Back-up to the Rescue

Metal came in and punched Amic in the gut. Amic clutched his stomach in pain. Metal then elbowed Amic's face to the ground.

"You fool. You should have seen this coming. If you were smart you would have known that if YOU could transform with 1 emerald, I can with 7!"

Metal put his hand out towards Amic.

"Now you must pay for your foolish mistake."

Suddenly, a blast came for Metal, but he quickly jumped out of the way. The ball of energy quickly turned before hitting Amic and went for Metal again. Metal put his hand out and the energy hit his hand. He looked up and saw Shadow, the cause of the interference. Shadow quickly went to Amic's side. He helped him get up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. But be careful. He is terribly powerful now."

Shadow went into deep thought, thinking of a stradegy to use. He quickly ran to get Mitsuko from behind the building. He grabbed him and brought him into the circle.

"WHAT! Another hedgehog? Where did he come from!" Metal looked harder at Mitsuko. Then he looked at Amic. "Ah, I see. It's his son. Another weakling!"

"Mitsuko! What are you doing here," Amic asked, surprised to see him here.

"Shadow made me come."

"And for a good reason, too. If all three of us work as a team and gang up on him, we might have a chance"

"I understand your idea of teamwork, but I'm not so sure about Mitsuko. He's just a child. You can't expect him to do much."

"But he CAN do much, Amic. He's been training, too. Remember? Let's trust in him AND us."

Amic looked uncertain about the idea. "Sigh. Fine. We'll try it."

Everyone got in position to carry out the attack. Shadow went for Metal, but as soon as Metal put his fist up to swing, Shadow disappeared. Amic came up behind and grabbed Metal's arms, holding them back. Shadow came down and grabbed his legs. Mitsuko hesitated in fear, but as soon as he shook out of it he charged for Metal. Metal looked into his eyes as he came. Then they started to glow. Mitsuko was struck with fear and completely stopped. He couldn't even move anymore.

"No! Mitsuko! Hurry up!" Shadow started to strain.

Metal heeled Shadow in the chin. Then he elbowed Amic in the chest. He jumped up and landed on both of their heads. He looked at Mitsuko.

"Don't you see your father and your friend in danger? You might want to help them. HAHAHA!"

Mitsuko started to get mad. "Leave them alone…"

"What? What did you say? I couldn't hear through your sobbing!" Mitsuko got madder.

"Leave them…ALONE!" Metal gave him a serious face.

"What a baby. You don't belong here, kid. Go back home to your mommy." He jumped up and kicked Amic and Shadow. They landed on each side of Mitsuko.

"And take your friend with you.Your fatheris the only one who concerns me."

They both got up. "Damn it Mitsuko! What's wrong with you!"

"Be soft on him, Shadow. He's just a kid."

"No! This is what he's been training for!"

"I only trained because it was fun."

"You think this is some game, kid? This is the real deal! And if you want to live, you have to cooperate!"

Mitsuko looked down in shame. "Yes, sir."

"Good, because I thought of another attack. And we need COMPLETE cooperation."

They planned the attack. Amic got behind Shadow. Shadow looked at Metal.

"Are you ready, Metal?"

"Ready or not, I'll still win."

Shadow charged at Metal. As soon as they were face to face, Shadow disappeared and Amic kicked Metal into the sky. Shadow reappeared, back flipped and kicked Metal higher up. Amic came and smashed Metal back towards the ground. He headed for Mitsuko. But once again, he was stuck in shock, messing up the plan again. Shadow saw him staring.

"Attack, Mitsuko! Attack!"

Mitsuko stood there, looking into Metal's angry eyes. He quickly closed his eyes.

"No!"

He ran behind a building, avoiding Metal.

"Darn!"

Shadow and Amic quickly shot a blast at Metal, but he dodged them. They hit each other and exploded. Shadow and Amic landed. Mitsuko walked slowly from behind the building. Shadow slapped him.

"Hey! Watch it Shadow!"

"Metal was right! He doesn't belong here! He IS just a kid! Send him back to his mom! Or just keep him out of this fight! He's holding us back!"

"To be honest, you both are kinda holding me back. Let me take it from here. He may be strong, but we won't know how strong until I try him."

"Well then. If it's just us two, then we should get rid of any interference." Metal came up and pushed Mitsuko far back. Then he fired a few blasts into Shadow. Shadow layed on the ground, badly damaged. Metal picked him up and threw him into a lake nearby.

"No! You didn't have to do that!" Amic became furious.

"Now that they're out of the way," Metal said, giving a grin, "let the fun begin."