Chapter 32: Battle Part 2

"Hey!" Tails said as he approached Tangle. "Just two more fights until it's our turn, you nervous?"

"Yeah, a little." Tangle said. "Kinda nuts how I'm fighting you right away though."

"Eh, I'm not that big of a deal." Tails said. "I mostly just fight inside the X-Tornado nowadays."

"Don't sell yourself short kiddo! I'm sure you'll do fine!" Tangle said. "That being said, I am totally gonna win."

"Oh yeah?! Bring it!" Tails said.

Yup, that sure did the trick.

"AND CHRIS WINS!" They heard Scarlet call out.

"Didn't expect him to trick Danny like that…" Sonic said.

"Whatever it takes to win I guess…" Tangle said.

"…Hey…" Jewel said as she approached the group.

"Hey! It's your turn! Good luck out there! And sock him in the teeth once for me!" Tangle said.

"R-right!" Jewel said as she flew out onto the arena.

"For our next round we have two citizens of Spiral Hill Village! Jewel the Beetle and Howard the Chicken!" Scarlet called out.

"WHO SAID I WAS A CHICKEN?!" Howard shouted.

"PFFT, I totally did that…" Tangle laughed.

"I'm an Eagle! EAGLE!" Howard continued to shout.

"R-right… anyways! Begin!"

The bell then rang…

And they both just stood there.

"Huh? What are they doing?" Tangle asked.

"…" Howard stayed silent, and began to walk towards Jewel.

Jewel on the other hand, was very afraid.

Then, when he got close to her, he put his arms out.

"Hit me."

"H-huh?" Jewel asked.

"I told you to hit me! I know you can throw a punch, so do it!" Howard demanded.

"B-but I…"

"I did a lot of terrible things to the two of you… this is me trying to make up for it, so do it!" Howard said.

Jewel then nodded, and wound up to throw a punch.

But, she never did.

"I… I can't…" Jewel said. "It's one thing to fight to save Tangle's life… but to just punch someone like this… I'm sorry, I just can't do it…"

"…tsk, should of known you wouldn't want to do this…" Howard said.

"So Jewel, does this mean that you forfeit?" Scarlet asked.

"Y-"

"No, it means that I do." Howard interrupted.

"Huh?!"

"WHAT?!" Tangle shouted from the crowd.

"O-oh! Ok! Jewel wins by forfeit!" Scarlet called out.

Howard didn't say anything, and just walked away…

Tangle was not about to let him leave though.

"Ok creep, just what was that about?!" Tangle asked.

"Like I said before, I'm just trying to make up for what I did to you two." Howard said.

"How does forfeiting a fight do that?!" Tangle asked.

"There are still some guys back in Spiral Hill that hate you two." Howard said. "If they think that Jewel beat me in a fight, they'll never bother you two."

"Huh?" Tangle asked. "But… wouldn't they know that you…?"

"We don't have those TV things in Spiral Hill." Howard said. "The only way anyone is gonna know anything about this tournament, is by me bringing back a printout of the final standings."

"… Gotcha…" Tangle said. "Thanks, I guess…"

"… Yeah, no problem." Howard said as he began to walk away. "Good luck fighting all the heroes, it's gonna be rough."

"Yeah, thanks." Tangle said. "Wait, how did he find out about the tournament if they don't have TV?"

Deciding to leave that question for later, Tangle started to walk towards the arena.

Meanwhile, Sonic watched the whole exchange with a smile on his face.


"Next up! We have Tangle up against Tails!" Scarlet called out. "Two fighters who's defining characteristics are their, well, tails!"

"You ready?!" Tails asked.

"Bring it!" Tangle said.

"BEGIN!"

And with the sound of the bell, they began to charge at each other.

Not long into the fight, Tangle knew that she was at a disadvantage. It's true that Tails couldn't hit too hard, but he was way faster and way more agile than her, not to mention the fact that his flight gave him a much better range of motion. Even though they really weren't hurting her too much, he was connecting all of his attacks while she couldn't get a single hit in.

Before long she was backed into a corner.

"Looks like Tangle is on the ropes! Is this it?!" Scarlet called out.

Then Tails, deciding to end this, did something no-one expected…

A spin attack.

Tails shot towards Tangle at a much higher speed than he was going up until now, his namesakes fluttering behind him as he spun towards her.

"WHAT IN THE WO-" Tangle started before she felt the impact, sending her flying off the arena.

"I DON'T THINK SO!"

In an act of desperation, she used her tail and managed to grab onto Tails, who was a bit disoriented from all the spinning, and pulled him close. Then, she managed to flip over and pin him underneath her, just in time for the two of them to land outside the ring.

After an instant replay, it was determined that Tails just barely landed first, thanks to his tails.

"And in an extremely close match, Tangle manages to barely pull off the win!" Scarlet calls out.

"Maaaan!" Tails groaned out. "I thought I had you!"

"Yeah, me too… I just improvised at the end there!" Tangle said. "Seriously though, since when could you do that?!"

