AN: In the last chapter, you all probably noticed the little storyline I put in about Fang not using his spring tail ability much. That was something I put in as a slight statement. He really doesn't seem to use that ability much in the things he appears in (I'm mostly familiar with his appearances in the comics) and I feel Fang should really make more use out of it. Anyway, time to see the second half of round one.
Ch 4: Round One Part Two
After the arena that Amy Rose the Hedgehog had smashed a crater into was lowered into the ground and replaced with a brand new one, Cream the Rabbit is walking over to her assigned entrance hand in hand with her mother.
Vanilla has a forced smile on her face to hide how nervous she is for her daughter. "Now, Cream, just remember to do your best out there. That's all anyone can ask of you."
"Chao," both Cheese and Chocola the Chao chip in, the two having chosen to accompany the mother and daughter pair.
Just outside of the north entrance, a large gorilla guard stops them. "Sorry, Ma'am. Only fighters are allowed past this point."
The elder rabbit frowns and grips her daughter's hand tighter.
Cream smiles up at Vanilla. "It's alright, Mother. I'll be fine. You said yourself how Mr Vector would never hurt me."
"You're right. That wonderful man will make certain you have a safe and fun time in the arena." The mother rabbit smiles at her daughter. "Have a great time, Dear."
"I will," Cream says as she lets go of her mother's hand. She then walks right on past the gorilla guard.
The loudspeakers kick on. "We have reached the second half of the first round," Wander the Goat announces. "Coming in from the north entrance, she's the most adorable young girl you shall ever meet whose mother just so happens to be cheering her on from the stands…Cream the Rabbit!"
The little girl walks out to the sound of cheering from the crowd. She feels overwhelmed by the number of people with their attention on her.
"Be brave!" Vanilla calls out to her daughter.
"Chao!" the two Chao add in.
Encouraged by this, Cream keeps her head held high as she goes to her designated spot in the arena.
"You can do it!" Amy Rose the Hedgehog cheers for her young friend.
"Don't forget kid power!" Charmy Bee reminds the little rabbit.
"From the south entrance," Wander continues. "He's the Team Chaotix Detective Agency leader with jaws of steel…Vector the Crocodile!"
The green crocodile walks out waving to the cheering crowd, a big smile on his face.
"Good luck, Mr Vector!" Vanilla calls out once the crocodile reaches his designated spot.
Vector allows a goofy grin to appear on his face from those words. Looking at his young opponent though, he sees she's shaking. "Hey, don't worry. You'll be just fine. I'm right here to make sure you have a great time, win or lose."
Cream smiles up at the crocodile. "Thank you, Mr Vector."
As the countdown starts, Vector gets into a ready position. "Don't think for a second I'm giving you the win though."
The young rabbit has a look of determination on her face. "I'd be insulted if you did."
"Begin!" shouts Wander.
Vector charges to grab the little girl (punching, kicking, or biting would risk hurting her).
Cream flaps her ears, taking to the air while avoiding the crocodile.
While Sonic and most of the competitors knew the young girl could do that, the audience and Honey the Cat didn't and go wild over it.
"Since when could she do that?!" the yellow furred and black haired cat asks.
"Since always," Espio the Chameleon informs the fashion designer. He's amused by how shocked the newcomer is.
Vector keeps trying to grab Cream, the little rabbit dodging every attempt. After a minute of this, the crocodile speaks up. "Cream, you can't win this by just dodging."
The rabbit backs away. "You're right, Mr Vector." She turns and flies over to the edge of the arena.
"Wait!" The crocodile chases after her. "I know you don't really like fighting, but I'm a big and strong guy! I can take a hit! I won't hold it against you, so please don't give up!"
Cream stops at the edge and faces Vector with a smile. "I never said I was." She flies up as the crocodile comes to a stop in front of her.
Before Vector can look around for the rabbit, he feels her feet kicking him in the center of his back. He flails in an attempt to keep himself from falling off the arena.
"My apologies," Cream says before she rushes forward and pushes Vector right out of the arena.
"Vector the Crocodile is out of bounds!" Wander the Goat announces. "Cream the Rabbit wins!"
