A6Y Fighting Spirit - Ch 20

NOTE: This story is completely unrelated to Sonic and has no relevance to the Sonic series whatsoever.
Neither does it represent, what I want Sonic to be about.
This chapter contains various Fan Characters from several DA members. Permission granted!

Chapter 20: Noble Fights - Amy vs Big and Angie vs Marta


It was time for the final fight in round 1. Amy vs Big!
Though it felt somewhat uncomfortable at first, they did no longer mind fighting each other so soon.
The only emotion that they could feel right now was excitement!

Both fighters were already standing in the ring. And their friends were watching them from the usual spot.
'So, Big... Looks like we have to fight each other now.' Big nooded. 'I didn't expect that moment to arrive so soon.' he admitted.
Amy agreed: 'Yeah. But I don't mind. Are you ready?' Big started smirking. 'Of course. I'll show you what this dumb cat evolved into.'
She smiled and admired his fighting spirit. It showed even more how much Big had changed.
She got into her fighting stance. 'Alright. Don't hold back on me.' And Big didn't intend to do so. He got ready for the fight himself.

Paragon then did his announcement. 'Okay, looks like we can begin. Are you ready?'
Both Amy and Big were already focused and waited for Paragon's call.
And they didn't have to wait for long. 'Okay. FIGHT!' he shouted into his microphone to start the match.
...


Big started charging at Amy and attacked her with a series of shoving slaps. Amy easily blocked them.
He then attempted to grab her. But Amy jumped to avoid it and attacked with a kick into the face.
Big quickly recovered from that attack. Amy then went offensive and attacked with a series of punches.
Now it was Big's turn to block. And that he did well. After that, he grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.
Followed by a jump into the air for a ground pound. But before he hit her, she quickly rolled out of the way and swung herself back on her feet.
Big already started the next charge-attack. Amy avoided the punch by ducking and countered with an uppercut. It hit and knocked Big down.
But he quickly got up.
You could see it in Amy's face that she enjoyed the battle. Big did too. And the spectator's as well.
The fight continued...
...


'Wow. Big sure has become strong.' Rouge admitted. And Cream nooded. She didn't expect him to perform that well either.
They saw them fighting and Big surprised them more and more as the fight progressed.
'Sumo, eh?' Axel stated, as he arrived on the scene. 'Huh, Axel? Where have you been?' Cream asked.
Axel didn't hesitate to explain: 'I've been doing my... business. You know...' It was clear what he meant.
'I see.' Cream and Rouge said at the same time. 'But you're right. Big's fighting style is Sumo Wrestling.' Cream replied.
Axel then added: 'And he isn't bad at all.' He obviously was impressed. Cream and Rouge agreed.
'Funny. I still can't believe how much he changed over the years.' But Cream was surprised to hear that from Rouge.
Now she really wanted to know. 'Hey, Rouge. How come you know Big?'
Rouge was surprised at first. But she quickly remembered that Amy, Cream and their friends didn't know that Rouge and Big met before.
She then explained: 'So you still don't know... I've met him a few weeks after the Chaos Incident. I think it was shortly before he left.'
Cream was surprised and wanted to hear more. But before she could demand it, Rouge continued...
'I met him at Mystic Ruins. At the day where he was forced to find another home, due the closure of those ruins. But you know me. As a treasure hunter, I could hardly resist the call. I just had to go into the ruins and search for some treasure.'
It didn't surprise Cream at all. Some habits never die... Rouge continued.
'While I was on my way to the ruins, I've met him. I did see him earlier with you two, but this was the first time where I actually talked to him. Back then he was kind of a dummy. He really gave me the impression that he a pea-brain. But after some time, I actually started to like him.'
Cream didn't like her calling him a 'pea-brain'. But then again, she couldn't blame her either. So she let that slide.
'We had a nice chat in the end. And he talked a lot about you two and Sonic. He was sad that he had to leave the ruins and abandon his home. But he always had this frog with him. And it did look like they were friends and it cheered him up a bit.'
Froggy... Cream remembered him. But she wondered why he wasn't with Big anymore.
'Anyway, that's the gist of it.' Rouge finished her explanation. Cream then answered: 'I see. Thanks for explaining.'
Rouge smiled. 'No problem.' And after that nice chat, they turned their back at the fight between Amy and Big.
...


