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“You should know whenever I’m involved, everything is -always- urgent. You don’t leave -me- on hold for four and a half minutes, -Marik-. And as for your secretary…” He scoffed, his voice, trailing sinisterly. “…Perhaps he will learn the meaning of urgency, eventually. I hear the unemployment rate is high this year; those lines are quite long.”
Ch. 2 – Polite Society
CH 2 – Polite Society
You sat there as Marik continued his evil laughter. He was like some Saturday morning cartoon villain…unnecessarily conniving. He must have really hated that “Pharaoh” guy you just met. But you could see why; Marik was a bit over the top, while the other guy had just come in like he was too cool for everyone.
Marik randomly ended his cackling and looked at you. “So, in the world of ice skaters, how important are you?”
“Huh?” You didn’t really know how to answer the question; it kinda took you off guard anyway, since you had been thinking about The Pharaoh.
You tried to think for a minute, about how you should answer his question. “Well,” you started. “I don’t know if there’s really a hierarchy of ice skaters, if that’s what you mean…”
Marik shook his head. “Foolish girl, don’t you know anything?” He said mockingly. “Of -course- there is an order of importance. There always is, no matter what.” He held up an index finger. “I -never- watch ice skating, and even -I- know -some- of them.”
You shrugged. Maybe he was right…you really hadn’t thought of it that way until he had said something…
Marik sighed. “But the bad thing is, I’ve never heard of -you-. We need to change that.” He said, striking his fist into his other palm with dedication.
“Not…really.” You started. “It’s not as if I want to stand out all that much. That isn’t important. As long as I have enough money to afford things that I want, I’m fine. I don’t need to be the best, and I can certainly tell you that I’m not…”
You sighed, and looked away from Marik. “The only thing I really need your help with is maintaining a certain lifestyle. I don’t want to be some big star…”
Marik scoffed. “I see what the problem is!” He started. “You have the wrong attitude!” He made a grandiose upward motion with his hand. “Life isn’t about just doing what you need to do to get what you want! That’s only part of it…”
You sighed. It was beginning to look like you were going to have to do a bunch of things that would cramp your style. Marik wasn’t just going to represent you in business meetings. He was going to try and market you, make you a commodity. The idea irritated the hell out of you, because you hated to be used…because if you allowed yourself to be ‘used’, you could also be ‘used up’; another irritating idea. You would be unbelievably pissed if Marik discarded you because you were no longer ‘useful’.
Speaking of which, what exactly was all that “You’re the perfect one to help me defeat The Pharaoh” crap about…?
Marik opened his mouth to speak again, but his buzzer interrupted both him, and your thoughts.
“Master Marik, you have an urgent phone call…!” Odion’s booming voice really jacked up your quiet moment.
Marik sighed and reached over to the intercom. “Odion, in case you have forgotten, -I-… am -in-…a -meeting-!” He sneered through clenched teeth, then turned back to you and smiled with a sweatdrop.
Marik waited a moment, and then opened his mouth again. But once again, Odion’s voice over the intercom prevented him from saying anything. “But…Master Marik…! It’s Mr. Kaiba!”
Marik gasped. “-FOOL-! -Why- didn’t you -say- that to -begin- with!” He snapped angrily, then turned to you and said in the nicest voice, “Listen, ___(Y/N)____, I have to take this. We can talk again later.”
He was bipolar. It was official.
He motioned over to his business card, so you took one. “And give me your number real quick, so I can call you too.” He said, hurriedly.
You complied, but wonder why he would have been in such a rush…
“Kaiba…” You thought aloud, as you were writing your number down. “Kaiba…” Then you stopped writing, and your eyes widened in realization. “You mean -the- Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corp.?”
Marik nodded fervently. “Yes, and he is notoriously disagreeable. If you could please hurry…”
You returned the gesture. “I understand.” You got up from your seat, and bowed. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. I can imagine what a pain this must be…”
By this point, Marik was also standing, doing everything but shoving you out the door. “No, no, it’s fine…” His voice was abnormally strained and short. “But if you could just…” He was jerking his head in the direction of the door.
