Both hedgehogs hurried back to the house, breezing by Amy and nearly knocking her off her feet. Silver quickly caught her and set her down gently.

"Thanks." Amy brushed the dust the brothers stirred up off her dress. And then she looked up, suddenly remembering why they went out. "Wait. Did you find a cure? Please tell me you did!"

Silver and Shadow exchanged a glance and then looked away just as quickly. Amy's face changed to one of concern, and then worry. "You did find something…right?"

"Yes." This simple word barely traveled.

Amy looked at them expectantly. "So…"

It was clear that Silver wasn't going to tell her. Shadow sighed, and explained what they found.

"Healing blood? But I don't know of any blood that heals except for yours…wait…" Comprehension dawned, and then rejection. "Absolutely not! I am not going to let you two risk your lives! Why can't it be something else, anything else…"

Silver put his hands on her shoulders. "Amy. Listen. There is no other way. The last spare flask of Black Arms blood was given to the other vampires, and we can't let him die."

"Mobius knows what will happen, though! After everything you three have been through, why can't something simple and easy finally happen! I can't…"

She finally broke down, sobbing. The two brothers exchanged another glance, and then Shadow sighed before forcing a smile.

"You really think I can't take him, Amy? I've kicked his butt many times in the past. Who says I can't now?"

Amy looked up, green eyes overflowing. "I know, it's just–"

"And I've got psychokinesis!" Silver interjected in his normal cheery way. "We got this! Sure, there may be a little risk involved, but we can come out on top! Instead of being worried about us, be worried that Sonic might have his ego bruised!"

Against her will, Amy laughed, and then dried the tears from her face. "Alright. As long as you guys promise to not get hurt."

"We won't get hurt!" Silver said cheerfully, and then turned his face so she didn't see him. "Much."

A few minutes later, the oldest brother and the youngest brother were standing over the middle brother's bed, staring at him. The blood flow hadn't stopped, but it was now black.

"We're running out of time," Shadow hissed. He brandished a needle from Amy's sewing table. "Did you get the cups?"

Silver nodded, holding out two small styrofoam cups. A doubtful expression crossed his face. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

"What other choice have we got?" Shadow peered at the needle, relieved that the end was very pointy. That would make the process faster. "Do you want to go first?"

"Er…"

"Oh fine." Without wasting a breath, the gray hedgehog pricked his finger and held it over the cup, letting his blood drip into it. Silver winced, but no expression crossed over Shadow's face.

It was a slow process. They at least needed to make the small cup fill halfway, and it took a few minutes for Shadow's quarter to be fulfilled. When it was done, he pulled his hand back and clenched it behind his back, hoping to stop the flow. However, he had pricked himself a little too deep, and it was taking a while to slow.

It was Silver's turn. He winced when the needle touched his flesh, and then his face relaxed and took on a look of determination. His process was only a little slower than his brother's, but not by much.

Finally, the cup was where it needed to be. Silver copied Shadow and clenched his hand behind his back. They looked at each other, and without a word, they both gripped the cup and tilted it into Sonic's mouth.

At first, there was no noise from Sonic's throat. And then, little by little, they heard him swallowing. The speed increased until he was gulping every two seconds as though eager for the blood.

When the cup was finished, they both pulled it back and set it on the side table. Then, they went back to staring at him.

At first, there was no change to the flow of blood coming from the blue hedgehog's body. However, as a few silent seconds passed, the flow decreased, and then stopped entirely.

Shadow and Silver held their breath in anticipation.

Without warning, Sonic's eyes snapped open and he leaped out of bed. "Boy, does that feel awesome!"

And then he realized he had company. Shadow and Silver were staring at him in alarm, and both had a defensive position.

"Oh, sorry guys! Wait, why are you just standing around?"

And then it hit.

Sonic sank back down onto the bed and covered his face with his hands in shame. "I am so sorry. Nothing I can say will ever make you forgive me, but–"

"Stop." All three hedgehogs turned around to spot Amy heading into the bedroom. At first, she was cautious, and then she sat on the bed next to her husband and put her head on his shoulder. "It was not your fault. We know that you weren't in control, and that somebody else was. We forgive you."

