Dimensional Warrior Girl: The Winter Tournament
Author: Chaos Valkyrie
First Conceptualized: October, 2003
Posted Chapter 02: January 28, 2004
Updated: December 22, 2005
Disclaimer: Hmmm, checking mail… nope, no royalty checks. Damn. I guess I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Author Notes: Hmm… my character is somewhat of a potty mouth. Can't imagine where she gets that from… whistles to self… Last chapter was kind of short, but its an intro, what can you expect? This chapters a little longer. I will say that the story mainly revolves around Jenni, so it may be awhile before you see many of the Yu-Gi-Oh characters.
Chapter Two: More Confusion
'Well, at least this is familiar,' she sighed to herself. The coffee was good. She sipped contentedly, sitting at a small round table outside the coffee shop. Her hazel eyes watched people scurry about in the snow outside awhile, before facing the inevitable.
Halfway through the cup, she sighed inwardly and pulled out the bag and envelope. First, she used her pocket knife to slit open the envelope. She pulled it open and looked in. 'Hmm!' Inside there was only a small piece of paper and a key. She pulled out the paper.
'251 West Maple, Apt 2B' was all it said. It was written in some spiky, black writing, as if the writer was in a hurry. She put it back in the envelope, and folded it into the inner pocket of her jacket. Grudgingly, she pulled out the newspaper.
'Domino! Where the hell is Domino?' she stared at it in surprise. She downed the rest of her coffee without really tasting it. The paper read 'Domino Daily Times'. She shoved it back in the bag, and pulled up her knapsack. She knew there was no such town in her state, nor really, any of the states around hers for that matter. Not that she knew of. And this seemed to be a rather large town, so it would show up on a map. 'Hmmm.'
She flipped open her knapsack and started to shove the bag inside. Then she realized that she had that first bag in the way. She pulled it out and shoved the other one in between her textbooks. She opened the bag, and pulled out the mechanical thing, and the little leather box. She looked at the machine first.
She snorted. It looked like the wing off a toy airplane, almost. It seemed to have a strange band on the bottom, like it would fit on your wrist or something. 'But who would wear something like this?' she wondered, smiling. 'Talk about a fashion faux-pas!' However, no matter what angle she looked at it, it seemed to have no answers for her. She shoved it back in the bag.
She looked at the leather box next. She opened it up, and it held – cards? She pulled them out, and then looked in the box to see if there was anything she was missing. There was a tiny black cube, but it was featureless. She sighed and glanced over the cards. She liked the pictures on them, but they didn't hold any answers for her either, so she put them away as well. Back to the knapsack it all went.
She pulled on the backpack, and tossed away her cup. She pulled out the envelope again, and re-read the address. She didn't want to go there, she knew it was stupid and probably dangerous, but it was the only choice she had. She looked outside, where snow was softly falling. Sighing, she resolutely marched off.
Dark blue eyes narrowed as they watched the honey-haired girl at her table. Normally, Seto Kaiba could care less about the other patrons at this particular café. He only cared about the coffee, which was the best in Domino. He sat, drinking his coffee and typing away on his laptop. This was his usual behavior, and no one paid it any attention. However, when the girl pulled out one of his latest duel disks, his eyes narrowed. There was just something… well, not right about her behavior. She was holding and examining it much like Pegasus had done with his first prototype. But if she was participating in this new tournament, then she couldn't be that confused by it. He watched her shrug and winced as she shoved it in the bag. 'What's going on here?' he wondered to himself.
He then watched her open her black deck box and glance through the cards. Again, something was… off. He narrowed his eyes tried to analyze her behavior, much like he did with other business associates and would-be duelists.
'She seems confused. Slightly anxious. She looks at her cards as if she doesn't know what they are, or what the duel disk is used for.' He pondered this momentarily. 'But how could she be in the tournament otherwise? Only experienced duelists can participate.' He frowned to himself. As she stood up to leave, he made a mental image of her appearance in his photographic memory. He'd get to the bottom of this all right.
Jenni had only taken a few steps when she heard a deep voice behind her. "You're headed the wrong way," it told her.
She quickly turned around, coming face-to-face with a drop-dead gorgeous hunk of man. She tried to keep her mouth closed, but it was difficult.
'Hubba hubba,' she drooled inwardly.
"How do you know where I'm going?" she asked the tall hunk, trying to act cool but inwardly, hoping for some answers.
"I saw your Duel Disk. The tournament announcements are this way," he nodded towards the park nearby.
Jenni opened her mouth to ask some questions, but quickly shut it. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he turned around and walked towards the park. Jenni ran to keep up with his long strides, mulling over this new development as she followed him.
'I assume the Duel Disk must be the airplane wing. I hope,' she thought to herself. She followed him into the park, shivering slightly as the snow quietly melted on the pavement. Soon the ground would be cold enough for the snow to stick, and judging by the heavy sky above her, there would be plenty of snow to be had.
Jenni followed her grumpy dream boy into a large clearing in the center of the park. A lot of teenagers and adults her age (about 19) were already there, facing a platform at the far end. Jenni, being rather short, followed the man before her as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Looking around, she noticed the clothing on some of the others.
'Man, I must look like someone's grandmother!' she thought, looking down at her own barn jacket and heavy cardigan. Most of the other females must be frozen, judging from the total lack of clothing on their bodies. And of the men, some were dressed normally (to her at least) while the others seemed rather on the punk side. Even her hunky man was wearing an outrageous blue, metal studded leather trench coat.
She wasn't left much time for contemplation, however, as a silver-haired, older gentleman stood up at the podium.
