Thank you to those of you who reviewed, and my hope is that you are not diappointed with this chapter!
I have next to no prior knowledge of how a nuclear bomb works. I just shifted the effects to fit the story. Hope you don't mind!
No matter what it may seem like, Yami will be in this story eventually. He will be a main character! I never have and probably never will write aYu-Gi-Oh! fic without Yami!
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"…and so you see, Mr. Kaiba, it is essential that we have a program intact, just in case the Demon succeeds in striking us." The government official sighed. "I hate to say it, but there is a very good chance a nuclear bomb will strike in Tokyo. We are so close to the city that…well……You understand, of course, why we asked you to do this."
The CEO the KaibaCorp, and the richest man in Japan, sighed. "I see." He murmured. "You will, of course, provide the money?"
The official looked taken back. "Uh…just a little is available, I'm afraid. Most is going to defend this country."
The young CEO growled in annoyance. "Oh, fine, fine. I'll do it. I was going to build a shelter for my brother and I, at any rate, and I don't fancy surviving just to find everyone else gone. Provide me with the list of people to pick from, and I'll choose whom I want to take into the fallout shelter with me."
The official looked nervous, and cleared his throat. "Well, you see, Mr. Kaiba, we don't have a list. The information on everyone within Domino is on the Net. We have yet to narrow it down…"
The younger man gave an annoyed hiss. "I see. So you want me to do everything, eh?"
The government official did not feel it wise to speak.
"Off with you. I'll figure things out."
The official gratefully bowed, and hastily exited.
A moment later, the door opened once more, and a young boy with wild raven colored hair came in. "Who was that, Seto?"
"Some person I could have happily gone the rest of my life without speaking to. Come here, little brother."
Obediently and eagerly, the boy complied.
Seto lifted the boy onto his lap, and turned him so that they were sitting face to face.
"Mokuba, you know about Demon and his Clan?"
"Of course, Big Brother." The younger boy replied, puzzled. "Everyone does."
"And you know, I presume, about the threat he has issued?"
"Hai, of course. Why?"
"If he does indeed carry through with his threat, which is probable, it is likely that a nuclear bomb will be aiming for us. We must be prepared. The government has asked KaibaCorp to build and run a nuclear fallout shelter."
Mokuba's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes. I was planning to build one for us, anyway. Now we will enlarge the plans, and make it so a group of people can survive long enough for the radiation to more or less clear out, and then we will rebuild. Several other shelters will be built in this country, but the expenses are so great that only a few can be completed in time. We are fortunate to be rich, are we not?" Seto grinned.
His brother smiled back. "We are, aren't we? Who shall we take with us?"
"That's why I wanted you here. We need to start right away. I feel that you should have a say in what people you'll be living with if anything really happens."
"Awesome! Let's get started!"
Seto chuckled. Turning around, he commanded his computer to pull up the Domino City Database.
"Now then, how should we start?"
Mokuba looked thoughtful. "We need people in their prime. Old people may have experience, but not in this kind of stuff. We need people who can help rebuild."
"So, teens, and young men. Children too young will only get in the way." Seto nodded.
"What about me?" the child looked hurt.
The CEO laughed. "You need not worry. I won't leave you. Besides, you're smarter than lots of high schoolers out there."
The boy grinned. "Pull up the search results, Big Brother."
On October 21st, 2045, the KaibaCorp fallout shelter was completed.
We find the Kaiba brothers in their favorite study room, for there were many in their mansion. The younger was sited upon his brother's lap. They were together pouring over several pages full of text.
"I think we've got it, Little Brother." The young CEO sounded pleased. "These people will be the future of Domino City. The probability that a missile will hit near here is almost 100. We did well to be prepared."
"The deadline is almost here." his brother added. "We'll need to move in soon, and inform these people to say goodbye to their families."
The elder nodded. "Let's see now…one last time, then. The shelter will hold ten people. We are, of course, two of them. Of the eight remaining, though, only one is a female. Do we think this is wise?"
Mokuba nodded. "We've been through this. She'll survive. She's young and healthy. Besides we need more man power to rebuild."
"And if she doesn't survive? That could put us at risk."
"KaibaCorp has the best of technology." Mokuba pointed out. "She'll be fine."
"Fine, then. Let's go call these people up."
October 29th, 2045
"Is this everybody?"
Seto and his brother stood at the door of what would be their home for the next few years. In front of them gathered a group of teens. Some looked excited, some scared. One was crying his eyes out. These were the people whom they would be living with for a long time to come.
Demon had announced yesterday that his missiles were poised. If, when the clock struck midnight, announcing the beginning of November, the world has not bowed before him, the missiles will fly. To where, he would not say.
