Grey skies haunted the landscape, hindering the amount of light the sun provided and adding an eerie feel to the already depressing scenery. Poverty was everywhere, and the approaching weather did nothing to mask it. What once had been a prosperous kingdom filled with rich, vibrant colors and unparalleled beauty was now a desolate wasteland. The dying fields were useful only to the desperate survivors who looked for good in anything. They cared not that their world was falling apart, nor that their king was now corrupted and evil. Acceptance and obedience were the keys to survival, and they had learned to yield them well.

Ravens that pecked hopelessly at skeletons dashed away in fear as a young, female wizard raced down the path. Discarded feathers fell to the ground, only to be picked up again by the momentum of the terrified girl's running. She wore a long, violet dress with gold trim, covered by a lavender cloak. Both garments were immaculately decorated with mysterious symbols and patterns. The cloak served to cover her braided, maroon red hair and tapered ears; the features that revealed she was a wizard. Gripped tightly in her hands was a long staff, almost as tall as she, with a large turquoise orb at the top. The wooden staff was carved with intense detail and plated with gold in some places. This staff, coupled with her dress and cloak, hindered her speed greatly.

Hard on her heels was the corrupted King Arthur. His steed, a sturdy black horse covered in gold and silver armor, was trotting miraculously in the air. The horse's ability to fly came from the Demons of the Underworld themselves, as did the king's smoky appearance. His golden, pupil-less eyes glowed evilly as he forced his horse to halt and observed the running wizard, known as Merlina. The black armor he wore was nothing less than extravagant, if not overly so. Two large, golden shoulder guards rose at least a foot from their base, protecting his head from any unwarranted sword swings. The crown was also of gold, and had four spikes that resembled something akin to a devil's horns. Six fuchsia ribbons, which appeared as if they once were sewn together in a cape, fluttered behind him in the wind. If the king had had a visible mouth, it would have been smirking with victory.

He shouted at his black steed to once again move forward, and it charged ahead obediently. As the horse ran on, the Black Knight slowly drew out his sword. Deathcalibur, named after the long-missing sword of a similar name, was far thicker than most swords, and instead of a smooth edge, had at least fifteen different ebony blades layered on top of each other. The gold pommel-stone glowed ominously, and the entire sword seemed to emanate evil. King Arthur forced the horse into a turn and extended Deathcalibur aimlessly into the sky. Yet it was not as aimless as the fleeing wizard would have wished: the sword easily cut a rift between their reality and the Underworld, releasing black smoke as the sky tore apart like cloth.

Seconds after the cut was made, a few purple eyes appeared. They were not in pairs, but rather single, as if belonging to a Cyclops. More eyes followed, and suddenly the entire Underworld could be seen swarming with them. It did not take long for the first few to eagerly escape into the new world, where the sunlight allowed them to be seen for what they were. If it was a horror movie, the Demons would have made awful excuses for monsters. Each one was grey with detailed symbols on its armor, the symbols always one of four basic colors, and they all resembled fish with wings: flying fish. Yet it was not a horror flick, but instead reality: a reality where demons, even ones resembling flying fish, caused nothing but death for the inhabitants of the world.

Even without the continuation of Deathcalibur's blade along the sky, the rift between the two worlds continued to widen, allowing darker Demons, ones far more threatening than flying fish, to drop down in front of Merlina. The sudden arrival of so many evil beings forced the wizard to come to a halt and watch helplessly as a miniature army conjured up in front of her. Desperately, she glanced over her shoulder, only to see King Arthur trotting slowly towards her on his black steed.

