(Note: I wasn't waiting until next Halloween to make this sequel story, especially since this is more of a sadfic with no scary elements. I also got the idea to write this from doing more Starved Eggman research).
~A Brother's Sorrow and Hope~
Sonic raced through the forest as fast as he could as he tried to make it back to Alador's castle before nightfall. It had been a year since he became a vampire and eliminated Robotnik, and while he had adjusted to his new life just fine, there was one thing he wasn't fully prepared for.
Tonight was the night of the Blood Moon, a phenomenon that occurred once every one hundred years. For one night, the moon would turn completely red like blood. And while this was an interesting spectacle for normal people, especially astronomers, it was a nightmare for vampires.
The Blood Moon would cause them to undergo a transformation into a more frightening looking creature and then they would experience something known as "The Blood Frenzy". When that happened, vampires would develop an insatiable craving for blood and no living creatures would be safe from them.
Sonic hadn't drunk the blood of a Mobian once since becoming, he had only just started drinking from the creatures of the forest because he couldn't rely on Alador's blood bag supplies since they were for emergencies and depleting them would be disasterous.
The only Mobian he drank from was his new friend Knuckles the Echidna, but that was only because Knuckles had asked him to turn him. You see, Knuckles had thought about it and realized that as the last of his kind, there would be no one to guard the Master Emerald after his passing.
So, he wanted Sonic to turn him so he could forever protect it. The only one in their group still a mortal was Tails, he wanted to live his life and grow up first, and maybe after growing up he would consider it.
Outside of that, Sonic never drank from a Mobian and he wasn't going to start now, so he ran like the wind to get back to the castle. Once he was there, he planned to lock himself in the basement with a cooler of blood bags until morning.
Alador was a natural born vampire, so he was perfectly capable of controlling himself during the Blood Moon. And Knuckles lived all alone on Angel Island, and if anything, could feed on the local fauna if the cravings hit him. He didn't particularly like it, but it was better than essentially starving himself.
I've gotta hurry cause tonight's the night, Sonic thought as he kept running.
Just then, Sonic stopped dead in his tracks as a few scents caught his nose. One was the smoke of a campfire and the other, to his dismay, was a Mobian. Lurking in the shadows of the trees, Sonic followed the scents until he came upon a small camp.
Sitting by a campfire was a young male armadillo with black fur that covered his body and a red thick armor, which rounded from his forehead above to his lower back; his pointy tail was black, like his body, and his ears were side facing and funnel-shaped.
He had a medium-long and sharp black nose, his skin color, along with his ears, muzzle, arms and belly was yellowish-tan. He also had black eyes, and wore white gloves with sock-like cuffs and shoes that were almost identical to Sonic's shoes, being red sneakers with white straps and white cuffs.
The armadillo sat by the campfire with a blanket draped over his body to keep him warm, Sonic looked closely and saw that he was staring down at a missing poster. There was a picture of a young flying squirrel with yellow fur on it, along with the words "Missing: Ray the Flying Squirrel. Have you seen him?"
The words puzzled Sonic as he felt like he had seen that squirrel somewhere before but couldn't remember. "What's this kid doing out here in the forest all alone? It's well past the witching hour, the poor fella must have lost his way", he whispered.
Just then, Sonic tensed up as a pulse of energy surged through his body. He managed to catch a glimpse of the moon before shutting his eyes due to the pain he was now experiencing, it had turned a bright shade of red.
Oh no...it's starting, he thought frantically.
Sonic started panicking as his mind was beginning to get lost in a haze of blood lust, there was a innocent Mobian just below him and he didn't want to attack him and drain him of his blood, but it was too late as the transformation had already started.
Sonic's fingernails elongated into claws that burst out from the fingertips of his gloves, his fangs grew longer and sharper, and his eyes had turned completely red.
"I smell blood...I must have blood...", he muttered in a dark and demonic voice.
Sonic looked down at the armadillo, but his vision had changed. He didn't see a Mobian, all he saw was his veins and arteries within his body, along with his heart that pumped his vital life fluid. Sonic licked his lips as a devilish smirk appeared on his face.
"Mmm...delicious!", he whispered.
