shape of a building on the grey landscape.

The castle.

It was a huge lonely construction with towers, made of black stone, which was giving it a horrible, dark look, almost like from a horror movie. It was separated from the land by the lake, moat more precisely. Only the drawbridge was connecting it with mainland. And because of this 'advantage' he and his friends had to choose it as their headquarters. It was the best what the princes of Soleanna could offer them in that time. On the other hand it was just comical that the same thing that was stopping them from burning, destroying the monsters was also giving them shelter by keeping the undeads away. If only it hadn't been water...
He was living in the castle for a month by now, but he couldn't name it as 'home sweet home'... No... Even as he was approaching it he could feel goose bumps forming under his fur; he had the impression that one day something bad happens there... But now the package has to be delivered. There was no place for being scared; it was the case of live and death, after all...
He stopped on the other side of the lake, hoping that nothing would attack him from behind. His friend's duty was to open the gates for him, and then he would run inside and together lift it back. Everything had to be on time; otherwise he would be left outside to the next designated hour. And the night was falling fast... together with the undeads hunting time...
Then the old wood landed with a thud in front of him, and without a second thought he made a sprint and got inside. There he had to adjust his eyes to the bright light. In it, it was clear that he was a blue hedgehog, known as Sonic, named that way because of his speed.
Not long and he found his friend struggling with the lever and with his two tails madly wagging behind in the futile attempts of moving the mechanism again. Because of those tails, the fox was called as Tails. He was ten years old, but for his age he was quite mature and what's the most important, he was a great mechanic and scientist that could be easy matched with the world's bests, even with Eggman, if counting as an evil man instead of mad.

The hedgehog smiled seeing his 'little bro' and stood beside him, taking a hold on the old, rusted object. Together they moved it and the heavy iron gates finally got closed. After that the two of them fell on their bottoms, exhausted.
The fox smiled back weakly to the hedgehog and said "I should upgrade this one day... It's starting to annoy me." But there was no time for it. Both of them knew that.
Sonic looked at Tails with worry. The young one wasn't leaving his laboratory almost at all, being involved in the search for a way to stop the disease. Without sleep and probably skipping meal times the fox could faint at any moment. Even Sonic's pleads for him to get some rest weren't stopping the stubborn one. And now the Fastest Thing Alive was going to add something that would keep Tails even more in those researches.
"I got them... as you wanted... But please, Tails, go take a nap before working" he said with concern. Even if the world was depending on his little brother's success, Sonic's duty was to take care for the fox and his health. This meant that he will even tie Tails to the bed to make him go to sleep and give his body the much awaited rest, if there were any resists.

"Okay. I'll take them only to my office and go to bed." "You promise?" Sonic took out a package from his quills and passed it to the other's hands. "Of course... And when did you stopped trust me, Sonic?" he asked tiredly, while opening the box. In it he saw the two Chaos Emeralds; he would use them later to power up his inventions. After that Tails nodded saying 'goodnight' and left the blue one alone in the hallway.
Not having anything important to do, Sonic decided to fill his empty, hungry tummy, so he went to the kitchen. There after hours of searching, he somehow found the hidden chilidogs supplies. By now he could eat hundreds of them, but he had to restrict himself. With every day it was harder to get food, so he can't have as much as he would like to. Well… even one chilidog was worth his attention… He didn't have them for quite a long time.

Zombies on the loose, so every living being had to go underground, find a place that could give them security. Only few had a chance to move on the dangerous grounds, but always with some fear… And Sonic was one of them.
The hedgehog was too fast for the moving corpses, but it didn't mean that he was safe. While delivering the significant packages for Tails he couldn't stand still and have a break. Otherwise he would end like all the victims…
For the Hero of this world it was a checkmate situation. He was able only to dodge and run. Trying to attack the undeads was like throwing his life away. And it was a miracle that he was still alive, after all he wasn't a patient person… If not his other friend, the red Echidna Knuckles, Sonic would be a zombie, the same day they faced for the first time with the monsters.
Not being able to attack, Sonic felt quite useless. People entrusted him with hope that he'll save them and the world, but the small delivering missions was all that he could do for now. There was the proposition that he should go super and try to defeat the March of The Living Dead… If not the little problem, that was with the seven Chaos Emeralds. Something had happen with them and they weren't manifesting the energy for the transformation. Even now you needed more than one emerald to make them useful, their power was just low. No one knew what was going one with them, even the Guardian and the spirits of the Master Emerald…

