A/N:

WARNING: It's gonna get a little turmoiled out there. Be sure to bring your umbrella. There's going to be violence, magic used in BAD BAD ways, and some slight sexual content.

italics means thoughts
means scene change

Chapter 9: Isobel Surfaces

The bell rang, signaling the end of AP Calculus and Seto patiently waited until all of the other students had departed before gathering up his things and beginning his exit. By waiting those few minutes, the halls would be significantly emptier from the rush of students to lunch and therefore Seto could walk to his spot in relative peace. However, just as he was passing Merrill-sensei's desk, she looked up from her papers and called to him.

"Oh, Ryuujin, I want to talk to you."

Seto blinked and turned to face her. "Yes?"

Merrill-sensei sorted her papers into a nice neat pile and placed them down on her desk. She looked straight into Seto's eyes and asked, "Are you all right?"

Seto blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Are you all right?" Merrill-sensei repeated. "You seem to be distracted lately. Is there anything going on that is troubling you, besides that abysmal fistfight that erupted between you and Kent. You are obviously a very private person, and I can see why would wouldn't even dream of going to a school counselor, especially when you're in a different country, but if you'd like to discuss anything with me, I'm open, and more confidential than an FBI file."

Seto just barely held in a sardonic laugh. He'd gotten talks like this before from his doctor, the Big Five, the former head housekeeper at the mansion, and his former technical advisor. And now he was getting it from a teacher who (while he did respect her) he barely knew! Seto spent half a minute composing a reply that didn't consist of biting sarcasm and instead contained diplomatic sarcasm.

"Merrill-sensei," Yes, always remember the honorific to make sure that the tone of your voice doesn't sound as sharp. "There isn't possibly anything you can say that will help the delicate situation I'm in right now. So, don't try. While your effort is—" Seto hastily changed "hackneyed" to a more diplomatic word, "—admirable, I will decline." With that, Seto walked out of the room. He then made a quick stop at the bathroom to release the laughter he'd been holding in during his refusal.

It was when he had calmed down that he realized that there was a significant weight missing from his pocket. Frowning, he quickly went through his pockets and swore when he realized he had left his cell phone back in the Sullivan's home. Rolling his eyes, Seto shouldered his backpack and exited the bathroom. He deposited his backpack into his locker and walked out of school. Although Chloe did drive to school, it was only a half hour to forty-five minute walk to her home. If Seto missed half of history, so be it. He knew more than the teacher did anyways.

Seto narrowed his eyes as he walked up the path to the front door. He could feel that something was off. However, the house looked fine, untouched and undamaged, and the door wasn't even open in the clichéd detective suspense novel style. Seto trusted his instincts, though. When he cautiously tried the knob and found that it gave under his touch, he was instantly ready to attack. Unlike many of the citizens of Smallville, the Sullivans—used to living in the city—locked their door. Senses on high alert—the taste of foreign magic tickled the base of his spine—he walked into the silent house.

The lights were on and cars keys lay abandoned on the kitchen table next to a half-empty glass of water, ice partially melted. Someone had been here recently. Seto frowned even more when he saw a dark shape on the floor, partially hidden by the table. Gazing around and deciding that whatever was the source of the foreign magic wasn't in the immediate vicinity, Seto approached the object. He stopped short when he realized the shape was a person, and that the person was a very still Sullivan Gabe. Seto knelt down and placed two fingers to the man's neck and was satisfied to find a pulse. Sullivan-san's breathing was clear and even, no sign of rib trauma. A quick examination of the skull disproved the theory that the man had been knocked out by a blow to the head. In fact, given the lack of struggle, either Sullivan Gabe had been drugged or—even more unlikely—had fallen asleep. The house didn't seem to have been robbed; Seto could see through the doorway leading to the living room that the television and VCR were untouched, so why was Chloe's father lying on the floor, unconscious? Seto shook the man's shoulder, trying to revive Sullivan-san.

"Sullivan," Seto hissed. "Get up, damn it."

Suddenly the sense of foreign magic spiked and Seto started and leapt to his feet, turning to face a smirking Lang Lana.

"Isn't this precious? I set a trap for the daughter and instead I get the wayward freeloader." She blinked, and an unfamiliar expression flittered across her face as her smile widened. "Well, well, well, so this is how the miner feels when he digs for copper and strikes gold." She took a step forward, and Seto narrowed his eyes in silent warning. "How do you have that much power, my dear Ryuujin?" She lengthened the syllables of his name, making the sounds crawl inside his ear and claw his brain. "How can someone as young as you be so deliciously powerful?"

Isobel held out her hand and Seto grunted as an invisible force threw him against the kitchen counter, slamming his head against the wooden cabinet doors. His Rod dug into his back as he struggled against the pressure. He gritted his teeth as he tried to break the spell, but Isobel grinned and curled the fingers of her outstretched hand, and Seto gasped as his air was cut off. Isobel stepped until she was directly in front of him and leaned over until he could feel her breath tickle his ear.

