A/N: I just realized that this was even online. I am completely non ovbservant. So sorry. I have about three other chapters of this done and even two chapters of Dinosaur Planet. I don't even know how I missed those on here. Like I said, sorry about the HUGE delay. But it still is in action and I hope you're still interested. Now let's get back to reading.

Last Stand

Chapter Four: Mechanic's Arm

The match was ready to begin as Tails jumped into his plane and Slippy hopped into his Arwing. The announcer then looked around in the crowd and watched as they kept cheering for the match to begin. "Now the match is about to take way. Everyone, make your bets now, because these matches will be first and only time we will allow this to happen." the pink vixen announced. Tails turned on the ship that he was in and he jumped back out. Slippy did the same and he jumped out as well. Tails began to unscrew bolts and he reprogrammed the computers. Slippy did just about the same thing, only he threw in an EMD in the Arwing before he began to walk towards Tails' ship. 'Ha, that should short circuit the Arwing right before it even gets two hundred feet into the air.' Slippy thought.

When they reached their opponent's ships, they both stood there waiting for further instructions. "Alright, this is how it's going to go down. I will give you both forty minutes to fix the opponent's vehicle. As soon as the horn sounds, you must stop what you are doing and go into the ship. No matter if the ship is fully fixed or not, you still have to fly the ship into the sky and battle with the ship. The manager of this tournament has made sure to take out the complete lethal weapons and has built in some electronic shock guns, the more you get hit with them, the slower the ship will go. It will also begin to shut down as well. The person who gets hit out of the sky first, loses the match. Alright, you two know what the rules are, so let's begin." the vixen stated.

The two competitors began to work on their ships as the crowd began to cheer. Occasionally they would glance over at each other to see if the other one was done. Slippy decided that he was done after twenty minutes of work. He triumphantly crossed his arms and sat down as Tails kept working. 'I know I'm going to win now.' Slippy thought and smiled. Tails wiped his forehead as the horn wailed over the stadium. "Alright, you two need to board your ships and then take it to the sky." the vixen announced. Tails stopped working on the Arwing and then he jumped into the cockpit. Slippy jumped into the Tornado Omega and began to turn on the controls to the plane. 'I have to deal with a plane? I'm sure this broke down thing will shut down after ten minutes in the air.' Slippy thought with remorse. Tails looked around the Arwing and then turned on the controls. 'Stay strong for me, baby.' Tails thought. "When I blow the whistle, you both have to fly into the sky." the vixen announced. The two competitors held one of their hands on the thrusters. "Ready? Set?" she asked. She then pulled a whistle out of her shirt, put it to her mouth, and then blew it.

Both Tails and Slippy hit the thrusters and then both flying machines rocketed into the sky. Slippy was instantly taken back by the power and speed by the Tornado Omega. 'Wow, this is just as fast as my customized Arwing. Maybe he's not a drop out mechanic like I thought.' Slippy thought. Tails turned the afterburners off and flew towards Slippy. 'Let's see how great this special mechanic really is.' Tails thought and got ready to fire. When he reached Slippy, he began to fire rapidly as Slippy began to barrel roll. Slippy veered a hard right and then began to lock onto his target. 'I've got you now.' Slippy thought gleefully. Suddenly the Arwing gracefully flew above the Tornado and looped behind it. "How in the…" Slippy began to wonder, but then was pummeled by continuous fire. Tails began to fire at the plane as Slippy began to panic. Two shock blasts hit the Tornado and it began to decelerate. 'I have to do something before I lose this match.' Slippy thought.

In the crowd of watchers…

People began to gasp as they watched the outcomes of the match. "Whoa, can Slippy actually lose?" a kit asked. A middle-aged tigress smiled innocently. "Nonsense, Slippy has never lost before, and I don't think this cute hunk of a fox can beat him." she stated. She quickly noticed what she said and then tried to wave her hands in front of as if to disregard it. But to her dismay, her husband had heard it clearly. He raised an eyebrow and then took his eyes off of the two jets. "What do you mean, cute hunk?" he asked. She raised her hands to try and defend herself. "What I meant was… that um… we have lovely blue skies don't we?" she asked. He just growled under his breath and then looked back up at the firefight. "Go Slippy, kick his ass!" he yelled at the plane.

