Sonic: The Tournament of Chaos
Chapter 12: The Sol Empire Princess
Against all expectations, Chax the Wolf proved himself to be a deadly opponent, one who would not fall in battle so easily. Even as he was driven back by the two hedgehogs, he didn't show the smallest signs of concern. In spite of losing over half their team, his confidence didn't waver.
He swiftly raised both hands to catch the wrists of Shadow and Sonic as they threw their respective right and left fists forward. As they prepared another attack, Chax threw his feet up and blocked, using the added momentum to launch himself away. The hedgehogs continued their offensive attack, mixing up their styles to avoid creating an obvious pattern that could be countered.
Determined to switch from defence to offence, Chax ducked and slammed his knee into Shadow's torso, briefly knocking him backwards. Even with this sudden strike, time did not favour Chax as Sonic threw his foot into his lower torso. Chax crossed both arms to block another attack as Shadow re-joined the fight. Coordinated, Shadow and Sonic threw both of their legs forward and slammed their feet against his arms, knocking him further away. He jumped back to avoid their combined kick, performing a backflip into the sky while the hedgehogs awkwardly stumbled forward.
Shadow threw his leg towards Chax's head, forcing him to duck down to avoid. Halfway down, he was forced to protect his torso by a returning Sonic. Acting quickly, Shadow charged and tackled Chax by the waist, smashing both of them into the ground. Chax broke free, racing forward with Shadow following closely. He turned around just in time to catch Sonic's fist, struggling to hold him back. Without warning, Shadow suddenly appeared behind him and threw his leg around to strike him. Chax ducked and threw Sonic away in the process, moving to defence once more.
Sonic and Shadow lunged forward with their legs raised. Chax raised both hands and caught their ankles halfway, spinning a full one-hundred and eighty degrees to throw them away. As they regained their balance mid-air and charged, Chax avoided Sonic's kick and caught him by the throat before jolting out his free hand to block Shadow's leg.
Sonic threw up his legs and restrained Chax by the neck, holding him in place for Shadow to land a direct blow into his side, finally landing another devastating strike. Still restraining Chax, Sonic flipped backwards and kicked him towards the ground. Before he regained his balance, Shadow swooped to the side and unleashed a barrage of strikes, forcing Chax to rapidly move his hands to deflect each strike. Sonic charged from above and intervened with a direct kick to his side. Chax moved to focus on Sonic, only for Shadow grab him by the arm and flip him over his shoulder, ending with a double-kick into his back. Their coordinated teamwork allowed them to cover each other when they were in trouble, preventing Chax from gaining any advantage.
Sonic struck Chax twice in the stomach, forcing him to try and protect his lower side and leaving Shadow open to attack from above, driving his elbow deep into his chest. Chax retreated and crossed both arms to a defensive posture. The many hits he was forced to endure caught him by surprise. Chax received a couple of sharp jabs from Sonic's barrage of endless kicks.
Pushing past the hedgehog's defence, he grasped Sonic by his throat, but before he could inflict any more damage, Shadow had intervened by striking his fist into Chax's arm, forcing him to drop his target. He moved to grasp Shadow in a headlock, only for his ally to return and knock him off balance. The many hits he was forced to endure had left him surprised. Not many had been able to stand up to him for so long, even in high numbers.
With another powerful strike, Sonic had forced Chax to block, leaving him open on his right side for Shadow to attack. Together, they pushed him backwards before beginning another barrage of punches and kicks. Their rapid speed of attacks forced Chax backwards, but he had both arms raised and deflected each of their attacks. Timing his counterattack against Sonic's kicks, he jolted one hand forward, backhanding his opponent away. Absolving the blow head on shook Sonic's perspective, leaving him dazed and confused. He shook his head to regain focus, but now he was seeing triple figures of Shadow and Chax.
Recognising his teammate's injury, Shadow held out one hand. "Stay back for now, Sonic. Let yourself recover!"
