A/N: I'mmmm baaacckk!!! That's right! I'm ready to start the next chapter! I just had a lot of sugar so I'm in a good mood too! By the way, nobody has suggested a last name for Starr yet. I'm still looking for one so plz if you have an idea submit it. Thanks! Ok, here we go, pleez read and review as always:

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade, so you better not sue me!!

Chapter 3: Midnight Stroll

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Star sat up in her bed. She turned to look at the clock sitting on the end table next to her bed. It read 1:15 am. She smiled. "Perfect!" she thought. It was time….

She quickly slipped out of bed, put on a pair of black leather pants, and pulled a baggy gray sweatshirt over her white t-shirt. It was cold outside. She started for the door, but stopped, and looked at the light blue backpack lying on the other bed. "Should I bring them?" she wondered to herself. "Naw," she decided. "It'll be too dangerous." She took one last look at the bag, before stepping out of her room cautiously, making sure that the door clicked shut behind her and quietly walked to the elevator and pushed the "down" button. The door opened and she went in.

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Kai tossed in his bed in his room. He couldn't fall asleep. "Why can't I sleep?" he asked himself. In the bed next to him, Rei was lying quietly on his side, sleeping peacefully, as always. "I'm not sharing a room with Tyson, so that can't be it", he thought, recalling back to the last time he couldn't sleep. "What's going on?" Then he remembered Starr. Ever since he saw her, he had a strange feeling that he had seen her somewhere before, a long time ago. But where? And when? He got up. Lying there in bed wasn't going to do him any good. He opened the door and went out.

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After a small "ding", the elevator opened and Starr hurried out to the lobby and rushed out the door. New York City was still busy at this hour; lights flashed and people chattered. Starr didn't mind; she had been to New York tons of times and knew the streets there like the back of her hand. This wasn't the first time she'd done this, you know….She pushed past the crowd, turned, and entered the alley. "Where did that guy say all the action was gonna be again?" she asked herself. "Man, you can never trust overheard conversations these days." She grumbled as she came up to another small alleyway. Entering it, she saw exactly what she was looking for.

There was a small crowd gathered around something- a beyblade dish. Two bladers stood on either side, each holding a beyblade of their own. The one on the left was a boy who had spiky red hair, wore a black leather jacket and looked about 16. The other boy on the right looked like he was around 11. "What's a kid his age doing here at this time?" Starr wondered silently. He had dark green hair and wore a determined look on his face. (A/N: No, this isn't Kevin, in case you were wondering) The boy with the red hair smirked.

"Well then Sammy, are you ready to experience the biggest loss of you life?"

"Never! I'll never let a big bully like you beat me, Rick!!" Sammy said defiantly.

"Whatever you say." Rick replied breezily.

"Well this might be some-what interesting." Starr thought, bored already. She had stayed near the back of the crowd towards the corner so that she hopefully wouldn't be noticed too much. "But I doubt it'll be much of a battle." She eyed each of their beyblades. "That Sammy guy may seem really determined, but his beyblade in already in pretty bad condition. After couple more defeats, it's gonna be completely totaled. I guess he doesn't know too much about real beyblading. But then, Mr. All-That-Rick probably doesn't either." She yawned. "Like I said before, never trust overheard conversations. I'll just stay to watch this one battle. I mean it's gonna be short, anyways. None of the bladers here look that good."

Another boy with short black hair was the referee. "Bladers ready?? Three. Two. One. LET IT RIIPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!"

The two boys launched their beyblades at once into the dish. Rick's continually rammed into Sammy's and after about 5 seconds, one of the blades flew out of the dish. Sammy's. He caught the blade in both hands, and then slumped in defeat, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I-I-I c-can't believe I lost!"

"I warned you, but no, you wanted to waste my time and battle me. Serves you right." Rick said with another grin. "Anyone else?? Who's next?"

Starr turned to leave. What a boring, predictable battle! That was the last time she would come to this alley to watch beybladers battle! After she had only taken a few steps, she heard a voice behind her, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Hey you, the girl who's leaving!" She turned around again. "Yeah, you!" She sighed, exasperated. Great. It was Rick.

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Kai wandered through the alleyways looking for something interesting to catch his attention. As he passed one of the alleys for the tenth time, he looked to his left and noticed another small alley he hadn't noticed before. Slightly curious, (A/N: for Kai, that is), he quietly entered it, careful not to be seen. Inside were about 30 people and they seemed to be looking at one person, a girl. Looking at her, Kai finally realized who she was. Starr!! "What's she doing here!?" he asked himself in disbelief.

