Notes: Thanks to Azalea542 for plot help!

Chapter Eight

Nesbitt had been silent for quite some time as they waited. That wasn't necessarily an unusual circumstance, but somehow Lector had the feeling that it was a concerning one, especially right now. Nesbitt usually tended to completely blow up during crises. For him to not, instead of finding it a relief, Lector couldn't help worrying that meant something was very wrong.

"Nesbitt," he finally said, "I wish you'd talk to us. . . ."

Nesbitt growled. "When I talk during disasters, I always end up hurting someone. Usually you. It's better if I'm quiet."

Pain filled Lector's eyes. "You've been better at that for a long time now," he said. "I don't want you to have to be afraid to talk because of the past. . . ."

Nesbitt gripped his arms. "The last time someone was actually dead, I crushed you so badly."

". . . This is bringing back memories for you of when Gansley was killed in that Shadow Game, isn't it?" Lector realized.

Nesbitt nodded. "Yes. . . ."

Lector drew an arm around Nesbitt's shoulders and hugged him close. "We've both grown a lot since then. Me too."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Nesbitt objected.

"I agreed that there was no choice but to leave Gansley's body behind because it would have taken too many of us to carry him," Lector said. "I was afraid it would slow us down too much and we'd be attacked again for certain. If I had the chance to do it over, I would never leave him. Of course, I pray to God that we will never be in such a situation again. But you were right to be angry, Nesbitt! I didn't do what I should have done! You were the one who really knew."

"You were being logical, like I should have been." Nesbitt finally turned and faced him. "Even if I was right that we shouldn't have left Gansley, it was no excuse for how I treated you. I let my grief talk for me and shatter you when you already didn't know how you were going to stand it. I'll never get over that."

Lector managed a sad smile. "I know." He hesitated. "You aren't . . . angry at me now, are you? For needing to be rescued so you had to jump in and Yugi had to save you?"

Nesbitt stared at him in shock. "No! I'm only angry at myself that I couldn't have pulled us both out of range so we would have been safe and Yugi wouldn't have had to do what he did!"

"Oh Nesbitt. . . ." Lector laid his hands on Nesbitt's shoulders. "You did all you could."

"It just wasn't good enough," Nesbitt growled.

"I wish I had been able to get out of the way, or that I hadn't been close enough to be targeted in the first place," Lector said. "But then somebody else would have been. There wasn't any way that situation could have gone without causing a great deal of heartache."

"I hate that monster," Nesbitt snarled. "My only comfort is that maybe now he's gone for good."

"I wouldn't count on it," Atem interjected. "Perhaps it claimed his soul, but I would doubt a soul can ever be destroyed. Wherever he is, I'm afraid he endures."

"No! . . ." Nesbitt snarled helplessly.

"The only positive thing about that theory is that it also means our souls can never be destroyed," Gansley said. "And after all the supernatural nonsense we've been exposed to, that should be encouraging."

Well, Nesbitt certainly couldn't deny that.

Marik sighed and looked away. Every time Yami Marik caused trouble, he couldn't help feeling responsible. The demon wouldn't exist to keep coming around if Marik hadn't created him. In his darkest moments, he even wondered if he still would have done it if he had consciously known what was happening. He had been in such a bad mental place that he honestly couldn't say he wouldn't have. Yami Marik had been created as a protector, someone to shield him from the betrayals of those he trusted and loved. But Yami Marik had terrifyingly developed his own mind and soul and had betrayed Marik when causing mindless destruction had sounded so much more fun.

Rishid laid a hand on Marik's shoulder. He knew what his brother was thinking, at least in part. He wished he could take all of the boy's pain unto himself so Marik could be fully happy. But he also knew that could never be. He had tried that with all his might in the past, but Marik had still borne much sorrow and sadness. The best thing Rishid could do for him was to be there for him.

The door opened and Serenity came in. "How are things?" she asked.

"About the same, Sis," Joey sighed. "Did Mai take Vivian out of the building?"

"No," Serenity said. "She was worried Vivian would act up in the street, so they went in the storeroom."

"Probably a good idea," Joey said.

Serenity looked around the room and focused on Lumis still sitting sadly with Umbra. Before anyone quite processed it, she was walking over to him. "How are you, Mr. Lumis?"

Lumis started and looked up at her. From his expression, he wasn't sure whether he was more shocked that she was talking to him or that she had called him Mister. "How would you think I am?" he retorted.