Back at the firefight…

Slippy pulled out a remote for the electrical magnetic device to activate. 'This should be enough to give me the push I need. Hey, I'm supposed to be the best, and I won't lose now.' he thought and pushed the button. Just as Tails was about to deliver the final blow, the Arwing began to lose control and began shut down. "What in the…" he said to himself and watched as the Arwing began to rapidly fall. 'Something is wrong, terribly wrong. It has to be something in this ship that is causing this reaction.' Tails thought deeply. He began to think as the Arwing plummeted to the ground.

The pink vixen looked on in awe as she saw the Arwing completely shut down. "Look folks, it seems Tails is having a bit of a hard time controlling the Arwing, if he doesn't pull up soon, he will be disqualified from the match." she announced. 'I don't want that to happen, I want him to win. I'm tired of hearing Slippy brag everyday that he is the best mechanic of all time. Sure he's great, but I don't feel like taking in my car to be fixed AND hear his complete bragging all day.' she thought.

Tails began to growl to himself because he couldn't figure out the problem. "What's going on?" he asked furiously. The control panel started to go haywire as the meters and the scales began to maniacally change rapidly. 'I couldn't have been shot, and I know this isn't the effect of the shock blast. Something else is disturbing the frequency.' Tails thought carefully. He pushed the auto pilot button and to his surprise, it was the only thing that worked. "Alright, time to find the problem of this Arwing." Tails stated. He quickly got out of the safety belts and began to search around the Arwing. 'I know something is around here. I just have to find it.' he thought. Slippy began to laugh as he flew behind the Arwing and locked it onto his system. "It's been a good challenge, but I am always ranked the best mechanic for a reason." he gloated. He was about to fire when he saw something strange. The cockpit of the Arwing slowly opened up while it was still flying. Slippy stared in shock as he saw the two tailed vulpine slowly pull out something from the Arwing. "What in the world is he doing?" the announcer asked. Tails threw the EMD out of the cockpit and then closed the hatch. "Oh, that frog is going to pay.' Tails thought angrily. He hit the boosters and flew towards the city. The Tornado soon followed and then went into Corneria City. "Wa… Wait! I forgot to tell them the boundaries." the pink vixen whispered to herself.

Tails smirked mischievously, "Now the real fun starts." he stated and began to fly low. Trey's mouth hung open as he watched the camera following the Arwing and the Tornado into the city. "What is my father doing? Doesn't he know he could easily be taken out by those buildings?" he asked. Monica smirked, "Son, you still don't know what you father is capable of. Flying through a city was almost like training to him because he had to do it so much back then. Tails has Slippy right where he wants him." she explained. 'They both had to learn hands on, they both had to deal with a mad scientist. But there is a big difference between them. Slippy started working on mechanical stuff for a job. Tails started when he was four years of old for his life.' she thought.

Tails veered a hard right as he approached a huge multi-story building. 'If he wants to play foul and dirty, fine by me.' he thought slyly. The Arwing zoomed through a bridge as Slippy desperately tried to keep up. 'How can he move this fast in such a small place? Sooner or later he will mess up and then I will capitalize on that moment.' Slippy thought. But just as Slippy thought that the Arwing was going to go under another bridge, it went under it, somersaulted, and began to pursue behind the Tornado. Tails smirked, 'Checkmate.' he thought and fired a charged laser blast. The blast hit the back of the Tornado and it began to falter. 'No! I can't lose this way!' Slippy thought frantically as he quickly began to press buttons. But to no avail, the Tornado began to descend and it went out of the city. It hit the ground with a rumble and slid into a screeching stop.

"By an air dogfight knockout, Tails wins the match!" the announcer yelled. Everyone began cheering in the stadium as Slippy kicked the cockpit open. "Lucky shot." Slippy stated and walked off. Nega smirked, "Looks like we win this one. I wonder if the others are this easy." he stated. Shadow just looked on as everyone began to pass money and react to the ending of the match. 'Let's just hope that it can stay this peaceful here. I don't like hostility too much. It causes problems." Shadow informed and then walked off from the rest of the group. Trey jumped in the air and cheered. "Yes, I knew my dad could do it. I just hope the others can win as well." he stated to Kindra. 'Yeah… me too.' she thought and looked at the remaining contestants.

To Be Continued

So, how was it? You're in for a big surprise on the next chapter. Falco and Knuckles, let's see who wins out of those two eh?