Adina and Seto each started with six capsule monsters, hers higher leveled than his. Seto figured that was part of the challenge, since it greatly reduced your chances of winning by luck rather than through skill. He approached it like it was a puzzle, Seth working with him and helping him to keep a clear mind. There was no need for panic, after all, even after she claimed his monsters one at a time and the crowd murmured its doubts a bit too loudly. Seto knew what he was doing. He was in control of this game, even though nobody else could tell. One monster left, and he used it to take out all of hers in one fell blow. The crowd gasped in awe and cheered for Seto as he stood, victorious, and left the glass box. He exited through the door behind Amane and started down the runway that lead to an archway with a plaque above it proclaiming "Death T-5."

Then he heard Noah's voice over the loudspeaker and whirled around. Kaiba's face was large on the big screen that had magnified the gameboard for the audience.

"You've failed me, Adina," he glowered, his sister cringing in her seat. "Time for the penalty game." That was all he said before his image disappeared and monstrously grotesque holograms filled glass chamber. Adina screamed and Seto darted forward, daring to enter it again. Once he was inside, he realized why Adina was screaming: it wasn't just the sight of the monsters, but the sounds of their snarls and their chomping jaws and wild screeches as they closed in on the terrified child. Seto lifted Adina into his arms and carried her out as quickly as he could. The audience cheered again as Seto emerged with Adina, stirred by the noble gesture. He set her down after taking several steps, making sure that she was standing steadily before he released her.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Y-Yeah," she murmured, looking down. Her eyes flicked up to his face and she added, "Thank you for getting me out." She stuck out her hand to him and he shook it politely. "Thank you for the match. You're really good at Capsule Monsters," she mumbled, still looking rather shaken up. "I have to go." And with that, she hopped away and out of sight, disappearing to who knew where.

He did that to his own little sister, Seth said in horror as Seto continued towards the final level of this hellish place.

That's one of the many reasons why I hate him, Seto answered bitterly. He traveled down another long, dim hallway towards a light at the far end. I can't wait to get out of here.

We need to teach him a lesson, first, though, Seth said darkly. He needs to learn that he can't just play with people's lives like this, like it's all just a game.

"Well, gentlemen," Noah said as he addressed the Big Five. "It looks like your efforts were not enough to stop him from reaching the final level. I'm rather disappointed in you, but we'll discuss this later, after I finish him off." He stood from his chair and left the nerve center for the entire Death-T attraction. He had a pest to exterminate.

In a matter of minutes, Seto and Noah were glaring at each other across the Duel Arena in an even larger stadium than where he'd faced Adina.

"This ends here," Seto asserted as he shuffled his deck and set it down to the right-hand side.

"I agree." Noah must have been wearing colored contacts, because his eyes were now a disturbing yellow shade that made his eyes look vaguely reptilian. "After all, this is the final stage, and I am the final boss, not to mention your boss." Noah chuckled as Seto scowled at him.

"Enough talk. It's time to duel!" The crowd went crazy over Seto's words, and the two teenagers drew their starting hands.

You need to calm down, Seto, Seth cautioned.

I'm fine, Seto growled mentally.

You're not fine. You're filled with rage and hatred, and—

Can you blame me? Seto snapped angrily, proving Seth's point that he was in a dangerous mood. After everything he and his father have done to me, am I supposed to be his best friend?

You know that's not what I'm saying, Seth said sternly. I don't want you to lose focus or do something impulsive because you're distracted by your emotions. Let us fight this duel together. It will ensure our success. Seto could already feel the spirit's cool, serious presence creeping up to share control and consciousness with Seto, leaving him with little choice in the matter.

You always have a choice, Seth said quietly, Seto detecting a faint note of sadness in his voice. Never think that I will force you to do anything or disobey your wishes unless you're not in your right mind.

Seto just answered with quiet assent, accepting the chill of calm that flooded him as Seth straightened up, lifting his chin a little as he faced their opponent with serene self-confidence.

"Hey, Seto!" Joey's voice made Seth look off to his left, where he saw Yugi, Joey, and Anzu standing just inside the arena, held back from approaching the duelists by a pair of security guards.

"Beat that Noah creep, Seto!" Joey shouted, cheering on his friend with complete disregard for those in the grandstands who might prefer Noah to win.

Seth sighed in relief when he saw that their friends were alright. If anything had happened to them because of all this—Seto's antagonism towards Noah, Noah's grudge against him, their mutual desire for revenge—he would feel horrible.

Only a couple of turns into the duel, it became apparent to anyone with half a brain that they had some kind of personal history, that this wasn't their first time encountering each other.

