Last chapter. I still do not own Iron Mn, Yu-gi-oh, or S.H.E.I.L.D.
Tea was nervous. She shouldn't have been, after all she came to the Kaibacorp building almost everyday, but she usually wasn't trying to find evidence that would send her boss to prison. There weren't many people walking around the building, most were in their offices or cubicles working, and it gave the place a very empty feeling.
She quickly made her way to Seto's office and logged in to his computer. She was getting more on edge with each second even though she did this at least twice a week since Seto came home. She couldn't help the slight smirk as Seto's wallpaper appeared. The Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon was a joke from Mokuba. Seto hadn't seen it yet since he hadn't been to the office, but once he did he was going to blow his top.
She frowned, thinking about the suit in Kaiba's workshop and the very real possibility that he might not be around long enough to see it if he continued with his crusade. 'No. He's going to be fine. Stop worrying and focus on the task at hand.' She thought.
Tea removed the device Seto had given her and plugged it into his computer. Janet got to work immediately, tearing through the internal KC firewalls and pulling as much data as possible for Seto. As the files were flickering across the screen, Tea caught glimpses of what was being taken. An image of suit like Seto's but bulkier came into view, along with invoices and shipping manifests. Then a video file caught her eye and she opened it. Several armed men in masks stood around a chair where a man had been tied with a hood over his head. They were speaking a language she didn't know so she quickly activated a translation program on the computer. She gasped as the hood was removed revealing a very battered Kaiba, the man who was talking was telling Gozaburo that if he wanted Seto dead he would need to pay them more.
Tea couldn't believe it. She had never suspected that Gozaburo had actually arranged for the attack on Seto, and apparently it had been meant as an assassination until these guys decided to kidnap him instead. She closed the video file and glanced at the progress Janet was making. Not long now. She looked up to check that her exit was clear and froze when she saw Gozaburo leaning on the door frame.
"Why Miss Gardner, I'm sorry to see you. When I saw Seto's office was open I had hoped that he had returned to work." He said as he made his way toward the bar that was built into the west wall. Kaiba didn't drink much, but he had the bar put in because after dealing with Gozaburo he often needed a drink.
Tea smiled at Gozaburo, trying to cover her panic. She glanced at the timer Janet had helpfully placed on the screen before putting up the screen saver to hide what she was doing. "Afraid not. Although he seems to be getting back to normal so hopefully he'll be back soon."
"Well that's good to hear." The pleasant smile sent her way made Tea's skin crawl. "I've heard he's been spending most of his time in his work shop. Any idea what he's been up to?".
"Nothing special, just tinkering to keep busy I think." A small light on the device started blinking indicating that it had finished what it was doing. Tea used a newspaper she had brought to cover the device while she removed it. She then stood and started to make her way out of the office. She probably should have shut down the computer but it was taking all her control not to take off running. "Speaking of Seto I need to get back. Have a good day Mr. Kaiba."
She was almost to the door when he spoke. "Is that today's paper?". He walked over. "Would you mind if I borrowed the business section?"
Tea turned and smiled, handing him the paper while palming the device before she practically ran from the office. Gozaburo frowned and walked over to Seto's computer, which Tea had left on, to see what she had been doing. His eyes widened as he saw which files she had accessed and he quickly went after her while getting out his phone to call security.
He reached the foyer and stopped when he saw Tea talking to a man in a suit with dark glasses. He looked like a Fed. 'Great she's going to give that information to the Feds.' He thought. 'I need to move quickly, get the power source from Seto, grab the suit and the files on it, and head for a country with no extradition. Damn the meddling bitch.'
-s-
A short time later, Seto was coming up from his workshop. He spotted a fresh pot of coffee on the table and figured that Tea had made him some. He hoped she was still here and hadn't gone home, he wanted to know what she had found.
Taking a seat on the couch Seto was just reaching for the pot when a high pitched whine filled the room. He found himself unable to move and for the first time since he left the cave he felt utterly helpless. He knew what this was, he had helped design it after all, and he knew only one person had a working version.
