Against Protocol by Mooguri Klaine
Author's Notes: Yahoo! I'm crazy again! I haven't even finished my other fic, Young Blood, and yet here I am, beginning another one! ((sweatdrops)) Yes, yes, I am crazy!! XD
And I decided to go AU once again; this time, I turn my eyes on the world of espionage! ((cue Mission: Impossible theme))
Disclaimer: Sadly, none of us around here in can own Yu-Gi-Oh legally. That's why we are all gathered in this site trying to make something out of our wistful desires. YGO is not mine! Kazuki Takahashi is the only man with the balls to say that.
Warning: Shonen-ai material and yaoi run around wildly in this fic of mine. Back off if it's not good for your health.
Summary: Deception is the name of the game. And with a game like this, death is the only guarantee. And there are rules that demand absolute adherence. What happens when you go against protocol? READ, REVIEW, AND RECEIVE A PRIZE! XD
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Prologue: Jammed Frequency
"Coast is clear, boys."
Mokuba's voice cracked and slightly hissed in Seto ear. "Damn this nasty interference," he muttered. "Is there any way to fix the frequency?"
"Nope. This is the best I can go," replied Mokuba from the Operations Booth. "Apparently, there are a lot of jammed airwaves in your area. So there's nothing much I can do."
"Enough intermission," a voice interrupted. Seto allowed his eyes to wander off to Yami, who has just finished loading his prized gun, aptly called "The Silencer", and was now standing some several feet away from Seto, clad in sleek black leather. Yami's gloved hand crept up to his right ear. "State your position, Karimu."
"Just great, actually," came a hollow reply through their earpiece. "I'm currently in C Block. Coast is clear. Mokuba, do a quick scan on the rest of the surrounding environs."
"Gotcha. Hold on…" Mokuba now turned to one of the numerous keyboards perched on the control pad. A few seconds later, they received their confirmation. "Done with the scan. Not a single soul on the next area. You can even do a cartwheel without anyone getting upset over it"
"Good. I'll proceed to D Block," Yami spoke as he stalked away, his gun poised and at the ready. Seto watched furtively as the agent's lithe form vanished instantly at the corner without the slightest sound. He felt a brief tweak of irritation; that field agent was the dubbed as the best in the business, though he highly doubted this. He was far better than that shrimp. The reason people found him so…overwhelming was that he had a mysterious aura around him, probably brought about by his strong facial features: pointed face, an unusual pair of crimson-red eyes coupled with an equally insane hairstyle. Plus, Yami also happened to be the grandson of the Director. 'Hmmf. Big deal.'
"Head over to E Block, Seth," Yami called Seto's alias, taken from the Ancient Egyptian god of destruction. Professional as always. And he added, "Proceed with caution."
Seto rolled his eyes irritably. 'What does he think I am, some incompetent novice?' he thought furiously. Seto wasn't any pushover; he was already trained ever since he started to walk, and was purged to a battery of tests that proved his mettle. Day in and day out, for more than a decade, he was constantly being drilled with every word in the rulebook until he grew sick of it. 'And he tells me to 'Proceed with caution'. Please.' And yet he chose not to voice it out; Yami is the Director's grandson. At least not yet. Perhaps after the mission is over. And yet…
"Apparently, I am fully aware of my bearings, as we were appropriately briefed before the mission. You don't need to repeat yourself." Yet Seto couldn't resist the opportunity of putting down his fellow colleague in any possible way. Needless to say, their "cold war" was quite popular in the agency.
"Right," came Agent Yami's nonchalant reply, yet no one would ever miss the annoyed hint in his tone. "Now's not the time for incessant babble, Seth."
"So I've noticed," Seto laughed mirthlessly, voice edged with sarcasm.
"Here we go again," Karimu's tired and exasperated sigh echoed in their ears.
"Shut up!" Yami and Seto spat in unison.
"Okay, cut the crap out." This time, a new voice joined in the fray. "Field agents are prohibited to talk during any mission unless it is absolutely necessary. So Seth, Yami, and Karimu… shut up."
Brief silence.
"That was courtesy of Dark Magician," Mokuba was back again as he nervously laughed. More static flooded their communication devices. "Frequency's really bad, so I suggest you pipe down and keep all lines open."
"So don't turn off your communicators. The static will eventually build up, and you might be tempted to tear it away from your ears. Well, DON'T. No matter what happens, 'kay?"
"Roger that," three voices said.
Several minutes passed, and nothing uneventful happened, except perhaps when Karimu accidentally stubbed his toe on a protruding pipe, resulting him to cursing most colorfully for the whole agency to hear.
Seto stalked through rows of broken and rusty motors. He poked through some of the engines and found nothing that is of significance to their mission. He then alerted Mokuba in the Ops Booth that he'll proceed to F Block. No luck still. This confused him.
"You know what, I'm starting to feel really stupid about this," Karimu piped in. "All I see are a big pile of old scrap metal and junk. Are you sure we got the right Intel 1?"
"Of course the Intel is right," answered Mokuba, his voice slightly obscured by the cumbersome static. "We're supposed to investigate a hidden R&D Lab somewhere here 2. We got wind of some suspicious activity a few weeks back– sounds like they're manufacturing some really high-tech machinery. Our sources can't be wrong."
"Well then, I don't see any friggin' R&D Lab! This is just one stinking junkshop! I propose that we –"
"I think they've already abandoned this place," Yami suddenly spoke as he brought out a wafer-thin optical camera. "And they left in a hurry. Notice the mess they left behind. I'll feed you the pictures I took…"
Back in the Operations Booth, Mokuba received the images. "Yeah, you're right," he said, squinting through the high-resolution shots from the camera. "There's nothing left for us to peruse."
