Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds

Cut Too Deep

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! I felt like I had to mark this as a crossover even if I only include one character from 5Ds, since he'll be a main player in the action. (At this point, I'm not sure, but that's the current plan.) For those coming in from the 5Ds side of things, this takes place in a post-Duel Monsters verse I call The Pendulum Swings. It redeemed many of the antagonists of the classic YGO series, but not all, and also had Atem return because he missed Yugi and company too much. I am going to try to use this fic to explore the Domino City of 5Ds and try to fill in the gaps they didn't explain that just don't quite make sense to a YGO Classic fan. But I also hope to write something that will please the 5Ds fans, as I am quite fond of the characters even though I'll never not be heartbroken at how Domino City ended up in 5Ds verse! In the 5Ds timeline, this takes place after Earthbound Immortals but before the Crash Town arc.

Chapter One

The Christmas season dawned on Domino City cloudy and snowy, bringing with it a city all too eager to celebrate the holiday after the disaster with Zorc and Yami Marik from earlier that year. The joyous time was welcomed in by all, especially Yugi and all of his extended friend-family. There had mostly been peace since that double defeat, but there were still unsolved problems like the Vikings' Eon Items, and everyone was anxious to focus on something beautiful and meaningful.

Lector was out walking on a cold night not long after Thanksgiving, pulling his purple coat close against the biting wind and softly falling snowflakes. He often wandered around the neighborhood after dark, just reflecting on the day or his friends or on his life in general. Sometimes Nesbitt walked with him and they talked about their feelings and thoughts together. Tonight, however, he was by himself.

Or he was, until a figure stumbled out of the darkness and rammed right into him. Both jumped.

"Excuse me," the stranger mumbled. He stepped back.

Lector studied him in surprise. The newcomer also liked trenchcoats; his was black. His light-blue straight hair fell over his eyes and down his back, but Lector could see enough of the pale face to recognize that he was haunted. He was physically not much older than a teenager, but from the look in his eyes, he was decades past that.

"That's alright," Lector finally spoke. "Is there anything I can help you with? You seem troubled."

A hollow laugh. "No one can help me," the boy said. "For what I've done in the past, I must find an appropriate punishment for myself."

Lector stared at him. That did not sound healthy in the least. And he couldn't help but be reminded of Nesbitt and his struggles with self-worth and the desire to punish himself for wrongdoings.

"What did you do in the past?" Lector frowned. "If it was against the law, you could simply turn yourself in to the authorities."

"Oh, it was definitely against the law," was the reply, "only there's no real charges they could bring against me. I accepted an evil supernatural force and terrorized my former best friend. I didn't care who I hurt or what I had to do just as long as I could bring him down. I thought he'd betrayed me, but it was I who betrayed him."

A chill ran up Lector's spine. The story haunted him. And how to bring supernatural enemies to justice was certainly a problem they often ran into. They usually ended up having to either Mind Crush them or send them to the Shadow Realm. But if they were repentant and no longer a threat, nothing was done to them. Nothing could be done that would be worse than what they would do to themselves.

"What kind of supernatural force was this?" he asked in concern. "Is it still around?" He hadn't heard about anything new. As a matter of fact, everything had been unusually peaceful in Domino City for weeks.

"It's been defeated." The boy started to turn away.

"That's good," Lector said slowly. "But I'm worried about you, Sir. I don't like the thought of just letting you go off in your condition. You remind me of one of my dear friends."

A pause. "I'll be alright. I'm not planning to kill myself. That would be too easy." He looked back. "What is your friend like? He surely couldn't have done anything like I've done. There is no forgiveness for that."

"That is exactly how he's felt," Lector insisted. "Once he was mind-controlled by an evil magical being and caused me to get hurt. He has never forgiven himself for that."

A scoff. "Mind-control isn't the same thing. He has no reason to blame himself for something that wasn't his fault. I was corrupted, not mind-controlled."

