#21 - Bonds

Bonds Beyond Worlds

Segment Notes: More unusual inspiration. This one was loosely inspired by the Mannix episode The Survivor Who Wasn't. A different fic was going to be next, but this one suddenly happened and was very insistent!

Radley wasn't sure what it was that first made him realize something was off when Kalin returned from a late motorcycle ride that night. He certainly looked the same—although when Radley thought about it later, he realized Kalin had looked at him with an almost awed and disbelieving expression, as though unable to grasp that Radley was truly there. He sounded the same—a little gruffer, perhaps, but not enough to make Radley question it. And he had acted the same—albeit perhaps a bit stiffer and not as tender.

Perhaps it was a combination of all those things at once that made Radley suspicious. What had happened to Kalin on that ride? Had memories of the past come back to haunt him far worse? They had grown close enough now that he was willing to open up to Radley about how his heart still ached, so why would he suddenly close himself off?

He walked over to his friend. "Kalin, what's wrong?" he frowned.

"There's nothing wrong," Kalin retorted. He walked into the living room and picked up a picture of them Radley had placed on an end table. He stared at it as though he had never seen it before.

". . . It's obvious something is," Radley said. "What is it? Is it . . ." He hesitated. "Is it something I've done?"

Something in either the plaintiveness of Radley's voice or just the words themselves seemed to pierce Kalin through to his very soul. He set the picture down hard on the table. "No!" he cried. "No. . . . It was . . . never your fault. . . . I'm so sorry I made you think that. . . ." He trembled, gripping the edge of the table.

"Then what?" Radley exclaimed. He came closer. "Kalin, the way you looked at that picture . . . it was like you couldn't believe we're really friends. . . ."

"I . . ." Kalin straightened and turned to face him. ". . . This is real, isn't it?" he whispered. "You're really alive?"

"Kalin. . . ." Radley just stared at him in bewildered horror. "Why would you even ask? What happened to you out there?"

Kalin just stared at Radley for a long moment and shook his head, stepping back. "I can never ask forgiveness for what I did to you," he said before retreating down the hall.

Radley was aghast. Obviously something terrible had happened to Kalin on his ride. Now he was acting as though he had just freshly come from the trauma of believing Radley dead. In one way it was similar to how he had behaved after Radley's sacrifice in the Duel Monsters world. But the mention of forgiveness made it seem more like when Radley had been tortured in the mines.

There was something else too—Kalin hadn't touched him. When Kalin was badly shaken and needed to reassure himself Radley was alive, he often touched his face or his shoulder or hugged him. Kalin hadn't used to like physical contact, but he had come to embrace it over the past months. Now he was behaving more like when they had first started growing close.

Radley resolutely headed down the hall. "Kalin?"

He stopped in shock when he reached Kalin's room and found him having sank to the floor, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Immediately Radley crouched down, touching Kalin's shoulder. He flinched.

"Kalin, what have I done?" Radley said sadly as he took his hand back. "We always open up to each other now. Why don't you want me to touch you?"

"Because I don't deserve it!" Kalin finally shot back. "You're good when I thought you were bad. I rejected you every night until it was too late. And now . . ." His voice broke.

". . . You're acting like I never came back from that," Radley said.

That was when the arrow stabbed into his heart. It was an absolutely bizarre idea, but putting all the pieces together, it made a heartwrenching sense.

"Kalin . . . you're not from here, are you?" he asked.

Kalin shook his head. "No, I'm not. In my dimension, you died when Lawton tried to blow you and Jordan up. You saved him, but . . . not yourself. . . ." He reached into his coat pocket. "This was all I ever found." To Radley's sickened horror, Kalin opened a small box to reveal several charred pieces of black leather, some splattered with blood.

". . . Oh. . . ." Radley didn't even know what to say. He couldn't bring himself to even imagine what something like that would have done to his Kalin. Probably something similar to what it had done to this one. "Kalin, I'm so sorry. But why are you here? And what happened to my Kalin?!"

