When Yugi and the others entered the convention center, they stood still in stunned surprise. UFO paraphernalia was everywhere, and most of the guests were swapping alien stories—some even dressing for the parts with masks or fake tentacles.
"Oh man! These people are freaks!!" Joey gasped.
"Pretty weird alright," Tristan agreed.
"Hey!" a familiar voice called. "So here you are," Mai smirked, coming over to them. She was wearing a gorgeous, shimmering lavender evening gown. "Joey, you look charming," she laughed.
Joey growled angrily.
"You look great, Mai," Yugi smiled.
"Yes, you look beautiful," Bakura said shyly.
Mai looked surprised. She knew that Bakura was the bashful, quiet one of the group and that he often didn't say much. She smiled at both boys, but especially at Bakura. "So, what do we do now?" she asked. "Walk around and interrogate the guests?"
"I guess so," Yugi said, looking around. "But we have to be careful what we say. We don't want to sound like we're accusing anyone of doing anything underhanded!"
"That's right," Tea nodded.
"We could get sued," Tristan added.
"Well, let's all split up and see what we can find out," Yugi directed. "Let's meet back at the buffet table in an hour."
"If Joey gets there first, all the food will be gone by the time the rest of us get back," Mai teased.
Joey growled in frustration.
As he wandered out among the guests, however, his anger was soon forgotten. "Hi!" an enthusiastic voice chirped.
Joey looked up and his brown eyes went wide. Standing before him was a chipper redhead about his age with bright blue eyes and long eyelashes. "Whoa," he exclaimed without quite meaning to.
The girl giggled. "I'm Cindy," she introduced. "Do you like UFOs and aliens too?"
Joey blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered. He knew he wanted to impress this girl. "Eh, sure I do!" he bluffed.
"Oh wow, that's just so cool!" Cindy bubbled. "I bet you know all about the Roswell incident, right?!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure!" Joey said. "I know all about . . . Roswell," he finished, after a brief struggle trying to remember the name. Cindy smiled at him. Maybe, he thought, this convention wouldn't be so bad after all.
****
"Wow . . . this place is so big," Yugi breathed. "I wonder where to begin . . ."
**Try him,** Yami Yugi suggested, indicating a middle-aged man with fake alien tentacles on his head.
Yugi blinked in surprise. ~Um, okay,~ he agreed, walking over. "Excuse me, sir," he began.
The man immediately turned to face Yugi. "Well, hello, Earthling!" he greeted.
Yugi backed up, his violet eyes wide. "Huh?"
The man had to laugh. "Only joking, son. Where's you sense of humor?!"
Yugi now chuckled as well, looking embarrassed.
"Oliver Brown," the man introduced, holding out his hand.
"Oh, hi! I'm Yugi Muto," the short boy said, shaking hands with Oliver.
"Ah, yes." Oliver looked thoughtful. "And how long have you been into UFOs and aliens, Yugi?" he asked.
"Um, ever since they started flying over the city," Yugi replied finally, hoping that he'd be able to get Oliver to start talking about that.
"Ah. . . . Yes, strange things are happening in the skies these days," Oliver declared. "Extra-terrestrials are working overtime to communicate with us!"
Yugi blinked. "Really? Why is that?"
"They are trying to warn us of impending disaster!" Over said dramatically.
"Gosh, what kind of impending disaster?" Yugi wanted to know.
"Who knows!" Oliver threw his hands in the air. "That's what they're trying to tell us, but we're not listening!!"
Yugi blinked. This man was certainly very interesting. He idly wondered if any of the others were having better luck.
****
While all this was happening, Tea was wandering around among the guests, wondering who she should be questioning first.
"Hello there, miss," a boy's voice exclaimed suddenly.
Tea turned to look and found one of the teenage caterers carrying a pitcher of ice water. "Um, hi," Tea said, surprised.
"I'm Ed," the boy grinned. "Your friend over there tells me you solve mysteries."
Tea swung around, looking upset, and caught sight of Joey talking to some girl. I should've known he'd spill the beans, she thought to herself. We're supposed to be keeping low profiles, but before long I bet everyone will know who we are!
