Sonic: The Tournament of Chaos
Chapter 10: The Treasure Hunter
Determined to turn this battle around in his favour, Sonic clenched his fists and prepared to go on the offensive once more. As much as he hated to admit it, he had grown too comfortable facing Eggman's robots in the past. Mindless machines were easy, but Chax, a speedster with incredible strength and resolve, wasn't going to fall easy. Casting away any further doubt, Sonic refused to hold back any longer. He hunched down, hands and feet pressed tightly against the ground. Curiously, Chax stopped moving, allowing the blue hedgehog to charge up.
"I'll wait," he declared.
Sonic gawked in response, having finally triggered a response from the wolf. "What?"
"I'll wait," Chax repeated with both arms crossed. "Go ahead, take your time to charge. I am in no hurry."
Grinning with confidence, Sonic prepared to make sure the wolf would live to regret giving him this opportunity. His feet accelerated at incredible speeds, the pressure beginning to build up the momentum to charge. With no further reason to hold back his true strength, Sonic narrowed his eyes and prepared to do what he did best. "Here we GO!"
Dashing forward in a blue streak, Sonic raised his hand backwards and struck, slamming his fist towards Chax, who crossed his arms and blocked the attack. The force of the impact launched him backwards. Relentless, Sonic charged and slammed his fist forward once more, pressing it hard into Chax defence as they both shot through stage
Swiftly lowering his defence, Chax fought back and the two engaged in furious blows. In one swift motion, Chax punched Sonic into the sky, swiftly following and overpassing Sonic, slamming his foot down against the blue hedgehog. Sonic collided with a heavy thud against the ground, briefly bouncing upward from the heavy blow. Chax was already waiting and followed with a roundhouse kick, knocking Sonic into the air once more before he could even react. Once more, Chax sped ahead and cupped his arms together, landing a devastating strike into Sonic's back and knocking deep within the ground.
Sonic grunted with brief anguish, landing firmly on his back, both feet raised. Chax appeared before him and grasped his foot, lifting him into the air. He repeatedly slammed the blue hedgehog against the ground, each strike becoming more deadlier than the next. Sonic pulled his foot free and spun to land a solid kick. Chax tanked the strike and grasped Sonic's foot once more, throwing him across the area before following him hastily.
Sonic bounced to the side, narrowly missing a solid blow that may have knocked him down for the blow. Chax pulled his fist from the ground and flipped forward to follow Sonic. Desperate to deter Chax, Sonic bounced against the stage before unleashing his signature attack towards Chax. The wolf charged forward without concern for his own safety, punching the hedgehog out of his ball form.
Catching up quickly, Chax grasped his throat and spun Sonic over his shoulder, throwing him into the ground once more. In less than a second, Sonic was already racing back up. He roared with frustration and threw his leg towards Chax, who easily blocked and backhanded Sonic into the ground. Barely recovering from the impact, Sonic raced forward once more and exchanged strikes with his opponent. Unfortunately, evident that Sonic was on the losing edge. Everyone could see that.
Chax slammed his fist into Sonic's stomach, the blow winding him greatly as he followed with a strong blow from his second fist into Sonic's face, knocking him down. The blue hedgehog was forced onto his arms and knees, desperately trying to push himself up. The wolf pressed his leg against Sonic's back, forcing the hero to kneel before him.
Leaning forward, he placed his hand around Sonic's throat and forced him to stand, their eyes meeting and heads a small space apart. Sonic grunted, his throat tightened while his arms and legs hung limb.
"It is over," Chax declared, slamming his fist into Sonic's already winded stomach and knocking any remaining breath out of him.
Chax was finally satisfied with their confrontation, albeit disappointed to see the world's hero barely put up the effect. With no further reason to prolong their battle, he hurled Sonic towards the edge of the stage, watching as the blue hedgehog fell limp while hurling towards the approaching fall. The fight was over.