At first, her expression was one of anxiety and fear. The king's eyes narrowed. It was all too easy. The girl's sudden change of emotion made it evident that he was right: she scowled, then speared the staff's golden-tipped end into the ground. From around it emerged a blue circle of light, which then split into eight different circles. They expanded from and rotated around the girl, forming a protective dome of sky blue, hazy light. During this magical oddity, the girl was chanting quietly: "Ifaras zaras yezaras. Ifaras zaris yazarik. O brave knight, swift as the wind! Heed my call!" Her voice lost its shaky tremor and gained both volume and confidence as she switched to the Mobian language and cried for help. Suddenly, the light took on a form similar to a javelin, and shot up into the now completely black sky, piercing the clouds and forming a hole similar to that made by Deathcalibur. Except this one did not summon demonic flying fish.


Sonic raced through Green Hill Zone, twisting and turning however he pleased and with whatever flips he deemed necessary. Behind him, Tails dashed along happily, smiling broadly as he used his twin namesakes to keep up with his brother. It had been a painfully long time since they had simply raced through, and both were enjoying themselves immensely. On occasion, Sonic would fail to pay attention to the oncoming obstacles, Tails would cry out to warn him just in time, and the hedgehog would come to a screeching halt before turning down a new path.

The brothers had been doing this ever since that morning, and now that the sun was just beginning to reach its pinnacle, they were planning to stop for an early lunch. The second Tails suggested they eat at the chili dog stand in Station Square, it suddenly became a lot harder to keep up with Sonic. Still, the fox managed it, and soon the two were ordering their respective meals. They had not paused for more than a few minutes when a large gorge began to form right behind them, black and grey smoke filtering out and hissing along the ground. The noise of the splitting ground was deafening.

"What the--?!" exclaimed Sonic. Having just grabbed his treasured food, he whirled around to see what caused such a commotion. Tails was equally as shocked, but not quite as much from the gorge as Sonic's thoughtless choice of racing towards it.

"Wait for me!" cried Tails, darting off to follow. Briefly, they heard angry yells of "You didn't pay!" behind them, but it was cut off when the owner of the voice saw what had made the two run. Sonic was at the edge of the widening hole, backing up with it and keeping an eye on whatever was down there. Disappointingly, all he could make out was some fuzzy, grey clouds with no distinct shape. Tails gazed at it, then glanced back up at Sonic. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but I kn-woaaaah!" The pit suddenly expanded faster than Sonic had anticipated, sending him flying down into the unknown abyss.

"Sonic!" yelped Tails, leaping down after his brother. The second the kitsune's tails were safely through the hole, it shut, leaving the ground above perfectly unharmed. The man working the chili dog stand decided to take a spur-of-the-moment vacation that day.


The plummet from Mobius to whatever reality was below them could be described many ways; "pleasant" was not one of them. Sonic found himself first falling with his back towards the ground, but managed to flip himself over. Luckily for him, Tails' practiced hands easily caught him before he hit ground zero. However, the pain that shot through his shoulder made Sonic wonder if it would not have been better if he had allowed gravity to take its course. He glanced up at Tails and managed a smile, and Tails grinned back, pleased that he had rescued his brother.

The kitsune descended carefully, and the second the hedgehog's feet touched the ground, he was off again. Tails was confused at first, until he saw the still-falling chili dogs. Sonic easily caught the first, but the second was a little farther away. Desperately flying into a slide Babe Ruth would have been proud of, the cobalt hedgehog released a pent-up sigh of relief when he saw both chili dogs were safe in his hands once again.

As he painfully returned to his feet and brushed the dirt out of his cream belly fur, Sonic had a chance to look at his surroundings. "H-hey… Where are we?" he asked no one in particular. He glanced around at the desolate field, wondering if someone would appear to explain everything. He turned his head when Tails tapped his shoulder, pointing worriedly behind him. A girl with long, flowing robes approached, a staff clutched tightly in her hands. She seemed fatigued, if not highly stressed, but she spoke anyway.

"Beings from a distant world!" The girl knelt, and at first, Sonic was worried he would have to deal with some worshipping fan girl while he was here, but she merely did so to be at eye-level with the two. She threw back the hood of her cloak, revealing her hair and unnaturally pointed ears. "Forgive my abrupt summons." Anything the girl said was lost on Sonic and Tails, for they were not focused on the elfish girl. Instead, they were gawking at the unique creatures behind her.