'Wow. You're great!' Amy exclaimed. It pleased Big to hear that. 'You're good too.' Big admitted.
The fight already lasted for at least 13 minutes. But after that small chat, they got back in the action.
Big again attacked with a bunch of slaps. Amy easily blocked them, despite being tired out a bit.
Amy then countered with punchs herself. Big could avoid those. Then she went for a kick, but Big grabbed her and threw her.
She hit the ground, but quickly got up. (Again, the usual way. You should know it by now. )
Big threw another punch, but Amy ducked. Then she knocked him down with a spinning kick.
It took a little while, but Big got up slowly. He was impressed. But he started charging at her again.
Amy was prepared for some more attacks. She blocked yet another wave of slaps. Then she countered with a strong punch.
But Big avoided it. Then came the big surprise. Big quickly jumped back a bit and then charged forward with a sumo headbutt.
It hit Amy hard and she was knocked down. Then Big saw his chance and jumped into the air to finish the match.
But before he could 'crush' her below himself, she started smiling. Big was negatively surprised by this.
'Got you!' she shouted. She prepared a kick-up. But this time, not only to get up.
Shortly before he landed on her, she shot up her legs, hit Big hard and sent him flying. She landed safely on her feet.
Big however landed outside of the ring. And thus the final match of round 1 reached its conclusion.
'The winner is Amy! And thus round 1 has come to a close. Now we're looking forward to round 2!' Paragon exclaimed.
The crowd cheered for Amy. She was pleased and waved at the crowd. Especially at Vanilla and Tails, who were impressed as well.

Big got up and said: 'Nice. You got me.' He then laughed. Amy chuckled a bit as well.
'You left yourself wide open when you did that.' Amy explained. Obviously referring to the attempt to 'crush' her.
Big laughed again. 'Is that so? Well, I better take this lesson to heart then.' Amy smiled.
They both returned to the fighter's area.
...


'What a great fight.' Cream exclaimed when Amy and Big returned. Amy agreed and so did Big.
But Rouge didn't completely agree: 'That last move was disappointing though. You should've seen this coming, Big.'
'Yeah, you're probably right.' Big said embarrassed. But a moment after, he laughed it off.
'(I think I'll never get this guy.)' Rouge thought. Still she was impressed by Big and his performance.

And now where round 1 reached its conclusion, the matches for round 2 were now clear.
In the first match, Angie would be fighting Marta. In the second match Vicky would face Sally.
In the third match we have the long awaited rematch between Venus and Scarlet.
The fourth match was a fight between Rouge and Jenny. And in the fifth match, Knuckles would face Cream.
The sixth match would be a fight between Cissnei and Sanda. And the in the seventh match we had Jade vs Tikal.
And the eight and last match in round 2 was Amy vs Crystal.

So now you see...
The all-talk weaklings were now out. And the real battles were about to begin.
Of course, Axel, Jasmine and Big were great fighters and not weak at all. They were the only exceptions among all the fighters, who didn't make it into the second round.
...


'Okay, fighters. Listen up!' Paragon called the remaining fighters. They didn't let him wait and instantly assembled around him.
'Round 1 is now finally over. Now it's time for round 2.' Paragon then announced the scheduled matches for round 2.
Angie was honored to fight Marta and didn't care about victory or defeat. Marta felt the same way and looked forward to the battle.
Venus and Scarlet obviously couldn't wait for their rematch. You could see the impatience and excitement burning inside each of their eyes.
Knuckles was acting all arrogant. As if Cream would be no match for him... Well, he surely didn't know who he was dealing with.
The rest of the fighters remained friendly and respectful towards each other and looked forward to good fights.
Crystal however remained silent and distanced herself from the group. Which surprised Amy and she decided to try to talk to her.
'Hey, Crystal... Let's have a good fight.' Amy said, trying to have a nice little chat to her.
Crystal turned around and seemed to be a bit surprised. But then she turned her back to Amy again and distanced herself from Amy, without saying a word.
Amy was a little worried about her. 'I wonder what's on her mind?' she said to herself.