Despite losing (which also means he misses out on earning any bonus money from Team Chaotix's mysterious client), Vector smiles at the young rabbit. "Good job, Cream."
"Thank you for the delightful match, Mr Vector," the little girl says with a curtsy.
Meanwhile…
As the crowd cheers for Cream's win, Shadow the Hedgehog gets up from his seat.
"Have fun," Rouge the Bat says to her coworker.
"Unlikely," Shadow responds as he walks away.
Rouge frowns at her teammate while E-123 Omega brings out another flag (with the face of the black hedgehog this time) and starts waving it.
Meanwhile…
Cream the Rabbit rushes to her mother standing by the north entrance. "I did it! I won!"
"I'm so proud of you," Vanilla says while beaming. "Who'd have thought you'd already be so wonderfully capable at this age." She gives her daughter a big hug.
"Chao!" both Cheese and Chocola the Chao cheer as they hug the younger rabbit as well.
"Kid power for the win!" Charmy Bee shouts as he flies over to the group.
Cream smiles at the other young kid. "Good luck with your match."
Charmy looks queasy as he remembers who it is he's going up against. "Yeah."
Espio the Chameleon shows up. "Shadow is a tough opponent for anyone to face. Don't be discouraged about losing to him."
"He won't lose," Cream says with conviction. "If I can win with kid power, he can too."
Charmy perks up at this. "Yeah! Go, kid power!" He flies past the gorilla guard in order to get in place for his match.
Espio looks to the rabbits and their Chao. "You can return to your seats. I'll stay here for Charmy's sake." The purple chameleon looks to the arena as the mother rabbit, daughter rabbit, and the Chao leave.
Soon…
"It's now time for the sixth match of the WanderCo Battle Tournament," Wander the Goat announces. "Coming in from the north entrance, he's an excitable young child who's considered both mascot and an acting detective for Team Chaotix…Charmy Bee!"
The little boy flies into the arena while waving animatedly at the crowd. He sets a record for the quickest to get to his designated spot.
"Go, Charmy!" Vector the Crocodile shouts to the kid.
"From the south entrance," Wander continues. "He's an agent of GUN with the moniker of the Ultimate Life Form…Shadow the Hedgehog!"
While there are some cheers for this entrance too, the black hedgehog doesn't care in the slightest as he goes to his designated spot.
Charmy starts shaking as Shadow approaches him. He feels the urge to flee once his very stone faced opponent is standing across from him.
Honey the Cat, for once, isn't attracted to a guy. 'I've been known to like dangerous guys in the past, but Shadow the Hedgehog just looks…unapproachable to an insane degree.'
As the countdown starts, Shadow takes a moment to study his young opponent. When he is unimpressed by what he sees, the black hedgehog crosses his arms and closes his eyes.
The fear Charmy was feeling goes away and is replaced by indignant anger.
"Begin!" Wander shouts.
The little bee lets out a war cry before charging Shadow.
The black hedgehog effortlessly sidesteps his young opponent, his eyes still closed.
Charmy keeps striking with punches, kicks, and even his stinger. None of them are even close to connecting as Shadow dodges every one.
"This match is so one sided," Amy Rose states.
"It's like he's toying with Charmy," says Knuckles the Echidna.
Tails is studying this fight. "I have a theory. Shadow probably doesn't see Charmy as an opponent worthy of him, so any actual fighting on his part would be a waste of energy. At least, that's what I believe he thinks."
Silver the Hedgehog is confused by that theory. "If that's true, why wouldn't he just end the fight now?"
"I think Shadow's testing out his reflexes."
"And showing off," Sonic claims. "Why else would he be keeping his eyes closed?"
Charmy keeps trying to land a hit on Shadow, none of them making contact.
The pair are soon near the edge of the arena.
Shadow opens his eyes and grabs Charmy with just one hand. He then throws the bee out of the arena and immediately starts walking away.
"Charmy Bee is out of bounds!" Wander the Goat announces (the CEO having to hide his amusement). "Shadow the Hedgehog wins!"
Charmy glares at the black hedgehog, groans, and leaves. He makes it back to Espio and a now present Vector the Crocodile. "He made me look like a chump!"
