Notes: Of course, this chapter was inspired by Friends on the Other Side. I posted a YouTube video singing a version of it to fit the story. And where is this chapter?! I was supposed to have uploaded it two days ago!

Chapter Six

Malcolm drew a shaking breath as he was led into the hospital by the police guards and escorted down the hall to Lawton's room. He had been surprised when he had been offered the chance to leave the Facility and go to his brother's side, but he had agreed in spite of his reservations.

It was an ironic role-reversal. Lawton had been allowed to watch over him when he had been beaten nigh to death by his former Crewmembers. Lawton had unfortunately shown on that occasion a complete lack of caring for Malcolm and had broken out of the Facility while being led back to his cell. They hadn't spoken since.

Malcolm had to wonder why he had agreed to go to Lawton now. He had no reason to, no obligation to, and unlike Lawton, he didn't plan to use this to his advantage by trying to stage a break-out later. Lawton didn't care about him, but Malcolm couldn't say he shared that feeling even after everything.

When he pushed open the door, he just stood there for a moment looking in at the man in the bed. He had never seen Lawton so pale, except maybe once or twice as a kid. He had never wanted to see that again. It didn't give him any satisfaction, even after their last, terrible encounter.

"Oh Lawton . . . what happened to you? . . . To us?" he muttered low. "Can we ever fix it? Would you want to? . . . Would I want to?"

It was strange to realize how much Radley's kindnesses had softened his heart after his arrest. If it hadn't been for that, would he feel hateful towards Lawton after how he had acted? He just wasn't sure.

The sound of another's footsteps startled him back to the present and he turned to see the young racer Lawton had been managing. "You," Malcolm said in surprise. "They said you hadn't been here yet. . . ."

"I hadn't been." He sounded guilty about that. "I'm Hans Westergaard. You're Malcolm Coulter? I recognize you from the holographic phone calls."

"Yeah. Lawton's brother." Malcolm finally stepped into the room but stayed near the door. "Wait, Westergaard? Radley said your name was Joris."

Hans stepped in too. "He said I was using that name to race, and I am. I'm sure the truth will be coming out now, though." He sighed.

"So why the fake name? Are you on the lam from the law too?" Malcolm grunted.

"It's a long story, but no, I'm not." Hans sighed and looked to Lawton. It was, as he had thought, very difficult to see him like this, and worse to know that it had been done to him because of this plot against Hans. Perhaps Lawton deserved to suffer, but Hans didn't want it to be on his account.

". . . What was he like as a manager?" Malcolm asked.

"Very reserved. Very gruff. Prickly like a . . . a cactus." Hans smirked a bit, but quickly sobered again. "He knew the business and he knew money. No one would take a chance on me, but he did. Even if it was because he needed a job, it worked and I'm grateful. He was never unkind to me. Finding out about all these things he did seems almost unbelievable."

"He's a real case, that's for sure," Malcolm said. "But I'm no prize either. We've both traveled on the road to perdition for a long time now."

Hans hesitated. "It was suggested to me that maybe he was the one trying to kill me. I didn't want to believe it. Now he's been hurt and it's obvious that we're both victims here. I . . . want him to be alright. . . ."

"Me too," Malcolm grunted.

"What was he like before things went so sour?" Hans asked.

"He was always ambitious," Malcolm said. "We both were. Big dreams . . . big plans . . . lots of ideas on how to make 'em come true. . . . We were united on that at one point. We just got too caught up in the money and power and then things spiraled out of control."

"I know that feeling," Hans said quietly.

"Well . . ." Malcolm finally went in further and over to a chair. "We're both here for him. We might as well wait and watch together."

"Yes," Hans said, claiming the other chair. "We should."

xxxx

Lawton was in a bad mood as he wandered the streets of New Domino City that day. Three attempts on Hans' life, with no doubt more to come. He had spent hours looking at various private detectives in the area and had come up short in frustration. Any honest ones wouldn't agree to not turn him over to the police if they found out things they didn't like. And the dishonest ones weren't to be trusted.

