"I don't know." Starr said, frowning thoughtfully.  "I remember the bitbeasts from the last tournament, but I don't think they'll appear.  The members aren't the same so the bitbeasts are probably different."  She shrugged, then stood up.  "Well, I'm done with the Q&A for today.  Let's go do something else."

"What about training?" Kai said suddenly.  "We have our first match tomorrow."  The others looked up, startled by the news.

"Well, in that case, let's go!" Tyson said enthusiastically.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

"WELCOME to the FIRST ROUND of the Tournament of the Bitbeasts!" Jazzman shouted over the wild frenzy of the crowd.  "Today's match will feature the well-known BLADEBREAKERS and new team the KINGDOM BLADERS!!!"  As loudly as his voice boomed over the speakers, his voice was still eventually drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Both teams were standing on their side of the dish, waving wildly at their cheering fans. 

"New team, huh?" Rei said to the rest of the team, while still waving and grinning. 

"Yeah." Kenny replied.  "Actually, a lot of these teams are pretty new."

"Why's that?" Max asked curiously as they made their way back to the benches.

"Many of the people with bitbeasts aren't even in a team." Starr told them.  "When they get invitations, they're assigned to a team."

"Ok, then." Tyson said.  He looked over at the four Kingdom Bladers.  "They don't look so tough!" He announced.  "And if they're a fairly new team, then I bet they won't even stand a chance."

"Think again, Tyson." Kai said, his arms crossed.  "How many times have I told you not to underestimate your opponent?  You know that they all have bitbeasts.  We don't know whether or not they can make use of them or not, but don't let down your guard."

"That's right!" Kenny joined in.  "Remember: you don't know ANYTHING about these bladers!"

"I know, I know." Tyson mumbled.

Rei glanced at Starr who was inspecting the members of the Kingdom Bladers one-by-one.  "Know anyone?" he asked her.

Starr turned to face him, then shook her head.  "Nope.  Not personally, anyways."

"Huh?" Max said, as everyone else joined in the conversation.

"I think I've seen that guy at a tournament somewhere." She pointed to a guy about Kai's age with short black hair.  "I don't know though." She finished.

"Well, if Starr didn't bother to remember him, then he shouldn't be too much of a challenge."  Tyson said confidently.

Kenny sighed.  "I give up."

* * *

"This is Brad Best, along with my pal AJ Topper.  We're here today in Toronto's Maple Dome for the first round match of this year's Tournament of the Bitbeasts!"

"That's right Brad!  Today's competition is the Bladebreakers team against the Kingdom Bladers!  It seems like the more famous Bladebreakers are the favored team to win for our fans today!"

Max grinned.  "Ya hear that?  We're gonna win this one, no sweat!"

"You bet!" Starr agreed as the two exchanged high-fives.

"Listen up everyone." Kenny said.  "This battle will be a best-of-3 setting.  Who wants to go up first?" He asked.

"Ooh!  Let me go first!" Tyson volunteered. 

"I'll go next!" Max said.

Rei grinned, exposing his fangs.  "All I'll wrap it up!"

"Sounds good to me!" Kenny said.  "Alright Tyson, get up there!"
"Good luck!" Max caller after him.

"And it seems like the Bladebreakers are sending Tyson to the dish!" Brad Best announced.

"Tyson's an awesome blader whose performance has never let the crowd down." AJ said, as the large screens on either side of the stadium showed Tyson's stats.  "I doubt that neither him or his bitbeast Dragoon will do that this match either."

"Alright!" Tyson said as he stepped up to the dish.

"And spinning for the Kingdom Bladers in the first round is Jackie, a fairly unknown blader who's brought along her bitbeast Nocturna!  Will she come out for a visit?"

Tyson glanced at the girl.  She had messy brown hair, violet eyes, and was rather short.  He smirked.  "Hey, this is a stadium, not a playground you know!" He called to her.  "How old are you, anyways, 5?"

"I'm 14, thank you very much." She answered promptly, glaring at him. 

"I don't believe it!" Tyson said.  "You can't be over 10!"

"I think Tyson just hit her hard with that remark!" Max observed from the benches.

"You better believe it." Starr said, as she watch Jackie's expression.

"And now it's time to reveal our dish!" Brad told the crowd as the platforms slowly were removed. 

"OHHHHH!!  It's Lasagna!!  Yummy!"  AJ Topper said.  There was a silence as people looked around confused.  "Oh, never mind, wrong type of dish." AJ said sheepishly.  "I meant this is the Triple Threat Dish!" "A standard beyblade dish with two mini dishes in side-by-side in the middle, how wicked is that?" 

"BLADERS READY??" Jazzman shouted.  The two bladers got into lauching position.  "3….2…1….LET IT RIIIIIIPPPPPP!!!!"

"Battle Blade!!" Tyson shouted as he pulled his cord, releasing this beyblade.  Across from him, Jackie did the same.  The two beyblades flew in the air and landed in the dish with a banging thud.  Tyson's in the small dish closest to him and Jackie's in the larger dish below.

"Nocturna!  Bat Wing Blast!"  Jackie shouted immediately.

"And it seems like Jackie has gone for the first attack of the match!" Brad announced, as Jackie's blade beyblade flew up and landed in the same dish Tyson's blade was in slamming into his Dragoon, who flew out and landed by the edge of big dish, still spinning. 

"Is that all you can do?" Tyson grinned at her.  But while he was talking, her blade disappeared.  "Hey where'd you go?" he asked.

