A/N: We're all adults here, right? Good. With that in mind, my fanfiction is based under two major assumptions: 1. The virtual world arc at the beginning of Season 2 never happened and 2. Season 4 never happened, either. This means that in this continuity, there is no Noah Kaiba, no Dartz, no Atlantis, no Professor or Rebecca Hawkins, no Leviathan and most importantly, no mass amounts of supernatural things happening all over the planet for all people to see because a mysterious portal between our world and the world where duel monsters come from has been opened. Most people are blissfully ignorant of the world threatening danger. Make sense? Good.
I am aware that it's a bit inconsistent to rule out some non-canonical parts of the show and keep in others, Mokuba in particular was a horrible devil of a person in the manga and here I've retained his 4Kids status as a fun little brother, but those two arcs in particular go contrary both to the original writing and the flow of the anime and as such I'd like to keep some kind of consistent tone.
While the eight other passengers were holed up in the Lear Jet, Kaiba, Mokuba and Ishizu sat in the customs office in the airport.
"We submitted our paperwork for our research weeks ago, and were given clearance," Mokuba said, "How is it now we are denied access to the country."
The customs officer sat a desk with a man standing behind him that could have been a subordinate or superior.
"Our sincerest apologies," the officer said with insulting courtesy, "but you've simply come at the wrong time. We have several archaeological parties researching the ruins at Thebes and we are…how you say…overbooked."
Ishizu exchanged a few sentences in Arabic before turning to Mokuba. "This isn't right, someone's paid them off."
Mokuba already had exchanged several thousand yen into Egyptian currency. He pulled three 200₤ notes and gave them to Ishizu. "Find out who."
Ishizu's sighed. "Give me about ten more of those and they might."
Mokuba pursed his lips, grudgingly handing over the stack. Ishizu went to work immediately, bartering with the two officers to ascertain the identity of their saboteur. After fifteen minutes of exchanges, she turned back to Mokuba.
"They say it's an entertainment company called 'Coliseum' and a representative offered the kind gentlemen here a hefty sum to refuse us entrance once we landed. He's denying our visas."
"There must be some misunderstanding," Mokuba's voice changed, taking on tones of submission and deference, "We're here as tourists, nothing more. See? It's right here on our visas that we are single entrance tourists set to stay for up to thirty days." He nodded to the Egyptian woman to translate. His statement was true, because he had no other category that accurately described their reason for being in the country; Egypt had no business visa that included research purposes and didn't include conducting business with Egyptian companies.
The men in uniform exchanged glances before laughing.
"Tourists you say?" the one at the desk addressed Mokuba in English. "In a company jet with employees and all kinds of electronic equipment?"
"We're all friends from work taking a well-earned vacation." He removed a stack of ₤500 notes and placed them on the desk. Both men glanced at it.
"In Luxor?"
"Four of us have been to the old city before and wanted to show the others the sights." He laid five more bills on the stack.
"And the jet?" the officer who was standing asked, clearly hoping each question would bring more bills to bribe them with.
"My fault," Kaiba spoke up, "I know it's company property, but being the boss comes with its perks."
When Mokuba didn't add any more to the existing stack, the officer tried again, "And all of these computers, and monitors?"
"Well, you surely have heard of my brother's work ethic. He wanted to do some work while the rest of us were relaxing." Mokuba added just a few more bills to the pile, pressing the sides to straighten the stack. "So in truth, you wouldn't be allowing a KaibaCorp research team into the country, just a group of friends here to see the sights. We get to see the ruins, you get plausible deniability and Coliseum is none the wiser. We all win."
Both men were almost at the point of drooling over the stack of cash, but neither wanted to be the first to crack under the pressure. The seated man gave in first, snatching the bills and counting them out to split before placing his half in the inside pocket of his suit.
"Welcome to Luxor, I hope you and your very close friends have a wonderful vacation."
"Thank you for your understanding," Mokuba stood and extended a hand to shake. "We'll be sure to have a very relaxing time."
The five-star accommodations were the peak of human comfort. Even weeks before the trip, Mokuba could only find three rooms that were adjacent and decided they could just book them and settle for living middle class. The girls shared one room; Mokuba, Yugi and Kaiba were in the middle and the far room was occupied by Dzam, Akira, Honda and Leo. Each room had a sitting area, a kitchenette and a computer desk.
Setup took a little over two hours as Mokuba, Akira and Leo did the bulk of the hardware assembly, commandeering the computer desks, coffee tables, night stands and every available electrical outlet to get the three work stations up and running. All computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets were routed through a private network that Akira had set up for security purposes. In the meantime, the girls went on a search for food, bringing takeout back for them to eat in Kaiba's room as he briefed them on their new mysterious rival company.
"So, Coliseum has decided to make an enemy of KaibaCorp." He began, "Paying off customs to deny us entry into the city, but their motives remain unknown. Their website merely states that they offer a variety of 'adult adventures' and that they are based out of Rome but have several locations, mostly in Europe and the U.S."
