Rock Bottom: Season Zero

Checkmate

Saturday morning, Seto indulged himself just a little bit. He understood that presentation mattered, and since he planned on graduating high school very soon indeed, it wasn't so much an indulgence as it was an early purchase of something he'd need to buy sooner or later. He'd gone to the consignment store and gotten some nicer clothes, which included a trenchcoat colored the deep purple of midnight. It was worth the money, especially since he knew that if he didn't make himself look somewhat presentable, Noah would give him hell over it. He had taken the gold scepter with him when he went out to "work" that night, although he couldn't properly justify to himself why he had done this.

Of course magic didn't exist, so that voice in his head urging him to take the scepter with him for when he faced off Noah was just his imagination. Yet, he had listened to the voice, tucking the artifact between his belt and the waistband of his pants, but behind him, where the coat could hide it.

He felt different as he walked down the sidewalk towards KaibaCorp HQ. He felt less like a victim and more like a victor, even though he hadn't even won the game yet. This feeling stayed with him up until the point when he entered the forty-fifth floor of the tall office building and was led by a security guard to a conference room where a chess board had been set up in the middle of the table and Noah Kaiba was waiting for him. Seto was fifteen minutes early, which made Noah scowl.

"Alright, let's get on with this," Noah said as if he were already bored. "I'm a busy person, so you should be grateful that I made time for you in my schedule." The guard took up a position along the wall, fading into the shadows as the two teens faced each other.

"Right, because at this time of night, you'd usually be drunk at a club," Seto retorted, unable to keep the nastiness out of his voice. Something about Noah Kaiba made his skin crawl and the bile rise in his throat; that spoiled, arrogant snob needed to be put in his place, and Seto would take pleasure in doing so.

*****
Until this point, Seth had been content to remain as an observer of Seto's life, learning what he was and what he did, but there were times when he did wish to interfere. It grieved him to see his reincarnation selling his body just to make a living, tortured him to see how it was affecting Seto and what he must do to cope. If he could have interfered with that, he would have, but he was always too far away to do so, since Seto would leave the Millennium Rod with his coat when he went to be with a client.

If Seth could have had his way, he would have taken Seto far from the people who wished to use him then throw him away. He would have taken Seto far away from all of the pain he refused to acknowledge, the anger he harbored in his heart, the fear that preyed on his mind.

Until this point, he'd been unable to stop Seto from what he was doing, but now that his host was about to sit down to chess with a young man whose soul was filled with a tangible evil, he could no longer sit idly by. If he didn't step in, things might get terribly out of hand.

Forgive me, Seto, but I can't let you do this alone.
*****

"Roland is going to make sure that nobody cheats during this match. Whoever's caught cheating will be forced into automatic surrender," Noah was saying as Seth took control and gently sealed away Seto's soul, protecting the teen from what was about to happen.

"Believe me, I will not be cheating," Seth said smoothly, seating himself across the table from his opponent. Since Noah's focus was on Seth, he didn't realize that dark, swirling fog had materialized around them, enveloping the three of them and the table. "Did you bring the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card?"

"Although I highly doubt it will be leaving my possession, yes, I did." Noah pulled the card out of his wallet and held it up to show Seth the image on the card to prove its authenticity.