"Don't let it get you down," says Vector. "He would've made me look like a chump if I'd gone against him. Probably Espio too."
"I admire your confidence in me," the chameleon says with blatant sarcasm.
"This won't happen ever again!" Charmy declares. "I'll get stronger and I'll show him a thing or two next time!"
Vector laughs. "That's the spirit." He leads the other two back to their seats.
Meanwhile…
Seeing Shadow return, Rouge the Bat smirks. "Looks like you had a little fun out there."
The black hedgehog sits beside his coworker with a grunt. "Not one bit. I had to force in something to achieve even the slightest enjoyment. Has GUN contacted you yet?"
Rouge frowns. "No. They're likely digging thoroughly to find something on Wander."
"If it's taking them this long, I have the sneaking suspicion they won't find anything."
Meanwhile…
Silver the Hedgehog gets up. "Guess it's my turn now."
Honey the Cat pokes the white hedgehog's shoulder to get his attention. "Remember our deal if I win?"
"Yeah. I'll model for you if I lose."
"That's right." The yellow cat flicks her black hair as she smiles at the others. "As I said yesterday, if I win the whole thing, you guys get the Chaos Emeralds. I don't need them after all. Promoting my brand's the reason I'm here." 'I'm also on the hunt for a hot boyfriend, but I don't think they need to hear that.' She smirks at Silver. "Be seeing you down in the ring." She heads for her assigned entrance, purposely showing off her red dress with angel wings attached to all of the people she passes.
Espio the Chameleon shakes his head to stop himself from staring at the display.
Silver turns to leave for his own entrance when his arm is grabbed by Blaze the Cat.
"Don't you let your guard down with her," the light purple feline warns. "She strikes me as the kind to use underhanded tactics to win."
The white hedgehog smiles at his friend. "You don't need to worry, Blaze. Everything'll turn out just fine." He walks away, leaving the Sol Dimension's princess to feel like Silver didn't take her warning seriously.
Soon…
Wander the Goat turns his microphone on when he gets word that the next fighters are in place. "The seventh match is now upon us. Coming in from the north entrance, she's one of the leading ladies of fashion wearing an outfit she designed herself…Honey the Cat!"
The crowd goes wild as the famous fashion designer walks out. The yellow feline waves, winks, blows kisses, dramatically flicks her black hair, and poses to show her self designed battle attire to her adoring fans.
"She knows how to work a crowd," Sonic observes.
Amy Rose the Hedgehog does her best to hold back the jealousy she's feeling at the blue hedgehog saying that. "Of course she does. It's basically a requirement in the fashion world."
"From the south entrance," Wander continues. "He's a time traveller from the future here on a mission to save the world…Silver the Hedgehog!"
There's less cheering for the white hedgehog, though he doesn't really notice due to being so focused on winning for the sake of the world's future.
"Go, Silver!" shouts Amy.
"Win for everyone's sake!" Tails calls out to the time traveller.
Blaze is the only one of the group not cheering for Silver due to feeling he'd disrespected her input.
Honey smirks at the white hedgehog once he's in place. "Wow. You were certainly given a heroic introduction."
Silver gets into a fighting stance as the countdown starts up. "I'm sorry in advance, but I have to win."
The yellow cat follows suit. "I've got a brand to promote, so it's the same with me."
"Begin!' Wander the Goat shouts after the timer reaches zero.
Silver throws a punch, but Honey dodges it.
The black haired cat does a kick which connects, but the white hedgehog recovers from it and retaliates.
"What's he doing?" Vector the Crocodile asks the others. "Why's Silver not using any of his psychic powers to throw her out of the arena?"
"He probably just wants to keep things fair for now," says Amy.
"I'm not complaining," says Knuckles the Echidna. "I like physical fights much better."
Sonic smirks at the red echidna. "Yeah. You and Rouge got really physical."
As Knuckles blows up at the now laughing blue hedgehog, Vanilla the Rabbit looks over at her confused daughter. "Please don't ask."
Silver and Honey continue trading blows, gradually heading over to the edge of the arena.
Noticing this, the yellow cat puts up her hands. "Before this all ends, I want to thank you for a fun time." She holds one hand out for a handshake.
