Author's Note: This fic exist in the Dark Side of Dimensions movieverse.
Hello! And welcome to Rush! I'll be the first to admit that I have a HUGE crush on Kaiba Seto (especially in The Dark Side of Dimensions movie - I mean, did you see them abs?) and a love for all things backstabby, tense, and mysterious. So I thought...why not combine it all and create a fun little OC/Seto fic? Originally, this was supposed to be a reader insert but things got too long and confusing, so I decided to use Marie: an adrenaline junkie with a sharp mind and a thing for Kaiba's pretty boy ways. Thus, Rush. Enjoy!
X
"I'm telling you, Marie! The future is now! Invest, invest, invest! You been watching the stock market? Girlllllll, things are looking good. Throw some money here 'n there and you'll be sitting on a cushy pillow of Fuck You dollar bills in a few years."
"In a few years, people won't be sitting on cushy pillows. They'll be sitting on rocks and roots and twigs-"
"Marie, what are you talking about?!"
Marie narrowed her eyes at the red Honda in front of her and eased into the left lane. In one hand she clutched a half-empty can of Arizona iced tea, with the other she gripped the steering wheel in a vice-like clutch. A silver chain studded with amethysts and petrified wood swung wildly from the rearview mirror, occasionally thumping against the windshield loud enough to make her passenger jump. She glared at the Honda out of the corner of her eye as she passed it by.
"Zombies!" She cried. "Meteorites crashing into the earth! The apocalypse! World War Three!"
"Or maybe all of them combined," Ryo added snarkily. She lifted her Arizona can and gave him a thumbs up. The radio was blaring. Wind blasted through the open window and whipped their hair across their face. She checked the time. 2:44. They were going to be late. Unless…
She put pressure on the gas pedal and swerved back into an open spot in the right lane, in front of the Honda.
"Right, maybe!" She said over the music. There was a humming noise coming from behind them, growing louder and louder by the second. "Point is...pillows won't exist, not even the financial ones. Now's the time to invest in survival, like weapon-making classes and non-perishable food."
"You watch too many movies."
"That'swhy I'm prepared!"
The humming noise was louder now. It was all around them. She peeked in her rearview mirror and saw a sleek black and blue car approaching them at an impressive speed. Soon, it would be riding her bumper. She sucked her teeth in annoyance as the glare from its silver-rimmed headlights bounced across her window. Ryo was still talking, happily oblivious to the car behind them as he flapped his hand out the window.
"-five hundred will get you a couple mil in the future, hun," he was saying. "I can show you how. First, you gotta start by investing in Kaiba Corps-"
"-Kaiba Corps will be a smoldering heap when the nuclear missiles hit it. Five hundred now will get me a nice bow and arrow, and a tent and a- JESUS CHRIST!"
They both screamed as her car was rocked sideways by a sudden gust of wind. The blue car behind her had sped up and around her with an angry mechanical purr before launching itself in the lane in front of her. The brake lights flared once before the car gave a jolt and began to gather speed.
"Did you see that?!" She yelled indignantly. "That asshat almost hit me!"
Ryo was holding onto the handle above the door for dear life. His cheeks had turned a faint blue color and were ballooning out over a breath of air which he let out slowly. "Yeah...maybe you should go in the slow lane."
"I wanna see what the driver looks like."
"For the love of all that's holy-"
"Wanna bet they look like a douche? You know, the type with a punchable face? I bet they look like a douche."
"I'm sure you can also find douches to look at...in the slow lane."
She shook her head at this and applied steady pressure to the gas pedal. The cars on either side of her were whizzing past in a colorful blur, each one giving a gusty roar before being left behind. It was hard to match the speed of the blue luxury car in front of her - its engine was much better equipped for speed than her humble little build. But she just had to see the driver. It would drive her crazy if she didn't.
All of a sudden, the sleek car made a sharp turn into the right lane. Seamlessly and quicker now than ever, it cut a diagonal across three lanes towards the coming exit.
"Hot damn," she said, impressed at the driver's brashness. Her own merging wasn't nearly as clean but it was enough to keep the blue car only two cars ahead of her. She reached the exit - a rounded curve that swept beneath the highway - and took it at sixty mph, making Ryo squeeze his head between his hands and cry out for mercy.
"Look - look at 'em!" she said in alarm as she tilted her wheel as steadily as possible. "Crazy bastard's going 80 on a curve! He's gonna lose control! Look!"
