I would've made it longer but this had a more suitable cliffhanger. Read and review!

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 37

Last time, Sonic and Blaze defeated Larcen and Crisis respectively but Sonic seemed to have angered his opponent after taking his necklace. Also, Crisis joined Chrono, Havoc and Zero when he realised that one of the workers was in fact a robot. But right now, everybody's attention was on the final two fights.

Our next match is Emily VS Shade!" the commentator blurted out. The two females walked into the arena whilst the crowd cheered. They shook hands before taking a few steps back.

"You'd better be prepared, girlfriend" Emily advised as her claw became surrounded by the familiar blue aura.

Shade smirked slightly as she pulled her Leech Blade out. "I was trained by the Nocturnus. If anyone needs to be prepared, it's you."

The two girls immediately charged, slamming into each other and forced back. Emily then dashed forward but Shade effortlessly flipped over. To her surprise, Emily swung round with her foot and it connected with Shade's back. The echidna was knocked forward but she easily flipped back up before Emily smashed her paw into the ground.

"You're good" commented Shade, "But let's see you counter this!"

As quick as a flash, Shade pressed a button on her belt and vanished, re-appearing right in front of Emily and sucker punching her round the face. The cheetah rubbed her jaw and turned to attack but Shade beat her to the punch… literally. Emily was getting quite dizzy and tried to fight back but Shade flexed her body to avoid her attacks before countering with her own. Emily was eventually backed into a wall and it looked like Shade had won.

"I'm afraid this is where your tournament journey ends!" she said, drawing her Leech Blade. However, to her surprise, Emily rolled out of the way to avoid the attack. Now, Shade's weapon was stuck in the wall. She tried to pry it out and she did, after Emily grabbed her from behind and fell back, causing Shade to land on the ground head-first.

"What was that about my tournament journey ending?" the cheetah mocked as she got up.

Shade felt slightly humiliated but she learnt that one mustn't let their emotions out of control. Tactfully, she drew a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground, blocking Emily's sight. She was unprepared for the sudden uppercut that Shade gave her. The echidna then teleported above her and slammed her heel into the cheetah's gut, sending her plummeting into the ground.

Armand, who was watching all this, gasped in shock and would've jumped in to help her if Basil and Alan hadn't held him back.

"Calm down, pal. She has to do this on her own" Basil told him.

"But that echidna… she's beating her to a pulp! I've got to help her!" Armand retorted.

Alan said "Listen, Armand. I know you care for her but Emily doesn't want help if she doesn't ask for it. Let her do this alone. You never know, she might pull through."

Armand took in these words and nodded. Emily could still win this. But by the looks of things, this seemed unlikely.

Emily had just pulled herself out of the slight hole she made as Shade landed in front of her.

"I think it would be wise to surrender now" the echidna suggested.

"Hah! I never give in!" Emily declared as she stood up.

Shade drew her Leech Blade, intent on ending it for good when Armand yelled "Come on, Emily! Show her what you're made of!"

Emily heard this and suddenly, the blue gem in her navel began to glow. Shade's eyes widened as she saw this.

"What in the…?" she started to say but was cut short when both of Emily's paws began to slow and she slammed them both forward. The added power sent Shade flying across the arena and sliding across the ground until she collided with the wall, knocking her unconscious.

"Shade can no longer fight, making Emily the winner!"

The crowd applauded the young cheetah, who panted heavily from the fight. She saw Alan punching the air in delight whilst Armand winked at her, prompting her to wink back. She and Shade were taken to the medical ward. Knuckles felt some concern for his fellow echidna and took off.

"Hey, where's Knucklehead going?" Sonic asked.

"Probably to check on Shade" suggested Silver. "Those two seem to be getting closer."

"I think we have less trivial things to worry about" Shadow told them moodily.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked but the answer was already there.

"Our final match of Round 4 is Starbright VS Marisa!"

