ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
"The next match will be between…Quick Freeze and Shadow the Hedgehog!" a dark chao announced. "Son of a biscuit!!!" Freezie shouted at the sky. Shadow chuckled and glanced over at him. "I mean c'mon! He's got his Chaos Control thingie and he can whoop me!" Freezie continued. "Don't worry. I won't use it. You're so slow I won't need to," Shadow said. "OOOOOOOOO," the Chaotix said. Freezie glanced over at Shadow and said, "Well Shadow, lets see how quick you are in the ring." "If you ran your feet as fast as you ran your mouth, then I'd be in trouble." Freezie couldn't believe it. Someone was beating him at trash talking. They both stepped onto opposite ends of the ring and glared each other down. "Ready…FIGHT!!!"
They both began to run around the ring, keeping on the opposite side of the other. Finally, they dashed into the center of the ring and began to fight as super speed. After a few seconds, Freezie came flying back, sliding along the ring floor. He tried to get up, but his chest was on fire, and to top everything off, Shadow put his foot on it. "I give, Shadow. You're a better fighter and trash talker." "No. That stays with you. I just don't let you get in here," Shadow said, pointing at his head. "The winner is…Shadow the Hedgehog!!!" The stands, filled with dark chao, began to cheer. No one felt comfortable, considering they were in a stadium filled with little creatures that could eat them. "Next will be…Mighty the Armadillo and Captain Independence!"
The two friends walked onto the ring and shook hands, smiling. "How about we make it interesting?" Mighty suggested. "How so?" Cap asked. "We'll grip lock in the center, and whoever can push the other out of the ring wins. That way, the strongest guy will go on, no questions asked." "Sounds fine to me." Both got in the center of the ring and locked hands, ready to push with all their might. They stared at each other, now smiling with wicked smiles, excited at the challenge. "Ready…FIGHT!!!" Their muscles tensed as they pushed as hard as they could. They both growled as their veins began to bulge out. Both had their feet planted, and weren't willing to move without their consent. For what seemed like forever, they stood there, no one losing any ground. Their bodies became damp with sweat as it began to drip down their faces onto the arena floor. Finally, enough was enough. They both pushed forward at the same time, cracking the center of the arena. Suddenly, Mighty began to feel the tiles behind his feet crumbling. He tried as hard as he could, but slowly, Cap gained the upper hand and pushed him to the edge. Mighty could feel his foot on the edge, glanced back, then to Cap again with a smile. "Well, it was fun," he said. "Yeah. Good job. We'll do this again some time," Cap replied before sending Mighty over the edge of the arena.
The two powerhouses walked towards a bench and plopped down, laughing, as the next match was called. Everyone observed a fight between a panda and a kangaroo. The kangaroo came in with lighting-quick jabs, but the panda's thick layer of blubber protected him. The panda took a swipe, but the kangaroo jumped up and bounced off of his head. The panda, now annoyed, began to swipe away, tearing up the arena. The kangaroo landed just on the edge and glanced back smiling. The panda charged at him, but he bounced up and kicked off of his head, sending him out of the ring.
"That was neat. Man, this is cool. We got front seats to the greatest fights in history. It's better than super bowl and World Series tickets all in one year!" Morph said. "I guess," Amy said. "Next up is…Razor Blade and Enigma the Echidna!" Everyone jumped to attention. They wanted to see what the 'walker's fighter' could do. Razor hissed at Enigma, not forgetting what he did to his older brother, Switch. "I'll kill you for Switch," he growled. Enigma didn't answer. He just stood there at the other end of the ring. Razor prepared for a quick assault as Enigma bowed, showing some signs of honor and respect. "Ready…FIGHT!!!" Right away Razor charged, extending his lethal claws. They watched in awe as he landed with a thud behind Enigma. "Wh-what???" Bunnie stuttered. "He…he finished him with one move," Tails muttered. "An elbow strike to the back of the head. Our friend here is very deadly at close range. Quick reflexes and powerful blows make a lethal combination," Shadow said as they watched Enigma step off of the arena floor. He turned towards them, his body shook in a slight chuckle, and he departed again. "Locke was right. He's no normal echidna," Vector said. "Then again, you don't have to worry, do you Vec?" Ray stated. "Well neither do you, remember? We both know neither of us would stand a chance, so why bother?"
