Points of Authority :: Chapter 12 -- Like a Drama-Filled Sitcom
.: most suitable screencap
.: most suitable quote
.: Points of Authority
.: Chapter 12: Like a Drama-Filled Sitcom
A/N: So...the site I use for getting screencaps is down at the moment, so I didn't include the most appropriate quote either. Check back later for it!
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Mokuba had effectively dragged you all the way to the deck lobby of Kaiba's airship. The closer you got the more you could hear Kaiba's "speech", which sounded more like a disguised lecture.
"--any rough-housing will end in you being thrown overboard. Roland will take any further concerns. I don't have time for them." And just like any businessman, Kaiba wasted no time to walk off and take care of another matter.
Unfortunately, you kind of had a burning question you had been dieing to ask him since you set foot onto his airship...
"Man," Duke started. "Kaiba sure seems to be in a funky mood..."
"Yeah. He didn't even make any degrading comments about Joey's dueling ability!" Tristan commented, brightly.
"Dammit, Tristan! I don't even know why I call you my friend sometimes!"
"Well I think he's perfectly fine," Tea commented sardonically.
Serenity poked her head up. "Why do you say that, Tea?"
"You didn't notice the way he made eye-contact with Yugi during his lecture?" Mai supplied the answer. "Or that he declared to win against him this time because Duelist Kingdom had a different set of standards...?"
You shook your attention free of the 'Kaiba's Demeanor' debate, the question burning brighter as you saw Kaiba stalk down the hallway...
You walked a little ways toward the direction Kaiba had taken. Boldly, if not bravely did you call out, "...Kaiba?"
You could feel your heart pounding from the nervousness you were trying to mask. Kaiba had stopped down the hall, but he didn't do anything else. You couldn't tell if he wanted to know if you were worth his time or if he was frustrated that he couldn't make it down a single hallway without someone wanting his attention. You decided to just ask your question, or at least start it so Kaiba didn't perceive that you were "wasting his time".
"Um...I was wondering... Perhaps, are the finals...?" you swallowed with some resolve, making that anxious ball in your throat go away. "Is the rest of the tournament televised?" you queried in a strangely meek tone. "Like, internationally, I mean..."
By this time, you could feel the heat of the "Yugi Group"'s stares tearing down your very being in curiousity. Well, it was a rather off-the-wall question, but seeing as how you had a reputation to de-tarnish it made it obvious why you would ask it. So, the only viable reason why the "Yugi Group" stare was so intense was because you had actively seeked Kaiba out to ask him a question.
Yeeeeesss... Novel, indeed.
Kaiba very slowly turned his whole body around to face you, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. It was amazing you could see his face contort like that even from that small distance you were apart.
"Why do you need to know?"
His tone was dark and forboding, almost like he expected you to tell him why right there. You panicked at being put on spot. "I-I was just curious, is all!"
Kaiba seemed to study you a moment, like he was trying to see what you were hiding from him, but it seemed your genuine panic of being put on-spot spared you any more verbal drama with the young CEO. You could vaguely make out Kaiba's face soften into the usual stoic facade he wore.
"No, it isn't televised," he said firmly but without force. A long moment of silence passed as you released a held in breath. "I do need to speak with you, however."
Your chest hitched again -- that tone he used said this was not going to be rainbows and butterflies. You slowly complied, reluctantly, and walked further down the hallway.
"Don't do nothin' funny, Kaiba, because we're right ovaa hea!" That was Joey.
"Oof!" and the sound of cards fluttering about was heard soon following Joey's comment -- that, had been your doing.
"Could you pick those up for me, Yugi? I accidentally dropped them...," you said sweetly.
As soon as you heard a hesitant and bewildered, "Uh, sure...?" from Yugi you had turned your attention back to Kaiba.
"There is only one rule you are required to follow if I am to let you stay on my airship," Kaiba bombarded, giving you an irritated face.
"...That is?" you prompted in some attitude.
"You are to make no side comments during duels," he informed you, curtly. "If I hear anything out of you during a duel I will personally see to it that you are locked away until the tournament is finished."
