Whew, this is a long one. Hope you enjoy! R&R!

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 41

Last time, Sonic found out that Marisa had been invited to the tournament and went when it said her long lost mother was there, and that she could be rigging her daughter's fights. Also, Crisis asked the Babylon Rogues to assist him and his team in breaking into the mystery building, with Eggman tagging along. Shadow also apologised to Rouge and the two made up. Now, the final round was about to begin.

Everyone was sitting in the arena, waiting impatiently for the final match to begin. The stands were almost packed were it not for a few missing people (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Eventually, the commentator's voice blurted out.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We've come a long way but now, it's time for the final round of the Tournament of the Stars!" he yelled, followed by a deafening cheer from the crowd.

"Only two remain and here they are! The supersonic hero who has protected us all from evil, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic's friends and family cheered as much as they could when he sped out into the arena. Sonic gave his traditional wink and thumbs up, causing a few more people to cheer.

"And the young mage who has fought her way to be here, Marisa Harmon!"

Larcen, Kera and several others began to cheer for her as she walked into the arena. She looked quite nervous but so did Sonic.

"These two will now duke it out to see who is worthy to win the seven Chaos Emeralds!" the commentator reminded everyone. "But enough waiting, let the final battle commence!"

Sonic and Marisa walked up to one another and shook hands. "Good luck, Marisa" said Sonic. "I'm sure you'll do fine!"

"Thanks, but be warned" Marisa replied, a smirk on her face. "I may just surprise you."

Sonic returned the smirk and got cocky. "Oh really? I'd like to see you try." Suddenly, Marisa struck out with her foot, smacking Sonic in the head. He staggered back, clutching his now bruised forehead.

"YOU BOOTED ME IN THE HEAD!!!" he yelled.

"I told you I'd surprise you" Marisa giggled.

Sonic growled slightly before charging forward, with Marisa following suit.

Meanwhile, a guard was patrolling outside the ominous building when he noticed Wave standing on her own.

"Excuse me miss" he called out. "Why aren't you watching the final match?"

"Oh I just wanted to admire the lovely stars in a peaceful environment. It's almost enough to put one's mind at ease" the swallow explained. There was a long silence, causing Wave to get irritated.

"I said, it's almost enough to put one's mind at ease!" she yelled.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Suddenly, the guard's head was knocked off by Storm's fist, exposing stray wires from his neck.

"Wow, he was a robot" Storm muttered. Soon, Chrono, Crisis, Jet and the others appeared.

"OK, Jet. Work your magic" said Crisis. A superior smirk appeared on the green hawk's face as he walked up to the door and examined it for a while. He noticed a control box and turned to Wave.

"Would you do the honours?" he asked. Wave opened the box and looked at the wires.

"Hm, I could cross wire these two but then again… I suppose I could… But there's also…" she murmured to herself, irritating the others. Eggman was the first to snap.

"Oh for the love of… Let me" he said. He took one look at the wires and pulled one out. The door opened. "Easy as pie" he smirked as he entered. The others just stared as they followed. Unknown to them, several pairs of eyes were watching and they all thought the same thing.

"Got him!"

Back in the arena, Sonic had just swung his foot round but Marisa ducked it. She retaliated with a fire spell but Sonic backflipped to avoid it. He then used a Spin Dash into the young girl, knocking her over but she quickly got back up.

"Now I know how you lasted this long" commented Sonic.

"Thanks, you're not half bad yourself" Marisa replied.

"Have you forgotten who I am? I'm Sonic the Hedge…" the blue hero started to say but Marisa cut him off by throwing a thunder spell at him which he dodged in time. "That wasn't cool!"

Meanwhile, Chrono's team were making their way through the building. So far, they had just been walking down a straight passageway. The only rooms they want past showed several robots being made and there were also maintenance robots had mopped the floors. They didn't pay attention to them.

"This is weird" said Zero. "This building is huge but there's nothing in here."

"Don't worry, Zero" Havoc said. "We should find something soon."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening."

The group darted round to find Metal Havoc standing there. Havoc immediately got into a fighting stance.

