Team Sonic

By: The White Dragon Rider

Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Are we clear? Good! P.S. Please don't sue me

(I'm back, I'm amazed at all the reviews I've gotten and very happy about it too. Thanks everyone! New reviews always seem to make me work faster)

Chapter 11: Suspicion

Amy's House

It was morning as Amy walked out of her room with a yawn after just waking up

She walked into the living room with Luca following close behind to see Sonic and the others

Sonic was playing Watch World while laying on the couch

Knuckles was busy cleaning some of his jewels from his stash that were on the coffee table

Tails was busy typing away at a laptop on the couch next to Sonic

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up when they noticed Amy was in the room

"Hi Amy!" said Tails happily

"Hi" said Sonic and Knuckles at the same time

"Hi guys" said Amy politely

"So what's up for today?" asked Tails

"Satomi called a meeting today so I have to head back to the garage" explained Amy

"Perfect!" said Tails

"Finally! Now Tails can get at some of the garage sensors to check out the Tornado Three and see about getting us home" said Knuckles relived

"What's the meeting about?" asked Sonic

"She didn't say" said Amy

"It's kinda odd" said Amy suspiciously

"What?" asked Sonic curiously

"She sounded kind of weird on the phone like she was holding back telling me something" said Amy thinking back the call

She could hear the tension in her voice as she talked to Amy

Amy thought it was very weird but didn't ask her about it when she was on the phone

"What could it mean?" asked Tails

"I don't know, it's probably just pre-race tension" dismissed Amy

"Well either way this is a good chance for us to get in there" said Knuckles

"Us?" asked Amy confused

"Yeah me and Sonic are going with you" said Knuckles

"How? Amy can only carry me in her bag" asked Tails

"Tails when you get inside head to the garage when the meeting is taking place so it's empty. Call Sonic and me on the radio when it's clear and he'll use Chaos Control to warp the Tornado Three in so we can do what we need to do. Amy will call us when the meeting lets out so we can get out of there fast before anyone arrives" explained Knuckles handing Amy a radio like the ones they used

"Nice plan Knuckles!" said Tails impressed

"Amy you up for this?" asked Sonic

"Yes" said Amy while she pocketed the radio

"Ok good, now how long do you think the meeting will last?" asked Sonic

"They usually take a while so you should have enough time" answered Amy

"The last one took a few hours; that should be more than enough time to get a thorough diagnostic of the Tornado Three's components" said Tails

"With any luck we'll find out what went wrong and a way to fix it and at the very least if the scan shows nothing wrong we'll know if it wasn't an equipment failure that caused the problem" continued Tails

"Tails I'll head to the Tornado Three on the garage roof and get the Chaos Emerald ready for Chaos Control with Knuckles, when he gets the signal from you over the radio he'll tell me when to use Chaos Control" said Sonic

"Ok" said Tails

"We better leave now if I don't want to be late" said Amy

"Alright then let's hurry" said Sonic to the others

Everyone headed out the door to go to the Satomi Garage

'Wait for me!' shouted Luca as he ran out the door after Amy

Team Satomi Garage

Amy entered the Team Satomi garage carrying Luca with one arm and carrying a duffle bag with her other hand

Tails was uncomfortably crammed inside the bag so he could be snuck into the Team Satomi building

Sonic and Knuckles were on the roof with the Tornado Three waiting for Tails' signal to warp

As soon as Amy entered the building she could sense something was wrong

Something in the air gave her a bad feeling that made her neck hair stand up

She tried to forget it and just continued on

As she turned a corner in a hallway she spotted Jessie carrying some papers as she walked down the hallway

"Hi Jessie!" shouted Amy as she approached

Jessie turned to see Amy approaching

"Amy!" she shouted in shock as she jumped a little

All the papers she was carrying fell to the floor as he dropped them in shock

She then knelt down and began picking them up

Amy ran over and helped her after she put Luca and the duffel bag down

"Oh! Sorry! Did I scare you?" asked Amy to Jessie

"Yeah a little" said Jessie nervously

Amy could hear the tone of unease in Jessie's voice just like she had heard it in Satomi's voice on the phone

As Amy helped pick up the papers she couldn't help but notice Jessie kept looking at her

Whenever Amy looked back at her Jessie would look extremely nervous and look away

"Is something wrong?" asked Amy when they were nearly done

"What do you mean?" asked Jessie in a very nervous tone

"You sound nervous" said Amy

"I do?" asked Jessie tensely

"Yes, is something wrong?" asked Amy concerned

"No! Of course not! Nothing is wrong!" said Jessie nervously before quickly grabbing the last of the papers and dashing off down the hallway

"That's odd" said Amy

'I'll say, I've never seen Jessie like that before' said Luca on the floor at Amy's feet

"Is something wrong Amy?" came Knuckles' voice over the radio

"No Knuckles" said Amy into the radio

"Good now quickly get Tails to the Garage and then head to the meeting" replied Knuckles

"Ok" said Amy as she put the radio back in her pocket and picked up the duffle bag and Luca

She then headed off to the Mech Garage

Mech Garage

Amy walked into the giant garage where the mechs were kept and maintained

The entire place was empty except for Amy, Luca, and Tails

Amy put the bag down and let Tails out of it

"I gotta find another way to get in here" he said as he got out and stretched a bit

"Amy where is the computer your team uses on the mechs?" asked Tails

"I think it's over there" said Amy as she pointed to a computer nearby

"Ok now all I'll have to do is hook up the Tornado Three and run a diagnostic" said Tails working at the computer terminal

"I have to head to the meeting" said Amy picking up Luca and her bag

"Ok, when you give me the signal everyone is there I'll give Sonic and Knuckles the ok to warp" said Tails turning away from the computer to look at Amy

Amy nodded and then left Tails at the terminal

Hallway

Amy was heading down a hallway heading towards the meeting room

The uncomfortable feeling she had before was coming back stronger as she walked

Amy let out a sigh wishing it would go away

'What's wrong? ' asked Luca noticing Amy was looking depressed

"I don't know Luca, I can't shake the feeling something bad is going to happen" said Amy

'I know what you mean' said Luca

"You do?" asked Amy surprised as she looked down at Luca in her arms

'Yeah, cats are more sensitive to things than humans and I've been feeling that since we got here' said Luca

"What do you think it means?" asked Amy

'I don't know but I but I have the feeling it's nothing good for us' said Luca

"It never is" said Amy

"Amy" said someone behind her

"Huh?" asked Amy as she turned around

It was Andrei behind her

"Hi Andrei what's up?" asked Amy wondering why he had snuck up on her

"We need to talk" he said seriously

"About what?" asked Amy confused and a little scared

"I'll tell you when we get to Satomi's office" he said grimly

'That's not a good sign' said Luca

Andrei then lead Amy to Satomi's office

Amy's mind raced with ideas of what they could need to talk about and none of them were good

Hallway outside Satomi's Office

Andrei led Amy all the way to Satomi's office

Amy couldn't help but feel like someone who was being led to the electric chair down death row

When they arrived outside the door to Satomi's office Amy could see Takeshi and Liz waiting outside the door along with Mark and Jessie

Both Takeshi and Liz looked confused about what was going on while Mark and Jessie looked at Amy with a tense expression

"Hi Amy" said Takeshi calmly

"Hi guys" replied Amy

"Ok now tell us what's going on!" demanded Liz to Andrei

"Yeah why are we all here?" asked Takeshi

"You'll find out later" said Andrei

"What kind of answer is that?" asked Liz angrily

"The one you're getting for now" said Andrei calmly

Liz let out an angry and frustrated growl

"Amy do you know what's going on?" asked Takeshi to Amy

"No" answered Amy sounding a little scared

Suddenly Satomi stepped out of the office door with a serious look on her face

"What's going on?" demanded Liz to Satomi

"Me, Mark, Andrei, and Jessie have to talk to Amy" said Satomi looking at Amy who now look terrified

"ME!" asked Amy surprised

"Amy!" asked Takeshi and Liz at once looking at Amy with shock and disbelief

"You two stay outside until we're done" ordered Satomi to Liz and Takeshi seriously

"Why Amy?" asked Liz loudly

"We'll tell you when we're done, now come on Amy" answered Satomi giving Amy a gesture to come into her office

Amy complied and entered the office extremely worried about this was about

She looked back to see Takeshi and Liz looking at her with frightened expressions

Andrei, Mark, and Jessie followed Amy inside

"Hey just what's going on and why do you need to talk to Amy?" asked Liz fiercely to Satomi

She just turned around and headed inside the door

"Stay out here you two" she said before shutting the door on Liz

Satomi's Office

When inside Satomi gestured for Amy to sit at a chair right in front of her desk while Mark and Jessie sat on a nearby couch and Andrei just stood in a corner

Satomi sat at her desk that was in front of a huge series of windows that showed a great view of the city

Amy was seriously panicked now being in the hot seat with everyone staring right at her

The looks they gave her made her feel like they wanted her to confess something

"Why am I here?" asked Amy in a timid voice

"You're here because of what happened the last time you were here" said Satomi

"What are you talking about?" asked Amy nervously

'Please don't let this be about Tails!'though Amy with dread

"The playbook and the test run" said Satomi

'OH NO!' thought Amy scared 'They found out about Tails!'