"You poor, poor, wretched little boy," the witch whispered in Seto's ears.

Spots were starting to swirl in Seto's vision. 'You wretched little boy' echoed in his ears, and the tone changed, warped from a teenaged girl's to a man of forty. Gozaburo's deep, harsh whisper flittered in Seto's mind, and he could almost see the man standing in front of him, the familiar hated red suit and the dark eyes and black hair just starting to go gray. He could see the manic glitter in the man's eyes, his lips curled into a smug grin. 'You wretched little boy' echoed again in Seto's ears, and something in him snapped.

"Enough!" Seto snarled hoarsely and swung, hitting Isobel right in the ribs, knocking her backwards so that she crashed into a chair as she fell. Doubled over, Seto glared at her as he gasped, trying to catch his breath. "I've…had…enough." He fumbled for the Rod and pulled it out of its hiding place, brandishing it like a sword. A stream of golden light exploded from the Sennen Item, and Isobel barely dodged it. It hit a chair and the chair crumpled to the floor, splintered and smoking. Seto fired the Rod again and Isobel managed to grab the energy, holding it in her hands. She grated a spell and the ball faded and shrank until she was able to slam it into the floor where it cracked and seared the wood, but did little else.

She placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself up, wincing as she put weight on her injured palms. "Don't you know, Ryuujin?" She smiled up at Seto as she swayed, gripping the table beside her for support. Capturing that energy must have taken a lot of effort on her part. "That if you hurt me, you hurt Lana?"

"Does it look like I care?" Seto rasped, and Isobel's eyes widened in fright as he raised the Rod again. "Lang probably objects to my use of force, but she would be the first to agree with me that you have to be stopped. Your little 'don't hurt the host' trick might work with Kent and Luthor, but by the gods it won't work with me."

But before Seto could strike again, Isobel waved her hand and Seto was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall. He lost his grip on the Rod, where it clattered across the floor and rolled under the collapsed chair. Blinking stars out of his eyes and ignoring the new throbbing in his back, shoulder, and head, Seto struggled to his feet and grabbed his knife. Isobel didn't waste time and slammed him against the wall again and held him there, but this time Seto clutched his knife with all of his might. While he may be new to using the Sennen Rod, the blade was as familiar to him as the locket around his neck. While the Dragon Duelist was concentrated on breaking Isobel's hold, he heard her shriek and suddenly he was free and landed hard on the floor.

Blinking away sweat, he looked up to see a bloodied Kuriboh attacking Isobel's arm. Pushing aside his muddled of confused thoughts of why the Kuriboh's contact with the opponent didn't cause it to explode, Seto took advantage of the distraction to charge Isobel. But he had hesitated too long. Isobel threw off the fuzz ball and turned to Seto and hit him with a wave of power that smashed him against the wall again. This was enough for Seto's abused and exhausted body and against his will, darkness swallowed the CEO whole.

Consciousness seeped in slowly, like trickles of water through soil. Seto managed to crack his eyes open partway, and through a haze saw Lang—no, Isobel—bending over him. He felt fingers combing through his hair and frowned, not quite being able to summon the energy to try to escape. It was then that he shifted his arms and discovered that they seemed to be restricted in movement. Gentle tugging revealed that cloth had been wrapped around his wrists and tied to some sort of metal pole…a bedpost. That confirmed the soft cushiony material he felt underneath him. He was tied to a bed. Somewhere in the back of his mind it registered that this wasn't a desirable position to be in, but for some reason he couldn't understand why. In fact, he suddenly found that he was unable to keep his eyes open and let them drift shut.

A low chuckle washed over him and the fingers that had been tangling in his hair suddenly clenched and Seto tensed as the fingers yanked painfully on his locks, just short of pulling out strands. The fingers drifted down, tracing his jaw line and brushing against the bruises on his chin, traveling upwards and caressing his cheeks and nose. He was so distracted that he barely noticed that her other hand was teasing open the buttons on his shirt.

I should move. I need to move.

But he couldn't. It was as if there was a barrier between his rational thoughts and having him have absolute command over his body. As he felt goose bumps rise on his skin as his chest was exposed to the air, he felt the fingers on his face still and move away, as did the hand on his chest.

"Aw, it seems like someone already broke you in for me," Isobel sulked. "Such a shame, I had so many plans."

Seto's breath caught in his throat as one of Isobel's nails dug into one of his scars. He never thought he'd be glad to have them—and he still wasn't—but at least it had interfered with some of the bitch's plans.

Fuck, I have got to get out of here!

But why couldn't he? The cloth straps were only on his wrists, his legs weren't restrained in any way, and yet he couldn't summon the energy to move, let alone open his eyes. He felt Isobel place her hands firmly on his chest and had a second to sense her hot breath on his skin before cool wet touched his scar He cringed as shock and disgust gave him the energy to open his eyes.