"I guess when you're not as rich as me, it's harder to get good cards," Noah mocked, his arrogance grating on Seto's patience, which was wearing thin.

"A true duelist would know that having good cards is only a small part of the game." Seth's words made Noah scowl as he laid a card face-down. "A true duelist also knows better than to underestimate his opponent. You wouldn't want to make that mistake twice, would you?" Seth allowed himself a small smile as Noah reacted with visceral rage to his comment. "Not after what happened last time."

While Joey kept shouting encouragement to Seth, Anzu turned to Yugi with a worried expression.

"Last time?" she whispered. "What's he talking about?"

Yugi shrugged; he had no answer for her. As she turned back to watching the duel, Yugi studied his friend carefully. He could tell that there was something different about him, and he couldn't help but remember Seth. He must be helping him with the duel, he decided. Just like you help me with mine, Pharaoh.

Indeed, Yami answered. Seth is wise and powerful, I can sense it, but we need not fear him. He proved himself our ally when we met him, and the evil I sense in this room comes from a different source. Yami gently turned Yugi's attention toward Seth's opponent, and Yugi mentally nodded in acknowledgment. After all, anybody who conceived of something like Death-T had to be messed up. He looked back at Seth, studying him out of curiosity.

He seemed calmer and less agitated than Seto's usual self. There was a noble pride in his posture and a frostiness in his voice each time he rejected one of Noah's attempts to goad him into anger. His facade did slip for one moment, revealing ever so briefly a deep rage unlike anything Yugi had ever seen. Seth quickly regained his composure, resuming the stern expression he'd worn previously.

"Stay focused, Seto!" Yugi called in encouragement. "Don't let him mess with your head!"

Six or seven turns in, and they seemed to be evenly matched. There was no clear victor as of yet, since both duelists were impressing the audience with strategies and card combinations that they'd never seen before.

Seth used Ring of Defense and Ring of Destruction together masterfully, even as Noah exhibited some of his own trademark moves. Seto had studied Noah's dueling strategies on the side while he'd been working on making KaibaCorp's card database compatible with and accessible to the Duel Arena holographic projection software. Noah was using his spirit deck, doing his best to replenish his life-points even as Seth fought to beat him down and prevent him from doing so. At each strategic turning point, Noah would attempt a big move, only to have Seth undermine and undo his work, thereby protecting his own monsters and life-points. Noah wasn't world champion for nothing, though, and more than once he was able to save himself from the prospect of certain defeat.

The whole stadium could feel the tension when Noah, unable to restore his life points any longer, took out Seth's remaining monsters, which took a decent chunk out of his life-points. It looked like the challenger might lose, yet he'd earned the support of many in the audience and they didn't want to see him lose. Seth had good cards in his hand, cards that could work together to form a devastating result for this duel, but he was missing the final, necessary piece he needed to make this work.

Come on, Seto wished hard as he and Seth placed his fingers on top of his deck. Heart of the cards, don't fail me now... He drew his card. One look at it, and he couldn't help but smile widely.

"Looks like we've reached the end, Noah!" Seth smirked as he felt his chest swell with pride. "I've enjoyed this duel, but as they say, nothing lasts forever. Be prepared to lose." Seto still wished to shout some choicer words at the other teen, but Seth held him back from doing so, just as he'd been doing for the entirety of the duel.

"Don't be so sure! I'm the world champion, and don't you forget it!"

"You won't be champion for much longer!" Seth threw down his new card. "I summon Lord of Dragons, in attack mode!" The holographic lord appeared in his full majesty as Seth reached for his hand and lay down a magic card. "And, I equip him with Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing me to summon any two dragons from my hand or deck without making a sacrifice!"

Noah's overconfident grin began to fade from his face as Joey shouted at Seth, "Yeah, now ya got 'im! Take 'im out!"

"And I choose my Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" It was a glorious moment as the pair of magnificent Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared in holographic form, stretching their long necks and letting out a pair of fierce cries. Seth felt a shiver of exhilaration akin to what he'd felt thousands of years ago when he would summon the real Blue-Eyes. The crowd went crazy at the appearance of the two Blue-Eyes. All four of them had dropped off of pubic radar, and for years, nobody but the owners themselves had known where any of the four Blue-Eyes White Dragons were or who owned them. Even so, nobody had known where all of them were.

Joey's jaw dropped while Yugi gasped, dumbstruck.

"Isn't that a really rare card?" Anzu asked. Yugi nodded. "Then how does he have two of them?"

"Grandpa gave him one, but I don't know about the other," Yugi answered, still staring up at Seth and the holograms.

