"I'm very excited now. The four of you that remain have demonstrated your skills in combat and are worthy to be my right hand man. Shadow, your endurance and speed have been unmatched thus far. Tails, your quick reflex and mastery of tools, even as weapons, is outstanding. Sonic, my number one enemy, your speed and style in combat had not gone unnoticed. And let's not forget Amy. A beauty who has proven to be an absolute beast in combat! The final three matches will determine your fate. Without further ado, I'll have Shadow and Tails face off." Eggman announced.

They were released and walked out toward each other, sizing each other up.

"You really think…" Shadow suppressed a chuckle. "You even have a chance?"

"I think I can hold my own in a fight, thank you!" Tails yelled back, keeping a close hold of his favorite steel pipe wrench.

"I almost feel bad. Give up now and I won't hurt you." Shadow warned, crossing his arms.

"Beating people senseless kept me alive. No dice." He brandished his nail gun, smiling eerily at Shadow as he flipped a switch on it.

"All you've done is beaten up little girls. Not what I'd call impressive."

"Wow, that was offensive. Your warnings are lost on me. I'll never give up, no matter what it takes. I'm bringing you down, even if it means I fight Sonic!"

"You had to say that, Miles. Your fate is sealed. I'll keep you conscious just so you can surrender."

"Oh, you really think so? Poor, hopeless soul."

"Prepare yourself for the beating of a lifetime."

Without any prompting, they took their stances. Tails, with his wrench in his back hand, and Shadow, body turned away with fists up. waiting for Eggman's signal. "Show no mercy, give no escape. You've gotten each other ready. En garde. Engage."

Shadow charged Tails, and Tails hit him on the left side of his head with the wrench. Shadow stumbled back, but quickly grabbed Tails' hips. Shadow pulled him close, snagged the back of his belt, and turned him upside down, and jumped to land Tails head first in a flashy pulling piledriver. He didn't let go, but instead began to unfasten his tool belt. He was successful in unbuckling the lower part, but it still remained over his shoulders.

Tails grabbed the wrench he dropped and stood to face Shadow. Instead of hitting him, Tails threw the wrench. Shadow teleported behind Tails, wrapped his arms around him, and teleported back to his original place. Tails didn't have time to react before the wrench hit him between the eyes. Tails grunted in pain as Shadow unlatched his belt across the shoulders and threw him aside.

"You feel vulnerable without your belt, don't you?" Shadow taunted.

"Nah, it's freeing. Let's speed it up."

Tails dashed at Shadow, switching to a baseball slide at the last possible moment. Shadow reached out for him, but was caught off guard as he felt his knees being pushed backward. He fell over, pushing with his hands to get back up in under a second. Risking even more scrapes from the concrete, Tails rolled backwards with his legs up, literally kicking Shadow's butt. Tails laughed. Shadow turned around and grabbed Tails around the neck, dragging him to the center of the room.

"And now for the promised beating." Shadow threatened. Tails kicked off him and jumped far enough to reach part of his tool belt. He took the nail gun and fired six nails at Shadow, all of them piercing him down the chest. "Burst fire?" Shadow guessed.

"Yeah." Tails smiled. "Took it easy on the girls." He fired eight more in a half second. They all hit Shadow in the abdomen. He quickly pulled all fourteen nails out of himself. "Hate to crucify you." Tails laughed. He grabbed a new box of nails and reloaded it just as Shadow picked him up and threw him all the way to the wall. Tails rubbed his head after that impact.

He walked a few feet toward Shadow and mimicked his stance. Shadow took his, and led the assault with a right cross against Tails' face, near his eye. He sent a left hook against his chest. Tails was hit, but quickly countered with an uppercut. Tails followed with a flying sobat kick to his chest. Shadow was pushed back a few feet. He tripped on Tails' nail gun. Shadow pointed it at him with one hand and pulled the trigger. It clicked and fired one nail which missed. Tails burst out in laughter at Shadow's failure.