Well, that was astonishing. "You're actually sore about all the comments I made during your double duel...?"
"No," he answered resolutely. "It's just annoying to have someone who doesn't know how to play the game harp in your ear incessantly."
"Whatever... And I only seemed to 'harp' because you were dueling like you didn't realize that your brother's life was on the line."
"It doesn't change the fact that you need to mind your own business!" Kaiba attacked -- he was just waiting for you to cue him. "How I manage my family's well being is of my own affair."
"Then act like you care more!" you nearly interjected, annoyed by his stubborness. "It wouldn't hurt you, you know!"
"Oh?! So now you're going to tell me how to run MY life? You can't even run your own even with the help of other people!"
"Stop switching topics!"
"I'm not switching topics -- I just find it hard to believe that the Default Duelist thinks she can tell me how to run my life!"
Your self-monitoring was gone -- you were so angry at him for switching topics that you couldn't even edit what was transferring from your head to your mouth. "Kaiba! Why can't you be glad that you have at least one person in your family that's that important to you!!?"
You gave Kaiba your best angry look and expected him to continue the argument. When he didn't do anything you gave a squeeky grumble and stormed back down the hallway.
It was a quick, frustrating walk back down the hallway and you were soon passing Yugi and company.
"Um...you okay?" Joey prodded hesitantly. You answered with a strange, angry noise and began to stalk down the hallway.
You were fast on your way toward the opposite end of the airship that Kaiba was heading. 'Good. At least now maybe I won't have to look at his stupid face for a while...'
"Kenzie...!" You heard someone shout. Then you were able to hear the pounding footsteps of another person.
"Leave me alone!" you answered, not really caring who it was. Unfortunately, you accurately deducted that it was Yugi.
You heard him give a loud, exasperated sigh. Obviously, he wanted you to hear how frustrated you were making him. You smiled on the inside.
"Kenzie, I need to speak with you."
"That's great, but I don't wanna talk right now!!" You honestly didn't for more reasons than one -- you were in a bad mood because of Kaiba AND you found Yugi rather hard to talk to...
"It's about the double duel," Yugi mentioned softly.
You almost hadn't registered that you had stopped stalking down the hallway. When you did notice, you sighed and started walking.
"I don't care," you lied. You SO wanted to know what had happened after you had passed out, but you just wanted some time to yourself! Too many things had happened in the past two days and they were starting to wear on you.
"So you honestly don't care about what happened to you when you passed out on top of the skyscraper...?" he asked in an obnoxiously sardonic tone.
Oh, that was it. You turned on your heel and rushed back to meet Yugi, anger and annoyance perfectly melded onto your face.
"You know what? FINE. I don't care. Let's talk," you grinded out. "I'm tired of having time to myself anyway."
You looked expectantly at Yugi to start talking. If he was going to call you out for having time to yourself, then you would be damned if you were going to let him feel comfortable talking to you.
"Well not out here!" he said quickly. "Why don't we go back to my room so we can relax and talk about this."
Relax? Yeah, that made sense. NOT. "You think we're going to be able to talk about why I pass out and stay relaxed about it?"
Yugi brushed off your sarcasm by leading the way down the hall. "You know, most duelists are quite egocentric, but I think your most pronounced attribute is your sarcasm."
"Well, thanks for noticing," you decided to humor Yugi's need for under-handed arguments.
"...And it never ends. It amazes me just how quiet you stay during a duel when you have such a fierce mouth."
"It's a gift. Besides, I take dueling very seriously."
"That's apparent."
"Can you stop antagonizing me?" you spat, suddenly done with humoring the game prodigy. "I'm not in the mood to put up with it."
"I'm only trying to lighten the mood," Yugi confessed while reaching in his pocket to grab his duelist pass.
"Well, stop. You're doing a horrible job," you stated as you came to a stop in front of a door.
"Am I?" Yugi motioned for you to enter the room first. "Your voice doesn't sound nearly as angry as before..."
You felt your ego smash down in unknowing defeat. "...Shut up."
