Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hostile Takeover ❯ 30 Minutes ( Chapter 52 )

I do not own the song "30 Minutes" by Tatu.

*reviewer responses next chappie…because I'm dead after this chappie*

30 Minutes

Malik walked into the lobby at KaibaCorp. Some people were talking in groups while others rushed to their destinations carrying an armful of file folders. The noise from the fountain with the Blue Eyes statue joined in the mixture of laughs and conferences. Even in this crowd of people, Malik felt alone.

Malik spoke to the security guard by the elevator. "I need to see Seto Kaiba."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "You're Malik Ishtar, aren't you?"

Malik nodded. "Yes. I'm one of Seto's closest friends."

The guard picked up the phone and soon, two armed guards were standing beside Malik.

"What's going on?"

"You wait here." The guard picked up the phone. "Master Kaiba, sorry to bother you, sir. I have Malik Ishtar here to see you….Let him pass?.....Yes, sir." The guard put the phone on the receiver. "You may pass, but you will be escorted by Jay and Thomas. Don't start any funny stuff! We're watching you carefully."

The guards pushed Malik into the elevator.

Malik crossed his arms. "You can't push me like that!"

Jay narrowed his eyes. "After hurting Aten, you deserve worse from us!"

"I never hurt Aten!"

Thomas sneered. "Aten's bloody clothes were found here in your room and you deny it?"

Malik looked with disdain at the guard. "I never stayed here!"

"You stayed here for one night! Aten's bloody clothes were in your room! You're lucky you were even let in the building at all!"

Malik lowered his head and bit his lip. /Aten's bloody clothes were in my room?/

//Everybody is against you, Malik. See how angry you have made people?//

/Everyone is against me. Marik, Ryou, Aten, Aria…everyone. Now even the KaibaCorp personnel hate me. I have no choice. I have tot end it all here. I can't live knowing I have destroyed the lives of the people I love./

Malik was escorted to Kaiba's office. Seto dismissed them.

"Malik? What are you doing here?"

Malik went to Seto's couch and started to cry. Seto stood up from his leather office chair and sat beside the crying boy.

"Seto, please…Ryou and Marik are angry at me. I don't know why! They said that I was responsible for hurting Aten, but I don't remember it!"

//You don't remember hurting him? Maybe you need to be reminded of what you have done to him!//

Malik closed his eyes tightly as he saw Steven cutting into Aten's back as he held Aten's face to the cold stone. Malik sobbed harder as Seto put his arm around him.

"I can't imagine you hurting Aten on purpose, Malik."

"Seto, I need to ask a favor. Can I please stay with you for a little while? Maybe I can….make amends with Marik and Ryou, but I'll need a place."

/I need a place where my lifeless body won't be seen by Aten or Aria./

Seto took a deep breath. "You can stay for a little while. I have one guest room open. I'm already in the other guest room."

Malik looked up as he wiped away a tear. "You're sleeping in the guest room?"

Seto stood up, crossed his arms, and went to the glass wall. Seto looked down into the traffic forty floors below. "Joey doesn't let me sleep with him anymore." Seto's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know what to do with him. Joey won't even hug me anymore." Seto covered his eyes with an open palm.

//Oh, this is too perfect! Taking over Joey will be no problem.//

"I'm sorry, Seto. I didn't know."

Seto wiped the tears from his eyes. "I never thought that Joey would stop loving me. After all we've been through together. We've been through hell, Malik. I helped Joey through some tough times. Never would I have thought that Joey would turn his back on me!"

"It's the same with Marik. I never thought that Marik would stop loving me."

Seto sighed. "Well, even though Joey wants nothing to do with me now, I still have to work to do. I have Kaiba Lands to build, competition to destroy, and paychecks to authorize. So, go to the guest room down the hall where the Aria and Aten usually stay. Rest up."

Malik stood up. "Oh, Seto, I have a pounding headache."

Seto sat at his desk. "In the bathroom attached to my room, I have some prescription painkillers in the medicine cabinet. Just one knocks me on my ass for a while."

Malik wrapped his arms around Seto. "Thank you, Seto."

/My last hug./

Malik left Seto's office and passed the library. He stopped and heard the clink of a glass and a sob. From inside the room, Joey cried, "I promised Seto I would give this up!"

Malik entered Seto's room and went into the bathroom. He found the prescription painkillers and bit his lip.

//You won't do it. You're weak.//

/I can't live like this! Everyone hates me! Nobody loves me! Nobody will miss me! No one gives a flying fuck about me!/

Malik went to sit on Seto's bed. When he sat down he heard the clink of glass against the wooden frame of the bed. Malik reached down and found a bottle of cheap wine.

"Why is this bottle hiding here?"

//You can't kill yourself. You're too weak!//

Malik held the bottle of prescription painkillers in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other.

**********************

Malik's POV

Mama, Papa
Forgive me

/Mother. Father. Forgive me./

Out of sight
Out of mind

/They won't miss me. Nobody will. If they don't see me, they won't miss me. When I end it all, they won't ask about me./

Out of time
To decide

/This is it. I have no other choice but to do this./

Do we run?
Should I hide?

