Tori the Hanyou: Hey again! Just trying to keep everything under control
here at the studio!
Joey: DAMN YOU, KAIBA!!
*Kaiba evades yet another punch and knocks Joey to the ground
Yugi: Quit it, you guys! If any fighting's gonna be done around here, it'll be over pizza, ok? So, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS, CAUSE YOU'RE GIVING ME A DAMN HEADACHE!!!!!
*Everything goes quiet, everyone is staring at Yugi
TTH: Well, while everything's still quiet from Yugi's little colorful string of words, you go on ahead and read Chapter 9!
*Marches over to Yugi to make sure he's feeling all right
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
YuGiOh! Trapped in the Next Dimension
Chapter 9: The Party
"Damn! Why didn't I pay attention to the time??" Tori said aloud to herself as she went out on the porch. She was so busy worrying that she didn't hear the person behind her until a pair of arms had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from the railing. Startled, she spun around in the grip, coming face to face with Yugi!
"Where were you?" he asked. Tori let out a sigh of relief, thinking it might have been someone else.
"Uhh, exploring," she replied as Yugi let go of her, "What were you doing?"
"I went with Tristan and Joey for a while, and all they did was eat, so I came up here, and I've been sleeping until I heard you come in."
"So, where's everyone else?"
"No clue," came the answer.
"Well, I found this cool place where I've been for the past few hours . . ."
"More like all day," interrupted Yugi.
"Yeah, well, it's a horse-themed place, and I found this cool horse, and I also found out that my Ligress enables me to be able to talk to animals, and . . ."
"Do what?" asked Yugi.
"Yeah, I can understand what they say. It's kind of strange, but I can. Anyway, about the horse I found, I named her Windwaker, and she's so cool! She can go so fast for so long and not even break a sweat! You gotta come with me so I can show you her! And . . ."
"Whoa, slow down, Tori," said Yugi.
"Sorry. I'm gonna go find the girls, ok? It must be near dinnertime right now. Should we order room service, or eat in the party room?" asked Tori.
"I'd prefer room service myself, but since I know everyone else is gonna want the party room, I guess I have no choice," he replied. Tori sighed.
"You're right, those guys won't let you eat by yourself, they're gonna want you in the life of the party. After what happened with You-Know-Who, I hated public things, I was always by myself. But now that I've pretty much gotten over that, even though I'm still gonna kill Riku next chance I get, I'm starting to go back to my old self."
"Yeah, I'm still a bit on the antisocial side, though," said Yugi.
"Why don't you hide out here while I go get the girls, and you can just . . ."
"Won't work, those guys know me better than I know myself."
"Okay, you're stuck, then, see you in the party room in however long it takes them to find you," called Tori, heading for the door.
"That won't be long," Yugi muttered to himself as Tori bounced out the door. She definitely did seem much happier and lighthearted and trusting than when they'd first met. Back then she was so distrusting she wouldn't come within ten feet of any of the boys, mainly himself. She'd seemed to practically hate him. But that seemed such a long time ago, and she was almost the opposite of what she'd been then.
~A half an hour later~
Tori, having rounded up her friends from various parts of the hotel, herded them to the elevator to get up to their room so they could change. She'd found Tea down in the lobby, playing video games (which had really shocked Tori, considering Tea had never shown interest in video games before) and Tea's excuse had been that she'd decided to try them, and found out she liked them after all.
"Boy, Tristan's gonna be really proud of you, Tea," said Tori sarcastically as the elevator headed up.
"Tori, why'd you have to interrupt me? I was having fun," complained Mai. She'd been found on the beach, lying out on a lounge chair, inspecting the boys.
"Cause if I didn't, Joey would've flipped. Be happy it was me who found you and not him. Besides, it's friggin' nighttime, for cripes' sake! What the hell were you doing on a lounge chair at night?" asked Tori.
"Dunno, just never moved from this afternoon. Besides, there were still boys playing volleyball," replied Mai.
"What about Joey?" asked Tori.
"Yeah, what about my brother?" asked Serenity.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I'm just that way, it's in my blood."
"Well, you're gonna have to change that soon, 'cause if Joey finds out, you're on your own."
Serenity took her towel and wiped the remaining water out of her ears. She'd been at the pool, the sanest of the three that day.
"Wait a minute, Tori, what were YOU doing all day?" asked Mai. Tori stared at her like that was a stupid question.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't doing something like cheating on my boyfriend," said Tori.