"That's right," Gozaburo said with a smile, "you remember this don't you. A sonic shock that temporarily paralyzes the motor center of the brain causing short term paralysis. Genius invention.". Gozaburo walked around to the front of the couch and placed his hand on the arc reactor. "Just like this."
As Seto struggled to move Gozaburo opened a case on the table and removed a tool. He continued talking, which to Seto was the worst part. "I have to say that when I found out you survived my little ambush, I was annoyed but it turns out it was a good thing. Without you I wouldn't have my suit," Gozaburo placed the tool over the reactor, locked it, twisted and with a quick pull removed it from its cavity, "or the means to power it. Oh its much less...conservative than yours, but I think you'd be impressed."
He looked at Seto who had gone pale and started to sweat. He smiled a cruel smile. " Oh that's right, I forgot this is what was keeping you alive. What a shame." With that he placed the tool and reactor in his case and left.
Seto fought as hard as he could against the paralysis but by the time he got even the smallest amount of movement back Gozaburo was long gone. He knew he was in trouble. He could already feel the pain in his chest from the shrapnel. Even if he stayed still his blood circulation would still bring the shrapnel to his heart. His only option was to get to the workshop.
Seto was a pragmatic man and would never throw away anything that could have some use. His original reactor was there, on his workbench if he could just reach it. He still couldn't use his legs but his arms worked a little, enough to start dragging himself along the floor, so that's what he did. By the time he got to the first landing he had managed to force himself to stand but he was quickly tiring.
He staggered down the last few stairs into the workshop and toward the workbench. He could see the reactor, he was almost there... his legs gave out and he crashed to the floor. He tried to will himself up bit his body couldn't respond. The pain in his chest was unbearable and the lingering effects of the paralysis didn't help. He blacked out.
-s-
Meanwhile Tea called Atem, she had been attempting to reach Seto for over an hour and her inability to contact him had her worried. Agent Croquet was getting a few agents together and they were going to arrest Gozaburo. She was going along so they could use her clearances to enter the buildings more easily which was why she couldn't' check on Seto herself. She relayed everything to Atem. " I'm just really worried. Its not like him to not answer my calls."
"Its fine Tea, I'm sure he just got wrapped up in some project. I'll go check on him." Atem assured her.
"Kaiba?" Atem called as he moved through the silent house. He wouldn't admit it, but the quiet was very disconcerting. If Kaiba was working, he was normally cursing, or at least yelling. Having cleared the upstairs he headed down to the workshop.
At first he thought that Kaiba had stepped out, the workshop looked empty, but then he saw a huddled form on the floor near one of the workbenches. He rushed over and found Kaiba unconscious, the gaping, empty hole in his chest telling him all he needed to know. Kaiba had told him what the device was and Tea had told him what it was for since Kaiba wouldn't, and he knew he needed it to live.
Standing up Atem was about to call for an ambulance when he spotted Kaiba's reactor on the work bench. He grabbed it and rolled Kaiba on to his back. He was going to put the reactor in when he realized he had no idea what he was doing. He began to shout at Kaiba, lightly slapping his face. It took several minutes but, just as he was going to give up, Kaiba opened his eyes and groaned.
"Atem...what?" He said weakly.
"Kaiba we don't have much time. How do I plug this thing in?" Atem asked, indicating the reactor.
"Attach the cord to the base plate." Kaiba took a few deep breaths and almost blacked out again but fought through it. "Then plug the reactor in and turn it to lock it in place."
Atem followed the instructions, ignoring Kaiba's comment about his girly hands, and then stood back as Kaiba collected himself. After several moments he got shakily to his feet and leaned against the workbench.
"Not that I don't appreciate the save, but what are you doing in my house?"
Atem shrugged. "Tea called and asked me to check on you. She'd been trying to reach you and got worried when she couldn't. I said I'd stop by and check."
Kaiba nodded. At least if she was worrying, she was okay . He had been concerned ever since Gozaburo had showed up. Worried she'd been caught while doing her spy work for him. "Where is she that she couldn't come herself?"
"She went with Croquet and some other agents. They're going to Kaibacorp to arrest Gozaburo." The relief Atem expected on Kaiba's face never came. Instead he seemed to lose what little color he had regained and he immediately went to his computer and began inputting commands.
