Chapter Three

Ishizu had told the group that the Big Five was staying at Nesbitt's house that day, so they headed out that way. Kalin rarely got out to New Domino City, but he had been there occasionally, and it was somehow always an awe-inspiring surprise to see all the tall buildings and large homes.

At Nesbitt's, the electronic camera at the gate recognized Kalin and Radley upon scanning them and quickly allowed them and the Bunch entry.

"Ooh, high tech," Scotch mused as they started up the long driveway. "I dunno that I want any machines watching me at my place, though. They could always make mistakes, and it's just kind of creepy."

"If they're programmed right, it should be fine," Marty countered.

"Well, you'll get along swimmingly with Nesbitt," Radley chuckled.

Kalin looked over at Billy. He had acted fairly normal throughout the day, but Kalin had suspected that Billy was more gravely affected by his and Radley's tale of what had happened in the Duel Monsters world than he wanted to admit. Right now, Billy still looked pale.

Radley certainly noticed too. "Billy, are you alright?"

Billy froze. "Oh . . . of . . . of course I am," he said.

Kalin sighed. Of course Billy wasn't likely to admit the truth to Radley—at least not without a lot of prodding, and Kalin doubted Radley wanted to make a scene here. From Radley's expression, he was thinking the same things. He walked on ahead, leaving hearing range so that Kalin could take over.

"I know you're shaken up about what we told you," Kalin said. "I'm sorry you had to find out at all."

"I would've wanted to know," Billy countered. "But . . ." He clenched a fist. "For Radley to have to go through that twice . . . ! He never would have gone through it the first time if it hadn't been for what me, Clint, and Virgil did."

"That's all over and done with," Kalin told him.

Billy looked over at him. "Just like being revived from the Shadows was the end of the Dark Signer mess for you?" he countered. "You wanted to punish yourself for months!"

"And Yusei and the kids and Jordan all helped me see how foolish and pointless that was," Kalin said. He frowned. "Do you . . . want to punish yourself?"

Billy looked away again. ". . . Some days, the only thing that keeps me from doing myself in is knowing that Radley is alive," he said. "If he hadn't made it back, I know I couldn't have gone on living, knowing what I did to him."

"He already did try to kill himself once," Biff spoke up in concern. "When we thought Radley was dead, he grabbed Virgil's motorcycle and just took off! We were chasing him for ages and then he drove up the mountain and tried to go over a cliff!"

Kalin stiffened. Radley was going to be horrified to learn this. "What stopped it?"

"Virgil tackled me," Billy said. "I would've done it otherwise."

". . . And now?" Kalin prompted.

Billy shook his head. "I couldn't do it now. Radley's alive and it would hurt him too much."

"At least you realize that," Kalin frowned.

"But . . . I just wish I could prove that I'll never leave him again." Billy stared off at the house as they drew closer.

"He knows that," Kalin said.

"But I don't know it!" Billy countered. "I'm always afraid . . . that if something goes wrong, some creep like Lawton shows up another time, I'll leave him out of fear again. And I can't do that! I can't."

"You won't do it," Kalin insisted. "I've seen how protective you've become of Radley. Having gone through the darkness once, you won't let it happen again."

"I wish I could believe that," Billy said softly.

Kalin sighed quietly. Words definitely wouldn't fix this. At least, not at this point. It took many attempts for words to ever sink in for him. He dreaded telling Radley just how deeply wounded Billy still was. On some level he might already know, but he certainly hadn't known about the suicide try.

". . . I asked you guys what happened that night," he said. "Why didn't any of you tell me the truth then?!"

"How could we have done that?" Scotch sadly replied. "You would've told Radley, and . . . well, we didn't want to give him any more bad news that might make it harder for him to get better when we finally had him back."

Biff nodded. "Then when he got better, there was never a good time to bring it up."

Kalin nodded too. "I understand. But you realize I'm going to tell him as soon as there's an opportunity, right?"

Billy reddened and looked away. "Yeah."

At last they reached the head of the driveway. The garage was open, as usual, and also as usual, Nesbitt was working on something on the workbench, reaching up from underneath to adjust the gears on some sort of robot.

Kalin approached the open doorway and rested his arm on the frame. "Hello," he greeted.

Nesbitt jumped and looked up. "Kalin?!" He sat up and got off the rolling slab he had been using to lay on. "What's going on?"

Kalin gave a quiet smirk. "Can't I just visit?"

Nesbitt grunted, looking embarrassed. "Of course. I just didn't think . . . oh, nevermind." He stood, wiping his hands on a cloth. "Come in, all of you."

