Three red pairs of hungry eyes met Silver's. A cold shiver ran down his back when he gazed back. He needed to remain strong. They have a mission.
Sonic cracked his knuckles, his green eyes flashing. "Sorry, folks. This is the end of the line."
Shadow crossed his arms. "You've caused so much death and destruction and we cannot allow it to continue further."
The two hedgehogs on the side turned to the one in the middle, who seemed to be their leader. He was blue, just like Sonic. However, this was a very bright blue. So bright that it nearly blinded Silver. The other two were black and white, just like himself and Shadow.
The middle hedgehog stepped forward, baring his teeth. "Do you not know what we are, mortal? We are vampires, and we can never be defeated until our thirst is satiated."
Fear bloomed in Silver's chest. Vampires? From the stories he had heard, they were incredibly rare but so dangerous. Possibly too dangerous for the three of them…
He looked sideways at his brothers. It was only a couple of years ago when he had reunited with them. He would not part with them now. Hopefully not ever.
Unfortunately, he knew the real truth. Because of the Black Arms blood satiating them, Silver and Shadow could never age. Sonic had nothing to keep him from aging, and he would eventually die.
He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that right now. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand.
The white hedgehog on the right bared his teeth. "If you get in our way, we will destroy you. That's a guarantee."
Sonic grinned. "Bring it on!"
The six squared up against each other, weirdly by color. Sonic faced the middle blue leader, Shadow glared at the black one, and Silver gazed nervously at the white one, who was grinning in anticipation.
They all attacked each other at the same time.
Silver focused on his own battle, even though he ached to see how the others were doing. The white hedgehog took a swipe at him, fangs bared and red eyes glowing. Silver ducked and pushed the other back using his psychokinesis. The amused expression vanished from the vampire's eyes once he found out that his opponent had some potential after all. He shifted into a hunting pose, growling.
Silver braced himself, his powers glowing around his body.
The vampire rushed at him. He was too quick for Silver to track. All he felt was a hard shove on his chest and suddenly he was on the ground. His charged powers quickly vanished.
"Silver!" Shadow shouted, but he couldn't help his younger brother. He was busy dealing with the black hedgehog, and he couldn't look away for even a second. Sonic was also fighting with the blue hedgehog, and he hadn't even noticed Silver struggling.
The white hedgehog grinned and rushed at Silver, fangs bared. He closed his eyes, praying that his death came quickly and swiftly. He heard Shadow scream his name again.
However, the strike he expected never came. A dark shadow rushed in front of him. He opened his eyes, and then stared in horror.
Blaze the Cat was in front of him, arms spread, defending him. The white hedgehog's mouth was on her neck, and he was gulping her blood frantically. He didn't even seem to notice that he had the wrong victim.
Time stopped. The world stopped revolving. Silver still sat dumbfoundedly on the grass, staring at Blaze. Tears formed in his eyes and dripped down his cheeks.
She was the only girl he had ever fallen in love with. She had accepted him as ageless, and he had just proposed to her hours ago. She had accepted. They were supposed to plan their wedding tomorrow.
All his dreams were snatched away from him at that moment.
The white hedgehog reared back from Blaze, letting her fall into Silver's arms. He was grinning madly and licking every last trace of blood from his muzzle.
Blaze's eyes were closed, but she was breathing faintly. She was pale as a sheet, her purple color barely showing. Silver stared down at her. His tears dripped onto her face.
She opened her eyes slightly and looked up at Silver. She smiled faintly.
"It's okay, Silver. Everything will be okay."
"How?" he whispered. "The love of my life is about to disappear, and I might lose my brothers at any moment. Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?"
Her eyes blazed, and she cupped her hand around Silver's cheek in a brief flash of strength. "You will live, Silver. You and your family will live. I know it. You are one of Mobius's great protectors, and you need to live out the rest of your life. I'm just a nobody."
"No, you're not," Silver murmured. He leaned his head onto hers. "You are everything to me. I love you! I don't want to lose you…"
Blaze's eyes twinkled. "I will always be with you."
For just a brief second, their lips met. And then her head fell into his chest, and she breathed out a final sigh.
He stared at her in horror, refusing to believe the inevitable. She couldn't have been taken away from him. She was half of his soul, and he couldn't lose her.