Behind Atem the floor opened revealing a sleek silver suit, almost identical to the one that was in a rack by the wall. Several mechanical arms dropped down and took the suit apart, readying it for its operator. Kaiba was walking toward it when Atem stopped him.
"Kaiba, where do you think you are going? You can barely walk. I know you want to see your stepfather get arrested, but you need to rest."
Seto looked at his long-time rival with such intensity that Atem actually took a step back. "He has a suit."
"What do you mean?" Atem asked, still keeping himself between Kaiba and the waiting armor.
"I mean that Gozaburo has a suit, like mine, but more heavily armed. Tea and those agents aren't going to stand a chance if he gets to it. I won't allow him to use any more of my ideas to hurt people. He's already taken so much from me. My childhood, my brother, my dreams and in the last few years my soul. He doesn't get to take my heart too. Now get out of my way."
Atem moved to the side, slightly stunned by Kaiba's speech. As his rival stepped into place and the arms began to assemble the suit around him, the last line finally clicked in Atem's head.
"Wait, your heart, do you mean Tea!? How the hell did that happen?"
Seto glanced at him as the helmet was lowered into place. "If you figure it out, let me know because I have no idea. Maybe it was seeing how much she cared when I got back, maybe I was just in that cave for too long and I went a little crazy, or maybe its always been there and I just didn't see it. I know I love her, whether that means I'm in love or not I don't know. What I do know is that she's important to me...and he doesn't touch her."
Atem was momentarily speechless. Hearing Kaiba admit his feelings was shocking, but the cold hatred in his voice toward his stepfather, it was frightening. Atem knew his rival hated the man, but hearing his voice, hate didn't seem like a strong enough word.
Atem shook himself and recovered his voice as Kaiba began to walk toward the tunnel that led outside. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Keep the skies clear." Was Seto's reply as the face plate closed. In a instant he activated the jets in his boots and flew through the tunnel.
Atem stared after him for a moment before looking around the work shop. His eyes fell on a second suit hanging in the corner. For a second he thought about putting it on and going after Kaiba but having actually seen Kaiba flying out of the tunnel decided he wasn't' THAT ready to get to the afterlife.
-s-
Seto was trying desperately to tune out Janet as they flew toward Kaibacorp. She had been giving him continuous updates on how quickly the arc reactor was losing power. It hadn't been designed for this sort of thing and he just needed to hope that whatever was waiting for him, he'd be able to finish it before he ran out of power.
"Current power levels at eighty five percent, and dropping. Estimate twenty minutes till you completely drain the reactor." Janet said.
"Stop squawking at me and just put the numbers on the display. I don't need a running commentary." Kaiba snapped. He could already see the lights from Kaibacorp in the distance. He just hoped he got there before Tea found Gozaburo.
-s-
Meanwhile Tea had arrived at Kaibacorp with Croquet and five other agents. A quick look through the data she'd stolen had not only shown Gozaburo to be guilty on selling weapons to terrorists and plotting Seto's murder, but of making biological and other highly unethical weapons.
They were headed to the building that housed the large arc reactor that ran the complex, as the information they had indicated that was where Gozaburo's latest project, dubbed the "Iron Monger" was housed.
They entered the building and quickly located the correct door. Tea placed her key card in the lock and was a bit surprised that the door didn't open. She had very high clearance as her job required her to go all over Kaibacorp.
"It won't open." She said looking to the agents.
Croquet didn't miss a beat, taking her by the elbow and leading her away from the door as one of his men placed a device on the lock. Tea was just about to inquire about the device when she heard a small crack, similar to a gunshot in the distance, and the door swung open.
-s-
Inside the lab Gozaburo had just placed the reactor he had stolen from Seto into his suit. He stepped back to admire the powerful weapon, shuddering slightly with anticipation as looked at its intimidating face.
'Maybe on my way out of the country I should stop by Seto's place. I'll make sure he's dead and then level it. Show him how much better my suit is.' He thought.
An alarm brought him out of his reverie. A quick look at the monitor showed Tea with about half a dozen suited men breaching the outer door. Realizing he was running out if time, Gozaburo jumped into his suit and powered it up.
