Notes: This chapter has the other part of the dream. Thanks to Azalea542 for plot help!
Chapter Seven
Emilio delighted in taking Radley and the others around the property. Some of his favorite spots were the same as Radley's, such as the edge of the vineyard near the mysterious land with its cemetery. Others were unique to him, including exploring the giant barrels where the wine was placed. Radley had never wanted to climb inside even before finding he was allergic, but Emilio delighted in running up and down the huge spaces and listening to the loud echoes his shoes made.
"I hope those things are cleaned before anything's put in them," Virgil remarked.
Radley chuckled. "Of course. Wine does have cleansing properties, but they use conventional cleaning methods anyway."
Scotch looked grossed-out. "How do they clean the wine after people stamp on the grapes with their feet?!"
Radley had to laugh out loud. "This isn't like I Love Lucy. Remember all the machines we saw yesterday? Nobody stamps on grapes here. We're completely modern and up-to-date. Most places are."
Scotch noticeably relaxed. "Oh good. Not that I even want to drink wine, but that made it really disgusting!"
"That is pretty gross to think about," Radley agreed.
Emilio next led them to another shared favorite spot with Radley, a huge tree with fascinating roots and trunk. One part jutted out so high and so wide, it was a place one could sit.
"I know we saw this yesterday, but it's so cool!" Scotch exclaimed. He plopped down on it. ". . . It's kind of hard, though. . . ."
"Yeah, it was never comfortable, but it was so fascinating I never minded," Radley said.
Kalin was occupied with his phone. After a moment he looked up in annoyance. "The police found the blueprints for that building, but there's no secret passages listed. Either Lawton or whoever slipped past them, or there's another set of blueprints with the hidden rooms."
"I vote for the second option," Radley said.
"Then how are we going to know?!" Scotch frowned. "We need to go comb every inch of that place!"
"Right now the police are looking for the caretaker," Kalin continued. "He should have been around, but he wasn't."
Radley sighed. "Everything has to be so complicated."
It was just as they were wrapping up Emilio's tour that the family's private jet landed on the airstrip. Kalin hurried over, with the others close behind. "Yusei! Bruno!"
Yusei smiled as the door opened and he and Antinomy came down the stairs. Antinomy held a cat carrier. "Hey, Kalin, everyone," Yusei greeted. "Has there been any more news?"
"Unfortunately, no," Kalin sighed. But he swiftly smiled again. "It's so good to see you both again!"
Monkey meowed.
"And Monkey too, of course," Radley added.
"Of course," Yusei said in amusement. Monkey always wanted to be the center of attention.
"And between Emilio and myself, we have crafted a list of places here that you simply must see," Radley continued.
Emilio gave an eager nod. "We'll go around to all the spots so you can see them!"
"That sounds great," Yusei said sincerely. "Maybe Bruno and I can get settled and then you guys can take us around."
"Sure," Kalin smiled as they started for the villa.
The day was overall very peaceful again. Yusei and Antinomy both enjoyed the villa and the surrounding property. Monkey refused to stay in the room and insisted on coming with Antinomy, purring and rubbing him until he picked the cat up to take along.
"He really is a softie, even as Antinomy," Yusei chuckled.
Towards evening, Scotch again grew restless and worried. "What are we going to do about Lawton?" he wondered. "We've gotta find out if he's over there in a secret passage!"
Radley sighed in resignation. "I know. You're right, we'll have to go investigate. The police still haven't turned up any trace of that caretaker either. They've been looking for hidden rooms themselves, but so far nothing."
Jimmy suddenly screamed. "What the heck?!"
Stunned, they tore into his and Virgil's room. The wardrobe against the wall had swung out as an entire secret wall opened. Lawton was standing in the new doorway.
As soon as he realized where he was, he turned with a snarl and ran back down the way he had come. Furious, Virgil took off after him. Radley, Kalin, Yusei, Antinomy, and more of the Bunch gave chase, flying down the darkened corridor as they beamed their flashlights around to see where they were going.
