Ketchum's Eleven
04: A Thief, a Liar and an Idiot
A PikaFlash's Studio Fanfiction
Disclaimer: All characters, songs and scenes belong to their respective owners...
An A/U Crossover Type fanfic...
The construction of the fake Kaiba Land Vault has been completed. Metabee was setting up a security camera into a corner, while trying to compare the view to a video footage of the actual vault.
At the same time, Koji and Koichi have begun with their modifications with the vans they purchased earlier, using tools consisting of blowtorches, hammers and wrenches. Tai walks into the room and recognizes something being carried by Koji.
"This looks familiar. Where did you get this?" Tai asks.
"From your Boat," Koji replied.
"Ash! Tell them not to touch my boat!" Tai yelled out.
Ash was watching everything, ignoring Tai's calls. Ash looks at a stopwatch and at that moment, the lid of a cash cart opens up, and Pikachu gets out with a canister of Oxygen and pulls off the mask, taking a deep breath.
"29:47. Everything alright, Pikachu?" Ash asks.
Pikachu looks up and replies. "Pika. Pikachu, pikapika."
Ash has no idea what Pikachu said, but Sakura entered the warehouse just at the right time.
"What doesn't beat the crap out of being a Pikachu?" Sakura said, giving a general translation of what Pikachu said, although Ash could understand what Pikachu is saying. Then, Sakura points to the door. "Outside."
Outside, Ash and Sakura walked out of the warehouse over a distance, far enough that no one would hear them.
"What is it?" Ash asked.
Sakura shakes her head. "Tell me this isn't about her. Or I'll walk off the job right now."
"Wa?" Ash has no idea what Sakura meant.
"I mean, Misty. She's with Seto Kaiba now. Tell me this isn't about screwing some guy who's screwing your wife."
"Ex-wife," Ash corrected.
"Tell me."
"It's not...about that...entirely."
Sakura was waiting for an answer.
"You said you needed a reason."
Sakura crosses her arms. "Here's the problem. We're now stealing two things. And when push comes to shove, if you can't have both, which are you gonna choose? And remember, Misty cannot be cut up into 11 pieces."
Ash was calm. "If things go to plan, I won't be the one to make that choice."
Silence.
"So, Sakura, how did she look by the way? Misty, I mean."
"I've seen her happier."
Kaiba Land Museum
The latest acquisition for the museum is a portrait of a Mermaid.
"The best word for this is 'beauty', Misty said as she looks at the Mermaid portrait. "It was painted after the artist broke up with his wife," Misty explained.
The seller of the portrait and his team were with the portrait. "Yes, I rumors has it that that the wife was quite violent."
Misty points at the portrait. "It's some of the signs of conflict. The mermaid's top part shows beauty and how much the artist loves his wife, but the bottom half with the fish fins and tail shows the ugliness and how much she drives him insane."
The seller looks at his watch. "Will Mr. Kaiba be late? I have a flight to catch."
"Mr. Kaiba is never late," Misty said. At that instant, the doors to the museum opens and the great owner Seto Kaiba, at the right time.
"Am I late?" Seto asked, with the unnecessary question.
"Not at all," Misty replied, unnecessarily. But with the necessary explanation, "but Mr. Mizuhara, the seller of the Mermaid portrait is here."
"Mr. Mizuhara, I do apologize if I kept you. I had to deal with some things with the Pokémon Arena. My promoter had an unlimited budget and he had exceeded it by a can of cola." Kaiba shakes his head. "I knew I should have taken that deal with that company."
"Oh yes, the Pokémon Battle. Heard it's going to be one hell of a fight," Mizuhara said.
The conversation was starting to get off topic, but Misty quickly brought it back to topic by pointing at the Mermaid portrait.
"Well, back to the painting. It's a beauty, isn't it?" Kaiba said. "I've been searching for that for many years and it's finally made its home here in the Museum."
"Sure it is. And it's yours."