"He's done things on his own as well," Lector said. "He's impulsive and has a bad temper and he tends to blurt things out that he shouldn't. He's hurt me that way sometimes. He hasn't forgiven himself for that either. But he's tried to move on from all those things. Why don't you come back with me? You could talk to him, and maybe to some of our other friends. We have all done terrible things in the past because we let our hatred and anger and pain get the best of us. But we were forgiven by those we hurt . . . even though it's been much more difficult for us to forgive ourselves."

Now finally some interest. "What did you do?"

"If you agree to come back with me, I'll tell you about it," Lector said.

A slow nod. "Alright."

"My name is Démas Lector," said Lector. "What's yours, if I may ask?"

"Kalin Kessler," said the young man, but he froze as he stared at Lector again. "You're from the Big Five?!"

"That's right," Lector said in surprise. "You know about us?"

"Everyone in town knows about Seto Kaiba's wayward board of directors," Kalin grunted.

"I suppose that's true," Lector said. "But I'm afraid I haven't heard of you, Mr. Kessler."

"Consider yourself lucky for that," Kalin said flatly.

Lector sighed. "Well, if you don't mind my asking, would you be adverse to coming back with me now that you know my identity?"

"No," Kalin said. "How can I blame you or your friends for what you did considering what I did?"

Lector gave a sad smile. "That is a kind of logic understood best by the fallen. But the good news is that the fallen can rise again. All of us have. Committing horrible crimes isn't the end of it."

"It is for me," Kalin said.

Lector sighed. "Let's go talk to the others."

Kalin walked agreeably with Lector up the snowy street. Unlike how Lector was bundled against the cold, Kalin didn't bother to close his coat at all, and the only top he was wearing under it was a gray undershirt.

Lector frowned. "Surely you're cold."

"Not really," Kalin replied. "I'm used to the cold."

Well, as long as that was the only reason. . . .

"Have you lived here all of your life?" Lector asked.

A slight pause. ". . . Most of it, yes."

"I would never want to move, but I have never gotten used to the cold," Lector said. "I'm from New Orleans."

"I can tell from your accent," Kalin said.

They turned the corner and nearly walked into someone coming from the other direction. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" a scratchy voice exclaimed with indignation.

"I apologize," Lector said. He looked down in surprise at the strange, short boy glowering at him. He wasn't familiar, and yet somehow Lector did think he'd seen him somewhere before. He frowned. How odd.

Kalin didn't look impressed. "You could watch where you're going too," he said to the kid.

"Oh yeah?!" was the angry retort.

". . . That is true," Lector mused. "It's a corner, and that makes it difficult for anyone to see very well what's going on from either direction."

"Hmph." The short boy scowled, but when he really took note of Lector's height and muscle, he thought better of challenging the objection and simply stalked past.

Kalin's eyes narrowed. "What an entitled little . . ." But then he shook his head and looked away. "The rich are always trying to assert themselves over the poor."

". . . I am still quite wealthy," Lector said carefully. "And while that's sometimes true about the rich, I have honestly seen poor people who are just as bad. Social standing is not the only factor in whether people are mistreated or not. Not to mention, we don't really know whether that boy is rich or poor."

Kalin clenched a fist. "You're right. I was never wealthy, and I became the worst one of all. I can never forget that."

If Lector hadn't been wearing his hat, he would have run a hand through his hair. He had thought it had been hard dealing with Nesbitt in his states of self-hatred, but it looked like this would be much harder. Still, he certainly wasn't about to throw in the towel and abandon the boy.

"Hi, Lector!"

Both of them jumped as Mokuba Kaiba suddenly appeared now, beaming to see his friend.

Lector smiled. "Hello, Mokuba. I thought you might be out enjoying the snowfall tonight."

"Oh yeah! Totally!" Mokuba placed his hands behind his head.

"This is my new friend, Kalin Kessler," Lector said, gesturing to the young man. "Mr. Kessler, this is Mokuba Kaiba."