The alternate Kalin drew a shaking breath. "I could never forgive myself for what happened. I learned from Yusei about other dimensions and I started experimenting with the possibilities of opening a portal to one. I wanted to find a world where you lived. When I finally got a portal opened, your Kalin rode through on his motorcycle. I demanded to know what his dimension was like. He told me, and I came through to see for myself. I don't know what I was thinking, really. . . ." He shook his head. "This isn't my world. I can't stay here and rob you and your Kalin of what you have together. I already ruined everything for my Radley and myself. I have to live with that. Being with you only drives home all the more what I did. You're here, and happy, and the Radley I knew is gone forever." He stumbled to his feet.

Radley stood as well. "We have to get my Kalin back," he insisted. "Did you just close the portal and leave him there?!"

"No, I'm not that far gone," the alternate Kalin replied. "I don't know why he didn't just follow me back through. He was saying something about trying to find my Radley, but that's impossible."

"He must still be looking." Radley hurried back up the hall and grabbed his keys. "Take me to the portal!"

The alternate Kalin swiftly followed him. Soon they were riding on their motorcycles over the desert and the shimmering portal swirled into view. The alternate Kalin sped through, Radley immediately following.

The world on the other side of the portal looked much the same. The desert was certainly identical. Radley called for Kalin as they rode. Where on Earth could he be? What would possess him to think he could really find the alternate Radley when he was . . .

Radley shuddered. Of all the ways to die, that had to be one of the worst.

It was when they drew closer to town and the dyne mines came into view that Radley spotted Kalin's motorcycle parked by the miners' cemetery. He quickly got off, hurrying towards the path leading to the mines. "Kalin?! Are you here?!" Why on Earth had Kalin come here?!

As Radley started up the path, Kalin emerged from a mine entrance, sheet-white. "Radley . . . did you bring the other me?" he asked.

"Yeah." Radley stared at him. "What's going on, Kalin?! Why didn't you chase after him?!"

Kalin sighed. "I tried to call him back, but he wouldn't listen. I started thinking about something. Do you remember those secret tunnels built into the mines, like the one Pastor Green was being kept in when the miners rescued him?"

"Sure," Radley said. He heard the alternate Kalin coming up beside him.

"Well, it was a long shot, but I wondered if there was any conceivable chance this other Radley got blown through one when the bomb went off," Kalin said. "I'm sorry I had to let the other me go through to you; I know you must have been terribly confused. But I decided I had to come here and try to find his Radley."

Radley just stared at him. ". . . And did you?" he asked.

"Yes, I did." Kalin looked to his thunderstruck counterpart. "He's alive, but very badly ill. The prisoners have been trying to take care of him in the tunnel and haven't been able to believe Malcolm and Lawton have been stopped. That's why they haven't come out. Your Radley needs you."

The alternate Kalin took a shaking step back. "H-He's alive," he choked out in disbelief. "That's not possible. . . ."

"He wasn't blown up, obviously," Kalin said. "His jacket was torn and his arms were cut and burned. That's why you found particles. He was killed, by the fall and by the shock collar, but the prisoners revived him."

The alternate Kalin was still trembling, trying to process this incredible information. "But . . . he would never want to see me. . . ."

"He will!" Kalin insisted.

"That's right!" Radley chimed in. "If he's anything like I was, he's drowning in his despair. Maybe he feels like life isn't even worth living anymore. He thinks everybody abandoned him. If you go to him and let him know you're here for him, you might be able to bring him back from the brink of death!"

The alternate Kalin still looked skeptical of that, but his desire to see his friend overcame his doubts. "Where is he? Take me to him," he pleaded.

Kalin nodded and stepped inside the mine. "Come with me."

They followed him inside and Kalin soon brought them to the open entrance to a tunnel. As he stepped in, the torches on the walls flickered and cast their strange shadows on all angles. Kalin led them down some steps carved in stone to a cot where the alternate Radley had been placed, sick and flushed and deeply in despair. He groaned, tossing about on the thin mattress.

Sorrow filled Kalin's eyes. Even though it wasn't his Radley, he couldn't stand to see any Radley suffer.