"Seriously?! The hidden room leads here?!" Scotch cried.
"Lawton acted as surprised as we are," Kalin growled. "But how did he not know?!"
"Well, in any case he certainly looks alive," Radley remarked. "I don't think we're chasing a ghost."
"I don't think so either, even though it still doesn't make sense," Kalin grunted.
They had run deeper into the tunnel by now. The path seemed endless and their footsteps were echoing up and down the corridor. Lawton was far ahead of them and no longer visible, but the heaviest echoes likely belonged to him.
"You know, when we're running into his territory, there's always the chance we'll get a very unpleasant greeting when we come out of here," Radley said. "He wasn't expecting to walk into the villa, but that doesn't mean he hasn't set up traps at every entrance into his domain to catch anyone who tries to find him."
"What if he just lobs dynamite at us?!" Scotch exclaimed.
Radley cringed. "I don't really think he'll do that in this case. He wouldn't want to damage his hideout, surely, and such a noise would call a lot of attention to him. Him running like this instead of standing his ground to fight is unusual. He doesn't want to call attention to himself right now."
"I agree, but even not using dynamite, he could end up doing something really disturbing," Yusei said. "I don't trust that guy for one minute."
"I doubt any of us do," Antinomy said flatly.
Without warning, two metal walls came down from the ceiling and separated the group into three smaller groups.
Scotch flinched. "Guys?!" He ran to the nearest wall, pushing and banging on it. "Can you hear me?! Radley?! Kalin?!"
Virgil swore. "It's probably too thick. This is just great! What's Lawton doing this for?!"
"To make it easier to get us?" Biff gulped. He looked around. "We've got no choice. We'll have to try to find the exit and then find Lawton to get him to raise the walls again."
"There's probably trapdoors or things like that so everyone else will fall into other rooms!" Scotch said. "I'm sure he's not just going to leave them in this hallway. He's probably planned much worse!"
"That sounds likely to me too," Virgil growled. He gave the wall a frustrated kick before turning to continue the way they had been running. "We thought we were finally getting the upper hand, but he turned it around again!"
"Let's get out of here and do what we can to help everybody else," Biff said.
The passageway seemed to go on for ages, with no trace of Lawton. When they finally found an open doorway leading out, they stepped into what seemed to be a small, darkened room with a marble floor.
Scotch frowned. "Is this in the building? There wasn't anything like this in there when we helped the police search it last night. . . ." He walked ahead, his shoes echoing on the cold floor.
"It has to be in the building," Virgil argued. "It's the only place around!"
Biff put his hand out and touched what felt like a stone drawer. "What the . . ." He ran his fingers across it. "I'm feeling letters!"
"Letters?!" Scotch frowned.
"Yeah, like a name!" Biff went sheet-white and screamed, pulling his hand back. "It's a tomb! We're in a mausoleum!" He ran ahead to where a small window looked out on the scenery outside. To his horror, graves stretched in every direction. "We're in the cemetery!"
Scotch went over, staring out the window too. "Uh . . . uh oh. . . ." He had wanted to see the cemetery, but not under these circumstances. He hurried to the heavy door and hauled it open. "Come on, let's go!"
Biff trembled. "Maybe the way to open the walls is back how we came!"
"Or maybe it's a remote control Lawton has all the time," Virgil retorted. "We have to find him and he's probably getting farther away all the time!" He ran to the door.
Scotch hesitated, looking to Biff. "What do you say, Biff? What would be worse, staying in here with bodies in the drawers, or going out there where at least they're under the ground?" He shifted nervously.
Biff shuddered, but hurried to the doors. "Let's get out of here!"
The air was certainly fresher outside, but it was also eerily silent. Scotch gripped Biff's hand, not wanting to get separated, and also grabbed for Virgil.
Virgil jerked his hand back. "We can't walk all holding hands," he objected. "Or run either!"
"Maybe we'll lose track of each other!" Scotch protested.
"I'm not going to go away from you guys," Virgil said.
A machine started up around the side of the mausoleum and everyone froze.
