Hitting the double digits with Trebuchet now, guys and gals! :D Sorry if this chapter is a) Completely off stylistically from the others and is b) Super-short, but my fingers are tired from just translating what I think is the longest chapter in "Target", and they're getting mad at me. o.O
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! δεν ανήκει σε μένα. Google translate says that's Greek for "Yugioh does not belong to me". Someone Greek please check that.
Chapter 10
Monday, January 3rd, 2005 8:34 AM
Tokyo, Japan
It was probably one of the more intriguing office spaces within the Tokyo city limits, if not within the entire nation of Japan. The room was large and appeared to be cast into shadow despite the large window behind Mrs. Hermand's desk; perhaps it was due to the fact that none of the wall could be seen, hidden behind cupboards or armoires or posters or trophies or diplomas that, despite her status, were quite modest. Her first one, eclipsed practically entirely in shadow, said that she was a major in Greek classics. Not even she knew how she had ended up the most important of Disney's representatives in Japan. Luck? Perhaps.
She was beginning her workday, the first one back after the Christmas and New Years holiday that she had taken off, and the first day back in the office after she had had her mind-blowing revelation. That wasn't the first thing on her mind, though; she was planning on calling Kaiba later that day for updates, and she certainly wasn't expecting to hear from Pegasus.
That was a lie, she would probably hear from him later that day. But when her phone rang and his voice drifted over the line at that hour of the morning – hell, she had only just managed to walk in after stopping for some coffee to warm herself up - she had been quite appalled.
"Max! I wasn't expecting you to call me quite this early!"
"I'm so terribly sorry, Noelle," he cooed, using her first name (to her great irritation). "But I need you to do something for me. It's very important."
"I… what is it?"
"I'm stepping down. I need you to take over my company."
Wait, wait, wait. What?
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Hermand nearly shrieked, almost knocking her Styrofoam coffee cup, now half-empty, off the table and onto the floor. "Did I understand you correctly, Mr. Pegasus?"
"Please, it's urgent. I'm giving it to you. Take it. Please. I need you to."
"You're the chair of the audit board, not the CEO, I'd have to buy up the shares- "
"Do that. Now. As soon as possible. I'm begging you!"
"I… wait, I don't understand," Mrs. Hermand was spluttering, grasping her forehead with her free hand. "You… want me to… buy your company? Make some harebrained investment that could ruin my company, and even if it didn't would draw us under international criticism? You know full well that we're having discussions that the world media is aware of, Pegasus, and if on some sort of caprice I just willingly decided to buy you out- "
There was a heart-wrenching wail on the other side of the line. Mrs. Hermand's blood chilled in her veins. She began to grow seriously frightened now.
"Max? Are you okay?" Silence on the other end; but there was some sort of background noise. Loud, too, like a plane engine. "Where are you?"
No response.
"Are you on a plane, Mr. Pegasus?"
The noise abruptly cut off. Something was terribly wrong. Max Pegasus seemed to be... feisty, edgy. Insane, too. Yeah, definitely that.
She simply sat there, defeated, in her office chair, phone lazily hanging beside her head, as her eyes trailed off to somewhere, thinking. Did this somehow involve Kaiba, too? She did have a normal business call with him later today, anyway. Should she ask him later, or call him now? It might be too late then….
The phone rang once more. It was someone wanting to report some sort of budget change or something… It would have to be later, then.
~ X X X ~
Even if Noelle Hermand had attempted to contact Seto Kaiba at that precise time, she wouldn't have been too successful. Not at all; Kaiba wasn't in his office. He was frantic. Beside himself. What the hell?
He had received a phone call at around one or two AM. First of all, he hadn't been too kind to whoever the hell was calling him because he had only been asleep for thirty minutes. Probably the worst possible to wake someone up.
His mood went from bad to worse when they relayed the news that his little brother had vanished overnight from his Berkeley dorm, and the only possible clue is that someone, in a half-drunk, half-asleep stupor, had apparently reported that they might have heard a shot or two go off.
The rest of the night, he had been perfectly awake. Agitated, outraged, worried for his brother's life, but yes, awake was also an acceptable adjective.
He was currently on the phone with one of the Berkeley police agents about a letter that they found near his brother's computer, that was half-complete. For all they knew, he had been writing it when he was taken.
Kaiba was heartbroken when he learned, for all intents and purposes, that its basic message was "Seto, buzz off." He thought he might have another seizure. Better to just get on with the show. After several howling fits at variant police officers on the other side of the Pacific, Kaiba was almost ready to fly over there himself to give California a piece of his mind.
But by the time the last phone call came to a close, Kaiba was still in his mansion, cell phone in one hand, eyes glazing over, rather like the expression of Mrs. Hermand.
The difference was, while Kaiba was begging himself to move on, go to work, get something done, have high hopes, the Seto inside him began to cry.
On the outside, Seto won.
~ X X X ~
By the time three o'clock rolled around, Mrs. Hermand was just about ready for her business call to Mr. Kaiba. The budget issue had been relegated to its proper department after a terse war of words, and after a few minor issues she was thrilled to discover that it was already after noon and she wasn't even hungry. This was great. Anything seemed as if it go right today; she almost completely forgot about the hair-rising phone call from Pegasus begging her to buy up his stock.
That is, until she called Kaiba.
He normally picked up with a ring or two, to the point and sharp, demanding, businesslike. This took five rings, and his greeting was 'hello'. Not "Kaiba", not "what", just… "hello".