The white hedgehog's surprised by this gesture. "Uh…sure. You too, Honey." He takes the offered hand.
Blaze the Cat jumps out of her seat. "SILVER! NO!"
Honey grins as she sweeps her opponent's feet and uses Silver's falling momentum to flip him over her body to go out of the arena.
However, the two stop in place with Silver mid throw.
Honey finds that she can't even move.
The white hedgehog rights himself in midair, his psychic powers clearly behind this.
Wander the Goat stares down at the time traveler. 'Another contender.'
Silver uses his powers to force Honey flat against the ground. "You actually thought that I wasn't ready for something like that?" As Wander is counting to ten, the white hedgehog glares at the yellow cat. "Why would you do that?"
Honey laughs a little. "What can I say? I do what I can to win."
"That's a knockout!" Wander announces to the audience after reaching ten. "The winner is Silver the Hedgehog!"
Once released, Honey the Cat gets up and stretches. "You know, now that I've lost, there really shouldn't be a reason for me to stay. Without being able to promote my designs anymore, I should leave and get back to my work. However, I've had a lot of fun watching these matches. I'm sticking around, so…no hard feelings about my little deception, okay?" She heads out of the arena before Silver can respond.
Meanwhile…
Bark the Polar Bear gets up and heads for his entrance.
"Don't go messing up our perfect winning streak!" Fang the Hunter shouts after the silent brawler.
Bean the Dynamite stands on his chair. "Let your bite be worse!"
The purple jerboa snorts before turning to the short green bird. "Alright, I admit that one was good."
Bean grins.
Meanwhile…
Silver returns to the others, most of them congratulating him on a job well done. He goes over to Blaze the Cat. "Thank you."
The Princess of the Sol Dimension looks over in surprise. "For what?"
"If you hadn't told me to watch out for sneaky tactics, Honey would've caught me so off guard that I'd have lost. I was still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but you got me to keep an eye out for tricks."
The yellow furred and black haired cat being talked about (who's sitting in the seat that's right behind Blaze) rolls her eyes. "Really making me feel like some monster you vanquished."
Blaze chooses to ignore the fashion designer's comment and just smiles at Silver. "Glad I could help."
The white hedgehog looks up at Charmy Bee and Vector the Crocodile. "Do either one of you know what's going on with Espio? He ignored me when I passed him."
"He did that to all of us too!" the little bee complains. "Some friend he's being to us right now."
"Maybe Espio's just caught up in his own thoughts or something," Vector supposes.
Meanwhile…
The purple chameleon is standing at the ready to head into the arena. 'This is it. The last match of the first round. Likely the final match of the day as well. I'm the only member of Team Chaotix left in the tournament. My opponent is…Bark the Polar Bear. Fang and Bean were both able to earn spots in the second round, giving Eggman a greater chance of legitimately acquiring the seven Chaos Emeralds. Considering what Silver said about the future vanishing, it's obvious the Emeralds are involved. Is Eggman abusing their power the reason or is Shadow giving them to GUN the cause? Wait, I can't focus on that right now. For the reputation of the Team Chaotix Detective Agency. For my honor as a ninja. For the fate of the world. I must win.'
"Here we are!" Wander the Goat can be heard announcing. "We finish today's first round of the WanderCo Battle Tournament with our last match. Coming in from the north entrance, he is the silent brawler currently on Dr Eggman's payroll…Bark the Polar Bear!"
The crowd boos as the yellow polar walks out.
Bark keeps his eyes on the ground in front of him to take his mind off just how much the audience's reaction bothers him.
Honey the Cat does find the yellow polar bear attractive (especially due to his very burly physique), but she also notices his mood. "What's with him? He's pretty openly miserable for a guy who's working for somebody evil like Eggman."
As much as she doesn't like the other cat, Blaze chooses to fill her in. "Believe it or not, Bark the Polar is a pleasant individual…on his own at least. He's just with a bad crowd."
"Win so we can get even more money!" Fang the Hunter calls out to the polar bear.
Bean the Dynamite starts throwing popcorn into the air. "Confetti! Confetti!"
The purple jerboa's getting hit by some of the popcorn falling down on him. "Hey! Stop that!"
