Melting

Chapter 19

..."4 people are confirmed DEAD in a horrific explosion that rocked South Domino late this afternoon. Amoung the dead is Former CEO of Kaiba Corp Seto Kaiba, who had been living with his girlfriend in her appartment where it is believed the blast origonated. It is believed at this time that Mr Kaiba was the intended target and the attacker was perhaps a disgruntled ex employee of Kaiba Corp. Also amoung the deceased was Ryou Bakura a young teacher at Domino High School, The two other bodies have yet to be identified. More on this story as it developes..."

Mokuba turned off the TV just as his phone rang. "Well I guess your off the hook afterall. No need to worry about Seto sniffing around anymore.. drop by the office tomorrow and sign your shares over to me and we can part ways." /click/

Mokuba shuddered as he remembered yesterdays events... He looked across the table at Gazaborro and then he signed the paper in front of him. He was certian that Gazaborro had a hand in this act of terrorism, and even if it killed him he was going to uncover the truth... After all, what did he have to lose.

"There Gazaborro! Its yours." Mokuba said as he almost flung the papers across the table. Mokuba sent one final glare his way and then left the room. He was almost across the lobby when someone struck him from behind, knocking him unconcius.

...

Mokuba opened his eyes, At first he thought he had gone blind as it was very dark here he was. He was cold, and he could feel a draft on him. He'd wager he wasnt wearing any more than a pair of boxers... 'What happened.' Mokuba thought.. 'I was headed out the door, and then this... I must have been attacked...'

His slight movements must have alerted someone to his being awake because a light went on in the darknes and he could hear someone walking towards him, He could hear the echo of footfalls on cement... that could mean only one thing. He was in kaiba corps long unused dungeons where Gazaborro Kaiba used to keep Seto when he was conditioning him for the role of CEO, Mokuba never knew what went on down here, But he had a pretty good guess, and he was pretty sure he was about to find out.

Someone ripped a cloth bag off Mokubas head and he could see everything around him, and there before him was none other than Gazaborro Kaiba and his head of security.

"Did you actually believe I would just let you go, You know to much." He sneered. "Its to bad the death of your brother was taken from me, but i will certianly relish what I have in store for you." He laughed evilly and left the room, extinguishing the light as he left. Leaving Mokuba along in the cold dark dungeon... not knowing what the last few days of his life would bring him. For surely he would not make it out of here alive.

Mokuba only had one regret... That his and Seto's last exchange had been so hurtful.. there had been no time to tell Seto he had been right about Isabelle, She was no good, She was an agent of Gazaborros's and Mokuba hadnt known until it was too late. There had been no time to tell his brother he loved him, no time to tell him that he had missed him... and now... it was over... the tragedy that had been their lives was now over. Mokuba sighed into the darkness. "I love you big brother, Always have and Always will... And I never wanted it to end up this way." He hung his head in defeat...

...

'Well it was done.' Malik shook his head... He hadnt wanted that to happen... never that... He had made a deal with the devil and he had paid dearly... Oh sure Seto Kaiba was out of the picture... But also his dearest friend had been killed in the blast. His college chum. Ryou Bakura was dead. Malik tossed back another Rum and coke and motioned for the barkeep to bring him another... He planned on getting very drunk...

His thoughts turned to Ashley. Thank good she was alive and not at home or anywhere near home during that disaster... But would his guilt ever permit him to get close to her again... The barkeep placed his drink in front of him. Malik looked at the glass as if it had offended him in some way, He picked it up and threw the offending glass across the bar and it shattered above the barkeep.

Malik was tossed very uncerimoniously out in the street on his ass. He got up, ran a hand through his hair and looked either way down the street. He would go see Ashley now.. tonight... And if he could be near her without his guilt getting the better of him then he would persue her... but if he couldnt... he'd do away with himself... as he had no reason to live beyond tonight.

He headed off towards Rachels house, where Ashley no doubt would be staying, after all the two girls were best friends... and friends needed each other on days like these...

...

Seto and Duke had come up with a plan. Devlin had taken him down to his personal appartment inside Devlin Co's basement. He would be safe there. Safe to plan his next move...

As they walked through the door Seto looked around. It was a modest abode as far as billionaire crashpads went. Very spacious... includeing the bed. Seto looked at the bed and back at Devlin. "Your mad if you think I will sleep anywhere you mave have covorted with women of questionable background.

Devlin looked at him... "No woman has ever stepped foot in here.. This is merely where I stay when I have pressing work here at Devlin Co and prefer not to waste time between here and my upper north side home."

Seto looked skeptical... "Men then? Get any thought of coming anywhere near me out of your head you depraved man whore."