Sonic gave Tails a quizzical look. "Are… are those… flying fish?" he whispered.

Tails just stared, unsure of what to think. Then the kit made the mistake of turning around and looking ahead of them. "S-Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

The fox simply pointed, much to Sonic's surprise, at an overly-armored man on a black horse. Sonic rolled his eyes. How on earth do I get myself into these situations? I don't even think I did anything this time. With complete nonchalance, Sonic quickly ate the first chili dog, smirking at the oddity before him with irking disrespect. The armored knight was clearly unimpressed.

Sonic glanced back over at the girl. "Oh, I get it. No problem! I'm used to stuff like this!" He winked, then began twirling the remaining chili dog before throwing it high into the air. He dashed around to the miniature army of smoking knights, and before the elf-like girl could do anything to protest, they were gone in a gust of wind that forced even Tails, who was used to these situations, to cower. She gawked at the empty path behind her, then back ahead of her, where Sonic was now expertly catching the chili dog he had thrown into the sky not three seconds earlier.

He glared darkly at the apparition before him, twirling the chili dog in the most mocking, menacing way possible. If it is even possible ot twirl a chili dog menacingly, anyway. He snarled softly and lowered himself into a fighting crouch, preparing to charge the knight and deal with the blows as they came. The second he took off, though, he yelped as he felt his tail nearly jerked out of its socket. A girl's voice desperately cried out: "No, you mustn't!" He was pulled sharply backwards, and landed rather unceremoniously on top of Tails and beside the girl who summoned him. The chili dog was lost to the trampling hooves of the steed.

The girl stood and shoved her staff forwards, and a whirlwind surrounded the trio, forcing the recovering Sonic to fall back to his knees. He released a desperate cry of indignation when he realized he had lost the second half of his lunch, but Tails jerked him back into the swirling wind, leaving the Black Knight behind to glare at the now-empty path in front of him. If looks could kill, Sonic would have been dead the second he landed in between the King and his prey.

Hissing, King Arthur sheathed his sword and forced the black steed onward. He raced up to a cliff, where his three remaining Knights of the Round Table had stolidly observed the incident. He glared down at them, obviously angered at the hedgehog and kitsune's escape. Surprised at their king's sudden arrival, all three knelt as quickly as possible, bowing their heads in reverence. Ignoring the sucking-up of the knights, King Arthur spoke: "I shall give chase. Spread out and go after them." The knights looked up, recovering from the initial surprise. "Slay them on sight." As if in a trance, all three nodded solemnly, standing as their king took off into the distance.

Dame Percival stood first, turning to her comrades. Her femininity was obvious by her lavender fur and lithe, feline physique, but the Sacred Sword, a rapier, that was tucked safely at her waist revealed she was no weak Lady. "Let us go."

The red echidna glanced at his friend, nervous. "Must we? She is the Royal Wizard, after all."

All he received for his compassion was a glare from the ebony and crimson hedgehog, known as Lancelot. "The King's orders are absolute, Gawain."

"Yes, but--"

Dame Percival interrupted the two males' argument. "Without loyalty to the King, we are nothing!" she snapped. Gawain still appeared uneasy, but Lancelot nodded grimly, turning and beginning his journey to find the hedgehog and kitsune. Percival and Gawain remained. "Still, the King… He has changed. And this kingdom…" She looked down at her feet. With a sigh, she shook her head and followed in Lancelot's footsteps. Gawain still looked doubtful, but pursued his comrades nonetheless.

Above them, a flock of ravens began their flight back down to the skeletal remains of the cattle, before changing their minds and flying on to Camelot. Unbeknownst to them, the path below was being used. In the centre of the path walked the wizard girl from before. To her right was a cobalt hedgehog and a golden-furred fox kit with two tails. Sonic was talking animatedly, somewhat angry. "Why'd you stop me? I could've taken him down, no problem! And I guarantee you my tail wouldn't be broken right now."

