Chapter Thirteen

"I have my deck loaded. Are you ready?"

Radley glanced over his shoulder at Kalin as they rode through the desert just outside of town. It was the following day and they were attempting a Turbo Duel. Radley looked confident, but Kalin was sure he was nervous.

Just as Kalin was himself. But he drew a deep breath and nodded. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

This was the final hurdle they had to get past in order to be ready for the WRGP. Neither was sure it would work, but both were willing to try.

"Okay," Radley said. "First one to Malcolm's cactus goes first."

They sped off, heading for the poached saguaro cactus looming over the desert floor. Their Duel Runners were evenly matched, as was their will to fight. When Kalin came out slightly ahead, he drew and threw down his first cards. "Alright," he said.

Radley swiftly drew next and the duel was on.

Kalin was aware that he was gripping the handlebars tighter and tighter as the game advanced. He had only ever Turbo Dueled against Yusei in those fateful, horrible duels as a Dark Signer. Could he ever truly enjoy Turbo Dueling with those memories haunting him? That was the question that had been plaguing him ever since Yusei had suggested he enter the WRGP. He still wasn't sure of the answer.

It was harder to concentrate on the duel the more he was plagued by memories. They were screaming for his attention, louder and louder until they seemed to drown out everything else around them and his ears were ringing with the sounds of Yusei's Duel Runner crashing and his own sadistic, mad cackling, devoid of humanity or mercy. He wasn't even fully aware that he had swung his Duel Runner off the path and had clamped his hands over his ears until Radley was there, calling for him and laying his hands on Kalin's shoulders. Kalin started to push him away, but stopped as he really realized what he was doing.

"Radley," he rasped in horror.

Radley hugged him. "Hey, it's okay," he soothed. "You were doing great. I guess this was just too much too soon."

Kalin shook his head. "It's not okay," he said in disgust. "Getting into the tournament is hopeless."

"Maybe it's not, but even if it is, that's okay," Radley insisted. "We talked about it before, that if we just weren't ready, that was alright and we'd try again later."

Kalin sighed but nodded in discouragement. It was clear to him now that he was still not ready, and that getting ready would likely take so much longer than they had. It was disappointing, but they had really known it all along and had kept trying anyway.

Finally he hugged back. "We'll need to tell Scotch," he said.

"We will," Radley said. "If we're really not going to try anymore."

"I don't know. I hope he wouldn't be too disappointed," Kalin said.

"He'd understand," Radley soothed. "Really, he has the Duel Runner, so if we can't make it, I think he'll be satisfied with that. The tournament is just a cool bonus."

"I guess," Kalin said. He sighed. "I don't want to give up too soon. . . ."

"You've been trying so hard!" Radley insisted. "No matter what came at us, you kept trying. We probably should have stopped long ago, honestly. But you wanted to keep going."

"I think I might be able to feel better about Turbo Duels later," Kalin said. "But I don't want to force it."

"That's good," Radley said. "You know your limits and you accept them. We'll deal with them and get you better, and as soon as you're ready, we can enter whatever tournament is available, the WRGP or something else. I think the City has two or three tournaments a year."

Kalin smiled a bit. "That's something, anyway."

"Yeah." Radley smiled too. "You won't be down for long."

"And we can keep working on this, if that's really okay," Kalin said.

"Of course it's okay," Radley said. "I'm happy to duel with you, Kalin."

"I just won't hold any illusions about getting over the trauma in time," Kalin said.

Radley nodded. "We'll go at your own pace. Maybe we'll make it, maybe we won't. It's fine either way."

Kalin nodded too. "Let's go back for now. Maybe we can try again tomorrow or in a few days."

"Sure." Radley patted Kalin's shoulder and straightened, going back to his Duel Runner.

Taking a deep breath, Kalin revved his engine and followed.

xxxx

Back at their home, Radley went through his phone's Contact list and brought up a Mr. Fitzgerald.

"This was my boss, the gem dealer guy," he told Kalin.

"You're going to call him now?" Kalin asked.

"Yeah." Radley looked a little apprehensive, but he took a deep breath and dialed.

Soon there was a click. "Hello? Who's this?" The voice was stern and gruff.

"Aww, surely you remember me, Mr. Fitzgerald?" Radley responded in a tone of smooth innocence. "I worked for you for quite a while."

". . . Radley!?" There was a brief silence. "I saw an early paper after the Crash Town mess went down. It said you'd gotten yourself killed."

Radley grimaced at that. "The reports of my death were highly exaggerated," he said. "I thought I made sure to get the paper to print a retraction. I'm sorry you only saw the messed-up version." He switched on the holographic projector.