Sonic landed at the edge of the arena, rolling sideways towards certain defeat. The impact from the wolf's powerful strikes left him winded and wounded. Despite his drastic increase in speed, the gap in their strength did not narrow to any significant degree. By the time Sonic stopped himself from rolling, his lower body was hanging over the edge. His hands scrambled against the stage, unable to grip the smooth surface to save himself. His arms were already fatigued from their battle, his body in shock from the trauma inflicted upon him.
"No, no, no!" Sonic cried with distraught, feeling the gravity tug him towards his worst fears below.
As he came close to falling, a solid hand gripped itself over Sonic's wrist. He looked up to see Shadow standing over him, his hand maintaining a sharp grip while shaking his head disappointedly. "Having trouble?"
"Don't ask," Sonic responded.
Shadow pulled Sonic back onto the stage, quickly resuming his stance. Fortunately for them both, Chax made no effort to intervene and use the opportunity to eliminate them both. Vath was livid, enraged to see his opponent had abandoned their battle in favour of rescuing his teammate. Ignoring the pangolin's frustration, Shadow shifted his gaze towards Chax, locking eyes with the mysterious wolf.
Their opponents were more powerful than expected. The wolf's speed granted him a significant advantage over Sonic. As well as moving faster than him, he was well trained. Realising the blue hedgehog was out of his league against the wolf, Shadow shifted his gaze towards said ally. "Sonic, switch places with me. I'll take care of him."
Entrusting Shadow's judgement, Sonic nodded. "Got it!"
While still nursing his own injuries, Sonic followed his leader's commands and raced forward to engage Vath in combat. Shadow and Chax stared into each other's eyes with a sense of seriousness. Neither didn't know the full extent of each other's abilities, and yet, they've seen each other enough in combat to know their physical abilities and power. Shadow remained still, confident and unconcerned with their upcoming battle.
Chax slowly spread his arms, closing both eyes with a sharp inhale. An aura of mauve purple formed, raw energy whirling round his body till he was fully obscured, an athletic sphere of energy closed around the wolf. Seconds passed before the energy died down and revealed Chax, standing firm with a aura of purple now surrounding his body, channelling the inner strength within.
Shadow hummed with peaked interest, noting this mysterious power was behind the wolf's surprising speed and reflexes. Grinning softly, Shadow crossed both arms and grinned, eager to face his opponent in combat. After Shadow settled into a combat stance, Chax jumped towards the hedgehog without warning, forcing the former to defend himself from Chax's vicious onslaught.
Shadow dodged the strikes with relative ease, but the wolf pushed his power further and landed multiple hits into his face. Shadow unleashed his inner Chaos energy to match his power and retaliated by blocking Chax's arms before landing a solid kick to hurl him across the area, following him with a burst of energy in his wake.
Whilst unleashing a flurry of strikes towards Chax, Shadow couldn't stop himself from smiling at how powerful Chax had grown. Every time he swung a kick when he found an opening, Chax would swerve or use his arms to block in return; all the while they jumped from surface to surface across the stage. The Ultimate Lifeform loved to battle, especially against those who proved their superiority.
Chax unleashed further power and gained distance away from Shadow's speeding form. Summoning a barrage of Chaos Spears within his hand, Shadow focused the energy within the space of his hands, chagrinning the weapons to properly aim his technique at his opponent. "Chaos Spear!"
The speeds rained from the sky and exploded upon reaching the ground at a rapid speed. Chax narrowly dodged the spears circling him, receiving small cuts and burns across his torso. Moving forward with a sudden burst of speed, Shadow appeared up above Chax, swinging his knee into the base of the wolf's neck, barely being absorbed by the collaborative block of Chax's arm, sending a reverberating shockwave to pop in the air. Making good on the opportunity, Chax grabbed Shadow's ankle and swung him over his head, swinging his leg to kick the hedgehog in the chest.