Seto shakes his head. "Not mine. The painting belongs to everyone who comes into my business; let them be stayers, tourists or duelists. Isn't that right, Ms. Ketchum?"
Misty was distracted by the painting, then looks back at Seto. "Huh, what?"
"She's lovely, isn't she?"
"Huh, what?" Mr. Mizuhara said confused with what is going on as he has a plane to catch.
"The painting."
"Oh, yeah. Well, you're the only one who met my price."
"Mr. Kaiba," Mizuhara's assistant said, "Would you like a few shots with the portrait? Mr. Mizuhara has a plane to catch."
"Of course."
After a few quick photo shoots with Mizuhara and Kaiba, Mr. Mizuhara and his men left the museum, leaving Misty and Seto with the Mermaid painting.
"You like it?" Misty asked.
"I like it that you like it, but I got some bad world in the news of fashion," Seto said. "It seems that Gary is wearing a red cap on his head."
"And?"
"And as I recalled, you were planning on wearing something red to go with your hair? If the TV cameras pick us up in the front row, they would be more on you than Gary. It's either Gary's cap or your dress. Gary made his decision, and I just want to see yours."
"I see."
Misty was disappointed, but she's hiding that disappointment.
"But not to worry. There are better dresses out there," Seto said.
Misty was about to kiss Seto when Seto looks up.
"Oh, the camera."
"In my business, there's always someone watching."
Seto walks off. Misty remained in the museum.
Seto entered the Experts Dueling Room, Keitaro easily defeated any duelist that challenged him and made a lot of money from it.
"You're pretty good, Mr. Urashima. What is your secret?" A player asked.
Keitaro looks at the other player. "I don't believe in revealing my secrets. It cost too much. And I don't believe in questions either," Keitaro said in a tone of voice which seems that if you get on his bad side...
The player shuts up. Keitaro sees Seto in the Experts Dueling room.
Kaiba walks to the manager.
"Got anything new?"
"A Mr. Urashima. Hamtaro Urashima. He's a very skilled duelist with some powerful cards. He wishes to speak with you privately."
"Who is he?" Seto asked.
"A businessman of some sort. Working from either America or Europe. He doesn't say much but rumor has it that he deals mostly with either arms or ancient artifacts. Either way, he's one of the biggest."
"Urashima? Never heard of him."
"Yes sir. That's why I don't doubt it."
"He's staying here?"
"He checked in about a couple of nights ago, sir. He's in the Lord Of Dragons Suite."
"How's he doing?"
"Won about 50 Grand."
'Damn,' Seto thought, knowing that there is no way out of this one.
Meanwhile, Misty was having a drink at restaurant, waiting for Seto. He's late, by a few seconds and that's something unlike Seto. Then, a pair of hands was on Misty's shoulders.
"You're thirty seconds late. If I had waited a bit more, I would have smashed your head in with my mallet," Misty said with a bit of an idle threat.
Misty turns around to see Ash.
"Ash?"
"Hello, Misty."
Misty was about to grab her mallet but it was no longer where she had hidden it. Ash was holding the mallet behind his back.
"That was the first place I looked," Ash said.
Since she is not in reach of her mallet, Misty decided to talk to Ash. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm out..."
"You're out..."
"Of prison. You remember, I went to get some carrots and never came back. You must have noticed."
"You know I hate carrots. Don't sit..."
Ash sits on the chair in front of Misty. Bad move...
"Those people at the prison said I repaid my debt to society," Ash said.
"Strange, I never got a single cent. Now leave..."
"It's good to see you," Ash said, interrupting Misty. Then, he sees Misty's hand. "You're not wearing your ring."
"I sold it. And I don't have a husband. Or did the letters I sent you somehow vanished?"
"On my last day inside."
"I told you I'd write." Misty said, and then looks around. "Now go before..."
"Kaiba, right?"
Misty froze. Ash knows what's going on. Ash smiled.
"Ash."
"The museum must have a great curator like you."
Misty sighs.
"Especially that the image of the President of Japan. It displays lots of his vanity and his arrogance."