There was an odd silence as the mage and assailant approached each other. Marisa had a worried look on her face. Sonic looked over and noticed that Larcen had the same look.

As they neared the centre, Starbright said "Listen, I don't want to hurt you. Give in now!"

"No way!" Marisa replied, defiantly. "I've come so far now! I'm not letting you gonna stop me from what I want!"

What she wants, thought Sonic.

"Fine" Starbright sighed before suddenly kneeing Marisa in the gut and then punching her across the face. The young girl began to cough up blood but she wiped it away, swiftly turning to fire a lightning spell. Starbright didn't want a repeat of the night before and leaned back so it trailed over her.

When she righted herself, Marisa was there to throw a punch but the masked girl caught her fist before throwing her own. Marisa staggered but clearly wasn't ready to give in. She formed an orb of darkness and sent it in Starbright's direction. Unfortunately, Starbright jumped over it, letting it crash into the wall, before grabbing Marisa by the collar and throwing her towards the nearby wall. Everybody in the audience felt the impact.

Sonic's eyes darted over to Larcen, whose fists were clenched and he was mouthing something. It looked like "Come on. Don't give up!" but Sonic was never a good lip-reader.

Back in the arena, Marisa had tried using a fire spell but Starbright was firing her Chaos energy out from her palms to neutralise the fireballs before they got near her.

"Seriously, you have no chance in winning. Just go home!" Starbright cried. It almost sounded like she was pleading.

Marisa, who was gasping for breath, replied "I'm… not leaving… without her."

Sonic's eyebrows rose. Her?

Marisa then threw out her hands and a bright light cast out, blinding everyone. However, Starbright was wearing a helmet and it was built so her eyesight couldn't be ruined by smokescreen or bright lights. So she saw Marisa already coming towards her. She thrust out her palm which emitted a blast of Chaos energy, which ploughed into Marisa's stomach.

By now, Marisa could barely stand but she was still ready to keep on fighting. She managed to stand straight and green energy began to circle her wrists as she charged up a wind spell. Starbright guessed this and began to charge up her own energy. It looked like a final showdown but people were already placing bets on Starbright. Sonic was beginning to get worried for Marisa's safety, even though he hardly knew her.

Meanwhile, in an unknown area, a shadowed figure was watching the fight on a giant screen.

"Argh! That masked girl's going to win!" it said. "I can't let that happen!"

The figure then pressed a button on the keyboard in front of it.

Back in the arena, unknown to everyone, a miniature robot mosquito came out of a hidden hole in one of the walls. It flew silently towards Starbright and stung her in the leg.

"Ah! What the…?!" she winced, inadvertently smashing the robot as she swiped where it stung but it had already done its job. In her moment of distraction, her Chaos energy dismissed, leaving her wide open to Marisa's attack. With a might cry, the mage flung her hands forward and a huge gust of wind caught Starbright flipping her up into the air. She screamed as she was swept up and began to spin rapidly in the air as if a tornado had caught her. She eventually crashed into the ground.

Everyone hesitated, not knowing what had happened. The silence was broken when a clunk was heard. Everyone turned to see Sonic rubbing his head.

"Ow, why me?" he asked before taking a closer look at what hit him. He got the shock of his life as he realised that he was holding Starbright's helmet! As if on cue, everyone turned to the now unmasked figure and gasped as they saw her.

She was a hedgehog, no older than 14, with yellow fur and huge blue eyes. The one thing everyone recognized was her flowing blonde hair. She stared in horror at the crowd until she noticed Shadow gaping at her. She let out a small cry before getting up and leaving the arena.

"Starbright has left the arena, making Marisa the winner!"

Uproar was heard. Even though it was a fluke victory, Marisa had managed to survive it all. She smiled before fainting and taken to the medical ward with Larcen following her. Sonic would've gone too but he noticed Shadow already making his way out.

"Come on, team!" he said to the others. "Time to find out who this Starbright girl really is!"