He lay slumped against the trunk, dazed and frozen with shock and pain. His head throbbed. He winced and raised a shaking hand to touch the nape of his neck; his heart pounded in his ears, fear and anxiety almost overwhelmed him.

No blood came off on his fingers. Another lucky break. The force with which he had hit the tree could have cut the back of his head open, rendered him unconscious or -

He dared not think about the worst scenario.

Tyson slowly rose to his feet, shaken. Dragoon teetered on the edge of the Beystadium.

Despite himself, he grinned. "Thought you had me, didn't you?" he chuckled.

Evan was taken aback. "That blow should have defeated you…but your Beyblade's still spinning and you're still standing."

"That's because I never give up. My Bit Beast isn't going anywhere," Tyson replied resolutely. "You've got power but it doesn't come near to mine, kid."

"What?" the Black Hell Blader spluttered indignantly.

"You should have known better than to pick on an amateur Beyblader. They're easy to beat - next time choose someone more worthwhile," chided the navy-haired teen.

His opponent gritted his teeth. "I'll show you unworthy!"

"Uh…Tyson, I'm not sure annoying him is a good idea," Hilary called over the folorn moaning of the wind.

Tyson laughed. "Don't sweat it, Hil. It's fine."

"No, it's - " Kenny began.

"You've got no guts, Evan. Next battle we have show me what you really look like! Or are you too chicken?" Tyson jeered.

"Don't!" his friends shouted.

Too late. Evan was riled. "You'll pay for that!"

The dark waves pulsated from his Beyblade at an alarming rate, threatening to throw both Tyson and Dragoon off balance.

"Dragoon - make this wind yours," Tyson ordered. "Show this guy what power really is!"

His Beyblade accelerated its spin speed, becoming a silver-white blur. The gales ripping through the park changed direction and Hilary, the Chief and the ten-year-olds had to cling to each other and their bench for dear life when the high winds almost swept them off their feet.

The wind swirled around Dragoon MS, turning into an azure hurricane as Evolution Storm was unleashed. Evan's dark waves bounced uselessly off the Special Attack and were hurled straight back at the Black Hell Blader. The opposing Beyblade skittered across the arena, skimming the brink of the Beystadium.

This is was Tyson's chance. "Now!" he yelled.

Dragoon zoomed up the stadium slope and with the slightest contact, pushed Evan's blade over the edge. The other Beyblade landed at the Hell Blader's feet.

As quickly as they had come, the gales died down. Dragoon circled the arena as if performing a lap of honour. The temperature became normal again and the cold lost its bitter edge.

Evan glowered at Tyson. "You got me this time but when we next battle, Dragoon will be mine. Your soul will be my trophy for capturing your Bit Beast!"

The red glow faded from the boy's eyes and the child fainted. Hilary caught him as he fell.

The other boys stared at the unconscious young Beyblader apprehensively, whispers rippling through them.

"Is it over?"

"Is he okay?"

"What happened to him?"

Hilary smiled. "It's alright now," she reassured them kindly. "The bad guy's gone. The kid's fine - come and see for yourself."

The young Beybladers approached her cautiously, their eyes darting from the fallen Beyblade to the still form in her arms. They gathered around the brunette and gazed hard at the unconscious boy in silence for a while.

Hilary spoke up. "Do any of you know this kid's real name?"

"It's David," one of the boys piped up bravely.

"Do you know where he lives?"

"Yes. I'm his best friend Daniel," the same boy answered.

"Good. I think we'd better take David home."

"That was a great strategy," Kenny told Tyson proudly, crouching down to retrieve David's Beyblade.

"Heh heh. Thanks Chief," the navy-haired teen grinned, collecting up his own. "I would have been a goner if it hadn't been for Dragoon."

"Yeah…" the Chief agreed. "Dizzi recorded the whole thing and she thought the way you used Evolution Storm to block that Hell Blader's attacks was neat. It was reckless goading him to attack like that though…but I can see why you did it. You got him so riled that he attacked carelessly and this allowed you to use his power against him."

"That's right and I got him good!"

"Sure did." His friend beamed.