"And who do we know is like that?" Misty asked with a bit of sarcasm.
"I always get Sakura and Haruka confused. Which one is the Pokémon Coordinator?"
"Haruka."
"And Sakura is a Kunoichi in Naruto."
"No, she's the one who implements your schemes. And what is the point of this conversation?"
Ash smiled. "You do not know how many times I've played this conversation in my head for the past few years."
"You mean it's this bad?"
Ash nods.
"Must be frustrating."
"It's hard to please you." Misty shakes her head. "Anyway, I'll make this quick. I came for you. I'm going to get on with my life and I want you with me."
Misty looked at Ash and said, "You're a thief, a liar and an idiot."
"I know I am an Idiot, but I only lied about being a thief, but I don't do that anymore."
"Lie?" Misty asked.
"Being an idiot."
Misty sighs. This is going to be a long conversation.
"I'm with someone who isn't any of the three you are."
"No, he knows a lot about the three."
"And it took you two years to know that?"
"Year and a half."
Misty smiled. "Do you know what's your problem, Ash?" Misty asked.
"I have one?"
"You've met too many people like you and I'm with Seto now."
"Does he make you laugh?" Ash asked.
"He doesn't make me want to use my mallet as often...which reminds me, give it back to me."
Meanwhile, back in the Expert Duelist Room, Seto was watching Hamtaro Urashima and another duelist. In an attempt to psyche Keitaro out, the duelist decided to give a small bit of advice...
"You don't want to get in the hole too heavy with Kaiba. A friend of mine once borrowed almost a hundred Gs from the guy. Two months went by and Kaiba hadn't heard from him, so he calls my friend and asked, 'Where's my money?' The reply was 'I'd get to it when I get to it.' Half an hour later, my friend was hanging over ten floors on a balcony by his feet. 'You're gonna get to it now?'"
The duelist made his move, but Keitaro expected that move and instantly use his trap cards to counter the move and beat the duelist.
"Winner is Hamtaro Urashima. Congratulations sir," James said.
Seto walks to Keitaro.
"Hello, Mr. Kaiba," the duelist said.
"Mr. Devlin. How's everything?"
"Someone must have made a bad cocktail."
"And I thought you were drinking vodka." Seto walks to Keitaro. "Mr. Urashima?"
Keitaro looks at Seto. "I recognize you from the TV, Mr. Kaiba. I heard that 90 percent of the time in all casinos, the owner comes up to ask me at the end of a game."
"You're the guest, sir."
"And I might have to impose on your hospitality."
"I'd love to, but the Tokyo Commission of Gaming would love to see me get eaten by one of my Blue Eyes White Dragons if I do that for my own gain.
"A shame. With so much power, you're skills are reduced to playing only for Charity," Keitaro said.
"It's no shame at all. As long as my skills go to a good cause."
Later, at a corner...
"The battle is on this Saturday, correct?" Keitaro asked.
"If you want some seats, I am happy to get some..."
Keitaro shakes his head. "No. I have no interest in those sort of petty things. I have a package arriving this Saturday evening. A black briefcase, standard size, and the contents are very valuable to me."
"I'd be happy to put it in the house safe for you," Seto said.
Keitaro shakes his head again. "I use the house safe is for my drinks and archeological artifacts. But I need something more secure."
"I assure you, Mr. Urashima, the house safe is the..."
Keitaro gives a look at Seto. One that means that saying "no" might lead to some form of bad luck. "I assure you, Mr. Kaiba, your generosity for that matter will not go overlooked. Now, what can you offer me besides the safe?"
"The kind of people you steal things from, and then have insurance to compensate them. With that, they are made whole again. I had to leave Pallet to get away from what happened. Now, how am I going to get my five years back...and my Mallet?"
"I can give you back your Mallet, but what you can do is not to throw away another five years."
"You don't know anything about..."
"Listen, if you don't love me anymore, that's fine with me. But if you want to make a life with someone else, it better not be with 'him'."
"Spoken like a true ex-husband," Misty said.
