Chapter 4: Chaos and Confrontation

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"Good morning, everyone." Kanta blew through the door, striding down the aisle so rapidly as to make her chocolate-brown locks billow out behind her, glancing distractedly at her cast as she walked. "Good to see you all here on time…all but Yams and Yugi…well, they still have seven minutes, I suppose; we're all a bit early. Bakura! Stop smirking; you look like you've done something criminal. What did you do? Ryou, what did he do?"

In response to this query, Anzu raised a quivering finger to point toward the theater entrance, gripping a red-cushioned chair for support. Kanta swiveled in the direction she indicated, raising an eyebrow at the sight that met her eyes as the company gasped collectively, stifling giggles. Bakura's smirk grew ever more sinister, betraying his complete responsibility for the situation at hand.

"Okay…care to explain this one, boys?" Despite the glare she tossed over her shoulder at the guilty party, Kanta was straining to keep the chuckle out of her voice, and Bakura knew it. "So the Dictator has a sense of humor after all," he pondered loudly, causing the girl to chuck a shoe at him. "Shut it, you obnoxious pile of pond scum, I wasn't talking to you. I was asking Yams and Moses…though I don't doubt you know the cause of this…unusual situation."

Yugi blushed deeply, rather hiding behind the pharaoh as best he could manage. Yami himself was struggling to look dignified despite the fact that he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts in the presence of friends, rivals, and a near stranger of the female variety. "You said, and I quote, 'From now on, I don't care if Bakura has stolen your pants, your shirts, and every pair of boxer shorts you own, you will get your asses here on time or I will kill you.' So we thought it best to get our asses here on time and avoid what I'm certain would have been a horribly painful death." His effort at a casual tone of voice was thwarted almost completely by a pinkish tinge creeping upon his face, clashing marvelously with the tangerine-colored undergarments he was clad in. Anzu swayed dangerously, eyes glued to the ferociously underdressed teens, Yugi fidgeting slightly under her scrutiny. Kanta rolled her eyes.

"Okay, enough gawking, thank you. I'm sure you all have work to do. You two! We have costumes backstage, get 'em on, and be quick about it. Bakura, step into my office, we're gonna have a chat about this death wish you seem to be harboring…"

"Why do the gods torment me with such reckless, destructive, blasphemous sons?"

"Father, hear what I—"

"Be still! Pharaoh speaks!" Kaiba roared, enraged. Had the boys not been his sons, they would have been beaten, imprisoned, or worse. He lowered his voice to a conversational volume, allowing for his fury to be present in his tone. "I seek to build an empire. And your only thought is to amuse yourselves by tearing it down! Have I taught you nothing?" His final question was almost a plea, a desire to know if he had truly failed as a father. Duke broke into the conversation with a bow, brown-nosing obviously, "You mustn't be so hard on yourself, your majesty; you're an excellent teacher."

"It's not your fault your sons learned nothing." Marik followed up on his fellow priest's comment, glaring pointedly at Yami and Yugi as they stood before the throne of the Pharaoh. He strode away, leaving the royal family to themselves, Duke close behind. The latter couldn't help but get in one last dig as he elbowed past the princes, intoning, "Well, they learned blasphemy."

"True," Marik conceded as they made their exit. A silence descended upon the hall in their absence, Yugi breaking through after a moment. "Father…the fault is mine…I goaded Yami on, and so I am responsible."

"Hn. Responsible. And do you know the meaning of that word, Yami?"

"I understand, father…"

"And do you understand the task for which your birth had destined you?" Kaiba cut off his eldest son, a fervor creeping into his voice, willing the prince to understand what he was telling him. "The ancient traditions? When I pass into the next world then you will be the morning and the evening star!"

Yami frowned, put out a bit by this reaction. "One damaged temple does not destroy centuries of tradition—"

"But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!"

Yami pulled back, speechless, as if he had been struck by a snake. The words were weighing on him heavily, and it showed. Kaiba took a breath as if to further berate his firstborn, but any words he wished to say died in his throat as Ishizu placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Her head moved slightly, gesturing toward the stricken boy with a slight swinging motion of her ebony hair. His shoulders slumped with the gravity of his father's disappointment, sad eyes trained on the marble floor. He did not need to hear any more. Heaving a sigh, the king cast a final discouraged look upon his son before turning his back. "You have my leave to go."