He whipped his head up. A pure scream of agony and grief tore through his throat and into the world.
All the fighting stopped. The three vampires were stuck in different fighting poses. The white hedgehog was just poised behind Silver, about to sink his fangs in.
A hand laid on his shoulder. "Oh, Silver…" Shadow whispered.
Silver raised his eyes to look at him. Shadow's eyes were glowing a faint green. He had stopped time…just for him.
Sonic wrapped an arm around Silver's shoulders and leaned his head against his brother's shoulder. "Silv, I'm so sorry…"
Shadow knelt on Silver's other side and mirrored Sonic. "We will avenge her death. You can count on that. I know how much she meant to you. We will end this once and for all."
Silver turned his face into Shadow's shoulder and sobbed freely, getting his brother's fur wet. Shadow didn't move away. Instead, he wrapped both arms around his younger brother and held him closer. Or he was holding Silver together.
He heard Sonic growl, "We need to figure out something to stop them. They can't keep killing more innocents like Blaze. There must be something we can do…"
"There is a library Rouge mentioned to me before, in passing," Shadow responded, still holding onto Silver. "I think it's called the Ancient Library, and it's said to hold every answer to every question in the world. I bet that it holds the key to stopping these bloodthirsty monsters."
"As soon as Silver is ready, resume time. I'll run to the Library and get the answers, since I'm the fastest. You two will keep these guys distracted for as long as possible. Does that sound like a plan?"
Silver felt Shadow nod, and he heard Sonic dashing away. After a moment of silence, he heard Shadow's voice.
"It's just us two now. We need to distract the vampires for as long as possible. Can you do that?"
Silver shook his head. "I…I can't leave her."
Shadow sighed. "I will take her somewhere safe real quick, I promise. You'll be on your own for a moment, and then I'll be back. Is that okay?"
"Shadow…thank you. So much."
"Again, I know how much she means to you. Now, are you ready?"
Silver nodded. Shadow's arms fell away and Silver sat up, drying his cheeks. He looked at Shadow determinedly.
"Let's kick these guys' butts."
Shadow smiled slightly, and gently took Blaze from Silver's arms. "I will resume time in three seconds. Are you ready, Silv?"
Silver stood up and turned to face the attacking white vampire, balling his fists. His psychokinesis charged in his hands. "He will pay."
He heard the sound of Shadow teleporting away. Time resumed, and now Silver was ready for the white hedgehog. He blasted the monster, sending him sprawling to the floor.
The vampire leapt up, snarling.
The black hedgehog zoomed to his companion after looking around in confusion, since his opponent had disappeared. The two stood facing Silver, who crouched down. His eyes flashed, and his power built up again.
He felt Shadow appear next to him. The vampires blinked in shock for a second, and then their expressions cleared.
The two brothers looked at each other and nodded. This time, they attacked first. They didn't notice one vampire was missing from the picture.
It was only ten minutes later when Sonic appeared back at Shadow's and Silver's sides, panting slightly.
Shadow immediately paused time again and turned to face the blue hedgehog. "Well? Did you find something?"
Sonic flashed a vial of black liquid. "Yep. The book I found said to make each vampire swallow pure, powerful blood not tainted by other people's blood and they will revert back to normal mortals."
Shadow's eyes widened with comprehension. "Black Arms blood. The last vial me and Rouge were saving for Chaos." He shook his head, and then determination crossed his face. "Right now, the world comes first. Let's do it."
Silver noticed that Sonic was shaking slightly. "Are you okay?"
Sonic gave a thumbs up and a rather forced smile. "Yep! Just a little winded, that's all." He straightened up and turned to face the frozen vampires. The third one, the leader, was now visible again. "Let's do this."
Silver took the vial from Sonic and uncorked it. An alien-like stench wafted in the air. He thought he saw Sonic's eyes widen, but when he turned to look at him, his face was back to normal.
"Okay, here's the plan," Shadow said. "I'll unfreeze time. Me and Sonic will knock the vampires down and Silver will force the blood down. Ready?"
The other two nodded.
"3…2…1…go!"
Time resumed yet again. Silver hung back as Sonic and Shadow leaped at the vampires. Shadow brandished Chaos Spears, which he used to knock down each one. Sonic held them down into the grass.
Silver quickly flew over and deposited a third of the vial of blood into each throat.
