Here's the next chapter. It's battle time.
Disclaimer: OCs belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 9: Dual Towers: The First Survival Battle.
In the first race of the main tournament, Galeon the Blue Jay won the first race. Knuckles finished last. The results (They go by Racer (point total)): Galeon (15), Wave (14), Rector (13), Sonic (12), Basil (11), Nightscream (10), Armand (9), Jet (8), Rampage (7), Raine (6), Howl (5), Tails (4), Axel (3), Storm (2), and Knuckles (1). It was time for a survival race. The next day, everyone reached Babylon Garden's Dual Towers arena. Gerald was already there, and as the heroes came out, he started to do his job.
"Welcome to Dual Towers, located in scenic Babylon Garden. Yes, that last sentence was kind of sarcastic. This will be the first of three Survival Battles. We have 3 matchups today. The team leaders go first, then the flyers, then the final matchup. Here are the rules: Each racer has 3 hit points. Once someone loses all three, they're out and get 1 point. The last one standing wins and gets 5 points. There are 4 different types of power ups, and one special. Red is attack power up. You do more damage than normal. Blue is guard power up. You can take more hits that way. Yellow is air power up. You hold more air depending on the level, but your speed suffers. Green is speed power up. You go faster, but you use more air. The taller the power up field, the bigger the boost you get. Then there's the egg. Once you get it, for 20 seconds, you can't boost, and if attacked, you lose it. Once it hatches, an eagle comes out and assists you. With it, you gain level 3 attack power up, level 1 guard, half air consumption, and extra speed. All attacks are automatically level 2, so one attack sends you spinning. There are two air pits. Two minutes into the match, we will release crows onto the battlefield. If a crow hits you, you lose a hit. If someone is closing in, drop a tornado, and if they get hit, they lose a point. Well, that about covers it up, so here are the team leaders. Galeon, Rector, Sonic, Armand, and Jet, it's time for your battle." Gerald announced. (I was hoping to match speed types together, but this seems natural, which is why I figured Rector would be a speed type.)
Armand took a place in the lower left on the map, Sonic started in the lower right, Rector took his place in the upper right, Galeon started in the upper left, and Jet started in the middle.
"Don't start until the countdown ends." Gerald told them.
"Alright, bring it on." Sonic taunted.
"No way I'm gonna lose." Jet taunted.
"I'll show you how to ride Extreme Gear." Galeon taunted.
"You'll regret facing me." Rector taunted.
"Everyone, get out of my way." Armand taunted.
The countdown began.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
The five racers hopped on their board. Jet came out of the middle and started heading toward Sonic. Armand targeted Galeon, leaving Rector alone.
"Hmph. Leave me out of the fun, will you?" Rector asked.
He boosted towards Jet and attacked. Jet was hit without any guard and lost a hit.
"Ow. I'll show you." Jet remarked.
Armand and Galeon were boosting towards each other. As they attacked each other, their boards bounced off of each other, and left them dazed for a few seconds. At that point…
"Coming through!"
Both Armand and Galeon were hit by Sonic's attack and lost a hit each. Sonic sped by, leaving them in the dust. Rector came up behind Armand.
"Heh heh. It's time to bring him down." Rector told himself while boosting towards Armand. But just as he was about to attack…
"Whoa!" Rector yelled as he was hit by a tornado. Armand had seen the attack coming and laid a tornado to trip him up.
"Nice try, Rector, but no luck this time." Armand taunted.
"Blast you, tiger." Rector yelled.
Sonic saw Galeon charging up behind him. Sonic was ready to lay a tornado, but Galeon swerved by him. Sonic boosted towards him, but Galeon laid a tornado and hit Sonic. Everyone was now down to two hits left.
Sonic got a level 1 guard, but Rector had gotten a level 2 attack power up, and hit Sonic. The result did 3 points of damage. The first took out the shield, and the other removed the last of Sonic's hit points. Sonic lost.
"Sonic is the first one out. Only four left."
Sonic was clearly ticked off.
"THAT WAS ONLY BECAUSE I WENT OUT WITH YOUR SISTER!!" Sonic yelled.
"Actually, I want to win and you happened to be my target, but yeah, I suppose that works too." Rector told him. He looked into the nearby stands, and saw Amy, fuming with anger. Apparently, she had heard the whole thing. Rector cringed. Even he knew not to mess with Amy.
"Crap. I'm in for it once this is over." Rector said, knowing he was in trouble.
Armand was battling Galeon, Jet, and Rector all at once. They were triple-teaming him.
"Three against one? This isn't fair."
