Notes: I'm going with the original version of the conspiracy with Pegasus, because curiously enough, the dub added a murder plot that actually wasn't there and I prefer it not being there. I've also adjusted the mentions of said conspiracy in Static Code Analysis likewise.

Epilogue

Atem had been silent on the drive back to town for several minutes when Yugi noticed and looked to him in concern. "Atem? What is it?"

Atem sighed. "I feel terrible I wasn't able to protect everyone during every one of Khu's attacks," he said. "I know I got the barrier up to defend against his strongest assault, but I couldn't hold it. Khu badly hurt Yami Bakura and Ryou Bakura and killed four members of the Big Five." He clenched a fist. "I'm supposed to be able to prevent tragedies like that from happening!"

Yugi looked at him in surprise and sadness. "Atem, you can't stop every horrible thing from happening."

"No kidding," Joey frowned. This time, he had chosen to ride in Solomon's truck while Tristan drove the Bakuras home, since neither of them felt up to driving.

"I thought you had finally realized that you couldn't and shouldn't bear all the burden yourself," Solomon said.

Atem sighed. "I guess old habits are hard to break. Especially when we're up against a magical maniac and only I and Yami Bakura have enough power to stop him. The only reason we're not all dead is because Khu didn't have enough power to use Ruination again!"

"And he didn't have enough power for that because he used up that spell when you put up that barrier," Yugi smiled.

"I suppose that's true," Atem said.

"Of course it's true," Joey shot back. "Besides, it looks like nobody was supposed to die here, not even those Big Five jerks. I just hope that Kasumi or whatever her name is didn't get her signals crossed by sending them back."

"I'm sure they were really supposed to live or she couldn't have done what she did," Yugi said. "Anyway . . . I know we're all worried and wondering if we can relax with them around, but that's how we felt about Yami Bakura coming back too, and he's ended up one of our strongest allies and dearest friends by now."

". . . I guess that's a good point," Joey said slowly. "But at least in his case, Bakura was already one of our friends and he helped the guy turn his life around. Would that really happen with the Big Five?"

"Well," Atem mused, "there's Mokuba. Apparently his connection with Lector is the reason why Lector started to have a change of heart. And Lector's desire to move on with his life seems to be at least partially why the others are finally willing to as well."

"Makes sense," Joey conceded.

Solomon nodded. "Who knows; maybe someday they will be our allies too. At least they're not our enemies anymore!"

"Yeah, and Lector already is our ally," Yugi said. "He was helping as far back as when the Big Five took over the city, even though we didn't know it!"

"Coming to think about that, I wonder how they're gonna get along with everybody here in town," Joey blinked. "Everybody knows about the Big Five because of that scheme and other stuff that got leaked to the press."

"Knowing them, I'm sure they'll have some way to deal with it," Yugi said. "But I wonder if they're really planning to stay in town. . . ."

"I got the impression that they probably will," Solomon said. "Most of them have always lived here, I believe. Lector may be the only one who came here from somewhere else, and I'm certain he will stay in order to be with his friends."

"Probably so," Joey said. He frowned. "I wonder what the heck happened with his family."

"We'll probably never know," Atem said. "It's not really our business anyway."

"If he's our friend, it's our business just because we care," Yugi gently reminded.

"Is he our friend?" Atem mused.

"I think he will be," Yugi said.

"Yes," Atem conceded. "You may be right, Yugi."

xxxx

Yami Bakura was silent as Tristan drove him and Bakura back through the canyon and towards home. It wasn't long before Bakura was worried.

"Maybe we need to go to the hospital," he said. "Yami, you look so pale!"

Yami Bakura grunted. "I was struck down by magical electricity. I highly doubt medical doctors would know what to do about that. I just need to rest at home and I'll be fine."

"I hope so," Bakura sighed.

"Anyway, tomorrow we need to pick up those tombstones and I'll start working on the front lawn," Yami Bakura said with a wicked smirk.

"What?!" Tristan exclaimed from the front seat. "After everything we've been through tonight, you're going to put tombstones in your yard?!"

"For Halloween," Bakura quickly explained.