"Father…"

In a swift motion, Ishizu raised a hand, delicate but firm in it's meaning: Enough. The conversation had gone on more than sufficiently. There was nothing more to be said. Something in Yami's eyes hardened like chips of ice, an unspoken so-be-it. He turned on his family, turned on the throne, throwing up his arms in agitation as he stormily departed their company.

Late rays of Egyptian sun cast the room in a warm glow, long fingers of the gods brushing across Yugi's face as his eyes followed his brother's exit. With a gentle sigh in his voice, the boy stepped toward his parents. "Father…you know it was really my fault. Must you be so hard on him?"

Kaiba broke his regal stance as the younger son approached him, a mild reproach in his voice. "Yugi…you will never have to carry a burden like the crown I will pass to Yami. He must not allow himself to be led astray." Placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, he added with the faintest hint of a chuckle in his voice, "Not even by you, my son."

There was a note of finality to the pharaoh's voice, and the conversation could have been left at that point. However, the memory of his brother's pain was fresh in Yugi's mind, urging his voice to give form to his thoughts. "All he cares about is…is your approval. I know he will live up to your expectations. He only needs the opportunity." Confidence laced his words; he would not say what he did not mean, and he meant this for certain.

Kaiba perhaps heard this belief, stating in a softly considering manner, "Maybe. Maybe so." With a sigh, he snapped from his vocal ponderings and directed parting words toward his son. "Go now. I shall see you both tonight."

"Ahem…'hush now, my baby, be still love, don't cry—' Ugh, why do I put myself through this?" Mai drummed her long fingernails against her thigh, humming softly in an attempt to get in tune. "I've long been asking myself the same question," Kaiba intoned from a few feet away, where his digits tapped restlessly at the air-laptop he appeared to possess. Yugi, ever cheerful, beamed up at his two fellow duelists. "Oh, come on, you guys. Aren't you having some fun, at least?"

"Damn it all, Bakura, you no good son of a bitch!" Kanta's exclamation interrupted loudly, streaming from behind the closed doors of the office outside the auditorium, followed by a series of bone-rattling crashes at various intervals. "Why are you out to ruin this fucking play! Why are you even here if you hate it so! There is something wrong with your brain, and if I have to pull said brain from your hard head, I will find out what it is, mark my words!" A few thumps were heard, and by now the entire cast was giving the unseen chaos their complete and rapt attention. "Oho, so you want to play it that way? By all means, then, you snow-haired maniac! Have at you!" The two burst through the center doorway a moment later, moving with a gymnastic grace down the aisle, leaping over chairs, each slashing at the other with identical silver daggers. They dodged and sliced at the air with rapid and accurate motion, neither individual landing a blow, yet not missing by too much, either. Yami grabbed Ryou around the middle and pulled him from the path of the scuffle as it made it's way about the room, crashing into Yugi and landing them in a heap at Kaiba's feet.

Mai's lavender eyes sparkled as she located Yugi's star-haired head in the pile of bodies, a slight smirk on her lips. "Define fun."

.oOo.

Across the room, Marik surveyed the spirited girl with pensiveness behind his eyes. He leaned his head against his sister's shoulder, knowing fully that she was most likely contemplating the same thing that he was. This girl, Kanta or Mukantagara or whatever her name was, she had magic within her and around her that was creeping into their play. This was fact; the question was whether or not her magic was something she was aware of. The realism of scenery and character, was that something she subconsciously wished for, or did she lead them into their trancelike states with hidden motives? And if this were the case, what on earth would possess her to magically interfere in a small-scale play? Nothing was clear; nothing made sense.

As Ishizu absently stroked her brother's platinum mane, similar thoughts passed whisperingly through her consciousness, gently furrowing her brow.

.oOo.

"Okay, okay, knock it off. We don't have time for this nonsense." Kanta jumped backwards, avoiding the gleaming blade that the thief had aimed at her left arm. "I shouldn't have let myself get caught up in that in the first place; we have stuff to do."

"Stuff?" Bakura asked vacantly as Ryou walked by, casually snatching the dagger from his grasp before continuing on his way.

"Duh. Stuff. Why do you think everyone's here in this theater?" Blank stare. "Practicing?" Continual blank stare. "For the play?" No comprehension whatsoever. "You're an idiot, and you're giving me a monster headache." She lightly smacked the side of the thief's head with her palm, moving briskly away as the entire cast scurried to make it look like they were doing something productive rather than standing around watching people fight. "Um…someone go practice something. I need to go track down an aspirin. Yugi's in charge 'til I get back."