"I can explain!" shouted Amy in a panic

"We know what happened" said Andrei

"You do!" asked Amy in horror

'So they know about the fox?'asked Luca

"Yes we know your secret" said Satomi

Amy's heart almost stopped on those words

"You mean you know about…?" began Amy

"Yes, we know you've been holding back just how good of a pilot you are" said Satomi

"Wait! What?" asked Amy surprised by the comment

"We're talking about how are the probably the best pilot in the league" said Satomi

'They think you did what Tails did!' said Luca to Amy

"Uh oh!" said Amy

"It's not what you think!" said Amy frantically

"Don't deny it we have proof" said Satomi

"What?" asked Amy in shock

Satomi took out a remote and pushed a button

A screen came on nearby that was playing video of Tails' test run of the mech with every amazing move

Amy watched as Tails easily beat three mechs by himself again

"Oh…" said Amy nervously not knowing what to say

'This isn't good' said Luca

"We know you were in the simulator during this test run" said Mark

"How?" asked Amy

He pulled out some long white hairs from his pocket

"I found these in the mech after the test run" said Mark holding them up

"The only thing around here with white hair is Luca" said Satomi

'That and a certain fox with a white stomach' said Luca thinking about how Tails had yellow fur with a white patch on his stomach area

"Plus the only person that uses a midfielder mech around here is you and you logged in to use it" said Mark to Amy

'Of course! Why'd I forget I have to log in to use the simulator!' thought Amy mentally kicking herself for the stupid act

She now had her name all over the test run

Which is a bad thing since she was denying doing it

It was like saying you didn't rob a house after you left your drivers license and fingerprints in it

"We also know you are the one who added these amazing plays to the playbook" said Andrei holding it up for Amy to see

"Umm…" said Amy trying to think of an excuse

'I hope you can come with a really good lie' said Luca

"I saw you looking at the playbook that day Amy" testified Jessie

'Great an eyewitness, I feel like I'm on trial' thought Amy

Which was true, she actually half expected Satomi to start banging a gavel on her desk

"You're the only one that was seen looking at the playbook the entire day" said Satomi

"I didn't do it!" said Amy

"Then who did?" asked Satomi expecting to here a bad excuse

"Umm…. Ummm…" said Amy as she struggled with an excuse

'What should I do?' she thought

'I can't tell on Tails and the others but if I don't they'll think I'm the best pilot in the league! Even if I tell them the truth odds are they won't believe me and think I'm crazy. If I try to show them the others Sonic and the other's cover and secret will be ruined' thought Amy

She had no idea what to do and knew she was doomed no matter what she did

Amy felt she was on trial and the evidence against her made her look guiltier than O.J.

"I can't say" said Amy weakly knowing they wouldn't believe her

She was right

"Come on Amy, if you played like you did in the simulator we could easily win every race!" said Satomi

"I'm telling you I didn't do it!" said Amy in defense knowing her plea would fall on deaf ears

"Please Amy! We know you did it and you don't have to hide it anymore" begged Jessie

"I can't!" said Amy fiercely before getting out of her chair and bolting out the door

"Amy!" shouted Satomi as Amy ran as fast as she could out the door and past a surprised Liz and Takeshi before sprinting down the hall

Her speed had increased a lot since training with Tails in the desert

"Huh? What the!" was all Liz could say as Amy dashed past her and Takeshi

'Court adjourned' said Luca as Amy ran with him in her arms

When Amy was long gone Satomi sat down at her desk and put her hand to her head

"Well that went well" said Mark sarcastically

"I guess we should have expected her to react this way" said Andrei

"Why is she still hiding it?" asked Jessie confused that Amy would still deny it even though they had a lot of proof

"For two reasons, she actually didn't do it or she'll never admit to doing it no matter how long we ask her" said Andrei

"Great" said Satomi frustrated

"What do you think?" asked Mark to Andrei

"I don't think she do all she can in a mech even after that but at least we still have the playbook to use for now" said Andrei

"Maybe if we let her calm down and give her some time she'll stop holding back?" suggested Mark

"I'm not sure about that" said Andrei

"What the heck is going on? What happened with Amy!" roared Liz as she and Takeshi entered through the open door in the wake of Amy

"What happened? She looked pretty upset. Did you kick her off the team or something?" asked Takeshi worried

Everyone else looked at each other with dread for a second

"Should you tell them or I?" asked Andrei to Satomi

"You tell them" said Satomi

"Tell us what?" asked Liz

"Take a look at this" said Andrei giving Liz the playbook

Liz looked through it briefly at the new plays

"Whoa! Who did this!" asked Liz impressed

"That's nothing check this out" said Andrei hitting a button on Satomi's remote to show the video of Tail's test run

With Amy

Amy ran through the halls of the garage until she had to take a break and rest which was quite some time since she was in pretty good shape

She rested against the wall of the hallway and began panting

'This isn't good' said Luca who was in Amy's arms

"No kidding" said Amy

'What do we do?' asked Luca

"I don't know" said Amy tiredly

'Should we go to Tails?' asked Luca

"I don't know, I don't want to mess up their plan to get the Tornado Three fixed" said Amy knowing if Sonic and the others knew what was going on they might abandon the plan

'What about the rest of the team? Do you honestly want them to think you're the best in the league? Which wouldn't be a problem if you were but you're not. No offense' said Luca

"I just don't know what to do. It seems no matter what I do I'm doomed" said Amy depressed

"If I tell them the truth about Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles their secret will be out" said Amy

'Or the rest of the team will think you're insane and lock you in a rubber room' said Luca being very optimistic

"And if I take the credit everyone thinks I'm a lot better than I actually am" said Amy knowing that wasn't good

'What's wrong with that?' asked Luca

"Can you imagine how Takeshi and Liz will react!" asked Amy

'Good point' said Luca

"What'll I do?" asked Amy in a depressed tone sliding down the wall until she was sitting with her back to the wall

'I still think you should call Tails. Maybe he'll have some idea of what to do?' suggested Luca

"I guess" said Amy in defeat putting Luca down and pulling the radio they had given her out of her pocket

"Hello Tails? Come in" said Amy over the radio

"Hello Amy. Is everything clear for Chaos Control?" replied Tails

"No, not yet but we have a bigger problem" said Amy

"What! Did they find out about us?" asked Tails over the radio

"Yes and no" said Amy

"What?" asked Tails confused

"They found out about all the stuff you did with the playbook and the mech but they think I did it" said Amy

"Uh oh" said Tails

"Yup and now they think I'm the best pilot in the league. What do I do?" asked Amy desperately

"Sorry Amy but I don't know. Just say nothing about it if you can. Denying it will only make it seem like you're hiding something" said Tails

"That doesn't help much" said Amy

"Sorry, but will we be able to continue with the plan?" asked Tails

"Yes, I'll head to the meeting to see if everyone is there" said Amy "And get torn apart by Liz and Takeshi" she added under her breath

"How bad can Liz be angry?" asked Tails

"Imagine Knuckles angry" said Amy over the radio

"Oh" said Tails in a nervous tone

"Now imagine if Knuckles was a girl" said Amy

"Eeep!" said Tails

"Good luck Amy" said Tails

"I'm going to need more than that to survive this" said Amy before she put the radio away

'You'd need all seven Chaos Emeralds to survive this' said Luca

"You make me feel so much better" said Amy to Luca

'I try…hey! Wait a second!' yelled Luca when she figured it out

"Let's go" said Amy before Luca could finish her sentence

Satomi's Office

"Unreal" said Takeshi in shock as he watched the mech Tails had used totally decimate the computer mechs like they were nothing

"There's no way Amy could do that! She's not that good! Even Cunningham isn't that good!" said Liz to Andrei

"She is that good" said Andrei calmly

"There's just no way" said Liz as she turned back to watch the video

"Just wait and see what comes next" said Andrei as the watched the video

Tails had just taken out the defender and midfielder with one blow

"Nice move!" said Takeshi

"Here comes the good part" said Andrei

Takeshi and Liz watched as the forward mech was about to use the Induraga Mano

"Now's here the feared and supposedly impossible to dodge Induraga Mano" said Andrei pausing the video

"Supposedly?" asked Takeshi confused

"Please no one could dodge that attack, we got annihilated by it!" said Liz

"Just watch" said Andrei unpausing the video

Takeshi and Liz watched as Tails' mech leapt out of the way of the attack with amazing speed, used the enemy forward mech as a vaulting horse to flip over and behind the mech, and then finally kick the enemy mech into its own attack before racing away at high speeds

"Impossible!" shouted Liz

"Not only did she dodge the attack easily, she used it to wipe out the enemy forward in one blow" said Andrei

Takeshi was speechless as he watched the video of Tails racing down the track perfectly

"It's just…it can't be!" said Liz at a loss for words

"It can and it is" said Andrei

"Do you mean to tell us Amy could be the best in the league and she was only holding back until now!" asked Liz angrily

"It looks that way" said Mark

"Why would she do it?" asked Takeshi

"We don't know and when we tried to talk to her she denied it before running out the door" said Jessie

"I can't believe it! She's been acting so weak and helpless all this time!" shouted Liz angrily punching the wall with her fist

"I still don't get why she would hide being this good" said Takeshi

"It could be a million things" said Andrei

"It doesn't matter why! She's still holding back!" said Liz in a rage

"So what do we do?" asked Takeshi who was in more of a shocked state than rage like Liz

Takeshi was confused by this

Could the sweet, nice, and friendly Amy actually be that good? Better than anyone knew? Better than him, Liz, or even Cunningham!

