Dimensional Warrior Girl: The Winter Tournament
Author: Chaos Valkyrie
First Conceptualized: October, 2003
Posted Chapter 05: February 11, 2004
Updated: December 22, 2005
Disclaimer: Ho-hum. You know the rap.
Author Notes: Hmm, more duels, more characters. Dropped the rating – I finally determined that this one won't be that bad… and Virtual Games, the sequel, won't be too bad either… however, the third one after that, which is as-of-yet only vaguely planned and unnamed, will probably see a rating hike. Quite frankly, since I know Hearts in the Shadow Realm will jump up in ratings, I just don't have the urge to make two stories somewhat gory… Ah well, back to the present!
Chapter Five: Neighbors
Jenni looked around the apartment, satisfied. It was starting to look a little more homey. The dog, whom she had named Fenris, seemed pretty content with his new dog-bed. She had given him a bath after Mokuba left, then fed him some canned dog food. She would give him dried food after he gained some weight. He sat on his bed next to the couch, chewing the rawhide she had gotten him earlier. The squeaky toys he ignored.
She had rearranged what little furniture there was and put out the things she had bought. A couple of candles burned brightly on the island, next to a vase of irises. The bamboo plant she had put in a window. She set her laptop up in the empty room, now her office/studio, and shelved the remains of her journal, along with the AI book. Something had fallen out of it as she placed it on the shelf, and she had almost cried when she saw what it was.
She laid it on the counter now. It was a picture she had shown Harmony on her last day at home. It was a family picture, with Harmony in it, taken when they had gone to visit Jenni's new niece. She would get a special frame for it tomorrow.
Jenni picked up the blue leash she had bought, and Fenris came over automatically. She hooked it onto his new collar (with tags) and took him out the door. He was still limping, but he looked almost like a new dog, now that he was clean.
She locked her door, and went down the stairs. A girl looked up at her from the lobby, and smiled at her. "Are you the new girl in the corner apartment?"
Jenni smiled back. "I guess so. I'm Jenni Moran."
"Mai Valentine, nice to meet you," they shook hands. "And who is this?" she asked, bending down to pet Fenris.
"His name is Fenris," Jenni replied. "I'm just taking him out for his nightly walk. Care to come?"
"Actually, I just got in. But if you don't mind, how about I come over in, say, half an hour? I can tell you about the neighborhood. We girls have to stick together, you know," Mai said, winking.
"All right," Jenni smiled, taking the slightly impatient Fenris out the door.
"So, tell me, where are the best places to shop?" Jenni asked, handing Mai a mug of cocoa.
"Ah, a girl after my own heart! I was meeting up with some friends tomorrow, a girls' day out, so to speak, so if you want to come along…" she trailed off, looking around the apartment.
Jenni smiled. "I'd love to! I didn't get to bring much out here with me," she sighed inwardly, hating to have to lie, again, but the truth was too unbelievable. "Most of my stuff is in storage right now, so until it get shipped here, I need to fill things out in here."
Mai smiled. "Well, you've asked the right girl! I'm meeting up with my friends for lunch, so if you want, we can go dueling in the morning and then meet them in the afternoon."
"Go dueling? Oh, yeah," Jenni said. She had forgotten her disk was out on the table. "Are you in the tournament too?"
"Yes, I made it to the finals in Battle City, as well as the Duelist Kingdom tournament before that," Mai said smugly. "I already have three cubes. How many do you have?"
Jenni smiled sheepishly. "Only two. I'm just trying to take it easy, for now. I hope to get a couple more tomorrow though."
"Well, I'll make sure you take care of that! We'll go out first thing," Mai said. She took another sip of cocoa.
"For a minute there, I thought you were challenging me," Jenni stated bluntly. Mai winked at her.
"Friends don't eliminate friends. For the finals, however, everything's fair game."
Jenni smiled. "I'll remember that."
Mai looked over at the dog, now sleeping. "Why Fenris?"
"I studied Mythology in school. Fenris was a giant wolf in Norse Mythology who threatened to kill the gods and destroy the world. I thought it was a better name than the one some guy gave me after I found him."
