Ch. 10: Stubborn Weeds

It was nearly a week after Crow had come back from the Facility, complete with a giant 'M' imprinted on his forehead. All the kids at the orphanage had seen this mark as 'cool', but he saw it as a haunting reminder of the day his best friend died. To everyone else, they were in denial - Martha above all. But to him, he did not know who to believe. At first he wanted to be in denial, he protested that some strange man with blonde hair had arrived and saved Yusei. But as the days turned into a week, that hope had nearly completely vanished.

Martha still wrapped up a spare plate of food and put it in the fridge for Yusei every night, claiming that when he came home, he would be hungry and she would have food for him, but just yesterday, Dr. Schmitt had come by to check on everyone's 'mental health' after loosing a family member, and ended up throwing out six plates of food saying it was 'an unhealthy habit'. She had to admit that Yusei was gone.

Jack on the other hand, might be taking this whole ordeal harder then anyone else. He blamed himself for leaving Yusei's side. Crow knew that Yusei and Jack shared a room, but since Yusei was no longer there, he was alone, but Crow's room was right next door, and he could hear Jack clearly through the thin particle board. The first few nights, Jack had woke up crying in the middle of the night, the next couple of nights, he would talk in his sleep. He was devastated to the point where Crow barely even recognized the boy.

Dr. Schmitt was growing increasingly worried about Jack's mental health, so he had appointed a fellow orphan girl to look after Jack, since he was too ashamed to speak to Crow. The girl was caring and overly-friendly, but Crow did not know much about her other then that. Since that day, she had never left his side, and though at first Jack protested, he evidently gave up, because no matter where he sulked - the little girl followed, with her short brunette hair tied up in little pigtails, she reminded Crow of a little puppy dog following its master. Which he was glad for, at least Jack was not left to sulk alone… he only wished Jack would come talk to him.

… … …

Kako was a vain, stubborn man. All his life he had lived in the shadows of Humanity, like a python waiting to strike. In his youth, he spent ninety percent of his time studying. Through his studies, he began to piece together bits of a story no one else could. There was so much mystery surrounding Ark Cradle, Zone, and the Crimson Dragon. So many secrets others dared not find out…

But he would not quit. He would get every single book written on the subject, devise his own wormhole through time, and then study the individuals involved. He was there when Ark Cradle lowered, was there when Yusei Fudo and Zone destroyed it, was there when Yliaster was created. All without putting together the whole picture. There was one puzzle piece missing. How was Zone able to transform himself into someone long dead with no more information then what was published on the man? How did Yliaster learn about time travel, and how did they learn that taking out Neo Domino City would solve their problems?

The answer was simple. The answer was himself. In his own, deluded mind, he thought that to be the only solution. So when he came back to the future, and noticed it still in ruin, denial struck. Why? Without Yusei… this place should be paradise! Unless… he actually failed at something…

Though the thought was incomprehensible in his mind, he had to go make sure.

… … …

A strange smell whiffed into the room. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before, and he was unsure if it was a good smell, or a sour one.

Yusei tried to open his eyes, it seemed to be the hardest thing he had ever tried to do before. What had happened to him? The last thing he remembered was sneaking into the junkyard with Jack and Crow… then a strange man he had never seen before shot him, and he fell off the chasm…

He tried to raise his head, but a sharp pain seared through the side of it. With a whimper, he stayed put. Where was he? He was in a strange room with a sloping roof. He was lying on a single bed, next to an old, beat up desk, the chair long gone, a small bookshelf next to it, the books already rotting away, and there was a dresser on the far side. There was not much room for anything else.

The room was dark and grungy. It looked as if a storm had blown in through the window and washed everything away. He looked over at the three-paneled window, which was now boarded up as he heard someone coming towards the room, and the door creaked open.

An old man walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He was carrying a bowl of something, whatever was giving off that sweet-yet-sour scent.

"Ah!" He said with a smile, "Your awake. I was getting worried." Yusei looked at the man. He had never seen him before. He lay there as the old man placed the bowl on the desk next to him and lit a candle. The light made Yusei flinch, sparking his already pounding headache, but the old man did not seem to notice. In the light, he did not look as old as he did in the dark, but his spiky bi-coloured hair was greyed, and his face was more weathered then it should have been, with the stress of living in B.A.D.

The Old Man reached out and felt Yusei's forehead, "Looks like your fever has come down. Thought I was going to loose you a couple of times, kid. Good thing your such a fighter." Yusei looked at the foul-looking soup on the desk and felt his stomach growl. The old man laughed and picked up the bowl, "I thought you might be hungry. You've been unconscious for a week now. Do you think you can sit up?" Yusei tried to sit up, but felt the sharp pain again in his head, and another equally sharp pain in his chest. He cried out and fell back into the bed. With a sigh, the Old Man grabbed an extra pillow that was at the foot of the bed, "Bite your tongue, this may hurt." He carefully slid his arm behind Yusei's back and lifted him enough to prop him up on the pillow. It took all of Yusei's willpower not to cry out again. The Old Man then turned and grabbed the bowl, carefully spoon-feeding the injured boy.