He rubbed the back of his neck. He had to either figure out why they were targets or figure out who was after them and stop him. Either way, it seemed monumental.

He was so caught up in his frustrated thoughts, he nearly walked right into a tall, broad man in a floppy hat.

"Oh, excuse me," the man purred. "I wasn't watching where I was going . . . Lawton."

He froze. "Have we met?"

"Not in the waking world." The man smiled, an eerie sight from under the shadowy brim of his wide hat. "I have seen you in my dreams and have foretold your fate in my cards." He held out several Duel Monsters cards.

Lawton snorted. "I don't buy that fortune-telling hooey."

"Don't you disrespect me, little man!" the man replied, pointing a finger at Lawton in emphasis.

That only made Lawton more angry and annoyed. They were close to the same size. "Look, I'm just going to go now." He tried to walk around the stranger.

"You're looking for a solution to save someone in danger. Should you really dismiss me so easily?"

Lawton paused. "What do you know about it?"

"Come into my parlor and I'll tell you more." The fortune-teller gestured to the building they were in front of.

"'Dr. Raven's Voodoo Parlor and Knick-Knacks,'" Lawton read. "Fortune-telling was bad enough. You're into voodoo too?"

"Don't derogate or deride the unseen world," Dr. Raven sneered. "It was my friends on the other side who informed me of your coming. I came out to wait for your arrival."

"Friends on the other . . . oh, come on." But Lawton lingered. "Are you mixed up in what's happening to us? I don't believe in coincidences much more than I believe in voodoo."

"I am here to provide answers, not hindrances," Dr. Raven said.

"Nobody's supposed to know what's been happening," Lawton said. "I've paid off anyone I had to let in on any of it. So either they blabbed anyway or you're the cause of our problems. You couldn't know about it any other way, unless . . ." He looked warily at the cards.

"Won't you humor a poor voodoo priest, at least for a few minutes?" Dr. Raven said. "Just come in, sit down, put your mind at ease. I can only help you if you relax."

"The only help I need is finding out who's out to get us," Lawton said.

He was stunned when Dr. Raven waved his hand and a table appeared right there under his awning. "Then we'll find out," he said. "The cards will tell us everything we need to know. Just take three. I will reveal your past, your present, and your future from this simple reading."

"Duel Monsters cards can tell the future now?" Lawton scoffed.

Dr. Raven shuffled them and held them out. "You're in my world now, not your world," he said. "Things work differently here."

Gingerly Lawton picked three cards and turned them over, looking at them with a frown. They meant nothing to him.

Dr. Raven held out his hand and Lawton palmed them over. Smiling, the voodoo priest laid them down one by one.

"You've pushed people around all your life," he remarked. "Your mother, your brother, the town you took over, and your wife as well."

"She usually pushed me around," Lawton snorted. "With my mother, I was always headstrong. She didn't know how to handle it."

"Yet you love her. It is her name you claimed as your own instead of your father's," Dr. Raven said.

"I liked her name better," Lawton said flippantly.

"After her death, your brother raised you. You and he rose to power from the depths of poverty," Dr. Raven remarked. "I'm no stranger to that, let me tell you."

"Great. Good for you," Lawton said.

"So that's your past," Dr. Raven said. "Now, in your present, you've got yourself a racer, huh, playboy? Someone's trying to send him to the pearly gates. But you don't want that, no! You want it to stop, catch them in their tracks. But that takes knowledge." He tapped the side of his head with a smirk. "Knowledge and green."

"Just about everything takes green," Lawton grunted.

"You need it and I see it in your future," Dr. Raven said.

"So now what?" Lawton said. "I'm not any better off than I was a few minutes ago. You didn't say how I'm going to get this knowledge or this 'green.'"

"Well, for that . . ." Dr. Raven held out his hand. "I can give you what you need if you make this deal with me. Won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?"

Lawton sneered. "From one sinner to another, I don't trust you and your hocus-pocus. You must have some way you learned all these things about me. A way other than voodoo."

