Chapter 9 – Shrouded Powers Revealed

"Hm… That would explain my unusual feelings of Darkness and other related emotions that occurred as of late," said Caliburn as Sonic had just finished explaining his previous dream with the Black Knight and the main reason why Nimue gave him the Scabbard. The group was on their way to the Shrouded Forest somewhat swiftly to make up for the celebrations in the morning and planned to make it to the Shrouded Forest by the middle of the day to reach the far-off Cauldron by nightfall. "So Nimue gave you the Scabbard in hopes of properly amplifying the Dark power?"

"I guess so," replied Sonic, "I suppose there's only one way to find out…"

"Hey Sonic," called out Knuckles, "what do you think is going to be the next trial if Eggman has made Knights, Paladins, and Cavaliers?"

"Perhaps a dragon?" asked Bedwyr as the group passed through another fort town with its citizens gawking/cheering at the Kings and knights, "I've yet to beat one of those…"

"Maybe," said Sonic enthusiastically, "That'd be just like the Dragon's Lair in the Crystal Cave!"

"Or Eggman could also make something else," said Tails as he flew a few feet above the group to look around in case of an attack, "How much longer to the barrier stone in the Shrouded Forest Sonic?"

"Lancelot said that it was past a tunnel in the giant tree… Oh there it is!" answered Sonic as he pointed to a giant tree in the distance.

"Wait Sonic! I think I see… Merlina and 5 Uncolored Egg Knights? Wait, she just disappeared, but there's that dark aura again but around the 5 Egg Knights… Damn magic! I don't know what she's trying to pull…"

"Just relax Tails, don't go Shadow on us now because of magic…" As the group reached the entrance to the tunnel, they found it blocked by the 5 Egg Knights as they became enveloped with the dark aura. When the darkness subsided, robotic forms of Sir Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, Galahad, and Lamorak stood before them with their swords drawn and ready to fight. "Oh crap… This just got interesting!"

"How could you say that?" exclaimed Caliburn, "Sure you're the Knight of the Wind, but these are replicas of 5 of the Original Knights of the Round!"

"Well replica is just a fancy word for faker," replied Sonic confidently as he looked at the Robo-Lancelot, "Let's do it to it!"

"Do it to it?" asked Knuckles as he lunged towards Robo-Gawain.

"Oh boy, Sonic is going old-school on us," replied Tails as he managed to land a thrust on Robo-Galahad's side.

"I thought Ancient Camelot was old-school… Anyways, do Sonic's great lines of wisdom and encouragement ever end?" shouted Bedwyr as Aquarion and a copy of Laevatein clashed in a fury of slashes and sparks.

"Not really…"

For a while it appeared that Sonic's group was winning as they forced the Robo-Knights of the Round back. Bedwyr was fighting Robo-Percival in Knight-form to have a balance of Attack & Defense, Knuckles was fighting his Robo-Knight counterpart Gawain, Tails was fighting against the Silver look-alike Robo-Galahad, and Sonic had his hands filled with Robo-Lancelot & Robo-Lamorak. However, when it appeared that the Robo-Knights had reached their limit, Robo-Lancelot called out in a robotic voice, "CHAOS PUNISHMENT!" Robo-Lancelot teleported to Sonic and instead of slashing as Sonic had protected against, he unleashed an explosion similar to Chaos Blast, throwing Sonic's group flying into a near-by snow hill. Robo-Gawain followed with a Gail Meteor while Robo-Galahad & Lamorak rushed in from the sides with Robo-Percival rushing dead center with an Axel Tornado. Everyone was starting to defend, but Tails instead lunged forward and called out, "SOUL-SURGE! TORNADO DUAL-SLASH!" At Tails' command the two single-blades of his long sword arced out with the blades facing forward like the wings of his beloved Tornado airplane. He then used his namesake to propel himself forward to counter the Axel Tornado, but the result was a harsher explosion that melted the near-by snow.

"Everyone ok?" shouted Sonic urgently to the others.

"Yeah!" replied Bedwyr as he emerged from his shielded Paladin-form.

"I'm good," called out Knuckles, "but…"

"But what?" quickly asked Sonic.

"You'd better check on Tails… He doesn't look so good…"

As Sonic rushed over to Knuckles' position he found the kitsune weakly sitting up, his namesake scorched in places and his torso & legs bleeding somewhat profusely. "TAILS! Are you ok?" shouted Sonic.

"Yeah…"

"What were you thinking charging in like that?"

