Chapter Text
Professor James Moriarty interlocked his fingers as he eyed the magus across from him with a lazy smile, sharp teeth barely peeking out from between thin lips. Zoey’s brow was furrowed and her mouth scrunched in thought as she eyed the game board, slouched over in one of the two overstuffed chairs that occupied the Archer’s quarters with her chin in her hands.
As seconds ticked by in silence, Moriarty finally spoke up, intending to put the poor woman trapped in his web out of her misery at last. “Although, Master, I must admit you are putting up a rather good fight, but I’m afraid in the end your efforts will be for naught. Such is to be expected when you enter into a game of chess with-”
“Checkmate.” The Master of Chaldea interrupted.
The surprised noise that came out of the Professor’s mouth was something akin to a squawk. “E-Eh?!”
“Checkmate.” She repeated casually, and motioned with a nod of her head at the board. She was vainly trying to resist the grin threatening to overtake her features for as long as possible- but to be frank, she was just as surprised as Moriarty was.
He stared dumbly at his Master, then at the chessboard.
He blinked a few times, mumbled something about how ‘that couldn’t be right’, and stroked his moustache as he analyzed the current positioning. After a solid five minutes of deliberating, in near silence except for his occasional grumblings to himself, Moriarty was forced to realize that… he was indeed faced with a checkmate.
Now it was Master’s turn to look rather smug, and it was that moment that Sherlock Holmes chose to walk in. The hydraulic door closed behind him with a swoosh .
He stopped mid-stride only a few paces into the room, quirking an eyebrow. “No biting insult or scathing remark upon my entrance, Professor?”
Moriarty didn’t answer, his attention focused elsewhere. “H… How?” He whispered.
Zoey leaned her head back across the top of the chair to look at the detective upside down. “I think I broke him,” she snickered happily.
Holmes’s other eyebrow went up towards his hairline in a silent question.
“How did you beat me?! I thought- I had predicted every possible move you could make, I…” Moriarty suddenly snapped before Zoey could answer, but that was still an answer. Holmes’s eyes went wide, mouth open in a small ‘o’ of surprise. Moriarty must have let their Master win, he thought-
“How could YOU predict what I was doing-“ retorted the Master, lifting her head, “-when I didn’t even have any idea what I was gonna do?!”
The Professor blinked. “... What?”
“You heard me!” Zoey scoffed. “Kinda hard to be one step ahead of your opponent’s plan when they have no plan, huh?”
Moriarty’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly at that, with no sound, reminding both Holmes and Zoey vaguely of a fish.
She had him there.