We're approaching the end! Oh boy! R&R!
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 40
Last time, Sonic and Marisa won their fights and are now against each other in the finals. However, Blaze lost due to coughing up hairballs, leaving Sonic suspicious.
Roughly 10 minutes had passed since Sonic beat Emily and the heroes had met up just outside the arena. Silver had decided to get Omega to examine the contents of Blaze's cup. The white hedgehog himself was just returning from checking up on her.
"She's gonna be fine, fortunately" he told the others.
"That's good to know" said Sonic. "Now, Omega. Just what was in that thing?"
Omega began to beep and spin. "Analysis reveals liquid contained special virus created to cause vomiting" he explained.
Tails began to hum in thought. "It sounds like as if someone made it specifically for cats, namely Blaze" he deduced.
"But, who would want to spike Blaze's drink?" asked Cream.
Cosmo decided to speak up. "Maybe they didn't want Blaze to lose. Maybe they wanted Marisa to win!"
Maria gasped "That makes sense! When I was fighting her, something stung me, causing me to get distracted!"
"You don't think the same thing will happen in Sonic's fight?" Amy asked.
After hearing this, Sonic realised something. "Guys, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go and see if I can find out more about this" he said before taking off.
In the hotel, Chrono's team were forming a plan. So far, they had decided that when the final match was occurring, they'd break into the ominous building since hardly anybody will be there. But Zero pointed out a problem.
"How are we gonna break in without alerting the guards? And I'm sure it's not gonna be left unguarded anyway" he said.
Havoc agreed. "He's got a point. It would take an expert group of thieves to get in."
"Thieves, eh?" murmured Crisis with a toothy grin. "I know just the guys!"
Back with Sonic, he had finally managed to find who he was looking for. "Larcen!"
The dark blue hedgehog was talking to Kera as Sonic called to him. After bidding Kera goodbye, he walked up to the blue hero.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I've got a feeling someone is rigging the fights to make sure Marisa wins" he told him.
Larcen's eyes widened slightly. "Are you accusing me?" he asked, slightly angered at this.
"Well, who else would it be?" Sonic responded, staring the other hedgehog down. Larcen was about to retort but a thought suddenly dawned on his mind.
"What is it?" Sonic asked, who had noticed Larcen drift off.
Larcen seemed to have a mental battle with himself before speaking. "OK, I'll tell you. Marisa was invited to this tournament."
"What?!" Sonic gasped.
Larcen nodded. "She wasn't interested at first until it said that her mother would be here."
Sonic raised an eyebrow before remembering what happened when Marisa fought Starbright.
Flashback
"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."
End Flashback
"Marisa's mum vanished a long time ago" explained Larcen, who had noticed the expression on Sonic's face. "She's spent nearly her whole life looking for her. Once she got that invitation, her heart nearly leapt out of her throat."
"So, why hasn't she revealed herself yet?" asked Sonic, referring to Marisa's mum.
Larcen shrugged. "Maybe she'll do it after the tournament's over. So I suggest you watch yourself if she is rigging Marisa's fights."
Sonic nodded in thanks before leaving. Could Marisa's mother really be responsible for Blaze's loss? Could she even be behind the entire tournament? A lot of questions were going through the hero's head.
Elsewhere, Crisis was searching high and low for somebody. He needed to find them quick so they could understand the situation. As he walked past the casino area, he spotted them counting some loot.
"Jet!" he called out to the green hawk. Jet seemed to jump and hide the cash behind him.
"Crisis! Uh, how's it going?" he asked nervously.
Crisis sweat dropped slightly. "I'm not gonna turn you in" he said bluntly, prompting Jet to sigh in relief.
"Well, what do you want then?" he asked.
Crisis quickly explained the situation to them and then asked if they'd like to help. It didn't take long to get an answer.
"No," Jet replied. "I get nothing out of it so why should I bother?" he continued, turning his back on Crisis.
"You seem to forget that you said you owed me one after I beat Cesare" Crisis smirked.
Jet turned back to the tanuki slowly. He seemed slightly annoyed by this.
"Come on Jet" moaned Wave. "It would be interesting to know who is behind all this."
"Yeah, boss. And maybe we can find some more loot" Storm suggested.
With both his team mates up for it, Jet sighed. "Fine, we'll help."
"Good, but don't tell anyone else. We need to keep this as secret as possible" Crisis told him.
"You seem to be doing a bad job of it."
The four darted round to see Eggman standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"How did we not see him there?" wondered Jet as Crisis drew his sword.
"How long have you been there?" he demanded.
"Long enough" smirked Eggman. "And I wish to help."
"WHAT?!" everyone gasped.
"What do you get out of it?" asked Wave.
"I'm just as interested as how this place came to be. Whoever is behind it must be a genius" he said, before clenching his fist and shaking it. "And I will not be bested in that field!"
Crisis mulled it over. Eggman was intelligent and could be useful. And we wouldn't betray them since they could easily beat him up.
"Fine, you can come as well" said Crisis. "Now, let's hurry back to the hotel." Soon, the new group headed back to finalize the plan.
Several hours later, night time approached. Blaze was able to get out of the medical ward and Shade had decided to join them. They were all seated outside on a group of tables as the stars sparkled overhead.
"Isn't this romantic?" squealed Amy, who began to scoot up next to Sonic. He began to try and push Amy away, much to everyone's amusement.
Knuckles and Shade were ignoring this as they gazed up to the heavens. They sat there in silence before Shade spoke.
"Knuckles, you've been very watchful of me these past couple of days" she said. "Why is that?"
Knuckles began to blush slightly. "Uh, I just care about you, that's all" he replied quickly.
"You care for me in what way?" Shade asked, trying to pry something out of the red echidna.
"Well… Uh… You see… I, uh…" Knuckles stammered but he never finished the sentence. Soon, the two found themselves staring into each other's eyes. They began to edge to one another before Cream accidentally sneezed, bringing them out of their trance. They quickly turned away from each other, both blushing like mad.
Shadow was also quiet and ignoring Amy's attempts to hug Sonic. He noticed Rouge was sitting by herself with Aqua. He glanced over to Maria who nodded, as if to remind him. Taking her words into account, the black hedgehog made his way towards the bat. He cleared his throat to grab their attention. Rouge was clearly not happy.
"What do you want, Shadow?" she asked.
Shadow simply glanced at Aqua, who got the message. "I'll just leave you two alone" she said, a slight smile on her face. She gave a quick thumbs up to Shadow before leaving.
"Rouge, I… wanted to apologise" he said.
Rouge folded her arms and turned away. "A bit late for apologies, isn't it?" she told him. But Shadow wasn't one to give up.
"Rouge, I know I shouldn't have overreacted like that. And I shouldn't have exploited you" he told her. He truly sounded apologetic, which Rouge caught on.
"Well, I shouldn't have tricked you at the beginning of the fight" she said. "I guess I should apologise too."
She turned back to face Shadow and the two soon found themselves staring at each other once more, just like in Soleanna. Rouge seemed to break into a small smirk before kissing Shadow, which he gratefully returned. The others noticed this and they all smiled as well.
"Glad to see those two have sorted it out" Tails said cheerily.
Maria was also smiling and she whispered "Well done Shadow." Suddenly, a booming voice was heard across the park.
"Attention everybody, it's time for the final round! Could Sonic and Marisa make their way to the arena?" the commentator blurted.
As Sonic walked towards the arena, a serious look appeared on his face. At the same time, Marisa was on her way to the stadium as well and Chrono, Jet and the others were on their way to the mysterious building. They were all thinking the same thing.
"Let's do this!"