Ch 4: Awkward Relationship
Kalin suddenly froze in place when he realized who the man was. The man was around in his late 50's and had short, pale blue hair and looked somewhat crazy. He wore a plain, black shirt and ripped jeans.
"No...it can't be..." Kalin gasped.
The guy looked up blearily. "Kalin? Hey, whaddya know! They said you were dead. Guess they were wrong, huh?" He laughed.
"What are you doing here, father?" Kalin muttered in a deadpan voice.
Radley started. "This is your father?!"
"I'm just rattling around," Mr. Kessler said. "Who's this guy? He doesn't look like that Yusei fella."
Kalin said nothing to either of them and simply glared at his father.
"How do you know Yusei?!" yelled Jack. "And what do you want from him?"
"I was at Kalin's house sometimes," Yusei frowned.
"Want from him?!" Mr. Kessler snorted. "I literally just bumped into him!"
"Kalin stated you're his father," said Akiza.
Kalin continued to look uneasily at the ground.
"Yeah. So? It's not like I knew he was gonna be here!" Mr. Kessler retorted.
"You sound like you don't love him," frowned Akiza.
"Um, maybe we should leave..." whispered Carly.
"Kalin? Eh, he's okay," Mr. Kessler shrugged.
"He's more than 'okay,'" Yusei snapped.
"Yes, he's one of the best people on Earth," Radley declared.
"Yeah! He saved a whole town!" yelled back West.
"He's also now its mayor," added Crow.
"Yeah? Good for him," Mr. Kessler said.
"You thought he was dead," Radley said. "You're not even happy he's alive!"
"It's no wonder Kalin never spoke to us about you," cried Nico.
"Yeah!" West said. "You're awful!"
"I didn't ask for your opinions, brats!" Mr. Kessler snapped.
"Let's go," Radley said in disgust, reaching to steer Kalin away.
"Hey! Don't call them brats! They're smarter than you think they are!" fought back Crow.
"Right..." nodded Kalin as he turned around.
"Yeah, sure," Mr. Kessler said. "See you around, Kalin."
Radley drew an arm around Kalin's shoulders.
"Well, that was, awkward..." frowned Crow.
"Kalin, would you like to discuss this in private?" asked Akiza.
"He might not want to discuss it at all," Radley said. "But we're all here if you do, Kalin."
As the team was recovering with the encounter, someone could be heard screaming. Dragon-type Duel Monsters were descending from the skies.
"What the ..?!" Crow stared. "Are these Halloween holograms?!"
"What is that up there in the sky?" gasped Nico.
"Duel Monsters attacking people? But who is Summoning them?!" exclaimed Luna.
"If this is for real, it's not cool in the least," Crow frowned.
"Could you-know-what's be behind this?" asked Leo.
Mr. Kessler was terrified and yelling in horror. Kalin was nervous. What would his father think of him if he used his powers?
"It's hard to say what's behind it, but we need to stop it," Yusei said.
"Jack Atlas never backs down from a fight!" shouted Jack as he activated his Duel Disk.
"Let's go!" Leo readied himself.
The monsters kept coming.
"That's a lot of monsters!" exclaimed West.
"I guess we have no choice but to fight..." sighed Kalin.
"Yes," Radley frowned. He wondered if Kalin would use his powers. They might be needed.
"Everyone, summon your monsters now!" said Akiza.
Radley summoned his monsters, as did others. The monsters dove at them. Other citizens tried to flee the scene while others tried to put on the brave act and take videos.
Mr. Kessler was cowering. "You guys are crazy! Why are you hanging around trying to fight them off?!"
Kalin turned to his cowardly father and glared at him. "Because we're the Enforcers." The purple aura appeared around his body.
Mr. Kessler stared. "What the ... ?!"
"It's the Death God..." said Nico.
"Kalin is the Death God?! What kinda garbage is that?!" Mr. Kessler snorted.
"Just you watch, Mr. Meanie! The Death God is a superhero!" exclaimed West.
Kalin smirked. "I call upon the spirits of the fallen! Come forth Infernity Doom Dragon!"
"Weird name for a superhero. Aren't they kinda supposed to prevent death?" Mr. Kessler retorted.
He stared as the dragon appeared. "That's ... that's real!"
"Cause he's unique," said Nico.
"Doom Dragon! Destroy our enemies! Inferno Flame Blast!" yelled Kalin. The ghastly dragon blew fire at the other monsters.
The bad monsters roared and were destroyed. Mr. Kessler just stared in complete silence.
"Yeah! Way to go, guys!" cheered West.
"We still have to figure out where and who summoned the monsters," said Akiza.
"How are you gonna do that?!" Mr. Kessler exclaimed.