He didn't know if he should feel happy to have her on the team or jealous like Liz

Part of him thought it was probably all a big mistake somehow

Mostly he wanted to know how to do those moves so he could get stronger

"We'll give her some time and see if she finally admits to it and plays her best" said Satomi

"So what do we do until then?" asked Takeshi

"Well first off we need to go over the plays she wrote for the race" said Andrei holding up the playbook and looking at Tails' plays

"Why should we! She could probably win it herself!" shouted Liz angrily

"Jealous?" asked Takeshi coolly at Liz's outburst

It wasn't a second later Takeshi figured out that was a mistake

BANG!

Before Takeshi could blink he was decked by a powerful punch from Liz and hit the ground hard feeling like he had been hit by a truck…three times

"Liz!" shouted Satomi after Takeshi hit the ground faster than a crashing plane

"Sorry it was an accident" lied Liz with a grin happy to take out her rage on something

"Have another accident and I'll ban you from the next race" warned Satomi

"What!" asked Liz in disbelief

"The last thing we need right now is the team tearing itself apart over this, now Liz lay off Amy. She might not admit to it if she knows you'll beat her into oblivion if she does" ordered Satomi

"Whatever" said Liz defiantly as she turned her back to Satomi

"Ok now we'll go along with things as usual until Amy calms down and decides to show what she can really do" ordered Satomi

"Let's head to the planning room and begin going over these new plays" said Andrei

He, Jessie, and Mark left the room

Satomi got out of her seat behind her desk and began walking to the door too

"Come on you two" said Satomi to Liz and Takeshi

Liz just gave an annoyed grunt before leaving the room

Takeshi followed Satomi out of the room while he thought about what was going on and wondered if Amy was as good as everyone thought

Outside the Planning Room

Amy was at the familiar door that lead to the planning room

She gulped nervously before opening the door a crack to peek inside the room

She quickly saw everyone inside the room sitting down

Amy moved back as soon as she spotted everyone so she wouldn't be detected

She took the radio out of her pocket and turned it on

"Tails come in" said Amy over the radio to Tails

"What is it Amy?" asked Tails

"Everything is all clear, you can use Chaos Control now" said Amy

"Copy that, I'll notify Sonic and Knuckles. Warn us the second the meeting lets out" ordered Tails

"I will" said Amy before putting the radio away

"Here goes nothing" said Amy nervously looking at the planning room door

'Man the lifeboats' said Luca in Amy's arms

Amy breathed deeply before putting her hand out to open the door

Amy opened the door and awaited her fate

Team Satomi Garage Roof

Meanwhile on the roof Sonic and Knuckles were relaxing in the Tornado Three

Knuckles was listening to the radio for any sign from Tails to use Chaos Control

Sonic was in the seat behind him listening to his Mp3 player

"So long as the voice inside tells me to run and fight it doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right!♪" sang Sonic along with his Mp3 player as he bobbed his head to the music (I Love that song!)

"Knuckles come in" came Tails voice over the radio

"Yeah?" asked Knuckles through the radio

"We're clear for Chaos Control" said Tails

"Copy that" said Knuckles

"I'll meet you and Sonic in the garage" said Tails before getting off the radio

"You hear that?" Knuckles asked Sonic

Sonic couldn't hear him over the loud music

Knuckles got up and lifted the headphones off Sonic's ears

"What's up Knux?" asked Sonic to Knuckles

"Tails gave us the signal, do your thing" said Knuckles

Sonic gave him a thumbs up and put away his Mp3 player and took the dark blue Chaos Emerald (His favorite) out of its console in the cockpit of the Tornado Three

"Ready?" he asked Knuckles holding it up

Knuckles gave Sonic a thumbs up

Sonic raised the emerald above his head and called out (Here comes my favorite part)

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

In a flash of light the Tornado Three disappeared off the rooftop

Planning Room

Amy walked inside the planning room through the open door with Luca in her arms

The word nervous couldn't describe the look on Amy's face as she walked in like someone walking into an execution chamber

Their was dead silence as soon as Amy walked in the room

She was met by stares from everyone including a glare from Liz that could scare an Eggpawn to death

"Hi guys" said Amy timidly

Everyone replied with a weak hi except Liz who said nothing

'Be careful they can smell fear' said Luca silently who was now the only one talking even though only Amy could hear him

Amy walked her way over to her desk between Takeshi and Liz and sat down while everyone stared at her

There was an extremely eerie silence for a second after Amy sat down in which the only thing anyone did was stare at her

Liz was glaring at Amy like she hoped it would somehow make her head burst into flames

Amy was so tense she was shaking quite a bit and was breathing deeply

"Ok guys let's get to work" said Andrei to stop the staring contest

Everyone looked away from Amy and looked up at Andrei who was in front of the screen that was in the room

"Ok first up, we all know we have a rematch with Sledge Mamma soon" said Andrei

He clicked a button on a remote

The screen behind him started playing their last race against Sledge Mamma with Sonic and co.

"Now since this is a rematch we needed to come up with some new plays and strategies, thankfully now we have some" said Andrei holding up the playbook

"Thanks to Amy" added Liz bitterly

Amy sunk a little in her seat

"Either way we now have something to work with" said Andrei

He opened the book

"Now according to these new plays the formations are a bit different, one is based on speed and will put Takeshi in charge" said Andrei

"Really?" asked Takeshi

"Yes it will use the speed of Takeshi's mech to boost the speed of Amy and Liz allowing them to keep pace with Takeshi even when he's flooring it in his mech, so hopefully Takeshi won't run off again because Amy and Liz are slowing him down" explained Andrei

On the screen behind him a giant scan of the speed formation page was displayed

Takeshi looked at it and checked it out

He liked how it looked a lot

"Wow" he said impressed

"Yeah, it'll be perfect for catching up when we fall behind or to keep a lead" said Andrei

"It's not that impressive" said Liz stubbornly

"I thought you hated when I left you behind" replied Takeshi

"Let's just say there's something I hate more now" said Liz in a low angry tone glaring at Amy

Amy wished that she could be saved from this by team Sonic but knew it wasn't happening

"Well I think you'll change your mind when you see the rocket accelerate" said Andrei

"What's that?" asked Takeshi

Andrei clicked another button on the remote and a giant version on the rocket accel page was displayed behind him

"It's an attack designed to allow us to strike from far behind with a lot of power or give Takeshi a huge speed boost" explained Andrei

"Awesome!" said Takeshi looking at the attack

"The rocket accelerate…" began Andrei

"Rocket Accel" corrected Amy quietly

Takeshi looked at her again while Liz gave her an accusing glare

"Ok, the Rocket Accel works by having the midfielder throw the defender and forward with all their strength down the track giving them a huge speed boost" said Andrei

"Actually it's the defender who throws the midfielder and forward" corrected Amy

Liz gave her another hard and evil glare that mad Amy try and sink into her seat as much as she could

"My bad, now after that the midfielder throws the forward at high speed down the track. With that speed boost Takeshi could give a charge attack on opponents who might be far in the lead or it could just allow him to get a very good lead when we are in front" said Andrei

"Any problems with that?" he asked Amy

"No" said Amy weakly and quietly under the accusing gaze of Liz

Amy wished Sonic would suddenly teleport in with Chaos Control, grab onto her and teleport her out

Meanwhile in the Garage with Team Sonic

Meanwhile back in the garage Tails was waiting at a computer monitor in front of the mechs waiting for Sonic to use Chaos Control and praying Amy was alright

On the ground next to him there was a bright flash of light as Sonic used Chaos Control

When it was gone Sonic, Knuckles, and the Tornado Three were where the light had been

Sonic still had the blue Chaos Emerald above his head and Knuckles was still in the front seat

"Hi guys" said Tails to Sonic and Knuckles

"I forgot what a rush that was" said Knuckles who put his hand to his head to make the room stop spinning

"Please it isn't that bad!" said Sonic calmly as he jumped off the plane

Sonic had actually nearly fainted after he used Chaos Control the first time

"For you maybe but I haven't done it for a while" said Knuckles getting up and jumping out of the plane after Sonic

Sonic walked over to the mechs followed by Knuckles while Tails began attaching cables from the computer to a panel in a compartment under the Tornado Three

"(Whistle) Wow these things didn't look this big when were we fighting them" said Sonic looking up at Takeshi's mech

"Still they had no chance against us" said Knuckles calmly

No robot they had faced had been able to beat them, not the military G.U.N beetle series, not the giant armored G.U.N Bigfoot walkers, not the E-series from Eggman, not even the colossal and monstrous Metal Overlord that was Metal Sonic

But still they had to say these were some of the more impressive robots they had seen through their travels along with Omega and Tails Tornado Two transformed

"I like how Takeshi's looks" said Sonic at the sleek fast robot

"That Liz girl's one reminds me of a monkey for some reason" said Knuckles (For some reason when I see Liz's mech I can't help but be reminded of a gorilla)

"I like Amy's" said Tails who was still on his back on the ground attaching cables to the Tornado Three

"These are pretty cool for robots" admitted Sonic

"Yeah at least they aren't a butt ugly as Eggman's" said Knuckles with a small laugh

"I agree with you there" said Sonic

"But why make them so big?" asked Knuckles

"They need all that armor to protect the pilots" explained Tails

"Seems like a waste of metal to me, smaller robots would move faster" said Sonic

"Humans aren't as durable as us, they die if they are hit with enough impact" said Tails still working

"Is that why they can't survive as high a falls as us?" asked Sonic

"Yup" said Tails

"They also can't survive gunshots, explosions, burns, giant falls, and being crushed like us. We're a very durable species" said Tails

"And yet no matter what we do Eggman never dies when we blow up his bases and robots" said Sonic annoyed

