Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience! [Strictly from Sam] I've been taking PSSA tests all this week, so I haven't had time to get over her and update! I'm so sorry! But don't worry - it ends today, so updates will go back to their regularly-scheduled speed. ^_^ Thank you!

Chapter 13

"The Warning"

Yugi spent the night alone in his room, like a good 14-year old. He was also the first among the group of young men to awaken, once again. After the usual yawning and stretching, he looked around to see that his friends didn't share in his sentiment of "the early bird gets the worm". He sighed. Why was it that the older you were, the longer it took for you to get up? Maybe some hot, tasty breakfast from the hotel restaurant would convince these three lazy teens to start the day at 7:00 like a normal kid. Putting on just his shoes, Yugi began his quest for food.

He never made it past the door. When he opened it to leave the room, he noticed that there was a cloak lying on the door mat. Yugi's eyes traveled all over the lump of cloth nervously; where had he seen this before? The young boy picked it up and held it by the hood, which made the piece of clothing slowly unravel itself. Yugi turned very white and began to feel sick. It was the cloak that Ambrosius had been wearing yesterday!

This wasn't only disturbing because of the thought that someone was leaving their clothes on his doorstep, but there were several things different about this cloak that really made Yugi scared. The symbol of the Millennium Shield had forcefully torn out of the fabric, and all around the now empty space was dried, deep red blood.

The scream that Yugi emitted undoubtedly did a better job of waking up his friends than and food could have done (though I'm sure that they would have preferred breakfast to primal scream therapy). He dropped the cloak and flew like the wind back into the room where he hid in Joey's covers, shaking like a rabbit.

Joey was utterly confused by his friend's behavior, and peeked under the sheets at him. "Whatsa matter, Yug?" he asked, "Have a nightmare or somethin'?"

Yugi said nothing, but pointed a trembling finger in the direction of the doorway. Joey glanced over that way. There was something there alright, but what was it? He climbed out of bed and walked over to it. When he picked up the cloth and got a good look at it, he went just a pale as Yugi had, screamed and leapt back into his own bed, shivering under the covers next to the younger boy.

"For crying out loud, would you knock off the yelling?" Tristan said, sitting up with his hands over his ears.

"Really now," said Bakura, rubbing his eyes, "What's gotten into you two?"

Yugi just pointed again at the doorway. Tristan and Bakura walked over to it. Tristan picked up the cloth, and his eyes narrowed. Bakura went rather blue in the face, but bit his tongue. They heard something soft hit the ground and looked down. An envelope had fallen from the folds of the cloth.

Tristan handed the cloak to a frightened Bakura and bent to pick up the letter.

Using no finesse what-so-ever, the brown-haired teen tore open the envelope, then began to read what was written on the yellowed piece of papyrus:

Pharaoh:

End Round One

Yami vs. Ambrosius

Begin Round Two:

Yami vs. Lightning

Yami vs. Fire

Yami vs. Wind

-Jetsu

Tristan carried the letter over to Joey's bed, where the two boys were still hiding. "Yugi – I think you should have a look at this," he said, holding it out.

Yugi sat up, letting the sheets slide off of him and Joey. Nervously, he took hold of the letter. After a glare from Tristan, Joey sat up as well. As Yugi read the message, with his best friend reading over his shoulder, he felt a lump form in his throat. Where is Yami?? He thought desperately. If there was ever a time he needed the Spirit to be there, it was now. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Millennium Puzzle began glowing…

* * *

Yami woke with a start, and sat up. Yugi was calling him – he was in some sort of trouble. The millennium symbol glowed brightly on his forehead and he put a hand to it, knowing that it was this which had awakened him. But why wasn't he with Yugi in the first place?

He glanced around and it all started coming back to him. Dedi was sleeping soundly next to him, her ebony hair shining, her lips slightly curled in a contented smile. He sighed as he watched her. She was so beautiful. He'd never realized how much he'd missed her until she was there with him.

But the symbol on his forehead continued to glow and he knew he couldn't stay in the Shadow Realm with her any longer. Yugi needed him and he had to go. Smiling sadly, he leaned over, kissed her gently, and then vanished, taking his clothes with him.

* * *

Yami appeared in the boy's hotel room seconds later (and fully clothed again). The scene was a troubling one. Yugi was sitting one Joey's bed, letting his best friend keep one arm over his shoulders supportively, while Tristan watched. Yugi was holding a sheet of papyrus in trembling hands. Bakura was staring nervously at a bundle of cloth he was holding (seemingly against his better judgment).

"Yugi…" Yami said.

The 14 year-old looked up immediately, though none of the others had heard the Spirit or felt his presence. "Yami!" Yugi cried, not caring if his friends thought he was crazy. A wave of relief had spread over him so quickly; he thought he might cry for joy. "Where have you been??"

