Notes: Kalin disappearing from the series after Crash Town, and communication apparently halting between him and the others, is another sore spot I have with canon. I had to comment on it.

Chapter Two

It didn't take long for all the Bunch to arrive. They treasured their morning rides with Radley and Kalin each day and they were rarely, if ever, late. Within moments, the curb by the house was a sea of motorcycles.

"Hey," Billy greeted. "What's up?" He gave Marty a particularly questioning look. They still tried to live together, despite their problems, and he had certainly noticed when Marty had slipped out early without saying a word.

Radley handed the letter back to Marty, who sighed as he stood facing the others. "My lawyer sent me a special delivery letter," he said. "My great-uncle's estate has been sorted out and he left his place to me."

A chorus of shocked and confused voices.

"Does that mean you're going to leave us?!" Scotch exclaimed.

"No, I'm not," Marty promised. "I'm just going to go look at the place to see if I want to keep it or sell it, but either way, I'm not going to live there. It's a castle on the Scottish moors."

". . . Seriously?!" Scotch looked dreamy now. "That sounds so wicked spooky!"

Radley had to chuckle. "Kalin and I are going to go with Marty to look it over," he said. "Some of you guys will probably need to stay and watch over the town, but we thought maybe a few of you could come."

"I'm in!" Scotch immediately said, but then froze and looked to Biff. "I mean . . ."

Biff looked ready to cry, but then he drew a shaking breath. "We wanna support you," he said to Marty. "I'll come too."

Several others voiced their interest as well, but Billy did not. He turned away and looked down the street. "I can stay here and watch the town," he said. "That's what I should do, as second-in-command. . . ."

Radley frowned a bit and went down the stairs to him. "Billy, are you sure?" he quietly asked.

"Yeah," Billy said. "Marty doesn't need me there. I'm only in the way now and it's just awkward. I've offered to move out several times and switch with one of the others, but Marty always insists he doesn't want to break up any of the other teams or kick me out of my home. He's just being nice. I'm sure he's glad for a chance to get away from me for a while."

"He didn't say anything like that," Radley said, laying a hand on Billy's shoulder. "Really, he wants to get things patched up with you. He's just not sure how."

"I know," Billy said. "We both want that, but we know it's not going to happen."

"It could," Radley said, "if you both give it a chance and seriously work on it. Why don't you talk to Marty before you make your decision?"

Billy hesitated, but finally nodded. "Okay."

Radley smiled. "Good deal." He patted Billy on the shoulder and then looked to the whole group again. Louder he said, "Marty has to meet a private plane in the City tonight, so everyone who's going, you'd better start planning what you're taking. We'll just be gone for a day or two, but you should all be prepared with enough stuff."

Everyone concurred, and assured Radley they would be ready.

xxxx

The day was thankfully quiet, mostly filled with the normal activities and packing here and there. By evening, all were ready to leave and Klaus had brought his truck to load the suitcases.

To Radley's relief and delight, Billy joined them as they were finishing up. "You're coming, Billy?" Radley greeted him hopefully.

Billy nodded. "I talked it over with Marty. He wants me to come, unless he's just being nice still. But . . . I really want to too, so . . . yeah, I'll be coming."

"Great," Radley said. "The town will be safe while we're gone. And it shouldn't take long anyway."

They made good time on the ride and soon arrived in town. Kalin was silent and seemed thoughtful. "I don't like coming to town and not seeing Yusei," he remarked.

Radley glanced at the clock on his motorcycle. "Well, we need to hurry right now, but maybe on our way back home we could drop by?" he suggested.

Kalin nodded. "Alright."

"You did let him know about us going, didn't you?" Radley asked.

"Yes, I called him on the phone after lunch," Kalin said.

Radley smiled. "I thought so." Kalin tried very hard to stay in touch with Yusei these days. He would certainly let his oldest friend know that they were going to be gone for a couple of days.

As they approached the airfield, however, they found another surprise. Yusei and Antinomy were both there near the plane, waiting to see the group off.

Kalin brightened. "Yusei!" He parked and hurried over. "I didn't think I'd see you until we got back!"

"I couldn't let you guys go without a proper Goodbye," Yusei smiled. "You just be careful over there, okay?"

"Nothing worse should happen than some of my family trying to contest the will," Marty said. "And hopefully that won't happen."

"That can get messy when it happens," Antinomy remarked.

"Yeah." Marty winced.

"Well, thank you for coming," Radley smiled. "It means a lot to Kalin. To all of us, of course."

Yusei smiled back. "Of course."

He and Kalin shared a Goodbye hug while the plane was being loaded, including with the Bunch's motorcycles. Then they stepped back, knowing they had to part.

"Let me know how things are going over there," Yusei requested.

"I will," Kalin said. "Thank you, Yusei, Antinomy." He headed for the steps of the plane with Radley and the Bunch.

