CHAPTER 13: D-D-D-D, D-D-D-D-DUEL

Sonic woke as freshly as he did in his dream. He got up, grabbed a piece of bread, and sat at the table. The blacksmith had picked up a cold, and was sneezing very harshly. He had made himself some tea to clear his sinuses. Not looking or feeling very good, he looked at himself in the mirror.

-I wonder where this will get me. Let's see...-

"Woke up this mornin', started to sneeze," Sonic began to sing with a tone that's barely more than a mumble. "Had a cigarette and a cup of tea. Looked in the mirror, what did I see? A nine-stone weakling with knobbly knees."

The blacksmith, who could hear this all too well, looked back at Sonic with an insulted look on his face, not caring to hear what he was saying next. He did another harsh sneeze, and his attention focused back onto the lyrics.

"Had another sneeze and I blew my nose. I looked in the mirror at my fidgeting chest, I had to put on my clothes, because it made me depressed."

Sonic was nailed in the head with a wooden sandal.

"Ow!" Sonic grunted as he rubbed the spot it hit. -Not my best idea, but I'll see what happens in turn later.-

"I find it charming that you've made a song about me being downright pathetic on the spot, but to be honest I'd rather you not sing that." The angered metal worker replied.

"Fine." Sonic answered, making a joking mock mumbling afterward, which stirred a chuckle from Caliburn.

"Oh, you." Caliburn said as he let out a chuckling sigh. "Anyway, how are those flying machines coming along?"

"I got three done and just putting together the fourth." The tired blacksmith said. "I'm bound to mess up sooner or later, so expect it done by five o'clock."

"Arright." Sonic finished his piece of bread and went about town in search of a way to kill time. -MAN, I wish this town was Renaissance-era Venice. I'm not so big of a fan of the water, but for the love of god, it's drop dead gorgeous AND there's kickass parties. Unlike THIS BORING TOWN.-

After going around the town for an hour, Sonic returned bored. He saw Leon the Blacksmith on the roof placing a cloth over the top of the flying machine. -Not a Leonardo da Vinci work, but it'll fly, I can say that.- Sonic stopped. -I should help him. Like I got anything better to do.- The mercenaries were sitting next to 3 of the gliders, Al was patiently waiting in a chair to catch the next one.

Sonic jogged up to the workshop, and jumped to a window sill. He placed his fingers around the arch above it, and jumped up, reaching for the bottom of a window sill on the next floor. Kicking off the arch of the first window sill, he managed to climb onto that window sill, and from there to the roof.

"Hey buddy," Sonic said lacking air, as he was pulling himself up. "Need help with the last one?"

"Sure" the blacksmith answered plainly. He pointed toward the just finished glider. "Toss that to Al." Sonic picked up the surprisingly light glider and tossed it down to the bear, who caught it by the nose, and handed it to an eager Degroot. The Blacksmith showed Sonic the schematic for the design he was making on a stand, and began to lay down on the roof as Sonic got to work.

In a good amount of time, Sonic had finished the last glider. He was about to toss it down, but stopped himself. He took a few steps back from the ledge.

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow as he was opening the trap door to the attic of the workshop. "Going to test it?"

"You know it." Sonic smirked.

"Won't go too far, though." Leon pointed out. "No open fires."

"To hell with it." Sonic said as he ran and jumped, taking a small dip to allow speed to pick up.

He flew fast, and he could hear the wind whistling by his ear. He was a foot away from the ground when he pulled up. The glider took upward immediately and went back into the sky. He could hear people cheer for him as he turned around and slowly pulled up as he was landing, slowing him down so he could stop while controlling the glider.

The first to meet him was Degroot. "Holy crap, that was AWESOME." He shouted, dancing like a fool.

"And ta zink no-wone zhouht of tat..." Rachel chuckled. -What the fuck is going on with her voice, sounds like she's missing teeth.- "Can it liff our geer?"

"The hell happened to your voice?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, iz jus a richual I'm preparring." -Holy dooley, she is SO ANNOYING NOW!- "Zit reequirz teef. I'll grow dem back."

"Whatever," Sonic shook his head, visibly annoyed. "Anyway, it will lift your gear. Try it out a couple of times, get used to it, don't smash it, we're leaving in an hour."

"Got it!" The band said in unison.

I am surrounded by COWARDS, the lavender cat thought to herself.

Percival grumbled to herself as she reread a letter from Gawain for the third time, saying that he was going to spend the next few months meditating in a log house he built in the forest. She cursed as she tossed it over her shoulder and off the cliff, into the burning lava below.

I should have left with Galahad and Lamorak, she ranted on to herself. But 'no', I say, 'the king is just trying to unite Britain,' I SAY, 'give him a chance'! Now, they're gone, Lancelot is dead, Gawain's a monk, my own king won't even fight until we're all gone one way or another, leaving ME to fight him. Fuck.