"Joey and I are NOT boyfriend and girlfriend!" yelled Mai.
"You're not Joey's girlfriend, my ass!" replied Tori, "You two were practically all over each other back at the house. Aww, it was so cute how you guys were all snuggled up on the couch . . ."
*BAM!*
"Oww, what the hell was that for?" yelled Tori.
"So what if I was checking out other guys? It doesn't mean anything, you know that," said Mai, holding up a clenched fist from bonking Tori on the head.
"I know I know that! But Joey's not exactly a girl; he wouldn't know it didn't mean anything! He'd think you were seriously looking for somebody else!" cried Tori. At this Mai went quiet. She hadn't realized Joey might not recognize it as a joke.
"Alright, I won't do it anymore!" she said, exasperated. She leaned back, trying not to picture what the look on Joey's face would be if he saw her checking out other guys. She shook it out of her head and realized Tori hadn't answered her question.
"Okay, let's get off of me. Tori, you didn't fully answer my question from before, what were you doing all day?" asked Mai triumphantly. Tori shrugged.
"In the field," she replied.
"Doing what?" At this, Tori remembered all of the things she'd done with Windwaker, and remembered that she wanted to tell somebody about them still. She immediately began talking, explaining what she did the entire time, saving the abused horses, taking the old ones across the plains, and when she got to the part about Seto Kaiba, all of their mouths dropped open.
"S-Seto Kaiba's HERE? In this hotel???" asked Tea, frightened. Tori frowned.
"Yeah, what's the problem?" asked Tori.
"Tori, do you remember how we are in science class?" asked Tea.
"Yeah."
"Picture it." Tori pictured their math class.
" . . . okay"
"Do you see that guy in the back table in the corner? He always has his head down."
"Yeah."
"That's him."
"So? What's so great about him?"
"Do you remember that day we had to do a project in pairs, but Serenity was absent. You and Mai paired up, but I was paired up with someone else?"
"Uh-huh"
"I was paired with him!"
"So?"
"The guy is bad news! The whole time we had to work together all he did was give me this glare, like he didn't want me around! He freaked me out! I told you guys all about it after school! Weren't you listening?"
"Apparently not, he was already acting like a jerk in there," Tori pointed to the field, which they were passing right now. Tori saw something and squeaked, pressing the Field button, and the doors opened up. The other three looked after her curiously. Soon, they heard neighing, and a huge horse came up to the elevator. "You guys, I'd like you to meet, Windwaker!"
The girls stared at the big, beautiful horse. She looked right back at them.
"This is the horse I spent the entire day with! Isn't she awesome?" The girls stepped cautiously out of the elevator and walked up to pet the horse.
"Wow, she's big," said Tea as she stroked the horse's neck.
"Yeah, and she's super fast! I wish I could show you guys, but we gotta go." She turned to Windwaker, who was looking at her sadly.
"It's ok, I'll be back," promised Tori, and she kissed the horse on the muzzle, and watched her gallop away.
As they got back in the elevator, Tori finished her story of what she'd done, explaining Kaiba's whip to the young colt.
"Oh, the poor thing!" cried Serenity.
"So, was Yugi mad when you got back, or what?" asked Mai, ignoring Serenity's outburst.
"No, he wasn't. He was just worried, that's all."
The elevator finally reached their floor, and they jumped out, racing to their room to change. Tori was inside first and she ran to shut the door combining their room with the boys' room next door. After locking it, she ran and closed the door behind her friends as they came in. Serenity ran into the shower, and the other girls just changed clothes.
After about an hour, when all the girls were just about ready, they heard voices next door.
"Yugi, why'd you have to bug me? I was havin' fun!" cried a very upset- sounding Joey.
"Having fun? You call nearly drowning yourself with food fun??"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do."
"Well, you're weird. Now get changed, would ya? You look like you just had a food fight with yourself."
"Watch it," replied Joey.
~Ten minutes later . . .~
The girls piled into the elevator, and held the door as the boys came out, dragging Yugi behind them. They threw him into the elevator and followed. Yugi stood up next to Tori, grumbling.
"Told ya they'd make me go," he said.