The group entered, the Bunch especially staring at the workshop in fascination.

"What's this robot being programmed to do?" Marty asked with great interest.

"It's going to be a search-and-rescue robot," Nesbitt said. "It can stay out in extreme weather to search for missing people when humans have to give up."

"That is . . . wicked awesome!" Scotch exclaimed.

Nesbitt looked pleased. "I've been experimenting with prototypes for years. I think now the technology is finally advanced enough that it will really work as intended."

"That's going to be very useful," Kalin said.

Radley nodded. "If you can complete a working model, every city in the country will want them!" he exclaimed. "Probably the entire world!"

Kalin smirked a bit. Of course Radley would see dollar signs. But at the same time, he was also very excited for the humanity of the venture. It could save so many lives.

Nesbitt nodded. "It's dyne that's going to help push this thing forward," he said. "I hope you've got enough left in that mine that I can get some from you."

"Of course," Radley said, quickly recovering from the surprise that dyne was needed. "We'll give you all the dyne you need."

Nesbitt headed up the back steps and opened the door. "So what did you want to see us about?"

"Still sure there was another reason for the visit?" Kalin said.

"Pretty sure," Nesbitt said.

"We're trying to solve the mystery of old Crash Town," Biff blurted.

Nesbitt stopped and turned back, quirking an eyebrow. "And what's that? Those warring settlers and their restless ghosts?"

". . . That's part of it," Kalin said. "We think."

"Is Johnson really related to the guy who got shot?!" Scotch demanded.

"Yes, unfortunately," Johnson sighed as he emerged from the kitchen with the rest of the Big Five.

"Mr. Kessler, Mr. Radley," Lector greeted with a smile. "Welcome!"

"Hello," Kalin said with a bit of a smile in return. Lector was always polite and often formal.

Crump and Gansley echoed the greetings.

"I see you've brought many friends," Lector said.

"Yeah, this is the whole Bunch," Radley smiled, and broadly swept his arm out as he introduced each one. Scotch waved.

Johnson nodded. "Hello, all of you." He looked worn-out. "Well, to give testimony on the case, my parents are into recording our family history lately and they discovered that Thaddeus Johnson is indeed a relation."

Kalin grimaced. "And I'm related to the guy who shot him."

"That hardly makes you guilty," Johnson said, adjusting his glasses. "Anyway, there's evidence the attack was provoked."

"You believe your ancestor was trying to knife my ancestor?" Kalin blinked in surprise.

"I can't ignore the evidence, at least," Johnson shrugged.

"So . . . what next?" Scotch wondered. "Kalin wondered if we needed to try to draw the ghosts out by talking to them. . . ."

Johnson cringed. "That . . . line of questioning rarely goes well."

"That's what Ishizu said," Marty said. "But so what are we going to do?"

"Let's investigate around town first, like we already thought of doing," Radley said. "We'll check the hideout and whatever other original structures are still standing."

"There might be something in the old mining chambers too," Nesbitt grunted.

"I tried to clear anything out in my part of the mine," Radley said. "Malcolm probably threw anything he found away, unless it looked like he could sell it."

"And you didn't?" Kalin retorted.

"Most of what I found I turned over to Klaus," Radley said. "Mostly it was just old tools left behind from the silver days. He probably kept it all; we can talk to him about it."

"If we do talk to the ghosts, Ishizu thought maybe you should come with us," Scotch said to Johnson.

Johnson looked unsettled by that. "If it ends up being necessary, I will," he said.

"We will," Nesbitt grunted. "We wouldn't let him go off and do that alone."

"I know," Kalin said. "You'd all be welcome in town." He sighed. "I'm hoping talking to the ghosts won't be necessary, but it probably will be."

They visited for a time with all of the Big Five before leaving and heading for Poppo Time to see Yusei and Antinomy. Jack and Crow no longer lived there since leaving to pursue their dreams, but they both had apartments in the City and often came around to check on them and try to help Antinomy remember being Bruno. Kalin imagined Yusei had likely called them about the proposed visit and they might be there as well.

Radley rode next to Kalin as they sped down the highway. "What did Billy tell you?" he asked.

Kalin frowned. "I don't think I should tell you while you're driving."

"That bad, huh?" Radley's eyes flickered. He was troubled.

"I'll tell you when we're home," Kalin said.

Yusei and Antinomy both came to the doorway of the garage when they heard the roar of many motorcycles. Antinomy was holding what looked like a Siamese cat to his chest. The animal purred, placing a paw on his shoulder.

"Aww! He's so cute!" Scotch exclaimed as he parked and jumped off.

