Mokuba parked the golf cart by the return area and hopped out, feeling Shizuka follow him and ask, "...Hope you're not gonna be grounded for that."
"He'll thank me when he'salive to ground me," Mokuba muttered as he made his way through the row of cars back to their car. He tapped his phone to unlock it and paused when he realized… If he could fuck with a guy's car, that guy could fuck with their car right back.
"What? Are you okay?" Shizuka asked quietly and Mokuba shook his head and began to circle the car, calling over the hood, "check our tires! That guy might have touched our car if we touched his."
Oooo, Shizuka nodded gravely and bent down to check all the wheels on her side of the car, noticing an odd lump tucked into the wheel well, so she reached in and extracted it, feeling it come away in her hand.
It looked like a sensor. It was a black, plastic square lump.
W-Would it explode?!
"M-Mokuba?! I found something…" She whispered and Mokuba came running over to see, standing at her elbow and grabbing it from her hand to inspect it.
"It's a GPS tag," Mokuba muttered as he turned the magnetic tracker over in his hands and glared at the blinking green light. "Fuck this guy. Let's find another car to stick it on."
He walked three rows down and attached it on the underside of a commercial van with a window washing logo, and dusted his hands off. There. Done.
"That's it?" Shizuka wondered as she circled the car to inspect the other four wheels too. Everything looked normal…
"We should get out of here," Mokuba growled as he gripped his phone. "Let's say we're hungry or something so we can all leave. Who knows what that guy is planning?"
"Weren't we gonna eat here?" Shizuka replied as she crossed her arms. "We had a reservation inside for a table. Our golfing day was supposed to end at 7 with dinner at the 19th hole."
"We're all gonna be in a hole, 6 feet under, if we don't leave now!" Mokuba cried as he dug his phone out to text Seto. "Get your brother and Auntie Anzu on board. If they wanna eat somewhere in the city, Seto and Yami won't argue. Let's not hang around here and be targets with zero cover." Mokuba gestured at the lack of trees and buildings around them, his panic heightening.
In all his strategy games with Yami's Grandpa, being out in the open like this was always a choke point, which meant game over.
Anyone could get them from the windows, any nearby cars, or just driving by on the green.
It would make assassination attempts easy.
This meant Yami and Seto needed to get off the field ASAP.
Shizuka nodded and pulled her phone out to call Joey.
Mokuba pressed the phone to his ear and decided to grovel to Seto and apologize for the tantrum. He didn't care how it made him look.
What mattered was that they went back to the city now.
Mahad sat down for his fifth cup of coffee for the day, pulling out his phone to see if the CEO had left the premises yet.
It was 8:30, and the restaurant had filled up and then emptied.
They were closing at 9.
A waiter had come out to let everyone know the kitchen was taking last calls.
No one resembling Kaiba, or the little Kaiba had come in to eat, which led Mahad to think something was wrong.
He checked the GPS dot on his screen and frowned.
He'd go out and see for himself.
Standing up with a tired sigh, Mahad walked out of the restaurant, through the building, and out into the darkening parking lot, mildly annoyed to see it was almost empty.
The limo was nowhere to be seen, and that made his stomach twist.
W-What?! How and when did they leave?!
The GPS…
Mahad narrowed his eyes and followed the coordinates, hearing it beeping when he passed a white van with large doors.
He skidded to a halt and heard his GPS beep again, coming from the trunk of the van, so he knelt and saw it attached underneath the exhaust pipe.
Snarling in rage, Mahad ripped it off the van and clenched it in his fist. MOKUBA KAIBA!
That little brat was smarter than he looked.
That was it.
He was going after Seto Kaiba with no holds barred.
That CEO was going to die, merely because his kid brother was a piece of shit.
And then when Mokuba Kaiba turned 18, he'd deliver that boy a present too.
Damn this irritating family.
He understood everyone's fascination with them now.
He'd spent all day–a total of 9 hours–on the field, trying to gather information on the mogul on his day off, and got run around by his little brat brother, who had also managed to throw off his tail, essentially wasting his time.
No matter, because he knew where the Kaiba's lived.
Growling to himself, Mahad strode to his car and yanked the door open, throwing himself into the driver's seat and starting the engine with a furious button press.