Yusei gave him a thumbs-up, the traditional greeting and farewell of the Enforcers. "Always."

Kalin returned the gesture and final Goodbyes were said. Then they were boarding the plane and heading into their new adventure.

"I'm glad you got to see him again after all," Radley said.

Kalin nodded. "I should have known he'd come out," he said with a bit of a smile. "I guess I thought he'd be too busy."

Radley's eyes flickered. It had definitely bothered him that Yusei, Jack, and Crow hadn't stayed in touch with Kalin more after reuniting at Crash Town. Yusei hadn't contacted Kalin again at all until after the Ark Cradle disaster, grieving over Bruno and lonely from the others leaving. But after that they had both made conscious efforts to communicate. Still, Radley wondered what would have happened had Yusei not gotten desperate for a listening ear back then.

Kalin, of course, said it was his own fault as much as Yusei's and he should have reached out himself. He had been so busy helping Radley and Jordan recover and rebuilding the town, just as Yusei had been busy with the WRGP and Ark Cradle. Radley supposed he had a point, but he still thought more care should have been taken when Kalin had just pulled out of such a terrible mental state shortly before Yusei and the others had left Crash Town.

"He should never be too busy for you," Radley said.

Kalin sighed a bit. "I shouldn't, but sometimes I still wonder why there was no communication for a while," he confessed. "I even saw Jack again before Yusei, and only because he wanted me to help him train."

That hadn't endeared Jack to Radley. But Radley's personality hadn't seemed to rub Jack the right way either. They did not always get along the best, but they tried for their friends' sakes, at least, and Yusei had assured Radley that Jack did not hate him.

Radley sighed. "I still think there should have been something," he said.

Kalin sighed too. "Oh well. . . . Naturally if the world needs saving, that has to come first."

"At least I'm glad that Yusei is making a lot of effort now," Radley said.

"So am I," Kalin said.

"And I'm certainly grateful for all he did to save your life whenever you needed it," Radley continued. "I owe him an endless debt of gratitude for that."

Kalin nodded. "It hasn't always been easy to stay in touch during peaceful times, but Yusei is always there when I really need him," he said. "So are you."

Radley smiled. "I'm glad."

They and the Bunch got settled in their seats and soon the plane was lifting off the ground. They watched out the windows at the scenery as it rose higher.

"This is so epic!" Scotch exclaimed.

"Most of the Bunch have never flown before," Radley commented.

"I haven't either," Kalin said. "I like it."

"Good," Radley said. "I like it alright, although I prefer motorcycling and being in control." He leaned back. "I bet actually flying the plane is a real kick."

Kalin nodded. "Learning to drive a car would be more practical, but a plane might be a fun hobby."

"I'll think about it," Radley mused.

In the row ahead, Billy hesitantly went over to Marty and sat next to him. Marty gave him a genuine smile.

". . . What's it like, having a rich family?" Billy asked.

Marty shrugged. "It was great, until they didn't like what I wanted to do with my life. I'm not on terrible terms with them, like poor Radley is with most of his, but we just don't see eye to eye on that."

". . . Maybe if they knew about all the good work you've done for people in town, it'd help," Billy suggested.

"Maybe," Marty said noncommittally. "They always say it's ridiculous for me to want to spend my life being a handyman when I have enough money to hire all the handymen I could want. They don't have any idea how fulfilling it is for me to do it myself."

Billy frowned. It really was something completely foreign to him. But at least he certainly understood the disapproval of important adults in someone's life.

"I'm sorry," he said at last.

Marty sighed. "Oh well. . . . It's frustrating, but I have to be grateful I haven't been disowned. I know my family cares about me and wants the best for me. It's just that they don't get what the best for me is. I've never been happy at their stupid social functions."

"Yeah, none of us would really fit in at stuff like that," Billy said. "Well, maybe Radley would, but can you imagine him wearing a tuxedo?"

Marty snarked. "No. But he'd probably do it if he was trying to make a good impression with potential business clients or something."

"Only he wouldn't leave the jewelry home," Billy said. "So he'd be standing there in a tux with an earring in his left ear."

Marty snorted. This was comfortable and nice. It felt like the silly conversations he and Billy had used to have before everything had gone so wrong. From Billy's introspective, bittersweet expression, the same thing was occurring to him.

". . . I'm really sorry about what happened to us," Billy finally said. "There's no excuse."

"No, there isn't," Marty sighed. "But . . . I'm glad you're sorry anyway."

Overhearing, Radley smiled a bit. He really hoped this trip would be good for those two and allow them to start bonding again.

". . . They're right, you know," he chuckled to Kalin. "About the tux and the earring."

Kalin smirked a bit.

The flight was peaceful, with the Bunch dueling, examining the choices of movies, and occasionally sleeping. Kalin eventually dozed off himself, with Radley soon falling asleep slumping against him. They didn't awaken until the plane was landing on a private airstrip in Scotland.