"From the south entrance!" Wander continues. "He's a highly trained ninja who is part of Team Chaotix…Espio the Chameleon!"
The crowd cheers for the purple reptile.
"Get him, Espio!" Charmy Bee calls out.
"You've got this!" Vector the Crocodile cheers.
"Don't let Eggman get any more advantages!" Silver the Hedgehog requests.
Honey the Cat feels her stomach drop when Espio reaches his place across from Bark. 'I can't believe just how huge the polar bear guy is compared to my seat neighbor. He could snatch that lean ninja and break his neck with one hand. What an awful thing to happen to a pretty cute chameleon.'
"Anything to say?" Espio asks his opponent as the countdown starts.
Bark just puts up his fists.
"Very well." The purple chameleon gets into a fighting stance.
"Begin!" Wander shouts.
The polar bear throws a punch, which Espio dodges.
'I can't let him hit me,' the purple chameleon analyzes as he continues avoiding all of the punches thrown by his opponent. 'Bark the Polar Bear has the most brute strength of anyone in the tournament. Not only would I lose, I'd risk being out of commission for weeks. However, he is so large that it takes effort for him to move quickly. Soon, Bark will grow fatigued and he will get sloppy. That's when he'll start leaving openings for me to strike…' Espio jumps up and over a low punch, noticing the large polar bear make a slight stumble. '…and win!' The ninja does a spinning kick to Bark's face.
"Yeah!" Charmy Bee cheers.
"Don't you dare let up!" Vector the Crocodile calls out. "You know what's at stake if you lose this match!"
Espio goes in to continue, but he freezes.
The polar bear has taken his hand away from his face, revealing he's now consumed with rage over the kick to his face.
'Uh oh. A second wind born of fury.' The chameleon runs before Bark's fist can hit him. He has to leap away when the polar bear tries to smash him, leaving a crater in the arena.
"SMASH!" Bean the Dynamite shouts with a cackle.
"Pulverize him!" Fang the Hunter encourages Bark.
Eggman is laughing at this turn of events. "At this point, the Chaos Emeralds are as good as mine!"
Honey the Cat is flinching along with the rest of Sonic's group at all the near misses. 'It's seriously scary in the arena now. Get out of there, Ninja Boy.'
Espio dodges another forceful punch. 'This is bad. If Bark keeps going like this, I'll risk meeting my maker. I do have an idea, but it's very dangerous.' He crouches down and waits.
The yellow polar bear raises a fist to smash.
Honey's on the verge of fainting.
'Perfect,' Espio observes of the position of his opponent's fist. He jumps up, only barely avoiding being smashed down into another crater in the arena. He does a flip to put force behind one of his feet coming down on top of Bark's head.
The polar bear sways before collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Espio places a foot on Bark's back.
Eggman grabs Wander's microphone. "Get up you idiot!"
The goat takes his mic back. "Don't do that again." He proceeds to count to ten. "That's a knockout! The winner is Espio the Chameleon!"
Eggman throws a tantrum.
The crowd's very loud cheering's enough to wake Bark, the polar bear rubbing his aching head.
"The fight's over," Espio informs him. "You lost."
Bark stares for a moment before nodding and walking away.
Honey the Cat watches the purple chameleon bow to his departing opponent and head out of the arena. 'That Espio guy took down an opponent twice his size. He's certainly not cut out to be a model, but at the same time…I've never wanted someone so bad in my life.'
"Don't go away just yet, folks," Wander the Goat announces. "Give me just half an hour more of your time and I'll reward you with the match ups for the WanderCo Battle Tournament's second round taking place tomorrow." He turns off the microphone and exits the room, happy to be getting away from the still pouting Eggman. The CEO enters his private office and sits down at his desk to think over who he wants to face off against each other in tomorrow's second round. A few minutes in, Wander hears a knock at his door. "Come in."
The gerbil woman that works as the dark blue-green goat's assistant enters the room. "A report from the scientists, Sir."
"How is work on the project going?"
"According to the report, right on schedule."
Wander smiles. "Perfect. I can finally eject Eggman from the tournament tomorrow."
