Mijikai: Hello. I don't know about you guys but reading my past writings makes me cringe. So I'm editing them! Those who have not read this before you are lucky you were not exposed to my really bad writing skills. Those of you who have already read the first draft, I apologize and hope you'll re-read this.

Thank you!

Domino: Chapter One

"Sensors working," came a mechanical voice from the speaker above.

"Mr. Pegasus, its right this way."

A man with cold blue eyes reached out a hand and slid a card through a security box, causing a mechanical door to slide open. Opening up his hand, he offered his guest to be the first to step into the room and his guest took an eager step through the doorway.

The guest was a tall man with neatly groomed white hair, which completely contrasted to the man's mop of uncombed brown hair. The face was obviously young though the cold brown eye that was allowed to be seen by others looked far older. With a neatly pressed red suit, the guest stood out vibrantly from the cold gray drab colors of the test subjects that were encased in their sleeping chambers. However, the guest had no interest as both passed test subjects but the man couldn't help but glance over his many complete projects.

Each one held the face and body of a child but they were far beyond human. Made from artificial material, each creature was created for different purposes whether it was for killing, cooking, or building.

Those that were completed and were able to operate with no mechanical errors were sold to the people above. However, those who find themselves flawed were immediately scrapped into pieces to be reused again.

The guest, Mr. Pegasus J. Crawford, suddenly stopped as he had found what he'd been looking for.

Instead of possessing the body and face of little boy or girl, the subject was given the body of a woman. And instead of being placed in a sleeping chamber she was resting in a circular tube with a green liquid inside, floating slightly. Although, the green liquid was necessary to preserve the woman's body as she had one piece of material that the rest of the man's "children" didn't have; pieces of a human body.

The man watched as Pegasus placed a hand upon the glass.

"Cecilia," he whispered.

The woman's eyes remained closed but a small smile touched her lips.

"Don't worry my darling, I will bring you back," Pegasus promised and pressed his lips upon the glass.

The man wrinkled his nose slightly in disgust as he noticed the imprint of his guest's lips upon the glass. He'd have to clean that off later once the Pegasus leaves.

"Mr. Pegasus, he is further this way," the man said.

The sooner his guest saw what he wanted, the sooner the man would leave him alone. To his relief, Pegasus pulled away from the woman and followed him into the back room. When both stepped inside, the man squinted slightly as he blindly searched for a light. Once his fingers touched the switch, he flipped it on and the machine emitted light.

It was like the tube the woman was in only it had machinery hooked up on each side with small wires attached to the boy inside. The small bloody was floating freely in the liquid as long black lashes dipped from the ends of the boy's closed eyes and wavered upon the boy's soft cheeks. To the human eye, the boy looked human but the man knew he was something much more.

"How is he coming along?" Pegasus suddenly asked.

"He should be ready in a weak."

Pegasus turned his eyes away and looked down at the man with unpleased eyes.

"A week? I've already been waiting for three years for this boy."

The man tried not to let his irritation show.

"This project is complicated, sir. If you can wait three years than you can certainly wait another week."

The man's voice was bitter and he could tell his guest picked up on it as a small smirk came over Pegasus's face.

"Don't forget, it was because of my funds that you were able to even keep this lab going."

"Sir, the boy is a complicated creation," the man explained and folded his arms defensively. "But if you want him now you risk the danger of malfunctions or having the boy shut down completely."

"…Very well. A week, then," his guest finally gave in.

He turned back to the boy and stared with a light in his eyes that the man found discomforting.

"Is there any specific reason you want this?" asked the man.

"Let's just say I need some…protection."

:I:

Yami yawned, stretching.

He had fallen asleep on the roof again and knew he would receive a scolding from his grandfather once he came down. Sitting up, he scooted towards the hatch and placed his ear upon it. Nope, he didn't hear his grandfather down there. Sighing in relief, Yami laid back down and stared up at the blue sky and watched the mist of clouds go by. It seemed he was safe for now as his grandpa did not catch him slacking off…yet.

His grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou, was one of the greatest detectives within Domino city and was constantly busy with several cases he received each day. However, once Yami reached the age of fifteen his Sugoroku had decided that the boy was old enough to help and had him running all over the place to gather information, clues, or even simply run errands. It was exhausting and Yami had been lucky to escape from his grandpa for today.