"I never said they wouldn't," said Tori. Tea hit the button labeled Party Room, and they went down to it. When the door opened, the girls practically flew out, slowly followed by Bakura and Duke, as Joey and Tristan were dragging Yugi out the door. They released him, and Tori watched sadly as he slunk away into the corner. She remembered their conversation. Yugi was still antisocial, and they'd have to work with him to get him back to normal, thanks to Riku. Tori growled at the thought. She suddenly heard screams, and turned around as her friends shrunk back behind her. The elevator had opened again, and out stepped a familiar face.
"Oh, my God! It's Seto Kaiba!"
"It's Seto! You think he'll dance with me?"
"Oh, my God, he's so hot!"
Tori looked around in disgust at the girls who were drooling over the boy who had just come out. He was wearing long black pants and a black shirt, over which he wore a long silver overcoat and black shoes. He glanced around at the girls who had flocked around him, and noticed the group who hadn't. They were hiding behind a face he'd seen not too long ago. He stared at Mai, Serenity, and Tea, who were hiding behind Tori, and his gaze swiveled up to meet her fierce, undaunted eyes. He strode through the girls, who made a pathway for him, and went up to Tori.
"Well, well, if it isn't the horse whisperer!" he sneered. Tori continued to glare at him, while her friends shrunk away from him. Hearing their retreat, she suddenly snarled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, his sneer gone. He reached out and grabbed her face. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" he asked. Tori slapped his hand away, growling.
"Because I'm not exactly afraid of much," she answered venomously.
"Really? You're not afraid of much?" he asked, "Prove it." He gave her a stare that would have turned hell into an ice-skating rink. It made her friends' blood turn to ice, and they shrunk away even further. But it didn't faze Tori, not one bit. She simply continued to glare furiously at him. He smirked, suddenly.
"So you're as tough as you claim, are you?" he asked.
"One thing's for sure, I'm a hell of a lot tougher than you, someone who relies on either his charm or his glares to get what he wants," snarled Tori. The girls behind Kaiba gasped, drawing attention from the dance floor, where the boys had been 'breaking it down'.
Joey turned his head, and saw Tori staring heatedly at a taller figure, which he recognized, and immediately hated. He motioned to the other boys and pointed. Seeing their girls being threatened, Tristan and Duke immediately became mad, especially after recognizing who was threatening them.
"Hey, isn't that that creep, Kaiba, from school?" asked Duke.
"Yeah, the one who steals all the girls," said Tristan.
"Tristan!" yelled Joey and Duke.
"What? My point is, he's also a major jerk," said Tristan sheepishly. Joey shook his head, and remembered Yugi.
"Oh, he's not gonna be happy about this," said Joey. The three of them marched up to the group of girls, forcing their way through just in time to see Kaiba charge Tori, fist ready. The boys stood, horrified, and the rest seemed to go in slow motion.
Tori saw Kaiba coming, and she prepared herself to jump. Kaiba didn't know about her powers, he would be in for a real surprise. Just before his fist came in contact with her, though, she'd leapt into the air, really high, placing one foot on Kaiba's head for extra leverage, and launching off, completing three neat flips and landing smoothly on the ground, while Kaiba fell flat on his face.
Joey, Tristan, Duke, Mai, Tea, and Serenity were the only ones laughing out of that entire group. The other girls turned at them, evil glares on their faces, and they were about to attack when Tori snarled viciously at all of them, making them back off.
Kaiba had gotten up while Tori was protecting her friends, and leaped at her again. Her senses made everything slow down, and she heard the heavy footfalls behind her, and waited until they went into a skipping motion, meaning he was about to hit her, and she leapt into the air again, completing two back flips before landing on the ground behind Kaiba again. He almost ran into the girls behind her, but stopped himself just in time.
Kaiba wasn't completely stupid, though. He knew where she would hit the ground, and spun around just as she landed, grabbing her under the arms, holding her in an arm lock. Tori was taken by surprise.
"Kaiba! Let her go!" cried Joey. Kaiba turned to see Joey leap out of the audience.
"Well, if it isn't dog-boy," said Kaiba.
"Quiet, you! I said let her go!" retorted Joey. Kaiba smirked.
"Why on earth do you think I would listen to a lowlife mutt like you?" asked Kaiba coolly. Unable to answer, Joey simply turned and stormed out of the circle. Tori would have seen what he did, except she'd begun to breathe hard. She felt immense pressure on her arms, and her head, and the room began to spin. She shook her head and winced in pain as Kaiba's hold on her tightened. The Ligress couldn't take much more of this, and she got mad. Really mad.
Joey raced back to the corner.