"What was that?" Mai asked, sipping from her mug.
"Joey." Jenni was startled when Mai almost spat out her mouthful of cocoa. Mai gave her a sharp look.
"Was it Seto Kaiba?" she asked.
"Ah, I take it you know him?"
"Unfortunately. He and Joey have a long standing grudge against each other. It's not as bad as it used to be, but Kaiba still calls him 'Mutt' when he sees him."
"Well, that explains the joke. I ran into his little brother right after I found Fenris. They gave me a ride here, so I wouldn't have to carry him."
"That was nice… of Mokuba."
"You're right, it was his idea."
"Of course it was." Mai drained the last of her cocoa, then stood up. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Just knock on the door, we'll be ready!" Jenni stated. She locked the door after Mai, then headed to take a shower.
'Well, at least I've now made two friends here.'
"You're not a bad duelist," Mai yelled, almost inaudible over the music. They were in her car, headed for the mall.
"Yeah, well you're fantastic!" Jenni yelled back. Mai just smiled. She had come by Jenni's apartment that morning just as she finished her coffee, looking like a leather-bound snow bunny. Taking Fenris along despite Mai's doubts, they headed out into the streets to win some more cubes. Mai's duel had gone pretty quickly. Fenris hadn't seemed too interested in the monster holographs – he actually seemed rather bored by them. He wasn't limping so much either, but they took it easy for his sake. Jenni's duel had come next, but this time, her duel was a lot easier. This guy was closer to their age, and his deck was mainly beast-warriors. Her dark dragons wiped the floor with him. His Shadow Spell – 'Now my Shadow Spell,' she thought – had given her a little trouble, but not much. Overall, she seemed to be catching on to this game. It was a lot like chess, just more complicated.
After their duels, they dropped off Fenris and shed some of their heavy tournament garb before jumping into Mai's car. The mall itself seemed quite large. This was going to be a fun day.
"So, where are we meeting your friends?" Jenni asked Mai as they walked inside.
"Over by the food court," the blond girl stated. "I need to run to the ladies', do you want to meet me there? Its that way," she said, pointing down the mall thoroughfare. Jenni nodded, and headed off.
"Hah! Loser, give me your cards!" the blond girl crowed, bounding over to the sheepish brunette. The blond girl had cropped, spiky hair, and Jenni didn't like her attitude as she entered the food court area. The short-haired brunette slowly pulled out a cube and rare card, and handed them to the cocky girl. "Hah! You should feel privileged to get trounced by me," she continued to crow. Some punk-looking guys in the background, whom Jenni assumed were the obnoxious girl's friends, guffawed and started throwing insults at the brunette.
"Why don't you go duel some toddlers now? Maybe they'll be in your league!"
"Or maybe you could find a dueling monkey and play with it?"
"You want to duel my monkey?"
Jenni folded her arms and glared at them. The guys continued, getting more and more crude. The other brunette started to turn red.
"Quite frankly, hun, it doesn't look like you've got much of a monkey to play with, now do you?" Jenni said. They all turned to her, and the guy in question turned beet red as his friends laughed at him. The blond girl glared at her.
"Stay out of it," she snarled at Jenni.
"Make me. Its time to duel me now, Spiky," Jenni smirked at her. "I'll bet two cubes and rares that I'll wipe the floor with you."
The blond girl smiled waspishly. "You're on."
The brunette gasped. She came over to Jenni, "Are you crazy? She wiped the floor with me just now. You don't have to do this."
Jenni smiled at the girl. "Crazy, maybe, but I don't like people who are full of themselves. She needs to be knocked down a few notches, and I'm going to be the one to do it!"
"Let's duel!" the two girls yelled, and the battle commenced.
End Notes: I know, short chapter… but next chapter will be longer! I'm actually going to describe the duel, since this one is somewhat indicative to the plot. That's why it might not be out for a week or so as well… I'm going to edit the crap out of it to attempt to make it non-boring. And I'm working on fan art for this story, which will be ultra-cool, but I can't reveal it yet because it'll give away the plot! Damn! I'll let you know when I post it.