Looking anywhere else but Yugi's smug face, you noticed just how practical and elegant these finalist rooms actually were. "Wow. This is a nice room..." 'Maybe Kaiba puts his money into this kind of showy stuff instead if plasma thin screens in limos...'
A conveniently performed throat noise came to your attention. You saw Yugi looking at you expectantly. Blushing, you pathetically mumbled a "sorry" and a "um...you wanted to talk?".
"Hm? Oh yes," Yugi mentioned. You couldn't believe he was acting like he wasn't upset three seconds ago! "Actually, I had a question I had been wondering about..."
Your brow dipped in suspicion, eyes coming to a point. "I may have an answer."
Yugi put a calculated hand to his chin and let his eyes wander to the side. "Well, you and Kaiba haven't known each other but maybe three weeks and you have a hatred for each other that could rival mythological gods'. That couldn't just be from personality quirks...?" Yugi's gaze came back to you when he asked the latter question.
You laughed in surprise. "Oh man! That's just too easy!"
Yugi shifted awkwardly. "Then your answer to my question...?"
"Oh," you stopped laughing, trying to be serious. "Well, Kaiba's just a bad person."
The answer caused Yugi to give you a bored, unimpressed look. "Right... Then I guess I'll begin our initial discussion."
You gave Yugi a nod and took a seat across from Yugi -- there were two chairs facing each other with a table in the middle sitting in the room.
"I...assume you don't pass out too often?" he seemed distracted even though he was looking straight at you.
"No, not really," you answered with some caution. "Is this about when I blacked out on the skyscraper then?"
He nodded. "Yes. Hm... How should I say this?"
"How about you just say it and then explain it?" you offered bluntly.
Yugi gave a reluctant sigh. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Annoyance started to surface as you spoke, "How could it not be that simple? I blacked out and then other stuff happened when I wasn't awake. Unless Kaiba tried to throw me off the roof, then I don't think you have to worry about me getting upset."
"That's not what you have to worry about, I assure you."
"Then what is it?!" you asked curtly. You took a breath to calm yourself, knowing that anger would get you no where. "Look, I know Kaiba didn't want to say something to me about the situation when I talked to him earlier, so I know something is going on!"
"Wow. You're pretty perceptive... I didn't really expect--"
"Can you STOP making antagonizing slights on my character as a means to stall? It's really annoying...," you crossed your arms to intensify the attitude.
Yugi gave a frustrated sigh, looking at you like he was considering calling the whole thing off. "When Kaiba's Blue-Eyes was finally summoned to the field and attacked...Umbra and Lumis were killed." He had paused so you could have some time to take in what he said.
"So, you mean, their explosive counters went down to zero and they fell to the bottom of the skyscraper...?" You were unsure that you were getting Yugi's actual meaning. "Look, Yugi, if you're worried I'm going to be traumatized--"
"--That's not it," Yugi cut in. "Their counters didn't go down to zero, their part of the skylight didn't explode or break, and they didn't fall to their deaths."
Right. Because that explained everything that you didn't know after he told you that the first time. "Then what the--"
"Their bodies were incinerated."
You released a scathing look you didn't even know you were holding. You recovered quickly from the simple statement that Yugi gave you to work with, thinking you might have finally understood what Yugi meant.
"Oh. You mean their Duel Disks caught on fire -- similar to how Kaiba's Duel Disk glitched out when he tried to summon his Blue-Eyes."
"No, Kenzie," Yugi's voice was uncharacteristically soft. "Their disks didn't catch on fire; their bodies were only engulfed in flames when the Blue-Eye's White-Lightening Attack hit them."
...
Yugi's claim was so fantastical that it took your body a moment to register the disbelief that you were feeling. You just had to verify what you heard...
"You're telling me...that the two cloaked people you guys dueled were set on fire from an attack from a holographic monster...from a card game?"
Yugi's eyes didn't waver. "That's exactly what happened."
"Well... Hn. That is COMPLETELY crazy. Is this some kind of joke, Yugi? What really happened?" Your voice went from disbelief to anger, irritated that Yugi would have the audacity to lie to you after you freaking helped this guy try to find his friends.
