Jack had been living with Martha as long as he could recall. He didn't remember the faces of his real parents; most of the children he lived with didn't. He always imagined them to be wonderful people, that they were smart, sophisticated, and affable. When he started reading he always chose anything with action and adventure in it. He imagined that they were in some far off land, fighting the bad guys and saving the world. His father was always tall, with broad shoulders, and wielded the greatest of all swords; Excalibur. His mother was gorgeous with long, flowing blond hair and knew kung-fu, always kicking some major enemy butt. They would infiltrate corrupted parties disguised as distinguished members of society and take down corporal scum bags. They had the best connections and underground informants, knowing etiquette enough to be able to dine with the queen of England. When they were done protecting Earth from any evil doers, Jack always believed that they would appear on a white horse in front of the orphanage at sunrise, wind blowing just perfectly and the sun shining bright in the orange glow. They would take him away and the three would live happily ever after in a mansion in New Domino City.
As he grew older, Jack had less of these fantasies.
Sometimes, his friends would catch him looking off into the distance; eyes glazed over as he was deep in thought. Jack would stay up for hours at night, just looking up at the breaks in the clouds, searching for shooting stars so he could wish for a new future.
He always wanted to play dragons and knights; he would even scour the trash heaps to seek out armor, or anything that looked like it. He got the habit of saying to Martha, "Greetings, most fairest of maidens. May this price kiss your hand?" after reading too many medieval novels.
As the years went by and he saw no sign of his parents coming to bring him home, he became more and more distant from the other kids. He became bitter and would snap at anything that put him in the slightest of foul moods. Jack didn't care if someone wanted help with something or if the others wanted to play with him, he just ignored them and went off to some quiet place to sit alone. He would stay there for most of the day, but always wandered back to Martha's when it was almost dark or when he was starving out of his mind. Jack would just sit in some abandoned building with a view of the world or with an important feeling to it and dream of a future he could never have.
One day he was snapped out of his thoughts by the setting of the sun, just like any other. He unfolded his legs after hugging them for the past few hours and stood, sighing as another day was wasted for nothing more than a couple replayed thoughts. He descended from the top floor and began walking back to the orphanage. A few remaining happy thoughts lingered in his mind, taunting him with their hopeful nature. He tried to pay them no mind but they just kept dancing in his head; lying, deceitful and yearned for by little Jack. He squeezed his eyes shut, covered his ears, and counted to one hundred as fast as possible, but they still snuck through and filled his subconscious with reflection on a life that would never be obtained.
Jack began to quicken his pace, but didn't get very far before reality came toppling down onto him.
Or was he the one that toppled onto it…?
Jack opened his eyes and realized he was lying on the ground. He looked from right to left to see what he tripped on, but found nothing. He sat up and looked behind him, rubbing his forehead where he must have hit it.
There was a kid lying there. Jack sat for a minute, waiting for him to move.
Nothing happened.
Jack moved a little closer, wondering what was wrong with the guy in front of him. He reached out and shook his shoulder, but there was no response. Jack sat there, baffled.
What if he was seriously hurt? Or even dead?
Jack recoiled; he had never seen a dead body before, let alone touched one!
He hurriedly rubbed his hands on his jacket. He had read somewhere that people could get sick by even being close to a dead person, especially if they had big black warts all over them.
He couldn't see anything wrong with the kid in front of him, though. Jack wearily approached him and inspected the guy from a short distance away, not seeing any deformities. He plucked up his courage and tried physical contact again.
This time he only poked the kid in the face. He withdrew again and waited for a response.
Nothing happened.
Maybe he really was dead?
Jack was about to try again, with more force, when he suddenly got what he wanted.
The kid flickered his eyes a bit and mumbled something completely unintelligible.
Jack shrieked.
~0~
Jack was sitting outside of the door to the stranger's room, waiting. He didn't know why; he just sat there, counting the tiles on the floor. Martha had forbidden anyone to go in there after she came out and by now, most of the kids were asleep.
Jack couldn't. So he sat there, listening for any signs of movement. All he heard for the past two hours were the creaking of the bed and a few half-hearted sniffles.
Martha had told everyone who he was, what he probably went through. Jack didn't care; he just felt something tugging at his subconscious, like it was trying to tell him his future had something to do with the new kid.