Seto looked around. The shelter was as prepared as it could possibly be. Now all they needed were the people.
"We're one short." Mokuba muttered. "We only have seven of them."
The CEO sighed in exasperation. "The appointed meeting time was five minutes ago! Does he think this is a joke?!"
On cue, a tall blonde teen raced into view. Skidding to a stop in front of them he managed to gasped out, though his panting, "I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Kaiba, sir."
"You should be! We will not tolerate lateness here! You have made a bad first impression!"
The teen cringed. "I'm really sorry, but I was saying goodbye to my younger sister…"
Seto's eyes softened for a moment at these words, but instantly became serious once more. "Don't let it happen again." He commanded. "Alright everyone, listen up."
At once, all eyes were set upon him.
"Roll call. Stand in a straight line, left to right, in front of me. When I say your name, step forward, and tell us a little about yourself. Anything basic you think we need to know. I'm sure you're aware that we will be living together for a long time. We'll need to get used to each other. Form the line."
Silently, the group arranged themselves accordingly.
"Good. Let's begin. Tristan Taylor."
The tallest teen, one with brown hair and brown eyes, stepped forward from the line. "My name is Tristan Taylor. I'm eighteen years old, and will be turning nineteen in four months. I am – was – a senior at Tokyo High School. I enjoy sports. I have an older sister and a nephew." He swallowed. "And that's it." With that, he stepped back into the line.
Seto nodded once. "Téa Gardener."
The lone girl stepped forward. She was a brunette, with sky-blue eyes.
"I'm Téa Gardener. I turned seventeen years old last week. I enjoy the arts, especially dancing. I'm a junior at the Arts and Communication Private School, and I'm an only child."
Seto nodded once again, seeing she was done. "Malik Asira."
This time, a bleach blonde, dark eyed, defiant looking teen stepped out. "My name is Malik. You will all call me Malik. Truth be told, I'm not ecstatic in the least about this opportunity to live with the lot of you. I accepted because you'll feed me. I've lived on the streets my whole life, and I will not take your crap. Thank you."
Seto stifled the urge to go and box the boy on the head. He would show them all who was the boss soon enough. "Bakura Takashi."
A platinum white haired teen stepped forward, scowling. "The name's Bakura. You call me anything else, I will punch you face out. First off," he stalked over to Malik and stared the slightly taller boy in the face. "Let me make one thing clear. I will not take any of your shit. You stay away from me, and you can bet I'll stay away from you." Going back to his original spot, he continued. "I'm a thief. I'll let you all know that now. I steal to survive. Should you give me food, and stay on my good side, you'll find nothing of yours missing. That is all you need to know."
Seto rolled his eyes. He had picked Bakura only because he had looked tough enough to not wimp out at the last second, and would be useful in the rebuilding process. "Alrighty then. Ryou Samadhi."
A shorter teen with snowy white hair interestingly similar to Bakura's stepped timidly forward. "My name's Ryou. I'm sixteen years old. I like Arts, Language, and Social Studies. I…uh…would like to get along with everybody here, if possible." Hurriedly, he stepped back, face flushed.
Seto almost groaned. Great. So some of them were too confident, and some were wimps. "Thank you. Joey Wheeler?"
The blonde teen who had come late came up. "I'm Joey, I'm eighteen, and I like soccer, or any other sport, really. I hate school. I like to eat. I've got a little sister named Serenity, and she's the sweetest girl on the face of this earth."
Seto almost smiled at that. "Right. Marik Ishtar."
Another bleach-blonde teen, this one with hair a little neater, came forward. "Right. I'm Marik. I've got an older sister and an older brother. I loath the prison they call school, and I skip whenever I can. I'm seventeen, and I haven't a friend in this universe, so there you are."
Not another one. Seto mentally moaned. Aloud, he said, "Ok. Lastly…Yugi Mouto?"
The shortest of the group, the one who had been crying, stepped forward, head down slightly. His hair was muti-colored, mostly black, and red at the tips with blonde bangs. It stuck up, defying gravity. Seto could tell his wide eyes were an interesting shade of purple. "My name is Yugi. I'm sixteen. I like games – all kinds of games. I have a grandfather whom I live with, and my parents are archeologists. I…like to get along with everybody." That said, he backed off.
Mokuba jumped right in. "Great! Well, I'm Mokuba Kaiba, Seto's younger brother. I'm twelve years old and the vice president of KaibaCorp. I like computer games and video games, and I hope we all get along!" the boy beamed.