"Yugi! Tori's in trouble!" he yelled. Yugi jumped to his feet. Joey pointed to the group, and Yugi raced over there. He shoved his way through the crowd, and immediately became furious when he recognized who had a painfully tight grip on Tori. He stomped up to Kaiba, fury in his eyes. Kaiba turned and stared at him.
"Well, what are you doing here, Yugi?" he asked in a slimy manner.
"Release her, NOW, Kaiba," said Yugi.
"Look, Yugi, I already told Dog-Boy over there that I'm not letting her go. This girl made a fool of me today, and I intend to get my revenge!" replied Kaiba.
Yugi looked down at Tori, and felt the energy from the Ligress pulsing dangerously.
"Well, okay then, Kaiba, your funeral," he said as he walked away, "But let me just say one thing," he said as Tori's eyes, yellow and furious, snapped open, "You are about to be in a hell of a lot of trouble."
At that moment, Tori glowed with yellow light. Kaiba noticed something on her hands, and looked at them, noticing the fingernails growing at a considerable rate, becoming steel, long, and razor-sharp. His eyes widened as her ears became pointed, but he couldn't even see her face, which had death written upon it.
Tori felt herself lose control of her body as the Ligress came out, and she unleashed a huge amount of psychic energy, blasting Kaiba away. Kaiba fell to the floor, and looked up to see the furious girl round on him, snarling, showing deadly fangs, along with cat eyes, full of death. She flexed the steel claws on her hands, and prepared to attack, letting out a jaguar-like roar. The girls ran for it, diving for the elevators and under tables. Tori's friends backed away as they felt her rage fill the room. Kaiba glanced at the door to the stairs, hidden behind a stage curtain, and then back to the furious girl. He made a break for it, and Tori let out another roar and leapt after him, but was soon stopped by a hand on her wrist.
"Tori! Stop! You've done enough!" came Yugi's voice as Kaiba headed for the doors. Tori stopped, but the Ligress didn't want to. She tried to wrench herself out of Yugi's grip to go after her prey, enthralled by the thrill of chasing. Yugi wrapped his other arm around her, and scratched her neck again. The Ligress calmed down, and Tori was able to control it again. She became normal again, turning her head to look at Yugi.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"Don't mention it," said Yugi, letting her go.
"Guess we gotta work on knowing when to stop with her," said Tori as she rubbed her arms from where Kaiba grabbed her. Her friends came over, fussing about her standing up to one of the scariest guys in their school. The boys stopped.
"Wait, he goes to OUR school," said Joey.
"Yeah, ours too," said Tea.
"You mean . . .?" asked Tristan.
"We all go to the same school?" asked Tori and Yugi at the same time.
"Then how come we've never noticed you?" asked Joey.
"Probably 'cause we're all in different classes," said Tea.
"That's most likely it," said Mai.
They all headed up to the elevators, now empty, and went back to their rooms. The girls went into their room, making sure the door between theirs and the boys' rooms was still locked.
"I still can't believe you would do that!" cried Mai; "He could've crushed you to a pulp!"
"No he couldn't," said Tea, "didn't you see Tori's powers? SHE would've crushed HIM if Yugi hadn't stopped her."
"No, Mai was hiding her eyes," giggled Serenity. Mai turned around.
"So what? The guy's scary, we all agree, except for Tori, that is." Tori had been dressing for bed quietly, and tucked herself in as they were discussing what had just happened.
"Well, one thing's for sure," said Tea, "that was a better show than any party I've ever been to!"
The other two agreed, and climbed into bed, switching off their lamps, and rolling over to go to sleep. Tori lay awake, thinking about the close call she'd had. If Yugi hadn't been there, her Ligress would've killed someone, and it wouldn't have been Riku. She gulped thinking about it. Not that she liked Kaiba, she thought the guy was pathetic, but his life would've been gone all because of her. The only life she was willing to take was Riku's and they had to focus on that. Tori's eyes fluttered sleepily for a few minutes, and then closed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tori the Hanyou: You're sure you're ok, Yugi?
Yugi: Yeah, I'm fine, for the MILLIONTH time!
Joey: Maybe we oughta take his temperature.
Yugi: GUYS! What's so big about me saying cuss words?? Huh?
Tristan: Duh! You've never done it before!
TTH: So, Chapter 9's done, here are the shout outs!
Lilly Starwind: I'm sorry you're sick! Please feel better soon!
