Yu-Gi-Oh!

I'm Strong on the Surface, Not All the Way Through

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! The title is from Linkin Park's Leave Out All the Rest,which is one of my personal image songs for Nesbitt. This doesn't take place in my usual Pendulum Swings verse, but in another verse. It explores what might have been going on in Domino City during season 4 while Yugi-tachi went to California. The last scene of the first chapter was lifted mostly word for word from one of my short pieces written for Whumptober 2020 on Tumblr, Disorientation. The story will largely focus on the Big Five, but also feature Solomon and Bakura. Bakura being short-changed in season 4 has always been a sore point among fans!

Chapter One

The rain was pounding down in Domino City that afternoon, hitting the spacious picture windows of KaibaCorp in sheets.

The five men were sitting around a long table, staring out at the rain as they became lost in their memories. They had spent so many hours here, in this room, before they had ended up in cyberspace. Then they had sunk into despair and desperation and lost almost all sense of self, afraid they would never get back out. But ironically, Noa deleting them from his world had resulted in them waking up in their bodies, which had been preserved in the KaibaCorp medical wing. It had left them all stunned beyond belief that Seto Kaiba had actually let them live. They had believed he had left them to die. Seto certainly hadn't said otherwise.

It had taken them a bit of time to physically recover after the weeks spent in cyberspace, although not as much time as the doctors had thought. They had all rallied very quickly, even the oldest. They were all free to go now, and although they knew they no longer had their jobs at KaibaCorp, they were sitting in the conference room anyway, just for a few moments.

It had been raining that last fateful day too—the day when they had all become trapped in cyberspace. Perhaps rain would always remind them of that now.

"So . . . what're we gonna do when we walk out of here?" one of the oldest men wondered. He spoke in a gruff, gravelly voice as he looked to each of his business partners. "Are we stayin' together or goin' our separate ways?"

"I see no need to break up the team," the oldest man replied. He was balding on top and the heaviest of the five. A necessary cane was leaning on the wall behind him.

"Although we all have different interests and specialties," a thin and bespectacled man intoned. "Is staying together really the most profitable thing for us?"

"There must be something we can all do together," the one darker-skinned man said in a thick Southern accent. "I don't want to break up the team either."

The one man still silent, handsome with dark brown hair, averted his gaze and didn't answer aloud. I already tried to break up the team. I was going to betray all of you and leave you in Noa's world. How can you still want me?

"I suppose we might be able to help each other best succeed if we stay together," the balding man said. "But the only idea I have at the moment is working with Crump's penguin sanctuary."

The first man who had spoken now leaned forward, his eyes wide. "You really mean that, Gansley?!" he exclaimed.

Gansley had to gruffly smile. "We need to do something that might get us more favorably in the public eye," he said. "Plus, with a project such as that, there should be a niche for each of our special talents."

"Yeah, that's true!" Crump said with mounting enthusiasm. "We'll need tech, and a lawyer, and business strategy, and other business skills!"

The Southerner managed a smile but then sighed and stared out at the rain. "We also need to figure out how to apologize to everyone we hurt," he said. "Yugi and his friends, and Mokuba . . ."

"And Seto Kaiba?" the bespectacled man remarked. "Are you thinking of him as well, Lector?"

Lector scowled. "I don't know. We did get far too carried away, Johnson, but part of me still feels like he needs to answer for everything he did to us . . . and even to that poor child. The other part . . ." He gripped the arms of his chair. "The other part says that after what we did, we're in no position to demand anything from Mr. Kaiba. He saved our lives, which is the exact opposite of what we thought he'd do. Apparently . . . there really is still good in him after all. Not to mention that trying to go after him will only hurt Mokuba too. I realize now that he will always be loyal to Seto, whether or not he deserves it. I can't bear to do anything more to endanger that child." He looked at the others with devastation in his eyes. "I loved that boy like I've never loved any child before or since, and what did I do? I caused him to be in danger more than once because I was trying to get revenge on his brother!"

Gansley gave a weary sigh. "It's all over and done with, Lector. Yes, you're right that we need to apologize . . . although I would doubt that most, if any, of them would accept our apologies. Perhaps the best thing we can do is prove that we're turning over new leaves so that they know they don't have to worry."

"Yugi would probably accept," Johnson said. "Maybe some of his friends as well. But they're all in California right now. Mr. Kaiba too."

"So for now let's concentrate on our plans for the future," Gansley said. "Crump, you still have the blueprints and all the other ideas for your penguin sanctuary, I suppose?"