With Yusei Fudo.
His name sure is weird, Jack thought.
He sank from his sitting position against the wall to lying on the floor directly in the middle of the hallway. He stared at the ceiling and made shapes with the inconsistent bumps along the surface. The last thing he remembered was drifting off to thoughts of a future full of glory and happiness before he woke up in his bed.
Sun light filtered in from the blinds in the room he shared with four other kids. Martha must have found him sleeping in front of Yusei's door last night. He jumped from his bed, not bothering to do anything about its messiness or his sleep ridden appearance. Jack ran down the hallway but then slowed his pace when he approached the kitchen, acting cool as he entered.
No one was there.
Jack felt a bit let down, but got over it when he heard a loud crash come from outside. He jogged over to the door, peaking through the small windows and saw what he was looking for.
Yusei sat in a small pile of rubble and scraps, dazed. Jack snickered and opened the door, stepping out and walked up to the new guy.
"What were you trying to do?" Jack asked, a bit demanding in his tone but legitimately curios. Yusei just swiveled his head and stared up at the stranger standing over him.
"What's it to you?" Yusei retorted, wishing for his spectator to leave. Jack was a bit surprised. Most kids where too afraid to talk back to him with anything more than a straight answer the few times he actually addressed someone. Jack grinned, this guy seemed like he actually had some character to him.
"The name's Jack, and I was just wondering what a new-be like you could already be breaking on his first day here." Jack folded his arms and arrogantly stuck his nose in the air, looking down on the kid in front of him in more than just one way.
Imaginary fumes rose from Yusei's head as he stood up. But to his dismay Yusei was still a few inches shorter than Jack, which seemed to amuse the blond even more.
Yusei glared at him and said, "Excuse me, I didn't mean to interrupt HER majesty's beauty rest. You look like you could use it AND a comb." Yusei stuck out his tongue and Jack's cool expression was completely gone.
He lunged for Yusei and the new kid welcomed the fight. They tussled on the ground, pulling each other's hair and biting one another. Little fists went flying until Martha grabbed the two of them by the scruff of their shirts, preparing for the lecture she was about to give.
Yusei went pale and Jack just wondered when she had come out, he also continued to glare at Yusei.
~0~
Yusei spent the rest of his day feeling terrible, even though nearly all of Martha's motherly rage was directed towards Jack. The taller of the two had listened to enough of her lectures that he was used to being in trouble and could handle it. But this new kid looked as if he was going to wet himself whenever he could even hear her voice.
Jack scoffed at Yusei's feebleness and decided to get out of there before he watched the kid break down in front of Martha. He went to the abandoned performing arts theater closest to home and sat in the fold-up chair he had set in the middle of the stage a while back.
He imagined the sea of chairs in front of him to be filled with people, his fans, watching his every move and eagerly waiting for what he was going to do next.
Jack smiled to himself. He thought for a moment and came up with an idea that would entertain all of them. He ran off to the side of the stage and pulled some things out from his box of props. One thing was a piece of cloth with twenty-eight carefully drawn rectangles, and the other objects were his Duel Monsters cards. He had just found his fifteenth card a while back and couldn't wait to show it off, even if his audience was imaginary. He placed the mat down and started the duel off by summoning his Twin-Shield Defender and one card face down.
~0~
He was nothing more than a rude, self centered jerk! He wasn't nice in any way and hit like a girl. Yusei never liked going by first impressions, but this guy didn't seem the type to ever consider changing his ways. Jack was a terrible person and that was that.
But he still followed after him.
Yusei had to duck behind benches, sneak around buildings, and step quietly from one hiding place to the next in order not to get caught. He was doing really well; Jack never looked behind him to see if anyone was following. Yusei tailed after him all of the way into the auditorium area and just stared at him, observing every movement.
Jack was playing some sort of card game with himself. He would call out the name on the paper, make some ridiculously over dramatic arm movement and throw it onto the mat below him and if it didn't land correctly, he would bend over and fix it. After he finished his turn he would trot to the other side and do the same thing.
Yusei didn't know if there could ever be a victor.
He sat through a few games, quickly picking up the general idea, but wasn't satisfied. He wanted to know what the cards looked like.
