(Chapter 2)
After they'd both stuffed as much of the contents of their luggage as they could into a couple of carry-on bags, Yugi and Joey returned to the atrium. The glass front gave a good, if tinted, view of the sky and the approaching storm. Probably, the tint made the clouds look worse than they were in reality; the view through the glass wall resembled the approach of armageddon. The playful whitecaps had evolved into mad breakers throwing themselves against the rocks in impressive displays of foamy suicide. Sporadic gusts of wind whipped the palm trees into frenzied gyrations, and stripped away fronds to fling them at the building. Nature, Yugi thought facetiously, appeared to be throwing a temper tantrum.
"Good grief." Joey stepped closer to the glass and peered out. Lightning cracked its whip across the sky and, as if that were a catalyst, a sudden, driving rain began to beat down on the courtyard. "Are those people out there? They must be nuts."
Yugi squinted into the downpour. He could just make out the indistinct shapes of people, lurching into the force of the wind and rain. Most of them were trudging away from the shelter of the building, which he didn't understand until he noticed the airport shuttle driving slowly away. Thanks to the poor visibility, the small bus was moving at a crawl. Maybe the people had been left behind and were trying to catch up to it?
From behind them, a loud voice called out for the next evacuation group to form up by the information desk at the back of the atrium. They were just reaching 'J through K', though, so he ignored them.
He tugged the sleeve of Joey's jacket to get his attention. Together, they drifted along the outer perimeter of the atrium, now crowded with anxious or irritated convention goers, until they found an unoccupied against the wall. Joey slumped down on the leather cushion, shoved his bulging carry-on bag under the bench, and leaned his head against the wall.
"Think they'll get everybody off the island before the storm really hits?" he asked in a tired voice.
Yugi shrugged. It had looked pretty rough out there already, and he really had no idea how bad the weather had to be before the conditions were unsafe for flying. If he'd been forced to guess, he would've said it was already too bad. "I sure hope so."
Before Joey could respond, an obnoxiously loud voice cut through the relative quiet of their little refuge. "-not care! I have my own jet and should be allowed to use it!"
"Look, von Schroeder," growled a deeper (and, to Yugi's ear, extremely fed up) voice. "If you want to put your plane to good use and help get more people off this island, that's one thing. But if you think I'm giving you priority over the official evacuation flights just so you can hog the runway to save your own sorry ass, you're out of your tiny little mind."
Peeking around the corner, Yugi spotted Zigfried von Schroeder's distinctive pink hair. The other duelist was glaring at a tall, pale skinned, dark haired man in an immaculate, white, three-piece suit. While Yugi had only seen him at the opening ceremony, Yugi easily recognized Seto Kaiba, one of the convention sponsors and brother of Kaiba Corp's famous CEO, Mokuba Kaiba. Seto was looking down his nose at Zigfried as if the man was a particularly smelly substance he'd just scraped off the bottom of his shoe.
"If it will get me away from here, then I suppose I have no choice but to agree." Zigfried made it sound as if he were making a great sacrifice in the name of self-preservation. "I can perhaps take a very small group, in addition to my entourage."
Seto appeared to be holding back an eye-roll of truly massive proportions. "...You do that." He glanced around, then waved over a tall, dark skinned woman with a tablet and a harried expression. "Erica, Mr. von Schroeder has graciously-" Seto sneered the word. "-agreed to assist in the evacuation efforts. Please see to it that the current evacuation group boards his plane."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." Erica gave von Schroeder a professional smile. "If you'll come with me, sir." She stalked off, already tapping busily at her tablet and not giving Zigfried any choice but to follow at her heels.
Seto sighed, shoulders relaxing a bit from their previous rigid posture, and for a moment he looked exhausted. After only a second, he straightened, reaching into his pocket to pull out a cell phone (it must have been on silent, because Yugi hadn't heard it ring), and put it to his ear. "What? ...Yes, we're working on it. Have you gotten everyone out of the hotel yet?"
Not wanting to eavesdrop further, Yugi retreated. He found Joey staring at his own phone like the device had eaten his last jelly donut. "What's wrong? ...Joey?"
"Huh?" Joey startled out of his reverie. "Oh. I was just tryin' to call my sister." He glanced toward the front of the atrium, even though they really couldn't see outside from here. "Y'know, let her know we're okay. But there's no service."
What? Then how had Seto gotten a call? Yugi glanced back around the corner. Maybe that wasn't a phone after all, but some sort of walkie-talkie or something for strictly local communication? He was still staring at the device, trying to decide if it was a phone or not, when Seto looked up and caught him at it. Yugi could feel his face flushing with embarrassment. He tried to turn away, but something in Seto's icy blue eyes pinned him in place. Not looking away from Yugi, Seto started toward him.
