A/N: Sorry, I've haven't updated this in a while (for me, anyways). I went to Canada for the weekend, and I had a lot of fun! ^__^ Also, I've been pretty busy with school and stuff lately, but now I've got time, so I'm gonna start on the next chapter! Um, for this chapter, I'm gonna fast-forward the time a bit later on, you'll see. Lady BDF: Thanks a lot again! I'm glad you liked that scene, and yeah, I don't think I've fully recovered from that day yet! ^_^ autumn's stargazer: Thanks, I'll be sure to read your fic too! Silver Wild-Cat: Yeah, I know. People think up of the most bizarre spirit days. (those special days that we have at my school) I think that the all the staff in our school are pretty messed-up, no offence. I mean, one of my teachers let us watch the Sixth Sense in school for Halloween. Pretty cool, but I think they've kinda lost it now. Come to think of it, I've pretty much lost it too. Anyways, let's get started on this:

Disclaimer: Must I go over this again????

Chapter 8: Tournament of the Bitbeasts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Ok you guys, good practice." Kenny dismissingly said a couple of hours later. "It's now 5:20. We'll stop for right now and we can all take a break. You guys deserved it!"

"Except for Starr, that is." Tyson said a bit sorely. Starr smiled sweetly at him and held up the small notebook and the pencil that was sitting on her lap.

"Hey, I've been working too here!" she protested jokingly.

"Yeah, but you don't have Kai breathing up your neck, do you?" Tyson grumbled.

"No, but Kenny doesn't either. Plus, soon I'll be the one nagging you instead of Kai. Won't that be fun?" Starr teased.

"Just great." muttered Tyson sarcastically, then brightened slightly. "Well, at least it's not Kai."

"Sorry Tyson." Max joined in. "You'll have three people: Starr, Kenny, and Kai to worry about now."

"ARRGGGHHHH! Tyson yelled, running around in circles and pulling his hair out . "I can't stand it anymore!!!"

"Hey, relax Tyson." Rei said, though also deeply amused. "They're just joking."

Tyson gradually calmed down. "Ok, fine. Then can we go eat or something? Man, that training really takes it outta you."

Kenny answered, "Mr. Dickinson ordered some pizza. It's on the table over there." He pointed. "You can get some if you want-"

"But leave some for us!" Max piped up.

"Aw, you guys, do you really think I'd forget you? Of course I'll leave some for you." Tyson said gallantly.

"That's rather hard to believe. Wait, forget rather. That's REALLY hard to believe." Starr teased again. Tyson glared at her and ran for the pizza.

"Have fun." Kenny called out as the group scattered off in different directions. "Just remember, tomorrow's the first day!"

"Like we could forget, with you nagging us so much." Tyson said loudly in a muffled voice, while stuffing pizza in his mouth at a rate of approximately 80 miles an hour.

* * * * *

Starr leaned against the fence, arms crossed, looking off at the sunset. "Mind if I join you?" a familiar voice asked behind her. She turned around, startled.

"Oh. Rei, it's you." She acknowledged with a slight nod.

"Yeah." He said. "So, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Just thinking."

"Oh yeah? About what?" He joined her at the fence.

"Everything." Starr said bluntly.

"Everything?"

"Everything that's been going on ever since I met you guys."

"I know what you mean." Rei smiled understandingly. "Life's been pretty complicated lately, huh?"

"Yeah. And also…."

"What?'

"Now that you guys know, people may be after you too. I'm not sure letting you guys know was the best idea in the world. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to any of you just because you guys knew me."

"Hey, it's ok." Rei said soothingly. "We'll be ok, and so will you."

"I-I hope so." Starr's voice shook slightly. Then she smiled. "Thanks Rei. You're such a good friend. I mean, look. I've only known you guys for a couple of days and it feels like I've known you forever."

"No problem." Rei replied. The conversation stopped as the twosome gazed quietly at the setting sun.

* * * *

Starr was heading for the hotel door. It was getting dark now and Rei had gone back to his room hours ago.

