~*The Wrath of Kaiba*~
~* A.N: As I said in the first chapter, there are some parts that came or based from "A Muppet Christmas Carol"*~
"There he is, Mr. Seto Kaiba." Yami looked onward at the tall lanky man who entered the elevator. As Kaiba continued walking, teens and shoppers looked onward as he passed by them.
"Dude, is it just me," one of the shoppers whispered to his friend. "Or did a cold wind just struck by?"
"I guess that's what happens when you happen to have years of being alone." His friend replied.
A few teenagers in their sailor suits looked up at Kaiba as he passed by them. "It's the worst of the worst."
"The most hated and cursed." Another girl said.
"It's the one we call Kaiba." The young girl sipped on her soda.
"Unkind and heartless, that's Seto Kaiba all right." A cashier watched Kaiba passing by as she handed out change to her customer.
"There goes Mr.Humbug." one of the ticket masters in the movie looked on as Kaiba passed by the theatre entrance.
"What do you mean?" the co-worker nudged the friend. "That's Mr. Grimm."
"Hey, if there was a prize for being a cold-hearted bastard," the ticket master grinned. "Kaiba would win," he pounded his hands on his post. "Hands down."
A Subway customer looked on as Kaiba took two boxes of Pocky without paying. "Hmph! The only thing that Kaiba boy loves is his money. Thinks they give him this kind of power."
"If he was a flavor of any fruit," said the Subway cashier. "He'd be rotten."
Kaiba continued making his way down the stairs, eating a stick of Pocky, passing by the small booth Yami and Joey were hanging out. The two looked at him. Feeling their stares, Kaiba shot a hostile look back at them. Quickly, Yami and Joey turned the other way, looking over the Christmas CDs and apples.
"That's what I thought," Kaiba muttered as he made his way slowly down the end of the shopping mall.
Yami watched Kaiba as soon as his back was turned towards them. "Kaiba is a shrewd money man. He's the one who owns this mall and has been obsessed with his business."
"Jeez," Joey rolled his eyes. "No wonder he's making a lot of money. It's because we're standing here. Let's just go. Nobody's buying the CDs."
"Oh c'mon Joey." Yami glanced up at his friend. "It's been only ten minutes." They continued watching him walking down.
"There goes Mr. Greed." A Hot Topic employee watched Kaiba passing by the store.
"The undisputed master of being the king of ice." A gothic girl who dressed in all black with chains hanging from her pockets, looking at Kaiba.
"He makes the stores charge too much for such cheap shit." A teenage boy leaned against the wall of Footwear watching him looking over the shoes.
"All the prices are such a misery," a pregnant woman looked on as Kaiba came inside Footwear. "You can't afford them in Tibet."
"Oh c'mon Rachel," her friend sorted through the shoes, watching Kaiba as he left the store. "Kaiba's lonely, he's sad. He just tends to go to extremes just to tell us he's bad. I've read psychology books and he's just a victim of fear and pride. All we have to do is look closely and realize, he's just a sweet man inside, like everyone else." The two young women looked at each other and started laughing.
"Nah!" said Rachel. "There is no way Kaiba's ever going to be like that!"
"Here comes Mr. Outrageous who just drank seven cases of beer." A Suncoast cashier watched Kaiba entering the store, looking over DVDs.
"The poor man's got no time for friends or fun." The manager of Suncoast shook his head sadly.
"No duh," the cashier looked up at the manager. "By the way he looks, he's making that very clear."
"Just be sure you don't ask him for a favor or his anger increases." The manager whispered in the employee's ear.
"Yeah, the last time that happened, he busted Johnny into pieces." They watched Kaiba leave the store.
"There goes Mr. Heartless," a Spencer cashier watched Kaiba passing by the store.
"You mean there goes Mr. Cruel." The customer watched Kaiba, giving her credit card to the cashier.
The Spencer cashier shook his head. "He only takes and shoplifts. He doesn't give anything to anyone except a piece of shit."
A very stout, yet old man in a kimono watched Kaiba as he slowly made his way to his office. "If being mean is a way of life, he must've been practicing and rehearsing."
"I guess all that work is paying off," the janitor swept the floor. "Cause Kaiba is getting worse."
"Everyday in everyway," a little girl shouted out right behind Kaiba. "Kaiba is getting worse."