They watched a few more matches, catching a break. "Now, Viper Ninja and Espio the Chameleon!" "OOOO! Ninja battle!" DJ said as they stepped into the ring. They both bowed and came up in their fighting positions. "Ready…FIGHT!!!" Espio drew several ninja stars and hurled them as they both jumped back. Vipes evaded most of them, except on that was heading for his head! After a quick flash, Vipes held his hand in front of his face, the star between his fingers. Espio camouflaged, making himself invisible to Vipes. The young ninja, however, took his long, purple scarf and threw it around his eyes, blinding himself. He stood there for a moment, then threw a back kick, revealing a falling Espio. Knowing camouflage wouldn't help, Espio ran in for some hand-to-hand combat. Vipes pulled away the scarf to intercept the attacking chameleon. They battled with martial arts, using chops, kicks and jabs. The lighter Espio held the advantage in this fight, and Vipes knew it. He took a few steps back and drew his sword. "This sword, as you know, is magic. In battle, I have never, ever lost as long as I have wielded it." "There's a first time for everything!" Espio yelled as they both charged and leapt into the air. Vipes took a side slash with his sword, which Espio easily evaded. What he didn't evade was the sword's holster, which struck him on the side of the head. As Espio moaned on the ground, Vipes held the tip of his sword to the chameleon's head, forcing him to stay down. "Just because a weapon is drawn, doesn't mean it will be used. Lucky for you I'm a friend."
Sonic rather enjoyed himself during his match. He was pitted against a large, muscular bear, who couldn't lay a paw on him. Sonic toyed with him, which was rather annoying, and began to drive the poor bear mad. Finally, he began to run in a circle around his opponent, lifting him up into the air and dropping him on the arena floor. He smirked as the announcer declared his victory, and proudly marched off the arena. "So much for modesty," Shadow muttered. "Hey! I won, didn't I?" Sonic said. Sally rolled her eyes. So far it's been pretty straight forward," Rotor said, "Nothing too exhilarating." "Well, it's only the preliminaries. No one wants to show off all they got right away…except for Sonic," Ray joked. "Yeah, laugh it up!" Sonic replied. "Morph Man and Grim Reaper!" the announcer shouted. "Oh…crap," Morph mumbled. "Let's go have some fun," Grim said menacingly as he patted Morph on the shoulder. "Ready…FIGHT!!!" Morph created a large gap in his stomach area to avoid getting fried by a fireball. "Woah! Watch it!" Morph yelled. He formed some large wings and began to fly into the air above Grim. "Wuss!" Grim shouted angrily, shaking his fist. Morph smiled and turned himself into a flame proof metal, as long and as wide as the arena so Grim couldn't dodge him. "Crap!" Grim shouted as it fell towards him. 'Wait a sec…if he's stretched that far, then he can't be too thick. Gotta hit him hard, or I'm done!' he thought to himself as he balled his hand into a fist and lunged upwards at Morph's new form. He threw as hard a punch as he could, hearing his knuckles crack against the metal. On the plus side, he also heard the breaking of the metal, as he punched a hole through it. "OW! HEY! No fair! That was my chest!" Morph yelled as he reformed, with a gap in his chest. Grim held up pieces of the metal and threw them out of the ring. "You can give up now, or I can take you apart bit by bit. Your choice." "AHHH! You suck! I…I give."
They watched as Morph held the metal fragments against his chest and they fused to his body. "That's weird. I've seen him do that so many times, but I'll never accept it," Rouge said. "It's getting very warm in here," Julie-Su said as she took her hat off, brushed her hair back and placed it back on. "Yes. I vill guess et iz ze 'heat of combat'," Antione said. "Or grim roasting hot dogs behind you," Rotor said as he pointed behind his coyote friend. Indeed, Grim, along with the Chaotix and the rest of the Ravagers, were roasting hot dogs over Grim's flaming palm. "MMMM! Gooood eatin'" Mighty said as he bit his dog off the end of the stick. They then noticed everyone staring at them. Mighty shrugged and said, "Hey! Guys gotta eat! Want some?" "No thanks," Amy said. "I do!" Sonic yelled as he ran over. "At least turn the heat down," Rouge said, fanning herself. "Oh sure, and stand here cooking the dogs for an hour!" Grim spat as he lessened the flame. "Boys and their grills," Bunnie said. "Pyros and their fire is more like it," Julie-Su commented.
"Next is…Sword Swiper and Forest Centipede. Gee that's a weird name," the announcer said. "Oh sure. Mock the guy with the funny name. I told the ancient ones it was too goofy, but noooo, they're the wise ones that know everything!" F.C. said to himself as he and Swiper entered the ring. "Listen F.C., just don't drop me on my head, okay?" Swiper asked. He knew right away he was not going to win. F.C. was a mage, although he was not aware of all the mystic arts and was known to screw up a spell every so often. He could easily overcome Swiper with minimal magic, and Swiper didn't want to be trounced. "No need to worry. I'll go easy on you." "Ready…FIGHT!!!" Swiper made a valiant charge at the young mage, but didn't get very far. F.C. mumbled some incantation as his hands glowed. "Beloth xainen…no wait! I meant xainon! Xainon!" F.C. yelled as Swiper was encased in a large, clear cube. Swiper looked around inside the box, glanced over at F.C. and asked, "What the hell is this thing?" "It's a xainen cube! It will slowly shrink in size and send you to another dimension!" Swiper didn't respond, just staring at him. "Which is bad," F.C. concluded. "Get me outta here then!!!" Swiper yelled. "Uhhhh…" F.C. mumbled as he had a flashback.