“Right, right…Thanks again!” You left quickly. You hoped Marik wasn’t in too much trouble with Kaiba. Everyone knew the guy was a jerk, even on his best day…so for Marik to have kept him waiting…you really didn’t want to think about it…
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Marik ran back to his desk and sat down. He snatched the phone up off the receiver and slammed his finger onto the “Line 1” button. He was panting. Hopefully Kaiba wouldn’t be too upset… “Mr. Kaiba! How are you?” He said, gleefully. It almost made him retch, but he had to try to lighten Kaiba up…and Ishizu thought -he- needed therapy! Kaiba was way- too serious.
Marik’s warm greeting was not met well, let alone returned.
“I’ll get to the point in a moment, -Marik-, but for now, let me ask you a question…” Kaiba’s arrogantly snide voice snapped over the phone. “Do you have any idea how -long- four and a half minutes is?”
Marik sweatdropped; maybe he could still turn this around…? “Well, I would imagine it’s about two hundred seventy seconds! Aha-ha-ha-ha…” He said jokingly, ending with a feeble version of his usually evil laughter.
Kaiba scoffed. “That’s how long I was on hold, listening to your office’s awful music. Can you comprehend the word ‘urgency’?”
Marik thought for a moment. Maybe I can pass this off… He perked up, and answered the question. “Well, my secretary didn’t reflect any urgency when he told me you were on the phone…”
Marik could swear he had heard Kaiba growl. “You should know whenever I’m involved, everything is -always- urgent. You don’t leave -me- on hold for four and a half minutes, -Marik-. And as for your secretary…” He scoffed, his voice, trailing sinisterly. “…Perhaps he will learn the meaning of urgency, eventually. I hear the unemployment rate is high this year; those lines are quite long.”
Marik shuddered. Kaiba was -mean-!
“Now, for the reason I called, or should I say, why you called me?” He seemed to have dropped the anger, but that intensity, that “urgency”, was still there.
“Yes, yes…We should discuss that.” Marik said, grinning slightly. “But this isn’t the safest line for that…we should meet somewhere. Maybe over something to eat?”
“Marik, I don’t have -time- for dinner dates…” Kaiba said, sounding more stressed than any normal person ever should be.
“But lunch should be okay, right?” Marik was really pushing this. It could have been the only way for him to defeat The Pharaoh!
Marik continued. “Kaiba, I need this. You want this. We can do it, and you don’t even have to do much, because I’ve planned it all out. I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do, which is what you do everyday anyhow.”
…
“I’m in. Make reservations and call me back immediately. I will -not- wait more than two minutes, Marik.” Marik heard the receiver clang on the other end, and set his phone down too.
That Pharaoh was history!
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Jounouchi wanted to take his sister, Shizuka, out to eat. He knew the perfect restaurant too – BD’s Mongolian Barbecue.
“’Ey sis! ‘Dis is da place!” Jounouchi exclaimed. “’Dis is where we’re gonna eat today. It’s really good!”
Shizuka sighed dreamily. “It smells -so- good…” But then, she looked down at the ground. “I wonder what it looks like…”
Jounouchi gave his sister a sorrowful look. He knew that she needed her operation in order to see again…it reminded him of Marik, and how poorly he had broke it off with him.
He tried to shrug it off, and cheer both his sister and himself up. “Awriiiiiight!” He said, gung-ho as ever. “Let’s go!”
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Marik knew he had to get to the restaurant at least twenty minutes early. There was no way he was going to leave Kaiba waiting! Not after the last time – especially since now, Odion wouldn’t be able to involuntarily cover for him.
He had actually been cleaning up his mess from earlier as soon as he got off the phone with Kaiba, after telling him that they would meet at some new buffet place around 2.
Reminded of the time constraints, Marik looked over at his clock. It read 1:35.
“NO!” Marik shrieked. “I’ll -never- get there in 5 minutes!”
Marik immediately dropped his Dustbuster and gathered up his Anti-Atemu notebook and planner, and blew through the evil corridor hallways that led to his office, past Odion’s desk, to the elevator. In a state of hurried panic, he repeatedly jabbed the ‘down’ button.
“Master Marik…” Odion began. “Is everything alright…?”
“NO, you FOOL! Don’t you see? It’s almost 2! I have to make sure Kaiba isn’t waiting!”
Odion looked as if he wanted to say more, but the elevator doors opened, and Marik hopped in immediately.