"You stupid robot! Look what you did to my clothes!"

Yami sat up and caught sight of a man in a wet suit shouting at a robot that had a water tank strapped to its back and a house within one hand. Most likely the robot had squirted the man by accident while cleaning the sidewalks. It happened quite a few times.

Glancing away from the fuming man, Yami caught sight of several robots constructing a house with a human man shouting orders and turning his head to the left he found a robot walking a dog. Robots were everywhere, although that shouldn't be surprising. Not only was Domino the largest city in Japan but also the city with the largest population of robots. Ever since scientists started experimenting with the workings of the mechanical beings, people started to purchase them excessively to do jobs that they were just too lazy to do themselves. This inspired more advanced robots to be created and now there was a oncoming conflict between some robots and people, as some were bitter about losing jobs to the them.

"Yami!"

Yami groaned as he sat up. His Grandpa had found him.

'Maybe if I'm real quiet, he won't notice I'm here,' Yami thought but the hatch was suddenly opened and his grandpa poked his head through it. 'Or not.'

"What are you doing here? We have another case!" his grandpa shouted excitedly and raised an eyebrow. "Up to the challenge?"

Yami's interest was aroused as he raised his eyebrows. Sadly, he didn't have much talent that would get him by in the world except tinkering with games. However, Yami found that a certain cases his grandfather received were like games; very challenging games.

"What's it about?"

"Have you ever heard of the name Kaiba?"

"The brilliant scientist who went insane and then disappeared? Yeah."

"Apparently he hasn't disappeared like people thought. There are rumors that Kaiba is hiding in one of the lower levels."

Yami frowned. The lower levels were another word for "slums". They were the places that the homeless or poor would be forced too go if they were ever caught wondering the streets of the city. It was still a mystery to the kids why this was so, but Yami had a sneaky suspicion it had to do with the rising multi-billionaire Pegasus.

"So…that's it?"

"It was also tipped that Kaiba is hoarding illegal materials within his lab."

"Are you saying…?"

"He is suspected of using human bodies in his robots."

"…."

"We need to find it and make sure that it's just down completely before he creates anything…disastrous. But we need to keep a low profile when snooping own at the lower levels," Sugoroku warned.

"Why? We never had to before," Yami said with a frown before a photo was handed to him. "Pegasus J. Crawford?"

"It is also suspected that this man has had dealings with Mr. Kaiba and may have a couple of projects that the man is working on. If he finds out what we're up too, we could find ourselves in serious financial trouble."

"Or filthy rich if he decides to bribe us."

"Yami, remember, money isn't a sure way to shut people up," Sugoroku said, wagging his finger. "You up to it?"

"…Hm."

"Backing out?" Sugoroku joked.

Yami shook his head and grinned, a determined light in his violet eyes.

"Hell no."

"Then stop lazing about and get some things packed, boy!" Sugoroku suddenly shouted. "Meet me down in two minutes."

"Two minutes? But Grand…arg," Yami growled as he followed his grandpa through the hatch. "What am I supposed to pack?"

:I:

The man, Seto Kaiba, looked upon the boy calculating eyes as he checked the clipboard. Status was good, machines were working perfectly, and the boy showed no sign of shutting down.

"You will be my best subject yet," he murmured and pressed a button located on the side of the machine.

The liquid drained and the glass case opened, enabling Seto to reach in and run a finger on the boys ivory cheek. With a nod, he approved of the material he had chosen for the skin as it was soft to the touch instead of rubbery like his other subjects. Pulling back, Seto closed the case and pressed the button again causing the green liquid to fill the case once again.

Suddenly, he heard a click and slowly turned around. A young man stood behind him and oddly dressed if he was an assassin. Instead of wearing black or gray to at least try to blend in with the background, the young man wore a bright red turtle neck and white pants. White hair was pulled back into a tail, while sunglasses hid the eyes. But Seto's attention was focused on the gun that was pointed at his head.

"What do you think you're doing?" Seto demanded, folding his arms.

This was nothing new. He'd dealt with assassins before or men who tried to do damage to his work. This one was either an idiot or new to the job as he had made far to many mistakes. For one thing, the clothes did nothing to hide the person and the click of the gun had given away the position. If the assassin was smarter, he would have shot Seto in the back and then made his presence known.

