Notes: Please check out chapter 4, too, if you didn't get to see it yet! This site has been glitching something awful this week, but I think everything is working now.

Chapter Five

It was heart-wrenching for Lector as he stood on the grass near the motel, watching Nesbitt unfurl his Chaos Duel Disk and look at him with a cold expression of what seemed to be utter hatred. They had known each other for so long, so many years, but now Lector had to wonder how well he had truly known Nesbitt at all. For him to have been carrying around this heavy a burden, Lector was sickened that he hadn't known or suspected in the least.

"Nesbitt," he tried to say, "how long have you felt like this?"

"How long?" Nesbitt scoffed. "I've always hated myself. No one ever liked me, even when I didn't do anything to them. The other kids at school who always tried to knock my building blocks down or use them themselves, my kindergarten teacher who said she couldn't blame them for treating me poorly because I was different. . . . My parents were always worried about me because I wasn't sociable, and when I reached puberty and never developed sexual feelings at all, it was too much for them to take."

His friends stared at him in sickened shock.

"But you always acted like you were happy with yourself!" Crump exclaimed.

"I always knew I was good with building things," Nesbitt said. "I was proud of that. But for everyone to hate me, I figured there had to be something seriously wrong with me. When I started realizing I had a bad temper, I knew that must be part of it. And I rarely interacted with people, so when I did it was always hard for me to know what the right things were to say or do. I usually messed it up. I started seeing the fallacies of human nature, including my own, and I realized how much better machines were. They didn't have any of the problems I or other humans did. They were just there, coldly efficient. I wanted to be that." He slammed a card down on the field.

Lector placed two cards facedown and a monster in Defense mode. "Nesbitt, humans were never meant to be machines," he exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean I didn't think they should be! Especially me!" Nesbitt's eyes flashed. "I was the worst one of all. Don't you see? I always tried so hard to control myself, to lock my feelings away, but I couldn't! The more I tried, the more mistakes I made! I hurt people! I always hurt people! Even if I manage to control myself for a while, eventually all that pent-up anger and recklessness breaks free, and it's always at the worst possible times!" He trembled and looked away. "I don't see how anyone could ever love me."

Lector's heart broke. The Orichalcos had pushed Nesbitt to steal souls, which wasn't him at all, but Lector was very afraid that these revelations and feelings were indeed the real Nesbitt. The pain in the man's voice and face were all too real.

"That's not true!" he cried.

"Nesbitt, that's crazy talk!" Crump exclaimed. "Why do you think we wanted you to stick around?! Why do you think we've been trying so hard to find you?!"

"We all love you, so very much." Gansley stepped forward, gripping his cane. "We all see the good in you, and that's more important to us than your faults."

"How?!" Nesbitt screamed. "How can it be?!" He whipped back to look at them. "I hurt all of you more than anyone else! You're the only people who ever cared about me and I betrayed you!"

Lector was largely at a loss for words. None of this was at all what he had expected to hear, and although he couldn't deny he had still been angry and hurt over the betrayal, seeing Nesbitt's anguish on the matter was draining those feelings away. How could he stay angry when Nesbitt couldn't forgive himself?

Suddenly Nesbitt's eyes hardened. "But then you did betray me too," he said darkly, "and that's what we're here to answer for today." He slammed a monster onto the field. "Robotic Knight, take out Lector's facedown monster!"

Lector struggled to get himself under control. "You attacked Cyber Jar," he announced. "Our monsters are destroyed and we each draw five new cards. Any Level 4 and under monsters get summoned to the field."

"I know how the card works," Nesbitt snapped.

As they summoned their new monsters, Lector was desperate to think of what he could say. He had been completely unprepared for any of what was transpiring. He couldn't let himself say the wrong thing again, as he had last night, but what on Earth was the right thing? What would possibly get through to a man drowning in so much self-hatred and pain and dark magic all at once?