"You bet!" Crump said. "They're all at my place, though."

Gansley reached for his cane. "Then we'll go and get them. We might as well stay there to look them over; I highly doubt we'll be allowed back in this building once we depart."

"Then I hope none of us are the overly sentimental types," Johnson cracked. "We won't be seeing this room again."

It did seem bittersweet to at least some of them as they got up to leave. They had spent so many hours here through so many years. But that era was over now, somewhat because of Seto Kaiba but mostly because of their own actions. They would have to find their own ways now.

The silent man was just as glad to leave. He wasn't sentimental, and being here only pounded unhappy memories into his mind. He wanted to get away from this building, from anything involving Seto Kaiba. He was the most conflicted on what to think about the CEO. Seto had treated them all worse than dirt, insulting and stepping on them and stripping them of the power he had promised them. And yet he had preserved their lives. Why?

Well, they weren't likely to ever get an answer to that anyway. It was best just to move on.

"Hey, Nesbitt?"

He turned. It was Crump who had spoken, and he was looking at Nesbitt with genuine concern. "Are you okay?"

Nesbitt grunted. Crump was such a strange series of contrasts. He was obsessed with penguins and numbers and enjoyed the sight of a pretty girl, maybe a little too much. Sometimes he was crude and rude. But he was usually friendly and kind with his business partners. The little spats they sometimes had were meaningless. They were always still standing strong afterwards.

Crump never betrayed the others. He never would.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nesbitt said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I know you're always quiet, but usually not this much," Crump said. "You're gonna go in for this with us, aren't you?"

"I guess so." Nesbitt turned to look out at the rain as they walked away from the table and towards the door. "It's still a far cry from designing weapons and vehicles that really mean something."

"I know, but hey, the rides and stuff would bring a lot of happiness," Crump said. "That means something, doesn't it?"

". . . Yeah," Nesbitt said. That was what Mokuba had said about the video games too. Ordinarily Nesbitt might have pointed that out and added that it still just wasn't his thing. But he didn't feel like objecting.

He tensed a bit as the others walked a little too close to him on their journey to the door. How can you stand to be around me? I only looked out for myself. I hurt all of you. Why do you think I always put down human emotions and praised machines? Why do you think I wanted to be one?

I'm terrified of human emotions. I've shown I can't handle them. I can't be trusted!

I hate myself.

Lector reached behind Nesbitt to flip off the light, plunging the conference room into darkness. His eyes flickered with memories and emotions as they headed into the hall.

"Hey, what the heck is that?!" Crump exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look. He was staring out the window at a giant green beam of light shooting into the sky.

"Those have been popping up around town lately," Johnson frowned. "Maybe it has something to do with the phenomenon of Duel Monsters being seen around the world. Both events started around the same time."

"If Yugi were here, we could ask him," Lector remarked. "But I don't suppose those things have anything to do with us."

"We can hope," Gansley grunted.

xxxx

The rain was still pouring as the men got outside and dove into the limousine Crump had sent for from his house. The chauffeur watched in awe as all five men climbed inside. From his expression, he had thought they would never emerge from the deep comas they had all gone into.

"Are we going straight home, Sir?" he asked Crump.

"Yeah, that's the plan," Crump said. "Nothing to do out here unless we wanna play in the rain."

Johnson snarked. "Honestly, Crump, with you, you might not even be kidding."

Crump smirked but shrugged. "Eh, I like snow better."

"Wait a minute!" Lector exclaimed.

The chauffeur froze. "Mr. Lector?"

Lector was leaning forward and staring out the window at an older man who had just stumbled on the curb next to the limousine. Now he seemed to be having difficulty getting back up.

"Excuse me a moment," Lector said, and opened the door to step out.

Gansley observed and shook his head. That was Lector for you. He had always been kinder and possessing more conscience than the rest of them, but they had corrupted him with their darkness. Now that they were back in their bodies and their right minds, Lector was desperately trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. And instead of the others dragging him down this time, they had decided to listen to him and let him pull them up.

"Hello," Lector was saying to the man outside. "May I help you?"

The older man looked embarrassed. "Oh, well, I've really got it now. I . . ." But he slipped on a puddle and stumbled back into Lector. ". . . Maybe I do need a little help," he chuckled uneasily.

Lector steadied him. "We're just leaving," he said. "Maybe we could drop you off somewhere?"

"Well . . ." The older man looked to the limousine in some amazement. "If it wouldn't be any trouble. . . ."