The dashboard lit up and gave him a solid warning sign in Japanese, which confused him further, but he started the car anyway, and a loud pinging sound echoed from the speakers.
Furious, Mahad fiddled with the settings until he found the language setting for English and realized the problem.
His tire pressures were low.
That was impossible, since this car was practically new–a mechanically sound rental.
He threw himself out of the car to glance down at his tires, noting that the edge touching the ground had flattened completely.
GREAT.
Absolutely wonderful.
That little heathen Mokuba Kaiba had done this, undoubtedly as another way to slow him down.
Well… This was the last straw.
He'd storm the mansion gates and go directly to the source.
That little kid was going to be taught a harsh lesson in messing with an adult.
Mokuba was playing a game by the pool with his calves soaking in the water while Shizuka sat off to the edge, painting her nails, the scent of the lacquer mixing in with chlorine, hitting the back of his throat in an unpleasant way.
His phone buzzed with a weird pulsing ping, and he frowned, wondering what setting that was, and his stomach dropped to his feet when he saw the golf ball dot alerting him of 'your ball is 6 kilometers away! Grab a cart and start driving northeast!'
"Fuccccccccck! ….Shizuka?!" Mokuba raised his head frantically, trying to stay calm. "That scary guy is coming."
Shizuka snapped her head up and frowned. What? Really?!
"It's like 9:30, what's he gonna do? Climb the walls?" She asked with a nose wrinkle, and Mokuba sprang into action, not even saving his game when he received another ping.
"Your ball is 5 kilometers away! Grab a cart and start driving northeast!"
"He's at the light, a few streets away, what do we do?!" Mokuba cried as he stuck his wet feet into his slippers, ready to run upstairs to tell Yami. "What if he has guns? What if…What if he has bombs?!"
"Okay, it's gonna be fine! We're gonna be fine!" Shizuka stood up slowly with her hands still drying, and she stuck the foam between her fingers. "I'll answer the door and pretend to live here. We can lure him into a trap."
"What if he hurts you?!" Mokuba shrieked, and that shouting drew Isono to come rushing to the pool side.
"What's the matter young Master?" Isono bowed and wrinkled his nose at the scent of nail polish lingering in the air.
"A scary guy who stalked us at the golf course is coming here," Shizuka said solemnly. "He's probably out to hurt Seto and Mokuba, and we haven't told Yami or Seto yet because…they're relaxing."
I see, Isono curled his fingers into his blazer lapel, ready to grab a weapon from the basement. Well, they had guards stationed inside too…
"He's right outside…" Mokuba said warningly as he raised his phone to read the notification. "Your ball is two kilometers away, that's the front door–"
Sure enough, Isono felt his phone buzz with a doorbell notification, and he slid it out to see an unfamiliar black car pulled up by their gates where a stiff suit-wearing man leaned his elbow out the window and flipped open his badge.
"Police, please open," Mahad growled as he waved the stolen badge in front of the doorbell camera. He just needed to get inside the house, and once inside…
He would find the boy, the CEO, and end their miserable existences.
Leaning back into the car to wait, Mahad rested his hands on the wheel, glaring at the multiple balconies and the shimmering fountain. Filthy rich.
How Atem was unable to hit this man was a mystery.
Or maybe it wasn't a mystery.
The Kaibachild had thwarted him at the golf course.
He wasn't going to go easy on the kid anymore.
The black gates slowly rolled open and Mahad nodded to himself. Good.
He pulled the car in and parked beside the fountain, keeping his gun tucked in his blazer while he stood gracefully out of the vehicle and shut the door. Since he was masquerading as 'police', he could openly carry a gun.
Perks of the badge.
To his surprise, a young girl opened the heavy doors and rushed out to greet him wearing slippers and a bathrobe over swimwear. She had a beauty mask on, her hair up in a towel, and her nails still drying on a foam stuck between her fingers.
Mahad could only gape in shock.
Who was this? It didn't matter.
Wasn't anyone important.
"Hi welcome," the girl chirped, looking no older than 16. "Come inside, who are you looking for?"
"Mokuba or Seto Kaiba," Mahad growled, reaching into his blazer to pull out the badge again, seeing her tense and tilt her head to the side, undoubtedly frightened by the sight of authority.
"Okay, this way," she hummed and led him into the large house.
