Kagewaki: Not sure if anyone is still reading this lol but I went ahead and decided to upload the 3rd chapter. It should be a bit lengthier compared to the first two chapters. The fandom probably died out after all these years but if enough people seem interested in it still, I'll continue.

If I do decide to continue, I plan on following only the first season of Metal. Nothing further. I don't want this to be crazy long nor complicated lol If all goes well, I may do another crack pairing in the future with Madoka. That one will be based during Metal Masters and will overlap with Fury. You probably wouldn't be able to guess with who! You're free to try, however.

Chapter 3

So everything didn't go exactly according to plan…

Tetsuya Watarigani, the crab blader, sat uncomfortably on the couch in the basement of the B-Pit. He sat there, watching Madoka as she typed away on her laptop. She was doing a minor checkup on Pegasis. It was nighttime, they had just came back from Bey Park. Ginga, Madoka, and Tetsuya had been out at the park all day. Akira, Osamu and Takashi were all trying to get a piece of Ginga. Tetsuya mostly sat back and watched while everyone else bladed.

The crab blader felt like it was becoming an obligation to stay at the B-Pit. He started to feel as though he owed something to Madoka. On the way back, he had thought of trying to slip away again. Of course, he didn't have much of a choice when Ginga caught him off guard and slung an arm around his neck, saying, "You should really blade with us next time!" Yep, Tetsuya thought that the Pegasis blader was totally off his rocker. To trust him so easily after what had happened. Then again, it was in Ginga's nature to be so trusting.

Tetsuya had found out that Ginga had currently taken up residence at the B-Pit. Like Tetsuya, Ginga was a wandering blader of sorts. Except he wasn't a sad case like his self.

"Ahhh yes!"

Tetsuya lift his chin off his hand, blinking his eyes at Madoka. Madoka, seeing Tetusya's slightly confused expression, said, "Oh, sorry about that Tetsuya. It's nothing. Sometimes I just get a little excited."

I think I'd accidentally startled Tetsuya a bit with my outburst. When I really think about it, I don't know a thing about him. Other than the fact that he had kidnapped and trapped me in a pit of crabs…talk about a bad first impression.

Madoka took another glance at him. Tetsuya was still watching her curiously. It was now or never.

"Hey, Tetsuya?"

"Uhhh, crabby?"

"Where are you from?"

"Crab?"

"I'm curious. I'd like to know where you're from."

Madoka saw that the crab blader hesitated. "I promise, I won't tell anyone."

Gee, I'd never told anyone about my past before.

Tetsuya let out a sigh. "I used to live near the ocean in the countryside. Ah, I had such a wonderful view of the water, crabby! How I miss it so!" Tetsuya put his hands together dramatically. "I used to go out to the beach all the time. It was fun running around, feeling the sand between my toes. I got to see my crab friends everyday!"

This boy and his crabs…Madoka thought.

"Wow, that sounds very nice Tetsuya!" Then curiosity hit her. "They why did you leave? It sounded as though you loved it there."

Tetsuya frowned. It was kind of odd to see such an expression on his normally grinning face. "I was betrayed by someone I had once called my best friend. His name was Echizen. I couldn't bare to stay, so I left home after that."

Ah, now that explains everything, Madoka thought. That boy had broken Tetsuya's trust and faith in people. A friend of Tetsuya's had hurt him. Madoka had a feeling there was more to the story that Tetsuya wasn't telling but she didn't press him on.

"I'll be your friend."

"Crabby?"

Well, Tetsuya hadn't quite expected that. He thought that the auburn-haired girl might have found him weird for leaving his family behind like that.

Friends. He frowned again. It was such a strange concept to him. He didn't think he even knew the meaning of friendship anymore. He was puzzled. Madoka had wanted to be his friend? Could he really become someone's friend again? Would he take that chance and risk getting hurt once more?

Tetsuya saw the sincerity in Madoka's eyes. He squirmed a bit in his spot. It was starting to get a bit too much for him. The crab blader reluctantly took a hold of Madoka's offering hand. She smiled in response.

"If you ever need anything, just ask! I'm here for you."

Back in his 'room', Tetsuya sat in his chair. His arms were crossed as he currently stared at the small bookshelf ahead of him. He was confused. Why did he take her hand? At the same time, it was warm…nice. It was something the brunette hadn't experienced since he left home. The touch of another.

A growl left the back of Tetsuya's throat as he clenched his hands. Friends. Why did the word infuriate him so much? He couldn't keep hiding from it forever. He knew eventually he'd have to rely on someone. It was only a matter of time.

Tetsuya got up, walking over to the bookshelf. He picked out a book randomly, taking it back in bed with him. He looked over at Mad Cancer, who was laid out on the small dresser besides his bed. His eyes went back to the book that was currently in his hands. He glanced over at the title absentmindedly, "The Call of the Wild." Reading was something he had used to do back home. It was a favorite past time of his when he wasn't blading or hanging about at the beach. In fact, he hadn't read anything since he had left home. Guess he could get back into the habit now.