"And by 'adult adventures' you mean…" Akira asked, hoping Kaiba would answer the question before he asked it.
"Based on some of the forums I've found online, they offer mostly legal, though highly questionable activities like hands-on haunted houses, consensual kidnapping, fight clubs, and even, yes, venues for certain fetishes." Kaiba furrowed his brow as his lip involuntarily curled downward in disgust.
Karin raised her hand as if it were a class. "I don't want to sound ignorant, but what is consensual kidnapping?"
"It's people that pay money for the adrenaline rush of getting kidnapped. They take you months after you sign up so you forget about it and then they jump you and hold you captive for a few days or until ransomed," Setsuna explained.
"That's messed up," Honda said aloud what everyone was thinking.
"I'm going to do some more digging to see what they're doing here and why they want us out of the picture, and how they even knew we were coming in the first place," Kaiba placed his laptop back down on the bed. "For now, I would suggest we keep our eyes peeled, be especially careful with personal belongings and research equipment, and don't talk to strangers that seem too inquisitive."
"Got it," Karin said with mock enthusiasm, "Don't talk to strangers, don't give out personal information over the internet, stay in school, don't do drugs. It's all good."
"Very well then, I suggest we all get some rest to overcome the jetlag so we can start tomorrow morning with fresh eyes and minds. Miss Ishtar, if you will stay behind so we can discuss any further attempts on our visa status."
The nine travellers grunted or nodded in agreement. Fed and given a chance to sit, fatigue set in and they were all ready to go to sleep immediately, dispersing to their rooms to decide the sleeping arrangements and divvy out the pillows. Once alone, Ishizu caught up with Yugi and the Kaibas.
"How did you find her?" was Ishizu's first question after the introductory pleasantries and hugs, both of which Seto stoically refrained.
"We didn't. She found us," Mokuba explained, "She's Gozaburo Kaiba's biological daughter."
"And she doesn't know?"
Kaiba shook his head. "She hasn't mentioned anything of it, so we are assuming she hasn't."
"What do you plan to do?"
"We don't plan on telling her unless the occasion calls for it," Kaiba replied. "You can't just push that on someone, especially when there's no benefit to her or anyone else."
Ishizu narrowed her eyes at Seto in a hint of confusion. Wouldn't Sabrina regaining her memories benefitted him? It confused her, but he did have a point."
"What we are looking into here is why her soul isn't sealed in some random gigantic stone table," Mokuba noted. "Her soul should be there with the dragon, right?"
Ishizu thought before replying. "I did always think it odd that the Valley of Kings has been picked over for centuries now, but no one has ever found the tables. Not one, not a portion of one. I always assumed that either grave robbers had taken them off or that the Pharaoh Atem insisted they never be found, either by destruction or serious concealment. Perhaps the stones have long been destroyed and the souls have moved into their original owners."
"Does that mean their monsters, their ka's, moved in with them?" Yugi asked.
"I haven't the faintest clue," Ishizu shook her head in disappointment, "Nothing in the tomb-keepers libraries mentions any of this: ka's being released, souls being reincarnated, or any major event after the Pharaoh's battle with Zorc. But all of this has to be pointed at something. The woman from your past, resistance to our presence here, and the timing of all of it. I may not have my necklace anymore, but I can see Fate's hand is at work bringing us back together like this."
"I brought us back together like this," Kaiba countered her, "Kisara surfacing is one thing, but claiming it is connected to my new VR project AND the issues with Coliseum are more than a little unfounded. Not everything is the will of the gods."
Ishizu scoffed but smiled dryly. "You always were the doubter, Seto. You had more faith when you were a priest." Kaiba jerked his head to send her a steely glare and was met with an equally steadfast glare in return. His lips pursed as if he were trying to bite his tongue, and the slightest tilt of Ishizu's head dared him to speak his mind.
"Faith or none, we need to be patient and observe for now," Yugi said to interrupt the flow of the conversation before it turned hostile, "We need to make sure we're doing the right thing before we proceed."
"He's right," Mokuba piped in, attempting to reinforce the change of topic.
"Then we proceed with caution," Kaiba agreed. Mokuba and Yugi nodded in agreement.
Ishizu left quietly to ensure she didn't wake anyone, as the three roommates settled down to sleep. They had travelled for 24 straight hours but she had only flown with them for three hours and was nowhere near tired enough to sleep. She knew the city well and decided to walk the streets a bit to contemplate this new turn of events. She returned just after dusk to find all three rooms were dark except for Dzam's laptop.
"It's weird," Yugi said in the darkness to no one in particular, "I've been on so many world-ending, date with destiny quests, but this is the first time Joey, Tea and Tristan aren't here with me. It feels a little lonely."
"So, we don't count?" Mokuba asked, feeling a little offended.
"No, its just…we were a really tight knit crew once. I miss that."
"Well…" Moki mused, "Maybe it's time you made some new friends."
"Yeah. Maybe you're right."