"You shouldn't have angered Evan like that!" Hilary scolded Tyson. "You've made it more likely he'll try something awful next time and - "

"Hilary, you're scaring the kids," interposed Kenny. The ten-year-olds were wide-eyed and nervous. "They're still on edge after what's happened so keep your voice down. You can grill Tyson later."

"Oops, sorry…" she mumbled meekly.

"Here." The Chief held out David's Beyblade out to Daniel. "It's a little chipped and cracked in places but it's nothing that can't be fixed. Take it to the Tate Hobby Shop and Mr. Tate will repair it for you."

"Thank you," Daniel replied gratefully, taking the blade from him. "I'll get it fixed so when David wakes up it'll be as good as new." He turned to Hilary. "Let's go."

The brunette nodded and they briskly left the park.

Tyson watched them walk away. "I sure hope that kid's okay."

"Don't worry," Kenny assured him. "He'll be fine. Evan didn't leave a scratch on him thanks to you."

"Yeah." His frown was replaced by a smile. "Let's get back to my place and replay those battles you recorded. Maybe we'll pick up something we haven't noticed yet."

"Good thinking." The Chief returned his smile.

They returned to the dojo after making sure the ten-year-old Beybladers had settled down and were able to battle each other peacefully once more. Kenny set up Dizzi in Tyson's bedroom and they sat on chairs staring at the screen as the Chief opened a video file. The battle he and Hilary had witnessed with Evan against an amateur Beyblader played.

Tyson watched Evan hack the other Beyblade and heard a surprised "hey!" from Kenny in the background and then a cry of "LET IT RIP!" He saw Hopper MS land in the Beystadium, bouncing clear of every dark wave that came its way.

"Incoming emails, Chief!" Dizzi announced.

"Oh! Thanks Dizzi," Kenny replied. "Let's see…" He paused the video and opened his email account. "I've got emails from Max and Ray!"

"An email from Ray?" Tyson was surprised. "That's a first! I thought he could only contact us through letters."

"It is unusual," Kenny concurred. "Let's read what it says…"

Hi Kenny, Tyson and Hilary,

How are things? I know getting a message from me like this will seem strange but my Uncle Stan is visiting from Paris and bought me a computer and a camcorder. I can email you guys now, although I'll still write letters.

Mariah and I were training in the garden when the weirdest thing happened - the dragon statue there started to move. Its eyes glowed read and it attacked us. Our attempts to stop it from getting us hardly even left a mark.

Then Mariah came up with a great idea. We used our Special Attacks at the same time and there was this horrible screamsomething that looked like a shadow came out of the statue and disappeared. We couldn't make out what it was but as soon as it had gone, the stone dragon went back to its original position and stopped moving. Whatever that thing was it had somehow controlled it.

We suspected it was something to do with the Black Hell Bladers and it wasn't until we read Chief's email about Alana being attacked that we were sure. Kevin had caught our battle on the camcorder, having discovered what was going on. What he videoed has been attached to this message so Kenny can use it for data on the shady team.

I hope you guys haven't been attacked too. Keep your wits about you and be careful. The Black Hell Bladers can strike at any time, anywhere.

Good luck.

- Ray -

"A moving dragon statue…you know, I'd have thought Ray had cracked had I read this before the Black Hell Bladers came along," Tyson remarked. "But it's believeable because of what happened to us today and what they did to us in the Olympics."

"Yes. I just hope Max's email isn't about an attack too," Kenny sighed. "It's a good thing Mariah got that idea when she did - they would have been stuffed had there been no way of defeating the statue. We'll have a look at that video file once we're done watching this one."

Tyson watched Hopper MS dodge every attack from Evan's blade with perfect control and come in for an attack which knocked the opposing Beyblade from the Beystadium.

The other boy's Beyblade had stopped spinning. Hilary picked it up and returned it to its owner.

The ten-year-old murmured a tearful "thank you," inspecting the blade's condition. The camera zoomed in on the Beyblade in the boy's hands; cracks had spread everywhere on the attack ring, Bit Chip and blade base and it looked like it was on the verge of shattering completely.

Tyson gave a low whistle. What a lot of damage Evan had caused!

Kenny stopped the video.