"So what's it like being a Nancy Drew?" Ed asked, seeming genuinely curious.
"Um . . . it's never dull," Tea replied truthfully.
"Are you here looking for clues?" Ed wanted to know. "Have you found any yet?"
Tea's eyes widened. This Ed was starting to seriously annoy her.
"Oh, wait, you can't reveal that kinda stuff, can ya?" Ed said hurriedly. "Stupid me!"
Tea smiled tightly. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, Ed," she said, trying to end the conversation.
She was relieved when Ed suddenly turned to go himself. "Yeah, sure has! Well, I'd better get back to what I was doing," he said sheepishly, "or my boss will throw a fit."
"Of course," Tea nodded, starting to walk away.
At that moment, without warning, she was suddenly drenched in water. "Huh?! What the . . ."
"Oh wow! I'm so sorry!" Ed gasped. Tea looked up to see him holding an empty pitcher, looking horrified. "Can I get you something? A towel or . . .?"
"That's okay, kiddo, we've got this under control," Mai said smoothly, coming out from a nearby crowd of people and whisking Tea away.
"Wow, thanks, Mai," Tea said when they were safely far away from Ed and the crowds. "He was really getting on my nerves. I think he drenched me on purpose!"
Mai nodded. "I think you're right, but why he would do that is beyond me."
"Now what am I going to do?" Tea groaned, taking a look at herself. "I can't be at the convention like this!"
Mai touched the hem of Tea's dress. "Well, this is a material that dries quickly," she informed the other girl. "If we can find a place for you to wait for twenty minutes or so while it does, you should be able to wear it again with no problem." She looked around, then started to walk out of the convention room and down the hallway, motioning for Tea to follow her. The blue-eyed girl did so, looking curious.
"Where are we going, Mai?" she asked.
"I saw some empty offices back here," Mai told her. "You could leave the dress hanging up under one of the fans and wait in the coat closet."
Tea blinked, looking apprehensive. "I don't know, Mai. . . . What if someone comes into the office?"
"I don't think anyone will, kiddo," Mai said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I think the place is vacant, because the desk is bare and there are no personal touches anywhere. But anyway, I'm planning to stay in there while your dress dries, so if anyone comes in, I'll keep them away from the closet. Here we are," she said, gesturing around the bare office.
Tea sighed. "I guess I don't have any other choice."
When Tea was safely in the closet, Mai sat down at the desk and busied herself with applying a fresh coat of lipstick.
"Hey, Mai, why were you looking in this office anyway?" Tea asked from in the cramped closet.
Mai shrugged. "I came in the back entrance and I happened to notice the office door was open, so I casually glanced in."
Tea shifted uncomfortably in the closet. There were no coats hanging on the hooks, but there were plenty of boxes stacked around, and between them and the coat hooks, there wasn't a lot of room left to stand. "Is my dress dry yet?" she called.
Mai got up to feel it. "Not yet," she replied.
Something crashed.
"Mai? What was that?" Tea demanded.
Mai looked around. "I'm not sure," she admitted finally, grabbing her handbag to use as defense if necessary.
"Is something out there?" Tea worried.
Mai didn't answer immediately. She was watching a shadow creep down the hall. "Tea, I'll be right back," she said, silently following after it.
"Hey, wait!!" Tea screamed. "What about me?! Where are you going??! Don't leave me in here!!" With a sigh of desperation, she plopped down on one of the crates to wait.
****
Back at the convention, Tristan and Bakura found themselves talking to a woman who claimed to have seen the UFO flying over the canyons last night.
"I was hiking with a friend when we saw it," she told them gravely. "It was saucer-shaped with green lights! My friend insisted it was a blimp, but I knew better! We are being invaded by aliens from another galaxy!" She gestured wildly.
"Did you see where it landed?" Tristan asked.
"I certainly did!" the woman nodded. "It was over at the top of one of those steep inclines the canyon is known for! It stayed there perfectly still for ages and I wanted to go have a closer look, but just then we were both routed away by the police!" She sighed.
"Well, I'm sure that was for the best," Bakura said quietly. "You might have gotten into terrible trouble if you had tried to investigate!"
"But it would have been more than worth it!" the woman grumbled stubbornly.