Seth savored the look of fear and panic on Noah's face. He didn't like him anymore than Seto did, he just had his anger under control.

"Now, Blue-Eyes, white lightning attack!"

The dragons sprang into action to do their master's bidding, taking out the two monsters on Noah's side of the field and shrinking his remaining life-points. At Seth's command, the Lord of Dragons dealt one final blow to Noah's life-points before Seth played a magic card that restored some of his own life-points. Another attack like that, and he'd be finished.

Noah scowled in disdain, but deep down, he was furious. He drew a card from his deck and was frustrated that he didn't have any monsters in his hand or any cards that would be helpful in this situation. How had this happened? It was like all of the cards he needed had been purposefully put on the bottom of his deck so that he'd never get to them. He laid two cards face-down with a sly grin before ending his turn.

Those cards are a bluff, Seto said triumphantly. This duel is ours.

What makes you so sure? Seth asked.

Did you see his face when he drew his card? He was disappointed, and though it didn't show, he didn't look excited by the card either. He only looked devious once he had several moments to think about it.

"Blue-Eyes, wipe out his remaining life-points with white lightning attack!" Seth commanded confidently. Seto had been right; Noah's face-down cards were a bluff and as such were entirely incapable of helping him. Otherwise, he would have activated them when Seth attacked him.

The crowd roared with approval and amazement. The Duel Monsters World Champion had been defeated and replaced, and by the bearer of the Blue-Eyes no less. They were all excited by the change in power, all curious about where the Blue-Eyes had come from. They were no concern of Seth's.

Noah stood still, stunned as he stared into space. He'd lost. He'd actually lost to that poor, pathetic urchin who, not that long ago, had all but been a sex slave to Gozaburo Kaiba. He couldn't understand it, not one bit. Growling, he picked up the next card on the top of his deck, just to see what he would have gotten. It was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon he'd gotten from that little blond-haired girl. Looks like he went to all that trouble for nothing. In his frustration, he tore his card in half.

"I told you before, Noah," Seth said grimly, noting Noah's actions. "You will never be a true success until you learn to respect your cards." Not even the weakest card in the game deserved to be torn in half.

"Screw you!" Noah shouted as he threw the card pieces on the ground, an ingracious loser if ever there was one. "I was a success before you came along!"

"You became a success the same way your father did: by extorting those who serve you and placing no value whatsoever on the lives of others. You need to learn a lesson, Noah Kaiba," Seth said darkly, Seto silently cheering him on. He wanted to see Noah suffer for his crimes. He wanted to see Noah suffer, period.

"Now you're going to make me suffer the experience of death, aren't you?" Noah asked, actually starting to look nervous. That was part of the rules for Death T-5, but Noah had never counted on being the one to lose.

"I think I have a better penalty game for you," Seth said with a small grin. He extended one arm, fingers splayed and palm towards Noah. Seto recognized the gesture, and couldn't help but feel smug satisfaction as he realized what was about to happen. "Mind Crush!"

Noah screamed in horror as his eyes went wide, tense for a few moments before his body went slack, leaning back in the chair as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

Seto breathed out a sigh of relief, then stood and descended from the Duel Arena. Just like that, he was relaxed again, no longer looking like he was carved of marble with a soul of ice. Yugi and company rushed towards him with awe and congratulations, which Seto accepted a little stiffly, but gratefully.

"How did you get two Blue-Eyes White Dragons?" Joey asked in shock.

"One of them is from Yugi's Grandpa, as you know," he answered. "Do you remember when I told you that I won a rare card in a chess game?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Anzu remarked.

"So, you won the other Blue-Eyes in that chess game?" Yugi asked. "Who was the game against anyways?"

Seto looked over at Noah, and the others followed his gaze.

"So, you beat the chess champion at chess, and you beat the Duel Monsters champion at Duel Monsters, and they just happened to be the same guy…" Anzu mused aloud. "That isn't just a coincidence."

"That makes you the new Duel Monsters champion, doesn't it?" Yugi asked excitedly. "It was an official duel, after all."

"I... guess so," Seto answered a little hesitantly. I hope there's not too much publicity about this, he thought to himself, but Seth heard anyways. As Joey and Yugi got excited about their friend's new title, Seto walked quietly over to where Adina, who'd been watching the duel, had reached her brother and started to cry. He joined her on the platform and she looked up, her eyes full of tears.

"He wasn't alway like this, you know," she said quietly, stifling her tears. "He used to be a good brother. My dad put a lot of pressure on him... but now he's gone, and so's Mom... Is he going to come back?" She looked so utterly pitiful as something struck Seto's mind: he might have single-handedly orphaned this little girl.