A gruff-looking older man was looking back at him and Kalin. ". . . So, you're still a punk," he grunted. "Only now you don't just look the part."

Kalin's eyes narrowed. "He is not a punk," he said in a warning tone.

Radley sobered. "I had to protect the town somehow," he said. "Being tough seemed the best way to do it under the circumstances."

"Well . . ." Mr. Fitzgerald still looked stern, but not quite as much so. "I guess they're all grateful. They'd better be, after all you went through for them."

Radley smiled a bit again. "They mostly are, yes," he said. "Of course, it was really this guy who saved the town in the end." He touched Kalin's arm. "He saved me too. This is Kalin."

Kalin nodded. "Hello."

"You're another member of the Bunch, are you?" Mr. Fitzgerald grunted.

"Yeah, I am," Kalin confirmed.

"He's a wonderful guy," Radley said with a fond smile. "The best."

"I can tell you think a lot of him," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "He'd better return it."

"Radley means everything to me," Kalin said in all sincerity.

Radley smiled more. "I found my treasure," he said. "It just wasn't all in dyne."

"Then your priorities are straight," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "You know what's what."

"Yeah," Radley smiled. "I do."

"I never did approve of you going out there, but it looks like you did the right thing," Mr. Fitzgerald said.

"I like to think so," Radley agreed. "The town needed us . . . and Kalin and I needed each other."

Kalin smiled a bit.

"But . . ." Radley hesitated. "It means a lot to me that you cared enough about me to try to stop me from going."

"I would've done the same for any employee of mine with a harebrained idea," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "You're right, though. I cared about you. Still do."

"Thank you, sir," Radley said. "I care about you too. I needed someone like you in my life when I was all alone and sad."

"You were good. Always hard-working. And you've grown up well," Mr. Fitzgerald said.

"It means a lot to me to hear you say that," Radley said.

He was in a good mood when he hung up. "I really was a greedy, crazy kid when I led the Bunch out here," he said. "Mr. Fitzgerald was right to try to talk me out of it. I wouldn't have blamed him if he hadn't forgiven me for not listening."

"You're lucky he's not like that," Kalin said. "I thought he was going to be at first."

"He was probably still mad I'd left and upset about the news story he read." Radley grimaced. "I wonder how far it went out before the paper printed an updated version." He hesitated. "I guess my family wouldn't have read it. Or if they did, they didn't care."

Kalin gripped his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Radley patted his hand. "Me too," he said softly. But he swiftly changed attitudes and smiled again. "So, shall we go to the diner and see what everyone's up to there?"

"Yeah," Kalin said. "We'll need to tell Scotch things aren't looking promising too. The Turbo Duels were what I was worried about the most."

"He'll need to know," Radley kindly agreed. "But I'm not counting you out yet, and I'm pretty sure he won't either."

"You both have false hope," Kalin said. "I really will try more, though."

Radley patted his shoulder. "Just don't overdo it," he soothed. "If it's not any better after another time or so, give it a break for a while again."

"I probably will," Kalin said. But he wasn't positive he wouldn't keep pushing himself when he shouldn't anyway.

From Radley's expression, neither was he. "I hope so," he said. "I don't wanna see you mess yourself up, Kalin. You helped me so I'm not so scared of losing, but Turbo Duels are bringing back so many bad memories for you."

"I know," Kalin said. He got up. "Let's go to the diner."

Sighing, Radley followed.

xxxx

It was not really a surprise to get to the diner and find that Scotch was performing again. This time he'd found a jazzy instrumental of Grim Grinning Ghosts and was happily singing along while the people clapped and swayed and danced to the music.

Kalin gave him a long, blank stare. "After everything that happened last night, he's singing about ghosts," he grunted.

Radley had to laugh. "Are you really surprised?"

". . . No," Kalin admitted. "What's that song from anyway?"

"The Haunted Mansion," Radley said. "The ride, not the movies. Well, they do use it a lot in the most recent one, but the whole song isn't sung and it's different arrangements than this."

"I'm guessing those are two of Scotch's favorite movies," Kalin deadpanned.

"Pretty much," Radley chuckled. "Let's just hope the villa doesn't have 999 happy haunts in it. One was more than enough."

Kalin settled at the nearest table. "Do you think ghosts really carry their death wounds with them?"

"No," Radley said. "If you're free of pain and suffering if you go to a good afterlife, why would the spirit be cursed to carry the body's death wounds forever?"

"What if you don't go to a good afterlife?" Kalin wondered.

"I think your punishment is more emotional than physical," Radley said. "Of course, I really don't know, but I know it just sounds too creepy to be real."

"I think you're right," Kalin said. "I never saw any spirit bearing death wounds in the Netherworld." He hesitated. "But I don't know whether they might have the power to deliberately use them to scare people or not."

