Hijack

Jack's POV

When Yusei disappeared this morning, I had expected the worst. He'd been on edge since he'd arrived at the director's door a week ago, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he ran off on his own, yet here he was, sleeping on a park bench like a common vagrant, completely dead to the world. How pitiful, and here I thought you were actually in danger. I kicked him awake.

"Jack, you need to be mindful of Yusei's injuries," Mikage said. I ignored her. Next time, maybe, he'd think twice about sneaking off on his own. Yusei groaned in obvious pain, but otherwise, failed to do anything about it. His reaction was odd, if I'd pulled that stunt at any other time, Yusei would have been on his feet, ready to punch me in the face already. Something was off.

"What happened?" I asked. Again, he was slow to respond. Yusei barely had the presence of mind to sit up straight and face me. His mind was somewhere else entirely.

"Jack, am I a bad person?" Yusei asked, dodging the question entirely. I was completely baffled, and I was unsure how to respond. It's a question I'd asked myself more than once, but it had never occurred to me that Yusei might have similar doubts. Luckily, I was not alone, and Mikage happened to be trained to deal with this sort of thing.

"No, of course not, I don't know what happened, but this isn't the best place to discuss this. I think it'd be best if you get in the car," Mikage said, expertly handing Yusei his crutches and not so subtly offering him a hand to stand. Yusei nodded and entered the back seat with some assistance from Mikage. I entered the vehicle myself, slightly unnerved by Yusei's current state of mind. He wasn't okay at all.

"You need to tell me what happened," I insisted, after a few minutes of silence. Yusei sighed, choosing not to look at me.

"I was getting tired of sitting around the director's place. So, I went to the park, end of story," he said as if we weren't spiritually connected by some ancient Inca Dragon.

"Don't lie to me. You were in danger. I felt it. You were fighting someone, and, then, I couldn't sense you at all," I said. By now, the others and I had pieced together how the marks worked, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that the dragon reacted most strongly to Yusei's will.

"Fine, I was talking to two dark signers in the park, but I was never in danger," Yusei said, getting defensive. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

" We're literally at war with them. What is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?" I asked. I must have struck a nerve because Yusei went quiet for a moment.

"I made a mistake, Jack. The situation is a lot more complicated than I thought, and I let it into my head. I shouldn't have let it into my head," Yusei said, placing a hand on his forehead as if some unknown sickness had infected him without our knowledge. My blood ran cold.

"Did you lose to a dark signer?" I asked, unsure if I should trust anything he said at this point.

"No, I didn't get the chance to fight Kiryu. Another dark signer stopped me," he said, again lost in some far away place.

"Kiryu's alive?" I asked, already knowing the odds were slim. (Then again, I had never actually seen Kiryu's corpse. I had taken Security at their word on that account. ) Yusei shook his head.

"He's not the same as before. His spirit has been consumed by hatred," Yusei said.

The director had warned me that anyone under the earthbound immortals influence was only a puppet, a shadow of their former selves. I was glad to have more than the director's word to go on in that respect. With that in mind, I was very careful about my next question, considering how reluctant he had been to share anything in the first place.

"Who was the other dark signer?" He looked pained as if I'd reminded him of a particularly unpleasant memory.

"She was my friend once." He didn't say anything else. I pressed him for more info.

"Why would she stop you?" The look on his face said it all. He didn't know.

"I believe her intentions were good," he said finally. I was about to argue otherwise when Mikage interrupted our conversation.

"We've arrived," Mikage said. I could tell from the look on her face that there was a lot more that she wanted to say, but she never would without my go ahead. I didn't have the patience today to bother with that so I left the car without saying a word. (She'd forgive me. She always did.)

I could tell something had gone wrong while we were away. The director was waiting for us outside the building and his eyes were fixed on Yusei, the new de facto leader. Unfortunately for Godwin, Yusei's defenses were back up. The director simply smiled and casually let Yusei know the situation.

" There's been a bit of a misunderstanding concerning Aki's stay. I think it would be best if you both join us in the living room to resolve the matter with our new guest." I nodded in agreement, aware why unity was important during this stage of the game. I was not prepared for the words that came out of Yusei's mouth.

"Jack can take care of it. I'll be in my room," he said, passing the director without a second thought. Again, I found myself confused by Yusei's behavior. Aki wouldn't listen to me. She didn't even like me. Hell, I didn't even understand her the way Yusei seemed to. How could I possibly take care of it?