Sonic leaned against her and slowly started to smile before looking up at his brothers. "Thanks for saving my behind…again."

"Mobius knows you attract trouble," Shadow smirked, and then winced as one of his quills dragged against his injured finger. That expression was there and gone in less than a second, but Sonic noticed it and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Silver cast a look at Shadow, eyes wide, and Sonic noticed that too.

"What did you do?"

"Uh…not sure what you mean! All we did was save your life!" Silver said, but it was obvious that he was hiding something. You always knew when he was because his voice went up an octave.

Sonic stood up, nearly making Amy fall. "Show me your hands. Both of you."

Amy's eyes widened, and she met Shadow's eyes. "Nothing happened! Really! I don't know what you're inferring!" she squeaked.

"Yeah, besides nearly killing all three of you! And I find it awfully suspicious that there is absolutely nothing here that demonstrates how exactly you saved my life, besides an empty cup that definitely wasn't there before! I repeat, show me your hands or I'll force you to."

Well then. No getting out of this one. Resigned, the white and gray hedgehogs showed their hands to the blue hedgehog.

At first, there was silence. And then the world seemed to explode. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"Sonic," Silver whispered. "We had no choice…"

"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT! THERE HAD TO BE ANOTHER WAY!"

"CALM DOWN!" Shadow roared. Sonic didn't back down.

"ARE YOU NUTS?! I COULD'VE KILLED YOU! OR DID THAT NEVER CROSS YOUR IDIOTIC MINDS?!"

Amy and Silver had both shrunk back from the force of Sonic's attack, so it was just him and Shadow having a staredown. Finally, Sonic blew out a sigh and sat back down.

"There really wasn't another way?"

"No."

"Well, I do appreciate you guys saving my life, but you should've left me for dead at this point."

"Don't say that!" Amy protested, wrapping her arms around Sonic.

"No, Amy. You don't understand."

"So explain," Silver murmured. Sonic jumped, as though he forgot he was there, and then seeing the look on his younger brother's face, sighed.

"Sorry for scaring you," he whispered. "But you should really have tried something else…anything else…before giving your blood to me. Do you know why I'm saying this?"

Amy, Silver, and Shadow shared a glance before turning their focus back to Sonic.

"Let's just say you can never bleed in front of me again."

"That's the vaguest thing you've said in your entire lifespan," Shadow snapped. "Elaborate."

Sonic turned pleading eyes to his brothers. "I am so sorry for attacking you guys, both physically and verbally. But…"

His eyes widened. "That was the best blood I've ever taken in my entire vampire existence."

The three stared at him in shock.

"It must be the Black Arms blood. It made me feel so…alive. I felt stronger than I've ever been. Maybe it's because you said it's a healing type of blood, I don't know.

"When I woke up, the first thing I wanted to do was attack you guys. I didn't know yet why, but it was probably because you both had open wounds. I…I don't know what to do. I shouldn't be around you guys anymore."

He hung his head. It was a few seconds before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Shadow.

"But you didn't attack us. You restrained yourself with barely any effort at all. And who knows? Maybe it was a lingering side effect from being controlled. Considering the fact that we're not dead right now shows admirable self control. That's how you know you'll never attack us in the future."

Sonic smiled slightly. "Nice pep talk, Shads."

"It was either that or tying you to the bed, so you're lucky this worked out."

Sonic laughed and pulled everyone in for a group hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Shadow started trying to wiggle out, so they dispersed, all laughing.

Silver then got serious again. "Now it's time to figure out who was trying to kill us through you."

Amy crossed her arms. "Who knows us and our weaknesses so well that they would know exactly how to kill us?"

It was silent for a few minutes as each hedgehog pondered the question, but they each came up with nothing.

"Hang on," Silver said. "You changed after you came back from your usual venture to the sap tree. Maybe that tree will hold the answers."

"It's a good plan," Shadow said. "To find answers, you go to the source."

"Alright!" Sonic said. "Race you guys there!"

The three brothers took off, leaving Amy behind.

"Stay safe," she whispered. "And good luck."

To be continued…

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