A/N: Yatta! New chapter, everyone! Meanwhile, I apologize for the delay in updates in my other stories; for some strange reason, this archive will not let me upload the fifth chapter for 'Hikari'...grr.

Dislaimer: If I owned Beyblade, I wouldn't be posting here, would I?

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Chapter 9: The Search

Kumiko groaned, and then gave a small cough. A small frown showed on the raven-haired teen's face as she struggled to sit up. Finally she did, and coughed weakly once more. However, she recovered soon enough, and began to examine her surroundings and her companions. There were only four of them – two boys, another girl, and herself – and they were inside a dingy-looking room, with gray walls, only one small barred window, and no furniture. In fact, Kumiko realized, shivering inwardly, the room they were in bore some semblance to a dungeon!

"Hey, you finally woke up," One of the boys noted as he came closer. Kumiko took note of his pale blue eyes and sandy brown hair. "Your name's…Fujiwara Kumiko, right?" he asked. She nodded, smiling.

"Yes, that's right. And you are-?"

"Akimoto Ryushi, captain of Team Basilisk." He and Kumiko exchanged handshakes, then the amethyst-eyed teen turned to the other two occupants. Her eyes widened upon seeing Shizuka's familiar features

"Takenori-san, you're here as well?"

The brunette nodded sullenly. "Unfortunately, yes. It happened late last night, when I was almost asleep. Someone came up behind me and tried to restrain me. I fought, but he – or she – managed to knock me out." She looked up. "Is that what happened to you, too?"

"Actually, I was asleep already, but at around midnight, I just woke up for no reason. And then I saw the shadow of someone creeping in through the window. Like you, I also fought, but whoever it was soon had me subdued."

"Same thing happened to me," piped up their other male companion. Kumiko turned towards him, trying to recall his name.

The purple-eyed teen smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I really can't remember your name right now, though a friend of mine pointed you out to me one time."

The boy, who had dull blue-green eyes and coffee-brown hair, smiled. "It's okay, though I have to admit, there's no need for you to introduce yourself, Fujiwara-san. Anyway, I'm Tachikawa Takeshi, captain of Team Griffin." Once more, handshakes were exchanged, and then everyone sat back down.

"So…does anyone have any idea where we are?" Takeshi asked.

"I'm not sure, but this looks to be some sort of closed prison cell – closed because it has no bars or anything, except for the ones on the window. But there is a door at the far end," Ryushi answered. "As for exactly where…I don't know if we're still in Japan or not…"

"Great…" Shizuka muttered.

"Wait," Kumiko peered at the sandy-haired teen curiously. "Ryushi, how'd you know there was a door at the far end of this room?"

"Well, I regained consciousness before all three of you, so I took to learning as much about this room as I could. So, I found the door there – it's painted to blend in with the bricks, but you can tell it's made of metal; thing is, it's locked. And as far as I could tell, there's no way to pick the lock from in here."

"Darn…"

Once more silence reigned, each of the four teens lost in their own thoughts, though each was thinking the same thing: how do we escape?

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"Oh, man!" Kaito slammed his fist on the side table. "Now how are we going to find them if Kumiko wasn't able to bring her blade?"

"Maybe we could as our bit beasts to sense those of the other three she's with now," Chiaki suggested.

"Not a chance," Kai replied almost immediately. He had gone back to staring out the window. "I think the other teams just thought about doing what you suggested, Kaito, and it turns out none of the kidnap victims were able to bring their blades with them."

"Great…" Kaito slumped back against the pillows.

"Hey, cheer up, guys!" Taichi piped up. "We'll think of something…"

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Shk!

The four captives looked up as the door – just where Ryushi had said it would be – slid open, and a man stepped into the room; unfortunately, it was too dark for any of the four to distinguish any features.

"So, all of you are awake," the man said as he came closer. "Good. That means we can start immediately."

"Start what?" Shizuka asked, glaring up at him.

"You shall find out soon enough…especially since you've been chosen to go first."

"What the-?" The brunette started as the man grabbed her wrist and hauled her up. "Hey! Let me go!" The steel-eyed girl threw a punch aimed at the guy's ribs, but he caught it with his free hand.

"It will be better for you if you cooperate, Takenori Shizuka," a deep voice suddenly resonated through the room.

"Who-?" Kumiko started to say, standing up and glancing furtively around. She knew that the voice had to be coming from hidden speakers, but even so, it had scared the wits out of her.

A dark chuckle came in reply. "My, my…a little agitated, are we, Fujiwara Kumiko? I wonder why…"

"You should know, you freak!" Ryushi shot back. "Who the hell are you, anyway? And why have you taken us here?"

"Patience, dear Ryushi, patience…Now, Damoto, bring in the girl."

