Attacked

Earlier that day…

At the head of the Round Table, along the outer circle, King Arthur sat patiently as the Royal Wizard entered the room. A silvery white hedgehog glad in armor that matched his fur color followed close behind her. He had seven quills on his head; five of with came out of his forehead like a crown while two long ones flowed back. On his feet were indigo armor boots with golden cuffs. On his hands he wore silvery gauntlets with golden cuffs. The visor on his helmet was up, revealing he golden eyes.

It was Sir Galahad, the Silver Knight.

When the two saw their King, they both bowed respectfully.

"Sire," Merlina said, "Sir Galahad is here."

"The other Knights are on the way," the hedgehog knight explained, "They'll be here soon."

"Thank you," King Arthur nodded, "in the meantime, I'd like to discuss the matter at hand."

The King of Camelot stood up and motioned for Galahad to take his seat. The Knight acknowledged the order and took his seat, just opposite of the King. Merlina, on the other hand, simply remained standing.

"Sir Galahad," the King said in a strong voice, "I assume you are aware of the danger that has begun to threaten the Kingdom."

"Yes, sire," Galahad frowned, "just last night more monsters of the Underworld attacked a nearby village. Gawain and Lancelot have been tracking their movements. From what they've gathered, the Underworld army seems to be heading in a straight line toward Castle Camelot."

"I see," Arthur pensively rubbed his chin. "I fear that this disturbance may result in the destruction of our world."

"Your majesty," Merlina hesitantly raised her hand, "if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, since the monsters are heading toward the Castle, then it would be wise for you to leave here as soon as possible."

"I appreciate your concern, Merlina," the King turned toward the young wizard, "but I am more concerned for the safety of my citizens. That is why I called you and the Knights here, Galahad. I want you all to patrol the kingdom."

"Yes, your majesty," Galahad bowed his head. "But what about you? As Knights of the Round Table, your safety is our first and foremost priority."

"I understand," Arthur acknowledged the Silver Knight's concern, "that is why I need Merlina to remain here and..."

Before the King could finish his sentence, an ominous laughter came out of nowhere and echoed throughout the room.

"Oh, King Arthur," it mockingly chuckled, "still as pathetic as ever. How you ever manage to become King is still a mystery to me."

Galahad leapt from his seat and drew his sword.

"How dare you insult the king!" he shouted.

"Sir Galahad," the voice continued in the same taunting voice, "loyal as ever, I see. That Sacred Sword of yours does suit you. However, even you can't stand up to my power."

Suddenly, a black mist appeared in the inner part of the Round Table and began to take shape. Soon it became a figure of a black knight. Its pale white eyes scowled at the witnesses staring in it with shock and caution.

"Who are you?" King Arthur warily stepped back and gripped the pommel of his sword.

"I am the commander of the Underworld. You can call me "the Black Knight"!"

Before Galahad and Merlina knew what was happening, the stranger lunged toward Arthur. The King drew Excalibur from its sheath and blocked the Black Knight's blow. Upon seeing his sovereign locked in a struggle, Galahad sprang from his place and slashed at the attacker. To his surprise and horror, his sword just cut through the mist.

"What!?" he gasped.

"Your efforts are futile," the Black Knight scoffed.

Suddenly, the assailant pushed Arthur to the ground and slashed at Galahad. The hedgehog levitated out of the way and attempted to attack again. The Black Knight conjured a black electric orb and threw it at the Silver Knight. It hit Galahad with a mighty force and he flung back against the wall, letting go of his sword in the process. He fell to the ground and curved in pain.

"Enough!" Merlina yelled, "Element: Fire!"

Merlina summoned a fireball from the orb on her staff and swung it at the Black Knight. The flaming orb hit its target and the mysterious intruder stumbled back before dropping to his knees.

"Impressive," he coughed, "you really are Merlin's granddaughter. However, even you can't stop my plans!"

The attacker swung his sword and sent a black wave at Merlina. She managed to put a barrier shield up in time, but the attack was more powerful than anything she had ever blocked before. It gave her almost all the strength she had just to stand her ground. When the wave of darkness dissipated, she gripped her staff and fell to her knees, winded from the amount energy she had to quickly put into her defense.

"Merlina!" Galahad painfully groaned.

Just then, Arthur vaulted over the Table's outer circle and into its center. Gripping Excalibur with both hands, he faced the Black Knight. The assailant turned around to the King, its pale eyes looking at him with malevolence.