"I'll check back in with you in a few minutes," Seto said in his possibly-not-a-phone, and then slipped it into his jacket just as he reached their bench. "Yugi Mutou?"
"Um, yes?" Yugi got to his feet, uncomfortable with the taller man looming over him. "And this is Joey Wheeler."
Seto barely spared Joey a glance. "Mr. Mutou, your evacuation group is gathering by the information desk. Did you not hear the announcement?"
Actually, Yugi hadn't (because he knew he wasn't going with them, so he hadn't bothered listening for it), but he didn't think admitting that would win him any points with Seto Kaiba. "No, sorry. But I'm not going with that group, so-"
Seto's icy gaze sharpened and, somehow, the blue of his eyes seemed to get brighter. The change was almost mesmerizing. "Don't tell me you have your own plane, too."
"No! Nothing like that. It's just-"
Seto overrode him with a growl. "You know, I'm getting very tired of people expecting special treatment when I'm trying to save lives."
"Hey!" Joey leaped to his feet and to his friend's defence. "Yugi ain't like that!"
"Then what are you like, Mr. Mutou?" Seto challenged, again ignoring Joey in favor of setting that piercing gaze squarely on Yugi.
Yugi lifted his chin. "I just want to stay with my friend. You can let someone from his group take my place on the earlier flight."
For a moment, it seemed as if Seto would argue. Then he nodded. "Fine. We're trying to keep families together, so I suppose we can consider you a couple, if that's what you want. But you do realize that 'Wheeler' is at the end of the alphabet?"
"We know how to spell, thanks." Tired of being dismissed, Joey leaned into Seto's personal space and sneered at him.
"Then you must realize you could take the earlier flight if you were also a Mutou, rather than him being a Wheeler."
"Uh." Joey looked poleaxed at the suggestion, then flushed beet red.
Yugi shook his head. "I wouldn't feel right asking someone to take a later flight on my account."
That pronouncement seemed to elevate him at least slightly in Seto's estimation, because the man's glower lost some of its fire. "Very well. I'll inform-"
A shrill electronic tone interrupted him. Growling, he yanked out the small black device again. This time, Yugi was sure it wasn't a phone, even though it was about the same size as one. It didn't look like any walkie-talkie he'd ever seen, though.
"Yami, I told you-" What color there was in Seto's complexion drained from his face at whatever he heard. "Are you sure?"
As he spoke, Seto took a few steps away from the wall, craning his neck as if searching for someone or something in the crowded atrium. His mouth flattened into a thin line, the skin around his lips going bloodless with tension.
Curious, Yugi looked around, trying to find what Kaiba might be searching for. Being shorter than Seto, it wasn't easy. At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary (assuming one ignored the zombified actors still scattered around the large space). When he glanced back at Kaiba, Yugi was startled to see that the man had gone as still as a marble statue (which, with his bloodless complexion and white suit, he somewhat resembled). Kaiba's piercing blue eyes were staring fixedly at the front of the room.
Yugi couldn't make out much from where he was standing - there were too many bodies between him and the entrance and, unlike the unreasonably tall Seto Kaiba, he couldn't simply peer over their heads. "What's going on?"
As if in response to his question, there was a massive crash as the glass wall at the front of the room exploded inward. The already noisy space erupted with screams as people rushed away from the damage. The roar of the wind was deafening in the enclosed space.
"What the hell just happened?!" Joey practically had to yell to make himself heard over the cacophony.
Instead of answering him, Seto jerked the not-phone back up to his ear. Surprising Yugi, Seto didn't yell, apparently expecting whoever he was speaking to to be able to hear him despite the chaos surrounding them. "There's been a breech of security at the center. And by that I mean there's a damn palm tree sticking out of the front wall of the atrium. Get over here, now!"
With that, he shoved the not-phone in his pocket and started to stride away. Joey grabbed his arm and got towed along for a step or two before Seto halted to glare at him.
"Wait a minute! What's goin' on?" Joey demanded, keeping a firm grip on Seto's sleeve with one hand while the other maintained a hold on Yugi. "We got a right to know what's happenin' here, you know!"
"A palm tree just crashed through the wall," Seto said flatly. "Since you were looking right at it, I assumed I you could figure it out for yourself."
"Look, jackass-"
"Joey!" Yugi managed to insinuate himself between the two taller men, forcing Joey to back off physically if not metaphorically. With an apologetic smile, Yugi turned back to Seto. "Sorry. We're just worried."
