Unlikely Father

Kalin stared at the blank ceiling of his bedroom located in the Dark Signers' hideout. He stretched out his arms on his bed, while running his tongue around his dry mouth. The countless hours of being stuck in the darkness was finally getting to him. Boredom and restlessness was quickly sinking in.

"I need to get out of this hellhole."

It had almost been a year since he became a Dark Signer and things were as slow as ever. Kalin had just finished building his duel runner and learned the strategies of his new dark deck inside and out. The war between the Signers and Dark Signers would not occur for another few years, so all that was left for the three Dark Signers staying in the hideout to do was to wait for the finally two to be chosen.

Kalin sifted around in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position to lay in for awhile. Too bad he was not having any luck. Sometimes, he wished he could get out off this place he now resided in and freely walk around the streets of Satellite once again. To think that three certain people, once his closest friends, were moving on with their lives while he was trapped here made Kalin feel like he was in prison again.

One day he will get his revenge, in one way or another.

And it started to feel like prison even more when Kalin began to experience strange sensations throughout his whole body, telling him to do something. He walked into his bathroom and fell to his knees, his jaw and hands shaking. Kalin jabbed two fingers down his throat and began throwing up whatever was in his stomach. Dark Signers were not supposed to feel pain or even need to eat, but it had become routine for Kalin to force himself to throw up. It was a norm of his life while in prison and it kept being a norm into his days as a Dark Signer.

A few minutes passed by, feeling more like hours. Kalin sat on the edge of his bed, holding his stomach. It was times like this when Kalin wished he had someone to talk to...anyone.

Kalin fell back down on his bed and placed his hands behind his head. This desperate act to relaxation was not making him feel any better or any less restless. After giving up on his room, Kalin made his way through the hallways of the hideout. The boy found himself walking to the meeting area of the hideout. One table, five chairs, two lit candles and one dark man were all that were present in the room.

The man turned his face to Kalin. "What is it, Kalin?"

Roman talked with a deep voice, questioning the young man half his size.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Kalin answered with a dull tone in his voice.

"Are you alright Kalin? You don't seem the same?"

Normally, Kalin would have more energy. He seemed low and depressed to his new leader.

"I'm fine. Just bored as hell waiting around here." Kalin said, trying to stand up for himself. Him and Roman, with their dominating personalities, always butted heads. Kalin turned out of the room and began to walk the halls of the abandoned place with no purpose, which was not like him at all.

Roman could sense that Kalin was growing irritated with his new living arrangements. Going from a life of energizing duels and chases with security was the complete opposite of what he was doing now. But what could he expect? He was dead after all.

The man sitting at the head of the table slowly came up with an idea. After an hour or so of just sitting in a barely lit room alone, Roman got up and walked the halls to track down the younger Dark Signer. He ended up in front of a door he had only entered once before, when the boy behind it first became a Dark Signer. He lifted his hand up to the door knob and pushed it open. As he peered inside, Roman immediately saw Kalin laying on a bed, twitching with discomfort.

"Kalin?"

Roman spoke a bit softer, trying not to give off such a demanding demeanor this time.

Kalin sat up on the side of the bed, not wearing his Dark Signer clothes, but a pair of black sweat pants and a gray tee-shirt. Roman disliked when any of the Dark Signers were street clothes, but those might come in handy for now.

"What is it?" Kalin's voice sounded almost broken. It was not wise to keep a rebellious, revenge-seeking teen locked up as such. He would have his chance soon.

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something later tonight?"

"Tonight?"

Being almost entirely underground, it was easy to lose track of time. That was one thing Kalin missed: knowing what time of day it was.

"Yes. I was wondering if you wanted to go up to the surface with me tonight. Give us a chance to get out of this place for once?"

Being able to walk around topside did sound nice, but totally unexpected coming from Roman.

"Um...fine." Kalin shrugged, still unsure of Roman's odd request.

He and Roman left through the only exit up into the real world the hideout had. The minute Kalin got up to the surface was the minute it all came flooding back to him. The smoggy clouds in the night sky let only a small amount of star light through. The cold breeze pressed against both guys faces. Kalin almost forgot what it was like to be on the streets. He used to own these streets.

The pair began their walk through the most abandoned area of the Satellite, without saying a word to each other. In a strange way, it was so close to feeling alive again.