“But sir…” Odion called after the doors had been shut. “We’re only on the second floor…”
Marik literally stomped the elevator floor, as if it would make it go faster. When it finally stopped, the doors slid open, and Marik blazed through.
He ran out to the parking lot, and hopped onto his motorcycle. He slammed the key into the ignition and turned it violently, and streaked off through the parking lot and into the street. His helmet flew off its stand on the back part of his seat.
Marik turned around and looked at the helmet spinning around on the ground. He winced, but turned back and stared intensely at the road ahead. “I don’t have -time- for safety!” He yelled to no one in particular.
After reaching the end of the parking lot, Marik switched on his left turn blinker and looked down the road to his left. No cars were coming.
But when he looked to the right, the cars heading the direction he actually wanted to go, didn’t seem like they would give him enough time to get through!
Marik knew that this was unacceptable, because if he continued to wait, the cars bound in the opposite direction wouldn’t allow him to get by either…
Marik checked both sides once more. Nothing from his left, but everyone was heading left, on his right. Marik stood up on the motorcycle and slammed own the gas pedal, causing his bike to peel out into the middle of the street. Marik wove into the traffic, passing between cars. He had- to beat Kaiba there!
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Kaiba was leaned back in the lush leather seats of his limo, with his head tilted back, looking through the sunroof and sighed. He hoped he wasn’t putting too much trust into this plan of Marik’s, whatever it was.
He made a silent promise to himself to not be 100% convinced, no matter what. Even if Marik suggested another tournament, Kaiba swore to himself he would not get excited at having another chance to destroy Atemu in Duel Monsters.
He -did- appreciate Marik’s efforts to include him, though. Obviously, as the CEO of the world’s top gaming company, he has no time for petty plots, as much as he would have loved to wreck Atemu for good.
His moments of introspection were interrupted by his little brother, Mokuba’s voice: “Big brother, you do know it’s about 20 ‘til 2, right? And we’re almost there…”
“Yes, Mokuba.” Kaiba agreed plainly. He then turned slightly to look at his brother. “And…?”
Mokuba kicked his feet a bit, because his legs weren’t long enough to reach the floor of the limo. “Don’t you think it’s kinda mean to go really early, just so you have a reason to yell at Marik…?”
Kaiba disguised his disgusted scoff as a heavy sigh, for his brother’s sake. “That isn’t why we left early, Mokuba.” He looked away from Mokuba again, back to the sunroof. “It’s because we’re trying to find this ‘Mongolian Barbecue’ place. If I’m not there on time…I’d be humiliated! Marik would never forget the time I was late! I refuse to allow him that liberty…”
Mokuba scrunched up his nose and frowned. “That’s not why, Seto. You really -do- just wanna yell at him…!” Mokuba pouted, after having whined out his revelation.
Kaiba leered at the sky through the sunroof. “Mokuba, you know Marik. I don’t -need- to invent reasons to yell at him. He’s already good at irritating me.”
Mokuba looked down. “I guess that’s true…” He wasn’t completely sure that Seto was being honest with them both…
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Marik continued to speed, weaving between lanes to get to the restaurant faster, when he noticed the car next to him.
It wasn’t a car really, but a limousine. It was black, just like most, with the license plate ‘MOKI’ but most importantly, going too fast for Marik to cut it off.
Marik looked down at his odometer. He was already going 50 miles an hour, despite all of the ‘Speed Limit - 35 mph’ signs he was passing. The good news was that this limo was maintaining its high speed, while Marik was still accelerating.
Marik got up to 65, and cut off the limo. The limo swerved a bit, to avoid slamming right into Marik, because it was speeding up also, just as Marik made his move. “AH-HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!” He shrieked.
Marik’s blood suddenly ran ice cold with realization.
What if he had just cut off -KAIBA’S- limo!?
Marik used his left hand to try and pull his lavender hood over his head. If Kaiba found out that he was rushing to get there…he’d never take him seriously! He might even back out on the deal!
Marik shook his head and tried not to think about it. He hoped that his luck wasn’t -that- bad. There was no way it could have been Kaiba’s limo! Kaiba knew what time he was supposed to be there and Marik knew that’s when he would show up. He was fine…there was no way it was him…
Marik ran -just about- every light on his way to the buffet restaurant, but that was only because some lights were green. He had almost forgotten the name of it – BD’s Mongolian Barbecue.