Percival looked around the rocky environment. The previous knights fought in areas where there were tall pillars or trees commonly interrupted the combat, but here, it was just large, sharp, rocks. If she were in a forest or a temple, she'd be able to hide behind the pillars and get a sneak attack, but no, she chose the place with the scorching heat and sharp rocks, in hope that the heat would get to him and the rocks would slash him.

I need an edge. She thought, her inner voice refraining from pannicking. A trap. An ace in the hole. But what?

Percival saw a very sheer cliff, with little to no ground underneath the very tip. Smiling a bit, she grabbed a pickaxe. This isn't going to be what saves my life, for sure... She crept over to the edge and began picking at what little was under the ledge. I need another boost. But what will it be? What will be the deciding factor that determines weather or not I get killed?

She pulled out the pickaxe, which clipped the cliff and made volcanic ash fly into her face. Coughing, she raised her visor, and began spitting and hacking. At last, when all the soot was out of her mouth, she groaned. "I should have kept looking for that fucking cup."

Sonic, Saxton, Degroot, Al, and Rachel stood at the edge of the vast volcano with their gliders. -You know, it kinda looks like the Grand Canyon, except with lava, LOTS AND LOTS OF LAVA.- Sonic was now clad in his new armor, which was painted red and white. The shield was huge, from his torso to his shins. Instead of a logo on it, Sonic wanted words to be on it. The words read -In some angry hand.-; "HOPE RIDES ALONE".

"I'm not so sure a' dis, boss..." Al said doubtfully, looking off into the distance. The mesas of rock were far and few.

Saxton wiped sweat off his brow. "Hot stuff rises, big guy. Hot air will push us up. If not, land in one of them mining towns and continue from there."

Sonic chuckled off their worries. "Don't fret, it'll work. I've done this before."

The blacksmith stood in the background, watching as they got ready to fly across the ocean of lava. -Hopefully he doesn't feel as bad now that he realizes we're flying over something that'll kill you upon contact.-

With an equipment check, head count, and one last look around, Sonic spoke up. "Alright chums, LET'S DO THIS."

With a war cry, Sonic dashed off and jumped, tipping the front down. Within moments, the glider soared upward and was gliding dozens of feet higher than where he was when he took off. Hopes raised by this, the mercenaries took off with the same technique, with similar results.

"WOOOHOOO!" Degroot shouted. "WE'RE FLYIN' LADS WE'RE FLYIN'!"

"W-we're flying!" Caliburn rejoiced, hardly keeping back a compliment to Sonic's idea.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Like I said before, not my first time flying, but nothing's quite like flying over miles of lava. Well, exce-COUGH COUGH COUGH... dag nabbit."

The mercenaries cheered amongst themselves for moments, before the heat got to them. And then everything else got to them. The heat was one thing, but there was so much soot and ash, you could not see the sun. The only light that touches this land is from the sea of molten earth below.

In a few minutes, the team had landed on the center-most mesa. The rocks were as hot as the air around them.

-You know what?-

Sonic reached for the boomstick. He flicked it above his head with one hand as the barrels plopped down an angle from the stock. Saxtons' eyes were wreaked with jealousy of such a fine weapon.

-FUCK THIS OVERPOWERED PIECE OF SHIT.-

With one careless flick, Sonic tossed the boomstick off the mesa, and continued onward with Caliburn out. -I never needed guns, it makes me look like Shadow. Sure, it ALSO makes me look like that guy from Army of Darkness with the BOOMSTICK joke, but hell when I shot Lancelot, HIS EYE HIT ME. JUST. FUCKING. EW. Besides, not going to use it during this fight.-

Shocked and stunned, Saxton and the equally jealous mercenaries just watched as the weapon flew off the cliff, with their mouths agape. Only seconds after the weapon fell beyond the edge, Saxton dashed up to the edge to confirm its' destruction.

"FUCK, DAMMIT, SHIT!" Saxton screamed in frustration. Getting up, he looked at his friends, glared at the hero, and then back to his friends. Saxton flicked his head toward Sonic.

Nodding, the team withdrew whatever weapons they had. Saxton withdrew his crossbow, with a very sinister frown stretching across his face as he was about to bring it up to his shoulder.

Sonic, who, aware that the cliff was very fragile, began to jog over to it.

"What was tossing the gun for? It could have helped you during THIS NEXT FIGHT, that you KNOW you were going to have! Why did you..." -I know I'm gonna do, I'm going to break that cliff, I'm going to find this hiding cat girl, and I am GOING to SAY-

Suddenly, a minecart flipped over, and out sprung Percival, grabbing Sonic's shoulder to hold Sonic still as she went for a stab to the back.