The man – Damoto – who had entered their prison snapped to attention, tightening his grip on Shizuka's arm. "At once, sir."

"No! Let go!" Shizuka looked panicked now, and she struggled even harder to break Damoto's grip. Takeshi, seeing her distress, rushed over to help but was knocked quickly aside, skidding on his back into a corner.

"Takeshi!" Kumiko hurried over to the dazed teen and helped him sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" The brown-haired teen answered, rubbing his neck. "Nothing's broken; I'm just a bit shaken up, that's all…"

Clang!

Kumiko glanced up, startled, and saw that the door had been shut; both Shizuka and Ryushi were gone. The amethyst orbs widened. "Oh, no…"

"They were both taken out?" Takeshi asked. Kumiko nodded, and both teens fell silent.

A few minutes later, Shizuka's and Ryushi's voices came over the loudspeakers; they were speaking at the same time, so the occupants of the room could only make out bits and pieces.

"It's you!" Ryushi was saying. "You little -"

"Ryushi, do you know this person?" Shizuka interrupted. "How did-"

" - When I get my hands on you, I'll-"

"Take the girl to the inner room," came the command from the mastermind behind their capture, and then a shriek.

"Ah! No! Get away from me! What are you going to do? Ryushi, help!"

"You'd better-"

"Oh, and give this one a tranquilizer," the man continued. "Just to get him ready; it's his turn next, after all…

"I swear to-" Ryushi stopped speaking suddenly; Kumiko knew it was the tranquilizer they had no doubt given him. Shizuka's voice could no longer be heard, either; apparently she was in the 'inner room' by that time.

The raven-haired teen turned to her companion. "We have to find a way out of here, fast."

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"Uh, guys?"

All of them – Team BBA, the members of Team Phoenix, Shun, and Yuujin – were still in the infirmary; it was Yuujin who had just spoken, breaking the awful silence.

"Yeah?" Chiaki glanced up from her lap and at the auburn-haired teen.

"I just got an idea…"

"Well, what is it?" Takao asked, looking eager.

The aqua-eyed teen took a deep breath. "Well, what if we used Suzaku to find Kumiko and the others?"

Kaito arched an eyebrow. "How do we do that?"

"Isn't it true that you guys have some sort of bond with your bit beasts? Well, what if the bit beast can sense where you are through that bond?"

"It's worth a shot…" Rei commented. "We've never tried it that way before, but who says that it won't work?"

"All right, then!" Takao jumped up from his seat. "Kaito, Taichi, we'll just wait for the two of you to recover fully, and then we'll go on that search."

"Thanks." Kaito replied, offering everyone a small smile. "The doctor said I'd probably be out of here the day after tomorrow."

"Same here," Taichi added, flashing a thumbs-up.

"That's good to hear," Max said. "At least the two of you are making a quick recovery." The blonde, too, stood up, stretched, and made for the door. "I'll tell Chairman Daitouji about the plan; we can't just jet off searching for someone without his say-so."

"You do that, Max," Takao said, nodding in agreement. "Meanwhile, I think I'll head to my room and take a nap."

One by one, the visitors left the room until Kai was the only one left with Taichi and Kaito. He fingered Dranzer, which he'd placed in his pocket, as he went over the probable outcomes of this little 'rescue' they had planned.

He hoped nothing would go wrong.

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"What do you think happened to them?" Takeshi asked, staring out the window. It was nighttime now, but neither Ryuichi nor Shizuka had been brought in yet.

Kumiko sighed, wrapping her hands around her knees and resting her head on them. "I don't know…but I feel very unsettled, for some reason…"

"Well, better unsettled or nervous than starving…"

The amethyst-eyed teen smiled at that comment. "True…" Twice that day – once at what must have been noon, and then again only around an hour earlier – someone had brought them food. The two teens knew that whoever had kidnapped them didn't want them growing weak or passing out from lack of nourishment.

"But still…I can feel that something bad has happened…" the raven-haired teen continued, half-mumbling to herself.

The room fell silent again, both of the remaining occupants lost in their own thoughts. And then Takeshi walked over to Kumiko, sat down beside her, and then laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you…scared, Kumiko-san?"

The girl shook her head slowly. "Not really…at least, not scared enough to disable myself from thinking straight…"

"Well, then, perhaps you'd care to join me on an…excursion." The blue-green orbs seemed to twinkle mischievously when he said that. Kumiko's head shot up.

"Are you…suggesting we try to escape from here?" she asked, knowing the answer even before she asked.

Takeshi nodded. "Yup! Unless I miss my guess, you're the last one they'll come for and experiment on, if they did perform an experiment on Ryuichi-san and Shizuka­-san…"

Kumiko's eyes widened when she heard this, but she soon got over the initial shock. "Well, what do I have to do?"