"Tails how's it coming along?" asked Knuckles to Tails who was nearly done attaching cables to the Tornado Three

Tails attached the last cable to the Tornado Three and got up

"I'm done!" he said happily

"What now?" asked Sonic as Tails ran over to the computer nearby

"I'll use the same sensors and scanners that Amy's team uses to check the mechs on the Tornado Three. If there are any problems or broken parts on the Tornado Three that would lead to us being here we'll find out when it completes its scan" explained Tails typing away at the computer furiously

"How long till it's done?" asked Sonic

"It'll take some time; I'll have to reconfigure the computers temporarily so they are familiar with the Tornado Three's format and O.S. Then I'll have to give the computer not only enough time to scan the Tornado Three's computer but also its mechanical components as well. Then I have to wipe any sign of what I did from the Satomi mainframe to cover our tracks before finally taking the time to analyze the data from the scan" said Tails

"A while huh?" asked Sonic not know what he was talking about

"To put it simply…yes" said Tails

Sonic turned to Knuckles

"How about we go and take a closer look at those robots?" suggested Sonic

"Alright, I want to see if I can lift that big one" said Knuckles

"Just don't break them!" warned Tails as Sonic and Knuckles walked over to the big mechs

Planning Room

All through out the meeting Amy tried to be as inconspicuous as possible while Liz kept giving her evil and accusing looks

It only got worse when Amy had to correct Andrei when he got a term or name wrong from the playbook

He had repeatedly gotten things wrong when he was explaining the Thunder Shoot and every time Amy corrected him Liz would give an angry growl and stare at Amy

It wasn't until they finished up the Thunder Shoot that Amy finally realized he was messing up on purpose to try and prove she wrote the plays so she stopped correcting him

They were now moving onto the power formation

"Ok next is the power formation, it appears to be specially made for Liz" said Andrei

Liz looked a bit shocked at the comment

"It is?" she asked surprised

It was the first emotion she had shown for the last hour besides hate and anger

"Yes, it appears to focus on pure fighting and giving the defender a lot of power by using the other mechs" said Andrei

"How does it "use" the other mechs?" asked Takeshi

"Well it has an attack called the Fire Dunk, Liz punches you or Amy in the back giving you a boost which you can use to close in on the enemy quick and deliver a powerful blow" explained Andrei

"I like the sound of that" said Liz happily with an evil grin looking at Takeshi who sweat dropped

"The next move is called the Fire Combo Liz and only you can do it" said Andrei

"What is it?" asked Liz curiously

"It's a series of dashing punches that form a powerful combo that should be of some use to you" said Andrei handing Liz the book

Liz looked at all the descriptions of the Fire Combo attacks

They all looked like variations of Kung Fu moves that had been modified to be used at high speeds

They were mostly punches that lead up to a final slamming blow that would probably crush another mech

Inside Liz knew that they would be perfect to use in a race and was very impressed by the fact that Amy could come up with them but her pride and anger didn't let her admit it

"They look ok" said Liz stubbornly unable to find a flaw with the plays she could complain about

"There are more in here but I thought we would try these moves on the simulator before moving onto the others" said Andrei

Everyone looked at Amy the second Andrei said simulator

"Fine with me" said Liz challengingly

"Let's just see if Amy is really that good" added Liz in a challenging tone

Amy gave an extremely nervous laugh at the comment

'Can I skip this ride?' asked Luca in Amy's arms 'I want to keep as many of my lives as possible'

"Can you try and be a bit more optimistic?" asked Amy to Luca

"What'd he say?" asked Mark curiously

"Oh nothing!" said Amy nervously

Everyone started giving Amy confused looks

'I hate to interrupt but you still have to warn Tails that the meeting is letting out' said Luca

"Oh, you're right!" said Amy remembering Tails' orders

"What's up?" asked Jessie

"Oh nothing! Excuse me I have something to do!" said Amy as she bolted out the door

There was a dead silence after Amy had ran out the door

"What's up with her?" asked Liz confused

"Well after the way you acted I'm not surprised she ran as fast as she could out of here" said Takeshi to Liz

"I don't know what you're talking about" denied Liz stubbornly

"I think he's talking about the evil eye and death glares you kept giving her" said Andrei calmly

"Whatever! I'll be in the simulator waiting for ms. perfect and Garfield to show up" said Liz angrily before storming out the room

"This is going to be a long day" said Andrei annoyed

"Yeah first Amy's hiding her skills and acting weird then Liz turns into a demon! The only one acting nearly normal is Takeshi" said Jessie

"Where is Takeshi?" asked Mark

Everyone looked to see Takeshi was gone too

Mech Garage with Team Sonic

Tails was just finishing up clearing their tracks from the Satomi system and was just getting started on the scan data

Behind him with the mechs was Sonic and Knuckles

Sonic was doing laps around Takeshi's mech while Knuckles was using Liz's as exercise equipment by lifting the mech up and down as many times as he could

Both were counting off how many laps/ lifts they did

"216!" shouted Sonic

"218!" shouted Knuckles lifting the heavy mech

"Guys! The scan is complete!" shouted Tails happily over to them

Sonic stopped running and Knuckles put Liz's mech down

They both walked over to Tails at the computer terminal

"So what's up? Find the problem?" asked Sonic

Tails began looking at the screen

"Lets' see, all the mechanical components to the Chaos system in the Tornado Three seem fine" said Tails searching the scan results for problems

"What's that mean?" asked Knuckles

"It could be a calculation problem in the computers" explained Tails as he looked over the computer scan

After a minute of looking over the results he finally spoke up

"It's not that either!" he said surprised

"So that means what?" asked Knuckles

"It wasn't a problem in the Tornado Three that brought us here, it was something else" explained Tails

"So what now? Do we never get home?" asked Knuckles

"I'll have to research it a bit more to find out the answer, but don't count on leaving soon" said Tails

"Fine by me, I like it here" said Sonic happily

"What? But we have to get home sometime!" said Knuckles angrily to Sonic

"I know but for now let's enjoy our trip, all I see is another adventure for us" said Sonic optimistically

"How can you be so calm?" asked Knuckles furious

"Enough! We'll get home but it'll take some time, just leave it to me!" said Tails seriously

"Ok we're counting on you Tails" said Sonic to the young fox

Empty Hallway

Takeshi had followed Amy to an empty hallway

She had stopped and leaned against a wall

Takeshi hid just around the corner and watched her

Well spied would be a better word but he preferred watched

Takeshi watched as Amy took out a radio from her pocket and turned it on

'What's she doing?' he wondered as she put it up to her mouth to talk

"The meeting is letting out" she said over the radio to whoever was on the other line

"Ok Amy we'll get out of her now, how'd the meeting go?" replied a young high pitched voice over the radio

Amy sighed

"That bad?" asked the voice

"Let's just say Liz is going to kill me in the simulator after seeing your run" said Amy over the radio

'"Your" run? Wait! Does that mean whoever is on the other end of that radio is the one who did that run! That means Amy didn't do the run or the playbook! She wasn't lying!' thought Takeshi in surprise

Takeshi was wondering who this other miracle pilot was and how Amy was connected to him

Plus he was wondering why Amy would put up with Liz just to cover for him

If she was willing to face an angry Liz she must have a good excuse for keeping this other guy secret

"Sorry Amy I never meant to cause you this much trouble when I wrote those plays or did the test run" said the voice over the radio

"So what should I do in the simulator?" asked Amy

"Use the moves I thought you and help your team with the plays we showed you since you're the only one who's seen them done before" said the voice

'So that's how Amy knew about the moves when Andrei got them wrong, she's seen them done before by whoever made them. And did he just say "We"? Does this mean there is more than one? What's Amy gotten herself into?' wondered Takeshi

"But that'll make Liz even more certain I did them!" said Amy into the radio

"If she's certain you did them now what difference will it make?" asked the voice

"Good point" said Amy in defeat

"What's important is that you three learn how to use the moves in time for the race even if that means letting Liz think you did them" said the voice

"Ok" said Amy with a tone of dread

"Good luck" said the voice

"Yeah" said Amy in a depressed tone as she turned off the radio and put it away

In her arms Luca meowed

"You're right Luca" said Amy with a little smile before heading off towards what Takeshi knew was the simulator room

Takeshi was unsure what to do

Should he tell the others about this other person on the radio or go along with the charade?

