Sonic and co. owned by SEGA

Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me

Other OCs owned by respective authors

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 16

Last time, Ozone was successful in defeating Vector while Larcen and Gemini engaged in a heated battle, which the former won.

"Our next fighter is the prince of Southern Island, it's Axel the Hedgehog!"

Several cheers were heard when Axel entered the arena. The only one who wasn't cheering was Strike. Axel was carrying a silver sword that had a ruby encrusted in the handle.

"And his opponent, a master swordsman from Babylon Garden, it's Tagio Della Volpe!"

Like Axel, there were cheers but amongst them you could make out the boos that Jet was giving.

Both fighters stood opposite each other in the centre. Tagio drew out his own sword, prompting Axel to speak.

"Looks like we'll be having a sword fight. I hope you have a reason to be called a master swordsman" he smirked.

Tagio frowned. "I think you're the one who needs to prove himself" he said as he drew out his own blade. Within a few seconds, the two were already hacking away at each other, blocking the other one's slashes. Several people were cheering for Axel but Tagio didn't let that throw him. He noticed that Axel was very direct and the only reason he was blocking was because he was throwing his sword for an attack and it got in the way. Using this piece of info, Tagio ducked under Axel's swipe and kicked at his legs, knocking him over.

The hedgehog quickly stood back up and jumped back before Tagio's sword impaled him. Axel ran at his opponent, ready to jab with his sword but this left him open. Tagio swiftly stretched his leg out and his heel came in contact with Axel's muzzle. Dazed, Axel stumbled, allowing Tagio to cut across his chest. The furry hedgehog screamed as blood fell from the gash. The falcon smirked and brought his sword down to knock him out, since killing wasn't allowed. But to his surprise, Axel found the strength to block the attack with his own sword.

The two found themselves in a stalemate, pushing against each other. Tagio was at an advantage since Axel had a wound and was losing blood. But Axel was determined. He began to focus all his energy into the sword. The ruby in the handle began to glow, causing both Axel and the sword to start glowing red as well. With his added strength, Axel threw the falcon off and onto the ground. Tagio was about to get back up but Axel was there first. He stood on Tagio's throat and pointed his sword at the bird's throat. With no way out, Tagio admitted defeat.

"Axel wins in an amazing display of swordsmanship!" the commentator yelled, resulting in the crowd cheering as well. Medics came for Axel but Tagio stormed off. Jet smirked as he saw him go.

"Looks like someone's a sore loser" he chuckled.

"Don't forget Cesare's still in this" Wave reminded him.

"Ah, don't worry about it. My fight's coming up soon and hopefully I'll be able to show him what I'm made of!" Jet exclaimed. Wave rolled her eyes as the commentator spoke again.

"Our next fighter is a cocky dog with dark Chaos energy, it's Damien Christian Angels!"

Several girls cheered as Damien walked in. He smirked at the attention he was getting and even winked at one girl, causing her to faint.

"And his opponent, a master of wind and thunder magic, it's Mathias the White Wolf!"

Mathias walked in, carrying his magic tome and waving to the crowd. He saw Amelia waving at him and he waved back.

Damien stared at Mathias' tome as they walked towards each other.

"A stick? You think you can beat me with a stick? Oh, that's rich!" Damien laughed, angering the wolf.

"This stick can control wind and thunder. Be thankful I don't use it to its full potential!" he warned but Damien was still too busy laughing. Getting fed up; he aimed his tome at the dog and fired a bolt of lightning at his butt. This caused Damien to run to the other side of arena in pain. As the pain subsided, Damien decided to get serious.

He charged up an amount of dark Chaos energy in his hand, making it resemble a claw and he charged at the wolf. Mathias began to spin his tome in front of him and conjured up a strong breeze that forced the dog to be blown back into the wall. Damien realised that brute force wouldn't be enough. Deciding to attack from a distance, Damien ejected black flames from his hands at Mathias. Not taking chances, the wolf dodged the flames but in doing so, he allowed Damien to get closer.

Before he could defend himself, Mathias was struck by Damien's fist and was knocked across the floor. Before he could get back up, Damien covered both his hands with dark energy and proceeded to brutally slice up Mathias, not giving him the chance to defend himself. The wolf was now severely burnt but Damien wasn't taking chances. He held Mathias above his head and slammed him into the ground. The wolf clearly wasn't going to give up easily and tried getting back up but Damien stood on him, crushing his back. Mathias cried in pain as Damien pushed his foot down. Just when it looked like he was about to break the young wolf's back, Mathias cried "OK, I give up!"

"Mathias has surrendered, making Damien the winner!" the commentator exclaimed, as the dog got off of Mathias' back. Damien went to take his seat as medics came to help Mathias. Amelia promptly rushed off to make sure her brother was OK.

As Damien sat down, he noticed Mario was back.

"Hey, Mario. Did you see me fight?" he asked but the hedgehog remained silent. Normally, Damien would think this was normal but he knew that this was different.

"So, did you see Sally in the hospital?" he asked but Mario turned away. For a split second, Damien could've sworn that Mario had a lone tear on his face. Nah, he thought. This was Mario, the guy who never showed emotion. But still, that girl did have some affect on him. Damien was about to pry even further until the commentator spoke.

"OK, let's move on shall we? Our next fighter is…"