Get ready for Chapter 10: A Day at the Pool and Walks on the Beach!
Joey: DAMN YOU, KAIBA!!
*Kaiba evades yet another punch and knocks Joey to the ground
Yugi: Quit it, you guys! If any fighting's gonna be done around here, it'll be over pizza, ok? So, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS, CAUSE YOU'RE GIVING ME A DAMN HEADACHE!!!!!
*Everything goes quiet, everyone is staring at Yugi
TTH: Well, while everything's still quiet from Yugi's little colorful string of words, you go on ahead and read Chapter 9!
*Marches over to Yugi to make sure he's feeling all right
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
YuGiOh! Trapped in the Next Dimension
Chapter 9: The Party
"Damn! Why didn't I pay attention to the time??" Tori said aloud to herself as she went out on the porch. She was so busy worrying that she didn't hear the person behind her until a pair of arms had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from the railing. Startled, she spun around in the grip, coming face to face with Yugi!
"Where were you?" he asked. Tori let out a sigh of relief, thinking it might have been someone else.
"Uhh, exploring," she replied as Yugi let go of her, "What were you doing?"
"I went with Tristan and Joey for a while, and all they did was eat, so I came up here, and I've been sleeping until I heard you come in."
"So, where's everyone else?"
"No clue," came the answer.
"Well, I found this cool place where I've been for the past few hours . . ."
"More like all day," interrupted Yugi.
"Yeah, well, it's a horse-themed place, and I found this cool horse, and I also found out that my Ligress enables me to be able to talk to animals, and . . ."
"Do what?" asked Yugi.
"Yeah, I can understand what they say. It's kind of strange, but I can. Anyway, about the horse I found, I named her Windwaker, and she's so cool! She can go so fast for so long and not even break a sweat! You gotta come with me so I can show you her! And . . ."
"Whoa, slow down, Tori," said Yugi.
"Sorry. I'm gonna go find the girls, ok? It must be near dinnertime right now. Should we order room service, or eat in the party room?" asked Tori.
"I'd prefer room service myself, but since I know everyone else is gonna want the party room, I guess I have no choice," he replied. Tori sighed.
"You're right, those guys won't let you eat by yourself, they're gonna want you in the life of the party. After what happened with You-Know-Who, I hated public things, I was always by myself. But now that I've pretty much gotten over that, even though I'm still gonna kill Riku next chance I get, I'm starting to go back to my old self."
"Yeah, I'm still a bit on the antisocial side, though," said Yugi.
"Why don't you hide out here while I go get the girls, and you can just . . ."
"Won't work, those guys know me better than I know myself."
"Okay, you're stuck, then, see you in the party room in however long it takes them to find you," called Tori, heading for the door.
"That won't be long," Yugi muttered to himself as Tori bounced out the door. She definitely did seem much happier and lighthearted and trusting than when they'd first met. Back then she was so distrusting she wouldn't come within ten feet of any of the boys, mainly himself. She'd seemed to practically hate him. But that seemed such a long time ago, and she was almost the opposite of what she'd been then.
~A half an hour later~
Tori, having rounded up her friends from various parts of the hotel, herded them to the elevator to get up to their room so they could change. She'd found Tea down in the lobby, playing video games (which had really shocked Tori, considering Tea had never shown interest in video games before) and Tea's excuse had been that she'd decided to try them, and found out she liked them after all.
"Boy, Tristan's gonna be really proud of you, Tea," said Tori sarcastically as the elevator headed up.
"Tori, why'd you have to interrupt me? I was having fun," complained Mai. She'd been found on the beach, lying out on a lounge chair, inspecting the boys.
"Cause if I didn't, Joey would've flipped. Be happy it was me who found you and not him. Besides, it's friggin' nighttime, for cripes' sake! What the hell were you doing on a lounge chair at night?" asked Tori.
"Dunno, just never moved from this afternoon. Besides, there were still boys playing volleyball," replied Mai.
"What about Joey?" asked Tori.
"Yeah, what about my brother?" asked Serenity.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I'm just that way, it's in my blood."
"Well, you're gonna have to change that soon, 'cause if Joey finds out, you're on your own."
Serenity took her towel and wiped the remaining water out of her ears. She'd been at the pool, the sanest of the three that day.
"Wait a minute, Tori, what were YOU doing all day?" asked Mai. Tori stared at her like that was a stupid question.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't doing something like cheating on my boyfriend," said Tori.