"Huh? I was always able to do the spin attack!" Tails said. "I'm not as good at is as Sonic of course though…"

"How in the world did you learn to do that though? Wait… does this mean that I can?!" Tangle asked.

"Well, I guess you can learn how… it's not easy though… and as for how I learned it…" Tails started.

"Tails here is actually the one who came up with it in the first place!" Sonic said as he walked over.

"…WHAT?!" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, but that's a story for another time. Go rest up for the next match!" Sonic said.

"R-right…" Tangle said as they walked away. "So, what do you think you'll do now Tails?"

"Well, I think I'll go and help provide commentary." Tails said. "I know everyone's abilities more than anyone, so I think it would be a good idea!"

"Sounds good! See ya!" Tangle said.

"Later! And good luck!" Tails said as he ran away.

"Gotta admit, not how I would of beaten him." Rouge said as she walked over.

"Huh? How would you of won then?" Tangle asked.

"Oh, maybe a little kiss on the cheek to get him all flustered before I tossed him out." Rouge said with a wink.

"… Are you trying to imply something here?" Tangle asked.

"Oh no, nothing at all!" Rouge said with a laugh as she walked away.

"Hmph, alright, gotta stay focused… gonna probably be fighting Sonic next so…"

"And in a surprise twist, the favorite to win the entire tournament, Sonic…

Has been eliminated!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Tangle shouted.

Amy actually beat Sonic?!

Rushing to the stands, she could see that Sonic was, in fact, no longer there.

"What just happened?!" Tangle asked.

"Eggman showed up and tried to attack Amy, so Sonic is chasing him now." Chris explained.

"Oh… ok…" Tangle said.

'Ok… how do I fight Amy…' Tangle thought.


Before long, it was Tangle's turn to fight again. True to what she said before, Jewel forfeited against Knuckles. Afterwards, Chris managed to beat his own father… as embarrassing as that may be.

So now, here she was, facing off against Amy of all people.

And she had a plan.

"Begin!" Scarlet shouted as she rang the bell.

"HAAAAAAA-"

"You know Amy…" Tangle suddenly said, stopping Amy's charge. "Sonic seemed really pumped up about this tournament."

"Yeah… I know." Amy said, confused as to why Tangle was suddenly starting up a conversation.

"But he straight up abandoned it when he had to fight you!" Tangle said. "And this was after Eggman tried to hurt you…"

"O-oh! W-what do you think that means?" Amy asked, her face turning a bit red.

"It just goes to show how much he really likes you! Even if he doesn't show it all the time…" Tangle said.

"Oh… oh my gosh you're right!" Amy said as she dropped her hammer to gush a bit. "He really does care!"

"Yeah, and you know what else?" Tangle asked.

"What?"

"I got your hammer now!" Tangle said, holding up said hammer.

Amy then looked down to see that the her hammer was gone.

"HEY! NO FAIR!" Amy shouted.

"And goodbye!" Tangle said as she threw the hammer off the arena. "Seriously though, why are weapons allowed in a martial arts tournament?"

Amy stayed silent at this, as she began to grin.

"Well, I guess you got me!" Amy said as she started walking forward.

"Yup! Now, you want to give… up… or…?" Tangle asked, getting confused as to why Amy was approaching.

Then, as Amy got close, an evil look appeared on her face…

As another hammer appeared in her hand.

"WHOA!" Tangle shouted as she narrowly dodged a massive swing towards the ground.

Looking over to the side, she saw the first hammer was, in fact, still where she threw it.

"Uh… how many of those do you have?"

Amy just smiled. "A lot."

"Oh… uh… no hard feelings?" Tangle asked.

"…Yeah, no…" Amy said as she charged.

"Ok… plan's out the window… so full on assault it is!" Tangle said as she charged as well.

Amy then proceeded to swing her hammer repeatedly, trying to land a single strike against the lemur.

Thankfully for Tangle, she was agile enough to dodge every strike, and got a few good blows in against Amy.

Eventually, deciding to end it, Tangle wound up for one large strike with her tail.

As the tail and hammer collided, a shockwave so powerful that the crowd could feel it formed.

And after a moment of struggle, Tangle's tail broke through, knocking Amy's hammer out of her hands and sending her flying back.

Before Amy could get up, Tangle's tail was in front of her, poised to strike.

"… I give up…" Amy said.

"And Tangle wins!" Scarlet called out, as the crowd cheered her on.

She was quickly becoming a crowd favorite.

Amy then got up and shook Tangle's hand.

"I'd sleep with one eye open tonight…" Amy said. "Never… toy with a maiden's heart!"

And Tangle felt afraid… very afraid.

End of Chapter 32


I feel like, at least in this story, it makes sense that Tangle would be able to beat Tails and Amy. Tails isn't much of a fighter, since he is usually in the X-Tornado or X-Cyclone, and Tangle's tail is REALLY powerful, able to punch a hole in a safe, despite island level explosions not doing anything to it, meaning that she could very feasibly overpower Amy.

As for Rouge and Knuckles… well, we'll see what happens with that next time… we don't even know if we'll see Tangle vs Knuckles though!

Anyways, see you all next time for Chapter 33!