"The blade was beyond repair but good old Chief got out his spare parts and customised a Beyblade that looked just like the original!" Dizzi told Tyson. "It was stronger than the previous one too and the young Blader was pleased. Did you see Hilary's control over Hopper in the Beystadium? Pretty good for a beginner, huh?"

"You said it. She's gotten better from when she last launched a Beyblade."

"Don't remind me…" muttered Kenny. "It made my travel sickness a lot worse that day."

Dizzi and Tyson laughed. The Chief, despite being a computer whiz, expert mechanic and Beyblade genius, had one major weakness - his delicate stomach.

"Hey, it's not funny!" the brown-haired boy scowled.

"Okay," conceded Tyson breathlessly. "We'll stop now."

They watched the video clip Ray had sent with his email and the minute they saw the statue's eerie, glowing eyes they knew a Black Hell Blader had been behind the attack.

"Well, that's another thing I can add to what we know of the Black Hell Bladers." Kenny stopped the clip. "They cannot only possess people but inanimate objects like statues as well. We should take a look at Max's email and see what else we can learn about them. I'm now certain his message is about an attack like Ray's."

"This isn't good…" Tyson read the email with the Chief.

Hey guys,

Something bad happened to me on the way home after helping some Bladers at the local park. I was thinking about the email Kenny sent me regarding how the new student at Alana's school, Victor, had nearly killed another pupil when I saw a kitten stuck up a tree. I rescued it and searched for a collar but couldn't find one so I decided I'd take it to the vets to see if it had a microchip.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, the kitten suddenly stopped purring - which was strange. I looked at it to see if anything was wrong and Draciel gave me a warning. It wasn't until I saw the animal's eyes that I understood why. They were red and crazy. Its face changed into something totally ugly and it felt like I was holding some big cat instead - but that's not the freakiest thing, which comes later. The creature - I don't know it was - tried to bite my neck but I managed to get it off me before it succeeded.

It grew bigger with this weird aura around it and I realised it was a Bit Beast. The Black Hell Blader controlling it came out of its body - no, I wasn't seeing things; this is what really creeped me out - and told me her name was Vanessa. It looked like she had been possessing her own Bit Beast! For all I know, it could be a part of her. I don't think I want to know the answer anyway…it's too freaky. I recognised her as the Hell Blader that had first attacked Bay City and she confirmed it by saying how she would have caught Dranzer if it hadn't been for Alana and Goldflame.

We battled and I lured her into attacking. She became careless in her frustration, which left her open to my Special Attack. But it was her trap I'd fallen into - Vanessa defeated Aqua Shield and took advantage of my weakened defence. I would have lost had Rebecca not appeared and stepped in. She defeated Vanessa, who vanished into thin air like she had never been there in the first place.

Be careful, guys. Now you know the Black Hell Bladers on the loose again, who knows when they'll strike… Watch your back because you might be next.

Take care.

- Max -

"So Vanessa was the one who led us on that wild goose chase back when we first met Alana!" Tyson exclaimed. "She deserved to get beaten."

"That's true but she could come back," Kenny reminded him. "She wasn't finished for good. The fact she was inside her Bit Beast…it gives me the heebie-jeebies. It should be impossible!"

"I know." Tyson shuddered. "Poor Max."

"Another addition to the freaky features of the Black Hell Bladers," Dizzi sighed. "The ability to possess their own Bit Beast or to be part of them. I'd never want a Blader like Vanessa to be part of me - ooh, it freezes my circuits just thinking about it."

"Can't say I blame you, Dizzi," Kenny shivered. "If my assumptions are correct, Kai will be targeted next since we've all been attacked in the same day."

"Is there any way we can warn him, Chief?"

"No. I don't know much about his personal life and we can't contact him because he hasn't given me an address or phone number. We'll just have to hope Alana can get there in time to help him if he has trouble."

"Just great!" huffed Tyson irritably. "Typical Kai. Because of his necessity to be 'private', we can't get hold of him when it's important! Let's warn Alana instead - she'll set him straight."

"Good idea, Tyson." Kenny opened a blank message. "I'm on it. Tell Hilary when she comes in about Max and Ray's emails, okay?"

"Sure, Kenny." The navy-haired teen nodded.