"Well, what did you think about that?" Tristan asked Bakura after they said goodbye to the eccentric woman and were walking toward the buffet table.
"I don't know," Bakura said slowly. "She's a bit . . . unusual. . . ."
"No arguments there," Tristan laughed. "But at least we found a good clue. We'll have to go back there and check out all the steep inclines."
"Hey, isn't that Joey?!" Bakura exclaimed.
Tristan turned to look where Bakura was pointing. Joey was sitting in a table in the far corner chatting with a red-haired girl. "Trust Joey to find a pretty girl," Tristan sighed.
****
Seto Kaiba entered the convention center through a side entrance and looked around at the large crowds in distaste. He was wondering exactly how he was going to go about things when he became aware of a nervous man staring at him from across the large room. Seto's eyes narrowed and he walked over. The man cringed in fear.
"Why are you staring at me?" Seto demanded. "And why are you acting so afraid of me? Do you have a good reason to be?!" He raised an eyebrow and clamped a hand down on the man's shoulder so he couldn't run away.
The man squirmed frantically. "Um, no . . . no. . . . Of . . . of course not, Mr. Kaiba. . . ."
"You know my name?" Seto looked at the little man suspiciously, noticing how he kept staring at the bandage on Seto's right hand. "Maybe you can tell me how I got this injury," he said. It wasn't a request.
The man gulped. "I have no idea, Mr. Kaiba, honest!"
"Oh, I believe you, alright," Seto said sarcastically. "Now why don't you just come clean and tell me what happened?"
"I . . . I don't know . . . what you're talking about . . . Mr. Kaiba, sir," the man stuttered, his eyes wide. "I . . . I was just . . . surprised to . . . to see you . . . alive . . ."
Any threads of Seto's patience that he had left were about ready to snap. "Why should that surprise you? Am I supposed to be dead? Did you try to kill me?!"
The man finally broke free of Seto's grip and turned to run. "No, oh no, of course not!" he gasped, his eyes wild with fright now. "I . . . I've said too much already . . ." He turned, fleeing out the door and down the hall.
"Wait! Come back here!!" Seto yelled, chasing after the strange man. He came to a stop in the now-empty hall and looked around, confused. Where could the guy have gotten to? He had only had a few seconds to have found a hiding place.
Seto's gaze fell on an open door and he smirked. "So, trying to hide in there, huh? Well, you won't get away from me that easily." He entered the office and looked around. No one was in sight, but there was a closet where someone just might hide. Determinedly he walked up to the door and grabbed the knob, attempting to turn it.
"Mai? Is that you?!" a female voice called.
Seto let go of the knob, completely bewildered at hearing the familiar voice. "Tea? What are you doing in there?!"
Tea blinked in surprise in the dark closet. Of all people to turn up . . . "Kaiba??!" She sighed. "I've been locked in this stupid closet for ages!! One of the caterers dumped water all over me and Mai brought me here to wait for my dress to dry, but then she ran off chasing something and left me stranded in here!!"
Seto didn't answer. He had seen the dress hanging up and had gone over to see if it was dry yet.
"Kaiba? Are you there?!" Tea yelled.
"I'm still here," Seto replied.
"Is my dress dry?" Tea demanded.
"It is," Seto said, not really in a talkative mood. "Open the door a crack and I'll hand it to you."
Tea opened the door just wide enough for her to get her hand through and took the dress from Seto. "What a crazy evening," she muttered, pulling the door shut tight again.
She emerged from the closet a few minutes later and found Seto poking around in the office. "What are you doing?" she asked, giving him a weird look.
"Tea, did you hear anyone come into the room just before I did?" Seto returned Tea's question with one of his own.
"No, I didn't," Tea replied. "What's going on, Kaiba?!" she demanded.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Seto told her. "Just go back to the convention or something."
"Fine with me," Tea replied, leaving the room.
Seto looked around the office suspiciously, not entirely aware that Tea had left. He still couldn't figure out where that man had disappeared to.
Suddenly a blood-chilling scream came from outside the building. Seto looked up, startled. "What the . . ."