"What?" squeaked Yugi, taken aback.

"What?" demanded Kaiba with a cold and insulted glare.

"What?" Kanta asked innocently, "I'm sure he can handle it. He looks like a trustworthy little squirt, unlike some of you. Be back soon, if that store down the street is open." She picked up her clipboard distractedly, fished a few papers out, and handed what remained to the amethyst-eyed boy standing before her. "Take damn good care of that. Let Bakura nowhere near it. Understand?"

"I don't really think I'm the best person to…I mean, there's Anzu or…or Yami…I don't, I mean—"

"Awesome. You'll be fine." Her fingers rested for a single moment on his forehead, brushing against his bangs briefly before she pulled her hand away. Yugi gave her a curious look at the contact, but she dismissed it with one of her trademark smirks. "Later, kiddies." And with that, she had slipped past her spiky-haired opposition, out of the theater and down the street before he could get another word out. Which was fine, because Kaiba had plenty of words for the both of them.

"You don't think he's bitter or anything, do ya?" Joey inquired sarcastically, watching the CEO curse quietly at being overlooked in favor of someone with next to no leadership experience. "I mean, not to call him egotistic or anything, but what an egotistic jerk."

"I didn't even know you knew the word 'egotistic.' Anzu returned dryly, her own gaze directed toward Yugi as he stood with the clipboard in his hands, trying to muster some of the confident, no-nonsense tone that Kanta used daily to keep the cast in line. Her thoughts flashed momentarily to the memory of him earlier that day, blushing furiously at his lack of decent clothing. She smiled crookedly at the thought before mentally bashing herself. No! Bad Anzu! Stop that right now. Do not think about how cute he looked standing there all embarrassed and half-naked and…No! Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it!

"Uh…Anzu? Are you okay? You look a little…spazzy." Joey poked the girl's shoulder, completely unaware of the little argument she was having with her hormones. She snapped out of her thoughts immediately at his touch, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

"I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Heh heh…"

.oOo.

Yugi was at a complete loss. How was he supposed to gain control of this madhouse? Kaiba had retreated into his own mind, a defensive strategy that he had perfected during his lifetime; Joey appeared to be trying his best to bother Anzu about something; Ryou was deeply involved in fighting off Bakura as the latter attempted to take back his dagger. The only two people who weren't currently yelling, complaining, fighting, or doing some combination of the three were Marik and Ishizu, only one of whom was actually in the scene Kanta wanted them to be rehearsing. "Um…guys?"

"You'll have to be a little louder than that, aibou."

Yugi gave Yami an uncharacteristically dark look before clearing his throat and raising his voice a bit. "Guys?" A few people glanced in his general direction before going back to work, but it was a start. Gathering his confidence, he managed a shout that Kanta, in fact, would have been proud of.

"Hey, people!" The company ceased their collective insanities and actually gave him their attention. Surprised, he let a few seconds pass in silence before remembering what he was supposed to be telling them. "Okay…Kanta wanted us to do the next scene, so I guess we need Marik, Duke, Yami, and…me? What is she, nuts? How am I supposed to… Anyway, if I called your name you need to get onstage, please. Oh, and Kaiba is supposed to "stop sulking like a kid who dropped his ice cream cone and get his sorry ass over to talk with the special effects people." Those are her words, I swear. And, um…that's it. Thank you."

"Well, that went well." Yugi's tone was light and casual, as if he had just meandered into the same location as his brother without thinking about it. He leaned nonchalantly against the great statue that the future pharaoh was currently sitting upon, stitching absently at something as he awaited a response. The one that came was less than friendly.

"Just go away."

Undeterred, the younger brother continued, "Could have been worse."

"The weak link in the chain…that's what he called me."

By the way these words were spoken, Yugi knew immediately that Yami had been and was planning to persist in stewing over what their father had said in his anger. He attempted to lighten the mood a bit as he continued to stitch, jokingly intoning, "Well, you are rather pathetic." His brother ignored him, continuing his little tirade.

"Irresponsible, ignorant of the traditions…he practically accused me of bringing down the dynasty!" Yami threw up his hands, angry with his father, angry with himself, angry at the world in general. Still, the thought of a single person—much less his own brother—bringing down Egypt in all its glory was an amusing thought to the younger prince.

"Yeah, I can see it now. There go the pyramids!"