"Yeah, I figured that," Tristan shot back. "But still, that's demented!"

Yami Bakura laughed. "Why should I let everything that's happened tonight ruin my plans? I've never fully celebrated Halloween before. I still want to. Surely you admit it's the ideal holiday for me."

Tristan scowled. "It sure is."

Yami Bakura looked to his descendant. "What about you, Bakura? Out of utter curiosity, do you think it's demented?"

Bakura paused, blinking in surprise at the question. "Well . . . I suppose I'm just happy that you still feel like going through with it, Yami," he finally said. "I think I'd feel sad if your enthusiasm was dampened by all of this."

Yami Bakura smirked. "Good."

Bakura sighed, still not fully convinced that Yami Bakura was as fine as he was appearing to be. "It must have hurt so much, having Khu back again," he said softly. "If you want to talk about it . . ."

"What is there to really say?" Yami Bakura interrupted. "Of course it hurt. But fighting him and winning gave me closure I badly needed."

Bakura shuddered. "I hope he won't be back."

"Oh, I'm sure he will be," Yami Bakura snorted. "He was set free this time by that demon, apparently. It could easily happen again."

"What a horrible thought," Bakura declared. But he had to admit it was probably true.

"The fact that he hurt you makes me angrier than anything else about him right now," Yami Bakura growled.

"Oh, I'm alright, Yami," Bakura insisted.

"You had better be," Yami Bakura retorted. He paused. "You most likely saved my life. He wouldn't have stopped shocking me until I was dead."

"I'm glad I was there," Bakura smiled. "But I'm sure any of the others would have jumped to your defense if I hadn't been."

"I would have," Tristan gruffly said.

"Yes," Yami Bakura mused. "You would have. And the others would have." He leaned back, staring off into space. It was still hard to get used to, that he actually had so many people now who cared about him. It was incredible enough when it was Bakura alone, and now it was everyone.

Sensing what was on his mind, Bakura gently laid a hand on his.

Yami Bakura started, looking to him. Then he relaxed in the seat, pondering again. His life was so good. Now even an angel had told him that he was handling it well. He surely didn't deserve all that he had, but he had it, and now apparently the Big Five were being granted another chance just as he had been.

He hoped they would use it as well as he was trying to.

xxxx

Serenity was quiet as she, Duke, and David drove along with the rest of the procession back to town. She leaned back against the seat, brushing her hair away from her face as it blew around from the breeze.

"Is it too cold?" Duke asked. "I could put up the top."

"It's fine," Serenity said. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened tonight."

"I'm sure we all are," Duke said.

"I know I am," David said. "This has been one bizarre night—mad scientists, living zombies, three-thousand-year-old zealots . . . people dying and being allowed to live." He frowned a bit. "And who those people are. . . ."

"I know I was just wondering tonight about Nesbitt and if he had any goodness left in him," Serenity said.

"Serenity figured he had to have some," Duke said in explanation to David. "And okay, so he cares about Lector. I guess if he was going to care about anyone, it would make sense for it to be the other Big Five members. I had my doubts that he even cared about them."

"Same here," David said. He pushed up his glasses and leaned on the top of the convertible door.

"Maybe he wasn't planning to die, but he knew he was taking that risk," Serenity said. "And he still did it to save Lector."

"So, how are you feeling about what happened?" David asked.

"I don't know what to think," Duke said. "I guess I'm feeling like Yugi and the others must have felt when Yami Bakura was allowed back. I didn't have the personal experiences with him that they did, but after seeing Nesbitt allowed back, I know how they must have felt."

David nodded. "I agree. It's not easy to forget about him trapping us in that burning warehouse." His expression darkened.

Serenity looked thoughtful. "I'm still upset about that too, of course, and about everything else Nesbitt did to hurt us. But tonight, I think . . . I'm just happy for Nesbitt and the others. Lector felt so horrible when they were dead, and I know we all understand what that feels like. That angel Kasumi said she had the authority to bring them back, so God must know they still need to live for some reason. I can trust in that and believe that this will be a good thing for them. Maybe even for us, eventually. If they can really find their way and be decent people, then this is inspiring and beautiful for them. I could never be upset about that."