He turned and ran out of the office and to the nearby exit. He glanced around at the dimly-lighted parking lot and then gasped. The strange man he had been looking for was laying on the ground, bleeding from a nasty looking head wound!
"Oh man! These people are freaks!!" Joey gasped.
"Pretty weird alright," Tristan agreed.
"Hey!" a familiar voice called. "So here you are," Mai smirked, coming over to them. She was wearing a gorgeous, shimmering lavender evening gown. "Joey, you look charming," she laughed.
Joey growled angrily.
"You look great, Mai," Yugi smiled.
"Yes, you look beautiful," Bakura said shyly.
Mai looked surprised. She knew that Bakura was the bashful, quiet one of the group and that he often didn't say much. She smiled at both boys, but especially at Bakura. "So, what do we do now?" she asked. "Walk around and interrogate the guests?"
"I guess so," Yugi said, looking around. "But we have to be careful what we say. We don't want to sound like we're accusing anyone of doing anything underhanded!"
"That's right," Tea nodded.
"We could get sued," Tristan added.
"Well, let's all split up and see what we can find out," Yugi directed. "Let's meet back at the buffet table in an hour."
"If Joey gets there first, all the food will be gone by the time the rest of us get back," Mai teased.
Joey growled in frustration.
As he wandered out among the guests, however, his anger was soon forgotten. "Hi!" an enthusiastic voice chirped.
Joey looked up and his brown eyes went wide. Standing before him was a chipper redhead about his age with bright blue eyes and long eyelashes. "Whoa," he exclaimed without quite meaning to.
The girl giggled. "I'm Cindy," she introduced. "Do you like UFOs and aliens too?"
Joey blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered. He knew he wanted to impress this girl. "Eh, sure I do!" he bluffed.
"Oh wow, that's just so cool!" Cindy bubbled. "I bet you know all about the Roswell incident, right?!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure!" Joey said. "I know all about . . . Roswell," he finished, after a brief struggle trying to remember the name. Cindy smiled at him. Maybe, he thought, this convention wouldn't be so bad after all.
****
"Wow . . . this place is so big," Yugi breathed. "I wonder where to begin . . ."
**Try him,** Yami Yugi suggested, indicating a middle-aged man with fake alien tentacles on his head.
Yugi blinked in surprise. ~Um, okay,~ he agreed, walking over. "Excuse me, sir," he began.
The man immediately turned to face Yugi. "Well, hello, Earthling!" he greeted.
Yugi backed up, his violet eyes wide. "Huh?"
The man had to laugh. "Only joking, son. Where's you sense of humor?!"
Yugi now chuckled as well, looking embarrassed.
"Oliver Brown," the man introduced, holding out his hand.
"Oh, hi! I'm Yugi Muto," the short boy said, shaking hands with Oliver.
"Ah, yes." Oliver looked thoughtful. "And how long have you been into UFOs and aliens, Yugi?" he asked.
"Um, ever since they started flying over the city," Yugi replied finally, hoping that he'd be able to get Oliver to start talking about that.
"Ah. . . . Yes, strange things are happening in the skies these days," Oliver declared. "Extra-terrestrials are working overtime to communicate with us!"
Yugi blinked. "Really? Why is that?"
"They are trying to warn us of impending disaster!" Over said dramatically.
"Gosh, what kind of impending disaster?" Yugi wanted to know.
"Who knows!" Oliver threw his hands in the air. "That's what they're trying to tell us, but we're not listening!!"
Yugi blinked. This man was certainly very interesting. He idly wondered if any of the others were having better luck.
****
While all this was happening, Tea was wandering around among the guests, wondering who she should be questioning first.
"Hello there, miss," a boy's voice exclaimed suddenly.
Tea turned to look and found one of the teenage caterers carrying a pitcher of ice water. "Um, hi," Tea said, surprised.
"I'm Ed," the boy grinned. "Your friend over there tells me you solve mysteries."
Tea swung around, looking upset, and caught sight of Joey talking to some girl. I should've known he'd spill the beans, she thought to herself. We're supposed to be keeping low profiles, but before long I bet everyone will know who we are!
"So what's it like being a Nancy Drew?" Ed asked, seeming genuinely curious.
"Um . . . it's never dull," Tea replied truthfully.