"It's not a joke, Kenzie, believe me," he pleaded in control. "The most peculiar thing about the situation was that when the duel was over, the Blue-Eyes returned to your body and not to Kaiba's Duel Disk.
A disbelieving snort escaped your monitor. "And you expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth!" he finally said with fervor.
You got up from your chair, not even glancing at Yugi. Before you started for the door, you turned your head to to the side so he could hear what you were going to say.
"Ya know, Yugi. I thought you were a different kind of person. And..." You were going to say something else, but you just didn't want to give him the time of day anymore. He was completely lieing to you! You couldn't even stay in the room with him!
Utterly disgusted, you again headed towards the door. When you were out in the hallway, you finally heard Yugi's voice. "Kenzie, wait!"
"WHAT?! What is it, Yugi? What else could you POSSIBLY have to say to me?!" Yugi looked alarmed at your present reaction and couldn't supply an answer. "Look, I don't know what you were trying to accomplish today by talking to me, but lieing to me is--"
"I wasn't lieing!" Yugi defended, a nasty snarl working it's way onto his face. "Your life could be in danger--"
"My life isn't in danger!!" you abruptly interjected. "How could it be when you're telling me stuff that isn't even capable of happening!!?"
Yugi looked grossly insulted. "How DARE you insinuate that I would lie to you about something this life-threatening! You weren't even conscious when it happened! You didn't see what Kaiba and I saw!"
"I didn't say you were lieing before, but if you need me to go there I certainly can!" Yugi tried to butt in, but you expertly cut him off. "--THIS is why you're lieing: You're telling me that a hologram came to life and killed two people! Stuff like that can't happen, which means you're lieing! There, NOW I said you were lieing!" you argued like a child.
Yugi shook his fists at his side, so frustrated that it was physically seeping into his nerves. "YOU are IMPOSSIBLE! You're so blinded by what society tells you is 'realistic' that you can't even tell when a friend is telling you the truth!"
"Whatever," you dismissed him easily. "And if you were my friend, Yugi, then you wouldn't be telling me all this crap."
And you turned on your heel, letting Yugi boil in his own frustration and futile desperation, dodging all eye-contact with the finalists and non-finalists in the hallway who had poked there heads out of their doors from the ruckus.
But you still had this nagging feeling in your chest. Was Yugi really lieing...? He didn't falter in any of his arguments... But none of that stuff could ever happen! It was ludicrous!
You tried to shake your head clear of your confusion. Odd as it sounded -- you needed to find Kaiba.
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The fastest way to find Kaiba was to look for Mokuba. Sadly enough, Mokuba followed his brother around like a combination of a star-struck fan and a doting, protective brother. Luckily, Kaiba hadn't gotten carried away with the layout of his blimp and you had finally spotted Mokuba coolly standing against a wall after an elevator ride and one floor later.
The closer you got to Mokuba, you assessed that he was standing outside of a door and was "on watch"...most likely for Kaiba. When you got into range, Mokuba finally noticed that you were approaching him and he looked up from his "I'm too cool" pose beside the door.
"Hey Kenzie! What's up?"
You gave him a fake smile, knowing this wasn't going to go smoothly. "Can I speak with your brother...?"
Mokuba's positive demeanor shriveled. "I dunno. He said that he didn't want to be disturbed--"
Suddenly, the sound of a mechanical sliding door cut Mokuba off; it revealed a quite stoic-looking Kaiba. His eyes seemed to find yours right away.
"What is it?" he asked, sort of grumpy, but with lack luster.
You took a deep breath and released it before beginning. "I wanted to find out what happened when I had blacked out on the skyscraper since Yugi isn't giving me a straight answer. Well, more like there wasn't an answer..."
Without hesitation Kaiba stepped to the side of the door frame. "Come in," he merely stated.
As you went in you heard Kaiba speak again. "Mokuba, tell Roland to hold off on starting the line-ups until I get there."