"Robots have had enough reproduction. It's time to stop it," the young man said in a deep, gruff voice.

"Get out!" Seto snapped, as he slowly slid his hand into his pocket to grasp the security trigger in his pocket. Once he clicked it, the hidden lasers would activate. "You are disturbing my work and I'm a busy man who does have a schedule!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to make a few changes," the young man said coldly and with surprising speed, pulled the trigger twice with accurate aim.

The first went through Seto's wrist, causing him to jerk his hand from his pocket to press tightly to his chest. Teeth clenched in pain as he pressed tightly against the wound to prevent the blood from flowing.

The second went through the class casing and the green liquid started gushing from the hole.

"Stop it! Do you know how long I've worked on him!" Seto shouted.

"Consider this an early retirement," the young man said and shot Seto.

Pain burst from his chest and the impact of the bullet knocked him to the floor. The pain paralyzed his limbs as he was only able to stare at the ceiling with wide eyes, gasping.

The young man stepped over Seto and he watched helplessly as the stranger started shooting more holes into the glass case. However, little damage was done as the bullets only succeeded in penetrating tiny holes within the case and would not shatter it. This caused a curse from the young man and turned to the machines that were connected to the sides of the tube. With a smirk the young man shot at them, causing an explosion.

Fire rose high from the machines and quickly spread to other machines that resided by them. The young man smiled in satisfaction before running out of the lab. Growling with frustration, Seto forced himself to struggle half way up and used his good arm to pull him out of the room.

He had to save his book. If everything burned but he had his book he could easily start over again. Pausing at the doorway, Seto looked back at the boy who still floated in the chamber in what was left of the green liquid and regret washed over him. The boy would be the only creation he would not be able to replace, ever.

An alarm went off and red lights flashed throughout the lab. The only problem was that Seto programmed both to warn him if anyone messed with his equipment when he was in another room. Now, both were useless to him as he could see the danger himself but was helpless from escaping quickly. With one last look at his most brilliant creation that he would never complete, Seto dragged himself further into the other room and grinded his teeth as he forced himself onto his knees. Reaching up, he pressed a button on the security box, and the metal doors shut.

He would be safe for only a precious few moments before the combustion would blow the door open and cause a chain reaction with his other machines. But hopefully the doors would give him enough to time to retrieve his book and escape.

:I:

Within the room, where fire burned brightly on the machinery, a spark flew from the boxes and pulsed through the wires that connected to the boy. Eyes slowly opened as a crown of hair materialized of golden locks falling into his angelic face and a main of black and red hair. His eyes were pink as his eyes still tried to fully open and once they succeeded they instantly turned to violet.

The glass shattered and the boy stared out dully into the room. Slowly, the boy stood and the wires fell from the boy's body as he stepped out from his encasement. There was a loud crunch and the boy looked down to see glass scattered everywhere on the floor.

Fascinated by the scattered pieces, the boy reached down to pick one piece up but stopped as he stared at his hands and held them up in front of him.

The boy was busy studying the linings of his fingers that he did not notice the fire rising around him nor the explosion that went off when the fire the machines close to the door. Once they combusted, the metal doors were forced open, giving the boy his opportunity to escape his death chamber. Unfortunately, the boy did not know it.

:I:

Yami tapped his foot on the ground. What was taking his grandfather so long? It was he who told Yami that it was crucial that a detective never be late for an appointment or a meeting yet Yami found that the old man was five minutes late.

Suddenly, Yami spotted him coming towards him and he waved ready to tease him for his tardiness but it died on his lips as he saw his grandpa had company. Two figures followed behind his grandpa closely and once they came into view Yami's eyes widened.

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, this is my grandson, Yami. He will be helping us in our investigation," Sugoroku introduced.

Yami was in disbelief that he was actually meeting the famous Dark Mage duo. They were famous for their tracking abilities and Yami would always scan for articles about them as he always admired their skills. Now he was meeting them in person. He was about to hold out a hand but both mages bowed and he quickly switched to a hasty bow himself.

"It is good to meet you, Yami," the Dark Magician said in a deep voice and his bright blue eyes were soft as they gazed upon him. "It will be a pleasure to work with you."