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Mokuba climbed back into his seat after the quick brake action the limo driver had pulled.
“Hey! What’s the big idea? That hurt!” Mokuba complained, rubbing his head.
Kaiba, seemingly unfazed, chimed in. “What happened?” His voice had a slight glower-feel to it.
The driver stiffened at the sound of Kaiba’s voice. “Well sir, this idiot on a motorcycle cut me off…”
Kaiba narrowed his eyes, squinting through the windshield and ahead of the limo from the back seat. He scoffed angrily. “Just get the license plate. We’ll complain about it later.” Kaiba sighed and referred back to the sunroof. “We have a schedule to maintain…”
Mokuba turned and looked at Kaiba “But -Seto-, we’re actually -ahead- of-“
“-Enough-, Mokuba.” Kaiba cut him off.
Several minutes later, at the sound of the window between the driver and the passengers sliding down, both Kaiba and Mokuba gave it their attention. “Mr. Kaiba, we’ve arrived at the restaurant, but…the only places to park outside are motorcycle spots. Our only option is to park in a garage, for a fee…”
Mokuba’s eyes widened. “Seto, I left my wallet at home…”
Kaiba pulled out a palm pilot and tapped the screen with his stylus several times. “Pay it. I’m documenting it now – you’ll get it back.”
“Of course, Mr. Kaiba.”
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Shizuka and Jounouchi were in the grill line. After collecting all the ingredients you want, the grill chefs cook your food in front of you! Jounouchi looked into Shizuka’s bowl. She had Chicken and Broccoli…and some Olive Oil, he guessed. Shizuka was so plain…
He looked into his own bowl…he -had- to have some of almost everything in there; Chicken, Sausage, Calamari, Mussels, Lamb, Steak, Krab (yes, with a ‘K’ – that’s why he got it), Baby corn, Water Chestnuts, Tofu, and Peas, and he used every single kind of oil, with lots and lots of Cayenne Pepper (it looked like a little mountain on top of his food!).
Jounouchi grinned after re examining his selection. His bowl looked like an island, with the meat and vegetables as the land and the many oils as the water…
Shizuka suddenly sniffed, and looked at Jounouchi. “Katsuya, why did you put all those things into your bowl? Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”
Jounouchi looked over to his sister. “Huh? How’d -you- know?”
Shizuka covered her nose with her hand. “I can smell it! It’s like you just got some of everything, and put it all into one bowl, with more cayenne pepper than anyone would ever need…”
Jounouchi grinned. “I know! It’s gonna be -so- good!”
Shizuka laughed. “It smells awful…!”
They had finally made it through the line, and handed their bowls to the grill chefs. Jounouchi sent his ingredients in first, and the chef’s wrist shivered under the weight of his bowl.
The chef sweatdropped and chuckled nervously. “Think you got everything you wanted in here?”
Jounouchi gave the chef a thumbs-up. “Ah-course I did!”
The chef gave Jounouchi a weirded-out look, then turned around and grudgingly dumped the contents of his bowl onto the grill.
Another grill chef had become available and walked over to Shizuka. “I’ll go ahead and start this one.” He said to her, holding out his hand.
Shizuka sniffed. There were several other people, not including Jounouchi, who had food on the grill. She frowned slightly. “You…want to put my food on the grill at the same time with everyone else’s food?”
The Chef stared blankly. “How did you…I thought, because of the bandages, you were bl…” But stopped, when he saw the violent look Jounouchi was giving him. He sweatdropped. “Well, anyway, that’s how we normally do it. Do you want us to cook yours by itself?”
Shizuka nodded. “That would be great…I wouldn’t want to risk getting extra food mixed in with mine…”
“Okay, no problem.” The chef walked off with her bowl, taking it to a back part of the restaurant. Satisfied, Jounouchi looked out the window by the front door, and looked at the long line of people waiting to come in.
Jounouchi then realized that the last person he expected, or wanted, to see, was right outside.
Marik was storming past the restaurant window, to the front of the line! Jounouchi found himself secretly hoping that Marik would just keep storming, right past the restaurant he was in.