Duke shook his head. "You have a faith I wish I had, Serenity. Maybe after I sit with this a while, I'll be able to see it like you do." He sighed. "I'll admit that of course I understood what Lector was feeling. I am glad he has his friends back." He could never want anyone to suffer as he had when David had been killed.

"I don't think either of you should be around Nesbitt regardless," David said.

"I don't want to be afraid of him," Serenity said. "I think I should talk to him at least once, maybe after he's had a chance to settle into being alive again. If he's really going to turn over a new leaf, it shouldn't be dangerous to talk to him."

"We'll talk to him together," Duke said. "You shouldn't be sheltered, but it wouldn't be good for you to start acting as reckless as your brother either."

Serenity smiled. "I figured on us going together," she agreed. "Maybe Tristan too."

"Tristan might deck the guy right off the bat," Duke snarked. "Not that he doesn't have it coming to him, but considering how violent he's been in the past, it would be stupid to provoke him."

"I think talking to him at all is a bad idea," David said. "But then you know me, the happy coward."

"The happy coward who always puts himself in danger when his friends need him," Duke said. "Or when he's worried they will, like tonight when we went to check on you and you insisted on braving the zombies to come with us."

"That's the best kind," Serenity said.

David finally smiled. "Well, I can't deny that," he said.

xxxx

Téa was silent and awkward on the drive back to the city. For some reason, she had once again got into the limousine, but then wasn't sure what to say to Seto. She flushed, looking down at her hands on her knees.

"I'm glad you're alright, Kaiba," she said at last. "You really gave everyone a scare."

Mokuba looked down too. "Yeah," he said softly. "You sure did."

"It wasn't intentional," Seto said.

"But it was because you were trying to protect me again, wasn't it?" Mokuba finally blurted. "If I'd left when you wanted me to, Seto, it probably wouldn't have happened. I just couldn't stand to leave. . . ."

"It was completely dark in a canyon," Seto said. "It wouldn't have really been safe for you to leave anyway, Mokuba. And no, I didn't get hurt because I was trying to protect you. I got hurt because some nutcase with an ancient staff tried to murder all of us."

"And really wasted some of us," Crump grunted.

A haunted look passed through Lector's eyes.

"Well, you're all okay now, so you'd better not waste that," Téa said, folding her arms.

"We're not going to," Crump said.

"I'll hold all of you to that," Seto said. "Don't think I won't be watching."

"Oh, won't that be fun," Crump cracked. "Big Brother is looking over our shoulders wherever we go."

"I'm really being generous," Seto said. "I'm not prosecuting any of you and I'm not trying to run you out of town. But I have every right to know what you're up to, after everything you did."

"Yeah. Especially when you guys all live in our neighborhood," Mokuba remarked.

"So we all still have our homes?" Crump perked up.

Lector nodded. "When you . . . er . . . your body abducted Téa Gardner, we went around to all our homes in case you'd gone there. We talked to the housekeepers. They've been keeping the places up."

Crump relaxed. "That's good to know."

Another awkward silence fell until they drove down to the ritzy neighborhood where the Big Five lived. The limo pulled up alongside the curb in front of Lector's home.

"We can take all of you home or you can all get out here," Seto said.

"We'll get out," Gansley said.

They all did so, relieved to be away from the awkward situation of traveling with the Kaiba brothers. Lector, however, was the last to get out.

"Are you going to be okay, Lector?" Mokuba asked.

"I am now," Lector said. "And don't worry; I promise there won't be any more revenge schemes against Mr. Kaiba."

"There'd better not be," Seto grunted. "Portman is still running loose thanks to your friends. If she causes more trouble, it will be partially their fault."

Lector sighed. "I know. I'm sorry about that."

"You couldn't control what they did," Seto said.

"In this case, I wish I could have," Lector said. "I don't like the thought of her roaming free."

"She could even come after you and the others," Seto agreed.

"Well, there's nothing to do about that except deal with it if it happens," Lector said.

A cloud passed through Mokuba's eyes. But then, hoping for the best, he tried to smile. "Take care of yourself, Lector."