"No trouble, Sir," Lector insisted.

"Then I accept!" The new passenger climbed inside, now staring at the interior of the automobile in awe.

Lector chuckled and got in after him. "My name is Démas Lector," he said. "These are my business partners." He introduced the others one by one as they nodded or spoke greetings.

"And I am Solomon Muto!" the newcomer announced. "Why, you're the Big Five, aren't you? Kaiba's former board of directors?"

"Are you afraid to ride with us?" Gansley asked.

"Hmm." Solomon looked thoughtful. "Well, I know from my grandson about the sleazy things you pulled in the past. I suppose you could be acting gracious now only to pull me into some kind of a trap. But I don't really believe that. What would you want with me?"

"Your grandson?" Suddenly Johnson went stiff. "Would you happen to be Yugi Muto's grandfather?!"

"Yes, I would." Solomon folded his arms and looked tough. "And I don't appreciate any of the things you've done that have involved him and his friends."

Lector bowed his head. "We don't appreciate it either, Mr. Muto. None of it was like me at all except for wanting vengeance on Seto Kaiba, and that got out of hand as well. I am truly ashamed."

"We're all tryin' to be good guys now," Crump said. "But if you don't wanna ride with us, none of us would blame ya."

Solomon sighed and finally gave a gruff smile. "Well, I know Yugi would forgive all of you and give you a second chance. I will too. But I won't feel so forgiving if you go back on your word."

"We won't, I can assure you," Gansley said. "Where would you like us to take you?"

"The Turtle Game Shop," Solomon said. "I'll give you directions."

xxxx

Riding with Solomon Muto was an interesting experience. He was indeed open-minded and willing to give them more chances, and they actually shared a pleasant conversation on the way back to the Turtle Game Shop. By the time they let him out at the doorstep, he promised to put in a good word for all of them to Yugi and the others when they got home.

"Well, that was nice," Crump blinked, leaning back in the plush seat.

"Don't expect that everyone will be so easy to forgive us, Crump," Johnson cautioned. "I highly doubt that Joseph and Tristan and Duke will be feeling as congenial."

"They've got no reason to feel otherwise," Nesbitt grunted.

"Sadly true," Lector sighed. "But all we can do is try our best to be good and show that we've changed. Then it's up to them whether to be willing to accept us or not."

Johnson's eyes flickered. Both he and Gansley wondered whether they would really be able to stick to being good. They had been the worst of the group and had not been the nicest people even in childhood. To try to change after their decades of living was a highly daunting and even frightening prospect. But they were all badly shaken by how far they had fallen due to cyberspace warping their minds. They wanted to improve. Having Lector as their guide, they hoped, they would have the best possible chance of success.

With this detour adventure out of the way, they all went to Crump's house as planned and looked over his blueprints for some time as night fell and deepened. The rain continued to drum on the windows while they worked and planned and brainstormed for the future. As Penguin World started to take more of a solid shape in all of their minds, it seemed more and more that it really might be able to come to pass.

At last Crump sat up straight and stretched. "Hey, you know, it's getting late," he said. "And it's still storming and everything. It's our first night out of the infirmary. What do you say we just all crash here for the night?"

"That's perfectly alright with me," Gansley said. "We've all got some of our clothes in each of our homes anyway." They all lived near each other, and over the years they had taken to staying over at each other's homes at times when they were working late on KaibaCorp business. Sometimes it had proved to be the most convenient option.

The others chorused in the affirmative.

Nesbitt found it a relief to escape upstairs to his room. The more he was around the others, the harder it was for him to keep up his facade of normalcy. Crump had already started to see through it, but Nesbitt had warded him off. There was nothing he could do, nothing that would take away what Nesbitt had done to them. He sank onto the bed with his tie half-undone, clasping his hands in front of him as he stared blankly at the floor.

"I just want this pain to go away," he whispered. "I want to know I won't hurt them again."

But there could be no guarantee of that. Not while he was a weak, deeply flawed human.

Sleep finally settled over him, but when after a while he started awake in the darkness of the room, gasping and breathing heavily from the unpleasant memory his mind had showed him, it was clear that sleep wouldn't return for a while. Finally he snarled and threw back the covers. He would try just walking for a while, even if it was still raining.

He was somewhat gratified to find that the rain had stopped. He slipped out the back door and shoved his hands in his pockets. He wouldn't walk for long, just long enough to try to clear his mind and ease the burden on his heart.