Jounouchi saw…well, he really did try to convince himself that he hadn’t seen anything at all, but…
It would have been difficult to ignore, of course. Marik had burst through the door, shouting at everyone that he had ditched. “Get out of my way! -I- have reservations!”
When it was confirmed that Marik did indeed have reservations, he turned around and gloated spitefully to the people waiting in line. “You -see-?! -I’ll- be going -inside- now…! You -FOOLS- can wait out -here-! AH HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!”
The waitress frowned. “Sir, if you don’t mind…we’d appreciate it, if you didn’t refer to our other customers as “fools”…I think you might be making the fact that they –do- have to wait in line even worse for them…”
Jounouchi turned away quickly. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized by Marik!
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
Kaiba took one look at the line trailing outside of the restaurant and smirked. He had done the right thing in forcing Marik to make reservations.
Mokuba jogged ahead and opened the door. “Let’s hurry, Seto! I’m hungry”
Kaiba nodded slowly, and started stalking towards the door.
*~**~**~**~**~**~*
…
Jounouchi had been wrong…
There -was- one thing worse than being recognized by Marik…
It was being recognized by Kaiba!
Jounouchi was almost jogging in place, trying to get Shizuka to get back to their table. “C’mon, sis, let’s hurry up and get outta ‘ere. ‘Dis place jus’ got a little less friendly…”
Shizuka frowned. “What do you mean, brother? What happened…?” Her voice lost its control, and began to panic. “What’s wrong?!”
“Nothin’, let’s jus’ hurry…I got…y’know…stuff to do…” Jounouchi pulled at his sister’s arm, trying to disallow her any time to think.
As Jounouchi and Shizuka headed for their seats, they were also heading right for Marik’s table – almost close enough to where he might see-
“Marik? Is that you?” Shizuka said, sniffing around in confusion.
Jounouchi felt a chill shoot up his spine, along with the realization that he couldn’t do anything to get out of this one.
Marik looked up from his desert menu and smiled. He started to wave, but then his hand sunk down when he realized she couldn’t see him, and his face sunk into a frown. He shook his head though, and tried a happy voice. “Hi Shizuka!”
Jounouchi quickly turned away and ducked down, trying to sneak away. Maybe Marik hadn’t seen him…?
He had almost got away when Shizuka grabbed at the air around her, searching for him. “Katsuya! Why didn’t you just say that you had a meeting with Marik? I would have understood that…Katsuya! Where are you?”
Jounouchi froze, knowing that Marik didn’t just know he was there, but could see him now. He stood up and grabbed his sister’s flailing hand. Jounouchi sighed. He hadn’t told her that he had fired Marik yet…
Marik gave the situation a pained expression. He hadn’t really wanted to see Jounouchi right then, especially since he knew that Kaiba and Jounouchi weren’t exactly on friendly terms, but also because of his recent termination as Jounouchi’s agent.
The Shizuka situation just made Marik feel guilty about not being able to do anything for them. Not being able to see would be so horrible for anyone, but especially someone her age, with so much to gain from the world around her.
On top of all this, Marik also knew that if Kaiba were to come in while Jounouchi was here, that the truth of the situation would be one of the first things out of his mouth…that’s just how Kaiba was…
“Hey Marik! Remember me?”
Marik and Jounouchi snapped their heads in the direction of the noise, and Shizuka turned away slightly, letting her ear recognize things for her.
Marik gasped in horror. “Mokuba!” he hissed. He would never be anywhere- without…
A metallic briefcase slammed on the table in front of Marik. “Our meeting begins -now-.” Then Kaiba’s voice changed from reasonably stern to ruthlessly acidic as he closed his eyes. “No Dogs Allowed.” He snapped, without even looking in Jounouchi’s direction.
Jounouchi shook a furious fist at Kaiba. But if he responded to it vocally…He couldn’t allow his sister to hear that.
Shizuka frowned. “Dogs? Here? This is a restaurant! They shouldn’t have any dogs…”
Kaiba smirked. Apparently he was amused at the fact that Shizuka didn’t realize what he meant. “Exactly.” Kaiba sneered, glaring at Jounouchi.