"Watch it," Joey growled.

Undaunted, Serenity sat down next to him. "I know it's not exactly the same, but I do know what it's like to watch over a loved one and not know if they're going to come back," she said softly. "Joey . . . died in his duel against Yami Marik." She choked at the memory.

Lumis looked at her in shock. "He did?!"

Serenity nodded. "The doctors revived him, but we still didn't know if he was going to wake up. And then poor Mai was in a coma with her mind under the Shadow Realm's influence the whole time. . . ."

Lumis looked down at Umbra. "How did you stand it?"

"It was hard," Serenity said. "The only way I could get by at all was to keep having faith in Joey. I knew he'd keep fighting. And . . . it helped to have my friends watching over him with me, too. I know you probably don't feel comfortable talking to anybody but Mr. Umbra, but if you want to, I'm here." She smiled at him.

Lumis looked up again, further stunned. For a moment he wasn't even sure how to reply. But he could see she meant every word. ". . . Th-Thank you," he stammered at last.

Serenity smiled. "Sure."

Atem frowned a bit. They really hadn't been reaching out that much to Lumis, perhaps assuming he preferred being left alone, perhaps so caught up in their grief and worry over Yugi that they didn't focus much on the other problem. But Serenity had seen the need and had stepped up to make sure it wasn't ignored.

Lumis was silent for a long time, just sitting with Serenity as he watched over Umbra. Most, if not all, of them didn't think he would really take Serenity up on her offer at all. But after a while he actually spoke.

"I suppose Marik was actually the first person who really treated me like I was somebody, not just a freak like everyone else did," Lumis remarked. "So I joined the Rare Hunters and learned how to duel. Then Marik wanted me to work with Umbra and he threw us together. We didn't even like each other at first! We preferred working alone and our personalities clashed, badly. But as we worked together more and more, we started developing a certain bond. When we saw how powerful we were when we used our teamwork strategy in duels, we never wanted to be apart again."

"So it was all about power at first?" Serenity asked.

"Yes," Lumis said. "But then for my part, I really started gravitating to Umbra because he liked me and wanted me around. If you've never been an outcast, you wouldn't understand, but . . . that meant . . . so much. It was incredible . . . like he was handing me the whole world for the first time in my life."

"I've been an outcast sometimes," Serenity said softly. "Growing up, I couldn't see very well and couldn't do a lot of the things the other kids at school did, so I was often left alone."

Joey clenched a fist. If they could have stayed together, he would have made sure Serenity never had to be alone.

"I guess I was just needy at first . . . but somewhere along the way I realized I cared about Umbra not just because he wanted me around, but for his own merits. By the time of Battle City, we trusted each other implicitly and I didn't think anything could destroy that. Kaiba tried to during our duel, and for a few minutes I faltered. . . . People had betrayed me before, and Umbra had been so angry with me when our attack failed. . . . I thought maybe he was going to turn against me too. But he didn't, and then I felt horrible for letting Kaiba manipulate me into doubting him. I wanted revenge on Kaiba for that. But it was my own fault, my own shortcoming. Kaiba just took advantage of that." Lumis sighed.

"But everything was okay after that, wasn't it?" Serenity asked. "You must have made up. . . ."

"Yes, we did," Lumis said. "Umbra didn't tell me until recently, but he could have lost me after that duel, when I was in a coma because of Marik. The doctors wanted him to end life support, but he wouldn't."

Serenity smiled. "He's a true friend who believes in you."

Lumis nodded. ". . . He was nicer after that duel, although I didn't fully know why until he told me these things. But sometimes he'd bossed me around and I hated that. I thought it was because he felt superior to me, being bigger. He told me after I woke up that he actually felt inferior, because I was more intellectual in spite of his wealthy upbringing. He didn't know how to compete with that, so he played up what he felt was his one strength over me. He was sorry about it then."

"Friends should feel equal to each other," Téa commented.

"And after that, we really did. More often, at least," Lumis said. He scowled. "I don't know why I'm telling all of this."

"I guess it needed to come out," Serenity said. "It's hard, to always keep things inside. Especially when horrible things happen to loved ones. . . ."

Lumis growled, but it trailed off into a choked whimper. "He's all I have," he said hopelessly. "I don't just love him because I need him, but . . . but I . . ." He shook his head. "Everything is just meaningless without him!"