"And I'm Seto Kaiba, the CEO of KaibaCorp, as you all know. I'm nineteen, and I'm in charge here. All this was paid for with my own money. You are the people I've picked to be Domino's future. When the bomb hits, the city will be wiped out. Countless people will die. There's no escaping it. We don't know when exactly Demon will aim for us. Could be right away, could be days, or months, from now. His technology is good enough that there will not be enough time to deflect the bombs. I picked a well diverse group, to preserve into our future a little bit of everything. Fallout shelters are few. There're only so many people we can save." The young man eyed the group. "Once you step through this door behind me, there will be no backing out. You will have to see these nine people around you day after day perhaps for years on end, until the radioactivity settles down. Then you will be responsible for taking part in rebuilding. If anyone wants out, go now."
Nobody moved.
"Alright, then. If you're sure…" he turned around, and pressed his finger on the fingerprint scanner. The machine beeped, and the steel door opened to reveal a staircase leading underground.
"Follow me." He said, and started down. Behind him, the others formed a single file line and came after him.
Step after step they descended, going deeper and deeper into the earth. Electric lights installed into the metal walls on either side lit the steps.
Then the steps came to an end, and opened up into a chamber.
Seto stopped there, and the others filed out behind him. There were gasps of surprise. "Wow." Joey breathed.
"This, my friends, is your new home." Seto swept out an arm. "Welcome to the shelter we call Haven."
The walls of Haven were all metal. The floor was carpeted. There was what looked like a fireplace. Two big chairs and two sofas formed a circle around it. There were electric lights in the ceiling, and a clock with the date in the center hung on a wall. There were paintings on the walls: paintings of all kinds, original works by the most gifted artists in human history. There were sculptures in the corners. And books! There were book shelves lined from top to bottom with every kind of book imaginable. There was a TV installed in wall above the fireplace. There was a sound system, and stacks of sound recordings. There were five computers. There was a foosball table, something people still enjoyed playing. There were board games, and electronic games. All in one room. It wasn't small by any means, but neither was it very big; certainly not as big as the living room of the Kaiba mansion. But the room had a cozy feeling to it that made it feel like home.
"This is the living room. Follow me." He led them down a hall. "This is the kitchen." There was a huge fridge, and a big table. There was a stove, a quickheater, a toaster, and an oven. Pointing to a door, the teen informed his companions that it was the door leading to the food storage underneath them.
Next came the study. There, more books awaited them, and two more computers. There was a piano, and instruments of every kind lined a shelf.
"Now, I will show you your rooms. You will all be bunking with a roommate, with the exception of Téa. Since there is an odd number, to make things fair, you will draw to decided who has the room of three." From his pocket, he took a small box, which he held out. "There are seven slips, each with a number. The person with the matching number is you roommate."
"And you?" Joey asked.
"I will share with my brother. He needs me."
All seven boys reached in, and took a slip.
"One." Joey read. "Who's got the other one?"
"Me." Tristan replied.
"I've got a three. Who's the lucky victim?" Malik smirked.
"Thank goodness it's not me," Bakura growled.
Seto silently agreed.
"I've got the three." Marik sighed. "Lucky me."
"Just what are you implying!?"
"I hate your guts!" the shorter boy snapped back.
"I've got a one." Yugi said softly, going up to Joey, who grinned. "Great, bud! We can be pals, the three of us."
Ryou eyed Bakura nervously. "So…uh…I guess this means we will be together…"
The taller teen scowled. "Just don't get in my way, kid."
Meekly, Ryou nooded.
"Well, there you are. Down the hall are the rooms. Téa, go down the hall and take a left. Your room is at the end. The first room you come to is the biggest on. The group of three gets that one. The other two are identical. Take you pick. To get to my room, you will go down the hall and take a right. It's at the end. We'll figure out duties later. Lunch is past, dinner is at eight. Until then, settle in. Mokuba, come." With that, the two walked away disappeared into their room.
"Come on, you two, let's go see our room!" Joey beckoned, and led his two roommates away. Téa went to check out her own room. The remaining groups walked up to the spot where two doors sat at opposite sides of the hall.
"Well, he said there were identical…I'll take left, you take right." Malik told Bakura.
"Hold it! I want right!" Marik snapped.
"Why?" his partner demanded.
"Because you wanted left!"
"Oh, shut your trap, fool!" the taller boy growled.
"Morons," Bakura muttered. He grabbed Ryou. "Come on, kid, let's go." He yanked the left door open and stalked in, dragging the other boy behind him and slammed the door.
Malik smirked at Marik, and opened the right door. "You coming or what?"
Having no choice, Marik walked in, grumbling to himself.
In his room, Seto couldn't help but feel that he was in for a heck of a time with this group.
He was thankful he had sound-proofed his room.
Once again, Yami will make an appearence!
Until then, review!