"That was quite the fall." He stated, "I wouldn't try to move much if I were you. You have massive bruising from something on your shoulder, a broken arm and leg, split your head open in the fall as well, and I've been worried whether or not you have a broken rib, since your breathing was strained for the first little while. I'm not a doctor, but I can help make you as comfortable as I can."

Yusei remained silent, he just let the Old Man spoon feed the soup to him. It was not nearly as good as Martha's soup - but at least it did not taste as weird as it smelled. When Yusei finished the bowl, the Old Man placed the bowl aside, and helped Yusei lay back down. He felt Yusei's forehead again before standing up, "Looks like your going to make it after all, kid. I'm glad. So, what's your name?"

Yusei closed his eyes, he felt so tired all of a sudden, "Y-Yusei. Who are you?"

"Yusei, eh?" The Old Man said with a soft smile, "Just call me 'Grandpa'."

"Ok…Grandpa." And with that, Yusei drifted off to sleep.

… … …

Jack awoke with a start. Where was he? What happened to Kako? He looked around in bewilderment. He was lying on a mattress on the floor, decorated with worn-out sheets, and an equally worn-out comforter. A woman lay next to him, her back to him, and her long brown hair draped over her shoulders… wait? Who was she? Jack did not recognize her at all. The room was scarcely decorated other then that. A dresser lay across the room, and a cracked mirror was pressed up against the wall. He stood up and looked in the mirror - only to almost have a heart attack.

His normally nicely groomed hair was long and in uneven layers. He had five-o'clock shadow across his tired-looking face. That he could have almost lived with, his attire on the other hand… was something he could not. He was wearing an off-white A-shirt, commonly referred to in slang as a, 'woman-beater shirt', and holey, white and blue stripped boxers. The entire ensemble made him want to scream out in agony.

Wasn't he the Duel King? How did he get here? If Kako sent him back to the future, then wouldn't he have awoken in his Penthouse? Why was he in some run-down house looking like trailer-trash?

And then it happened - his worst nightmare come to life. The door of the bedroom flew open, and two children came running into the room screaming at the top of their horrible little lungs. The little boy threw his arms around Jack screaming 'Good morning, I'm hungry!' and the little girl went running over to the bed and started jumping up and down, waking the brunette woman up. She rolled over with a sweet smile at the little girl.

"Morning, pumpkin." She said softly before kissing the child's forehead, "Why don't you and your brother go downstairs and I'll come down to make breakfast?" The two children screamed gleefully, burning Jack's ears, before running out of the room.

"What on Earth is going on here?" Jack hissed, looking at the woman. Her stomach was heavily swollen, and clearly pregnant.

"Are you all right, honey?" She asked, throwing her arms around Jack's shoulders, "You look pale?"

Pale did not even begin to describe what he was feeling. What the hell did Kako do? Where was he?

"Who are you?" Jack snapped, pulling the woman's arms off of him,

She looked hurt, or maybe slightly surprised for a moment, but that faded to a sweet smile, "Honey? Are you feeling ok? I mean, we've only been married for seven years…"

"Seven years ago I would have been only fifteen." Jack snapped, turning away from the woman,

"Yeah. Remember? You got me knocked up with Jason and when I told you about it, that's when you asked me to marry you." She replied sarcastically, she laughed and kissed his cheek, "You must have been out late drinking again last night. Are you still tired? You can go back to sleep if you want, and I'll get Jaclyn and Jason some breakfast." She headed towards the door, "Good morning Jack, I love you! I've loved you since the moment Dr. Schmitt appointed me to look after you."

"…They're mine aren't they?" Jack was almost afraid to ask,

The woman laughed, "Yes Jack. All three of them."

Jack instantly wanted to disappear. What the hell did Kako do? He had to fix this! Why was the future so messed up? The moment the woman left the room, he grabbed a pillow from the bed and screamed into it as loud as he could.

'Grandpa' is not OC. He's a legit character. Can you guess who he is? You might later…

That, and I know Jack running away in the last chapter is slightly 'OOC' since Jack does not seem like the type to run from anything, but according to 'Shadow of Destiny', if you go back in time and meet your 'time parallel', you erase yourself from history… so I had to get young Jack out of there, before adult Jack arrived.

And about Jack's future, I thought a little 'comic relief' was in order. So yeah, to Jack who thought that 'women were a distraction', this would probably be the worst possible future for him :D

This is my first attempt at an original fan fiction, so as always, reviews are very appreciated! They always make my day!