-DOUBLE NIGGER-

Sonic jerked at the sight of the knight, dropping Caliburn in the process. Sonic felt the pressure of the sword collide with the shield, and in reaction, Sonic twisted and punched Percival in the cheek. Sonic grabbed the blunt side of her rapier while she was stunned from the punch, and began to yank on it, but Percival fought hard to keep hold of it.

Sonic's armor, specifically the metal gauntlet he got from Merlina, was proving to be useful, as Sonic had a good grip on the sword with one hand. Sonic began kicking Percival, and after a few kicks, she let go, and the moment she hit the ground she began rolling to behind a rock. Sonic reared the sword back and threw it.

Percival saw it land a dozen feet away from them.

"SKIP THE FORMALITIES." Sonic boomed. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!"

-Now that I have time to think, if you don't understand why I said "Double Nigger", look up Racist Robotnik comics, or don't, if you're not a fan of Tourettes Guy.-

Seeing that they were both weaponless, she was interested. Regardless, she stood hidden behind the rock. "What are the terms?" She asked, her voice shivering, not with fear, nor anger. Sonic couldn't place an emotion, but he could tell that she was ready for a fight.

"No weapons. No armor, other than helmets. First to remove the others helmet wins."

Caliburn interjected. "WHAT THE DEVIL KIND OF TERMS ARE THOSE?"

"If I win, I get your loyalty and your sword. If you win, you get my loyalty and my sword." Sonic continued, smashing his sharp shield into the rock.

Percival was unsure how to think of these terms. If she wins, she could turn him in and take his sword, but, what if he wins, what would become of her? Percival took a look out from behind the rock, to see that the helmet that went with the armor had been replaced, with a black and red one. Her eyes were not on the person underneath the visor. Her eyes were fixed on the clean hole in the center of the forehead.

Sonic saw a bit of fire spit from her mouth as she scoffed. "Deal." Percival answered through gritted teeth, with a hateful smile. She got out from behind the rock, undoing her gauntlets.

"What naow bozz? Are hwee juz gonna seet heer, and vatch heem get a zlaev?" Rachel whispered.

Saxton chuckled. "Ye. She's not gonna to do good of a fight. 'Cides, who here honestly thinks she'll win after what the blue boy did to me in the bar? Eh?"

"... Duh..." the yellow cat paused.

"... Go fuck a cactus, ya ugly whore."

"YOU HWANNA BET?"

The duelers were stripped down to their normal clothing, save for minor leather items; The only thing metal on them were their helmets. -Thank god, that gauntlet off my hand is such a good feeling. Makes me feel lightweight again.-

"Caliburn, when you're ready." Sonic ordered.

Percival's voice was low and beast-like. "You're going to burn, you motherfucker...!"

"Duel!" Caliburn shouted, and with that, the warriors dashed into each other.

"SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER!" Sonic cried out, running straight into Percival.

Sonic sent a jab to Percival's stomach before she could get an attack ready. Placing his hand around her neck, Sonic reared back his fist to let out a good punch, but she blocked it, and countered with a kick to the side. Not even managing to break Sonic's pitch, Percival tried a punch, but Sonic ducked to his right, and sent a punch toward her gut. He send a low kick and knocked her off her feet while she was recovering from the punch, and Sonic jotted back a few steps.

"C'mon, you want some, you ponsy?" Sonic taunted, bouncing up and down on both feet, boxing style as his enemy got to her feet quickly "If Lancelot was all fur coat 'n no knickers, you should be piss easy."

Percival, without any warning, lunged and punched Sonic in the face. With his visor down, it didn't hurt, and he began blocking his head boxing style as he stumbled backward, Percival hopped forward and did a spinning kick to his head. Sonic took the hit, but the force behind it was tough. Sonic got knocked to the side, but he rolled back up and shook his head.

"Ooh," Sonic groaned, shaking his head. "Not bad." He rolled into a spinball and blasted at Percival. She did not expect anything like that. She jumped out of the way, but Sonic smashed into her leg, causing her to spin in the air. Sonic stopped twenty feet further, and ran over to pounce onto Percival. She saw him coming and kicked him away as he ran by. She rolled back to her feet as did Sonic, and they both charged each other. Sonic was ready for some climactic fist interlocking, but Percival had a different plan.

Percival stopped, ducked under Sonic's punch, and shot her hands up to Sonic's neck. -FFFFFFFFF-

Sonic jerked in reaction, and tried to break free, kicking at her viciously, but she was hellbent on killing him at the moment. It didn't even seem to phase her that this was supposed to be a duel, and not a deathmatch. Sonic stopped fighting back and grabbed Percival's neck. Instead of pressing his fingers down though, he kept one hand to hold it down, and the other was attempting to pull her throat out of her neck. He almost did that when Percival removed her hands from his neck. Sonic quickly removed his hands as well and kicked her in the stomach.