Radley chuckled. "Remember, guys, be gentle," he said when several crowded around to see the cat. "Hi, Yusei, Antinomy." He wasn't entirely sure what to call the man; Yusei and most others persisted in calling him Bruno, which was how they honestly thought of him. But if he wanted to be called Antinomy now, Radley felt he should respect that.

"Hello," Antinomy nodded.

"Hey, guys," Yusei said with a smile.

Kalin smiled back. "It's good to see you, Yusei." So very good. They communicated much more frequently these days, both during adventures and during peaceful times in between them. They had already been increasing the amount of communication between them for a while, but almost losing Radley had made them all the more determined to stay in touch.

"Did you learn what you were hoping to?" Antinomy asked. He let Scotch and others pet the cat, who closed his eyes in bliss and enjoyed the attention.

Kalin sighed. "Not entirely, no. But we learned my ancestor shot Johnson's ancestor."

Yusei stiffened. "What?!" He frowned. "Kalin, I'm sorry." He certainly understood what it was to have a relative's actions hanging over his head; the guilt from his father's unwilling contributions to Zero Reverse still haunted him at times.

Kalin just shrugged. "I barely communicate with my biological family anyway. My real family is mostly right here." He allowed a smile. "Are Jack and Crow coming?"

"They're on their way," Yusei said. He smiled too. "They wouldn't stay away."

Neither did Akiza and the twins. Soon the garage was filled to overflowing and people spilled out into the yard.

"I don't think Zora's gonna go for this," Crow remarked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "As long as Yusei speaks to her about it, she'll say it's fine," he flatly pointed out.

Scotch was playing with the cat by dangling a piece of yarn, which he kept trying to grab. "What's his name?" he asked.

"Monkey," Antinomy said.

Yusei smiled more. From his expression, it was a name Bruno likely would have given the cat.

"Yeah, cats can get pretty crazy with their monkey business," Scotch smirked.

"And they can throw monkey wrenches into anything you're working on," Antinomy deadpanned. "This one's usually pretty good about things, though; he just sits and watches me."

"And sometimes meows for pets if he thinks he needs more attention," Yusei chuckled.

"Which is often," Antinomy quipped. "But that's fine."

Monkey purred.

When everyone was quite involved with conversations and Monkey, Yusei spoke quietly to Kalin and Radley. "So, how are you guys both doing?" he asked in concern.

"We're alright," Kalin said. He sighed. "But we're still recovering from what happened."

"It does get better, doesn't it?" Radley asked.

"Let's say it gets easier," Yusei said. "Mostly. There might always be some tough days. The important thing to remember is that you're both alive to get through it."

Kalin nodded. "That's our saving grace."

"If one of us really was gone . . ." But Radley trailed off and shook his head. "No, I don't want to think about it. I do that enough already."

Yusei gave him a sympathetic look. ". . . Are you guys okay with this mystery you're dealing with? I can ride down there any time."

"Right now we're still not sure what we're dealing with," Kalin said. "It might get dangerous."

"That's all the more reason for me to come," Yusei said firmly. "The last thing you guys need is more danger."

"Well, I can't deny that," Radley said. "But we don't want you to possibly end up hurt either."

"Just let me know if things get heavy," Yusei said firmly. "I mean it. I want to help."

"Thank you, Yusei." Kalin smiled. "I'll remember."

xxxx

The rest of the visit was peaceful. They shared a late lunch before it was time to head for home, and Yusei and the others bid the group a fond farewell. The ride back was also calm, and soon Kalin and Radley were back at the house to rest up for a bit before joining the Bunch at the diner for dinner.

"Alright," Radley said when they were alone. "What did Billy tell you?!"

Kalin sighed. He had been dreading this conversation, but he knew it had to happen. Radley definitely deserved to know. ". . . The night you died . . . the first time . . . Billy tried to kill himself," he said.

Radley blanched. "What?!"

"They never told me until now," Kalin said. "They were afraid I'd tell you and it would upset you too much when you were trying to recover. We couldn't find them for a long time that night, and when I asked later they claimed they'd been out riding, grieving over your death. Apparently that wasn't the full truth. Billy blamed himself so thoroughly that he tried to go over a ravine. Virgil managed to stop him."

Radley let out a shaking breath. "What about now?" He really dreaded the answer.

"He said he wouldn't do it now," Kalin assured him. "He's aware enough to know it would hurt you too much. But . . . he also said that sometimes you being alive is the only thing that stops him from trying again."

