Chapter 29 - The strongest hedgehog!

Back at Tails lab I am now. It has been quite empty for a while time, since everyone had their own room in Life Dome. The bell rings, and I open the door. I greet Rosey. "Hello Hero. I'm here to speak to my sis. Do you mind if I come in?" Hey, she's friendly now! "Step aside now, or i'll force my way through! It's urgent!" Or maybe not... "She's in her room. You still know where it is, right?" I say while stepping aside. She walks inside. I'm following her, just in case she wants to beat up her sister again. "Hero, I know what you want to do. But this is private, between her and me." I scratch my head. "If you kidnap her, or do anyth" She interrupts me while I was trying to say something. "Don't worry about it." But I do worry! Guess i'll just... leave them.

I'm on my way to the house section, when I see something interesting happen. Regulus steps on a handbag and Amy gets mad. "Regulus! Watch where you're walking you pervert! That handbag cost me a lot of money!" She's still calling him a pervert? "I'm not a pervert! I tol" He stops speaking when Amy grabs her infamous Pico Pico Hammer. She swings it, and Regulus dodges it and runs away... my way. The furious Amy just runs and bashes me aside, to get to Regulus. She bumps into Knuckles, and falls. "You, don't get in my way!" She says loudly against him. "But" He tried to respond, but she swings her hammer his way. He runs away, and she starts chasing him too. Talk about being blinded by rage. I decide to pick up the bag, and clean it. That should make her happy. It's actually kind of fun... being with them all. Even with all the fighting.

A few days later, it's time for the 7th round of the tournament. The semi-finals. It's too bad the Fluff sisters left. But they had a lot gain in on, so it's good the both of them will be traveling for a while. I'm glad that Rosey isn't working for The Malicious anymore. I'm surprised that he just let her go... though I shouldn't be.

Bad boys: Bass Shadnik VS Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow: "Foolish lowlife hedgehog. You might as well give up right now."

Bass: "You know what they say. No pain, no gain. Bring it on, blacky!"

Apparently, Shadow is insulted by that. He starts off with a light dash, only slam into an earth pillar from Bass. While Shadow is dazed Bass combo's him head on. It takes a few seconds before Shadow can escape the deadly combinations. "Fooli" Shadow is punched right in his face before he can finish it, angered he is by that. "Don't talk so mu" Bass wanted to say, but Shadow flip kicks and hits him beneath his chin, sending shocks to his brain. For about 10 seconds he gets beaten to a pulp until he can properly move again. He blows Shadow away with a pillar from his own back, and jumping on it. From there another one comes to hit Shadow from the upper-side. I expected Shadow to be... squished like a pudding. But Shadow is strong enough to catch it, and throw it away. Bass jumps at him. Shadow counters it by jumping with high speed against him, he flies about 30 feet backward because of that, and lands on his back. He stands up very fast, and punches Shadow who had a homing attack on the way. Shadow flies now 50 feet backwards. Shadow runs fast towards him, and tries to homing attack Bass again. Bass grabs him and bashes him into the ground, repeatedly. Shadow doesn't get up anymore. The ultimate life form is defeated. Guess being the ultimate life form doesn't necessarily mean being the ultimate warrior.

Bass Shadnik wins!

It takes an hour before the next fight starts. I'll be rooting for Overdrive, of course. I was nearly sure Shadow would win the tournament from this point though, because he basically owned nearly every opponent. Anyway, time for a snack. Me hungry. When i'm done eating, together with some others, Shadow walks into the cafeteria. Disappointed, of course. He sees Sonic sitting at my table, and walks up to him. Is he gonna challenge him or anything? "Sonic, i've proved I am your superior! I truly am th" He gets interrupted. "Shut up! You lost, you're out. That's all that matters. You forgot I defeated you more than a year ago!" Sonic says, teasing Shadow. "What! I challenge you! Right here, right now." He got angry again... "See you guys. I gotta go." Sonic says, and he runs away. Shadow chases him, and both of them are gone. Eh, I doubt they'll stop their rivalry anytime soon. "Sonic is stronger than Shadow. Why can't he accept that?" Amy wonders. Of course she's biased when it involved the hedgehog she wants to marry. I'd say their still equal. So we head back to the arena now, for the next match.