For the rest
Of my life

/I can't hide from my yami. Marik will find me eventually. I could never hide from him completely. I've tried hiding. Hiding fails./

Can we fly?
Do I stay?

/Should I take the pills and booze and go? Should I stay here in Seto's bedroom? At least my body will be found./

We could lose
We could fail

/I don't want to be found. I don't want to fail./

In the moment
It takes
To make plans
Or mistakes

/I knew how I would end it all. A handful of the pills and the cheap wine. I opened the bottle of cheap wine and smelled it. It had a pleasant cherry flavor. Right now, the flavor of the deadly substance didn't matter. As long as it gets the job done, I don't care./

30 minutes, a blink of an eye

/Just one bottle is all it will take to end this./

30 minutes to alter our lives

/This is it. Do I end it all? Could I survive without my yami's love?

30 minutes to make up my mind

/Should I do this? I'm afraid. But, I have no choice./

30 minutes to finally decide

/You can't back away from this. Nobody will love you and no one will mourn you.

30 minutes to whisper your name

/Marik…..I'm sorry./

30 minutes to shoulder the blame

/Everything that has happened in my fault. It's all my fault./

30 minutes of bliss, thirty lies

/When the pills take effect, they will temporarily relieve my physical pain from hurting my yami. But the pain I have can't be relieved by medicine./

30 minutes to finally decide

/What do I do?/

Carousels
In the sky

That we shape
With our eyes

/I thought life would be perfect when I was married to Marik. Marik would never leave me. He would never hate me. I thought life would be perfect. How wrong I was!/

Under shade
Silhouettes
Casting shade
Crying rain

/I can't stop crying! Memories of my wedding to my yami flooded through my mind. I remember kissing my husband, consummating our marriage, and vowing to love my yami for the rest of my life. All that is past, though./

Can we fly?
Do I stay?

/This is my last chance./

We could lose
We could fail

/We didn't fail, Marik. I failed. I lost you and I can't live knowing that./

Either way
Options change

/I wish I had another alternative, but I don't. To live in agony or to die blissfully?….that is the question./

Chances fail
Trains derail

/I took a small handful of pills and brought them into my mouth. I took the bottle of wine and guzzled a large part of it. The concoction of pills and booze slid down my throat. When I had swallowed it all, I took another handful of pills and drank more booze./

30 minutes, a blink of an eye

/I dropped the empty bottle between the bed and Seto's sidetable. I laid down on the bed waiting for the darkness to overcome me./

30 minutes to alter our lives

/This is it. I can't live with this guilt./

30 minutes to make up my mind

/What's done is done. I can't go back. Marik won't take me back./

30 minutes to finally decide

/I can't go back. I cannot undo the wrong I have done./

30 minutes to whisper your name

/Marik, please forgive me./

30 minutes to shoulder the blame

/I don't know what will happen to you when I die. You may fade, disappear, or nothing may happen to you. If you fade, Aten will be without a father. It will be my fault. I'm sorry./

30 minutes of bliss, thirty lies

/I remember the good times I had with Marik to ease my fears. We made love. We hugged. We kissed. We used to be happy. Not anymore./

30 minutes to finally decide

/This is my last chance to get help./

To decide

/I don't want help./

To decide, to decide, to decide

/I opened my eyes to see a figure with white hair in front of me. The figure looked down at me snarling.

"You cannot destroy me, Malik Ishtar! You just destroyed yourself! I need another host to grow strong again. And I know Joey Wheeler will be just as easy to control and manipulate as you!"
Aku disappeared.

To decide

/The room started spinning, so I closed my eyes./

To decide

/Everything around me became distorted…..hazy…/

To decide

/My heartbeat began to slow…/

To decide

/Goodbye…..Marik…..my……beautiful…… ./

*********************************

Aku left his unconscious host and disappeared, seeking his new victim: Joey Wheeler.

Aku found Joey in the library and materialized behind the blond.

Joey looked at the bottle of Vodka in his hand, biting his lip nervously. "Just one more hit, Joey. Then you can stop like you promised Seto before." Joey put the mouth of the bottle to his lips and chugged the clear liquid.

Joey removed the bottle from his lips and replaced the lid. Aku grinned. The blond was still hurting from seeing Seto violate him.

Joey replaced the bottle behind the art books. The blond replaced the books on the shelf.

Aku disappeared and buried himself deep within Joey's subconscious.

Joey gripped his head tightly as Aku buried himself deeper into his mind.

//Well, hello, my latest victim.//

"What…..is …wrong with me?"

//I'm Aku. I'm your new master now! I am your worst nightmare! Malik thought he could destroy me by doing what he did. Ha! I have found a new host and I will use your body to get what I want!//

"What…do..you ….want?"

//You, my blond puppet, are going to kill Aria.//

"Get….out…of…my ….head!"

//No, my little servant-puppy. We have a little business to attend to first with your boyfriend, Seto Kaiba.//

"Don't….hurt….Seto.."

//Let's go have a little fun with him before we kill the little brat.//

Next chappie: Seto x Joey Lime!! Seto finds Malik and Joey has picked up an old habit that threatened his relationship with Seto…what could it be? Also…will Joey succeed in killing Aria?

Updates: Tomorrow….if you guys don't kill me first.