To get into the auditorium, one had to walk into the center of the audience and descend the stairs in order to get the stage. Yusei was still at the entrance and wanted to take a closer peak at Jack's cards, since none of the other kids he'd ever met that actually had any refused to show him.
Yusei leaned forward on the railing and squinted his eyes, trying his best to make out the shapes one the paper. He had no such luck, but continued to stand there.
Yusei heard the snap before he fell, but it was way too late to do anything. The railing broke from under him and gravity sent him into an ungraceful tumble down the stairs. The poor kid ended up at the bottom with a confused and slightly embarrassed Jack staring straight at him. Yusei sat up, grimacing at the headache throbbing rhythmically in his ears while the pain swept across his head, and glanced up to find Jack stone silent and looking right back at him.
Yusei jumped to his feet and stammered out, "I-I was just, I mean, I…" Jack cut him off before he could actually form a sentence.
"What do you think you're doing here? ! Get out!" His dumbfounded expression seemed to be gone, replaced with anger.
It was Yusei's turn to be entirely confused. He didn't know what to say to that. He just slowly furrowed his eyebrows, giving the best angry face he could.
"Why should I? I didn't do anything wrong! I just…" Yusei stopped his thoughts again, before they could make him say something stupid.
"You just what? You're nothing but a baby! I hate little sniveling brats, like you!" Jack wasn't holding anything back. He pointed to the door and continued to glare at Yusei.
"Why are you so mean? ! I haven't done anything to you!" Yusei didn't want to leave; he stood his ground and gave an equally menacing glare.
"You're so annoying! You think just because you're new that everyone will be nice to you! That just because you had a bad past now everything will be alright!" Jack was back to using ridiculous hand gestures to emphasize his feelings again, causing poor Yusei to realize the truth in his words.
Jack really wasn't going to be his friend, no matter what. Tears came to Yusei's eyes; he really had no luck with people regardless of where he went. Jack began to drop the tough-guy act when he saw the heart break spread slowly and painfully across the little guy's face.
Yusei turned and ran as fast as he could out of the auditorium. Jack stood helplessly for a moment before clapping his hand to his face and grimacing at the scene.
"Why am I so stupid? !" He asked himself. Of course he knew the answer; he was selfish, egotistical, angry, and unhelpful to those around him. And he really had no reason. Jack sighed and decided to go after the new guy, but just as he made his first step to mend their relationship, he was stopped by someone grabbing hold of his shoulder. Chuckling came from behind Jack before he could hear the voice.
"That was quite the show, kid. The way you crushed that shorty's feelings without hesitation just sent shivers down my spine." Jack whirled around and found a bunch of tough looking guys, all laughing and snickering. The group of five looked to be a range from thirteen to eighteen or so. Jack guessed the guy who had taken his shoulder was their leader and he didn't like the look he was getting.
"I like guys like that; ones who get their opinion out loud and clear. I could use someone like you around. What do ya say kid?" The guy looked to be about sixteen and had the greasiest, most extorting look in his eyes. It was like he was always ready to pick a fight and would be the one to end up pulling a knife or having his friends intervene when things didn't go according to plan. Jack scowled at the strangers and clearly voiced his opinion, "No."
The gang leader's facial features dropped, he stood there unsure what to do next. He seemed like the spoiled rotten type that got whatever he could get his hands on.
At least that brat Yusei isn't this bad… Jack thought. He turned and started walking down the stairs. He felt the familiar hand on his shoulder, but before he was able to shake it off the teen tightened his grip and whirled Jack around. Their eyes were locked together, but Jack's were caught with fear. The anger and rage that resonated through his counterpart's aura was chokingly thick. Jack swallowed and tried his best to squirm away, yelling as loud as he could, "Let go! Get off of me! !"
"No. One. Turns down Victor Scithe." The teen seethed out. Not even giving the poor kid time to consider apologizing, he turned sharply and chucked the boy across the stage until he finally rolled to a stop in the center. Jack quickly sat up; Victor was striding toward him, opening and closing his fists. "Isn't that right, men?" Jack darted his vision to the band of miscreants also making their way over to him. Some were cracking their knuckles, others flexing their muscles, but each and every one of them looked ready to tear a certain kid to pieces for defying their leader's "kind" words.
Jack looked for a way out, but couldn't find one. His eyes widened for fear of his life and did the only thing he could think of.
Jack screamed.
~0~
He had no luck. No matter what he did he couldn't get Jack to like him. Honestly, maybe it's more like he has terrible judgment in character. It seemed to be a reoccurring thing; Yusei had been traveling from home to home, always running from a past he never even wanted. People judged him for a mistake his father made. Sure, it was catastrophic and terrible, but did they really have to rub it in his face? Even if Jack didn't mean to make his words sound so hostile, there's really no way to sugar coat the fact that the blond pretty much said Yusei's life was going to suck forever. Yusei wiped his nose and the last of the tears from his eyes and continued to walk home.
Or maybe just his temporary home?
Yusei shook his head; just because he couldn't get one kid to consider him as a friend didn't mean he had to run away like a scared child, Martha was still around and there were plenty of other kids to run and play with. Yusei stubbornly quickened his pace to get away as soon as possible, holding his head high in the air when he suddenly caught wind of something. It was faint, but sounded distressed. Yusei had stopped and was now listening intently for the noise.
He got what he wanted, but he didn't like the sound of it. It was the boy he had been trying to befriend just a few moments ago and he was definitely in trouble. Without a second thought or moment's hesitation, Yusei sprinted back into the theater rounding the same corners yet again and swerving past the unchanged ticket booths. He threw open the doors to the auditorium and rushed down the stares, taking them two or even three at a time until he was able to successfully jump several more at the end. Jack was still on the stage, surrounded by a bunch of bullies. The boy's duel monster cards were splayed out everywhere and he was being barraged with uncoordinated kicks and punches. He would cry out at every inflicted injury, moving with the force of the older kids encircling and attacking him. Yusei took a deep breath and continued to finish what he had started.
He hit top speed again, vaulted himself on top of the stage, took a few more steps to get back up to speed, and finally launched himself onto the nearest bully. He wrapped his little arms as best he could around his counterpart's neck and refused to let go. A cry of disdain came from both the older and younger, but Yusei managed to win the battle. The teen fell to the ground, choking and sputtering, as the boy climbed off. He didn't want his enemy to suddenly come back into the fight after a small attack like that, so Yusei decided to get him in a place he wouldn't be able to recover from so fast.
With one swift kick between the teen's legs, he was down and out. Yusei smiled and faced the group again, but unfortunately for him, his presence had been noticed. Two big kids sneered and began stalking towards him. Yusei hesitantly stepped back but remembered to stand his ground. He replaced the frightened look on his face with that of rage and charged at his new opponents. Yusei jumped and cried out as if he was some samurai hero ready to cut down his enemy, bringing his fist back to get ready for the epic punch he was about to deliver. Yusei made contact with the bully's face, but it didn't seem to do anything. Panic filled his eyes as gravity took over and started to bring him back down. Yusei expected to land on the ground again and thought maybe he'd go for the same trick he had played on the other guy, but his plan was hindered; he had been caught by his arm and now dangled from the grasp of the much older, and much stronger, teen. Yusei made hesitant eye contact with him and regretted it. Every line in the guy's eye shouted that Yusei was in for the beating of his life.
But this kid was never one for giving up entirely. He flailed about, hoping to strike something of value, but got nothing.
Roaring laughter came from his captor and a very powerful punch came to Yusei's stomach. The kid coughed and gasped for air after all of the wind had been knocked from his lungs. He hadn't finished wheezing when another one came to the gut, and a third to his face. Yusei felt something warm trickle from his nose but was unable to focus on his injuries when he was tossed to the ground, probably about to get the same treatment as Jack.
Yusei shut his eyes and braced for the pain, but all he could hear was the thwacking of flesh on flesh. He cracked one eyelid open and saw that most of the group was cringing on the ground. Jack must have taken down the two that had stayed to continue attacking him, while the others had been preoccupied with Yusei, and was now working on the two that had been picking on the littlest around. Yusei opened his eyes entirely and sat up, watching as his friend weaved in between the slow bullies, trying his best to inflict pain on the taller opponents. Yusei hopped up and got directly in the middle with Jack.
The two fended off a few hits, but eventually were over taken by the strength and stamina of the teens. Yusei and Jack lay in a bloody and bruised heap on the ground, both panting from the fight. Chuckling came from one of the guys standing over the boys.