Did she just lick me?

He felt bile rise in his throat as he saw Isobel's head nearly touching his chest.

Oh my God, she licked me. She licked me!

"Yeh git th' hell away fro' meh, yeh ganky header doxie!"

Isobel froze. "What?"

Seto bared his teeth at her. "Yeh heard meh, yeh brasser! Git yer boggy hooves offa meh!"

Isobel narrowed her eyes. "I've lost my taste for you, Coal-Cracker."

"Kiss meh arse, bitch."

Her face twisted in her rage and she pulled something out of the pocket of her jeans. It was Seto's knife. "Say that again," She hissed, eyes flashing.

Seto grinned at her. "So yeh donnae like to hear what yeh really were now, do yeh? That yer mader was a whore and yer fader a one-time cust'mer, eh? An' we all know what whores breed, 'specially wit' der bastard children." He paused for dramatic effect and his wolf's grin widened. "More whores."

With a scream of rage Isobel raised the knife and for one, terrifying second Seto thought she was going to stab him (because, gods damn it, he was not going to be killed by a psychotic bitch) but instead nearly knocked him out again by backhanding him with the pommel. The force of the strike made his body twist on the bed, and the only reason he didn't fall off was because of his bindings. The blow stunned Seto and knocked the wind out of him. While he was concentrating on trying to breathe through the pain and not to black out again, he faintly was aware of Isobel carving something over his heart.

When she finished she bent over him and felt the hot breath from her whisper in his ear. "Since you're so enticing, I'm going to be nice and give you one last chance. Cross me again and I will do something that will leave you in agony for the rest of your pathetic, miserable life."

Seto would have snarled something back, but he was still teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, so he said nothing. Isobel took this as his agreement.

"Good. Now you are going to do as I say. If you perform to my satisfactions, then I will let you go and concentrate on that girl's power instead. She'd even be easier to deal with, since she doesn't have as many defenses as you."

This made Seto snap back a bit more into awareness. If that bitch thought he was going to follow any of her orders—

She straightened so that she was standing right above him. "Since you're so convinced that I'm a whore, I'm going to make you into one. Now kiss me."

She was insane. There was no other explanation for it. Seto had once made a list of the top ten items he would never, ever do under any circumstances. Having sex with the enemy had made it to the top ten items he would, never, ever even consider doing.

It took a bit to gather moisture in his mouth to reply. What he was going to do next was probably suicide, but he didn't care at the moment. Isobel recoiled as he spat at her, his spittle landing right on her cheek. His lips twisted in disgust and she wiped at it with the back of the hand that didn't hold the knife.

"You loathsome, foul creature!" She shrieked.

"That's what it says on my business card." Seto ignored the pain from his throat and cheekbone that spiked when he spoke. His face was going to be a mass of bruises for a while, but it was so worth it to see the witch turn purple with rage.

"I've had enough of you!" She placed her free hand on the carving she had made over his heart and cried terrible, grating words that burned Seto's ears. He screamed at the sudden pain that accompanied the spell. It felt like she was tearing his heart and soul apart. Minutes passed like days and he was panting when the pain finally ceased. Then he was shocked into speechlessness when there was an eerie silence in his head. All throughout his ordeal, his dragons had been growling and roaring at the pain their master had been experiencing and urging Seto to call them (Seto had resisted because if he called his dragons, the Sullivans would be left homeless). But now, he wished he had. It was as if they were gone. He couldn't feel them anymore, and the realization made him ache even more than his physical wounds.

"What…did…you…do?" he gasped.

Isobel smirked, and Seto half expected to see a forked tongue hiss from her mouth. "I stole your magic."

"You what?" Oh gods, please, no. Anything but that.

Her smile stretched, and Seto wanted to strangle her. Just wrap his fingers around her throat and squeeze—

He tugged fruitlessly at his bonds and was surprised as hell when he heard fabric rip and the cloth gave. He sprang from the bed and tackled Isobel, knocking her to the floor. She had somehow kept her grip on his knife and tried to stab him, but he avoided it easily and picked her up by her shirt and slammed her against the wall. She cried out and he did it again. And once more until she slumped in his grip. Whether she was unconscious or dead, Seto didn't particularly care as he threw her to the floor and stumbled back against the opposite wall as the adrenaline rush faded and left him feeling as weak as coffee from a diner. As he watched her, her chest rose and fell, so he guessed she was alive. She might have some brain damage from the blows, but it could even improve Lang's personality, which was sickeningly sweet and too ingrained into the "Damsel in Distress" role. It even seemed that she enjoyed that role, which made Seto sneer at the thought.

