Chapter Six

Memory Seep From My Veins

Jordan successfully dueled for Radley for a while. Those were good days; Radley acquired more men for the mines and Jordan thrived on his children seeing him win. During the victory celebrations at night, Radley reached out to Jordan and he responded. Sometimes they shared deep conversations. Jordan didn't look down on Radley for his young age and Radley was open and willing to listen to Jordan's stories.

"So," he asked one night, "how did you end up deciding to come to Crash Town, of all places?"

Jordan sighed and leaned back with his ginger ale. "It's . . . a long story. Things never seem to go right for me. Nico and West have been the only bright spots in my life for years. I lost their mother and ever since, it's been one disaster after another."

"I'm sorry," Radley frowned.

"I don't know what the problem is, why I can't hold down a job or why I always make bad investments, but it got to the point where I was bankrupt and we were about to be thrown out of our home," Jordan said. "Then I heard from a friend about the duels in Crash Town and I thought maybe I'd finally found something that could work for us. Nico and West have always loved Duel Monsters. So did their mother. So I tried my hand at learning it too and it became something we all bonded over. I knew I was pretty good at dueling and it seemed worth a try."

"It's certainly paid off for us both so far," Radley smiled.

"It feels amazing to finally be successful at something," Jordan said. "There was a time when I'd wanted to go pro, but I couldn't afford the cost of a manager or a promotions director and I couldn't seem to get anywhere on my own. You know, Radley, you'd probably be good at those jobs yourself. You do so well here, with the mine."

"I like it out here," Radley mused. "I used to think I'd never want to be away from the big cities, but running the mine has come so naturally to me. Now if I could only get Malcolm out."

Worry flickered in Jordan's eyes. "I've met a few Malcolms in my time," he said. "They're always the same—big bullies willing to do anything to get ahead. Messing with them gets you hurt. Sometimes other people too."

"I encountered a lot of bullies before I came here," Radley said. "I thought Malcolm would be just the same as them at first. I've since learned he's in a class by himself." He leaned farther over the table, folding his arms on it. "The only way to get him out is to run him ragged beating down every one of his hired decks until he's forced to start sending out his top men. If we can plow through all of them too, we'll have him. Are you up for it?"

"I'll do whatever I can," Jordan promised.

Radley smiled. "If you keep dueling like you have so far, there's nothing to worry about."

Such naive words, as always. There's always something to worry about. Jordan fought a good fight, but he wasn't invincible. And sometimes, no matter how much people want you to believe otherwise, dueling is about the luck of the draw and not skill. You can be the greatest Duelist in the world, The King of Games or The Master of Faster or whoever, but if you draw a bad hand—or if your opponent has a good hand and a one-turn kill strategy—you can still lose. And you probably will.

Jordan continued to win against Malcolm for a while. But the ultimate victory Radley longed for wasn't to be. Eventually Malcolm brought out a more powerful Duelist. Jordan fought hard, as always, but this time it wasn't enough. His opponent finally ran him down to his last handful of lifepoints, and Jordan's last attempt at a comeback strategy failed.

Radley's heart dropped. This was it then; once again Malcolm was getting the upper hand. He would lose a good Duelist and his latest chance to force Malcolm out. It was a tug-of-war that never seemed to end.

He snapped back to the present as Jordan cried out in pain. The final inflicted battle damage sent him to the ground and took his lifepoints to zero. His children watched in horror.

"Dad!" West screamed. He tried to run forward, but Nico held him back, her eyes wide.

This time the man in the hearse came down and pulled Jordan unceremoniously into the coffin with his bare hands. It slammed shut loudly before the vehicle took off for the dreaded mountain.

Radley had schooled himself to not be affected by the scene after seeing it so often. But his heart still twisted as he watched Jordan's devastated children. Ben and Belle, who had become their close friends, were trying and failing to comfort them. Finally West and Nico broke away, chasing after the hearse all the way through the South entrance.

Malcolm just sneered. "Aww, don't that just break your heart?" he mocked.

Radley clenched his teeth. Without a word he stalked past Malcolm and went out to the kids. The Bunch and some of the townspeople followed.

Before he could say anything, or even figure out what he was going to say, West looked up at him with tearful eyes. "We can't let Dad spend the rest of his life in that mine! We just can't!" he sobbed.

"I am so sorry," Radley said as he knelt down by them. "You know the rules. No one gets out. He agreed to that."