'Well, we will take a little break. A 45-minute break to be exact. After that, we will start with round 2.' Paragon explained.
They understood. Paragon was about to leave, but he forgot something. 'Oh, I almost forgot. You may also visit your relatives and friends outside of the fighter area, if you haven't already.'
Since there were no fights to miss for the next 45 minutes, that sounded good to Amy and Cream actually.
Paragon then went to the stage to annouce the same thing to the crowd.
...


A few minutes later, the remaining fighters arrived outside of the fighters area. With the exception of Marta and Crystal, who didn't come along with them.
Amy and Cream met up with Vanilla and Tails. 'Great fighting.' Tails admitted. 'You both have done great. Especially you, honey.' Vanilla said.
With 'honey' she obviously meant Cream. She blushed a little. 'Thanks, mom.' They laughed after that.
'Great job, Cream!' someone exclaimed. It was Lolitia. 'Thanks, Loli.' They had a nice conversation.
But then Cream noticed something. 'Hey. Where is Yasu?' she wondered. Neither Vanilla nor Tails or Lolitia knew about his whereabouts.
However, they were sure that he would show up soon.

Talking about Yasu. He indeed was on his way to leave the terrace. But just as he was about to enter the area where Amy and the others were, he heard some policemen talking...
'Hey, I just got a call from one of our colleagues in town. Apparently, they've discovered one of the Twin Viper hideouts.' one of them said.
The other one replied: 'Really? Let detective Topaz know.' But the reply: 'I already did. We will strike soon.'
Yasu looked kind of surprised. 'The Twin Vipers, eh? Geez, what's with those people anyway?' he wondered.

Shortly after hearing that, he went on and finally arrived at the area where Amy and the others were.
'Ah, Yasu. There you are.' Lolitia exclaimed. Cream was pleased to see him, but also couldn't help but to ask: 'Where have you been?'
Yasu was embarrassed a bit. 'Sorry about that. I was a little lazy, I guess.' Cream and Lolitia laughed a bit.
Again, they had a nice little conversation with each other. But then Yasu suddenly said: 'Sorry, but I am going to go to town for a bit.'
That surprised them, of course. 'Huh, why?' Lolitia asked. 'I want to go and buy... something.' But he didn't say what he wanted to buy.
But Cream and Lolitia could already guess what it was. They didn't blame him or make fun of him. After all, it was his personal taste.
'Okay then.' Cream said. 'It won't take long. I'll be back as soon as I can.' Yasu assured them.
He then left. But the town was close. So it should take about 30 minutes for him to get back, with the 'thing' he wanted to purchase.
...


It soon turned out that not only Amy and Cream have brought their relatives along.
Vicky brought some of her friends, who were impressed by her fighting skills.
Sally also had a friend of hers with her. A certain mongoose that you all should know. (HINT HINT! )
Venus had her father with her. Same with Cissnei. Each of them was proud of their daughter.
Jenny and Jasmine also had a few friends, who were cheering for them the whole time. Jasmine's defeat was a bit disappointing for them.
But in the end, it was no big deal after all.
Axel had his sister with him. And Jade had a few friends from Suizuko with her, including Nami.
It surely lookws nice and lovely for Amy and Cream to see all of them. They all looked so happy and proud...

But then Rouge came and walked to Amy. 'That's strange.' Amy was confused. 'What is, Rouge?'
'I can't see Topaz anywhere. I wonder where she is.' Rouge explained. 'Maybe she just took a short break.' Cream suggested.
'Yeah. I can't blame her. Constantly being on guard can be tiring.' Lolita added.
But Rouge shook her head. 'No, she wouldn't take such a long break where she would leave her post. There's something going on...'
'I think you're a little too worried. Perhaps she just went into town for a bit, just like Yasu.' Lolitia tried to encourage her a bit.
However, Rouge seemed to be annoyed as she heard the name 'Yasu'. 'You mean that charmer-moron from your school?'
They all were somewhat shocked to hear her saying something like that. 'Hey, he is not that bad. He may be a little... pervy, but he is a good guy overall.' Cream tried to defend Yasu.
Rouge begged to differ. 'I don't know about that.' With that, she only confused the girls.
'Is his pervy side really so bad?' Cream asked. But Rouge then answered: 'I don't mean that. There is just... something I don't like about him.'
Now she got the girls even more confused. 'What are you talking about?' Lolitia asked.
'I have a bad feeling about him. In fact, I don't trust him. It's almost like I have a sixth sense, which is telling me that he has a 'dark side', which he hasn't shown us yet.' Rouge explained.
Cream and Lolitia however didn't share that opinion. 'Don't you think you exaggerate a little too much?' Cream asked.
Rouge then finally decided to put an end to this discussion. 'I don't know about that. But I don't really like him. Let's leave it at that and end this debate.'
They agreed. 'Okay, Rouge.' Cream said.
But as Rouge briefly turned her back on them, she quietly said to herself: 'No. There is definitely something fishy about that guy...
...


