Title: Sword Fight

Summary: Sonic is stuck in the Arthurian world. Shadow is send by Tails to get the hero back. But Merlina doesn't want to allow Sonic to go home...

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any related characters.

Shadow frowned as he stared at a busy medieval village just few hundred feet away from him. The village was tiny in comparison with the castle that was situated in the center of it. There were high stone walls around this castle, which prevented him from seeing what has happening at the castle's ground. It surely could serve as a decent stronghold if needed. But most of the villagers were outside these walls. They were running around from one house to another, children were playing on the streets and he could also spot few armed guards there as well.

The dark agent looked at the device that the fox kid had given him, checking if the position of his target hasn't changed. The dot hadn't changed its position, which was strange. Staying at one place was something the blue faker rarely did.

The dark hedgehog attached the device to his wrist and then slowly started to approach the village. He wasn't sure what to expect. But the villagers would probably panic if he zoomed right past them, which would make searching for Sonic harder.

His first steps went unnoticed by the local people. But then some small child spotted him. And then it started to yell at its friends. "Sir Lancelot is back!"

For some reason, that one sentence caused, that most of the villagers turned to look at him. And at least half of those people ran to him, saying things he didn't understand.

"Welcome back, sir Lancelot!"

"We heard about your victory, Sir Lancelot!"

"Sir Lancelot! What do I need to do to become a knight as well?!"

Shadow didn't really understand why they were asking him that. He wasn't a knight. How should he know what does one need to do to become a knight? And why the heck was everybody calling him sir Lancelot?!

"We are glad you are back!"

The dark hedgehog had a feeling he should probably respond somehow. It surely was the only way to get rid of them. He should probably pretend to be this Lancelot, whoever it was. Probably a knight based on that one question. Knights were polite, right? "...Thank you for a warm welcome. It is nice to be back."

People cheered. Shadow gave a small fake smile. Dammit, this nice he wasn't even to the GUN commander and that man is his superior.

Most of the villagers then went back to their work. The dark agent started to walk again, frown replacing the fake smile. He ignored all the children that kept following him, asking questions about knight stuff.

Seriously. Lancelot. What sort of name was that? He met that name only once. And that was when Maria lent him her collection of Arthurian legends. It was about a King Arthur and the Knights of the round table...

Shadow stopped in his track as realization dawned on him. Wait, Sir Lancelot, a knight...

"Is sir Gawain really as strong as people claim him to be?"

Gawain, another knight of round table.

Shadow's frown deepened. Don't tell me that this is a freaking Camelot...

He walked through the gate, getting from the noisy village to a much noisier market place, that the walls were guarding. The dark hedgehog looked back to the device attached to his wrist. It seemed that the blue faker was inside the castle.

Shadow looked towards the the gate leading to the castle. It was guarded only by four guards.

The dark hedgehog started to walk to them. If this really is some some sort of world based on Arthurian legends, they should let him in. If not...Then he would push his way through by force. There was only four of them. They would be no match for him.

All four of them straightened their back. "Welcome back, sir Lancelot." The dark agent nodded his head, greeting them back like that. The guards pushed the gate open and then they all stepped aside. Shadow didn't hesitate even for a moment and immediately entered. For now everything was going smoothly. He only hoped that he won't met the real Lancelot. It could complicate things.

But as it seemed that the real Lancelot was somewhere gone, so that shouldn't be a problem.

The dark agent looked at the device again. The dot was at the very center of the device. But when he looked around the blue hedgehog surely wasn't in sight. The device won't help anymore. It was time to play hide-and-seek.

Shadow started to walk down a hallway. There was nobody around. Nor there was a sound. It seemed that he was all alone in this castle.

But in medieval castle, there were supposed to be servants running around. Why were there none?

"Oh! Sir Lancelot, you have returned very early..."

The dark hedgehog turned around, his eyes falling on a human red-haired woman, who was dressed in a purple robe, holding a staff in her hand.

"Yes, I have..." Shadow answered, not sure who this woman was supposed to be. The stranger walked to him. "I am on my way to the courtyard. King and the other knights are currently fencing here. Would you like to join me?"

The dark hedgehog nodded. Who knows maybe the faker would be there.

After few minutes, they finally got to the courtyard. There were five people. Four of them were in armor. It were a cat, a echidna, a hawk and a hedgehog. The cat was fencing with the echidna and the hawk was fencing with the hedgehog.

However, the fifth person had no armor on. If you didn't count the metal glow on his right hand, in which he was currently holding a sword, on which he was right now leaning for support. If somebody would just slightly kick the sword, the person surely would fall down.

Shadow would recognize that body posture anywhere. This surely was faker.

The dark hedgehog was already taking a breath to say some sarcastic comment on his attire, but he was left speechless, when the red-haired women said 'My king, Sir Lancelot is back', and Sonic actually turned around, when he heard the 'my king' part.

The dark agent frowned, maybe it wasn't Sonic. Maybe it was King Arthur, that for some reason just looked like Sonic. He meant—this world was a living Arthurian legend. Lancelot looked like him, he was sure that the echidna was Knuckles, so there was no reason why Arthur couldn't look like Sonic...

