It's time for the next chapter. Hope everyone's having a good Christmas at this point (and I'm sure you all are).

In the last chapter, Tobias managed to freeze his former friend Crysis in order to stop him from destroying the world, then sealed the lab to minimize the chance of him getting out. Shortly after he got home, he received a tournament invitation.

How did the tournament go? Find out in this chapter.

Disclaimer: You all know it.

Chapter 7: Tournament Proposal.

Armand had just told everyone about a good guy turned bad, Crysis the Lion, and how Tobias sealed him up to prevent world destruction. Now the others were wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"I can't believe someone as good as Crysis would turn evil." Knuckles said. He was the first one to speak up.

"I know. But you have to remember that it was Eggman Nega's fault from the start." Armand reminded them.

"By the way, didn't your father enter a tournament shortly after Crysis was defeated?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, but it was a couple of weeks after he received the notice before it took place. I remember that it was held just before Christmas Day. It was a special Christmas Eve tournament." Armand told them.

"Who won?" Shadow asked.

"I'll tell you about the final match." Armand said. "Better yet, I think Mintra should tell you all. He faced off against Tobias in the finals."

"I'll be glad to." Mintra obliged.

About 12 years from present day, Christmas Eve…

"Things were intense in every battle during the tournament." Mintra narrated. "You could never tell who was going to win. Zeus made it to the semifinals, but Tobias beat him by knockout. I made it to the finals after outlasting my opponent, who happened to be a strong robot. It looked like one of Eggman's current Egg Pawns, but it was bigger and stronger. After beating it, we were given one hour for a break before the finalists were to battle."

In the stands, Mintra was talking to his girlfriend, Vanilla. They had been going out for the past 8 months.

"Mintra, be careful in the finals. You're going up against a great hero, and I don't want you to get hurt." Vanilla said with concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, Vanilla. Tobias has no intention of killing me. I'll do my best." Mintra reassured her.

"Oh, alright. Well, good luck." Vanilla said before giving Mintra a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." Mintra said before leaving to go to the arena. Tobias was doing the same thing after talking to Alicia and Armand. The two friends waited on opposite sides of the arena, out of view of the spectators, and waited for the announcer.

"And now, the final round!" The announcer said. "First, the master of the Chao Unity force, Mintra the Rabbit!"

A loud uproar of cheers came from the crowd as Mintra stepped onto the arena.

"And his opponent, the legendary hero, Tobias Novak the Tiger!"

An even louder uproar of cheers came from the crowd as Tobias took his place in the arena. His heroism was known around the world.

"These two will be dueling it out in the most intense battle of the tournament. Remember, whoever lands out of bounds or gets knocked out will lose the tournament, and the other will be the champion." The announcer told the crowd. "Now, it's time to see who will emerge as the champion!"

The announcer jumped off the arena as Tobias and Mintra took their positions.

"Ready…GO!"

Tobias got a jumpstart and charged at Mintra, who jumped out of the way. Tobias saw it coming, however, and rebounded off of the arena floor, hitting Mintra in the back. Mintra recovered quickly, however, and rebounded off of the arena floor, delivering a crushing kick to Tobias's stomach. Tobias doubled over in pain as the kick had a lot of power to it. Mintra then did a sweep kick, knocking Tobias onto the ground. Tobias, however, recovered and kicked Mintra, knocking him upwards. Tobias followed up and did a two-handed smash, which knocked Mintra back to the ground. Mintra got up as Tobias landed back on the arena floor.

"You've done well up to this point, but this is where this child's play ends." Mintra declared as he charged up some green energy in his hands.

"We were never playing from the start!" Tobias retaliated as he charged at Mintra.

Mintra was waiting, and as Tobias was about to punch him, Mintra knocked him into the air and followed him.

"DEATH BARRAGE!"

Mintra punched Tobias hard, then unleashed a flurry of energy-charged punches and kicks, each one hitting Tobias with deadly force. He then reared back, and let loose with a sucker punch that knocked Tobias down into the floor with a lot of force. Tobias stayed on the ground, but was on his knees, supporting himself with one hand.

"I told you this is where the child's play ends." Mintra told Tobias.

"I'm just getting started." Tobias replied as he formed his laser sword behind his back, where Mintra couldn't see it.

The next thing Mintra knew, he was hit with the laser sword, which was equipped with a blunt shield that prevented the blade from cutting into Mintra. This was required since there was a no-killing rule. The downside to this was that the blade could be blocked without a weapon.

"Okay, I can't say I saw that coming." Mintra admitted. "You certainly got me there."

"This isn't all I can do." Tobias declared.

Tobias charged at Mintra once again, laser sword at the ready. Mintra was prepared to block it, but Tobias quit the charge, and fired multiple lasers right at Mintra. Each one hit, and once the barrage was over, Mintra had several marks on his body from each laser hit. Tobias then started charging up a large laser from the watch, while Mintra charged up some energy in his hands.

"MEGA LASER!"

"CHAO CANNON!"

Tobias fired the Mega Laser, and Mintra brought his hands together and fired the Chao Cannon. Both attacks met in the middle, and the battle became a reverse tug-of-war. Neither fighter could gain an advantage in the battle. But slowly, the Chao Cannon started to overpower the Mega Laser. Tobias felt himself losing ground. He couldn't keep it up much longer.

Soon, the Chao Cannon overwhelmed the Mega Laser, and hit Tobias dead-on. Tobias was sent back to the wall, which was located in the out-of-bounds range of the arena. However, Tobias managed to fire his grapple hook, which latched itself onto the arena floor, and used it to pull himself back into the arena.

