Sadly, this might be my last weekly update. Because procrastination. I'd worked a good amount of the weekend on this story, and I'll work a good amount next weekend, trying to get ahead of the game (like I have been for the whole story, I was working on at chap 14 when I started), and finish. Anyway, I need to GET ON WITH IT.
CHAPTER 26: GIVE US THE ROPE
Gawain, Galehaut, Galahad, Bors, and Lamorak waited at the spot they had separated at. They had been waiting for Sonic, Percival, and any resistance fighters they could conjure up for a few minutes now. Feeling bored, Lamorak decided to start some small talk.
"Did anyone else here have to deal with a person from the underworld sent to ambush them at the shrine? Because I got that, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one." Lamorak asked.
"Yeah, me and Galehaut had to fight a crazed duck." Gawain explained. "Degroot, his name was."
"Oh, you're lucky." Bors spoke up. "I had to deal with this ginormous bear while fighting on top of platforms held together by ropes over lava. It's hard to explain in short, you should have seen it."
"I got some crispy weasel with a repeating crossbow and a bad attitude." Lamorak groaned. "And the guy was pretty good, too. Got my leg, and he still fought with a hole in his neck."
"You should really have that healed, Lamorak." Galahad said, worried. "Fighting while wounded doesn't usually end well."
"I understand your worry, Galahad, but it's fine. I've had worse wounds and I have fought with the same expertise as I normally do with worse wounds, and..." Lamorak stopped to listen. "...what is that trembling?"
Suddenly, Sonic dashed out from the road and in front of the knights. He seemed very energetic.
"We got our freedom fighters, let's go!" Sonic announced with a big grin on his face.
Percival was quick to follow. The trembling could be heard much more clearly now.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon!" Sonic said quickly as he marched over to the ground just ahead of the road. "Let's break down the tunnel doors, men!"
The crowd cheered as they ran into vision of the knights. The massive blob of warriors huddling together followed Sonic, with weapons held high into the air. The variety of weapons and sheer number of fighters surprised them.
"Good lord!" Gawain gasped.
"THIS SHOULD PROVE TO BE AN EFFICIENT AMOUNT." Galehaut pointed out.
Galahad began to run to catch up with the mob. "I'll say, come on!"
The knights of the Round Table rejoined Sonic and Percival in the front of the monstrous mob as they opened the doors.
On the other side of the door, there was a row of underworld knights ready to take their lives. They were merely trampled over. The crowd cheered more over this fact. It was another example of how powerful they were.
They slaughtered, arrowed, and shot their way over to the waterway. There, they loaded several onto a boat and sailed off, volleying magic and arrows at whatever dared show their faces to the crowd. Sonic invited his knights and Gerald over to his boat. After everyone had boarded, they shipped off, in the center of the massive war machine.
"How did you organize this? You were gone a few minutes more than we were!" Gawain spoke with excitement.
Sonic laughed. "I didn't. Gerald here did."
"Ah, yes," Gerald humbly said. "The city was not going to be taken prisoners by the darkness again. We were captured once before, but nevermore now."
"And nevermore it shall be! Look at this!" Lamorak proclaimed, looking out toward the small armada of punts. "This is picture perfect."
-It was. The torches had a nice effect on the water, and the wizards who used diverse and colofrul spells really add to the beauty of it. I never thought I'd be saying actual combat is beautiful, but hell, this is a painting turned into life. I'd put this on my wall, and holy shit my wall is more crowded than Time Square on New Years. I actually had to put stuff on the ceiling.-
"You really live for war, don't you Lamorak?" Bors brought up.
"Oh, I love to fight, so long as there's a good reason for it, but I'm no barbarian." Lamorak began. "I just find beauty in the hearts of soldiers. Those with the will to fight, whether for what they think is right, for others, or for any other reason, all have a tale to tell. A tale I'd love to just sit down and listen to, so I can understand them what they're fighting for."
"Woah, deep." Sonic commented.
Lamorak chuckled. "And you know what's the best part? When they ask ME to tell them MY tale, I'll start out with 'it all started when I was born!'"
"Very eye opening." Gerald said plainly.
"Sonic..." Percival mumbled.
Sonic drew his attention from the scene. "Hm?"
"When can I go free?" She asked, a bit shaky in her voice.
Sonic leaned back and thought for a moment before answering. -I want to turn this into a game. Play with her mind a little, finish up my renegade spree with a bang... Oh, I know.- "Oh, you've done a lot already. Plenty. I just need you to help pave the way to Merlina. Get two hundred fifty kills in the next thirty minutes, and I'll let you go free."
The knights' faces changed to show their concern.
"In the next thirty minutes?" Percival repeated in shock.
"Starting as soon as you hop off this boat." Sonic explained. "Don't kill Merlina. She's in power at my fault. I'll finish her."
"Yes, Sonic." the enslaved knight said with a sigh.
"Turning her life into a game, now are we?" Caliburn criticized.
"Hey, you're the one who appointed me king. Next time, think twice before I go on. And besides, i-"
"Damn!" One of the men on the boats shouted as he missed a shot. The scream attracted Sonic's attention. "Out of shots!"
Sonic was slowly turning back to face Caliburn, until he realized he had some left over ammunition from when he tossed the rifle into the lava back when he dueled Percival. He smiled as he turned back to the man on the boat. "Hey, trade ya!"
"WHAT!" Everyone on the boat shouted. The munition-less warrior turned to Sonic, who was taking the bow off from his shoulder. Sonic threw the bow at the man, who caught it. Reluctantly, the man tossed Sonic the rifle, and Sonic threw the quiver over to the man.
"Thank you!" He said, before returning to attacking monsters on the side of the waterway.