-s-
Looking around at the inside of the lab, Tea wasn't impressed. The suit that was hanging from a rack in the corner was much smaller and less advanced than she had thought. Seto's was so streamlined and looked extremely futuristic. This thing was clunky and looked like something Seto would have built in his garage. Or a cave.
Tea's eyes widened with realization. She turned, about to shout a warning, when suddenly one of the agents was flying through the air, slamming into the far wall with bone shattering force. Before she could blink, the agents still on their feet had drawn their weapons and opened fire on a hulking construct that had appeared out of nowhere.
The noise was deafening in the small space, but Tea could see that the bullets weren't doing any damage. They might as well be throwing marshmallows. The monstrosity rushed the agents, batting them aside like annoying insects, and Tea decided it was time to leave. She sprinted for the door, hearing the thunderous footsteps in pursuit. She cleared the lab door and risked a glance over her shoulder. She screamed as a hand as big as truck tire nearly caught her, but fortunately the body it was attached to was too big to fit through the door.
Knowing that the door likely wouldn't hold that thing for long, Tea ran for her car. As she went she reached into her pocket for her cell phone, hoping to call Atem and have him send the army after that thing. She was about to hit his number when her phone started ringing
The caller ID showed that it was Seto, and she screamed his name into the phone as she answered. "Seto! Oh god, please help me!"
"Tea what's going on?" Seto replied.
"I was, we were, there was this thing!" She wailed.
Seto didn't need anymore. She wasn't coherent but it was enough. "Tea, where are you?"
"Kaibacorp, outside the arc reactor."
Seto changed course just slightly and could see her running through the parking lot. "Got it. You need to get out of there."
"Working on it." Tea said. She was almost to her car. Suddenly a metal fist erupted from the ground, followed by the rest of the machine. Over ten feet tall, it towered over Tea, blocking her from her vehicle.
Tea froze. Her mind was screaming at her to run, but her body refused to cooperate. The construct raised its right hand and pointed a weapon at her. Tea was pretty sure it was called a mini gun. Even more sure that it spinning meant it was about to fire. 'Oh god, this is how I'm going to die.' She thought.
Suddenly a silver blur slammed into the giant and sent it spinning through the retaining wall and out onto the nearby highway. Tea stood frozen for a second, then collapsed, trembling.
-s-
Seto had been slightly surprised by the suit that Gozaburo was wearing. It was much more massive than he had thought and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get it away from Tea. Fortunately his worry had proved unfounded as Gozaburo never even saw him coming and he was easily able to drive his larger opponent through the nearest wall.
That had been the easy part and now, without the element of surprise, things weren't going well. He was pulling himself back to his feet after taking a hard right to the head when Gozaburo grabbed one of the many cars that were on the highway and threw it at him. Seto would have dodged, except he could see the family in the car, screaming as it hurtled toward him.
He caught the car, straining to hold it upright, and placed it back on the road. The panicked mother inside floored the accelerator and hit him as she sped away, sending him to the ground. He could feel the heavy footsteps as Gozaburo came toward him and he tried to fly out of the way, but Gozaburo caught his foot and threw him into the side of a bus.
Seto ripped himself free of the metal just as Gozaburo launched a rocket into the bus, blowing him the rest of the way through and into an abandoned car on the other side. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked up to see his step father about to smash him with part of the destroyed bus.
"Well Seto, I must again thank you for this suit, and for coming to see me off." Gozaburo mocked. "This has been a most useful test flight. Its good to know that I finally beat you, once and for all."
"Not yet." Seto said as he fired his replusors into his step father's chest, knocking him to the ground. He quickly took to the air and floated about twenty feet off the ground. "You never were as smart as me. Look at you now, still living off my scraps. The suit and the power source you had to steal from me because you and all your cronies couldn't rub two brain cells together and figure out anything original on your own."
Gozaburo responded to the taunt by opening up with his machine guns, but Seto simply flew higher, evading most of the bullets, while his armor shrugged off the rest. He was just starting to feel pretty confident when suddenly Gozaburo's suit lifted into the air after him.