"Yeah!" chirped Tails indignantly.

Merlina sighed. "You do not understand. He cannot be wounded."

Sonic came to an abrupt halt, only to have Tails run into him. "How can that be?!" he asked after recovering.

Merlina conjured up an image in front of them of a leather scabbard, beautifully designed with gold and silver trim. Rubies and golden stones were embedded in its case. "He bears the scabbard of Excalibur."

"Hey, wait a second," mused Sonic. "I think I've heard that name before. Umm… lemme see…"

Tails' eyes widened at his brother. "Sonic! Excalibur is King Arthur's sword!" he exclaimed. "I told you that story just yesterday!"

Sonic laughed. "Oh, yeah, right! So, wait, that means…"

Merlina changed the image of the scabbard to one of a map. "This is the land ruled by King Arthur.

"Woah!" murmured Tails, gazing at the intricate cartography. Soon, the fox was lost in the details, gently fingering the image, only to have his hand pass through it.

"But was that really the King himself?" inquired Sonic, asking for the distracted kit. "I mean, he seemed way different in the stories."

"How would you know?" muttered Tails. "You didn't even know Excalibur's name."

Merlina seemed to sadden and let the map dissipate, much to Tails' disappointment. She covered her hair with her hood again, then turned to Sonic. "Let us go. We can talk along the way. Let me introduce myself. I am Merlina the Wizard."

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And this is my best friend and li'l brother--"

Tails returned to his Sonic's side as they walked forward, swirling his namesakes and smiling brightly. "My name is Miles Prower, but you can just call me Tails," he piped.

Merlina smiled. "Nice to meet you, Sonic. And you as well, Tails. First, I would like you to get accustomed to our world."

Sonic smirked. "Sounds good. The rules seem a little different this time around."

"Yes. Now, in order for you to have any chance at defeating King Arthur, you will need a Sacred Sword."

"Huh?"

"There is only one left. The others are owned by the King's Knights of the Round Table." Sonic sniggered, only to be slapped by Tails. "The remaining sword's name is Caliburn, and it is trapped in the rock on the other side of the Misty Lake. I believe it would serve you well to try and retrieve it."

Sonic grinned. "Whatever you say."

"Um, Merlina, Sonic's never used a sword before. Don't you think we should practice first?" suggested Tails.

"My thoughts exactly," confirmed Merlina. "Which is why I have made a rough copy of Caliburn for you to practice with, at least until we have the real Sacred Sword. Be careful, though, it is not as durable as it looks. I am no master forger."

The wizard handed an old, rusty blade to Sonic, who looked at it quizzically before shrugging. "Sure. Let's go, then."

In a gust of wind, the cobalt hero was bolting down the path, Tails close behind. Merlina sighed, knowing there was no way she could keep up with the two speeding brothers. Instead, she shot her voice ahead of her with magic to instruct the duo. Sonic ran across a bridge and began his destruction of the clay pots on either side. The clouds had finally dissipated, leaving the setting sun's pink light to cast shadows about the land. Terrified frogs cried out in shock as their homes were blown apart by the wind. Sonic laughed as they darted out of his path, some barely fast enough to avoid being crushed by his feet.

Suddenly, a small pond came into view, with a path of islands connected by stone bridges traversing it. Sonic dashed ahead, eager to mock the water by avoiding its liquid promise of death. Ruins stood in the water on both sides, polished white marble of obvious expense. Tails landed occasionally on a pillar to keep up with Sonic and rest his namesakes, but could not help but wonder why such expensive stone was left to sit in a pond. Merlina seemed to read his mind.

"This place used to house the archives, but Misty Lake flooded soon after the Myst Dragon moved into its depths. Now, no matter what we do, we cannot drain the water. It is very deep, and many treasures that were archived are lost at the bottom. Perhaps we can search for them, once King Arthur is defeated."