The alternate Kalin ran over, falling to his knees next to the cot. "I'm so sorry," he choked out. "Yusei and I just left you behind and you were almost killed because of that!" He gripped at the sheet. "I was so filled with despair and self-hatred when I came here that I couldn't see anything clearly. I didn't like you because I wouldn't let myself see what you're really like. Now I know, and I can never forgive myself for what I did to you!" He hesitated, then reached for his Radley's clammy hand. "I've thought you were dead. I even opened a portal to another dimension, hoping to find a world where you lived. But I couldn't stay there; that Radley is happy with his Kalin. I came back here and I've found a miracle—you're alive! Please come back, Radley. Please wake up, even if you want nothing more to do with me! The Bunch is completely lost in grief. They all love you so much. And I . . . I wish I had accepted your friendship. It was a precious gift and I squandered it." He reached out, brushing the hair away from his Radley's face. "But don't give up on your life, Radley! You have so much to live for. Please . . ." He brought the limp hand to his forehead. "Please. . . ."

Kalin and Radley watched, waiting hopefully and praying for a miracle for these alternate versions of themselves.

And then at last, they had it. The alternate Radley stirred, weakly opening his eyes. "Kalin . . . ?!"

Joy filled the alternate Kalin's heart. "Yes! I'm here. I'll always be here now, unless you want me to go. I'll take you back to town and nurse you back to health. You're going to be well again, Radley! You're going to be well!"

The alternate Radley gave a weak but touched smile. "You do care about me? It's not a delusion?"

"I know it's hard to believe after how I treated you, but it's real," the alternate Kalin assured him. "I should have always cared."

"You care now," the alternate Radley said. "That's enough. I'm . . . I'm sorry I didn't realize what you were going through. . . . I would have liked to help. . . ."

The alternate Kalin reached down, lifting his Radley into his arms to carry him down to town. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But there's still time. We can help each other. Maybe someday we'll even be like this other Kalin and Radley."

"That's a good goal to work towards," Kalin said.

"But just work at your own pace," Radley said. "The closeness will come naturally."

The alternate Radley smiled. "I'm glad . . . to see the two of you. . . . Thank you, for helping us."

"I'm just glad we could," Radley said.

The four left the mine, the remaining prisoners trailing behind them to finally re-enter the real world. Dawn was on the horizon, and it looked bright for both dimensions.

"Hey, how did you open a portal anyway?" Radley asked.

The alternate Kalin reached into his pocket and held out his Radley's pendant. "I found out this is a magical object. It was the one other thing I found after the blast, but it wasn't dropped where the blast happened. If it had been, I might have started thinking Radley was sent to another dimension."

"Instead I was pretty close to home," the alternate Radley mumbled into his Kalin's shoulder.

"I'll close the portal after you two go through," the alternate Kalin said. "Thank you again. I'm sorry for what I put you through." He looked to Radley, who sighed but smiled.

"I can't really be mad at you," he said. "I'm just glad you've found peace now. Come on, Kalin."

Goodbyes were exchanged and Radley and Kalin rode out, soon going back through the portal. It shimmered and closed after them.

"What happened when the other me was here?" Kalin had to ask.

"He tried to pretend to be you, but it didn't really work," Radley said. "I could tell something was off, and he started cracking more and more. I finally figured out he was from another dimension and he finally admitted it.

"It must have been hard for you when you heard his story."

"It was," Kalin agreed. "Especially since it could have been ours. I . . . couldn't accept that you were dead, even another you. I had to try to find him."

"I'm glad you did," Radley said. "I would've felt awful leaving that Kalin in his broken state."

"It looks like it's your destiny to live in every dimension," Kalin said, and smiled.

"And our destiny to be best friends?" Radley said with an amused and touched smirk.

"Well . . . I don't know what will happen with those two, but for us, yes." They parked in the driveway and got off their motorcycles. Kalin drew an arm around Radley's shoulders.

Radley laughed and leaned against him as they headed for the door. "We worked for what we have," he said. "It wasn't just dropped into our laps."

"Just because we worked for it doesn't mean it wasn't supposed to happen," Kalin said.

Radley unlocked the front door. "Well," he said, looking at Kalin with a smile, "I can't argue with that."