Down on the ground, the armadillo looked at the missing poster with an expression of sadness and longing. "Ray...I miss you so much, little buddy. It's been a whole year now, where are you?", he whispered.
Just then, he heard a twig snapping nearby. He stood up quickly and looked around, taking a fighting stance. "Who's there? Are you thinking about mugging me? Come out and I promise I'll go easy on you!", he said.
There was nothing, the forest was completely silent save for the occasional distant owl hoots or wolf howls. The armadillo breathed out a sigh, "I'm just being paranoid, I really need to learn to relax", he said. With a shake of his head, he went to go sit down by the campfire again.
He hadn't expected a thing until it was too late, his body was suddenly dragged into some nearby bushes and slammed against a tree; before he could shout, Sonic had buried his fangs into his throat, injecting his venom into the panicking body in front of him. The venom worked fast with the racing heart helping pump it through his body faster, the grabbing and kicking slowed little by little until the armadillo was barely able to stand without help.
Sonic hadn't tasted the sweet nectar just yet, he enjoyed feeling the fight leave his prey before he indulged, and so he slowly let him and the trembling body in front of him sink to the ground getting to a more comfortable position before he ate.
His fangs never left the armadillo's throat as he sat himself down and pulled him onto his lap, using the tree to keep his prey propped up. He then removed his fangs and took his first gulp, blood pooled in his mouth and the taste set his fur on edge. It was incredible, sweet and thick but there was something else...something Sonic had never tasted before.
He drank more and could still taste the strange addition to the blood, it almost felt like his tongue was tingling as he continued to savour every drop he could get.
The armadillo was trembling and whimpering uncontrollably, his breath erratic and tears fell freely from his eyes. "H-Help me! Please...someone, anyone...please help me!", he shouted but his voice was so weak that even if there was anyone in the forest, they never would've heard him.
Sonic let his hands wander over soft fur as he drank, tracing obsidian fur not stained with blood, down smooth hips and over trembling thighs before moving up to hold the pale muzzle in his hands. Just then, a fist connected with Sonic's face and sent him flying across the forest, crashing into a tree.
Before Sonic could get up and attack whoever attacked him, he was grabbed by the throat and slammed into the ground. With a groan, Sonic looked up to see the monstrous transformed face of Alador; the natural born vampire snarled at him, exposing his sharp fangs.
"Stop it! Calm down, now! Be still and be silent!", he roared right in Sonic's face.
They may have been friends, but their little friend group was something similar to a wolf pack and Alador was the alpha, the highest on the totem pole since he was the only natural born vampire in the group. In terms of status, Sonic and Knuckles were beta vampires and Tails was still mortal and treated like the baby of the group.
So, when Alador commanded Sonic to calm down and be silent, he immediately shut his mouth and stopped struggling despite being gripped by the Blood Frenzy. He laid still on the ground while Alador let him go and went to check on the armadillo.
The poor guy laid on the ground, pale, whimpering, crying, and trembling. Fear and tiredness in his eyes as he breathed heavily, choking on the air he was desperately trying to take in. Alador sighed as he thought about how to handle the situation, he and his little vampire group kept their true identities a secret from the public.
He couldn't let this armadillo go now that he saw what they truly were, but it wasn't like he was going to kill him to keep him quiet. And right now, he had had nearly all his blood drained and was close to going into shock. Alador had no choice but to take him back to the castle to treat his blood lost and hopefully keep him from spilling the beans.
Alador bent down to the armadillo's level, "Shh, it's ok…", he said soothingly as he tried to wipe the tears from his cheeks, "Shh. You're okay...it's all over...I promise…"
He looked into the armadillo's black eyes, he had stopped crying but the fear remained in them. Alador's hands moved to stroke over his chest and rub the blood stain that had trailed from his neck to his chest, "I'm sorry for what my friend did, he didn't mean to. I hope his venom took away the pain...that's it's job…", he said.
He smoothed out fur that stood on end over the armadillo's shoulders and sides, avoiding his neck because that area would be too sensitive to touch for now, "Can you talk? Or think clearly?", he asked as his hands rested on his hips gently.
Alador didn't want to scare the armadillo more than he already had been; a shiver ran through the his body, the loss of blood made him cold and delirious. With a sigh, Alador lifted him up into his arms carefully; then, he turned to face Sonic.