"What are you doing here you copy?!" he demanded.

"Obviously, to destroy you! With my plans to obtain the emeralds ruined by that blue feline, I've decided to just do what I really want!" the robot copy explained, raising a claw.

Havoc turned to the others. "You guys go on! This is my fight!"

The others were hesitant at first but Eggman had already left so they followed. Zero was the last to leave. "Good luck, pal" he said before leaving.

Havoc then faced his copy down and darted at him. MH was able to fire a blast of lightning at him, sending Havoc back. The hedgehog wasn't one to give in though and sent a Chaos Spear at the duplicate but he effortlessly dodged it.

Havoc tried another frontal assault but MH slammed his fist into his opponent's face. Havoc fell to the floor but MH picked him up and slammed him into the wall and began to choke him. During the fight, they failed to notice a few more figures go past.

"At long last, I'll finally be rid of you!" MH roared, showing signs of slight madness.

"Never!" Havoc coughed. "I've won before and I'll win again!"

"Ha! Look at you! What hope do you have?" MH questioned.

Suddenly, a blast of blue lightning struck MH, causing him to drop Havoc. The hedgehog turned to see none other than Metal Sonic. MH was shocked as well.

"What the hell is that?" he gasped.

"I'm Metal Sonic" the robot introduced himself. "Now, stand aside so I can find the person who's behind this!"

"What a coincidence" said Havoc as he got up. Metal Havoc glanced at the two as they took up fighting positions.

"So, you're aligned with him? Then you shall die too!" he cried rushing forward. Metal grabbed MH's claws and sent a lightning blast through his body. He then shoved him back, allowing Havoc to smash his hell into his copy's gut. MH was resilient and got back up.

"Looks like he'll be a challenge" smirked Metal. "About time!"

The Arena

Sonic ran circles round Marisa as she fired numerous fire spells at him. "Stand still!" she cried, the adrenaline rushing to her head.

"And get fried? No thank you!" Sonic replied before jumping to do a Homing Attack. Marisa was quick and launched a wind spell to blow Sonic away. He soared across the arena before crashing into the wall.

"Ah, son of a…" he stopped himself in the nick of time before zooming straight at Marisa. He rushed past her and the wind that followed knocked her up into the air giving Sonic an opportunity to spin into her. Everyone who was watching was in complete silence, mentally cheering, so they could take in everything.

Unknown Building

The rest of the group were still making their way along the seemingly endless passage.

"I hope Havoc will be OK" said Crisis.

"He'll be fine" Chrono said, clearly not caring. "Right now, we must focus on the task at hand."

"Leaving people behind again, Chrono?"

The tanuki stiffened at the voice and turned to see Alexander. He had a sinister smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here, you sick reptile?" he asked, drawing his sword.

"Just to see how my old friend was doing" Alexander said. "Oh, and a rematch!"

"Fine! If it's another ass kicking you want, be my guest!" Chrono snarled. "Guys, go on without me! I'll take this guy down on my own!"

"Chrono, are you sure?" asked Crisis.

"Positive!" Chrono replied. "Now, go!"

Nobody hesitated but as they left, Storm took one last look. Chrono had already charged at Alexander but the conniving snake was easily sidestepping the attacks. At one point, Chrono swung his claymore down but Alexander dodged and stepped on it.

"Not so tough now, tanuki!" he sneered as he punched Chrono in the snout. He then drew a gun out and aimed at Chrono.

"This should be satisfying!" he smiled before firing. But to his shock, Storm had stepped in front of Chrono and took the bullet. Thankfully, it only went into his shoulder.

"You stupid bird! I told you to leave!" Chrono yelled.

"I wasn't about to leave you behind. Normally, I would want to pound your face into the ground. But this snake knows how to manipulate and surely two heads are better than one" Storm explained.

Chrono was surprised at first. He had nearly killed the guy but now he's saving him. "Fine, you can help" he said, as he got up.

Alexander laughed suddenly. "What good is this fat turkey gonna do?" he asked.