Jounouchi was raging as quietly as he could, face contorting and all, as Kaiba continued. “Anyway, like I said, our -business- meeting has begun.” He ended his sentence with a pointed emphasis.
Shizuka, taking the not-so-subtle hint, bowed. “Well, we’ll be on our way then…bye Marik!” She walked off in a random direction, like she was headed towards the door.
Jounouchi shot Kaiba one final glare, and then took his sister’s hand and led her away. He would get back at him later…
Marik just turned away from all of them in embarrassment. He just wanted to get the meeting with Kaiba over with. After all this stress, he just -knew- he would have to get tested for an ulcer…
Kaiba continued as if nothing had delayed him. “So, the reason you’ve dragged me all the way out here is…?”
Marik turned to Kaiba and frowned. “We’re in a restaurant. Don’t you want to eat first?”
“You’re stalling!” He snapped. “I’m starting to think this was a waste of time…” Kaiba glowered angrily. “You do know that I’ll be able to tell if you are using this time to come up with your “plan”, don’t you?”
Marik nodded slowly.
“Then you must also know how angry I’ll be if that turns out to be true.” Kaiba narrowed his eyes.
Marik weakly held his hands up, in defense. “It’s not that at all! I just think you should calm down…and have some food…”
Kaiba’s eyes widened and seemed to resonate with disgust. Marik edged back in his seat as Kaiba spoke again. “I don’t need to eat. I just need to hear what you have in mind. NOW.”
Kaiba was starting to get pissed. Marik nodded, and sighed. The truth was, -he- needed something to eat…but a noise kept him from speaking.
Mokuba had just slammed his bowl onto the table. “This looks -so- good doesn’t it, Seto?”
Kaiba just stared at the food, and you heard another noise, this time an eerie rumble…
Marik stared blankly, as Kaiba turned away from him, and stood up. He was still glaring down at Mokuba’s bowl. He stayed still for a moment, focused on the bowl, then, with a whoosh of his over-starched jacket, stalked over to the buffet area labeled “Meat” and picked up a bowl.
Marik and Mokuba turned away from Kaiba and looked at one another. Mokuba spoke first, saying “See? That’s all ya gotta do. I -knew- he was hungry…” Mokuba smirked, but it left his face quickly as he looked to Marik again. “You can eat too, now. This is really a bit late for lunch, so I’m sure you’re hungry also.”
Marik bowed slightly. “Thanks Mokuba…I had no idea how I would get him to let me eat…” He stood up, but waited until Kaiba was at the “Vegetable” kiosk to head for the “Meat” himself.
Marik decided to go with a little shrimp and lots of corn. He just liked starchy foods…and since it was all over rice in the end, this would be perfect for him.
He eventually reached the grill line, and to his dismay, was standing right next to Kaiba. He tried to peek into Kaiba’s bowl without getting caught.
It looked like Kaiba had gotten steak and lobster, which were both pretty expensive. It was no wonder he got them… It also seemed like Kaiba had fried egg bits and some bean sprouts.
Marik hadn’t expected Kaiba to even eat, really. He just didn’t seem like that kind of person, to eat in front of people, which was probably why he was in such a rush – to get out of the restaurant so he could go eat in peace…
It really didn’t make sense, being in a rush to leave a restaurant so you can go eat, but then, Kaiba had a reputation to maintain. He had to make it look like he never rested, Marik guessed.
Before he knew it, Marik’s food had been grilled and he was ready to start his meeting with Kaiba.
Mokuba tapped Kaiba’s shoulder, and asked “Seto, can I have some money to tip the grillers, so I can ring the gong?”
Seto sighed, and quickly pulled out his wallet, slipping Mokuba a dollar.
Mokuba’s face contorted. “What? You don’t have any more than th-“
Kaiba shot Mokuba a glare. “If you want more, ask the driver – and make sure you document it!” He hissed under his breath.
Mokuba frowned, but then slid over Kaiba’s lap, smiling. “Okay then. You guys can have your meeting then!” He ran over to the driver.
Kaiba’s glare was stuck on the table, and he growled, and then looked up at Marik.
Marik had a large grin on his face because of the great food. “Oh, I love this! Have you eaten any of yours yet, Kaiba?”