"Ah, shut up and go eat some Frosted Flakes, grrr-EAT tiger." Galeon taunted. That is the one thing you NEVER say to Armand. Such a comment made him angry in such a way that nothing could calm him down.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME, BIRDBRAIN!?" Armand yelled.
Armand went into a frenzy. He attacked Galeon, then Jet, then Rector, and then hit Galeon again, knocking him out of the race. Jet and Rector boosted away.
Emily Leot was watching from the stands. Watching her boyfriend be like this shocked her.
"Armand would never do that unless something really insulted him." Emily said to herself.
"I heard what ticked him off." A voice said beside her.
Zeus came up from the side. Mintra and Hurricane were with him.
"Team Legendary? I'm sorry you guys didn't make it." Emily apologized.
"We don't need apologies from you. It's Alexander that needs to be sorry." Hurricane said to her.
"Now, what's wrong with Armand?" Emily asked.
"It was Galeon's fault. He told Armand to go eat some Frosted Flakes, then called him a grr-EAT tiger. You know, what Tony the Tiger says about them. That's a major insult against Armand. He hears it, you run away. I don't know if anything will calm him down." Mintra revealed.
"That's horrible. I can't believe someone would tell him that."
Emily then looked out at Armand.
"Please, Armand, calm down. I don't want to see you like this." She pleaded with herself.
Armand then calmed down, as if he heard her. Armand looked over at Emily.
"Thank you, Emily. I don't know how, but I heard you."
"That's because I channeled her prayer to you, my son." A familiar voice told him.
All of a sudden, Armand was warped from the battle arena and reappeared in a void.
"I know that voice. My father." Armand told himself.
"That's right, my son."
Tobias, Armand's father, came out of nowhere.
"Dad? Is that you?"
"Actually, I'm just a spirit. What just happened?"
"I don't know. First, Galeon taunts me, then, I go into a rage and take him out."
"That's called Berserker's Rage. I have it, and I transferred it to you when you were born. It has lied dormant until now. What did Galeon say to you, anyway?"
"He told me to go eat some Frosted Flakes, then called me a grr-EAT tiger. That set me off."
"That's the very taunt that made me go like that. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to all of us tigers. The only thing that calmed me down was Alicia, your mother. Emily did the same thing to you. I think she may be the one for you."
"Well, we have gone on a date before the main tournament started. We hugged, but we were too nervous to kiss."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of either. The very same thing happened to me and Alicia. Well, I think it's time for you to return to the race."
"You're right. Thanks, Dad."
"No problem, Armand."
Armand then left the void. The next thing he knew, Sonic, Rector, Jet, Galeon, Emily, and a couple of medics were standing over him.
"W…Where…am I?" Armand asked.
"For some reason, you went into a rage, then, when you went out of it, you fell unconscious." Galeon explained. "I'll know not to do that again."
"I remember now. When I passed out, I suddenly entered a void. I saw my father, who told me about what I went into."
"And what was that?" Emily asked.
"I'll tell you all later. Right now, I need some rest. I'm backing out of this battle."
Gerald came over just in time to hear that last sentence.
"Attention everyone, Armand has just backed out of the battle. As Sonic and Galeon lost before this, Armand wins 3rd place automatically." Gerald announced. "Jet and Rector will face off in a one-on-one with current status."
The two medics hauled Armand off with Emily following him. Jet and Rector got back in position.
"Here's how this ends up. You both will charge at each other. The first one to get hit loses. You both have one hit left, so make your attack count." Gerald announced.
The towers were picked up to allow room for the duel. Eggman came out.
"The towers are up. The duel can begin when ready." Eggman called out.
"Yes everyone, Eggman is helping us out in the tournament, so don't go wild."
Jet and Rector waited for the start.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
Jet charged forward. Rector did the same. They had their level two attacks ready. Jet with his paper fan, Rector with his Leaf Whirlwind. As they came close, they launched their attacks.
"Take this!"
"Leaf Whirlwind."
The two attacks collided. The racers passed each other. They stopped. After a few seconds, Rector crouched down, clutching his arm. Jet stood up, unharmed. Jet's attack hit Rector just as he kicked. Jet barely avoided it.
"Jet wins the battle." Gerald announced.
"Oh yeah. I'm the best." Jet taunted.
Rector walked up to Jet, who cringed. But to his surprise, Rector stuck out his hand. Jet shook it.
"You won, fair and square." Rector told him.
"You did well yourself." Jet told him.
The results (racer (points total): Jet (13), Rector (17), Armand (12), Galeon (17), and Sonic (13).