Now alone, Shadow focused on keeping Chax's attention towards him until Sonic's inevitable return. After fighting for some time, the fighters were beginning to adapt to each other's fighting techniques. This was proven as Chax moved to land an uppercut, only for Shadow to block it right at the start of the move. Likewise, as Shadow moved to strike his opponent's neck, Chax already had his fist in place to block it.
Changing strategies, Shadow sacrificed his striking power for speed, choosing to take advantage of the wolf's fighting style. His opponent relied on heavy swings to deal the most damage. Having tasted the wolf's powerful hits firsthand, Shadow suddenly unleashed flurries of strikes, his hands moving with incredible speed. Chax threw up his arms, blocking the hundreds of punches from connecting fully. Shadow pressed on, refusing to give his opponent any breathing space to launch a swing.
With Chax's attention focused on guarding the hedgehog's chain punches, Shadow timed the perfect moment to unleash a powerful uppercut from under the wolf's guard. The powerful swing connected, forcing Chax to drop his guard and leaving him vulnerable for Shadow to bounce forward and perform his signature roundhouse kick. The devastating attack left Chax briefly stunned, holding one hand against the side of his head. Before long, Chax broke out of his dazed state, slamming one fist over his chest to assert his determination. Shadow snarled, steadily growing frustrating to see none of his attacks were leaving any permanent effect. He raced forward, now accompanied by Sonic once more after the hedgehog finally got his vision back.
Meanwhile, the decision to retreat for now finally gifted Blaze some breathing space. She raced along the edges of the stage, briefly peering down to see the long fall below. The thought of falling from such a height brought out an adrenaline rush, giving Blaze the strength to keep moving forward. Even as her lungs screamed for air, her body refused to give out, the will to go on fueled her body with bursts of reserved strength.
Silver ran closely beside her, occasional glancing behind them. Queen Serenity was in hot pursuit, sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. While lacking the super speed her opponents wielded, she cut across the stage to make up for lost time. The queen briefly glanced towards the bleachers, spotting her fallen members spectating the fight. They watched on intently with small traces of doubt lingering around them.
Serenity threw out her hand, unleashing hundreds of razor-sharp ice projectiles from the palm of her hand. "You're not getting away!"
As the ice projectiles closed in, Silver threw out his hand and formed a Shield of Light behind them. The projectiles bounced harmlessly from his shield, saving them from harm as they continued sprinting forward.
"Cursed shield!" Serenity growled, throwing her hand back down in frustration.
Knowing they couldn't run forever, Blaze tightened her fists with flames dancing around her arms. "Silver, we have one chance to end this! Are you ready?"
Silver nodded firmly. "On your go, Blaze!"
The princess spun around, coming to a sharp halt with her heeled shoes grinding loudly against the stage. She threw out her hands, unleashing an endless barrage of fire blasts towards the queen. Serenity stopped in her tracks, crossing both arms over her body protectively. She manipulated ice over her arms, strengthening her defence. The blasts had no effect on the queen, bouncing away harmlessly.
Serenity scoffed at this minor inconvenience. "You think this attack is going to beat me?"
Blaze held her tongue, refusing to engage in another battle of wits. The queen's eyes narrowed as another force collided against her defence. Silver stood a few feet away from Blaze, using his own psychokinesis to manipulate his friends flames and create a strong scorching blast. He pressed the blast against the queen, forcing her to slide back. Serenity growled, beginning realising their strategy. More ice formed over her body, increasing her density ten fold. Silver grunted as the extra weight forced him to use both hands. With Blaze distracting the queen while Silver pushed her away, all they needed to do was hold on till victory was theirs.
"Curse you both!" Serenity roared, desperately trying to regain her footing against their endless blasts.
Time seemed to slow down around her as her opponents pushed on. Serenity narrowed her eyes and focused, looking directly through the endless barrage of fire blasts. She breathed steady, adrenaline coursing through her veins, calming her mind of all distractions. She concentrated intently towards the hundreds of blasts racing towards her, noting the pattern at which they fired. Without warning, Serenity exploited the small opening and suddenly moved to the side, escaping their combined attack.