Suddenly, Kaiba turned around gazing at everyone who was staring at him. Startled, all the customers scrambled around, pretending to be shopping.
"Humbug." Kaiba muttered as he opened the door to the manager's office.
Joey was surprised at what had just happened as Kaiba disappeared out of their sight. "Man, everyone talks about Kaiba like that? I never knew."
"You have never seen the worst of him so far." Yami and Joey started making their way towards the manager's office.
Kaiba had just entered the office, looking around at his associates who have been filling accounts of sorts. He then spotted his top associate, Ryou, talking to a strange lady with blonde hair.
"Ryou Bakura." Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest.
Ryou suddenly looked up at Kaiba, a bit surprised to see him arrive. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"
Kaiba pointed to the young lady. "Who is this?"
"Er…it's Miss Mai Valentine, sir." He then swallowed a bit of his saliva. "She's come to see you about her…credit card payment."
"Please Mr. Kaiba," Mai got on her knees, holding her hands like she was saying a prayer. "I know I have been behind on my credit card debts. Lord knows when my ex-husband is going to pay for all the stereos and stuff he had bought from Radio Shack and Circuit City. Please don't yell at me sir, I don't think my heart could take the pressure and my asthma doesn't seem right these days. I don't know how else to pay you. I've been working odd jobs and getting $50 a week…" and as she continued jibbering, Kaiba picked her up by the neck, carrying her to the door. "I know I will be able to pay it off by the 30th and that's no lie that's the…" Kaiba then threw her out of the door. Mai was hollering. "Truuuuuth." She landed hard on the floor.
Kaiba took a glance at Mai as she yelled out. "Thank you for not shouting at me."
Furiously, Kaiba slammed the door, scaring the other associates so badly they worked faster. Kaiba had his back turned on the door for just a moment before he heard singing right through it.
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts…dee dee dee dee…there they are standing in a row…"
Kaiba opened the door, looking around to see whom it was until he looked down, seeing a short young boy with blonde, red, and black hair in a wheelchair.
The little boy continued singing. "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head." He stopped singing, looking up at Kaiba.
Breathing heavily, obviously not enjoying what he was seeing, Kaiba spoke lowly. "What do you want?"
"Uh…" the young boy held out a small container. "Few nickels for the song of it."
Kaiba gave him a reply, slamming the door right in his face. He took a glance up at the wreath that hung on the door, tearing it down, opening the door once more. The boy in the wheelchair turned around, thinking Kaiba changed his mind. Instead, Kaiba threw the wreath as hard as he could, hitting the boy right in the face, knocking his wheelchair backwards to the ground, taking the child with it. He then slammed the door once more.
Yami and Joey ran up to the one in the wheelchair, looking over the child.
"Hey Yugi," Joey lifted the wheelchair off the ground and back to its regular position. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Yugi groaned as he finally wheeled himself away from the two.
"What's his story?" Joey looked down at Yami.
"That's Ryou's son…" Yami cleared his throat.
"What?!?" Joey was stunned. "Who did Ryou marry, Yugi's grandpa?"
Yami shook his head. "No, it's Ryou's adoptive son. When he was five, Yugi and his grandpa got into a car accident. Unfortunately, his grandfather died in the accident and by some miracle, Yugi barely survived. He is paralyzed I tell you."
"And Kaiba had the audacity to knock him out? That jerk!"
"C'mon, we have to get some donations for the Child Care Charity." Yami then turned the door handle before entering. "Mr. Kaiba, I would assume?"
"Uh…yeah." Joey followed Yami from behind.
Kaiba looked up from his desk, seeing the two slowly approaching him. "Who are you?"
"We are volunteers at the children's hospital," Yami lied. "We would like to speak to you about a donation."
Suddenly, a small boy entered with messy, jet black hair. He wore nothing more than a blue striped shirt, yellow vest, and light blue pants. "Hey big brother. I just wanted to drop by and say Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Mokuba." Kaiba muttered, looking over a bunch of papers. He then pounded his fist on the table. "Bah, Humbug!"
"Oh c'mon big brother," Mokuba made his way towards Kaiba. "Don't be such a wuss. Christmas time is for everyone. A time of relaxation. And here you are 24/7 in your office checking out everyone's accounts. I know you want to take some time for a break."