"What was that?!" Biff exclaimed.
"I think it's a riding lawn mower!" Scotch gasped.
It rolled into view much faster than lawn mowers would ordinarily go. And while they had been half-expecting to not see anyone driving, they saw instead that Lawton was at the wheel.
"Lawton?!" Scotch squealed. "You're not really gonna try to run us down with that, are you?! The police are already looking for you again! Why make it worse?!"
Lawton just glowered at him. "Just try and run away if you can," he said darkly. "I'll be right behind you. Let's see how fast this thing will go with my modifications."
"We still don't even know how you survived," Virgil snapped.
"Or have you?!" Biff moaned.
Lawton sneered. "Well, for that, maybe I'll tell you when I catch you . . . before I kill you."
Scotch gawked at him in alarm. But before he could think of a smart reply, the machine lurched forward, gobbling the grass and the edge of a headstone.
"It chomps stone?!" Biff shrieked.
Scotch shoved Biff and Virgil ahead of him. "Run for it!"
They needed no further encouragement.
xxxx
When the walls came down, Radley instinctively jumped back with the others. Then as silence fell, it became quickly obvious that they had been separated into smaller groups. Radley looked around in angry dismay. "Oh no . . . !"
Kalin snarled. "How did Lawton do that?! Is he so far ahead that he went to a console and operated things from there?!"
"Maybe," Radley said. "Or he had a remote control." He pushed on the wall in vain before going to the regular wall and beginning a search for a possible secret panel.
Kalin took out his phone and tried to text Yusei. It was both a relief and a surprise when it went through. "Yusei ended up behind this other wall," he announced. "He's going to try to hack into the computer system here and release the walls."
"I hope he can do it quickly," Radley fretted.
To their relief, Yusei was able to work fast and soon both walls were going back into the ceiling. He hurried over with his group. "Are you guys okay?" he demanded.
"We're fine," Kalin said in relief.
"But where are the others?!" Radley exclaimed. "Scotch, Biff, and Virgil were with us!"
"They must have been on the other side of the first wall and kept chasing Lawton!" Jimmy realized.
"Oh great," Billy frowned.
Now that the walls were no longer there to muffle sounds, a loud machine from outside became audible.
". . . Someone's mowing the lawn at this time of night?!" Marty said in disbelief.
Yusei's stomach dropped. "Lawton," he realized.
"And he might be trying to mow down the guys!" Radley immediately tore off down the corridor. Wanting to call him back but knowing time might be of the essence, Yusei and the rest just gave chase instead.
xxxx
The best option when being chased by a madman driving a deadly machine was to go in different directions. Or that was what Virgil said, anyway. Then maybe at least two of them would get away, if not all of them could.
Scotch flew over a low gravestone, looking to his friends as they desperately ran through the rows of plots. It looked like he would not be the one getting away. For some reason, Lawton had selected him to bear down upon.
"Why me?!" he exclaimed, even though he of course didn't want his friends to be targeted instead.
"Why? Because you're the most pathetic of these three," Lawton jeered. "And Radley seems to have a real soft spot for you. If you were more serious, maybe you'd be his second-in-command instead of Billy. Or is Kalin his second-in-command now?"
Scotch blinked back angry tears. He wouldn't argue with Lawton's logic about him being pathetic; Lawton was digging deep into inadequacies Scotch had carried for years. "Shut up!" he snapped. "Why do you hate us so much, for crying out loud?! If you're really alive, you should go live your life somewhere instead of coming after us again!"
"That's what I was trying to do!" Lawton retorted. "I just had the misfortune to buy this property that's right next-door to Radley's family. I had no idea until later, and I still had to come here to try to hide out for a while! Now that you people showed up and ruined things for me, I'll just have to get rid of you before I get out of here."
"The police will really be after you if you run us all down!" Scotch cried.
"But I'm dead, remember?" Lawton mocked. "It couldn't have been me." He revved the engine and moved to speed up after Scotch.
"Hey! Why don't you come after me instead?!"