The blue hero's face was expressionless for a moment and then he smiled widely, running to them "Hey, Lance! Nice to see that you're back!"

Okay, this surely was Sonic. This sort of speech wasn't normal for medieval times. Shadow was already taking a breath, to say something along the lines 'get your ass moving, faker', but the blue hero already started to talk again. "You don't have you armor back yet? That blacksmith is surely taking his time!"

The dark hedgehog didn't even have a time to say the first syllable, because for some reason the blue hedgehog threw a sword at him.

It wasn't hard for him to catch it. His super-fast reflexes making it easy for him. But why the heck did the faker threw the sword at him in the first place?!

"We didn't have a chance to finish our match last time! So, let's see who's the better swordsman now!" Sonic grinned raising the sword into the air.

"Please, do not hold back, sir Lancelot! This hedgehog is far too self-confident." The dark hedgehog moved the sword to his left hand, trying to look like that he wasn't crept out by the fact that Sonic's sword just said something.

He simply decided that this world is freaking crazy.

"Battle!"

To be honest, it was Shadow's first time holding a sword. So, it wasn't really unexpected, that he barely blocked Sonic's attack.

He gripped the handle of his sword more tightly, blocking another attack from his blue rival. He didn't saw a reason to use weapons in close combat. He had always preferred fighting with fists as he considered it to be his best weapons.

However, Shadow wasn't really sure what to do. He usually would try to disarm his opponent or use some chaos technique, but Sonic wasn't giving him any chance, swinging his sword precisely. The dark hedgehog had to focus fully on the blue hero.

"It seems you're out of shape, Lance!"

But the dark agent had always been very talented with weapons (probably because he himself was constructed as a perfect living weapon). He was able to master any fighting style in matter of minutes. So, after five minutes of watching his opponent's movements, he could sharply change from defense to offense.

Sonic was surprised by this sudden change, but he was able to react fast enough, dodging the dark hedgehog's attack just in time before it could harm him.

But Shadow continued, pushing Sonic to step back more. He launched forward swinging his sword in wide arc, causing the blue hedgehog to stumble. The dark hedgehog smirked, this was the opening he needed to disarm the other. He swung the sword back on the same trajectory, his blade forcefully colliding with Sonic's.

Caliburn flew from Sonic's hand and the force, that caused him to lose his weapon, send him to the ground as well.

The blue hedgehog instinctively shut his eyes, hissing as he hit the ground. When he opened them next time, the dark hedgehog was towering over him, blade pointed to his peach chest.

"Whoa, that was an amazing move!" Sonic grinned, pushing the blade aside, then he stood up. "I didn't see that coming."

The blue hedgehog smiled, picking Caliburn from the ground. "We surely should do a rematch. What do you say about this evening?"

Shadow smirked, leaning on the sword for support. "I believe you will be too busy with getting the pink nuisance off you."

Everybody stared at him with confusion. The dark agent could practically hear the gears turning in Sonic's head, trying to make a sense of what he just said. Then it seemed, the information finally clicked into the place. "But you can't know Amy..."

Then the blue hedgehog realized that he probably wasn't talking with Lancelot. "Shadow?"

The dark agent smirked. "Why that face? You expected an easter bunny?"

Sonic didn't get the reference. But that behavior surely was Shadow's. "Geez, Shads, why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Kicking your ass seemed as better option," the dark hedgehog answered, getting few shocked stares from the knights for using such language.

"What are you even doing here?"

"I'm on a vacation obviously," Shadow answered with a lot of sarcasm, which earned him an eye-roll from the blue hedgehog. "The fox kid send me here to help you."

"Are you here to take king Sonic away?" the human woman asked, sounding somehow scared out of nowhere.

The dark hedgehog frowned. The king thing again. He shot Sonic a questioning look. "How could they make you a king of anything?"

"I'm a nice guy," the blue hedgehog answered, smiling.

"And unbelievably annoying as well."

"Why are you speaking to the king like that?" The cat stepped closer to him, sounding somehow angry. He could see small sparks forming in her hands.

"Because I want so," Shadow answered, glaring at her.

"You should show some respect to the royalty." It was the armored hedgehog, that now stepped forward.

"And people shouldn't steal, but they still do it," the dark hedgehog responded and turned his attention back to Sonic. "Say your goodbyes, we need to get going as soon as possible. The connection between this world and ours won't last forever."

"Sure. Well, guys, it was great with you but it seems-"

"I beg you, my king! Don't go!" Sonic blinked surprisedly as Merlina suddenly feel to her knees, bowing to him and begging him to stay.

"But, Merlina, I can't stay!" the blue hero said, placing his hand on the witch's shoulder. "We talked about this."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave!" Merlina continued to stare into the ground, refusing to meet her king's eyes.

"But this is my only opportunity to get back home! You already said you can't get me back!"

"...I lied."

"You...lied?" The blue hero blinked surprisedly.

"I was unable find anyone suitable to take your place."