"Uh…thank you. Same here," Yami said with a grin and the Dark Magician Girl giggled as she winked at him.

She was cuter in person with her petite, full figure outlined by her tight clothing and her face round but matching her big blue eyes. Even her hair that looked to be hastily combed matched her figure. It was interesting to see her partnered up with a man opposite of her outlook and personality. While the Dark Magician girl always smiled and had a sunny look to her face, the Dark Magician seemed more serious and strict. He was taller then everyone, at least six foot-two, and wore a dark armor of purple. His face was lean and hard with purple hair neatly groomed away from his face.

The two looked completely opposite of each other but Yami had to admit they looked good together. With a nod from Sugoroku, the dark mages started forward and Yami and his grandpa fell in step behind them.

"Grandpa-."

"Aren't you excited that you finally met them?" Sugoroku asked with a grin.

"Of course, I am. But…couldn't we have tracked Kaiba ourselves?" Yami asked.

Although he was honored to be working with the dark mage duo, he felt a bit wounded in his pride that his grandpa decided to hire professional trackers instead of letting him do it. He didn't think himself half bad and he mostly always found what he was tracking.

"True," Surogoku said, "but we're going to down the five levels underground. Somewhere, we've never been before and would be dangerous if we found ourselves lost."

"Ah, I see," Yami said and felt a little better. "So which level is Kaiba supposed to be on?"

His grandpa's face darkened slightly as he pulled out a pack of papers from his pocket and handed them to Yam. Scanning the letters that held the information, Yami felt his heart thumping hard in his chest.

The underground level was dangerous as each level contained more and more insane and unstable people that had been banished there. The lower you went the more danger you were in; five being the safest.

Kaiba was on the third level.

:I:

Dark Magician led them to the large metal elevators and led them inside. Yami couldn't help but wonder if the rusty metal bars were stable enough to hold them as they went deeper and deeper underground, but the rest didn't seem to worry much. Dark Magician entered a quick code in the security box before pressing the number three. There was a loud buzz and the elevator suddenly jerked, causing Yami to grab the sides quickly. With out any warning, the elevator dropped. Yami never liked the sensation of falling and he liked it even less now.

Once the elevator came to a halt, the gate opened and he stumbled out gratefully while the rest followed more slowly. Looking back, Yami wondered how in the world they were able to stay so calm after a suddenly drop like that.

He followed the three to a door, where the Dark Magician was sliding in a card and once the door opened Yami gaped. It was a whole bustling city! The only difference between it and the above level was that it was much darker and the atmosphere was dirtier with more homeless and sick scattered around the "streets" of the third level. The three stepped in but Yami hesitated.

"Come on, boy," Sugoroku called and Yami sighed softly as he stepped into the third level.

Immediately he noticed how stuffy it was in the area, not to mention the stench. They passed many filthy looking people as they made their way into the crude built city and Yami did his best to ignore the stares. Some of the habitants pointed or jeered as they passed while others only glanced their way and sipped their beer. One had the nerve to grab him.

"Pretty one, ain't ya," the purred, as he ran a finger down Yami's jaw. "You smell like soup, haven't smelled that in a while."

Yami glared. Suddenly, a staff crashed into the man's head and he faltered before crumpling to the street. Dark Magician Girl sniffed with irritation and poked him with the end of her staff. There was a moan.

"Come on Yami. He'll wake up in a couple of hours," she said and took his hand in hers. "You have to be careful down here."

Yami nodded and threw one last cold look at the unconscious man before letting her lead him back towards the rest of the group.

"Thank you," he said and received a cute smile in return.

Once they caught up with Dark Magician and Sugoroku, his grandpa looked at him with concern.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. "We looked behind us and you were both gone."

Dark Magician Girl smiled.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," she said and winked.

Dark Magician turned and placed a hand on the Dark Magician Girl's head.

"Be careful, I don't want to lose you here," he said before turning around sharply. "This way, and we should take a left."

Dark Magician girl looked surprised before blushing slightly, her smile bright as she touched her head.

Yami had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as Dark Magician kept his face turned away from them but the boy knew the man was blushing. Several times the Dark Magician paused as he asked several citizens for directions and but his staff to good use when some tried to attack him. One highly insane man tried to bite the Dark Magician, claiming he was a huge rabbit sent from god for him to eat.