You heard Mokuba scamper off with a brightly said, "Okay!" to his big brother. Kaiba's door made that weird shuttle sound and your head turned toward it, expecting Kaiba to have some sour face directed at you, but he was already across the room, piling the cards he had apparently laid out on the table. Kaiba finally takes a seat when you walk over and follow suit.
"What did Yugi tell you?" he asked in a comfortable manner; it was creepy to hear Kaiba this non-threatening.
You hesitated at his new tone. "Well, he said that a hologram came to life and killed those two guys." You thought a moment, taking in what you just said. "I mean, can you believe--"
"Did he say anything else?" he asked in a nerve-wracking calm.
Your confidence wavered even more. "Well, no, but...why? Is there something else he should have said?"
Kaiba began to thumb through his deck before he answered. "No. It's just nice to know that not all of the world is inhabited by magic-promoting morons."
"I knew it!" you exclaimed. "I knew Yugi was lieing to me! So what really happened then?"
There was a short silence as Kaiba continued to look through his deck. "It was hard to tell from my Blue-Eyes' White Lightening attack, but the Rare Hunters bodies did catch fire. Apparently, there was a malfunction in the Duel Disk's holographic processing system."
That was weird. Maybe Yugi was right..., but, he couldn't be! That stuff wasn't real! It couldn't happen!
"But...you've never had a glitch in anything you've created!"
"That's because there wasn't a glitch in my Duel Disks," he cut you off in a pointed glare before returning the attention to his cards. "If you dared to forget, I didn't make their asinine, explosive Life Point counters. The circuitry for a weighted explosive is quite sensitive and complex. Additionally, the processing speed for certain monsters, such as my Blue-Eyes, requires a certain amount of output for the hologram to display smoothly. Because they made the counters wireless as well it created an overload of the holographic processing circuitry."
Your head swam a bit after how fast he spit out that explanation. "Which causes fires...?"
"Overloading any type of computer can cause sparks to fly," he supplied, "and sense they were wearing those gratuitous robes..."
"They caught on fire!" you finished, enlightened. "So Yugi really was lieing!" You had stood up from your chair in resolve - you really had been justified in treating Yugi that way!
"If you're done celebrating," Kaiba piqued dully from his chair. "I have a question to ask you."
Your insides went cold. Although Kaiba didn't look like he wanted to tear you apart, something about the current situation seemed strangely scary...
Kaiba, seeing his que, dived right into the grilling. "Why did you forfeit your chance to play in the finals?" he asked simply.
You hesitated, finally feeling genuinely vulnerable for the first time in a long time. "What? What are you talking about? I didn't--"
"Don't play games with me. I know how much time you had from when Roland dropped you back off at Battle City until now, and it was plenty of time to get two more locator cards." He said it so CALM! It was infuriating! How could he throw so much venom at you and not even sound like he tasted it?!
"Is it your mission to make my company look bad?"
"You're being ridiculous!" you clenched your teeth. "I had two hours to find someone to duel me, let alone actually complete a duel! And you know how hard it's been for me to find anyone to duel me..."
"Well, if you didn't have a reputation like the 'Default Duelist' you wouldn't have that problem," he was getting visibly frustrated now. "And stop making excuses for yourself; it's pathetic."
"I'm not making excuses!" you defended. "I thought it would be completely obvious by now that I just have the worst of luck..."
"And that's how you view your problems? Just give up because it's useless to try and fight anyway, is that it?!" He was tearing into you, shamelessly at that.
"Kaiba, what th-...," you replied softly, working your resolve back up after that comment. "I didn't give up on my chance to go to the finals! Bakura really seemed like he needed help!"
"He genuinely seemed like he needed help or you were looking for a chance to fail because you just couldn't take the pressure anymore?"
That question reverberated throughout your chest. Kaiba had struck a chord in you without knowing he had. Again.
"No...," you lied in lack-luster; it made it completely obvious.
"You're lieing."
"I'm not lieing," you supplied, quicker this time.
Kaiba made a frustrated noise. "Then why did you hesitate, Kenzie? You must have some reason that you were looking to blow-off the chance of a lifetime and tarnish my company's name in the process...!"