Seto leaned heavily against the wall, trying to regain his breath. He stared at the unconscious form of Isobel, her hand still loosely clutching his knife. He clenched his hands into fists and forced himself to stand and walked over to the girl, kicking the knife out of her hand. He didn't want to touch her, even if she was harmless now. He almost laughed at that. Harmless. He wondered what she would do with his magic. He wondered if she now heard his dragons in her head. Would they communicate with her as they had with him? Could they speak to her at all? Were they….hers now? He almost vomited at the thought. Those were his dragons. His. No one else's. Never. And by the gods, he was going to get them back. Whatever it may take, they were going to be his again. They weren't hers, they were never hers, and they never would be hers.

Seto shuddered as the pain grew worse and wrapped a protective arm around his ribs, stumbling backwards until his back rested against the wall again. He closed his eyes as he shook, just concentrating on breathing. He didn't want to think about how his Deck was now dead weight in his pocket, as if it had lost its meaning and its heart now belonged to—oh gods. It would NEVER belong to her. He'd sooner burn it. The aching pain constricted in his chest and he gasped aloud and focused on breathing.

Breathe in…breathe out. Breathe in…breathe out. One breath at a time. As long as you can breathe, you can still stop her. Just take one breath at a time.

There was carpet underneath the hand not wrapped around his torso and he wondered when he had sat on the floor. He wondered how long he'd been out and when he looked out the window, it was dusk, but he didn't remember what the sky looked like when he first discovered Isobel. Had it been afternoon or morning?

As he sat there, the door creaked and began to open and Seto started, scrambling to his feet, searching for a weapon and then remembering too late that the only weapon he had was on the floor near Isobel on the opposite side of the room. He was getting ready to dash for it when whoever had disturbed the door walked in. Seto let out a breath of relief and sat back down on the carpet. It was just the Kuriboh.

It was a mess. Its fur was even wilder than usual and blood had dried on it, matting the fur. Its eyes were half-closed from weariness and it favored its right leg. When it saw Seto, it chirped and half-bounced, half-limped over to him. It snuggled against his side and Seto stroked its fur, not caring when his fingers brushed dried blood.

"I thought Kuribohs self-destructed on contact with the enemy," Seto murmured to it, his voice still hoarse from Isobel trying to strangle him.

It smiled at him and Seto laughed, but stopped before it could turn into a sob. The Kuriboh merely pressed closer to him.

"I guess there are always exceptions to every rule. You look like I feel," Seto whispered to it.

Its response was to purr and Seto closed his eyes, and, despite himself, he felt just a little bit better.

"I wish you didn't have to get hurt. I'd heal you, but apparently I'm out of magic and I have no idea where Ryou is."

It chirruped weakly at him and after a moment, pulled away from the Dragon Duelist and limped over to Isobel. It picked up the knife Seto had kicked away and to Seto's amazement, cut Isobel's arm with it. It hobbled back to Seto and tossed the knife at his feet.

"What do you want me to do?" Seto rasped.

It jerked its heard towards Isobel, then looked pointedly at the knife, and then at Seto. Seto blinked.

"You want me to kill her?"

The Kuriboh shook its head violently. It picked up the knife and pantomimed cutting itself with it, and then jerked its head towards Isobel again.

"You want me to cut myself with it go over to her—Isobel?" Seto made himself say the bitch's name. He was not going to be afraid to say her name.

The Kuriboh nodded and Seto looked at it for a long time.

"You're crazy," Seto told it flatly. "But, I must be crazier because I'm listening to you." He rolled up his long sleeve and picked up the knife making a shallow cut in his arm. He stood slowly, feeling every ache and pain from his fight and walked over to Isobel. "Now what?" he asked the Kuriboh. The Kuriboh took Seto's arm gently in its claws and pressed his arm against Isobel's so that their blood mixed. Seto gasped as he felt fire race into his arm and circulate throughout his body. It burned from his throat all the way down to his toes. It was like being born again and he laughed as he heard the roar of triumph from his dragons. The hollow space in his torso was gone, filled to the brim with scales and wings and fire. Seto glanced down at his chest and was gladdened to see that the rune Isobel had carved over his heart had vanished. He didn't want another scar. After a moment, the Kuriboh released his arm and Seto stood and stepped away as Isobel's eyes fluttered.

Only it wasn't Isobel anymore. It was Lang.

Lang groaned as she regained consciousness and rubbed her hand over her face, slowly getting to her feet. "Wh—what happened?" She asked herself (not having seen Seto yet), her voice thick.

Seto felt a cold shiver run down his back. Isobel or no, he did not want to be around Lang ever again even if he was in a crowd of a thousand bodyguards. He wanted to get away from her now. Looking down at himself, he quickly rolled down his sleeve, concealing the cut and buttoned up his shirt, straightening himself so that he was mostly presentable. All he wanted right now was some ice for his cheekbone, ribs, back, and head, which all throbbed angrily.

Lang's eyes widened as she glimpsed Seto. "Ryuujin? What happened to you? What's going on? How did I get here? Last I remember I was walking to the Talon. Were we attacked?"