Takeshi figured that if Amy was willing to let Liz be mad at her it must be really important to hide this other person so he decided he would not tell the others about this… for now

Takeshi began walking over to the simulator room with his mind occupied with thoughts about who this other guy could be

Mech Garage

"Hey guys that was Amy! The meeting let out so we need to get out of here now!" said Tails seriously to Sonic and Knuckles

"Sonic get ready!" shouted Knuckles urgently to Sonic as he got into the Tornado Three hurriedly and sat in the seat behind Tails

Tails shut the cockpit over them while Sonic playfully tossed the emerald into the air a few times in anticipation

"Here come the fun partereH" said Sonic with a smile when the cockpit was completely shut

Sonic leapt off the ground onto the top of the Tornado Three's clear cockpit

He lifted the dark blue Chaos Emerald above his head with his gloved hand

"CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

The emerald glowed for a second before emitting a bright flash of light

When the light was gone so was the Tornado Three along with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles

Satomi Garage Roof

Tornado Three reappeared on the Satomi roof a second later

Sonic was still on the roof with the Chaos Emerald still in his hand

He quickly jumped off the plane onto the roof below with a small thud

"Next time I'll just use the door" said Knuckles getting out of the Tornado Three

"It's not that bad!" said Sonic in defense

"Well I'm still not used to it" said Knuckles getting out of his seat and jumping onto the plane wing

Knuckles jumped onto the roof below next to Sonic while Tails stayed in the Tornado Three's cockpit shutting things down

"So what do we do now?" asked Knuckles

Tails gave a depressed sigh in his plane seat

"I don't know, if it wasn't the Tornado Three that was the problem it could be a million other things" said Tails in a depressed tone

"Not that, what do we do for the rest of the day?" asked Knuckles

"Let's go for a run" suggested Sonic eagerly

"I want to check on Amy" said Tails

"Why?" asked Sonic

"Her team thinks she did all the things I did when I was last here, now she's in deep trouble with her team and it's all my fault. I gotta see what's going on with her" said Tails seriously

"Ok" said Sonic

"Why should we?" asked Knuckles thinking she would be fine it would only be a risk to them

"She's done a lot to help us so we have to help her" said Tails who was still in the Tornado Three

"Ok, but how do we see what's going on?" asked Knuckles

"Sonic think you can get me into the garage in a certain place?" asked Tails to Sonic

"Sure but what if we teleport into someone?" asked Sonic

"It's no problem, when I was in the Satomi mainframe I hacked it and set up a personal master account that should allow me full control of the mainframe when needed including full control of the building's security system" said Tails typing away at the computer console in the cockpit

"What's that mean?" asked Knuckles having little knowledge of computer systems

"I should be able to see were everyone is" explained Tails

"How can you do that?" asked Knuckles

"The doors are all computerized to automatically open for people, I can monitor which doors open and see where people are coming from and heading" explained Tails looking at the computer screen

"From what I can see here the only activity in the last couple of minutes has been from Satomi's office to the simulator room so the rest of the building should be clear for us to…what's this?" asked Tails looking at the screen which showed activity in the simulator room

"What's up Tails?" asked Sonic

"I think they're using the simulators, I think can see what's going on in the simulators from here" said Tails typing away at the computer

Sonic and Knuckles jumped onto the Tornado Three and began to watch the screen Tails was working at which now showed six mechs standing on a race track starting line

Three were yellow and blue Satomi mechs while the others were white and green Velshtein mechs

"Looks like they're about to start" said Sonic

"Let's see what they can do" said Knuckles with a smug smile as he watched the mechs get ready to start

Simulator Room

'Please let me live through this, please let me live through this, please let me live through this, please let me live through this' thought Amy as she sat in the simulator pod with Luca

The combo of terror, nervousness, panic, and the feel of the pod and racing suit reminded her of real races when was the only time she was normally this panicked

'How do you feel?' asked Luca

"Like I'm going to die" said Amy truthfully

'You just keep thinking those positive thoughts' said Luca sarcastically

"You're not helping" said Amy

'What am I suppose to do? Meow at Liz till she calms down?' replied Luca

"Point made" said Amy

"What are you two talking about?" asked Liz over the mech radio with an angry and annoyed tone

"Nothing" replied Amy nervously

"Ok guys we'll start off with a basic race to check out these new moves" said Mark who was at a computer with Jessie, Satomi, and Andrei looking over his shoulder at the computer screen

"Shouldn't we start off with something harder for the prodigy?" sneered Liz through the radio

Amy sweat dropped in her mech

"Liz back off" said Takeshi seriously in Amy's defense

"Huh?" asked Amy a bit surprised that Takeshi would be defending her even after what had happened

"What are you defending her for? She's probably better than you! I know you hate not being the best!" yelled Liz

"I don't care, back off Liz!" said Takeshi sternly

Liz was left speechless

Everyone was taken back from this especially Amy

She was in shock that Takeshi would defend her after he thought she was the best pilot in the league

"Why's he doing this?" asked Amy quietly to herself in shock

'Maybe he wants to be your knight in shinning blue and yellow armor' suggested Luca teasingly

"What?" asked Amy in shock while her face blushed redder then Knuckles

"Amy are you ok?" asked Takeshi as his face appeared on Amy's screen

"I'm ok" said Amy in an embarrassed tone still blushing

'Wow I never realized how cute he is' thought Amy for a second looking at Takeshi's face

She suddenly was shocked at her own thought

'Don't think that! Don't think that!' Amy scolded her thoughts

Takeshi could see Amy was extremely red

"Amy why are you so red?" asked Takeshi curiously

"No reason! No reason!" shouted Amy nervously as she attained a color of red so pure it is impossible to imagine

"Ok..." said Takeshi a little suspicious but totally oblivious to Amy's feelings

'Amy and Takeshi sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g♪' teased Luca

The only thing Amy could do was blush some more

"Can we just get started you three" said Andrei impatiently over the radio

"Fine!" said Liz angrily

"Ok" said Takeshi just wanting to get moving

"Ok" said Amy still slightly red

"All right then, we'll do some basic formations in the first round before doing the new moves in the battle round" said Andrei

"Ok" said Amy

"Good" said Andrei

The timer began to count down on the computerized screen over the artificial track

3…2…1!

The mechs blasted off the starting line with blazing speed down the track

They left behind a giant storm of orange sparks as they raced down the first straightaway with the enemy mechs

The beginning of the race was mostly uneventful for them besides a long period of awkward and tense silence

Besides a few orders and notes to stay in formation no one talked much during the first half of the race

"Hey is this on?" came a voice over the radio

"Who's there?" asked Amy

"What are you talking about?" asked Liz finding Amy's behavior odd

"Amy it's me Tails, don't try and talk back to me. I hacked the mainframe, I can now use the mech's com system to talk to you. I'm only broadcasting to your mech so the rest of your team can't hear me. If you can hear me have Luca meow once" said Tails over the radio

"Luca" said Amy to Luca who was in her lap

Luca got the message and meowed loudly

"Ok good, your team is watching you through their monitors. If you really need to talk to me pretend to be talking to Luca. Me, Sonic, and Knuckles are here to help you with your race and to help you explain the team action moves to your teammates" said Tails

"Ok" said Amy looking down at Luca to give the impression she was talking to him

The rest of the team, that was keeping a VERY close eye on Amy on the monitor thought nothing of it and just thought it was a typical Amy/Luca silent chat

"Ok now get...Amy look out!" shouted Tails over the radio

Amy looked in her screen just in time to see a guardrail right in front of her

She screamed as she quickly made a sharp, hazardous, high speed turn in her mech to avoid flying over the side of the track

Amy let out a sigh of relief as she quickly rejoined the rest of her team in formation

"Amy you alright?" asked Takeshi concerned

"I'm fine, I just lost focus for a second" said Amy

"Keep your eye on the road!" shouted Liz in a opposite reaction thank Takeshi's

"Amy is everything ok?" asked Satomi over the radio

"I'm fine" said Amy weakly

Everyone in the control room outside became nervous

"Mark what's going on with Amy?" asked Satomi to mark

Mark quickly looked at the stats of Amy's run

"She's not riding as well as in the test run, if anything she's doing worse then average with that last move" said Mark

"What!" asked Satomi and Jessie at the same time

"You think it has anything to with the fact we confronted her?" asked Satomi

"I don't know" said Mark

"I think it might have something to do Liz" said Andrei

"What do mean?" asked Satomi

Andrei just pointed to the screen showing the race

Liz was yelling at Amy for nearly hitting the guardrail

"Just because you're the best doesn't mean you can just go all over the track!" yelled Liz to Amy

"Oh" said Satomi realizing what Andrei had meant

"I'm sorry!" said Amy defensively

"You better be!" shouted Liz

"I'll try and focus more" said Amy regretfully

"This isn't good" said Mark outside

"Yeah I don't think Amy will do her best if she has to worry about Liz during the race" said Andrei

"So what should we do?" asked Satomi

"Let's just see how Amy progresses" said Andrei

"They're entering the battle round now" announced Mark

Everyone looked at the screen and waited for the battle to begin

Battle Round, Simulator The green and white mechs in front of Amy and her team turned around to face them on the track

"Here we go guys" said Takeshi in anticipation

"Shouldn't he be saying girls?" asked Knuckles over the mech radio

"Liz is a girl?" asked Sonic jokingly

Amy couldn't help but let few a few giggles at the comment

"What are you laughing at?" asked Liz moodily to Amy

"Nothing, nothing" denied Amy still holding back some laughter

"Quit acting so weird" said Liz angrily

"Sorry" said Amy

"Here they come!" shouted Takeshi as the enemy mechs charged them

"Ok now let's use the…" began Amy

"Since when are you in charge?" asked Liz angrily

"Liz look out!" shouted Takeshi

Liz's outburst had given the other team a big enough distraction for them to get in a surprise quick attack to the Satomi mechs

Takeshi, Amy, and Liz were hit by powerful punches with enough force to send them flying down the track

When they all got up they engaged by the enemy team in one on one combat

This was a problem since they could only use team action if they were all together

A fierce battle quickly broke out between Amy's team and the virtual training team

Takeshi was exchanging blows with the virtual forward at an amazing speed

Liz was also busy dukeing it out with the virtual defender

Meanwhile Amy was too busy dodging the torrent blows the enemy midfielder was sending her way to attack

The enemy midfielder threw a quick five-punch combo followed by a high kick aimed at Amy's torso