"Nesbitt," he said at last, "you contradict yourself. You hate yourself so much and feel that you're so horrible, but you're lashing out at us for this supposed betrayal?"

"You did betray me!" Nesbitt snarled. "And even if I deserved it in the past, I didn't deserve it now, when I've actively tried to improve myself permanently! So you'll all suffer!"

"Only you couldn't have really improved yourself, to feel like that," Johnson said. "The Orichalcos has completely warped you! Can't you see that?!"

Lector frowned. That certainly seemed like the most logical answer, and that was no doubt part of it, but were they still missing a piece? What else could be going on in Nesbitt's mind?

"And don't you realize you're putting yourself in danger too?!" Crump exclaimed. "If you draw that Orichalcos card and play it, there's no guarantee you're gonna come out on top!"

Suddenly, horribly, it clicked.

"No," Lector whispered. He looked to Nesbitt with a jerk. "You want to be defeated, don't you?! You want us to cause your soul to be sealed away!"

"That's all I deserve now, for what I've done in accepting this force," Nesbitt spat. The Orichalcos symbol burned on his forehead and he grimaced, reaching up to it. His expression twisted. "Only I'll see to it that it's the fate you suffer instead!"

Lector stared at him. "It's the Orichalcos making you say and do anything to hurt us," he realized. "But the real you is still there, just like I said! And the real you can't bear what you're doing! You want to be stopped any way possible, even if that means locking your soul away!"

"Whaaat?!" Crump burst out.

Gansley and Johnson stared, sickened.

"I should have realized that, too," Johnson said in chagrin.

"How could any of us have realized it?" Gansley countered. ". . . But yes, we should have."

"Nesbitt, don't you see that that isn't a real solution?!" Lector cried. "We love you too much for that! We could never stand to do that to you! I could never stand to do that to you!"

"Why?!" Nesbitt bellowed, his voice twisted and tortured.

"If you're so far gone that you can't see any value in yourself at all, I don't know how to convince you of it," Lector sadly said. "Sometimes it's hard to explain why we love someone, but that doesn't change that we do."

Again the Orichalcos symbol burned. Nesbitt straightened, sneering at Lector. "Well, that's just too bad. Because now I really have drawn the Seal of Orichalcos, and I think it's time I showed you what it can do."

"Nesbitt, don't do it!" Crump yelped.

"You're still fighting against the Orichalcos. Don't take this risk!" Gansley cried.

"The real you couldn't want to!" Johnson added. "You'll be putting Lector in danger, even if you plan on losing!"

"The 'real' Nesbitt is right here," Nesbitt leered. "And I don't care what happens to any of you, especially Lector." He placed the card in the Field spell drawer.

Everyone stared in horror as the turquoise circle spun down from the sky and trapped Nesbitt and Lector inside. Crump ran over, banging on the barrier. "Nesbitt! Cut it out! You're really playing for keeps here! And there's a 100% chance you're gonna regret it!"

Lector drew a shaking breath. "It's no use, Crump. He's gone again. I'll just have to keep playing this duel out and try to bring him back to the surface. Now we know he's definitely there."

"Yeah, and he's definitely messed-up in the head!" Crump exclaimed. "Even without the Orichalcos!" He turned away, his shoulders slumping. "Why didn't he let us help him? . . ."

"He didn't think we could," Gansley said quietly. "And perhaps he didn't think he deserved to ask. A person in Nesbitt's state of mind isn't thinking clearly. They can't. They can only see themselves through warped and biased lenses. Perhaps the Orichalcos made his feelings even worse, but he has clearly been struggling with this burden for years. He is completely the opposite of how he's usually presented himself."

Solomon was tensely watching the duel. "It looks like the Orichalcos symbol doesn't fade at all now that he's played that evil card," he said. "It's infused with him regardless, but now it's probably going to be much more difficult to get the real him to come out again."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Crump moaned.

"Then I accept that challenge," Lector said. "I set out to bring our friend back, and that is exactly what I'm going to do, no matter how difficult it is!" He drew his next card. "Mr. Bakura managed to end their duel in a draw. Somehow I'll have to do the same thing."