"I really kinda don't think that would be possible, unless maybe it's just an illusion," Radley said. "I don't know about that and I'm happy not to know."

Scotch bounded up to them and plopped down. "So how did it go?" he asked eagerly.

Kalin sighed, still astounded by Scotch's energy. "Not well. I was ready to give up completely. I don't think I will, though. I'll try some more, maybe taking breaks in between tries."

"That's epic you keep being so determined to try more!" Scotch said. "We probably won't make this tournament, but that's okay! We'll make another one for sure! And in the meantime, we've got other things to keep us excited!"

"Like the villa?" Kalin guessed.

"Yeah! We're going back today, aren't we?! There's so much more to see!" Scotch's eyes gleamed.

Radley had to laugh. "I was thinking we would," he admitted. "How are things in town, though?"

Scotch knew what he meant. "I'm not sure," he said. "It's weird those people haven't complained more about you! I wonder if they're planning something big and dumb."

"Would they fix it up for their spokesperson to run for mayor?" Kalin wondered.

"Bettina? Hmm. I'm not sure," Radley admitted. "I feel like they might want her to, but I'm not sure she'd be the type to do it. She talks a lot, but when it comes to actually doing anything, she's really not first in line. You'll notice she never did much when Malcolm was here."

"Yeah, I don't remember even seeing much of her at all," Kalin said.

Radley nodded. "She and her crew of gossips pretty much sat around just acting superior and snubbing anyone and everyone."

"That's so dumb!" Scotch objected. "They're all creeps!"

Kalin scowled. "I'm sick of people like that."

"Me too, but there's nothing we can do about it," Radley sighed. "We can't kick them out for being uppity."

"I probably would have done it in the Enforcers," Kalin said. "But I know now that's not right."

"It's too bad it's not," Scotch said. "They give our awesome town a black eye!"

Radley chuckled. "I'm not thrilled with them, that's for sure. I don't really get what they're even doing in a place like this, a rough-and-tumble mining town founded on greed. They're not all married, so they didn't all follow their husbands out here. The unmarried ones didn't all follow brothers or other family members either."

"It's like they came just to tell everyone how 'bad' they are!" Scotch said.

That brought an amused smirk. "Sometimes it feels that way," Radley admitted.

"They should pack up and leave," Scotch said.

"I wonder why they don't," Radley said. "Maybe they liked the idea of being part of a town from the ground up and hoped to fix it up the way they wanted. That is pretty exciting; it's part of what I thought would be cool."

"We're getting off the subject," Kalin said. "If Bettina isn't the type to want to be mayor, who is?"

Radley sighed, pondering. "Alyceson, maybe? Or Geraldine?"

"I don't want to work with any of them," Kalin said.

"That would never happen," Radley assured him. "None of them would get enough votes to get in. The majority of the townspeople want me. Even some who don't so much would choose me over any of them."

"You're probably right," Kalin relented. "But it's still a concerning thought."

Radley gave him a sad smile. "It is," he agreed.

"Let's think about happy things, like going to the villa!" Scotch said.

Radley was amused at that. "I promise we're going," he chuckled.

Biff was much less enthused. But as everyone gathered to go, he reluctantly went over with the rest of them.

"We all should have been there last night," he said. "Even me. So I'm gonna be there this time."

Radley smiled, touched. "Why, thank you, Biff. That means a great deal. I know what happened last night is your worst nightmare."

"Well . . . one of them," Biff mumbled. "The real worst one would be losing you and wondering if I could have saved you if I'd been there."

"Hopefully there won't be any more disasters like that," Radley said. "But I'm glad you'll be by my side regardless."

"We all will be," Billy promised.

After contacting Pastor Green, who promised to meet them there, they headed out.

The villa definitely seemed cheerier and not as ominous in the daytime. They all spread out, exploring whatever parts struck their fancy. They would call for help if any of them found anything ill.

Radley relaxed more as he and Kalin went over areas in the upper levels they hadn't seen yet. These rooms, like the others, were in good condition and not damaged by Malcolm's men.

"Well, this is a good sign so far," he mused.

Kalin nodded, but still looked wary. "Do you want to try any more of the basement?"

"Oh yeah, especially when we won't be alone," Radley said with a chuckle. Scotch was more interested in the basement than anything else.

Kalin smirked a bit.

Radley decided to look at the main corridor in the basement before examining the back hall again. He started up the path, running his hand absently along the wall.

Kalin trailed along with him. "Nothing seems out of place," he said. "And yet it seems almost too peaceful."

"Maybe we're just paranoid after yesterday, but it feels like that to me too," Radley said. "Pastor Green hasn't found anything else, but he seems kind of tense looking."