This was true. Once again, the car ahead of them was sliding at a diagonal across the empty lanes. The maneuver was so haphazardous that they could only watch in horror as its bumper came within a few inches of the metal divider. Surely, the driver would lose control of the wheels and spin out. But then the curve straightened. The car righted itself with a slippery wiggle of its tail and sped off.
"Shit!"
Marie pumped the pedal and gunned it. The light at the end of the exit was yellow. The other driver was approaching fast. But would they stop? The light turned red and the taillights ahead of them flashed. She hit her brakes and made an emergency swerve to the left as the other driver rolled into a graceful stop. Marie leaned back in her seat, breathing heavily. Ryo was covered in a sheen of sweat. His perfectly made-up brows were beginning to run along the edges. He patted a handkerchief over his forehead and invoked the Lord's name once more.
"You trying to kill us or what?!" He demanded.
"Don't worry. I wanna get a good look at 'em first. Then we die." She leaned forward in her seat and peered out the passenger window. The windows to the luxury vehicle next to her were tinted. She could just barely make out the shape of the person in the driver's seat. The moment made her hackles rise. Even though she couldn't see them, she felt like the driver was staring right back at her.
She put her feet on both pedals and revved her engine. Much to her surprise, the driver beside her revved their engine back. The sound was louder and much more impressive. A deep, bassy rhythm began to play and she realized that the other driver had turned their stereo on max.
"A-are they playing WAP?"
"Uh yep. I'd recognize the call to hoes in the house anywhere. Marie...you know what's going to happen if you take your foot off the brake, right?"
"Listen, Ryo," Marie said. She threw her empty Arizona can at his feet and clutched the wheel in both hands. "Do you know what you get when you replace the P in 'WAP' with an 'R'?"
"Oh dear god, no. I mean, I do but...don't you dare-"
The light turned green. She lifted her foot off the pedal. And they were off.
She cackled maniacally as she swerved in front of the car. The wheels on the other car squealed as the driver swung left and tried to build up enough speed to get ahead of her. But her sudden head start had given her a considerable advantage. She glanced in her rearview mirror again and watched as the blue car began to trail behind. The road ahead of them lead straight into the heart of Domino City. On their left: a dense jungle of sparkling white industrialism sprawled out alongside them. And on their right: a glistening blue lake that lapped at a row of highly manicured laws. Then, ahead of them, the KC tower loomed like a giant silver middle finger thrust into the eyes of God.
There lay their destination. After fiddling with the radio knob, Ryo had found a station playing WAP and turned it on full volume. The car trembled beneath the buzzing speakers. He put on a pair of sunglasses and crossed his hands tight over his chest.
"If I die today, I shall die in style while listening to a woman singing about her wet ass p-"
"Not today, pal!"
The few cars that were around honked in indignation and swerved as she sped around them, then honked again as the blue car blasted past in her wake. It was gaining on her. It was twenty feet away, ten feet away, on her bumper. She bounced her head to the rhythm of the music and sang along, mumbling the parts that she either didn't know or was too shy to say. She desperately wondered who the other driver was and what they looked like. Probably some rich young kid whose ego had spurned them into this race.
"He got some money, then that's where I'm headed! Something A1 just like his credit! Here! Ryo! Watch this!"
Luckily, she had ended up in the far right lane just in time. Her exit would take her to the separate road that had been specifically designed to branch off into the KaibaCorps property. At the end of this road was a gate that required identification to pass. The person in the blue luxury car would have to stop. There'd be no reason for them to take that road. Unless they were insane or worked at the KC Headquarters.
Marie had no idea that the person behind her fit both those criteria.
She pulled off but then cried out in dismay as the driver continued to drive behind her. They sped around the curve - her speedometer climbing towards 70 - and into KC territory. The parking lot began to unfurl ahead of her. But before that: the security gate. A car had recently passed through. The gate was still open, but closing quickly. The security guard launched himself out of his office and waved his arms frantically at the quickly approaching cars.
"You're not gonna-" Ryo started and then gulped.
"Uh-huh," Marie said distractedly, worried now. What kind of lunatic would chase her off of the highway and race her to the KC building? Sure, she was guilty of road rage from time to time but this...this was something else entirely. She imagined the person behind her rolling down their window and firing an AK-47 in the air. She snatched her ID card from her neck, hung it out the window, and tossed it at the guard as she zoomed past.
"Marie Tonette, ID number 87628," she shouted into the wind. The gate was closing, it was almost there-
-but she made it just in time. But so had the other car. She heard the ear-splitting shriek of metal splitting metal and turned in her seat.
"Shit," she cried out upon seeing the damage. "Holy mother of diamonds, look at that!"