The hedgehog put his favorite food to the microwaves; the castle was quite good equipped in electrical devices despite being outdated. Now he had to wait for it to get warm, but it wasn't an easy task. Sonic's eyes were closing themselves. It was already past midnight... "I hope Tails is already asleep. I want just go and hit the bed after eating" he thought not being in the mood of visiting the lower floors. But if he had decided to go in that time, he wouldn't make the biggest mistake in his life…

On the other side of the lake a silent army of undead gathered… Then a black fog flew over it and the calm water, stopping in front of the castle's gate. Then it formed to a hedgehog like shape with green eyes of a snake. "Pathetic creatures…" it darkly chuckled. "They think that it could stop me?! They so wrong…" it merged again with the darkness and using the gaps in the old wood, it got inside. There with a shadow claw he cut through the metal lever and the bascule bridge fell down. The zombies started to walk on the bridge, getting closer to the castle's walls. The shadowy figure looked at his work and on the castle. He was satisfied. "I like this place." Not only he'll get his revenge, but also receive the castle, that was matching his tastes and if everything will go as planned maybe something more, he will get…

The clear water was running in the kitchen, because the dishes were being cleaned after the meal by their user. It was a boring task, but needed… "Why didn't I wash them up earlier?" Sonic grumbled with disgust. Some of the silverwares were from a week, so the remnants of various substances were hard to get off.

Then a harsh dark voice disturbed the room's peace. "Enjoyed your last meal?" it asked, making Sonic drop the glass and break it into small pieces. The hedgehog quickly turned around and stood in a battle stance with his quills raised, but didn't see anything. "Was that my imagination? I must be really tired…" he shook his head. Only he and Tails were living in this castle at the moment, the rest of his friend were helping somewhere else. Suddenly two hands formed behind him and almost got a hold over his body, if not the blue ones reflex. He dodged them and moved away to a safe distance. "Who and what are you!" "I'm someone who seeks for revenge, someone that you've known before the time has been reversed" it said vanishing, which made Sonic blink his eyes several times in disbelieve. "Hey! Where did you go?! Show yourself!" he shouted back taking a step forward, but then the lights went out, leaving him only with the dim light of the moon.

"Mephiles the Dark" Sonic's ears twitched in distress when the other's voice like ice reached his hearing, but he couldn't find the source where was it coming from. Then he was yanked back by his arm and forced into a fog. Something took a hold of him and pulled his chin up forcing to look into the cold, demonic like eyes. Sonic was in the grip of a hedgehog that looked like his rival Shadow, if not the different colors and lack of mouth. The hero felt like being frozen in the spot. For some reason his legs weren't listening to him, he also wasn't able to struggle and that was even more putting him in a stance of panic. "What? What do you want?" Sonic managed to say, thinking why he was so afraid, why he wasn't fighting back… 'What a hero I am? Fearing Zombies and now Shadow's copy?'

His attention got back to the one who was holding him. "I have an interest in you and your little friend, which was so close with inventing the cure…" Mephiles said, while playing with Sonic's quills. The blue one could only shiver from the touch, not liking the strange beings attention towards him. 'But wait? Did he just mention Tails?'
A cry went through the stone corridors, a cry for help... "Sonic!" it was his brother's yell. That was what the blue hedgehog needed to compel his legs to work again. He kicked his captor, throwing him to the wall, and run downstairs to the dungeons, where screams for help were coming from.
"Sonic the Hedgehog..." Mephiles lifted himself from the floor and became one with the darkness "Our little game of Life and Death just started..."

In no time Sonic got to Tails laboratory, there he found his friend fighting with the undeads. The fox was surrounded from all sides; luckily he was in his famous plane Tornado, in the mecha mode. But the fight was in his laboratory, he couldn't use his ammunition. All his work was in here, he couldn't risk destroying it... Still, the brothers were going to have difficulties... The machine was using the backup energy, so in any moment it may stop working and of course it had to happen while their fight. The machine stopped and fell down. The hungry ghouls threw on the pilot's cockpit, with the attempt of getting to the fresh flesh. And the glass broke...

Meantime while being quiet, the two alive made their escape. Their situation didn't belong to the brightest ones. The castle was taken over; they didn't have any better choice than to run outside, retreat before the deads would sense them, and to do that they can't make any loud noises.
When they were far away in the forest, they could at last take a breath of relieve. "Nice one little bro, but you got me worried back there" "Sorry for that, but with those mutated zombies, it was the only way" Tails said. He had to eject from his plane in the air, using the empty Tornado as a distraction to flee with Sonic out of there. Zombies weren't smart, they are using reminds of instinct. Loud sounds, scent were the impulses to attract them.