"It's hard not to be tense," Kalin said. "And how many rooms are here anyway?"

"I haven't tried to count," Radley chuckled. "But especially including the back hall's rooms, it's probably on par with big mansions like Kaiba's."

"This place is so strange. The basement isn't typical of Spanish villas, is it?" Kalin wondered.

"The idea of a back hall sure isn't," Radley said. "But that's not typical of most mansions. It's the kind of thing you'd see in mysteries. And maybe with people like Kaiba," he added with a smirk.

"If you ever decided to custom-build a mansion, would you want one?" Kalin asked.

Radley looked surprised but pleased that Kalin was interested enough to come up with questions for him. "Ooh, I don't know," he mused. "If it was a secret back hall, that might be a good escape plan if we ever needed it. But I don't think I'd do it just to be random. Unless I was doing it to please Scotch," he giggled.

"Which you might," Kalin deadpanned.

That brought a smile. "Yeah . . . I might."

They continued exploring. The main hall was interesting enough, and yet it seemed to lack the charm of the back hall. Mostly it consisted of many bedrooms, the occasional blank room, and a regular bathroom or two. There weren't any oddball surprises like the Halloween rooms or fancy ones like the jacuzzi.

"You know, the back hall has more of that lived-in feeling," Radley said after a while. "You could really see the love they put into it. Here, it's more like they're just going through the motions of building."

"Maybe they wanted to keep their true self hidden from the public," Kalin said.

"Or they just wanted a private retreat," Radley said. "It's so strange we can't find any clues to this person's identity or why they left. Or why they died, if they didn't leave." He looked troubled at that.

"And we probably won't," Kalin said.

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it," Radley remarked.

"Do you think there's back halls on the other floors?" Kalin wondered.

"Scotch sure wonders," Radley said. "He's looking high and low for secret doorways on the ground and upper levels. Maybe he'll actually find some."

"If there's any to find, I'm sure Scotch will," Kalin grunted.

"Me too," Radley chuckled. "He knows all the popular tropes to look for."

"I wonder if he's been into that since he was a kid or if he just learned here, with you," Kalin said.

"Biff said Scotch always loved reading mysteries, so he was into it all along," Radley said. "When they came to me, Scotch had a small collection of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books."

"He didn't think Nancy Drew books were sissy?" Kalin flatly asked.

"Considering he loves magical girl anime? Nah," Radley smirked. "He said the mysteries were just as good as the Hardy Boys. The authors didn't skimp on danger and excitement just because the books were directed at girls. On the other hand, he told me Trixie Beldon books are a 'snorefest.' Some people like those books better than Nancy Drew because they say the character is more realistic, but Scotch says they're more slice-of-life and don't have a lot of exciting scenes. He'd rather have unrealistic if that means more excitement."

"On the other hand, realistic for us rarely seems to mean slice-of-life," Kalin remarked.

Radley laughed. "You are so right."

After several more rooms on the main hall, he glanced back the way they had come. "You wanna keep going, or should we live a little and check out more of the back hall again?"

"I think I want some surprises myself, as long as they don't include demons," Kalin said.

"Yeah, demons kind of wreck everything," Radley smirked.

At that moment his phone rang and he answered in surprise. Before he could even say Hello, Klaus's urgent voice came over the device. "Radley, you've gotta get yourself down to the town square right now!"

"Why?" Radley frowned. "What's happened?"

"Some real tough hombres just rode in thinkin' the duel gangs and dusk duels are still a thing and they won't listen to anybody who says different! They're threatenin' to tear up the main street if you don't come out to talk to them right away!"

Radley's eyes darkened. "Oh, they are, are they? Well, that would disqualify them right there, even if the dusk duels were still going on. We've all been working hard to put this town back together. I'm not going to see it torn apart. We're coming right out." He quickly hung up and looked to Kalin, who was already making a beeline for the nearest exit.

"Let's go," Kalin called over his shoulder. "We'll show them what The Radley Bunch can do and why we're the duel gang still standing!"

Radley had to smile a bit once the initial surprise passed. "You're on," he said.

Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Kalin stopped and looked over his shoulder. "You should be taking charge," he said in chagrin. "Not me. Are you alright to ride to the square?" Radley had rode his own motorcycle over today instead of sharing Kalin's, but it had been such a busy day and they had been walking through the villa for some time. Perhaps all the activity had wore him out.

"Yeah," Radley assured him. "I'll lead us out. But I want you by my side, Kalin. We both lead the town and the Bunch. And together, we'll run these guys out of town if they refuse to play nice."

Kalin smiled a bit as well and nodded. "Together," he agreed.