Sonic turned back around, and began to load rounds into the rifle. He had a special round that he had created specifically for Merlina, the one with a purple gem bullet, but now that he doesn't want another gory death like Lancelot and Rachel faced, he'd use it on monsters. He looked up to see the whole boat staring at him, mouths agape.
"What?" Sonic asked.
Suddenly, the small armada stopped beside small landing point. This way led to the path leading to the castle. Realizing this, Sonic lifted his feet, swung around, and began to run before anyone else.
"It's just a little healthy competition!" Sonic joked as he ran ahead of the entire brigade of men. -This should be the last asshole thing I do in the experiment, and oh BOY, is it terrible.-
As Sonic raced out onto the large floating path, he could hear the mob cheering behind him. In front of him, the path was completely covered with enemies. Goblins, Zombies, dimented ones, Beholders, and such. There was no room for them to move. No room for them to dodge, or evade. Only march, and die.
"Sonic, are you thinking what I think you're thinking...?" Caliburn demanded. And yes he was. He was going to slaughter them. He was going to kill dozens and dozens of them. But he'd do it slow, giving her a chance to watch as her chances begin to get smaller, so that she gets a few.
And then he goes faster.
And then she does. -Repeat ad infinium. She's gonna be PISSED, but that's the point. 'Sides, I'll let her win, if only by a few dozen enemies at least.-
And so when Sonic came to the first row of enemies, he could hear Percival rushing over at her top speed. But Sonic was a faster person. Sonic slashed the first six rows of enemies before Percival slammed into one, stabbing it in the chest, with her sword coming out the other side and stabbing the one behind it. The force sent them pushing against the rows behind them.
Percival withdrew her sword from the underworld knights, and began to slaughter the lesser enemies behind them. The crowd behind them raced forward, raining arrows over the two competing knights' heads as they slaughtered the defenses row by row. Underworld knights, goblins, demons, unfortunate souls, and many more, thrown off the ledge or slashed to bits. Although she was killing a good amount of them, Sonic had taken the lead and began smashing everything in his way.
From the sea of enemies, a Beholder had spawned. It raised its tentacles, prepared to fire off magic blasts at the rapidly advancing knights. Sure enough, arrows and such projectiles began flying it's way, but before anyone of them hit, Sonic had stopped, grabbed the rifle on his back and fired it with one hand at the monster. The giant eye winced in pain as the bullet caused part of the eye to crater around the wound, and it fell to the ground. Down the path, more giant enemies became noticable; minotaurs, dragons twice the size of a horse, cyclopes, all the same. The massive amount of minions had slowed the knights down considerably, allowing White Death to catch up.
White Death's rain of arrows and spells from above began to tear through the crowds of underworld beings in their way, offering a bubble of movement in front of them. Sonic and Percival used this to move in.
Speaking of which, Percival was outraged.
"Why?" She screamed at the speedy hedgheog. "Why are you doing this?"
"Indeed, why?" Caliburn pressured.
Sonic began to explain. "You do better when fighting for your life. You've probably killed so many diverse enemies, it doesn't phase you. So I'm putting a time limit on you. It's just one test."
"That's idiotic!"
Her anger unconsoled, she looked back at the falling crowds of creatures ahead of them. -Maybe I shouldn't rant on trying to back up this already pretty sadistic game. You know, cheer her up or something before she throws me into the pitch black bottomless pit below the path in rage?-
"But..." Sonic said, in a light and gentle tone. This sudden swing from the mad tone to a nice tone caught Percival's attention again. "It's not like you can't meet the number I set."
Sonic made some finger guns at Percival. "You're pretty good."
"What if I can't?" She said back.
Sonic chuckled. "I'll have to set it up again because you weren't actually trying. I know you're better than that." -She went pretty neck and neck with me when we fought, and I'm basically a short furry version of Rambo, minus facial hair and muscles, so really she really has no excuse to fail.- "Where I come from, you and the other knights are legends."
Percival raised a brow from behind her visor."... Legends?"
Sonic continued to chuckle. "Yes. I can spoil the rest of your life, right here, and tell you the ending."
"... I'd rather not..." She replied, defying her curiosity. "At least not right now."
"Suit yourself. Anyway, we're closing on the gatehouse!"
"LET'S BASH THROUGH THE GATES!" Shouted one specially riled up member of the striking mob.
With all the force behind the eighty freedom fighters there, there was no portcullis that could stop them. No amount of rocks dropped through murder holes. They could have broke through the walls. They tore the front gate apart with a massive collection of swords. The second fell just as well.
"Pillage this bailey!" Sonic shouted an order to the giant mob. "Tear it all apart, and meet me outside the keep's gate!"
"Tear it all down, fellas!" One of the archers shouted as he stuck his arrow in front of a passing fire spell, lighting the arrow on fire, and then proceeded to fire the arrow into a building.
Sonic raced toward the keep's walls, smashing the dozens of diverse creatures in his way to get there. Percival went her own way. She had a score to beat.
Sonic had fought his way to the walls around the keep. He climbed the tallest building nearby to examine the damage his men were doing to the small encampment within the castle's outer walls.
The first thing he noticed was a smoke stack rising from one of the buildings. -Bors did it, absolutely. Oh, now seems like an appropriate time to say, did you guys know that Mighty is a pacifist?- He noticed the weapons colliding, sliding along each other. He heard them chant in unison like the angry mob they were.
"...Give us a grave! Give us a shovel! Give us a marker! GIVE US THE ROPE!"
Sonic smiled for a moment. All was going to plan. -Okay, I think I can confirm this whole thing is kind of like a dream but sensible and about one topic. Gotta remember to write all this down.-
"Are you happy with what you're doing?" Caliburn asked.
"A little bit, Caliburn." Sonic said, with a satisfied sigh. "I think this is just the beginning of something, though. Something bigger."
"How big?"
"Horrifically."