"Greetings, Duelists from around the world," he smiled at the gathered youth.
'Duelist! What?' Jenni thought to herself. He continued.
"I am Albert Stevenson, President of Stevenson Technologies Unlimited, and your Host for this tournament."
Jenni noticed that the man's wide smile did not extend to his eyes, which seemed colder than the air around them.
"My colleagues and I have designed this tournament not only to test your skills as duelists, but your skills at survival as well. This Winter Tournament," he nodded at the sign above him, "will test your ability to duel under pressure. I will assure you that no one's life will really be at risk in this tournament; however, you will be forced to duel in the elements, bringing the illusion of higher stakes. Our preliminary rounds will take place at your discretion, at times and places of your choosing, thanks to the Duel Disks invented by our business associate and former World Champion Seto Kaiba himself!" the man announced, waving his hand towards her hunky stud. There was polite applause amongst the gathered Duelists, which Jenni joined, but she noticed that Seto didn't quite appreciate the use of the word "former". Once the applause had subsided, Stevenson continued.
"I hope that you have all taken the time to go down to headquarters and pick up your Duel Disks and Locator Cubes –" he held a small black cube in the air.
'The Borg have taken over the tournament!' Jenni crowed to herself. Kaiba raised an eyebrow at her as she began to giggle.
"You will need to win eight Locator Cubes by next Wednesday in order to compete in the Semi Finals, which will be an experience unlike any other! Only eight of you will qualify for the privilege of competing in the exciting final rounds of this tournament. And the prizes are beyond your wildest dreams, with one million dollars to be awarded to our newest World Champion!" The crowd buzzed excitedly at this news. Stevenson laughed and motioned silence with hands. The crowd gradually subsided.
"If you have not registered yet, please do so today. The duels begin tomorrow, and I wish you all the best of luck!" he held his hands up to the crowd, and some of the teens cheered as he walked off the stage. Jenni looked around her as the crowd dispersed. She wasn't sure why, but the speech had left her slightly disturbed. She didn't like the Stevenson man, and her instincts were never far wrong, even when she didn't exactly know why.
All she knew right now was two things: one, that she had been entered into a tournament and game that she knew nothing about, and she wanted to know why. Two, she needed some new clothes – she felt a little overdressed compared to these people. The last thing she needed was for her competitors to start calling her Granny.
'Ah yes, suburbia – where they tear out the trees and then name streets after them,' she thought to herself. She had so far passed Elm Street, Oaklawn, and Sycamore Park, before finding the Maple Avenue in question. Oddly enough, it broke the rule, and was lined with frost-covered maple trees.
'Well, this is it, 251 West Maple,' she thought, looking up at the building before her. It seemed like a nice area. The street had a happy feel to it, despite the cold. The building in question was a squat, older building, built of brownstone that was slightly crumbly at the edges. She paused, then walked up the old steps, heart pounding madly. There was a row of intercoms to the left, she buzzed 2B. Nothing.
She tried the door. Locked. She pulled out the key, and was only half surprised that it worked. She pulled the door open and looked around the lobby. There was a line of mailboxes to her right, and a door marked Office next to them. There were a few more doors along the hallway, but nothing seemed threatening or suspicious. She walked up the stairway to her left, and down the hall to 2B. She pulled her pathetic little pocketknife out of her jacket pocket, and holding it ready, turned the key in the lock.
She peered around the edge of the door, looking in at the brightly-lit apartment. She opened the door and slipped inside, closing it softly. She waited for her heart-beat to soften so that she could listen clearly. The room appeared to be a combination kitchen and living room, sparsely furnished. Not lived in at all. She edged down the hallway. She glanced in the rooms, checked the closets, even looked under the bed. No one was here.
Slightly annoyed at having gone into tense-as-hell attack mode for no reason, she went back to the kitchen and prepared to leave. However, the sight of a folder on the counter made her pause. It was simply marked "Welcome to Domino, Jenny" in that same spiky script. She grabbed the folder and ripped it open.
"Ok-ay," she said out loud. The contents confused her. A contract for the apartment, signed with her name in someone else's handwriting, was the first thing to greet her. The contract was stamped 'paid in full' for the next year. There was an entry form, same fake signature, for the Winter Tournament. Bank forms, with (she checked) a nice healthy balance. A bank credit card and papers. "What the hell is all this?" she asked out loud.
She closed the folder and turned. Seeing the phone, she did what she should have done in the first place. Called home.
The phone buzzed in her ear. Number does not exist.
She tried her sister's house. Number does not exist.
Her brother.
Her grandmother.
All of her friends, one by one.
Number does not exist.
End Notes: I'll tell you now, this is not a romance! But Kaiba is a hottie, and Jenni is a red-blooded female, so she will be thinking about him (for part of this anyways) in not-so-innocent ways. However, don't even begin to think that she'll play drooling doormat through-out all of this fic… Kaiba's about to meet his sarcastic match! Also, as noted in Chapter 1, although it's a new world, the money is the same... really, I just didn't feel like going to the trouble of working with new currency. And I know its strange that Jenni has an apartment and everything waiting for her… but if some random stranger wants to use her to get something (no hints there) then why not put her up for awhile? They're not going to get what they want by dumping her in the streets, now are they? And besides, these crazy power-seeking freaks are always loaded – Pegasus, Kaiba (well, he's not a freak anyway), Malik, Duke, you get my drift. And the crack about their clothes… well, WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? My parents would have killed me before letting me out of the house dressed like Mai or like Téa.