The other car's perfect blue paint job had been shredded against the spokes of the now-closed gate. But this hadn't stopped the driver. In her surprise, she had decreased her speed. The sportscar launched around her with a sound that was deafening and sped ahead. A single, slender hand slid out the passenger window and flashed them the Fuck You finger.
"Okay, so there's two people in the car..." she muttered to herself. She looked over at Ryo, who was leaning forward in his seat and squinting out the window. "Talk to me."
"Houston, honey, we have a problem," he said. "Did you see the license plate?"
"Can't, they're going too fast."
"It's too late. The damage has been done! Maybe it's best that you don't know," he moaned as he slid his hands over his face.
The blue car was still ahead of them. It was approaching the parking lot. The sharply dressed employees of Kaiba Corporations screamed and ducked out of its way as it sped past them, cutting corners and taking turns like a bat fresh out of hell. Alright, she thought to herself. Her amethyst chain was spinning about madly as she wrenched the wheel left and right. She reached out and patted Ryo's knee.
"Well, if the damage has already been done, let's finish this with style!"
She stomped the gas pedal again. The car screeched and flew forward. It was gaining on the blue car. She was on their bumper. But the parking lot was coming to an end. She was nearing the grand staircase leading up to the entrance of the KC tower. The two larger-than-life stone dragons flanking the stairs seemed to hold her in their red, crystalline eyes. To their left was a shaded parking space, about three cars wide. This was her target, and she was coming up on it fast. At the last possible second, she yanked her wheel around. Her tires screamed and kicked up an alarming amount of dust as she slid into the space. Then, after giving a precarious tilt on its left side, it came to a full stop on all four of its wheels.
"Whoo!" She screamed after turning the music down. She pumped her fists in the air. Her hair was streaming across her sweaty face and tangling in her eyelashes. Sweat patches were spreading out from beneath her armpits and her work pants were wrinkled terribly. But she didn't care. She felt like Wonder Woman after several rounds of mimosas and shots of gin. "Yeah, baby! I don't know what just happened, but I liked it!"
She looked over at Ryo, expecting to be admonished or cursed out but to her surprise she saw that he was laughing softly, the bridge of his nose pinched between his fingers. She heard the blue car pull up and then idle to a stop behind them. The engine fell silent, along with the music.
"Wha-what did I miss?" She asked. He simply laughed harder and shook his head before opening his door.
"He'll be hard to miss when you see him."
"He? Who you talkin' 'bout?"
She shoved open her door and stepped out of the car. The passengers in the blue car hadn't yet gotten out. A young valet with a baby face and a sprightly gait to match hurried towards the blue car. He wrapped a white glove around the handle of the passenger door and pulled it open. A tall woman with jet black hair stepped out and removed her sunglasses. She stared at Marie with a slanted frown before tucking her glasses into her pocket.
Marie froze. Oh no, she thought. Ryo was bent over the hood of her car, trying to hide his laughter behind his palm.
"Hello, miss Mizumi," the valet chirped as he closed the door behind her.
"Hello, Ned."
Oh no, no, no.
Where there's smoke, there's fire. That's what the people in the office said whenever Mizumi was around. Behind her back of course. It was a phrase that very loosely translated to...you'd better fucking duck because if Mizumi's here then you can bet your ass that Seto Kaiba is around the corner.
She had a sickening feeling that she knew exactly who was about to climb out of the driver's seat. She glanced at the driver's license for the first time.
God damnit, she thought as she ran her hands over her face and moaned, that's just my luck. At least now she knew why Ryo was laughing. She turned around, hoping to find some escape route but there were none. Men and women in pristine white KC lab coats had gathered on the staircase, curious about the commotion. If she tried to run, they'd probably take a couple of swings at her with their clipboards and coffee mugs. They were looking between her car and the luxury car, their expressions fading from alarm to bemused pity as they made sense of the situation. They were bored and hungry for blood, but there was already another shark in the water. The tension was palpable.
She dropped her hands to her side and turned.
The man that they were all waiting for threw open the door to the sportscar. A long, leather-clad leg ending in polished white loafer slunk out of the doorway of the driver's side. A second later, Seto Kaiba pushed himself out of the driver's seat and stood staring at them from above the hood of his car. There was an audible gasp and murmur as he retrieved his suitcase and walked around the back of the car.
"Everything alright, Mister Kaiba, sir?" The valet asked, somewhat ironically. Seto ignored him and instead cast a blank gaze her way.
"You're in my parking spot."