"Yusei, I can't do this without your help," I said, following him as he traveled to the elevator, at a loss for what to do. I caught up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Shut up Jack, don't run away from your problems for once in your life," Yusei snapped. I flinched. I thought we were past that. I let him go.

"I'm sorry. I'm not myself. Please, just try to handle it," Yusei said, coming back to his senses briefly. I nodded and watched as he entered the elevator and disappeared from view. Whatever happened with the dark signers was still affecting him, he was no good to anyone in this state. Godwin was waiting for me outside the living room's entrance. I could tell from the look in his eyes that his priorities had shifted. I was in charge now.

" When we walk through those doors, we will be face to face with Divine, the leader of the Arcadia movement. Up until now, we have had a fragile truce with him, but there has been outside interference," Godwin said. Let me guess.

"A Dark Signer?" I asked. (They were quickly becoming the bane of my sorry existence. )Godwin nodded and continued.

"Aki must not leave with him. We cannot lose another signer. You must do what you can to either repair the truce or wrench Aki from his influence," Godwin explained, neither sounded particularly easy.

"What would you suggest?" I asked. Even if I disagreed with his methods most of the time, Godwin occasionally offered useful counsel.

"Without Yusei, it would be in our best interest to repair our partnership with Divine, even if the consequences are less than pleasant" Godwin said. I nodded, ready to swallow my pride for the sake of the group. Yusei had made it painfully clear I didn't have much of a choice in the matter today. Now that I was briefed on the situation, Godwin and I entered the living room.

A confident red headed devil, Divine had easily taken control of the room in Godwin's absence. He had made himself at home in the director's chair and was currently enjoying a cup of wine from the director's personal stash. Aki sat opposite him in my usual seat, calm and composed as ever. The only visible difference I could see in her demeanor was her obvious devotion to the man in question. I had never met the man before, but I already disliked him. He had the self satisfied smile of a man who had been born with power and had never had to earn the respect of others himself. His eyes were a sharp reptilian green and displayed a calculated intelligence. Already, he had noticed Yusei's absence and visibly relaxed, disregarding my entrance completely.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Director," Divine said, taking a sip of his wine.

"I trust everything has been to your liking so far," Godwin said, never betraying a hint of discomfort or annoyance. Even after having lived with him so long, I still found him impossible to read sometimes. The tension in the room had increased exponentially at the director's seemingly innocent small talk. Crow currently sat on his beloved futon, shooting Divine dirty looks as he held the twins protectively in his arms, sheltering them from his prying eyes.

"I was just having a lovely conversation with Ruka here when this Satellite scum rudely interrupted me. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the company you keep, considering who you really are," Divine said, smirking at Godwin as if he'd said something particularly scathing. Crow wasn't the piece of garbage here. It was taking every ounce of my self control not to say anything, but I managed to hold my tongue.

"Divine was only offering Ruka the chance to join the Arcadia Movement and come with us when we leave," Aki explained. As if the director would ever allow that, in fact, I would never allow that. They were far too young and vulnerable to be in the hands of that man.

"And, she said no," Crow said flatly.

"Divine is not the enemy," Aki said, sensing the room turn on her idol.

"Yeah, when you're not in the room," Rua said, sticking his tongue out at Divine. Ruka who had been quiet and sullen up until this point, spoke up.

"He's not the person you think he is." The accusation momentarily made Aki doubt herself, but unfortunately, without Yusei there, she turned to Divine for reassurance instead, not quite ready to make a decision on her own. Taking advantage of her momentary weakness, he stood and walked over to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder while sporting a kindly smile. She was instantly won over.

"Forgive me, sometimes I can be overzealous, and my passion gets mistaken for coercion. I only want to make sure Ruka doesn't suffer as I've seen Aki suffer at the hands of a fearful ignorant populace," Divine said, addressing the entire room with varying levels of effectiveness. I'd heard enough.

"As long as we are here to support her, Ruka is not alone and neither is Aki for that matter. It's frankly suspicious that you want to take her away when she is safer here than anywhere else," I said, unable to be the steady neutral force that Godwin wanted me to be. Divine was a manipulative snake, and the sooner Aki realized that the better off she'd be.

"Really, you think a child, a crook, a fallen king," he started to say, pausing for a moment to glance upstairs, " and a broken shield, can protect Aki better than I can?" I was too angry to feel properly ashamed at our pitiful circumstances.

