CHAPTER 18: S.S. LIAR
-... If that happens, then I'm sure my friends would understand. I'm sure Amy would be pissed off that I 'cheated' on all of my friends for an army of clones, but when I can tell them to do everything, I'm sure she won't mind. Vote Sonic for dictator. Anyway...-
Sonic arose from the bed, and went upstairs. Riley was sitting in the home-made armchair by the unlit fireplace, looking lonesome. Sonic, curious as to why he was still there, searched the house. Leon was not to be found.
"Dang, what happened to Smithy?" Sonic asked aloud, hoping for the blacksmith to come out of somewhere to answer.
"He could have been taken away..." Caliburn suggested.
"But Percival freed EVERYONE, and I'm sure if she didn't get everyone, the others did." Sonic debated. "It's weird. Why would Smithy be gone so long? Where would he go?"
Caliburn would have scratched his chin, if he had arms. Or a chin. "Perhaps that 'superman' thing didn't go so well with the fox...?"
Sonic shook his head as he began putting on his armor. "Nah, the kid should be able to take a joke. And running away over that? I'd hope he's not that pathetic."
"I assume you are right." Caliburn gave in. "But there has to be a reason."
As Sonic put on his helmet, he came up with another answer.
"Or he's spent the night with his girlfriend. Party went on all night, and..." Sonic looked out the poor quality glass window. It was the kind of glass that was used to make the pictures in churches, except this was much clearer. "Wait, is it still going on?"
Caliburn's dull voice became slightly more cheerful. "Perhaps that explains it. You can't blame him after what he's done for us."
Sonic smiled as he grabbed Caliburn, and headed for the door. "Right. Kid deserves some fun. Anyway, I need a boat."
Gawain was now traveling with the Knights of the Round Table. Sonic had taken his axes, so he had to arm himself with a standard steel sword.
"Now that we have everyone, we shouldn't waste time." Percival began to order. "I hear Arthur is in Faraway Avalon. So, let's go to the port in the city, and try to get a boat to charter us over there."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Galehaut said as he began to think of the specifics himself.
Bors spoke up. "And what if no one wants to give up their boat?"
"Nonsense, we'll get a boat." Lamorak answered, flicking around a fan with razors on the ends of the feathers with one hand, his other on his sheathed steel sword.
"And what, leave the captain and crew there bleeding on the boardwalk while we ship off?" Bors replied snidely.
"That is an answer." Lamorak noted. "A bad answer, but an answer is an answer."
Percival sighed."Look, there will be a boat willing to bring us over, violence or not. Let's just get there and do what we can do."
"Yes, let's stop bickering." Galahad agreed. "Figure it out as we go along, it isn't that hard to kill someone with our numbers and skill level. We should all know that."
After a moment of silence, the group answered in unison. "Agreed."
About an hour was spent traveling back into the city. It was a bright day at noon, the sun glistened on the water. The boardwalk was crowded, and the ships were busier than normal now.
Percival noticed a knight in red and white armor begin walking down the pier from one of the ships. She recognized the armor was Sonic's. It covered him so much, you couldn't see any of his body, and no one recognized him. She began to walk toward him.
"Hello, friend." Percival said politely as she walked up to her masked master.
-AhHEM-
"Oh, hello, Percival." Sonic said from behind the tinted visor, in a light and low Italian accent. "These are your friends?" -HOLY SHIT THAT ACTUALLY WASN'T BAD.-
"Fellow knights." She corrected.
"Ah, yes. My name is Ezio." Sonic lied. "Ezio Auditore." -This is going to be my voice in that lady killer run I mentioned earlier. I mean holy shit this is awesome.-
"I am Sir Bors."
"Sir Galahad."
"I am Sir Lamorak, one of the Round Table's finest!"
"Don't be so full of yourself, Lamorak." Percival ordered.
"SIR GALEHAUT, PLEASURE TO MEET YOU SIR EZIO."
"Galehaut," Sonic began, staring at the giant knight. -What the fuck is Omega doing in 500 A.D.?- "When Percival mentioned you, I imagined you to be a bit... less musclebound."
"COMPLIMENT RECEIVED WELL. THANK YOU."
"Anyway, you wish to go to Faraway Avalon?" Sonic asked.
"Yes. To slay the king." Percival answered.
"Alright," Sonic said as he rested his hand on top of a box. Inside rests the unconscious body of the crew captain. "Get on board."
The Knights of the Round Table boarded the ship, it's cargo shared between wax for candles and tied up crew members. Galahad was the first to notice the lack of a crew.