"Any ideas who is behind this, Yusei, Bruno?" asked Crow.
"No idea, unless it's Portman again," Yusei frowned.
"But she couldn't have escaped from jail!" whined Carly.
"We hope," Yusei said. "It could be someone trying to continue her legacy."
"We should search the City; look out for any suspicious activity," said Akiza sternly.
"We'll look everywhere!" Scotch promised.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, so you kids go ahead doing what you're doing," Mr. Kessler said.
"Let's hurry!" said Luna.
"Fine, whatever," shrugged Jack to Mr. Kessler as he ran off to search.
"Like you ever cared about anyone," scowled Kalin at his father.
Everyone started to split up. Radley and Yusei stayed with Kalin.
"Bet you're a real bleeding heart, huh?" Mr. Kessler said.
"Why are you still here, father?" grumbled Kalin. "You never cared about me before."
"Hey, you just barely kicked the monsters away," Mr. Kessler said. "I'm going, I'm going!"
Kalin ignored his father and turned to Yusei and Bruno.
"Sorry about my father. Never thought we would run into him."
"He was a creep to you and you're apologizing for him?" Radley said.
"My father is to blame for all my past actions. I tried to hide my true feelings all these years after running away from him," Kalin broke down in tears.
"Oh Kalin..." Radley hugged him close.
Yusei came to join the hug too.
"He...never loved me..." sobbed Kalin. "The Enforcers was the first time I felt like I had a real family."
Radley and Yusei both hugged him close.
"He's a horrible person," Radley snarled. "He has no remorse for what he did."
"Thank you for being there for me, Yusei, Radley," said Kalin as he cried on their shoulders.
"Always," Yusei said.
"We're your real family," Radley said.
"I need to sleep. You guys do some investigating on the monsters."
"We're in the middle of the City," Radley said in concern. "Where will you sleep?"
"Yusei's house?" muttered Kalin in a confused voice.
"Sure, let's go there," Yusei soothed.
Yusei, Bruno, Kalin, and Radley all walked to Yusei's house. Kalin went to the bathroom to wash the dried-up tears from his face.
Monkey watched Kalin and said "Meow".
Kalin jumped and turned around when he heard the cat.
"Oh, hey, Monkey."
Monkey rubbed him.
"Should we really leave him alone?" Bruno worried. "Maybe one of us should stay with him."
"I'm afraid if I don't come, you guys may not be able to defeat any future monsters," said Kalin. He petted Monkey's head.
"We don't want you to force yourself if you're not up to it," Yusei said.
"I'll think about it. Depends on how much information is found."
"So far nothing," Radley sighed, looking at texts.
Kalin sighed and continued to pet Monkey. Monkey purred. After a while, Crow reported some monsters heading into an old warehouse.
"Hmm? A text message from Crow? I wonder if he found anything?"
When he saw the message, he was shocked.
"Maybe they're going to their master," Bruno said.
"Which warehouse is it?" Kalin texted Crow.
Crow texted the number and location. "I'm going in to check it out."
"Who else is with you?" asked Kalin.
"Jack and Virgil and Jimmy," replied Crow.
"I'm with Yusei, Radley, and Bruno. Should we all go over there?"
"Probably a good idea," Crow wrote.
"Alright meet you there," texted Kalin.
He turned up to look at the others. "Let's go meet Crow, Jack, and the others at the warehouse."
"You're sure you feel up to it?" Yusei asked.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay." Radley kept an arm around Kalin as they headed out.
"I hope the others are safe," said Kalin as he wrapped an arm around Radley's waist.
"They've been checking in," Radley said. "They're okay."
"That's good to know.*
Radley nodded. "It certainly is."
Kalin texted Crow and Jack. "We're here."
"Great! We snuck in. It sorta looks like a portal went bonkers in here and monsters keep coming through it!"
"A portal? To the Spirit World? How?" asked Kalin.
"We're still watching!" replied Jack.
"There's nobody watching it. Can they ever just ... open by themselves?"
"Could the culprit be another Psychic Duelist? I read a bunch of them went missing after the Arcadia Movement got destroyed," said Kalin.
"I guess it could be," Crow shrugged. "A Halloween prank, maybe?"
"Let's hope not..." frowned Kalin.
"Any ideas on how to close the portal?" asked Jack.
"Better a prank than a megalomaniac," Radley mused. "... I might be able to close it..." He looked concerned, however.
"Are you sure you have enough strength, Radley?" asked Kalin.
"I hope so," he said honestly.
"Well, nobody is here still, so you better close it now," said Jack.
Radley nodded. " wasn't sure anyone else would even have the power to close the portal. He concentrated, his pendant lighting up. The portal started to close.
"It's working! " exclaimed Kalin.
