Chapter IV: Kings Clash

The morning sun rose upon the still land as the King of Camelot mounted his steed. Rage looked at two of his most trusted knights. Blaze and Knuckles who rode up next to him. "Art thou ready?" Knuckles asks

"Aye." Rage agrees "Only one of us will walk away from this quarrel. The fate of Camelot rests on my shoulders."

"May the hope of the people be with you, King Rage." Blaze preys

"Enough with this King Rage stuff already." Rage chuckles making the two look at him surprised. "It's just Rage! I may be King but all that means is I have to lead my people and set an example. Not force worship or pay gratitude that is a tyrant. But if I do fall in this battle. Knuckles, Blaze I want you two to lead this Kingdom until a rightful King may be found."

"We will do as you command m'lord." Blaze responds

"Then let us be off." Rage scowls "Hya!" he calls kicking his horse into full stride. Before long they meet Scourge who was alone in the field. Rage stops his horse and dismounts. "Scourge!" he calls across the field.

"What are they doing here I said a dual!" the dark king yells

"They will not interfere they are here to prevent any form of cheating." Rage responds

"What can the King of Camelot not trust another king's word?" Scourge chuckles

"From your past actions I can't be too careful." Rage says as his legendary sword Bureijingukaosu appears in his hand as Scourge draws Excalibur.

"Watch how you hold me knave!" the weapon spouts at Scourge.

"Don't you mouth at me you glorified butter knife!" Scourge yells at the sword "I am your master and you will not back sass me!"

"It pains me to see Excalibur like this." Rage's sword says as a translucent dragon appears behind him.

"Agreed. I vote once Scourge is out of the way we retrieve Excalibur." Rage agrees.

"I can hear you-" Scourge stops looking at the dragon "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" He yells

"This is the spirit of my sword" Rage says "The legendary Bureijingukaosu he and I were only discussing how sorry we feel for Excalibur."

"Why would you feel sorry for this dumb thing! It's just a simple piece of metal!" Scourge yells

"Because…" Rage says with a smirk "He has to be wielded by a novice swordsman such as you. You may have cheated Sonic to kill him but not me… this time you will be the one lying dead on the ground."

"We'll see about that!" Scourge yells putting Excalibur in a poor position. "I don't need you to tell me what the outcome might be!"

"Very well then." Rage says as he points his sword at Scourge the spirit of his sword vanishing from view. "Prepare yourself Scourge. I will hold nothing back this is a battle long in the making and you know how a dual to the death works."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything goes, one on one, no help blah, blah, blah," Scourge says.

"En garde!" Rage yells putting his sword into a battle position.

[Music: The Only Thing I Know for Real~Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance]

"Now die!" Scourge yells leaping for Rage who parries the attack with little effort and forces the green hedgehog back before following up with a combo. Scourge deflected the attacks before rolling behind Rage. Scourge then thrusts his sword for Rage from behind but to his surprise Rage leaps up and lands on Excalibur before using it as a springboard to leap up and flip around midair landing a few feet from Scourge.

"I will admit you have more skill then I thought." Rage says "But let's see how long you can keep this up." He chuckles moving his sword to a back handed position "Hya!" he yells dashing at Scourge who puts Excalibur up to block the attack but Rage came at such a high speed he staggered and leaped back to prevent Rage from following up with another attack.

Not far off Knuckles and Blaze were watching the two battle. "Come on Rage." Knuckles says "Just release his power already."

"Patients Sir Knuckles." Blaze says "Rage is doing fine."

"I know but…why not just use his magic…" Knuckles groans. Back down on the field Rage and Scourge were trading blow from blows but Scourge was beginning to slow down. He was not accustomed to battle like Rage was. Therefore he did not have as much stamina and he knew that this was possible the whole time. Suddenly he fires a burst of dark energy at Rage but he blocks it just as easily as the earlier attacks.

Rage was showing no signs of calming down. This was a battle he had been waiting for. He had to avenge Sonic. There was no other option. Nothing else mattered right now. Scourge killed Sonic in cold blood hoping to take Camelot for his own. However this had not happened. Rage not surprised Scourge would try that then leaps back and glow with a light. "Alright Scourge time for me to finish this." He says as Scourge's own paralyzing darkness blast hits himself. Scourge was unable to move and now at the full mercy of the crimson hedgehog he was battling. Rage returns his sword to a backhand position. Then he was gone in the blink of an eye he appeared on the other side of scourge as he said; "Zantatusken…" then blood spewed from Scourge as Rage had sliced the dark king's chest.

"I-impossible…" Socurge says as he drops Excalibur. He had lost not only this battle but soon his life as well. He was foolish to think he had a chance against a former Camelot Knight. He reflected on his life in his final moments as Excalibur speaks to him. "I told you Scourge, you are a fool to fight someone like the King of Camelot with no training. Now you have paid with your life." Rage then stands and puts his foot on Scourge's chest and keels down.

[music end]

"It's over Scourge the Hedgehog. You have lost and you kingdom will fall apart. I finished what Sonic started and now you lay on the ground like he once did just as I had promised. Any last words?" Rage sneers.

"Fuck…you…" Scourge coughs closing his eyes as Rage raises his blade again. Then in one fell swoop he cuts Scourge's chest again killing the evil king. After doing so he picks up Excalibur and points his own sword in the air which glistens like a sun in the light.

"Victory!" he yells across the large battle field and his troops cheer. Rage whistles for his horse and mounts it before galloping off to his people with Knuckles and Blaze next to him.

"Thank you Rage." Excalibur says "You have gotten me away from that wretched Scourge."

"Sonic is avenged and Scourge denied his power." Rage says "Today Camelot rejoices while The Dark Kingdom falls. With Scourge dead they have no leader and the monsters will soon begin fighting amongst themselves."

Three Days Later…

Rage walks back into Castle Camelot where Rebecca runs up and hugs him. "You're back!" she smiles "Did everything go okay?" she asks as Tails looks at him.

"Scourge is dead and his Kingdom soon to be in ruin." Rage says "Summon the people Tails." He demands

"Yes Rage." Tales bows before calling the couriers. By noon the whole kingdom of Camelot was gathered and Rage walked onto the balcony. "People of Camelot today I bring news that is long since overdue. Last week I joined out noble knights and we marched upon The Kingdom of Darkness. We return with our heads held high for we can claim King Scourge is dead!" Rage says to the people who cheer "Camelot is our land and we will not let anyone take it! Our noble knights remind us of this. Today is a day for celebration and rejoice!" he claims before retreating within.

"Rage…" Rebecca says "What will you do now that you are king and everything is over and done with?" she asks.

"I must find a maiden and merry." Rage replies putting Excalibur under a picture of Sonic.

"Oh." She says blandly before he walks over to her

"Rebecca…" Rage says warmly "I want you to be my Queen." He tells her.

Rebecca was shocked by his request. They had always been best friends since they were little and she always had a secret crush on him since they were about 12. She remembered how she felt when he left to go join the Knights of Camelot. Now finally after 16 years they met again and he asked her to be his wife! She couldn't say anything instead she answered with a kiss.

To be continued.