"But will that truly break the Orichalcos's control over him?" Johnson worried. "It didn't before."

"Yes, but Nesbitt has no strong ties to Mr. Bakura," Lector said. "Maybe with me as his opponent, it'll work."

The duel was grueling. The Orichalcos had definitely clamped down even harder on Nesbitt, and as he and Lector traded moves, he was proving more and more belligerent to deal with. No matter what Lector or the others said, Nesbitt wasn't interested in listening and had a snide comment to make. And with the Orichalcos in play, Nesbitt's monsters were almost unstoppable. Lector was clearly wearing down.

"Why do you keep on with this anyway?" Nesbitt finally snorted. "You say all this nonsense about loving me, but you always hated me!"

"Why does everyone think I hate you?!" Lector burst out at last. "Of course we've had problems, but what was ever said or done that would give that extreme an impression?!"

"What was ever said or done to show me otherwise?" Nesbitt countered.

Lector faltered. When he tried to think of anything, he had to admit there probably wasn't much. At best, it likely looked like Lector tolerated Nesbitt and nothing more. They had shared civil conversations, but Lector had kept himself at arm's length, just as Nesbitt had. And Lector had been genuinely angry and hurt about the mess in Noa's world. . . .

The realization that he couldn't answer Nesbitt's question was the final blow. Suddenly it felt like the weight of the world had literally sank onto his shoulders. He couldn't imagine the mythological Atlas's burden was any lighter. His strength and his will failed him and he stumbled to one knee. "Oh Nesbitt," he whispered.

"Lector?!" Crump exclaimed. "Come on, you've gotta get up! It'll look like a forfeit and the Seal'll take you!"

Lector shook his head. "I . . . I can't anymore," he rasped. He stared at his cards. "There's nothing in my hand that can beat Nesbitt's supercharged monsters . . . and there's nothing I can say or do that will save him. He's right—I can't prove I don't hate him."

"What do you think you're doing right now?" Gansley pointed out. "You're risking your very soul for him!"

Johnson nodded. "You agreed to this duel. Nesbitt didn't strongarm you into it."

Lector looked at them in utter despair. "But I . . . it's not making a difference. I've failed to save him!"

But he was wrong. Somehow it was seeing Lector sink to his knees in utter, complete defeat and despair that snapped through the thick fog in Nesbitt's mind, and snapped through it more completely than any of the other times Nesbitt had fought his way to the surface.

"L-Lector?!" he gasped. "What am I doing?! Why . . . ?!"

Lector looked up with a jerk. "Nesbitt?!" He could only stare in disbelief at the tortured soul in front of him. Nesbitt had been completely immovable and cold. Now the Orichalcos symbol was flickering on his forehead even though the Seal was on the field, and Nesbitt looked emotional to a level Lector had never seen from him before.

Crump gasped too. "Are you with us, Buddy?!"

"What am I doing?!" Nesbitt screamed in utter anguish.

Lector stumbled back to his feet. "Nesbitt, you . . ." He swallowed hard. "You're trying to take my soul."

The absolute devastation that filled Nesbitt's visage would haunt Lector for eternity. "He lied to me!" Nesbitt yelled. "He lied! He didn't tell me the Orichalcos would cause me to do things like this! I . . ."

Lector's heart increased in speed. Was it possible? After all the failures, was there still a chance to save Nesbitt now? And had it really been as simple as it seemed? How could Lector giving up make all the difference? Nesbitt hadn't cared what he did. . . .

"Nesbitt," he said slowly, "you said you took the Orichalcos to be strong, that you gave up your weak side. . . ."

"That's not the whole truth!" Nesbitt sounded almost strangled. "I took it because Dartz told me it would make me be a better friend! Instead, it's made me into the worst friend possible!" He sobbed, crashing to his knees as he dug his fingers into his hair. Around them, the Seal was violently rippling in green strokes from Nesbitt's emotions. The tension was absolutely palpable.