At first, they stopped struggling. Their eyes widened. The three brothers cautiously stepped back, Sonic limping slightly.
It happened pretty quickly.
First, each of their fur dulled a little bit. Then, the previously over-toned muscles started hiding themselves a little better. Finally, their eyes turned back to regular colors. The blue hedgehog sported brown eyes, the white hedgehog had blue eyes, and the black hedgehog had green eyes.
They sat up and looked around themselves, a little confused. Silver, Sonic, and Shadow still cautiously stared at them, making sure that they weren't attacked.
"Wow," the black hedgehog whispered, turning his hands over and staring at them. "We're…free."
The blue leader ran his hands over his messy quills, smoothing them down. "It's so strange. I don't feel bloodthirsty anymore…"
The white hedgehog turned his eyes on Silver. Silver flinched, still remembering how Blaze was murdered. An apologetic expression crossed the former vampire's face. "I am so sorry. I wasn't in control of myself, and I killed your friend. I will never forgive myself."
Silver turned away, blinking away more tears. Shadow laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
He heard the blue hedgehog say to Sonic, "We thank you for freeing us, and we are so sorry for everything we had done. We will banish ourselves to another dimension so we can never harm another individual again."
The black hedgehog and white hedgehog agreed.
Silver turned his head back around in time to see the three cluster together. The white hedgehog held up a rather large golden ring. A loud noise commenced along with a bright flash of light, and they vanished.
"Good riddance," Shadow growled.
Silver turned to Sonic, who started shaking even faster. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Sonic's hands flew up to his head. He started groaning.
Shadow whipped around as well, eyes widening.
A sudden scream of agony vented the air, and Sonic fell to the ground. Silver and Shadow rushed towards him, kneeling down.
"What's wrong with him?!" Silver yelled.
Shadow looked Sonic over, even though the blue hedgehog was convulsing, and suddenly gasped. "His leg."
Silver peered at Sonic's leg, and reared back.
A bite mark was perfectly printed on Sonic's calf. It wasn't leaking blood, but it was bright white.
"He was bitten," Shadow whispered. "But how?!"
The realization clicked. "We only distracted two vampires! The third one must have gotten away and chased after Sonic!" Silver said.
"And we used up the last stash of Black Arms blood," Shadow said softly, hanging his head. "We can't stop this."
Silver shook his head. "No…"
Suddenly, the animal noises coming from Sonic stopped. The two brothers looked at him in horror.
Sonic's fur was now sleek, and perfectly straight. New fangs were shown. However, the most prominent change…
Sonic's eyes flew open. They were now bright red.
They darted to the two, and then narrowed. Shadow and Silver barely had time to scramble away before Sonic flipped himself up and shifted into a hunting position. He bared his fangs and an animal growl built up in his throat.
He rushed at them, his hands now mimicking claws.
In self defense, Shadow grabbed Sonic and slammed him into a tree. Weirdly, it was the only tree in the meadow that sported yellow leaves instead of red.
Sonic's fangs jammed into the trunk, and the tree shook. He tried to dislodge himself, but Shadow held fast.
Silver ran to him. "What do we do?! He's obviously not in control!"
Shadow shook his head, his eyes sad. "We can't have another monster on the loose…" A Chaos Spear started forming in his hand.
"No!" Silver cried. "We can't give up that easily! There must be another solution…"
Suddenly, a weird noise started coming from Sonic. A sucking noise.
The two peered at him. Sonic was drinking the sap from the tree. It was clear that it was satiating him.
After a few shocked-fuelled minutes, Sonic finally stopped gulping and relaxed against the tree. Shadow cautiously let him go and stepped back. Another Chaos Spear started to form, and Silver's psychokinesis started charging up.
Sonic turned to face them, his eyes wide. "Oh, Mobius. What just happened?"
Silver shot up in his bed, panic fueling him. He looked around desperately for a few minutes, at first thinking that he was back in the meadow. Once he realized that he wasn't, he sank back into the covers.
His whole body was shaking, and sweat covered him from head to toe. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, fear still residing in his chest.
He had forced himself to not think about that event in forever. Why would it come back now?
He rested his hands on his face, still sweating and shaking.
He didn't notice the brief flash of yellow eyes in the window. There and gone.
To be continued…
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