Sonic Championship-Part 2: The Tournament Begins

	"I'm waaaaaiiiiitiiinnnggg!"

	What were we to do?  Here we were, face to face with one of the
biggest video game legends, and he wanted to know who we were and why 
we were there.  Not to mention how we got there in the first place; I 
wasn't quite ready to reveal the existence of the Virtualizer yet, not 
even to Sonic the Hedgehog.

	"Well...uh...I, that is, we, uh......"  I made a mental note to
myself never to pursue a career in hostage negotiation.  I didn't have 
what it took to keep cool under fire.  I saw Jason opening his mouth to
say something, so I shut up.  I knew Jason would come up with a witty 
comeback under pressure.

	"Can I have your autograph?"

	I made a second mental note to myself: reevaluate my opinion of
Jason being able to come up with witty comebacks under pressure.

	"Well..." Sonic appeared to think it over.  "Only if you tell
me who you are first.  I can't exactly give an autograph to someone 
whose name I don't even know."

	Then again, maybe that was a brilliant comeback, after all.  I
jumped in.  "I'm Ryan, and this is Jason."

	"Pleased to meet ya.  I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest thing on 
two feet, and this is my buddy Tails."

	"Okay, now that the introductions are over, let's get down to 
business.  What IS that thing?" Jason asked, referring to the object 
that filled the screen behind Tails.

	"That," Sonic began, "is Robotnik's latest machine.  He calls 
it the Death Egg II."

	"Explains the resemblance to the Death Star," I muttered to 
Jason.

	"We have to destroy it, but we have to get there first," Sonic 
went on.  "Which explains that big rocket over there.  It needs eight 
Chaos Emeralds to power it, and it's so cramped that it can only hold 
one."

	"So, how are you going to get the emeralds AND figure out who 
gets to fly that thing up there?" I asked.

	"Dunno.  Maybe we can fly up to Floating Island and talk to 
Knuckles.  Maybe he has some ideas."
"Great," Jason said.  "Let's go!"

	"Wait a minute," Tails broke in.  "There's no way all of us can
fit in my biplane, not even if I modified it."

	"That's okay. We can use our DeLorean."

	"What the heck is a DeLorean?"

	Puzzled by what Jason had just implied, I cut in.  "Uh, it's a 
special vehicle we put together in case we needed it."  I took Jason 
aside.  "DeLorean?  WHAT DeLorean?"

	"You know, the DeLorean I programmed into the portal frame's 
hard drive in case we needed transportation."

	"You never told me that you did anything like that!!!"

	"I thought I did!"

	"We have got to work on our communication."  I turned back 
around.  "It'll be just a second while I get it..."

	I pulled out the Virtualizer control remote, which would allow 
us to open and close the portal from either side.  As it turned out, 
Jason had indeed programmed a DeLorean into the database, complete with
time travel circuits (like we would ever need them) and hover 
capabilities.  Jason had even modified it further to include room for 
four passengers.  This eliminated the need to use the fuel-burning 
biplane.

	"And awaaaaaaay we go!"

	Jason had forgotten to disable the time travel circuits, so as 
we hit 88 miles per hour, we blazed through the space-time continuum, 
leaving trails of fire in the space we had just left.  Fortunately for 
us, the controls were locked to "current time only" so we arrived two 
seconds after we had left (which was a default setting designed to 
prevent the age-old "two objects in the same place at the same time" 
paradox).  Jason disabled the circuit and we continued flying to 
Floating Island.

	When we got there, Knuckles the Echidna was suspicious of us 
(which, as I learned later, was one of his character traits).  When 
Sonic had convinced him that we were okay, he explained the more 
pressing situation.

	"Well, it seems like the only thing to do is for one of the 
guardians of the Chaos Emeralds to collect the rest of them so that he 
can go up to that new Death Egg and blast it from the sky.  And," he 
continued in his arrogant way, "since I'm the only one capable of 
handling all the Emeralds-hand it over, Sonic.  You know I'm the best 
one for the job..."

	"In your dreams!" Sonic exclaimed, suddenly defensive.  "I'll 
fight you for it!"

	"You're on!"

	Jason, Tails, and I just stood there for a moment watching them
go at it.  Suddenly Tails jumped up, shouting, "That's it!!!"

	Sonic and Knuckles, who at that moment had been at each other's
throats, looked over at the fox, seeming frozen where they were.

	"What?!?" asked Knuckles, clearly aggravated at the 
interruption just as he was beginning to have the upper hand.

	"We'll have a fighting tournament among all the Emerald 
guardians to decide who goes to beat Robotnik!  That way, the best will
represent us AND we'll be sure of gaining all the Emeralds in the 
process!"

	"Nice thinking, little buddy!" Sonic exclaimed.  "Let's be sure
to get the word out!"

	So they did, and soon the reports started coming in.  Besides 
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, five other guardians emerged, all eager for 
the chance to represent Mobius.  Amy Rose, Nack the Sniper Weasel, Bark
the Polarbear, Bean the Dynamite, and Espio the Chameleon all arrived 
to participate.

	And so the battle commenced...

	To Be Continued...