Lector was thunderstruck. He had never once thought that Nesbitt's reason would have anything to do with them or how he had treated them in Noa's world. Nesbitt had always been such a loner, so misanthropic and disgusted towards people. For a long time, Lector hadn't thought Nesbitt really cared for any of them. He certainly hadn't thought it after Nesbitt's betrayal in Noa's world. But to see the tortured man kneeling in front of him now, sobbing in utter and complete agony over what he had been doing to the others, Lector finally realized the real truth.

Nesbitt loved them. And perhaps, instead of being the most far removed and distanced, he was actually the most sensitive of them all.

Gansley, Crump, and Johnson were badly shaken as well. They could only stare, their minds blank.

"No," Johnson whispered.

"That was the missing piece," Gansley said, his heart heavy. "He didn't want to be strong for himself; he wanted to be strong for us. Oh Nesbitt . . ."

Crump was at a rare loss of words. He just shook his head and stepped back. "I didn't see it," he choked out. "None of us saw it. . . . He was hurting so bad and none of us could figure out why. Why couldn't we see it?!"

"None of us realized Nesbitt loved us that much," Lector said softly. "We all underestimated him."

The warm rush of the Seal passing through him startled him fully back to the situation. Now Nesbitt's will was broken. The Seal had taken that to mean that Nesbitt had forfeited the duel and it was going to take his soul. It was shrinking past Lector to trap Nesbitt inside.

"No!" Lector screamed. He couldn't allow it! He couldn't! He ran forward, desperate to reach out to Nesbitt in spite of the Seal blocking his way.

Nesbitt shook his head. "Just let me go," he choked out. "I'm worthless. Just look what I've done!"

"I will not let you go!" Lector pressed himself against the Seal's wall. "We've all been fighting to save you, Nesbitt, even when we didn't fully understand. Do you really think I'm going to let you go now that I finally know the truth?!"

"None of us are gonna let you go!" Crump cried. He also ran over, with Gansley and Johnson right on his heels.

Nesbitt looked up at them in disbelief. "I betrayed you!" he screamed. "Not once, but twice!"

"And you were only trying to make up for that first betrayal!" Lector countered. "You said it yourself—Dartz lied to you! He tricked you into believing the Orichalcos is something it isn't! You thought it was a good thing and you accepted it on that principle! Then it corrupted you instantly and it was too late to go back! You aren't to blame for what happened! The stranger I was dueling wasn't you! That was the Orichalcos talking through you! This . . . this is the real you! And I . . ." He drew a shaking breath. "I am a fool for not seeing it before. Please forgive me, my dear, dear friend."

Nesbitt's expression was only filled with further disbelief. "Lector . . ."

"You are a good person, Nesbitt!" Lector insisted. "You're not worthless in the least! You are a rare treasure." By now the Seal had shrunk completely around Nesbitt. It would take him away in only seconds. But Lector wasn't giving up. There had to be a way to break its power! There had to be!

"I don't know anyone else who would go to such extreme lengths to try to be a better person and a good friend," he continued. "You didn't need to do all this, but you thought you did! All you truly wanted was to spare us more hurt and pain. What could be more selfless than that? And even though the Orichalcos poisoned and corrupted you, you still broke completely through it! Nesbitt . . ." He put out his hand. "Come with me."

"I can't!" Nesbitt retorted. "You know I can't! The Seal has me!"

"It doesn't have you yet!" Lector thrust his hand farther, desperately pushing against the Seal's barrier. "Come with me!"

Nesbitt stared at him and then at his hand. After everything, Lector was forgiving and even felt that Nesbitt was good? How could he?

He shut his eyes tightly. Lector had fought so hard for him. If he just gave up and let the Seal take him, that would hurt Lector more. And the others too, no doubt. . . . He had to fight.

Choking on a sob, he reached out and tried to grasp Lector's hand.