The two heroes noticed that this time the zombies were organized. The attack was planed, the dead creatures somehow knew were to go and it seemed that they were after Tails. Also the zombies were much more different from those previously ones. This time they were faster and more deadly in their attacks, the sharp teeth could break through the gun proved glass... Tails had only one theory for that, those zombies were specially created, mutated and someone was pulling the strings.
The fox sat under the hollow tree; he looked at his older brother and remembered something. "Sonic?" "Yes Tails?" the hedgehog turned his attention from the view of the castle on the fox. "It was bothering me for a while... I was shouting for your help for quite a time and you weren't responding. Why it took you so long?" "Really? That's strange... But there was this creepy guy, so maybe he had done something... Which reminds me; he said that you were close with finding the cure. You got it, right?" "Yes. Although it's not ready, but who knows..."
Tails took out a flask and looked at the substance in it. Might it be the first one that could actually work? Well, this was the only one that he managed to catch before the attack. He can work on it in G.U.N's laboratory, but still the Chaos Emerald's were left behind... And the mysterious person was also bothering his mind...
Then the lighting crashed a nearby tree, flashing the night's dark cloudy sky. In it Tails saw them, gathered all around them, and one with his mouth with the blooded, decayed fangs near Sonic's left arm, not aware about the danger. No wonder even the Mother Nature or the gods seemed to be against them, by hiding the presence of the zombies for so long, while making the thunder sounds.
One fast move and it happened. The zombie bite and its fangs cut the soft skin... Sonic was lying on the ground with shock plastered on his face. Instead of him the one who was bitten was Tails, who saved him by offering himself. The corpse, like a hungry shark snatched the piece of meat form the young ones body, chewing it, blood trickling from its mouth. The fox backed away weakly and fell; he was pale by now from sickness that started to work on his body. The medicine that he created shattered on the ground...
Sonic crawled, while trembling and took Tails in his arms. His tears started to fall on the fox's forelock, together with the cold rain from the clouds, which were suffering along with him… "Tails... Tails! It should be me not you. Why did you do that..." he said while sobbing, not believing in what was happening. 'How could he be so distracted?' The fox's breathes were getting harder, but he wasn't going to let them stop him from reassuring his friend. "Sonic... It's not your fault... Nobody was prepared... for... them... Even you..."

Again, Sonic heard the now hated by him voice. "Well, what do we have here? A new zombie to my collection, how nice..." Mephiles laughed, while forming into his hedgehog form, with the wall of zombies behind him. They were waiting for his sign. Hungry as never, smelling the blood in air... "But what is it? It takes him longer to become one of them?" That made Sonic to look with his reddened eyes on reminds of the glass; it seemed that some of the substance made contact with Tails's skin; it was partially working… so there was the chance of saving him... but if he soon doesn't make a move, the small ray of hope will perish.
Unfortunately, the attacker predicted his move. Before Sonic could do something he was pinned to the ground by Mephiles's dark energy. "I know you too well… I won't let you run away. I need you, hedgehog, in my plans… and about your little friend…" Above the fox appeared a dark sphere of energy… Sonic's eyes went wide… and then…

A scream pierced through the silent night… Its owner by now was taking deep breathes, to calm his body and mind…
"Again…" the lonely figure in the darkened throne room said. "It was a dream, again…" he wiped the sweat from his forehead. When he raised his head, you could see his green emerald eyes with tears in the corners that were shining in the dark room lightened by the single candle… Then they caught the presence of the demon from their nightmare. "Mephiles…" he hissed the name with venom in his voice. The other one made only a ghastly sound of amusement, before forming his body. "Sonic, the Vampire King… Do you have what I requested from you to gain?" he asked with a slight demand. "Yes…" the vampire directed with his hand on the glass table that was by him. And on it there was the black suitcase that belonged to Eggman. The Darkness made its way to it and opened. There he found the flasks of the 'cure for the zombie's disease'. There were two of them…
He took them out and faced with anger the hedgehog on the throne. "There are only two! Where's the third one?!" "That's all that I got from Egghead..." the blue one said not bothering his head, nor looking at the furious demon. Then Sonic felt a hand pressing on his throat to the back of his seat. But he wasn't in shape for fighting back, neither there was the need to fear, after all Mephiles still needed him… "Pathetic creature… You do not fear me?! So, you won't mind if I do that…" One of the glasses was broken in his hand. The substance fell on the floor and melted into the marble floor. "No!" Sonic screamed. He needed it… and if the last one would be destroyed then… "Only one left… if you want it, do as I say. Go and find the third one whenever it is and destroy, and then I'll give you this one."

And the last flask was in Shadow's possession…