Rock Bottom: Season Two

Anchor

"Shut up."

Seto turned his gaze to glare at their adversary.

"This is what's going to happen: you"—he pointed to Seto—"are going to stand over there and chain yourself to the anchor, just like he is. Then the two of you are going to duel, and I'm going to start a timer for twenty minutes. When your opponent's life-points reach zero, the box in front of you will open, giving you the key you need to free yourself. The loser surrenders their life and their Millennium Item. If the duel isn't over by the end of twenty minutes, then you both lose: the anchor will drop when the timer goes off either way, so if you can't pick a winner by then, you'll both get dragged to the bottom of the harbor. This kid"—he said, gesturing to Mokuba—"only goes free once a winner has been declared. If the spectators try to interfere or call anyone for help, the kid gets punished. Any questions?"

"Just a few." Seto had, as the man spoke, followed his directions and was now standing across the pier from wide-eyed Ryou, who looked more anxious by the moment. "For starters, who are you and why are you doing this?" Seto's tone was a balanced blend of cocky confidence and unimpressed intelligence. "If all you wanted was the Millennium Items, you would have just stolen them. If you wanted us dead, you could have just killed us. Neither of those can be your main objective, because this is a ridiculously complicated death-trap. It seems unnecessary to me," Seto scoffed, the stranger gritting his teeth as he glared at the teenager. "Unless you have some obscure objective in mind that makes sense only to you. Or, rather, your boss, because you're clearly a mere lackey taking orders from someone else. Care to let us in on that little secret before we get started?"

Before the so-called lackey could respond, Joey cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Sick burn, man!" Mai whacked him on the arm for making light of such a serious situation, but Seto smirked in appreciation.

"Shut up, you insolent brat! Just get the duel started."

The man's response didn't address any of Seto's questions, only confirming the brunette's theory that he was indeed a mere grunt working in the employ of their true enemy.

"Wait. I have a proposition for you." Seto's serious expression didn't give anything away, but he looked less scornful now. "If we both win, then everyone goes free: we keep our items,—and our lives—you let Mokuba go, and you leave us alone."

"The chances of that happening are one in a million." Mokuba's captor was looking a bit smug now.

"If you're so confident that it won't happen, then you have nothing to lose by agreeing to it."

"Fine, I'll allow that, but only because you'll be that much more crushed when you fail."

"Alright then." Seto turned his head to face Ryou, though he was still addressing the other man. "We'll play along with your little game, just let us get our decks ready first." Ryou gave him a small nod of agreement; Seto may be the vocal one between them, but he spoke for them both, and he wasn't going to attach Ryou's name to a verbal contract without his consent.

"You have two minutes to ready your decks, then the duel will commence."

Marik could tell that Ryou looked slightly calmer now—Seto redefining the terms of the duel gave them a chance at true victory—but he was still a bundle of nerves too anxious to think as clearly as he needed to right now. Marik wasn't the only one who noticed, though. Seth did too.

"Talk to him in my language," Seth prompted his other half. "That way he won't know what you're doing."

And tell him what? Seto asked as he glanced up from his cards for the split second it took to take in Ryou's expression, then returned to shuffling cards from his main deck to his side deck and vice versa.