Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Chapter 7: Dol Guldur

As they walked, Legolas looked at the Orc that used to be Sonic.

"How did you come to be in this form?"

Sonic looked at him.

"Some giant spiders dropped down on us and I transformed so we could take them down easier," he said. "For some reason, I got stuck like this."

The elf nodded. "Your Orc form will come in handy," he said.

Sonic smiled. The group continued through the forest.

"How long will it take to reach the Lonely Mountain?" Sonic asked Legolas.

"First we should get to Laketown," Legolas said. "Our visit there will influence how long it will take."

The Orc nodded and sighed, looking at his new body. He did like this new form; it would be useful. Sonic smiled and looked at the ring on his finger. Perhaps he could learn how to use more of its powers. When they got out of the forest, they turned their direction to Laketown. Tails watched Sonic as they walked, trying to get used to the fact that his best friend was now an Orc.

"How do you like being an Orc?" Tails asked.

Sonic looked at him and grinned.

"I'm used to it. It's interesting to see things from a different perspective, too."

"That's cool. Do you think you'll still be in that form if we go back to Earth?"

Sonic thought about it and nodded.

"I'm stuck in this form so that would make sense, I think."

Tails nodded, and they continued on. A few hours later, they saw that they had made their way to Dol Guldur.

"Isn't this where Gandalf and Radagast went?"

"Yeah, it is," Tails said. "Why don't we take a look around here?"

"Didn't they say something about a necromancer?" Thorin asked. "We'll have to watch ourselves."

Sonic and Tails looked at him, then nodded. They went into the old fortress and looked around. A few monsters were wandering around, but they didn't see any people.

"Looks like no one is here," Knuckles said.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

Tails nodded. Soon, they heard something and saw a dark shadow beginning to appear. The wizard in training's eyes widened and he gasped, along with Sonic.

"What is it?" one of the dwarves asked.

He saw the shadow as well and gripped his weapon tighter. The Necromancer saw them. He looked at Sonic and spoke.

"Where did you find that ring?" he asked.

The Orc gulped. "In a...cave."

The Necromancer smirked at Sonic. The ring on Sonic's finger glowed brightly and suddenly the Necromancer turned into Sauron. He chanted in Black Speech, causing the Orc to fall to the ground in pain, holding his head. Knuckles didn't wait to see what Sauron was doing. He attacked the human without giving much thought to the action. Sauron sneered and sent out a bolt of magic that made Knuckles unconscious. The Dark Lord chanted even more, causing a dark aura around Sonic, who stood up and bowed. Sauron had made the Orc corrupted, and he was now the Dark Lord's servant. Tails hurried to check on Knuckles before looking at Sonic in worry.

"Sonic?"

The Orc chuckled evilly and stood next to Sauron. Tails frowned and looked back at the dwarves.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

The dwarves were speechless, and looked at Tails. Tails looked back at Sauron and Sonic, wondering why they hadn't done anything yet.

Sauron looked at the Orc. "Attack them," he said.

Sonic nodded and struck. The dwarves were prepared and countered his attacks. Tails looked down at Knuckles, wishing the echidna was conscious. He didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to use anything on Sonic. The Orc drew his sword and swung it at Tails. The wizard gasped and knew he had to do something. Tails tried conjuring a shield as he moved back. Practice hadn't taught him how to do anything when he was actually attacked. Luckily, he managed to move out of the way. The Orc continued to attack his friends, using the power of the One Ring to strengthen them.

The group fought against Sonic, doing their best to fend off his attacks. Tails shook Knuckles, unwilling to allow him to get injured. It would work better if the echidna would come back to them.

The Orc soon became too powerful, and they knew they had to retreat. Sauron chuckled and looked at Sonic.

"Well done," he said. "You will serve me well."

The Orc nodded and bowed. "What shall we do next, Master?"

Sauron thought it over. The ring had returned to him. It was time he put his plans in motion. Sonic waited for his master to speak.

"We should return to Mordor," he said.

The Orc nodded, and he and the Dark Lord teleported back to Mordor. They appeared inside Barad-Dur and Sonic looked around.