This chapter, the Kirby tag finally makes sense!

NEW COMPETITION.

A fanfare erupted from the speakers that were dotted around the arena as the lights in the stadium dimmed, the only lights shining at the middle of arena

There, in the middle, was a stage, a very large, circular stage that shone a metallic blue in the bright white light of the floodlights.

The stage was cut into three thirds, one decorated with a red mushroom decal, another with a bright blue decal that seemed to be in the shape of a hedgehog's head, and the last with a simple, yellow star.

"Here we go!" The commentators exclaimed simultaneously.

"First up," Starlow began. "They saved multiple worlds from giant snakes, evil doctors, robot creatures, and falling apart due to the space-time continuum! They're faster than the speed of sound, maybe even light! That's right, it's team Sonic!"

The platform with a hedgehog decal split apart, and another started rising from beneath, only this one was filled with people. A dark blue flag with the decal stood tall in the middle.

As soon as it came to rest, fire spouted out from tubes nearby and confetti sprayed itself over the competitors.

"This year we have many old players, as well as some new ones!" Cried Starlow. "Give a hand to all our competitors from this team; Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze, Silver, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge, Dr Eggman, Metal Sonic and Bokkun!"

"That's a total of 15 players!" Chip exclaimed excitedly. "How will the other teams be able to cope?"

"By having the same amount of players, of course." Starlow giggled.

"Well, in the next team we have many skilled competitors." Cosmo smiled.

"They are adventurous, they are hilarious, and they know how to fight. They saved the world from evil purple mushrooms, insane beans, and giant turtles! From the Mushroom Kingdom to Rogueport and beyond, it's team Mario!"

Once again, the platform split apart, making way for a platform filled with people; this one had a white flag with a red mushroom decal on it.

"This year's competitors include Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Bowser, Fawful, Midbus, Diddy Kong , Donkey Kong, Kamek, Birdo and... Hold on, there's only 14 of them!"

Egad stood up. "Not anymore!"

Starlow burst into laughter. "You mean to tell me that YOU are competing?!"

Egad nodded. "Exactly. I'm gonna go out there and show these killjoys just what I can do!"

The rest of the commentary box also burst into laughter.

"You can't do that!" Chip chuckled. "You're too old!"

"Anyway..." Cosmo began, trying to get off the topic as to not start a fight. "We'll continue with the ceremony. Now, the leaders of both teams have to shake hands."

The two leaders glanced at each other.

One of them was a blue hedgehog who wore red sneakers and white gloves. He was around the size of a human, had green eyes and a sneaky smile plastered on his face.

The other was a middle aged man wearing blue overalls, a red shirt, a matching red hat with an red "M" on it surrounded by a white circle, and brown shoes. He had blue eyes and a large moustache.

The two met in the middle of the two platforms.

"You're going down, Mario. You and your little brother too." the hedgehog smiled.

"Please," the plumber smiled back, "Beating you and your little fox friend is going to be as easy as jumping on a Goomba's head, Sonic! Give up the trophy now and we might just go easy on you in the next Games."

"Fat chance, Mario! As fat a chance as your belly!"

"Must be a pretty slim chance, then!"

"Yeah, as slim as Bowser's-"

"Guys, are you going to shake hands or not?"

The two turned to the source of the last voice; a yellow fox with shoes and gloves like Sonic. He had bright blue eyes and two tails instead of one and was crossing his arms angrily, glaring at them.

Sonic and Mario chuckled sheepishly, realizing that they were acting like children.

"Tails is right." Sonic told the plumber. "Let's just shake hands..."

Mario nodded his agreement. The two reached out and were just about to grab hold of each other when, suddenly, the ground started shaking.

The lights suddenly flicked out, causing multiple screams. A soft humming noise soon made itself apparent, sounding almost as if a piece of machinery had turned itself on.

Egad's voice suddenly boomed out into the darkness.

"We can't start the party yet, we still have a few more competitors! They may be adorable, but they are deadly when it comes to competition of any sort. They have lived through a terrible war, being covered in darkness and even almost being crushed by a giant clockwork comet, all while only destroying one small dimension! They are the locals from this galaxy and have invited us here to stay! They are the saviors and rivals of the people living on this planet, they are TEAM KIRBY!"

The lights suddenly flicked back on. Standing in place of the empty space of the stage was another platform filled with people. This one had another white flag in the middle with a star on it. The star was surrounded by two blue rings, both of them with a little asteroid that seemed to be traveling around on it.

"This is their first year at the Games, so give them a round of applause!"

The audience roared their approval.

"The competitors are Kirby, Meta Knight, Dedede, Escargon, "Bandanna" Waddle Dee, Marx, Magolor, Daroach, Storro, Daranza, Adeline, Ribbon, Drawcia, Grill and Galacta Knight!"

Starlow was thrilled. "This really mixes up the Games! It also explains why there is almost twice as many people in the audience as there were last Games."

"Wow guys, I was kinda thinking that Sonic would win most of these events, but now it's a whole different story!" Chip exclaimed.

"Oh-ho, more like a whole new competition, I'd say." Egad chuckled.

"That's well and all, but we really need to get this ceremony over and done with." Cosmo interrupted. "Would all three leaders please shake hands?"

Kirby, the leader of the team that sat under his name, was a little pink ball with stubs as hands. He had sky blue eyes, red shoes and bright blushes on each cheek. He had a rather happy smirk on his face as he hopped towards the other two team leaders. He was also around half the hight of all the other competitors, not including the ones on his team.

The puffball held out his paw, waiting for one of the others to grab it and shake it.

Sonic and Mario swapped glances before shrugging simultaneously and grabbing the puffball's hand.

And so, a great adventure began!