The Beast Within

Chapter 1

"So? How did it go?" a girl with long black hair asked Faye, her eyes aflame with anticipation. "Come on, tell us!"

"Yeah," chimed in the other girl, the one with purple hair, "We deserve to know! Besides, you promised. We gave you the necessary sugar-overload so now you've got to tell us what happened!" She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Faye threateningly with her piercing green eyes.

Faye sighed as though exhausted, subconsciously combing her fingers through her hair. "Not much happened, Luna," she said to the purple-haired girl. "I found out he is Tyson, he asked me why I was bouncing like a frickin kangaroo, and my sugar boost wore off WAY too fast. He probably thinks I'm a complete lunatic." An amused grin stretched across her face. "Which I am...sometimes."

"Yep, you are," agreed the raven-haired girl. "So did he at least ask for your name?"

"Yeah, but-"

"There you go! Even if he thinks you're a little crazy, he's still interested in you!" Her voice grew steadily louder as her enthusiasm rose. "After all, if he wasn't interested he'd have been trying to escape as soon as he could. But he stopped you! We saw it!! So there!" She laughed, feeling gloriously triumphant.

"God, Tess!!" Faye exclaimed, hiding her face behind her hands. "Way to make me go even redder! Do you enjoy making me feel embarrassed?" She lowered her hands, laughing at herself. "Why the hell do I have to be so damn shy? It's unfair, that's what it is."

Luna swept her hair out of her eyes, giggling excitedly. "Awww, you guys look so cute together!" She hugged Faye tightly, jumping up and down. "I can tell you're happy, even if you won't admit it. The eyes never lie." she winked. "I am the best matchmaker ever!!"

Faye turned even redder and was forced to hide behind her hair. "LUNA!" she protested, peeking out from behind her protective curtain, "Stop it already! He'd never feel that way anyway." She flipped her hair back out of her face and sighed with disappointment. "I really wanted to ask him for a battle, too. He'd probably be such a fun opponent. God, I hate being so shy all the time. It's pathetic!"

Tess waved her hand dismissively, ignoring Faye's complaint. "You'll get another chance, don't worry. Hey! You know what would be a great idea? Coffee! Let's go!" She began dragging Faye and Luna down the street, intently searching for the nearest coffee shop. "I need my espresso spoons!"

"Noooo!!" yelled Luna, trying to pull away, "No coffee for you! Help me, Faye! We've got to stop her!" She pulled Tess's arm in a futile attempt to at least slow her down.

The commotion was ignored as Faye followed her friends like a zombie. Her sugar-crash was definitely showing now as she dragged her feet on the pavement. "Mmmmm...coffee..." she mumbled, "Need...caffeine...sugar not...enough..." Allowing herself to be steered through a shop door, she perked up at the invigorating smell of fresh coffee.

"Stick with hot chocolate," Luna advised, "You won't crash on that stuff."

"True."

Luna sat down at one of the small tables, an annoyed scowl advertising her irritation at losing her little battle with Tess. "You're addicted, you know," she glared at the hyper girl. "It's not healthy." Turning her head slightly, she shifted her glare to the man behind the counter as Faye joined her at the table. "As if she's not insane enough, you've got to let her fuel up on pure caffeine!!" Luna aimed a swift kick at the table leg in an effort to vent her frustration. It didn't work. "Ow."

The man behind the counter looked over at her with confusion and a little concern as he gave Tess her order.

"Woohoo!! Coffee time!!" Tess cheered as she bounced over to the table, carrying four large cups. "Here guys!" She handed Luna and Faye their cups, both hot chocolate, and set the remaining pair of cups in front of her before opening a small package.

"I don't understand how you can drink that stuff," Luna wrinkled her nose in disapproval, "It's disgusting."

"It's not that bad, Luna," Faye argued, waiting for her hot chocolate to cool. "Tess just likes it more than she should, that's all."

Tess now held one cup in each hand and was happily sucking on an espresso spoon at the same time.

Luna rolled her eyes, slamming her forehead on the table. "Unbelievable," she muttered before sitting up and drinking some of her hot chocolate.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Tyson was experiencing a mild case of emotional turmoil. He couldn't decide whether to be curious, worried, concerned, or surprised...so he was stuck feeling everything at once. Things had become very strange since that girl had left him in the park. Dragoon had stopped glowing a while ago, but the reason it had glowed in the first place was still a complete mystery. He sat down on his front step, absently mulling over possible explanations.

"Yo, dude!!" The front door burst open loudly, making Tyson jump in shock. "Where ya bin, homey?! Avoidin' yer chores again?" his Grandpa laughed obnoxiously, "Man, I thought I'd hafta entertain yer pals all day!" He smacked Tyson sharply on the head with the stick he never seemed to put down.

"OW!" Tyson winced, rubbing the sore spot where a large bump was rising beneath the skin. "Can't you act like a normal Grandpa for once?" He dodged another swing.

"Yer slowin' down, homey! Gotta sharpen those reflexes with more trainin'!!"

"Aahh!" Tyson dashed quickly into the house, searching for sanctuary from the crazy old man. He turned into the living room...and tripped over a tiny person with glasses, landing chin-first on the floor. "Ugh," he groaned, "What...?" He turned his head to see what exactly he'd run over. A small boy with messy brown hair that covered his eyes and large glasses perched on top of his head was picking himself up off the floor.

"Chief? What happened to y-" he felt a strong grip on his arm as someone dragged him back to his feet.

"You happened, you clutz!" laughed the person helping him up, a guy with golden eyes and long, inky black hair that was tied back in a long braid. A delicate set of fangs curved slightly over his bottom lip.

"Oh, hi Rei. What are you guys doing here?"

Rei shared a quick glance with Kenny before answering. "Drigger started glowing with this weird blue light a while ago. I went to ask Kenny about it, but he wasn't sure what was happening either so now we're trying to find out if it was an isolated incident or not. Have you noticed anything weird happening with Dragoon?"

Tyson's eyes widened. "It happened to you, too?" He fished Dragoon out of his pocket and handed it to Kenny for inspection. "Dragoon stopped glowing about an hour ago."

Kenny snatched the beyblade from Tyson's outstretched hand, excitement sparking in his eyes. Too bad no one could see his eyes. "Interesting," he muttered to himself, examining every inch of the beyblade. When he couldn't find anything amiss on the outside, he disassembled the beyblade and inspected each piece with care. Satisfied with his analysis, he heaved a disappointed sigh and returned Dragoon to Tyson after putting it back together. "I can't find anything out of the ordinary with it. Rei's was fine, too. I can only conclude that whatever has been happening doesn't involve any kind of malfunction with the blades themselves."

"Do you have any theories?" Rei asked.

"Some," replied Kenny, "But none that can be confirmed. I can't find any solid evidence so nothing can be proven one way or the other."

"So how are we supposed to get the evidence?" Tyson grumbled, throwing his hands up in frustration. "We can't make any progress without a lead of some kind." He walked out of the room, still grumbling.

"Where are you going?" Kenny asked.

"Kitchen. I'm hungry." Tyson answered from down the hall.

Rei and Kenny looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Figures," Rei snickered.