"I just wanted to show you guys that I've been getting stronger too and that I'm not just 'an Omachao', heh…"

"That was insane what you did there!"

"I've seen you do it all the time…"

"… Still! Knuckles, Bedwyr, take Tails to the Misty Lake; maybe Nimue can heal Tails."

"What about you Sir Sonic?" asked Aquarion.

"You're crazy if you can take all five on your own!" added Knuckles.

"TAKE HIM NOW!" shouted Sonic at the top of his lungs as the familiar Darkness started to emanate from him and now from his Scabbard.

As Bedwyr & Knuckles lifted Tails and ran in the direction of the Misty Lake, Sonic turned to the 5 Robo-Knights and said in a dark tone, "Heh, you must get a real kick out of this Eggman & Merlina, if you can hear me. But now… NOW IT'S MY TURN!" At this point the Darkness appeared to have consumed Sonic as the 5 Robos neared him, but a Dark Energy wave blew them back as he emerged. Since Sonic didn't have all the Sacred Swords, it appeared that his transformation wasn't complete. However, his gauntlet was a pitch-black color with vein-like stripes of bright violet. A helmet also emerged with the same color scheme with the exception of a gold three-pronged horn at the top, and Sonic's color had changed from his iconic Blue to a midnight shade. Furthermore, Caliburn had changed from being a golden sword into a pitch-black steel sword with razor-sharp ridges and a dark purple hilt.

Robo-Lamorak was the first to lunge towards Dark Sonic, but with one slash of pure darkness the Robo was reduced to nothing. "Always hated the arrogance of the bastard Jet, now who's next!"

Robo-Galahad responded by using a Telekinetic blast, which Dark Sonic countered by sending a Dark Energy Ball through the blast and through Robo-Galahad's chest. "Telekinesis? Bullshit! Plus, Silver can't run to save his own ass let alone Blaze's!"

Ironically, Robo-Percival was the next one to attack with Axel Tornado while Robo-Gawain launched another Gail Meteor. Sonic slammed Dark-Caliburn to the ground and caught both of Robo-Gawain's swords, throwing both of them through Robo-Percival's & Robo-Gawain's heads. "Heh, you'd think a copy of the Princess of the Sol Dimension and Guardian of the Master Emerald would at least put up a decent fight!"

As Dark Sonic picked up Dark-Caliburn and stared at Robo-Lancelot he shouted, "And as for you FAKER! YOU'RE DEAD! TRY TO CHAOS BLAST THIS!" At this point darkness enveloped the area as Dark Sonic and Dark-Caliburn levitated into the dark sky. "Dark-Surge: Void of Demise!"

Meanwhile At the Misty Lake:

"Nimue?" called out Bedwyr as Knuckles and he arrived at the Misty Lake.

"What's wrong Sir Bedwyr?" replied Nimue as she appeared in front of them.

"Tails has been injured in battle while trying to assist Sir Sonic…"

"I'll heal him at once." As mist started to envelop Tails, who was resting on the same stone bench as he was when they first arrived, Nimue asked, "Where is Sir Sonic anyways?"

"The crazy hedgehog got pissed at us and stayed behind to face 5 Robos of the main Knights of the Round," responded Knuckles.

"Pissed?"

"Angered the Knave means," corrected Aquarion.

"Oh boy, that could explain the dark energy I've just recently sensed…"

"Could you explain Lady Nimue?"

As Tails was healing Nimue explained to the others why she gave Sonic the Scabbard and about the Darkness that seemed to have awoken in him. When she finished she asked, "So Sir Sonic didn't tell you any of this?"

"Not at all…" said Tails as he was able to sit up on the stone bench. "Whoa, is it me or is the sky getting dark in the middle of the day with not a cloud in the sky?"

"Oh no…" said Nimue softly.

"What's the matter?"

"This only happens if a forbidden Soul-Surge, a Dark-Surge, is performed… Look!"

As everyone looked towards the giant tree in the distance where Sonic was fighting they saw an enormous amount of Darkness consume the area. "You mean to say Sonic did that?" shouted Knuckles as a burst of wind hit everyone.

"Yes, Sir Bedwyr, go to Sir Sonic's location at once with caution!"

"Why not me?"

"I'll need you here Knuckles; a Dark-Surge when done recklessly can have very devastating results on the area around it…"

Author's Note: More of Sonic's Dark Powers with Caliburn has been revealed, but at what cost? Wait for the next chapter to find out what has become of the Hedgehog and what devastating results occurred... I hoped you enjoyed and be sure to offer that appreciated input of yours!