Devlin glared at Kaiba... "As I said, it has only ever been myself down here." He walked over to a large seemingly empty wall. He pressed a button and the whole thing shifted around and became a large workspace with many computer screens. We can start our research from this consol here. Its firewalled and secure. No one can hack it as it sits on a secured seperate server from the mainframe for my entire company." Devlin pressed another button and on the top three screens it divided up into smaller screens, servaillance cameras... but that wasnt Devlin Co Seto was looking at.

"You have been spying on Kaiba Corp?" He said... he looked again, the cameras covered a good portion of the labs and even the lobby, Seto's personal secretary office and even his board room, but not his office. He smirked. "Never were able to get eyes and ears in my office eh? But corporate espionage, Really Devlin... I thought you were above all that." Seto laughed derisively.

Devlin didnt take the bait. "Yes well I havent been watching these past 6 months as you and I both know you werent developeing anything substantial. But it appears my old network is still mostly functioning and the new owner of Kaiba Corp unaware of its existance... which should prove usefull for planning your next move."

Seto smirked, "Well if we are coming clean with each other," He pulled up a building blueprint for Devlin Co. with a red pen he marked close to 200 locations on the blueprint. "Go search these area's and use a espionage scanner set at this frequency." He jotted some numbers down on a paper. "Disable the camera's you find... If Mokuba catches on to my secret corporate espionage protocol he will find me here eventually. We dont need him over hearing anything that is going on over here."

Devlin smiled at Kaiba. He had suspected and fired over 50 employees these past 10 years or more that he had been direct competition with Kaiba Corp, Never once had he concidered the possibility of hidden camera's. He shook his head and made the call to security, The building sweep had begun... soon Devlin Co would be bug free.

"So what is our next move?" Devlin asked.

"Servailance for now... I need to know who is all involved, Mokuba had to have a backer, and I have many enemies... As soon as I know who all I am dealing with here then we will launce a covert opperation to sneak into the building useing my top secret bunker in the basement..." He looked at Devlin.. "No playboy crash pad for me...Just a secure server to watch my espionage footage on, And gather my intel on business dealings. That kind of thing."

Devlin looked incredulous... Was Seto Kaiba so bored as a Billionaire CEO and World Champion Duelist he had to play spies as well. Hmm well to each there own I guess. Duke spent his money on partys and showgirls. While Seto spent his on tech and more tech... No wonder he was likened to a block of frozen ice with a cyborg heart...

...

Shock... Shock was the only thing Ashley was feeling right now... She was homeless... and her budding romance was over... Seto was dead. And only yesterday morning had they just confessed their love for each other... well she had openly confessed it... but she knew he felt it too. There was no one to make funeral arrangements for him. He didnt even own a plot at the cemetary anymore. So Ashley had paid for his remains to be cremated and a modest urn to keep them in. It was going to be delivered to her on friday... The gang had said that if she held a bit of a wake for him they would attend and pay their respects. But she hadnt planned anything yet... she wasnt ready to share her greif... or her Seto... even if he was just ashed in an urn. She wiped her eyes again on her sleeve and rolled onto her side in the fetal position... There was a new feeling now... Pain, gut wrenching pain... the hurt of her heart breaking... She cried some more into the darkness of the guestroom at Rachels where she was staying. After all, she had no home.

...

Rachel sat alone in the Funeral home's reception room. She hadnt wanted to even begin to think about planning a funeral... after all... just yesterday morning her and Ryou were just planning their wedding. She looked down at her engagement ring on her finger. It felt heavy on her hand... She closed her eyes and was again struck with the guilt. He shouldnt have been there... She had sent him there... sent him to deliver an invitation to a bridal tea to Ashley... If only she had just waited until after work and delivered it herself he would still be here. Ryou would be sitting beside her in the livingroom, teasing her about how much he hated wedding planning and it would be so much better if she just did it all herself, then he'd kiss her gently and softly...

The tears began to flow again.

"Here. you look horrible with snot running down your face."

"How Dare..." But the words were cut off as Rachel looked up and into her fiances face... No, not her fiance, but his brother Akefia.. "What are you doing here?" She growled, takeing the hankercheif he offered and wiped her eyes and nose with it.

"Well honey, He was my brother, Im here to make preparations." And then his eyes seemed to soften. "And, you shouldnt be alone... not today... not now with everyhting thats happened." A look crossed his face, Rachel could have sworn it was guilt, but it was only there a moment before he looked away. Rachel reached out and grabbed his hand. "Thank you Bakura." She whispered, and their hands remained firmly clasped together. He may not have been the best of human beings, always breaking the law, but he was a good brother to Ryou. He had never let Ryou down. Ryou had planned on asking him to be his best man. Even though they always seemed to be at odds with each other... they had loved each other. So yes, Rachel would accept Akefias help... she needed all the help she could get right now... after all, her best friend couldnt be her shoulder... she was in as much pain and feeling as much greif as she was...