Carefully timing on par with reflexes, Shadow swung his right arm to catch the incoming shin of the wolf's foot, deftly stopping in its tracks and allowing him to counter with a swing of his own spare foot into the side of Chax's temple, sending him bowling across the air and down towards the desert stage.
Seizing the opportunity to finish him, Shadow cupped his hands, preparing to unleash his signature technique. Before he could focus on, Chax hurled forward and landed a heavy blow with his fist, winding the hedgehog and knocking him off balance. Shadow's eyes widened with surprise at the wolf's speed, not expecting his opponent to have recovered so quickly. His thoughts of confession were shaken away as Chax landed a heavy blow into his forehead and followed with a roundhouse kick.
A high-pitched whistle could be heard as Chax jettisoned towards Shadow's position, ramming a fist into Shadow's chest without any warning. Chax followed his assault with a series of high-powered punches across his torso. Each one could be heard audibly, creating miniature shockwaves within the rouse of Chax's relentless barrage of fists and kicks.
One final kick sent Shadow careening into ground, his arms burning across the smooth surface scraping into his flesh. Shadow barely halted his crash with a discharge of energy from his front, righting himself up just in time to see Chax rush his way. He readied himself as Chax closed the gap with incredible swift velocity. Upon Chax being metres away, Shadow ignited his hidden power, surrounding himself with raw Chaos energy.
He grasped Chax's fist with ease, pulling him close before slamming his fist directly into Chax's face, creating a deafening shockwave that shook the entirety of the area and sent Chax rolling across the arena. Shadow relaxed his energy to converse stamina. Despite holding his own against the wolf without calling on his true power, he feared Chax could go farther than his current state.
Unwilling to take this chance, Shadow made the decision to conclude the fight quickly. He charged towards Chax and vanished behind him, appearing with his hands cupped and landing the double blow into his neck and following with a spin kick to force him towards the ground. The wolf collided with heavy force, but was quick to recover, retaliating with a powerful uppercut that sent Shadow staggering backwards.
Shadow stumbled, his jet skates flaring as he skidded to a halt. Their confrontation briefly ceased, both fighters choosing wisely to stop. The hedgehog frowned as he felt a wet substance leaking from the corner of his mouth. He wiped his mouth and frowned, noting the red substances staining his glove.
Blood.
The hedgehog frowned, now truly understanding why Sonic couldn't defeat the mysterious wolf. He was fast, strong and experienced. All of those traits combined created a deadly warrior. The Ultimate Lifeform refused to back down, determined to turn the tide and secure victory for Team Sonic. He raced forward once more, eager to finish their conflict.
Across the other side of the stage, Blaze chose wisely to keep her distance from the Ice. Queen. Serenity proved to be a deadly opponent. As well as being older with more battle experience, the queen was physically stronger. Even as the princess landed her own strikes, they did little to deter her opponent from fighting her. She was outmatched, outskilled, but there was one strength the queen could never take from her.
Her courage.
Blaze feared no one, never showing concern for her own well-being. Even against mighty warriors in the past, she refused to back down and submit. One way or another, Blaze was determined to turn the tide in their battle. She threw out her hands, unleashing her burning flames. Serenity calmly raised her hands, creating a shield of ice to stop the attack from striking her. Blaze pushed on, growling with frustration as her flames did no lasting effect.
Serenity pushed through the flames, landing her cold fist directly towards the princess. Blaze threw up her arms at the final second, cushioning the blow. The queen swung her fists with precision, the experience she carried from countless battles proving to be well earned. Switching to defence, Blaze weaved from left to right, her graceful movements allowing her to soften the queen's stronger blows from connecting fully. Serenity towered over Blaze by at least a foot. She relied on her smaller size to avoid the queen's longer arms.
The future warrior backed away from his opponent, frantically unleashing energy blasts to keep him at a distance. The jackal easily cut through the blasts with his own abilities. He caught up with the hedgehog, seizing him by the ankle before hurling him towards the air. Silver quickly rebalanced himself midair, raising his Shield of Light. The jackal easily sliced through the shield with a few swipes, striking the blunt end of his blade into Silver's face.