Scotch started when Biff's voice rang out. "Biff, no!" he gasped.
But there was Biff, standing in front of a grave and waving with both arms.
Lawton just laughed. "I'm not falling for that one. I'll get you all sooner or later. Why try to rush it? You really wanna die that badly?"
"No, but we wish you were really dead," Virgil said bitterly as he ran back from where he was too. "Come on, just try to catch me!"
"I'm not falling for that," Lawton insisted again, and kept the pursuit of Scotch burning strong.
"It was a nice try, guys," Scotch said sadly. "Thanks, both of you. It really does look like it's curtains for me." He dashed around another grave.
"You kids are all pathetic," Lawton said. "You all abandoned Radley before, yet now you're falling all over yourselves to protect him from me! What a laugh."
"Why are you picking on us?!" Scotch demanded. The machine got close enough that he could feel the hot air from inside flowing around him. He wasted no time in running faster.
"All of you are close to Radley," Lawton said. "I already explained that. Getting rid of you people will crush him!"
"What a piece of work!" Virgil snapped. "Is that all you think about?!"
"I think of a lot of things," Lawton said. "Especially how to achieve my goals. It'll be a lot easier without any of you."
Finally Scotch came to a tree. Praying this would work, he climbed up as fast as he could.
"How will you achieve your goals now?" Virgil jeered.
"Oh, I'll just turn my attention to you and Biff first," Lawton smoothly replied.
That brought Scotch out of the tree, jumping down in the cab with Lawton. "NO!"
Lawton swerved, momentarily caught off-guard. But he straightened the vehicle quickly enough and got Scotch in a chokehold. "You people are all alike," he jeered. "Always so desperate to protect each other. I liked it much better when you were scared rabbits."
"Scotch!" Biff screamed. His heart pounded. What were they going to do? How would they save him?
Without warning Lawton pushed Scotch out of the cab and to the ground. "Now you're done for," he proclaimed.
"Lawton! Stop!"
Everyone jerked to attention at their beloved leader's voice. Radley had run outside, not close enough to pull Scotch away, but close enough at least that he could be seen and heard. The others ran out around him.
Lawton snarled. "You should still be trapped! How did you get free? Well, nevermind. You're just in time to watch me make mulch out of this idiot friend of yours."
Scotch had scrambled away in the distraction, back up the tree. "I don't think so!" he shot back.
Radley sighed in relief and started walking over closer while Kalin, Yusei, and the rest moved to close in from all angles. "Why are you so bent on hurting me, Lawton?" he wondered. "You seem to be more interested in that than in going after Kalin and Yusei. Not that I want them to be targeted instead; I just wonder why."
Lawton growled. "At least they were always formidable opponents and I knew it," he said. "You, I underestimated you, and that bugs me."
"So your pride was hurt when I defeated you in the Duel Monsters world," Radley mused.
"Yeah, you could say that," Lawton said. "I wasn't going to make the same mistake again."
Kalin jumped noiselessly into the cab and grabbed Lawton from behind, pulling his thick arms behind his back. "You really are alive," he said. "How?!"
Lawton stiffened. But then he sneered, jerking free of Kalin's grasp. "Oh, that's a good story," he drawled. "You didn't know it, but the whole thing was planned, rigged! I'd gone out there in the daytime and scoped it out. I saw where I could land on a ledge that couldn't be seen from above. I deliberately set up a situation that I knew would bring somebody out to get me. I made it look like I was crazy. I figured Radley wouldn't die, but hey, if he did, all the better for me! I'd take an enemy out and leave another enemy broken."
"And then you pretended to fall when Kalin shoved you away from him," Yusei realized in disgust.
"That's right," Lawton bragged. "I just hung out on that ledge until everybody went away. Then I slipped away to start my life over again. The police thought I was dead, so they called off the manhunt."
Radley shook his head. "You really planned everything out, didn't you?"
"Coming here was a fatal mistake, though," Lawton scowled. "It was the only place I could get to quick. I was going to leave, maybe go overseas or up to Canada, and start over. I didn't plan on all of you people coming out before I could finalize my plans to get away."