"Get up and let's go! Gather all his stuff and put out that fire, then follow me back to the castle! I need to hurry up and treat him before he dies of shock!", he said in an authoritative voice.
Sonic whimpered before carrying on what he had been commanded to do, putting out the campfire and gathering the armadillo's belongings before following Alador back to the castle.
[Time Skip]
Once they got back to the castle, Alador laid the barely conscious armadillo down on a bed in one of the many guests rooms before going to get some things.
"Sonic, you drank from him. What's his blood type? I'll need to give him a transfusion to replace the blood he lost", said Alador.
"Uh...he tasted like his type was AB...Al, I'm so sorry", Sonic said with a guilty look on his face.
Alador looked at Sonic sympathetically, he was beginning to feel bad for shouting at him and scaring him earlier. It was his Blood Moon as a newborn vampire, of course he'd have no control over himself.
He sighed, "It's alright, Sonic. You may have hurt this poor kid but it wasn't entirely your fault, I'm not mad at you anymore", he said.
Alador then went to his basement to get two bags of AB blood from his secret fridge, along with an intravenous tube and needle. He came back to the room and carefully inserted the needle into the crook of the armadillo's elbow, then attached the tube to it and the tube to one of the blood bags, hanging in from a nearby light fixture.
"Alright, there we go. He should be fine after two transfusion, he lost a lot of blood", said Alador. He went and got a first aid kit and started bandaging up the wound on the armadillo's neck, this cause him to look up at the vampiric dog weakly.
"Hey there, can you see me? Can you hear me? I brought you back to my castle, I'm giving you a blood transfusion to replace the blood you lost. I'm also patching up your wound", said Alador.
"...a-a-re...yo-u...w-w-why?..."
The armadillo wanted to ask more but his mouth and tongue felt so heavy and numb he couldn't as much more. Alador waited for a moment, contemplating his answer, "I wanna make it up to you, I'll take care of this. My friend did this, so I should take responsibility. Okay?", he said.
He then went back to tending to his wounds, cleaning up the used cotton swabs and putting away the first aid kit.
"M-Mig-hty…"
Sonic tilted his head when he heard this, Alador's ears also perked up.
"Didn't quite catch that...what did you say, buddy?", asked Sonic.
The armadillo took a deep breath before he tried again, "M-my...n-name-s...Mig-hty…", he gasped.
Alador grinned, "Oh, really? Well, my name is Alador, and this is my friend Sonic. Nice to meet you", he said.
Sonic came over and looked down at his unfortunate victim, "Hey...uh, Might was it? I'm sorry I attacked you and drank your blood. We're vampires but we don't normally drink from Mobians, tonight was the Blood Moon and it made me go crazy. I didn't mean to hurt you", he said.
Despite how weak he felt, the armadillo now known as Mighty slowly lifted up his hand and gave a thumbs up, a lopsided smile appearing on his face. Alador turned to face Sonic with a smile.
"I think he forgives you. I'm surprised he's not freaked out by the fact that we're vampires, but it could be the delirium due to blood loss", he said. Sonic smiled and laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
[Time Skip]
The next morning, sunlight peered in through a nearby window, waking up Mighty from his deep slumber. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes groggily, he looked around the room and saw that he was indeed in a castle.
Then he reached up and felt a bandage on his neck, "So it wasn't a dream then...I really was attacked but saved by vampires...", he whispered. Mighty then climbed out of the bed, but had to sit back down due to the sudden dizziness he felt.
"Yeah, don't move around so fast. You're gonna be dizzy for a while"
Mighty looked around when he heard the sudden voice, trying to figure out who had spoken.
"I'm up here, buddy!"
Mighty looked up to see a blue hedgehog with a robotic leg looking down at him from the ceiling, "Hey, how's it going? It's me, Sonic. We introduced ourselves to each other last night, but you were probably out of it due to the blood loss.
"If so, I'd like to apologize for biting you last night. The Blood Moon was out and I had completely lost my mind and attacked you. I'm really sorry, I don't actually feed on Mobians", he said.
Sonic then leapt down from the ceiling and landed gracefully on the floor, Mighty was surprised. "So I really wasn't dreaming, huh? Well, you don't actually seem dangerous so I'll forgive you", he said.