Silver winced, clutching one hand tightly against his face. "Ow!"
Ozor chuckled, taking advantage to study the rest of the opposing team. "Which one of your friends should I take out next? One of the hedgehogs? The pretty face in the sky? Or how about the kitty cat over there?"
His words sparked Silver's inner rage. For reasons he could not understand, a threat to Blaze triggered a fury of rage within him, sparking an instinct to protect her. The hedgehog suddenly jolted forward, driving his fist into the jackal's face with enough force to launch him back. "Leave her alone!"
Ozor yelped as the forced drove him through the air, though his pwoers stopped him from reaching the ground. He raised his head, now grinning with amusement. "Did I strike a nerve?
The jackal threw his right arm forward, formed his energy into a piercing blade around his hand once more. Ozor charged forward and swung the blade with rapid speed, determined to win this fight. Silver remained on the defensive, knowing one touch from that blade could cost him dearly. These were strong enough to cut through his flesh provided it was a dead-on attack. Silver continued to back away from his blade, timing the precise moment to counter. All he needed was one block, a perfectly timed defensive strike. Too early and he would miss. Too late and he would be struck.
Focusing on the blade alone, Silver jolted his hand forward and caught the blade within his grasp, leaving a surprised Ozor frozen. With a gentle squeeze, he crushed the blade into pieces before slamming his foot into the jackal's stomach, knocking him a small distance away.
Ozor almost lost balance to fly. Swiftly, he rushed Silver, who vanished, appearing behind the jackal and elbowing him in the head. As he tumbled away, Ozor dashed forward and attacked, but Silver blocked all his punches and then rammed his knee into Ozor's stomach. Forced to endure the attack, Ozor threw up his arms to block a punch to his chest, jumping up and backwards. He began to charge energy in one of his hands, but thinking about this, he momentarily lost track of his opponent. Silver appeared above him, using both fists to hammer him downwards. Ozor hit the ground hard, denting the stage ever so slightly. Growling, he jumped up to continue.
Ozor lunged at Silver, but the hedgehog stepped out of the way, painfully grabbing wrenching Ozor's arm and twisting it almost to breaking point as a means of payback for his earlier taunts. While surprised to see his opponent beginning to unleash more power, Ozor basked in the glory of battle. He swivelled around, pulling his arm out of the hold, and fired a full-power energy blast at point-blank range.
The explosion almost vaporised his opponent, practically deafening Silver. As the smoke cleared. Silver stood there, surrounded by another Shield of Light. Despite taking the blast full on, his shield had saved him from severe harm. However, the aftershock kicked in as his ears whistled loudly. Withstanding the attack in such a limited space left him disoriented.
"Not bad, kid" Ozor noted, calmly brushing away small traces of burns against his arms. "Not bad at all."
Silver waited for the tinnitus to pass, softly holding his hands until the painful sensation finally vanished. His powers flamed, an unbalanced green aura surrounded the hedgehog as he charged once more, his speed increased. Eager to face his opponent once more, Ozor charged forward to meet him halfway.
Within the air, Rouge and Tabitha continued their battle in the sky, rapidly exchanging kicks between them with the former having no chance of landing a direct blow. As for the latter, she countered any of Rouge's attacks with swift and harder blows, taking great pleasure out of tormenting her like this. Tabitha dodged Rouge's fist, countering with a flurry of kicks.
As Rouge charged to retaliate, their feet clashed, and Tabitha pushed away her defensive before placing her wing against the bat's torso, landing a devastating blow that blasted her foe out of the sky and towards the ground below. Swiftly rebalancing herself, Rouge threw out her hands and backflipped, stopping herself from hitting the ground.
"This girl is tough," Rouge noted while crossing her arms, her eyes locked towards the bounty hunter looming over within the distance. "She's got experience, no doubt. But if I want to win this tournament, I'm gonna have to play smart."
