WARNING: ANGST and THREATS now come into play!!!
Chapter 5: Tso T'an
"Good morning to you all, gentleman." Jason Pegasus grinned as he opened the door to the conference room and walked in. Three of the four men turned to face the man who had just entered, but the other one simply went over to a cabinet and took out a liquor bottle and a glass.
"'Morning Jason." A tall Japanese man nodded. Gozaburo Schmidt, the half-Japanese, half-German businessman was probably one of the most influential man in the Big Five, second only to Jason Pegasus. The Big Five was simply a group of the five biggest shareholders in Kaiba Corps. The five doubled as a board of directors and had almost as much influence as the CEO.
Over in the corner of the room a man with long graying hair nodded to Pegasus and returned to his work. Rex Johnson, an English businessman with many stocks in other companies and quite a bit of influence in the archeology field, was probably the next most influential member of the Big Five. It was a subject of much confusion as to why Rex Johnson had ever invested in Kaiba Corp, as he was clearly more interested in the past.
John Underwood, one of the only influential Native American's in the technology industry, simply returned to his papers after flashing Pegasus a smirk. Underwood was only of the most cunning of the five and for that reason no one trusted him an inch. Pegasus had once told a business associate that Underwood could have been a very powerful businessman, except Underwood made sure everyone know he could not be trusted.
The only man who had not acknowledged Pegasus's presence was Carlo Roba, the least influential of the five. Sipping his brandy, Roba finally turned to face Pegasus.
"Well?" Roba asked, his voice heavy with an Italian accent.
"Well what, Carlo?" Pegasus asked, his voice dripping with false innocence.
"I've told you before Pegasus. You are to call me Roba or Mr. Roba. I am not your friend, and you are not mine." Roba glared. Putting down their work, Underwood, Johnson and Schmidt looked up and watched closely. Anyone challenging Pegasus was rare and not to be missed. "Now, you know what I am asking, so what is your answer?"
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, my friend."
"Damn it, Pegasus! I'm talking about this conniving take over and you know it! How can you be planning this?!"
"What are trying to say, sir?" Schmidt asked walking over.
"Do you think he wants out?" Underwood smirked.
"Roba, do you know what we do to sell outs?" Johnson asked, coming up to stand with the others. Roba backed up a step and tried to avoid looking at the four other men standing before him.
"We crush them and their families." Pegasus sneered.
"Leave my family out of this."
"Why should we? Roba, if you try to sell out or tell anyone, we'll crush each and everyone of your brothers." Schmidt threatened.
"I wasn't going to sell out! Maybe we should rethink this is all."
"Please." Pegasus laughed coldly. "Besides it's too late anyway."
"What?"
"The message has been sent already." Pegasus smiled, before glancing at his watch. "Oh will you look at the time? I've got to pick up my wife. Goodbye. I'll see you all at the meeting tomorrow, correct?"
Johnson, Schmidt and Underwood nodded quickly, and after a split second, Roba slowly followed suit. There was a brief period of silence before Roba suddenly stalked out of the room.
"Leaving so soon Mr. Roba?" The secretary asked as Roba marched by.
"Yes." Roba snapped, before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, Serenity. I didn't mean to yell. It's just so aggravating working with those other four."
"I understand, Sir. They don't like me either." Serenity smiled. "Will you be going home for the day?"
"Yes, but I'll be back for the eleven o'clock meeting tomorrow. Perhaps you shouldn't?"
"Well, I was supposed to take some time off soon anyway. My eye doctor tells me all the computer work is damaging my eyes." Serenity admitted.
"Good. Why don't you take a week off in that case? We wouldn't want you to get hurt."
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"Hello, Seto." Mokuba smiled as he walked into the main room. "Where have you been?"
"Just…...... out for a walk." Seto shrugged, smiling slightly. Seto knew he couldn't really lie to Mokuba—Mokuba could read his older brother like a book—but it wasn't a complete lie.
After he had visited the morgue, Seto had simply wandered around the city without a real destination. Lost in though, Seto had taken the subway to his old high school and walked from there to his old apartment. He hadn't meant to actually walk inside, but one step lead to another and, before he knew it, he was in the elevator heading to his parent's apartment. Looking around, Seto had wander into his parent's old room and had looked around at the pictures that had been hung on the walls. A few of them were of people Seto had never met, mostly an elderly Middle Eastern man. But there had been pictures of Mokuba and Seto. Seto had unenthusiastically searched through some files his parents had lying around their room and was surprised to find his parents had kept a copy of Seto and Mokuba's adoption papers at the house. Shaking his head, Seto shook his mind out of his memories and mentally kicked himself for thinking about the past. 'What is past is past. Only the present and future matter.'
"Mokuba? Where are you?" Tea called as she came in. "It's time for…...... oh. Seto, you look so pale. Mokuba, why don't you go set the table for dinner."
Mokuba frowned but nodded, and left the room. Walking over to Seto, Tea placed a hand on Seto's shoulder and lifted his chin.
"Seto?"
"Oh God, Tea!" Seto sobbed, pulling her against his chest. "I saw them! They really are dead! They're dead!"
"Shush." Tea soothed, stroking Seto's hair. "Quiet. It's all right."
"Oh, God, Tea. I'm so sorry." Seto whispered as he finally pulled away. "I don't mean to be such a baby."
"Seto, it's only natural. So, you went to the morgue?" Tea asked and Seto nodded. "And?"
"It's them, no doubt about it. They're dead." Seto sighed softly, not wanting Mokuba to overhear. But, standing in the Kitchen, Mokuba heard every word.
AN: Tso T'an- Baring the left shoulder. This is used to talk about giving protection; don't ask it's a really weird story.
AN2: You like the Big Five? Actually if you look at each of the five's names, you'll see that either their first or last name is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh. Little FYI there. Oh, and Serenity is not related to Joey in this story.