Just then, the sound of a grumbling stomach caught both of their attention. "Heh heh, I guess now I'm really hungry", said Mighty. Sonic let out a small laugh as he walked over and pulled him onto his back, "I'll carry you to the kitchen, I'm sure Al is done making breakfast", he said.
He then walked briskly down the hallway of the castle until he came upon the kitchen, Tails and Knuckles were there as well whilst Alador was busy making breakfast.
"Oh yeah, Mighty, these are my other friends. This is Tails and Knuckles, one of them is a vampire like me but the other is normal like you. Knuckles...also hit me across the head for biting you last night", said Sonic.
Mighty carefully lowered himself down from Sonic's back and onto one of the dining table chairs, "Nice to meet you guys. Don't be so mad at Sonic anymore, Knuckles. I forgave him", he said.
Knuckles huffed, "Yeah but he still deserved it, he should've headed back here before the moon came out. You and him are lucky he didn't kill you", he said. Both Sonic and Mighty laughed sheepishly before Alador finally came in pushing a trolley with everyone's breakfast.
"Okay, everyone. Chill out, it's chow time! Okay then, let's see: scrambled eggs, toast and bacon for Tails, oatmeal topped with fruit for Knuckles, steak and eggs for me, chilidogs for Sonic and finally, a mushroom omelette with toast for our guest", he said as he passed around the platters of food.
Mighty looked at the plate with wide eyes, his mouth practically salivating. "Wow, this looks amazing! Thanks a lot, Alador!", he said as he tucked in to his breakfast.
"No problem, you lost a lot of blood so I figured I'd make you something with plenty of protein and iron, and mushrooms are just the trick", said Alador.
They all sat down and enjoyed their breakfast, talking about themselves and getting to know each other. Sonic told Mighty all about what happened a year ago, with Robotnik and the horrible things he had done before Sonic had to kill him.
Mighty looked down at Sonic's robotic leg with sympathy, "I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Sonic. That must've been terrible! At least now, you have friends by your side to always help you", he said.
The somber look on his face caught Sonic's attention, "Hey Mighty, what were you doing in the woods anyway?", he asked.
Mighty sighed, "I have a friend, his name is Ray. He's been missing for a whole year now and I've been trying to find him ever since, I'm all alone because I don't have anyone else in my life.
"I never knew my parents...I did have a younger sister but we were separated when we were little kids, and try as I did, I never found her. So, Ray is all I have. He's not just my best friend, he's my little brother. He means the world to me", he said.
"What does he look like? Maybe we could help you find him", said Tails.
Mighty pulled out the missing poster and laid it on the table, "I made these posters and put them up in the town we used to live in. Nobody found him, so I left town to look for him on my own", he said.
The others looked at the picture on the poster, Ray was a flying squirrel with yellow fur and dark tan skin on his muzzle, inner ears and front torso. He had black eyes, a small tapered hair tuft at the top back of his head, a furry skin membrane connecting his waist to his lower arms, small, perky triangular ears, a shiny, bulbous black nose and a long club-shaped tail.
As for his attire, Ray wore white gloves with large cuffs, and blue sneakers with white cuffs and soles.
Sonic looked closely at the picture and immediately gasped, dropping the plate of chilidogs on the floor. The others looked up to see that his face had gone pale and his pupils were shrinking.
"Sonic, what's wrong? Do you recognize the kid? Have you seen him somewhere?", asked Knuckles.
"Sonic, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost...", said Tails.
Sonic placed a hand to his mouth as he felt like he was going to be sick, "This kid...I have seen him somewhere before... because he was one of Robotnik's victims!", he said shakily.
Everyone gasped, and Mighty shook his head in disbelief whilst standing up from his chair. "No...no! No, that can't be true! It's a lie, you're lying! Please tell me you're lying!", he shouted as tears began to form in his eyes.
Sonic looked back at him as his own eyes began filling up with tears, "The room Robotnik had me imprisoned in was filled with the mutilated remains of the Mobians he had eaten...one of them was a flying squirrel with yellow fur just like Ray.
"I wanted to believe it wasn't him, but that corpse had the same gloves and shoes as in this picture...it is him! When I killed Robotnik, Alador and I took all the corpses and buried them in the field behind the castle.