The queen threw out one hand, unleashing a powerful beam of ice towards the future warrior. Silver's eyes widened as he threw out both hands, barely creating a barrier to protect himself before the blinding attack hit him. He grunted loudly, unable to get a footing against the beam's powerful blast. Blaze swiftly adjusted her barrage back towards the queen, who calmly held out her free hand to block them, creating another shield of ice.
Silver desperately held his guard, forced to avert his gaze as the blinding light of her attack became too much to bear. The beam of ice proved to be too strong for him to endure, pushing him backwards. "I… Can't hold on! It's.. It's no use! AHH!"
The queen's beam finally penetrated through his shield, concealing the hedgehog in a chilling wave of power. Silver's voice roared across the sky as he was carried away in the large energy wave, his body now trembling from the subzero temperature consuming him. The force of the blast left Silver winded, unable to concentrate and save himself from falling with his powers.
"SILVER!" Blaze exclaimed. Her yell was a cry of concern, though one could easily mistake it for a terrifying scream.
The future warrior, now pale from the intense cold, smashed towards the water below with a deafening force. The cold water did nothing to shelter him from the excruciating pain. The tournament's staff grasped Silver's arms as he ascended towards the surface, helping him up. His limbs flexed in shock, teeth chattering as he shivered uncontrollable. He tried to stand, but his legs had given away to gravity, shaky and weak.
"Talk about giving someone the cold shoulder! Silver has been eliminated!"
Fortunately, the island's tropical sun would warm him within time. He was gently escorted back to the bleachers, joining the rest of his friends above. He sat beside Amy while rubbing his hands over his arms. "So c-c-c-cold."
Amy removed her backpack, grabbing a small blanket she carried around for emergencies. She gently draped it over the hedgehog's shoulders. "This should help."
Silver breathed, feeling the blanket's warmth take effect. "Thanks Amy."
Serenity shifted her gaze from her fallen opponent, locking her sights at the princess. Enraged at her teammate's defeat, Blaze cupped both of her hands together, channelling all of her inner flames to a single position. She snarled, her hands beginning to tremble from the frightening power within her grasp.
Blaze roared and threw her hands forward, unleashing a scorching beam of flame directly towards the queen. Serenity calmly raised one hand, firing another ice beam in return. Their beams clashed halfway, exploding as the two energy waves collided. In a stalemate once more, it was now down to the most powerful warrior to win. Serenity, the stronger of the two, applied more pressure and slowly began to overtake Blaze's attack. She calmly stepped forward, pushing through the scorching flames with ease.
The blast of ice soared against Blaze's body, pushing her further across the stage. Small traces of ice poked and prodded into her body, tearing several long gashes across her clothing. She couldn't defend herself from the assault which continued to batter her repeatedly. She winced as the freezing sensation continued to course through the core of her being, forcing her body temperature to drop way below her comfortable limits.
The distance between them closed until they were mere feet apart. Serenity held her ice beam with one hand, calmly waiting for her inventible victory. Blaze desperately held on, forced to her knees to keep her balance. The princess knew with Silver's defeat, there would be no one else coming to save her at the final second. Sonic and Shadow were too occupied with their own battle to assist, leaving her alone to fight.
As the world seemed to slow down around her, Blaze couldn't help but note the irony in this situation. She spent much of her early life alone, avoiding personal connections with others in fear of harming them. Thanks to the friendship she now formed with Sonic, Cream and the others, Blaze finally had allies to turn to for help. But now, in this moment of battle, no one could save her.
"I told you how this was going to end," Serenity coldly stated.
Blaze closed her eyelids, unable to shield her eyes as the ice entered through every crevice of her body. She began to freeze from the inside out. The world around her seemed to fade. Despite her determination, Blaze couldn't deny the feeling she stomached for so long beginning to take hold. Fear. She was afraid, terrified of being defeated. It arose too many distressful memories. For too long, she had bottled her emotions, building a wall between herself and others to avoid attachment. But that was in the past. Blaze was no longer afraid of expressing herself. Emotions were not a burden. They were a gift, ones that would award her the strength to rise.