"Hmm." Dr. Raven was undaunted. "You're a hard sell, but I knew you would be. I will look deep into your heart and soul. . . . You do have a soul, don't you, Lawton?"

"Heh. I guess that depends on if you believe someone has to have a soul to be alive," Lawton jeered.

Dr. Raven drew one final card and laid it down on the table. "You aren't looking for answers just because you don't want to lose your job. After all, you would get quite a cushy insurance if Hans Westergaard was killed. And you're not just worried about the possibility of you being killed in one of these attempts either, even though yes, that is a concern of yours too." He leaned on the table with a dark smile. "For the first time in years, you care about someone other than yourself. You are genuinely worried about Hans. Perhaps you are reminded of you and your brother against the world many years ago. Perhaps deep down, you are also starting to regret how you treated Malcolm in recent years?"

Lawton went several shades of pale. "I . . ." But he had finally been conquered. The deepest secrets in his heart of hearts had been revealed, to his utter shock. He had no more arguments to make.

Again Dr. Raven held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Half in a daze, Lawton reached and clasped his hand.

The sneer widened in an almost unearthly manner. "Yes!" Dr. Raven gripped his hand tightly. Tendrils of green fog coiled around their hands and sank into Lawton's skin. He gasped, falling back as his eyes glowed green as well.

Vaguely he was aware of Dr. Raven releasing him and laughing maniacally as he placed a knife in Lawton's hand. "You're changing, alright," he cackled. "I hope you're satisfied." With a wave of his hands, Lawton's moved on their own, without his permission or consent. The blade pierced his chest.

"You are my puppet now," Dr. Raven whispered. "Any time I want, I can take control of you. By your hands, Hans will fall and I will conquer the world!"

Lawton gasped, breathing heavily as he shakily grabbed for the knife again. He pulled it out of his flesh, vaguely hearing it clatter to the ground as dizziness overwhelmed him and he fell backwards to the concrete.

Dr. Raven was still laughing. "You can blame my friends on the other side," he crowed.

Lawton suddenly sprang awake and upright in bed, gasping with wide eyes. Malcolm and Hans jumped a collective mile.

"Lawton?!" Malcolm exclaimed.

"What is it?!" Hans demanded.

Lawton focused on them both and only became more agitated. "Get away from me! Both of you, get away!" He gestured wildly with his hands.

"What in tarnation are you going on about?!" Malcolm boomed. "I've had just about enough of your ingratitude and your . . ."

"Malcolm, listen!" Lawton interrupted. "I'm under the control of some voodoo priest. He made me stab myself! He said any time he wants, he can make me do things. He plans that I'll be the one to kill you!" He pointed at Hans. "And then he said some nonsense about conquering the world. I don't know how killing you will achieve that end, but . . ."

Hans stared at him in disbelief, not even sure what to say or how to react. ". . . That's why you believe me now about what happened in Arendelle?"

"Yeah." Lawton glowered down at the blanket. "My body was moving on its own. I was like a puppet. There was absolutely nothing I could do to stop myself from putting that knife in my chest." He looked up again. "So you both have to stay away from me. I'm a timebomb ready to go off without a moment's notice!"

Malcolm finally found his voice again. ". . . You're worried for our safety, Lawton? Is that what you're telling me? After everything you've done to me and to others, you actually care?"

Lawton was silent for a long moment. "Yes."

Hans was reeling. "I'm going to tell Mr. Ramon about this," he said, taking out his phone. "Whoever this lunatic is, he's the real danger. You're a victim in this mess, Lawton."

"I've been a lot of things through the years," Lawton grunted. "This is the first time I've been that."

"And you should lay back down!" Hans scolded. "How do you even stand to sit up with that wound?!"

A shrug. "I've always had a high tolerance for pain."

"He has, too," Malcolm remarked. He got up. "I'll get the doctor. He should know you're awake."

"Yeah, yeah." Suddenly processing what Hans had said, Lawton looked to him with a jerk. "Wait, you're calling Radley Ramon?!"

"Yes," Hans said. "He and his friends have been trying to help me get to the bottom of this disaster."

