"You've put up an impressive first performance, but you can't last much longer." Manic warned.

"A good first impression." Knuckles shrugged. "And by the way, that's what she said!" All four male combatants laughed at his unprompted humor.

"That's making the cut." A camera technician added.

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about." Manic sized up his opponent and crossed his arms.

Knuckles shook his head in disappointment. "You laughed." He huffed, fists up, ready to fight.

"Fair enough. I've heard worse." Manic agreed. He staged up for the next round.

Soar the Eagle stood prominently in the background, arms out to the competitors. "Fighters ready? ENGAGE!"

Manic cleared the gap with a flying dropkick, enough to catch Knuckles off guard and knock him down hard. He employed a throat punch to ensure Knuckles stayed down.

"C'mere!" Knuckles wheezed, bringing Honey the Cat to the scene. She took off from her team and charged Manic, successfully landing her first strike with the staff. She brought down the staff twice more on Manic before he caught it. While struggling for the staff, Manic broke contact, and threw the cat out of the zone.

Knuckles had already righted himself and bounded toward his opposition. Manic crossed the gap with a brutal right punch to the chest. Knuckles lurched, but grabbed Manic. "You're gonna regret that." He threatened before landing Manic in an ostentatious suplex.

The hedgehog escaped his grip and quickly called Amy in. She rushed at Knuckles, encouraged by his 'come and get it' gestures. He quickly drove a knee into the girl's midsection which caused her to drop her hammer. He threw it into the ocean out of spite.

"Can someone retrieve that?" Soar asked.

An employee rushed to get it as Knuckles punched Manic square in the face. He retaliated with a right cross again to Knuckles' chest and a left uppercut to finish. Knuckles fell backwards. Soar announced the ten-count before Knuckles could get back up.

"Round two – France!" He announced. A seemingly effortless performance by Manic. He will prepare to take on his apparition."

"Walk good, big man." Manic sneered.