He grunted and got up, aggressively marching toward Tails. He spun his twin Tails and took to the sky. Shadow teleported on top of him and stood on his back, pressing Tails to the concrete floor five feet below. Tails slowly got up, and punched Shadow directly in the mouth.

"Sorry, bud. I don't lose teeth." Shadow sneered. He picked up a wrench from off the floor at the same time Tails ran for his nail gun. Tails picked his up, and got hit in the side of the head. Shadow had thrown his own wrench at him. He kept a hold of his nail gun as Shadow ran at him, although Tails was a bit dizzy.

"Sorry to you as well, Shadow." Tails told him, hanging his tails low. He looked shy and sad.

"Sorry about what?" Shadow asked, smirking as he stopped in his tracks.

"I lied to you. There is no burst fire." Tails pointed his nail gun at Shadow, who looked confused. Emphasizing one hand on the trigger and one on the side, Tails pulled the trigger. In just seconds, dozens of nails came flying at Shadow, most of them connecting. Shadow blocked with his hands as he stumbled backward, blood flying everywhere as he was getting pierced in multiple places.

"IT'S FULLY AUTOMATIC!" Tails yelled, satisfied yet grimacing at the trail of blood from Shadow. Finally, Tails had fired all eighty nails. Shadow was on the ground, sobbing as he quickly and dangerously pulled the nails out, multiple at a time. "Aww, does poor Shadow get queasy seeing blood?" Tails teased, sauntering towards him.

"The Ultimate Lifeform never cries." Shadow replied, in a tone even more grim than usual. Shadow marched at Tails as if nothing happened, obviously not crying. He picked Tails up under his jaw, reached down to pick up his belt, and threw him face first on the floor. Shadow tied Tails' wrists and twin tails to his sides in under a second using his belt.

Shadow left him on the floor as he quickly dashed to get the other section of the belt. He grabbed both ends of the belt and tugged on them, making a cracking sound. "Hmm, this one has holes in it. I bet that'll hurt." He threatened, pulling Tails in by the ear. He whimpered in pain. Shadow grabbed Tails around the waist and set him face down across his lap.

"All you have to do is surrender and it'll all be over." Shadow yelled, making sure everyone heard it. He raised the belt up and brought it down on Tails' back. Tails squirmed to break free, but to no avail. "Writhing around will get you nowhere." He warned, continuously thrashing Tails' back with his own belt. Sonic and Amy were shocked watching Shadow whip Tails like that. Tails was soon desperately trying to untie himself as Shadow did not let up. He started screaming in pain after twenty hits with the belt. Tails bit Shadow's hand given the opportunity. Shadow grunted from the sudden pain. Tails screamed as he was hit thirty more times before he started to cry. He squirmed even harder, but Shadow held him down, whipping him some more.

"How *SMACK* the precious, *SMACK* cute little ego *SMACK* is gone." He quipped, mocking Tails' statement about escaping.

"I'm still not giving up!" Tails wailed. His back was turning pink. Most of the people watching looked away. Tails was whipped without mercy at least fifty more times before his kicking and screaming stopped.

Shadow set him on the ground. "All of this could have been saved if you had any humility." He told Tails, who had curled himself into a ball after Shadow removed his restraints. In an unexpected show of empathy, Shadow hugged him to his chest as he continued crying. "But I am impressed you held on so long. You passed out, right?"

"Yeah." Tails whimpered, rubbing his eyes. He noticed blood was running down the entirety of Shadow's abdomen, but his facial expression was more friendly than usual. Did he… feel bad for him? Tails hugged him back, despite his strapping just minutes earlier.

"I really did not think this would happen." Eggman stuttered. "That was probably the second strangest thing I've seen all day, just behind Zooey's sneak attack. Evil as I am, it's good to see combatants being nice. Shadow, stop hurting people just because it's fun. Tails, you did well, but it's time to go."

Tails complied and walked to the execution zone unassisted. His robot tied him to a wooden pole that was as tall as his shoulders. A roundsaw was placed on top of the pole. Tails knew he would be decapitated, but didn't protest. At least it would be quick. Shadow returned to his station, where his hands and most of his body were bandaged.