The bat briefly glanced to her left, watching the battle between Sonic and Vath. As the pangolin swiped his sharp claws towards the blue hedgehog, Rouge nonchalantly raised her leg, tripping him. Vath fell head over heels, landing on his stomach with a sickening thud.
Vath turned towards his attacker, angrily shaking his fist. "Hey!"
"Thanks Rouge!" Sonic exclaimed, using the momentum distraction to shove his opponent backwards.
The bat nodded before shifting her gaze towards the sky once more. Waiting patiently above was Tabitha. She wore an expression of vague amusement, as if to announce her self-assurance. Without hesitation, Rouge spread her wings and raced forward, unleashing her fury in a quick dash towards Tabitha. As she struck with her right fist, the owl reached up and caught it with her claw. Rouge swung with her left fist, also caught in Tabitha's claw. The two then began struggling to push through each other's defences, their violent opposing grips interlocked.
In the momentary war of brute strength, neither could seem to gain the upper hand. After a few moments of struggle, it seemed like a stalemate. Tabitha, however, gained a slight advantage by using her wings to break the deadlock and knock Rouge backwards. Dashing after her, Tabitha swung an angry chop at her back. Rouge weaved to one side just before it struck, appearing behind Tabitha with a sky uppercut. Her attack also missed, the force of the blow hitting the air. Tabitha had dodged just in time, reappearing in front of her.
Face to face again, the two dashed forwards, each fighter free from their restraints, and began to clobber each other. As the speed of their blows continued increasing, they were soon too quick for the untrained eye to follow. The impact from each blocked attack was powerful enough that the arena itself seemed frightfully aware of the damage they can cause.
Rouge tanked a hard kick to the face, launching through the air before she finally slowed herself and regained balance. Tabitha was every bit as powerful as she had believed. Admittedly, Rouge underestimated what her opponent was capable of and she had to admit it was impressive. She smiled. It was as much of a thrill as she could have hoped for. She knew his own resolve was unending. She, Rouge, the treasure hunter, would prove to herself and all his opponents why she was a defender of the planet.
Tabitha paused momentarily, softly brushing her head feathers back. "I have to admit, you've proven me wrong."
Rouge raised her eyebrow, one hand placed against her hip as her curiosity peaked. "Is that right?"
Tabitha nodded. "I took you for a pretty face who was in over their head. But I can see this isn't your first rodeo."
Smirking softly, Rouge humoured the owl. "You wouldn't believe half of the tales we've gone through. Let me ask you a question: why a bounty hunter?"
Truthfully, the owl didn't have a response. She placed one wing to her face, rubbing a single wingtip up and down her beak. "It's the thrill of it all. I love that sense of adrenaline, that feeling when you know a situation could be deadly. There's so many bad people out there. I figured, why not use my love for danger to make the world a safer place while I'm at it?"
The bat hummed quietly, not expecting such a sincere response. This changed her opinion of the owl, no longer seeing her as a simple mercenary for hire. Rouge related to her ideals. She loved the thrill of hunting for treasure, even if it meant crossing into enemy territory. There was something attractive about it all. But in her search for sacred treasure, Rouge had formed many friendships along the way. Maybe it wasn't the treasure that she enjoyed so much but the journey and friends she made along the way.
Shaking her head softly, Rouge felt satisfied with the answer and shifted herself into a fighting stance. "Ready for round two?"
The owl nodded. "After you."
Resuming their battle, the fighters of the sky engaged in close combat once more. Tabitha struck the first blow, her fist crashing into Roughe's head and knocking her back. Rouge recovered her senses and dodged to the left to avoid Tabitha's next attack, and swung her leg at the back of his opponent's neck. Tabitha caught the bat's ankle in mid-swing, twisting around to face Rouge.
Rouge swung her free foot, crashing into Tabitha's face and forcing her to let go, staggering away. Rouge followed up with a kick to the side which Tabitha batted away with an uncoordinated swing of her leg, only just avoiding another hit due to the pain in her face. She fended off a volley of feet, fists, and strikes from her opponent.