Later…
Wander returns to the private box, Eggman still sitting in his seat. The goat turns his mic on. "Thank you for your patience, everybody. Now, here are the match ups for the second round tomorrow." He waits for the screens around the stadium to show images of the first two fighters. "For the first match, Espio the Chameleon vs Silver the Hedgehog."
The white hedgehog looks up and behind him at the purple chameleon. "Don't you even think that I'll go easy on you just because we're friends."
Relieved to have a distraction from all of the newfound attention Honey the Cat has been showering him with, Espio smirks at Silver. "Right back at you."
The screens show the next two fighters.
"Bean the Dynamite vs Knuckles the Echidna!" Wander announces.
The little green bird stands on his seat. "Ooh, I'm taking on Island Guy."
Knuckles looks over at Amy Rose. "I'll get him back for taking you out."
"Thanks," the pink hedgehog says unenthusiastically. 'I wish Sonic was the one avenging me.'
Eggman glares at Wander. "Why did you give one of my men such a tough opponent?"
The goat smirks. "You know I can't show such blatant favoritism towards you. After all, you have a negative reputation amongst the populace. I'd risk the tournament being put on hold so people could investigate whether or not I'm making underhanded deals with you, which I will not allow to happen under any circumstance." He waits for the stadium screens to show the third match up before turning his mic back on. "Cream the Rabbit vs Shadow the Hedgehog!"
The little girl shivers in her seat over who her opponent is.
Vanilla the Rabbit embraces her daughter, absolutely livid about this. "What in the world are they thinking?!"
Vector the Crocodile glares up at the private box where he knows Wander is.
Eggman's also not happy with the goat's choice. "You're certainly giving Shadow easier opponents."
Wander scowls at the mustachioed scientist. "Let me try putting this to you as simply as I possibly can. My game, my rules." He chooses to ignore Eggman's growl of fury as the last two of the second round's fighters are shown on the stadium's screens. "And finally, Fang the Hunter vs Sonic the Hedgehog!"
The purple jerboa grins. "Yeah! I'll finally take out that blue pest!"
Tails smiles at Sonic. "This is your chance to avenge me."
"It'll be no sweat," the blue hedgehog assures the two tailed fox.
Amy silently pouts. 'Sure, avenge Tails.'
Wander stands up. "Come back tomorrow to see these fights in action." He shuts off his mic and heads for the door. "If you'll excuse me, Doctor, I have business to attend to." The goat leaves Eggman behind to stew in his anger.
Meanwhile…
Rouge the Bat hears a ping on her communicator. 'GUN's contacting me. Here's hoping this means they've got something on Wander the Goat.' She looks over at Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega. "Let's go somewhere private."
Knowing what this means, the other two follow the bat.
Meanwhile…
Sonic and most of the others are waiting by the exit.
Vanilla the Rabbit took Cream home, the little girl stressing over having to face a foe like Shadow the Hedgehog.
Team Chaotix also left. Vector the Crocodile had wanted to go console Cream, but Espio the Chameleon convinced him to give the young rabbit some time.
Honey the Cat had to catch up on some designs of hers that are currently in progress. She eyed the Chaotix's ninja as she left.
Tails is in the restroom, which is why the others are waiting around.
"Just how cruel can Wander get?" Amy Rose the Hedgehog asks everyone. "Having such a little girl like Cream facing off against Shadow?"
Blaze the Cat agrees. "She is only a child."
Sonic rolls his eyes. "You guys are overreacting."
"Yeah," Knuckles the Echidna agrees. "Charmy came out of his fight with Shadow fine."
"The only thing hurt was his pride," Silver the Hedgehog adds in.
Just then, Wander the Goat shows up. "Ah, glad you lot are still here."
Sonic frowns. "Oh. You."
Amy smirks at the dark blue-green goat. "You here to admit just how wrong you've been about Sonic?"
Wander scoffs. "I consider the so called hero's victory a fluke."
Blaze steps forward. "Sonic is a great warrior."
"I'll believe that when I see it. Anyway, my true purpose in being here." The goat smiles at Silver. "You were a pleasant surprise."
The white hedgehog points to himself. "Me?"
"I believed you when you said you came from the future, but your psychic powers were a treat I never expected. I look forward to you facing off against Shadow in the final round."