"Joey and I are NOT boyfriend and girlfriend!" yelled Mai.
"You're not Joey's girlfriend, my ass!" replied Tori, "You two were practically all over each other back at the house. Aww, it was so cute how you guys were all snuggled up on the couch . . ."
*BAM!*
"Oww, what the hell was that for?" yelled Tori.
"So what if I was checking out other guys? It doesn't mean anything, you know that," said Mai, holding up a clenched fist from bonking Tori on the head.
"I know I know that! But Joey's not exactly a girl; he wouldn't know it didn't mean anything! He'd think you were seriously looking for somebody else!" cried Tori. At this Mai went quiet. She hadn't realized Joey might not recognize it as a joke.
"Alright, I won't do it anymore!" she said, exasperated. She leaned back, trying not to picture what the look on Joey's face would be if he saw her checking out other guys. She shook it out of her head and realized Tori hadn't answered her question.
"Okay, let's get off of me. Tori, you didn't fully answer my question from before, what were you doing all day?" asked Mai triumphantly. Tori shrugged.
"In the field," she replied.
"Doing what?" At this, Tori remembered all of the things she'd done with Windwaker, and remembered that she wanted to tell somebody about them still. She immediately began talking, explaining what she did the entire time, saving the abused horses, taking the old ones across the plains, and when she got to the part about Seto Kaiba, all of their mouths dropped open.
"S-Seto Kaiba's HERE? In this hotel???" asked Tea, frightened. Tori frowned.
"Yeah, what's the problem?" asked Tori.
"Tori, do you remember how we are in science class?" asked Tea.
"Yeah."
"Picture it." Tori pictured their math class.
" . . . okay"
"Do you see that guy in the back table in the corner? He always has his head down."
"Yeah."
"That's him."
"So? What's so great about him?"
"Do you remember that day we had to do a project in pairs, but Serenity was absent. You and Mai paired up, but I was paired up with someone else?"
"Uh-huh"
"I was paired with him!"
"So?"
"The guy is bad news! The whole time we had to work together all he did was give me this glare, like he didn't want me around! He freaked me out! I told you guys all about it after school! Weren't you listening?"
"Apparently not, he was already acting like a jerk in there," Tori pointed to the field, which they were passing right now. Tori saw something and squeaked, pressing the Field button, and the doors opened up. The other three looked after her curiously. Soon, they heard neighing, and a huge horse came up to the elevator. "You guys, I'd like you to meet, Windwaker!"
The girls stared at the big, beautiful horse. She looked right back at them.
"This is the horse I spent the entire day with! Isn't she awesome?" The girls stepped cautiously out of the elevator and walked up to pet the horse.
"Wow, she's big," said Tea as she stroked the horse's neck.
"Yeah, and she's super fast! I wish I could show you guys, but we gotta go." She turned to Windwaker, who was looking at her sadly.
"It's ok, I'll be back," promised Tori, and she kissed the horse on the muzzle, and watched her gallop away.
As they got back in the elevator, Tori finished her story of what she'd done, explaining Kaiba's whip to the young colt.
"Oh, the poor thing!" cried Serenity.
"So, was Yugi mad when you got back, or what?" asked Mai, ignoring Serenity's outburst.
"No, he wasn't. He was just worried, that's all."
The elevator finally reached their floor, and they jumped out, racing to their room to change. Tori was inside first and she ran to shut the door combining their room with the boys' room next door. After locking it, she ran and closed the door behind her friends as they came in. Serenity ran into the shower, and the other girls just changed clothes.
After about an hour, when all the girls were just about ready, they heard voices next door.
"Yugi, why'd you have to bug me? I was havin' fun!" cried a very upset- sounding Joey.
"Having fun? You call nearly drowning yourself with food fun??"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do."
"Well, you're weird. Now get changed, would ya? You look like you just had a food fight with yourself."
"Watch it," replied Joey.
~Ten minutes later . . .~
The girls piled into the elevator, and held the door as the boys came out, dragging Yugi behind them. They threw him into the elevator and followed. Yugi stood up next to Tori, grumbling.
"Told ya they'd make me go," he said.
"I never said they wouldn't," said Tori. Tea hit the button labeled Party Room, and they went down to it. When the door opened, the girls practically flew out, slowly followed by Bakura and Duke, as Joey and Tristan were dragging Yugi out the door. They released him, and Tori watched sadly as he slunk away into the corner. She remembered their conversation. Yugi was still antisocial, and they'd have to work with him to get him back to normal, thanks to Riku. Tori growled at the thought. She suddenly heard screams, and turned around as her friends shrunk back behind her. The elevator had opened again, and out stepped a familiar face.