Walking through junk filled streets, Roman noticed something on the ground. He walked to the side of the road and knelt down. He picked up an old, worn-out rubber ball. Kalin noticed it in Roman's hand and thought it was strange that he picked it up. Roman brought his arm up and tossed the ball in Kalin's direction. After one bounce, Kalin instinctively caught it. He stood there for a moment in confusion, then threw it back.

The short game of catch that broke out between the two would look like a father and son to any bystander, even though it was anything but. Roman forgot about his strength and threw the ball over Kalin's head and into a pile of trash. Kalin twisted his footing while reaching for the ball and fell to his knees. Roman walked over to Kalin noticed he was sobbing of all things.

"Kalin..."

"I never had a father! I never had parents! Fuck that! I never had a real friends. What kind of people turn in someone they were supposed to care about?"

Kalin covered his face with his hands. He never really thought about not having parents before because that was all he ever knew. It was normal for him to think he never had parents, even though he biologically should. But for some strange reason, tossing that ball around with Roman hit Kalin with the realization that he was an orphan and he had a mother and father at some point.

"No wonder why I'm so screwed up. I have no fucking idea who my parents are. And the only people who I ever called my family are traitors."

Kalin needed a father or a fatherly figure now more than ever. Someone to put an arm around his shoulder and listen.

"Listen, Kalin. I know what it's like to not have your parents. I lost mine when I was a kid and I can remember a lot of times when I knew I could have used a mother or father in my life."

Kalin had got closer to the ground as he let a few tears fall. It was every tear and feeling he was holding back since he was a kid. Of course, were Dark Signers even supposed to cry?

"At least you knew your parents! At least you know they cared about you. What if I was a mistake? What if they hated that they had me? Right now, I won't blame them. Who wants a son like me? A psycho freak."

Roman knelt next to Kalin, who was quickly changing his emotions from sadness to intense anger.

Roman put his arm around Kalin, wanting he to be calm for once in his life. "I know I may not seem like the fatherly type, but before I became a complete Dark Signer, I was in love. I was in love for years with a young girl. Everything was perfect, until my job and this mark got in the way. I tried to make it up to her, but she left without a goodbye."

Kalin did calm down, as he listened closely to what Roman was explaining to him.

"I did get a letter from her though. She had a son. My son. I never met him before and I can't tell you how many times I wished I could have met him. I'm sure your parents loved you. All parents have a connection to their child no matter what happens to them or their children. Even though you haven't or might not ever know them, I'm sure they always thought about you. You're not a freak because you have mental problems."

"You know about that?"

"Seems pretty obvious to me."

Roman stood up and Kalin followed. He wiped away the last tears he would have for awhile and sighed in acceptance.

"I'm sorry about your son and how you never got a chance to meet him."

"And I'm sorry about you and your parents."

As they stood there in the cold, dawn was coming across the horizon. Kalin walked over and picked up the rubber ball from the pile of trash. He held it out for Roman to take, which he did. The walk back to the lair was just the same as the walk away from it, only at a quicker pace. Once they got back inside, Kalin was about to walk back to his room, but was stopped by the ball bouncing to him. He caught it.

"If you ever need anything, I can try to be there for you."

Kalin gripped the old, rubber ball and gave a smile so slight that if you blinked, you would have miss it. Too bad for him that Roman saw it.

The dark man walked into his room and shut the door behind him. Roman made his way over to the nightstand and picked up one of the two picture frames. He looked at it and smiled. Two old pictures were sealed inside. One with a strong looking young man and a small dark haired young women holding onto the man's right arm. In the other picture, a small, blonde baby boy, only a few days old. A name of the child written on the bottom right hand corner.

"You are safe with my brother son. My son...Jack."

Around two years later, Kalin needed a father or at least someone to talk to once again. He had not taken his medicines for his depression in days and it was starting to take its toll. Kalin had driven out to a remote area of Crash Town to get away from the life he thought he wanted for himself. He parked his bike and brought a personal item out of his pocket and moved it around his hand.

"They didn't fucking care. They never did. It just made them feel better knowing I wasn't going to kill myself in a duel. Their going on with their fucking lives without me...again. They're so blind. I might as well just end it...but those kids."

Kalin chucked the old, rubber ball up across the dry land of the desert, while trying once again to hold back emotions that were filling up inside of him. Suddenly, the ball flow over Kalin's head and bounced away from him. He quickly turned to see someone standing there.

"Looks like you need someone you talk to."