Jackie grinned.  "Right next to ya!"  Just as she spoke, her blade reappeared next to his, trying to force him out of the dish.  No luck.  Her blade seemed to give up and retreated to the other side of the dish. Tyson's blade followed closely.

"Hey, will ya get off my tail?" Jackie asked.

Tyson smirked.  "No chance!"  Jackie glared at him and her blade swerved suddenly, losing him. 

"Now Nocturna!" she called.  In a flash of blackness (A/N: Well, I couldn't call it light, could I?? ^_~) two dark wings emerged from the bit of the black blade.

"Some kinda bird?" Max wondered from the seats.

"A bird with an attack called Bat Wing Blast?" Starr said cheerfully, her eyes still glued on the battle. 

"Oh yeah." 

Back in the match, Tyson was inspecting the large bat-beast.  "Wow.  It's pretty impressive." He admitted, then grinned.  "For a kid, that is." 

Jackie, who looked like she was going to jump and strangle him, finally restrained herself and shot him a dirty look, then opened her mouth, calling for her bitbeast to attack.  "Bat Wing Blast Attack!!  Now!!"  Her blade once again slammed into Dragoon, this time more powerful than the last.  The attack sent Dragoon flying threw the air.  It landed in the higher dish on the left, wobbling slightly and left Tyson looking a bit fazed. 

"Whoa!!"  Gotta concentrate!  He told himself.  Think, Tyson.  Think! 

"Hey Tyson!" Someone called.  He turned around to face him.  It was Kai. 

"Yeah?" Tyson replied.

"Don't go after her bitbeast." He said.

"WHAT!!?"

"Don't go after her bitbeast." Kai repeated.  "Wait for her to come to you."

"Huh?  What do you me---OHH!!  I get it!  Thanks Kai!" Kai huffed and walked back to his seat, not acknowledging either the gratitude or the rest of his team.  Tyson ignored it, being used to the cold personality of his team member and turned all of his attention back to the match.  He did as advised and kept his blade spinning in place.

"Looks like Tyson's staying where he is after that vicious attack from Nocturna."  Brad Best observed.

"I'm not done yet!" Jackie cried.  "Nocturna: Go!"  At her command the beyblade flew off the side of the dish above the one that Tyson's blade was in, about to dive.

"NOW DRAGOON!" Tyson roared.  In a flash of blue light, Dragoon appeared, and with it a gust of wind.  "Phantom Hurricane Attack!"  The wind rose higher, sweeping the blade above it in a whirl, along with its bitbeast, which disappeared back in its bit.

"No!  This can't be happening!" Jackie wailed.

The blade flew out of the whirlwind, landing at its owner's feet.

"AND THE WINNER ISSSSS…..TYSON OF THE BLADEBREAKERS!!" 

Tyson grinned, waving as the crowd went wild once again.

Jackie looked at Tyson in awe.  "Wow!  You're really good!"

Tyson blushed a little.  "You're pretty good yourself." He told her.

"For a kid, right?" Jackie said grinning.

"For anyone!" Tyson said, meaning it.

Jackie smiled and for a moment she too had turned a shade redder.  "Thanks." she said shyly.  The two opponents stood there without a word for a few seconds before returning to their teams.

"Great job, Tyson!" Kenny said excitedly when Tyson had reached the benches.

"One more and this match is ours!" Rei added.

"Oh yea!" Max added.

"Thanks a lot, guys!" Tyson said, flushed by the shower of compliments.

Starr looked at him, frowning slightly.  "I never knew that you're bitbeast was a dragon type." she asked him in a slightly less then friendly tone.

Tyson hesitated.  "Is there something wrong with that?"

"What?" Starr looked at him.  "No, of course not!"  But she seemed thoughtful for a few seconds.

There was another moment of awkward silence until Kenny broke the silence.  "Well Max, you're up next."

"You ready to win?" Tyson asked his best friend as they exchanged high fives.

"Oh yeah!" Max said confidently as he began to walk up to the dish.

* * *

"Yeah, Max!  That was an awesome battle!" Tyson cheered as he scrambled happily to his friends side, knocking both of them over.  Not far behind was the rest of the team, minus Kai.

"That was very impressive!" Kenny smiled at his blonde haired teammate.

"Thanks." Max managed to say, though with great difficulty.  "Ow, Tyson! Geroff, that hurts!" 

"Whoops, sorry pal"

Max got up, brushing the dirt from his orange overalls.  "It was a close match though.  That Dawson guy knew what he was doing.  For a while I thought that we'd lost this round." he admitted to the others.

"Hey," Starr told him.  "A win's a win!"

"Yeah!" Tyson jumped in.  "You were the better blader in the end."

Kenny then turned to the Chinese boy in the bsandana.  "Ok Rei, you're up next.  Since we've already won two of three rounds, it doesn't matter whether we win of lose, so you can take it easy if you'd like."

Rei's eye gleamed excitingly.  "Still," he said.  "Whether or not it matters, this guy's gonna go down fast!" 

The whole team looked confident as Rei walked towards the dish; not one of them was aware that an unwelcome figure was watching from the stands…

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

And that's the end of the chapter.  Well, anyways, I'll try to update a whole lot faster than before. I've looked through all my chapters and decided that I'll be doing something different other than I had planned with the plot.  In doing that I've changed the what-would-have-been-the-ending-of-this-chapter into this ending.

Ack!  School just started!  I'm feeling rather dizzy…..*faints*

~starwolf~