"That was a little too close for me." Tobias said to himself.

Tobias took a few seconds to recover, then reformed his laser sword and charged at Mintra, who charged up some more energy in his hands. Only this time, the energy went all the way up his forearms. Tobias stopped charging at Mintra and assumed a defensive stance, bringing up his laser sword in front of him.

"CHAOS BLADES!" Mintra called.

At that point, the energy that had traveled up Mintra's arms formed into two green blades of energy. There was one on each arm. Tobias just gave a small smile. This battle had just gotten a little more interesting.

"Well, this is new to me." Tobias remarked.

"You like it? I learned this shortly after I mastered the Chao Unity. I mastered it in no time." Mintra explained.

"This battle just got even better." Tobias said.

Both fighters charged at each other, Tobias with his laser sword, Mintra with his Chaos Blades. The swords clashed and rebounded off of each other. Even though Tobias had only one blade against Mintra's two blades, he managed to hold his own. From there, the battle became something of a sword fight, with both fighters' blades clashing multiple times. The two fighters met in the middle, locked in a sword grapple. Neither fighter could gain the advantage, despite all the force they were applying.

"You seem to be getting tired, Mintra." Tobias taunted.

"Not as tired as you." Mintra retaliated.

Tobias saw his chance when Mintra moved his arms up a bit to regain his lock, and slashed low, causing Mintra to be thrown towards the edge. Tobias followed up with a punch that knocked Mintra into the out of bounds area. But Mintra wasn't going to allow the battle to end there. He quickly charged up a Chao Cannon and fired it, but not at Tobias. He fired it into the ground, and the force propelled him back into the ring.

"Okay, that was a close one." Mintra said to himself.

He quickly reformed his Chaos Blades just in time to block Tobias's attack. He then charged at Tobias, and did the same thing that Tobias did to him. Ironically, it had the same result, as Tobias charged up a Mega Laser, and propelled himself back into the arena.

"You almost had me, Mintra!" Tobias told him.

"Let's finish this!" Mintra challenged.

Both fighters charged at each other. They had retracted their swords, and Tobias was preparing a punch as Mintra was readying a kick. They jumped at each other, with their limbs outstretched, and hit each other. Both attacks were so forceful that both fighters were weakened severely, and were nearly knocked out, lying on the ground.

"This is amazing. Both fighters have nearly knocked each other out. The rules say that if both fighters are knocked down, there will be a count of ten. If one is down but the other is up when the count ends, the fighter who is up will win." The announcer told everyone. "One………Two………Three…"

Both fighters didn't move, but were trying to.

"Four………Five…"

Tobias stirred a little, but Mintra stayed down.

"Six………Seven…"

Mintra started to try to get up.

"Eight………Nine…"

Both fighters fell back down.

"Ten!" The announcer finished counting. "Well, it seems both fighters are still down. The rules say that if at the count of ten, if both fighters are still down, the first to get up and declare themselves the winner will be the champion."

Tobias started to get up again. He used his hands to support himself as he brought himself to his knees. He placed one foot flat, then the other, and started to stand up…but collapsed from fatigue.

Meanwhile, Mintra had just gotten to his knees. After seeing Tobias collapse, he saw his chance. He managed to support himself as he managed to get up to just one knee, then was in a crouching stance. He placed his hands on his knees to support himself, and brought himself up. Once he was standing, he stayed there for a few seconds to make sure he wouldn't fall back down.

"I…win!" Mintra said slowly, so that everyone could hear.

"MINTRA IS THE CHAMPION!" The announcer shouted. The crowd immediately went wild. The entire match was thrilling, down to the last bit, and Mintra had emerged as the victor. Mintra immediately went to Tobias and helped him up.

"You…fought well…Mintra." Tobias said weakly. He was still tired from the match.

"You fought just as well as I did." Mintra told his friend.

Alicia and Vanilla had come out of the stands, and were now at the arena. Vanilla was congratulating Mintra on the win, and Alicia was telling Tobias that he had done his best. Tobias showed no disappointment. He had fought his hardest, but Mintra had outlasted him.

Mintra then remembered something that he was going to do if he won. Actually, he would have done it no matter what, but it would have been even more satisfying if he had won, which he did. It was also perfect for the time of year, as Christmas was the next day. He turned to Vanilla.

"Vanilla, you know it's almost Christmas, so I thought of the perfect gift for you." Mintra said as he reached behind him. Tobias placed a black box in his hand, and Mintra brought it around as he knelt down. "Will you marry me?"

Vanilla's hands went over her mouth. She could not believe it. Mintra was proposing to her. A few tears came from her eyes as she hugged Mintra.

"Of course I will." Vanilla replied.

The crowd started to applaud and cheer. They had seen the entire proposal.

"Well, I never thought I'd see this. Mintra, the champion, has proposed to Vanilla." The announcer told the crowd. "Well, I'd say that this wraps up this tournament. We'll see you all sometime, and have a good Christmas!"

The crowd started filing out, and Mintra held Vanilla's hand as they walked out, followed by the others. This Christmas could not have gone any better.

End of Chapter 7.

I know that this was another somewhat short chapter, but what do I care?

Yes, I was allowed to do this. Just in case anyone was concerned.

The next two chapters will contain battles vs. Eggman Nega before the climax of the story, and I believe you all know what it is.

Read and Review.