Chapter 14 – VS Dark Excalibur Sonic

As Tails raised his sword and called out Dark Excalibur Sonic he said, "I know you're there Sonic! Sorry I have to do this…" Tails then used his two namesakes to propel himself towards Dark Sonic as he lunged. Dark Sonic instantly defended against the attack and repelled Tails back with a Dark Pulse. "Ugh, a simple attack won't work on him… Ok, SOUL-SURGE: TORNADO DUAL SLASH!" With that command Tails took to the skies and opened the two blade sword into its bladed airplane-like form. Right before Tails was about to land a hit Dark Sonic quick-stepped to the side and slashed, sending Tails in the opposite direction. "Ow… If I didn't have my sword up at that moment I would've been finished… I have to keep trying!" Tails rose once more with his sword still in a Soul-Surge state, determined to make Sonic come to his senses. Just as Dark Sonic was about to knock Tails back again, Knuckles glided in and caught him off guard by knocking him down to the ground. When Dark Sonic impacted the ground and was about to rise again Bedwyr attacked by performing a Spin-Dash while inside his shell, knocking Sonic back another few yards. As Tails landed with the others he said, "Thanks Knuckles & Bedwyr! What was that attack right now? It looked oddly familiar, but in more than one way…"

"Remember how in the Dream part of the Olympics Mario had those green shell things?" responded Knuckles, "Well why not combine that with the Classic Spin-Dash since Bedwyr can't curl up into a ball naturally?"

"Huh, like a Shell-Dash? Maybe Sonic shouldn't call you a Knucklehead as often as he does… Anyways, let's attack together… Watch out!" Dark Sonic at this moment shot out a barrage of Dark Energy Balls, prompting Tails & Knuckles to attack them while Bedwyr got into Paladin-Form to defend. As soon as the attack was over, Dark Sonic appeared and rose his sword to slash downwards. However, Tails barely blocked the blow while Bedwyr Shell-Dashed into him, sending him into Knuckles' fists which only dented the armor of the Dark Excalibur Sonic.

"How the hell are we supposed to snap Sonic out of it if he's basically invincible?" shouted Knuckles.

"Every Super Form has its weakness; we just need to find the one of Dark Excalibur…"

As Tails, Knuckles, and Bedwyr did their best to fight off Dark Excalibur Sonic Tails thought, "He doesn't appear to have a time-limit or ring-limit on this one, so what could his weakness be… Huh? That Dark Seal on his chest seems odd, maybe if we slash there enough times… Besides, didn't Sonic say some of his Forms depended on amounts of hits instead of time or rings?"

"Knuckles, Bedwyr, try to aim at the Dark Seal in Sonic's chest!"

"Got it!" replied Knuckles as he ducked under Dark Sonic's sword and landed a direct hit, causing him to slightly falter. However, Bedwyr took the opportunity by attacking with another Shell-Dash and connecting its blow to the Seal.

As Knuckles and Bedwyr tried to attack Dark Sonic some more, Tails took to the sky for what he hoped would be the last time for this battle. "Knuckles, Bedwyr, get out of the way! ULTIMATE… SOUL-SURGE! TORNADO II BARRAGE!" As Tails started to fly to where the Sun was faintly on the horizon covered by Darkness he thought, "I hope this does the trick brother…" He then dove towards Dark Sonic, who had been enveloped by the massive tornado.

However, as Tails was actually driving his sword through Dark Sonic he made a final counter by calling out, "Dark-Surge: Void of Demise!" Knuckles and Bedwyr quickly ran out of range as the Void engulfed the entire battlefield. When the Void disappeared and they looked at what happened, they found Tails lying on the ground severely damaged as Dark Sonic kneeled next to him with Tails' sword still inside him.

As Dark Sonic stood and was about to raise his sword to deliver the final blow, Tails weakly looked up and pulled his sword out of Dark Sonic's chest, holding it lightly in defense. "Sorry I failed you Sonic…" As Tails flinched at what he thought was his death blow, he looked up and saw Dark Sonic frozen where he stood.

Inside Sonic's mind, Sonic could do nothing but sit and watch as he saw his rage, controlled by his Darkness in the form of the Black Knight, take over. He had called out time and time again for the 'Black Knight' to stop, but he kept attacking his friends. When he saw the damage done to Tails as the 'Black Knight' was about to deliver the final blow, he snapped out of his paralyzed state and knocked him back, freezing Sonic's body as neither his normal or Dark form were in control.

"What are you doing?" shouted Sonic, "This is not the way to defeat Eggman and Merlina!"

"What are you saying imbecile?" asked the Black Knight, "This is what you felt, pure rage and the need to destroy. I'm merely carrying out your Dark emotions…"

"Well my emotion now is to stop, so cut this out Black Knight!"

"I thought I already told you knave, I'm not the Black Knight, but the entity of your Darkness", responded the Black Knight as he removed his helmet, revealing an exact duplicate of Sonic, "When the Dark Queen was released and your rage was turned into an entity, your Darkness turned into a separate part, me. But in the end I'm only an illusion of you, doing as your emotions truly wish-"

Caliburn materialized into Sonic's hand as he rushed to his Dark half while saying, "Cut the talk! So what if you're just my Dark half who happens to look like the Black Knight? I'M in control and I say to stop this madness now!"

Deathcalibur materialized into the Dark half's hand as he called out, "Then come and take control once more!"

Both blades collided as both Dark & normal Sonic struggled to gain an upper hand. For a moment Dark Sonic pushed hard and forced Sonic to kneel, but then he shouted out, "This is my body, my mind, and I'll not let my Darkness get the better of me anymore!" At this point Sonic rose as Caliburn shone, forcing his Dark half back.

As he slashed his Dark self, Dark Sonic said while dissolving, "Fine, take control. But Darkness is in everyone, so don't expect me to leave completely…"

As Tails sat waiting for Sonic to move, he saw a struggle of Light and Dark flashes. At one point it appeared that the Darkness would win, but then Sonic shone with Light as the Dark Seal on his chest shattered. When the shining light disappeared, the true Excalibur Sonic appeared. "Sonic… Is that really you?"

"Yeah, I think the Dark half is gone for good. Anyways, I'm sorry about losing it like that…"

"It's ok, that's what brothers are for, but I don't think the Darkness will truly leave until we defeat Merlina for good… Do you think you can handle it until then?"

"Yeah, it should stay under control now. Knuckles, Bedwyr, where art thou?"

"Ha, very funny Sonic," said Knuckles as he and Bedwyr appeared, "Are you done with your temper tantrum?"

"Yeah yeah… But how are we supposed to heal Tails?"

As the group thought for a moment Excalibur stated, "Why not let Knuckles & Bedwyr make the trip back to Nimue while we go ahead?"

"Walk all the way back?" shouted Knuckles, "But what about the final battle?"

"Yeah, we shouldn't let you go on your own!" added Bedwyr.

"I can handle Eggman & Merlina; I've beaten them before without breaking a sweat!" reassured Sonic.

"Just… Be careful…" slowly said Tails, "We'll join you as soon as possible…"

"I will. Excalibur, ready to end this?" said Sonic as he took off towards the new Dark Hollow Castle.

"Ready Sir Sonic. With this power reborn, we should be able to slash through anything."

Author's Note: I couldn't wait to type up this battle so I immediately did. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed trying to type this epic battle! Offer your input and be sure to keep watch for the final battle! The final battle should be typed and posted within a few days, one week at the most.