Without warning, Blaze's eyes shot open, secretly chastising herself for allowing the battle to go on this way. All negative thoughts were shaken away, any lingering doubt now removed. Serenity's confidence dropped as scorching flames suddenly dispersed from her opponent. Blaze, while still holding the ice beam back, slowly stood to her feet. Burning energy whirled round her till she was fully obscured, the stage beginning to shake, an athletic sphere of energy closed around the princess. Flames exploded out from all around, forcing the queen to squint her eyes. As seconds passed, the energy died down and revealed Blaze, standing firm with a new appearance.
The flaming aura surrounding the princess made her fur appear like it was in a shade of orange while retaining her normal style and hiding any stray hairs. Her eyes were more detailed as they turned red, With a smirk, the aura of raging fire surrounded her. This power allowed her to resist the ice as she jumped forward, grabbing at Serenity's wrists. Her burning hands extinguished the queen's attack, stopping her from firing any more ice blasts.
Silver's eyes widened in amazement. "Whoa…"
Knuckles questioned the princess' new appearance. "Is that Blaze's Burning Form?"
Cream softly shook her head. "No, Miss Blaze needs the Sol Emeralds to transform."
"Then this must be something different," Espio stated, intently watching their friend's incredible transformation.
Serenity stood with her mouth hung open, awestruck at the sight before her. She was forced down to her knees by the princess, who continued to restrain her wrists. No longer did the queen carry any confidence in her abilities, unable to move her gaze from the sight before her. "You… Were concealing your true strength this whole time? What are you?!"
Blaze responded by yanking the queen to her feet, hurling the mouse through the air. She conjured herself in flames, turning into a tornado of fire with a simple spin. Now cloaked within her flames, Blaze propelled herself towards the air, twirling around in rapid speed. She struck the queen with a single, fire-charged kick. The queen roared, but didn't make it to the ground as Blaze grabbed her by the scruff of her dress, forcing the terrified queen to meet her burning gaze.
"I am Princess Blaze! Ruler of the Sol Empire, guardian of the Sol Emeralds!" Blaze declared, her voice carrying great pride. "And you're going to fall before me!"
The princess tossed the mouse towards the ground, sending her sprawling across the stage. Serenity hastily rebalanced herself and prepared to retaliate, firing a barrage of ice blasts into the sky. Blaze rolled out of the way and propelled herself upwards, using her extraordinary speed to return to where her opponent stood and land a direct strike to the queen's back, ending with a powerful yet graceful kick to her midsection.
Serenity took a step forward, but Blaze moved faster than she could follow, instantly appearing in front of the queen and kicking her into the air. Serenity recovered, spinning to face Blaze, but the princess was gone, now in the air behind her. As Serenity tried to counter, Blaze hammered her to the ground with both fists. Serenity struggled to push herself up, but too late as Blaze landed hard on her back, driving Serenity into the ground with her feet. Blaze hopped away, standing a couple of feet from her downed opponent. Serenity gasped for air, pulling herself to a crouch, then jumped up and away. Blaze followed her closely.
Desperate to buy herself some time, Serenity threw her hand back and charged an energy sphere in between her palm, throwing her hand forward and released the energy sphere, unleashing a full powered wave of ice. The princess stood firm, not bothering to dodge. At the last moment, she swung one hand, knocking the beam out of its path and launching it into the air. Blaze smiled slowly, almost as if she was taunting the queen.
Serenity winced but refused to give up, charging once more with her fist stretched back. Blaze dodged her lunge with ease, knocking Serenity away with an uppercut. As Serenity charged once more, she finally landed a successful punch at Blaze, laughing in triumph. However, her eyes widened as Blaze tanked the hit without so much as flinching. She spun around in the air, delivering a roundhouse kick to Serenity's side that made her cry out as she tumbled away again. Blaze pursued, knocking her further up into the air and then back down to the ground in a cloud of dust. Serenity rolled over onto her back, struggling to stay conscious.
