Chapter 2:
Tails faced the Silver One in the sea of stars with a determined look. "I see your ready to train and train hard" the Silver One said. A room materialized around them. It looked like a dojo, except that one wall had a mirror on it. The sea of stars was visible through the windows. "The magic mirror will instruct you on techniques" The Silver one said, "Once you've learned how to fight, I will create a sparing opponent for you." Tails walked up to the mirror and saw that his reflection didn't move as he did. Instead, it demonstrated a few moves, then Tails got a shock when he heard his own voice from the mirror telling him to try them out. "Sorry" The Silver One said, "I should have warned you about that". Tails quickly recovered and started practicing.
For almost 48 hours, Tails alternated between practicing techniques and sparing with solid illusions created by the Silver One. He got a few breaks of course, during which the Silver One showed him moving images of his past adventures for their amusement. After the first few hours, the Silver One explained that Tails wouldn't get need food, water, or sleep while he was in the space they were in. Tails faced all kinds of opponents, from those as nimble as he was to slow but strong giants. Some were honorable but some taunted him during their fights. Tails didn't win every fight at first, but he didn't give up and soon he was dominating. He even faced several illusions that could levitate in order to practice his air combat skills. Once Tails had defeated every illusion at least twice, the Dojo faded away. "You've done well, but never think your too good to stop improving." The Silver One said and once again everything faded.
Tails woke up a few minutes earlier then last time. He noticed that his arms and legs felt different. He felt one arm with the other and could swear his muscles felt more defined. The Silver One spoke in his head, "I didn't want all that strength training to go to waste, so your muscles now reflect all the practice you did." The change wasn't enough for someone else to notice very easily however.
The morning played out much as it had before the Silver One had come. Tails was determined and thus slightly more serious than usual. However it wasn't enough for anyone to ask him about it. The tournament started, and played out the same way until Tail's match against Hawk. "Let's do this!" Tails said, his voice more energetic then last time. Hawk quickly threw a flurry of punches. Tails took some of the hits with his tails, but dodged others. When Hawk raised one foot high for some kind of attack, Tails saw an opening and kicked Hawk's other foot. Hawk fell down and Tails quickly put Hawk in a choke hold until he gave up. Tails stood proudly and gave crowd a big smile as he held the referee's hand for a victory photo shoot. His posture was much more dignified then last time. "I hope your proud Silver Sensei" he thought to himself." The Silver One replied in his head, "Yes I definitely am, but the real victory will be defeating those who lie ahead." Fortunately Rouge had been too busy in front of the mirror to watch Tail's match.
Amy knocked Bokkun into next week and then it was intermission time. Tails was pleasantly surprised to see a slightly larger crowd of fans then last time waiting outside to greet him. Like last time, most of them wanted photo shoots with him and a small number wanted autographs. A few photos and autographs later Tails saw a boy sneaking a glance at him from behind an ice cream stand. The boy looked to be about Chris's age but was a little shorter. He met the boy's eyes and the boy ran off. Tails flew over the ice cream stand and saw the boy being comforted by a person who Tails assumed was the boy's mother while what looked like his older sister watched. He focused his ears and caught a bit of their conversation. "... I couldn't talk to him, there were too many people" the boy said, his voice sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. "Everyone else got a chance when they waited in line" the older sister said, "I think your just too being too shy like usual Fred" The boy's mother shot a warning look at the older sister and said "I know you wanted to talk to him because you admire him so much, you were talking for five minutes about how he stood up to Hawk." Tails saw a chance to help someone out the way Sonic had helped him out all those years ago. He landed next to the family and said "I've got a few minutes of intermission left, did you want to talk to me?"
Fred looked like he was cornered and too timid to speak. Tails assuming the gentlest demeanor he could and said "I heard you liked how I beat Hawk, did you want to tell me about it?" Fred timidly spoke, "Y-Yes, y-you stood up to someone twice your size, and won", Each word sounded like it came out with effort, "I... I wish I could be like you". Tails considered how to respond, then said "I trained long and hard for this tournament, you can be a good fighter too if you train hard enough." Fred started to tear up. "I tried," He sobbed, "Everyone at the dojo calls me a wuss since I can never win a sparring match." Fred's mother nodded indicating the truth of the story. Tails knew what was wrong. "I know what you're missing" he said, "You need to believe in yourself." Fred looked at him for a second and then said "How can you be so sure?" Tails replied, "I'm sure since I used to have the same problem." Fred looked like he couldn't believe his ears. Tails held out his hands and Fred came over expecting a hug. He was surprised when Tails flew both of them off the ground. Once they had gained some altitude Fred marveled at the view and Tails said, "The world is a big place and if you believe in yourself you can find a good place in it. Sonic taught me that." Fred's expression softened and he spoke more evenly, "I understand now... thank you Tails" After they'd landed, the loudspeakers proclaimed that the tournament would resume in 10 minutes. "Good luck Tails!" Fred yelled as Tails walked away, his voice full of vigor.
Knuckles scared away the black knight, Chris beat his Dad, Sam was disqualified for not waiting for the bell, and Lucky won by default like last time. Everything continued as it had until Tails's match against Rouge. The bell rang and Rouge said the same thing she did last time, "Not Exactly what I'd call a challenge, but here goes." Once again the fight went on for a minute or two, though this time Tail's attacks were more skilled so Rouge had to fight harder to keep up with them. Then Rouge said "You're not bad, for an amateur" Tails knew what she was trying to do and kept his cool. He flew over like before, but at the last second landed, grabbed Rouge's outstretched arm, and flung her over his head. Rouge landed hard on her back and Tails took to the air to give himself more room. Rouge got up and said, "You surprised me there, now I have to get serious." Her tone suggested that she still wasn't taking the fight seriously. "Bring it on!" Tails said with vigor. The battle continued for another few minutes. Rouge was starting to tire since Tails wasn't taking too many hits and was landing a few blows in return. Rouge decided to try her signature screw kick. Tails jumped out of the way of the attack at the last second and swiped Rouge hard in the head with his tails. The force of the blow knocked Rouge onto the ground. She fell hard and didn't get up. The bell rang and the announcer said "Tails is the winner, who would have thought that such little fox could put up such a big fight." Tails posed with the referee as the crowd gave a huge cheer. He looked around and spotted Fred in the stands. Tails waved at Fred and then took a bow. "Great job!" The Silver One said in Tail's mind. After Tails stepped off stage, Sonic ran over and said "Wow Tails I'm impressed. When did you learn to fight that well?" Tails sheepishly replied, "Uh, I've been practicing." Thankfully Tails was spared from further questions when the announcer called for the next contestants, Sonic and Amy.