Opening the book, Tetsuya flipped the page to chapter one and began to read.

"Hey, Tetsuya! Where are yo-oh. Reading again, huh?

A younger Testuya laughed behind the book he was reading. "Naw, Echizen. This is a new one."

"Well, come on and take a break for a bit and let's blade! Your cousin stopped by earlier, I don't think you want to keep him waiting. You know how he likes to go on about the stars and junk."

"Haha, yea, that weirdo. I'll be there in a bit."

The next morning when Madoka went to check up on the boys, she wasn't surprised to see that Ginga was still knocked out in bed. Tetsuya, however, was surprisingly awake this time. She was greeted by the sight of the crab blader entirely focused on a book he was reading. He didn't even notice she walked in so Madoka took the time to study him a bit. The mechanic didn't take him as someone who was interested in literature. Although, that could be due to his seemingly odd obsession with crabs and wreaking people's blades. Nonetheless, it was a sight to see.

Tetsuya looked up, feeling the presence of someone's eyes on him. "Ahhh, crabby!" Startled, he nearly dropped the book before catching it. "I uhhh was just about to…ah crabsticks."

Madoka could only sigh as she watched the crab blader to continue to flounder about as he kept failing miserably to place the book back on the shelf.

"Hey, Tetsuya…," she started, hoping to catch the brunette's attention. Tetsuya stopped, the book finally reaching its destination on top of the shelf.

"I was just doing a little crabby cleaning, heheh," Tetsuya nervously laughed, pretending to wipe the dust off the already spotless shelf.

The mechanic shook her head before smiling. "How about we go down for breakfast?

Once again, Tetsuya was back in the kitchen spending his morning with Madoka and Ginga. He had already finished eating, absentmindedly looking out the window waiting for Ginga to finish. The Pegasis blader planned on spending the day helping out the seaside shrimp trio get some practice in. Madoka, of course, would be going to make sure everyone's blades was kept in good shape.

Tetsuya, on the other hand, had no idea what he was going to do. He'd been dragged around by Madoka so much for the past few days, he was kind of at a lost. All thoughts of actually doing anything was thrown out the window once he realized he was standing right in front of Bey Park again.

As the three walked in, they were greeted cheerfully by the trio that seemed to regard Ginga as some kind of hometown hero. It was still early, so not much people were in there yet. However, it did look like it was starting to fill up slowly.

"Aaaalll right! Who's up first?" Ginga asked as he waved his launcher around.

"Ohh, me!"

"Me first!"

Ginga started to laugh as the three began to push the other out the way trying to reach the dish first. Tetsuya shrugged at the sight, following Madoka to sit at the couch nearby. He took out the book he was reading last night, gotten over his slight embarrassment at being discovered earlier. Madoka turned on her laptop, looking up something before joining the others.

Tetsuya glanced over at Madoka for a second before turning back to reading. The crab blader understood little of the fancy diagrams and percentages the mechanic seemed to love. Perhaps if he took the time to watch her, maybe he could. While he wasn't dumb as people seem to make him out to be, he sadly had no real interest. The brunette was in his own little world, not noticing that he had gained a little audience. He froze in his thought when he heard a "Whoooa."

"Wow, Tetsuya. I didn't know you could read." Ginga said bewildered.

"I didn't know he could read." Takashi chimed in.

"Boys!"

The mechanic glared at the town, scolding them.

Tetsuya nearly fell off the couch, catching himself. He was starting to remember why he bothered the shrimp trio in the first place…

As the following days passed, Madoka had taken the effort to try to get Tetsuya to open up. It was certainly proving to be a difficult task. The brunette seemed to be a master at evading things. Which made sense given how easily he had taken off without anyone noticing that one time.

The mechanic was at least able to get him to do a few matches with Akira, who had seemed to have taken a liken to Tetsuya. Much to the crab blader's chagrin. Surprisingly enough, he didn't do his usual cheating. Whether out of respect for her or the possibility that he has turned a new shell will remain a mystery.

Another day, another wasted opportunity to leave. Tetsuya thought as he chewed on his egg sandwich.

Yet again, he got roped into hanging out with Madoka, Ginga, and the seaside shrimp trio. He took his place next to Madoka, watching Ginga and one of the shrimps blade. He listened to Madoka as she commented on how everyone was getting stronger.

As Tetsuya finished his sandwich he couldn't help but feel as though something was not right. As though something or someone was missing…

"Whoa, that's wicked. Must be because we've been battling every day with our new skills. Pretty soon we won't be losing to Kenta," Osamu boasted proudly.

"Kenta? Forget him! We want to get strong so we can be the first to beat Ginga!" Takashi said excitedly.

Ahh..that's it. Tetsuya realized he has not seen the little crab ever since Ginga had beaten him up in that one match.