"Ezio," -I love being called that.- "Where is your crew?" Galahad asked curiously.
"I traveled here from a land called Italy," Sonic began twisting a tale on his feet. "Venice, Italy. A city, built on water. A lagoon. I wanted to venture toward new places, but no one fancied leaving Venice. So I sailed off, alone, and a year ago, I landed here."
"Really?" Galahad asked, unconvinced.
"Yeah. Weather was perfect on the way here, it was almost unnatural. I wish to return there one day. Mostly for the carnivale, which the last day in the city has reminded me of." The masked knight went on, who began tugging at the chain for the anchor.
"What's been happening the last few days?" Galahad asked, before helping Sonic with the chain. Galehaut began to help, and in seconds the anchor was on board.
Sonic began to head for the sail mast. "Oh, why, the pretty lady over there found a bunch of civilians in the basement of the castle last night, overrun by those demons. She freed the citizens, and they have been celebrating since. Hell, they've even killed some in the streets, and hung some from home made gallows from the rooftops. These people party hard."
The knights of the round table turned to Percival with pleasantly surprised looks on their faces. Percival, not liking to be the center of attention suddenly, flicked her visor down to hide her blush, mumbling "God damn it" repeatedly. -Giggling like a schoolgirl in my mind right now.-
"What's the problem, Percival? Nothing shameful in creating all of this." Bors assured. "That was after the fight with Sonic, yes?"
"Y-yes." Percival answered shyly, and slowly shook it off. Lamorak shut his visor too, so no one could see him silently laughing.
Galahad stepped back into the conversation. "That's enough of that."
"Yes, yes." Sonic said, as he pulled the sail down. The disguised hedgehog raced up to the wheel at a normal pace -To avoid any suspicion of it being me coming from Gawain.-, and steered out of the port and into the bay. Sonic took a quick look at a small map he had, and began to readjust the direction to make sure he was heading to where he wanted to go.
In a few minutes, the port was out of sight, Sonic was happily humming the intro to "Mariner's Revenge" to himself, when Percival walked up to him.
"Pretty lady?" She said annoyed, still with the visor down. -Okay, fuck, where is a god damn ninja.-
"What?" Sonic chuckled, back in his normal voice. "Stop complaining about it and deal with it, it's part of my alias."
"Alias?" Percival asked.
"You know. Ezio." Sonic began. "Ezio Auditore da Firezne. When I wear a disguise, I don't do everything I normally would. I have to act differently, give the disguise a personality. Roleplay, you could call it."
Percival's eyes trailed off elsewhere. "Oh..."
Sonic smiled. "So, like I said, deal with it."
And with that, Percival left. And a moment later, Gawain came along.
"Galahad wanted me to ask," Gawain said, taking a noticeable breath in. "Pretty lady?"
"Whaaat?" -You've gotta be shitting me. - Sonic replied, his voice changing back to the voice Gawain knew. "It's a problem if I joke around with her?"
"... Apparently." Gawain answered plainly, shrugging. He couldn't really speak for him.
"If this is going where I think it's going, tell him this;" Sonic said, rolling his eyes behind his tinted visor. "It'll float like a lead boat."
There was a crash coming from below the deck. -A godsend.-
"...Speaking of floating boats..." Sonic looked around a moment. He hopped over the railing onto the deck, and opened the double-door doorway into the Captain's Quarters. There, he grabbed a chair, and dashed back up to the wheel, and propped the chair up against the wheel, so it wouldn't spin. After it was secured, Sonic hustled down the stairs and went down through the empty crew's quarters, and into the cargo room.
There, there was a sailor who had gotten out of his box, and was in the process of releasing another. -I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHERFUCKIN' SNAKES ON THIS MOTHERFUCKIN' SHIP-
Sonic picked up the empty four-by-four foot box and slammed it on the back of the sailor's head.
"Get back in the box!" Sonic ordered, placing the box down.
"Where are you taking us?" The free sailor demanded to know.
"Avalon! I told you that! Then you said 'no'! Look what you made me do!"
Sonic grabbed the sailor by the nose, tightly, and pulled the sailor over to him. Sonic then let go of his nose, grabbed both his ears, and swung him into the box head first. Sonic grabbed the top of the box.
"You'll get your ship back when we're done here. It shouldn't take long." Sonic assured as he began slamming his metal gauntlet on the box, hammering the nails back into the wood.
When Sonic was finished, he returned to the wheel.