"It's going to be alright," Serenity soothed. "He's going to come back. I know he will! He and Yugi will both wake up and then everything will be happy again."

"Is that what you told yourself when your brother was hurt?" Lumis asked.

"That's right," Serenity said. "And it was true."

"But life doesn't always go the way you want it to or the way it even should." The bitterness permeated through Lumis's voice. "My life was mostly entirely about cruelty and betrayal and being ganged up on because I wasn't 'normal.' I had that one bright spot of knowing Umbra, and that was what made him happiest as well, but it would be just like life to pull us apart and keep us apart, plunging us both into the darkness again!" He hit the couch arm with his hand. "Why did I choose that third option? Why didn't I pick one of the disasters so Umbra coming back would be a sure thing?!"

". . . Because you're a better person than everyone's told you you are. Probably better than you've even thought about yourself."

Everyone started when Nesbitt spoke. He had stepped forward, his eyes filled with determination and understanding. He knew what he was talking about because that was his own story as well.

"As much as you want Umbra back, you couldn't just turn your back on the kid," Nesbitt continued. "You had to pick that third option to give them both a chance. And maybe, if you need another reason for it, you weren't sure if either of those disasters would come back to bite you both if you chose one of them. That's a logical thing to wonder and a good reason to hold off when you had another possibility."

Lumis just stared at Nesbitt for a long moment, then away. It was true, certainly, that people had always treated him with negativity and told him how bad he was. Even Marik's interest had been because he wanted to make use of Lumis as a criminal. Umbra and Lumis had each thought of themselves as bad people, and although they saw the good in each other, they hadn't spoken of it. Now they were trying to be good, but Lumis supposed he still thought of himself as bad, just out for himself and doing what he thought would be the most advantageous to himself and Umbra.

But . . . his heart really had changed, hadn't it? He hadn't been able to abandon Yugi, even with the chance right in front of him to make absolutely sure Umbra came back.

Serenity smiled. "I'm glad we're getting the chance to really know you, Mr. Lumis. And I'm going to keep believing in our friends. I know life doesn't always work out the way you want, but I'm sure it will in this case. They're going to be okay!"

Lumis looked down at Umbra. There was still no change, and the clock continued to count down the remainder of the six hours. But Umbra hadn't given up on Lumis when all had seemed lost. Lumis wouldn't give up either. He slowly reached out and gripped Umbra's hand.

"I won't stop believing," he vowed. "Umbra, I'll be right here for you until you come back . . . just like you were for me."

Lector's heart swelled. Serenity and Nesbitt together had given Lumis the light of hope. And from the way Nesbitt had spoken, it was clear that he was at least starting to realize the same thing about himself. Lector and the others always tried to tell Nesbitt he was a good person, but his self-confidence took another beating every time he made a mistake or lashed out at any of them during a crisis. For him to be able to stand up and acknowledge that he was a good person was a huge step.

Gansley recognized the same thing. "Well said." He smiled gruffly yet firmly at Nesbitt.

"You're finally realizing it after all this time!" Crump chirped.

Johnson smiled. It was definitely a significant moment.

Nesbitt went a bit red, but he nodded. "You . . . all of you . . . have shown me that truth about myself. And even though that's still not always easy for me to believe and accept, I do know I'd do anything for you. And not just the four of you, but . . ." He turned to look around the office. ". . . I would fight for everyone in this room, and the others we care about who aren't in here right now. For me to feel like that, I . . . can't be a bad person."

"And you aren't," Lector smiled with fondness. "You most certainly aren't." He hesitated, then came closer and drew Nesbitt close in a firm embrace. "And you can't imagine how happy it makes me to hear you finally say that."

Nesbitt couldn't, but he had some idea. He shut his eyes tightly and hugged back. It felt good to realize it too. It was certainly a weight off his heart.

Bakura turned to look, a sad smile playing on his lips. Someday, he hoped Yami Bakura would come to a similar realization. He had certainly made progress, but Bakura knew he still didn't fully see himself as decent.

Sensing the boy's thoughts, Yami Bakura rolled his eyes and looked away.

Seto just stood by, observing the different conversations. He didn't really have anything to contribute, so he stayed quiet and just waited. He still had full confidence that Yugi would figure out how to get himself and Umbra out of their mess. But it was all still so very bizarre, being caught up in a supernatural problem of this magnitude. He supposed he would have to accept that his life was always going to be about magic, as much as the thought embittered him.