Marie looked around, wondering why everyone had gone silent. Then she realized with a jolt that he was talking to her.
"M-me?" She said, pointing to her chest.
"That's your car, isn't it?"
From the corner of her eye, she saw Mizumi snicker. Her cheeks grew warm in embarrassment and she glanced back at her car. "Huh. Would you look at that? I guess it is."
She watched with a pounding heart as he walked around to the side of his car and examined the damage done by the gate. It was strange to think that all he had to say after their exciting little race was 'you're in my parking spot.' But then again, Seto Kaiba wasn't exactly known for being normal. He knelt on one knee and brushed his fingers against the jagged lines on the door then crushed the flakes of paint curiously between his thumb and forefinger.
Mizumi whistled. "If I were her, I'd be feeling pretty sorry for myself right about now. The cost of getting that repaired is gonna do a number on her." The crowd behind her laughed in a dry, obligatory manner. Like students responding to a teacher who was known for being loose with the wooden ruler. No doubt they were beginning to feel sorry for Marie. She hated the feeling and would've offered some reprimandable retort had Kaiba not straightened up and shaken his head.
"I'm not interested in getting it fixed," he said to no one in particular. "I was getting tired of it anyway." He dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed it at the valet who caught it in one expert swoop.
"But you've only had it for two days!" Mizumi exclaimed.
"It's been two days too long," he said simply. The crowd laughed at this, their energy more robust this time. More was at stake when it came to laughing at the dry wit of the man who could destroy their financial livelihood with a single swipe of his pen. To Marie, they sounded like a pack of drunken hyenas trying desperately to outdo each other with their howling. This made her giggle and Kaiba stopped just as he was about to pass her.
"What's so funny?" He asked, peering down at her with his eerily unblinking eyes. She had never actually seen him in person before. He was tall, much taller, and thinner than the screens around the city made him seem. One could have almost called him gaunt were it not for the barely perceptible ripple of muscle beneath his coat sleeves and his shirt. What with his demeanor and celebrity presence, it was easy to forget that he was still quite young. Still, his sharp blue eyes never left her face.
"It's just…I wouldn't want a luxury sportscar either if it couldn't keep up with my rinky-dink bucket on wheels. I tanked you back there, sir, pardon the phrase. Maybe you should try my car out for size."
He closed his eyes and smirked. Seeing his smile always startled her. It didn't make sense for someone who blazed through life with his ferocity to have such a pretty smile, but there it was.
"Thanks for the offer," he said in a manner that implied the exact opposite of appreciation. "But I think I'll pass." There was that smile again, that enthralling one-sided grin of sarcasm. He looked away from her and tossed his head at the milling crowd
"I may not know everybody's name," he said in a scathing voice that echoed around the otherwise silent plaza. She could hear the water gushing from the fountains in the silence behind his every word. "But I do know this: every single one of you is supposed to be working. Last I checked, I'm not paying anybody to stand around gaping like a moron. If any one of you is left standing there by the time that I get to the top of the staircase, you can pack up your things and consider yourself as good as fired."
This lit a fire under the asses of the employees, for sure. They startled and went rushing like mice back into the building, Mizumi being the only exception. She waited until he was at the top of the staircase to whisper something in his ear. Whatever he said in response made her raise her eyebrow and glance back at Marie.
Well god damn, she thought to herself as she watched them cross the manicured courtyard and disappear behind the sliding doors of the KC building. Ryo came up from behind her car, wiping tears of mirth away from his cheeks as he approached her.
"'Member you said whoever was racing you was a douche with a punchable face?" He said as he linked his arm through hers. "You were right!"
"I guess…" she said thoughtfully. "Not so punchable once you see it up close."
"Ah, come one. Don't tell me you're coo-coo for Kaiba."
"What? No - I just…"
"Every billionaire playboy philanthropist's got a harem, you know. Plus, he's got a thing going on with Mizumi."
"Right, right, right," she said distractedly. Kaiba's liaisons with other women was the last thing that she wanted to hear about at that moment. The valet noticed them walking and hurried after them.
"Uh, Miss Marie, ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to move your car. That is Mister Kaiba's spot, you know."
"So I've heard," she muttered darkly. As she passed by the glinting blue sports car, she cast a glance at the license plate. SETOFNK. Seto fucking Kaiba. The ballsiness of it made her smile.
X
Ending Notes:
Okay, I know that some people might say that Seto listening to WAP while street racing is out of character. But I couldn't get the mental image out of my head. If anything, we can pretend that Mizumi turned WAP on and Kaiba was too busy racing to change it XD