Challenge Name/Number: #104--Universe Alterations
Drabble Title: The KaibaCorp Affair
Word Count: 600
Warnings: none
Pairings: none
Summary: Everything is the same except the events of Yu-Gi-Oh take place in the 1960s--and Cold War drama leads to an international criminal group going after gaming companies that used to be military, and using the power of the Orichalcos stones to get them [takes place post-KC Grand Prix, pre-Pharaoh's Memory; contains characters and themes from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but you don't need to know anything about the show to read this]
Seto Kaiba stared in exasperated annoyance as the two men-a blond and a brunet--placed a small, green stone on his desk.
“Does that stone signify anything to you, Mr. Kaiba?” the brunet asked.
“Yeah,” Seto grunted. “Those Orichalcos stones that those crazy cultists claimed could tap into some hocus-pocus power and bring monsters to life. I recommend talking to Yugi Muto; he’ll tell you all about them.”
“We’ve already spoken to him; he told us a great deal about what he believed these stones to be,” the blond said.
“Then why are you here?” Seto asked.
“Because it was rather hard to believe,” the blond went on. “I would like your opinion on what these stones are.”
The CEO arched an eyebrow; hearing a rational voice for once was a breath of fresh air after all the prattle about Pharaohs and Atlantis.
“Distractions,” Seto declared.
“But, Seto…” Mokuba said, speaking at last. “You can’t deny that something happened to you when you dueled Dartz!”
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t because of some tiny rock,” the CEO declared.
“Let’s forget about that for now,” the brunet said. “Mr. Kaiba, I don’t know if your secretary told you exactly who we are--”
“Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin of the U.N.C.L.E.-they told me,” Seto said. “But I fail to see why you’ve found the need to come here. This is a gaming company; anything earthshaking that is developed here is for entertainment purposes only.”
“You used to be a company that produced military equipment, were you not?” Illya asked. “Recent developments have gotten the international criminal organization THRUSH interested in private military equipment to sway the Cold War in their favor.”
“You are familiar with THRUSH?” Napoleon asked.
“I’ve heard of them,” Seto admitted. “But I would assume that they wouldn’t have any interest in a company that no longer has any military connection.”
“Siegfried von Schroeder thought the same thing,” Illya said, plainly. “He vanished without a trace, and one of these green stones was found on his desk. We believe that THRUSH was involved.”
“And you think they’ll come for KaibaCorp next?” Seto asked.
“Considering that your company, like Schroeder Corp, started out as a producer of military equipment, it’s not an unreasonable conclusion to arrive at,” Napoleon said.
“And you’re here just to warn me about this?”
“And provide you with protection from U.N.C.L.E., if you choose to accept it,” Illya said. “If THRUSH gets ahold of private military equipment, it would be disastrous to our goal of maintaining world peace.”
“We don’t want the Cold War to heat up,” Napoleon agreed. “However, THRUSH has other ideas.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Seto said. “However, I’m a busy man. And I’m confident in the competency of my security staff.”
“So was Siegfried,” Mokuba said. “Seto, I think we should listen to them.”
“I’m not going to live my life in fear, Mokuba,” Seto responded.
“She said you’d say that,” Napoleon mused.
“…‘She?’ You wouldn’t be talking about a girl named Gardner, would you?”
“Ah, no,” Napoleon said. “Though she was on the list of people our informant asked us to alert; it’s why we already spoke to Mr. Muto.”
“…If it isn’t Gardner, then who is your informant?” Seto asked.
“We’re not at liberty to say at the present, but she wished to relate that she wanted to make amends to all she had hurt-yourself, and Mr. Muto and his compatriots, with special interest to a Mr. Wheeler.”
Seto blinked.
“Valentine…” he murmured. He exhaled. “Very well, Gentlemen, perhaps I will accept your help after all.”