He seemed to have struck a nerve as Storm cried "I'm not fat. I'M BIG BONED!!!!" With amazing reflexes, he sucker punched the reptile in the face. He then lifted him into the air and pile drived him into the ground. Chrono winced slightly as he watched.

"Looks like Alexander found out what torture's like" he said to himself.

Arena

At the moment, Sonic had just slammed hi foot into Marisa's gut, knocking her back but she fired a light spell that blinded Sonic.

"Hey, I can't see!" he cried, unable to defend himself from the fire spell that was sent at his feet, knocking him into the air. As he fell down, Marisa fired a darkness spell upwards which catapulted him higher. The young mage then stepped aside as Sonic crashed into the ground.

"Give up yet?" she asked but Sonic whipped round and kicked at her legs, knocking her over.

"Not by a long shot!"

Unknown Building

Crisis, Jet, Wave, Zero and Eggman trudged along. With their numbers depleting, they were on their guard for almost anything.

"I hope Storm will be OK" said Wave.

"Well we can't dwell on that now" stated Eggman.

"Hey, that guy's my friend and while he may be thick, I care for him!" Wave retorted.

"This is coming from the girl who couldn't open the door" the doctor sneered.

Wave was about to clobber him with her wrench when Jet grabbed her arm. "Wave! Can you hear that?" he asked. Everyone stood still as they listened. Then a voice broke the silence.

"You're sharp, hawk!"

Suddenly, Cesare and Tagio dropped from the ceiling. "What do you two want?" growled Jet.

"We never got a chance to have our own little bout" said Cesare. "So, I'm challenging you to see who the better tribe is!"

"Bring it on, you Lunar Trash!" Jet accepted, drawing his fans.

"Hold on, Jet!" said Crisis, getting his own sword out. "Two on one isn't exactly fair!"

"If you wish to die with him, then so be it!" sneered Tagio.

"Wave! Keep moving! Don't let anything else stop you!" Jet ordered the swallow. Wave was hesitant but after looking back at what's happened so far, she nodded and followed Zero and Eggman.

"Now, it's time to die, Jet the Hawk!" Cesare screamed, lunging out with his sword. Jet dodged the attack and sent a mini tornado out with his fans but Cesare cut through it. The evil crow tried to swipe at the hawk with his sword but Jet used the metal part of the fans to block the attack.

"Looks like we're in a bit of a stalemate!" grunted Cesare.

Jet smirked. "Well, at least it proves you're Rodrigo's son!" Jet insulted. Cesare was angered by this and recklessly charged forward but Jet jumped over and sent a kick into the crow's back.

Crisis was currently blocking every attack Tagio threw at him. "I'll admit you're quick footed" complimented Tagio. "But I'm better!" Suddenly, he jumped on Crisis's sword and kicked Crisis away. With his only weapon gone, it seemed he was done for. But he still had a trick up his sleeve.

"If you're better, then can you beat this?" he cried before surrounding his wrists with black flames. He rushed at his opponent and began to swipe at him. He eventually got a hit and Tagio's clothes were set alight, forcing him to roll across the floor, attempting to put them out.

"Oh I've got to get a shot of this" Crisis sniggered as he pulled a camera out of nowhere.

Arena

Sonic and Marisa were both out of breath and both sported several bruises. However, both were still standing and neither showed signs of backing down.

Strange, thought Sonic. Nothing has happened to help Marisa win. Either they're confident or they've got something in mind.

His thoughts were interrupted when he had to dodge another fire spell from Marisa. He then dashed forward and sent a punch across her face. At first she recoiled, prompting Sonic to think he'd broken her nose or something.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" he cried out but Marisa spun round and fired a wind spell that literally blew Sonic away. "Oh, you sneaky…" he muttered before noticing the determination in Marisa's eyes. "She must really want to see her mother again" he said to himself. "But there's still something wrong about this." His thoughts were cut off again when He jumped over a thunder spell and slammed his heel into her head.

Unknown Building

Wave, Eggman and Zero had now reached the end of the passageway and found dozens of screens that showed security footage. On one of the screens was the fight between Sonic and Marisa.

"What is this?" asked Zero.

