That Other Rival
"Jack! Jack. Are you here?"
The young man, sitting on his mock throne, glanced up at the echoing sound of his name. It was well into the night, so it took Jack a moment to recognize the figure that called for him.
"Martha." He spoke, surprised to see his foster mother making her way towards him through the empty theater. "What are you doing here?"
"Jack, I have to talk to you." The saddened look on her face and the serious tone in her voice already told Jack that something was wrong.
"What is it?" He asked, standing from the chair and walking down the stage steps to meet her.
"Earlier today, a sector security officer came to the orphanage. He had a notice and said that-"
"Martha, you're not going to lose the orphanage, are you?" Jack interrupted, already rushing to his own conclusions. "Sector security has no right to take that building away from you. You already talked to the Domino City official about-"
"Jack!" The older woman stopped Jack's rant by putting her hand on his arm. "It's not that. The officer was from the Facility. He told me that...he told me that Kalin died last week."
"What?!" Time froze for a split second. Jack took a step back. He could not even wrap his head around the statement. There was no way in hell it could be true.
Martha removed her hand, sensing Jack's unease. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I couldn't believe it either at first. Because Kalin was still a minor, they had to deliver the death certificate to a known guardian, and since I let him live at the orphanage..."
Jack stopped listening to what Martha was trying to tell to him. His mind went blank after hearing her first words about his old friend. He had no idea what to feel. Anger. Sadness. Guilt. Sorrow. He was confused, that was all he knew. "No. No! How-how could this happen? How could they break him?!"
"The officer said that Kalin was refusing to eat and was inflicting injuries onto himself as a form of protest." She continued to explain to the best of her abilities.
Jack suddenly became enraged. "That's fucking bullshit! Kalin would never do anything like that! What the hell did they really do to him?!"
"Jack, stop! I know your upset and I know it's going to take time for you to accept what's happened." Martha tried to calm her foster son down, like the many times she had done before, but it was no use. Jack's relationship with Kalin was one of admiration and longing; longing to be more like Kalin and less like his loner self.
Kalin was a natural born leader. He was ambitious and relentless. He gave Jack and his friends hope for a better life while they were stuck in a living hell. Jack looked up to him for that reason. He wanted to be just like him, or at least try to be. But he was more selfish and cold-hearted. He could never be like or beat Kalin. Even when his leader fell off the deep end, he still admired him from a far.
"Kalin would never just fucking die like that! That's pathetic! They probably beat the shit out of him and smashed his head in!"
"Stop it!" Martha slapped Jack across his face in her own fit of anger. "Don't talk like that! I don't know what really happened and we'll probably never know. We just have to accept the fact that Kalin is gone."
Jack could feel tears begin to swell up in his eyes. Death was not a rare occurrence in Satellite, but Jack and his brothers always managed to out maneuver it. But now, the strongest of them is dead and Jack did not even get a chance to say thank you for everything Kalin had done for him. The tears from his eyes rolled down his face and sobbing came from the back of his throat.
Martha tried to comfort Jack again, but the young man fell to his knees. He stayed on the ground for sometime, before finally getting some hold of himself. Jack turned his head towards his foster mother, who never left his side. He wiped his face, took a deep breath and stood back up.
"Do Yusei and Crow know?" He asked.
Martha shook her head. "I don't think so. You were the first one I told."
Jack did not even want to imagine how his two brothers would take the world shattering news, especially Yusei. But they needed to know. "I know where Yusei's new hideout is. I'll tell him tomorrow, if you can tell Crow."
Martha nodded. "Of course. And Jack, you're going to be alright." She tried to reassure him.
"Not while I'm stuck here." He whispered over his shoulder something he had known for a long time.
Martha did not know what else to say. She knew that the only thing her boys needed was time. "If you want to stay at the orphanage for tonight-"
"No." Jack was too quick to turn down the offer. "I'll be fine here. Besides, I need some time alone."
"Alright. But if you need anything, you can always come back." Martha slowly began to walk away, leaving Jack and wishing he would have come with her.
Jack stood in his empty theater...alone. He could still feel tears in his eyes. He had to get rid of those tears. Kalin never cried, so neither should he. Besides, he had to be strong for when he has to tell Yusei that his best friend is dead. Yusei will surely blame himself. They knew Kalin blamed them for his arrest, Yusei especially. Yusei was always the one who kept his emotions to himself, but Jack felt that Yusei was not going to be able to take the news so collectively.
"Fuck you, Kalin! How could you fucking die?!" Jack's screams echoed through the theater. "You were the strongest of us. You had the makings to actually do something with you're life. But no! You turned batshit crazy and got yourself fucking arrested! You cunt! How could you let them break you?! How could you leave us here?! Did you really hate us that fucking much! You died so we would never get the chance to see you again? I never was able to beat you in a duel. I never got to say goodbye."
Jack had no idea what to do with his life now. Deep down, he honestly hoped Kalin would miraculously be released from prison early, so Jack could have someone by his side again. Crow barely talked to him and Yusei was more busy with his new pals. Jack was alone, just like Kalin was when sitting in that jail cell waiting for death.
He desperately needed to get out of Satellite if he wanted a new life, a better life with purpose. Kalin wanted to make Satellite a better place, but who was he kidding. You need to get out of Satellite to be considered a human being in society's eyes. Jack needed to escape from Satellite. He did not know how, but he needed to get out soon, or he might soon find himself slipping down the same path Kalin had taken.
"I have to tell Yusei." He did not want to waste any more time. If Jack was going to figure out how to get out and start a new life, he needed to put his old life, and old friends, behind him.
Jack stormed out of the theater. He had to get out. Get out. Be free. Escape. Run away. Whatever he needed to do, he would it. No more barely living in the hell referred to as Satellite anymore. Get out.
"Get out of my head, Kalin." Jack found himself talking to...himself. "I'm getting rid of my old life. I have to get out of Satellite. Why wasn't that your plan from the very beginning?" Still through all his nonsense talking, he could not forget one thing. "I'll never be the best duelist I can be because I never got a chance to beat you in a duel. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye."