Dimensional Warrior Girl: The Winter Tournament
Author: Chaos Valkyrie
First Conceptualized: October, 2003
Posted Chapter 09: March 19, 2004
Updated: December 22, 2005

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, don't you think I'd have drawn myself in as Seto's girlfriend by now?

Author Notes: Whoo, another chapter, and we're that much closer to figuring out what the Hell is going on! But not by much.

Chapter Nine: Complications

Mai seemed preoccupied when she and Jenni walked out to duel the next morning. Jenni watched her closely as they wandered about the city. Mai seemed to duel almost methodically, not really paying attention to her opponent's moves. However, she still won the duel, raising her cube total to six. Jenni forced her to stop for coffee after the duel, concerned.

The two girls walked into Perks, and Jenni motioned to Mai to join her at a secluded window table. "What's up?" she asked, sipping her coffee. "Something major must be wrong if you didn't duel yesterday, so out with it!"

Mai sipped her drink, sighing. "I'm not sure how much I can tell you. My friend had some things disappear from his family's shop yesterday, and we're all pretty concerned about it."

"What kind of things?" Jenni asked.

"I can't really explain. But they're dangerous in the wrong hands," Mai said, not trying to mask the anxiety in her eyes. Jenni was concerned that the usually oh-so-cool Mai was this worried.

"Well, they'll probably turn up. Just keep your eyes open – if they are so powerful, its only a matter of time before someone uses them," Jenni told her. She looked out the window. "Hey look, Kaiba's dueling," she motioned, pointing out into the swirling snow.

The two girls watched as Kaiba summoned his Blue-Eyes, wiping the floor with his opponent. 'He seems out of it as well,' Jenni thought to herself. She quickly sketched the Blue-Eyes onto the back of a napkin with her pen, folding the image up and sticking it deep within her pocket. Kaiba entered the café and ordered his own drink before walking to their table.

"Moran," he acknowledged before turning to Mai. "The others are going to meet at the game shop in three hours. They'll want us to be there," he told Mai, before turning and leaving the shop. Jenni gaped at her.

"I didn't know you and he were friends," she said.

Mai looked at her. "We're not really. But we are both concerned about the missing items." She stood up abruptly, finishing her drink. "Look, I'd better go. Good luck on your duels today," she said before leaving the shop.

Jenni just gaped at Mai's back before frowning. She finished her coffee, then stomped out of the café and back into the mounting blizzard.

Preoccupied, Mai Valentine huddled into her coat as she walked towards the Turtle Game shop. She had hated to leave Jenni so abruptly, but she didn't want her newfound friend to become involved in this. It was nice, she pondered, to have at least one friend who was not knee-deep in the dealings of the Shadow Realm…

Deep in thought, Mai didn't notice the man walking up behind her. A hand covered her mouth with a chemical soaked rag, and she knew no more.

Jenni had walked the streets for an hour, but had finally given up on finding another duelist. The snow was so thick and swirling that it made it nearly impossible to find the buildings around her, much less another person. She already had six cubes, and was well ahead of her own schedule. She figured she'd call it quits for the day and find someone tomorrow, once this blizzard had let up.

Jenni shook the snow off her boots and smiled as Fenris barked a greeting at her. She patted him on the head as she deposited her boots, outer gear and dueling equipment on the counter. She changed into some dry jeans, pulling the napkin sketch out the pocket of her wet jeans. Looking outside at the dense snow slamming into her window, Jenni smiled. She took some cider she had bought the day before and threw it with some spices into a pot on her stove. Mulled cider was one of her favorites – she remembered begging her mother to make it during the chill winter months back home. Maybe with the cider, she could convince Mai to open up some more later. She wasn't sure why, but something made her uneasy about Mai's discomfort. Making some coffee for the present, she pulled out a new canvas and set to work.

"I saw Mai three hours ago, she was with that Moran girl at Perks," Kaiba told the others at the game shop. Joey especially looked concerned.

"You mean Jenni," Serenity asked, putting her hand on Joey's shoulder. "Does anyone know her number?"

"No, she just moved here," Mokuba told the group. "But I do know where her apartment is!"

"Well, then, let's go!" Joey yelled, pulling Mokuba out the door with him.

"Hey, hands off my little brother," Seto yelled, charging after them. Yugi locked the door of the shop as they all ran after the three boys.

Jenni looked up from her painting as her buzzer sounded. She walked to her door and hit the intercom button.

"Yes," she asked into the speaker.

"Hey, Jenni, can we come up?" Mokuba's voice yelled through the speaker. Fenris looked up and barked.

"Yeah, I'll be right down," Jenni replied, glancing at the blizzard outside. She wondered who 'we' meant. She wiped her hands on a rag, not realizing she had paint on her nose. She walked into the hallway, not bothering to lock her door. She had hidden the sword and card in her bedroom the night before, and Fenris was put in charge of guarding them until she figured out more about them.

Jenni's eyes widened as a whole slew of people piled into the lobby when she opened the door. Mokuba, his brother, Téa, Serenity, and a slew of other boys. A blond boy charged forward, ignoring the snow that covered him.

"Where's Mai?" he asked her, his brown eyes concerned.

Jenni's forehead creased. "She left Perks not long after Kaiba talked to her there. I assumed she was going to meet you all," she told them. "Look, her apartment is upstairs, why don't you check there first?" Jenni said, leading the way upstairs.

The group followed Jenni to Mai's door, and Jenni knocked on the door. After there was no response, she used the RA knock she had learned in college. Kaiba's eye twitched at the loud pounding, but he said nothing, merely smirking at the paint on her nose.

Jenni turned to the group. "All right, she's not here. Look, what is all this about? First Mai is all worried about something dangerous that got stolen from, I assume, one of you, and now she's disappeared. Please, will one of you tell me what's going on? She is my friend too," Jenni said, crossing her arms and glaring at the others. When no one said anything, she sighed and said, "Fine. Fine, don't tell me what was stolen or why Mai is missing. I'll just find out for myself," she snarled, pushing her way through the group and slamming the door to her own apartment.

Mokuba looked at the others. "Maybe we should've told her," he said softly.

"Nah, she doesn't need to get involved in this," Joey told him. "C'mon, lets split up and go look for Mai," he said, pulling the others down the stairs.

The elder Kaiba glanced at Jenni's door before following the others out into the streets. 'Its probably for the best that she doesn't get involved,' he thought to himself.

None of them, not even Jenni, realized that she was already involved, whether they liked it or not.

End Notes: Oooo, what's going to happen? I know! And you'll be that much closer to knowing next Friday, chapter 10! And then maybe I'll post Chapter 11 the next Friday after that… it's a duel, or at least, the beginning of one, depending on where I cut it. I'm starting to dread the number of duels coming up… but I will write them! You can't have YuGiOh without duels! What would the children say!… (looks around) hmm, they were just here a minute ago.