"I'm not joking, Mist," Ash said.
"And I'm not laughing," Misty said. "But you'd have to admit that there is a conflict of interest when you give me advice about my love life."
"But that doesn't mean that I'm wrong."
Misty sees Ash's ring on his finger.
"Did you remember what I said to you when we first met?"
"I remember. You said, 'you better know what you're doing'. A few hours later, you slapped me in the face."
"You actually remember that slap?"
"Yes, and I know what I'm doing..."
"What are you doing?" Seto asked as he arrived at the table.
"I'm just catching up," Ash calmly said.
Misty stood up and introduced the two men. "Seto, meet my ex-husband..."
"Ash Ketchum." Ash extended his hand to Seto.
Seto shakes Ash's hand. "Mr. Ketchum." Seto looks at Misty. "Sorry for being late, but a guest has required my attention."
"Ash was just walking through the restaurant when he saw me," Misty explained.
"Is that right?" Seto looked at Ash.
Ash nods. "I was shocked myself. Imagine the odds."
"Of all the game corners in the world..." Seto mumbled, and then said, "You've been in prison until recently, right? How does it feel to be out?"
"The same," Ash said. "Everything you want is still on the other side."
Seto smiled. "At least you're still human."
"Seto, Ash was about to..."
Ash interrupted Misty. "I just wanted to say hello, for old time's sake."
"Would you like a drink?" Seto asked.
"He/I can't..." Both said simultaneously, leading to an awkward silence, and then Seto takes Misty's hand.
"Well, Mr. Ketchum. I don't imagine that I would be seeing you again."
"You'll never know. After all, I admit that I like your courage."
"I know everything that happens in my businesses and I thank you for your compliment."
"Then, I'd better put those towels back."
"The towels you can keep," Seto said.
Ash smiled. "Nice seeing you, Mist."
"Take care, Ash."
As Ash leaves the restaurant, Misty looks at Seto and said, "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Seto said.
Outside the restaurant, Ash looks back at Misty, seeing the mist (no pun intended) in Misty's eyes. There might be a chance with Misty. As Ash walks off, he did not see a rubbish bin following Ash. Yugi pops his head out of the bin and looks at the restaurant, then resumes to his job of following Ash by pretending to be a real walking bin.
In a room, Eriol was busy carving 'Emeralds' out of the green explosives he had used before. Then a knock was at the door...
"House cleaning," a maid's voice said as she knocks on the door.
"I'm in the shower!" Eriol said without looking up from his project. "Come back later."
The maid continues on to the next room. The TV was on, broadcasting live the demolition of Taichi Kamiya's bankrupted Game Corner.
Reporter on News: We are here at the historic Digi-Palace Hotel and Game Corner, once the top business in Domino City is now seconds away from demolition.
At the demolition site, a crowd was witnessing the demolition, with Seto at the stand with the button to demolish the place, Misty watching from the side, Ash watching from the crowd and Yugi keeping an eye on Ash.
Reporter: And here is Taichi Kamiya, former owner of the Digi-Palace, here to bid farewell to his old business and to wish Seto Kaiba the best with his future plans with the property.
Tai walked to the stand and both Seto and Tai were together for the photos.
"Good to see you," Seto greeted.
"I wonder what you will do if this happens to you." Tai said.
Misty looks around and sees Ash in the crowd. Seto and Yugi also noticed Misty looking at Ash. Then, Seto resumes to what he was going to do, demolishing that building. Gary Oak got on stage and puts his hand on the plunger with Seto.
"I hope there is as much dynamite in the Digi-Palace as there will be in this Saturday's battle."
The two pushed the plunger, totally demolishing Tai's old business.
Back inside, Eriol was still working with the emeralds throughout the demolition. He watches in awe of the demolition on the TV even though it's happening right outside the window behind him. Suddenly the lights started to flicker and the power went out. Eriol looks up. "Damn."
Eriol quickly picks up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign and puts it on the door before leaving...
End of Part 4