Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners. Sega owns Sonic and Co. I own Team Berserker and this story.

Ready for the next round?

The previous round with Team Dynamic vs. Team Velocity, with Dynamic winning the race.

The next round is between…

Chapter 5: Berserker vs. Star.

The 3rd round of the preliminaries were about to start. Teams Babylon and Dynamic were moving on, so it was time to see who would join them.

"Will the racers please take their positions at the start line?" The announcer requested.

Armand, Basil, Axel, Emily Leot, Alan, and Vash took their positions.

"Just so you know, even though you're a girl, I'm not holding back." Armand told Emily.

"From someone like you, I would expect no less." Emily replied.

"Ready to race?" Alan asked Basil.

"When you're ready." Basil told him.

"I expect a good race." Vash said to Axel.

"I won't disappoint you." Axel responded.

The countdown began. Armand and Emily backed up for a dash start, Alan and Basil waited for a sprint start, and Vash and Axel slowly ran up to the line.

3…Armand and Emily started towards it.

2…Alan and Basil started running.

1…Vash and Axel were close to it.

GO!!

All six racers started at the same time. The track had changed from a triangle to the oval that Teams Sonic and Babylon raced on, except it had two loops, one on each straightaway, and the turns now had 3 curves each to get through. The desert setting remained.

Armand and Emily took an early lead, followed by Alan and Basil, then Vash and Axel.

Up front, Armand and Emily were trying to knock each other off of their boards. It wasn't working out for them. Emily fell back a little, allowing Armand to get a lead. She then kicked the booster. She roared in Armand's face, slowing him down. Armand recovered, kicked his booster, caught up to Emily, and snapped his fingers in her face.

Behind them, Basil and Alan were having their own battle, trying to pass one another. Alan tossed a thunder bubble while Basil fired a water beam. Both attacks hit, and both racers were slowed down. Vash and Axel sped past them as they recovered.

Axel and Vash were trying to attack one another. But when one attacked, the other moved out of the way. After their last attempt, Vash attacked, but Axel moved out of the way. Vash then swerved towards Axel, and growled at him, catching him off guard. Axel then recovered, boosted up to Vash, and kicked him with his knee, slowing him down.

Armand and Emily were coming to the first loop on the straightaway. As they went through, they boosted to keep up their speed. Armand accidentally attacked Emily at this time, causing her to lose her grip. Armand reacted and caught her, then got her back on her board.

"Thanks, Armand." Emily said.

"Sorry I attacked. That wasn't on purpose." Armand apologized.

They went through the loop, and approached the first 3-curve turn. Armand used an Air Slide to get past it, while Emily rode the trail of turbulence he left behind. Axel, Vash, Alan, and Basil caught up, and followed the turbulence. Now that they were through the turn, Axel and Vash attacked Emily and Armand, respectively, and took the top two positions. Alan and Basil managed to get by. Emily and Armand were now in the last two spots.

Up front, Axel and Vash were once again battling it out. Both had reached level 2 by this time. They both unleashed a punch that spun both of them forward, then slowed them down, allowing Basil and Alan to take the lead.

Basil and Alan were also at level 2. Basil went on the offensive and attacked Alan with his Aqua Slash, in which he slashed his opponent with his water sword. Alan slowed down after the hit, then hit a 30-ring capsule, bringing him back to level 2. Alan caught up to Basil and attacked him with a thunder kick. This stopped Basil for a couple of seconds.

In the back, Emily and Armand were trying to get back up to the lead positions. They didn't attack each other, for they were focused on taking back the lead.

"Will we ever get back up front?" Armand asked Emily.

"I hope so. But I wonder who will win." Emily replied.

"We'll just find out at the end." Armand told her.

Armand and Emily were in the back until lap two, when they caught up to the power types. Axel and Vash were at level 3 at this point, and attacked each other.

"FROZEN WOLF FANG!" Vash called.

"SPIRAL UPPERCUT!" Axel called.

The two attacks hit. Vash was screwed up, literally, while Axel had fallen off of his board, cold. They recovered, but Armand and Emily had passed them.

Up front, Alan and Basil had reached level 3. They attacked.

"HYDRO BLASTER!" Basil called out.

"ELECTRIC SPIKE!" Alan shouted.

The water from the Hydro Blaster attack made Alan trip, while the Electric Spike left Basil burned to a crisp.

Armand and Emily went by, then decided to continue their little battle. Before doing so, they passed the loop where Emily almost fell last time. If she had fallen, she would have fallen out of the loop and been out of the race. Armand had saved her because if he hadn't, he would have been disqualified for attacking in a loop, which was strictly against the rules due to safety standards, and that would have disqualified the whole team. Because he had saved her, there would be no penalty.

Once through the loop and the 3-curve turn, they started their little battle again, while at level 3. They attacked at the same time.

"MEGA LASER!" Armand shouted.

"ENERGY CLAW!" Emily called out.

Armand was left dizzy while Emily was burnt to a crisp. They both felt bad for attacking one another at such high levels, but they didn't mind, since they said they wouldn't hold back.

The race went on like that until halfway through lap three. The speeders were in the lead, the flying types were behind them, and the power players were in the rear. Armand and Emily were battling it out, Alan and Basil were trying to outrace each other, and Vash and Axel tried attacking each other. They were using the same tactics they used at the start. After the final 3-curve turn, the finish line was in sight. Emily sped by first, followed by Armand, Basil, and then Alan.

It was between Vash and Axel. They were now trying to finish before the other. A photo finish would be needed. The photographer stood by.

Axel and Vash crossed the finish line as the photograph was snapped.

"Looks like it was too close to call." Armand said.

"Yes, it is. I don't know who won." Emily admitted.

"Well, we just have to wait until the photo comes out." Alan told them.

"It's times like these that nearly kill me out of suspense." Basil said to Vash.

"Well, just be glad I didn't kill you with my attacks." Vash said rudely.

"Knock it off, Vash." Axel told him.

The announcer came out with the results.

"It's time to announce the winner."

Everyone quieted down.

"The winner is…Team Berserker by an inch."

The photo came up and showed Axel's board about one inch ahead of Vash's. The crowd roared as this race was the most intense to them.

Vash just looked on, Alan took it easy, and Emily looked unhappy. Armand walked over to her and, being the good sport that he is, congratulated her on the race.

"You ran a good race, Emily. I honestly thought we were going to lose." Armand told her.

"Really?" Emily asked.

"Of course. You almost had me." Armand said.

"Well, it looks like you and your team are moving on." Vash said to Axel.

"I suppose so. You did your best." Axel told him.

"I guess we're out." Alan said.

"There will be other tournaments. Maybe you'll succeed in the next one." Basil told him.

The six racers shook hands in a display of sportsmanship.

"Look at that. A true showing of sportsmanship. That's how good racers should be." The announcer told the spectators.

The six then walked off of the track and headed towards the stands to watch the rest of the preliminaries.

"With 3 rounds over, it's time for the next round. Our randomizer will determine the next racers. And they will be…"

The randomizers started spinning. The left landed on Cloud, the right landed on Rector.

"…Team Music vs. Team Virtex."

Rector looked at Cloud. Since he was so chivalrous, he would have trouble since 2/3 of the team contained girls. Luckily for him, he would be up against the power type, who was a male.

"I guess we're up next." Rector said.

"Good luck to you." Cloud told him.

End of Chapter 5.

Team Berserker wins the third round and moves on.

I apologize to Emily Blue Paw for this chapter, since it's unfair to her. My team vs. her team, it's unfair to her. So, I'll have a little surprise when the finals come around.

Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.