"Isobel—" Seto coughed as he realized his voice was still hoarse and it still hurt to talk. He swallowed, which did no good, and decided to continue speaking anyways. "Isobel took over your body and came to this house to steal my magic. I managed to overcome her."

"By doing what? Oh, my head." Her face contorted in pain and she gingerly touched the back of her head. Lang stared at Seto as she probably felt the giant goose egg where Seto had slammed her skull against the wall. "You didn't do this, did you?"

"Why wouldn't I have any reason not to? You attacked me. I merely defended myself. You know as well as I do how dangerous Isobel is. And why weren't you surprised when I told you I had magic"

"Chloe told me. And of course I know how dangerous she is! But—" Before she could continue what she was going to say, Lang stiffened and her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell with a thud to the floor.

Seto blinked. What in the hell—?

The door to the room was thrown open and Sullivan-san, Chloe, and Ryou piled in.

"Ah, here comes the cavalry. About ten minutes too late, that is. Wonderful timing you all have," Seto spat.

"What happened to you?" Ryou asked, concerned.

"What happened to that fluffy ball thing?" Sullivan inquired.

"What wrong with Lana? What did you do to her?" Chloe raged.

"What did I do her?" Seto sputtered. "What about what the fuck she did to me!"

As Chloe rushed over to aid her friend, Ryou and Sullivan approached Seto like one would approach a sleeping dragon when they wanted to steal from its treasure hoard.

"What happened to your face? To your voice?" Ryou asked.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "That person Sullivan is so worried about tried to strangle me."

"What? Lana would never—" But something made Chloe stop what she was going to say. "Damn it, it was Isobel, wasn't it? Always, it's her. She never stops."

"Be thankful I was in the house before you. Isobel set a trap for you," Seto snarled.

"What?" Chloe yelped.

"You heard me. She specifically said that she 'set a trap for the daughter.'"

"What would she want with me?" Chloe asked.

Seto shrugged, although he had an inkling of what it was. Isobel wanted Chloe's Shadow magic. What else would it be?

"Ryuujin, what happened?" Sullivan-san urged.

"First of all, what happened to you? I came back to retrieve my cell phone and I saw you lying on the floor. Be glad she didn't kill you."

"All I know is that one minute I'm about to make myself lunch, the next I'm waking up to a wrecked kitchen. And you look like you just had several brawls in a biking bar. Did you have a fight with her?"

"Of course I put up a fight. Would you expect less?"

Ryou frowned as he knelt down to inspect Lang. "She's unconscious. Has she woken or has she been like this ever since you knocked her out?" He asked Seto.

"She woke for a few minutes. She seemed lucid."

"Well, that's good. She probably has a concussion. I'd get her to the hospital as soon as possible." He then spoke to Seto quietly so the others couldn't hear. "She feels like…like her soul was almost swallowed by Am'mit. You didn't play a penalty game with her, did you?"

"No," Seto gritted his teeth. He abruptly switched to Japanese. "She tried to steal my magic, Ryou. Did steal my magic. I managed to get it back."

Ryou gaped at him. "She—she…wow. Um, by doing that, Ryuujin, you probably saved her soul."

"What?"

Chloe traded gazes with her father. "Do you have any idea what they're saying?"

Sullivan-san shook his head. "My Japanese is worse than your French."

"Well, that's perfect!" Chloe threw up her hands in frustration.

The Duelists ignored them. Ryou took a breath. "Our magic is like—um, how do I explain this?" He thought for a moment. "Ok, our magic is like a jet engine. Strong, powerful, but only compatible for a plane. You take that same engine and put it in a car and no matter how powerful the car, with a lot of luck, the car may run for a while, but it won't be able to handle the engine for long. The same situation happened to Isobel. If the soul can't handle magic, especially our magic, the Shadows will swallow the soul, because that's what they do. That's their nature. By taking your magic back before the Shadows had enough time to swallow anything, you saved Lang. She's just suffering from exhaustion at trying to fight it off. A good night's rest and no strenuous exercise for a few days should have her back to normal." He then muttered, "With the concussion, however…"

"Oh, great, so I'm a fucking hero now," Seto spat.

"I'm afraid so, Ryuujin."

"Well, I don't care. I'm out of here." He looked down at the still injured Kuriboh. "Stay with Ryou. He'll heal you." With that, Seto pushed past Sullivan-san and Chloe and walked as quickly as he could to get out of the house.

He heard footsteps after him (probably Chloe's) and a low voice urging her to stop, which she did. Good. He didn't want to deal with anyone right now. He left the Sullivan's property and started to walk, not having a destination in mind and deciding that he didn't care.

After some time had passed, he heard footsteps approach from behind him and tensed, hand going to the knife in his pocket.

"Ryuujin! I just got a call from Chloe and—"

It was Kent. Fuck. Seto whirled to face him and his lips lifted into a snarl. "I don't want to deal with you right now. Go away before I do something you'll regret."