Radley managed to close it before falling backwards into Kalin.
"Radley!" gasped Kalin as he caught his friend.
"The portal is closed now!" exclaimed Crow.
Radley groaned, holding a hand to his head. Kalin held his friend around the waist to make sure he didn't hit his head on the ground.
"Is he alright?" Yusei asked in concern.
"I hope so," said Kalin.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," Radley mumbled.
"So what do we do now? We still don't know who opened the portal," said Jack.
"We could stake the place out, see if anyone shows up," Crow said.
"Good idea," nodded Kalin. "I'll stay with Radley until he recovers. The Bunch can go with you."
"Well, we'd need to stay right here, so you two better lay low," Crow said.
"I'll be okay in a few minutes," Radley mumbled.
"Thanks, Crow. Let us know what you find, ok?" nodded Kalin.
"Sure." Crow went to hide and watch.
Radley tried to straighten up. "We need to go somewhere out of sight too..."
Kalin gripped his friend's shoulder and back. "You're right, but where to?"
"I don't know," Radley said. "I need to just rest a few minutes before we leave... Maybe there's a couch or a mattress here..."
Kalin looked around the room and spotted an old couch near the entrance.
"There's a couch over there. Perhaps that'll do."
"Hopefully the person won't come back while we're here," Radley smirked. "They would see us immediately." He sank down on the couch.
"If he does show up, I'll deal with him," stated Kalin in a stern voice.
"Yes, I know." Radley relaxed. "I feel very well-protected."
"Let's hope Yusei and the others have luck locating the culprit."
They waited for a time, but no one was coming. It was when Radley felt well enough to get up that someone came in. "What the ... ?!" He looked baffled the portal was gone.
"Who are you?" demanded Kalin.
"Michael," he frowned. "Who are all of you?"
"Michael, We are investigating unusual activity in the City," replied Kalin
"Yeah? So why here?" Michael frowned.
"Someone has been summoning Duel Monsters to attack the City. We managed to find out they were coming from here."
"Are you serious?! Where?!" Michael looked around.
"A portal," Radley said. "We managed to close it."
"We still don't know who opened it. And why."
"I don't know either," Michael insisted.
"Is this your warehouse?" Yusei asked.
"I hang out here," Michael said.
"You hang out here?" asked Jack. "Why would you choose a run-down place like this?"
"It's free," Michael said.
Uh, ok..." scoffed Jack.
"Have you seen anyone suspicious opening a portal here?" asked Kalin.
Crow figured the guy had no other place.
"I didn't see any portal-opening period," Michael said.
"Crow, did you find some sort of device near the portal, like a necklace or something?" asked Kalin.
"Nothing," Crow sighed. But he looked over. "Hey, wait..." He picked up a gem. "What's this?"
"Uh? A gem?" asked Kalin.
Crow rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. I mean, what's it doing here?!"
"Who cares! It's a gem!" Michael grabbed for it. "I want it! This is my place."
"Hey! Give that back!" yelled Jack. "It could be dangerous!"
"Dangerous?!" Michael snorted. "How?"
A portal started opening under him. Everyone stared in shock at the light.
"Michael! Drop the gem now! Something is coming out of it!" exclaimed Kalin.
Michael yelped and dropped the gem. The portal closed. "What the heck?!"
"Guess we found what created the portal," said Jack.
"Yes, but who dropped it?" Radley frowned.
"Perhaps a supernatural being dropped it? What do you think, Yusei, Bruno?" asked Kalin.
"It's possible, I guess," Yusei said.
"We could be in a lot of trouble if it's that," Bruno said.
"And how are we supposed to study it if we can't touch it?" added Jack.
"That's part of why we'd be in trouble," Bruno said.
"Not to mention, how would we catch it?" Radley frowned.
"I wish I could speak to monster spirits like Luna can," said Kalin. "But I can only speak to human spirits."
"You think it could have been a monster that did this?" Crow blinked.
"Perhaps. We should contact the others about this gem."
"Yeah, we should," Crow said.
The others were starting to gather now.
"A gem that can summon monsters?" asked Leo. "I didn't know those existed."
"Wouldn't someone have to make it work?" Luna said.
"We're still looking for the owner," replied Kalin.
"Why would they leave it? What if they fell through the portal?" Luna asked.
Radley stared in horror. "Oh no..."
"What is it, Radley?" asked Kalin.
Akiza also felt a chill in the air. "I sense a disturbance in the air..."
"If they fell through it, and I sealed them in there ...!" Radley stumbled up.
"Wait, I thought they were troublemakers and someone summoned them to wreck havoc!" said Jack.
"Right now, we don't know who summoned them," Radley sighed. "What if the portal opening was an accident and they fell through to the other side? Maybe they dropped the gem and that's why it was on the floor!"
