Hello everyone. Thanks for reviewing the story and encouraging me to continue. When I first set out to write this, I wasn't sure if the idea would go anywhere, but so far, things have been going smoothly. And yes, the other girls will come into the story, but I've decided to leave that until towards the end. I hope you like this third chapter. Read & Review!

The Stolen Beyblades

Later that day, Tyson called Hilary up to his room, saying he wanted to tell her about the conversation that took place earlier.

"Sorry we couldn't let you and Marie join in," he said.

"It's alright. There are still some things about Beyblading I don't fully understand so it wouldn't be my place to offer my opinion."

"Anyway, we were discussing why our bit-beasts acted like they did in our training sessions with Marie."

"I figured as much. Do you have any ideas?" she asked.

"Yeah Chief has an idea, but it's really out there. He says that our bit-beasts are scared of Marie's beyblade."

"Scared of it?" Hilary echoed, perplexed.

"Well, maybe scared was the wrong word. What I mean is that they seem to think that something about it is dangerous," Tyson said.

Maybe there's good reason for that Hilary thought.

"Do you think there might be any validity to what the bit-beasts are feeling?" Hilary asked.

"What?" he asked, giving her a puzzled look.

Hilary sighed. Remember Hilary, big words confuse him "What I mean is, assuming Chief is right, why do you think the bit-beasts see Marie's blade as a danger?"

"I have no idea. It seems like a perfectly normal beyblade."

"Well, obviously they see something about it that we don't," Hilary said. And I'd bet my life that something is the same uneasy feeling I get when I see Marie.

Tyson once again have Hilary a confused look. "What you do you mean?"

Realizing her slip-up, she elaborated. "Well, Bit-beasts are thought to be more perceptive than humans, so maybe they sense something about the blade that makes them feel uncomfortable."

"Yeah, Kai said the same thing," Tyson said.

"Don't worry too much about it," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"I guess you're right," he said returning the smile. He kissed her on the cheek and then headed toward the door.

"Call me when dinner's ready," Hilary said before he walked out. Tyson turned at nodded before closing the door.

Hilary gave another heavy sigh once he was gone. "I can't let him or the others know about my suspicions because that's all they are. They'd either think I was crazy or jealous." She paused. "Okay, maybe I am a little jealous, but still, there's something not right about Marie, I just know it. Until I have proof though, I've gotta keep quiet."

Dinner was odd, like the rest of that day. Marie seemed to want to eat her food in silence (one of the only things she and Hilary had in common), but the boys were bombarding her with questions.

"What part of the US do you come from?" Max asked.

"Mississippi, where I was born," Marie replied.

"What do your parents do for a living?" Kenny asked.

The pools of luscious milk-chocolate that were Marie's eyes clouded over with sadness.

"My mom died in childbirth and my dad is an executive who has to travel a lot, so I don't stay in one place for too long. I've lived in five different states so far."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hilary suddenly said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "I know how you feel. My dad left when I was a toddler and I haven't seen him since."

"I understand what you're going through too," Tyson added."My mom died when I was really young and my dad is an archeologist so I hardly get to see him."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Marie said.

"Don't sweat it," they said in unison.

They paused for a couple seconds. "Jinx!" they said simultaneously."Darn!" came a second later. Then both began to laugh.

Everyone else just stared at them. "Hilary's been hanging around Tyson way too much," Ray muttered to Kai. The co-captain nodded in agreement.

"So Marie, if you never played before today, why do you have a beyblade?" Daichi asked.

"My dad gave it to me as a birthday present when I was thirteen."

Suddenly, Hilary's eyes narrowed at Marie. That uneasy feeling had crept up again. "Wait a minute. You're saying that you've had a beyblade for three years and you've never actually used it until today?" she asked.

"Well…yeah," Marie said.

Right, and I'm the Empress of Russia Hilary thought sarcastically.

The others didn't seem to notice her sudden change in attitude and continued the conversation.

"Do you have a bit-beast yet?" Ray asked.

"No, not yet."

"Well, a bit-beast has to choose its partner. With your skills, I'm sure one will come to you soon," Kai said.

As good as she is, I'd be surprised if it didn't happen in the next few days Hilary thought.

That night, while everyone was asleep, a shadowy figure crept around the dojo. Making no sound, the person went to each the Bladebreakers. Once all had been visited, the figure made its exit, with no one the wiser.

The next morning, the first sound heard in the Granger dojo was an angry exclamation.

"WHO TOOK DRANZER?" Kai shouted looking at all his teammates accusingly.

Everyone was roused from their sleep by the outburst.

"Dranzer's gone?" Ray asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and I wanna know who the THIEF is that stole it!"

Max's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Draciel is gone too!"

Ray, Tyson and Daichi checked their person and discovered the same fate had befallen their beyblades.

"Someone must have snuck in and stole them last night," Ray said.

"When I find out who took Dragoon, they'll wish they'd never been born!" Tyson said, clenching his fists.

"It might've been someone from an opposing team," Kenny said.

"Or someone from school who's jealous of us," Daichi added.

"Uh guys, has anyone seen Marie?" Hilary asked.

Everyone got up and looked all over the dojo and she was nowhere to be found. Hiro was woken up by the commotion and came downstairs from Tyson's room.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Do you know where Marie is?" Max asked.

"No I'm afraid not, why?"

"Someone stole our beyblades and we need to find out if she knows anything," Ray said.

"My beyblade is gone too…"

"Maybe she saw who did it and was kidnapped," Tyson said.

Or maybe she made off with them herself Hilary thought angrily. "I'm going to go check outside and see if there are any clues," she said aloud.

"Good idea. I'll go with you," Kai said.

The two went outside and found and looked around the perimeter, but again, came up empty. They went back inside.

"Did you find her?" Max asked.

"No," Kai said.

Just then, the phone on the kitchen wall rang. Tyson picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi Tyson. It's Marie."

"Marie, where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at my house. Don't you remember, I went home before you all turned in. What's going on?" she asked.

"Someone came in last night and stole everyone's beyblades."

"That's terrible!"

"Do you have any idea who might've done this?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not. I'm so sorry."

"Alright. See you later."

"Who was that?" Ray asked.

"Marie. She's over at her dad's house."

"Oh yeah, she went home yesterday."

"Okay, we've established where she is, but we still have no idea who did this and we need to find out," Kai said.

Maybe you don't, but I do Hilary thought.

Let's ask at school tomorrow. Maybe Daichi was right and it was just some jealous kid," Max said.

"Well, we can't train, so what do we do all day?" Ray asked.

"I say we just kick back and relax," Daichi said.

"How can you relax when our beyblades are missing?" Tyson asked, glaring at him.

"There's nothing we can do right now Tyson," Hiro said.

Tyson growled in frustration and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Daichi asked.

"To my room. No one bother me." He went up the stairs and slammed the door.

Hilary watched him with a sad look in her eyes. She felt so bad for him.

"I'm going to go outside and get some air," she said to her teammates.

She sat on the dojo steps, thinking about the theft and who she felt had committed it.

If Marie was at her father's house, she would've had to sneak out of the house, come over here in the dead of night, steal everyone's beyblade from their person without waking them up and then go back to her house and hide them without waking her dad up. And I have no idea where she lives, so I don't know how close or far away she is from the dojo to even have time to do all that.

In order to confirm or deny her suspicions, Hilary had to know where Marie lived. I'll ask her if we can visit tomorrow after school. If she accepts, I'll use the opportunity to either rummage through her stuff or at least get the address and layout of the house for future reference. If she says no, or hesitates, then I'll know she's hiding something.