Noa looked to Mokuba and walked over near the corner of the office. Sensing he wanted to talk, Mokuba followed.

"All of them really have changed," Noa mused. "Or maybe I'm the one who really changed. I stuck my nose up at all of them before. They were Father's employees, people who should wait on me hand and foot if I so desired. Then I felt so hateful towards them all when they complained about virtual reality. They got to stay together in it and I had to be all alone! I wanted them to know what it was like to be me. When I'd had enough of them, first I separated all of them and then I 'deleted' them from my world." He trembled. "How did I get that far gone?"

"You were in there so long, Noa," Mokuba said softly. "It really just warped your mind. The Big Five got really bad off as it was when they'd only been in there a few weeks and were still together. You were all alone for six years. Gozaburo was even in there and he just wouldn't come to you!" Tears pricked his eyes. "He hurt so many people, and then the hurt spread."

Noa sighed. "I guess that's all I can tell myself, but it really doesn't help much."

"That's how it is for everyone just trying to start back being good again," Mokuba said. "I've seen it with a lot of these guys. But maybe someday you'll be able to start feeling better about yourself, like Nesbitt is now."

"I hope so," Noa said. "I can still hardly believe that anyone can forgive me."

"I think that's how a lot of the changes ended up happening, because of forgiveness," Mokuba said. "And it's not always easy. But like for me, I try to see things from both sides. Sometimes it works better than other times, but I really try hard."

"By now I certainly see all of the Big Five in a whole new light," Noa said. "Lector tried so hard to look after me, even though I wouldn't have any of it. And the others . . . they're all good people too, who maybe lost their way for a little bit but are trying to come back. And everyone lets them. . . ."

"Things are really good right now, for the most part," Mokuba said. "It's like we're all one big happy family." He sighed. "I just hope we're still all going to be together after this. . . ."

Noa looked to where Yugi and Umbra were still laying on the couches. "I hope so too," he said. "But I think we will be."

Mokuba smiled. "Yeah. . . ."

". . . I wonder if I should call my mom and let her know I'm okay," Noa mused. "I hate to tell her what's happening, though. . . ."

"You should probably call her," Mokuba agreed. "It's been a real long time and she's probably super worried. But maybe you don't have to say that anything bad happened to anyone. . . ."

"Not without lying," Noa sighed. "She'll ask if the Paradox Brothers took the tiara, and I'll have to say No, and then she'll ask why." He shook his head. "Oh well. She'll know I'm safe and that Yami Marik character is gone." He started over to Duke's desk to use his landline phone.

"You haven't asked anything about Yami Marik," Mokuba said. "Do you already know about him?"

"I found out while I was watching over everyone from the afterlife," Noa said. He picked up the receiver and started to dial.

"That makes sense," Mokuba mused.

xxxx

Umbra was wearing down. The number of fights they had been getting into had been increasing the deeper they traveled into the forest. And even though they had collected another Duel Monster and two more equip spells, the monsters they encountered were becoming more and more fierce and powerful. Several times there had been no option but retreat.

Yugi stopped running and leaned forward, breathing heavily as he placed his hands on his knees. "Oh wow. I don't know what we're going to do if this keeps up," he gasped.

Umbra leaned on a tree with one hand. "I never knew spirits could breathe," he remarked. He was taking in air himself, or seemed to be.

"Maybe it's just a reflex," Yugi said, "or maybe there really is some kind of atmosphere on the spirit planes too. I mean, since there are spirit bodies, why not spirit air?" He gave a weak smile. "Or maybe I'm just being crazy."

"It seems to make sense right now." Umbra finally straightened. "So what are we going to do? That last monster was the Masked Beast Des Gardius, ironically enough. If they're just going to keep getting stronger, we're going to keep running into more and more trouble!"

"Yeah. . . ." Yugi frowned. "And there haven't been any monsters that strong for us to get hold of. Maybe we need to pile all our equip spells on Maha Vailo . . . or maybe we're supposed to try to get one or more of the stronger monsters we've found on our side."

"What?!" Umbra stared at him in disbelief. "That beast we just ran from wanted to slice and dice us, not help us escape from here!"

"I know." Yugi frowned. "But I wonder if there was a reason we ran into him specifically. I mean, he's your and Lumis's signature monster. What if you could get through to him?"