Seto scowled. He hadn't thought that something so big would be capable of flight, or that Gozaburo would have thought to install jets in the first place. He was still faster and more maneuverable but it was clear that he didn't have the weaponry to stop it.
Suddenly he was hit with a flash of inspiration. Gozaburo said this was a test flight, and he had only just gotten Seto's arc reactor a few hours earlier. It was unlikely he had had a chance to test his flight systems. Seto started to climb, being sure that he stayed close enough that Gozaburo would follow. Unexpected ice had nearly killed him on his first flight, maybe his step father's less aerodynamic design wouldn't be as lucky.
As they flew Seto kept glancing down at Gozaburo, smiling in grim satisfaction as he saw the ice building up. The problem was, he was starting to slow down. His reactor was running out of power and Gozaburo was now gaining for real.
"You should just give up Seto. My suit is simply more advanced in every way." Gozaburo proclaimed as he grabbed on to Seto's leg.
Seto twisted around and was about to plant his foot into Gozaburo's face when he saw the ice build up on his faceplate and the telltale flicker in the suit's eyes from the power drain. He smirked. "Really? So how did you solve the icing problem?"
"What icing problem?" Gozaburo asked just as his suit lost power a began to fall.
"You might want to look into it." Seto said as he pulled his leg free and gave Gozaburo a contemptuous pat on the head as he fell. His smugness didn't last, however, as his suit lost power, not from the ice but simply from overtaxing its power source.
He began to descend, mostly by alternating between free fall and control and landed, a little more roughly than usual, on the roof of Kaibacorp. He still had power, though not much, he definitely wouldn't be flying anytime soon. The display in his helmet lit up showing that Tea was calling him. "Yes?"
"Seto! Thank god you're all right. I was so worried. Don't do anything that stupid again." Tea shouted at him through the phone.
Seto winced. He couldn't hold the phone away from his ear, since it was built into the helmet, so now he had Tea's shouting reverberating through the tight space. "Tea! Calm down!" He yelled back, cutting her off just as she was building up a good rant.
Tea took a moment to collect herself. "Are you OK?" She repeated softly, much calmer now.
Seto pulled his left gauntlet off so he could more easily access the controls for his helmet. He raised his faceplate. "Yeah, but I need to get this suit off and back to my workshop. Can you pull the car around and-"
Anything else he would have said was cut off as Gozaburo's walking nightmare landed behind him. Seto quickly closed his faceplate and ducked under a punch. He then raised his left hand to blast his stepfather when he realised he was no longer wearing his gauntlet. He cursed and tried to bring his right hand to bear, but received a powerful blow that knocked him across the roof.
He could vaguely hear Tea in the background as he struggled to stand, but he wasn't quick enough as Gozaburo closed the distance and enveloped him in a powerful bear hug.
"How about you give your old man hug, eh son?" Gozaburo laughed. He then began to slowly crush Seto.
Seto struggled but Gozaburo had a very powerful grip. He punched him as hard as he could with his right hand but Gozaburo barley felt it. Any second now his suit would begin taking critical damage and he would lose power. Once that happened Gozaburo would crush his spine. In desperation he did the only thing he could think of. "Flares!" He yelled.
Twin discs emerged from his hips and filled the air with dozens of miniature suns. In his suit, Gozaburo had been so enjoying seeing Seto's suffering that he didn't here the command, and his HUD was suddenly like staring into a pulsing spotlight. It blinded him and caused him to instinctively release Seto to cover his eyes.
Seto took advantage as he ducked behind one if the several dozen industrial fans on the roof. The readout on his HUD indicated that he only had about five percent of his power left. Not enough to fly or use his repulsors.
"Tea, are you still there?" He asked quietly.
"I'm here. What happened?" She replied.
"The old bastard is either better or luckier than I thought. My suit's running low on power and I don't have anything with me that can stop him.". Seto spoke quietly so Gozaburo wouldn't hear. No telling what kind of sensors he had in that thing.
"Well that's not good. We need to get out of here. I'll call Atem, he could send help." Tea said.
"No!" Seto shouted and then cursed as Gozaburo turned and started making his way toward the noise. "Even if Atem could convince his superiors to send help, I doubt they would be prepared for anything like this. They'd get slaughtered. We need to deal with this ourselves."
"Oh really, do you have a tank somewhere I'm not seeing?" Tea asked.
" Left it in my other pants." Seto replied sarcastically. "Look, you can tell me how idiotic I'm being later. Right now I need you to go into the factory to the arc reactor controls."
"Okay, give me a minute." Tea said heading back inside.
On the roof Seto barely avoided getting caught as he moved quickly across the roof between the various fans, pipes, and roof access doors. Gozaburo was getting frustrated. One of the fans had rattled behind him and he had responded by shredding it with his mini gun.
"I'm here." Tea said. She was looking at the complicated control panel and wondering what half of the gauges meant. "What now?".
"Do you see lever on the right side? It's red and flat." Seto tossed a piece of debris from the roof behind Gozaburo and almost laughed as he sprayed the area with bullets.
Tea jumped at the noise of the gunfire but quickly composed herself. Seto didn't sound nervous so she focused on finding the right lever. "Got it."
"Okay, I want you to push it all the way forward. Then locate the big red button under the safety hatch."
Tea pushed the lever forward and the arc reactor began to glow brighter, the steady hum increasing to a high pitched whine. "What happened? Everything got so bright!"
"Nothing much, you just set the arc reactor to overload." Seto said.
"What!? How do I stop it!?" Tea screamed.
"You don't'. This is the plan. The red button will vent the energy build up up the shaft and out on to the roof. It should fry everything up here. Just wait till I tell you and push the button. I'll get him into position." Seto said. "Oh and just in case, if the red alarm klaxon starts sounding, push it anyway. Otherwise it will blow up for real. No pressure."
Before Tea could say anything else, Seto charged Gozaburo and used his boot jets in a short burst to boost him high enough to punch the much taller armor in the face with his right hand. The move caught Gozaburo by surprise and actually staggered him, allowing Seto to slip behind him and jump onto his back.
"Too slow old man." Seto said. He looked down into the space between the helmet and the back of the armor. He could see the cables that linked the targeting computers and visual sensors. If he yanked it out he would eliminate Gozaburo's HUD, effectively blinding him.
He grabbed a hold of the cable. "This looks important." He ripped it out. Unfortunately, to get the leverage he needed he had to climb too high on Gozaburo's back. The enormous left hand of Gozaburo's suit closed on his head.
Gozaburo pulled him forward, the whip-lashing motion ripping his helmet off his head and throwing him across the roof.
For several moments Seto laid there, stunned. His neck hurt and he was having a hard time getting his limbs to move. He was a sitting duck but luckily for him, Gozaburo couldn't see him. That wouldn't last. He needed to move. Now.
Seto rolled painfully to his knees. He was on top of the discharge shaft, exactly where he had wanted Gozaburo. 'Well that worked well.' He thought bitterly.
He looked up at Gozaburo just as his armor opened. The old man looked really pleased with himself, which just pissed Seto off.
Gozaburo looked at the helmet he still had in his hand. "I had hoped your head would still be in it." He said as he crushed it in his grip and threw it at Seto's feet. "Oh well, this means I get to actually watch you die, way more fun."
Gozaburo let fly with a withering barrage from the guns on his hands. Seto brought his right arm up in front of his face while shielding his unarmored left hand behind his body. While it stopped the bullets from hitting him outright, they still hit around him, shattering the glass he was standing on.
The floor dropped out beneath him and Seto felt himself falling. Reaching out blindly, he managed to grasp the cross beam.
He was glad he wasn't falling, but he was also completely helpless before his stepfather. He wasn't strong enough to pull himself up in the armor and he didn't have any power left to try to fly.
Gozaburo continued his assault, but without his targeting computers all he could do was spray bullets and hope one of them hit its target. When the guns ran empty, he switched to his rockets, hoping the explosion would dislodge Seto.
Seto looked at his stepfather and decided that he was out of options. He had been hoping to beat him, but a draw was just as good. "Tea, are you still there?"
"I'm here. Are you alright?" She asked.
Seto snorted. "I'm just peachy. I want you to push the button. Right now!". Gozaburo had gotten tired of missing and was walking toward him. In a few seconds he'd be close enough to just step on him.