He knew it wouldn't really ease up, though. His guilt and sorrow had started when it had first really sunk in what he had done to the others by trying to leave Noa's world alone when he thought he had the chance. It had only steadily grown since then. He could only see himself as a twisted, terrible person with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They had all been twisted regarding Seto and Yugi and their crew, but none of the others had tried to betray their partners. Despite whatever juvenile spats they had, that had remained true for all of them except Nesbitt.

He snarled and lunged, driving his fist into a nearby billboard positioned close to the ground.

His self-hatred had started forming many years back, when he had first really realized that he had no sexual desire and his parents couldn't accept that he was so different from what they felt a normal person would be. But maybe seeds had been planted years before that, when the kids in school had mostly jeered him and disliked that he was different because he liked to build things instead of playing however they thought he should play.

Those were things that weren't bad, however. But his bad temper and reckless, impulsive pride had gotten him into so much trouble, and even the other men as well. He had tried to abandon the others. Then he had ruined their chances in that duel against Yugi and Joey by thinking he knew it all. He had ruined everything, and yet they still let him stay and never even spoke of what had happened.

Are they all blind?!

Footsteps came to a stop just to the side of the billboard and he looked up with a start. A man with long turquoise hair and a purple business suit was standing over him. "Robert Nesbitt?"

He straightened his posture in an instant. "What do you want?" He recognized the man, a mysterious businessman who turned up at some of the business dinners he had been forced to attend as a member of KaibaCorp's board of directors. He certainly didn't want to show such weakness of spirit to a near-stranger like that.

"I want to offer you a chance to do what you have always wanted—surrender your weak side for good." The man held out a hand to him. "I can give you the power to do that."

Nesbitt took several steps back. "How do you know what I want?!" he retorted. "That's impossible!"

"Quite possible, actually," was the reply. "Everyone has heard you talk about how machines are better than people. And I can see in your eyes that you feel that way largely because of yourself and your weaknesses."

"Yeah?" Nesbitt gave him a wary look. "And how do you think you can change that? It's not like people will ever change, including me. There's no way to rout out the weak parts of them." He clenched a fist. "We'll always just go on doing the worst possible things in any given situation."

A faint smile. "Yes, I know. Only the select few chosen by the sacred Orichalcos can overcome this fallacy."

"The what?" Nesbitt stared at him.

"The Orichalcos. Surely you've seen its light throughout the city of late. It's a holy stone that descended from the skies long ago and began to test humanity. It discovered that most of them were evil."

"Yeah, well, it sure wouldn't find anything different about me," Nesbitt grunted. "I'd fail its test."

"Perhaps not." The man studied him. "I've been observing you and your friends. Out of all of them, it is you, I believe, who has the most promise."

Nesbitt narrowed his eyes. "Why are you so anxious to recruit me anyway? If I accepted this . . . Orichalcos, what would you get out of it? I know you wouldn't be offering it to me with no strings attached."

"You would help me remake the world as it once was," he was told. "I am seeking to bring back Paradise."

"Every person has a different idea of Paradise," Nesbitt pointed out. He folded his arms. "Mine is probably nothing like yours."

"On at least one matter, we are the same," the man said. "We don't want weaklings around." He looked deeply into Nesbitt's eyes, his gaze all at once piercing straight through to the tortured soul. "If you surrender your weak side, you could be one of my strongest warriors."

Nesbitt wavered. ". . . I think you're insane."

"And yet you want with all your heart for me to be telling the truth."

Finally Nesbitt nodded. "Yes. I . . . I betrayed the only people who ever may have cared about me. There is no excuse for what I have done."

"Then try my power and see if I am telling the truth. If I am insane, you have lost nothing. No one will know. But if I am correct, you will be able to give yourself over to the Orichalcos and be remade into the strong man you have always wanted to be and the good friend you are just starting to realize you want to be."

Nesbitt hesitated again. ". . . You say you have power. Is this some kind of magic?"

"It's divinity."

Not that that sounded much less bizarre to the agnostic man. In his normal frame of mind, he likely would have scoffed and refused. But he had been caught at the end of his rope, in the pit of devastation. He was actually, unbelievably, ready to listen.

"Give me your power," he said at last. "I don't want to be what I am. I want to be strong."

A calm, knowing smile. "And so you shall." The man reached out, touching Nesbitt's forehead.

The electricity that shot into him all at once was like nothing he had ever felt. It swept over him, through him, coursing through his veins. And as the symbol of the Orichalcos appeared on his forehead, his eyes hardened. He had given up his weak side. Now he would indeed be strong.