Sonic laughed nervously, glancing over his shoulder. "Uh, let's not and say we did." The islands the bridges were connecting became more sparse, and a long bridge came that connected back to the mainland. More clay pots lined either side, pots which Sonic found extremely fun to destroy with his spines and quills. He grinned impishly at the sound of shattering pottery, easily avoiding the pieces as they flew everywhere.

When he reached the opposite side of the pond, Merlina spoke to him: "I want you to learn swordsmanship starting from the basics."

Sonic spoke as he ran, leaving the shore of the pond and heading through the forest, towards some ruins that were not flooded. "Swords, eh? Well, if that's how you guys roll around here, why not? Lay it on me, sister!" he laughed, fully aware that he had been avoiding the use of his Caliburn-replica. Tails rolled his eyes in helplessness.

"Sorry, Merlina."

"No need to apologize, Tails," replied the wizard. Sonic leapt over a wall, and saw a long stretch of land come up. Eager to shatter the sound barrier, he increased his speed, only to have a large wooden target appear out of nowhere. There was no time to run left or right, and jumping over it was out of the question when he was so close. "Swing your sword, Sonic!" shouted Merlina.

Just in time and mostly out of reflex, Sonic swung his right arm downwards, slicing the target neatly into two pieces. He smirked as he gazed behind him, watching the magical barrier's pieces dissipate. "Sonic, watch--" started Tails. The kit's warning was a bit too late, and Sonic ran smack into the next target. "-out."

Merlina's voice echoed through Sonic's ringing ears: "You have to always look forward, Sonic. I'm sure Tails will watch your back for you. You have to focus on what's ahead."

Sonic nodded, dizzily rising to his feet. Adopting a ready stance, he destroyed the target he had run into. With progress, Merlina made the targets begin to appear on opposite sides of the straightaway, forcing Sonic to dash to one side and then the other. Even for Sonic, the sudden changes in direction were becoming difficult, at least if he had to reach the other side in time to swing the sword and destroy the target. As they came back to more flooded pillars and bridges, the targets were placed higher. "I can't reach that high, Merlina!" snapped Sonic, hoping the wizard would adjust the height before he reached it. "I'm only three flippin' feet tall!"

"You'll have to use a homing attack!" cried Tails. "Hold the sword at your waist and spin normally!"

Sonic had never been so glad to have Tails snap ideas at him. Leaping high into the air, Sonic held the sword as instructed and spun his way through the airborne target. Two more followed, which he destroyed similarly. One, he varied his stance to swing while airborne instead of performing a homing attack. Tails gazed on in admiration, awed by Sonic's ease when adjusting his fighting to allow the use of a sword. They reached solid ground again, and the targets once more were spread out on either side of the field. Whether they were above or on the ground varied, but Sonic easily destroyed each one.

A cave appeared in the distance, and Sonic looked expectantly at Tails, who shrugged. "Sorry, Sonic, but the book didn't say anything about a cave!"

"Just go through it, Sonic," assured Merlina. "It leads to the Misty Lake. We have to reach Caliburn before nightfall. I'm sure King Arthur will be determined to ensure you do not get it."

Sonic grinned. "Well, we'll just have to disappoint him then, won't we?"

"Yeah!" chirped Tails.

"Then let's go get ourselves a Sacred Sword!" cried Sonic, and with one final burst of speed, the cobalt hedgehog dashed through the cave… and straight into the watery depths of Misty Lake.


Author's Note: Well, there you have it. The first chapter of my first adventure story! I've never written a true adventure tale, so this will be interesting. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Yes, everything is based off of the game "Sonic and the Black Knight" for the Wii. It will be heavily referenced, do not despair. I just missed Tails' presence in the game, so I put him in my story. That should be the only major change. Next chapter coming as soon as I get off my lazy butt and write it.

~Wolf~