Hermand raised her eyebrows slightly, and greeted him back. "Nice to talk to you. If I remember properly, I was to give you my monthly report for your records, including the amount that Disney has so far generated for aid to the tsunami victims in Indonesia…"
Her voice trailed off when she heard Kaiba breathing. Normally, that wasn't the most apparent thing you heard over a phone, but it sounded as if he was ill. Or distraught.
After a slight pause, she asked politely, "Mr. Kaiba? Should we reschedule our call?"
Kaiba answered a different question, his voice unnaturally high-pitched. "Has anything weird happened to you recently?"
Mrs. Hermand's jaw slackened slightly as she remembered Pegasus' call, but she felt she better avoid that.
"No, and I don't see what that has to do with- "
"Tell me the truth, Hermand."
His voice was so full of malice, she gasped slightly, and reluctantly, very reluctantly, began to attempt to salvage the situation. "I… has something happened, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Tell me, damnit."
Did he know about Pegasus' call? Even if he did, why would that be of any importance? Kaiba was a man of business, who put important things first.
Unless Pegasus really was up to something.
"Er… Pegasus called me earlier this morning. He seemed…disturbed. He…" She wondered if she should tell him, but before she could complete her thought she had already said it. "She wanted me to buy out his company. He was desperate. I… has something happened between you?"
Nothing.
"Mr. Kaiba?"
There was a crescendo of a roar on the other line. Kaiba started cursing and swearing with so little restraint Hermand felt completely inclined to let the phone rest on her desk until she could no longer hear the noise it was giving off from four or five feet away.
"THAT BASTARD! HE TOOK HIM! I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT!"
"Mr. Kaiba, please, calm yourself- "
"My donations are completely satisfactory," Kaiba hissed harshly. "Right now, if you don't mind, now that we've traded niceties, I have a brother in another continent to find!"
A what?
"You… your brother… you have a brother… and he-"
The line was already dead.
It was around that time, she would later reflect, that her day completely went off the edge of a cliff. And she had been so sure of it, too…
So close. So. Fucking. Close.
Unless…
The idea appeared bizarre to her; she almost dismissed it. But upon chasing it further, she found that it was possible. No, it must have happened, just so that he could rub it in her face. He did. Didn't he? So that explained it…
Her face crumpled into her hands, her auburn hair shielding it from the sight of anyone peeking through her office door.
It was Noelle's turn to cry.
~ X X X ~
Somewhere in California, it was darkness - cloudy, for there was no moon to be seen. But for one Mokuba Kaiba - tied up, gagged, and suspended over the frigid waters of San Francisco bay- it was light. Literally - the rescue vessel's light was really strong, and he had to close his eyes due to the discrepancy.
He was elated. The boat neared, and unintelligible words were shouted via megaphone. Someone found me…
Was Seto worried about me?
Everything after that rushed by in a blur. He would have plenty of time to explain what had happened to him later; right now, he ignored whatever was being said to him and indulged himself in hot chocolate, feeling sleep finally beginning to win its battle to overtake him.
And Kaiba, in Tokyo, was overjoyed to hear they had found him, and had fallen into a troubled sleep before the sun had even set. He hadn't moved away from it the entire day.
He was troubled even though he had been correct, because Mokuba had wanted to declare his independence from him -and ironically it was at that moment that... and it was all Pegasus' fault.
He dreamt of a faucet, spewing hot water sans fin, and when he tried to turn it off the handles broke off. When he looked underneath to check the piping he instead found a maze he couldn't escape from...
~ X X X ~
January 3rd, 2005, 9:58 PM
Hamilton, Bermuda
Max Pegasus could only grit his teeth, blinking back tears, as he stood shell-shocked, hopeless, in his hotel room. Through the little looking-glass there were police officers, some with rifles, pounding on the frame and demanding he come out.
He was under arrest for tax evasion, and for breaking the law. Namely, for going directly against the Sarbanes-Oxley act by bribing his external auditors to turn the other cheek, but what those fools could never comprehend was how he thought he was doing it for the good of Industrial Illusions.
What now? If he went to prison, and if Hermand didn't take his company like he had asked her to (which of course she wouldn't have, it would be his luck), his company's reputation would be tarnished. Destroyed. Ruined. Everything he would be alive for would be dead.
If one of them lived, one of them would have to die. And by no means would Industrial Illusions die. He had worked too hard, done as much as he could. It would not die because of him.
He would die first.
Pegasus rose his right arm, revealing a small handgun clenched within. He stood completely straight, the slightest hints of tears forming in his eyes. He felt the cold kiss of metal on his temple. He began to brush the trigger when the door burst open, and the cops swarmed in, a slight island breeze wafting into the room with them, smelling of salt, even though the cold wind stung this time of year.
He thought he could avoid them. Thought that he could start anew in Bermuda, the only place he could think of that he might be able to salvage his conscience. Plan A failed. Time for Plan B.
A single shot rang out.
Oh, I did *not* just leave you with a cliffhanger. Well, I resolved the last one but I left a new one. Sorry! It must be the way my brain is working these days...
If you don't know, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (passed July 30, 2002) is a U.S. federal law that does tons of things, but most importantly to the story, forces businesses to have more external auditors so that there's less chance of financial corruption. Pegasus bribed the external auditors to pay no attention as he manipulated its funds with little to no repercussions on him until now. Dirty little secret's out!
And that dream Kaiba has? I actually had it, hence why it's in here. It was weird. Trust me.