Amy blocked each punch and ducked to avoid the high kick

The enemy mech then began an unrelenting volley of very fast punches

Amy did her best to block the speedy attacks but was taking hits

"Amy!" shouted Takeshi seeing she was in trouble

"Amy are you ok?" asked Knuckles worried

"I'm fine" said Amy as the attack continued

"What are you doing! Attack back!" said Knuckles

"She's waiting for the right moment" said Tails

"What?" asked Knuckles

"I've learned that since I don't posses the speed or power of you two I need to make my attacks count and to only attack when I can do the most damage. She's waiting for an opportunity to strike back and set her opponent off balance so she can cause the most damage" explained Tails

"Oh" said Knuckles

Amy looked for the right moment to attack

The furious blows showed no sign of letting up as Amy continued to get trashed

"So much for being the best" said Liz under her breath smugly at the beating Amy was getting

Amy saw the perfect moment when the enemy mech tried to hit her with an uppercut

Amy quickly sidestepped the attack and wheeled around to the back of the enemy mech in one smooth movement

She then began a furious attack of her own

Amy unleashed a barrage of punches to the enemy mech's back

It was helpless to defend itself as Amy pounded away at the back of its metal torso

When the enemy mech tried to turn around to face Amy she moved along with it so she was still to it's back attacking at a rapid pace

"Whoa!" said Takeshi impressed by Amy's speed and attack

After another series of rapid hits the enemy midfielder tried to strike Amy with an arm swing as it turned around

Amy ducked to avoid the attack and quickly countered with a low sweeping kick like she had used on Tails

The kick tripped the opposing midfielder and it slammed hard into the fast moving pavement in a storm of orange sparks

When the mech was down Amy jumped into the air above it

She did a downward corkscrew kick down on top of it for a devastating final blow

When the impact occurred another shower of sparks erupted around the two mechs and the enemy mech broke clean in half

Everyone looked in shock at the amazing sight of Amy's mech lit up by the shower of sparks as she delivered her crushing blow

Time seemed to stop as everyone gazed at the amazing sight

"Whoa" said Takeshi

"When did she learn to do that?" asked Liz in shock

Simulator Room

"Whoa! That was amazing!" said Jessie as she and the others watched it on the monitor

"Looks like Amy's showing what she can really do" said Mark

"Impressive" said Andrei

"Nice work Amy" said Satomi

Simulator

Amy jumped off the mech as the two halves of the mech did 350-mph cartwheels down the track till they skidded to a halt

"Woo! Nice one Amy!" said Sonic over the radio as Amy raced down the track

"You're learned well" said Tails to Amy

"Thanks" said Amy with a smile

'Nice! All that time in the desert training helped' said Luca

"Yeah" said Amy

'We better go and help the others' said Luca

"Let's go and help Takeshi first, Liz'll kill me if I try and help her" said Amy

"I don't need your help!" shouted Liz turning her focus off the enemy defender who saw an opening and attacked with a punch aimed at her head

"Liz look out!" shouted Takeshi seeing the attack

"What!" asked Liz turning her focus back to the enemy mech just in time to be decked by the blow

She was hit with enough force for her to be sent flying off the track

Liz watched as she fell through the virtual sky until her pod shut down

"DAM IT!" Liz cursed herself in the darkness of her powered down pod for letting such a cheap attack hit her

Meanwhile back on the virtual track Takeshi and Amy where still racing down the track

Takeshi was about to say something when Liz shouted "SAY ANYTHING AND I KILL YOU!"

Takeshi quickly shut his mouth fearfully

"What do we do now?" asked Amy to Andrei over the radio

"Well we can't practice team action against another team without… two full teams" said Andrei

"So what do we do now, continue the race?" asked Takeshi

"No point since we can't practice the moves, we'll have to shut down for now" said Andrei

The pods shut down leaving Takeshi, Amy, and Luca in darkness

'This isn't going to end well' said Luca

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a bad day for Amy?" said Knuckles grimly over the radio

"Because it is" said Amy in dread knowing that this was somehow going to be her fault in Liz's eyes

Later in a Hallway

She was right…

Takeshi, Amy, and Liz came out of the changing rooms in their regular clothes

Waiting in the hallway outside the changing room was the rest of the team

They looked like they wanted to comment on what had happened but couldn't

Everyone was too tense to say anything especially with the very moody and angry Liz around

She did not want to hear about how Amy was amazing and she sucked

The only interaction she had had with Amy since they had gotten out of the pods was to give her angry death glares

Takeshi avoided her like she was nitro that would go off the second you got within three feet of it

All the time they were changing Amy was praying she wouldn't end up in the hospital…or morgue depending on how merciful Liz felt

Luca had gotten out of the room the second Amy had gotten him out of his racing armor leaving Amy all alone with a unstable Liz

'Thanks a lot' thought Amy sarcastically as Luca sprinted out of the room like Cerberus was chasing him

"So…um…I guess you'll have to practice those new moves later?" asked Jessie nervously

Liz didn't answer but just growled lightly

"I think we should wait till tomorrow to practice" said Mark

"Whatever! I'm going to the dojo!" shouted Liz angrily before she stormed away

When Liz was gone everyone breathed a sigh of relief

"Man, I thought Liz was scary normally but like this she's scarier than Ms. Satomi" said Takeshi in a relived tone

"What was that!" asked Satomi sternly

"Nothing!" said Takeshi nervously

"Nice moves Amy" said Jessie to Amy

"Yeah, I guess" replied Amy weakly

She realized that her performance must've made everyone certain that she was the one who did the test run

Even though she felt worried about that she couldn't help feel pride in the fact that in such a short time she had gotten a lot better at racing thanks to Tails

"So what do we do now?" asked Takeshi wondering what they were going to do for the rest of the day if they couldn't practice the new moves

Jessie looked at her clipboard that had the planner for that day

"Well after the simulator run was…" Jessie paused upon seeing what was next on the list

Jessie looked extremely nervous and worried

"…training in the dojo" she continued with a nervous smile

Takeshi and Amy had a look of horror on their faces

You could tell what they were thinking by the looks on their faces

'Oh (Beep)' (It might not have been exactly this but it was very close)

Everyone gave the two nervous "Better you than me" smiles

Both gave a deep sigh before heading off to train in the same room as Mt. Saint Liz

When they were gone Andrei started to walk away from Satomi, Jessie, and Mark

"Huh? Andrei? Were are you going?" asked Jessie as he walked down the hall in the opposite direction the pilots had left in

"To preorder two tombstones" he replied calmly as he turned a corner and walked out of sight

"Do you think he was joking?" asked Jessie worriedly

"I wouldn't count it out" said Mark seriously

"Don't worry it'll be fine" said Satomi

"Really?" asked Jessie

"Yes…but you might want to get the infirmary ready Jessie" added Satomi nervously

Empty Hallway

Meanwhile in an empty hallway Tails and Sonic appeared in a flash of light in the middle of the hallway

"I don't understand why I didn't just use Chaos Control to get in here the first time!" said Tails realizing how easy getting in was using Sonic's Chaos Control

"Tails where's Amy?" asked Sonic having no idea how they were suppose to find Amy in the huge building without being seen

"Based on what I saw on the mainframe the door to the dojo opened a little while ago. I'm guessing that's Amy and her team" said Tails

"Ok so where's the doco?" asked Sonic

"Dojo" corrected Tails "I'll head over there inside, you and Knuckles can watch from outside through the window" said Tails

"Ok, see ya later" said Sonic

Sonic lifted the Chaos Emerald over his head again

"CHAOS CONTROL!" shouted Sonic

He then warped out of the hallway leaving Tails all alone

"Ok now how am I going to get around here without Amy's help?" Tails asked himself looking around for a way

As he looked around the empty hallway he spotted a vent opening near the ceiling

"That's it!" said Tails happily

Tails flew up to the ceiling and opened the vent and climbed inside

He was glad that he was so small, he fit easily in the small square path as he crawled towards what he hoped was the Dojo

Changing Room

Amy had just changed into her purple exercise outfit in the girl's changing rooms

"I'm not looking forward to this" said Amy depressed to Luca

She was talking to Luca to hold off going into the Dojo with Liz

'You have to get this over sometime' said Luca

"I know but I…" began Amy in a depressed tone

'Come on stand up!' said Luca

"What?" asked Amy surprised

'You can't just let Liz walk all over you! You need to show her you're not going to let her scare you off! The only way Liz will let off you is if you stand up to her!' said Luca seriously

"You think that'll work?" asked Amy

'She's probably going to beat you into a coma anyway so what do you have to use?' asked Luca

Amy knew that was true and realized that Luca was right, Liz was already mad so it didn't matter what happened. No matter what Amy did she was in trouble so she decided she would go out in style

"Ok I'll do it!" said Amy determinedly

bump! bump! "Ahhhhhh!"