"That's enough! Leave me, I'm busy right now." He didn't bother looking up at his brother as he started signing a few things.
"Hmph! If that's the way you're going to be!" Mokuba turned around, heading towards the door.
"Hey, wait!" Joey ran towards Mokuba. "Want to make a donation? It's for the charity fund."
Mokuba shrugged, taking out his wallet. "Oh well, why not?" he then handed Joey a ten-dollar bill. "There you go. Have a Merry Christmas." He then left the office.
"Same to you." Joey smiled, gazing at the crisp, green paper, making his way towards Yami. They both looked up at Kaiba, who seemed to be unaware of the two still making their presence known. Deciding to get his attention, they took a step forward.
Yami held up a finger in the air. "Now…um…we like to talk about the donation." His voice strained to remain calm.
A smirk curled Kaiba's lips. He stopped what he was doing, looking up at the two before standing up. "I know what kind of donation to make." He made his way towards the door. "The children that are born with diseases and what not, they should blame it on the parents who created them in the first place."
"But sir," Joey's eyes widened, shocked at what Kaiba was saying.
"If mothers didn't cheat with their lovers and go prostituting and if guys didn't go out and be pimps of the neighborhood, then we wouldn't have to face this sort of problem. Those kids are better off dying then suffering all their lives." Kaiba's voice remained to its cold self.
"Sir," Joey pleaded. "You've got to be kidding. Those kids would die if they don't receive the necessary medical needs right away."
"If they're going to die, then they should. It's the parent's fault for being what they are anyway."
"Good god," Yami muttered. "It's worse than I thought."
"Here's the door," Kaiba opened the door, gesturing the two outside. "You better use it."
"Oh all right." Joey made his way towards the entrance. "C'mon Mr. Dickens, we better go before Kaiba pops a fuse."
Yami nodded as he followed Joey outside, hearing the door slam right behind them.
"Kaiba's gone to being a bastard to a cold-hearted egomaniac." Said Joey as the two made their way back into the mall.
"He'll see the true meaning of Christmas, Joey." Yami smiled. "I just know it."
"By the way, who did you leave the booth in charge with?" Joey eyed his friend.
"Easy, I left it with Weevil and Bandit Keith." Yami smiled even more. The two froze in place, gazing at each other. "Bandit Keith and Weevil?!?" the two then ran back to the center stage as fast as they could realizing all their apples and CDs have been taken.
"Oh crap," Joey stared down at the ruins of their small booth. "Those two jerks raided our business. I can't believe it."
"Neither can I, Joey." Yami shook his head. "Neither can I."
"Hey," Joey grinned, taking out the ten dollar bill Mokuba gave him earlier. "At least we still got this."
The minute hand finally reached 12 as Ryou and his other associates gathered around Kaiba's office. "You said you wanted to see me sir?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Kaiba nodded as he settled his pencil back into his container. "I expect you guys to be here early next morning."
"You see that's the thing Mr. Kaiba," Ryou's hands started shaking. "Tomorrow's Christmas Day. I think it's going to be pointless staying here tomorrow. I mean, all the business will be closed. Everyone's going to be celebrating the holidays." Everyone started nodding in agreement. "I mean, hell, it could save you from the electricity bill from using the heater."
"You know," Kaiba gave out his winning, wicked smile. "I would be happy to give you guys the whole day off tomorrow. And I'll be more than happy to hand you guys the pink slip and send your asses to the unemployment line!"
"Heatwave!!" all the associates began to sing except for Ryou. "This is my island in the sun! Oi! Oi!"
"I think you made your point quite clear Mr. Kaiba." Ryou smiled nervously, stepping out of his office. Kaiba laughed softly as he got back to his work.
Hours passed by as he finally got his coat, stepping out of his office, seeing that his associates were still there. Looking down on him, he then sighed. "All right, I finally came to a decision." He then shuddered as he said this last part. "Take the day off."
"Woo-hoo." Everyone cheered as they started singing. "Celebrate good times, come on!" Some even started dancing. Kaiba leered at them. "Will you guys stop that?!?"
Everyone stopped and everything became normal. Ryou then smiled. "Thank you Mr. Kaiba."
~*To Be Continued*~