Kalin went oddly stiff. "Mokuba . . . Kaiba?" he gasped. He stared at the child as though not really believing what he was seeing. Or perhaps, who he was seeing.

"Uh, yeah," Mokuba frowned. He gave Kalin an equally odd look.

Kalin brought a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just . . . I didn't think I'd be seeing you here." He looked to Lector. "Maybe it would be better if I didn't go back with you right now."

Lector peered at him. "Are you not feeling well?"

"I . . . I guess you could say that," Kalin said.

"Because of me?" Mokuba frowned now too.

"No!" Kalin exclaimed. "Not because of you. It's just . . . this isn't a good idea. I'm sorry for troubling you." He looked at Lector. "I'll just go now." Before Lector could react or reply at all, Kalin vanished into the thickening snowstorm.

"Wait!" Lector cried. He reached out, desperate to grab the boy's coat, but to no avail.

Mokuba stared. "That was really weird," he said. "Where do you know him from, Lector?"

"I just barely met him," Lector explained. He hurried forward into the swirling flakes. "He's in a bad way, filled with self-hatred for something he did in the past and desirous to punish himself for it. I can't leave him out in this! I don't know what he might try to do to himself!"

Mokuba chased after him. "And why'd he get all weird when he saw me?! I don't get it!"

"I don't either, unless . . ." But Lector trailed off. Surely it wouldn't have anything to do with Kalin's feelings on the rich, since he had ended up going back to feeling like he was worse than anyone else. . . .

"Unless what?" Mokuba asked.

Lector shook his head. "Mr. Kessler!" he called. "Where are you?!" But his voice was lost in the wind and snow, and he had the feeling that Kalin wouldn't answer him anyway. He pulled out his phone and swiftly dialed a familiar number.

"What are you gonna do?" Mokuba looked up at him.

"I'm going to see if Nesbitt can find anything out about him," Lector said. "If I know where he might go, I can try looking for him in those places."

"That's a good idea," Mokuba said.

Lector waited tensely until he heard the deep "Hello?"

"Nesbitt, I've got a problem," Lector told him. "I met a very troubled young man named Kalin Kessler and now he's run off into the snowstorm! I can't find him! Could you try looking him up and see if you can find out where he lives or who his family and friends are?"

Nesbitt grunted. "Yeah. Just a minute." The sound of his typing came over the phone.

"What's going on?" came Johnson's voice in the background. "Lector is picking up strays now?"

"This is not the time, Johnson," Nesbitt grunted. "Lector's really worried about this kid. . . . What the . . . ?!"

"What is it?!" Lector exclaimed.

"There's nothing!" Nesbitt cried. "No address, no records. . . . I'm even trying looking him up on government databases. It's like he doesn't exist!"

"Maybe he gave a fake name," Mokuba suggested. "I can have Seto try to look him up too. . . ." Wanting to be helpful, he took out his phone to call.

Lector sighed. "Yes, that must be it, I suppose. . . . But then trying to look him up will be a waste of time! I'd better just keep looking in the storm."

"You can't do that all by yourself," Nesbitt objected. "I'll come help. Maybe I'll bring Crump too, since he probably knows the best of any of us how to navigate a snowstorm."

"Thank you," Lector said. "Both of you." He looked down at Mokuba, having addressed the second part to him.

"I can help look too," Mokuba offered.

Lector smiled. "I doubt your brother would want you wandering through a snowstorm, Mokuba, but I certainly appreciate the offer."

"I'd stay right with you," Mokuba insisted. "At least until Nesbitt and Crump get here. . . ."

At last Lector relented. Surely that would be acceptable to Seto, after all the months they had spent bonding by now. "Alright. Thank you, Mokuba." He turned his attention back to the phone. "We're not too far from the house. Maybe a couple of blocks North."

"Okay," Nesbitt said. "I'm going to get Crump now."

"Thank you," Lector said. He hung up, frowning. "I wonder where on Earth he'd go. . . ."

"Probably as far away from here as he could get," Mokuba said.