"State your business, intruder!" He demanded.

"Simple," the Black Knight said wickedly, "I want the scabbard of Excalibur."

He pointed to the scabbard around Arthur's waist. The King stepped back and turned slightly to the side, trying to keep the scabbard out of reach.

"You can't have it!" Galahad shouted.

As quick as lightening, Galahad got up from his spot, grabbed his weapon with his mind energy, and leapt into the center of the table. He scowled as he pointed his sword at the Black Knight.

"I wasn't talking to you!" the attacker snapped at the Silver Knight.

"Galahad, stand down!" King Arthur ordered.

Galahad hesitated, but eventually obeyed and lowered his sword slightly.

"Why do you want the scabbard?" the King asked, still keeping Excalibur raised.

The Black Knight said nothing. Instead, he lunged at Arthur. The King had no time to react. Before he knew what was going on, the Black Knight shoved him back, ripping the scabbard of his belt in the process. Arthur fell backwards and knocked into the inner circle of the table.

"King Arthur!" Galahad shouted.

Galahad then leapt at the dark knight with much fury in his eyes. As drew closer to his opponent, the scabbard in the Black Knight's hand began to glow. The Silver Knight attempted to strike, but was repelled back by a barrier. Galahad flew back into Merlina just as she entered the inner circle. She gasped in pain as she was slammed into the table, and they both fell to the stone floor.

"This scabbard," The Black Knight raised his prize triumphantly into the air, "while in the right hands can make one immortal! With this, I'll be able to carry out my plans!"

The Black Knight turned to King Arthur, raised his hand, and a black opening appeared below the King.

"No!" Merlina cried.

Merlina shoved Galahad off of her and raced toward her king. But she was too late. She dove for Arthur and reached out to grab his hand. Sadly, he slipped out of her grasp and fell into the oblivion. Before Merlina could even try to rescue him, the opening that had swallowed Arthur up had closed.

"NO!"

Merlina looked up with a scowl, but her face immediately changed to surprised horror. The Black Knight no longer looked like a dark ghost, but like King Arthur himself.

"But…how!" Galahad staggered as he witnessed the transformation. Just a blink of an eye, and an evil illusion of their king stood before them.

"Oh, a sad fate for the King," the voice of King Arthur answered from the imposter. "Trapped in the Underworld for all eternity."

"BRING HIM BACK THIS INSTANT!" Galahad bellowed in rage.

The Silver Knight flew high into the air and shot back down at the imposter with tremendous force. The Black Knight gave a wicked grin and blocked Galahad's attack. The two got caught in a sword lock, creating small sparks as Galahad focused his mind energy into his sword. In a matter of seconds, Merlina rose to her feet and summoned another spell.

"Element: Quintessence!"

A stream of lightning shot from the ball on her staff and hit the Black Knight. It was at that moment the door opened and three Knights walked in: Lancelot, Gawain, and Percival.

"Galahad?!" Lancelot stared in shock at the sight of what he saw.

"Lancelot!" Galahad managed to say.

Before Galahad could continue, the Black Knight shoved him away and broke Merlina's spell. Galahad flew out of the table, landed on his feet, and slid back a ways. Merlina staggered back against until she hit the inner circle of the table. She gripped the woodwork to steady herself.

"Seize them!" the imposter ordered. "They have betrayed the kingdom!"

There was a moment of hesitation as the three knights tried to process what was happening.

Galahad and Merlina attacking the King? That just didn't seem right. It couldn't be true! But…they all saw it!

"Obey your king and seize the traitors!" The Black Knight bellowed.

Almost immediately, Lancelot and Gawain rushed towards Galahad while Percival went for Merlina!

Galahad looked at the two in terror and backed up against the wall.

"No! Lancelot! Gawain! It's not what you think!" He pleaded, not wanting to fight his comrades.

"You were fighting our King!" Gawain barked gruffly.

"No, he's not…!"

Galahad didn't get to finish his statement. At that moment, he had to duck as Lancelot threw a red bolt of energy at him. The Ultimate Knight then drew his sword and charged at Galahad. Galahad lifted his own sword out of defense.

"Lancelot, stop!"

But the black hedgehog didn't seem to be listening. Confusion and anger bumped through him and he threw his attacks at his comrade.

"Lancelot, please stop!" Galahad desperately continued to plead. "You're making a mistake!"

