Note (7/29/09): Story has been reloaded as three separate chapters due to its length. I guess 30-page walls of text tend to bother people, so hopefully having it divided will make for a more pleasant reading experience.

Note (9/24/09): Stop telling me that Sonic's usage of big words in his narration of this story is out of character. He says OVERZEALOUS in Sonic Rush and ASPIRATIONS in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Go read those scripts and THEN message me if you still think my interpretation of Sonic is out of character for being more verbally inclined than you. ~_0

Disclaimer: everything Sonic belongs to SEGA. If Sonic belonged to me, these stories of mine would be in a game by now – oh wait, this one IS in a game. Heh. But in all seriousness, Sonic and co. all belong to SEGA and Sonic Team, along with the plot of Sonic and the Black Knight. You know how it works.

Rating: T for descriptive violence, injury, and potentially hard-to-understand themes (for a younger person, anyway).

Author's note: This one-chapter story is based on Sonic and the Black Knight's grand finale. It was typed for the primary purpose of capturing Sonic's personality and capturing the sheer intensity of the final battle. This is not only about holding on to your resolve even in the most difficult and hopeless circumstances, but holding onto the moments you have while you can – both aforementioned facts being the reasons behind the title, Hold On Tight. All I really did to change it from the game (with the exception of a few lines of dialogue that weren't there before) was add more depth to it, the focal point of that depth being Sonic himself.

Opinions from the readers are awesome. I'd love to hear what people think of this, or even constructive criticism if you have any; improving one's writing skills is a never-ending journey.

Enjoy.

*SPOILER WARNING: Sonic and the Black Knight final boss/ending.*

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You think you know yourself. You think you know what you would do. And then the circumstances worsen to a level you couldn't even imagine…

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There she was.

Standing in front of her self-proclaimed throne was Merlina, the innocent-faced wizard girl who had summoned me for help. Only… it wasn't the kind of help I'd planned to give. What I had originally seen was a desperate request to help her find the 'sacred swords' and stop the Black Knight, and naturally, I agreed. But now I could see the bigger picture.

I had been used.

It wouldn't be the first time. Still… although I'd been kept in the dark while I searched for those swords, the fact remained that I did gather them. And I did unintentionally help Merlina get to the point she was now at: a position of power.

It wasn't my fault, so I didn't place blame upon myself for it all – there was no way I could've known her real plans, right? But that didn't stop me from feeling like I should do something to turn things around. Not because of any sort of guilt, but because that was just how I rolled.

I was almost positive Merlina wasn't willing to go down without a fight – it was never that easy – but I figured being passive at first wouldn't hurt. Maybe I could get her to see reason.

I walked – yes, walked – forward, staying relaxed so she would see that I wasn't about to make a move. My sword, though, was clutched firmly in my right hand, just in case. The sounds my shoes made against the cold castle floor as I went echoed in the silence.

Reaching the foot of the steps, I came to a stop and made eye contact. We stared each other down, and neither of us looked away. She wasn't as timid as she had first come across to be. After a moment, she blinked. Nothing significant; just a normal blink. I smirked at her and said, "You lost the staring contest."

She laughed once under her breath, probably because she thought I was oblivious to the danger I was in. People got that impression a lot. I was starting to figure out why; who jested if they knew circumstances were dangerous?

"I've been expecting you," she said. She was smiling, but there was gravity in her voice.

I shifted my weight to one foot, getting comfortable. It didn't look like she wanted to resort to violence, either – not yet, anyway. "Just one question before we settle this." Although I spoke gently and tolerantly, I didn't wait for her to nod in permission before continuing; I wanted her to know I didn't need her approval to have my say. "Why'd you do it?"

Something happened to her eyes. She knew she had betrayed me – was it guilt? I waited for her answer, but her mouth stayed closed, so I pressed on: "I mean, weren't we trying to save this kingdom from the underworld?"

She sighed, and I realized that what I had seen wasn't guilt at all – go figure – but something akin to depression. Her face fixed itself quickly, though, and revealed nothing after that. In a distant voice, she began to explain, "This kingdom will fail one way or another. Such is its fate."

That confused me. If the kingdom was going to end either way, then… what had been the point of trying to save it in the first place? Why was she suddenly so pessimistic? I wanted to ask, but I decided to hold my tongue and wait for elaboration.

"Do you know what is to become of this kingdom?"

"Beats me," I said, and shrugged. How would I know?

Merlina stood from her seat and began to walk towards me. I could see clearly now that she had transformed. The magic of the sacred swords had altered her physically, and she had power; power that I realized I didn't know how to access. Thinking ahead, I wondered how I could even the odds if need be, or if I could at all. The Chaos Emeralds, of course, didn't exist here in Arthurian times – or if they did, I hadn't come across any of them. So that idea was about as useful as a lighter in a burning building.

I stood my ground as she stopped at the top of the stairs, looking down at me. It annoyed me a little, being looked at that way, like I was inferior.