The Seal rippled around them. Nesbitt's eyes snapped open. His hand had somehow passed through it, as had Lector's. Their fingers interlocked and Lector pulled, hauling Nesbitt out of the Seal's grasp. The Seal flickered, faded, and disappeared entirely.

"Nesbitt . . ." Lector stared at him. "You're here, aren't you? You made it. . . ."

Nesbitt trembled. "I . . ." He stared at Lector. "You saved me," he whispered.

Lector smiled, drawing Nesbitt into a firm embrace. "You saved me too," he said. "If you hadn't broke through the Orichalcos's control, it would have taken me when I gave up."

Nesbitt shut his eyes tightly again and sobbed. "I'm sorry. . . . How can there be any forgiveness for what I've done?"

"There is," Lector insisted. His voice caught in his throat. "I couldn't have a better friend than you, Nesbitt."

"None of us could," Crump said.

Nesbitt couldn't reply. He trembled as his body racked with sobs. At last he threw his arms around Lector and clutched him close.

Gansley, Crump, and Johnson gathered around as well, joining the hug. They once would have felt extremely awkward to embrace each other, but now it just felt right.

"Everything is going to be alright now, Nesbitt," Gansley promised. "We're going to help you every step of the way until you're better."

Nesbitt looked over at him in surprise, blinking tears out of his eyes. "I'm not sick. . . ."

That brought a heavier and sadder sigh. "Yes, Nesbitt, you are," Gansley said. "As long as you despise yourself so extremely, you're not well. But now that we know what ails you, we can do everything in our power to help heal you."

They all hugged him close.

Nesbitt finally started to relax in the shared embrace. "I feel so warm . . . so loved," he whispered.

The utter awe in his voice broke Lector's heart. "Nesbitt . . . haven't you ever felt loved before?"

"Not like this," Nesbitt said. "Not unconditionally. Well . . . the only time I ever did was when I was a kid visiting New Orleans and I met this older kid. . . . Now I know . . . that's why you kept me around. You love me. . . ."

Lector wept. "Yes, Nesbitt," he said. "We all love you, so very much. And we are never letting you go again!"

Solomon, who had stayed back to let them have their moment, swelled with joy. "Now I know there's hope," he said. "Light and love can break the darkness of the Orichalcos. Yugi is going to triumph! I know it!"

Unseen by all of them, Dartz's expression twisted in frustration as he stood in the shadows. "I see now what my mistake was," he growled to himself. "Mr. Nesbitt accepted the Orichalcos for selfless reasons while his loved ones were still alive to influence him differently. With all of my other victims, only one or neither of those elements was present."

Nesbitt suddenly stiffened. "He's here," he snarled.

"Who's here?" Gansley frowned.

Nesbitt pulled away from them and stormed over to the darkened alley. "The one who did this to me!"

Dartz could have taken the opportunity to vanish. But, still hoping to reclaim his victim, he instead stepped forward. "Ah, Mr. Nesbitt. So I see you and your friends have performed the impossible and broken through the Orichalcos's sacred seal."

"I let you manipulate me when I was at my lowest point," Nesbitt snapped. "You turned me into a monster when all I wanted was to treat my friends better!"

Lector was swiftly at Nesbitt's side, his eyes flashing with rage. "Just where do you get off doing such a wicked thing?!" he demanded. "Now you have all of us to deal with!"

Dartz stood his ground. "The world is going to be remade one way or the other. I gave Mr. Nesbitt the chance to get in on that momentous occasion."

"You needed someone to help you gather souls, so you tricked me into accepting without telling me what I'd have to do," Nesbitt said.

"Yes, and if I kill your loved ones, you will give into your rage and the Orichalcos can at least claim your soul," Dartz said. "Then you will still serve some purpose."

Immediately the entire Big Five plus Solomon grabbed Dartz. "Try it and you'll be dead," Johnson said.

