Rock Bottom: Season Two

Endangered

Joey took down an obnoxious bug duelist—hadn't he been named the regional champion just this summer?—after an arduous duel. He was in the process of looking for his next opponent when Seto ran into him—quite literally.

"Hey! What's the rush?" the blond asked light-heartedly.

"Someone broke into your house and took Mokuba."

"What?!"

"Come on!" Seto grabbed Joey's hand and continued to run in the direction of his house. "We can't afford to waste any time!"

"How do you know what happened?"

"Anzu called me. I told her to call the police."

"Do you think Kaiba—?"

"Yes." Seto didn't even need to hear the whole question. "But I'm still hoping he's not involved." He released Joey's hand as he skidded on the pavement to make a sharp turn.

"Halt!"

The two teens stumbled to an abrupt stop as their path was blocked by two robed, masked figures, one of them holding up his hand, arm extended, palm facing them.

"Get outta my way, or I'll clobber ya!" Joey threatened immediately. "I don' got time for this!"

"We know where your brother is, Seto." The man dropped his arm and smirked as Seto grit his teeth. "We'll tell you where he is if you can beat us in a duel."

"That's ridiculous!" Seto snapped in aggravation. "Tell me now, damn it!"

Steady, Seth murmured in a cautious tone. Be careful; we don't know what they're willing to do if we don't cooperate.

You think they work for Noah. It was a statement, almost an accusation.

You do too, Seth pointed out.

Yes, but your agreement practically confirms it.

"We don't have to tell you anything," the other anonymous figured retorted in a disgustingly snarky tone.

"We could turn you over to the police," Seto threatened, Seth's calm presence washing over him like a cool draft of air. Seto was too angry on his own to think clearly, but Seth helped him maintain mental clarity. "I'm sure your boss wouldn't like that."

"You'd be losing your only lead to your little brother if you did that, though."

"If we beat you and you don't tell me where he is, I'm turning you in." Seto extended his left arm forward, activating his duel disk. "I accept your challenge." He glanced at Joey and saw him doing the same.

"We're in this together, whether you like it or not."

"Thanks."

"Then let's shuffle our decks and let the duel begin!" one of their opponents declared as they, too, activated their duel disks.

"Mind telling us your names so we at least know who we're fighting?" Seto asked as he removed his deck from the port and shuffled it.

"I am Lumis," the taller one said.

"I am Umbra," the shorter one followed promptly.

"And this will be your last duel of the tournament!"

"In your dreams," Seto retorted. "Let's duel!"

The duel was surprisingly brief, not even lasting long enough for a single player to get a second turn. The coin flip determined the order of turns: Joey, Lumis, Seto, Umbra. Joey put a monster in defense mode, then Lumis attacked Seto's life-points directly, sneaking in a direct hit before the brunette had a chance to defend.