Now Lawton did lay down, looking at the ceiling in defeat. "Well, that figures. I always run across them sooner or later."

"Sometimes you run into them on purpose," Malcolm retorted. "You didn't have to go torturing them when you first broke out."

"I know, I know. I let my hate get the better of me." Lawton looked away. "After I got away again, I just wanted to focus on rebuilding my life. So I went to Europe and ended up finding Hans here."

"And I'm grateful," Hans said. "You gave me a chance when no one else would."

"I figured you were good for it," Lawton said. "A good investment. And . . . I needed a chance from someone too, so it worked out both ways."

"It did," Hans agreed. "Now, let's try to get to the bottom of this." He dialed Radley's number.

xxxx

Radley answered the phone, activated the holographic feature, and listened to Hans' story in shock. From everyone else's expressions, they were shocked too.

"No way," Tristan gasped. "He stabbed himself?!"

"That guy's got some new freaky powers!" Joey moaned.

"Are we sure Lawton's telling the truth and not just lying again like last time?" Kalin grunted. "He tried to make everyone think he'd lost his mind to put his scheme into action."

"You didn't see him when he suddenly regained consciousness," Hans said. "That terror was genuine."

Malcolm nodded. "I believe everything he said."

"But Lawton almost died," Téa said. "Does that mean if he had, this guy would have controlled his body like a zombie?!"

Joey stared at her in horror. "Don't say things like that!"

"Unfortunately, that may very well have been what he had in mind," Lector said grimly.

Anna shivered. "Zombies are real?!"

"Perhaps, Princess," Lector said. "I once wouldn't have believed it, but I just don't know anymore."

Elsa was frowning deeply, her mind on something else. "How could killing Hans enable this Dr. Raven to conquer the world? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Maybe he meant it as two separate things," Radley said. "But either way, it's disturbing."

Atem was frowning too. "If only Lawton would have access to Dr. Raven's mind as Dr. Raven has access to his, then we could use this to our advantage to find out our enemy's secrets. Of course Dr. Raven would not allow such a thing."

"Perhaps not consciously," Yami Bakura said. "But suppose Lawton could somehow access his unconscious mind, such as when he's sleeping?"

"You might be able to do that," Duke said. "I don't think Lawton would have that kind of ability."

"He has a very strong mental will," Yami Bakura said. "It's possible."

"Maybe with training," Atem said.

"But Dr. Raven is probably always watching through Lawton's eyes," Kalin said. "No one would be able to train him without Raven knowing. We're going to have to find another way."

"Perhaps I could piggyback into Dr. Raven's mind through Lawton's," Yami Bakura mused.

"And what happens if this guy suddenly takes control of Lawton again?" Radley said in concern. "He could lash out at any of us!"

"Maybe he could even channel dark magic!" Scotch exclaimed.

"Well, that's a terrifying thought," Radley said. And probably a possible one.

"Find out if Lawton knows where he encountered Dr. Raven," Lector suggested. "I suppose he would be long gone, but at least it would be a place to try."

"Lawton said it was some knick-knack shop," Hans said. "He's not sure exactly where it was. Somewhere in the older, more derelict part of the City."

"Not the Satellite, though?" Crow said.

"Nah, it was the City," Lawton said in the background.

"You don't remember anything else you saw in the area?" Radley asked.

"Not really," Lawton said. "Broken-down buildings, mostly. It was really isolated." He didn't sound happy to be talking to Radley, but at least he was being civil.

"Then it must be around the area where the two parts split," Yugi said. "Some of us should go look."

"What can we do to help?" Anna asked.

Lector started. "Forgive me, Princess, but you and your sister should stay safe at your hotel. Your life has been threatened by this madman too."

"I've had enough of closed doors!" Anna exclaimed. "I don't want to just sit around waiting to know what's going to happen. I want to help, to be involved!"

Elsa had the feeling that Anna was also very worried about Hans, but she didn't say so aloud with everyone there. "We can probably help the best by staying out of the way," she said instead. "We don't know this area."