A familiar voice roared out towards her, breaking the queen out of her trance. Ozor stood at the edge of the bleachers, cupping both hands over his mouth to carry his yells. "Queen Serenity, you're by the edge!"
Serenity gasped, scrambling to her feet. Narrowly avoiding the drop below, she turned around once more. Blaze continued to stare her down from the air, using her powerful flames to slow her descent. Closing both eyes, Blaze entered a meditative state, using Espio's earlier teachings to temper her rage and focus. Her hands slowly shifted to one side, cupping together softly. Scorching energy formed between her grasp, preparing to unleash one final attack. Her eyes shot up and she raced forward head first, all the while she continued charging her attack.
The Queen of Etastie regained her composure, aiming the palm of her hands directly towards the approaching princess. She laughed with returned arrogance. "Poor mistake! You can't dodge mid-air!"
Serenity focused her energy, unleashing one final beam of ice. Blaze, without concern for her own well-being, continued to charge forward. As the distance between herself and the beam closed, she unexpectedly twirled forward, steadying herself mid-air. Flames formed under her feet as she placed them against the beam. Using an old technique of Sonic's, she began grinding the ice beam, all the while she held her strongest attack closely to her side.
The queen froze in horror, realising her fatal mistake as the distance between them closed. Blaze bounced from the beam of ice and threw her hands forward, striking the queen at point-blank range with her scorching flames. The impact created a blinding intensity, forcing the whole arena to illuminate in shades of orange and yellow. This masked the queen's screams as she was forced over the edge of the arena, hurling towards the water below. She braced herself at the final second, surrounding herself in ice to cushion the fall. The extra weight created a loud splash upon impact, unintentionally covering the tournament's staff in water.
"Queen Serenity has been eliminated! Only one member of Team Etastie remains!"
Serenity emerged from the water, refusing the aid of the staff. She carried herself out of the water, her dress damped but felt no cold sensation, immune to the freezing temperatures. She looked up towards the stage, spotting the princess gazing towards her from above, completely ignoring her fear of heights in this moment. Against all expectations, Blaze had turned their battle around. Without saying a word, Serenity turned around to join the rest of her team.
Relieved the battle was finally over, Blaze allowed her flames to disperse, returning her normal appearance. She briefly fell to her knees, drained of all energy. This final attack had truly taken its toll on her body. Blaze sighed, embraced the victory while it lasted. She glanced up to see Cream smiling towards her with Silver nodding in approval. Blaze returned the gesture as she shakily stood up.
As the leader of Team Etastie met her defeat, Sonic and Shadow continued fighting together against Chax. The powerful wolf grew wise to their strategies, grasping at both of their wrists as they moved to strike. He threw them both aside, launching forward to kick Shadow in his midsection. Sonic homed in to attack, but the wolf grasped his sneaker, tossing him towards his teammate.
Sonic and Shadow regrouped, taking up a stance in preparation for their next move. Chax moved to pursue them, stopping short as scorching fire struck the ground in front of him. Ceased in his tracks, he locked eyes with his new target. Blaze moved towards her teammates, taking position between the hedgehogs.
Chax frowned, shifting his gaze towards his eliminated teammates, who all looked on with doubt. All except for Serenity, having strong faith in her champion's abilities. He nodded before focusing his attention towards the trio. "You have defeated my team. Well done. But do not presume this means anything."
"I don't know if you can count, but there's three of us and one of you," Sonic said drily, gesturing his arms to emphasise his point. "You can't take all three of us!"
"Can't I?" Chax argued, tightening his fist. "Would you like to test that theory?"
Sonic returned the grin, eager to race back into the fight. He locked eyes with both Shadow and Blaze, who both nodded, assuring him they were by his side no matter what. The battle had been a drawn out experience, pushing everyone to the limits of their strength. They were tired, their bodies cried out for rest. There was no time to linger as one more fighter remained on the stage.
This was Team Sonic's final battle, one they feared wouldn't be easy to win.