"I can't!" You'll die!" Tea screamed.
"Just push the damn button!" Seto shouted.
"Well Seto," Gozaburo said, "I always knew if it ever came down to the two of us I'd beat you. Good try though. I'll give your regards to Mokuba.". He reached down, intending to crush Seto's head in his hand.
"Tea, now damn it!" Seto yelled again and this time Tea hit the button. An enormous blast of energy sailed up the shaft, its light blinding in its intensity.
Seto was blown clear, over Gozaburo's head, landing about ten feet behind him. The landing was rough, but he'd live. Unfortunately for Gozaburo, his heavier suit wasn't moved by the blast and the energy ripped through it, frying every circuit in it.
Whether the shock killed Gozaburo or not will never be known because his disabled armor pitched forward and fell, landing in the arc reactor and exploding. Fortunately the reactor didn't have enough power after the discharge to destroy the whole plant.
Tea ran outside after she triggered the explosion, finding Croquet and another injured agent who had gotten clear before the blast. Both were in rough shape but would live. Croquet had already called in rescue services and a clean up crew.
-s-
A week later Seto was sitting on a couch, while in the next room a gathering of reporters were waiting for him to come out and give his official statement on what the press were calling the "Kaibacorp incident". Tea was with him, fretting over his injuries as usual, and Croquet, who was giving him the statement to read.
Overall he had been lucky. A slight concussion, broken wrist, and a separated shoulder. He was also sporting a new arc reactor. He made it through with less than two percent power, but it had been enough to keep him going till he got the new reactor built. Not too bad for being thrown around by a giant war mech and then blown up.
"So basically the statement says that one of Gozaburo's illegal weapons programs went rouge and had to be stopped by your new bodyguard. With the evidence that proves Gozaburo was guilty of selling weapons to known terrorists, you should be clear to do whatever you want." Croquet said.
"What about Gozaburo? What's the story for what happened to him?" Tea asked.
"Committed suicide to avoid capture. Ties everything up nicely as long as you stick to the story." Croquet said looking at Seto.
"Iron Man? Really? The press must have worked really hard to come up with that." Seto said. "And my bodyguard? I don't even have one of those."
"Just stick to the statement." Croquet said sternly.
Seto just rolled his eyes as Croquet walked to the door. Tea caught Croquet just before he left.
"I know Seto won't so I just want to thank you for your help. Goodbye" She said.
Croquet nodded. "Not a problem. Although this isn't goodbye. You'll be hearing from us."
Tea grinned. "You mean from the Strategic Homeland..."
Croquet held up his hand and cut her off. "Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D." he walked out the door.
Seto scoffed. "Bodyguard my ass.". He stood up and made his way to the door. "I guess I should get this over with."
Tea couldn't help but fuss a little, stopping him so she could give him a once over and straighten his tie. "At least try to be a little nice. And don't stay out there answering questions. You're still supposed to be on bed rest."
Seto sighed. Normally he would have responded with a cutting remark, but his heart just wasn't in it anymore. "No promises on being nice. You know how much I love reporters. I can definitely agree on keeping this short though."
As Tea finished her fussing and tried to step back Seto reached out and took her hand. She froze and for a long minute they just stared into each other's eyes.
Finally, Seto brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "Thank you." He said.
Tea blushed, but smiled. "Your welcome."
-s-
Out in the conference room the reporters were getting restless. Mai herself was getting bored. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so curious about what happened she would have left long ago.
She knew more than most others in the room, of course. It paid knowing Tea and Atem personally, but they had been surprisingly tight lipped about the whole thing. Atem had claimed national security and Tea had said she didn't feel right about telling Mai anything without checking with Seto first. And since when did Tea start calling Kaiba Seto?
Finally Tea walked out on the stage and announced that Kaiba would be making his statement and would not be taking questions at this time. Mai smiled at her friend, although she wondered why Tea looked so red.
Kaiba made his way to the podium. He looked pretty good considering he had been in the Kaibacorp factory when it blew. Mai had her suspions about that as well and when he said the metal man that had been reported, the Iron Man as the press had dubbed him, was his bodyguard, Mai decided to interrupt.