Several turns were made until Yami was really thankful that they had the Dark Mage duo with them. He never would have been able to make his way this far into the city, which was more like a maze then a city, nor would he be able to find his way back.

Suddenly Yami heard a faint siren going off and turned just as a robot whizzed by them, waving its mechanical hands everywhere.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" it shouted as a siren went off on top of his head and went further into the city. "Fire! Fire! Fire!"

Yami's interest was triggered and took off after the robot.

"Yami!" he heard Sugoroku shout behind him.

It didn't take long until the robot had taken Yami to where a crowd of onlookers stood as they gasped at the burning circular building. Fire licked the dome and there were loud explosions coming from the inside. Glancing around, Yami spotted the robot that went past them, running around in circles.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" it shouted, pointing to the building.

Flame Eating Turtles appeared and shot water at the flames form their mouth, while another group started actually eating the flames. Yami had heard about these creatures from the above level but heard they were only used down below. Why, he did not really know.

"Yami!" Sugoroku shouted and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't ever run off like that!"

Yami was too busy staring at the building to listen to his grandpa, and noticed with a sinking heart the sign that was slowly being burned away.

"Oh no!" The Dark Magician girl suddenly shouted. "Kaiba's lab is burning!"

"What!" Sugoroku shouted and started through the crowd.

"Grandpa wait!" Yami shouted as he ran after him.

Dark Magician Girl started after too, but Dark Magician held his staff in front of her, shaking his head. She pouted at him, but he gave her a firm stare until she nodded. Once he was sure she wouldn't disobey him, he followed the two detectives through the crowd. All three found themselves in front of a burning door way with thick gales of black smoke oozing out.

"How are we going to get in?" asked Yami, as he protected his face form the heat.

"Stand back!" Dark Magician shouted and held out a hand.

To Yami's amazement, his hand glowed neon green and with a grunt the door shattered.

"Yami you go one way I'll go another!" Sugoroku shouted and rushed in. "Kaiba! Seto Kaiba!"

"Dark Magician," said Yami. "Go with grandpa. I'll be alright."

Dark Magician looked uncertain, but nodded and ran after Sugoroku. Yami went the opposite direction and disappeared in the smoke.

:I:

Seto struggled to his private room and reached for a red notebook, when he felt a hand grab his arm. He shouted in both pain and anger. Who was it now?

"Come on, Kaiba!" came a grunt and Seto glanced behind him to see an old man.

With irritation, Seto tried to struggle from the man's surprising strong pull as he reached for the item he knew was on his desk.

"No...notebook!"

"Leave it!" the old man shouted. "It's not worth your life!"

"No! My notebook!"

The old man growled in frustration when a dark shadow fell on both of them. Seto panicked as he saw a tall, younger man…no it wasn't human at all. It was a Duel Monster! People were dangerous but Duel Monsters were even more. With a strangled cry, Seto furiously tried to break the grip of the old man so he could grab his notebook and leave.

"Take Seto!" the old man shouted. "I can't hold him down any longer!"

"No! No!" Seto screamed, coughing violently as the pain in his chest started to sprout sharp pulses of pain.

The smoke wasn't helping much either.

The Duel Monster bent down and scooped Seto up as if he were a child and stared down at Seto with an unusual emotion. There was neither darkness nor satisfaction, just a quite reassurance. Slowly, Seto started to relax. This Duel Monster wasn't an assassin. With his consciousness, dwindling Seto let his head fall to one side and stared at the old man in the eyes.

"The notebook," he whispered, before the black spots took over his vision and passed out.

:I:

Sugoroku shook his head at the unconscious scientist in the Dark Magician's arms but obeyed the young man's last request. Searching the desk, he found a small red notebook and tucked it into his pocket.

"Let's go!" he shouted, "This place is going to become more dangerous."

"But the boy...!" Dark Magician protested.

Sugoroku smiled.

"Yami will meet us out!" he said with great confidence, "Let's go!"

Both quickly ran out of the room.

Once they had hurried out, something exploded inside causing the whole building to shake. Sugoroku watched, his confidence sadly starting to dwindle as his grandson failed to show.

"Hurry Yami," he pleaded.

To be Continued...