"Jesus, Ryuujin, what happened to you?" Kent reached out a hand towards Seto's injuries and Seto ducked away.

"Ask your bitch of a girlfriend," Seto spat. "Apparently she took some classes in sadism and bondage. I'd be careful before turning my back on her." He started to walk past Kent when Kent grabbed his shoulder, which was still tender from being slammed into a wall.

"You will not talk about Lana that—"

Kent didn't have a chance to finish his threat before Seto twisted and swept his leg over Kent's ankles, knocking the teen to the ground. He easily pinned Kent to the ground and held his knife at Kent's throat, which glowed from the Dragon Duelist's magic.

"I stopped Bakura from killing you before, but never ask for favors twice from me," Seto hissed. "Do not cross me." Seto pressed the knife into Kent's sweating neck, just short of drawing blood. He held the knife in that position for just a few seconds more and then took it away and getting off of Kent. He replaced the knife back in his pocket and went on his way, leaving Kent gasping on the ground, rubbing his throat.

If there was any time Seto considered getting drunk, it was then. He only was able to walk for twenty minutes before he had to rest, leaning against a tree. He blinked when a black Corvette pulled up next to him and the driver's window rolled down. It was Luthor.

"Want a ride?"

Seto rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you have plenty to do other than drive around giving rides to teenagers."

"And I'm sure you need a ride to the hospital. You look like you just tangled with a hurricane and lost. Your voice sounds terrible. Get in."

Seto gritted his teeth, but he was too tired to argue. He pushed himself off the tree and got into Luthor's car. "I didn't lose. You should see the god damned hurricane."

"Who was it?" Luthor asked as he drove.

"Lang."

Luthor stared at him. "You got into a fight with Lana?"

"You don't happen to know about her 'other side' now, do you?"

The knuckles on Luthor's hand turned white as he gripped the steering wheel with a little more force than necessary. "You're talking about Isobel. What did she want?"

"Sullivan. I got in the way."

Luthor frowned. "Why did she want Chloe?"

Seto shrugged.

"Maybe it was because she used Chloe before."

"What do you mean?" Kent didn't mention this.

"When Isobel first emerged, she enchanted Chloe and a woman named Lois Lane to inhabit the souls of the other two witches that were burned along with her. They were just as sadistic as she was, but she was their leader. They haven't shown up again like Isobel has, but Isobel was probably trying to rally her forces again. Good thing Lois is out of town." He looked at Seto curiously. "How did you stop her?"

"I knocked her out so that Lang was able to take back control."

"You didn't hurt her badly, I hope."

"Probably gave her a concussion. I don't really care."

Luthor's eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment.

"That's a better reaction than Kent's explosion. Let me tell you something, Luthor. I'm not noble. I'm not a fucking hero. When someone hits me, I hit back so they don't have a chance of hitting me again. And maybe I hit them once more to teach them a lesson. I don't liked being fucked with and I make sure everyone knows that. If you're going to lecture me on morality and how I shouldn't hit the supposed 'weaker sex' then you can stop this car right now so I can get out. And I especially don't give a damn if the person is possessed because if I go easy on them, that means they win."

Luthor's mouth tightened into a thin line. "You sound like my father."

Seto smirked.

The doctor gave him some ice packs and pain killers. Luckily, Seto was just a mass of bruises and nothing was broken or dislocated. The worst injury was that he had a concussion, which just meant that he had to "take it easy" for a few days and get lots of rest. It wasn't too serious that he had to be woken up every couple of hours, but it was enough that the doctor told him to go to the emergency room immediately if there was any vomiting. Seto snorted mentally at the idea of rest. He didn't have time for rest. Luthor was even kind enough to take him home, although Seto suspected Luthor just wanted to scourge some more information on him. He successfully dodged each of Luthor's subtle questioning and left the man baffled as he got out of the Corvette and entered the Sullivan's home.

He only paused a bit in the kitchen to collect his Rod underneath the wreck of a chair before shutting himself in the room he was staying in. As it was, he didn't sleep that night, but chose to catch up on work. And if he let the Kuriboh curl up against him while typing on his laptop, well, that was his business. And if Chloe commented the next morning on how he looked exhausted (read: "Jesus, you look like shit, Ryuujin!") then she probably needed glasses.

"Lana's going to be in the hospital for another night for observation. She had bruises everywhere and her hands were slightly burned. Know anything about that?" Chloe asked over her steaming mug of coffee.

Seto grunted and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"It's not as if Lana's going to press charges on anything."

Seto choked on his coffee. "Her? Press charges? She's lucky I don't burn her at the stake on what she did to me."

Chloe winced. "Bad word choice, Webster. And what did she do to you? Besides use your face for a punching bag?"

Damn. Seto stayed silent.

"You know, it helps to talk about it."

"Don't you dare play therapist with me, Sullivan. And don't act like you're my so-called friend, because you aren't. So leave me alone."

