A/N: Hello to all of you! So, for anyone wondering what this is about, I got the idea from the TV series "The 100". My story will be different from the original plot of the series, but I will also use some of the original plot. So, let's see what this leads to!

Aside from Bakura/Malik, I think this fic'll have at least some Tristan/Otogi and Marik/Ryo. Possibly other pairings as well, but I haven't decided on that yet.
Also, before you get confused, Malik and Marik are two different people in this story. I call "Yami Malik" just Marik.

The Ark.
A spaceship where the entirety of the surviving human race lived.
Hundreds of years ago, 449 years to be exact, the Earth was destroyed by a nuclear war, leaving the ground simmering with radiation and thus, un-survivable.

The only people who had survived the war were the ones sent to space right before this happened, the spaceships from twelve different nations had been united and so the Ark was born.

Deep in the bowels of the Ark, in his darkened cell, Malik was roused from sleep by loud noises coming from outside his door. It was unusual, as most of the time the prisoners from this section were kept in their cells and monitored closely. He listened, perplexed, as the noises became louder every second that passed.

This particular prison section was for the young prisoners, the one where the Council put away all under 20-year-olds, who were by law not allowed to be executed yet. The other prison section for older citizens of the Ark was much smaller in size, and none of the prisoners were actually kept in there for longer than a week before their execution.

The Council was a leading force of the people on the Ark, a group of six who discussed and decided on the laws by voting among each other, after having been selected to the job by the ordinary people. A Chancellor was elected every six years, and mostly remained impartial. If the Council happened to end up in a draw though, the Chancellor stepped in with his right to vote.

The rules and laws were strict, but Malik understood that. He knew how dire the situation on the Ark really was. All supplies were running low, finally about to run out.

He perched up on his hard bed, listening closely to the noises. It sounded like yelling.
Malik's whole body was strung tight and ready to bounce by the time he heard keys being pushed into the lock of his cell, and saw a man – a security guard – enter the room.

"Malik Ishtar, prisoner of the cell 73", the man said. Malik nodded and warily stood up from his bed. The first thing he had noticed about the man was that he was in full gear, definitely armed with a gun, and held a tranquillizer in his hand.
"Please state your age, status and personal identification number", the guard said – Malik vaguely felt like he recognized the man – and stepped closer.

As the man approached him though, Malik pulled back. He had learned to be mistrustful of the guards in section 4, they were well known for getting impatient with the prisoners quickly after all. Malik had first-hand experience of this.

"Why?", he asked. A small part of him told him to take down the guard and make a run for it, but the logical part of him knew he wouldn't get very far. Seriously, where would he even escape to on a spaceship?

"Your age, status and personal identification number", the guard repeated, more sternly this time.

Malik's brain went into overdrive. The only times the guards asked for this information was when they took in the prisoners and when they took them out to be executed.
"Why? It's not my time yet, I don't turn twenty for another seven months", the blond teen said, voice shaky.

He wouldn't be executed now. They couldn't execute him.
It was against the law.

"Do as you are told", the man was starting to get irritated with him, Malik could tell. They didn't go easy on him just because he was the younger brother of the head of security (in fact, he guessed that was why they often treated him more roughly) on the Ark, so Malik stiffened at the tone of voice and said, "Nineteen, prisoner number 64 of the Ark, 2312-T0960"

"Good, now step away from the wall, with your hands held over your head", the guard said then, again stepping closer.
"Tell me what's going on", Malik said, refusing to do anything more before he knew why they were doing this, "We get reviewed at 20, I should have a chance of getting out of here. Are they reducing population?"

The noises outside intensified, the shouts and screams getting louder.
It sounded like a lot of people were being taken out of their cells today, and Malik wanted to know why. They couldn't execute them all today, right?

"Prisoner number 64, step away from the wall now", the man barked at him, finally losing his patience. Malik knew they didn't like being questioned, and often got more violent if provoked.

So, Malik made a split second decision and barged at the guard, taking him by surprise and knocking him down before running into the hallway.

Malik leaned over the railing from which he could see all the other prison cells in the section, and felt his eyes widen. There were prisoners being dragged out of their cells on every level of the prison section, some of them struggling and some of them crying in distress.