"Not a bug to shoot, and no toys to confiscate," Karimu began. "Obviously, there's no reason for us to be here. I –"
Whatever Karimu wanted to say, the others didn't have the chance to know. For suddenly, a resounding boom startled everyone, on-field and off-field alike.
"What the hell –"
"Explosion in C Block!" Seto called out. "Mokuba, what's happening?"
Then the earpiece gave off a tinny shriek, causing Seto to hiss painfully at the sound. Loud static poured heavily in his ears afterwards. "Ops Booth, do you copy? Mokuba, what's happening?"
"Shit!" In the Operations Booth, Mokuba and the others were having troubles on their own. Rarely did Mokuba curse, and when he did, it was highly appropriate for the occasion. He swiveled in his chair and went to another side of the booth, typing feverishly on the keyboard.
"What's happening?" Mahado, codenamed as Dark Magician asked, the panic in his voice almost making him squeak like a trodden mouse.
"That's what I'd like to know!" Mokuba furiously answered. "All the field equipment was practically disabled and cut off from the Ops Booth!"
"Even the communications?"
"Especially the communications!" the young boy was dangerously frantic. Murphy's Law: What can go wrong, will. God, he never liked that law. He fiddled with the controls some more. "I'm trying to reboot the system, and rewire the lines. At the very least I should try to get to talk to the field agents!"
Back on the field, Yami winced painfully at the unexpected blast of sound from his earpiece. It was deafening; he hastily reached for it and tore it off his ear.
"Dammit, what's going on?"
"Field agents, do you copy?" Mokuba didn't have the luxury to celebrate when he wired the communications back online. "Get out of there, I repeat, Get out of there! The Intel was a set-up! They wanted to lure us here and plant an intended ambush on the agents! Can you hear me?"
"Oh my God!" Mahado roared beside him. Mokuba turned around. Then his blue-gray eyes widened, along with the escalating panic that threaten to rift his chest open.
"Oh shit!"
Seto's ears strained to hear through the raining static. Somehow, Mokuba managed to get back, but the reception was too poor. And with the noise around him, he could barely hear a whisper at the other end of the line. Then, in the briefest of moments, the connection became crystal clear.
"Bombs all over the place! Enough to reduce the whole warehouse to dust! Get out of there! Get out of there at once!"
Yami ran to where the blast was, while simultaneously looking for the other two agents. The earpiece lay flapping behind his shoulder as he blundered through the rubble.
"Seth! Karimu!"
Seto felt like he was running around in hopeless circles. And there was not a single hair of either of his teammates to be seen. "Where the hell are they?" He backtracked a few paces and began to trudge a new path. Karimu was in the same place before the explosion occurred.
"I got the tracking devices reconnected," Mokuba spoke, his voice slightly subdued now, but still quite panicky. "Seth, Karimu's just a few feet away from you…"
"Roger that," Seto was shifting some of the debris that was obstructing his path. His adrenaline was pumping freely in his veins. Moments later, he saw Karimu's unconscious form lying on the ground.
"I got Karimu. He's unconscious, but he's still breathing," Seto stood up gingerly, grabbing Karimu's arm and placing it carefully around his shoulder. He ran towards the entrance in an uncannily short span of time. "Where's Yami?" he called out again.
"I don't have Yami's signal on the radar," Mokuba answered; now he was sick with worry.
"What?!"
"I don't know where he is! The moment I rebooted the system, I couldn't retrieve Yami's signal!"
"Shit!"
Mahado snatched the communicator from Mokuba. "Enough of this! You're wasting time, Seth! Take Karimu and go straight to the extraction point! Leave Yami behind!"
"Shut up, Mahado!" Seto was starting to get really furious and anxious all at the same time. "He might still be alive –"
"NO! Get out of there! This is an order, Seth!"
"I don't obey orders, especially from you!" Seto roared indignantly. "I'm going back in!"
"You're breaking protocol, Seto! In extreme circumstances, agents –"
"SCREW THAT FUCKING PROTOCOL!" was the last thing Operations Booth heard from Seth before the latter terminated the link. Mahado, in a fit of rage, smashed down his clenched fist on the table.
Seto was running out of time. He ran desperately fast, unmindful of the escalating pain building up around his leg, which was injured on their last mission. It wasn't completely healed yet. He cursed his terrible luck.
And then, an ominous crack from a firearm echoed throughout the clearing. Seto stopped in his tracks, the always-unemotional blue eyes uncharacteristically fearful.
"YAMI!"
----To Be Continued----
Footnotes:
1 Intel is slang for "Intelligence Report"
2 R&D Lab stands for "Research and Development Laboratory"
Author's Notes: Prologue finished! How was it? ((looks hopefully at readers)) Your feedbacks are badly needed! It is in your reviews reside the future of this story. Should I continue it or what? TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK?! XD
Okay, I'm no good in writing military and technical stuff – especially their jargons like 'Lock and Load', and some other catchphrases, so do forgive me for that! T.T Well, if there's someone out there well versed in guns, vehicles, and military know-how… TELL ME! I need help! Writing this YGO AU fic about guns and angst is totally different from my usual 'sword and sorcery' themes. Help, help!
Leave your email address at the Reviews Section, so I could dish out the prize I promised! Consider that my 'thanks' for reading this fic of mine! I love you guys! XD
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Thanks a lot and Rock On!