Kaiba grumbled, and stabbed his fork into the bowl furiously continuing to glare at Marik, sneaking the food into his mouth after looking around a bit first.
This continued for a while, and it seemed like Kaiba was much less crabby by this point, despite the fact that Mokuba was incessantly ringing that gong.
Marik’s pretext had worked! He had softened Kaiba up a bit for his proposal.
Marik sniffed and laid his anti-Atemu notebook on the table. It was time to begin the business meeting, finally.
Kaiba narrowed his eyes, and smirked at the pictures. “You really don’t like him much, do you?”
Marik gave the pictures on the notebook a nonchalant look. “Oh, these?” He said plainly. “Well, we all should have a way to express our anger constructively…”
Kaiba closed his eyes, devious grin still plastered on his face. “The nature of your plan will double as revenge and therapy then…?” Kaiba chuckled ominously.
Marik returned the cunning smile. “In theory…”
Kaiba gave an expecting sigh. “So let’s hear it. What do you have in mind, Marik?”
Marik leaned forward in his seat, slightly hunched over the table. “Well, I have determined what we will need to do, to defeat The Pharaoh.”
Kaiba said nothing, just continued to sit and listen.
Marik went on. “The Pharaoh’s success comes through his business connections. He gets endorsement deals for his clients through his foolish friends…”
Kaiba frowned. “I want to crush him. -I- want to be the one to bring him to his knees!” He hissed.
Marik blinked. “But…I haven’t explained fully. You’re -really- the one destroying him!”
Kaiba stared blankly. “Explain.”
Marik nodded. “Kaiba Corp. is a much larger company than those athletic shoe companies and toy companies Atemu always uses…with much more money…” Marik smirked. “I assume you’re familiar with the principle of Concentration of Ownership…”
Kaiba sneered at that last phrase. “Of -course- I know that! I used a basic form of that principle to win my company in the first place.”
“So then, you understand how this needs to happen…” Marik said flatly.
Kaiba closed his eyes and smiled. “You want me to buy out all of his friends’ companies and reject all his endorsement deals.”
Marik nodded. “Exactly. You’re going to wipe him out, economically.”
Kaiba sneered, still smirking. “I never said I would do it.”
Marik gave Kaiba a confused look. “What?? What do you-“
Kaiba leaned back in his seat. “I have no incentive to do this. While it’s true that I hate him…” Kaiba clenched his fist tightly, and continued. “…I want to defeat him honorably. This is too underhanded. When I destroy Atemu…it will be fair, and I will reclaim my title, as the number one duelist! It would be a bittersweet victory if I used outside influences to shake his confidence.”
Marik just stared at Kaiba in wide-eyed confusion. “That foolish card game? -That’s- why you hate him?!” Marik couldn’t help but raise his voice – this was ridiculous!
Marik sat back in his seat. “You do know that the reason he’s so annoying is his condescending arrogance, right? Take that away, and you can win easily!”
Kaiba shook his head. “You’re missing the point. I want to destroy his confidence with my own skill. I won’t resort to under-the-table plots. It would trivialize the win.”
Marik shook his head furiously. “No, I don’t think -you- understand.” He pointed an incriminating finger at Kaiba.
“These “underhanded” tactics are the same way The Pharaoh wins at that game. He’s transposed that theory to the business world!” Marik stood up, throwing his hands in the air and continued.
“Can -you-, an honorable businessman, really allow such a transgression!? He’s mocked you at your -own- game not ONCE…” Marik shook his fist in the air, “…but -TWICE-! Do you see now? It’s your duty to eliminate him! JOIN ME!” Marik held his hand out for Kaiba to shake.
Kaiba couldn’t help himself and gave a wide–eyed wild grin. “I can’t believe this…You…I hardly expected this much!”
Kaiba stood up from the table. “Marik, I see exactly what you mean now. I will- show Atemu the ultimate defeat…I can’t allow him to manipulate both of my worlds to his advantage ANY longer!”
Kaiba snatched Marik’s hand. “I accept!”
Marik took in a deep breath. He bought it! He totally bought it! He thought. I almost thought he would say no! But he didn’t! I can’t believe it! Just one more, and I will know success at The Pharaoh’s defeat!
Pharaoh, I -will- take what I deserve! AH-HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!
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