"HEY!" Amy screams at the goat. "If anyone's winning this, it's Sonic!"
"Wait a sec!" Knuckles butts in. "I'm winning the tournament!"
"Not now!" The pink hedgehog girl ignores the red echidna's annoyed growl to focus on the sneering Wander. "When Sonic beats Shadow or whoever the other finalist is, you will be so embarrassed over how wrong you are!"
The goat laughs. "Me?! Embarrassed and wrong?! What a ridiculous notion from a silly girl with air where a brain should be."
Sonic gets right in Wander's face. "You know, I'm getting real tired of you putting down my friends, Pal."
The CEO does a half hearted gasp. "Oh no. I feel so threatened." He then puts on a very unpleasant smile. "You won't start anything here. It wouldn't look good for you."
"Here's the deal. I win this, you apologize to all my friends you insulted."
"Very well. I accept." Wander turns and walks away. "Good luck. You'll need it."
While everyone else glares after the goat, Amy stares at Sonic with a smitten smile. 'You came to my defense. My knight in shining armor.'
"Let's get out of here," Knuckles suggests.
"We're still waiting for Tails," Silver reminds him.
Blaze looks around the area. "Where is he?"
Meanwhile…
Tails exits the restroom and starts heading in the direction of the exit where everyone else is waiting for him.
"This is Agent Rouge," comes the familiar voice of Rouge the Bat around the corner.
His curiosity getting the better of him, the two tailed fox presses himself against the wall to listen in.
"We've performed the background check Agent Shadow requested on Wander the Goat," a voice says through a communicator.
"And?" asks the black hedgehog. "What did you find?"
"His record is spotless."
"Really?" asks Rouge. "Nothing?"
"All we found were his birth certificate, schools he attended and graduated from, and the obituaries of his parents."
"It simply doesn't make any sense," says Shadow. "Wander the Goat having such a plain and average background doesn't add up to what's happening with this tournament."
"What do you mean?"
"Where do we start?" Rouge asks rhetorically. "Wander has Eggman sitting with him up in his private box, implying there's some sort of deal going on between them. But, last night, he told us to our faces that he wants Shadow to win the tournament."
"Hmm. Could be a trick."
"There's also what happened when Omega tried to go after Eggman last night."
"Did Wander stop him?"
"Affirmative," the robot responds. "Wander the Goat demanded Eggman not be targeted for the duration of the tournament."
"That all suggests he's lying to someone. We can't afford to have it be us. Agent Rouge, tonight, you're ordered to find the Chaos Emeralds and take them before Dr Eggman can acquire them."
The bat smirks. "Got it."
"Agent Shadow, the moment Agent Rouge contacts you after acquiring the Emeralds, you check out of your hotel room and leave."
"Understood," says the black hedgehog.
"Agent Omega, be prepared to open fire if things go south."
"Eagerness levels rising," says the large robot.
"You have your assignments. Over and out."
As the three members of Team Dark leave, Tails peeks around the corner. 'I've got to tell the others.' He rushes to the exit.
AN: Looks like things are about to get a bit more complicated. Now, I'm going to explain my reasons behind the first round's match ups. Sonic vs Blaze was because I wanted something fun and flashy to start the tournament with. Fang vs Tails was because, as much as I do like Tails, I couldn't really think of much more for him to do within the tournament and also wanted to keep Fang around longer. Knuckles vs Rouge, I just wanted to have innuendos. Amy vs Bean was me showing off that just because the bird was wacky doesn't mean he isn't capable. Plus, Amy just really didn't have anything interesting to offer within the tournament itself past the first round for me. Cream vs Vector was really just me wanting to put in something adorable to put in a break between all the more serious stuff. Charmy vs Shadow is me starting the running theme of giving the black hedgehog opponents he feels are a waste of his time, which is continued with him having been paired up with Cream for the second round. Honey vs Silver was me wanting to give her someone she feels she could pretty easily dupe (Silver can be naive), but failing due to someone warning him in advance (thank you Blaze). Finally, Espio vs Bark just felt like an interesting fight and I thought the Chaotix ninja would be a perfectly capable opponent to take down the polar bear. Come back Wednesday to see all of the things that'll happen the night before the next round.