"That was just the first battle. Rector and Galeon are tied for the lead for now. But will that change? Find out in the next battle. Will the flyers come out?" Gerald asked. Tails, Wave, Raine, Basil, and Nightscream came out, ready for the battle. Tails took the lower left, Wave took the lower right, Raine started in the upper left, Basil took the upper right, and Nightscream started in the center.
"I'll do my best." Tails said.
"You think you can win with that board?" Wave taunted.
"I hope I can win." Raine said.
"It's over, so just give up." Basil taunted.
"I'll show you what I can do." Nightscream taunted.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
All 5 started at once. The towers were back in place. Tails and Wave went after each other, while Raine, Basil, and Nightscream had a three-way battle. Wave pulled out her wrench, while Tails started swinging his plug. As they charged at each other, Tails moved to the side. Wave, who was too late to react, was hit by the plug, losing one hit. Wave turned around and boosted, hitting Tails with her wrench. They continued their battle.
Raine, Basil, and Nightscream were battling it out. Raine threw a stomach virus powder on Nightscream, who slapped Basil with his medallion, who slashed Raine with his Aqua Sword. Each of them lost two hit points because they had both picked up a level 1 attack power up. Basil turned his attention to Wave, who had just picked up a level 2 attack power up and hit Tails, knocking him out of the battle. Basil charged at Wave, then hit her with his Aqua Sword. Before that, he picked up another level 1 attack power up. Wave was eliminated. Nightscream then came up and slapped Basil with his medallion again, eliminating him. Raine then snuck up on Nightscream and hit him one last time. The crows didn't even have to come out. Raine had won in 1:47, the quickest time ever scored. She scored 5 bonus points as a result. The results: Raine (16(five for the win and the five bonus points)), Nightscream (14), Basil (14), Wave (16), and Tails (5).
"This was a quick battle. Raine not only one, she also scored the quickest time in the arena, ending the match in 1 minute, 47 seconds. Congratulations to Raine."
Everyone cheered as Raine received an award for her impressive time.
"Now that the second round is over, it's time for the final battle. Will Howl, Rampage, Axel, Knuckles, and Storm come out?" Gerald asked. The five ran out onto the course. Howl felt that this was unfair since he was the only speed character going up against a bunch of power types. He was confident though. And he had a plan.
Storm took the lower left, Knuckles on the lower right, Howl in the center, Rampage on the upper right, and Axel on the upper left.
"Don't get in my way." Knuckles taunted.
"I hope you're ready for this." Storm taunted.
"Don't make me mad." Rampage told them.
"Show me what you've got." Axel taunted.
"Let's go." Howl said.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
The four power types converged on Howl, attacks ready. It probably didn't help that they all started in front of a level 2 attack power up. Howl waited, and waited, and waited…
"Wait for it, and…NOW!"
Just as they converged on Howl, he boosted out of the way. Rampage, Storm, and Axel hit each other at the same time. Rampage was the first to go, followed by Storm, and then Axel. Knuckles managed to dodge, then tried to hit Howl, but he missed. They were battling it out for two minutes, doing nothing and boring the crowd, and then Knuckles picked up a level 2 attack power up and finally connected with his attack. Howl lost, and Knuckles picked up the win. The results: Knuckles (6), Howl (9), Axel (6), Storm (4), and Rampage (8).
That wrapped up this survival battle.
"That ends the survival battle. Everyone is to report to Future City's race track, Metal City, for a race. I'll see you there." Gerald said, then left.
Armand, in the medical room, had just finished explaining his story to Emily.
"…And that's the story." Armand finished.
"Wow. I had no idea. Thanks for telling me." Emily told him.
"Emily, I want to know. Ever since the preliminaries, we've paid more attention to each other. We even went on a date. So, I want to know. Do you love me?" Armand finally asked.
"Of course I love you." Emily replied.
Emily then came close to Armand and kissed him. Sonic looked in to tell Armand the results, but saw what was happening and decided not to disturb them. Armand and Emily were like that for a minute, then they parted.
"Emily, I love you too." Armand told her.
Armand got out of the chair he was resting in and they left, hand in hand. The racers got in Jet's airship and flew to Future City.
End of Chapter 8.
The results after this race:
Rector: 17
Galeon: 17
Raine: 16
Wave: 16
Nightscream: 14
Basil: 14
Jet: 13
Sonic: 13
Armand: 12
Howl: 9
Rampage: 8
Knuckles: 6
Axel: 6
Tails: 5
Storm: 4
Man, I know I'm going to get it. The flying battle went by too quickly, the power battle was too boring, and the focus seems to have been on Armand. Oh well, I try.
Well, I liked the chapter, and I'm sure you will.
Read, and you may review this chapter if you want.