"We could learn!" Anna replied.

"When the Princess has been threatened by someone possessing dark magic powers, she's probably not safe anywhere," Nesbitt pointed out. "She and the Queen might be better off if they're with us. If Dr. Raven starts to try doing something from a distance via his magic, we might be able to counteract it."

Anna looked triumphant. Elsa sighed in resignation. "That's a good point."

"What is this guy like?" Kristoff asked with a frown.

"He is very manipulative and cruel," Lector said. "He tricked his own niece for years into believing that he was her only relative to keep her working for him and relying on him."

"Not to mention how he put me and Tristan in open coffins with our names on them and had us wake up in the most haunted cemetery in the States!" Joey scowled.

"That's demented," Hans said, appalled.

"He's that," Lawton grunted.

"Okay, so we're going to look for this knick-knack shop," Radley interjected. "Some of us should start out on that right now."

"I'll call Trudge and maybe Lawton can give him all this latest information," Yusei said.

Lawton scoffed. "Is he really going to believe that a voodoo priest put me under his spell and forced me to stab myself?"

"I think he will," Hans said. "He believed what I told him about myself."

"We're living in an insane world," Lawton grunted.

"I'm afraid I can't argue with that," Radley remarked.

"Say, how did that fella get controlling you anyway?" Malcolm suddenly asked. "Did he just go 'Hocus Pocus Alamagosus' and wave his hands around?"

Lawton flushed. "I don't want to talk about it," he said with a warning tone to his voice.

"What about how you found my current hotel room?" Hans wondered.

"Now that . . ." Lawton frowned, sorting through his cloudy memories of the past night. "I came to lying on the ground with Raven's voice in my head. He told me to get up and go to that other hotel. He directed me all the way there."

"You walked from a bad area all the way downtown while bleeding profusely?!" Hans said in disbelief.

"Like I said, high pain tolerance. Plus, the spell probably amplified it even more," Lawton said. "So I got there, went up the back way, and collapsed in your room."

"And that means Raven knows where you are," Kalin said to Hans.

"He wants me to be the one to off you, though," Lawton said to Hans. "If you stay away from me, it might give us a reprieve for a short while. I don't think this creep will wait too long if we don't play ball."

"Maybe if we try it, it will force him to come out in the open," Hans mused.

"Hey, coming to think of it, aren't you supposed to be at the track?" Lawton remembered.

"It's a long story," Hans sighed. "I'm still planning to go there. That was another of my ideas for drawing him out."

"Okay then," Malcolm said. "Why don't all of you go off and do these different things, see if we can stop this nonsense before it goes any further. I'll stay here with Lawton."

"You should leave too," Lawton insisted. "This guy doesn't specifically want you dead, but if he thinks you're an obstacle, he might force me to go after you and then bust out of there."

"I'll stay near the door so I can escape in a hurry," Malcolm said.

Hans headed for the door. "I'll keep in touch," he said to everyone.

"Going to the track could be dangerous," Radley said. "If the guy does strike, you could be hurt. I'll have several of the Bunch go out there with you."

"Thank you," Hans said. He wouldn't turn down the extra protection, especially since multiple people would likely be needed to subdue this guy if he appeared.

Lawton hesitated for a long moment. "Be careful of this guy if you find him," he said at last. "He has a way of knowing more about you than he should and using it to his advantage."

"That sounds like some of the other creeps we've dealt with," Virgil said.

From Malcolm's expression, he wanted to know more from Lawton but didn't ask.

Lawton didn't intend to ever tell. And as he watched almost everyone depart, he kept his eyes hidden. Would he know when Dr. Raven was about to seize control? Or would he suddenly blank out with no warning and start attacking anyone nearby? He hated not knowing and not being in control. And if he hadn't let Dr. Raven revealing what he had kept most hidden rattle him, he wouldn't even be in this mess. He didn't like taking unnecessary risks? Well, he had taken the worst one possible by giving that punk the time of day.

"Lawton?" Malcolm asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lawton grunted, laying back on the bed. "Just peachy keen."