"What the hell your problem?" Sonic shouted, backing up to one knee, gasping for air. Percival was doing the same thing, checking her throat for a moment.

"I'm drunk, and even I think you both are bloody stupid..." Degroot sighed, pinching his brow together, but couldn't resist a chuckle. "I can understand betting money, but this is not about money! You both are actually betting that whoever has their fighter lose actually FUCKS a god damn CACTUS!"

"Shut up, ya lazy duck." Saxton ordered.

Rachel began to back her reasoning. "Zes. Hwee are haffing FUN."

Sonic finally recovered, and immediately sent a heavy-handed smack to the side of Percival's head. Her helmet took the hit, and she quickly got into a fighting stance. She send a jab to Sonic's stomach, Sonic let it land and curled up over the fist. He spun around, keeping a tight grip on her arm, and launched her into the ground.

Percival tried getting up quickly, but was met with a kick to the head. She flipped over, and before Sonic could try to attack her again, she kicked Sonic square in the chest, knocking him back a bit. Using the time gained from this, Percival got up and got ready to defend herself.

"Tell me why." Sonic asked, his voice asked in a gritty and somewhat breathless, also assuming a blocking position. -Kinda hard to keep a normal voice when you were just kicked in the gut.- "Why do you think you're doing what's right?"

"IT'S NOT." The cat spat. "I HAVE NO CHOICE."

"Sure there's more options! What do you mean 'no other choice'?" Sonic said more clearly now, bracing himself.

"I decided to take a friend's advice. 'Stop being paranoid, Percival, it's doing nothing good.'" She rambled on in a mocking tone as she began to draw closer. She send a side winding kick to Sonic's side, leaving flame in it's wake.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he barely managed to dodge the kick and the flames, rolling backwards in the process.

"Decided to give the king a couple more chances. Next thing you know, my allies are dead, gone, or wimped out!" the Knight of the Grail ranted, advancing with a series of kicks, each one becoming more ferocious as Sonic continued to dodge them, if only by inches. Sonic began to back pedal a good distance.

"Even the KING doesn't want to fight you! So here I am, if I stop fighting I die," Percival continued. "If I kill you I'm ruining the world."

Sonic could not even see her behind the flurry of kicks she was sending out, and the streaks of fire that trailed them. Sonic watched as she finally stopped, gasping for air.

Sonic began to walk up to his breathless enemy. "I had to win a bet to get those guys over there. They didn't want to save the world. I had to make them. No one has the guts to fight alongside the person willing to save everyone's ass. At least they don't want to. But, since you seem hellbent on killing me..."

Sonic sent a powerful kick toward Percival's chest, breaking her defense and knocking her to the ground.

"SO IT BEGINS!" Sonic shouted -Obviously referring to the musical I'm about to break into.-, stomping over to Percival. "No matter which one of us wins, the ground we're standing on will crack, and blow away."

Sonic got on top of Percival. "YOU WILL FIGHT! And when you fight, you fight alone." Sonic flicked up Percival's visor, rearing back a fist. "And in the end you'll see there was no othe-"

"STOP, STOP, STOP!" Percival shouted as she kicked Sonic off, and rolled back up to her feet. -GOD DAMN IT PERCIVAL, YOU RUINED MY MUSICAL.-

Sonic took his time getting up, with a good guess of what her response would be.

"Hold up! Stop fighting and talk!" She ordered.

"I thought you said you had no choice." Sonic asked as he got onto his feet.

"We want the same thing; kill the king. We have the same problems. I can see us both agree on the answers to those problems, we put the pointless anger away for a moment and compromise. You know, make a new answer?"

Sonic cracked his back very loudly. "Then I was right." Sonic began walking over to his enemy. "You agree to switch sides, to the side where people will only sit back and watch you die to save their lives?"

"Yes." Percival sighed. She dropped any guard she had by now.

"You agree to turn all the hate you had against me, and point it toward the true cause of all the pain and death?" Sonic was now within touching distance of Percival.

"Yes."

"You agree that you made a bet?"

Sonic pressed his thumb against her raised visor.

"Y... oh N-"

With a grinchy smile stretched from ear to ear across his face, Sonic casually pushed off Percival's helmet. She tried grabbing it, but when she felt the fur on her head, she made a face the shared the look of fear and anger.

-This week's forecast: I foresee a lot of SCRATCHING, BITCHING, MOANING, AND HELLFIRE. In 2 or 3 weeks, however we may see some PARTYING. This has been a weather forecast by Andrew W.K.-