By now you were quietly inspecting some part of the wall way past Kaiba, stuck in reverie of when you had decided to help Bakura a few short hours ago.
You really had jumped at the opportunity to help the guy, which did make you human. But, you had officially forfeited the deal with your father, and now a lot of bad things were going to happen...
"Hmph. You can't face it, can you?" he began to envenom you, like he always did. "You can't face the fact that you, the 'Default Duelist', who has already ruined whatever reputation you could possibly accomplish in the dueling world, has completely wiped out the chance to regain a descent reputation because you failed a second time."
You gave a deep breathe. That whole 'embittering' thing just always seemed to work with him. "That's not it Kaiba..."
"Then you're lie--"
"That's not it, Kaiba!!" You took a few deep breathes, feeling the antagonizing tingle leave your body. You were still staring at the floor, and you didn't dare check to see what reaction Kaiba was going to give after your next sentence, but you had to correct him this time.
"I'm just...not ready to deal with the fact that I've lost everything...because of everything that's...going to happen when it gets found out."
"Don't you mean when 'someone' finds out...?" he didn't miss a beat.
You made a nasty noise. "I don't mean you, Kaiba..."
"That's completely evident," he said curtly while getting up from his chair after all this time. He swayed his dramatically to release some of his pent up frustration. "It's obvious that you've made some kind of deal with someone. You've certainly skimped on the details which means the outcome must be important because you don't want anyone else to know about it."
You had gotten further away from the current reality of having this conversation with Kaiba. The deal you had made with your father kept repeating in your head and the stress of emotional build-up was resounding in your chest.
"It's pathetic, really," Kaiba added his own commentary to his unofficial deduction. "Who would make a deal riding on the fact that you could become a finalist in my tournament?"
That had jutted you out of your depressing thoughts. He did not just say that after all of that! "Oh my god...!" you managed. "We are not talking about this again!"
"And I certainly had no intentions to; however, I have a tournament to run," he sated primly.
"Well, that's just greeeat...," you slid out while crossing your arms.
As you had let the poutful comment slip out of your mouth, you noticed all-but-too-late that Kaiba had skillfully grabbed your upper arm and was dragging you backwards through the door of his room.
"You're coming with me," he stated before you got your bearings in order.
"What the hell? Why can't you just leave me alone? You did all that poking around with me and now you want to torture me, is that it?"
Kaiba continued to look forward as he answered, "Yes. That's exactly it."
Oh. Well, you guessed Kaiba really was like that. He really had done all that poking around to get more stuff to use against you with...to humiliate you in front of the others.
"No, you idiot," Kaiba promptly corrected your resigned silence. "If you think you're going to sit around, mope, and be self-destructive--"
"I am NOT self-destructive!" you corrected and forced your shirt out of Kaiba's grip.
"...Need I remind you that you're not even qualified to be on this ship?"
You gave him the best sour face you could muster.
"...I can't believe you can't even believe in some circumstantial evidence and just blame it on the person because they obviously cause everything that goes wrong in their life, and--"
"Quit mumbling -- we're almost to the main hall."
"No. And did you really expect me to be all 'polite society' after you probed the recesses of my mind?"
"You will be because you won't actually do anything stupid if other people are watching you."
"Puh!" was the only genius answer you could come up with. Then, you added, "Whatever. Stop acting like an omnipotent jerk."
You could feel the aura of Kaiba's smug grin; it made you want to beat something...like a rock.
"So you're acknowledging that I am all-knowing...?"
"What? NO! Because you're only acting like it, which means you're not good at it...which means you're WRONG!"
Kaiba only paused to slide his duelist card at the main hall door. As it slid open, he sense he was dipping into his 'secret stash' of insults especially for you. It was pure coincidence that all of the finalists, sans number eight, and groupies just happened to be there when he decided to deliver a very staged comment...
"Well, I guess it would be hard for someone of your caliber to understand when they're wrong. After all, forfeiting your chance at being a finalist in a tournament such as this would completely demean the honor of being called a 'duelist'."
