"Get out of here!" I yelled to Tails, keeping my eyes on the weirdo vampire in front of me. His hair stuck into the air, and his skin was as white as a ghost. His teeth were white and sharp. "I'll take care of this freak!"

"Sonic-" Tails said, taking a step back.

"Do it!" I ordered.

The thing watched Tails run away behind me with a smile on his face. "Okay, what's your deal?" I asked. I folded my arms, not daring to look away. He had suddenly appeared in front of me and Tails while we were hanging out, and he had taken us through a portal of some sort. Next thing we knew, we were in this giant, elaborately decorated house. A house that could only belong to someone who thought he had enough money, but not enough power. This wasn't someone I could underestimate.

The figure laughed, the sound booming through the hall. "I've been watching you for weeks, Sonic," he said.

I wrinkled my nose. "That's creepy."

"That may be," the vampire thing said, "but it doesn't matter. My name is Vlad Plasmius. You're going to help me rule the world."

"You know who I am, and you still think that?" I asked with a chuckle.

The guy, Vlad, suddenly disappeared before my eyes. I frowned and looked around in a circle, but I didn't see him anywhere. He had simply vanished, but I knew something was up.

"Did you really think I would have brought you here if I wasn't sure I could win?" Vlad asked, his voice seeming to come from every direction. "You've already lost!"

I fell forward as a beam of some sort hit my back. I got to my feet and started running, but I had no idea where I was going. I spindashed through a door, finding myself in a room high above the ground. I started to turn around, but Vlad grabbed my arm and threw me against a wall.

"Nothing to say?" he laughed. "You always have something to say, don't you?"

"I'm just getting started," I smiled, running back the other way. If I could just find my way out, I could find Tails and get out of this place.

"Ah, that's right," Vlad said, his voice seeming to be everywhere at once again. "All you do is run. Run away from me, because you know you can't win."

"Sorry, I'm not that dumb," I chuckled. "Mind games like that won't work on me."

"Then how about this?" he asked. I skidded to a halt as a giant pink wall appeared in front of me. I tried to punch my fist through it, but it was tough as steel. I shook my cramped hand.

"That's nice," I grunted, turning the other way. But a pink laser shot me into another wall, which cracked from the pressure. I looked out the window of the room, trying to convince myself it wasn't as high as I worried.

I took a step back and rammed through the glass, falling toward the ground. But I never hit it. Vlad pushed me back inside with his arm, throwing me to the ground.

"You aren't getting away that easily," he said. I was getting tired. With some difficulty, I got up, hoping that Tails had managed to get far, far away. If anything, I needed to stall and give him as much time as possible. "Give up?"

Instead of replying, I ran away, turning corner after corner and feeling like I was going in circles. I didn't know what was going on, but I felt confident that I would be able to get away. After all, my speed had kept me alive this long.

Unfortunately, Vlad appeared in front of me. But I was ready for him, my entire body ready for anything. I spindashed into him and hit him, but he disappeared through the wall he would have smashed into. Gritting my teeth, I ran again, wishing for an exit. I was so lost.

"As much fun as this has been," Vlad said, sounding slightly impatient, "I need to get this over with."

When I turned the next corner, I saw stairs. Just beyond them sat a grand door. My heart leaped, hoping I could just make it outside. But as I rushed toward the stairs, two Vlads appeared to block the way. I turned around, but there were more behind me. It was only a few seconds before I was completely surrounded. I tried not to think too hard about the fact that there were six of the same person around me.

I spindashed toward one of them, but the it made some sort of shield that I bounced off of. I tried a few other directions, but I was stuck. I couldn't jump over them, either; it was like he knew everything I might try.

Each of them raised their hands out, and pain erupted all over my body before I passed out.

When I came to, the world seemed to spin. It took a few minutes for my vision to fix itself. I tried to move, but learned that I couldn't because my arms and legs were bound with a familiar looking glowing blue band, and I was in some sort of claustrophobic chamber. I didn't feel so good all of a sudden.