"Are you here looking for clues?" Ed wanted to know. "Have you found any yet?"
Tea's eyes widened. This Ed was starting to seriously annoy her.
"Oh, wait, you can't reveal that kinda stuff, can ya?" Ed said hurriedly. "Stupid me!"
Tea smiled tightly. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, Ed," she said, trying to end the conversation.
She was relieved when Ed suddenly turned to go himself. "Yeah, sure has! Well, I'd better get back to what I was doing," he said sheepishly, "or my boss will throw a fit."
"Of course," Tea nodded, starting to walk away.
At that moment, without warning, she was suddenly drenched in water. "Huh?! What the . . ."
"Oh wow! I'm so sorry!" Ed gasped. Tea looked up to see him holding an empty pitcher, looking horrified. "Can I get you something? A towel or . . .?"
"That's okay, kiddo, we've got this under control," Mai said smoothly, coming out from a nearby crowd of people and whisking Tea away.
"Wow, thanks, Mai," Tea said when they were safely far away from Ed and the crowds. "He was really getting on my nerves. I think he drenched me on purpose!"
Mai nodded. "I think you're right, but why he would do that is beyond me."
"Now what am I going to do?" Tea groaned, taking a look at herself. "I can't be at the convention like this!"
Mai touched the hem of Tea's dress. "Well, this is a material that dries quickly," she informed the other girl. "If we can find a place for you to wait for twenty minutes or so while it does, you should be able to wear it again with no problem." She looked around, then started to walk out of the convention room and down the hallway, motioning for Tea to follow her. The blue-eyed girl did so, looking curious.
"Where are we going, Mai?" she asked.
"I saw some empty offices back here," Mai told her. "You could leave the dress hanging up under one of the fans and wait in the coat closet."
Tea blinked, looking apprehensive. "I don't know, Mai. . . . What if someone comes into the office?"
"I don't think anyone will, kiddo," Mai said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I think the place is vacant, because the desk is bare and there are no personal touches anywhere. But anyway, I'm planning to stay in there while your dress dries, so if anyone comes in, I'll keep them away from the closet. Here we are," she said, gesturing around the bare office.
Tea sighed. "I guess I don't have any other choice."
When Tea was safely in the closet, Mai sat down at the desk and busied herself with applying a fresh coat of lipstick.
"Hey, Mai, why were you looking in this office anyway?" Tea asked from in the cramped closet.
Mai shrugged. "I came in the back entrance and I happened to notice the office door was open, so I casually glanced in."
Tea shifted uncomfortably in the closet. There were no coats hanging on the hooks, but there were plenty of boxes stacked around, and between them and the coat hooks, there wasn't a lot of room left to stand. "Is my dress dry yet?" she called.
Mai got up to feel it. "Not yet," she replied.
Something crashed.
"Mai? What was that?" Tea demanded.
Mai looked around. "I'm not sure," she admitted finally, grabbing her handbag to use as defense if necessary.
"Is something out there?" Tea worried.
Mai didn't answer immediately. She was watching a shadow creep down the hall. "Tea, I'll be right back," she said, silently following after it.
"Hey, wait!!" Tea screamed. "What about me?! Where are you going??! Don't leave me in here!!" With a sigh of desperation, she plopped down on one of the crates to wait.
****
Back at the convention, Tristan and Bakura found themselves talking to a woman who claimed to have seen the UFO flying over the canyons last night.
"I was hiking with a friend when we saw it," she told them gravely. "It was saucer-shaped with green lights! My friend insisted it was a blimp, but I knew better! We are being invaded by aliens from another galaxy!" She gestured wildly.
"Did you see where it landed?" Tristan asked.
"I certainly did!" the woman nodded. "It was over at the top of one of those steep inclines the canyon is known for! It stayed there perfectly still for ages and I wanted to go have a closer look, but just then we were both routed away by the police!" She sighed.
"Well, I'm sure that was for the best," Bakura said quietly. "You might have gotten into terrible trouble if you had tried to investigate!"
"But it would have been more than worth it!" the woman grumbled stubbornly.
"Well, what did you think about that?" Tristan asked Bakura after they said goodbye to the eccentric woman and were walking toward the buffet table.