"Oh, my God! It's Seto Kaiba!"
"It's Seto! You think he'll dance with me?"
"Oh, my God, he's so hot!"
Tori looked around in disgust at the girls who were drooling over the boy who had just come out. He was wearing long black pants and a black shirt, over which he wore a long silver overcoat and black shoes. He glanced around at the girls who had flocked around him, and noticed the group who hadn't. They were hiding behind a face he'd seen not too long ago. He stared at Mai, Serenity, and Tea, who were hiding behind Tori, and his gaze swiveled up to meet her fierce, undaunted eyes. He strode through the girls, who made a pathway for him, and went up to Tori.
"Well, well, if it isn't the horse whisperer!" he sneered. Tori continued to glare at him, while her friends shrunk away from him. Hearing their retreat, she suddenly snarled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, his sneer gone. He reached out and grabbed her face. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" he asked. Tori slapped his hand away, growling.
"Because I'm not exactly afraid of much," she answered venomously.
"Really? You're not afraid of much?" he asked, "Prove it." He gave her a stare that would have turned hell into an ice-skating rink. It made her friends' blood turn to ice, and they shrunk away even further. But it didn't faze Tori, not one bit. She simply continued to glare furiously at him. He smirked, suddenly.
"So you're as tough as you claim, are you?" he asked.
"One thing's for sure, I'm a hell of a lot tougher than you, someone who relies on either his charm or his glares to get what he wants," snarled Tori. The girls behind Kaiba gasped, drawing attention from the dance floor, where the boys had been 'breaking it down'.
Joey turned his head, and saw Tori staring heatedly at a taller figure, which he recognized, and immediately hated. He motioned to the other boys and pointed. Seeing their girls being threatened, Tristan and Duke immediately became mad, especially after recognizing who was threatening them.
"Hey, isn't that that creep, Kaiba, from school?" asked Duke.
"Yeah, the one who steals all the girls," said Tristan.
"Tristan!" yelled Joey and Duke.
"What? My point is, he's also a major jerk," said Tristan sheepishly. Joey shook his head, and remembered Yugi.
"Oh, he's not gonna be happy about this," said Joey. The three of them marched up to the group of girls, forcing their way through just in time to see Kaiba charge Tori, fist ready. The boys stood, horrified, and the rest seemed to go in slow motion.
Tori saw Kaiba coming, and she prepared herself to jump. Kaiba didn't know about her powers, he would be in for a real surprise. Just before his fist came in contact with her, though, she'd leapt into the air, really high, placing one foot on Kaiba's head for extra leverage, and launching off, completing three neat flips and landing smoothly on the ground, while Kaiba fell flat on his face.
Joey, Tristan, Duke, Mai, Tea, and Serenity were the only ones laughing out of that entire group. The other girls turned at them, evil glares on their faces, and they were about to attack when Tori snarled viciously at all of them, making them back off.
Kaiba had gotten up while Tori was protecting her friends, and leaped at her again. Her senses made everything slow down, and she heard the heavy footfalls behind her, and waited until they went into a skipping motion, meaning he was about to hit her, and she leapt into the air again, completing two back flips before landing on the ground behind Kaiba again. He almost ran into the girls behind her, but stopped himself just in time.
Kaiba wasn't completely stupid, though. He knew where she would hit the ground, and spun around just as she landed, grabbing her under the arms, holding her in an arm lock. Tori was taken by surprise.
"Kaiba! Let her go!" cried Joey. Kaiba turned to see Joey leap out of the audience.
"Well, if it isn't dog-boy," said Kaiba.
"Quiet, you! I said let her go!" retorted Joey. Kaiba smirked.
"Why on earth do you think I would listen to a lowlife mutt like you?" asked Kaiba coolly. Unable to answer, Joey simply turned and stormed out of the circle. Tori would have seen what he did, except she'd begun to breathe hard. She felt immense pressure on her arms, and her head, and the room began to spin. She shook her head and winced in pain as Kaiba's hold on her tightened. The Ligress couldn't take much more of this, and she got mad. Really mad.
Joey raced back to the corner.