For a few minutes I struggled against the glowing bonds. Finally, out of breath and strength, I looked around the room from behind the glass. I couldn't see much besides other capsule like things, but I didn't like the nervous feeling in my stomach. It felt like I was stuck in a basement, forgotten forever.

"You're awake!" someone said. It didn't look like the thing I had been fighting before, but sounded exactly the same. "Ah, yes, it's me. Vlad," he replied to my confused look. "I just didn't want to waste any more energy if I didn't have to." He quickly turned into the vampire, then back to what looked like a normal human. I was surprised and confused, but had more pressing questions than figuring out what exactly was standing in front of me.

"Why didn't you just finish me off?" I asked, pulling against the binds again.

"I have need for you alive," Vlad said. "Though you might wish you were dead."

I didn't say anything, not knowing how to respond to that. I just stared at him with a frown, waiting.

"I have a proposal to make," Vlad said nonchalantly, looking at his nails.

"Yeah?" I said. "You let me go and we pretend this never happened?"

Vlad laughed. "No, no. See, I'm in need of a massive energy source. From what I can tell, there are these colorful gems called Chaos Emeralds, right?"

"What, you want me to tell you where they are?" I chuckled, feeling a little better. "No one knows where they are. And there's no way you can force me to go find them."

"Oh, that's fine," Vlad said. I grew uneasy as the smile on his face didn't falter. "See, I happen to have all the Chaos Emeralds with me."

My heart dropped into my stomach. "What?"

"But the problem is that I can't quite figure out how to make them work!" Vlad said, glancing at me with a sinister smile. "If only I had some way of using a vessel to take in the Chaos Emeralds, become a super powered being, and drain the energy of the Chaos Emeralds from him!"

"If I use the Chaos Emeralds, I'll just break out of here and go back home," I said.

"Yes, well, there was this kind villain who shared some technology of his that could hold such a being in place. So, actually, there's no problem."

"Eggman helped you?" I yelled in surprise.

"Usually when people see a ghost, they cooperate with you fully," Vlad said mischievously. I frowned, not understanding what he meant by ghost. "He was too scared out of his mind to do anything but."

I grit my teeth, my hands clenched into fists. "There's no way I'll help you!" I yelled.

A horrible smile distorted his features. His face alone made any confidence I had left disappear. Vlad snapped his fingers, some green blob with tentacles appearing next to him. I froze as I saw something yellow and thrashing in its grasp.

"Tails!" I yelled, planting my feet against the wall behind me and pushing off with all my strength. But it was no use. These were the same bonds that held me when Eggman had cracked the planet apart; as far as I knew, nothing could break them. Vlad has spent months, if not longer, planning all of this.

"So," Vlad said, looking at me with arms folded. He still had a smile on his face, and I wanted to punch it off of him. "You don't have to help me. But if you don't..."

The blob smiled, another tentacle wrapping around Tails' neck. For a moment, I just watched in horror as Tails' hands clawed against it, desperately trying to escape. I couldn't find my voice. Finally, the blob dropped Tails to the floor, coughing and holding his neck as he struggled to his knees. I watched as he got up, getting his breath back.

"Of course, if that doesn't work, I can always just torture you until you break," Vlad said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

Tails shook his head. "Don't do it!" he yelled. But his eyes said otherwise. He was terrified of what was going to happen to him, and I couldn't blame him. I also couldn't let him die at this lunatic's hand.

I sighed, closing my eyes in defeat. There was still a small chance that I could save Tails as Super Sonic, if I could force my way through the bonds. Then we could go home and pretend that nothing had ever happened, forgetting the disaster that we were currently in. "That won't be necessary," I said hesitantly to Vlad. "I'll help you."

"Excellent!" he said, clapping his hands like we had just came up with a good, humane decision. He walked toward the capsule thing I was in, pressing buttons of some sort. My stomach was full of butterflies, scared at what was going to happen. Tails was standing up, the blob behind him, making sure he didn't go anywhere. He looked at me, a dark curiosity on his face mixed with fear.

"You'll pay for this," I hissed, suddenly feeling the warmth of the Chaos Emeralds.