Yami felt his cheeks redden. How could he tell Yugi what he'd been doing the night before? His host would never look at him the same way again. He shook his head, "That's not important right now," he said, "What's wrong?? What's happened?"

Yugi didn't quite know where to start. He cast a gaze at the others in the room. They were all looking around, knowing the Yami was in the room, but not sure where. "Take a look at this," he said, holding out the note.

Yami concentrated hard and managed to take hold of it. The others watched, amazed. He read it over gravely.

"And it was tucked inside…" Yugi swallowed hard and pointed at Bakura, "…that." Bakura let the cloth unravel again and Yami got a good look at it. His eyes widened. Whatever forces they'd dealt with before – none of them had been so blunt with their threats. Finally having enough, Bakura tossed the torn and blood-stained cloak on the floor and began wiping his hands off on his T-shirt.

Yami turned back to Yugi as the boy asked, "Do you have any idea who 'Jetsu' is?"

The Pharaoh made to answer – to tell his counterpart that he didn't know – but another voice spoke up. "I do." Everyone turned to look at Tristan, who was looking very serious. "There's something I have to tell you guys…"

They all turned to him attentively, and he took a deep breath…

And then the door to their room was flung open! Mai, Tea and Tsuki burst into the room. They were dressed, but it looked like it had been done in a hurry. "We heard screaming," Tea said.

"What's going on?" Mai demanded.

They all turned their eyes on Tristan again.

* * *

"And then I went back to the hotel to wait for you guys," Tristan finished, "I can tell the whole thing scared the shit out of me." The whole group of them was sitting around the boys' room, listening solemnly.

"Whoa…" Joey said after a moment of silence.

"Why did you tell us now?" Yugi asked.

"Well," Tristan shrugged, "I figured the guy had shown himself to you, so there wasn't any danger in letting it out."

"Basically," Mai said, "You were saving your own hide."

Tristan looked at her, hurt and surprised, not knowing at all what to say to that. He felt a hand on his arm and turned. Tea was looking at him sympathetically.

She turned to Mai, "What a horrible thing to say!" she said, "You can't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing, if you'd been in that position. He had every right to be scared."

Mai put a hand up defensively, "Hey, sorry," she said, "I didn't mean anything by it. Relax."

But nothing Mai could've said would have stung Tristan as much as Tea's words had. He had every right to be scared. It was like he was a toddler who was having bad dreams about monsters. So she did think he was still a kid. But what was he doing, worrying about that when they clearly had so much else to be concerned with?

He shook his head to get himself focused again, "Well, anyway… do you have any idea what this note means, Yugi? I understand the first part… (Yugi shuddered slightly) But what does the rest of this mean? How can the Spirit of your Puzzle battle with natural elements?"

Yugi attempted to recover himself, but didn't do a very good job of it (he still made sure that Yami wasn't going anywhere), "I don't know… I guess that we'll find out soon enough,"

At this time Joey stood up and strode over to Yugi, putting an arm around him, "Don't you worry, Yug! I'm gonna be right there beside ya, and if any of this Jetsu guy's punks try anything, they'll have to get through me first!"

A voice cut in before Yugi could reply, "And me!" Everyone turned to look, and they saw that Bakura had tossed aside the bloody cloak. He then pulled out his own golden chain, revealing two mini-items, "I wasn't sure if I was going to follow through and actually compete in this tournament, but either I do or my Spirit will force me. I wanted to try being a competitor instead of a spectator for once! And now, I have good reason to duel!"

Everyone stared at him in amazement. "You'd really do that?" Yugi asked.

"Yes," Bakura nodded determinedly, though he was looking a bit surprised at himself.

"You can count me in, kid," Mai added.

"Me too," Tsuki said.

"I don't want you guys you put yourselves in danger because of me," Yugi protested.

"Don't mention it," Mai brushed off his worry with a wave of her hand, "If this tournament's gonna be rigged anyway, might as well be on the winning team, right?" she gave him a thumbs up.

"I wanna help," Tsuki insisted. She put a hand over his and he felt himself blush, "You saved me once already. Let me make it up to you."

"Well, just be careful, okay?" Yugi told her.

"I will," she said, looking more grown up than he'd seen before. He felt eyes on him and turned. Yami was staring at them with a sort of amused smile. He wondered what the spirit was thinking.

"Alright!!" Joey said, standing up and pumping a fist in the air, "We've got the dream team all ready to go!!"

"Maybe the cheerleader for the dream team should put on some pants," Mai said, smirking.

Joey glanced down at himself. In all the confusion, the boys had all forgotten to get changed. Each one realized this at the same moment, and grinned embarrassedly.

"That's enough outta the peanut gallery," Joey said quickly, ushering the girls out of the room, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were always walkin' in on us on purpose!"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mai said, winking, and then shutting the door behind her.

There was silence for just a few seconds, when it was suddenly broken by the sound of Tristan's annoyed voice, "Yeah…"