"Mighty...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!", he said as he finally broke down crying.
Within an instant, Mighty bolted from the room and ran through the hallway. He located the back down and burst his way out of the castle, that was when he immediately caught sight of a small collection of tombstones.
The others followed him and found him standing as still as a dead tree in front of the tombstones, "Which one...which one is his?", asked Mighty in a quiet voice.
Sonic sniffled as he shakily pointed to the tombstone directly in front of Mighty, "It's that one. I didn't even know his name until now, so I had nothing to write on his tombstone", he said.
Upon hearing that, Mighty dropped to his knees and began to cry hysterically. He threw his arms around the tombstone, as if he was trying to hug his dead friend.
"Ray! No...I searched all over for you when you went missing. To think...you were killed and eaten... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I couldn't save you! I'm a terrible friend and brother, please forgive me!", he shouted as he sobbed.
His breakdown had a profound effect on the rest of the group as they had also started crying, feeling terrible for the loss Mighty had suffered. The worst part was that he had no idea what really happened to Ray until now, he had been searching for him all this time with the hope of finding him alive again.
Mighty cried harder than he had ever done before, and then started hyperventilating. He fell down on top of the grave, choking as he had trouble breathing.
"He's hyperventilating! He can't breathe!", said Alador. He rushed over and carefully lifted Mighty off the ground, holding him upright to help him breathe. Eventually, Mighty stopped hyperventilating but now, he had a blank and broken look on his face.
It was if all the life in him had just faded away.
[Time Skip: Three weeks later]
"How's he doing?"
"He still won't eat, he won't drink and water...I don't even know if he sleeps or not"
Sonic and Alador were speaking to each other while standing outside of Mighty's bedroom door, the armadillo was laying in his bed with the blanket draped over him, his head barely visible. His body was turned towards the wall by his bed, his blank and empty eyes staring at nothing.
After learning of the horrific death of his best friend, Ray the Flying Squirrel, Mighty had completely broken down and shut himself off completely from the world. He felt absolutely dead inside and blamed himself for what happened to Ray, he felt so guilty that he no longer cared about his own well-being.
Mighty refused to eat or drink, he barely slept because his slumber was plagued by nightmares. Due to this, his body was wasting away as his ribs were now visible through his skin, his eyes and cheeks were sunken and he had dark circles beneath his eyes.
In short, Mighty was slowly letting himself die.
Sonic and his friends tried to help him by trying to coax him to eat and drink, to go outside and breathe the fresh air, to keep enjoying life. But Mighty was too far gone, losing his friend had been too much for him.
"We have to help him, Al! We can't just let him waste away like this, I'm sure that's not what Ray would've wanted!", said Sonic.
"Sonic, look at this from Mighty's perspective: his best friend went missing, he spent an entire year looking for him. He had hope in his heart that he would find him, only to find out from essentially a stranger that he's dead.
"And not just that he died, but that he died in the most cruel, horrible and gruesome way. Mighty said he had no one else in his life, no parents and he never found his long lost sister, Ray was all he had.
"I can believe that he would completely shut down mentally. Chances are... he's letting himself waste away so that he'll die and join Ray in the afterlife. We can try to get him to get him out of this slump, but at the end of the day, there's nothing we can do", said Alador.
Sonic sighed sadly as he looked at Mighty, he didn't want to admit it but he was beginning to think Alador was right. And he didn't want to be right, he like Mighty and even saw him as a friend, he didn't want him to basically kill himself by starving himself.
And he didn't know what to do anymore.
Mighty...I hope you'll realize that this isn't the way...please, he thought.
[Time Skip]
[Dream Sequence]
Mighty found himself sitting in front of Ray's grave, which was illuminated by a single shaft of moonlight whilst the rest of the area was shrouded in darkness.
He cried as he pressed his forehead against the tombstone, muttering apologies under his breath.
"Please stop apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry for"
Mighty's head shot up at the sound of the familiar voice, he turned and gasped at what he saw. Ray was behind him, but his entire body was a pale blue and transparent, and his legs were gone.
Mighty let out a joyous laugh as he ran up to hug his friend, "Ray! It's you, you're here! I've missed you so much! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!", he sobbed.