The bat gritted her teeth in intense focus, knowing one mistake and the owl's superior strength would give her the upper hand again. Tabitha broke away, flying around behind Rouge, the bat turning to face him. The battle resumed with Tabitha on the offensive now. After a few seconds of perfectly-timed strikes and blocks, one of the owl's attacks got through Rouge's guard, knocking the wind out of her.
"I say it's time we finished this!" Tabitha announced, reeling back her leg to land one final blow.
At the final second, Rouge ducked down, causing Tabitha to unintentionally swing herself around. Using this opportunity, the bat suddenly wrapped both arms tightly around the owl's neck, followed by stretching her legs around the owl's torso. Shocked by this act, the owl turned her head all the way around to meet her opponent's gaze.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Tabitha demanded.
"What's the matter? Too heavy for you?" Rouge teased with a familiar grin.
Tabitha's eyes widened as Rouge deliberately slowed down her wings. Without the extra support, the two of them began to descend towards the ground. It dawned on the owl that they were over the water below. "Are you insane? You'll take us both out!"
"That's the idea," Rouge agreed.
Panicking, the owl thrashed, desperately trying to throw Rouge off. The bat shifted her gaze towards the stage, catching her partner's attention. Shadow briefly broke off his battle against Chax, looking towards his closest friend with concern. She winked, reassuring the Ultimate Lifeform this was her final decision. "It's up to you now, Shadow."
Rouge closed both eyes and stopped flying, forcing the two of them towards the water below. Tabitha flapped her wings with every last ounce of strength, her attempts in vain as she lacked the strength to carry them both. Tabitha reered back her wing, repeatedly striking into the bat. Every desperate attempt to escape failed. There was no relenting of Rouge's hold. She wouldn't let up, she didn't let go, willing to hold on as long as it takes. No matter how many strikes she endured, Rouge held on with every last ounce of strength.
From the bleachers, Knuckles gawked in awestruck, watching Rouge's selfless act. The two fighters reached the bottom of the stage, splashing through the water with a thundering impact. "Rouge… She just gave up her chance to win a Chaos Emerald."
"I gotta admit, I didn't see that one coming," Tails agreed.
"Rouge and Tabitha are out! Another double elimination!"
The duo emerged from the water, reaching dry land with ease. While Rouge carried herself with satisfaction, Tabitha locked eyes with the treasure hunter, one of her eyes twitching from the salt water. Before long, a grin formed itself on the bounty hunter's beak. Having enjoyed the experience, Tabitha pumped Rouge on the shoulder. The bat returned the friendly gesture, relieved there was no further hostility between them.
Rouge returned to the bleachers, taking a seat between Amy and Knuckles. A fresh towel was given to her by the staff.
"You okay, Rouge?" Amy asked with concern.
"Other than my makeup being ruined, couldn't be better," Rouge reassured, rubbing the towel softly around her hair.
Espio, who was seated behind them with the rest of Team Chaotix, spoke up. "That was a bold tactic, Rouge. What made you decide to do that?"
The bat softly shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Call it intuition."
Knuckles narrowed his eyes, still holding his calm demeanour. He couldn't stop himself from speaking up, though in a moment of weakness, he forced himself to avoid her gaze. "You did… Great. Nice work, Rouge."
"Aww, so you do care," the bat said as she playfully nudged him. "Does that mean I can visit Angel Island now?"
"Don't push your luck," Knuckled warned.
Rouge chuckled and held up her hands innocently. "Just asking."
The friends resume focus towards the battle. Four of their own remained against four of the opposing team. Despite keeping the score even, Team Sonic feared their chances were growing slim. The hedgehog speedsters were unable to cause any harm to their respective opponents. As for Blaze and Silver, neither could overpower the queen nor the jackal's extraordinary abilities.
From this point forward, their only hope was a miracle.