"The answer to our questions" stated Eggman as he began to tap on the keyboard. He soon got access to some files which he opened. As the three stared at the contents, their eyes widened.

"We've got to tell Sonic about this!" Eggman gasped.

"But who came up with this idea?" Wave wondered.

"Uh, guys?" Zero called over. "Look at that!"

The other two looked over and saw the echidna pointing at something. It was some sort of a launch bay with a docking station and standing at possibly a hundred feet was what could be made out as a giant robot.

"Holy…" Zero began to say when he was suddenly electrocuted from behind and knocked out. Wave ran up to the fallen echidna but was also stunned and knocked unconscious. Eggman turned round and saw the face of the attacker.

"You!" he gasped before he met the same fate. The figure then proceeded to press some buttons on the keyboard as it laughed maniacally.

Throughout the whole building a strange gas was emitted. Jet and Cesare were in another stalemate was they drifted off, followed by Crisis and Tagio. Storm was busy breaking Alexander's back when he too fell asleep. The snake just happened to be under him and Chrono was also subjected to it. Havoc had also just nodded off but both Metal Sonic and Metal Havoc were still standing.

"It's a good thing sleeping gas doesn't work on robots" Metal pointed out before two lasers came out of nowhere, shutting down the two robot clones.

Arena

Sonic and Marisa stared each other down, neither one intent on making a mistake. Suddenly, Sonic rushed forward and began to spin round Marisa, causing her to be lifted up into the air. Sonic then went into his ball form and slammed into her as they soared through the air. But Marisa was able to fire a few thunder spells that hit Sonic. The two were basically throwing attacks at each other until the wind died down, dropping them both. The two just lay there. Everyone inched forward to see who would get up.

"Come on, Sonic!" Amy screamed.

"Marisa, get up!" Larcen cried.

Time seemed to slow down when suddenly, one pushed themselves up. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Tournament of the Stars… MARISA HARMON!!!"

As if on cue, the whole crowd exploded into roars of applause. Marisa, despite being tired and weak, waved to the crowd with a smile. She caught Larcen's eye and he winked at her.

Meanwhile, Sonic had just pushed himself up. When he saw Marisa had gotten up before him, he went up and shook her hand.

"Well done, Marisa. You clearly deserve this" he said.

"Thanks, Sonic" the red head replied. Then the commentator's voice began to blurt out.

"Well, we'd like to congratulate Sonic for making it this far and being such a good sport," he said. "But as we all know, Marisa has won the Chaos Emeralds!"

The crowd cheered again, making Marisa seem slightly embarrassed. "But, Miss Harmon here has also won something that's even better!"

The crowd became confused and began to talk to one another. Marisa however seemed to understand and was shaking with joy.

"Marisa Harmon, you have won…" the commentator paused, putting everyone on edge. Suddenly, a glass case burst from the ground and trapped Marisa.

"The chance to assist me in taking over the world!" the commentator screamed, before laughing evilly. Suddenly, a battalion of robots swarmed the arena. They looked similar to the Egg Pawns but they were black in colour and looked far more menacing. The people in the crowd screamed as they attempted to leave en mass. But all the fighters immediately jumped into the arena. Larcen ran straight up to Marisa's case.

"Marisa! Don't worry! I'll get you out of there!" he told her.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "Oh what now?!" moaned Strike. Then, the ominous building opened up to reveal a hulking robot that flew above the arena. It bore a striking resemblance to the Egg Emperor (Sonic Heroes) only it was black, had red shoulder pads and carried a menacing sword.

"Eggman! He was behind it after all!" growled Knuckles.

"But then who's that?" asked Cream, pointing at the cage in the robot's other hand. It contained all the people that had infiltrated the building. They had quickly recovered and Eggman was at the very front.

"Sonic! Save me!" he cried.

"What is going on around here?!" cried Blaze.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Princess Blaze?"

Everyone darted up to see what looked like Eggman's Egg Mobile float down. Inside it was someone that made Sonic and Blaze gasp in horror. They were only able to say two words:

"Eggman Nega!"

CLIFFHANGER!!! Don't forget to review!