"Lancelot and Gawain's rift shall doom the Round Table. Arthur is struck down by his son, Mordred, and departs for Avalon." She paused, and I said nothing, digesting her words, trying to understand what it all meant. "This… was to be our ideal world," she clarified. "But it will not last. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table will end in ruin."

"Hm," I muttered, acknowledging that I was listening. When she continued, her voice sounded disapproving.

"The King Arthur my grandfather created led to nothing but mistakes…"

"King Arthur… the hologram?" I interrupted. Merlina nodded. She had used that hologram to trick me into helping her. She had made me think King Arthur was malevolent, while she was the one doing the dirty work all along. Though I searched for it, I couldn't find any remorse in her eyes. She had no regrets. I was an object to her.

That was a level of selfishness I hoped I would never understand.

"…But I can succeed with the power of the scabbard, creating a kingdom that never ends…!"

I knew I looked calm as her gaze again focused on me, but looks were so deceitful. My blood was boiling. Not only had she taken advantage of me, but she was prepared to endanger the people of Camelot – of her own kingdom – just for the sake of seeing what she wanted to see!

Merlina backed up her vow to succeed with a display that proved her abilities true. I watched her hold up the flower she had picked earlier in the week. It was wilted; dead. Then, an orb of light enveloped it, and its color returned. It straightened up, able to support its own weight once again.

A kingdom that never ends… As I watched her impressive spell, her words echoed in my mind. An eternal world, ruled by an egocentric and young wizard. It would eventually fall into chaos again, with Merlina abusing that kind of power. It wouldn't work out! It would only make life miserable for the people that were still left.

Even if it did come to an end soon… wouldn't the people rather have something short-lived and pleasant than eternal and torturous?

It was a question I really shouldn't have had to ask myself. I knew the answer. Besides – nothing was meant to last forever. Therefore nothing should be forced to. It just wasn't natural, and it would cause more problems than it would solve.

Eggman used to use living, flesh-and-blood creatures to power his robots. That hadn't been natural, either, and it could have messed up a lot of things on our planet. If it had been allowed to go on… if Tails and I hadn't stopped him… sometimes I wondered where it would have eventually gone to. The food chain would have been interrupted, making many species go extinct. What would that have led to in the long run…?

I pushed the vague curiosity away from my mind. I would never know what the alternative would have been for my world, and frankly, I realized, I didn't really want to know the alternative for this world, either. Mother Nature had its ways of dealing with things. Nobody else was supposed to intervene.

I looked up at the wizard before me, trying to see the Merlina I thought I had known. She just wasn't in there. I wanted to try to get through to her, to explain my side of things – or at least, part of me wanted to. The other part of me wanted to stop her, right here and now, before things got out of hand. Attempting to meet the demands of both, I reached out toward her.

"What good is a world that goes on forever?"

Merlina's head dipped, but I had caught on enough to know it wasn't out of shame. "My sorrow at its ruin runs deeper than the depths of the underworld…" As she spoke, I swore I heard her voice crack, and unlike her, I was human enough to feel sympathy for someone else's pain. I actually did feel sorry for her for a split second, despite the fact that she felt no sorrow over betraying me or her kingdom.

She lifted her head again, and there was real, genuine sadness in her eyes that reinforced the dismal tone in her voice. I pushed away the sympathy I felt; I knew I couldn't let this happen, even if she thought her actions were justifiable. I reminded myself of the self-centered motives behind Merlina's plan, and how this would end up if she succeeded. My heart quickly began to pound in anger and determination, and I realized I wanted to finish this now.

She shook her head in disbelief. I guessed she expected me to show more pity than I did. I wondered why she would expect that; she certainly had no pity on anyone else. "Do you not understand?"

"No!" I said clearly, being palpably honest, my voice rising above normal volume for the first time since I'd reached the castle. "And I don't want to!"

She wasn't expecting an assault, and I knew it. I leapt into the air almost too fast for her eyes to follow and raised my sword high. Hesitation made me stop half way down, though; something had pinched inside. I realized what immediately: while I was accustomed to attacking robots, I hated hurting anything that was capable of feeling pain.

The moment's deliberation was long enough for Merlina, and she did not hesitate.

I collided with something that hadn't been there an instant ago. For a second, all I saw were sparks flying from the tip of the sword. It was like I was stuck there, the sword grinding against the shield Merlina had conjured – and then I was thrown backward.

I threw my arms down hard, making the impact easier on the rest of my body as I hit the harsh ground. Somehow, I managed to keep my grip on my weapon.

Merlina's voice was suddenly fierce. "Your efforts are futile!" Those words… I heard them so often. But this time, they actually seemed to mean something. I could sense an empty or pointless statement when I heard one, and this was not empty. She had confidence in those words.

Although I had a collection of clever comebacks in my mind, I didn't use any. No time. I pushed off the ground and hurled myself at her again, swinging violently, this time actually intending to land a strike. If that was how she wanted to play it... I would comply.