"Mighty, you need to stop", said Ray.
Confused, Mighty pulled away to look at his ghostly friend. "What? What do you mean?", he asked.
Ray looked at him with a stern expression, "Listen, Mighty. I'm not an illusion or a figment of your imagination, I'm real and I'm a ghost. You spent so long trying to find me, not knowing I had died, but do you wanna know something?
"Do you know what the last thing I thought before I died was? It was that you never found me, that Robotnik would never get his hands on you and hurt you like he did me, and that you can live on and be happy.
"Part of my dying wish came true, Robotnik is dead and he can't hurt you or anyone else, but now you're dying. You're starving yourself and refuse to drink, and now you're body is slowly wasting away.
"Mighty, it's not your fault that I died and I'm sorry you had to learn about it, but I am dead and I can't come back. But I don't want you to kill himself to join me, I want you to be happy. To move on with your life, without me", he said.
Mighty stared at him with a look of disbelief before he broke down crying again, "But Ray...you were all I had! I have no family, no friends... I'm all alone! I don't wanna be alone!", he sobbed.
Ray hugged him, "What are you talking about, Mighty? You're not alone, you have Alador and Tails and Knuckles and Sonic. I know you're first meeting wasn't the best, but they're good people.
"Sonic and Alador put a stop to Robotnik once and for all, and with the others, they've been protecting innocent people from danger ever since. They may be vampires but they're still heroes, and they are your friends.
"So long as they're around, you'll never be alone. And another thing, Mighty: I may be dead, but I will always be with you. In your mind and in your heart, so long as you never forget me", he said.
Mighty sniffled as he hugged him close, "But Ray... I'm already dying. Even if I do what you say, it's too late!", he said.
"Not yet, it's not. There's one way for you to live on", said Ray.
"How?"
"You already know because only your new friends can give it to you, but you have to choose whether or not you want it"
Just then, the area surrounding the two started dissolving and melting like candle wax.
"Ray, what's happening?", asked Mighty.
"You're waking up now. Mighty, you don't have much time left to live. You have to make your choice soon, will let yourself die or will you become a vampire and live on?
"The choice is yours, but I want you know that I will always be with you. And all I want is for you to be happy, if you can do that, then I can finally rest in peace", said Ray.
[End of Dream Sequence]
Mighty was engulfed by the melted landscape as he finally snapped awake, feeling extremely lightheaded and sick due to starvation and dehydration. He slowly sat up in bed, fighting the urge to pass out.
Just then, the door opened. Mighty looked up to see Sonic entering the room, the blue hedgehog gasping at how decrepit he looked. "Gosh...you look like you're close to death...", he muttered under his breath.
Mighty looked down as his mind wandered, he thought about everything Ray told him in his dreams and he knew what it was that he had to do, but he also knew he couldn't just decide this on his own.
"Sonic...can you tell everyone else to come here? I have something important to discuss with you all...", he said.
[Time Skip]
"You want to become a vampire?!"
The others were shocked to hear what Mighty had asked of them, but after listening to him explain his dream, they somewhat understood.
"Ray's dying wish was that I wouldn't end up like him and that I'd move on and be happy. I've been starving myself and succumbing to dehydration, I'm dying but if I become a vampire, I can fulfill his wish", said Mighty.
"But Mighty, if you do this, there's no going back. You'll become immortal, you'll live forever. You'll no longer be susceptible to old age or illness, and that means you can never join Ray in the afterlife. Are you sure you want this?", said Alador.
Mighty let out a shaky breath, followed by a cough. "Ray was disappointed to see me trying to kill myself, he said it wasn't my fault Robotnik killed him and that he was happy I didn't suffer the same fate, but he hated seeing punishing myself for that.
"He can't rest in peace knowing that I can't move on from his death, that it has broken me so badly that I want to end my own life. Ray wants me to be happy, and I want him to be happy too, and the only way to do that...is if I become a vampire.
"So please, one of you has to bite me. Do it now while I still have life left in me! Ray was my best friend and little brother, I said I would always be there for and make him happy! This is my last chance to do so, so please turn me!", he pleaded.