"Yes, I do, and if you don't have an ulterior motive, you won't make her leave," I said. Divine decided to take this as a challenge and turned to Aki.

"He's right. You are the one that wanted to come here. Did you get the answers you were looking for?" Divine asked, fully aware that was definitely the case.

"Yes, but I-" Divine interrupted her.

"You're not thinking of staying, are you? I don't see Dark Signer's running around the place. Do you think it's worth waiting here until they show up? It seems like such a waste of your talents," Divine said, making Aki hesitate.

"I am a signer. I should-" Divine chimed in again, becoming irritated.

" You're not a hero. You don't owe these people anything. This thing means nothing." Divine roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her glove off. For once, the mark glowed brightly and betrayed Aki's own misgivings. Divine instantly let go, realizing his mistake.

"I'm sorry," he said, backing off. Aki shakily put her glove back on, and the mark's power faded.

"Do you want to leave, Aki?" I said, surprised by how invested I was in the outcome. This wasn't about Godwin keeping all the chess pieces in play anymore. I didn't want Aki to leave with this dangerous man. We were all connected whether we liked it or not, and she was part of the family now.

"We were going to return to the Arcadia Building today," she said, extremely close to tears.

"I said, do you actually want to leave?" I repeated, keeping my voice steady.

"Is Yusei okay?" she asked out of the blue. I'd been too preoccupied dealing with Divine's power play to think about Yusei's off kilter persona since returning from the park, but I quickly saw a way to keep her with us. I didn't lie to her. If there was one person she would stay for, it was Yusei.

"No, he's not, or he would be down here telling you the same thing I'm going to. Don't go, " I said. She bit her lip, torn between her loyalty to Divine and her affection for Yusei. Aki took a deep breath and completely ruined any hope any of us had of Aki coming to her senses.

"Divine and I will stay for the time being. I'd like to go see Yusei now," Aki said. Panicked, I looked to the Director for guidance. He was smiling and signaled with a quick nod to go ahead and take Aki to Yusei's room for a visit.

"Come Divine, I'll show you to your room. I'm sure the accommodations will meet your high standards," Godwin said. Divine's initial shock faded, and he seemed to realize he didn't have much of a choice in the matter if he wanted to keep Aki's trust.

"Of course but I think it would be best if I accompanied Aki on her visit first before settling in," Divine suggested politely, aware his control over her was fading but perceptive enough to realize that he'd lost the upper hand for now. The director turned to Aki and asked.

"What is your wish?"

With a melancholy sigh, she answered, absently placing her hand on her concealed mark.

"I'd prefer if Jack escorted me to Yusei's room. I'll come to you when I'm ready, Divine."

"Until we meet again," Divine said, only barely concealing his bitter disappointment with a hasty retreat. He gave Aki a quick kiss on the wrist and followed the director to the guestrooms on the upper levels. We were headed in the same direction, but I made it a point to wait until they were out of sight before taking Aki to see Yusei. Once they were gone, we said goodbye to Crow and the twins and left for the lobby.

"Physically, Yusei is fine. He's still recovering from his leg injury, but he seems to have come out unscathed from his encounter with the dark signers," I told her. She glared at me, and I'm sure she would have sent one of her plant monsters after me if she thought she could get away with it while we were in the director's home.

"You lied to me," Aki said, poking an accusing finger on my chest.

"Yusei isn't himself. I think the dark signers did something to his brain," I warned her as we entered the elevator.

"What makes you say that?" she asked cautiously curious.

"He's been acting erratically since I found him this morning, and he was babbling about accidentally letting something into his head that he shouldn't have," I said.

"And, you left him alone," she said, understanding all to well what a troubled mind could do.

"Relax, it's not like he's possessed. I just thought you should know before you see him. He's still injured so don't take it personally if he says something hurtful," I told her. She looked embarrassed.

"I would never hurt, Yusei" she said. I looked at her dubiously as we left the elevator.

"I watched your duel. You don't have control over your powers, and dealing with Divine couldn't have been easy for you. You're probably not in the best place emotionally," I said, seeing no reason to dance around the truth. Aki needed to deal with the reality of her situation sooner or later, better in the hallway than in Yusei's bedroom.

"I'm fine. Stop pretending you care about me and take me to Yusei," she said icily. The windows rattled from the sudden release of psychic energy.