"It's still not right!" Nico cried.

"We need a hero," West said. "Someone to rescue everybody and free the town!"

". . . That was . . . what I tried to do, long ago," Radley said quietly. "It didn't work; I got us into this mess in the first place. I don't think heroes exist anymore. There's only foolishly misguided people trying to work with what little information they know and always making the wrong decisions."

"Heroes do still exist!" West retorted. "And someday one will come here and save us all! I just know it!"

Nico just hugged him close, blinking back the tears forming in her eyes.

Radley looked away and slowly got to his feet. West was as naive as he had once been. And in this cruel environment, he would likely wise up to the truth just as Radley had done.

Billy gave Radley a worried look. "Radley, are you okay?" he asked.

There were many things Radley wanted to say. No, I'm not okay. What are we doing in this place?! I should have listened to Mr. Fitzgerald and stayed home. I'm wrecking all of these people's lives when they lose to Malcolm.

But he didn't say any of them. He just gave Billy a sad look and turned back to walk to where he'd left his motorcycle. When he got on, he rode off to the diner alone.

Radley was sitting in the dark at the diner, nursing a root beer as Rock and Roll Heaven played for the umpteenth time on the jukebox, when the Bunch came in and found him.

"Radley?" Scotch stepped out in front. "Hey, we're really worried about you. . . ."

Clint nodded. "It's not like you to be so down. . . ."

Several of them sat at the table with him, while the rest pulled up chairs around him.

Radley gave a weak smile. "I'm okay. It's just . . . those kids really got to me. I feel awful Malcolm got their dad. What's going to happen to them now?"

"You'll look after them," Marty said. "We'll all help."

"Klaus said he'll do what he can too," Scotch said.

"Klaus told me he's had about enough," Radley said. "He's planning to move to the City soon. He doesn't want his grandkids to stay in this environment. Who can blame him? In the past, when Malcolm first showed up, I . . . I thought we could save this town. I thought so many foolish, stupid things, and none of them were true. Look at the rut we're stuck in! For a while we win, but it never lasts. Sooner or later Malcolm always gets someone who can really duel and then we lose again."

"It won't be like this forever," Scotch said.

"No, it'll probably get worse," Radley said dryly. "Have all of you noticed that the more we duel, the more it looks like people really get hurt by duel damage? That wasn't happening when we first started out."

"They're just holograms," Marty said. "They can't really hurt anyone."

"The losers are just being overdramatic," Virgil said.

"Maybe," Radley said doubtfully. If the Crystal Beasts were real, who was to say the others weren't too? And that some kind of supernatural force wasn't bringing their powers to life in this town?

"Radley, this town still believes in you," Billy said. "And so do we. Sure, things look bad now, but they always get better! You taught all of us that when we first met you."

Radley stared at him in surprise. "I did?"

Billy nodded. "All of us were really upset and sad with our lives and how no one would give us a chance. But you reached out to every one of us and gave us hope again! That's why . . . we'd follow you anywhere." He smiled. "As long as you're here, there's always hope."

". . . That's a lot to live up to," Radley said softly. "But . . . thank you." He finally smiled too. "You're the best family anyone could have." It was the complete opposite of how his biological family had treated him. They had finally buoyed him up, and now, he felt ready to face the next day and the next duel. Maybe somehow, things really would get better. Maybe eventually they would break the cycle and kick Malcolm out and save everyone he had taken.

It was a good dream to have, at least.

I guess when I was defeated unfairly by Lawton, whatever hope you guys had was taken away. You had no more will to fight on. I can't blame you, but . . . I wish you would have stood by me. Maybe we still could have taken him out.

You'll all have to live with what happened, though. The way Billy broke down when he found my body. . . . I'm going to be haunted by that forever myself.

xxxx

Kalin had fallen silent for a while. Every new revelation about Radley was a new surprise and a new confusion. He could definitely understand Crow's bewilderment more and more. The man was an enigma, a series of contrasts that didn't seem to make sense at all until one actually met him and talked to him. Of course, so often Kalin hadn't done that. Radley had drawn so many people so him, sometimes without even trying to, but Kalin had never let himself be one of them.

Yusei came back into the room with a tired sigh. "I talked to Trudge," he reported. "I was right that he tried to find the Bunch and they don't seem to be in town. They must be out riding around the desert."

"Or they all decided to clear out altogether," Jack said.

"Maybe we should ride out looking for them," Crow said.

Kalin stayed silent, just staring at Radley as his thoughts wandered. Radley had talked fondly about all of them to Kalin at times. Billy had been the first one he had met, and although Radley had tried not to play favorites, sometimes it had seemed to Kalin that he had the closest bond with Billy. He had started out defensive, but had soon warmed up to Radley's kindness. Marty and Virgil both came across as hoodlums from their tough appearances and speech, but wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were defending others in the Bunch or someone else. Scotch was shy and quiet and often with the slightly slow Biff. Clint could be nervous and anxious, but Radley always helped him feel confident and brave. All of them had felt that way. Had they just been fair-weather friends who gave up when Radley was taken?

"What's on your mind?" Yusei asked.

Kalin sighed. "I'm wondering about the Bunch—where they are, if they really care . . . what Radley will do without them."

"They were all too willing to throw him under the bus," Jack snorted.

"Lawton was something new to them," Kalin said. "They didn't know how to handle him, especially after Radley failed." He frowned. "None of them were prepared for any of what happened."

"They dealt with Malcolm all these years," Jack retorted. "And they lived on the streets before that."

"Not everybody's cut out to be an Enforcer," Crow said. "And . . . maybe they idolized Radley too much. They just folded without him."

"That's sad, actually," Yusei said.

"I think Radley was worried about what would happen to them without him," Kalin realized. "One night—the night he told me his last name—he said they would probably break and be directionless without him. He was worried. I think . . ." His voice caught in his throat. "I think he wanted to ask me to look out for them if something happened to him. But he didn't come right out and say that, probably both because I wasn't very receptive and because he knew that I would probably fall before he did, if something really were to happen."

Yusei frowned. "Kalin . . ."

". . . So, what were they like?" Crow asked, hoping to keep Kalin from plunging deeper into his guilt. "Are there any who're kind of like us?"

"They're a much larger group, but there's a core of the ones who've been there the longest," Kalin said. "They're always with Radley, while the others are often spread around town except usually during the sunset duels.

"Virgil has a bad temper and can be kind of reckless. He likes to charge into things. Radley has to stop him sometimes."

"Oh, so he's the Jack counterpart," Crow smirked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I can think of occasions where you were so determined to charge into things that you went while refusing to ask questions, like thinking Lazar was a Dark Signer."

"Hey, the Dark Signers were a real sore point for me!" Crow shot back.

Jack grunted.

"Marty is the one with the most mechanical know-how." Kalin frowned. "If Malcolm had put him to work as a guard in the mines, he probably would have been able to get the shock collar off like Yusei did."

"That's probably why he didn't," Jack said.

"Scotch and Biff came in together, two scared kids trying to make it on their own after running away from abusive home lives," Kalin continued. "Biff's not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but he can get very protective. Scotch initially put on a tough guy act of talking like a hoodlum, but he quickly dropped that when he warmed up to Radley. Underneath, he's pretty gentle. If he'd seen Radley in the mines, I'm not sure he could have taken it."

"And the others?" Yusei asked. This did seem to be helping Kalin get his mind on something else.

"Clint isn't much like his namesake Clint Eastwood," Kalin said. "But he tries. He's nervous and worried a lot and he covers it up with bluster.

"Billy . . ." His expression darkened a bit. "Billy was the first one Radley found. If any of them were like his second-in-command, it was probably him. They were close. He always rode right behind Radley, wanting to be near him. Billy was defensive and out for himself at first, but he loved Radley and that changed him into a decent person . . . or at least it did until Radley was defeated by Lawton. Billy's the one who was dueling Marty when we got back to town, Yusei. Once again, he only cared about himself." He sighed tiredly and massaged his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "But I know all about that, don't I."

"Trudge said one of the guys found Radley laying on the mountain and was just hysterical," Yusei said quietly. "Was that Billy?"

"Probably," Kalin said. "Although it could have been Clint or Virgil. They had to take a shift being guards as well, from what Trudge found out." He looked down at Radley. "I don't think they'll ever get over this. They let fear overtake them and Radley suffered more as a result."

". . . Do you think they might even try to kill themselves?" Crow suddenly asked in concern.

Kalin froze. ". . . I don't know," he realized in alarm. "Clint and Virgil, probably not, but Billy . . . he might."