"I will." Lector got out of the car and headed up the walkway with the other members of the Big Five.

Johnson looked uneasy. "If that Khu character ever comes back, I wonder if he'll still spend time coming after us."

"Hopefully not," Gansley grunted.

Suddenly remembering something, Lector gave them all a troubled look. "Apparently Khu wanted to prove himself a worthy son to his father. That's all too familiar for us."

"No kidding," Crump grunted. "Imagine us falling in with two weirdos like that in our lifetimes."

"Being subservient to Noa was a low point in our lives," Gansley said. "We should have listened to you, Lector, when you didn't want us to align with Khu."

"I wish you had," Lector said. "But at least that's all past now."

"There's something I've been wondering, Lector," Johnson said. "You were opposed to our plan to permanently get rid of all the thorns in our sides when we took over Domino City. How far did you take it?"

Gansley nodded. "For instance, did you give that Change of Heart card to Ryou Bakura?"

"No, I didn't," Lector said. "I didn't want any of you to be mind-controlled. And when that boy was sent to our base of operations, I wondered if the rest of you had changed your minds about trying to kill all of them. I hoped so." He looked to Nesbitt. "The one thing I will say is that if the thief hadn't gone into the building to rescue Mokuba and those others, and got them out, I would have revealed my opposition to that plan and gone to save them myself."

"What about my rewiring the computer console to take care of Seto Kaiba?" Nesbitt asked. "I didn't think about it at the time, but later I realized you never gave your opinion on that, either when I revealed what I'd done or at Kaiba Land when Kaiba pretended to trip my trap."

Lector sighed. "I didn't know what to think. You know, we actually hadn't wanted Mr. Kaiba dead; we just wanted Mr. Pegasus to hold him captive until the business transaction was complete. But as time went on and we all became more poisoned by our hate, we also became more and more illogical and more extreme. We trapped innocent teenagers in virtual reality along with Mr. Kaiba to duel them for the right to take over their bodies! When I lost to Mr. Kaiba, I snapped and tried to just take a body without winning a duel first, just like the rest of you. By the time we took over Domino City with Mr. Kaiba's augmented reality game, I was so twisted by hatred that I didn't know what I wanted to have happen to him anymore."

"I think you didn't want him killed, even then," Nesbitt said. "It was right after that, when we got sent to the Shadow Realm, that you started to visibly change. You were tired of the rut we were all stuck in and you wanted it to stop."

"And by that point, we were all so bent out of shape that we were downright arguing instead of just having harmless spats," Crump said. He looked down. "It took Khu assimilating you into the darkness to make us start to realize what we were becoming . . . and that we didn't like it. If you hadn't made it out of that, well . . . I don't think any of us would've gotten over it."

"We haven't anyway," Gansley said. "Almost losing you made us also realize how far we would be willing to go to save your life, Lector. We weren't going to lose you, as we almost had thanks to our supporting Khu's decision to trap you in the darkness."

"I almost lost all of you," Lector said. His voice caught in his throat. "You were all dead. . . ."

"Hey, we're okay now." Crump laid a hand on his shoulder. "And we've got every intention of staying that way."

"You'd better," Lector insisted.

For a moment they all just stood there, marveling in the fact that they really were all okay. It was a miracle that they likely didn't deserve, but it was theirs anyway. They would make the most of it.

". . . You know, it's going to be strange going off to our homes after being together for months on end," Crump said.

"Why don't you come in for tonight?" Lector said. They walked to the porch and he took out his keys. "You can go off tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," Crump said. "I was hoping you'd offer."

The others agreed as well.

Mokuba was looking back at them as the limo drove on. "It's weird to see them all back after everything that's happened since Duelist Kingdom," he said. "Of course, by now, Duelist Kingdom seems really far away."

"It is," Seto grunted. He looked to Téa, who still seemed awkward and not sure what to say. "You know, you could have chosen to ride with Devlin's group. Or with the Bakuras. There was room with them."

"Yeah. . . ." Téa looked up at him. "I guess I wanted to make sure you and Mokuba were both really okay. Especially when you were riding with all of the Big Five." She hesitated. "Crump said something weird earlier."