"You can laugh about it!" Yami jumped down from his perch stormily, accusingly. His brother took no notice, continuing mockingly, "Statues cracking and toppling over, the Nile drying up…single-handedly, you will manage to bring the greatest kingdom on earth to ruins." With these words, he dunked the finished water bag he had been stitching into a bowl of wine, twisting the top shut once it was filled. Yugi held this carefully and precisely over the ledge of the balcony-type structure they stood upon, a look of intense concentration on his deceptively innocent face.

Yami, too distracted to notice, posed a question to his brother. "Tell me this, Yugi, tell me this: Why is it that whenever you start something, I'm the one who ends up in trouble?"

Sploosh!

Protests filled the air within seconds. Yugi, having released his homemade water bomb, ducked out of sight as his brother leaned over the edge to see what had happened. That was his mistake. The priests Marik and Duke had been casually strolling along below them, perfect targets in grand white robes that Yugi had turned dripping and pink. Unfortunately, Yugi was not the face that they noticed looking down on them.

"Yami! You're in trouble young man!"

"Get down here, I think you owe us an apology!"

"I am so upset!"

"Oh, my new thing!"

The prince reeled back in horror at the blame placed upon him. He turned sharply, most likely to give his brother a piece of his mind, but was cut off by the offhandedly guiltless look on the second-born's face. Holding the large bowl of wine toward the elder, Yugi gave him a sidelong grin. "Might as well…"

With a sigh, Yami shook his head almost imperceptibly and gave in, taking the bowl and turning it upside-down over the edge, ignoring the fresh protests beneath. ("Oh, look, drenched again!") The princes chuckled a bit as they walked away, Yugi suddenly gaining a look of mock realization as he pondered aloud, "I've figured it out. You know what your problem is, Yami? You care too much."

"And your problem is, you don't care at all," Yami returned laughingly, ruffling his little brother's hair a bit to further his point. Yugi ran his fingers indifferently through his locks, an offhanded quality to his voice.

"Oh, then I suppose you care a lot more than me that we're…late for the banquet, for example?" He felt his brother freeze in realization, a sickened look spreading over his face in prime contrast to the younger boy's total unconcern. They were definitely in trouble.

"Three-fifty is your change, thank you and have a nice day!" The girl at the counter handed Kanta her change and receipt, smiling cheerfully before turning her attention to the next customer. The brown-eyed girl rather grimaced in return, muttering to herself as she shot out the door. "Have a nice day, she says. Yeah, I'm having a great day." She popped two aspirin into her mouth, rolling her eyes before continuing the mumbled rant. "Tell you what, why don't you try running this blasted play and see how long you last before you go on a shooting spree, then you can tell me to have a bloody nice day. I'll show you a nice day. Knock you into next week; it'll sure as hell be nice there, huh? Jesus bloody Christ, Bakura, what are you doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"How did you do that?" His manner appeared to be calm and blasé, but he was nonetheless trying to be discreetly menacing. However, he had overlooked one factor: Kanta didn't exactly do 'menaced.'

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she snapped. Out of a habit developed before she had acquired glasses, she squinted at the figure in front of her, already irritated and getting worse by the second. She hadn't intended to leave little Yugi alone for quite this long his first time out, and it bothered her that everyone was getting in her way.

"You weren't there, Dictator, but the magic happened anyway. How did you do that?"

"Magic? Excuse me, crazy-boy, but I think someone's off his meds. And they accused me of being nuts…" Though her sarcastic, biting tone was still in place, the girl's eyes flickered for half a second. It wasn't much, but it was enough to be suspicious. From the look on Bakura's face, he had noticed the slight loss of control. Dammit… "Look, stupid, I don't have time to deal with your insane accusations right now. I have to get back to practice. 'Scuse me." She pushed past him and strode off down the sidewalk in anger.

"I'm not the only one who's noticed, you know. And from experience I can tell you that the high and mighty pharaoh does not respond well to anyone who uses magic against his lighter half."

She turned to face him once more. His eyes were dark and malicious; hers were flaming and furious. Against? Like I'd ever…that son of a… The silent standoff lasted for a minute or so, though it seemed both longer and shorter to the two participants. Finally, Kanta coolly broke the silence. "I'm seriously concerned over your mental health. More than before, even. Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to get back to my play. Coming?"

"As you wish…Dictator."

"And stop calling me that!"

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Author Note: Okay, so not one of my best chapters… But still, I'm working on it. Read and review, please!