Yusei got up. "I'd better let Trudge know. He can step up the search for them."

Kalin frowned. "Maybe we need to look too. But . . . I don't think I should leave Radley. . . ."

"There's a lot of officers here," Yusei said. "I'm sure they can handle it." He quickly went into the hall to place the call and came back.

Kalin had been watching the door closely and was looking right at Yusei when he opened it. "Did you get hold of Trudge?" he asked.

"Yeah," Yusei said. "They're going to look harder for the Bunch."

Kalin sighed in relief and looked back to Radley. ". . . I wonder what else I don't know about Radley that I should have known."

"You were just his hired deck, right?" Crow said. "I mean, you weren't part of his Bunch or his Lost Boys or whatever."

"Only because I wouldn't let him in," Kalin said. "Radley considered me one of them." He smiled a bit, sadly. "Just like you three all let me in and considered me part of your group."

Yusei smiled a bit too. Those had been good times in spite of the dangers of Satellite. He, Jack, and Crow had all been orphans together and raised by Martha. Kalin was not an orphan but had had an unhappy home life. Many a time he had quietly watched the others playing in Martha's yard and had wanted to join them. When Yusei had finally noticed him, he had immediately invited him over. And that had been the start of a long, enduring friendship.

"Times were different then," Jack grunted.

"I recognized your friendship for what it was," Kalin said. "Unlike later."

". . . It's not like Radley didn't already have friends," Jack said. "Back then, his gang hadn't turned against him."

"That's hardly the point," Kalin frowned. "No matter how many friends someone has, if they're sincerely reaching out to you, you should accept it!"

"How close could you really get, though, when any day you could lose?" Crow said. "It's not like Radley did anything about Malcolm's miners."

Kalin stared off at the opposite wall. "I wonder if that's also why I kept rejecting him," he mused. "It felt pointless when I assumed any congeniality would last only as long as I kept winning. He made it clear to me from the start that he couldn't do anything about Malcolm's miners, not unless I kept winning until Malcolm had no more men to send out against me."

". . . Then he actually did plan to do something about them," Yusei said in surprise.

Kalin nodded. "Of course, I thought that was all about business too, just taking the competition's workers away from him. There were the rumors that Malcolm was hurting his workers, but Radley never seemed to know whether to believe them or not. He kept insisting it would be bad business to hurt them and it couldn't be true. Although at the same time, he seemed to know that Malcolm didn't really value anyone and felt they could be easily replaced." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. Radley's priorities were mixed up, but . . . so were mine, so how can I judge him?"

Yusei gave him a sad smile. "You've come a long way, Kalin."

"I just wish I'd wised up before there was so much hurt and pain because of me," Kalin said. He sighed. "But Jack's right; it's done and there's no going back from it."

The door slowly creaked open and he looked up with a start. West was peeking into the room, his eyes filled with sadness. "Hi, Kalin, everyone," he said softly.

"West, what are you doing here?" Kalin exclaimed. "You should be with your dad and Nico."

"Dad's asleep," West said. "Nico is too. I . . . I wanted to thank Mr. Radley for what he did, saving Dad and all, but . . . I heard the doctor out in the hall. He . . . he doesn't think Mr. Radley will make it. . . . H-He's . . . he's hurt worse than we thought, isn't he?"

". . . Yes," Kalin admitted, seeing no point in continuing the ruse he had started before. "Remember, he was dead at first. He's still very sick now."

"No . . ." West came further into the room and went to the other side of the bed, taking Radley's limp hand. "Please don't die. . . . Please keep fighting! There's always something worth fighting for! You saved Dad, and Nico and I are so grateful! You thought you were a bad person, but you're not! You . . . you never could be. . . ."

"West . . ." Kalin looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean about how Radley felt?"

"He thought he was bad because he agreed to have the duels," West said. "But he did it to save Ben and Belle and other kids too! And the whole town!"

"What do you mean?" Kalin asked, stunned. Yusei, Jack, and Crow exchanged bewildered looks as well.

"Ben and Belle told us the story when we first moved here," West said. "Malcolm kidnapped them and some other kids in the middle of the night and then tried to make Mr. Radley give himself up to save them. He said No, because he knew with him gone Malcolm could just take over everything. He called Malcolm's bluff and Malcolm let all the kids go. Then they dueled. Malcolm lost, but he told Mr. Radley his new idea about having the miners duel to decide who got them. He said everything would be fair and Mr. Radley said Yes because he didn't want to risk Malcolm pulling any more awful stunts with the townspeople!" He was still clutching Radley's hand, and now tears were falling on it. "Maybe it ended up causing trouble to have the duels, but he was trying to do the right thing! He was trying to . . ."