They had a good time. And the 45 minutes have passed quickly.
For Amy, Cream and the other fighters, it was about time to return to the fighter area.
It didn't take long for everyone to get back to the area. Paragon already waited for them.

'Welcome back. Now it's time for round 2 to start. Marta and Angie will fight each other in the first match.' Paragon announced.
Marta and Angie stepped forth and moved to the usual place, waiting for their call.
Cream quickly ran over to her. 'Angie!' Angie then turned to Cream, quite surprised. Cream smiled and said: 'Good luck, Angie.'
Angie started to smile. 'Thanks. I probably won't be able to beat her, but I'll do my best.' Cream was happy to hear this.
...


Paragon went onto the main stage. The crowd had already reassembled. 'Okay ladies and gentlemen. Round 1 has reached its conclusion. So now it's time for round 2.' he announced.
The crowd already started cheering. 'We had a few intense battles in the first round already. And I can see that there are more intense battles yet to come.'
Of course the crowd couldn't wait for the fights to continue. 'In the first match of round 2, the youngest fighter returns. Here comes Angie!'
As Angie heard that, she went onto the main stage. She was quite popular among the crowd. Especially her mother cheered for her.
It didn't take long for Angie to see her mother. And she waved at her, as soon as she did.
'And her opponent will be the great champion. Marta!' But as soon as he announced that, the majority of the crowd was shocked.
After all, Marta was the champion and considered to be the strongest fighter. So it wasn't that surprising.
But most of them already started to feel bad for Angie. They thought she would be beaten up badly by Marta.
In any case, Marta then entered the stage. Though the crowd didn't seem too happy to see her in this battle.
However, she didn't care. She was only looking forward to a good fight.

'Let's have a good fight.' Angie said and bowed down in front of Marta. The champion smiled. 'The feeling is mutual. Do your best!' Marta encouraged Angie.
Paragon was happy to see them getting along so well. But now it was time to start round 2. 'Are you ready?'
Angie and Marta then got into their fighting stances. Only moments away from the start of the battles, they felt a lot of tension... and excitement.
And after a few more moments, the long awaited word from Paragon finally started the match. 'FIGHT!'
...


Angie started off with some kicks. It was no problem for Marta to avoid them.
Like in the match before, Marta didn't attack just yet. Angie threw some other attacks at Marta.
Marta was impressed by Angie's attacks, even though they were easily avoided by her.

For the next few minutes, Angie kept attacking Marta, while paying attention at her stamina. She didn't intend to do the same mistake as Sandman.
Despite how she kept attacking Marta, she didn't tire out at all. Looks like she really knew how to do continuous attacks, while not overexerting herself.
For Marta all the more reason to be impressed by Angie.
But eventually, Angie couldn't help but to feel slightly disappointed. 'Come on. I don't want you to stay defensive for the whole time. You should attack me as well.' Angie let her know.
Marta smiled. 'Okay. Here you go!' she said. And then she started to attack Angie.
The attacks from her were rather strong. But Angie could easily block and dodge those attacks.
She countered when she saw her chance. But Marta was quick and could block or dodge those counters.
But so could Angie, at the current level was Marta was fighting.
...


'Hey, Amy. Marta clearly isn't giving her all, is she?' Rouge asked. But Amy agreed: 'I know.'
But that sounded surprising to the others. 'Why would she hold back?' Cissnei asked.
Amy already knew though. 'Don't you know?' she asked. Cissnei was puzzled and shook her head.
'It is because she wants to make the battle enjoyable for both sides.' Amy started explaining.
But Cissnei nor the other did get how prolonging would make the battle more enjoyable. So she continued...
'She remains defensive for a short while for a reason. She wants to see the potential of her opponent. And she always attempts to fight at the same level as her opponent. And that's how she wants to make the fight enjoyable for her opponent and for herself. The fight itself matters more to her than victory.'
And now they finally got it. 'So she intentionally holds back for the fun of it, eh?' Axel said. 'How noble and kind...' Cissnei added.
Amy agreed. It was really good to finally see a champion, who isn't full of himself... or herself in this case.
Marta have become a champion, yet it didn't go to her head. And she still sticked to what's really important about fighting.
...