"What was that?" Seto gave her one of those typical, hard-to-figure-out looks filled with ice. That almost made Téa decide against saying anything more, but finally she decided she was going to anyway.

"He said he thought kidnapping me would really get you upset," Téa said. "I knew you wouldn't want anything to happen to me, because you rescued me during Battle City and you've helped us out of other jams since then, but . . ." She frowned. "Crump didn't mean it like that."

Mokuba started to smile a bit. Noticing, Marik raised an eyebrow. "Kaiba?"

Now Seto was the one who looked awkward. "You'd trust the word of a guy who loves penguins so much he decided to take on the guise of one in Noa's world?" he said at last.

Téa scowled and folded her arms. "I thought he was crazy," she admitted. "But . . . I really want to know, Kaiba. Was he?"

The debate was clearly raging in Seto's eyes. He could lie. He could refuse to answer at all. But finally he said, "He wasn't crazy. Not about that, anyway."

Téa went stiff, a small gasp escaping her lips. "Then . . ."

Seto turned to look at her, his eyes filled with determination and truth. "I care about you. All of you. It wasn't the way I planned to reveal it, but there never seemed to be a good time."

Téa started to smile. "And we care about you, Seto Kaiba. I care about you."

Mokuba beamed. "Yes!"

Marik looked to him. "You already knew," he realized. It wasn't a surprise, considering how close the brothers were.

"Of course I did," Mokuba grinned. "I've just been waiting for Seto to finally say it!"

"I'm glad you finally did," Téa smiled at Seto.

Seto slowly started to relax. Strangely, he was too. It certainly opened the way for a new chapter in his life, having opened his heart to others besides Mokuba. But it had been stressful keeping it in, and somehow it was a relief to finally have it out in the open.

"Wheeler probably won't believe it unless he hears it firsthand from me," he grunted.

"Probably not even then," Téa laughed. She gave him another sincere smile. "You've been a friend for a long time. Now you're finally ready to accept it."

"Yes," Seto agreed. "I am."

When they arrived at the Kaiba Manor, Solomon's truck, Duke's car, and Bakura's van were right behind them and stopped as well. Mokuba looked to Seto. "Well, Big Bro, are you ready to tell everyone what you finally told Téa?"

Seto flushed. But he replied, "Yeah. Let's do it."

Mokuba beamed. So did Téa.

Seto really wasn't sure how to do so, however. As everyone got out of their vehicles, confused and unsure of what was happening, Seto only felt more awkward than ever. But finally he just took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge.

Funny how even making press conferences about the Big Five's antics didn't stress him as much as this.

"It's been a long night," he said, "and I want you to know I'm grateful that you were all willing to get involved. I'm sorry that Téa had to get involved in the way she did, and I'm sorry that any of you had to get involved to the point that you were hurt." He clenched a fist. "I'm angry that any of you were hurt. I'd be angry in any case, but I care about all of you. You . . . you're my friends."

Yugi's eyes went even wider than normal. "Really, Kaiba?!"

"WHAAAAT?!" Joey boomed.

"It's true, Wheeler," Seto said, "although I know it's hard to believe."

"Try impossible!" Joey shot back. "Hell must've frozen over this year!"

Atem smiled. "I'm glad you have finally learned the value of friendship, Kaiba."

"The downside is that now my enemies can use any of you against me," Seto growled. "Crump figured it out. There's no doubt others will as well."

"And we'll deal with that if and when it happens," Atem said firmly. "It's not a reason not to acknowledge us as your friends."

Seto wasn't as sure, but it was too late to go back on it now. Anyway, denying it any longer might be pointless, judging from what had happened with Crump.

As everyone rallied around Seto with words of happiness and cheer, Joey gave Seto a big thumbs-up and a grin. "So now you've finally accepted that you're one of us, Rich Boy!"

"Just don't think that means I'll join in with you on all your silly antics," Seto said.

Yugi smiled. "Well, some things don't change. And that's not always a bad thing." He looked up at Atem, who was fondly and proudly watching Seto.

"Not always," Atem agreed with a smile.