"I don't know," Bakura said slowly. "She's a bit . . . unusual. . . ."
"No arguments there," Tristan laughed. "But at least we found a good clue. We'll have to go back there and check out all the steep inclines."
"Hey, isn't that Joey?!" Bakura exclaimed.
Tristan turned to look where Bakura was pointing. Joey was sitting in a table in the far corner chatting with a red-haired girl. "Trust Joey to find a pretty girl," Tristan sighed.
****
Seto Kaiba entered the convention center through a side entrance and looked around at the large crowds in distaste. He was wondering exactly how he was going to go about things when he became aware of a nervous man staring at him from across the large room. Seto's eyes narrowed and he walked over. The man cringed in fear.
"Why are you staring at me?" Seto demanded. "And why are you acting so afraid of me? Do you have a good reason to be?!" He raised an eyebrow and clamped a hand down on the man's shoulder so he couldn't run away.
The man squirmed frantically. "Um, no . . . no. . . . Of . . . of course not, Mr. Kaiba. . . ."
"You know my name?" Seto looked at the little man suspiciously, noticing how he kept staring at the bandage on Seto's right hand. "Maybe you can tell me how I got this injury," he said. It wasn't a request.
The man gulped. "I have no idea, Mr. Kaiba, honest!"
"Oh, I believe you, alright," Seto said sarcastically. "Now why don't you just come clean and tell me what happened?"
"I . . . I don't know . . . what you're talking about . . . Mr. Kaiba, sir," the man stuttered, his eyes wide. "I . . . I was just . . . surprised to . . . to see you . . . alive . . ."
Any threads of Seto's patience that he had left were about ready to snap. "Why should that surprise you? Am I supposed to be dead? Did you try to kill me?!"
The man finally broke free of Seto's grip and turned to run. "No, oh no, of course not!" he gasped, his eyes wild with fright now. "I . . . I've said too much already . . ." He turned, fleeing out the door and down the hall.
"Wait! Come back here!!" Seto yelled, chasing after the strange man. He came to a stop in the now-empty hall and looked around, confused. Where could the guy have gotten to? He had only had a few seconds to have found a hiding place.
Seto's gaze fell on an open door and he smirked. "So, trying to hide in there, huh? Well, you won't get away from me that easily." He entered the office and looked around. No one was in sight, but there was a closet where someone just might hide. Determinedly he walked up to the door and grabbed the knob, attempting to turn it.
"Mai? Is that you?!" a female voice called.
Seto let go of the knob, completely bewildered at hearing the familiar voice. "Tea? What are you doing in there?!"
Tea blinked in surprise in the dark closet. Of all people to turn up . . . "Kaiba??!" She sighed. "I've been locked in this stupid closet for ages!! One of the caterers dumped water all over me and Mai brought me here to wait for my dress to dry, but then she ran off chasing something and left me stranded in here!!"
Seto didn't answer. He had seen the dress hanging up and had gone over to see if it was dry yet.
"Kaiba? Are you there?!" Tea yelled.
"I'm still here," Seto replied.
"Is my dress dry?" Tea demanded.
"It is," Seto said, not really in a talkative mood. "Open the door a crack and I'll hand it to you."
Tea opened the door just wide enough for her to get her hand through and took the dress from Seto. "What a crazy evening," she muttered, pulling the door shut tight again.
She emerged from the closet a few minutes later and found Seto poking around in the office. "What are you doing?" she asked, giving him a weird look.
"Tea, did you hear anyone come into the room just before I did?" Seto returned Tea's question with one of his own.
"No, I didn't," Tea replied. "What's going on, Kaiba?!" she demanded.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Seto told her. "Just go back to the convention or something."
"Fine with me," Tea replied, leaving the room.
Seto looked around the office suspiciously, not entirely aware that Tea had left. He still couldn't figure out where that man had disappeared to.
Suddenly a blood-chilling scream came from outside the building. Seto looked up, startled. "What the . . ."
He turned and ran out of the office and to the nearby exit. He glanced around at the dimly-lighted parking lot and then gasped. The strange man he had been looking for was laying on the ground, bleeding from a nasty looking head wound!