Stopping by the front doors, she instructed him to take off his shoes, and a manservant bowed forward to offer him slippers, so Mahad stuck his feet into them, wincing when he felt the purchase tag sticking to the inside of his soles.
Would it kill these people to take the tags off before letting guests use the item?!
"They're down here," the girl said, leading him to the elevator and tapping a button with a finger covered in blue nail polish. "What…are you from?"
Mahad blinked and his ears hummed when he couldn't understand the Japanese.
What…where was he from?
"My Japanese is bad, please say again," Mahad muttered, nodding politely.
"Division. What division are you from?" Shizuka repeated pointedly, trying not to shake as the man towered over her.
Just a little more….!
Come on, the elevator was taking so LONG!
But at least this guy didn't act violent the second he stepped out of the car.
Mokuba's fear had been, 'guy steps out and shoots you in the head instantly'.
And she'd argued that coming out in a beauty mask to obscure her face was disarming.
Turns out she was right, because this guy was biding his time, acting 'normal'.
"Division?" Mahad repeated, trying to understand the word.
Damn, he was so rusty.
He only had three months to rush-learn Japanese before coming to this country…
Was she asking what section of police he was from?
Ah, he didn't have an answer ready.
"I'm from–" was all he managed to say when the elevator doors opened, and a blond man jumped out at him and threw him in a chokehold. The girl beside him elbowed him in the stomach, disarming him by taking his gun in an instant, and he was kicked in the groin so hard, he saw stars, but wasn't able to shout in pain because the arms around his neck were suffocating him, making his vision swim as he tried to fight back, but realized…he was weak for some reason.
His fingers slipped on the man's sleeve, and after a few dark curses, he passed out cold.
Stepping back and holding the gun out for Isono to take, Shizuka plucked the manicure foam off her hands and watched Joey check the guy's pulse and pat him down some more.
A knife was in an ankle holster.
Three other ID badges were inside his inner pocket.
Two phones, car keys, a wallet, and another small pocket knife.
"Who is this guy?" Shizuka wrinkled her nose and peeled the sheet mask off her face.
"Dunno, but let's get'im out of the walkway," Joey said seriously as he grabbed the guy by the armpits and dragged him into the elevator. Isono came forward to help with the tall man's legs, and he plucked the slippers off the man's feet, revealing the four flesh-covered patches stuck to his heels.
"Good thing we had those," Joey said conversationally as they traveled lower, and the elevator doors opened on the lab floor, where they dragged the large man out to the middle of the room where Anzu and Mokuba had a fold-up metal chair waiting.
With some effort, they propped him up into it and Anzu began tying him up with practiced tugs of the rope.
Mokuba watched this silently, trying to feel relaxed. The threat had been apprehended.
Anzu even took a photo of the guy and ID'd him in her database. He came up as a citizen belonging to the country of Egypt–he wasn't lying about that, but his status as a General Intelligence Service agent was 'discharged'.
A.k.a fired.
"You sure it doesn't mean…" Joey made a finger gun. "Bang?"
"Discharged pretty much means fired," Anzu had to explain patiently. "Not 'discharging a gun'. It means he's been 'let go'."
"'Kay, so what's a fired GIS agent doing here, a million miles away from his home, trying to k-word me or Seto?" Mokuba growled, crossing his arms in irritation. "When's he gonna wake up so I can ask him?"
"Two hours, since you guys gave him four sedative patches," Anzu replied, her voice echoing in the spacious lab. "Pizza and a movie while we wait?"
Mokuba let out a huff and nodded, walking to the elevator, trying to feel relieved.
Threat neutralized…sort of.
Yami's grandpa said threats were only really neutralized if they were dead, and he wanted to agree.
Mahad woke up slowly and stared at his own feet, groggy and sore.
Goddamn…
He hadn't let his guard down, but the young girl wearing the beauty mask had led him into a trap. Where was he?
He lifted his head and realized he couldn't move his entire body. He'd been bound from the neck down with a set of intricate knots and his fingers were going numb.
What the …hell?!
He glanced around the barren room, taking in the low ceiling, the lab equipment, the fingerprint scanners on the lockers with the hazard material sign, and….the silver doors of an elevator.
This was a bunker?! He was about to be killed here, he was sure of it.