Marta and Angie kept up this performance for almost 20 minutes. Even though it was more like sparring, it still was fun.
They could've done this for hours, if they wanted to. But it was about time to end this...
Angie got a little more serious and one of her counterattacks actually hit Marta. It knocked her down, but she performed an ukemi to get back on her feet.
'Okay, Marta. It was fun. But you shouldn't hold back any longer. Come on. Fight with your true strength.' Angie requested politely, yet still sounding a little serious.
Marta smiled and admired her courage. 'Okay. If that's what you want...' Marta said and got ready to end this match.

Angie was prepared for the next attack already. However, Marta suddenly became fast and hit Angie with a fast punch.
While she could block it in time, the attack still was so strong that it knocked her down. She got up by spinning her legs quickly and get back on her feet.
Angie tried to hit her with one of her kicks. But Marta's movements were too fast and she got hit by a powerful kick afterwards.
Again she was forced down, but she performed an ukemi herself to get back on her feet quickly.
Marta was charging at her again with immense speed. Angie however quickly charged and unleashed the Energy Burst (which she used against Callman) in time.
It actually hit Marta and it looked like she was knocked down again. But she quickly recovered and performed a backflip to land on her feet.
Immediately after that, she attacked Angie with her 'Tiger Rush'. A very fast clothesline-attack.
As they arrived at the edge of the ring, Marta gently grabbed Angie by her shirt collar. And then she dropped her and Angie was outside of the ring.

It was quite a show. But Marta admitted that Angie was much better than she previously thought.
'Well, I guess no surprise there. The winner is Marta!' Paragon shouted into his microphone.
Angie looked a little sad. But Marta walked over to her and said: 'You have a lot of potential, Angie. You're pretty strong already. If you keep it up, you'll become a strong fighter.'
It was a little surprising for Angie. But she was happy nontheless. 'Thank you, Marta.' She took Marta's hand and both left the ring.
The crowd looked a little shocked at first. But they soon regained their happy attitude and cheered for both fighters.
Paragon was proud of them too.
...


'Great fight, Angie!' Cream exclaimed as she ran over to her again. Angie was grateful.
She wasn't sad that she lost. 'It was a great experience. And I learned a lot.' Angie admitted.
'That's why we cannot live without defeat.' Marta said. Amy knew what she meant: 'You learn nothing from victory, but a lot from defeat. Is that it?'
'Yes.' Marta confirmed. And again, all the fighters learned something new just by hearing those few lines.
Cissnei couldn't help but to admit: 'Wow. When it comes to fighter wisdom, you are surpassing me by far. I never actually thought about it.'
Axel too had to say something: 'Looks like we all have yet a lot to learn. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.'
But Amy and Cream knew that they weren't nearly as far as their friends thought. 'We still have a lot to learn ourselves.' Cream started.
And Amy finished the sentence: 'We still are inexperienced fighters, no matter how great our skills are. In order to become true fighters, we have yet a long way to go!'
That was surprising for the others though, except Marta. 'Are you serious?' Cissnei asked in a rather shocked tone.
Amy and Cream nooded. Rouge asked: 'And when will you become true fighters? How will you know?'
'We don't know actually.' Cream explained. Anime-fall time for the others. 'Are you mocking us?' Rouge asked rather annoyed.
But then Marta stepped in: 'No, they are quite serious.' It was surprising for them.
She continued: 'You don't know the answer right at the beginning. You won't know when you will be a true fighter from the start. You have to keep going and find the answer yourself. And that will take a long time.'
'I see.' Cissnei replied. Amy and Cream however were pleased. They knew that Marta felt the same was as they did.
'Well thanks for the lesson.' Axel thanked them.

And again, the fighters have learned something new. And the first match of the second round has come to a close.
How will the tournament continue? And how much more do the fighters have to learn?


TO BE CONTINUED