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"Hey, Kaito! Taichi!" Shun called to the two teens, who had just emerged from the stadium infirmary.

"Hi there, Shun." Taichi replied, waving at the team researcher.

"It's certainly nice to know you guys have been released," Chiaki commented, grinning as she did so.

"The two of you sure recovered quickly…" Rei observed. Only he and Takao had accompanied Chiaki and Shun; Max, Kai, Yuujin and Kyouju were in the team room. "Wasn't it only yesterday that the doctors said that both of you need around two more days to heal completely?"

"Yeah, well…" Kaito shrugged. "We must have healed sooner than expected, then…"

"Which is a good thing," Shun added, starting off down the hall back towards the team room. "C'mon, the others are probably waiting for us…"

It had been quite surprising for Team BBA, Shun, and Chiaki to find out that Taichi and Kaito had completely recovered, but it was more of a surprise when they found that Chairman Daitouji had given them the go-ahead to field their own search for the kidnap victims; they guessed he wanted to bring the four teens back as safe and uninjured as possible.

So, as per their discussion the day before, they would start the search that very day; they were to gather in the team room, and then set out.

"Finally!" Yuujin exclaimed, jumping up off her seat when the six teens crossed the threshold. "I was beginning to think you'd never get here!"

"Don't be like that, Yuujin…" Chiaki said as she took her seat. "We had to go slowly for Taichi and Kaito's sakes."

"Well, I'm just glad the two of you are all right now," Max said, glancing at Taichi and Kaito. The chocolate-haired teen grinned.

"Thank you for saying so, Mizuhara-sensei…"

"Is everyone done chatting?" Kai suddenly asked, breaking the friendly atmosphere.

"Geez…doesn't he ever lighten up?" Takao muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wall. Everyone else quieted down, though; they knew how important it was to find their friends as fast as possible.

"All right, then…" The slate-haired teen reached into his pocket and brought out Kumiko's Dranzer. Almost at once, the crimson phoenix rose up out of the bit chip, towering over the group.

"Suzaku, it's me," Kai spoke softly, looking deep into his bit beast's eyes. The spark of recognition flared up in the great bird's eyes, and it gave a soft screech of reassurance, causing the slate-haired teen to grin slightly. And then he turned serious once more. "We need your help, my friend."

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"Hey, man! Quit it! I'm not going with you to that creepy lab, got it?"

Kumiko cracked one eye open at the sound of Takeshi's voice. "T-Takeshi?"

"Stop...struggling! You're only making this more difficult for yourself, kid…"

The amethyst-eyed teen sat straight up when she heard Damoto's voice. Oh, no… The girl thought, glancing around. She'd fallen asleep at her post! She stumbled to her feet and then rushed at the guard, noting that Damoto had gripped Takeshi by the shoulders and had hauled him roughly to his feet.

"Hey, you! Let him go!" Kumiko cried, latching onto his arm and trying to break Damoto's grip on her companion.

Damoto smirked, and then gasped when the raven-haired girl did pry Takeshi loose from his grip. And then he snarled, swinging his right hand out and catching Kumiko on the side of her head. The girl gave a short cry of pain before tumbling to the floor, dazed.

"K-Kumiko!" Takeshi was horrified at the harsh treatment. He made to kneel beside the girl to see if she was okay, but was caught up by Damoto once more.

"C'mon, kid; they want you in the labs…" he muttered, smirking as he almost effortlessly dragged Takeshi towards the open door.

"No! Let go of me! I have to - "

CLANG!

Kumiko forced herself to a sitting position and surveyed her surroundings; sure enough, she was alone. She grinned.

"Good thinking, Takeshi…" she said aloud, striding quickly towards the closed door. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the handle and pulled. To her surprise and delight, it slid open!

The night before, Takeshi had revealed to her how to place a piece of paper or cloth in a door's locking mechanism so that when moderate pressure was applied, the door would swing closed but wouldn't lock, yet would look as though it were shut tight. And then, just minutes before Damoto arrived to fetch Takeshi, both Kumiko and her companion had feigned sleep, and then when the guard set foot inside the room, the amethyst-eyed teen had done exactly as Takeshi had instructed her. The rest had been all an act, and it had paid off!

Stopping only to pick up the fallen piece of material she'd ripped from the edge of her tank top, she crept out into the hallway and glanced left, and then right. She heaved a sigh of relief. No one's out on guard duty… Good.

As she walked down the hall – which she hoped would lead to the lab so she could help Ryushi, Takeshi, and Shizuka – she noted that she was still wearing the armbands Kai had given her and wondered whether she had thought to take them off on the night she'd been kidnapped.

Suddenly, red lights began going on and off throughout the hall, and an alarm blared over the speakers. "Attention! Attention! Prisoner escaping! I repeat: a prisoner has escaped!"