"What was that!" asked Amy looking around for the source of the sound

She looked up at the ceiling when she realized that's were it had come from

"Ahhhhhh!" came a voice from the ceiling again

Suddenly there was another loud bang above her followed by a vent in the ceiling nearby bursting open

The next thing Amy saw was a yellow blur falling from the vent opening

Amy leapt back and let out a small gasp

With a dull thud the yellow object hit the floor

"Owww, stupid air-vent" came a high-pitched voice in pain

"Wait a second!" said Amy recognizing the voice

She rushed over to see Tails laying on the floor

"Tails! Are you ok!" asked Amy worriedly

"I'm fine, I once survived a plane crash after I was shot down. This is nothing" said Tails getting up and rubbing the back of his sore head

"What are you doing here?" asked Amy surprised

"I came here check on you after hearing what was going on with you and your team" explained Tails

"Oh" said Amy

"So what's up?" asked Tails

"I'm going to try and stand up to Liz" said Amy

"Really!" asked Tails surprised

"Yeah, even though she's probably going to kill me afterward" said Amy

"I saw how mad she was when I was watching you in the simulator, does she usually get this mad often?" asked Tails curiously

"Not really, the last time she was like this was about…a month ago… oh crap" said Amy realizing what was going on and why Liz was particularly moody and angry today

"A month ago? What's so important about that?" asked Tails not knowing what that meant since he was only 8

"You don't want to know" said Amy in an "I'm so dead" tone

Tails just scratched his head confused by the comment

"So Tails what are you going to do?" asked Amy

"You still have the bag?" asked Tails

"Yeah, why?" asked Amy holding up the duffle bag

"I'll hide in the bag, you put me down in an out of the way spot were no one will notice it, I'll cut a little hole in the side so that I can see what's going on without being seen" said Tails

"Ok" said Amy opening up the bag

Just as Tails was about to get in he heard a message over the radio

"Tails? Are you there?" asked Knuckles

Tails took out his radio from his pocket

"Yeah I'm here" replied Tails

"What's going on?" asked Knuckles

"Amy is about to go in the dojo to stand up to Liz" reported Tails

"Really?" asked Knuckles

"Yeah, now where are you?" asked Tails

"Me and Sonic are hidden in a tree branch right outside the dojo window, we can see inside the dojo but Takeshi and Liz can't see us" answered Knuckles

"What's going on inside?" asked Tails

"Looks like Liz is on a exercise bike while Takeshi is practicing with his sword" replied Knuckles

"Ok, I'm going to have Amy sneak me inside so I can see what's going on. I'll leave the radio on so you can here what's going on but don't make any loud sounds or else we'll be heard" said Tails to Knuckles

"Ok, good luck Amy" said Knuckles before getting off the radio

Tails put the radio back in his pocket before turning to Amy

"You up for this Amy?" asked Tails worriedly

"I think so" said Amy unsure

"Let's go" said Tails hopping in the duffle bag on the ground

Amy closed it and then picked it up

She the took one last deep breath before walking into the dojo with Luca following close behind

Dojo

Amy walked inside and saw, just as Knuckles had described, Liz on and exercise bike and Takeshi in his samurai outfit practicing his sword in the main Dojo

Both looked up at Amy for a second when she walked in

Takeshi looked concerned for her while Liz just looked angry

Both quickly turned back to what they were doing

Amy looked around the room for a good place to put Tails

She spotted a bench in the corner that had a good view of the entire room so she walked over and put it down there

After Amy had put Tails down she looked over at where Liz was

Even though they had a lot of different exercise equipment in the room Amy made a bold decision and walked over to the exercise bike next to Liz and got on

She knew she had to let Liz know she wasn't going to be scared by her

Takeshi saw this and was shocked

'What's she doing! Does she had a death wish or something!' thought Takeshi

Liz looked at her for a second with scorn before turning back to her own workout

Amy began to petal the bike at a slow starting pace

Luca came over and sat on the ground next to Amy's bike

After a while Amy got up to a decent pace

It wasn't as fast as Liz's but it was still a good speed

While she was doing that Tails had pulled out a small pocket knife from his pocket and cut a small slit in the duffle bag

It was way too small to be noticed by anyone in the room but it was big enough so that Tails could see the entire room and Amy and Liz next to each other

Sonic and Knuckles could see what was going on from outside

They were hidden in the cover of some thick leaves on a high tree branch that was right next to the window of the Dojo

Both of them were keeping an ear to the radio so they could hear what was going on inside

The first thing they heard was Liz

"Is that all you can do?" Liz taunted Amy

Amy slightly increased her pace so that it was faster than Liz's

"Ha!" laughed Liz as she sped up "You're going to have to do better than that!"

Amy sped up to bypass Liz's speed

"At least I don't need the exercise as much as you do" said Amy with a slight pant

"Why you little!" shouted Liz angrily at Amy's comment

Takeshi who was still practinging his sword in the main Dojo knew that this was it

All the hate, frustration, and tense feelings that had been held back and stored up all day were finally coming out full force

Amy had finally had enough of Liz's behavior and was fighting back

He knew he should probably leave before WW3 broke out but couldn't help but watch what was going on

"With all the food you eat at those Chinese buffets I'm amazed you don't weigh 800 pounds!" said Amy still pedaling

"At least I'm not a stick figure!" shouted Liz angrily

'This is going to be a bigger fight than Super Sonic vs. Perfect Chaos!' thought Tails in the bag as Amy and Liz started an insult battle while pedaling as fast as they could

"She-Hulk!" shouted Amy

"Twig!" shouted Liz in reply

"Thunder Thighs!" shouted Amy

Takeshi couldn't help but want to laugh at Amy's insults but knew openly laughing at a fat insult directed towards Liz was a death sentence

"Needle girl!" shouted Liz angrily

"Boulder butt!" shouted Amy

You could actually see the urge to laugh on Takeshi's face and the strain of using all his willpower not to

'Must…not…laugh! Don't …want…to…die!' thought Takeshi as he strained to contain the urge to laugh

"You weight less than a feather!" shouted Liz

Liz was cursing herself inside for not being able to come up with better insults

"Pillsbury Dough Girl!" shouted Amy

Takeshi couldn't help it anymore

He let out a few small laughs at the last insult

Liz seemed to have super-sensitive hearing and instantly turned to face Takeshi

She gave him an evil grin

Liz knew she couldn't hit Amy but Takeshi…(Evil laugh) was another story

Takeshi looked in horror as Liz looked at him from across the room

He suddenly got an image in his head

It was a funeral on a sunset hill in a graveyard

There were a lot of people standing around a casket being lowered into the ground

They were all his friends and family wearing black and crying as the casket was lowered into the ground

Nearby a preacher was talking

"Here lies Takeshi Jin who was unfortunate enough to laugh at a fat joke directed at Liz" he said sadly

When Takeshi snapped back to the real world he saw Liz leap off the exercise bike and do an impossibly long leap across the room

Liz was like a female lion pouncing on its helpless prey

"Mommy" said all Takeshi could say weakly as she approached

Sonic and Knuckles also saw this display of inhuman speed from the tree outside

Normally Sonic and Knuckles didn't swear much, that was Shadow territory, but this time was an exception

"HOLY (BEEP)!" they both said at once while looking with shock and awe as Liz flew across the room

Satomi's Office

Satomi was in her office going over some pesky paperwork

She wasn't getting much done since she was too busy worrying about what was going on with Liz and Amy

If the situation didn't improve soon they were in deep trouble, especially with the race coming up

Suddenly Satomi's relative quiet was shattered by a scream

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!" Satomi was surprised enough to nearly fall out of her seat in shock When she got her balance back she quickly got up "That better not be what I think it is" she said worriedly Her desk intercom then came on "Satomi are you there?" asked Jessie worriedly over the intercom "Yes" replied Satomi "Did you hear that?" asked Jessie concerned "Yeah" said Satomi seriously "Sounds like it came from the dojo" came Marks voice "Sounds like Liz finally snapped" came Andrei's voice "I hope everyone is alright" said Jessie in an concerned tone "It's Amy we need to worry about, Takeshi is though and we know Liz is the one doing harm" said Andrei "Everyone meet me at the Dojo" ordered Satomi over the intercom to the others She then ran out the room to see what was going on Dojo "Oww" moaned Takeshi as he laid on the dojo floor after being hit with a flying punch from Liz that looked like it had come straight out of a Mortal Combat game Liz stood over him with a smug look on her face "You want to laugh again?" she asked in a sadistic tone (Note: I don't hate Liz or think she's honestly this evil it's just that she's had a bad day and is in the middle of you know what so that's why she's acting this way. In later chapters she will act normally)

"Sorry but it was funny" said Takeshi still in pain

"YOU THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY?" roared Liz

Liz then set up to hit Takeshi one more time with a low punch (Finish him!)

The fist flew through the air towards Takeshi who was still on the ground

Suddenly it was blocked by an unlikely source

Liz felt her hand hit metal instead of Takeshi

"What the!" asked Liz in shock looking at what had blocked it

Amy was in between Liz and Takeshi blocking Liz's attack with her staff

"Whoa!" said Sonic and Knuckles outside

"Back off!" said Amy forcefully as she pushed Liz away from Takeshi with her staff

Liz jumped back a little and looked at Amy in disbelief

The Amy she knew would never have enough courage to stand up to her

Amy was tired off all the pressure Liz was putting on her and was finally fighting back

"That's enough Liz!" she said seriously

"Your fight is with me!" said Amy getting into fighting stance with her staff

This amazed Liz

'She's challenging me to a fight! She's gotta be out of her mind! There's no way she knows how to use that staff!' thought Liz thinking this was just a sudden boost in her confidence and thinking that Amy was not a threat

Takeshi was also surprised by this and was worried Amy was going to get hurt

"Ha! If you honestly think you can take me, bring it on!" said Liz confidently getting into fighting stance

"Wow! Now this I going to be a fight!" said Knuckles as he and Sonic watched from outside

"I wish I brought popcorn" said Sonic

'Amy be careful' thought Tails concerned

Tails knew Amy was good at staff and she was a natural at it but she had only been doing it for one or two weeks while Liz had been doing Kung Fu for years

Amy would have to be very careful and wise to win this fight

'Cat fight' said Luca as he watched from the sidelines

Both Amy and Liz stared each other down for a few tense seconds before attacking

Liz attacked first with a quick punch aimed at Amy's head that she thought would be a one hit K.O.