Whatever Seto might have said in response was interrupted by the arrival of a harried looking man in a dark suit. "Mr. Kaiba! Are you all right?"
"Roland. Good - I need you to clear the atrium. Get everyone into the auditorium for now and put security on all the doors, just in case." He didn't elaborate on 'just in case' what. "And send someone to board that up." He gestured at the opening in the glass, which was letting in wind-driven rain and debris.
"Yes, sir." Roland didn't seem surprised at his boss' abruptness; he just hurried off to do as he'd been ordered.
A few seconds later, the announcement came over the loud speakers for guests and staff alike to assemble in the main auditorium. Seto spared them an impatient glance. "Why are you still here?"
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Yugi asked.
Seto sighed. "You can help by going to the auditorium with the other guests. I don't have time to babysit you."
"Hey!"
"No, Joey, he's right. We're keeping him from doing his job." Yugi started nudging Joey back toward their abandoned bench. "Sorry, again, Mr. Kaiba. We'll get out of your way, now."
A sharp nod was the only indication Seto gave of having heard Yugi's apology as he strode off toward the front of the atrium. Beside Yugi, Joey still looked ready to fight, but he followed Yugi without protest when he headed back to where they'd left their luggage.
"We'll just get our bags and then we'll go to the auditorium," Yugi was saying as he fit action to words and bent to pull their carry-on bags from beneath the bench. "I'm sure they'll make an announcement once it's clear and-"
"Holy cats!" Joey exclaimed, interrupting Yugi's muttering.
"What?" Yugi straightened from his crouch and shoved Joey's bag at him. "What is it, Joey?"
To his surprise, Joey flushed and shook his head. He snagged his luggage and slipped the strap over his shoulder. "Nothin', Yug'. I'm seein' things is all."
"Huh?"
"Eh..." Joey rubbed at the back of his neck. "I was keepin' an eye on Kaiba and... I coulda sworn he just lifted that freakin' palm tree by himself."
What-? Yugi turned to follow the direction of Joey's gaze. Now that the room had mostly emptied - as staff herded the guests toward the corridor leading to the auditorium - Yugi had a clear view of the enormous tree that had crashed through the glass front of the building. It had arrived crown-first, and bent and broken fronds lay scattered on a carpet of rain water and glittering glass.
"Uh, the tree looks like it's still there, Joey."
"Well, it was more there a minute ago. Trust me." So saying, Joey shouldered his bag and started toward the front of the atrium at a fast walk. After a moment, Yugi trotted after him.
The courtyard beyond the shattered glass wall was barely visible through the driving rain. The roots of the upended tree formed a tangle that managed to mostly block the lower half of opening. But, even as Yugi stared at it, the tree shifted and seemed to inch back through the broken wall, as if something were pushing it back out into the storm. What the hell-?
"Hey, Kaiba!" Joey called, peering through the palm fronds. "You in there?"
At first, the only response was the continuing howl of the storm. Then an irritated voice issued from the other side of the downed tree. "What are you two morons still doing here?"
Yugi jumped, twisting around to find Seto Kaiba glaring at him from where he'd suddenly appeared atop the trunk of the palm. Seto folded his arms and snarled down at them. "You're supposed to be in the damn auditorium with the rest of the guests!"
"I know, but-"
"It isn't safe out here," Seto snapped, cutting off Yugi's excuse.
As if to prove his point, a metal bench came flying out of the courtyard and smashed into the side of the building, barely missing the mostly-intact remains of the glass wall. Moving slightly to one side, Yugi found he could just make out a few slow-moving shapes approaching through the nearly horizontal downpour.
"There are people out there!" He sent an apalled look at Seto. "Surely you didn't send your staff out into the storm-"
"Of course not. What are you talking about?" Seto turned so he could see what Yugi had and his expression instantly darkened. "You need to get to the auditorium. Now."
"What? But-"
Another shape was moving through the torrential rain, far more swiftly than the others. When one of the slower figures grabbed at them, the new person tossed the first one aside and kept running. The figure on the ground struggled unsteadily back to its feet and followed after, but the new guy didn't look back. A few seconds later, the indistinct blur appeared in the gaping hole in the wall and resolved into a soaking wet man. He leaped nimbly over the barrier of the tree's roots, and landed gracefully in front of a very startled Yugi.
Finding himself face to face with a startlingly handsome face dominated by intense dark eyes, it took longer than it probably should have for Yugi to realize that the man's clothing was covered in blood.
o0o