Approximately one hundred years ago, a tournament was held throughout the universe to see who was the strongest. Many would enter it to see how strong they were. Few proceeded passed the preliminary matches. The competition was fierce, but one warrior was brave enough to take the risk. This warrior was fighting not for the universe, not for his friends, but for his life. If he lost, he would die. He made it to the finals, but lost and passed on. Due to this, the tournament was banned in the universe. That universe anyway...

Station Square: Present Day

"You've gotta be kidding me!" a blue hedgehog yelled out. This was a different kind of blue hedgehog besides the famous Sonic. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, a red shirt, a black jacket, a pair of red and white soap shoes, a pair of shades and a red bandana. He was rather upset. "They can't close down your place, Dr. Harris!"
" Yes they can, Striker." Dr. Harris responded. Dr. Harris was a human and the only human friend Striker had in Station Square. He was wearing a peach colored button up shirt with some khaki pants, and a lab coat. He wore a pair of brown dress shoes and a pair of glasses. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can-"
"Then let me!" Striker shouted in response. "I can help! I just know that I ca-"

"No! Not in your condition!"

"What condition? You mean me without Yang?"

It has been three months since Striker's incident. Striker Nexus was a nice hedgehog from start to finish. He cared about all of his friends and never would let anyone be harmed. He always tried to be honest, but wasn't the most truthful person there. People would mistaken him for Sonic, so he decided to wear some clothes. Two years back, Striker lost his brothers Saber and Shield in an intense battle against a Reploid named Thundaru. He promised that he would do anything to find Thundaru and exact his revenge. Three months earlier, he got his chance. He exacted his revenge on him, but didn't kill him. Instead, he decided to spare his life. do to this, he lost his yang, or darkness. The darkness in Striker's heart, along with Thundaru's evil technique, formed the pure evil form of Striker, named Dark Rush. Ever since then, Dr. Harris has been worried about Striker.

"What can you do?"

"I'll..." Just then, a flyer hit Striker in the face. He struggled for a minute, but then pulled it off. He looked at it for a minute, and then smiled widely. "I'll enter this tournament!" A rush of wind announced one of Striker's friends coming in to join them. He was a black hedgehog with red eyes, irises, and pupils. He wore a pair of red and white shoes, floating over Striker and Dr. Harris.
" Did I hear the word 'tournament'?" The hedgehog asked.
" You sure did, Croc!" Striker told him. "Hey, I just thought of an excellent idea!"
" What? How to use your brain without hurting yourself?" Croc asked him.
" No. Well that too, but that's not what my idea was." Striker told him. "How about we have Rising Phoenix join the dark Tournament?"
" Well, I don't know." Croc responded to Striker's idea. "It could be risky."
" Come on Croc." Striker said, "what could possibly go wro-"
" Everything." Croc interrupted Striker. "That's what could possibly go wrong."

Meanwhile, on a faraway island, a black hedgehog with red irises, and the same attire as Striker was contemplating a devious scheme to destroy our hero.

To be continued... later

This is based off my comic series know as Dark Tournament Comics. This is the one when Striker was looking for Yang and fighting in the process. I am using the same characters in my comic minus Dr. Harris.

Next part...