Jerking his body against the ropes, Mahad let out an hiss and began to yell, pretty sure the walls were sound proofed, but he would yell anyway.
"HELLO?! ….SOMEBODY?! …UNTIE ME!" Mahad heard his own voice echoing back at him, muffled, and he hung his head in defeat.
Was he deficient? He'd never encountered so many pitfalls in any of his old jobs.
What the hell was happening in the world?!
Was he rusty or was the Kaiba mansion really impenetrable?
And I'm going to die here, forgotten! Mahad raged as he opened his mouth to let out another shout, "HELP! SOMEBODY!"
Isono reached into his blazer pocket when his phone buzzed with a notification.
Movement, in the basement. Their GIS agent was awake.
He glanced up and noticed all four individuals sleeping soundly on the lounges, with the TV still on. Joey was slumped over in the single arm chair with a bowl of popcorn in his lap.
Shizuka was curled up under a blanket, her phone on her chest, while Anzu was beside her, her head drooped to the side while her shoulders rose and fell. Mokuba was horizontal on the longest part of the couch, snoring lightly.
Ah…
Time to alert Master Kaiba at last it seemed.
Walking dutifully up the steps to enter the bedroom, Isono paused and decided to knock first.
After accidentally walking in on the master naked with Yami, he didn't want another embarrassing incident like that again.
Kaiba pried his eyes open when he heard Isono knocking, so he palmed his face and inched out of bed, careful not to disturb the sheets for Yami. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it on, sleepily searching for his pants.
The time beaming on his phone screen was 1:02 AM.
Okay, what did Isono want…?
Trudging over to the door, Kaiba pulled it open and saw Isono bow and say quietly, "sir, there's someone in the basement for you."
Whaaaat…. Seto palmed his face harder and bit back a yawn. Okay.
He eased the bedroom door shut and walked down the grand staircase, passing the entertainment lounge on the 4th floor and seeing everyone fast asleep while a movie was still playing. Mokuba's telltale snores were echoing lightly over the sound of the dialogue.
Joey looked close to spilling popcorn all over the floor.
"Take care of that, won't you?" Seto gestured at the sleeping guests and rolled his eyes.
Isono nodded stiffly and moved to clean up after Joey, and mainly Joey.
Kaiba stepped into the elevator and leaned sleepily on the railing as it traveled lower, and he paused when he could hear muffled yelling when the doors opened into the lab's hallway.
"Someone! …HELP ME!" A deep, man's voice was shouting for help.
Annoyed, Kaiba strode forward to throw the doors open and was met with the sight of a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man with shoulder-length hair, bound with kinbaku knots to a metal chair and struggling against the restraints.
Kaiba blinked and felt a laugh climbing up his chest. What the…?!
Kinky much?
Who was this?!
"YOU! Seto Kaiba! …Fuck you!" Mahad spat as he glared at the CEO who was smirking at him from the doorway.
"Aw," Kaiba taunted and he turned on his heel to walk away, wondering if this was Yami's idea of a fun present. They hadn't talked about a threesome, but again, Yami was weird about asking for things, and he kinda disapproved of this guy anyway.
And he always thought they'd try a threesome with someone they both picked from a list of carefully curated files–that was his own assumptions speaking….
He passed Isono on the way back to the elevator, and the manservant looked shocked and out of breath.
"I-Is everything okay?" Isono asked breathlessly, wondering if he needed to call some guards. "He's hostile."
"Yeah I can see that…." Kaiba bit back another yawn and rolled his neck, aching and still sleepy from all the rigorous sex. "I'll talk to Yami about him."
Isono blinked slowly and asked, "...are you …sure, sir? It won't trigger an…episode?"
"Why would it?" Kaiba shrugged and stepped out of the elevator to walk back to his bedroom, eager for more sleep. "Good night. Thanks for letting me know."
He shut the door in Isono's face and slowly walked back across the room to fall in bed beside Yami, snuggling into him and feeling him wake up slightly to pat him on the cheek.
"...Water…?" Yami mumbled, and Kaiba sank into the pillows, muttering, "Sorry, didn't bring any. Isono is right outside though…. Wanna talk about the basement guy… later, okay?"
Yami blinked and was instantly awake. Basement guy?!
"W-What?" Yami sat up slowly and stared into Seto's handsome face beside him. "What basement guy?"