"You still haven't told me yet." A voice said from the side.

She froze and turned her head cautiously towards the area where the voice came from. It was Kai, head slightly bowed and arms crossed in the shadows.

"What the heck are you talking about?" she asked him. 'Why do I always meet him at night?" she wondered to herself.

"You still haven't told me why you were at the alley picking fights with people the other night. You know how dangerous that is, especially for you."

Starr looked half-surprised and half-angry, "What do you mean, picking fights with people?" she protested. "You saw; the guy challenged me when I was about to leave. He saw my face, and I wasn't exactly in the best mood, then, so I accepted."

"So why were you there?"

"Why do you want to know? How come you're so nosy all of a sudden? Geez, I know I made a mistake that night, but you don't have to know why. I wasn't there to fight people, ok?" Starr sounded irritated.

"You know you still owe me an explanation." Kai wasn't gonna let her get away with it.

Starr sighed. "Why do you always do this to me?" she wailed, looking up at him, and their eyes met. The look Kai had on his face was too much. "Fine. I was there to watch the battles and see the bladers' techniques and stuff. I do this a lot, nothing new. Not against the law or anything is it?" Kai didn't say anything. "Usually I'm more careful. I usually stay farther in the corner and stuff. I guess I was just too caught up on other things. Anything else you need to know?" she asked sarcastically.

"No." Kai answered coolly.

"Well then, good night!" Starr strode into the hotel.

Kai watched her as she left. 'Just be careful, kid" he thought, standing there in the darkness.

* * * * * *

"Ok guys, today's the day!" Kenny said, preparing for a lecture. "You know-"

"Hey, relax Chief!" Tyson said. "We know what we're doing."

Kenny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I was getting a bit nervous.

"No kidding." Starr mumbled to the rest of the guys. She wasn't a big fan of lectures either.

"ALL RIGHT!!!" Tyson said suddenly. "Let's go out there and kick some others bladers' butts!!!"

* * * * * *(A/N: ok, here's the part where you fast-forward ahead a couple of days like I said before)* * * * * *

A red beyblade whizzed out of the dish and landed on the floor with a thud.

"And the winner of round three isssssss, Rei of the Bladebreakers!!!" Jazzman's voice rang loudly throughout the stadium.

Rei smiled proudly as the crowds roared and fan girls screamed loudly. It was definetely a noise to be proud of.
"YEAH!!!!" Max jumped on top of Rei, knocking him down as Tyson, Kenny and Starr ran up to them. Kai, however, remained seated where he was.

"Hey congratulations guys!" Starr said happily. "We won! It's over!"

"YEAH!! Tyson and Max cheered loudly. "We're the best!" They started dancing around in circles.

"Congratulations, boys!" Mr. Dickinson's voice said behind them. They turned around. "You guys all did a really good job!"

"Well, it was pretty easy, just like Chief said." Rei replied. "The only team that was even worthy to be called competition was that Shadow-spinners team we met in the quarter-finals. Thanks anyway though." he added.

"Well then Mr. Dickinson, where are we headed to next?" Kenny asked curiously. By now, Kai had joined the group to hear what Mr. Dickinson was going to say.

"I think that Starr might like to answer that question for me, but not right now. We'll head back to the training center for a group meeting, and then, we'll have question and answer time."

"Sounds good to me!" Max replied.

* * * * * * *

"Ok" Tyson complained. "We're finally here. The suspense is killing me. Where are we headed for?"

"How does Canada sound to you?" Starr asked with a smile.

"Is that where we're going?"

"Yep!" Starr said happily.

"Then it sounds great!!!" Tyson cheered alongside with Max.

"Wait," Rei joined the conversation. "What kind of competition is this gonna be?"

"What do you mean?" Tyson looked confused. So did the others.

"What I mean is, are we gonna be in a real tournament, or just some other pre-cup thingie? Coz this tournament wasn't exactly what I'd call a challenge. I mean, we didn't even use our bitbeasts at all!"