"He did say he'd come from the poor part of the city," Lector remembered. "Maybe when the others come, we'd better start heading in that direction."

"Works for me," Mokuba said.

xxxx

Kalin ran blindly through the snow, barely caring as it stung his face and hands. Inwardly he cursed himself for his failure. How could he have done that? It had been shocking to see Mokuba, but . . . he had already ruined things in his own time. He couldn't turn the past on its head too. And yet it looked like that was exactly what he had started to do. Now that poor man was worried about him too, for running off. He didn't realize Kalin wasn't worth it, that he could never be worth it after everything he had done . . . to Yusei, to his Domino City, to the innocent kids he had once fought for. . . .

"I never should have stayed here," he snarled to himself. "As soon as I realized I'd crossed into a different Domino City, I should have immediately gone back. . . ."

But in spite of how much he hated himself, he hadn't been able to bring himself to do that. Domino had looked so different, so beautiful and so united. He'd had to stay and look around for at least a little bit. Now his curiosity had cost him, and maybe even the people who lived here.

On the other hand . . .

He slowly decreased his speed to a walk. If Lector caught up with him . . . if he told all . . . would that really be a bad thing? They would know their future, but on the other hand, maybe they would be able to prevent it. If they could stop the reactor explosion that had torn Domino City apart in so many ways, maybe they would all have better futures. Maybe he would never do all that he had done.

What was he thinking?! He couldn't try to gain redemption for himself by erasing everything. If his future changed, what would become of Yusei? Of Crow and Jack? Even Rally and the others Yusei had befriended? They would all be different people. Maybe they wouldn't even know each other. That wouldn't be right either, would it?

He sank against the side of a building, staring up hopelessly at the snowflakes swirling out of the sky. If this had happened so long ago, before he had become consumed by hate and had starved to death in The Facility and accepted the evil force of the Dark Signers' power, he would have jumped at the chance to change everything, to rewrite history so that Domino City would be different. But now, after he had committed such grievous, unforgivable sins, how could he possibly think of making such a selfish move?

It was selfish, wasn't it? To think of changing everyone's lives just to change his own?

Or would it really be just for that reason? If it was for everyone else more than him, would that make it different?

What if they wouldn't want their lot changed? What if Yusei lived in the heart of the city with his rich family and never met the others? Or what if they met but didn't become friends? What if Yusei grew up a rich snob or worse?

. . . What if they all lived better because Domino City was never divided? Maybe they would all still meet and become friends, but under happier circumstances.

Kalin sighed and turned away from the wall. It was too much pressure. He was in no state of mind to think of weighing everyone's futures in his hands. He wasn't capable of making such a tremendous decision.

"Hello? Are you okay?"

He jumped a mile at the new, unfamiliar voice. When he turned to look, the short boy looking up at him again made him gasp in shock. "Yugi Muto," he realized.

"Um, yeah." Yugi looked a little embarrassed, realizing that he had been recognized for his title and not by someone who personally knew him.

"You really seem upset," he tried again. "And it's awfully cold out here. Why don't you come in and warm up?"

Kalin turned, really looking at the building he had leaned against. The Turtle Game Shop. . . . That only made him conflicted all the more. In his Domino City, the game shop and Yugi were . . .

He opened his mouth to protest, but the door was opening and an elderly man was stepping out to survey the scene. "Here now, what's this?" he frowned.

"I just found him here, Grampa," Yugi said worriedly. "He seems really upset and cold."

"Well, you're coming inside right now," the man declared. "You shouldn't be running around on a night like this!"

Kalin stared at him. "No, I'm fine, really. . . ."

"Nonsense!" Suddenly Kalin was being physically pushed towards the door. "It's never going to be said that Solomon Muto let a cold stranger leave when he should have stayed! You'll come inside and get warm, and that's final!"

Kalin opened his mouth again, but nothing came out. In all his short life, he had never encountered adults who actually wanted to help him. All he could think to do was to keep blankly walking and let himself be pushed through a door leading to more of the past.