Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 6: The Fights Continue

Last time, Aqua and Chrono won their fights against Espio and Storm but all four had suffered many injuries, though the audience's attention was on the next fight. The commentator's voice was heard again.

"Let's move on to fight 3. First off, he's an ex-GUN agent and a master of time, Mario Zack Williams!"

Mario walked into the arena. Like Chrono, he was oblivious to the cheers he was getting. He calmly walked to the centre and waited for his opponent.

"And his opponent, a master of umbrekinesis, it's Dusk Rose!"

Dusk skated into the arena, waving to the crowd as she came in. She received a lot of applause, which she was grateful for. She offered her hand to Mario's for a handshake but he stood there, completely still. Dusk got into a fighting position and gave the 'bring it' motion. Mario simply sighed, jumped back and threw a kunai at her, which exploded.

Dusk was knocked back but Mario suddenly appeared from behind and elbowed her back the way she came. Dusk managed to recompose herself in the air and skated straight at Mario, with surprising speed. She threw several punches at Mario but he managed to block them all. The quiet hedgehog managed to grab Dusk's wrist and kick her backwards. He pulled out several more kunai and threw them at the purple hedgehog. Dusk saw them coming and shocked everyone by raising a tentacle from her shadow to block them.

Mario raised an eyebrow in surprise as the tentacle came at him. It jabbed him several times and was too fast for him to block. He stopped time for a quick second to make some distance. Dusk knew her tentacle couldn't go very far, so she took the yellow hedgehog by surprise again by getting rid of her tentacle and pulling another one out of Mario's shadow. It wrapped round him and threw him into the air before shooting up to jab him in the back. Deciding not to hold back, Mario sped time up around himself, causing him to fall fast. He landed in front of Dusk and prepared to punch her repeatedly. He was so fast, Dusk couldn't counter. Mario threw one last punch, knocking the hedgehog girl to the floor. She tried pushing herself up but fell back down.

"Dusk can no longer fight. Mario is the winner!" the commentator cried. The crowd erupted into cheers but Mario just strolled off not caring. As the medics helped Dusk up and carried her to the medical ward; Amy went off with them to make sure she was alright, Sally watched Mario sit back down in the stands with Damien. He seemed awfully quiet so Sally decided that he might need some company.

Walking up to him, she said "Hi, I'm Sally."

Mario glanced at her, his expression barely changing. "I'm Mario" he muttered.

Sally tilted her head. He was certainly unsociable. "You seem like a quiet person. Is there any reason for that?" she asked.

Mario didn't respond. Damien noticed this and moved Sally away so he could speak with her. "It's best you didn't pry into Mario's past a lot. Plus, he's not good talking to girls" he explained.

"Why? Is he shy?" Sally asked.

"No, it's just that he doesn't like getting too close to girls much since his last girlfriend died. He's worried that he might not be able to protect girls he gets close to."

Sally was shocked by this. She went back to Mario and sat down next to him. Mario cocked his head towards her.

"Is there any reason why you're still here?" he asked.

Sally smiled, which took Mario by surprise. "You just seem to be a nice person. I'm sure there's no harm in us being friends, is there?"

Now Mario was really taken aback. He didn't know anything about this girl and she was treating him like a friend. He felt a strange sensation in his chest which forced a smile out. Damien was seriously shocked seeing Mario smile. He was taken aback even more when he saw Mario starting to talk to Sally. Damien smirked at his pal's new friendship.

The commentator began to speak again. "Let's move on, shall we? Our next fighter is a real tough guy from the icy fields of Antarctica. It's Bark the Polarbear!"

Bark walked on with cheers coming from the crowd but they weren't as big as the previous ones. He bashed his fists together, ready for anything.

"And his opponent, a fiery contender from Nexus City, it's Crisis Black!"

Crisis walked on, smiling and waving to the crowd. Bark was quite annoyed by the guy's laidback attitude. Crisis began to bow and blow kisses, aggravating the polarbear more and more.

"Hey," he growled in his gruff voice. "Are we gonna fight or not?"

Crisis turned to his foe. "Ready when you are."

Bark growled and ran straight at the raccoon-dog hybrid, swinging his fists. Crisis repeatedly jumped back, avoiding each one. Bark eventually nailed him with an uppercut. As Crisis fell back down, Bark grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Still holding on to him, Bark began to spin, eventually letting go and throwing him into the wall. Bark smirked as Crisis slipped to the ground. He was shocked when Crisis stood back up with a hateful look in his eyes. His laidback attitude had suddenly vanished and he was beyond angry.

He pulled out a rose coloured sword with a black streak down the centre. He ran straight at Bark, who put his fists up for defence. As Crisis ran, black flames began to circle his wrists before turning into wrist blades that extended to about three quarters of a metre. Bark was taken aback by this and was unable to defend himself from the various slashes and jabs he got from it. Crisis finished his onslaught by releasing the flames in a shockwave that burnt the polarbear with amazing ferocity. By the time it was over, Bark was unconscious.

"And Crisis wins with an outstanding finish!" the commentator yelled to the crowd. Medics came for Bark while Crisis stood there, calming himself down. He had let his anger take control again. He walked off quietly while the crowd stared in shock at how badly he hurt Bark. Their thoughts were interrupted by the commentator.

"Now, let's move on!"