Galahad blocked and evaded Lancelot's assaults with everything he had. He didn't want to hurt his comrade, but he couldn't let himself get injured either. He gave just a quickly glance over to see Percival fighting Merlina. Though the wizard was holding her own, she was starting to become weary. And Galahad could tell that she didn't want to hurt Percival either.

Galahad and Merlina had to get away!

The Silver Knight finally threw a blast of cyan energy at Lancelot, knocking him into Gawain, and rushed over to Merlina. Percival was about to strike again when Galahad knocked her aside with another blast of energy. The knight bitterly clenched as he did.

"I'm sorry, comrades," he whispered.

Galahad then picked Merlina up and flew out of the door as quickly as he could.

"…The false king then pursued us," Merlina explained, looking down at her cup of tea. "We managed to escape, but we are now seen as traitors."

"So you're saying that this Black Knight guy is pretending to be King Arthur?" Sonic asked once she was done.

Merlina solemnly nodded.

"Heh, and I thought Shadow was a real faker," Sonic grinned jokingly to himself.

At he sound of that comment, the Silver Knight turned to the blue hedgehog and scowled.

"Knave," he snapped, "this is serious!"

"Galahad, calm down," Nimue gently gestured. "I know you're discouraged and upset, but you can't let your temper control you."

"My apologies, Nimue," the white hedgehog dismally nodded.

Sonic turned to Galahad when he called him "knave". Mostly because he found it weird to hear something like that come out of someone he knew to not be very poetic, but rather straightforward and, at times, somewhat immature. Although Sonic knew that Galahad wasn't the same person he was thinking of, it was still bizarre.

Still, that was nothing compared to how odd it was to see Amy talking so calm and collected. He always knew her to be hyperactive and energetic. So seeing behave the opposite was very strange.

The thing Sonic had to do to cope with all of this was to remind himself that these people weren't the friends he knew back home.

"So," he casually rubbed his finger underneath his nose, "a usurped king, an underworld invasion, is there a plan to defeat him?"

"Yes," Nimue replied, "the only way to defeat the Black Knight is to blunt the power he has possessed on the scabbard. To do so, you must unite the Knights of the Round Table. They each wield a Sacred Sword like the one Galahad himself possesses. The Swords, when combined together, hold the equal power of that of Excalibur: the greatest of all Sacred Swords."

"And with the Sacred Swords together," Merlina said, "we should be able to dispel the Black Knight's curse."

"Precisely." Nimue concluded.

"However," Galahad interrupted, "we need one more Sacred Sword to make it complete: Caliburn."

"Caliburn?" Sonic asked.

"It was the sword that proved Arthur was ready to be king." Merlina explained.

"Oh, you mean 'The Sword in the Stone'," Sonic grinned when he made the connection.

"Yes," Merlina replied, "you know this story?"

"Yeah, it's actually a popular story back where I come from." Sonic casually stretched as he leaned back in his seat.

"I see." Nimue answered quietly.

"And I take it the sword is where I come in." Sonic said with a blasé tone.

"If you mean that's why you were summoned, then yes." Galahad grumbled, irritated with this hedgehog's unconcerned attitude.

Nimue then stood up and pointed eastward.

"Beyond this lake is where Caliburn lies," she explained. "Galahad, you will need to escort Sonic to the location."

"Yes, my lady." Galahad stood up and bowed with respect.

"Merlina," the Lady of the Lake continued as she turned to the wizard, "I need your help in keeping the powers of the Underworld at bay. We also need to figure out a way to summon King Arthur back."

"Of course," the wizard replied, determined to mend the mistake she made before.

"Well," Sonic jumped to his feet, "since I'm stuck here, I might as well help you guys out. Besides, a story with magic and swords sounds like an exciting adventure."

"This is not a game, knave!" Galahad scolded as he snapped his head in Sonic's direction. "If we don't hurry then this kingdom will fall and our King will be lost to the Underworld forever! So either you take this seriously or you do not come along at all!"

"Okay, okay, I get the point." Sonic sharply answered. "Now stop calling me knave! My name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Very well." Galahad replied tersely. "Let's just get going. We have no time to lose."

Immediately, the two hedgehogs emerged from the mist and set out toward the woods. Sonic ran fast on foot while Galahad kept up by gliding beside him.

What neither of them saw was that Lancelot emerged from the shadows of the trees and watch them race off.

The Ultimate Knight clenched his fists for a moment, and then set out in pursuit of his former comrade. Although he would never say it out loud, he was secretly dreading the mission that he was assigned to carry out.