"Yes, he's going to come back," he assured as Seth fed him the words.

"What happened to him?" Adina sniffled, trying to put a brave face on things.

He still didn't understand the "Mind Crush" as well as Seth did. "Have you ever bitten into a shiny apple to find that the core is all rotten?"

She nodded.

"His heart is kind of like that right now. He needs to find the rotten pieces and throw them out before he can put his heart back together again. He'll wake up some day, but I don't know when. Are there people to take care of you in the meantime?" He asked, concerned for her well-being now that he'd incapacitated her only living family member. "If not, you can come stay with my brother and I." He wasn't sure if it was the wisest decision or even the safest place for her, but he owed her the offer. It was the least he could do.

"Yes, I'll be taken care of," she answered with a sniffle, much to Seto's relief. "The staff at the mansion have always been kind to me." She looked up at her brother, then started to sob again.

"Hey now, don't cry. He'll be alright," Seto said gently, starting to feel terrible. Adina turned towards him and threw her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder. He was stiff for a moment, but as he gently held her in his arms, he kept repeating in his mind that children were safe, children meant no harm.

"D'aw," Anzu said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "Seto's so cute with little kids."

"You think he's cute?" Yugi asked softly, but Anzu didn't hear. He considered this for a few moments, not really sure he liked that.

The three friends approached Seto and Adina, standing just below the terminal where Noah still sat in a catatonic state. When Seto had sufficiently comforted Adina so that she was no longer hysterical, he carefully passed her off to Anzu, who was more than happy to carry and comfort the little girl. Seto, meanwhile, picked up the torn Blue-Eyes card.

"Do you know where he got this card, Adina?" Seto asked. It must be stolen; that was the only decent explanation.

"America," she answered uncertainly from Anzu's arms. "Somewhere in California, I think. He mentioned the name of Hawkins."

"That must be Grandpa's friend!" Yugi exclaimed as he realized which card it was. "They were talking on the phone last night, and apparently he gave his Blue-Eyes to his granddaughter, but it was stolen from her a few days ago."

"Then we'll have to return it," Seto said resolutely, carefully putting the torn card pieces away with his own deck. "I don't know about you all, but I'm kind of wiped out after all the excitement. Maybe we could call Ryou and ask if it's okay to go visit him and Marik? Besides, Mokuba wanted to hear all about the new attraction. I'll definitely have quite a story to tell him."

"Mokuba?" Adina repeated, looking up at him suddenly. "You're Mokuba's brother?"

"Uh, yeah, when did you meet him?" Seto asked, wondering how it could have happened without him knowing about it.

"When you brought him to KC HQ on his birthday," Adina answered, smiling faintly. "We met on the empty floor where the old shooting range is. He said that his brother worked there but he had a meeting at the moment. We played until he had to leave."

"Huh, he never mentioned it," Seto muttered thoughtfully. "Are you sure that you're going to be alright?"

She nodded, looking a little hopeful. "I can wait for him. I believe in my big brother, and if you say that he'll wake up someday, then I trust you." She nodded to Anzu, and the teenager put the little girl down.

"Alright, let's go home," Seto said, starting to come down off the adrenaline high. Adina went over to him and gave him a quick hug first, though, making him blush a little.

"Is he really going to be a better person when he wakes up?" she asked.

"Yes, I promise." That was Seth speaking. Seth made promises much more easily than Seto.

"Then thank you." She went away, calling to a man that Seto realized he'd seen before: Roland. He'd overseen their chess game, and he'd seemed like a good man. Seto hoped he did a good job of protecting Adina, since Seto felt strangely responsible for her now.

"Alright, let's go."

"Make way!" Joey shouted as he forced a way for them through the crowd. "Certified genius and Duel Monsters World Champion coming through!"

Author Notes: Sorry that this chapter took so long; both Noah and Seto were really rude in the original version of this duel, and I ended up having to rewrite it. If you follow my Deleted Scenes collection, you'll have already seen that I posted the original, uncut, alternate version of their duel there.

You'll start seeing hints of Seto shippings in the next chapter, which will also be the last chapter of Season Zero. Season One will begin a subplot about Seto's love life, which I hope you all will enjoy, because it will prominently feature a certain blond boy, as well as a couple other potential love interests. ;)

I may up the rating for Season One, but I haven't decided yet. Let me know in your reviews if you would prefer me to eschew the smut, because if it would bother some of my readers, I'd rather leave it out. If nobody says anything, then there'll probably be a few bits of it in there. So, please review, because more reviews = more chapters, and faster progress!