"Doubtful," Vlad said, stepping back. "All you have to do is go into your super state and I'll drain your energy."

"Yeah," I said nervously. "No problem."

"We'll do it as many times as it takes, and you and your friend can go home safely. I guarantee it. And you don't have to worry; the Chaos Emeralds won't scatter to the edges of the world."

I didn't believe his words, but I did believe the threat against Tails was real. For a moment, I paused, not doing anything. But as Vlad's expression turned impatient, I closed my eyes, the warmth of the Chaos Emeralds surrounding me. I felt serene as they flooded into my mind, and I pulled against the bonds again, hoping, wishing, for the best. I yelled out, trying to unleash the power to break the capsule, but nothing happened. Even Chaos Control couldn't get me out.

"Marvelous," Vlad said with a smile.

He pressed more keys on the machine, and my body suddenly erupted in a pain like fire. I screamed, feeling the Chaos Emeralds struggle to power me up. It wasn't long before I changed back into my normal blue color.

"STOP!" Tails yelled. I heard a struggle, opening my eyes and seeing Tails on his toes in front of me, pressing various buttons. I grit my teeth, hoping that Tails would be able to do something. But Mr. Blob grabbed Tails and slammed him into the machine. He must have pressed some buttons, because the pain exploded and my mind turned red.

"You imbecile!" Vlad shouted, jumping toward the machine. Before he could do anything else, though, the far wall exploded in a mass of concrete and dust. Vlad turned, his expression turning to surprise and intense anger. I pulled against the bonds again, hopelessly trying to escape the pain. My vision was starting to turn dark at the edges, my body getting weaker and weaker.

Mr. Blob let go of Tails, turning toward the disturbance. Tails didn't hesitate, running to me and studying the machine.

"Do something!" I yelled desperately.

"Hang on!" Tails replied. He pressed a series of keys and buttons, and it suddenly all stopped. The chamber opened, the bonds on my limbs disappearing. I fell to the floor heavily. Tails tried to help me to my feet, but it was no use. I could barely make it to my hands and knees.

"I can't move," I said weakly. "Get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you!" Tails said, pulling at me.

I looked behind me at the machine, the Chaos Emeralds almost devoid of power. With a sudden idea forming in my mind, I touched the machine, a bit of energy flowing back into me. I closed my eyes and yelled, "Chaos Control!" forcing the Chaos Emeralds to scatter.

I smiled, relieved to have them out of the enemies hands. But before I could get to my feet, something grabbed my neck and shoved me against a wall. Vlad was staring at me, the malice in his face almost making me wince. I had rarely seen anyone so angry. He was also in his creepy vampire form.

"You will pay for that," he said, squeezing my neck tighter.

"I don't have any money, sir," I coughed, grinning. He showed his teeth, throwing me at the machine, my eyes full of stars as my head rammed into it. I squeezed my eyes shut, groaning as my head throbbed against the pain. My eyes were blurry when I opened them, and I barely had time to roll out of the way as Vlad shot at me with his laser-ray-thing. I flipped off of my hands and onto my feet, ready to move out of the way at any moment.

Suddenly, a kid that glowed like Vlad appeared, punching the back of his head. Vlad took a step forward, but stayed on his feet. "This doesn't concern you!" Vlad yelled, turning into several of himself like he had before. The kid paused, then disappeared as Vlad flew around the room.

I shook my head, trying to clear the concussion that was hindering my vision. I spindashed into one of the Vlads, knocking him into the ground and smiling as he disappeared. Two of the Vlads turned to me, and I stepped backward. I jumped off the nearby wall, launching toward the other side of the room, but a third ghost grabbed my arm and yanked me backward, another Vlad throwing his fist into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I was running out of steam, struggling to get breath back into my lungs. I searched for Tails, but I didn't see him. I took a step forward, but didn't get far. One of the Vlads, probably the real deal, grabbed me and threw me back into the machine. The bonds came back, panic rising in my chest and making it even harder to breathe.

"You still have a massive amount of energy," Vlad explained, pressing more buttons on the machine. "I'll just drain the rest of it and then dispose of you!"