"Haha! That's the spirit!" Ginga stopped for a second after it registered to him that the centaur blader was missing. "Hey! Where's Kenta anyway?"

After saying their good-byes to the seaside shrimp trio, Madoka, Tetsuya, and Ginga went on ahead to find Kenta. Somehow, the mechanic had managed to convince the crab blader to tag along with them. It was late afternoon by the time they passed the bridge.

"Now that you mention it, Kenta hasn't been at Bey Park for awhile." Madoka mused.

"I hope nothing's happened to him!" Ginga said.

"Well, maybe he caught your cold, Ginga." A flash of green caught the corner of Madoka's eyes, "Ah, look there!"

"Huh?" The two boys looked down to see what caught Madoka's attention.

They was greeted by the sight of the younger boy running. Given his roughed up appearance and sounds of panting, it was obvious that he has been doing this for quite some time. As soon as Kenta got closer, Tetsuya said, "Hey, it's the little crab!"

That immediately got Kenta to stop running to look up at the source of the voice, "Huh? Ginga, Madoka! Wait…" he noticed a familiar looking brunette standing next to his two friends, "is that Tetsuya? What's he doing here?"

Before Tetsuya could begin to have a little crabby fit, the Pegasis blader ran straight into him, making him fall. "Whoa whoa, crabbawhat!"

"He's been staying at the B-Put lately for uhhh repairs," Ginga answered for Tetsuya.

"Where are you off to in such a big hurry?" Madoka asked as her and Ginga made their way down the stairs.

"Wh-where?" Kenta stuttered, "Nowhere special!" Completely forgetting about Tetsuya for a moment, who finally got up and walked down the stairs with the others.

"Hmm…" Ginga inspected Kenta, noticing his injuries. "How'd you get all those scrapes?"

Kenta turned his back towards the three, wrapping his arms around himself, "Scrapes? Uh, what scrapes? Oh, these are nothing," he chuckled nervously.

Ginga remained unconvinced, "It sure doesn't look like nothing. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Um…"Kenta started nervously.

"Oh!" A light bulb went off in Madoka's head. "It's your special move, isn't it?! I get it!"

"A special move?" Ginga asked confusedly.

"Yep! Kenta says he wants to create a special move for Sagittario, just like you have for Pegasis! He must be working on that all by himself. Isn't that right, Kenta?" Madoka asked.

Ahh…Tetsuya did recall overhearing Kenta excitedly talking about special moves when he visited the B-Pit for the first time a few days ago. The kid was so distracted, he didn't even notice the crab blader scuttling right past him to go in the basement.

That little crab really needs to learn to pay attention more.

"Well…" Kenta began.

"Ah, so that's what you're up to. In that case, can I give you a hand? Tetsuya could probably lend a uhhh claw!" Ginga offered.

You can hear Tetsuya in the background saying, "Hey that's my line, crab cakes!"

"Uh, n-n-no!" Kenta starts to panic, "No, no, I don't need any help! It's fine. So, just leave me me alone, okay?" The centaur blader began to run.

"Uh, Kenta!" Ginga stopped Kenta running by grabbing ahold of his wrist. "Wait." He watched as Kenta's Bey Pointer fell to the ground.

Kenta swiped at Ginga, "I'm telling you, it's nothing! Goodbye!" He started off again.

Tetsuya watched the two staring at the direction Kenta went. Remembering the Bey Pointer that fell onto the ground, he broke his attention away from the two, picking it up. "Hmm…" His eyes widened at the sight of the digital numbers flashing a '0' at him. "Hey, little crab's points are at zero!"

Ginga and Madoka immediately huddled close to the crab blader's side.

"But I thought Kenta had over 2000 points!" Madoka said.

"Hmm…something's wrong here."

"Something's definitely wrong," Madoka agreed.

Tetsuya rubbed his chin, thinking about everything that just happened. It did seem odd for the younger boy to be missing for several days to all of a sudden show up in bruises and scrapes. Just what kind of training did the little crab did to be able to use a special move?

Ginga turned to look back at Kenta as he moved even further away. "What should we do?"

"If we follow him, we'll figure it out." the mechanic had a smile on her face, "Well, let's go Watson." she ran after Kenta.

Ginga sweat drops. "How come you get to be Sherlock?" He followed after Madoka.

"Hey, what about me crabby?" Tetsuya pointed at himself, "Hey, waaaait for me girl crab."

Kagewaki: Tetsuya reading The Call of the Wild has nothing to do with the recent movie. I had started writing this chapter back in 2011 so it's just a crazy coincidence lol It happens to be one of my favorite books growing up. If you haven't noticed, "Seaside Shrimp Trio" is in reference to something on Red Lobster's menu haha. Integrating Tetsuya into part of the main crew is going to be interesting...

Take note that I have cleaned up the first two chapters a bit. So you can reread those if you like. Nothing really changed much, just took care of some typos and changed a word or two.