Dreams of power
Chapter 18:
It was three weeks after the presidential debate. During those three weeks the only thing on every news channel was Marik and Kerry. It was now universal knowledge that Marik had beaten up John Edwards and Kerry had made counterfeit Purple Hearts. The only thing keeping both of them from being thrown in jail was the fact that no one really knew if it was true.
The police called it 'circumstantial evidence'. Of course some of the Americans called the whole thing a 'conspiracy'. They had an interview on Fox News with some man who worked in the White House. He said that no one gives a care about democracy as long as they can get their instant gratification.
Marik and Malik were enjoying the spotlight. They thought all the interviews and letters from eighteen-year-old girls saying 'I'll vote for you if you marry me!' were good signs. Kaiba said that was negative attention.
Kerry and Edwards weren't getting love letters but they were getting a lot of interviews and T.V opportunities. After that little fiasco at the debate, Kerry laid off calling Marik names on T.V and radio shows. Instead, he tried to talk about the issues... poverty, war, and too many sitcoms.
Kaiba was trying extra hard to get people to vote for Marik on voting day, which was on November 2nd. With it being only two weeks away he didn't have a minute to lose. He made sure that posters of Marik were in every state, every city.
In the morning when he would drive by people's houses he'd sometimes see 'Vote for Kerry' signs. He would then replace it with a 'Go far with Ishtar' sign.
As each day passed and November 2nd got closer and closer, Marik become more ecstatic and peppy. He'd walk around smiling and humming to himself in the morning. And every night he'd use sock puppets to act out the day of when he'd be 'crowned' president. He thought he was going to get a crown...
Malik hadn't changed much. He didn't think Marik had changed either... except for the sock puppets. They were actually behaving more like their old selves instead of professional and presidential. They still argued over sandwiches and they were still crazy.
Soon, the day before voting day came. Marik and Malik were a bit nervous even though Kaiba and Sanders were trying their best to keep them calm. They were all in the hotel room talking about how different it would be if they became president and vice-president.
"It'll be awesome!" Marik shouted, "We'll get to live in the White House and we'll have maids and butlers... and body guards! No one will be able to come within ten feet of us! And as president, my first official thingy to do is paint the White House. And then rename it the Red House."
"What?! That's not fair, don't I get a say it the new color?" Malik asked.
"Fine, Malik. What color do you want it to be?"
"I like purple."
"Okay. The new color will be red with purple polka dots."
"You're both insane." Kaiba said, "No one's gonna paint the White House. It's a historic monument. Much like everything else in D.C."
"Whatever." Marik folded his arms, "I'll be president, so what I say goes. And I'm gonna have a big statue of myself, it'll be giant! I'll build it right on top of that Lincoln Memorial thingy... that's been there long enough."
"Marik told me that we're gonna move the White House."
"Where?" Sanders asked.
"Las Vegas!" Marik grinned, "That's gonna be the new capitol! D.C is too... boring."
"Do whatever you want to." Kaiba said, "Just don't forget our deal."
"What deal..." Marik thought for a second, "Oh yeah! You want your holiday, don't ya?"
"That's right. That's why I've been doing this whole thing. I want my St. Kaiba Day. I've given it a lot of thought and I've decided to replace Labor Day with it. Trees are boring anyway."
"You are all nuts. Kaiba wants a holiday named after him, Marik wants to move the White House to Las Vegas... Malik wants to paint it purple. The world's gone insane."
"Well, what about you Sanders?" Malik asked, "You can't be doing all this just for us. You must be getting something out of this."
"Actually, I'm building my reputation with this election. Once people find out that I got Marik into office, next election people will be going crazy to hire me to work on getting them elected. I've got it all planned out."
"I thought it was something like that." Kaiba said, "Hey, has anyone heard anything from Yami and Yugi lately? They've been kinda quiet lately."
"Yeah, actually. Yugi's got released from the hospital yesterday. He'd broken his arm, and had a concussion from that fall he took on the day of the debate." Malik shook his head in pity.
"That's a damn shame." Marik sighed, "What a lightweight Yugi is. Malik took that same fall, and look at him. He didn't hurt his head."
"That's right. I'm hard headed."
"You sure are..." Kaiba muttered.
"Alright, we've got something to discuss. Since tomorrow's Election Day... we need to make sure you both know what you're doing." Sanders looked at Marik and Malik. "You know that you're voting for yourself, right Marik?"
"Duh! Of course I'm course I'm going to vote for myself. What, you think I'm stupid or something?"
"No, of course not. Just making sure you know the routine. We'll be going early in the morning to beat the rush and everything. Malik, you know to vote for Marik as well, right?"
He nodded.
"Good. The last thing we need is more screw-ups."
"What do you mean more screw-ups?"
"We've had so many 'accidents' it's not even funny. Every time we do something it ends up strangely off balance and discombobulated." Kaiba said.
"Discombobulated is an under statement..."
"Hey!" Marik argued, "It wasn't all 'discombobulated'. For the most part, I say we've done really good. We wouldn't be this far if we weren't doing well."
Kaiba agreed, "I guess you're right. If you've come this far, you must be doing something right. I suppose you're just lucky..."
"Luck has nothing to do with it." Marik smirked, "It's the fact that I'm irresistible to everyone I come in contact with. You see all those love letters me and Malik get."
"I refuse to believe that your face and body has anything to do with you getting this far!"
Marik ignored Kaiba's comment, "Besides. We've done really good things during the past ten months. We got Bush out of the country and we exposed Kerry for the fake that he is. That's a lot of work for two teens that just nod off on the couch all day."
"Well... yeah." Malik said, "But since no one really knows if either story is true or not... how are they gonna know who to vote for?"
"They'll just have to go with their instincts. Since all that information's been released... the whole things basically a popularity contest now."
"Ha ha!" Marik stood up, "I'm more popular than Kerry! I'm more popular than Kerry-"
"Only with the younger people. Mostly women in their thirties and younger. Men, too. But Kerry's got the old people, which could weigh heavily." Sanders said, "But I checked the polls yesterday and you and Kerry are almost even. But anything could change over night."
"That's right. All you can do now is think positive thoughts."
"Positive thoughts... I'm thinking of me with a large crown and a big black cape. I'm ruling you all with an iron fist!"
"Yoo-hoo, Marik. Come back to reality." Sanders waved his hand in Marik's face, "How many times am I going to have to tell you? You're not getting a crown."
"Well, I'll be president. So what I say goes."
"Is Kerry gonna vote tomorrow, too?" Malik asked.
"Yes, of course. Him and Edwards and everyone else who wants to vote as well." Kaiba replied.
"Are you voting, Kaiba?" Malik tilted his head, "Who are you voting for?"
Before Kaiba could say anything, Marik butted in, "He'd better be voting for me!"
"Clamp it, Marik!" He shouted, "Yeah, I suppose I'll vote for you."
"Aw, stop playing. You know you would've voted for us anyway. Besides the fact that you wouldn't get your holiday... you know you really like us. We're your only friends!" Marik smirked.
"You are not my only friends!"
"Aw, look! Kaiba's red in the face!"
"Cut it out, Marik!" he frowned, "The only reason I'm voting for you is because I've invested a lot of money in this, and I don't want to see it all go down the drain."
"Sure it is. Admit it, you have fun with us, don't ya?" he started to pinch Kaiba's cheeks, "Yes you do!"
"Stop it!"