A boy with red hair was standing by a beyblade dish. "What do you say about a battle, girl?" he was asking Starr.

Starr turned around again and continued walking out, pretending she hadn't heard.

"C'mon! Are you scared or something?" the boy teased her.

She whirled around furiously. NOBODY called her coward and got away with it. "I don't beyblade." She said firmly as she glared at the older red-haired boy.

"What!? You don't know how to beyblade?? What are you doing living in this century?" Rick laughed.

Starr narrowed her eyes with anger. "I didn't say that I didn't know how to beyblade." she said as calmly as she could. "I said that I DON'T beyblade. But now that you've brought that up, let me answer a few questions for you. Do I know how to beyblade? That'd be a yes. Can I beyblade? Another yes. Do I like to beyblade? Yes, once again. Am I good at beyblading? Well, I guess I'll give you the privilege of letting you figure that out by yourself!!" She took a couple of steps forward.

Kai wasn't very surprised. He had expected something like this. "So she does beyblade. Question now is, is she good? Well, I guess I'll find out." he thought, standing there with arms crossed. "This should be rather interesting!"

Interesting enough, the black haired girl didn't pull out a beyblade. Instead, to everyone including Kai's surprise, she walked over to the now crying and slumped over figure other wise known as Sammy and asked him, "Hey kid, mind if I use your blade?" Even though Starr was asking him gently, Sammy looked horrified as though she was holding a gun to his head. He quickly handed his beyblade and launcher over. "Thanks, kid." She said as she took the blade and examined it. "I guess this will have to do." She thought grimly to herself.

"You don't even have a beyblade with you? What a riot! This should be easy!" he snorted with laughter.

Starr smirked. "Hey, don't get too cocky here. I'm gonna prove to you that even this battered blade can kick your butt. That crooked smile on your ugly demented face is gonna be gone for good after this!" She walked up to the dish.

Rick roared, doubled over with laughter. "Oh, that's a good one!"

"Hey, can we start this battle sometime this millennium? I don't have all day!"

The red-haired boy, who had finally gotten hold of himself stood up. "Suit yourself." He answered confidently. "But when you loose, don't blame me for your stupidity!"

"Whatever. Listen, we'll do things this way. If I win," Starr said, "You'll never show your face in this alley again. And if you win-"

"I don't care what'll happen if I win." Rick interrupted her. "All I know is that I'm bored and I'm gonna win this anyways."

Starr shrugged. "Your choice."

The black haired referee-boy stepped up again. The two opponents took their positions at the dish. "You two ready? LETT ITT RIIPPPPP!" The two blades launched into the air and started for the dish. Suddenly, the two blades crashed into each other with a loud crash and clouds of dust pillared over the area. Rick coughed and cursed, while Starr stood firmly, face grim and determined.

"What the hell just happened" Rick asked still coughing as the dust cleared, revealing no sign of either of the blades. Just then two beyblades came down from the sky, Sammy's first and then Rick's. Sammy's landed softly in the dead center of the dish, still spinning. The sides of Starr's mouth slowly rose into a knowing smile as Rick's beyblade fell; missing the dish by an inch and in worse condition than Sammy's. His jaw dropped in disbelief.

So did Kai's. What did he just see?

Starr smirked as she caught the blade she had just used. "Well, what are you waiting for? Pick up your pathetic, totaled blade and get the hell outta here so I can leave too!"

Rick cursed again. "I'll get you back for this!" he vowed as he stalked off.

"Yeah, right!" thought Starr smugly. Then, after returning the beyblade to its rightful owner, she too walked out.

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When Starr returned to the hotel, she was confronted by a tall, familiar figure with blue hair….

"Kai!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing up at this time?"

Kai's face was serious, yet his eyes glinted knowingly. "Why were you at that alley just now?" he asked her.

"H-how did you know about that?" she asked, surprised. Regaining her composure, she defended herself. "It's none of your business!"

"I'm making it my business! I mean, you don't want everyone to find out, do you?" He smiled slightly, a sly, knowing look on his face.

Starr grimaced, and then sighed. She had NOT expected this to happen. "Fine, I'll tell you." she said exasperatedly. "But I can't tell you here, and you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"I don't make promises."

She glared angrily at him. This was complete blackmail….

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Ok, I'm done for today….Wow! That was a pretty long chapter, for me at least. That was to make up for last chapter. This is hard work!! But fun ^_^! Well, then, please review and tell me what you think! Ok, and while you do that, I'll start up on Chapter 4!!

Later!

Starwolf ^-^