"Well," Radley remarked, "we've caught you now, and you're going right back to the Facility. I'm sure they'll be oh so interested in your convoluted scheme to hurt us and get away at the same time. No doubt you'll have some brand new charges and another trial to contend with."
"Maybe," Lawton said. "If I'm caught." He pressed a button and the lawn mower began to shake. As it rose off the ground, the wheels folded up underneath it and jet flames emerged to propel it into the sky. Kalin wobbled and fell back, unprepared for the sudden ascent.
Yusei stared in horror. "Kalin!"
Radley's heart nearly stopped. It was obvious what Lawton planned to do now. He would fight with Kalin and push him out of the cab to plummet to the ground far below. "Oh God, please, no," he begged.
Indeed, Lawton turned with a whirl and grabbed Kalin by the shirt. "This time, I have the winning hand," he hissed. He moved to shove Kalin over the side.
Kalin seized Lawton's wrists. "Either we both go down or we both stay," he insisted. "I'm not going to let you use me to hurt the others and then get away only to hurt them some more later!"
"If they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone from now on," Lawton said.
"Do you honestly think they'd leave you alone if something happens to me?!" Kalin retorted. "You really have gone crazy if you think that!"
Lawton stepped closer to him. The machine wobbled, not built for such movement in flight. "Maybe I have," he said. "But I'm not going to let you stay here with me, and I'm not going to let you drag me over the side, either. Get out of my sight." He kicked Kalin hard in the stomach, forcing his grip to loosen.
Both Yusei and Radley screamed as Kalin fell.
"He's too high up!" Radley cried. "He's going to be killed! Oh God, no. Kalin!" He ran over in desperation to where Kalin was helplessly flying back to Earth.
Yusei clenched his teeth. If only he were still a Signer! If he was, maybe the Crimson Dragon would save Kalin, despite Kalin's past sins. That was all over now; Kalin fought for righteousness again! He didn't deserve to die! But there was nothing they could do except pray for a miracle.
Kalin blankly stared upward at Lawton as he fell. Somewhere below him, his friends were screaming. It was like a nightmare that wouldn't quit. There would be no happy ending for this. They would watch him hit the ground and they would never recover. And Kalin didn't want to die for his own sake either. He wanted to live.
Please, God . . . help me! Help me. . . .
A hand shot out of a tall tree, grabbing a handful of Kalin's coat.
"I've got you!" Scotch exclaimed. "Kind of!" He wrapped his legs around a branch as he struggled to hold onto his friend. "Can you grab on?!" He swung Kalin back towards the tree.
Kalin caught hold of the branch and pulled himself upright, drawing a shaking breath. "Thanks," he breathed.
Radley and Yusei ran over, staring up into the tree.
"Kalin! Are you alright?!" Yusei demanded.
Kalin looked down with a weak smile. "Yes," he said. "We'll come down in a few minutes. Just let me catch my bearings."
"Oh Kalin . . ." Radley placed his hands on the tree trunk. "I thought we were going to lose you. . . ." He looked up through the leafy branches. "Scotch, you saved him! He's alright because of you!"
Scotch slowly smiled, looking awed at the realization. "I really saved him. . . ."
"Yes, you did," Kalin said. "I wasn't close enough to grab a branch until you caught me and pulled me over. I would have died without you."
Biff and Virgil and the rest of the Bunch hurried over with Antinomy.
"Lawton got away," Virgil said in exasperation. "Who knew he was modifying a lawn mower into a UFO?!" He smiled up at Kalin and Scotch. "But we're all okay. . . ."
Radley nodded. "I'm sadly sure we'll face Lawton again," he sighed. "But at least I'm quite sure he really will lay low now instead of coming after us some more. And thank God we're all still together."
Kalin finally started climbing down the tree, with Scotch right behind him. "Yeah." He jumped to the bottom and pulled Yusei and Radley and Scotch into a hug. "And that's the most important thing right now."
They hugged back in complete agreement.