Chloe glared at him. "I get you don't want to talk, fine. But I will find ways to make you less PTSD."

Seto smirked. Maybe he should wish her some of the inu make's luck. She'd need all she could get.

Seto rolled his eyes as Chloe (in a fashion eerily similar to Mokuba's) tugged him along behind her, claiming she needed his help on her chemistry project. He knew what she was really doing, of course. He wasn't blind. She had assumed that after the disturbing encounter with the witch Isobel he needed some of what Americans called "down-time", whatever the fuck that meant. According to Chloe's stutters and Sullivan-san's amused jokes, it seemed to involve sitting in a plastic chair on a beach and gazing at the sunset while drinking cocktails. As to how that image was connected with chemistry, Seto had no idea and didn't want to waste valuable time figuring it out. Instead, he seemed to be wasting time "helping" Chloe with an inane chemistry project that Mokuba could do in his sleep.

Well, if he was going to suffer, he shouldn't be the only one. Which was why he had seized the back of Bakura's jacket as they trudged through the streets heading towards Smallville High. Besides, the thief looked as if he was up to picking some more pockets, and in a small town like Smallville where everyone knew everyone's business, it was guaranteed the thief would be discovered. And it would be terribly inconvenient for the Rogue Duelist to show up with her Deck and Ryou not be able to provide backup because he was rotting in jail. And despite his dragons muffled snorts of amusement and grins of suspicion, he was not doing this for Ryou's benefit.

And as soon as they reached the chemistry lab and Chloe started to organize the ingredients for her lab experiment, Seto instantly regretted dragging Bakura along. He stared in dumb amazement and horror as the former tomb robber took over the chemistry lab, setting up various beakers, Erlen Myler flasks, and Bunsen burners on an empty desk with Petri dishes and pipettes. The white-haired teen flittered from cabinet to cabinet, taking out various chemicals and mixing them, all with a maniacal grin on his face. Chloe stood a row away, mouth agape as she watched Bakura run around like a Duelist in a rare card shop.

Seto's eyes darted back and forth as he cataloged each chemical Bakura took out and the amount Bakura mixed in the various beakers. He didn't even bother to tell the white-haired teen that it wasn't such a smart idea to heat the beakers directly on the Bunsen burner. When nothing seemed to be happening to the mixture, Bakura soon lost interest and set up another one, starting with water for the base. Then he grabbed some sodium and grinned as he fished out a large chunk. Seto's eyes widened as Bakura headed back towards the beaker.

Seto slowly lowered himself behind the feeble cover a nearby desk offered.

"Duck," he said quietly to Chloe, who had been standing next to him.

"What?" she asked.

"Duck," he repeated.

Chloe blinked at him, and then threw herself to the floor as Bakura dropped the sodium into the beaker. There was a loud bang that shook the classroom and Seto's vision went white.

Seto came to himself and discovered that he was lying flat on his back and looking up at the ceiling. He blinked a few times to compose himself and sat up slowly, just avoiding hitting his head on the underside of the partially collapsed desk he had been sheltering under. Chloe was lying on the ground beside him covered with white plaster, blinking as her shock wore off. Seto got up and straightened his slightly scorched clothing and brushed off the bits of plaster that coated him as he looked around the classroom.

It was completely decimated. Many of the desks and chairs were in pieces and there were scotch marks on the walls and ceiling. The beakers had broken into large shards of glass and some of the windows were cracked. The cabinets that had held other chemicals were in splinters, the jars holding the chemicals broken on the floor, with the liquids spreading onto the hard tiles. Small fires were scattered throughout the area. The entire classroom was dusted with plaster that looked like ash. The scene looked like a sketchy reenactment of the destruction of Pompeii.

Seto spotted Bakura sitting up against the wall of the lab where he had been thrown from the explosion. His clothes were smoking and stained with chemicals and his face had black smudges on it. His hair was spikier than ever and glittering from broken bits of glass. Bakura's eyes were wide and he still wore a maniacal grin.

"Sugoi," he breathed and then turned his gaze on Seto, who was still trying to brush the plaster off his black jacket. "Priest! Now you're going to have to teach me how to make a cocktail bomb!"

Seto glared at him. How Bakura had found out he possessed that knowledge he will never know. How he even leaped to the conclusion was beyond Seto. "Never. You seem to do fine when left to your own devices."

"The only problem with that, Ryuujin," he snickered as he said Seto's code name, "Ryuujin, how fitting a name for you, Priest. Anyways, the only problem with that is I lost track of what I was mixing."

"And good riddance to that, you little white rat," Chloe growled.

Bakura's eyes narrowed.

"Not mention the amount of shit you're going to be in once everyone has realized what you've done," Seto added casually. "You've just destroyed school property. There are consequences for that."

As if on cue, several teachers and the vice principal and the principal rushed into the room, exclaiming about the destruction.