Kumiko froze. But…how did-? And then she realized that she must have tripped an alarm somewhere back. Darn it… she thought, slapping herself mentally for not being more careful and checking for some sign of an alarm system.

"There she is!" someone shouted. The raven-haired teen turned around. At the end of the corridor – near to where she and her companions had been held – were gathered around five security personnel, armed with what looked like tranquilizer dart guns.

Kumiko didn't wait and see what they were planning to do with those – she already knew it, anyway – and then turned and began to run down the hall.

I have to lose them somehow…

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"Where do you think Suzaku's going?" Takao asked in between gasps. For the past half-hour, he and his companions had been following the scarlet firebird, running in order to keep it in their sight.

"I have no idea," Kai replied, keeping his eyes trained on his – and Kumiko's – bit beast. "But I'm sure she sensed Kumiko; I could see it in her eyes."

"That's great, but can't it slow down or fly a little lower?" the stormy-eyed teen said, exasperated. "This running's killing me!"

"A little exercise never hurt anybody, Kinomiya…"

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Muscular…"

"Uh, Takao, I think you should - " Max started, and then suddenly there was a clang!, an 'OW!', and then a rather dazed Takao was lying on the sidewalk.

"…Look out for the lamp post…" the blonde finished with a sigh.

A few feet away, Suzaku stopped and alighted on a nearby rooftop, sensing its former master and his companions had stopped following it. The phoenix gave a screech, alerting them to her impatience. They had to hurry if they hoped to make it in time.

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"Let. Me. GO!" Kumiko shouted, managing to hit one of her captors with a knee kick and toppling him. The five security men had caught up with her at a junction in the hallway – it had crossed with another – and had managed to subdue her. The amethyst-eyed girl, however, would not stand for this.

She twisted around and, using her free hand, sucker-punched the man who held her other hand. Behind her, the three security personnel gasped, and then pulled out their tranquilizer guns.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Kumiko said as she turned to face them. One of them fired, but the shot went awry as amethyst-eyed teen swept his feet out from under him. Moving quickly before the other two could aim well, she knocked the gun out from one guy's hand, and then kneed the other in the groin. After doing so, she turned around and then began to run again.

Somehow, she sensed that this hallway led to the lab, and so she continued running in the direction the five men had been taking her. I just hope they're okay…

Several minutes passed before she stopped and leaned against a wall for support, panting slightly. Straightening up, she glanced behind her and found that no one had followed her. I wonder why? She thought. And then she shrugged and began to walk. Well, as long as no one gets in my way…

Suddenly, a scream resounded a little way down the corridor she was now in. The girl frowned. That was Takeshi!

She quickened her pace to a fast jog and continued down the hall. What are they doing to him?

She stopped abruptly. There was a great steel door to her right, and the corridor led to a dead end. Then that must mean…

Hesitantly she turned towards the door and reached out a hand to grasp the handle, at the same time readying herself to attack anyone who made a move to attack her first.

To her surprise, the door swung open without her even touching the handle, and she glanced up. In front of her was Damoto. The taller man smirked. "We've been expecting you, Fujiwara," he said, leering as he grabbed her outstretched arm and yanking her into the room.

"How did-" the amethyst-eyed teen began, and then stopped short. Leaning against the nearby wall was…

"Ryuichi!" Kumiko cried happily. "You're all right!"

The sandy-haired teen smirked. "Why did you think I wasn't?"

Kumiko furrowed her brow. "What are you-?"

"The two of us were never in any real danger, Fujiwara…"

The raven-haired teen turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and gasped. "Takenori-san! You - " And then realization sank in, and the girl frowned. "The two of you were never really kidnapped, were you?"

Shizuka grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course. You have to admit, though, that we put on a pretty good act…"

Kumiko's frown only deepened. Takeshi couldn't have known about the secret to keeping the door unlocked, unless… "But…Takeshi-san…he's…"

"Oh, he knows nothing of this of course," Ryuichi answered, sounding as if he'd read Kumiko's mind. "We had to take him, too; if we hadn't, the situation would have been fishy from the start."

Kumiko was about to retort when a rather large hand rested on her shoulder, and a deep, yet quiet and somehow, frightening voice made itself heard.

"Our only real target…was you, Fujiwara Kumiko."

The raven-haired girl whirled around to face the speaker and gasped.

"You!"

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A/N: Oooooh, wonder who the mastermind is? Haha! Like I don't know; I'm the writer! XD Ahehe...okay, I'm probably on strawberry high right now (I had a strawberry shake before I uploaded this to the archive...).

Ah, well, as usual, please let me know what you guys thought of this chapter...especially since the plot is heating up! Whee! Dewa mata, minna-san! Peace out and God bless!