Liz was surprised when Amy used her staff to knock the blow aside leaving Liz open for an attack

Amy quickly counterattacked with a sideways blow aimed at Liz's torso

Liz barely managed to jump back from the attack in time to dodge it

'This might not be as easy as I thought' thought Liz seeing Amy wasn't as weak as she expected

Liz countered with a high kick that Amy dodged by ducking

Amy then tried to jab at Liz with the end of her staff

Liz knocked the end of the staff away from her and then threw a punch at Amy's face

Amy dodged the attack but fell back onto the floor in doing so

Liz saw an opening and tried to get Amy with a kick

Amy rolled out of the way of the kick and quickly got back on her feet

Takeshi was amazed by this display

He had no idea Amy was this good a fighter in real life

Even he had a hard time fighting Liz and Amy was still holding her own against her

As soon as Amy got back on her feet she tried to hit Liz with a few quick jabs with her staff

Liz quickly went on the defensive and did her best to block the attacks

After a few high blows Amy caught Liz off guard with a low jab to the stomach

Liz felt the blow connect and recoiled a bit away from Amy as the pain hit her

She took a few steps away from Amy and coughed a few times

The blow had nearly knocked the wind out of her

'Man! When did she get this good?' thought Liz not expecting such a challenge from Amy

"Had enough yet?" asked Amy

Liz recovered and got back into fighting pose

"Not yet!" said Liz fiercely

Liz attacked Amy with a powerful thrust kick

Amy put up her staff to block it but it was so strong it managed to push her back a little bit

'Amy watch out!' thought Tails

Tails knew that Liz was a power type like Knuckles and that trying to with a battle of strength with a power type was a bad idea

The way to win a battle with a power type is to out-maneuver them and then attack

That's why fly formation, which was very maneuverable, always beat power formation

Amy needed to out-maneuver Liz and strike when she's vulnerable

Amy recovered and continued exchanging blows with Liz

As they fought the rest of the team finally showed up and walked in on Amy and Liz's fight

"Amy are you…ok?" asked Jessie surprised as she entered the room and spotted Amy and Liz fighting instead of Amy laying on the ground in pain

"Huh?" asked Satomi in disbelief at what she saw when she entered the room

Mark followed behind Satomi and was the next to spot the brawl

"Whoa!" he said as the two battled it out

"What's going on?" asked Andrei in disbelief as he finally entered the room last and spotted the continuing fight

Amy and Liz paid no attention to them and continued the fight

All the while Takeshi, who was still on the floor, watched the fight rage on

He was so shocked by what was going on he hadn't tried to stop it

Another reason he hadn't tried to stop it was that he didn't want to get hurt (By Liz)

Amy and Liz paid no attention to the spectators and just continued the fight

Liz attacked with a quick series of powerful punches that Amy did her best to dodge

Unfortunately one managed to hit her shoulder causing her a good deal of pain

Liz saw an opening in Amy's temporary distraction and tried to nail her with another powerful thrust kick

Amy recovered just in time to duck and roll out of the way

Amy rolled to the side of Liz and tried to get her with a swing from her staff as she got up

Liz blocked the attack and tried to hit Amy with a low kick

Amy quickly jumped back a little to avoid the attack and countered with a horizontal swing with her staff

The staff hit Liz's shoulder with a good deal of force

Liz felt the pain hit her but did her best to ignore it

Liz tried to counter with a low kick to knock Amy off her feet

The kick hit Amy's leg and sent her off balance

Seeing a good opening Liz tried to deck Amy with a punch while she was off balance

Amy used her staff to stop her from falling and quickly dodged Liz's blow

She the countered with another jab

Liz caught the end of the staff in her hand and then tried to get Amy with a throw (It usually works on Takeshi as we have seen)

Liz tossed Amy with a overhead throw

'This is going to hurt' thought Takeshi having been the victim of that throw attack many times

When Amy was about to hit the floor she curled up and rolled across the mat to avoid hitting the floor face first

'Way to go Amy!' cheered Luca

Amy quickly got back up and faced Liz in a fighting position

Both were panting heavily from all the fighting

'I won't lose!' thought Amy determinedly

'How'd she get this good!' thought Liz thinking this should have ended after the first punch

'Looks like her piloting skills aren't the only thing Amy was holding back' thought Andrei as he watched the fight

'Time to end this!' thought Liz seriously

She was going for a knock out blow

She threw a powerful punch with all her might that Amy couldn't block

Amy saw the attack and got an idea

She remembered what Tails had once told her…

Flashback to Desert Training

Amy and Tails were talking while they rested on the ground after a hard day of training

Right now Tails was talking about power formation and how to fight it

"The one flaw of power formation is that the powerful blows can be slow and if dodged the power leader is temporarily open to counter attack after they use the really strong attacks" said Tails

"So what do I do?" asked Amy

"If you can dodge a powerful attack you get a good opening to attack while your opponent is vulnerable. I learned it from Sonic after he told me about how he baited Shadow into using Chaos Spear on the Ark so that he would slow down. Sonic would dodge the attack and quickly attack Shadow while he was vulnerable after casting Chaos Spear. I also did this in the simulator" said Tails

"You mean how you dodged the Induraga Mano?" asked Amy remembering Tails vaulting over the enemy mech during the brief charge up period before the attack

"Yes, I call that move the Twin Tailed Flip. Some powerful attacks have a delay before they are used. Use that time to come up with a way to turn the attack to your advantage" said Tails

End Flashback

Amy knew what to do

As Liz threw the punch Amy leapt at her and used Liz's shoulders to vault over her like Tails had done while Liz's fist flew harmlessly underneath her

'The Twin Tailed Flip!' thought Tails recognizing the move

"Huh!" asked Liz in shock barely realizing what had happened as Amy flew over her

Amy landed behind Liz and quickly spun around and used a wide sweeping attack at ground level to knock Liz off her feet before she could realize what had happened

Liz fell to the floor with a loud thud

She landed on her back painfully (For once it's Liz and not Takeshi)

Amy then brought her staff down with full force on Liz

Liz looked on in horror as the metal staff came down on her

Amy stopped the attack right above Liz's face

Liz looked in fear as the metal staff stopped an inch above her face

For a few tense seconds no one talked, they were all still busy processing what had happened

"She beat Liz?" asked Takeshi quietly in disbelief as he watched the scene unfold from the floor

"Way to go Amy!" said Sonic happily as he watched Amy's victory from the tree

"All right!" said Knuckles in celebration

'Amy: 1, Liz: nothing' said Luca in celebration

'Nice one Amy!' thought Tails happily

Meanwhile the rest of the team finally realized what had happened

There was one thing that most of then noticed immediately

"That attack…" began Mark

"It was the exact same move from the test run!" said Jessie remembering Tails/Amy using the same dodge

Amy froze when she heard this

If there was anything that could convince the others she had done the test run that was it

She mentally scolded herself for not realizing it earlier

Amy moved her staff away from Liz's face and turned to see everyone looking at her in shock

No one was talking, they all just looked at what they thought couldn't be Amy

Amy the quiet, smart, weak, peaceful little girl had just beaten Liz in a fight with the same move from her amazing test run

No one had any idea what to do

Amy did the first thing to come to mind…

Run!

Amy backed away from Liz and then ran out of the room in a panic

"Amy!" said Takeshi to try and stop her as he finally got up off the ground

But it was no use Amy was long gone

And if she had been in a big enough hurry to leave Luca behind he wasn't stopping her

Liz sat up with a look of pure shock and disbelief on her face

'There's no way! I…lost…to…Amy!' she thought as she sat up

Luca was the first to run out of the room after Amy

"This isn't good" said Andrei saying what everyone was thinking

Takeshi ran out of the room after Amy leaving the rest of the team and Tails (Who was still in the bag) behind

Hallway

After a super quick change in the girl's changing room Amy dashed out of the room and into the hallway

She was confronted by Takeshi who had also changed

"Amy calm down! What's going on?" he asked concerned for her

"Just stay away!" said Amy with some tears in her eyes

There was no way things would go back to normal now

Everyone was now convinced she was the one who had done everything Tails had done

Amy didn't want to be around anyone from the team right now and ran away from him

"Amy!" shouted Takeshi concerned trying to get her to stop as Amy ran away

Takeshi then ran after her

Outside

It was sunset out when Sonic and Knuckles spotted Amy leaving the building with Takeshi close behind chasing her

"Looks like Amy has got some serious problems now" said Knuckles as Amy ran away from the building with Takeshi still trying to stop her

"We better go get her" said Sonic concerned and hoping Amy was ok

"Um…Guys?" came Tails' voice over the radio

"What is it Tails?" asked Sonic into the radio

"Amy left me here! You have to get me out of this thing!" said Tails in a panic

"Knuckles you sneak inside when everyone leaves, I'll chase after Amy" said Sonic

Knuckles gave a thumbs up to Sonic

Sonic jumped off the roof and ran into the city to find Amy and try and calm her down as the sun finally set behind him

End Chapter

(Woo that was long! Sorry it took so long folks I have been dealing with the death of a family member recently and been unable to write. This chapter is dedicated to my Dad Barry Sherman who killed himself on the 21st)

Next Chapter

Chapter 12: Night Run

Sonic and Takeshi both seek to find Amy who has run into the city to think about what has happened. Both of them search around the city at night to find Amy but instead find someone they didn't expect. Each other!