"Okay, if you don't break the windows on our way there, I'll stop bringing it up " I said, getting irritated. Suddenly aware of what she was doing, the intensity of the psychic force increased and the windows shook violently, one good psychic blast away from shattering.

"I'm not doing it on purpose," she said, backing away from me in fear as if reliving some previous trauma. Great, Aki was seconds away from taking off, and it was my fault, some leader I'd turned out to be.

"I know you don't meant to do these things. I'm sorry I brought it up. Don't worry about the windows. Godwin can afford to replace them anyway," I said, offering her my outstretched hand.

"Let's go see, Yusei," I suggested. She nodded, hesitantly walking back to me and taking my hand. She had a surprisingly strong grip. Determined to regain control, Aki took several deep breaths as we walked. The windows continued to be plagued with psychic energy, but the intensity lessened as she focused on collecting herself. Eventually, we reached Yusei's door.

"We're here," I said. With that piece of good news, she was sufficiently distracted, and the windows stopped shaking all together. I stepped in front of the doorway and blocked her way in.

"Thank you for all your help, Jack, but I can take it from here," she said, hoping I'd take the hint. I wasn't comfortable letting Aki go in alone without checking on Yusei first.

"Let me see how he's doing before you go in," I said. She was about to argue with me, but the last few minutes of comfort and support had earned me a free pass, just this once.

"Okay, I can wait a few minutes if you think it'll help," Aki said reluctantly. I nodded and entered Yusei's room without her. I was not prepared for what I would find.

"I spent the last half hour keeping our team together, and you were playing on your phone," I said. He didn't even look up.

"Yup, I actually did something I wanted for once. I'm so sorry I mildly inconvenienced you, Jack. Never mind the fact that because of you, I ended up in jail and nearly died multiple times. This totally makes us even," he said, having graduated to full sarcasm since I'd been gone. I pretended not to hear any of that and focused on the particularly suspicious part of this whole thing.

"Where did you even get a phone?" I asked.

"A little birdy told me where to find it," he said dismissively. Well, this whole conversation is going nowhere fast. At least, he didn't seem aggravated anymore, if anything he was smiling way too much. Yusei was rarely in this good a mood.

"Aki is here to see you," I said, cutting to the chase. He stopped typing briefly and considered whether it was worth abandoning the phone for a moment before making the absolutely wrong choice.

"Tell her I'm busy," he said. I lost what little patience I had for Yusei's nonsense and grabbed him by the collar with my one good arm. Impressively, he still managed to keep hold of the phone.

"I just convinced her not to go home with a cult leader because you're the only other person she actually cares about, and she's worried about you. You're going to talk to her," I said. Yusei was unfazed and grinned, amused by my frustration.

"Congratulations Jack, you've learned compassion. I have nothing more to teach you. Go forth and prosper," he said. I sighed and let him go. My intimidation tactics wouldn't work on Yusei.

"Why is this phone so important to you anyway? " I asked, snatching the phone from his hand. The phone had locked from inactivity, but Yusei had been careless. He had placed a picture of a girl as the phone's screen saver. From the looks of her, she was from the tops, possibly a model. A message popped up informing Yusei he had a new message from Carly.

"Who's Carly?" I asked. Yusei didn't answer and instead tried to retrieve the phone from me. It was easier said than done. We were normally evenly matched, but he was injured and I was fed up. He was constantly aggravating his injuries, and the swelling was far worse than it would normally would be at this stage of his recovery. So, I punched his cast with my good arm which instantly caused him to recoil in pain.

"You can have this back after you talk to Aki," I said, walking away from Yusei and pocketing the phone. Yusei knew he couldn't beat me in his current state.

"Fine, let her in," he said, elevating his leg using a few pillows in an effort to relieve his pain. I did not hide my smugness when I opened the door for Aki.

"He's ready to see you, " I said, gesturing to Yusei who was clearly bracing himself to endure even more pain. She glanced at me suspiciously.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"I made him more cooperative. You're welcome," I said.

"I never asked you to hurt him," Aki said, completely appalled.

"Do you want to see him or not? I have to see a woman about a bird," I said, keeping I solid grip on my newly acquired evidence. I'm sure Mikage will be able to dig up more info about this Carly person and whether she's who I think she is. Mikage could be quite the detective when given the chance.

"Thank you Jack, next time, don't help me," she said wryly, slamming the door behind me. There goes what little goodwill Aki had towards me. I didn't let it get to me. I would find the dark signer who had turned Yusei against me and I would hunt her down, simple as that.