He turned a knob to the right, cranking it until it ripped off. My eyes went wide, the electric pain coming back stronger than ever. I cried out, my teeth gnashed together so tightly I was afraid they would break and fall out.

I heard the noises of the battle around me, but I couldn't comprehend anything. My mind was foggy as I got weaker and weaker, quickly struggling to stay conscious.

Then, it stopped as soon as it had started. I panted, leaning against the glass of the machine as the bonds disappeared. But then the window disappeared and I tumbled out of it like a ball falling down a flight of stairs. I grimaced as Tails pulled on my arm again, making me sit up and holding my arm around his neck. I opened my eyes to see Vlad on the far side of the room, left on the floor with his eyes closed. Three kids were standing in front of me, none of them familiar in any way. One was the kid who glowed, his eyes a vibrant green. He had his arms folded as he looked down at me.

"Hi," I said, touching my throbbing head.

There were two people flanking them, one a girl wearing black clothes and the other a boy with a weird hat on his head. "What are you?" the boy in the middle asked slowly, a frown on his face.

I stood up slowly, stretching my stiff legs and raising my arms into the air. "I'm Sonic. This is Tails. We're from another dimension. I think."

Tails pointed to Vlad, his eyes staying on him before moving back to the boy. "He showed up out of nowhere, but he knew a lot more about our world than he should have."

"He's an enemy," the boy said with a frown. "He's been silent, so we came to check up on him." He smiled at us. "It looks like we came at the right time."

"Yeah," I said, "I'll give you an A plus for dramatic timing, all right. Who are you guys?"

"I'm Danny," he said. He gestured to the girl, whose name was Sam, and the boy, whose name was Tucker. "But we can get down to formalities later. We should probably get out of here. He won't stay down forever."

We looked at Vlad, all in agreement. "Can you walk?" Tails asked.

I waved my hand. "I'm okay, buddy."

Danny nodded, leading us out of the room. It turned out we were in the basement of the giant mansion, and I shivered. I could have been stuck down there for the rest of my life, if Vlad had gotten his way. I kept my eyes peeled, looking from side to side constantly. The last thing I wanted was for him to sneak up on us. He was slightly upset, after all.

We didn't run into anything until we got to the foyer. Danny quickly turned, Vlad punching his head back with his fist. He saw me, his eyes burning. "This isn't over," he said, rising into the air. He didn't look good and obviously didn't want to fight all of us. "You've made a grave mistake."

"What, by not letting you kill me?" I shouted, anger bubbling in my chest. "You stole us from our world and almost killed me! Did you really think-"

"Danny," Vlad said, looking at the glowing boy. "Leave him with me. If you don't..."

Vlad raised his head, looking at Danny from over his nose. "Then I will make your life a living hell."

Danny looked at me, then back at Vlad with an angry look. "Now I know you were doing something evil."

"Danny..." Vlad warned.

"Let's get out of here," Danny said, gesturing toward the giant door with his head. "That's an empty threat I'm pretty used to.

Vlad didn't follow us as we went down his marble stairway and passed some sort of collection on the way out. He stayed next to the railing, his eyes never leaving mine. I shivered, glad to be away from him.

Outside, everyone got inside what looked like a tiny space shuttle. It had glowing green lights on it that made it seem a little spooky. Danny opened the door, gesturing for me to go inside. I sat at the far end against the window, glad to be off of my feet. Tails followed after, staring ahead of him silently.

It was a little cramped with all of us, but we managed to fit inside. No one spoke as the ship went into the air, and I wondered if I was being a little too trusting to these people. For all I knew, they wanted to do the same thing as Vlad did. I shivered, glancing at the three kids from time to time. I longed to ask these people questions about what they were - and exactly that guy was. But I was tired; it had been a hard day. I looked at Tails, wishing he hadn't had to see me like that. With Tails' head on my shoulder, I leaned my head against his, resting my eyes. I opened them every so often to keep from drifting off, not wanting to sleep in this unknown world, but it was in vain. It wasn't too long before my vision turned dark.