"Do you really expect us to believe that Iron Man is just your bodyguard? If that's the case, why isn't he here?"
"He has better things to do. Just like me. But I'm here dealing with you anyway." Kaiba said his old annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Come on Kaiba, we both know you don't have a bodyguard. And my sources already gave me the scoop, I just want confirmation. The truth." Mai bluffed. Her instincts told her the official story was bogus, she just didn't know how much.
Kaiba gave Tea a look but she frantically shook her head in the negative. He looked back at Mai and saw the truth there. She had a good poker face, but he could tell she was lying. She had no source and was just trying to get a reaction out of him.
"You're a bad liar, Valentine. Its one thing to question the official story, it's quite another to imply that I'm some kind of superhero." Kaiba said evenly.
Mai pounced on that. "I never said you were a superhero."
Kaiba mentally cursed. Why the hell did he say that? Did he want to be a superhero? He had to admit the idea appealed to the part of him that was still twelve, and Mokuba would love it, but was it something he wanted? It couldn't hurt his image, he supposed.
He glanced around the room. The press was hanging on his words, leaning forward in their seats to see what he would say. Tea looked unsure, and Croquet was looking at him with a warning look. That pissed him off. He could never stand people ordering him around.
"Look, Gozaburo is dead, Kaibacorp is going in a different, better direction, and I..." Seto trailed off and considered his next words. Then decided to hell with it, he needed the P.R.. "I am Iron Man."
As the words left his lips the room exploded with questions. He didn't like all the noise, but look on Croquet's face brought a smirk to his lips.
-Epilogue-
Kaiba walked into his living room feeling pretty good. It had taken him awhile to escape the press after his announcement, but it still felt like the right call.
He had gone by Kaibacorp after that to check on the cleanup and rebuilding of the factory and arc reactor. Then he had gone in and begun turning the company away from weapons once again. While they were going back to making games, they were also going to branch out into energy and communications. So all in all a good day.
His good mood didn't last. There was man standing by the large windows that looked out over the ocean. A man with shoulder length white hair, wearing a red suit. A man he knew. And hated.
"Well Kaiba-boy I must say you made quite an impression. "I am Iron Man". Oh the press are just eating it up. The news announcement even broke in during my cartoons." The man said without looking at him.
"Forgive me for not giving a damn. What the hell are you doing here Pegasus? How did you get in? And why should I not throw you off my balcony?" Seto shouted. He hated Pegasus almost as much as Gozaburo. Granted he hadn't had a lot of dealings with the man, but the guy just freaked him out. And he made that damn toon dragon. He should kill him for that alone.
"Oh come now Kaiba, you wouldn't do anything to an old friend, would you?" Pegasus asked turning toward Kaiba.
Seto looked at the eye patch over his left eye. When he had last seen him he had been wearing the millennium eye there. At least the eye patch looked slightly less creepy. Seto folded his arms over his chest. "We were never friends. Just business associates. I'm stilling waiting for you to answer my questions, especially that last one."
"You wound me Kaiba-boy, but very well, its your home so for now we can play by your rules. As for how I got in, I walked in through the door. As for why I'm here, I want to talk to you about the Avengers initiative. And I would very much like it if you didn't throw me off your balcony."
End.
Well that's the last chapter and god am I glad. I've been sitting on this for a month, trying to work out the bugs. I'm still not completely happy, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. A couple of notes.
1) Tea didn't give Seto the old reactor as a gift because I forgot to include that in the last chapter and didn't want to shoehorn it into this chapter.
2) Seto's comment about Gozaburo costing him his brother is do to having to send him away for his safety, not because anything happened to Mokuba.
3) Seto hates Pegasus because he was a pain in the ass to do business with. If you remember, in this universe the Kaiba's weren't involved in duelist kingdom, so there was no kidnapping/stealing souls thing. The result is that Pegasus and Seto aren't as antagonistic as they are in the yu-gi-oh verse proper, but he still hates him.
4) Kaiba didn't find Rebecca like he promised. I didn't forget, just didn't put it in this story. Saving her in case I think of something to use her for.