Umbra rocked back. "I don't like where this is going. How could I get through to him?!"

"I'm not sure, but it makes sense," Yugi said. "In Capsule Monsters, oddly enough, a lot of the monsters we found were ones we'd known and loved for ages. And here, we've also been finding our special monsters. You have Melchid the Four-Face Beast and Rogue Doll, and I have Maha Vailo and Silent Swordsman. Don't you think that's a little too much to be a coincidence?"

"I guess," Umbra frowned.

"So following that line of thinking, it absolutely makes sense that Masked Beast Des Gardius is supposed to be with us!" Yugi continued.

Umbra groaned. ". . . Even if you're right, how are we going to get back to where we left it?"

A powerful growl startled them both. The Duel Monsters stiffened, preparing to fight as a claw cut through the branches and left several on the ground at once.

". . . I guess we don't have to," Yugi said weakly. "He's come over to us."

"And just look what he did there!" Umbra pointed at the branches. "He's after destruction, not teamwork!"

The gargantuan Duel Monster came out of the trees, again swiping a huge claw. As it fell towards Yugi, Maha Vailo and Silent Swordsman both blasted in desperation, despite knowing there was no chance that they could actually defeat him. The beast fell back with a roar and Yugi's monsters also tumbled back, some of their strength gone from fighting something so much more powerful than they. In a moment Des Gardius was up again and charging Yugi.

There was nothing else Umbra could do. He ran forward, pushing Yugi to the ground and standing in front of him. "Stop!" He shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the feel of the claws ripping through him. If spirits could breathe, maybe they could also be hurt by things on their plane. Maybe it would even be worse than in mortality, since there would be no death as an escape. . . .

The claw didn't fall. Finally Umbra opened an eye, stunned. Des Gardius was just standing there, towering over him, the claw suspended in mid-air.

Umbra drew a shaking breath. ". . . Do you . . . recognize me?" It sounded ridiculous to ask, and yet maybe it made some level of sense.

Des Gardius growled.

"I need you to not hurt him," Umbra said. "We're not enemies anymore. We're just trying to get out of here and go back to our loved ones in the mortal world. Lumis is there. Please . . . will you help us?"

For a long moment Des Gardius just stood over him, silently intimidating. Umbra couldn't help but be reminded of the terror he had felt facing Seto's Obelisk. Although now, with this monster, it was feeling less and less terrifying and more and more familiar.

Yugi was still on the ground, having decided staying down would be the safest option until they knew what Des Gardius would decide. He looked up with wide eyes, gripping the grass, praying that there would be some recognition . . . some affection, even.

At last Des Gardius backed down. He growled again, but more out of communication than cruelty.

Umbra's shoulders slumped. They were safe.

"You did it!" Yugi exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. "It's going to be okay now; he's going to join us!"

"I can hardly believe I really stood up to him," Umbra said. "Or that I protected you. . . ."

"You protected Serenity from a Shadow Ghoul," Yugi reminded him.

"I know, but that thing was a lot smaller." Umbra shuddered. "I was always struck with fear when Kaiba sicced his Obelisk on me. And here I just ran out right in front of those claws. . . ."

"You did what you had to do," Yugi said. "That's always really important, what someone does when they have to choose whether to be brave or run away and there's no time for a lengthy debate about it." He smiled. "If I was here alone, it might have been Game Over for me. But because we're working together, we both have our best chance."

"Oh, you'd never fail," Umbra objected. "You're the King of Games!"

"It was really Atem who earned that title, but that's not something I can easily explain to most people," Yugi said. "I never would have made it through all those adventures without him."

"As I understood it from what Mr. Devlin said, the Pharaoh went into the afterlife because you proved you could stand without him," Umbra said. "You're stronger than you know."

Yugi looked at him in complete seriousness. "So are you."

Umbra averted his gaze. Well . . . maybe Yugi had something there. He really hadn't thought himself capable of what he had just done. It was a nice discovery, at least.

"Okay," he said. "We've got Des Gardius on our side, so what do you think is next?"

"I don't know, but by now more than half our total time is gone," Yugi worried. "Let's get going and see where the rest of this world takes us."

Umbra nodded. "Let's go," he said to the Duel Monsters.

The creatures all fell into step with them, including Des Gardius. Together they headed back into the unknown . . . and towards whatever challenges still lay between them and the bridge back to their loved ones.