"Yugi! Tori's in trouble!" he yelled. Yugi jumped to his feet. Joey pointed to the group, and Yugi raced over there. He shoved his way through the crowd, and immediately became furious when he recognized who had a painfully tight grip on Tori. He stomped up to Kaiba, fury in his eyes. Kaiba turned and stared at him.
"Well, what are you doing here, Yugi?" he asked in a slimy manner.
"Release her, NOW, Kaiba," said Yugi.
"Look, Yugi, I already told Dog-Boy over there that I'm not letting her go. This girl made a fool of me today, and I intend to get my revenge!" replied Kaiba.
Yugi looked down at Tori, and felt the energy from the Ligress pulsing dangerously.
"Well, okay then, Kaiba, your funeral," he said as he walked away, "But let me just say one thing," he said as Tori's eyes, yellow and furious, snapped open, "You are about to be in a hell of a lot of trouble."
At that moment, Tori glowed with yellow light. Kaiba noticed something on her hands, and looked at them, noticing the fingernails growing at a considerable rate, becoming steel, long, and razor-sharp. His eyes widened as her ears became pointed, but he couldn't even see her face, which had death written upon it.
Tori felt herself lose control of her body as the Ligress came out, and she unleashed a huge amount of psychic energy, blasting Kaiba away. Kaiba fell to the floor, and looked up to see the furious girl round on him, snarling, showing deadly fangs, along with cat eyes, full of death. She flexed the steel claws on her hands, and prepared to attack, letting out a jaguar-like roar. The girls ran for it, diving for the elevators and under tables. Tori's friends backed away as they felt her rage fill the room. Kaiba glanced at the door to the stairs, hidden behind a stage curtain, and then back to the furious girl. He made a break for it, and Tori let out another roar and leapt after him, but was soon stopped by a hand on her wrist.
"Tori! Stop! You've done enough!" came Yugi's voice as Kaiba headed for the doors. Tori stopped, but the Ligress didn't want to. She tried to wrench herself out of Yugi's grip to go after her prey, enthralled by the thrill of chasing. Yugi wrapped his other arm around her, and scratched her neck again. The Ligress calmed down, and Tori was able to control it again. She became normal again, turning her head to look at Yugi.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"Don't mention it," said Yugi, letting her go.
"Guess we gotta work on knowing when to stop with her," said Tori as she rubbed her arms from where Kaiba grabbed her. Her friends came over, fussing about her standing up to one of the scariest guys in their school. The boys stopped.
"Wait, he goes to OUR school," said Joey.
"Yeah, ours too," said Tea.
"You mean . . .?" asked Tristan.
"We all go to the same school?" asked Tori and Yugi at the same time.
"Then how come we've never noticed you?" asked Joey.
"Probably 'cause we're all in different classes," said Tea.
"That's most likely it," said Mai.
They all headed up to the elevators, now empty, and went back to their rooms. The girls went into their room, making sure the door between theirs and the boys' rooms was still locked.
"I still can't believe you would do that!" cried Mai; "He could've crushed you to a pulp!"
"No he couldn't," said Tea, "didn't you see Tori's powers? SHE would've crushed HIM if Yugi hadn't stopped her."
"No, Mai was hiding her eyes," giggled Serenity. Mai turned around.
"So what? The guy's scary, we all agree, except for Tori, that is." Tori had been dressing for bed quietly, and tucked herself in as they were discussing what had just happened.
"Well, one thing's for sure," said Tea, "that was a better show than any party I've ever been to!"
The other two agreed, and climbed into bed, switching off their lamps, and rolling over to go to sleep. Tori lay awake, thinking about the close call she'd had. If Yugi hadn't been there, her Ligress would've killed someone, and it wouldn't have been Riku. She gulped thinking about it. Not that she liked Kaiba, she thought the guy was pathetic, but his life would've been gone all because of her. The only life she was willing to take was Riku's and they had to focus on that. Tori's eyes fluttered sleepily for a few minutes, and then closed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tori the Hanyou: You're sure you're ok, Yugi?
Yugi: Yeah, I'm fine, for the MILLIONTH time!
Joey: Maybe we oughta take his temperature.
Yugi: GUYS! What's so big about me saying cuss words?? Huh?
Tristan: Duh! You've never done it before!
TTH: So, Chapter 9's done, here are the shout outs!
Lilly Starwind: I'm sorry you're sick! Please feel better soon!
Get ready for Chapter 10: A Day at the Pool and Walks on the Beach!