Blast battle: Overdrive Vercetti VS Ryoukusho Guy

Overdrive: "This'll be a tough fight."

Ryoukusho: "Indeed... for you."

They both attack each other with fierce attacks right from the start, not using their special abilities yet. Overdrive is much fast than Ryou and hits him much more often, but each of Ryou's hits push Overdrive away. Their very strong. Overdrive starts using small explosions to misdirect Ryou's punches, and get a few hits in himself. It doesn't take long before he get countered by a big electromagnetic bullet when he does that, and receives a lot of damage from the upcoming blows. The most devastating one, a wide swing with the gun arm, gets parried with a kick from Overdrive just in time. He then uses an explosion to blow Ryou towards him, and he uppercuts him. He continues using explosions from behind Ryou and giving him hard blows. It seems Overdrive has the overhand in this fight. Ryou suddenly dodges one of Overdrives hits, and gives him a 2-hit combo with his gun arm, continued by a fully powered electromagnetic bullet that blow Overdrive halfway through the arena. It takes them a minute to reach each other again. I think Ryou already has another fully charged shot by now. Overdrive uses an explosion again to let Ryou fly towards him, and Ryou expect that. So he gets ready to dodge Overdrives hit. But Overdrive isn't that stupid, and blows him backward a bit first to confuse him, and then immediately after that forward to combo him, and he blows him backward before Ryou can do anything. Ryou shoots another charged shot as he flies away, which hits Overdrive and sends him flying through the arena again. Overdrive slowly stands up... but he gets blasted by another electromagnetic bullet before he can see what's going on. That one was a little too much, Overdrive won't get up.

Ryoukusho Guy wins!

So the final match will be between Ryou and Bass. I fought on nearly equal ground with Bass some time ago. Does this mean he grew more than me, or that the strongest fighters in the main rounds are about equal? Either way, the winner of the tournament will officially get the title of 'The strongest hedgehog in the world'.

So now... 3 days later... the finals.

Grand Finale: Bass Shadnik VS Ryoukusho Guy

Bass: "Tough guy, eh? Let's see who's the better fighter."

Ryoukusho: "I'm sorry, but I cannot let you win. This tournament... is mine to win."

Their left hand fists clash at the beginning of the fight. Right after, Ryou tries shooting Bass, but Bass uppercuts the gun upward, causing Ryou to shoot it to the ceiling. It hits a few light and the arena is a bit darker. Bass follow up with some very strong blows, the last one causes Ryou to fly backward 30 feet. He uses a pillar to return Ryou, and then hits him in his gut, while Ryou is heading with full speed towards him. Bass knows Ryou is very tough, so he proceeds to hit him there. Ryou, for the first time, shows some real signs of pain. He shoots a fully charged electromagnetic bullet from close up, while Bass is too busy to notice it. Bass is, just like Overdrive was, send flying backward halfway through the arena. Another shot follows, but Bass dodges that one. Ryou now charges something else. I don't know what it is, but it's not like his normal shots. He's done when Bass halved the distance between them, and he immediately shoots it. It's a very wide purple electromagnetic shot. Bass creates a stone shield to protect him. So he too, still had a trump card. Bass shoots himself forward with one of his own pillars, before letting his shield fall apart. While flying towards Ryou, he uses other pillars to keep Ryou from shooting him. Bass lands on the ground before he reaches Ryou, and then combo's him. He stops the combo soon after, and uses pillars from all sides to continuously hit Ryou, hoping to finish him off. After a few minutes... Ryou has been out of sight for a while now. Bass might've killed him... Not good at all. It's an outcome I couldn't predict.

Bass Sh

A sudden burst of light blows away all the pillars. There's a hole in the ground. Ryou must've been sheltering there. He crawls out of the hole, and blasts the near exhausted Bass one more time. Bass... he'll be lying on the floor for a while.

Ryoukusho Guy, winner of the tournament! The strongest hedgehog in the world!

So that guy won. He won't be claiming his prize until tomorrow. A short time before he does that, it's time for me and some friends to sneak into the underground arena unnoticed. And i'm willing to bet that The Malicious will go then too.

End of chapter