"If that's the case, where on Earth did the gem come from?" asked Crow.
"It's also too dangerous for us to try," said Akiza.
"It might belong to whoever opened the portal," Radley said. "And I don't know that I could even open a portal to the same spot!"
"Who's the guy with you guys? Is he the owner?" asked West.
"I was crashing here," Michael said.
"Did you know about the portal when you came here?" asked Akiza.
"There wasn't anything here then!" Michael snapped. "It must have happened while I was out."
"What do we do? We don't have any leads in this case!" pancaked Carly.
"I wonder if the gem always opens a portal to the same place," Bruno said. "Maybe we need to let it open again and make sure no one's trapped."
"There's only one way to find out," said Kalin. "I'll open the portal, you guys get ready to." He bent down to take the gem.
"Be careful," Radley said in concern.
They all gathered around him. Kalin held the gem up in the air and closed his eyes. The gem began to glow. The portal started to open.
The team waited tensely. However, no one was coming through.
"I don't see anything," said Akiza.
"Were we wrong about this portal? Maybe the monsters came from somewhere else," said Jack.
"The monsters definitely came through," Yusei said. "But maybe hopefully no human got trapped over there."
"What do we do next, Mr. Fudo?" asked Nico.
"Let's close the portal again," Yusei said. He looked concerned for Radley to try that again, though. Maybe someone else could do it.
Kalin was struggling from the pressure. "Radley...can you close it...again?"
Radley and Yusei were both immediately worried to see how difficult it was for Kalin to hold it open. Radley really wasn't sure himself how he would hold up to do it again, but he nodded. "Sure." He took a deep breath and forced the portal closed with his pendant. Still not recovered from the first time, this time he collapsed to the floor.
"Oh no! Kalin! Radley!" gasped Nico as she and her brother rushed to them.
"Ugh...now I realize how stressful portal opening is, Radley..." groaned Kalin.
Yusei and Bruno ran over too, as did the Bunch as they arrived.
"Yeah, it's ... not fun," Radley groaned.
"Not to mention we still haven't gotten anywhere!" ranted Jack.
Scotch pulled Radley up on the couch, while Yusei helped Kalin.
"Maybe when the portal opened, the person ran in fright," Radley mumbled.
"And maybe that's how the monsters got out of control?" asked Luna.
"Yusei, Bruno, could you track the City for any suspicious energy? There has to someone behind this," said Kalin.
"I'm on it," Bruno said, and pulled out his laptop.
"Do you guys want anything to drink?" asked Akiza.
"I just need to rest," Radley mumbled. "How about you, Kalin?"
Michael looked baffled by everything.
"Same here," nodded Kalin.
"Well, my throat is patched from all the running around," said Jack.
Michael sighed. "I've got a fridge. I'll get some stuff."
Radley leaned into the couch and rested against Kalin a bit. Kalin hugged his friend.
"I'm worried that we can't solve this case."
Radley hugged back. "It's sure weird. I wonder if we could find out what the gem is somehow."
"Hopefully we can get the answers soon."
Akiza returned to the room with a tray of tea. Michael brought water.
"Yeah," Radley sighed.
Billy took a picture of the gem and started searching. "... It matches a gem in myths that opens portals. There's others too!"
"A myth? What myth?" asked Jack.
"Does it involve summoning real monsters?" asked Akiza.
"Yeah," Billy said. "It's a myth from South America."
We've dealt with a threat from there once," said Luna. "Which part of South America?"
"It doesn't say what part," Billy said
"I wonder if we need to worry about the other gems too," Radley sighed.
"A gem collection? What is this, Sonic?" scoffed Jack.
"They all open portals," Billy said.
"How many gems are there that do that?" asked Crow.
Billy sighed. "There's five of them."
"Five...and we have only one of them," stated Akiza. "Where could the other 4 possibly be?"
"Anywhere, including with people!" Virgil said. "Or in museums somewhere."
"Do you have any idea how we can track 'em down, Bruno?" asked Crow.
"Run some image searches and find every instance where the gems have been videotaped or photographs," Bruno said.
"Let's go to the police station tomorrow," said Crow. "Maybe the surveillance cameras picked up some nasty stuff."
"Good idea," Yusei said.
"We should all go home and get some rest. We have a hard task ahead of us," said Kalin.
"Let's let the kids finish their Halloween fun," Radley said. "Maybe Scotch can take them around while we rest." He felt bad for the kids to have peace and holiday fun interrupted by this mysterious problem.
"Yeah, we haven't even gotten to eat our candy," frowned West.
"You're right, you two. I nearly forgot we came here to celebrate Halloween," said Kalin.