"Oh . . ." Radley turned away, staring blankly at the wall. "I knew Billy was still hurting, but I never thought . . . I never realized he tried to take it that far." He turned back to Kalin. "I feel so helpless. He needs help desperately, but I don't know what would make him feel better. I can almost guarantee he wouldn't want to see a therapist."

"He was terrified that he might betray you again," Kalin said. "I didn't tell him I've wondered that myself."

"I have complete faith in him," Radley said, "but I don't know how to give that faith to him."

"You can't," Kalin said. "He has to find it for himself. All we can do is be there for him."

Radley sighed. "You're right to some extent, but I was drowning in my despair until you finally broke through to me. You absolutely saved me; I was ready to give up and just let myself die, but you fought for me so long and so hard, I finally believed it was real and not my imagination. I couldn't have found the will to live again without you."

Kalin smiled a bit sadly at the memories of that dark time. "I'm glad I was able to do that for you. I felt so horrible when I really started to realize how poorly I'd been treating you and that you didn't deserve it. I had to keep fighting to save you."

"I just hope we can do the same for Billy," Radley said.

Kalin did too. Radley cared deeply about all the Bunch, but Billy had been his first real friend. To know he was in such torment couldn't be easy. Kalin had finally experienced some of what Yusei must have felt when he had witnessed Radley's descent into sorrow and despair. It had been a horrible, helpless feeling. He hated for Radley to have to experience it too.

"Well," Radley said, abruptly snapping to and changing his visible mood as he sometimes did, "shall we get over to the diner?"

Kalin nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll try to get Billy alone to talk to him," Radley said, "but I'm sure he won't like it." He grabbed his keys and headed back outside before Kalin could respond.

xxxx

West and Nico were playing in their hideout when Scotch and Biff suddenly appeared at the open doorway. "Hello!" Scotch greeted.

The kids looked up. "Oh hi, guys," Nico smiled. "How is everyone?"

"Well, we're working on a mystery and you guys might be able to help," Scotch said in a tone of great importance.

"Wow, really?!" West exclaimed. "What can we do?!"

"We need to look around this place," Biff said. "It's one of the original buildings from the old Crash Town. Radley and Kalin wanna find clues about why things are so creepy with ghosts around here." He shuddered.

West's eyes went big. "There's ghosts?!"

"That weird supernatural force that makes duel damage real, anyway," Scotch said.

West frowned. "That is pretty scary. It really looked like Dad and Mr. Radley got hurt when they lost duels. And Kalin, when Lawton tried to make him lose."

"Exactly," Scotch said. He shuddered. The memory of seeing Radley clearly in pain and then falling unconscious to the ground from Lawton's cruel effect damage win still haunted him.

"You're welcome to look, but I don't think there's anything to find," Nico said. "We've pretty much been through everything."

"You didn't even find an old letter or something?" Scotch sighed.

"Nope," West said. "But we'd love to help with a mystery! Let's all look!"

For the next thirty minutes they went through every inch of the small structure inside and out, tapping the walls and the floorboards in search of a secret passage. But finally they had to concede defeat.

"Nothing," Biff sighed as he leaned against the outside wall.

"Aww, I thought sure there'd be something," Scotch frowned. "There's not a lot of other places to look." He leaned on the wall too and folded his arms.

West kicked at the ground. "I really wanted to help, too," he sighed.

Nico stared as the kick partially unearthed something shiny. "What's that?!" she gasped.

West looked down with a start. "Hey!" He dropped to his knees, digging through the dirt with his bare hands until he uncovered a golden, jagged crescent. "What really is it?!"

Nico bent and picked it up. As she rubbed the rest of the dirt off, half of an engraved image of a woman was revealed. "I think it's some kind of pendant," she said.

Scotch took it and turned it over between his fingers. "This is amazing! It definitely looks like it's been here since the Old West days! But . . . why is it only a half?" He frowned.

"Maybe it's like in mysteries when something's split in two and you can bring both halves together to unlock something," Biff suggested.

Scotch flipped it in the air like a coin and caught it with a flourish. "This is an awesome find! And maybe that really is what's up with it! I wonder if the other half's around here somewhere."

"We can look!" West exclaimed.

"The other half probably isn't here, though," Nico said. "If it was split up, the other half could be anywhere! Why don't we take it and show it to Kalin?"

"Yeah!" West beamed.

"Okay then!" Scotch chirped. He went back to his motorcycle. "Let's do that. Everybody should be at the diner by now. Climb on, kids!"

Nico got on with him while West went with Biff. Scotch revved his engine and sped off. "Onward and upward!"

"We're going down, genius," Biff said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, way to ruin a dramatic moment," Scotch shot back.

Nico giggled.