"Hmmm…? Your basement guy…." Seto replied with a tired mumble, his eyelids fluttering as he kept them closed after trying to open them. "...Work tomorrow, dammit. Talk more later….Gotta wake up at…5… meeting…"
"I'm getting some water," Yami said steadily, and he saw Seto fall back asleep within minutes.
He swung his legs over the edge and hastily found his clothes. Glancing down at his body, he decided to take a quick shower before leaving the room.
He draped the damp towel around the back of his neck to catch water dripping from his bangs, and he stepped out of the room, noting that Isono was gone, so Yami headed to the floor below for a glass of water, passing the entertainment lounge where everyone was sprawled out, asleep.
Soft blankets covered Anzu and Shizuka in the middle section of the couch, while Joey and Mokuka were asleep in their respective corners of the room. The TV was idling, so Yami walked over to turn it off, and he gave the room a protective nod.
Cute.
Everyone had passed out together. The movie must've been boring.
Grabbing a glass from the kitchen, Yami filled it up and took a long draft, taking it with him to the elevator to tap the basement button. The silver doors slid shut in his face as he traveled down, and even before the doors opened, he could hear…yelling, in English.
"SOMEONE! …ANYONNNNNNNE?! …. SETO KAIBA FUCK YOU! …MOKUBA KAIBA, YOU TOO!"
Nervous, Yami stepped out and gripped the water glass harder, inching forward and hearing the man continue to shout, "FUCK! YOU! ….SOMEONE LET ME OUT!"
The voice sounded…familiar.
Pushing the door open a fraction of an inch, Yami peeked inside and almost dropped his glass of water when he recognized… Mahad, bound tightly to the chair from shoulders down in a series of complicated, intricate knots reserved for Japanese bondage, and Yami blinked.
Who…was reserving Mahad here…to fuck him?!
Pushing the door open and pressing a finger to his lips, Yami gestured for quiet, and Mahad's eyes widened in shock as he recognized angular eyes framed by spiky bangs. A wave of relief overwhelmed him so much that he sagged down into the knots while hanging his head.
Atem.
Alive.
Thank the gods.
And he'd come here to…free him?! Or execute?
Yami darted forward and set the glass of water down on the nearest lab table, bursting with questions, but Mahad began non-stop ranting in Arabic, not giving him room to speak.
"Atem! Thank goodness!...You're alive! I thought they'd killed you! How did you get in? No, nevermind that! We need to get out of here immediately! The Kaiba family–they're insane!"
Yami was about to kneel and free him when he paused and took a step back, crossing his arms with a frown.
"How are you here? What happened?" Yami began, and Mahad replied with more angry ranting.
"That little brat, Mokuba Kaiba, wasted my entire day at the golf course. He let the air out of my tires, then struck down my drone with a golf ball, and taunted me by taking a photo of my face!" Mahad barked. "I came here intending to kill Seto Kaiba for killing you! But seeing as how you're fine, I'm ready to leave this place. Happy to see you, Atem."
Yami's blood ran cold and he gently reached for his water glass to take a sip, trying to avoid eye contact with Mahad while he asked a question to the rim of his cup, "but I'm alive. Do you still want to kill him?"
"Which one?" Mahad growled, wondering why Atem still hadn't untied him. "Both of them. My hands are going numb. I don't know who moved me here or tied me like this, but a young girl wearing a beauty mask kicked me in the balls, and then another guard with blond hair tackled me to the ground. I intend to find them all and make them die painful deaths!"
Oh no, Yami thought with a small smirk and he set the water glass down with a clink.
That sounded like Joey, and Shizuka, and which meant the knots were Anzu's doing, with Mokuba antagonizing Mahad until he'd ended up here. They'd lured him into the basement and were probably planning on interrogating him.
"Where are your weapons and things?" Yami asked as he scanned the lab, seeing a pile of passports on one of the surfaces. "Ah, found them."
"Yes… Let me out of these ropes," Mahad began, and his heart sank as he watched Atem behave with…too much familiarity, acting too casual. In fact, he was dressed in what looked like bed clothes, and he had a towel draped around his neck.
His hair was damp and his body language was relaxed.