"And just what do you think you can really do?" Dartz said calmly. "I have magic and none of the rest of you do. There's no way you could really kill me. And you certainly can't have me arrested. Corrupting people by magical stones is not a legitimate legal case against me."

"Yeah, but it should be," Crump snarled. "Maybe we could get you on manipulating someone with emotional health problems or something." He looked hopefully to Johnson.

"Unfortunately, it would be impossible to get into that without touching on the magical properties of the case," Johnson frowned. "But rest assured, you have made enemies out of all of us now. That isn't something to take lightly."

"And you have also made an enemy out of me," Solomon declared. "These men are my friends. I won't stand for them being so ill-treated!"

Suddenly Dartz's pendant began to glow on and off. He looked down at it with a frown. "As much as I would like to more fully demonstrate my power, Gentlemen, my attention is needed elsewhere."

"So you're just running away?" Crump snorted, unimpressed.

"You're through," Nesbitt insisted. "You'll never get anywhere with any of us again!"

Dartz gave him a cold look. "I certainly won't make the same mistake with you another time," he said. "The reason why the Orichalcos failed to hold you was a combination of your selfless reason for joining and your friends still being alive to get through to you. My most powerful servants have no such luck with living loved ones to bring them back from their missions."

"Then I'm sorry for them," Nesbitt said.

Dartz abruptly vanished from their grasp with a cruel laugh. Everyone jumped.

"Well, that was freaky," Crump exclaimed.

"What would you expect from a magical madman?" Gansley grunted.

Solomon drew a shuddering breath. "I am very happy that you are back to yourself, Mr. Nesbitt," he said, "but now I'm very worried about Yugi and his friends. To think that they're up against this type of lunatic is utterly frightening."

"It most certainly is," Lector said.

"You'd better try calling them again," Gansley said in concern. "You can use my cellphone if you don't have one of your own."

"Why, thank you," Solomon said. "I'm afraid I don't have one yet." He accepted Gansley's as it was offered and swiftly dialed.

Crump looked to Nesbitt. "How are you feeling, Buddy?"

"I . . ." Nesbitt shook his head. "I'm not sure. It's such a strange new feeling, to know I'm really loved in spite of my faults. . . . And to know that for once, people actually know the real me. . . . But . . . I like it. I feel . . . free."

Lector smiled. "I feel free as well, to finally understand you as I never have before. I only wish I had realized before."

"As we all do," Gansley said. "But everything will be different now that we do know."

Johnson nodded. "We're all beside you, Nesbitt, and we always will be."

"I know that now," Nesbitt said. "I wish I'd understood it before, but I'm glad I finally do."

Solomon hung up Gansley's phone with a sigh, bringing all of their attention up. "I can't reach any of them now," he fretted. "Who knows what that lunatic has done to them!"

The Big Five exchanged concerned looks. Together they stepped forward, surrounding their new friend.

"We'll find out," Nesbitt said. "I'll use all of my technology to try to track them down and find out how they're doing."

"And we'll stay with you until we know," Lector vowed.

Solomon regarded them in amazement. "But you must have so many things to talk out among yourselves," he protested. "You should have this time to reconnect and grow stronger."

"We'll have time to talk," Nesbitt said.

"And I believe we will grow stronger by helping you," Gansley said. "We learned in cyberspace not to abandon each other. That's how we fully grew into friends. We won't abandon you either."

Johnson nodded. "It's our turn to reach out, as you did for us."

Crump gave a firm nod. "Exactly!"

Solomon finally smiled. "Thank you, all of you. I must admit, I would greatly appreciate companionship and help right now."

"And you'll get it," Lector said.

They walked back to their vehicles, united as friends.

Further Notes: My friend MoonlightTyger and I both feel that canon shows light and love can break the Orichalcos's power. That is how Raphael escaped the Seal during his second duel with Atem, how Atem freed all the trapped souls from the Leviathan, and likely how Yugi broke through the Seal even though the Millennium Puzzle hadn't worked to that end before. And that is just perfect for my writing style, hee.