"We're here!" Scotch exclaimed, startling them awake.

Radley yawned. "Oh good." He stretched and stumbled up.

Kalin sat up, brushing his hair off his shoulder. "How far do we have to go to get to your castle?" he asked Marty.

"Nowhere," Marty said. "We just landed on the property."

"Sweet!" Scotch stared out the window. "I can barely see anything through the fog, but this is still awesome!"

An elderly man stared at the group in confused amazement as they stepped out of the plane. "Master Marty?" he greeted.

Marty stepped forward. "Yeah. I brought some of my friends with me." He introduced them one by one while the man slowly nodded in greeting.

"Hello, all of you . . ." He looked back to Marty. "I'm Jarvis. I run the household. The servants are all wondering if they're to be kept on, Sir?" He shifted nervously.

Marty blinked in surprise. "I have no reason to get rid of any of you," he said.

Immense relief went through Jarvis's eyes. "Very good, Sir." Several other servants appeared. "We'll help you with your bags."

Scotch watched in awe. "This is service!" he exclaimed.

They all headed up the airstrip towards the castle.

"What can you tell us about the castle?" Radley asked.

"It's been in Master Marty's family for centuries," Jarvis said. "His great-uncle resided here for all of his life." He looked uneasily at Marty's spiked red-violet hair. "Are you and your friends all planning to stay on, Sir?"

"No, I have a home already," Marty said. "All of us do. I'm just coming to check it out to see if we want to keep it as a vacation house or something. Maybe make it into a hotel."

"Some vacation house," Virgil snorted, waving at some of the thick fog for emphasis.

Scotch shrugged. "It's a change of scenery, anyway."

Biff moved closer to him. "Everything looks creepy," he moaned. "Is this place haunted?"

"Of course there have been rumors of spirits on the property through the years," Jarvis intoned. "And there's the family crypt underneath the castle."

Biff nearly fainted. "W-What?! We're gonna be on top of the bodies?!"

Even Scotch looked a bit squeamish at that. "Wow. . . ."

". . . I didn't even think about that," Marty frowned. "I'm sorry, guys."

"I should have thought about it myself," Radley admitted. "I know that's how these old castles usually are."

"The crypt is several levels below where we'll be, for the most part," Jarvis said.

"Yeah, but just the thought of it!" Biff shuddered.

They reached the doors and stepped inside. The stone walls, ceiling, and floor brought a cold chill, and their dampness put everyone in mind of the ancient days. It felt like the ghosts of the past were swirling down and watching over them.

". . . Is the whole place this cold?!" Scotch exclaimed, rubbing his arms.

"Oh no, Sir," Jarvis said. "Most of the castle interior doesn't feel or look like a castle."

Virgil wandered over to a wall laden with swords. "What are all these things?"

"Treasures of Master Marty's family and his clan," Jarvis said. "This large one in particular has a strange story surrounding it." He pointed to a blade with intricate carvings on both the sword itself and the hilt.

"Oh yeah? And just what's that?" Virgil wondered.

"I've never been fully sure, Sir," Jarvis said. "The sword was said to have possibly been the inspiration for the German fairy tale Snow White, but that never made any sense to me. There was not a sword in Snow White."

Virgil snorted. "No, there sure wasn't, unless it was supposed to be what the hunter guy was going to cut out her heart with."

Biff looked squeamish. "Virgil . . . !"

"Hey, it's not like he did it," Virgil shot back. "You really wanna get gross, that show Once Upon a Time had a whole bunch of things with hearts and . . ."

Radley held up a hand to silence him. "I think we get the picture. I'm sure Biff does." He looked to where Scotch was patting a distraught Biff on the shoulder. "That is pretty weird about the sword, though. I have no idea what it could have to do with Snow White,of all things. Now if you'd said The Sword in the Stone, maybe it would've made a little sense, but . . ." He shook his head. "Nevermind. It's not like it really matters."

"Yeah, it's probably just some kooky myth," Virgil sneered.

"I don't know, Sir," Jarvis said. "But I will show you all to your rooms upstairs now, if you wish."

"Oh heck yeah!" Scotch said. "Let's go check them out!"

"Is anyone coming over tonight?" Marty warily asked as they started up the chilly stone staircase.

"Your family, you mean," Jarvis sighed. "Your aunt Martha and uncle Jonathan are demanding to come to dinner tonight. Of course, as the legal owner, you have the right to turn them away."

Marty heaved a sigh. "I don't want to do that. They can come, but they can't start making a stink about me."

"I'm afraid a 'stink' is exactly what they have in mind, Master Marty," Jarvis said.

"The moment they say anything like that, they're out of here," Marty vowed. "I'm nice, but I'm not stupid."

"Very good, Sir," Jarvis said, and he looked minimally relieved.