Chapter 1: The Entrance
Not even a week later, the news of the Dark Tournament being reinstated was spread like a wildfire. Striker and Croc may have been the first to know, but them, along with Takashi, Skylert, and Ryu were the last ones in line for registration.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told Sonic about this." Striker said in a hushed tone, only loud enough for him to hear himself. He trodded along with the others, looking at all of the strange fighters that were there. He saw several people that he had seen before, and several more that he had no idea existed. The other members simply wanted to register and go to their rooms for a good night's sleep. Striker saw Sonic and Shadow skip several people in the line and became extremely frustrated. "No fair! You guys can't cut in line!" Apparently, both of them heard this and turned around.
"We can if we're the judges." Sonic said coolly. Shadow looked at Striker and scoffed.
"Looks like you've gotta fan boy, Sonic." Shadow informed his blue rival.
"Huh?" Sonic replied. He looked back and saw Striker. He laughed a little bit and then turned away from the young hedgehog. "Take notes kid. You need to lose the bangs and the clothes to look like the pros!"
"Kid... Kid?!?!?!" Striker's anger began to bubble like molten lava. That was the one thing Striker hated more than anything else in the world. He was not a child where it mattered. Besides, he was almost eighteen. Being a kid is impossible for me, He began, but Sonic thinks he's older than me. Heh. He's really trying to look like me! Striker grinned from ear to ear as he eagerly waited in line to register. As he waited, he fantasized about what the grand prize winner would get. One hundred million dollars cash for the winner and one free request. For the first place runner-up, half a million dollars. Finally for the second-place runner-up, a quarter of a million dollars in their pockets. Striker's smile widened even more, making him resemble a child at Christmas time. He was elated at the fact that he just might fight one of his teammates in the final match, true. The thing that made him excited, however, was of course the prize that went to the winner. He told the fellow members of Rising Phoenix about this as well.
"Striker, you won't win." Skylert told him plainly. "If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be standing here at this moment. What makes you think you can win a tournament?"
"I've been training since then!" He exclaimed.
"Kid, you have a long way to go before you can get up to the big leagues. Trust me, you think I'm strong? You think Ryu's strong? Try getting up there with Croc and Takashi. They'll blow you out of the water."
"That's enough, Sky." Takashi finally replied, trying to prevent Striker from getting even more discouraged. What they didn't know was that secretly, Striker had been training himself for this very moment. Little did he know that they were doing the exact same thing. Back in the present time, Striker's smile slid off of his face. He began to worry. Maybe Sky's right. Maybe I am just a little kid playing a grown-ups game. Nonetheless, I still have to try my best and at least come in third place. I may be able to handle Ryu, since I did draw with him when we first squared off. That leaves Sky, Croc, and Taka. Striker began to focus on the positives of this tournament. One was the fact that he would meet some new people and make some new friends in the process. He put on a serious look and decided to make sure that he was going to win. Finally, they made it to the front of the line, reaching the sign-up desk.
"Rising Phoenix." Takashi told Sonic. Sonic eyeballed all of them.
"You do realize that this is not a group tournament, right?" Sonic asked.
"WHAT?!?!" They all asked in unison.
"Oh man... What now?" Sky asked angrily, "Striker's gonna get creamed without us there to help him out!"
"That's the least of our worries." Takashi stated. He was a hedgehog of very few words, but much wisdom. He looked at Croc and nodded slightly. Croc's eyes widened in fear.
"Guys!" Croc blurted out finally, "if Striker gets paired up with one of us..." They all looked at each other and then back at Striker. He wasn't paying much attention to the conversation since he thought that he was going to fight a member of Rising Phoenix off the bat anyway. However, this made him feel uneasy, throwing Striker slightly off guard. He looked back at each of them, bewildered at why they were eyeballing him so. He finally replied to all of their stares.
"Uh-uh!" Striker yelled. "No way! Not a chance in hell am I missing out on this tournament!"
"Fine." Takashi stated, "but when you are beaten by one of us, don't get upset."
"Don't worry" Striker assured his comrade, "I'm gonna give it my all!"

Heh, nice how stuck-up Sonic is on this one. Shame that Rising Phoenix will have to enter separately, but I can imagine the thrills and chills to come.

I was a bit confused when I saw the sudden switch from third-person to first-person; would have been nice if you placed the first-person in italics, but it isn't too much of a flaw.

Again, good job here, man.

Thanks a lot for the comment, Molotov. I had to change a few things in the story, but I'm working on the next installment...
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Chapter 2: Interview with the announcer

