Not much happens in this chapter

Chapter 4

The trio continued to Domino in the air again following the parted road he had coming in the other direction as he was fleeing the city.

"Where are we going to land the helicopter?" Tea looked to Kaiba for an answer. Duke also looked puzzled, clearly he hadn't thought of that. With all the buildings leveled and the city surrounded by a lake where were they to land?

"We're not landing." Tea and Duke were surprised by the plain dryness of his answer.

"What do you mean we're not landing how are we supposed to search for them?" Kaiba pulled up a rope ladder from beside him.

"We're climbing down to the street." Both Duke and Tea looked scared. This sounded risky.

"And while your mission is searching for your friends, my top priority is Mokuba. However, I understand that we should stay together so should one of us find who the other is searching for it'll be easier." Tea bit her lip with only slight surprise. Was Kaiba really searching for Mokuba again? Some things really did never changed.

"I would like to search for Mokuba first but I know the two of you won't agree to that and it will take too much time out of your search, so we'll do whatever makes logical sense until they're all found." No party wanted to admit that it was quite likely that they wouldn't be able to find any one of them, or ever see them again. The helicopter later approached the city. It looked even worse in person than it had on TV. The guard looked for an area to set the party down. Kaiba pointed to an area, a slab of concrete that only had one crack down the middle. It was very slanted on one side but the other snapped half was large and almost flat. It wasn't flat or large enough to land the helicopter but it was plenty to drop them off. The helicopter steadied over the clearing and Kaiba opened the door and threw the attached rope ladder off the side. Before it even settled he was on his way down. Duke followed immediately and Tea hesitated a second then joined them on the way down. Kaiba reached the bottom of the ladder and hopped down surveying the area. Was this really his former home? What part of the city had this been? He was glad that he didn't see any bodies within the area, they were probably buried, but he braced himself for them. Dead bodies were nothing new to him. He had been to far too many funerals to be phased by death. He had actually seen many people die in front of him, and been responsible for many deaths as well. But he knew after the fires, the rubble, and 4 days of rain that the bodies would hardly look human. And even from here where none were visible, he could smell death. Duke and Tea hopped of the helicopter and surveyed the area. Tea scrunched her face

"What is that awful smell?" Duke and Kaiba looked at each other. Tea didn't recognize the light smell of the dead, which would only get worse when they actually saw bodies. The scent wasn't even strong now. Kaiba signaled the guard to stay for a moment. And he pulled Duke to the side out from under the helicopter. The wind blew his brown hair. That, along with his attire, made him look like he was even younger. But as always, his eyes gave him age. When he decided that they were far enough away and could talk without screaming he looked at Duke and Duke started,

"Tea won't be able to handle this, she has to go back." Kaiba nodded. He realized that Tea wouldn't be able to handle the things they would see. She'd break down and probably be traumatized the rest of her life. But they couldn't all go back on the helicopter together. The flight took several hours and the search would be delayed to the next day. Kaiba wouldn't allow that.

But Kaiba wasn't actually that concerned about Tea's mental health in the incident. He didn't want Tea to get in the way. Having a breakdown during the search would cause trouble. He couldn't busy himself or Duke with consoling some ignorant girl while his brother was somewhere in this destroyed city. He should have just not let her on the helicopter, but he had been too surprised by his last-minute additions to the search to think through the consequences of allowing her to join. And he was too focused on getting to the city quickly. Why had he let his mind get caught off guard and slip? It was so unlike him even now.

But it wasn't time to dwell. He needed to deal with the problem. Tea couldn't deal with the death and the other things they were sure to see. And she would cause other problems too. In a post disaster city there are no laws. It was likely that Duke and Kaiba wouldn't be bothered. Kaiba was tall, strong, intimidating, and had a deadly look in his eyes. No one would dare challenge him. And Duke was also strong and had a deadly aura. Though he wasn't as tall as Kaiba, his scar made up for it. And even if someone were to bother the two, they could handle themselves in any fight. Plus, both had concealed a gun and a knife. And both would be willing to use them if it came to it.

But Tea. She wasn't overly weak and was strong willed when it came to friendship, but she would be too weak in a situation where friendship was not the answer. Bringing a weak girl into a city without laws or proper shelters was not a good idea, especially when they had to stay through the night, it would take more than a day to search the city for Mokuba, Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Serenity and find them all. The weak girl would attract unwanted attention. And though Duke and Kaiba would be fine handling themselves, it was a whole other story when they had to protect someone who was useless. But even if Tea were strong and able to defend herself, she wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done if it came down to it. There was no possibility that she could kill somebody. Duke hadn't killed anyone before, but if his life was on the line he definitely would without hesitation. And Kaiba, well he had already killed his own stepfather, twice, even if it was technically indirectly he had still acted knowing Gozaburo would end up dead. Tea would be a problem. Kaiba turned away from his thoughts and back to Duke. He seemed to be thinking of a way out of it as well.

Kaiba continued on his way to the Satellite. He was going through an intersection when a pair of motorcyclists came flying out of an alleyway and nearly took Kaiba's head off. He glared at the cyclists as they drove away down a side street. But he continued.

"Mr. Kaiba, you must stop while I apprehend those two!" Kaiba kept driving.

"Sir you can't continue right now!"

"Don't tell me what I can't do! And don't you try to give me orders!" Kaiba didn't hear a response from the guard but he knew he was following behind him biting his lip not to protest. He had made the top boss angry. It was not his place to protest. Kaiba smirked. He loved the feeling of power. He hadn't felt it enough recently. He had felt so powerless. He had once been the most powerful man in the city, all cowered at his presence, but that had changed. And he hated it. He was Seto Kaiba, he was supposed to be the top of the ladder. He couldn't be out-powered by anyone. Yet here he was, feeling powerless. He scowled at the thought, no the fact. He had acknowledged his slip in power, but didn't accept it, and it didn't make him happy. Perhaps that was part of the reason he had to leave Domino. He had no power here.

That was actually a lie. He still held a tremendous amount of power. He could still have lives crushed, destroyed if he wanted. Just by asking. Lives could fall before him, people cowered under his stare.

But there were men in the city controlling things. Men who tried to tell him what he couldn't do. He despised it and it made him feel powerless. In the outside world he was still one of the most powerful men in the world: but he didn't feel like it on these streets. He scowled more as he passed a slab of cement. He recognized the area, he knew it well, but he couldn't stop. If he couldn't have things his way, he would at least leave the city on his own terms. And his mission wouldn't be interrupted.

Kaiba was back on the slab of cement thinking of a way to deal with Tea. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. He was good at thinking on his feet, and he remembered to think it through simply. Though his brain had been delayed on the helicopter, it only took a few moments for him to realize what he had to do about Tea. And it was remarkably simple and easy. He turned away from Duke without saying anything and strode towards Tea. Duke watched him and didn't move, just stood there curious. Kaiba walked directly up to Tea without hesitation. She looked at him surprised and wondering what he was doing. He grabbed an area of her shoulder and squeezed. He eyes rolled up and she collapsed at his feet. Duke watched from the distance in shock as Kaiba then lifted Tea onto his shoulder and carried her back up the ladder to the helicopter. Duke saw him disappear for a moment, probably buckling her in and instructing the guard to take her back even if she protested when she awoke. He then reemerged and climbed back down the ladder. The helicopter lifted and the ladder was lifted back up by the guard with one hand and the other controlling the copter. Duke looked at the helicopter as it flew away. He gave Kaiba an evil grin

"Well that was easy."