"I really thought you were something, kid. But you're just like the rest of 'em. Weak." The guy spit, aiming directly for Jack. The Brit glared back, imagining all of the things he could do to ruin this guy's life if he wasn't so short.
"Come on, get up you pathetic lot!" The teen irritably called out to the rest of the gang. The ones on the ground slowly picked themselves up and hobbled after their leader, glaring at the two kids as they passed by.
Yusei and Jack stayed in silence for a while, lying next to each other and mainly focusing on how much it hurt to breathe. Jack touched his left eye; it was swollen and painful, his chest moved oddly and throbbed in certain places, and he could see some of the bruising already on his arms. Yusei touched his nose, it moved like it shouldn't and caused more blood to trickle from it; his shoulder also hurt whenever he moved it and the feeling of nausea never left his thoughts.
A snicker came out in the quiet. Yusei slowly turned his head to see Jack smiling and staring at the ceiling. Jack crooked his head to face Yusei with his big smile and the younger began to giggle as well. The two suddenly burst into laughter, wiggling around from the excitement and cringing from the pain. They kept laughing for no reason, but for just the sheer joy of being able to. The two boys sat up slowly, wiping their eyes from the odd bonding moment.
Jack stood up, ignoring the pain in his chest and offered a hand to Yusei.
"Time to go home?" Jack asked with a smug smile still on his face. Yusei's eyes lit up and he accepted without hesitation. Jack pulled him to his feet and began walking out when he noticed Yusei wasn't next to him anymore. He turned around and found the kid bending over and picking up the last of Jack's duel monster cards. Yusei ran over, presenting them to Jack, smiling remarkably wide. Jack took them thankfully and looked them over. He counted them to make sure they were all still there and sighed with relief when none had been missed. He looked over at Yusei who was eyeing them intently.
"Would you like to see them?" Jack asked, a bit hesitantly. Yusei's already eager expression got even more boisterous.
"Would I ever!" Yusei exclaimed excitedly as he delicately took them from Jack's outstretched hand, holding them so carefully it was as if the safety of the world depended on it. "Wow!" Yusei marveled, "I've never seen one of these so close before! So cool!" Yusei was just content with gawking at them but Jack's jaw had dropped wide open. Yusei looked over at him and his expression went from excited to slightly puzzled.
"What's wrong?" Yusei asked.
"Nothing," Jack coughed and regained his composure. "It's not everyday you meet someone who's never seen a duel monster's card before. Then again, they are illegal in this place." Jack didn't get a reaction out of Yusei when he hinted about how rebellious to the system he was. He reached over and, to Yusei's dismay, took the cards back. Jack leafed through them until he found the one he was looking for. He pulled out the card and held it up to Yusei.
"Here." Jack began, "So you can start your own deck too." He just stood there, offering the card. Yusei's eyes were locked onto the monster card, he couldn't believe it. He looked back up to Jack and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Yusei almost burst into tears, but settled with another goofy smile and graciously accepted the card.
"Wow, Jack! This is so great! Thank you, thank you so much! !" Yusei said. He took it from Jack's hand and stared at it in awe. Yusei flipped it around and inspected it from all angles, brushing off some imaginary dirt and dedicating the picture to memory.
"Make sure you keep it safe, don't let anyone else have it, ok?" Jack warned him sternly.
"Of course not! I won't let anyone touch it." Yusei said reassuringly. He held it to his chest to make his point clear. The boys laughed together again and began walking home.
Yusei vowed to never let anything happen to it, and no matter what it would be one of his most important and reliable cards. The attack points weren't high and neither were the defense points. It didn't have any special abilities, but what made this card so important was for sedimental reasons. Even after Jack left Yusei and the others, Sonic Chick was still a symbol (even if small) of their everlasting friendship.
~0~
Everybody say CHEEEEEEESE!
Or corn, either way you'll be conveying the message.
i find it strange that the series only ever gave Akisa's and Crow's past (and didn't even elaborate on how the 3 boys met).
what do you think? one more back story for the fated meeting of our 3 heroes? and maybe even kalin? (i need preferences on his name. Kalin? (English version) or Kiryu? (Japanese). and this one might even have some card games? !
i stress the word might.