The others were now thoroughly convinced of his conviction now, they knew Mighty was determined to make Ray happy one last time. To fulfill his dying wish, to move on and be happy like Ray wanted. They couldn't deny him of his desire now.
"Okay then, I'll do it. Just like I did for Knuckles. Lie down on the bed, tilt your head to the side and relax your body. I promise to make this as painless as possible", said Sonic.
Mighty did as he was told, lying down and tilting his head to expose his neck to Sonic. He did his best to relax his tense muscles as the blue hedgehog slowly lowered his face to his neck, his fangs extending.
Mighty flinched when he felt the sharp fangs pierce his soft flesh as Sonic began to drink his blood. It certainly felt strange, but it was pretty painless as Sonic had promised it would be. Mighty had begun to feel weaker than he already was, his vision distorting as black spots danced across his eyes.
Sonic could feel that the armadillo was now on the brink of death, so he pulled away from his neck. "Okay, this next part is gonna intense, so Knuckles...take Tails out of here and shut the door. He's too young to see this", he said.
Knuckles nodded as he took the young fox by the hand and led him out of the room, closing the door behind him. Then, Sonic bit into his wrist hard enough to draw blood; once he opened up the cut wide enough, he held it to Mighty's lips.
"Mighty, you have to drink my blood now. It's the only way for the transformation to occur, hurry and drink before it's too late", said Sonic.
Despite being so weak he could hardly lift his head up, Mighty managed to pull Sonic's arm down so he could wrap his lips around his wrist and start sucking his blood. Being so dehydrated, Mighty took big gulps of the vital fluid before he suddenly let go.
His body started spasming uncontrollably like he was having a seizure, Sonic looked away from the display as he felt Alador place a hand on his shoulder.
"This part never gets easy, I didn't like seeing this when I turned Knuckles...", he muttered.
"I know this part is hard to watch, but on the bright side, it means that the turning was successful. Come tomorrow morning, Mighty will be just like us", said Alador.
[Time Skip: One month later]
"Whoooo!"
A dark silhouette flew across the evening sky, doing all sorts of flips and aerial stunts. When the figure passed in front of the moon, the light revealed them to be Mighty.
The morning after he was turned, he had awoke feeling more alive than ever, but also pretty hungry. Alador quickly saw to that by providing him a breakfast of a sandwich and a blood bag.
Much like Sonic, Mighty had thought drinking blood was strange but he couldn't deny the euphoria he experienced when he tasted it for the first time. It was like ambrosia to him.
Then, Sonic, Knuckles and Alador had decided to take him out to do some training so he could adjust to his new vampiric powers. During the training, Mighty had accidentally fallen off a cliff but then he had flown back up, revealing that he had developed a vampire's ability of flight.
He adjusted very well to his new life and loved being able to fly more than anything, being able to soar great distances and touch the sky was an experience unlike any he had ever had in his life.
Mighty was also happy that he was able to fulfill Ray's dying wish, he would now live on and continue to be happy even in the wake of learning about his best friend's death. And even if Mighty couldn't join Ray in the afterlife due to his immortality, he was just happy to know that his friend could finally rest in peace.
Mighty came back to the castle after going for a midnight flight, he held a small bundle of daisies in his hands as he walked over to the graves. He stopped in front of Ray's grave and placed the flowers down.
"Happy birthday, Ray. I'm doing just fine now, and I hope you're happy for me. I always love ya, little buddy", Mighty said as he gently touched the tombstone.
Sonic peered out from one of the windows on the upper floor, "Hey Mighty, you're back! Hurry up inside or we're starting the monster movie marathon without you!", he called out.
Mighty laughed, "Alright, I'm coming! But if you do, I'm dumping the popcorn all over you!", he called back as he raced inside the castle.
Another thing Mighty was happy to have were his new friends who understood and cared about him. Their initial meeting may have been rocky, but if it wasn't for them, Mighty never would've had the life he had now.
And he will always be grateful for that.
As Mighty ran inside the castle, a spectral being watched him. It was the ghost of Ray the Flying Squirrel, he watched with a smile as his best friend/brother ran into the castle to enjoy some quality time with his new friends.
"I'll always love you too, Mighty. Be happy and have a great life", he whispered before he turned into a ball of light and ascended into the sky.
[The End]