"Who is responsible for this?" the principal thundered over the hubbub.

Seto and Chloe both spoke in unison, "He is." They gestured to Bakura as he tried to brush the ash off of his shirt.

"Does he even go to this school?" The principal asked Seto and Chloe.

"No. His father's here researching the caves," Seto informed her.

"We just…um….wanted to keep him busy," Chloe fabricated.

"Well, you certainly did! Does he know anything about chemistry? Why didn't you stop him before he got this far?"

"To have done so would have been suicide," Seto said bluntly.

"Are you alluding that this boy is a juvenile delinquent?" The vice-principal asked.

"Oh, no, not at all! What Ryuujin meant was…that Bakura was so into the chemicals that by the time we realized what was going on, the sodium was already heading towards the water. If we had attempted to stop him, we-we…we would have gotten caught in the explosion." Chloe stammered as she explained.

"So who is going to pay for restoring the chemistry lab?" the chemistry teacher huffed.

Seto decided to be somewhat generous at this moment. "I have a close friend at a company called Kaiba Corporation in Japan. Since Bakura's father is an archeologist and does not make that much money, they would be willing to cover the cost." He ignored Bakura's expression of surprise.

"How do you know this?" the principal asked.

"It's a very close friend," Seto affirmed.

"How will we know that the donation is guaranteed?"

"Give me a day and I can get you into contact with the vice president," Seto smirked.

The faculty gaped. "You must have very good connections with Kaiba Corporation. That's a multi-billion dollar company."

Bakura looked like he was about to burst into laughter, but Seto quickly shot him a glare that said 'say anything and the deal is off.' Bakura quickly controlled himself.

"Well, if everything's settled, let's go." Seto quickly exited the chemistry lab with a bewildered Chloe and a chuckling Bakura.

"Since when did you have connections with one of the biggest gaming companies in the world?" Chloe gaped.

"I'm very high up in the technical department there."

Bakura looked like he was going to laugh again so Seto elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him and spoke in Japanese. "This was not a gesture of good-will. This was in exchange for the other deal we spoke of."

Bakura glared. "You can't exchange one deal for another!"

"Would you rather Ryou's father be beggared? That was thousands of dollars of damage in there from your stupidity! It's this deal or in a few weeks you're living on the streets."

Bakura was silent for a long time. "Fine. But don't think I won't try to do what you promised."

"No, but you attempting to rob Kaiba Corporation just got even more difficult," Seto hissed back.

"You know, I hate it when you do this," Chloe grumbled.

"And I don't care," Seto said back to her in English.

"Of course you don't, but you are still going to help me on my chem project and we are not taking the little white rat along for the ride!"

"That's fine with me," Seto agreed.

"As if my participation in your little experiment was voluntary anyways," Bakura scoffed and stalked off.

"It's hard to tell which one of you is worse tempered," Chloe mused. "And why does he call you 'priest' anyways. You're less of a priest than I am."

Seto smirked at her. "The difference between Bakura's and my tempers is that he'll kill you at the drop of a hat while I think about it first."

Chloe eyed him out of the corner of her eye for the rest of the day.

A/N:

Ok, some of you are probably going "aroo?" at Seto's radical change in dialogue during the time Isobel captured him, and then the switch back to normal. I have thought a lot about this moment and yes it does ties in with Seto's heritage and family background. There is also a lovely movie called Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb where the basic plotline is that the world is going to end because someone set off a Doomsday machine. In this hilarious comedy, it shows that people under lots of stress revert to their inner selves, who they really see themselves as or who they used to be. Now since I've taken liberties with Seto's background (and this has taken a hell of a lot of thought and mental planning) I decided to add clues as to who he was raised by and why he doesn't look Japanese. I apologize if I offend anyone with the badly written accent. I have been to Ireland and I've took what I heard there and also what the main singer's voice in Flogging Molly sounds like and tried to create an accent. It's less than perfect and I hope it's understandable. If anyone has any questions as to what the hell Seto is saying, email me.

And whether Seto's accusations of Isobel are true, I think they are. While the show blatantly destroyed all the history around the witch burnings (since most, if not all, female burnings were of old--possibly ugly--lone women) the reasont hat someone as young as Isobel was rooted out was because she was perhaps she was not as puritan as the other villagers or her birth is questionable (for more indepth study of how a Puritan society can ne horrible to someone who does something disgraceful, read the Scarlet Letter). I think that perhqaps Isobel's mother was a whore, which is why Isobel is so bitter against everyone (besides the whole burning part).

Irish Slang Dictionary: Note, these are all nouns, even though I used them as adjectives

Brasser (n): woman of ill repute, who charges but a brass coin for her services

Doxie (n): a lady of the night who plies her trade on the docks

Ganky (n): ugly, unpleasant woman (Co. Cork)

Header (n): nutcase, unstable person

Japanese Dictionary:

Sugoi: awesome (or awful, but in this case I meant awesome)