Kalin slumped back, thunderstruck. "I misjudged him so badly," he said. "I thought it was all about greed. . . ."

Yusei got up and went over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Kalin . . ."

"He tried to be the town's hero, but he thought he'd failed," West said.

Seeing Kalin was too shaken to speak, Crow hurried over. "Well, he didn't fail," he said. "He saved everybody back then and he saved your dad now. And he's gonna be okay. You'll be able to come back and thank him when he's awake." He laid his hands on West's shoulders and tried to gently steer him away. "Right now it's time for you to go back to your dad and your sister. We'll let you know when you can talk to him."

Reluctantly West let go of Radley's hand and allowed himself to be steered. ". . . And if he's not okay, you'll let me know that too, won't you?!" he demanded.

"Of course, but that's not going to happen," Crow said as he walked West to the door. "Radley's always been a fighter. He's not gonna give up on life now!"

West still looked worried. At the doorway, he turned back. "Bye, Kalin," he said softly. "You stay strong too, okay?"

Kalin looked up. "Yeah . . . sure, kid," he rasped.

He waited until West was out of the room and the door shut before he allowed himself to break down. Choking on a sob, he took Radley's hand between his and trembled while leaning on the bed railing. "Please forgive me, Radley," he said. "Please forgive me. . . ."

Yusei looked to Jack and Crow with helpless eyes. They looked back, not sure themselves on what to say now.

xxxx

Kalin's suspicions and concerns about the Bunch were correct. They were indeed racing over the desert—although not to blow off steam. Rather, most of the core group had been desperately trying to catch up with Billy, who had rode off in anguish and despair after Scotch had told Klaus that Radley was dead. They weren't sure what Billy had in mind, but they were worried. It wasn't like him to race off like that. And when he finally came back towards Crash Town and drove up the treacherous mountain towards a gaping ravine, they realized the horrifying truth.

"Billy! Billy, no! Don't do it!" Scotch screamed.

Virgil snarled. "He's not in any shape to listen to anything!" He stood on his motorcycle, to everyone's shock, and launched himself at the other boy. Tackling Billy from behind, he managed to drag him from the motorcycle and to the ground as Billy screamed and sobbed in protest.

"Let me go!" Billy's voice was strangled. "Let me do it!" He struggled, fighting to get away from Virgil. But Virgil held fast, and soon the rest had ran up and gathered around to try to help restrain him too.

"We already lost Radley!" Virgil snapped. "Isn't that enough?!"

"It's my fault we lost him!" Billy was screaming himself hoarse. "I killed him. I killed him!"

It was Biff who got down in front of him and grabbed him under his chin. "Now you listen up," he snapped. "You didn't kill him! If you'd known how to get that thing off, you woulda done it, wouldn't you?!"

"Y-Yes," Billy choked out.

"It was Malcolm who killed him. He ordered it and he had the Crew do it." Biff blinked back tears. "Maybe we coulda stopped it if we'd stormed the place. Yeah, we were all too scared. But we didn't know he was gonna die!"

"He told me they wanted him dead," Billy sobbed. "I didn't want to believe it."

"He told us too," Clint said quietly, indicating himself and Virgil.

"But what could you guys do when you were stuck there like that as guards?!" Biff exclaimed.

"If he hadn't lost hope, maybe he could have held out longer," Billy said softly. "The look in his eyes when I left him . . . ! Oh God, that look . . . !" He covered his face with both hands. "I should have stayed! No matter what happened to me, I should have stayed!"

". . . He wouldn't want you to kill yourself, Billy," Scotch finally spoke.

"I'm already dead," Billy replied. "Even if I go on living, I'll always be dead inside. I died when I found him dead."

". . . I think . . . we're all dead inside now," Scotch said softly. "But . . . Radley would want us to go on somehow, you know. . . . He left us a letter for if something like this happened. Remember? Maybe . . . we should go back and find it. . . ."

". . . I can't get up just yet," Billy said. "That takes more strength than I have right now."

They gathered around Billy, hugging him close. For a while they just knelt there on the cold mountain and cried and mourned.