Awaiting his opponent, Sonic the Hedgehog stood atop a rock formation jutting out of the rocky landscape below, the wind blowing through his spines. The full moon lit up the canyon-like area like lights illuminating a sports stadium. Only this time, the rocky mesa below actually was a stadium. Drones fitted with cameras flew across the entire area, so Mii fans could spectate the upcoming fight and cheer for their stars.
Tonight, two speed demons would clash in an open area suited just for them. The ground would be scorched, boulders would be reduced to stony rubble and, for all Sonic knew, at least one entire canyon would crumble into dust. No rock here would be untouched with battle damage.
A white flash caught his eyes just miles away from him. The blue blur did not need to squint to identify his opponent. His enemy today was Pikachu, a familiar face all throughout the Pokémon dimension. His trainer was wishing his little yellow lightning companion good luck as he shut himself inside a blast shield the Smash officials had prepared for him. Sonic smirked before he leaped down from his perch and stared at his opponent on the horizon.
Pikachu had faced many battles and triumphed, both here and in his own dimension. This fight would be a slight different. The blue hedgehog's speed was equal to Pikachu's own. For once, Pikachu had to think fast to be fast. Most of his opponents, like that fire-breathing monster turtle, had underestimated Pikachu by his size. His attempts to squash him ended with ten million volts to the tail. Pikachu, realizing he was being distracted, snapped his attention back to that blue speck in the distance as the two fighters eagerly awaited the signal to start.
"THREE…" a voice boomed through the camera drones. Tiny lightning bolts jutted out of Pikachu's cheeks as he got down on all fours. "TWO…" Sonic crouched down like a marathon runner, the tension starting to get to him. The two speedsters tried to stare into each other's eyes, searching for signs of weakness. They found nothing but determination to race down the path to victory. "ONE…" For just that one second, time seemed to slow as the fighters gathered their energy, and all they could hear were their own heartbeats. "GO!"
In the blink of an eye, both combatants blasted off at full speed: Sonic with his Boost, and Pikachu with his Volt Tackle. From a bird's eye view, they were just blue and yellow streaks. Sonic had checked up on ring energy just before, so he could last for a while. Pikachu, however, resembled a miniature storm, charging full speed with his head lowered like a raging bull. "Pikapikapikapikapika…" he panted. The fighters finally met within seconds and, upon impact with each other, created a massive explosion that sent rocks and dust flying everywhere. The drones had to keep their distance and adjust their lens to see through the dust cloud.
Pikachu was the first to exit the cloud, flying sky-high from being launched. Sonic quickly followed by slamming the little mouse creature with a homing attack. As the two landed on the rocky ground, Pikachu dashed in to perform a quick 7-hit combo with his legs, head and tail. Sonic countered with a roundhouse kick to Pikachu's torso, who flipped in the air to recover. With lightning-quick maneuvers, Pikachu zipped up to a rock formation and proceeded to zap the rapidly advancing hedgehog with multiple Thunderbolts, but to no avail, as Sonic quick-stepped left and right to dodge the deadly bolts. Sonic leaped up into the air and spun before zeroing in on Pikachu, but he was ready for it. As his tail changed color to a metal color, Pikachu used Iron Tail to swat Sonic away like a baseball. Seconds later, the blue ball smashed into a huge rock formation, making it crumble and fall to the ground, creating another dust cloud.
Pikachu sighed in relief, believing the battle was won. But just then, Sonic zoomed out from the dust and slammed Pikachu away with a Spin Dash! "Gonna take more than that to slow me down, electro ears!" he taunted. "Pika…" Pikachu charged up and launched an Electro Ball at Sonic, who dodged it. "Alright, playtime's over, pal!" The two dashed at each other again, trading blow after blow after blow, their moves almost resembling two tops colliding into each other. The two then ran alongside each other as blue and yellow streaks once again, clashing as they went. Boulders shattered as missed Thunderbolts struck them. Rock formations collapsed like falling skyscrapers as one of the fighters slammed into them, and even sparring with fast moves on one of them. One stone wall even had a round hole in it from one of Sonic's missed Spin Dashes.
The battle seemed almost chaotic as it turned the canyon side into a warzone, with this fight making its marks, just like Mega Man and Bowser Jr. had done some time ago. Both speedsters showed no signs of slowing down as Mii fans watched the footage of the battle captured by the drones, hovering far out of the clash. But everyone knew this fight had to end sometime. But when?
Even though he wouldn't show it, Sonic was starting to weaken, like his ring energy was getting low. Pikachu was also running out of lightning. Pikachu knocked Sonic back with another Iron Tail move and prepared to charge up what he hoped would be his final attack. Sonic charged for him as he began to surround himself in an electric field. "Piiiiikkaaaaaa…" He saw Sonic spring up and zero in on him. Pikachu's eyes began to crackle with yellow lightning. "CCHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUU!" In an instant, yellow lightning seemed to emerge directly from Pikachu and strike the blue blur just inches away from the little Pokémon.
When the dust cleared, the sun was just beginning to appear as Pikachu weakly opened his eyes to see his trainer rubbing his head and congratulating him. Pikachu had… won? One of the drones flew down to them, and the Announcer's voice came again. "THE WINNER IS… PIKACHU!" From the spectator's area, the fans wearing Pikachu hats and yellow lightning bolt tattoos were cheering in victory while on the other side of the stadium, the fans wearing Sonic hats and blue face paint sulked in defeat. Another victory for Pikachu that's going into the Smash network!
Pikachu noticed a smoldering crater and peeked inside to see Sonic, as a trophy, inside. Knowing what he had to do, Pikachu went down into the crater and placed one of his paws on the base of the trophy and, in a gold flash, the blue blur was back. Groaning in defeat, Sonic weakly stood up and when catching sight of Pikachu, gave him a thumbs-up. "Good work out there."
Behind Sonic, a swirling blue portal opened: one that would take them back to Smash HQ, where they would rest for their next fight. Sonic turned to Pikachu and winked. "Race ya?" Pikachu just couldn't resist as he nodded in approval. The two crouched down and, on Sonic's cue, sped off through the portal.
This story was inspired by a Conquest of the same name, which Pikachu won in. When the game was released, I always wondered how the mascots of both Sega and Pokémon would fight like in an open-world style arena. My next Smash story will be about the Speed vs Power Conquest, so keep in check, Smashers!