"Forest Centipede!" "Do you know how stupid that name is? I mean really!" "Silence! Are you even paying attention? "Uhhh…" "One day you will need to know how to destroy a xainen cube, and you won't know how to!" "Yes master. 'Yeah, right!'"
F.C. stared blankly as he finished his flashback. He scratched his head and said, "Man, that really came back to bite me in the ass, didn't it?" "GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!" Swiper yelled. "Listen! You need to think outside the box!!!" "How?" "Uhhh…DJ! Give him something stupid to think about!" F.C. shouted at DJ. "Limin flavored chiven!" DJ shouted. "What?!?! What the hell is that???" Swiper shouted back. "You tell me!" "I dunno? Lemon flavored chicken? Lemon scented chives? Lemon scented chicken and chives with lime? Lime-" "You're out of the box, now." Swiper looked around him to see that the box had dispersed and vanished. "Good!" "Now we can continue our match." "NO WAY! I'm not letting you say another word! I give up, man!"
As they walked down from the arena floor, DJ noticed Rouge staring at him curiously. "What?" he asked. "Limin flavored chiven? Really, DJ. I don't think you can say anything stupider than that." "Monkey forehead." "I stand corrected." Rouge said with a sigh.
There were more matches after that, but at about five o'clock, the fights concluded. Chaose stood from his black throne and applauded them with clapping. "I am very pleased with what I have seen. There is much talent among you. I was very much impressed with the wide variety of abilities displayed today. Now, however, will be a time of rest. You may go to the banquet hall and eat in one hour. I will see you then." With that final word, he bowed, turned around, and walked down a long, dark passage out of the arena.
At dinner, they discussed who among them was still in the tournament, and the level of competition. "We got Sonic, Shadow, Cap, Grim, Vipes, F.C., DJ, and Rob. Pretty good line up for us," Sally said as she took a sip of her soup. "Any good competition?" Bunnie asked. "No one really," Sonic said with an assured smirk. "Forgetting about Enigma, are we?" Grim said. "Oh yeah, him. I guess I forgot him, being he's never around unless he's fighting. Guy doesn't even bother to see what the competition is. Doesn't even come to dinner." "I was looking at the line ups for tomorrow. The next one to fight Enigma is…DJ." They all turned to DJ, who had taken his helmet off, but left his beanie on. "Meh. No worries. Way I see it, I gotta keep my distance. He's a close-combat guy, so I'll stay ranged, and be airborne for as long as possible." DJ said as he ate some of the chicken he had put on his plate. " Just be careful. Don't do anything you would do," Amy said. "What do you mean?" "Stupid," Shadow stated, finishing Amy's trail of thought. "Hey! It's me! I got it covered. He belched, stood up and looked out the door. "I'm gonna find Cap. Later!" He said as he picked up his helmet and walked out.
DJ found Cap lying on the small bit of grass surrounding the hotel, staring at the heavens with his hands behind his head. "What's up, bro?" DJ asked. "Nothing," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "Just checking out the sky. I'm just so used to one moon." "Yeah. It's neat. But…everything else isn't. Ya know, I thought it'd be cool to go to another dimension and compete in a tournament to save the world. Super Hero stuff. But this really sucks. I guess being a super hero isn't all it's cracked up to be." "Such is life," Cap said. "Yeah. I mean, we're living the dream of every little kid. Being a super hero. Fighting bad guys. Doing it with serious style. But there's so much more to it," DJ said, lowering his head. "DJ…Todd…do you, I dunno…wanna give it up? Be normal teens again?" "Hell no. I couldn't go back to that. We've gone too far. Done too much. Now it's just kinda natural. Besides, I own a mega-corporation, remember? This keeps me from doing the paperwork, and hiring someone else to do it." Cap laughed as he slowly stood up. "Yeah. We can't stop now. C'mon. Let's chill with the others."
On a familiar beach, a familiar figure is in deep meditation. Today was the the beginning. Soon it would all be over. He would defeat Chaose, and everything he prepared for would be fulfilled. But what then? He shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand. He knew that Sonic and his friends would do anything to stop him, and he must be willing to do the same. Perhaps he would use his opponent tomorrow as an example for the rest, telling the others to back off. Perhaps…