Were they really finally reducing population? It would make sense if they were, because they would definitely start with the prisoners.
But why now? Malik thought there was still plenty of time before it had to come to this.
"Prisoner number 64", the guard had finally caught up to him and was now standing behind him with a gun firmly in his grasp, "hold your hands above your head and get down on your knees"

Malik stared at him for a second, before dashing off in the other direction.
He had to find his brother. Rishid would know what was going on, he was privy to the Council meetings after all.

Malik heard footsteps behind him, and knew he was being chased. But his brother had to be here somewhere. If Malik just got to him before getting caught, then he would get answers.
If they really were reducing population, his brother would be overlooking the process himself. Malik took a random turn to the left, and gasped as someone gripped him tight on his biceps.

The blond prisoner struggled, trying to get free before he heard a familiar voice call his name. When Malik looked up, he could only stare for a second. His brother was right there, gripping his arms and staring down at him.

Malik had not seen his brother in a year and a half, not since he had been locked up. The Ark did allow visitors to the prisoners every three months, but since he was in isolation, Rishid had not been permitted to see him and so the only ones he ever saw were the guards who would do regular check-ups on him and bring food two times a day.

"Malik", his brother said calmly, the same soothing tint to his voice that he had used when Malik was a child and had had a nightmare, it always made Malik calm down.
"Brother", he croaked out, voice brimming with emotion. The young male was overwhelmed after not speaking to Rishid in almost two years.

The man looked exactly the same as before. His head shaved bald on the top and sides, but the rest of his long, coal black hair was pulled on a low ponytail, the exact opposite of Malik's golden hair. Brown eyes with the gentlest look in them and a kind smile.
He smelled just like Malik remembered, and sounded just like he remembered.

But Malik saw the worry lines etched into his features, and asked, "What's going on? Why are we being taken out of the cells? They're reducing population, aren't they?"

His voice cracked at the end, fear finally pounding into him with full force.
He didn't want to die yet. He still had almost a whole year left.

He felt like he couldn't control his breathing anymore, and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Malik, it's okay", the older man said, running a hand through Malik's silken hair affectionately, "I need you to listen, okay? Listen closely, brother"

Malik nodded shakily, hanging onto every word his brother said.
It was amazing to hear Rishid's voice again, he had missed it.

"You're being sent to the ground", he said, making Malik jerk back and stare at him with eyes wide from shock. The ground?
That was impossible, right? They wouldn't be able to survive, there was still too much radiation. That's what everyone had always told him.

They'd lived in the space for generations. Earth was the dream for everyone on the Ark, the goal everyone worked hard to achieve, but they had been told it would take another hundred years until they could safely go.

"You're being sent down there to see if the ground is, in fact, survivable", Rishid continued, voice as steady as always, but his eyes betraying the worry he felt, "You will all have wristbands monitoring your internal organs and there will be devices that allow you to communicate with us in the drop-ship. You won't be alone in this"
"N-no, no, it's too dangerous. We can't – How is this possible? There's still too much radiation", Malik said, not knowing exactly how he should react. The Earth had been a life-long dream, all the people of the Ark had dreamed of returning to Earth long before he had even been born.

Malik was scared, terrified even, and refused to move as his brother tried to guide him in the right direction, but at the same time continued to cling to the bigger man's clothes in search of comfort.

"Malik, you have to go", Rishid said, "You need to take this chance. If you stay here you will be executed in less than a year, but this chance gives you the opportunity to live. To live on the ground"

Malik finally nodded, feeling dazed. This wasn't real.
This couldn't be real.

His brother pulled out a tranquillizer he had been carrying in his gear bag, and Malik let him inject the fluid without a struggle. Malik's vision started hazing into blackness, and the last thing he felt was his brother's arms, wrapped around him protectively.

When he woke up, he realized he was bound to a seat.
No, not bound, he just had a safety belt holding him in place. Malik wiggled in his place, and finally opened his eyes.

It was a drop-ship, filled with people. They were all sitting there in a tense silence, eyeing around warily and Malik found himself doing the same.
"I see you have finally woken up, Malik-kun", a calm voice next to him said.
Malik nearly jumped out of his skin and whipped his head around so quickly it was a wonder he didn't get a whiplash.

Next to him was Ryo Bakura, the quiet, melancholy and kind boy he sort of remembered from science class. Where did he come from? Malik hadn't noticed him at all.

"Ryo, right?", he asked and the white haired boy nodded, giving him a small smile.
"Why are you here?", the blond couldn't help but ask. The boy didn't look like a criminal at all. "I tried to steal some extra food for my mother", Ryo said, sighing, "She was ill"

Malik grimaced. A lot of people were put away for stealing, and he didn't think it was right. Of course they should be punished somehow, but execution was way too big of a punishment for that.

"What about you, Malik-kun?", Ryo seemed intrigued. His curiosity was no wonder, Malik hadn't been allowed to see or speak to anyone, and yet everyone knew he was in isolation. "I… heard some things I wasn't supposed to", was the only explanation the taller teen could give Ryo. He had sworn under oath he wouldn't tell anyone about what he knew after all.

Malik also knew that it probably didn't matter now, seeing as they were not on the Ark anymore, but he still felt the need to keep the secret.
Ryo looked at him, as if he was trying to figure something out, and then finally said, "That's why they kept you in total isolation, isn't it, Malik-kun?"
Malik nodded, still feeling bitter about that. It's not like he would've told anyone anyway.

Suddenly the drop-ship started moving, rough, jerky movements that made some of the people inside scream in fright. Malik squeezed his seat and breathed through his nose to calm himself down. Ryo had paled next to him, and Malik had to take a moment to wonder how the boy could even get any paler anymore.

The small screen situated to Malik's left flickered a few times, and finally turned on.
The Chancellor was sitting in his office, looking straight at the camera.

"Prisoners of the Ark, today you will be sent to the ground", the pale man started his speech, "You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you… expendable"

"God, he's a dick", Malik scoffed out when he heard the last words of the Chancellor. Ryo nodded, looking a little grim himself.

"However, those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean, should the ground be survivable when you get there", the man on the screen continued, "Your drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain and it was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years. Communication devices have been installed into the drop-ship. May we meet again"

And with those final words the screen flickered again and turned off. They were left in silence once more, before the engine fully roared into life and the drop-ship started moving again. People screamed and clutched tighter onto their seats.

The whole drop-ship jerked and clanked, making Malik think it was going to tear apart at any given moment and they'd all die before they even made it to the ground. The lights were flickering on and off, and Malik found it hard to breathe. He was terrified.

Then, after a long, agonizingly horrifying period of time, the drop-ship made impact with the ground. The landing was rough enough to emit loud gasps of pain. After a moment of once again sitting in a shocked, eerie silence, someone whispered, "Listen. No machine hum"
"That's a first", Ryo mumbled under his breath, still breathing hard. Malik finally unbuckled his safety belt and stood up. A few people followed his example dazedly. Ryo looked at him with anxious eyes, but stood up all the same and looked around.

"The outer door is on the lower level", he said to Malik, who was already making his way towards the ladder in the middle of the drop-ship. They all piled out after Malik, joining the people on the lower level. Most of them looked scared, unsure, and Malik couldn't really blame them. He had no idea what to do, or how to feel. He didn't know what would await them outside, but someone needed to do something.

He reached for the lever that would open the outdoor, but froze when someone yelled out, "Wait! We can't just open the door. The air could be toxic"
Malik looked back, and couldn't make out who said it, so he smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring, "Well, if that's the case we're all dead anyway. We can't stay in here forever either"

And when no one else made further objections, he pulled the lever.

The door creaked omniously, slowly opening and letting the sunshine and soft breeze of fresh air into the drop-ship. Malik held his breath as he stepped forward, and for the first time in his life, he saw the Earth.

A/N: Okay! That's the first chapter :) I haven't written anything in a few months actually, so I'm feeling a bit rusty, but I seriously hope it was enjoyable enough.
I apologize for any errors and weird sentences (please do keep in mind English is not my first language) and... I should get to writing chapter 2 I suppose! Please rate and if you'd be so kind as to leave a review, I would be so grateful :3

See ya soon!