'That's right!' Starr thought to herself. 'I still don't know what their bitbeasts are yet.' She made a quick mental note to find out as soon as possible. Right now, there were more important issues.

"Oh, I get it." Tyson said, then looked back at Starr. "So what kind of tournament is it gonna be, then?"

"It's not a pre-cup, if that helps any."

"That's good, but then what is it?" Tyson asked.

"Have any of you heard of the Tournament of the Bitbeasts?" Starr asked casually.

"I have." Kai said. The others turned to him.

"Really, Kai?" Kenny asked, interested.

Kai nodded slightly. "It's one of the oldest beyblade tournaments around. Only bladers with bitbeasts are allowed to enter, and they need an invitation too."

"So, does this mean we've been invited, Starr?" Rei asked her.

"That's right, Rei." Mr. Dickinson answered for her, holding out a piece of paper, a flyer. Everyone scrambled for it, but Tyson was the one who managed to grab it. "The Tournament of the Bitbeasts is only done once every eight years. I don't know why it's eight, so don't ask."

"THIS IS SOOO AWESOME!!!!" Tyson said, jumping up and down happily waving the flyer wildly in the air. Not long after, he was joined by Max, and even Kenny.

"Yeah! This will probably be the most challenging tournament we've ever been in." he said. "Imagine all the information I can get on bitbeasts and the other bladers!!"

"Ditto!" said Starr, also laughing excitedly. The others looked at her, surprised.

Mr. Dickinson laughed when he saw the expressions on their faces. "Well, I guess I have to tell you the other reason why she's here now."

"Oh my God," Tyson said, face-faulting. "First you explain to us all this stuff and then there's always more. It figures. What else don't we already know?"

"Lots, actually." Mr. Dickinson replied with a smile. Tyson groaned and Starr laughed.

"Actually, there isn't much now that you don't already know." She answered. "It's all based on the same stuff. Since I've got multiple bitbeasts, I decided to dedicate my life to learning all about them."

"Starr is what you might call a bitbeast expert!" Mr. Dickinson added proudly. "She probably knows more about separate bitbeasts than even Dizzi."

"Hey, I'm right here listening you know." replied

I have do a lot of research and stuff, and by coming to the tournament, I can learn a lot more!" Starr continued, ignoring both the old man and the bitbeast's remarks.

"That sounds pretty cool!" Max said.

"Yeah!" Tyson agreed.

"Finally!" Kenny said happily. "Someone who's actually on my level!!"

"Newsflash, Kenny." Tyson said. "She actually has a good reason to be doing a lot research."

Kenny looked slightly hurt. "Isn't the fact that you're having fun a good reason?" he asked.

"Anyways, this will be a great experience for all of us." Starr said, tactfully changing the subject. "I'm pretty excited."

"Who wouldn't be?" Rei asked.

"Ok, you guys, meeting adjourned." Mr. Dickinson said finally after a whole lot more chatter and conversation. "Oh, and one other thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Starr you need to know this too. Ok…I got a letter from the committee. They've changed the rules."

"What?" even Starr looked surprised

"Now we need to have two substitutes instead of one. Don't ask why, but anyways, I put you down, since you were are only other team member that beyblades. Is that okay?" he asked nervously.

Starr sighed. "Fine." she said. The others looked surprised. "I've got no choice. Besides, I'm only the second sub. I mean, what are the chances of two of our bladers not blading? If one doesn't, Kai will sub. Simple enough."

Mr. Dickinson smiled and clapped his hands once. "Ok then, it's decided. We're going to Toronto!!"

This was followed by a loud chorus of "YAAYYY!"s courtesy of Tyson and Max.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There! I finally finished this. I think this was the longest chapter I've written so far. Go me!! ^-^ I'll try to update this ASAP; right now I'm alternating chapters w/ my other fic. One for this fic, one for my other one, get the picture?

Ok then, until next time!!!!

Starwolf ^.^