Yami sifted through the IDs and noted that the passport was current, and Mahad had only come in armed with one small pistol, and two knives. Not really the killing cavalry since Mahad didn't even bring extra bullets.
"You weren't really going to kill him, right?" Yami asked with a friendly nod, trying to keep the cold twisting in his stomach at bay. "You didn't even bring a second magazine."
"Two shots to the head does not require a second mag," Mahd replied poisonously, giving the ropes another tug. "But you're fine, and that was my goal. I was worried about you. People were saying you were killed by him."
"By who?" Atem sounded distant, and Mahad wondered what had happened to his cousin.
"By Kaiba Seto!" Mahad exclaimed, no longer able to feel his arms from the elbow down. "Now let me out of here! What are you doing, acting so…carefree?"
Yami's eyes darkened and he set the glass of water down by the stack of IDs and weapons, talking to the rope knots spanning across Mahad's chest, "...Do you know he's extremely dangerous? And highly trained, even though he may not look it?"
"He… Kaiba? Yes! Both of them are menaces and I would like to go home. Let's go home, Atem," Mahad said with an encouraging nod. "I can get you on a plane. Then we can find Solomon, how's that sound?"
Yami raised his gaze to meet Mahad's angular eyes as he said softly, "Grandfather is here, with me."
Mahad blanked and he could no longer feel his arms from the shoulder down. A-Alright then, Atem was always the favorite, he knew that. Glad to know they were both alive.
Now there were more pressing matters at hand! Like leaving this wretched underground hole.
"And the rumors of my death are probably because I've gained amnesty as a citizen here in this country," Atem explained calmly, with no emotion in his voice, making Mahad freeze in his seat and wonder what had changed. "I live here now, peacefully."
Mahad weakened against the rope and sighed. "This means you don't want to return home with me. That's fine. I'm happy to know you're safe."
"You're not safe," Atem said, his eyes flashing as he glanced up to make direct eye contact again, sending a shiver down Mahad's spine. "You walked into this mansion and impersonated an officer of the law. I see that here…" A badge was nudged aside from the stack. "And the woman with long brown hair is head of National Security. She would've taken your face into the database. The blond man who you say tackled you is her assistant."
Mahad paled and his chest was starting to numb. W-What….was he hearing!?
"And the girl you said was wearing a beauty mask and kicked you in the groin? That's his sister," Atem continued, listing on his hand. "Mokuba Kaiba striking down your drone was probably the start of their assault on you. You're lucky you're still alive. Glad I found you in time and that Seto Kaiba was too tired to deal with you earlier."
It was getting harder to breathe, and Mahad stared at Atem's spiky hair until his vision blurred.
"You need to leave and I need to place you under protection of someone I can trust," Yami said thoughtfully, leaning on the edge of the lab table to stare at the array of IDs and weapons. "When they all wake up and find you gone, they'll methodically find you and probably kill you without my knowing, seeing as how…they kept you a secret from me all day."
Yami paused and felt a rush of pride.
Mokuba was protecting them the entire afternoon, how sweet.
"You were at the golf course?" Atem asked him, and Mahad nodded mutely.
Yes… He'd said that earlier…
"I was at the golf course, and did you know that?" Atem wondered, and Mahad shook his head in disbelief. He was only tracking Kaiba Seto's limousine.
How would he have known that?
And he hadn't seen anything because Mokuba had struck down his drone–protecting ATEM!
T-The child was a little covert agent in the making! He only thought Mokuba's actions were irritating and a bit childish. But now thinking back on it, they were all methodical, right down to letting the air out of his tires to slow him down. Giving them enough time to prepare this basement, and eat dinner, or something.
Yami nodded to himself and walked out of the lab to grab his phone, hearing Mahad calling frantically after him, "W-WAIT! Are you leaving me here?! Atem?! We're family! You can't let them kill me!"
"I won't," Yami replied with a calm nod, and he stepped into the elevator, riding up and meeting Isono on the stairs halfway, so he asked the manservant to bring him his phone.
Mahad sat stunned in the silence and hung his head, his lower body entirely numb now.
Was Atem training up Mokuba Kaiba? It sure felt like it.
Then what about Seto Kaiba?! He was missing something…
Sagging harder against the ropes, Mahad closed his eyes and felt a headache coming on. All he could do now was wait.
Author's note:
mahad has been added to pokedex