"I'm sure someone from the Knights of the Round Table can take my place." Sonic turned to look at the knights, but neither of them looked very pleased by the idea.

"My king, we are not suitable for such position. We are only knights. We can battle. But we cannot rule," Gawain said.

"Oh, come on! I'm not a king material either! Any of you surely would be a better king than me!"

"You were chosen by Excalibur. You deserve to be the king, we do not," Percival explained.

"Alright, so king can be only someone chosen by Excalibur? Than let's make it the old way!"

-O-

"I don't have time for this nonsense," Shadow stated as he glared at the Excalibur, that was now stuck in the enchanted stone right before the castle.

"It's the easiest way."

"You could just decided who would be the next king."

"That would be no fun." Sonic smiled and then turned to look at Merlina, which was now standing before the enchanted stone and attention of all people was focused on her.

"People of Camelot! Today a very rare opportunity is offered to you! Our dear king has to return back to his homeland, which means a new king has to be chosen! The new king will be chosen by the legendary sword, Excalibur! The person, who can pull the sword from this stone, shall be the king!"

The people all started to whisper amongst themselves and few people even tried to pull the sword out of the stone, but none of them succeeded. It was about thirty people later, than Shadow started to get impatient.

Shadow frowned as he looked at the crowd of people. There surely had to be someone worthy. It was strange to see so many familiar faces in the crowd, but he was still quite surprised, when he could spot a blue hedgehog at the very back of the crowd, obviously deciding if he should try to pull the sword or if he shouldn't.

Shadow smirked. If Sonic is worthy, his alter ego should be too.

He walked into the crowd, Sonic's green eyes following him curiously. The knights along with Sonic were standing few feet away from Excalibur, so everybody could see them. People immediately stepped out of Shadow's way, when they saw him coming towards them, so just in few seconds, the dark hedgehog was able to get to the blue hedgehog, which now looked sort of scared.

"What's your name?" Shadow asked, completely ignoring the staring people. This alter ego of Sonic looked very young. He surely wasn't older than fourteen. The blue hedgehog gulped nervously, but he spoke with surprisingly steady voice. "Arthur."

Why am I not surprised? The dark agent gestured towards the stone. "You should try your luck."

Arthur looked at the stone, then back at him and then at the stone again. He gulped but started to walk towards the stone, people stepping out of his way, curious if this young hedgehog would really be able to pull the sword out.

Arthur stopped before the stone, placed his hand on the handle of the sword and then he looked at the knights and the king. He still couldn't understand how it come that he and the king looked so alike, and some of his friends even called him a King Arthur as a joke because of their resemblance.

But I am just a farmer and he's a warrior, there is no way, that I would be able to-

He stopped breathing, when he realized how easily could he pull the sword out of the stone. He slowly pulled the sword out completely and the people in the crowd gasped, when they saw him standing there with the legendary sword in his hand.

Arthur was completely surprised. This must be a dream! This can't be happening—!

The new king almost jumped out of his skin, when Sonic's hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. "Congratulations, kiddo! You're the king now!"

The crowd cheered and Arthur just stared at the people before him, having a great urge to run away...or faint. Yeah, that looked as a great idea.

"What's your name, buddy?" Sonic asked, a kind smile on his face. Arthur took a deep breath to calm himself. "My name is...Arthur."

"Welcome the new king! King Arthur!" Merlina called and the crowd immediately started to chant Arthur's name, mainly his friends, which were now standing at front of the crowd.

Arthur looked to his right to find some sort of comfort in form of Sonic's presence, but he was surprised, when he saw that the blue hedgehog was gone and when he looked back at the crowd, he could see that Sir Lancelot was gone as well.

Both Sonic and Shadow were already far away from the city, the blue hero rambling like usually.

"Seriously, swords should come back into fashion! They're freaking amazing!"

"I don't think so. There are too many idiots running around. People could get hurt." Shadow stated, looking at the other, hinting whom he meant when he says 'idiots'.

Sonic decided he won't let his mood be ruined by the other's insults and continued to talk. "And this nice medieval atmosphere! All these knights, beautiful ladies—"

"—And diseases and witch hanging..."

The blue hero sighed. "Light up a little, Shads! You have to see the nice things in the world!"

"I can see few nice things," Shadow smirked as he clicked a button on the device, which the fox kid had given him. A small portal appeared behind Sonic, but the blue hero didn't notice it. "That's great, Shads! For example?"

"This." Shadow then literally kicked him into the portal and then stepped in as well. The portal closed immediately behind him.

Sonic frowned as he rubbed his stomach. "That wasn't funny."

"I consider it very funny," the dark hedgehog answered and then his smirk even widened. "But this surely will be more funny."

Sonic started to turn around, when he spotted where Shadow was looking, but it was too late. "What—?"

"SONIKKU!"

"Amy!"

Sonic was now caught in the inescapable hug of Amy Rose.

"I should leave you alone."

"Don't dare to leave me, Shad-!"

"Bye! Chaos control!"

"Now, I can't finally have you all to myself, Sonikku!"

"NOOOOO!"

AN: Please, review.