Striker and the others had finally registered as they trotted along to their own personal tent. Striker, Ryu, and Sky were slightly confused though.
"I don't get it." Striker blurted out during the awkward silence that followed them arriving to the campsite. "I thought that we were gonna be staying in a luxury hotel, not a freaking tent."
"Well, if you didn't tell anyone," Sky began, "we'd be in a luxury hotel and not in a 'freaking tent'."
"So it's my fault now?" Striker inquired.
"Yeah, it is your fault, Striker." Croc answered. "You shouldn't have said anything about the tournament to Sonic nor Shadow. You know how they get when they hear about a fight."
"You're right, Croc." Striker replied, "I should have kept my mouth closed. Still, Sky shouldn't have said anything about me telling them."
"Well, you really shouldn't have." Croc told him blatantly. "However..."
"Guys." Takashi finally called out, "the tournament announcer is here. I believe he's here in order to interview us. Let's show him why we're here."
"To win..." Croc said.
"To restore..." Striker continued.
"For the cash!" Ryu joked. Everyone laughed a little bit, making them more relaxed. Striker tidied himself up a little bit, Croc shined his shoes(seeing as these were his only articles of clothing besides his socks), and Ryu and Sky exchanged icebreaker ideas. Finally, a knock on the door introduced the Dark Tournament announcer. She was a demon from the Jump Galaxy, so Striker and the others had never seen her before. She was slender, blue haired, tan, with a tail. Striker looked rather curiously at her, unknowing that she was a demon.
"Wow, she's hot." Striker whispered to Sky. He smacked Striker in the back of his head, trying to knock some sense into him. The announcer saw this and giggled. Sky looked and raised one eyebrow, while Striker blushed a deep, scarlet color. Takashi walked up to her and stuck out his hand.
"Good afternoon. We are Rising Phoenix. The black hedgehog with the gi on is Ryu, the other black hedgehog's name is Crocozaurus or Croc for short, the red hedgehog is Skylert..."
"The badass of the group." Skylert added.
"And the blue hedgehog is...Striker?" Takashi looked back at Striker. He was shaking like a leaf, completely terrified and embarrassed at the fact that he was in front of a girl of her nature and was smacked upside his head. "Uh...are you okay?"
Oh man! Striker thought to himself. This beautiful girl is in here and I've been knocked silly? "Uh...yeah, I'm fine." he finally answered. The announcer looked in Striker's direction. She winked at him and he blushed an even deeper red. She giggled again.
"Okay...and I am Takashi Hiyru." He finished. He then stepped back.
"And we are...Rising Phoenix!" They all shouted. They also struck a pose. Well, except for Striker. He simply stood there, staring at his feet. The announcer clapped, and walked over to them all.
"I'm Juri." the announcer answered. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. The Dark Tournament has never been hosted here before, so I'm new around this universe. I hope I don't stand out too much."
"N...no." Striker chimed in after blushing for almost five minutes straight. "Not at all, miss Juri."
"Great! Then how about that interview?" Juri popped out a pen from her hair. She opened the notebook she had in her hand, which contained names from several other universes as well as theirs. They were all nervous at seeing the list of names from different universes.
"Wow..." Striker finally said after being silent for sometime. "Those are alot of names..."
"Don't worry, cutie." Juri told him. "I'm sure you can beat them all." Striker's face turned a salmon pink after she said that.
"Right, well..." Takashi interrupted, "let's get this interview done."

Ah, a female demon as an announcer, then again, a rarity for a female demon to appear at all, hahaha! Very interesting, Striker.

The humor here was also great, it shows that not everyone of them is uptight, that their personalities are revealed in full bloom.

That is all, amigo.

Wow! I almost forgot about this with the events I've been active with.

Chapter 3: The First Match: Striker vs...Croc???

"Man, that interview was brutal." Striker stated, sweating fiercely. He was still nervous from Juri, the announcer. He walked around with his friends, in the hopes of finding some more familiar faces. They only saw people coming from several different areas of the vast amount of space. They did not know that they were from different dimensions, however. Striker looked around, not seeing Sonic or Shadow.
"Where are the announcers?" Skylert finally asked after searching for several minutes.
"Dunno." Croc answered bleakly. "Let's split up and search some more." The group nodded and went in separate directions. Striker walked into his first match.
"Well, who's the unlucky suck...huh?" Striker stated confused. He saw, standing before him a black hedgehog, with solid red eyes and red shoes.
"C...Croc?" Striker said. "Oh, man! I'm screwed!" Doing the best he could, he darted towards the threat of his friend...or so he thought... Striker threw a punch at Croc's face, but missed, seeing as he was faster than Striker was. He countered with a swift kick to Striker's ribs. Striker doubled over, then exploded in Croc's face. "That's right! A clone!" Striker yelled at his "friend". Croc looked at him, revealing metal, wiring, and lights. "Ha! I knew it!" Striker said. He then landed on the ground. "No more holding back!" He ran to the android Croc, spinning a couple times in the air, before kicking him in the neck. The android grabbed his leg, slinging him to the ground. Striker cried out in pain, but got up. He spun towards it, pulling out his trademark sword, Destiny Blade. "Eat this!" Striker yelled. "Destiny Slash!!!!!" He slashed at the android horizontally, but it had no effect. "Wh...what?" Striker inquired. The android had caught the sword after Striker got close enough. He threw the sword, piercing him in the left arm. Striker grabbed his arm in pain...
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Meanwhile, in the crowd, Skylert, Croc, Takashi, and Ryu were watching the fight on the universal Titan-tron that was in the front.
Striker...don't you dare die, kid. Skylert said to himself

That's Chapter 3 for you. Sorry it took so long.